ool, and when
the luncheon interval was heralded by the entrance of the loaf and the
exit of the masters, it did not occur to them to join in the general
rush that was made at the basket. And this was the sorry reward of good
manners!

The fact of the matter is that they were not merely new boys, and
therefore lawful game, but day-pupils. That was a grievance at
Brincliffe--a great grievance. It was only last term that the first
day-boy was admitted into Mr. West's establishment. More than one young
wiseacre had gloomily prophesied that Jim Bacon was the thin end of the
wedge. And now they gloated, "Didn't we say so?"

It is not easy to see at once what objection there could be to certain
boys attending the school and yet sleeping in their own homes. But a
rooted objection there undoubtedly was--all the stronger, perhaps,
because no valid reason for it could be stated.

Now for a few moments words took the place of missiles.

"You--you greedy, giggling gobblers--you!" This was from Mason, and he
was hungry. The "g's" came out in slow, studied jerks.

"And what are you, pray? A pack of pretty poppets! Mammy's darlings!
Must go home to by-by, mustn't you?" Sneering was Joe Green's forte.

Words failed Mason, but a small black-eyed lad, called Lewis Simmons,
took up the cudgels in his stead.

"I'd rather be a pretty poppet than an ugly chimpanzee like--_some_
people!"

"Hold your tongue, baby! Cheek me again, and you'll get smacked. We must
see that all you duckies go to bed at twelve for a little nap. You shall
have a nice beauty-sleep, you shall!"

"Don't answer! Swallow it down!" muttered Jack Brady, laying his hand on
Simmons's shoulder. "Let 'em have the last word if they're stuck on it.
We're only wasting breath."

"It's all very well, Brady, but they have treated us abominably! We'd
done nothing to them." Ethelbert Hughes, who said this in a low voice,
was Simmons's special chum, though a great contrast, being tall and
fair, with a gentle, quiet manner.

"Still, there's nothing gained by bandying names," returned Brady. "And
it isn't even amusing to listen to. A fellow's seldom funny and furious
at the same time.

"I don't care about words," said Mason, giving a fierce kick to the
basket. "I'm quite ready to bandy thumps, if they prefer it. But they
deserve trouncing in some way for a caddish trick like this."

"It was a bit rough on us, but they only meant it as a joke," persisted
Brady. "We must p