am Tell, upon the
wrongs of fags in general, and his own in particular.

"I say, Scud," said he, at last, rousing himself to snuff the candle,
"what right have the fifth-form boys to fag us as they do?"

"No more right than you have to fag them," answered East, without
looking up from an early number of "Pickwick,"[17] which was just
coming out, and which he was luxuriously devouring, stretched on his
back on the sofa.

[17] #"The Pickwick Papers"#: a humorous novel by Charles
Dickens.

Tom relapsed into his brown study, and East went on reading and
chuckling. The contrast of the boys' faces would have given infinite
amusement to a looker-on, the one so solemn and big with mighty
purpose, the other radiant and bubbling over with fun.

"Do you know, old fellow, I've been thinking it over a good deal,"
began Tom, again.

"Oh, yes, I know, fagging you are thinking of. Hang it all--but listen
here, Tom--here's fun. Mr. Winkle's horse--"

"And I've made up my mind," broke in Tom, "that I won't fag except for
the sixth."

"Quite right, too, my boy," cried East, putting his finger on the
place and looking up; "but a pretty peck of troubles you'll get into,
if you're going to play that game. However, I'm all for a strike
myself, if we can get others to join--it's getting too bad."

"Can't we get some sixth-form fellow to take it up?" asked Tom.

"Well, perhaps we might; Morgan would interfere, I think. Only," added
East, after a moment's pause, "you see we should have to tell him
about it, and that's against school principles. Don't you remember
what old Brooke said about learning to take our own parts?"

"Ah, I wish old Brooke were back again--it was all right in his time."

"Why, yes, you see then the strongest and best fellows were in the
sixth, and the fifth-form fellows were afraid of them, and they kept
good order; but now our sixth-form fellows are too small, and the
fifth don't care for them, and do what they like in the house."

"And so we get a double set of masters," cried Tom, indignantly; "the
lawful ones, who are responsible to the Doctor at any rate, and the
unlawful--the tyrants, who are responsible to nobody."

"Down with the tyrants!" cried East; "I'm all for law and order, and
hurra for a revolution!"

"I shouldn't mind if it were only for young Brooke now," said Tom,
"he's such a good-hearted, gentlemanly fellow, and ought to be in the
sixth--I'd do anything for him. But that black