y're well enough," answered East, patronizingly, "only uncommon
cold at nights sometimes. Gower--that's my chum--and I make a fire
with paper on the floor after supper generally, only that makes it so
smoky."

"But there's a big fire out in the passage," said Tom.

"Precious little we get out of that though," said East; "Jones the
praepostor[22] has the study at the fire end, and he has rigged up an
iron rod and green baize curtains across the passage, which he draws
at night, and sits there with his door open, so he gets all the fire,
and hears if we come out of our studies after eight, or make a noise.
However, he's taken to sitting in the fifth-form room lately, so we do
get a bit of fire now sometimes; only keep a sharp look-out that he
don't catch you behind his curtain when he comes down,--that's all."

[22] #Praepostors#: the members of the sixth form, the highest
class in the school. They were charged with the duty of
looking after the other boys.

TOM'S FIRST RUGBY DINNER.

A quarter past one now struck, and the bell began tolling for dinner,
so they went into the hall and took their places, Tom at the very
bottom of the second table, next to the praepostor (who sat at the end
to keep order there), and East a few paces higher. And now Tom for the
first time saw his future school-fellows in a body. In they came, some
hot and ruddy from foot-ball or long walks, some pale and chilly from
hard reading[23] in their studies, some from loitering over the fire
at the pastry-cook's, dainty mortals, bringing with them pickles and
sauce-bottles to help them with their dinners. And a great big-bearded
man, whom Tom took for a master, began calling over the names, while
the great joints were being rapidly carved on the third table in the
corner by the old verger[24] and the housekeeper. Tom's turn came
last, and meanwhile he was all eyes, looking first with awe at the
great man who sat close to him, and was helped first, and who read a
hard-looking book all the time he was eating: and when he got up and
walked off to the fire, at the small boys round him, some of whom were
reading, and the rest talking in whispers to one another, or stealing
one another's bread, or shooting pellets,[25] or digging their forks
through the table-cloth. However, notwithstanding his curiosity, he
managed to make a capital dinner by the time the big man called "Stand
up!" and said grace.

[23] #Reading#: studying.