eved in it, and
gave it as their candid opinion that the fellow ought to be hung. "Yes,
and expelled too!" added a few of the more truculent.

The Guinea-pigs, on the other hand, whatever they thought, protested
vehemently that Greenfield senior was the most virtuous, heroic,
saintly, and jolly fellow in all Saint Dominic's, and denounced the
Tadpoles and all the rest of the school as the most brutal ruffians in
Christendom.

"They ought all to be expelled, every one of them," said one; "all
except Greenfield senior, and I hope they will be."

"All I know is," said Paul, "I'll let them have a bit of my mind, some
of them."

"So will I," said another.

"You haven't got any to give 'em a bit of," squealed Bramble, "so now!"

"All right, I'll give 'em a bit of _you_ then," retorted Paul.

"You wouldn't get any of them to touch him with a pair of tongs," added
another.

This was too much for Bramble, and another brief period of dust ensued.
Then, comparative quiet once more prevailing, Paul said, "I tell you
what, _I_ mean to stick to Greenfield senior."

"So do I," said another youth, with his face all over ink. "I mean _to
fag_ for him."

"So do I!" shouted another.

"So do I!" shouted another.

And a general chorus of assent hailed the idea.

"We'll all fag for him, I vote, eh, Stee?" said Paul, "the whole lot of
us! My eye, that'll be prime! Won't the others just about look black
and blue!"

It was a magnificent idea! And no sooner conceived than executed.

There was a great rush of Guinea-pigs to Oliver's study. He was not
there. So much the better. They would give him a delightful surprise!

So they proceeded straightway to empty his cupboards and drawers, to
polish up his cups, to unfold his clothes and fold them again, to take
down his books and put them up again, to upset his ink and mop it up
with one of his handkerchiefs, to make his tea and spill it on the
floor, to dirty his collars with their inky hands, to clean his boots
with his hat-brush, and many other thoughtful and friendly acts
calculated to make the heart of their hero glad.

In the midst of their orgies, Wraysford and Pembury passed the door, and
stopped to look in, wondering what on earth the tumult was about. But
they were greeted with such a storm of yells and hisses that they passed
on, a little uneasy in their minds as to whether or no hydrophobia had
broken out in Saint Dominic's.

After them a detachment of Tad