104 A Perfect Gentleman.

and led him to the desk to receive the prize
instead of himself, saying, ‘The prize is
yours, for I copied my last answer from your
paper.” In connection with one of the
Edinburgh academies, a cricket match was
being played. The contest was a keen one,
and for some time it seemed uncertain on
which side success would declare itself. At
length, on a ball being delivered, a youth felt
it graze his bat, the wicket-keeper catching
the ball afterwards. Not one of the players,
including the umpire, had noticed this; but
the youth himself was of the right noble
stamp. The struggle in his mind between
right and wrong was quickly settled.
Shouldering his bat, he walked off the field,
saying, “I’m out; I felt the ball touch my
bat ;” consoled for the loss of the game by
the consciousness of having dared to do
right. At another school the lads had for
some time been in the habit of going out
from their bedrooms at night into the town
for no good purpose. One young Gentleman
heard of this, and his sense of right was too
strong to allow him to pass it over. He
boldly stood amongst his schoolfellows and