right-hand side of the book which read: "The Laws and Constitution of
Draco." And then, evidently like walking in one's sleep, he had come
to the window. How long had he been there? he wondered. The fishing-boat
which he had seen off Fort Point was now crawling into Meiggs's Wharf.
This denoted nearly an hour's lapse of time. The sun had long since set;
a solemn grayness was brooding over the water, and the first faint stars
were beginning to twinkle over the crest of Mount Tamalpais.

He turned, with a sigh, to go back into his corner, when a long whistle,
shrill and piercing, came to his ears. That was Fred. He sighed again.
The whistle repeated itself. Then another whistle joined it. That was
Charley. They were waiting on the corner--lucky fellows!

Well, they would n't see him this night. Both whistles arose in duet. He
writhed in his chair and groaned. No, they would n't see him this night,
he reiterated, at the same time rising to his feet. It was certainly
impossible for him to join them when he had not yet learned about the
Draconian reforms. The same force which had held him to the window now
seemed drawing him across the room to the desk. It made him put the
history on top of his school-books, and he had the door unlocked and
was half-way into the hall before he realized it. He started to return,
but the thought came to him that he could go out for a little while and
then come back and do his work.

A very little while, he promised himself, as he went down-stairs. He
went down faster and faster, till at the bottom he was going three
steps at a time. He popped his cap on his head and went out of the
side entrance in a rush; and ere he reached the corner the reforms of
Draco were as far away in the past as Draco himself, while the examinations
on the morrow were equally far away in the future.