eerfully endure. The
one idea in his mind was, not how to punish the house for its disorder,
but how to settle scores with Bickers for restoring order; not how to
admonish the incompetent prefects, but how to justify them against their
accuser.

He sent for the four prefects to his room before bed hour. Ainger and
Barnworth, it was plain to see, had been informed of all that had
happened, and were in a more warlike mood even than their two
companions.

"I hear," said Railsford, "that there was a disturbance in the house
while I was away for a short time this evening. Ainger and Barnworth of
course were out too, but I should like to hear from you, Stafford and
Felgate, what it was all about."

Stafford allowed Felgate to give his version; which was, like most of
Felgate's versions, decidedly apocryphal.

"There was rather a row, sir," said he, "among some of the juniors.
Some of them were wrestling, I fancy. As soon as we saw what was going
on, Stafford and I came to stop it, when Mr Bickers turned up and sent
us to our rooms. We told him we had been left in charge by you, but he
would not listen."

"Very annoying!" said the master.

"It's rather humiliating to our house, sir," said Ainger, "if our
prefects are not to be allowed to deal with our own fellows."

"I agree with you," said Mark, warmly. "I have no reason whatever for
doubting that they can and will do their duty when--"

He had intended to say "when they are not interfered with," but deemed
it more prudent to say, "when occasion requires."

"We could easily have stopped the row, sir," said Stafford, "if we had
been allowed to do so."

"I have no doubt of it," said the master. "I am glad to have had this
little explanation. The honour of our house is of common interest to
all of us."

A week ago this speech would have seemed a mere commonplace exhortation,
but under present circumstances it had a double meaning for those
present.

"He's a brick," said Ainger, as they returned to their studies. "He
means to back us up, after all, and pay Bickers out."

"What surprises me," said Barnworth, "is that Stafford, the bull-dog,
did not invite the intruder out into the square and impress the honour
of our house with two black marks on each of his eyes."

"I'm just as glad," said Felgate, "it's all happened. We shouldn't have
got Railsford with us if--"

"If you'd done your duty, and stopped the row the moment it began," said
Ainger; who,