Page:The Sins of the Cities of the Plain.djvu/177

 "No," I replied. "But do you mean to say such things can be done there?"

"Yes," said George; "and if it had not been such a hell of a place I should have been a good scholar. Of course, the boys are supposed to go to school and work in-the grounds. As for work, it was nearly all play; and none of us master, and so never learnt much.

"As to the sleeping arrangements, I was in what they called a dormitory—it ought to have been called a back-door-mitory. There were over twenty of us boys and lads in the one large room.

"As soon as we were locked in for the night, one of the biggest of them, observing me for the first time, says: 'Hullo! here's a greenhorn. We'll soon make a free-man of him!'