“Don’tmakesucheyes，youngun，“saidhe；“there’snothingthematter。“
“Oh，but，Tom，areyoumuchhurt？Ican’tbearthinkingitwasallforme。“
“Notabitofit；don’tflatteryourself。Weweresuretohavehaditoutsoonerorlater。“
“Well，butyouwon’tgoon，willyou？You’llpromisemeyouwon’tgoon？“
“Can’ttellaboutthat——alldependsonthehouses。We’reinthehandsofourcountrymen，youknow。MustfightfortheSchool-houseflag，ifsobe。“
However，theloversofthescienceweredoomedtodisappointmentthistime。Directlyafterlocking-up，oneofthenight-fagsknockedatTom’sdoor。
“Brown，youngBrookewantsyouinthesixth-formroom。“
UpwentTomtothesummons，andfoundthemagnatessittingattheirsupper。
“Well，Brown，“saidyoungBrooke，noddingtohim，“howdoyoufeel？“
“Oh，verywell，thankyou，onlyI’vesprainedmythumb，I
think。“
“Suretodothatinafight。Well，youhadn’ttheworstofit，Icouldsee。Wheredidyoulearnthatthrow？“
“DowninthecountrywhenIwasaboy。“
“Hullo！why，whatareyounow？Well，nevermind，you’reapluckyfellow。Sitdownandhavesomesupper。“
Tomobeyed，bynomeansloath。Andthefifth-formboynextfilledhimatumblerofbottledbeer，andheateanddrank，listeningtothepleasanttalk，andwonderinghowsoonheshouldbeinthefifth，andoneofthatmuch-enviedsociety。
Ashegotuptoleave，Brookesaid，“Youmustshakehandsto-
morrowmorning；Ishallcomeandseethatdoneafterfirstlesson。“
Andsohedid。AndTomandtheSloggershookhandswithgreatsatisfactionandmutualrespect。Andforthenextyearortwo，wheneverfightswerebeingtalkedof，thesmallboyswhohadbeenpresentshooktheirheadswisely，saying，“Ah！butyoushouldjusthaveseenthefightbetweenSloggerWilliamsandTomBrown！“
Andnow，boysall，threewordsbeforewequitthesubject。I
haveputinthischapteronfightingofmaliceprepense，partlybecauseIwanttogiveyouatruepictureofwhateverydayschoollifewasinmytime，andnotakid-gloveandgo-to-
meeting-coatpicture，andpartlybecauseofthecantandtwaddlethat’stalkedofboxingandfightingwithfistsnowadays。EvenThackerayhasgivenintoit；andonlyafewweeksagotherewassomerampantstuffintheTimesonthesubject，inanarticleonfieldsports。
Boyswillquarrel，andwhentheyquarrelwillsometimesfight。
FightingwithfistsisthenaturalandEnglishwayforEnglishboystosettletheirquarrels。Whatsubstituteforitisthere，oreverwasthere，amongstanynationunderthesun？Whatwouldyouliketoseetakeitsplace？
Learntobox，then，asyoulearntoplaycricketandfootball。
Notoneofyouwillbetheworse，butverymuchthebetter，forlearningtoboxwell。Shouldyouneverhavetouseitinearnest，there’snoexerciseintheworldsogoodforthetemperandforthemusclesofthebackandlegs。
Astofighting，keepoutofitifyoucan，byallmeans。Whenthetimecomes，ifitevershould，thatyouhavetosay“Yes“or“No“toachallengetofight，say“No“ifyoucan——onlytakecareyoumakeitcleartoyourselveswhyyousay“No。“It’saproofofthehighestcourage，ifdonefromtrueChristianmotives。It’squiterightandjustifiable，ifdonefromasimpleaversiontophysicalpainanddanger。Butdon’tsay“No“
becauseyoufearalicking，andsayorthinkit’sbecauseyoufearGod，forthat’sneitherChristiannorhonest。Andifyoudofight，fightitout；anddon’tgiveinwhileyoucanstandandsee。
“Thisourhopeforallthat’smortalAndwetooshallburstthebond；
Deathkeepswatchbesidetheportal，But’tislifethatdwellsbeyond。“
JOHNSTERLING。
Twoyearshavepassedsincetheeventsrecordedinthelastchapter，andtheendofthesummerhalf-yearisagaindrawingon。MartinhasleftandgoneonacruiseintheSouthPacific，inoneofhisuncle’sships；theoldmagpie，asdisreputableasever，hislastbequesttoArthur，livesinthejointstudy。
Arthurisnearlysixteen，andattheheadofthetwenty，havinggoneuptheschoolattherateofaformahalf-year。EastandTomhavebeenmuchmoredeliberateintheirprogress，andareonlyalittlewayupthefifthform。Greatstrappingboystheyare，butstillthoroughboys，fillingaboutthesameplaceinthehousethatyoungBrookefilledwhentheywerenewboys，andmuchthesamesortoffellows。ConstantintercoursewithArthurhasdonemuchforbothofthem，especiallyforTom；butmuchremainsyettobedone，iftheyaretogetallthegoodoutofRugbywhichistobegotthereinthesetimes。Arthurisstillfrailanddelicate，withmorespiritthanbody；but，thankstohisintimacywiththemandMartin，haslearnedtoswim，andrun，andplaycricket，andhasneverhurthimselfbytoomuchreading。
Oneevening，astheywereallsittingdowntosupperinthefifth-formroom，someonestartedareportthatafeverhadbrokenoutatoneoftheboarding-houses。“Theysay，“headded，“thatThompsonisveryill，andthatDr。RobertsonhasbeensentforfromNorthampton。“
“Thenweshallallbesenthome，“criedanother。“Hurrah！fiveweeks’extraholidays，andnofifth-formexamination！“
“Ihopenot，“saidTom；“there’llbenoMarylebonematchthenattheendofthehalf。“
Somethoughtonething，someanother，manydidn’tbelievethereport；butthenextday，Tuesday，Dr。Robertsonarrived，andstayedallday，andhadlongconferenceswiththeDoctor。
OnWednesdaymorning，afterprayers，theDoctoraddressedthewholeschool。Therewereseveralcasesoffeverindifferenthouses，hesaid；butDr。Robertson，afterthemostcarefulexamination，hadassuredhimthatitwasnotinfectious，andthatifpropercareweretaken，therecouldbenoreasonforstoppingtheschool-workatpresent。Theexaminationswerejustcomingon，anditwouldbeveryunadvisabletobreakupnow。
However，anyboyswhochosetodosowereatlibertytowritehome，and，iftheirparentswishedit，toleaveatonce。Heshouldsendthewholeschoolhomeifthefeverspread。
ThenextdayArthursickened，buttherewasnoothercase。
Beforetheendoftheweekthirtyorfortyboyshadgone，butthereststayedon。TherewasageneralwishtopleasetheDoctor，andafeelingthatitwascowardlytorunaway。
OntheSaturdayThompsondied，inthebrightafternoon，whilethecricket-matchwasgoingonasusualonthebig-sideground。
TheDoctor，comingfromhisdeathbed，passedalongthegravel-
walkatthesideoftheclose，butnooneknewwhathadhappenedtillthenextday。Atmorninglectureitbegantoberumoured，andbyafternoonchapelwasknowngenerally；andafeelingofseriousnessandaweattheactualpresenceofdeathamongthemcameoverthewholeschool。InallthelongyearsofhisministrytheDoctorperhapsneverspokewordswhichsankdeeperthansomeofthoseinthatday’ssermon。
“WhenIcameyesterdayfromvisitingallbuttheverydeath-bedofhimwhohasbeentakenfromus，andlookedarounduponallthefamiliarobjectsandsceneswithinourownground，whereyourcommonamusementsweregoingonwithyourcommoncheerfulnessandactivity，Ifelttherewasnothingpainfulinwitnessingthat；itdidnotseeminanywayshockingoroutoftunewiththosefeelingswhichthesightofadyingChristianmustbesupposedtoawaken。Theunsuitablenessinpointofnaturalfeelingbetweenscenesofmourningandscenesoflivelinessdidnotatallpresentitself。ButIdidfeelthatifatthatmomentanyofthosefaultshadbeenbroughtbeforemewhichsometimesoccuramongstus；hadIheardthatanyofyouhadbeenguiltyoffalsehood，orofdrunkenness，orofanyothersuchsin；hadIheardfromanyquarterthelanguageofprofaneness，orofunkindness，orofindecency；hadIheardorseenanysignsofthatwretchedfollywhichcourtsthelaughoffoolsbyaffectingnottodreadevilandnottocareforgood，thentheunsuitablenessofanyofthesethingswiththesceneI
hadjustquittedwouldindeedhavebeenmostintenselypainful。
Andwhy？Notbecausesuchthingswouldreallyhavebeenworsethanatanyothertime，butbecauseatsuchamomenttheeyesareopenedreallytoknowgoodandevil，becausewethenfeelwhatitissotoliveasthatdeathbecomesaninfiniteblessing，andwhatitissotolivealsothatitweregoodforusifwehadneverbeenborn。“
TomhadgoneintochapelinsickeninganxietyaboutArthur，buthecameoutcheeredandstrengthenedbythosegrandwords，andwalkedupalonetotheirstudy。Andwhenhesatdownandlookedround，andsawArthur’sstrawhatandcricket-jackethangingontheirpegs，andmarkedallhislittleneatarrangements，notoneofwhichhadbeendisturbed，thetearsindeedrolleddownhischeeks；buttheywerecalmandblessedtears，andherepeatedtohimself，“Yes，Geordie’seyesareopened；heknowswhatitissotoliveasthatdeathbecomesaninfiniteblessing。ButdoI？
OGod，canIbeartolosehim？“
Theweekpassedmournfullyaway。Nomoreboyssickened，butArthurwasreportedworseeachday，andhismotherarrivedearlyintheweek。Tommademanyappealstobeallowedtoseehim，andseveraltimestriedtogetuptothesick-room；butthehousekeeperwasalwaysintheway，andatlastspoketotheDoctor，whokindlybutperemptorilyforbadehim。
ThompsonwasburiedontheTuesday，andtheburialservice，sosoothingandgrandalways，butbeyondallwordssolemnwhenreadoveraboy’sgravetohiscompanions，broughthimmuchcomfort，andmanystrangenewthoughtsandlongings。Hewentbacktohisregularlife，andplayedcricketandbathedasusual。Itseemedtohimthatthiswastherightthingtodo，andthenewthoughtsandlongingsbecamemorebraveandhealthyfortheeffort。ThecrisiscameonSaturday；thedayweekthatThompsonhaddied；
andduringthatlongafternoonTomsatinhisstudyreadinghisBible，andgoingeveryhalf-hourtothehousekeeper’sroom，expectingeachtimetohearthatthegentleandbravelittlespirithadgonehome。ButGodhadworkforArthurtodo。Thecrisispassed:onSundayeveninghewasdeclaredoutofdanger；
onMondayhesentamessagetoTomthathewasalmostwell，hadchangedhisroom，andwastobeallowedtoseehimthenextday。
