However, he's
taken to sitting in the fifth-form room lately, so we do get a bit of
fire now sometimes; only to keep a sharp lookout that he don't catch you
behind his curtain when he comes down--that's all."
A quarter past one now struck, and the bell began tolling for dinner; so
they went into the hall and took their places, Tom at the very bottom
of the second table, next to the prepostor (who sat at the end to keep
order there), and East a few paces higher. And now Tom for the first
time saw his future school-fellows in a body. In they came, some hot
and ruddy from football or long walks, some pale and chilly from hard
reading in their studies, some from loitering over the fire at
the pastrycook's, dainty mortals, bringing with them pickles and
saucebottles to help them with their dinners. And a great big-bearded
man, whom Tom took for a master, began calling over the names, while the
great joints were being rapidly carved on the third table in the
corner by the old verger and the housekeeper. Tom's turn came last, and
meanwhile he was all eyes, looking first with awe at the great man, who
sat close to him, and was helped first, and who read a hard-looking book
all the time he was eating; and when he got up and walked off to the
fire, at the small boys round him, some of whom were reading, and the
rest talking in whispers to one another, or stealing one another's
bread, or shooting pellets, or digging their forks through the
tablecloth.
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