Once he thought of pleading illness and giving up the struggle. The excuse would not have been without a backing of truth; but, after all, Jim was no coward, and he thrust the idea aside. "No," muttered he, "I’ll see the thing through." The first subject in the afternoon was history, for which he had always a liking; and when the paper was finished he felt that he had at last done himself justice. Encouraged by this success, he worked away at the others, feeling more and more cheerful at the end of each subject. "Well," said the examiner, when he came to collect the papers, "are you satisfied?" "With this afternoon’s work, sir," said Jim; "but I’m afraid I lost my chance this morning." "Oh, you mustn’t worry about that. ’Never despair!’—that’s the motto, you know!" And the gentleman gave him a good-natured smile as he passed to the next desk. Outside, the boys clustered together, comparing notes and talking over their doings. Some smiled complacently, others looked rather miserable as they discovered their mistakes. "The algebra paper was a teaser," remarked Temple, "and as for the last equation, I couldn’t do it at all.’ "I don’t believe it comes out," said Braithwaite, while Dick admitted with a grin that he had left it untouched. "Did you have a shot at it, Hartland?" asked Temple. "Yes," said Jim; "it seemed easy enough, unless I misunderstood it." And with paper and pencil he proceeded to work it out. "O my aunt!" cried Dick, who was very fond of bringing that worthy person into his conversation "I believe you’ve got it, Jimmy!" "Yes," said Temple, "it certainly looks right. That will give you a lift, Hartland; it counts twenty marks." "Well," replied Jim, thinking of the morning’s work, "I shall need them all." Presently the groups began to break up, and the boys to disperse. Jim still seemed very gloomy, and even his lively little chum found it difficult to bring a smile to his face. "You haven’t to go to the shop, have you?" he asked. "Not to-night." "That’s jolly; we’ll have a good game down at the Old Fort. It’s ages since you were down, and the fellows will be glad to see you. Say you’ll come, just to please me." After a good deal of hesitation Jim promised, and the Angel went off whistling merrily. He little guessed what a terrible tragedy he was thus, in an indirect way, helping to bring about. *CHAPTER VII.* *"IT’S ALL MY FAULT"*