us juniors he was utterly easy-going, perhaps in token of his
gratitude for the assistance we had rendered him at a critical time; but
chiefly, I fear, because he was slack to check anything which seemed to
defy constituted authority or promised to give an uneasy time to the
representatives of law and order.

To do us credit, we availed ourselves of his licence to the uttermost.
Sharpe's rapidly became known as the "rowdy" house at Low Heath, and we
grew almost proud of the distinction. Mr Sharpe, an amiable bookworm,
made periodical mild expostulations, which were always most
deferentially received, and most invariably neglected.

If any reader thinks (as we flattered ourselves at the time) that Mr
Jarman was the cause of all this state of things, let me tell him he is
as stupid as we young fools then were.

It's all very well to stand up for your rights, but the way to do it is
not by letting everything go wrong. If poor old Tempest had taken a
bigger view of things, he would have seen that the way to pay Jarman out
was by making Sharpe's house the crack house of Low Heath in spite of
him. But how hard it is to see just what the right thing is at the
time! So I do not propose to throw stones at anybody, whatever the
reader may do.

The Philosophers of course duly entered a record of the transactions
just related in their minutes, the reading of which occupied the whole
of one of the extraordinary general meetings of their club.

One could never say what line Langrish would take up; and I as president
always had my qualms in calling upon him to read the minutes of the
previous meeting.

On the present occasion our meeting was held one half-holiday late in
the term, in mid-stream, on a barge which, in the course of a
"scientific" ramble, we found in a forlorn condition, about a mile above
Low Heath. It was empty, and neither horse nor man nor boy was there to
betoken that it had an owner.

Being capacious, though dirty--for it was evidently in the habit of
carrying coal--it struck us generally that in the interests of
philosophy we should explore it. The result being satisfactory, it was
moved and seconded and carried that the club hereby hold an
extraordinary meeting.

Objection was taken to the proximity of our meeting-place to the
bank--"in case some of the day louts should be fooling about," as
Warminster explained. Thereupon, with herculean efforts, we shoved out
the stern across stream, the prow b