"And now," he said, "since that disgusting but necessary scene is over,
_never_ let me have to repeat it again."
But his authority was established like a rock from that night forward.
No one ever ventured to dispute it again, or forgot that evening. Mr.
Rose's noble moral influence gained tenfold strength from the respect
and wholesome fear that he then inspired.
But, as he had said, Brigson's reign was over. Looks of the most
unmitigated disgust and contempt were darted at him, as he sat alone and
shunned at the end of the table; and the boys seemed now to loathe and
nauseate the golden calf they had been worshipping. He had not done
blubbering even yet, when the prayer-bell rang. No sooner had Mr. Rose
left the room than Wildney, his dark eyes sparkling with rage, leaped on
the table, and shouted--
"Three groans, hoots, and hisses, for a liar and a coward," a sign of
execration which he was the first to lead off, and which the boys echoed
like a storm.
Astonished at the tumult, Mr.
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