nterest of the master. But in vain he enlarged
upon the boastfulness and insolence of the Front; in vain he recounted
the achievements of their heroes of old, who in those brave days had won
victory and fame over all comers for their school and county; the master
would not be roused to anything more than a languid interest in the
game. And this was hardly to be wondered at, for shinny in the snow upon
the roadway in front of the school was none too exciting. But from
the day when the game was transferred to the mill-pond, one Saturday
afternoon when the North and South met in battle, the master's
indifference vanished, for it turned out that he was an enthusiastic
skater, and as Hughie said, "a whirlwind on the ice."

After that day shinny was played only upon the ice, and the master,
assuming the position of coach, instituted a more scientific style of
game, and worked out a system of combined play that made even small
boys dangerous opponents to boys twice their size and weight. Under his
guidance it was that the challenge to the Front was so worded as to
make the contest a game on ice, and to limit the number of the team to
eleven. Formerly the number had been somewhat indefinite, varying from
fifteen to twenty, and the style of play a general melee. Hughie was
made captain of the shinny team, and set himself, under the master's
direction, to perfect their combination and team play.

The master's unexpected interest in the shinny game was the first and
chief cause of Foxy's downfall as leader of the school, and if Hughie
had possessed his soul in patience he might have enjoyed the
spectacle of Foxy's overthrow without involving himself in the painful
consequences which his thirst for vengeance and his vehement desire to
accomplish Foxy's ruin brought upon him.

The story of the culmination of the rivalry between Hughie and Foxy is
preserved in John Craven's second letter to his friend Edward Maitland.
The letter also gives an account of the master's own undoing--an undoing
which bore fruit to the end of his life.

"Dear Ned:--

"I hasten to correct the false impression my previous letter must have
conveyed to you. It occurs to me that I suggested that this school
afforded unrivaled opportunities for repose. Further acquaintance
reveals to me the fact that it is the seething center of the most
nerve-racking excitement. The life of the school is reflected in the
life of the community, and the throbs of excitemen