not? If the new boy won't do as the rest tell him, then fight it
out, if he won't give in!'

Leonard heaved a sigh of despair. 'There never was anything half so
stupid as a girl!' he exclaimed. 'Do you think if it was anything we
could settle off-hand like that I should ask you about it?'

'Well, tell me what it is, and I'll help you if I can. What is the new
boy like?' she asked.

'Oh, like most other fellows, I suppose, or at least he was the first
day, I know, for I took particular notice as he came into the class;
but the last day or two he has come in a jacket that ought to have
gone to the rag-bag three months ago, and----'

'But his jacket can't hurt you,' interrupted his sister, 'you don't
have to wear it.'

'You stupid duffer! don't he go to Torrington's, I tell you, and
haven't we got to stand up for the honour of the school?'

'Who--the boys or the head master?' asked Duffy innocently.

'Why, all of us, to be sure, and we mean to do it too. Why,
Torrington's is as good as Eton.'

'Oh yes, of course it's a good school,' admitted Duffy.

'Yes, and we mean to keep it so; we don't mean to have any cads among
us.'

'Is the new boy a cad, then?' asked his sister.

'He can't be anything else, if the story Bob Taylor has heard is true.
He brought it to school yesterday, and says he knows it is a fact
That the new fellow is a scholarship boy from one of those low board
schools in Middleton, and that he walks back to the town every day.'

'What is a scholarship boy?' asked Duffy.

'Why, a poor beggar who can't afford to pay his own schooling, and so
the County Council pay it for him.'

'What a shame!' exclaimed the young lady indignantly. 'Mamma was
saying only yesterday how much our schooling cost. Why don't the
County Council pay for us, especially as father has something to do
with it?'

Leonard shook his head. He either did not know or did not choose to
tell his sister the conditions upon which County Scholarships were
granted. He merely remarked, 'You're a dreadful duffer about some
things, Flo. But you could tell us what girls would do if their school
was going to be dragged down.'

But Florence shook her head. 'I don't know what we should do,' she
said, 'because I am not one of the elder girls, and we juniors don't
count for much; but if the girl weren't nice I should not speak to her
or help her with her lessons or anything.'

'Oh, the beggar don't want any help with _his_ lessons. He has