thing to my Archie, for the last time I saw him, as I'm
a livin' woman, there wasna more than two inches of his necktie left,
and he was fishing his new Balmoral bonnet out of the water-barrel in
the playground. Ye needna expect peace if the Almichty give ye laddies,
but I wouldna change them for lassies--na, na, I'll no' go that length."

And the two matrons sustained themselves with the thought that if their
boys were only a mere wreck of what they had been in the morning, other
people's boys were no better, and some of them were worse, for one of
them had inflicted such damages on his trousers that, although he was
able to face the public, he had to retire as from the royal presence;
nor was it at all unlike the motherly mind to conceive a malignant
dislike to the few boys who were spick and span, and to have a certain
secret pride even in their boys' disorder, which at any rate showed that
they were far removed from the low estate of lassies.

The great function of the day came off at two o'clock, and before the
hour the hall was packed with fathers, mothers, sisters, elder brothers,
uncles, aunts, cousins and distant relatives of the boys, while the boys
themselves, beyond all control and more dishevelled than ever, were
scattered throughout the crowd. Some were sitting with their parents and
enduring a rapid toilet at the hands of their mothers; others were
gathered in clumps and arranging a reception for the more unpopular
prize-winners; others were prowling up and down the passages, exchanging
sweetmeats and responding (very coldly) to the greeting of relatives in
the seats, for the black terror that hung over every Seminary lad was
that he would be kissed publicly by a maiden aunt. Mr. Peter McGuffie
senior came in with the general attention of the audience, and seated
himself in a prominent place with Speug beside him. Not that Mr.
McGuffie took any special interest in prize-givings, and certainly not
because Speug had ever appeared in the character of a prize-winner. Mr.
McGuffie's patronage was due to his respect for the Count and his high
appreciation of what he considered the Count's sporting offer, and Mr.
McGuffie was so anxious to sustain the interest of the proceedings that
he was willing, although he admitted that he had no tip, to have a bet
with anyone in his vicinity on the winning horse. He also astonished his
son by offering to lay a sovereign on Nestie coming in first and half
a length ahead, wh