LAST AND WORST. 83

“There is another present,” said Mr. Harding, “who .
did not join your party, but who attended the circus,
whom I saw slyly leave the tent after all the spectators
had gone, and make his way home by a circuitous
route. Philip Graham! why do-you not rise in your
seat with the rest? Do not think -because you went
more slyly and stealthily than the others, and wished
not only to keep a fair face before me, but also before
your schoolmates, that you were unseen. __

“It is hardly a year since some of you requested
permission to attend the circus, and then, in denying
your request, I stated to you that as long as you were
under my charge, I would never consent to your fre-
quenting a place where you would probably hear vulgar
and profane language, and where you might imbibe a
taste for mountebank exhibitions, and the lowest grade
of dramatic performances. As there are some present
who have entered school since that time, I again express
my Opinion, and repeat my commands, on the subject.
The punishment I shall inflict on those who disobeyed
me yesterday, will be to suspend them from the school
for one month at the end of this term. Philip Graham
will be suspended two months. I shall also write to
your parents the ‘particulars of your conduct, that they
may deal with you as they think proper.

“As for you, Frank,” continued Mr. Harding, “you
had boldly taken the first step in the paths of honesty
and rectitude, and are capable of becoming an honour-