cely express themselves so as to be clearly
understood when they came to the school, had by the time they reached
the upper classes become quite eloquent, and were able to write their
themes with correctness and precision. Not much was expected from the
younger boys, but when Ernest began to speak, the attention of all the
guests was arrested: not a whisper was heard; and when he concluded, a
loud and continued applause burst forth, and even his school-fellows
agreed that he had surpassed himself. Buttar also gained a fair share
of the applause bestowed on his friend, and he was not jealous that he
did not gain more. No one listened more attentively than did Ellis, for
he had declined to speak, though urged by Ernest to do so, and tears
rushed unbidden into his eyes at the success which Bracebridge had
obtained.

"I tell you, you fellows, that there is not a fellow like him!"
exclaimed Tom Bouldon, clapping his hands vehemently. "He is as good,
and brave, and clever as any fellow in the world. I always thought so,
and now I am certain of it, and don't mind saying so."

Happily these remarks did not reach Ernest's ears. Gratifying as they
must have been, they would have proved somewhat dangerous, even to a
mind so well balanced as his was. He knew that he had achieved a
success, but he was well aware that, after all, it was not a very great
one, and that he had many more far far greater to achieve before the
victory would be won.

I must not forget one of the amusements which generally terminated the
winter half of the year. It was a grand race on stilts. There was a
wide extent of flat meadow land in the neighbourhood, intersected with
narrow ditches full of water. This was the ground selected for the
sport. It was something like the Landes in the south of France.
Monsieur Malin had introduced the amusement.

Boys when they first came to the school, who had not been accustomed to
walk on stilts, were surprised at the height of those used, and the
rapidity with which the older fellows walked along on them. Many of
them were ten feet high. The resting-place for the feet was a piece of
wood flat on the upper surface, with a strap to it which could be
fastened round the feet or not. The upper ends of the poles were held
by the hands, with the shoulders pressing against them. By this mode a
boy could leap off his stilts without risk. Some are used which do not
reach above the knee, round which the end is