the last, I daresay."

The wonderful stand spoken of had not lasted two overs, but Edwards only
observed:

"It's mean."

"Not that I care," said Saurin.

"Of course not."

"Only I do hate spite and jealousy."

"He ought not to be captain."

"Bah! the soft-spoken humbug; it's a wonder to me that fellows don't see
through him."

"It _is_ strange," echoed the complacent Edwards.

The number 30 went up amidst a storm of clapping, and Saurin relapsed
into prudent silence, but he thought "hapes," like the Irishman's dumb
parrot. The dinner-bell rang, the pair were not separated, and the
score stood at 50.

"It will be a match yet," was the general opinion on the Weston side,
and their opponents also thought that the affair did not look quite such
a certainty, and agreed that they must not throw a chance away, though
they hoped much from dinner, which sometimes puts a batsman off his
play, the process of digestion inducing, especially in hot weather, a
certain heaviness which impairs that clearness of brain necessary for
timing a ball accurately. At the same time the bowlers would get a good
rest, and the left-handed artist, who had been acting as long-stop,
might reasonably be expected to regain his cunning. True that the
midday meal tells most upon the field, which very generally grows
sluggish after eating: but the Hillsborough boys fancied that would not
matter so much, if they could only separate those two.

But "those two" had a due sense of their responsibilities, and ate a
very moderate meal, which they washed down with nothing stronger than
water. They also played very careful cricket on first going in again,
and risked nothing until they had got their hands in. _Item_, Crawley
had mastered the left-handed bowler's favourite ball, and by playing
very forward hit it away before it took the dangerous twist. It looked
very risky, and the Hillsborough wicket-keeper was in constant hope of
stumping him, but he never missed, and scored off every ball of that
sort which came to him. When the same twisters came to Robarts he
played back, contenting himself with simply guarding his wickets with an
upright bat.

Altogether the two put 85 together before Robarts was caught at point.

As they were going in to dinner Crawley had said to Saurin:

"You go in the first wicket down. You showed good form in the first
innings, and it was a very unlucky ball that settled you so soon. But
you will have a good