Starting spot opposite centre of same, and 2 feet in front. No. 2.—SEVEN HOOP. Pegs in centre line of ground, 7 yards from nearest boundary. Hoops up centre of ground, 5 yards from peg, and 5¼ yards apart. Corner hoops 7 yards from centre, and in a line with pegs. Starting spot 1½ yards from first hoop in centre line. No. 3.—SIX HOOP. As in No. 2, except that the middle-line hoops are 7 yards apart, and 7 yards from peg. Starting spot opposite centre of left-hand corner hoop, and 1 foot from same. Corner hoops in a line with pegs. SHEILA’S COUSIN EFFIE. A STORY FOR GIRLS. BY EVELYN EVERETT-GREEN, Author of “Greyfriars,” “Half-a-dozen Sisters,” etc. CHAPTER XV. SNOWY ENGLAND. Oscar sat alone in the office. It was Saturday afternoon, and the other clerks had already taken their departure. He had undertaken to finish what work still remained; and a pile of letters lay upon the desk before him. Outside the snow was lazily falling, and he had no disposition for the football match in the town ground, which had attracted his comrades. He scarcely felt inclined to leave the hot little fire, and face the cold walk to River Street. Oscar was not looking well just now, and he was feeling a little depressed. The winter had been rather a dreary season for him. He missed Sheila and the pleasant Sundays spent with her at Cossart Place. The monotony of his present work oppressed him more than it had done at first. He had braced himself at the outset to bear their reverse of fortune bravely, and he knew that they were lucky in having relations who had come forward to help them at that crisis in their affairs. He had resolved not to disappoint them, and had thrown himself with as much interest and energy as possible into his new tasks. But we all know that it is easier to bring enthusiasm and energy to the commencement of a new routine than to maintain it day after day and week after week. Oscar had never liked the routine work of the office, and latterly he had had a good deal of it. The senior clerk had died rather suddenly in September, and his place had not been filled. Oscar had been given a part of his work, and North had lent his energies to filling the gap. It had made the office work heavier than had been the case at first, though Oscar had been glad to help his uncle in the emergency, and even Cyril had sometimes come down and offered his services. Gradually Oscar had come to be looked upon as head of the office under North. The other clerks, if not younger, were less responsible, and looked to him as being a relative of Mr. Cossart’s. This was pleasant in a way, but it kept Oscar more to his desk than he had expected, and the contrast to his old life of freedom was sometimes keenly felt.