Despite of himself, however, he couldn't help laughing and giving it up, when East appealed to him with: "Well, Tom, you aren't going to punch my head, I hope, because I insist on being sorry when you get to earth?"[26]
And so their talk finished for that time, and they tried to learn first lesson, with very poor success, as appeared next morning, when they were called up and narrowly escaped being floored, which ill-luck, however, did not sit heavily on either of their souls.
FOOTNOTES
[1] Had the sack: got expelled.
[2] Squaretoes: an over-precise or "goody-good" sort of a person.
[3] Sucking wiseacre: a young Solomon.
[4] Chorus: the chorus of a Greek play.
[5] Momus: the god of ridicule; here, a nickname for a teacher.
[6] Locus penitentiæ: a place or opportunity for repentance or reformation.
[7] Goth: a barbarian.