his gaiety and popularity might so easily have led him into idleness and folly. But for him, he might never have felt that there was anything more important than cricket.

So these boys grew ever nearer to each other. Each believed that he owed much to the other; and each was deeply glad that he owed it to him. They liked to do all things well; and to each it was an added pleasure that the other thought it good. They walked and talked together; they ran and rowed together; they messed together; they read together, except where Harefel, with his cool good sense, refused to follow; they lived together, so far as the most popular boy in the school could live with a single friend.

In Dale's last half at Eton the two friends used much of the leisure time which was not devoted to football in practice for the school hurdle-race, and with such good effect, that on the morning of the contest it was generally believed that one of them would win. It was a splendid day in the autumn, so full of life that it was impossible to believe that the year was growing old. The air was quickened by a touch of frost, but the sun was bright. On such days overworked masters swing their sticks as they walk, and boys run frantic with joy. As Dale,

in a state of much suppressed excitement, turned into his dame's after school, he heard young people chattering before him, and one voice raised high above the others for emphasis. "Well, I would give anything," said this shrill voice, "for Harefel to win." The words made Dale stop, and in a moment the life and sunlight went out of the air. The speaker was a foolish pleasant boy, to whom he had shown many kindnesses, and given some good advice, and for whom he felt that sort of tenderness which we feel for weak creatures needing our help. Dale turned away, and went up-stairs to his room. There he walked backwards and forwards, growing more and more gloomy with every turn. The idle words of this boy seemed the voice of the school. He felt himself an outcast, removed by no fault of his own from the thoughts and feelings of his fellows. The tears came into his eyes, as he longed to show his whole nature to a friend. As he continued his mechanical movement through the narrow room, one moment he hated the talents which cut him off from sympathy, the next he hugged them to him with passionate scorn of his comrades, who knew so much less than he. Once with a moment's pause of horror he found himself thinking bitterly of his cousin, and of the popularity

D

which he gained so easily with a smile. The crowding thoughts and feelings, and the restless movements, were stopped by Harefel's voice, which was calling him from the street. He did not answer, but stood still; and as he stood, a thought struck him, which brought the colour to his cheek and the light to his eyes. His teeth fastened into his lower lip, and at the corners of his mouth was the suggestion of a sarcastic smile. Again the voice called him impatiently. He threw open the window, and nodding to the fresh face upturned from below, called out in his pleasantest tone that he would be down in a minute. As the two friends walked towards the meadow where the races were to be held, Dale was in the highest spirits. He saw the boy whose words had affected him so much, and called out gaily to him, asking if he wished him luck.

"Yes," said the other, who had quite forgotten that he was a warm supporter of the chief opponent.

Dale laughed so strangely, that Harefel looked at him with some surprise. "You are in great form to-day," he said; and added affectionately, "you old brute, you know that you are at least five yards better than me in fine weather."

"I think that you will win," said his cousin, quietly.

Even the bald, broad meadow looked beautiful in the autumn sunlight: beyond the plain, was the river gleaming, and beyond the river, the old castle rose royally into the clear cool air. Around the course, which was marked out by ropes, boys were already thronging, some with a fine affectation of indifference, others babbling eagerly of the chances. There were to be two heats in the hurdle-race, and the two first in each heat would start in the final.

Dale won his first race easily, and, having put on a thick coat, stood near the starting-place, nervously anxious for Harefel's victory. As he looked at his cousin, he was moved to a new sense of his perfection. "If I were a sculptor," he thought, "he should stand always like that in marble. No wonder everybody is fond of him," he added, with a sigh. Forgetful of himself, with eyes fixed upon the starter's hand, the young athlete was leaning very slightly forward. His lips were just parted, and his chest filled with a long breath. The fine muscles were delicately marked under the bright clear skin. The hope that he would win grew twice as strong. Boys are much influenced by their eyes, having but little time for meditating on

character, and being apt, half lazily, to take all sorts of merit for granted in those whose looks and manners are pleasant. It was but for a moment that Harefel stood thus motionless on the brink of quick motion. The word was given, and the competitors were flying over the hurdles. Harefel jumped beautifully, with regular steps, and clean long leaps. At the third flight it was clear that he would win his heat: with another year's strength, it would have been certain that he would win the final also. As it was, he expected to be beaten by his cousin, who went very quickly over hurdles, in a somewhat headlong manner. He found Dale, as they were preparing for the final contest, unusually calm, and apparently preoccupied. As they stood ready for the race, there was the greatest excitement among the spectators. Harefel, who was quivering like a hound held in the leash, felt a strange exaltation, as his eye glanced down the line of faces. He seemed to be lifted on a wave of silent sympathy. Dale stood next to him, dull and listless, with his eyes fastened on his cousin. He did not stir, until he saw Harefel spring forward at the word, but he had caught him at the second flight of hurdles. The other two competitors were already outpaced. Then broke a roar of encourage