Mr Spence, who looked after the school's efforts to win medals at Aldershot, was the most disappointed person in the place. He was an enthusiastic boxer--he had represented Cambridge in the Middle-Weights in his day--and with no small trouble had succeeded in making boxing a going concern at Wrykyn. Years of failure had ended, the Easter before, in a huge triumph, when O'Hara, of Dexter's and Drummond had won silver medals, and Moriarty, of Dexter's, a bronze. If only somebody could win a medal this year, the tradition would be established, and would not soon die out. Unfortunately, there was not a great deal of boxing talent in the school just now. The rule that the winner at his weight in the House Competitions should represent the school at Aldershot only applied if the winner were fairly proficient. Mr Spence exercised his discretion. It was no use sending down novices to be massacred. This year Drummond and Stanning were the only Wrykinians up to Aldershot form. Drummond would have been almost a certainty for a silver medal, and Stanning would probably have been a runner-up. And here they were, both injured; Wrykyn would not have a single representative at the Queen's Avenue Gymnasium. It would be a set-back to the cult of boxing at the school. Mr Spence was pondering over this unfortunate state of things when Sheen was shown in. "Can I speak to you for a minute, sir?" said Sheen. "Certainly, Sheen. Take one of those cig--I mean, sit down. What is it?" Sheen had decided how to open the interview before knocking at the door. He came to the point at once. "Do you think I could go down to Aldershot, sir?" he asked. Mr Spence looked surprised. "Go down? You mean--? Do you want to watch the competition? Really, I don't know if the headmaster--" "I mean, can I box?" Mr Spence's look of surprise became more marked. "Box?" he said. "But surely--I didn't know you were a boxer, Sheen." "I've only taken it up lately." "But you didn't enter for the House Competitions, did you? What weight are you?" "Just under ten stone." "A light-weight. Why, Linton boxed for your house in the Light-Weights surely?" "Yes sir. They wouldn't let me go in." "You hurt yourself?" "No, sir." "Then why wouldn't they let you go in?" "Drummond thought Linton was better. He didn't know I boxed." "But--this is very curious. I don't understand it at all. You see, if you were not up to House form, you would hardly--At Aldershot, you see, you would meet the best boxers of all the public schools." "Yes, sir." There was a pause. "It was like this, sir," said Sheen nervously. "At the beginning of the term there was a bit of a row down in the town, and I got mixed up in it. And I didn't--I was afraid to join in. I funked it." Mr Spence nodded. He was deeply interested now. The office of confessor is always interesting. "Go on, Sheen. What happened then?"