e carefully kept this fact to himself, it was
the underlying meaning of what he told her when he said it would make
no difference to him at school whether he wore a new or an old jacket.

Of the bitterness underlying the words that were said, that she should
not spend too much on his clothes, she knew nothing. Indeed, after the
first week or two Horace was very reticent about what passed at
school, rarely mentioned a schoolfellow by name, and seemed absorbed
in his lessons all the evening. He talked sometimes to Fred about his
mysterious idea, which she knew was connected with chemistry; but
beyond this she knew very little of her boy's life at this time.
Sometimes he looked worried as he sat poring over his books, as though
they were a little beyond his power, she thought; and then she would
say, 'Now, Horace, if you are getting tired, give it up. You know
going to this school is quite an experiment for you, and if you fail
to keep up with the rest it will be no disgrace to own it. You have
been looking pale the last day or two.'

'I feel quite well, mother; and as to keeping up with the rest, well,
you should see the young giant who is always at the bottom of the
class.' And Horace laughed as he mentally recalled the perpetually
yawning figure of Curtis, with his back propped against the wall. 'I
believe he would go to sleep outright if it wasn't for the master
saying, "Now, Curtis, keep your ears and eyes open!"'

'Poor fellow! perhaps he does not feel able to do the work,' said Mrs.
Howard pityingly.

'Well, he doesn't let lessons trouble him much. He and "the cock of
the walk," that's another big chap who doesn't care much about books,
they take it pretty easy, except when they get an "impot," and that
takes all their dinner time.'

'And what do you do at dinner time?' asked his brother at this point.

'Eat my dinner, to be sure,' answered Horace.

'Well, you don't look much the better for it. Mother, I'm going to be
paid an extra shilling a week, and I vote it goes in dinners for the
boy with an idea,' said Fred.

'No! No! I can do very well, and I enjoy my dinner hours now, for I
often go up to the "lab.," and have a nice time to myself. Mr. Skeats
told me I might go, if I did not take any of the other boys with me.
You see, some of them might get up to larks, and----'

'Why don't you get up to larks?' interrupted his brother.

Horace laughed, 'Oh, you know that isn't much in my way, and there's
room