ally
calm.

"Was that meant as an insult, Master Roy?" he said, turning towards him
and speaking slowly, with his eyes half shut and an unpleasant, sneering
smile upon his lips.

"No, sir; as a joke," replied Roy, gravely.

"I thank you; but keep your jokes for the servants; try them upon the
menials. Recollect that I am a gentleman, placed in authority over you
by Sir Granby Royland as tutor and master, and, as I am in authority
over you, I am in authority over all here. Have the goodness to
recollect that."

He turned upon his heel and walked away, with the back of his doublet
covered with scraps of hay from the tomtits' nest, and Roy's first
inclination was to run after him to begin brushing him down.

"But he'll only think I want to insult him again," said the boy to
himself. "I wish I hadn't said anything about the tomtits' eggs,
though."

"Shall I run after him, sir, and ask if I shall give him a brush down?"
whispered Ben.

"No; let him find it out. One of the maids will tell him, I dare say."

"But you should ha' stopped by us when the gun was fired, Master Roy,"
protested Ben. "I see them three chaps wink at each other, as much as
to say, `He won't stand fire,' and it hurt me, sir, and seemed to be
undoing all I did afore. I didn't think it of you."

"I should like to kick you for thinking me such a coward," cried Roy,
fiercely, for his encounter with the secretary had set his temper on
edge. "How dare you! You had no business to fire till I came back. I
did not want my mother to hear the report without some warning.--Here,
corporal, give me that light."

The man stepped up with it, and Roy took it out of his hand.

"Going to fire this one, sir?" said Ben, eagerly.

"Of course. Stand aside!" And Roy applied the sparkling port-fire to
the bit of prepared oakum standing out of the touch-hole, with the
result that it, too, began to sparkle and fume.

"There," he said; "I hope Master Pawson won't come back and be
frightened by this one."

He had hardly uttered the words when the secretary reappeared.

"Where are all the servants?" he cried, angrily. "I want some one to
come and brush my clothes."

"Stand aside!" shouted Ben. "She'll run right back."

But the secretary did not understand what was meant, and turned
haughtily upon the speaker, totally unconscious of the fact that he was
exactly behind the breech of the piece, whose recoil might have produced
fatal results.

It was