Mr. Daley was in when they rapped at the door of Number 8, on the first
floor of Billings, and, accepting his invitation to enter, they found
themselves in a very cosy, lamp-lighted, nicely furnished study, from
which a smaller room, evidently a bedroom, opened. Mr. Horace Daley was
a young man with an embarrassed manner and a desire to appear quite at
ease. He shook hands heartily, stumbled through a few words of welcome
and arranged chairs for them. He asked a good many questions, invariably
remarking "Fine!" with deep enthusiasm after every answer and smiled
jovially at all times. But the boys saw that he was much more
embarrassed than they were and were secretly pleased and amused. When at
last the instructor had finished the usual questions and was searching
around in his mind for more, Steve began asking for information.
Breakfast, responded Mr. Daley, was at seven-thirty and ran half an
hour. Chapel was at eight-fifteen usually, although there would be none
to-morrow, as school did not officially begin until noon. The first
recitation hour was nine o'clock. Dinner ran from twelve-thirty to
one-thirty. Recitations began again at two and lasted until half-past
three. Supper was at six. Between seven and eight the students were
required to remain in their rooms and study, although on permission of
the House Master one could study in the library instead. All lights were
supposed to be out at ten-thirty. And Mr. Daley hoped the boys would
get on swimmingly and become very fond of Brimfield.

"I--ah--I want you to feel that I am ready and anxious to help you at
any time, fellows. I--ah--want you to look on me as--ah--as a big
brother and come to me in your--ah--perplexities and troubles, should
you have any, and of course there are bound to be--ah--little worries at
first. One has to accustom oneself to any--ah--new environment. Don't
hesitate to call on me for advice or assistance. Sometimes an older
head--ah--you see what I mean?"

Steve replied that they did and thanked him and, with Tom crowding at
his heels, withdrew.

"He's a funny dub," confided Steve, as they made their way up to the
next floor. "Guess he must be new here. What does he teach, Tom?"

"Modern languages, I think the catalogue said. His first name is
Horace."

"Horace!" Steve chuckled. "It ought to be Percy. Hello, they've fixed
the beds up."

The room looked far more habitable when Steve had switched the light on.
Tom sighed luxuriously a