3 School, and had been head of his class in ciphering, nodded his head gravely and said it would simply be a matter of a _pro tanto_; that, in fact, he felt sure that Fred might be admitted _ad eundem_.

But the real condition on which they meant to admit him was, of course, not mentioned.
One door only in the faculty of industrial and mechanical science they did not pass, a heavy oak door at the end of a corridor bearing the painted inscription: Geological and Metallurgical Laboratories.

Stuck in the door was a card with the words (they were conceived in the courteous phrases of mechanical science, which is almost a branch of business in the real sense): Busy--keep out.
Dr.Boomer looked at the card.

"Ah, yes," he said.

"Gildas is no doubt busy with his tests.