people. Not bullying, but--"

"Oh, you mean tongue-thrashing?" said Glyn.

"Yes, that's it, tongue-thrashing. I wouldn't mind then. I feel so
ashamed of myself."

"All right. So do I, I suppose, for making a mess of it when I wanted
the dad to think that I had managed you so well that I was making myself
fit to be your friend and companion when we both grew up to be men."

The next minute the lads were busy making their preparations to descend
for a little study before the breakfast-bell should ring; and as he
washed and dressed, Glyn's brow looked wrinkled and cloudy, for he was
thinking very seriously all the while.

On the other hand, Singh dressed himself as if he had a quarrel with
everything. He chipped the edge of the basin as he handled the ewer,
dropped the lid of the soap-dish with a clatter, and as he washed
himself he burst out with an angry ejaculation, for the wet soap was
gripped so tightly and viciously that it flew out of his hand as if in
fear, and dived right under the bed to the farthest end, where it had to
be hunted out and retrieved, covered with the flue that had been
forgotten by one of the maids; while the way in which he finished off
with his towel was harsh enough to produce a smarting sensation upon his
skin.

CHAPTER THIRTY FOUR.

A WITNESS CALLED.

Neither of the boys enjoyed his breakfast that morning, and their
studies afterwards fared very badly, for their attention was principally
directed from their books to the door, which opened again and again for
some reason or another, but not for the delivery of the message they
expected.

Knowing the military precision of the Colonel, both boys began to wonder
at a quarter-past eleven why they had not been summoned, for the Colonel
had said in his curt epistle to Glyn--which "looked cross," so the boy
said--that he would be at the Doctor's at eleven.

Half-past was marked by the hands of the big dial, quarter to twelve,
and then five minutes to mid-day, and in a few minutes the masters would
rise; but there was no summons, and, what was more, the Doctor had not
been in the class-room that morning.

It was exactly one minute to twelve, and just as Singh's spirits were
rising fast from the effect of having fully settled in his own mind that
the Colonel would not come down that day, that his heart sank with a
rush, for Wrench entered with the familiar announcement that the Doctor
wished to see Mr Severn and Mr Singh in his