Barry Pain

“ He was a boy in real life, and his name was Jim, and he read about a boy in a book whose name was Lionel: and the more he read about Lionel the more he wanted to be like Lionel, and wished that he had been christened Lionel—for Lionel was a hero, and did things by nature without previous practice. ”

“ He became, in a word, less and less like Lionel. He was not always refined in his language, and he used slang. He was untidy in his dress. His hatred of "swagger" reached the point of unreasoning prejudice. And he never became a great scholar, or a great athlete, or anything great. But he had good spirits, and he concealed about his person an average good heart; and after he had left school, boys, though they would never have dreamed of telling him that they were sorry he was going, said that things weren't as they used to be in Jim's time. ”

“ He did not faint, but he was decidedly unwell, and nobody sympathised, and the boy who won the first prize had no better taste than to keep it for himself, and be distinctly pleased that he had got it. ”