TOM BROWN'S
road. Then the others hailed the old scarecrow of a coachman, who pulled up and agreed to take them in for a shilling; so there they sat on the back seat, drubbing with their heels, and their teeth chattering with cold, and jogged into Rugby some forty minutes after locking-up.
Five minutes afterward, three small, limping, shivering figures steal along through the Doctor's garden, and into the house by the servants' entrance (all the other gates have been closed long since), where the first thing they light upon in the passage is old Thomas, ambling along, candle in one hand and keys in the other.
He stops and examines their condition with a grim smile. "Ah! East, Hall, and Brown, late for locking-up. Must go up to the Doctor's study at once."
"Well, but, Thomas, mayn't we go and wash first? You can put down the time, you know."
"Doctor's study d'rectly you come in—that's the orders," replied old Thomas, motioning toward the stairs at the end of the passage which led up into the Doctor's house; and the boys turned ruefully down it, not cheered by the old verger's muttered remark: "What a pickle they boys be in!" Thomas referred to their faces and habiliments, but they construed it as indicating the Doctor's state of mind. Upon the short flight of stairs they paused to hold counsel.
"Who'll go in first?" inquires Tadpole.
"You—you're the senior," answered East.
"Catch me—look at the state I'm in," rejoined Hall, showing the arms of his jacket. "I must get behind you two."
"Well, but look at me," said East, indicating the mass of clay behind which he was standing; "I'm worse than you, two to one; you might grow cabbages on my trousers."
"That's all down below, and you can keep your legs behind the sofa," said Hall.
"Here, Brown, you're the show-figure—you must lead."
[ 150 ]
