What d'you mean by making that mess here ?" The small boy grabbed up the bits of paper, stuffed them in his pocket, and hurried away towards the schoolroom.
"Is that one of the masters ?" asked Mugford.
"No," answered Carton, "that's Oaks; he's one of the prefects.
Don't you see he's got a blue tassel to his mortar-board ?" "But what's a prefect ?" "Whew!" laughed the other, "you'll soon find out if you play the fool, and don't mind what you're about.

Why, there are fourteen of them, all fellows in the Sixth, and they keep order and give you lines, and all that sort of thing." "Why, I thought it was only masters did that," said Jack Vance.
"Well, you'll find the prefects do it here," answered Carton; "and when they tell you to do a thing, I'd advise you to look alive and do it, for they don't reckon to speak twice." The evening passed quickly enough.

After tea came an interview with the head-master in his study, and then what was perhaps a still more trying ordeal--a long spell of sitting in the big schoolroom answering an incessant fire of questions such as, "What's your name ?"--"Where d'you come from ?" etc., etc.
At length the signal was given for passing on to bed, and the Triple Alliance were not sorry to gain the shelter of No.

16 dormitory.
The room contained seven other beds besides their own, two of which were as yet still vacant, waiting the arrival of boys who had not turned up on the first day.

The remainder were occupied by a couple of other new-comers, and three oldsters, Carton, Hart, and Bayley.
It was very different from the cosy little bedrooms at The Birches; but the three friends were glad to be allowed to undress in peace and quiet, and had scrambled safely into bed some time before the prefect put in an appearance to turn out the light.
"I tell you what," said Hart, a few moments later: "you new kids may think yourselves lucky that you're in a quiet room for a start.