'Poor chap,' thought Jim, with a chuckle, as he effected a retreat, 'I
must have given him a bit of a start with my half-brick.' After bolting
the window behind him, he climbed down.

As he reached earth again the clock struck a quarter to nine. In
another quarter of an hour prep, would be over and the House door
unlocked, and he would be able to get in again. Nor would the fact of
his being out excite remark, for it was the custom of the
House-Prefects to take the air for the few minutes which elapsed
between the opening of the door and the final locking-up for the night.

The rest of his adventures ran too smoothly to require a detailed
description. Everything succeeded excellently. The only reminiscences
of his escapade were a few cuts in his coat, which went unnoticed, and
the precious book of notes, to which he applied himself with such
vigour in the watches of the night, with a surreptitious candle and a
hamper of apples as aids to study, that, though tired next day, he
managed to do quite well enough in the exam, to pass muster. And, as he
had never had the least prospect of coming out top, or even in the
first five, this satisfied him completely.

Tony listened with breathless interest to Jim's recital of his
adventures, and at the conclusion laughed.

'What a mad thing to go and do,' he said. 'Jolly sporting, though.'

Jim did not join in his laughter.

'Yes, but don't you see,' he said, ruefully, 'what a mess I'm in? If
they find out that I was in the Pav. at the time when the cups were