Page:The Complete Works of William Makepeace Thackeray Vol.20.pdf/257

Rh When he opened his trunk, which the day before he had filled with his best clothes, he found it contained only books. And in the first of them which he opened there was written—

And in his bag, when Giglio looked in it, he found a student’s cap and gown, a writing-book full of paper, an ink-stand, pens, and a Johnson’s dictionary, which was very useful to him, as his spelling had been sadly neglected.

So he sat down and worked away, very, very hard, for a whole year, during which “Mr. Giles” was quite an example to all the students in the University of Bosforo. He never got into any riots or disturbances. The professors all spoke well of him, and the students liked him too; so that when at examination he took all the prizes, viz.:—

all his fellow-students said, “Hurray! Hurray for Giles! Giles is the boy—the student’s joy! Hurray for Giles!” And he brought quite a quantity of medals, crowns, books, and tokens of distinction home to his lodgings.

One day after the Examinations, as he was diverting himself at a coffee-house with two friends—(Did I tell you that in his bag, every Saturday night, he found just enough to pay his bills, with a guinea over for pocket-money? Didn’t I tell you? Well, he did, as sure as twice twenty makes forty-ﬁve)—he chanced to look in the Bosforo Chronicle and read off quite easily (for he could spell, read and write the longest words now) the following—

“—One of the most extraordinary adventures that we have ever heard has set the neighboring country of Crim Tartary in a state of great excitement.

“It will be remembered that when the present revered sovereign of Crim Tartary, his Majesty King Padella, took possession of the throne, after having vanquished, in the terriﬁc battle of Blunderbusco, the late King Cavolfiore,