No example could he find, to his satisfaction, this day. He gave it up till to-morrow, and then asked Holt what was on his mind. But Holt now drew back, and did not think he could tell. This made Hugh press; and Hugh's pressing looked like sympathy, and gave Holt courage: so that the thing came out at last. Holt was very miserable, for he was deep in debt, and the boys never let him alone about it; and he did not see how he should ever pay, as nobody was likely to give him any money. "Remember, it is only sixpence that you owe me--not a shilling," said Hugh. Holt sighed. Perhaps he had hoped that Hugh would excuse him altogether. He explained that this sixpence was not all, nor the chief part. He told that, when the whole school was on the heath, one Saturday, they had seen a balloon rising at a distance, and some boys began betting about what direction it would move in when it ceased to rise perpendicularly. The betting spread till the boys told him he must bet, or he would be the only one left out, and would look like a shabby fellow. "And you did?" exclaimed Hugh. "How silly!" "You would have done it, if you had been there." "No: I should not." "Yes, you would. Or, if you had not, it would have been because of--I know what." "Because of what, pray?" "Because of something the boys say about you. They say you are very fond of money." "I! Fond of money! I declare I never heard of such a thing." "Well, you know you made a great fuss about that half-crown." "As if it was about the money!" cried Hugh. "I should not have cared a bit if my uncle had asked me for it back again the next day. It was the being cheated. That was the thing. What a shame--" "By-the-by, did your uncle ever ask what you did with that half-crown?" "No; but he will next week, at the January fair. He will be sure to ask then. What a shame of the boys to say so, when I forgave--" He remembered, just in time, that he had better not boast, or speak aloud, of having forgiven Lamb his debt in secret. He resolved that he would not say another word, but let the boys see that he did not care for money for its own sake. They were all wrong, but he would be above noticing it; and, besides, he really had been very anxious about his half-crown, and they had only mistaken the reason. "How much did you bet on the balloon?" he inquired of Holt. "A shilling; and I lost." "Then you owe eighteen-pence." "But that is not all. I borrowed a shilling of Meredith to pay school-fines--" "What for?" "Chiefly for leaving my books about. Meredith says I promised to pay him before the holidays; but I am sure I never did. He twitted me about it, so that I declare I would have fought him, if I could have paid him first." "That's right," exclaimed Hugh. "Why, Holt, what a different fellow you are! You never used to talk of fighting."