The Gold Bat

ed the out-of-the-way nooksand dens at the top of the buildings where the mathematical masterswere wont to lurk, and spent a pleasant two hours there playing roundgames or reading fiction

k during a mathematics lesson would havestruck him as a positive waste of time, especial

amused themselves accordingly. One of theadvantages of being under him was that it was possible to

h Mr Morgan itwas not quite so easy to date one's expulsion from the room underordinary circumstances, and in the normal wear an

had been built round it, others thatit had been placed in the room in infancy, and had since grown. Torefer the question to Mr Morgan would, in six cases out of ten, meaninstant departure from the room. But to make the event certain, it wasne

orning. O'Hara would then so arrange matters withMr Banks that they could meet in the passage

e at the trysting-plac

rststep had to be to arouse in him an interest in life, to bring him intoa frame of mind which would induce him to look severely rather thanleniently on the next offender. This was effected as follows:--It was Mr Banks' practice to set his class sums to work out, and, aftersome three-quarters of an hour had elapsed, to pass round the form whathe called "solutions". These were large sheets of paper, on which hehad wor

ked Mr Banks, in the repressedvoice of one

tattered solution

Harringay, the

rner. If Mr Banks had asked, "Didyou make this small tear in the top left-hand corner of thesesolutions?" Harringay would have scorned to deny the impeachment.

these solutions in this manner?""N

r of the debater who is consciousthat

--" he

arringay gracefully waved

ahem--fellow-students, when I say that this classsincerely regrets the unfortunate st

ith heartfelt--""Harringay, if you do not sit do

ed his seat amidst ap

ve managed to get thimsilvesinto is sincerely regretted by this class. Sir, I think I am ixprissingthe general consensus of opinion among my fellow-students whin I

as of abereaved spirit rang through the room opposite, followed by a string ofwords, the only intelligible one being the noun-sub

e top of which made a verycomfortable seat. The

e wanted to tell me?

t he had learned fro

aught, there'll be a row.""We must catch 'em," said Moriarty. Like O'Hara, he revelled in theprospect of a disturbance. O'Hara and he were going up to Aldershot atthe end of the term, to try and bring back the light and middle-weightmedals respectively. Moriarty had won the light-weight in the previousyear, but, by reason of putting on a stone since the competition, wasnow no longer eligible for that cl

would be any good in

n till he was killedentirely. I say, I'm gett

So, having unearthed a piece of wood from the debris at the top of

mthat the first thing he ought to do, if he wanted to make their neareracquaintance now, was to find their present rendezvous. They must haveone. They would never run the risk involved in holding mass-meetings inone another's studies. On the last occasion, it had been a

-martial was held--in whispers--and the three explorersforthwith received the most spirited "touching-up" they had everexperienced. Afterwards they were re

e did not recognise the runner. But it puzzled him a little tothink where he had sprung from. O'Hara was walking quite close to thewall of the College buildings, and the runner had passed between it andhim. And he had not heard his footsteps. Then he understood, and hispulse quickened as he felt that he was on the track. Beneath the blockwas a large sort of cellar-basement. It was used as a store-room forc

e basement soon afterschool. It was as black as pitc

job, when a ray of light cut through theblackness in front of him, and somebody slipped throu

groping their way past

ture. His hand, swinging round in a semicircle, metsomething which felt like a shoulder.