ed, turning to me, "go straight to your bedroom, and stay there
till I send for you to come down."

There is no necessity for me to enter into a full description of the
painful incidents which followed this command. Dr. Bagley was not in a
mood to be lenient. The various raids of "Foxes" and "Eagles" over the
countryside had occasioned more than one complaint being lodged against
us; and now that he had a clearly-proved case to deal with, the
headmaster was determined to make such an example of the culprit as
should discourage indulgence in such lawless practices in the future.

That afternoon I received a public caning before the whole school, and
was informed that, as an additional punishment, I should be kept back
to go home one day later than the rest.

Though the flogging was a severe one, I think I would have endured it a
second time if the doctor would have substituted this for the remaining
part of my sentence. At the end of a long half every extra day seemed
an unbearably long period of time, and the thought of seeing all my
comrades start for home while I lingered behind, and missed all the fun
of travelling with them--such a prospect, I say, appeared almost
unendurable. As has been already stated, owing to the limited
accommodation on the coaches, our breaking-up really extended over two
days: half the boys were starting on the Wednesday, and the other half
on the Thursday; so I should have to remain till the Friday morning.
Sitting on the end of my bed in the cold dormitory, where I had been
ordered to spend the rest of the day in solitary confinement, I felt
the soreness of this disappointment more than the smart of the weals
inflicted by the headmaster's cane. There was, however, one
consolation through it all--namely, the fact that I had not betrayed my
comrade in the night's adventure. However crude our code of honour may
have been, we were loyal to it; and I had the satisfaction of feeling
that my school-fellows would remember this as a proof that I was no
sneak. Furthermore, this was to be the end of Miles's school life, and
it would have been a pity for him to finish up by being sent home in
disgrace for what was, after all, merely a piece of thoughtless folly,
and largely the fault of Liddle.

The short winter day was drawing to a close, and I was sitting in the
deepening twilight, when the door suddenly opened, and in came Miles.
He had been watching his opportunity to creep upstairs, and