im away; his teeth were so firmly set in the handkerchief that
that came too. No one is a hero at all hours, and Wobbler came as near
being frightened as a soldier or a pugilist can be supposed, without
libel, to do. This made him angry, and he used language towards the dog
and his anatomy, and his own anatomy, which is not customary in polite
society. Stubbs carried the offender down to his kennel and chained him
up, and on his return offered a peace-offering of beer, which was well
meant but unkind, seeing that the professor was in training and
restricted as to his potations. However, Topper's fangs had not broken
the skin, thanks to the handkerchief, though certainly not to Topper.
Mr Wobbler recovered his equanimity, and affably condescended to
apologise for his remarks.

"I'm almost afeard as I swore, gents," he observed, and his fear was
certainly well founded. "I was a trifled startled, you see, and
expressed myself as I felt, strong. Bull-terriers is nice dogs, and I'm
very partial to them, in their proper place, but that's not a hanging on
to my wind pipe; at least that's _my_ opinion. But I'm sorry if I spoke
rough, which is not in my habits. Nobody can say that Job Wobbler is
uncivil to his backers or his patrons."

A speech which was perhaps rather lacking in dignity for a professor.
The lesson then went on, and was succeeded by others, sometimes in the
room, sometimes in the orchard, according to the weather. And when the
pupils had attained a certain degree of proficiency they were paired off
against one another, first for leads-off, at the head, parry and return
at the body, stop and return at the head, and so forth. Finally, for
loose sparring, the professor standing by and stopping them when they
got wild, or began punching indiscriminately. Saurin made considerable
progress, and was a long way the best of the class--so much so, indeed,
that he had to play lightly with the others, or they would not all set
to with him. Even such a critic as Slam expressed his approval, and
this superiority was sugar and sack to Saurin, being indeed the first
consolation he had received since the mortification of being turned out
of the eleven. But, alas! sparring was not a recognised item of Weston
athletics, and he could not gain the applause of the whole school by his
proficiency, which was only known to a very few of the initiated.
Unless, indeed,--and here a thought which had long lain dormant in his
m