MARLBOROUGH COLLEGE. 45 



" Then how pleased your nephew must have been to get one," 

 somebody remarked, " for I suppose he does not get much cake at 

 school ! " 



" But stay ! " exclaimed the uncle, as he poured some cream into 

 his cup, " I was going to explain, when you interrupted me ; I was 

 about to tell my housekeeper to send the urchin one of the next 

 lot she made, when, much to my surprise, and I may add also, 

 to my sorrow, I received a letter from my nephew, saying that he 

 hoped I would send him five shillings too." 



" Well now, I call that very covetous ! " another caller cried, 

 " pray, what did you do ? " 



" Do ! why, of course, I sent him neither." 



Whatever my father and mother may have thought about the 

 sweeping condemnation which arrived from school, it was received 

 with great indignation by the various members of the household, 

 and also in the stables and the garden. My father at once wrote off 

 for further information, whilst my mother, thinking that there must 

 some mistake, made me scrawl a letter to a magician or whatever 

 he called himself, who about that time undertook, for a fee, to 

 delineate character from handwriting. I passed the time until the 

 answers came in considerable alarm, for I knew too well my utter 

 helplessness to defend myself, whatever might be said ; and, more- 

 over, there were two high crimes and misdemeanours which I thought 

 might possibly be scored against me. 



The first was this : one day my master unexpectedly ordered all 

 his class to bring for his inspection any books of light reading 

 which we possessed ; although very few of the boys had any to 

 produce, I happened to have two, and these soon found their way to 

 the master's desk. One was " The Newgate Calendar," which was 

 confiscated at once, with the withering remark that it was clear 

 I contemplated gaining my daily bread on the Queen's highway, or, 

 " As a plough-boy," my master added, after a pause, which was 

 spent in examining my other book, Howitt's " Boys' Country Life." 

 I can hardly suppose that this latter book was " bagged," as we 



