The nights were worse than the days--sleepless, feverish, distracted.

It was evident this could not go on for long.
The last day of the examination arrived, and my master was in his usual place in the Senate House.

His pen flew swiftly all the morning along the paper, and one by one, a triumphant tick was set against the printed questions before him.

I could see no one as well employed as he.

Jim, at a distant desk, was biting the end of his pen and looking up at the ceiling; other men sat back in their seats and stared with knitted brows at the paper before them; others buried their fingers in their hair and looked the picture of despair.