[2] "Speecher"—i.e. Speech-Day. At Harrow "er" is a favourite termination of many substantives. "Harder," for hard-ball racquets, "Footer," "Ducker," etc.
[3] The Duke of Dorset was Byron's fag. Cf.—
"Though the harsh custom of our youthful band
Bade thee obey, and gave me to command."
Hours of Idleness.
CHAPTER II
Cæsar
"You come here where your brothers came,
To the old school years ago,
A young new face, and a Harrow name,
'Mid a crowd of strangers? No!
You may not fancy yourself alone,
You who are memory's heir,
When even the names in the graven stone
Will greet you with 'Who goes there—
You?—
Pass, Friend—All's well.'"
John never forgot that memorable morning when he learned for the first time what place he had taken in the school. He sat with the other new-comers, staring, open-eyed, at nearly six hundred boys, big and small, assembled together in the Speech-room. So engrossed was he that he scarcely heard the Head Master's opening prayers. John was obsessed, inebriated, with the number of Harrovians, each of whom had once felt strange and shy like himself. From his place close to the great organ, he could look up and up, seeing row after row of faces, knowing that amongst them sat his future friends and foes.
Suddenly, a neighbour nudged him. The Head Master was reading from a list in his hand the school-removes, and the names and places taken by new boys. He began at the lowest form with the name of a small urchin sitting near John. The urchin blinked and blushed as he realized that he was "lag of the school." John knew that he had answered fairly well the questions set by the examiners; he had no fear of finding himself pilloried in the Third Fourth; still, as form after form did not include his name, he grew restless and excited. Had he taken a higher place than the Middle Shell? Yes; no Verney in the Middle Shell. The Head Master began the removes of the top Shell. Now, now it must be coming. No; the clear, penetrating tones slowly articulated name after name, but not his.