g a momentary absence of the master. "I wish to
goodness we knew who it was!"

"A reng-lidder?" repeated the March Hare. "I don' know zat word. But if
you mean ze boy who done ze much most--ze baddest of all ze bads--ah, I
know him! Yes, I mark him long, long time. An' I wait."

"What d'ye mean, Harey? Who is it?"

"Nev-er mat-ter," said the March Hare mysteriously; and at that point
Mr. Anderson re-entered the room.

On went the hands of the clock. At one minute to eleven all was peaceful
and orderly. At eleven the masters departed for the usual brief
interval. At one minute past eleven all was war and tumult!

How, where, with whom the conflict commenced it is impossible to say.
There was no warning, no formal outbreak--only in a moment the quiet
room became a battle-field, filled with a seething crowd of furious,
struggling lads.

An odd feature of the battle was its comparative silence. It was to
everyone's interest to avoid attracting attention, and the sound of
blows was louder than the sound of voices.

Here, Bacon was felled by Trevelyan; there, Vickers by Mason. The result
was the same in either case. The fallen arose undaunted and without a
word; only a look of keener determination settled on each face.

There was scarcely time for rallying, but, as far as was possible, the
day-boys closed in together to resist the attack of their more numerous
foes. Hughes and poor Frere both found themselves forced into battle,
willy-nilly. Jack, whose natural instinct was to side with the weaker
party, found neutrality impossible, and the part he had chosen very
hard. The day-boys were prepared for his vagaries, but the boarders were
perplexed and bewildered by his conduct. Was he partisan or traitor? One
moment they saw him pressing his handkerchief to Green's bleeding nose;
the next he was forcing a way for plucky Simmons to reach his friends:
now he must needs shut Toppin up in the book-room for safety--against
his will, of course; then he was heard imparting to the tearful Frere a
few hints on self-defence.

Very soon there was no doubt in which direction the tide of victory was
flowing. Numbers began to tell, and the day-boys were being forced
steadily backwards towards the wall, away from the class-rooms, where
they had hoped, if necessary, to be able to entrench themselves.

A foolish idea of making use of the long table suggested itself to
Mason. A tug and a shove, and they had pulled it round to shield t