d get or keep ahead of Joe Cape; and that Hugh must take his
chance, and work his own way, as other boys had to do. This conduct
might not be wondered at in Phil; but it hurt Hugh, and made him do his
lessons all the worse. He did not like to expose his brother's
unkindness to any one, or he would oftener have asked Firth to help him.
Firth, too, had plenty of work of his own to do. More than once,
however, Firth met the little lad, wandering about, with his grammar in
his hand, in search of the hidden Phil; and then Firth would stop him,
and sit down with him, and have patience, and give him such clear
explanations, such good examples of the rules he was to learn, that it
all became easy, and Hugh found his lessons were to him only what those
of other boys seemed to them. Still, however, and at the best, Hugh was,
as a learner, far too much at the mercy of circumstances--the victim of
what passed before his eyes, or was said within his hearing.

Boys who find difficulty in attending to their lessons are sure to be
more teased with interruptions than any others. Holt had not the habit
of learning; and he and Hugh were continually annoyed by the boys who
sat near them watching how they got on, and making remarks upon them.
One day, Mr. Tooke was called out of the school-room to a visitor, and
Mr. Carnaby went up to take the master's place, and hear his class. This
was too good an opportunity for the boys below to let slip; and they
began to play tricks,--most of them directed against Hugh and Tom Holt.
One boy, Warner, began to make the face that always made Holt laugh,
however he tried to be grave. Page drew a caricature of Mrs. Watson on
his slate, and held it up; and Davison took a mask out of his desk, and
even ventured to tie it on, as if it had not been school-time.

"I declare I can't learn my lesson--'tis too bad!" cried Hugh.

"'Tis a shame!" said Tom Holt, sighing for breath after his struggle not
to laugh. "We shall never be ready."

Hugh made gestures of indignation at the boys, which only caused worse
faces to be made, and the mask to nod.

"We wont look at them," proposed Holt. "Let us cover our eyes, and not
look up at all."

Hugh put his hands before his eyes; but still his mind's eye saw the
grinning mask, and his lesson did not get on. Besides, a piece of wet
sponge lighted on the very page he was learning from. He looked up
fiercely, to see who had thrown it. It was no other than Tooke, who
belon