ny particular boy. He therefore decided wisely
to wait till the usual time when Wyndham was in the habit of coming to
his study to do his lessons. Meanwhile, to make sure of his coming, he
sent him a message by Cusack to tell him to be sure and turn up.

Cusack, little suspecting the importance of this simple message,
delivered it glibly, and being of course brimful of the excitement of
the hour, he remained a little to regale Wyndham with a history of the
afternoon's events.

"Oh, I say," said he, "you weren't at Parliament this afternoon. There
was no end of a shine on."

"Was there?" asked Wyndham.

"Rather. What do you think, those young Parrett's cads came down in a
body and kicked up the biggest row you ever saw--said they were a club,
and made no end of beasts of themselves, and got kicked out at last, and
serve them right too."

"They're always fooling about at something," said Wyndham.

"That they are. They want a good taking down, and we mean to do it next
week in the junior house match."

"Ah," said Wyndham, who amid all his recent troubles could never forget
that he was a second-eleven man. "Ah, I heard the juniors' match was to
come off. What day is it to be?"

"Thursday."

"Oh, I must come and have a look at you. Is Welch's going to win?"

"Going to try, and I fancy we're pretty fair. They've been lazy, you
know, in Parrett's, and so we get a pull there. Oh, but I was saving
that row with the kids wasn't all this afternoon. Just at the end that
cad Wibberly got up and asked Riddell some more about the boat-race--
they're always hammering away at that, and what do you think Riddell
said--guess!"

"I can't," said Wyndham.

"Why he said he knew who the chap was who had cut the strings, or
fancied he did!"

"Who is it?" exclaimed Wyndham, excitedly.

"That's what he won't say. And of course there's an awful row on. They
say they'll make him tell, or kick him out of the school or something.
They're in no end of a rage."

"Why doesn't he tell who it is?" asked Wyndham.

"Oh, he says he's not sure, or something like that. But I dare say
he'll tell you all about it this evening. You're to be sure and turn
up, he says, at preparation time."

And off went this vivacious messenger, leaving Wyndham in a considerable
state of astonishment and perturbation.

What did Riddell want him for? He had not seen him since that evening,
a week ago, when he had so nearly confessed to him ab