In the matter of his school work we regret to say that our friend cut a less creditable figure; for in it indeed he shone in no particular branch. His sole object was to get through his work as quickly and as easily as possible, thereby to have more time for his favourite pursuit, wherefore his ambition soared no higher than a respectable middle of the fifth form. The ethics of Saint Kirwin's held "cribs" to be perfectly justifiable--needless to say not from the masters' point of view--and a large proportion generously availed themselves of such dubious aid, being of course careful to avoid all the stock catches. Even a certain amount of cribbing in form was held not to be unlawful, although perilous; and when the Reverend Joseph Wilmot--an absent and star-gazing type of master--gravely and impressively warned his Greek Testament form one Sunday, _a propos_ of some suspiciously technical construing, that he should, detect in a moment if any one used the English version, the form was simply dying to roar; the point of the joke being that every fellow composing it had got his English version concealed beneath his locker, and was surreptitiously reading up the part where he would be put on, this having been the practice of the form from time immemorial, and, we grieve to say, destined to continue so indefinitely. "Serve 'em right," pronounced Haviland, who was one of the offenders. "They've no business to make us work on Sundays. It's smashing up the fourth commandment. So if we take the English in to form with us it saves us from working, and we get out of smashing the fourth commandment. See?" They did see, for a shout of acclamation hailed this young casuist's special pleading. "Besides," he added, "Old Joe is such an ass. Detect in a moment if any one used the English! Faugh! As if any one in this form had ever done anything else?" It may be thought that by reason of his own delinquencies Haviland's authority as a prefect would have been partially if not entirely undermined, yet such was not the case, for under the school code they were justified, whereas the terrible crime of "sneaking" was as much the one unpardonable sin at Saint Kirwin's as elsewhere. And in the enforcement of that authority he was pitiless, hence his unpopularity-- but it answered--and whether he presided over preparation, or in the dormitory, or elsewhere, order reigned. The spirits of misrule were laid. Once indeed an offender thought to round on him. He had unearthed a smoking case, and the use of tobacco was of course a capital offence. One of the offenders--three biggish fellows by the way--had said meaningly: "If you do anything in this, Haviland, we can hand you up. We saw you in Needham's Copse only last week, and other places besides."