Half the form were as eager about the examination as the other half were indifferent; but none were more eager than Eric. He was much hindered by Barker's unceasing attempt to copy his papers surreptitiously; and very much disgusted at the shameless way in which many of the boys "cribbed" from books, and from each other, or used torn leaves concealed in their sleeves, or dates written on their wristbands and on their nails. He saw how easily much of this might have been prevented; but Mr Gordon was fresh at his work, and had not yet learned the practical lesson (which cost him many a qualm of sorrow and disgust), that to trust young boys to any great extent is really to increase their temptations. He _did_ learn the lesson afterwards, and then almost entirely suppressed the practice, partly by increased vigilance, and partly by forbidding _any_ book to be brought into the room during the time of examination. But meanwhile much evil had been done by the habitual abuse of his former confidence. I shall not linger over the examination. At its close, the day before the breaking up, the list was posted on the door of the great schoolroom, and most boys made an impetuous rush to see the result. But Eric was too nervous to be present at the hour when this was usually done, and he had asked Russell to bring him the news. He was walking up and down the garden, counting the number of steps he took, counting the number of shrubs along each path, and devising every sort of means to beguile the time, when he heard hasty steps, and Russell burst in at the back gate, breathless with haste and bright with excitement. "Hurrah! old fellow!" he cried, seizing both Eric's hands; "I never felt so glad in my life," and he shook his friend's arms up and down, laughing joyously. "Well! tell me," said Eric. "First, Owen and Williams aequales," said he; "you've got head-remove, you see, in spite of your forebodings, as I always said you would; and I congratulate you with all my heart." "No?" said Eric, "have I really?--you're not joking? Oh! hurrah!--I must rush in and tell them," and he bounded off. In a second he was back at Russell's side. "What a selfish animal I am! Where are you placed, Russell?" "Oh! magnificent; I'm third--far higher than I expected." "I'm so glad," said Eric. "Come in with me and tell them. I'm head-remove, mother," he shouted, springing into the parlour where his father and mother sat. In the lively joy that this announcement excited, Russell stood by for the moment unheeded; and when Eric took him by the hand to tell them that he was third, he hung his head, and a tear was in his eye. "Poor boy! I'm afraid you're disappointed," said Mrs Williams kindly, drawing him to her side. "Oh, no, no! it's not _that_," said Russell hastily, as he lifted his swimming eyes to her face. "What's the matter, Russell?" asked Eric, surprised.