o stop away," cried Newall. "Why, it's because of
him we've come here."

"Excuse me," answered Paul politely. "It's because of me. At any rate,
it's for the Form to decide."

"Percival called the Form together. It's for Percival to explain," said
Hasluck.

"I'll explain as well as I can," said Paul, taking a step forward, and
glancing round at the faces bent eagerly forward to hear him. "There was
a slight shindy, as you all know, on the first day of term, between
Newall and Stanley Moncrief."

"Shindy!" interrupted Newall with a scornful sniff. "Is that all you
call it?"

"Call it by what name you please; I don't mind," proceeded Paul calmly.
"Newall baited Moncrief's cousin unmercifully, and Moncrief did what any
other fellow in the Form worth his salt would have done--interfered. I
tried to get between him and Newall to stop the quarrel. You know what
happened--Newall was struck."

"Yes, Newall was struck," repeated Newall grimly.

"Yes; but after all Moncrief had a good deal the worst of it. He passed
the night in Dormitory X--ten times worse punishment than anything
Newall got; so he more than wiped out the blow he gave in anger to
Newall."

"Oh, stop this humbug," interrupted Newall angrily. "You can see what
Percival's up to. He's trying to white-wash Moncrief, who's too big a
funk to come here to defend himself."

There were murmurs of assent from some of those present, who resented
Moncrief's absence, and who were not favourably inclined to a tame
ending of the quarrel. The more thoughtful section remained silent.

"It would have been better, I think, for Moncrief to have been here,"
said Hasluck. And this view was received with applause.

"If there's any blame for that," said Paul quickly, "blame me. As I've
said, I persuaded him to stay away. With Moncrief here and Newall here,
it would have been like two barrels of gunpowder. Just a spark,
and--phwitt! bang--where should we all have been? There'd have been
nothing left of us."

This time Paul carried his audience with him. They were well aware that
Moncrief was hasty in temper, and that Newall was no less fiery. So they
smiled at Paul's description of what might probably have happened if the
two had been present.

"Besides, as I've already pointed out to Newall," continued Paul, "if
there's a quarrel at all, it lies between me and him."

"Stuff--gammon--more humbug!" interrupted Newall angrily.

"That's what you think," said Paul, confron