any other? The answer was crushing. "What can
you do? Only French, and book-keeping and `stinks'"--(the strictly
Classical nickname for chemistry). "You can't put a man into the
cricket or football field worth his salt; your houses are rowdy; your
men do nothing at the University; two out of three of you are not even
gentlemen." Whereupon the Moderns went in desperately for sports, and
claimed to be represented in the School clubs. They maintained that
they were as good gentlemen as any who talked Latin and Greek; and to
prove it they jingled their money in their trouser-pockets, and asked
what the Classics could do in that line. The Classics could do very
little, and fell back on their moral advantages. By degrees the new
side grew in numbers, and made themselves heard rather more definitely.
They put into the field one or two men who could not honestly be denied
a place in the School teams; and they began to figure also among the
School prefects. The present seniors, Clapperton and his friends,
carried the thing a step further, and insisted on equal rights with
their rivals in all the School institutions. To their surprise they
found an ally in Yorke, who, as we have already said, hurt the feelings
of many of his admirers by his Quixotic insistence on fair play all
round.
The proceedings yesterday had been the most recent instance of the flow
in the tide of Modern progress at Fellsgarth. Reinforced by an unusual
influx of new boys, they had aimed at, and succeeded in winning, their
level half of the control of the School clubs; and Yorke had looked on
and let them do it!
No wonder they went off their heads as they discoursed on their triumph,
and no wonder they already pictured themselves masters of Fellsgarth!
It never does occur to some people that the mountain is not climbed till
the top is reached.
"Really, you know," said Brinkman, "I felt half sorry for those poor
beggars; they did look so sick when Dangle was elected."
"It's my opinion," said Clapperton, "you'd have been in too, if all our
fellows had turned up. I saw four or five of our youngsters come in at
the last moment."
"Yes--by the way," said Dangle, "that ought to be looked into. It's
fishy, to say the least of it, and would have made all the difference to
Brinkman's election."
"Do you know who the fellows were?" asked Clapperton.
"I believe your fag was one of them."
"Percy Wheatfield? Catch him being shut out of any
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