cket-money, and saw very little chance of raising
the wind for so large an amount again. Yet it seemed his only hope.

"Would that make it all right?" he asked.

"I might think about it," said Silk, with a sweet smile--"under
conditions."

"I don't know how I can manage it," said Wyndham; "but I'll try. And
you won't mind, then, my going to the doctor?"

"What! do you suppose I'm fool enough to let you do it before I have the
money?" exclaimed Silk. "You must have a nice opinion of me!"

It was no use urging further; Wyndham saw he had got all he could hope
for. It was little better than nothing, for before he could get the
money--if he got it at all--the explosion might have come, and he would
be expelled. If only Riddell, now, would wait a little longer!

As the thought crossed his mind he became aware that the captain was
slowly approaching the bench on which he and Silk were sitting. It was
anything but pleasant for the boy, after all that had happened, to be
discovered thus, in close companionship with the very fellow he had
promised to avoid, and whom he had all along acknowledged to be the
cause of his troubles.

His instinct was to spring from his place and either escape or meet
Riddell. But Silk saw the intention in time and forbade it.

"No," said he, with a laugh; "don't run away as if you were ashamed of
it. Stay where you are; let him see you keep good company now and
then."

"Oh, I must go!" exclaimed the boy; "he'll think all sorts of things.
He'll think I'm such a hypocrite after what I promised him. Oh, do let
me go!"

His agitation only increased the amusement of his tormentor, who, with a
view to give the captain as vivid an impression as possible, laid his
hand affectionately on the boy's arm and beamed most benignantly upon
him. It was no use for Wyndham to resist. After all, suspicious as it
might appear, he was doing nothing wrong.

And yet, what _would_ Riddell think?

The captain was pacing the Big in a moody, abstracted manner, and at
first appeared not to notice either the bench or its occupants.
Wyndham, as he sat and trembled in Silk's clutches, wildly hoped
something might cause him to turn aside or back. But no, he came
straight on, and in doing so suddenly caught sight of the two boys.

He started and flushed quickly, and for a moment it looked as if he were
inclined to make a wild dash to rescue the younger boy from the
companionship in which he found him. Bu