met officially since our encounter
in the magistrate's room, and as with one accord we ceased hostilities
and stared at him, one or two of the more audacious of our party
indulged in a low hiss.

"Come in, you fellows, at once," said Tempest, turning on his heel.

"Wait, you boys," said Mr Jarman, taking out his pencil. "Wait,
Tempest."

But Tempest did not wait, nor did we, but made a deliberate rush into
our house, and in less than a minute were safely stowed away in our
several studies, secure from all immediate arrest.

It was an act of open rebellion such as Sharpe's had not yet ventured
on. There was no excuse that any of us had not heard the order. We
had, and had disobeyed it. And in the present instance Tempest had
headed us. What would be the consequence?

We were not destined to know till next morning, when a notice appeared
on the board stating that Mr Sharpe's house having been reported for
riotous conduct and disobedience to orders, the head master would meet
the boys in the hall at eleven o'clock.

CHAPTER NINETEEN.

HALTING BETWEEN TWO OPINIONS.

There was no mistaking the doctor's meaning this time. Sharpe's had had
a long rope, but had come to the end of it at last. I would not for the
world have confessed it at the time, but I was half glad a crisis had
come. My conscience had smitten me more than once about my work. I had
fooled away the good chance with which I had entered Low Heath. Fellows
far below me in scholarship had got ahead of me by force of steady
plodding, while I was wasting my time. The good resolutions which I had
brought up with me had one by one fallen overboard, and I had been
content enough to take my place among the rowdies without an effort.

I had counted all through on Tempest's backing up. If he had been keen
on the credit of the house, I felt I could have been so too. If he had
been down on me for my neglect of work, I felt I should have stuck to
it. As it was, slackness reigned supreme. Tempest was slack because he
was out of humour. Pridgin was slack because he was lazy. Wales was
slack because he wanted to be in the fashion. And all of us were slack
because our betters set us the example. It needs no little courage for
a single boy to attempt to stem the drift of slackness in a school
house. A dull, dogged boy like Dicky Brown might have done it; but I
could not afford to be peculiar, and therefore succumbed, against my
judgment, to the p