We were working, therefore, under forced draught, and it was distinctly annoying to see the wretched Bradshaw lounging in our only armchair with one of Rider Haggard's best, seemingly quite unmoved at the prospect of Euripides examinations. For all he appeared to care, Euripides might never have written a line in his life. Kendal voiced the opinion of the meeting. 'Bradshaw, you worm,' he said. 'Aren't you going to do _any_ work?' 'Think not. What's the good? Can't get up a whole play of Euripides in two hours.' 'Mellish'll give you beans.' 'Let him.' 'You'll get a jolly bad report.' 'Shan't get a report at all. I always intercept it before my guardian can get it. He never says anything.' 'Mellish'll probably run you in to the Old Man,' said White, the fourth occupant of the study. Bradshaw turned on us with a wearied air. 'Oh, do give us a rest,' he said. 'Here you are just going to do a most important exam., and you sit jawing away as if you were paid for it. Oh, I say, by the way, who's setting the paper tomorrow?' 'Mellish, of course,' said White. 'No, he isn't,' I said. 'Shows what a lot you know about it. Mellish is setting the Livy paper.' 'Then, who's doing this one?' asked Bradshaw. 'Yorke.' Yorke was the master of the Upper Fifth. He generally set one of the upper fourth book-papers. 'Certain?' said Bradshaw. 'Absolutely.' 'Thanks. That's all I wanted to know. By Jove, I advise you chaps to read this. It's grand. Shall I read out this bit about a fight?' 'No!' we shouted virtuously, all together, though we were dying to hear it, and we turned once more to the loathsome inanities of the second chorus. If we had been doing Homer, we should have felt more in touch with Bradshaw. There's a good deal of similarity, when you come to compare them, between Homer and Haggard. They both deal largely in bloodshed, for instance. As events proved, the Euripides paper, like many things which seem formidable at a distance, was not nearly so bad as I had expected. I did a fair-to-moderate paper, and Kendal and White both seemed satisfied with themselves. Bradshaw confessed without emotion that he had only attempted the last half of the last question, and on being pressed for further information, merely laughed mysteriously, and said vaguely that it would be all right. It now became plain that he had something up his sleeve. We expressed a unanimous desire to know what it was. 'You might tell a chap,' I said. 'Out with it, Bradshaw, or we'll lynch you,' added Kendal. Bradshaw, however, was not to be drawn. Much of his success in the paths of crime, both at school and afterwards, was due to his secretive habits. He never permitted accomplices. On the following Wednesday the marks were read out. Out of a possible hundred I had obtained sixty--which pleased me very much indeed--White, fifty-five, Kendal, sixty-one. The unspeakable Bradshaw's net total was four.