s being thrown at him, the clothes
pulled from him by means of a carefully-arranged cord, and playful
tricks of that sort, of which both he and Harry had been the victims as
the latest recruits to the dormitory. The great event of the morrow
caused everything else to be forgotten.

Paul, meantime, had not had a very pleasant time of it. It had been with
the greatest difficulty he had induced Stanley to stay away from the
meeting of his form. After the meeting, one or two pointed allusions
were made to his absence by his class-mates, and to make these cut the
deeper, he overheard Parfitt say to Devey:

"You were quite right in shouting for Percival. He came out better than
I thought. It's the other fellow who's so contemptible--getting his
friend to call a meeting to white-wash him, and do all the dirty work.
He'd be hounded out of any decent school."

These remarks were made loud enough for Stanley to hear, and for his
special benefit. Though he knew well enough that he was "the other
fellow" referred to, he could not speak. Nevertheless, he felt angry
with himself for allowing Paul to persuade him to stay away from the
meeting. Then, from feeling angry with himself, he felt angry with Paul,
and the reception he gave him on his return was not a very cordial one.

"What have you been saying about me?" he demanded.

"Nothing that could harm you," smiled Paul. "It's all right between you
and Newall. The quarrel's settled."

"But how is it settled? You haven't made me swallow dirt, have you?"

"I think not," answered Paul, wounded at the suggestion. "You ought to
know me better than that."

For the first time there was a rift between the two friends. Paul did
not tell Stanley what had happened at the meeting, but left him to find
out. He heard all about it from Waterman--the easy-going, indolent
Waterman.

"Going to fight a Beetle, is he?" said Stanley, when Waterman had ended.
"It was good of him to take my part, but I wish he hadn't let me down
so."

But when he met Paul in the dormitory that night, he only remembered
that he was his friend, and that he was going to fight for the honour of
the Form on the morrow.

"I'm sorry I spoke so hastily, Paul," he whispered. "Forgive me."

The next afternoon was a holiday for both Garside and St. Bede's. It was
for this reason that the challenge had been fixed for that date.
Cranstead Common was midway between the two schools, and the sand-pit
was in an open part of