eached his ear, and he was
conscious that they were caused by his ill success. This only increased
his rage and bitterness. He stamped in his anger and impatience till he
knocked his feet through the boards which formed the bottom of his
carriage. He lost all command over himself. He hallooed; he shouted at
his kite; and then he swore great, horrible oaths at the kite, and the
carriage, and at the wind, till the voice of the Doctor sounded in his
ear, ordering him sternly to get out of the carriage and drag it out of
the way. He sulkily obeyed, and wound up the string of his kite, and
betook himself to the background, trembling lest the Doctor should have
overheard his expressions.

"I say, Dawson,--I say, Smith,--do you think the old one heard what I
said?" he asked, as he was going off, and they stood, not liking to
desert him altogether, and yet wishing to go on and see the fun.

"I believe you he did, my boy," answered Smith, who had but little of
the milk of human kindness in his composition. "You spoke loud enough
to be heard half-a-mile off."

"But I say, Bobby, do you think so? Did he hear me? By Jove, I shall
get a pretty jobation if he did!" exclaimed the bully, appealing in a
whining tone to Dawson.

The wretched, cowardly lad forgot that there was another--a great
Omniscient Being--who, at all events, heard him; and that every evil
word he had uttered had assuredly been registered in a book whence it
would never be erased till the Day of Judgment, when it would be made
known to thousands and tens of thousands of astonished and mourning
listeners. But such an idea never crossed Blackall's mind. Had it,
perhaps it might have prevented him from uttering the expressions of
which he so frequently made use.

Fearful only of the immediate disagreeable consequences should the
Doctor have heard him, he retired by himself from the ground; while
Dawson, and the few other boys who had hitherto adhered to him, set off
in pursuit of the racers.

With shouts of laughter the racers went on. At first the Green Dragon
took the lead, followed closely by the Owl, for both the carriages were
very light, and the kites were skilfully managed. Each of them had a
second kite attached; for, unless there had been a very strong wind, one
would scarcely have dragged them on. Monsieur Malin had selected two
boys to manage his carriage, and he ran by their side to direct them;
for his own weight would have been too gre