qualities
of his noisy young pupils to some good purpose, he went straight to the
doctor and told him what he had done.

Dr Patrick fully approved of the decision of his colleague, and while
on the subject opened his mind to him on the question of the discipline
of Willoughby generally.

"Have you been able to judge at all of the order of the school lately,
Parrett?" he said.

"Well, sir," said Mr Parrett, "I'm not sure that it is as good as it
should be. Of course, it was an experiment making Riddell captain,
particularly as he is not generally popular."

"His unpopularity arises from no cause in himself," said the doctor; "if
it did I would not have put him in the post. But he will live it down--
in fact, he is doing so now, I fancy."

"I think he is," said Mr Parrett. "The great difficulty is to get him
to assert himself."

"I trust," said the doctor, after a pause, "there is no truth in the
report that Bloomfield and the monitors of your house are trying to set
up a counter authority to Riddell's."

"It is true," said Mr Parrett; "and it is the secret of most of the bad
order in the school. But I am not sure, sir, whether it is a matter you
would do well to notice. It is one of the difficulties which Riddell
has to live down, and which bring him out more than anything else. He
has made his mark already on the usurpers."

"You are quite right," said the doctor. "I would rather leave a
difficulty like that to right itself. And I dare say the reason Riddell
is so slow in asserting himself, as you say, is that in his own house he
really has not much to do."

"Exactly," said Mr Parrett.

The doctor paused for a moment and then started on an apparently fresh
topic.

"I am afraid Welch's house is no better than it was."

"How can it be?" said Mr Parrett. "It has not a single senior of
influence or even character in it."

"And more than that," added the doctor, "it contains a few boys--one or
two only, I hope--whose influence is distinctly bad."

Mr Parrett nodded.

"A change of some sort must be made," said the doctor. "It has occurred
to me, Parrett, quite recently, that Riddell might do better there."

Mr Parrett opened his eyes wide.

"You are astonished," said the doctor. "So was I when I first thought
of it. But Riddell is a safe man, if slow, and his influence is just
what is wanted in Welch's. Besides, Fairbairn would make an excellent
head for the schoolhouse. What do you think?