tuesday morning had come and gone. philip price, the tutor, sat in the dining-room of the bunk with but one pupil facing him at the table. geoff, faithful to his promise, had apologised in a manly, straightforward fashion for his unruly behaviour on the day of the 'great rebellion,' as the carnegys had secretly christened their outbreak. no sooner had the boy so done than he was freely forgiven. but alick flatly refused to sue for pardon, when confronted with his offended tutor, spite of theo's tearful entreaties. stubbornly the wrong-headed, wrong-hearted boy held out.

'very good!' dryly said mr. price, after waiting in vain. 'then, until you see fit to do so, i must dispense with your attendance here, alick, otherwise our positions as master and pupil would be reversed. good-morning to you!' philip had risen, and was holding the door open. a great struggle had been going on in the young man's mind. it would be easier, he knew, far easier, for him to gloss over alick's obstinate refusal to repent, and just to let things go on in the old way. the temptation to do so was great, particularly to one whose days were shadowed by much physical suffering, which made it the harder for him to rise up and energetically quell such a rebellious rising as he had had lately to cope with. but philip owned a lion's heart as well as clear, well-defined notions of right and wrong. also he had learned not to lean on his own strength. there was, he knew by experience, a higher help always ready for those who seek it, and philip had long made it a habit to do that in all things, small or great. he was, therefore, enabled to deal with the young rebel in a dignified and temperate yet firm manner.

muttering savagely alick withdrew with slouching gait. he knew well that he was no match in regard to words with his tutor, who had preserved his temper admirably. master alick consequently felt it to be the best policy to hold his tongue.

'has you got a holiday, alick? or has you got the toothache?' asked queenie innocently, surprised when alick sauntered into her playroom, an hour after, feeling rather like a fish out of water without his inseparable companion geoff, and without his usual employment. ned dempster was also out of the way, he being absent with the fishing-boats; for the bay was alive with the shoals of mackerel, over which intense excitement simmered throughout northbourne.

'yes, i has got a holiday, miss!' was alick's grim rejoinder. 'a pretty long one too, i expect.' then he added in a curt, sharp tone, as though to stop further questions, 'now, look here, queenie! have you got any of your family that wants mending, eh? any sick and wounded? any broken legs or heads lying about? because if you have, i can undertake to put them right this morning. i've got nothing else on hand.'

'oh, can you, will you?' delightedly said queenie. then, suddenly recollecting herself, she quickly added, 'but, alick—oh, i couldn't get out all my sick dollies this minute, 'cos, you see, it is nearly 'leven o'clock, and theo will be waiting for me in the tea-house, to begin my lessons.'

'lessons! never you mind rubbishy old lesson-books, queenie! i don't mean to, never again!'

'has you learnt up everything then, alick?' asked the child, gazing respectfully at her brother, with all the wondering admiration one often sees in little girls for big brothers.

'what has that got to do with it?' roughly answered the boy. he was in that volcanic condition of mind that every word spoken was as a match, and set up a blaze of ill-temper. 'give me over that one-legged doll, and i'll "fix" her up, as the yankees say. hand her ladyship over.' alick carnegy had one tender spot in his heart. most of us have. and that in alick was occupied by queenie. he was passionately fond of the innocent-faced, round-eyed little sister, and he was always ready to mend her sick and damaged properties.

'that's poor miss muffet. she felled out of my arms on the beach, and splutters and shutters worried her, alick, before i could pull her away. ah, it was dreadful!' chattered queenie.

'you shouldn't pull things away from dogs. never, never do such a thing. do you understand, queenie? they might snap, you know, and then where would you be?'

down on the floor alick sat himself, and fell to work to repair as best he could the interesting cripple. but queenie, eager enough though she was to watch the surgical operation, had a conscience hidden away in her small person, as her restlessness showed.

'i mustn't stay, alick. i mus' go! theo will be waiting, for the hall clock has struck. i counted 'leven strokes just now!'

away to her lessons bustled the little maid, and alick, unhappy, sullen and forlorn, was left to himself in the play-room. the boy was distinctly most miserable. indeed, he could not be otherwise; it is unnatural for the young to be in a state of rebellion against those set in authority over them. they suffer hotly for it, with the measureless capacity for suffering belonging to the young.

in spite of his wretchedness, alick was, however, fully determined to go bird-hunting on the morrow in brattlesby woods with jerry blunt. equally determined was the boy also that he would never beg his tutor's pardon—if he could possibly help it, that was. alick knew that if his continued insubordination came to his father's ears the certain result would be a thrashing, similar to one of which he still had a most vivid recollection. it occurred on the only occasion that the captain had been roused to administer punishment to both geoff and alick. that was when the brothers had strangled several of widow dempster's hens by lassoing them, on the pretext that the unfortunate fowls were prairie-horses, the boys being prairie-hunters. this was a heinous misdemeanour in the upright old sailor's eyes. alick winced still at the remembrance of the captain's wrath, and also of the captain's whip, which he by no means spared on his boys' backs.

'i certainly hope that father won't get to know about this row!' he muttered uneasily, as he finished screwing on miss muffet's leg, and set her up as proud as the best. then looking round for more surgical needs to operate upon, and finding a hapless horse minus a tail, alick ingeniously supplied the unbecoming deficiency with bristles out of the hearth-brush. he was a remarkably handy boy; his fingers were skilful, and he possessed a certain amount of invention. as he prowled about the shelves, setting a good many of queenie's infirm toys on their feet, and making all things taut, the morning wore on apace. he was glad enough of any occupation to pass the time, which seemed strangely lagging, as he glanced impatiently at his silver watch.

'i suppose price and old geoff are as thick as thieves, palavering away over that awful latin,' he soliloquised between the tunes he was whistling. 'price will be buttering up geoff at my expense, no doubt. well, i don't care; why should i? i've made up my mind not to give in, and nobody—not price, at least—shall make me. hilloa!' lifting up his eyes to the light, to see if he had glued on the wooden canary's head quite straight on its neck, alick caught sight, through the window, of a couple of fishing-smacks making steadily for the bay.

'that one to the left is fletcher's boat, or i'm blind, and ned's on board, i know. i'd better just run down to the beach, and have a private word in his ears, as soon as he lands, about to-morrow. what a day we shall have in brattlesby woods! oh my, shan't we just!'

in a short time alick, his morning's misery all forgotten, was down on the shore, vigourously helping to haul in the heavy nets, and sharing in the tumultuous excitement never failing to greet any and every boat that put in to northbourne beach.

'can you come along with me, ned?' he took the opportunity of whispering in ned's ear. 'i've got something to tell you about to-morrow. you know what i mean.'

yes, ned could give muster alick five minutes before he sped home to goody's for a warm meal, and likewise a bit of sleep; for the boy was stiff, as well as starving, after his long, chill night on the water.

'i only wanted to say,' alick hastily announced, 'that i'm game to go with jerry blunt to-morrow morning, if you will let me know the hour you mean to set off.'

'we thought of going pretty early,' said ned slowly, after a pause of hesitation. 'we wants to make a good long day of it. but—but, muster alick, have ye told them up at the bunk that ye're set on going with us? i thought as ye said the tootor wouldn't 'low ye, and that miss theedory backed him up. didn't ye?' ned eyed his companion with a certain amount of stern suspicion as he put the questions.

one of theo's class-boys himself, he had a genuine reverence for his gentle teacher. there was nothing, the poor fisher-lad was wont to tell himself, that he would not have dared or done for the sweet young lady's sake. her very gentleness and soft speech seemed to attract and also subdue his rough nature, by force of contrast possibly.

'what on earth is that to you?' loftily demanded alick, resenting both the questions and the mention of his sister's name, as brothers will.

'why, 'tis this to me!' rejoined ned grimly, and standing square. 'i ain't a-goin' to have miss theedory lookin' at me through an' through, an' a-sayin', "ned," she'll say, "why ever did'ee lead away my brother to do wrong?" i couldn't stand that, muster!'

'what a born idiot you are, to talk in that way!' said alick grandly. 'it's quite enough for you that i tell you i'm coming to-morrow; that's all you've got to do with it. oh, i say, ned!'—he descended from his pinnacle of dignity all in a hurry—'it has been such a lark! i told you what a row we have had with old price, and that i bowled him over. but geoff has actually given in. theo—i mean my sister—talked him into an apology—begging pardon, you know. but i stuck out, and held my own. so old price bowed me off the premises. you should have really seen him do it!' ended alick, with a laugh that had no merriment whatever in it. ned nodded. he readily comprehended that 'muster alick' had held his own.

'and did he, did muster geoff reely ask parding?' he inquired wonderingly, presently.

'yes, he did!' alick spoke shortly, for he resented strongly his brother's disaffection from a bad cause. 'but what's more to the purpose, i didn't knock under. so i'm coming with you; for old price won't, he says firmly, give me another lesson until i apologise too. you may guess, old chap, that i'll have a fine long holiday at that rate, if—if the governor don't get to hear about it, of course!' ended alick rather lamely.

'oh!' ned gasped understandingly. he could readily enough picture the result of the captain's taking up the matter. fireworks would be nothing to the general flare-up, in that case, the fisher-lad privately told himself.

alick next proceeded to plan out the morrow's campaign, and by the time the dempsters' cottage was reached, it was agreed that alick should make his escape as early as possible from the bunk, in order that he might start with jerry blunt and ned before anybody was astir to prevent him. then, with mutual promises of secrecy, the two parted.