‘But what is to be done about Fielding major?’ inquired another. ‘He has not paid his boating money, and I say he has no right to play among the Aquatics before he has paid his money.’ ‘Oh! but we must have Fielding major, he is such a devil of a swipe.’ ‘I declare he shall not play among the Aquatics if he does not pay his boating money. It is an infernal shame.’ ‘Let us ask Buckhurst. Where is Buckhurst?’ ‘Have you got any toffy?’ inquired a dull looking little boy, in a hoarse voice, of one of the vendors of scholastic confectionery. ‘Tom Trot, sir.’ ‘No; I want toffy.’ ‘Very nice Tom Trot, sir.’ ‘No, I want toffy; I have been eating Tom Trot all day.’ ‘Where is Buckhurst? We must settle about the Aquatics.’ ‘Well, I for one will not play if Fielding major plays amongst the Aquatics. That is settled.’ ‘Oh! nonsense; he will pay his money if you ask him.’ ‘I shall not ask him again. The captain duns us every day. It is an infernal shame.’ ‘I say, Burnham, where can one get some toffy? This fellow never has any.’ ‘I will tell you; at Barnes’ on the bridge. The best toffy in the world.’ ‘I will go at once. I must have some toffy.’ ‘Just help me with this verse, Collins,’ said one boy to another, in an imploring tone, ‘that’s a good fellow.’ ‘Well, give it us: first syllable in _fabri_ is short; three false quantities in the two first lines! You’re a pretty one. There, I have done it for you.’ ‘That’s a good fellow.’ ‘Any fellow seen Buckhurst?’ ‘Gone up the river with Coningsby and Henry Sydney.’ ‘But he must be back by this time. I want him to make the list for the match to-morrow. Where the deuce can Buckhurst be?’ And now, as rumours rise in society we know not how, so there was suddenly a flying report in this multitude, the origin of which no one in his alarm stopped to ascertain, that a boy was drowned. Every heart was agitated. What boy? When, where, how? Who was absent? Who had been on the river to-day? Buckhurst. The report ran that Buckhurst was drowned. Great were the trouble and consternation. Buckhurst was ever much liked; and now no one remembered anything but his good qualities. ‘Who heard it was Buckhurst?’ said Sedgwick, captain of the school, coming forward. ‘I heard Bradford tell Palmer it was Buckhurst,’ said a little boy. ‘Where is Bradford?’ ‘Here.’ ‘What do you know about Buckhurst?’ ‘Wentworth told me that he was afraid Buckhurst was drowned. He heard it at the Brocas; a bargeman told him about a quarter of an hour ago.’ ‘Here is Wentworth! Here is Wentworth!’ a hundred voices exclaimed, and they formed a circle round him. ‘Well, what did you hear, Wentworth?’ asked Sedgwick. ‘I was at the Brocas, and a bargee told me that an Eton fellow had been drowned above Surley, and the only Eton boat above Surley to-day, as I can learn, is Buckhurst’s four-oar. That is all.’ There was a murmur of hope. ‘Oh! come, come,’ said Sedgwick, ‘there is come chance. Who is with Buckhurst; who knows?’