poles.
For the high jump was one of the great events of the day. Mr Bickers
became mixed up in the crowd, and saw that it was hopeless to attempt
further parley. He turned on his heel, and the fellows made a lane for
him to pass out. As he got clear, and began slowly to retreat to his
own house, the boys raised a loud defiant cheer. But whether this was
to hail his departure or to greet the appearance of Barnworth and Wake,
ready stripped for the fray, it would be difficult to say. But
whichever it was, Mr Bickers seemed by no means discomfited. He turned
and caught sight of the head and shoulders of his rival towering among
his boys, and he smiled to himself and tapped the letter in his hand.

"Not a moment to spare!" said he to himself. "Good. We can wait. You
may not be in such a hurry to get rid of me when you do read it; and
your dear boys may change their minds about their hero, too," added he,
as a fresh cheer, mingled with a "Huzza for Railsford," was wafted
across the fields.

CHAPTER FIFTEEN.

MR. BICKERS PREFERS THE DOOR TO THE WINDOW.

The history of the great events of Railsford's sports were so faithfully
chronicled at the time by Arthur Herapath in a long letter to his sister
Daisy, that it would be presumption on my part, with that valuable
document lying before me, to attempt to narrate in my own words what has
been so much more vivaciously described by my young friend. Arthur was
great at letter-writing, especially to his sister. And there is small
doubt that, with the aid of a slang dictionary and a little imagination
on her own part, that sympathetic young person was usually able to catch
the drift of her young brother's rollicking lucubrations.

"Dear Da. Thanks awfully for the bob."

A good many of Arthur's letters began with this curious observation.
Whether this particular "bob" had reference to Railsford's testimonial
or not, the writer cannot speak positively.

"We had a ripping time at our sports, and licked all the records but
three. No end of a crow for us. The School's tearing its hair all over
the place, and our fellows have been yelling for two days without
stopping. It's a jolly good job that row about Bickers came on when it
did, as our chaps would never have pulled themselves together as they
did without it. Nobody wants to find the chap out now; so your
particular is all serene up to now, and I don't mean to drip and spoil
his game." (We wonder what Daisy