ey reached the study.
"However did you do it?"

"Dear-r man" said McTurk, embracing Beetle's head with both arms, while
he swayed it to and fro on the neck, in time to this ancient burden--

"Pretty lips--sweeter than--cherry or plum.
Always look--jolly and--never look glum;
Seem to say--Come away. Kissy!--come, come!
Yummy-yum! Yummy-yum! Yummy-yum-yum!"

"Look out. You'll smash my gig-lamps," puffed Beetle, emerging. "Wasn't
it glorious? Didn't I 'Eric' 'em splendidly? Did you spot my cribs
from King? Oh, blow!" His countenance clouded. "There's one adjective
I didn't use--obscene. Don't know how I forgot that. It's one of King's
pet ones, too."

"Never mind. They'll be sendin' ambassadors round in half a shake to
beg us not to tell the school. It's a deuced serious business for them,"
said McTurk. "Poor Sixth--poor old Sixth!"

"Immoral young rips," Stalky snorted. "What an example to pure-souled
boys like you and me!"

And the Sixth in Carson's study sat aghast, glowering at Tulke, who was
on the edge of tears. "Well," said the head-prefect acidly. "You've made
a pretty average ghastly mess of it, Tulke."

"Why--why didn't you lick that young devil Beetle before he began
jawing?" Tulke wailed.

"I knew there'd be a row," said a prefect of Prout's house. "But you
would insist on the meeting, Tulke."

"Yes, and a fat lot of good it's done us," said Naughten. "They come in
here and jaw our heads off when we ought to be jawin' them. Beetle talks
to us as if we were a lot of blackguards and--and all that. And
when they've hung us up to dry, they go out and slam the door like a
house-master. All your fault, Tulke."

"But I didn't kiss her."

"You ass! If you'd said you _had_ and stuck to it, it would have been
ten times better than what you did," Naughten retorted. "Now they'll
tell the whole school--and Beetle'll make up a lot of beastly rhymes and
nick-names."

"But, hang it, she kissed me!" Outside of his work, Tulke's mind moved
slowly.

"I'm not thinking of you. I'm thinking of us. I'll go up to their study
and see if I can make 'em keep quiet!"

"Tulke's awf'ly cut up about this business," Naughten began,
ingratiatingly, when he found Beetle.

"Who's kissed him this time?"

"--and I've come to ask you chaps, and especially you, Beetle, not to
let the thing be known all over the school. Of course, fellows as senior
as you are can easily see why."

"Um!" said Beetle, with the cold