the French people are going to fly at the throats of the nobility.
Why, even in the heat of the civil war here there was no instance
of any personal wrong being done to the families of those engaged
in the struggle, and in only two or three cases, after repeated
risings, were any even of the leaders executed.

"No; Harry will be just as safe there as he would be here. As to
the distance, it's nothing like so far as if he went to India, for
example. I don't see any great chance of his setting the Thames
on fire at home. His school report is always the same - 'Conduct
fair; progress in study moderate' - which means, as I take it, that
he just scrapes along. That's it, isn't it, Harry?"

"Yes, father, I think so. You see every one cannot be at the top
of the form."

"That's a very true observation, my boy. It is clear that if there
are twenty boys in a class, nineteen fathers have to be disappointed.
Still, of course, one would like to be the father who is not
disappointed."

"I stick to my work," the boy said; "but there are always fellows
who seem to know just the right words without taking any trouble
about it. It comes to them, I suppose."

"What do you say to this idea yourself, Harry?"

"I don't know, sir," the boy said doubtfully.

"And I don't know," his father agreed. "At anyrate we will sleep