THE FREE LANCE.
"His good blade carves Me casques of men, for Me Free Lance
Vol,. XVI.
" Hlow, Shorty 1 Goin' along to-night ?"
" Bet yer life lam 1 Third floor, back hall, huh 1 "
"Yep, nine o'clock, sharp."
The two speakers were lads of seventeen or eighteen years.
The' first carried an empty coal bucket and was rapidly de
scending the stairs of Prep End; the second was going up the
same flight, and carried a like bucket filled with soft coal.
They spoke hurriedly as they passed each other, neither paus
ing in his course.
During the period from 1869 to 1878 the students' rooms in
the main building were heated by small, goblet-shaped stoves
with flat tops and a griddle. A general supply of coal was
kept in the cellar, and each student was required to carry up
what he needed for his room. The small stoves were very
convenient for cooking purposes, and aside from their use in
the inevitable nightly feast they were constantly used by
many of the students who boarded themselves. The rooms
were lighted by oil lamps, for this was long before the instal
ment of electric lights, and the filling and general care of the
lamps was one of the duties of the occupant of the room.
On the night after the meeting. of the two fellows on the
stairs, where the above brief sentences were exchanged, a
small knot of Preps gathered in the rear north hall of the
third floor. Noiselessly, one by one they passed out of the
thrusteth sure."
MAY, 1902.
OLD PREPDOII4.
No. 2.