day's work. They endured their few morning hours in the Shell
patiently, resignedly, and were polite enough to yawn behind their
books. They were rarely put out by their own mistakes, and when
occasionally the master dropped upon them with some penalty or
remonstrance, they deemed it a pity that anyone should put himself so
much about on their account.

Railsford was baffled. There seemed more hope in the turbulent
skirmishers at the back of the room, who at least could now and then be
worked upon by thunder, and always, in theory, acknowledged that lessons
were things to be learned. On the first day the "muggers" knew their
task well, and Railsford glowed with hope as he expressed his
approbation. But when he came to the gapers his spirits sunk to zero.
They had unfortunately mistaken the passage, or else the page was torn
out of their book, or else they had been prevented by colds or sprained
wrists or chilblains from learning it. When told to construe a passage
read out not two minutes before by one of the upper boys, they knew
nothing about it, and feared it was too hard for their overwrought
capacities; and when pinned down where they sat to the acquirement of
some short rule or passage, they explained sorrowfully that that had not
been Mr Moss's method. In divinity they raised discussions on
questions of dogma, and so subtly evaded challenge on questions of Greek
Testament construction and various readings. In history they fell back
on a few stock answers, which rarely possessed the merit of having any
connection with the questions which they pretended to satisfy. But the
gapers were men of peace, after all. They rarely insisted upon their
own opinion, nor did it offend them to be told they were wrong.

The noisier element were less complacent; it is true, they never did a
lesson through, or construed a sentence from one end to the other.
Still, when they took the trouble to "mug" a question up, they expected
to be believed. It hurt them a good deal to be informed that they knew
nothing; and to detain them or set them impositions because of a
difference of opinion on an historical, classical, or theological
question seemed grossly unjust. When, for instance, Sir Digby Oakshott,
Baronet, on an early day of the term, publicly stated that the chief
features of Cromwell's character was a large mouth and a wart on the
nose, he was both hurt and annoyed to be ordered peremptorily to remain
for an hour after