r, blown out with injured
virtue--a King among men. We assure you, our beloved subjects, we
were Rupert Head-in-Air.

Sec.2

I returned to Radley's class-room and entered jauntily. All eyes
turned and followed me as I walked to the master's desk. The
excitement experienced by each boy seemed communicated to me. Radley
feigned indifference.

"Well?" said he.

"I've come back, sir."

"Right. Go and sit down."

Scarcely had I reached my seat before the bell rang loudly for the
Interval. The boys in their anxiety to hear the latest news flowed
out hurriedly. I lingered apprehensively behind. At last I summoned
up courage to venture into the corridor, where I found a group of
boys awaiting me. Through these I broke at a rush and went and hid.

All that Interval lip tossed to lip such remarks as: "Ray did it."
"I say, have you heard Ray's the culprit?" "What'll be done to him?"
"Oh, the prefects have issued an edict that anyone who holds
communication with him will get a Prefects' Whacking." "Ray did it."
"What? that kid? Little devil--it's good-bye to him, I suppose."
"What'll Radley say? He's one of his latest bally pets." "Ray did
it."

After ten minutes the Second Period began. As our form went to Herr
Reinhardt, the great Mr. Caesar, and he would certainly be late, I
dawdled in my hiding-place, not having the courage to face the boys
in the corridor. I waited till I conjectured that Mr. Caesar must be
safe in his class-room, and the boys in their desks. Then I entered
his room, famous character as I was, and apologised for being late.
Mr. Caesar wrote my name in the Imposition Book, but, having raised
his face and given one look at my swollen, tearful eyes, he
deliberately crossed the name out again. And, indeed, throughout
that period he so consistently refused to see that the boys were
showing detestation of my degrading presence, and was so
inexpressibly gentle in his manner towards me, that now I always
think of this weak-eyed German master as a quiet and Christian
gentleman.

When school-hours were over I went to a window, and there, leaning
on the sill, thought how badly my war was going. Fillet was winning;
he had won when he caned me for asking the number of the sum; he had
won when he gave me the thousand lines; and now he was assaulting in
mass formation with the whole school as his allies. Ah, well! as
Wellington said at Waterloo--it depended who could stand this
pounding longest, gentlemen.