reat spree in his dormitory. One of the chaps had had a hamper
sent him, and they smuggled the grub upstairs; and when they thought the
coast was clear, they spread a sheet on the floor, and laid out the grub
as if it were on a table-cloth. The fellow who was standing treat was
rather a swell in his way, and among other things he'd got his jam put
out in a flat glass dish. It was a fine feed, and they'd just begun,
when they heard some one coming. They'd only just got time to turn out
the gas and jump into bed before the door opened, and in came one of the
masters called Weston. Well, of course, they all pretended to be
asleep. But the master had heard them scrambling about, and he walked
in the dark up the aisle between the beds, saying, 'Who's been out of
bed here?' Then all of a sudden he stuck his foot into the glass
jam-dish, and it slid along the floor, and down he came bang in the
middle of all the spread. John said that when the gas was lit they
couldn't help laughing at old Weston: he'd rammed one elbow into a box
of sardines, and there was a cheese-cake stuck in the middle of his
back. But oh, there was a row, I can tell you!"

This yarn produced others, and the time passed pleasantly enough, until
full justice had been done to the provisions, and hardly a crumb
remained.

"Phew! isn't it hot?" said Diggory; "let's open the window a bit.
The moon must be full," he continued, as he raised the sash; "it's
nearly as light as day. I can see all down the garden, and--hullo!
quick, put the candle out!"

Every one started to his feet, and the light was extinguished in a
moment.

"What is it--what's the matter?" they all asked. "There's some one in
the playground," whispered Diggory, as the others crowded round him.
"You see the door at the bottom of the garden; well, just when I spoke
some one opened it and looked up at the house, and then shut it again.
It must have been Blake, and he's seen our light."

"It can't be Blake," answered Acton; "he's gone to Fenley to play in a
cricket match, and isn't coming back till to-morrow morning. Old Welsby
went to bed hours ago; and, besides, what should either of them want to
be doing down there at this time of night? You must have been dreaming,
Diggy."

"No, I wasn't; I saw it distinctly. It must be old Blake. He's come
home sooner than he expected, and I shouldn't wonder if he's going
round by the road to take us by surprise."

"He can't do that," a