<PAGE> PAGE 1
000 A000000 03/31/98
000 C000000 0000723455
000 D000000 N
000 E000000 NF
000 F000000 Y
000 G000000 N
000 H000000 N
000 I000000 3.0.a
000 J000000 U
001 A000000 NICHOLAS II, INC.
001 B000000 811-3851
001 C000000 4142724650
002 A000000 700 NORTH WATER STREET, SUITE 1010
002 B000000 MILWAUKEE
002 C000000 WI
002 D010000 53202
002 D020000 4276
003 000000 N
004 000000 N
005 000000 N
006 000000 N
007 A000000 N
007 B000000 0
007 C010100 1
007 C010200 2
007 C010300 3
007 C010400 4
007 C010500 5
007 C010600 6
007 C010700 7
007 C010800 8
007 C010900 9
007 C011000 10
013 A000001 ARTHUR ANDERSEN LLP
013 B010001 MILWAUKEE
013 B020001 WI
013 B030001 53202
013 B040001 5390
020 A000001 MORGAN STANLEY DEAN WITTER DISCOVER
020 B000001 13-2655978
020 C000001 18
020 A000002 SALOMON/SMITH BARNEY
020 B000002 13-1912900
020 C000002 10
020 A000003 LYNCH JONES
020 B000003 13-3356934
020 C000003 8
020 A000004 J.C. BRADFORD CO.
020 B000004 62-0674123
020 C000004 7
020 A000005 WHEAT FIRST SECURITIES
<PAGE> PAGE 2
020 B000005 54-0796506
020 C000005 5
020 A000006 SCOTT & STRINGFELLOW
020 B000006 54-0957557
020 C000006 5
020 A000007 ALEX BROWN
020 B000007 52-1319768
020 C000007 5
020 A000008 MORGAN KEEGAN
020 B000008 64-0474907
020 C000008 4
020 A000009 DONALDSON, LUFKIN & JENRETTE
020 B000009 13-2741729
020 C000009 4
020 A000010 MERRILL LYNCH & CO., INC.
020 B000010 39-1035790
020 C000010 4
021 000000 85
022 A000001 FIRSTAR TRUST COMPANY
022 B000001 39-0281260
022 C000001 65259
022 D000001 64012
022 A000002 FIRSTAR MONEY CENTER
022 B000002 39-0281225
022 C000002 83407
022 D000002 0
022 A000003 MARSHALL & ILSLEY
022 B000003 39-1610688
022 C000003 45721
022 D000003 0
022 A000004 ROBERT W. BAIRD & CO.
022 B000004 39-6037917
022 C000004 32192
022 D000004 0
022 A000005 MERRILL LYNCH & CO., INC.
022 B000005 39-1035790
022 C000005 11467
022 D000005 0
022 A000006 FIRST BOSTON
022 B000006 13-5659485
022 C000006 11200
022 D000006 0
022 A000007 FURMAN SELZ
022 B000007 13-2753731
022 C000007 0
022 D000007 10411
022 A000008 HELLER FINANCIAL
022 B000008 39-1444762
022 C000008 8977
022 D000008 0
022 A000009 MCDONALD & CO.
<PAGE> PAGE 3
022 B000009 34-1391952
022 C000009 0
022 D000009 7251
022 A000010 SALOMON/SMITH BARNEY
022 B000010 13-1912900
022 C000010 1719
022 D000010 4644
023 C000000 288350
023 D000000 96245
028 A010000 12275
028 A020000 0
028 A030000 0
028 A040000 8708
028 B010000 9704
028 B020000 0
028 B030000 0
028 B040000 14419
028 C010000 16038
028 C020000 120443
028 C030000 0
028 C040000 18676
028 D010000 7884
028 D020000 0
028 D030000 0
028 D040000 10930
028 E010000 10905
028 E020000 0
028 E030000 0
028 E040000 8080
028 F010000 21136
028 F020000 0
028 F030000 0
028 F040000 10965
028 G010000 77942
028 G020000 120443
028 G030000 0
028 G040000 71777
028 H000000 0
062 A000000 N
062 B000000 0.0
062 C000000 0.0
062 D000000 0.0
062 E000000 0.0
062 F000000 0.0
062 G000000 0.0
062 H000000 0.0
062 I000000 0.0
062 J000000 0.0
062 K000000 0.0
062 L000000 0.0
062 M000000 0.0
<PAGE> PAGE 4
062 N000000 0.0
062 O000000 0.0
062 P000000 0.0
062 Q000000 0.0
062 R000000 0.0
070 A010000 Y
070 A020000 N
070 B010000 N
070 B020000 N
070 C010000 N
070 C020000 N
070 D010000 N
070 D020000 N
070 E010000 N
070 E020000 N
070 F010000 N
070 F020000 N
070 G010000 N
070 G020000 N
070 H010000 N
070 H020000 N
070 I010000 N
070 I020000 N
070 J010000 Y
070 J020000 N
070 K010000 Y
070 K020000 N
070 L010000 Y
070 L020000 Y
070 M010000 N
070 M020000 N
070 N010000 N
070 N020000 N
070 O010000 Y
070 O020000 N
070 P010000 Y
070 P020000 N
070 Q010000 N
070 Q020000 N
070 R010000 N
070 R020000 N
071 A000000 69041
071 B000000 77026
071 C000000 1018889
071 D000000 14
072 A000000 6
072 B000000 915
072 C000000 2733
072 D000000 0
072 E000000 0
072 F000000 2663
<PAGE> PAGE 5
072 G000000 0
072 H000000 0
072 I000000 232
072 J000000 25
072 K000000 21
072 L000000 19
072 M000000 6
072 N000000 80
072 O000000 0
072 P000000 0
072 Q000000 0
072 R000000 10
072 S000000 22
072 T000000 0
072 U000000 0
072 V000000 0
072 W000000 17
072 X000000 3095
072 Y000000 0
072 Z000000 553
072AA000000 37073
072BB000000 0
072CC010000 148281
072CC020000 0
072DD010000 1660
072DD020000 0
072EE000000 128171
073 A010000 0.0679
073 A020000 0.0000
073 B000000 5.2413
073 C000000 0.0000
074 A000000 121
074 B000000 0
074 C000000 32947
074 D000000 7980
074 E000000 0
074 F000000 1139482
074 G000000 0
074 H000000 0
074 I000000 0
074 J000000 0
074 K000000 0
074 L000000 560
074 M000000 0
074 N000000 1181090
074 O000000 3253
074 P000000 483
074 Q000000 0
074 R010000 0
074 R020000 0
074 R030000 0
<PAGE> PAGE 6
074 R040000 290
074 S000000 0
074 T000000 1177064
074 U010000 27980
074 U020000 0
074 V010000 42.07
074 V020000 0.00
074 W000000 0.0000
074 X000000 37900
074 Y000000 0
075 A000000 0
075 B000000 1041967
076 000000 0.00
077 A000000 N
078 000000 N
086 A010000 0
086 A020000 0
086 B010000 0
086 B020000 0
086 C010000 0
086 C020000 0
086 D010000 0
086 D020000 0
086 E010000 0
086 E020000 0
086 F010000 0
086 F020000 0
SIGNATURE THOMAS J. SAEGER
TITLE EXEC VICE PRESIDENT
<TABLE> <S> <C>
<ARTICLE> 6
<S> <C>
<PERIOD-TYPE> 6-MOS
<FISCAL-YEAR-END> SEP-30-1998
<PERIOD-END> MAR-31-1998
<INVESTMENTS-AT-COST> 570646218
<INVESTMENTS-AT-VALUE> 1180409590
<RECEIVABLES> 559800
<ASSETS-OTHER> 120537
<OTHER-ITEMS-ASSETS> 0
<TOTAL-ASSETS> 1181089927
<PAYABLE-FOR-SECURITIES> 3253175
<SENIOR-LONG-TERM-DEBT> 0
<OTHER-ITEMS-LIABILITIES> 772305
<TOTAL-LIABILITIES> 4025480
<SENIOR-EQUITY> 0
<PAID-IN-CAPITAL-COMMON> 530131707
<SHARES-COMMON-STOCK> 27979903
<SHARES-COMMON-PRIOR> 24462981
<ACCUMULATED-NII-CURRENT> 508142
<OVERDISTRIBUTION-NII> 0
<ACCUMULATED-NET-GAINS> 36749585
<OVERDISTRIBUTION-GAINS> 0
<ACCUM-APPREC-OR-DEPREC> 609675013
<NET-ASSETS> 1177064447
<DIVIDEND-INCOME> 2733312
<INTEREST-INCOME> 915050
<OTHER-INCOME> 0
<EXPENSES-NET> 3095386
<NET-INVESTMENT-INCOME> 552976
<REALIZED-GAINS-CURRENT> 37073279
<APPREC-INCREASE-CURRENT> 148281262
<NET-CHANGE-FROM-OPS> 185907517
<EQUALIZATION> 0
<DISTRIBUTIONS-OF-INCOME> 1660429
<DISTRIBUTIONS-OF-GAINS> 128170972
<DISTRIBUTIONS-OTHER> 0
<NUMBER-OF-SHARES-SOLD> 1957735
<NUMBER-OF-SHARES-REDEEMED> 1830711
<SHARES-REINVESTED> 3389898
<NET-CHANGE-IN-ASSETS> 182683822
<ACCUMULATED-NII-PRIOR> 1615595
<ACCUMULATED-GAINS-PRIOR> 127847278
<OVERDISTRIB-NII-PRIOR> 0
<OVERDIST-NET-GAINS-PRIOR> 0
<GROSS-ADVISORY-FEES> 2663194
<INTEREST-EXPENSE> 0
<GROSS-EXPENSE> 3095386
<AVERAGE-NET-ASSETS> 1041967300
<PER-SHARE-NAV-BEGIN> 40.65
<PER-SHARE-NII> .02
<PER-SHARE-GAIN-APPREC> 6.71
<PER-SHARE-DIVIDEND> .07
<PER-SHARE-DISTRIBUTIONS> 5.24
<RETURNS-OF-CAPITAL> 0
<PER-SHARE-NAV-END> 42.07
<EXPENSE-RATIO> .6
<AVG-DEBT-OUTSTANDING> 0
<AVG-DEBT-PER-SHARE> 0
</TABLE>
