there, and so much laughter and so much lore had soaked into the old
walls, that they were pleasanter than any newer and more gorgeous
architecture could possibly be. They were homely in the better as well
as the worse sense.

But this is more than enough description, and you must imagine for
yourselves how the Lakerim eleven, often as they thought of home, and
homesick as they were in spite of themselves now and then, rejoiced
in being thrown on their own resources, and made somewhat independent
citizens in a little country of their own. Unwilling to make
selections among themselves, more unwilling to select room-mates from
the other students (the "foreigners," as the Lakerimmers called them),
they drew lots for one another, and the lots decided that they should
room together thus: Tug and Punk were on the ground floor of the
building known as South College, in room No. 2; in the room just over
them were Quiz and Pretty; and on the same floor, at the back of
the building, were Bobbles and Reddy (Reddy insisted upon this room
because it had a third bedroom off its study-room; while, of course,
he never expected to see Heady there, and didn't much care, of course,
whether he came or not, still, a fellow never can tell, you know); on
the same floor were B.J. and Jumbo. Jumbo did not stoop to flatter
B.J. by pretending that he would not have preferred Sawed-Off for
his room-mate; but Sawed-Off was working his way through, and the
principal of the Academy had offered to help him out, not only with a
free scholarship, but with a free room, as well, in Middle College, an
old building which had the gymnasium on the first floor, the chapel on
the second, and in the loft a single store-room fixed up as a bedroom.

The lots the fellows drew seemed to be in a joking mood when they
selected History and Sleepy for room-mates--the hardest student and