got home, and there, while he was telling
his father the occurrence, he burst into a storm of passionate tears,
mingled with the fiercest invectives against Mr. Gordon for his
injustice.

"Never mind, Eric," said his father; "only take care that you never get
a punishment _justly_, and I shall always be as proud of you as I am
now. And don't cherish this resentment, my boy; it will only do you
harm. Try to forgive and forget."

"But, Papa, Mr. Gordon is so hasty. I have indeed been rather a favorite
of his, yet now he shows that he has no confidence in me. It is a great
shame that he shouldn't believe my word. I don't mind the pain; but I
shan't like him any more, and I'm sure, now, I shan't get the
examination prize."

"You don't mean, Eric, that he will be influenced by partiality in the
matter?"

"No, Papa, not exactly; at least I dare say he won't _intend_ to be. But
it is unlucky to be on bad terms with a master, and I know I shan't
work so well."

On the whole, the boy was right in thinking this incident a misfortune.
Although he had nothing particular for which to blame himself, yet the
affair had increased his pride, while it lowered his self-respect; and
he had an indistinct consciousness that the popularity in his form would
do him as much harm as the change of feeling in his master. He grew
careless and dispirited, nor was it till in the very heat of the final
competition, that he felt his energies fully revived.

Half the form were as eager about the examination as the other half
were indifferent; but none were more eager than Eric. He was much
hindered by Barker's unceasing attempt to copy his papers
surreptitiously; and very much disgusted at the shameless way in which
many of the boys "cribbed" from books, and from each other, or used torn
leaves concealed in their sleeves, or dates written on their wristbands,
and on their nails. He saw how easily much of this might have been
prevented; but Mr. Gordon was fresh at his work, and had not yet learnt
the practical lesson, that to trust young boys to any great extent, is
really to increase their temptations. He _did_ learn the lesson
afterwards, and then almost entirely suppressed the practice, partly by
increased vigilance, and partly by forbidding _any_ book to be brought
into the room during the time of examination. But meanwhile, much evil
had been done by the habitual abuse of his former confidence.

I shall not linger over the examination. At