thoughtlessnessinthefirstplace。Itneveroccurredtothemtoconsiderwhysuchandsuchruleswerelaiddown:thereasonwasnothingtothem，andtheyonlylookeduponrulesasasortofchallengefromtherule-makers，whichitwouldberatherbadpluckinthemnottoaccept；andthenagain，inthelowerpartsoftheschooltheyhadn’tenoughtodo。Theworkoftheformtheycouldmanagetogetthroughprettyeasily，keepingagoodenoughplacetogettheirregularyearlyremove；andnothavingmuchambitionbeyondthis，theirwholesuperfluoussteamwasavailableforgamesandscrapes。Now，oneruleofthehousewhichitwasadailypleasureofallsuchboystobreakwasthataftersupperallfags，exceptthethreeondutyinthepassages，shouldremainintheirownstudiesuntilnineo’clock；andifcaughtaboutthepassagesorhall，orinoneanother’sstudies，theywereliabletopunishmentsorcaning。Therulewasstricterthanitsobservance；formostofthesixthspenttheireveningsinthefifth-formroom，wherethelibrarywas，andthelessonswerelearntincommon。Everynowandthen，however，aprepostorwouldbeseizedwithafitofdistrictvisiting，andwouldmakeatourofthepassagesandhallandthefags’
studies。Then，iftheownerwereentertainingafriendortwo，thefirstkickatthedoorandominous“Openhere“hadtheeffectoftheshadowofahawkoverachicken-yard:everyonecuttocover——onesmallboydivingunderthesofa，anotherunderthetable，whiletheownerwouldhastilypulldownabookortwoandopenthem，andcryoutinameekvoice，“Hullo，who’sthere？“castingananxiouseyeroundtoseethatnoprotrudinglegorelbowcouldbetraythehiddenboys。“Open，sir，directly；it’sSnooks。““Oh，I’mverysorry；Ididn’tknowitwasyou，Snooks。“Andthenwithwell-feignedzealthedoorwouldbeopened，younghopefulprayingthatthatbeastSnooksmightn’thaveheardthescufflecausedbyhiscoming。Ifastudywasempty，Snooksproceededtodrawthepassagesandhalltofindthetruants。
Well，oneevening，inforbiddenhours，TomandEastwereinthehall。Theyoccupiedtheseatsbeforethefirenearestthedoor，whileDiggssprawledasusualbeforethefartherfire。Hewasbusywithacopyofverses，andEastandTomwerechattingtogetherinwhispersbythelightofthefire，andsplicingafavouriteoldfivesbatwhichhadsprung。Presentlyastepcamedownthebottompassage。Theylistenedamoment，assuredthemselvesthatitwasn’taprepostor，andthenwentonwiththeirwork，andthedoorswungopen，andinwalkedFlashman。Hedidn’tseeDiggs，andthoughtitagoodchancetokeephishandin；andastheboysdidn’tmoveforhim，struckoneofthem，tomakethemgetoutofhisway。
“What’sthatfor？“growledtheassaultedone。
“BecauseIchoose。You’venobusinesshere。Gotoyourstudy。“