THE GOOD CONDUCT PRIZE
No. XI
THE GOOD CONDUCT PRIZE
I
Going through the school-room of the third, which is my own form, I chanced to see Saunders minor and Fowle there; and, just as I passed them, Saunders minor said that he wished he was dead.
This, from Saunders minor, was a bit out of the common, so I stopped and asked him why. He said—
"It's only a manner of speaking, Thwaites; but, all the same, I do, because of the Good Conduct Prize."
"Well," I said, "you're a snip for it; everybody knows that."
"Not now," he answered. "In fact, it's all up, and the silver watch and chain are gone."
Of course, when young Saunders talked about a silver watch and chain, he didn't mean Dr. Dunstan's footling Good Conduct Prize, which is always a book of a particularly deadly kind, such as Lays of Ancient Rome; but he meant the special prize his father had promised him if he won the highest marks for good conduct in his class. And he was simply romping home when this happened.