ubscribe may do so."

"He was on the outlook for the chicken, you remember. Of course he must
have known all about it. Cadbury can confirm that."

"_Can_, but you don't know Cadbury if you think he will. What I say is,
ask the young sneak himself. Put it to him straight, and let's see that
we get the truth. Why, we should never have lost our half if he had
owned up with Cadbury."

"And it's so jolly rough on Cadbury too! Why should one be licked and
not the other?"

"Oh, we'll see to the other if necessary. But let's hear what he says
for himself. By the way, where is he?"

Where indeed? A careful search revealed the hapless Grey huddled up in
the book-room, terrified and miserable.

"Here he is! Hoping to be taken for the _Treasury of Knowledge_," cried
his discoverer, and straightway dragged him into the light. There was a
rush to the book-room.

Grey was put to the question, failed to clear himself, found guilty--and
licked.

Jack Brady was the centre of another group, which seemed inclined to be
angry with him.

"Brady's no business to have his supper stopped," said Trevelyan. "He
never touched a morsel of that wretched fowl."

"He ought to have told West so."

"Such nonsense!" exclaimed Jack. "I could have eaten some if I'd wanted
to. Now, Toppin's case is different. He wasn't allowed to have any. I
vote we sign a petition in favour of him. It will really be hard cheese
if he's made to suffer."

"Toppin, here!"

The boy was chanting over his spelling, but he hopped up promptly at his
elder brother's call.

"They say they are going to get up a petition to have you let off the
sentence for our room, because you didn't eat any chicken."

"Oh, I'd hate to be let off!" exclaimed Toppin. "I know it's because I'm
little, and I want to be treated as if I was big like the rest. I'd
heaps rather! 'Sides, I would have eaten some chicken if you'd have let
me, so it's same as if I had done, isn't it?"

"You hear, Brady?" said Trevelyan with a laugh. "A nice pair of lawyers
you'd make! Two exactly contrary arguments are used to persuade us of
the very same fact."

"Well, it comes to this, that we want all to share and share alike.
Isn't that it, Top?"

Jack tweaked the defiant tuft as he put the question, and Toppin laughed
up at him and nodded.

The most unfortunate effect of the whole incident was the bitterness
which it revived in the day-scholars. It had almost seemed as if time
was breaking down t