"Well, you know when boys fight at school, in most cases they
become better friends afterwards; but it was not so here. He
refused to shake hands with me, and muttered something about its
being his turn next time. Till then he had not been considered a
first-rate hand at anything; he was one of those fellows who
saunter through school, get up just enough lessons to rub along
comfortably, never take any prominent part in games, but have a
little set of their own, and hold themselves aloof from school in
general.
"Once or twice when we had played cricket he had done so
excellently that it was a grievance that he would not play
regularly, and there was a sort of general idea that if he chose he
could do most things well. After that fight he changed altogether.
He took to cricket in downright earnest, and was soon acknowledged
to be the best bat and best bowler in the school. Before that it
had been regarded as certain that when the captain left I should be
elected, but when the time came he got a majority of votes. I
should not have minded that, for I recognised that he was a better
player than I, but I fancied that he had not done it fairly, for
many fellows whom I regarded as certain to support me turned round
at the last moment.
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