CHAPTER X.
APPEARANCES.
A compulsory ride--Merited retribution--A sad plight for a proud boy--Laughter and ridicule--Oscar's neatness and love of dress--The patched jacket--Oscar's objections to it--Benny Wright, the boy of many patches--His character--The jacket question peremptorily settled--A significant shake of the head--A watch wanted--Why boys carry watches--Punctuality--Oscar's tardiness at school--The real cause of it--Thinking too much of outside appearances--Character of more consequence than cloth--An offer--The conditions--A hard question--How to accomplish an object--Oscar's waywardness--Boarding-school discipline--The High School--An anticipated novelty..