ever how wrong it is to bet.

The news continuing to circulate, by the end of morning school it was
generally known that a gang of desperadoes, numbering at least a
hundred, had taken the Pavilion down, brick by brick, till only the
foundations were left standing, and had gone off with every jot and
tittle of the unfortunately placed Sports prizes.

At the quarter-to-eleven interval, the School had gone _en masse_
to see what it could see, and had stared at the window with much the
same interest as they were wont to use in inspecting the First Eleven
pitch on the morning of a match--a curious custom, by the way, but one
very generally observed.

Then the official news of the extent of the robbery was spread abroad.
It appeared that the burglar had by no means done the profession
credit, for out of a vast collection of prizes ranging from the vast
and silver Mile Challenge Cup to the pair of fives-gloves with which
the 'under twelve' disciple of Deerfoot was to be rewarded, he had
selected only three. Two of these were worth having, being the
challenge cup for the quarter and the non-challenge cup for the hundred
yards, both silver, but the third was a valueless flask, and the
general voice of the School was loud in condemning the business
abilities of one who could select his swag in so haphazard a manner. It
was felt to detract from the merit of the performance. The knowing
ones, however, gave it as their opinion that the man must have been
frightened by something, and so was unable to give the matter his best
attention and do himself justice as a connoisseur.

'We had a burglary at my place once,' began Reade, of Philpott's House.