lege was a polishing-up establishment. Boys were not admitted
under the age of fourteen, or unless they showed a certain proficiency
in Greek and Latin, in the first book of Euclid, in arithmetic and
algebra up to simple equations. And the entrance examination, mind you,
was no farce. If a candidate was not well grounded they would not have
him; and it was necessary to be particular, because the first or lowest
form assumed a certain amount of knowledge in the commencement of that
course which proposed to land the neophyte in the Indian Civil Service,
the army, or a good scholarship at one of the universities.

Though fourteen was the age of possible admission, very few boys were
qualified until they were at least a year older, and consequently there
was no organised system of fagging, and flogging was a very rare and
extreme measure; but otherwise the system somewhat resembled that of the
large public schools. The head-master and three other masters each had
a house full of boarders, whose preparation of lessons on certain
subjects he superintended; and every boy had a separate apartment, which
was his study and bedroom.

It was an expensive school, and the discipline of Dr Jolliffe was more
lax than many parents and guardians quite liked; and yet few of the boys
who went there were rich. It was very rarely, that is, that one of them
had not to make his own way in the world. And the number, which was
limited, was always complete. For results speak for themselves, and the
examination lists showed triumphant successes for Weston. It is true
that if they only took boys of considerable proficiency, and got rid of
all who made no progress, they might be expected to show a good average;
but then, on the other hand, there was no cramming, and every
encouragement was given to healthy athletic exercise. Three or four
years were taken to do the work which is too often jammed into a few
months. That was the secret; and, though of course there were failures,
it answered well on the whole.

This is an explanatory digression, just to let you know what sort of
stage our characters are acting upon.

It was Saturday afternoon, and a half-holiday, and there was only one
boy left in Dr Jolliffe's house. His name was Buller, and he was
neither sick nor under punishment. His window was wide open, for it was
very hot and stuffy in his little room, into which the sun poured, and
on the other side of a lane which ran underneath