above that the prepostor of their room and passage left.
None of the other sixth-form boys would move into their passage, and, to
the disgust and indignation of Tom and East, one morning after breakfast
they were seized upon by Flashman, and made to carry down his books and
furniture into the unoccupied study, which he had taken. From this
time they began to feel the weight of the tyranny of Flashman and his
friends, and, now that trouble had come home to their own doors, began
to look out for sympathizers and partners amongst the rest of the fags;
and meetings of the oppressed began to be held, and murmurs to arise,
and plots to be laid as to how they should free themselves and be
avenged on their enemies.

While matters were in this state, East and Tom were one evening sitting
in their study. They had done their work for first lesson, and Tom was
in a brown study, brooding, like a young William Tell, upon the wrongs
of fags in general, and his own in particular.

"I say, Scud," said he at last, rousing himself to snuff the candle,
"what right have the fifth-form boys to fag us as they do?"

"No more right than you have to fag them," answered East, without
looking up from an early number of "Pickwick," which was just coming
out, and which he was luxuriously devouring, stretched on his back on
the sofa.

Tom relapsed into his brown study, and East went on reading and
chuckling. The contrast of the boys' faces would have given infinite
amusement to a looker-on--the one so solemn and big with mighty purpose,
the other radiant and bubbling over with fun.

"Do you know, old fellow, I've been thinking it over a good deal," began
Tom again.

"Oh yes, I know--fagging you are thinking of. Hang it all! But listen
here, Tom--here's fun. Mr. Winkle's horse--"

"And I've made up my mind," broke in Tom, "that I won't fag except for
the sixth."

"Quite right too, my boy," cried East, putting his finger on the place
and looking up; "but a pretty peck of troubles you'll get into, if
you're going to play that game. However, I'm all for a strike myself, if
we can get others to join. It's getting too bad."

"Can't we get some sixth-form fellow to take it up?" asked Tom.

"Well, perhaps we might. Morgan would interfere, I think. Only," added
East, after a moment's pause, "you see, we should have to tell him about
it, and that's against School principles. Don't you remember what old
Brooke said about learning to take our own pa