Gower--that's my chum--and I make a fire with paper on the floor after supper generally, only that makes it so smoky." "But there's a big fire out in the passage," said Tom.
"Precious little we get out of that, though," said East.

"Jones the prepostor has the study at the fire end, and he has rigged up an iron rod and green baize curtain across the passage, which he draws at night, and sits there with his door open; so he gets all the fire, and hears if we come out of our studies after eight, or make a noise.

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.