Then he gave the offending foot
a knock with his fist and an admonitory push.

"Please, sir," squeaked the lordly Bramble, "Greenfield junior is trying
to knock me over."

"I was not," shouted Stephen; "he was squashing me with his foot, and I
moved it away."

"Really, Bramble," said Mr Rastle, "you are either very unfortunate or
very badly behaved. Come and stand on this empty form beside my desk.
There will be no danger here of `squashing' any one's leg or of being
knocked over. Come at once."

So Mr Bramble took no advantage by his last motion, and served the rest
of his term of penal servitude, in the face of the entire class, under
the immediate eye of Mr Rastle.

Directly class was over, Stephen had to go and wait upon Loman for a
particular purpose, which the reader must hear of in due time.

CHAPTER SIX.

MR CRIPPS THE YOUNGER.

Loman was a comparatively new boy at Saint Dominic's. He had entered
eighteen months ago, in the Fifth Form, having come direct from another
school. He was what many persons would call an agreeable boy, although
for some reason or other he was never very popular. What that something
was, no one could exactly define. He was clever, and good-tempered, and
inoffensive. He rarely quarrelled or interfered with any one, and he
had been known to do more than one good-natured act. But whether it was
that he was conceited, or selfish, or not quite straight, or a little
bit of all three, he never made any very great friends at Saint
Dominic's, and since he had got into the Sixth and been made a monitor,
he had quite lost the favour of his old comrades in the Fifth.

As far as Wraysford and Greenfield were concerned, this absence of
goodwill had ripened into something like soreness, by the way in which
Loman had made use of his own position as a monitor, on a casual
reference by Oliver to the probable coming of Stephen to Saint
Dominic's, to secure that young gentleman as his fag, although he quite
well knew that Wraysford was counting on having him. Though of course
the captain's word was final, the two friends felt that they had not
been quite fairly dealt with in the matter. They took no trouble to
conceal what they thought from Loman himself, who seemed to derive
considerable satisfaction from the fact, and to determine to keep his
hand on the new boy quite as much for the sake of "scoring off" his
rivals as on the fag's own account.

Loman, Wraysford, and Greenfield