postponed
for three-quarters of an hour--a concession made up for by the sacrifice
of the usual half-hour's interval between breakfast and first lesson.

This arrangement was all against Parson, who, if the half-hour had been
still available, could at least have skimmed through his Caesar, and
perhaps have begged a friend to help him with the French verbs, and
possibly even have had it out with Pilbury for his morning's diversion.
As it was, there was no opportunity for the performance of any one of
these duties, and at the sound of the pitiless bell he slunk into first
lesson, feeling himself a doomed man.

His one hope was Telson. Telson sat next him in class, and, he knew
well, would help him if he could.

"Telson," he groaned, directly he found himself beside his faithful
ally, "I've not looked at it!"

Telson whistled. "There'll be a row," he muttered, consolingly; "it's a
jolly hard bit."

"Haven't you got the crib?"

Telson looked uncomfortable. "Riddell caught me with it and made me
give it up."

"What on earth business has Riddell with your cribs, I'd like to know?"
exclaimed Parson, indignant, not at all on the question of morality, but
because the last straw on which he had relied for scrambling through his
Caesar had failed him.

"He didn't take it, but he advised me to give it up."

"And you were fool enough to give in to him?"

"Well, he made out it wasn't honourable to use cribs," said Telson.

"Grandmother!" snarled Parson. "Why, Telson, I didn't think you'd have
been such a soft!"

"No more did I, but somehow--oh! I'm awfully sorry, old man; I'll try
and get it back."

"Doesn't much matter," said Parson, resignedly. "I'm in for it hot to-
day."

"I'll prompt you all I can," said the repentant Telson.

"Thanks; I'd do the same to you if I could," replied Parson.

"It is a long lane that has no turning," as the proverb says, and
Parson, after all, was destined to enjoy one brief glimpse of the smiles
of fortune that day. The first boy put up to translate stumbled over a
somewhat intricate point of syntax. Now Mr Warton, the master--as the
manner of many masters is--was writing a little book on Latin Syntax,
and this particular passage happened to be a superb example of a certain
style of construction which till this moment had escaped his notice.
Delighted with the discovery, he launched out into a short lecture on
the subject generally, citing all the examples he had already