wounded opponent
and helped him to his feet.

"You'd better come out, Thurston," said the Ronleigh captain; "I'll send
the next man in."

"No, I'll go on," replied the other, in rather a shaky voice; "I shall
be all right in a minute."

It requires something more than ordinary pluck for a batsman to stand up
to fast bowling and show good form after having been badly hit. For a
time a great deal of determination, and the exercise of a considerable
amount of will power, are necessary to conquer the natural inclination
to shrink from a possible repetition of the injury; and those who
watched the dogged manner in which Thurston continued to defend his
wicket, being themselves practical cricketers, rewarded him with loud
shouts of encouragement and praise.

Oaks piled on the score with unflagging energy, while the careful play
of his companion defied all attempts of the Wraxby bowlers to dissolve
the partnership.

"Bravo, 'Thirsty!'" shouted the spectators. "Go 'long'--and another!"

At length, just as the telegraph operator had received the welcome
order, "A hundred up!" the ball shot, and crashed into Thurston's
wicket. He came slowly back from the pitch, still holding his hand to
the back of his head; and though his individual score had barely run
into double figures, he was greeted on all sides with hearty cheers.

Payne, the last man, just succeeded in cracking his _duck's-egg_, and
the innings closed for 104.

As the fielders came trooping in, a small boy ran past the Third Form
encampment exclaiming, "I say, you chaps, old Punch is in the lower
road, over by that tree!" Which announcement had no sooner been made
than the greater part of "The Happy Family" sprang to their feet, and
went scampering across the field in the direction of the opposite hedge.

The cause of this stampede, it must be explained, was the arrival of an
itinerant vendor of ice-cream, whose real name, Samuel Jones, had been
changed to Punch on account of the prominence of his nasal organ.
His presence within the grounds of Ronleigh College was not approved of
by the authorities, and his trade with the small boys, who were his
particular patrons, was carried on through a gap in the hedge.
Punch's establishment ran on four wheels, and was ornamented with a
number of daubs representing Union Jacks and Royal Standards, which
formed the framework of an alarming portrait of the Prince of Wales,
from which adornment one might be led to supp