eeing his mother's face, hearing her sigh of pleasure
when she learned that already her son was halfway up the school.

* * * * *

You may be sure those first forty-eight hours were brim-full of
excitements. First, John bought his books, stout leather-tipped,
leather-backed volumes, on which his name will be duly stamped on
fly-leaf and across the edges of the pages. And he bought also, from
"Judy" Stephens,[4] a "squash" racquet, "squash" balls, and a yard ball.
From the school Custos--"Titchy"--a noble supply of stationery was
procured. Moreover, young Kinloch announced that his mother had given
him three pounds to spend upon the decoration of No. 15, so Scaife
declared his intention of spending a similar sum, and in consequence No.
15 became a gorgeous apartment, the cynosure of every eye that passed.
The characters of the three boys were revealed plainly enough by their
simple furnishings. Scaife bought sporting prints, a couple of
Detaille's lithographs, and an easy-chair, known to dwellers upon the
Hill as a "frowst"; Kinloch hung upon his side of the wall four pretty
reproductions of French engravings, and with the help of three yards of
velveteen and some cheap lace he made a very passable imitation of the
mantel-cover in his mother's London boudoir; John scorned velveteen,
lace, "frowsts," and French engravings. He put his money into a pair of
red curtains, and one excellent photogravure of Landseer's "Children of
the Mist." Having a few shillings to spare, he bought half a dozen
ferns, which were placed in a box by the window, and watered so
diligently that they died prematurely.

Secondly, John played in a house-game at football, and learned the
difference between a scrimmage at a small preparatory school and the
genuine thing at Harrow. Lawrence insisted that all new boys should
play, and the Caterpillar informed him that he would have to learn the
rules of Harrow "footer" by heart, and pass a stiff examination in them
before the House Eleven, with the penalty of being forced to sing them
in Hall if he failed to satisfy his examiners. The Duffer lent him a
House-shirt of green and white stripes, and a pair of white duck shorts,
and with what pride John put them on, thinking of the far distant day
when he would wear a "fez"[5] instead of the commonplace house-cap!
Lawrence said a few words.

"You'll have to play the compulsory games, Verney, which begin after the
Goose Match