dpole stand in his seat and cheer till he is
hoarse, and till his grandmother pulleth him by the tail of his jacket.
The hero Padger, perspiring very much in the face, but otherwise
composed, takes the homage of his chief and the third arithmetic prize
with becoming humility, and clears off the arena as fast as he
conveniently can.

Surely the Fourth Junior have come to an end now! No! there is one more
prize.

"First Latin--Greenfield junior."

This time there was a louder cheer than ever, for Stephen is a popular
boy outside his own class. Oliver joins in the cheer, and Pembury and
Wraysford and one or two others, and of course the Guinea-pigs, go in a
lump for him. It is quite a minute before the noble Earl can get hold
of the words of presentation; and when at last Stephen is dispatched,
the Doctor turns round and says, "If you boys will make a _little_ less
noise I dare say we shall get through the list quite as satisfactorily,
and possibly a little more quickly."

"Hear, hear!" says one of the governors, and nod, nod goes the noble
Earl's head.

The consequence of this is that the prizes to the First, Second, Third,
and Fourth Senior are presented amid something very much like silence,
which, however, grows less and less solemn as the proceedings go on.
The last Fourth Senior boy to be called is the hero Forrester, who is
now fully constituted a member of the first football fifteen. He gets a
vehement cheer at all costs, mingled with shouts of "Well kicked, sir!"

"Hack it through!" and the like, which clearly show that the sympathy of
Saint Dominic's is quite as much with the exploits accomplished by the
young hero's feet as by those of his head.

Now for the Fifth! If the Doctor expects the company is to remain
solemn during the next quarter of an hour he knows nothing at all about
the school over which he presides.

"Fifth Form--(cheers)--French--(cheers)--Pembury--(terrific applause,
during which Tony walks in demurely on his crutches and receives his
well-merited award). English history--(applause)--Pembury."

Once more enter Tony on his crutches to receive another prize.

"Bravo, Tony!"

"Hurrah for the _Dominican_!"

"Well done, Editor!" rise from various parts of the hall, in the midst
of which Pembury retires positively for the last time.

"First Greek prize--Wraysford."

Wraysford advances gravely and slowly. The instant he appears there
arises a cheer--the mightiest of any yet.