slation to get a clue to hard passages,
if you tried all you could first to make them out without."

"Did he, though?" said Tom; "then Arthur must be wrong."

"Of course he is," said Gower, "the little prig. We'll only use the crib
when we can't construe without it. Go ahead, East."

And on this agreement they started: Tom satisfied with having made his
confession, and not sorry to have a _locus poenitentiae_, and not to be
deprived altogether of the use of his old and faithful friend.

The boys went on as usual, each taking a sentence in turn, and the crib
being handed to the one whose turn it was to construe. Of course Tom
couldn't object to this, as, was it not simply lying there to be
appealed to in case the sentence should prove too hard altogether for
the construer? But it must be owned that Gower and East did not make
very tremendous exertions to conquer their sentences before having
recourse to its help. Tom, however, with the most heroic virtue and
gallantry rushed into his sentence, searching in a high-minded manner
for nominative and verb, and turning over his dictionary frantically for
the first hard word that stopped him. But in the meantime Gower, who was
bent on getting to fives, would peep quietly into the crib, and then
suggest, "Don't you think this is the meaning?" "I think you must take
it this way, Brown;" and as Tom didn't see his way to not profiting by
these suggestions, the lesson went on about as quickly as usual, and
Gower was able to start for the fives'-court within five minutes of the
half-hour.

When Tom and East were left face to face, they looked at one another for
a minute, Tom puzzled, and East chock-full of fun, and then burst into a
roar of laughter.

"Well, Tom," said East, recovering himself, "I don't see any objection
to the new way. It's about as good as the old one, I think; besides the
advantage it gives one of feeling virtuous, and looking down on one's
neighbours."

Tom shoved his hand into his back hair. "I ain't so sure," said he; "you
two fellows carried me off my legs: I don't think we really tried one
sentence fairly. Are you sure you remember what the Doctor said to you?"

"Yes. And I'll swear I couldn't make out one of my sentences to-day. No,
nor ever could. I really don't remember," said East, speaking slowly and
impressively, "to have come across one Latin or Greek sentence this
half, that I could go and construe by the light of nature. Whereby I am
sure Pr