"Grinding for the exam.?" he asked, as they waved a last adieu to Mrs. Hartland, who stood on the doorstep watching them as they went down the street. "Hardly," said Jim, "until we know who are to be the candidates." "Oh, you’ll be one for certain, and Perce Braithwaite another." "And you." "If Holmore gives me the chance, I’ll work like a nigger for the honour of the school. The scholarship wouldn’t be any good to me though; it only pays for the fees and books, and you have to stay till you are sixteen. Mother couldn’t afford to keep me at school as long as that." There was at this time great excitement among the boys of the elementary schools in the seaport town of Beauleigh. The governors of Gayton Public School had offered a scholarship, to be competed for by three selected candidates from every school in the town, and the offer had produced a feeling of intense rivalry. The names of the chosen boys from the Deanery were to be made known that morning, and every one was on the tiptoe of expectation. "We’re late," said Dick, as the two boys turned into the long, straight road leading to the school, "most of the fellows are in the playground. I’ll race you to the gate. Ready? One, two, three—off!" and away they sped for a good two hundred yards’ run. Jim was the taller and stronger, but Dick was very nimble, and having got the lead, he kept it. On they went, flushed, panting, and straining every nerve, while a group of boys coming from the opposite direction encouraged them with loud cries. "Keep it up, Angel!" "Another spurt, Jim; he’s nearly done!" Dick’s legs were getting tottery, and Jim was close on his shoulder, but the open gate was only ten yards off, and the plucky youngster pulled himself together for a last effort. "Jim’s got him!" "No, no; the Angel wins! the Angel wins!" A yard from the gate they were neck and neck; but then, using up all his remaining strength, Dick flung himself forward—the winner by scarcely half a foot. Unlucky Dick! In the excitement of the last half-second he had gone like stone from catapult straight against the vest pocket of a portly gentleman who was strolling leisurely across the playground to the gate. Jim’s onset completed the mischief, and the three rolled together on the ground. The boys in the road, unable to see the catastrophe, ran up with a brisk "hurrah." But suddenly every tongue was still. If you have ever felt the shock of an earthquake, or been shipwrecked, or in a railway collision, you will have some faint idea of the fright which held the handful of Deanery boys spellbound. "The inspector!" whispered Tompkins in a tone of awe, and a shiver ran through the little crowd. Then, as the gentleman and boys rose to their feet, Tompkins, with an imbecile kind of smile, said, "Please, sir, it’s only the Angel!"