rgil (which
he greatly disliked). In addition to that, Digby had received fifty
lines from Ainger for pea-shooting, which, not being handed in by the
required time, had doubled and trebled, and bade fair to become another
five hundred before they were done. And now he had received from
Railsford--from his beloved friend's future brother-in-law--seven pages
of School History to write out, of which he had accomplished one during
the detention hour, and had solemnly undertaken to complete the other
six before to-morrow. It spoke a good deal for the forbearance and good
spirits of the unfortunate baronet that he was not depressed by his
misfortunes.

Arthur, too, had come up with every idea of conducting himself as a
model boy, and becoming a great moral support to his future brother-in-
law. It had pained him somewhat to find that relative was not always as
grateful for his countenance as he should have been. Still, he bore him
no malice. The time would come when the elder would cry aloud to the
younger for aid, and he should get it.

Meanwhile, on this particular evening, Arthur found himself too busy,
getting the new study into what he termed ship-shape order, to be able
to adopt his friend's suggestion about the lines. His idea of ship-
shape did not in every particular correspond with the ordinary
acceptation of the term. He had brought down in his trunk several fine
works of art, selected chiefly from the sporting papers, and
representing stirring incidents in the lives of the chief prize-
fighters. These, after endeavouring to take out a few of the creases
contracted in the journey, he displayed over the fireplace and above the
door, attaching them to the wall by means of garden nails, which had an
awkward way of digging prodigious holes in the plaster and never
properly reaching the laths behind. Most of the pictures consequently
required frequent re-hanging, and by the end of the evening looked as if
they, like the shady characters painted on them, had been in the wars.

Then Arthur had produced with some pride a small set of bookshelves,
which packed away into a wonderfully small space, but which, when fitted
together, were large enough to accommodate as many books as he
possessed. The fitting together, however, was not very successful.
Some of the screws were lost, and had to be replaced by nails, and
having used the side-pieces for the shelves, and the shelves for the
sides, he and Dig had a good d