"Nothink," said Robin, "on'y that I'm a goin' in." "Well, that's a good un," laughed all the children in a breath. "My stars!" continued Robin, unheeding them, "I never knowed as this 'ere wor the fashion of ragged schools--buns and h'oranges. I say, young uns, ain't we in luck?" "But you ain't a schollard," said a little girl; "the school feast is on'y fur the reg'lar schollards, yer know." "No, I don't," said Robin; "this 'ere's a ragged school, and I'm a ragged chap. A gent wot understands, telled me h'all about it, and I'm agoin' in; see ef I ain't." Here the big boy gave Robin a blow in the face, which Robin returned with interest; but just then the doors were opened, and Robin, with about ninety other children, found himself inside the building. How warm, and pleasant, and beautiful it all looked to the tired and hungry child; that ceaseless tickle in his throat and chest, which the Cough-no-more lozenges had failed to relieve, became soothed, and almost ceased to trouble him. Yes, his lucky star was decidedly in the ascendant to-day. What a feed he promised himself by-and-by from those vast piles of cakes, and what a quantity of tea and coffee he would consume! He was making up his mind to this, and also to another thing--as honesty was the best policy, or at least had proved so to-day--he would abstain from stealing a single crumb from the ragged-school feast; the sense of honour among thieves prevented his taking from the stores provided for children as ragged as himself. In the midst of these meditations, a hand was laid on his shoulder. On his entrance into the school he had been so much occupied looking round him that he had never noticed how, one by one, the children, answering to their names, had filed off into seats; he was the only ragged child now standing up in the school. The superintendent, a good man, but a strict disciplinarian, noticed the strange little face, and shook the lad out of his reverie somewhat roughly. "Come, come, my boy, you can't stay here; rules must be obeyed; you are not belonging to the school." "Yes, I be," said Robin stoutly. "This 'ere's a ragged school, and I be h'all rags and tatters--see yere," and he held up a thin leg, naked from the knee down, for inspection. A titter ran through the ranks of the children; the superintendent did not know whether the mirth was directed against himself or Robin. He began to grow angry. "None of your impertinence, lad--turn out! I have no objection to your applying for admission to-morrow, as a pupil; but you can't come to the school feast;" and taking Robin by the shoulders, he pushed him towards the door. The big boy who had twitted Robin here laughed aloud. At this the angry blood of the little street Arab flew into his face, and breaking away from the superintendent's grasp, he flew at this lad, and had the satisfaction of giving him at least a black eye, before he was himself expelled from the school.