s more to the point, and Rupert, with secret amusement and
enjoyment, heard sounds as of heavy furniture being removed and bolts
and bars drawn back. A small space was made in the doorway and the boy
slipped through. For a moment he paused, bewildered. In the hall was
such a collection of furniture that there was but a few clear yards'
space. A sideboard, several chairs, a music-stool, and two fenders had
evidently been piled up to barricade the door. A frightened maid held
the garden squirt, a pail of water by her side, and in the background
stood Miss Aleyn, poker in hand, with a grim expression that boded ill
for any intruder. Mrs. Leslie regarded her son with some alarm.

Fervently wishing himself in any region away from this one, Britt
blurted out abruptly the reason of his errand. It took Miss Aleyn some
time to understand his meaning, but when she did, Britt bitterly
regretted his wonderful invention. The old lady's tongue was caustic,
and her language eloquent, and this occasion was not one to be lost. For
a truly bad quarter of an hour she instilled into poor Britt a sense of
his folly and faults, and finally demanded his services in replacing the
disordered furniture.

For reasons best known to himself, this unexpected development of his
scheme was never revealed by Britt to the other boys. He did not
encourage a repetition of the game, nor show any pleasure in its
success. As a rule, when new ideas are sought after by Dr.
Simpson-Martyn's pupils, Britt now follows Brer Rabbit's excellent
example: he lies low and says nothing.

[Illustration: "He was greeted by a jet of water."]

[Illustration: "His shoulder caught me as he passed."]

ROUND THE CAMP-FIRE.

IV.--A FIGHT WITH A RHINOCEROS.

(_Concluded from page 131._)

The tragedy (continued Vandeleur) took place _after_ the rhinoceros
adventure, but shall be told before it.

After a fortnight Umkopo was quite himself again, and began to go about
with me on my hunting expeditions into the veldt. At the end of a month
something happened which suddenly ended our relations for the time
being. One day, as I sat at dinner, I heard shoutings outside the camp,
and the sounds of quarrelling among the native attendants. Presently a
man was brought into the zareeba, apparently unconscious; four men
carried him, and a fifth--Umkopo--followed the procession, looking dark
and forbidding; evidently in the worst of humours.

The wounded man was Billy, and