CHAPTER V.
THE SECOND TERM "Take us the foxes, the little foxes that spoil our vines; for our vines have tender grapes."-- CANT.

ii.

15.
The second term at school is generally the great test of the strength of a boy's principles and resolutions.

During the first term the novelty, the loneliness, the dread of unknown punishments, the respect for authorities, the desire to measure himself with his companions--all tend to keep him right and diligent.

But many of these incentives are removed after the first brush of novelty, and many a lad who has given good promise at first, turns out, after a short probation, idle, or vicious, or indifferent.
But there was little comparative danger for Eric, so long as he continued to be a home boarder, which was for another half-year.