a few hours, you may say.

Quite true, but, oh, what hours they were, and what agony I suffered
from my thoughts!

I spent most of my time at the window, forcing myself to think of how
things were going on in school, and I pictured the boys at their
lessons--at the Doctor's desk at Mr Rebble's, and Mr Hasnip's. It was
German day, too, and I thought about our quaint foreign master, and
about Lomax drilling the boys in the afternoon. He would be asking them
where I was; and the question arose in my mind, would the boys tell him,
or would they have had orders, as we did once before, about a year back,
when a pupil disgraced himself, not to mention the affair outside the
school walls.

My spirits rose a little at this, for it would be horrible for Lomax to
know, and go and think it over. And I seemed to know that he would take
it more to heart about me than if it were any other boy, for I was to be
a soldier, and, as he would have expressed it, "One of ours."

Dinner-time at last--the bell ringing, and the shouts and cries of the
boys, "All in! all in!" though we used to want very little calling for
meals.

After a time, my dinner was brought up, as my breakfast had been, in
silence, and I felt then that I should have liked Mr Rebble to speak,
if it had only been to bully. But he did not so much as look at me,
only stalked into the room and out again.

Who was going to eat and enjoy a dinner, brought like that?

"It's like an animal in a cage being fed," I said angrily; and I was
quite angry because the roast beef, potatoes, and greens smelt so nice
that I was obliged to sit down and eat and enjoy the meal, for I was
very hungry.

After the tray had been fetched, I made up my mind that at any minute
now the Doctor might send for me, to give me a severe examination, and I
shivered at the idea of being forced to speak out, and say everything I
knew. I wished now that it was dark, so that I might have attempted to
escape, if only to avoid that meeting. But it was impossible. Even if
I could get off the lock, I should be seen, for certain, and brought
back in an ignominious fashion, that would be terrible.

But the afternoon wore away, as I sat listening to the shouts of the
boys at play, thinking bitterly of how little they thought of me shut up
there; and I began wondering where Mercer was, little thinking that he
was watching me; but he was, sure enough, for, just close upon tea-time,
I caught sight of him