his effort still if possible to differentiate from those imposed on the rest. He had indeed been told that he would have to call the masters 'sir,' but, having so far got out of using the word, he had begun to hope that they would accept instead such a tone of deference as that in which he had been careful to speak. It was disappointing to find himself mistaken; and then too this being addressed by his surname seemed as if it had made him lose in a moment every inch of the ground he had been at such pains to win, and set a gulf between the Doctor and himself, which he was sure that he would never succeed in crossing.
Presently, as they drew near the end of a low narrow passage, against one wall of which there hung a long row of curiously-shaped boards whose use it was quite beyond him to guess at, he caught a muffled sound of talk that, as the door was opened, became a hubbub of chatter, and then, as the Doctor was perceived, sank into silence, but only to be immediately succeeded by a hum of 'New boy' which went buzzing round the room from form to form. Meanwhile the Doctor, stopping, had put a hand upon his shoulder with a gesture which for a moment Jaspar almost took for one of kindly protection, and had begun a little speech about new playfellows, and how you should treat them. He for his part the while stood still, looking indeed intently at the floor, but conscious all the time that many pairs—how many he could not tell—of curious eyes were bent on him: and that the boys were nudging each other and pointing at him; and some one said:
'See how he's been blubbing!'
And his ears tingled as they used to do when boxed by his Guardian's wife, and his cheeks burned so hotly as to make him blink. Somehow too he felt that he and the others already understood each other quite well; and that he was saying to them as plain as if he had used words:
'I'm awfully sorry, but it's really not my fault, all the rot he's talking about being kind to a new-comer!'
While they on their side were making answer:
