Theyweresoon，however，allturnedoutoftheschool；andEastconductedTomuptohisbedroom，thathemightgetoncleanthings，andwashhimselfbeforesinging。
“What’ssinging？“saidTom，takinghisheadoutofhisbasin，wherehehadbeenplungingitincoldwater。
“Well，youarejollygreen，“answeredhisfriend，fromaneighbouringbasin。“Why，thelastsixSaturdaysofeveryhalfwesingofcourse；andthisisthefirstofthem。Nofirstlessontodo，youknow，andlieinbedto-morrowmorning。“
“Butwhosings？“
“Why，everybody，ofcourse；you’llseesoonenough。Webegindirectlyaftersupper，andsingtillbed-time。Itain’tsuchgoodfunnow，though，asinthesummerhalf；’causethenwesinginthelittlefivescourt，underthelibrary，youknow。Wetakeouttables，andthebigboyssitroundanddrinkbeer——doubleallowanceonSaturdaynights；andwecutaboutthequadranglebetweenthesongs，anditlookslikealotofrobbersinacave。
Andtheloutscomeandpoundatthegreatgates，andwepoundbackagain，andshoutatthem。Butthishalfweonlysinginthehall。Comealongdowntomystudy。“
TheirprincipalemploymentinthestudywastoclearoutEast’stable；removingthedrawersandornamentsandtablecloth；forhelivedinthebottompassage，andhistablewasinrequisitionforthesinging。
Suppercameinduecourseatseveno’clock，consistingofbreadandcheeseandbeer，whichwasallsavedforthesinging；anddirectlyafterwardsthefagswenttoworktopreparethehall。
TheSchool-househall，ashasbeensaid，isagreatlonghighroom，withtwolargefiresononeside，andtwolargeiron-boundtables，onerunningdownthemiddle，andtheotheralongthewalloppositethefireplaces。Aroundtheupperfirethefagsplacedthetablesintheformofahorse-shoe，anduponthemthejugswiththeSaturdaynight’sallowanceofbeer。Thenthebigboysusedtodropinandtaketheirseats，bringingwiththembottledbeerandsongbooks；foralthoughtheyallknewthesongsbyheart，itwasthethingtohaveanoldmanuscriptbookdescendedfromsomedepartedhero，inwhichtheywereallcarefullywrittenout。
Thesixth-formboyshadnotyetappeared；so，tofillupthegap，aninterestingandtime-honouredceremonywasgonethrough。
Eachnewboywasplacedonthetableinturn，andmadetosingasolo，underthepenaltyofdrinkingalargemugofsaltandwaterifheresistedorbrokedown。However，thenewboysallsinglikenightingalesto-night，andthesaltwaterisnotinrequisition——Tom，ashispart，performingtheoldwest-countrysongof“TheLeatherBottel“withconsiderableapplause。Andatthehalf-hourdowncomethesixthandfifthformboys，andtaketheirplacesatthetables，whicharefilledupbythenextbiggestboys，therest，forwhomthereisnoroomatthetable，standingroundoutside。
Theglassesandmugsarefilled，andthenthefuglemanstrikesuptheoldsea-song，“Awetsheetandaflowingsea，Andawindthatfollowsfast，“etc。，whichistheinvariablefirstsongintheSchool-house；andalltheseventyvoicesjoinin，notmindfulofharmony，butbentonnoise，whichtheyattaindecidedly，butthegeneraleffectisn’tbad。Andthenfollow“TheBritishGrenadiers，““BillyTaylor，“
“TheSiegeofSeringapatam，““ThreeJollyPostboys，“andothervociferoussongsinrapidsuccession，including“TheChesapeakeandShannon，“asonglatelyintroducedinhonourofoldBrooke；
andwhentheycometothewords，“BraveBrokehewavedhissword，crying，Now，mylads，aboard，Andwe’llstoptheirplayingYankee-doodle-dandyoh！“
youexpecttherooftocomedown。Thesixthandfifthknowthat“braveBroke“oftheShannonwasnosortofrelationtoouroldBrooke。Thefourthformareuncertainintheirbelief，butforthemostpartholdthatoldBrookewasamidshipmanthenonboardhisuncle’sship。AndthelowerschoolneverdoubtforamomentthatitwasouroldBrookewholedtheboarders，inwhatcapacitytheycarenotastraw。Duringthepausesthebottled-
beercorksflyrapidly，andthetalkisfastandmerry，andthebigboys——atleastallofthemwhohaveafellow-feelingfordrythroats——handtheirmugsovertheirshoulderstobeemptiedbythesmalloneswhostandroundbehind。
ThenWarner，theheadofthehouse，getsupandwantstospeak；
buthecan’t，foreveryboyknowswhat’scoming。Andthebigboyswhositatthetablespoundthemandcheer；andthesmallboyswhostandbehindpoundoneanother，andcheer，andrushaboutthehallcheering。Thensilencebeingmade，WarnerremindsthemoftheoldSchool-housecustomofdrinkingthehealths，onthefirstnightofsinging，ofthosewhoaregoingtoleaveattheendofthehalf。“Heseesthattheyknowwhatheisgoingtosayalready“loudcheers，“andsowon’tkeepthem，butonlyaskthemtotreatthetoastasitdeserves。Itistheheadoftheeleven，theheadofbig-sidefootball，theirleaderonthisgloriousday——PaterBrooke！“
Andawaygoesthepoundingandcheeringagain，becomingdeafeningwhenoldBrookegetsonhislegs；till，atablehavingbrokendown，andagallonorsoofbeerbeenupset，andallthroatsgettingdry，silenceensues，andtheherospeaks，leaninghishandsonthetable，andbendingalittleforwards。
Noaction，notricksoforatory——plain，strong，andstraight，likehisplay。
“GentlemenoftheSchool-house！Iamveryproudofthewayinwhichyouhavereceivedmyname，andIwishIcouldsayallI
shouldlikeinreturn。ButIknowIshan’t。However，I’lldothebestIcantosaywhatseemstomeoughttobesaidbyafellowwho’sjustgoingtoleave，andwhohasspentagoodsliceofhislifehere。Eightyearsitis，andeightsuchyearsasI
canneverhopetohaveagain。SonowIhopeyou’llalllistentome“loudcheersof“Thatwewill“，“forI’mgoingtotalkseriously。You’reboundtolistentomeforwhat’stheuseofcallingme’pater，’andallthat，ifyoudon’tmindwhatIsay？
AndI’mgoingtotalkseriously，becauseIfeelso。It’sajollytime，too，gettingtotheendofthehalf，andagoalkickedbyusfirstday“tremendousapplause，“afteroneofthehardestandfiercestday’splayIcanrememberineightyears。“
Franticshoutings。“TheSchoolplayedsplendidly，too，Iwillsay，andkeptituptothelast。Thatlastchargeoftheirswouldhavecarriedawayahouse。IneverthoughttoseeanythingagainofoldCrabthere，exceptlittlepieces，whenI
sawhimtumbledoverbyit。“Laughterandshouting，andgreatslappingonthebackofJonesbytheboysnearesthim。“Well，butwebeat’em。“Cheers。“Ay，butwhydidwebeat’em？
Answermethat。“Shoutsof“Yourplay。““Nonsense！’Twasn’tthewindandkick-offeither——thatwouldn’tdoit。’Twasn’tbecausewe’vehalfadozenofthebestplayersintheschool，aswehave。Iwouldn’tchangeWarner，andHedge，andCrab，andtheyoungun，foranysixontheirside。“Violentcheers。“Buthalfadozenfellowscan’tkeepitupfortwohoursagainsttwohundred。Whyisit，then？I’lltellyouwhatIthink。It’sbecausewe’vemorerelianceononeanother，moreofahousefeeling，morefellowshipthantheSchoolcanhave。Eachofusknowsandcandependonhisnext-handmanbetter。That’swhywebeat’emto-day。We’veunion，they’vedivision——there’sthesecret。“Cheers。“Buthow’sthistobekeptup？How’sittobeimproved？That’sthequestion。ForItakeitwe’reallinearnestaboutbeatingtheSchool，whateverelsewecareabout。
IknowI’dsoonerwintwoSchool-housematchesrunningthangettheBalliolscholarshipanyday。“Franticcheers。
“Now，I’masproudofthehouseasanyone。Ibelieveit’sthebesthouseintheschool，outandout。“Cheers。“Butit’salongwayfromwhatIwanttoseeit。First，there’sadealofbullyinggoingon。Iknowitwell。Idon’tpryaboutandinterfere；thatonlymakesitmoreunderhand，andencouragesthesmallboystocometouswiththeirfingersintheireyestellingtales，andsoweshouldbeworseoffthanever。It’sverylittlekindnessforthesixthtomeddlegenerally——youyoungstersmindthat。You’llbeallthebetterfootballplayersforlearningtostandit，andtotakeyourownparts，andfightitthrough。Butdependonit，there’snothingbreaksupahouselikebullying。Bulliesarecowards，andonecowardmakesmany；
sogood-byetotheSchool-housematchifbullyinggetsaheadhere。“Loudapplausefromthesmallboys，wholookmeaninglyatFlashmanandotherboysatthetables。“Thenthere’sfuddlingaboutinthepublic-house，anddrinkingbadspirits，andpunch，andsuchrot-gutstuff。Thatwon’tmakegooddrop-
kicksorchargersofyou，takemywordforit。Yougetplentyofgoodbeerhere，andthat’senoughforyou；anddrinkingisn’tfineormanly，whateversomeofyoumaythinkofit。
“OneotherthingImusthaveawordabout。Alotofyouthinkandsay，forI’veheardyou，’There’sthisnewDoctorhasn’tbeenheresolongassomeofus，andhe’schangingalltheoldcustoms。Rugby，andtheSchoolhouseespecially，aregoingtothedogs。Standupforthegoodoldways，anddownwiththeDoctor！’NowI’masfondofoldRugbycustomsandwaysasanyofyou，andI’vebeenherelongerthananyofyou，andI’llgiveyouawordofadviceintime，forIshouldn’tliketoseeanyofyougettingsacked。’DownwiththeDoctor’s’easiersaidthandone。You’llfindhimprettytightonhisperch，Itakeit，andanawkwardishcustomertohandleinthatline。Besidesnow，whatcustomshasheputdown？Therewasthegoodoldcustomoftakingthelinchpinsoutofthefarmers’andbagmen’sgigsatthefairs，andacowardly，blackguardcustomitwas。Weallknowwhatcameofit，andnowondertheDoctorobjectedtoit。
Butcomenow，anyofyou，nameacustomthathehasputdown。“
“Thehounds，“callsoutafifth-formboy，cladinagreencutawaywithbrassbuttonsandcordtrousers，theleaderofthesportinginterest，andreputedagreatriderandkeenhandgenerally。
“Well，wehadsixorsevenmangyharriersandbeaglesbelongingtothehouse，I’llallow，andhadhadthemforyears，andthattheDoctorputthemdown。Butwhatgoodevercameofthem？
Onlyrowswithallthekeepersfortenmilesround；andbig-sidehare-and-houndsisbetterfuntentimesover。Whatelse？“
Noanswer。