"Two for choice."

"Only one here--'_adopted_by_the_occupants_of_Number_Five_study_in_
relation_to_the_insults_offered_to_Mr._Prout's_house_at_the_recent_
meeting_in_Number_Twelve_form-room,_and_the_House_hereby_pass_a_
vote_of_censure_on_the_said_study._ That's all."

"And she bled all down my shirt, too!" said Beetle.

"An' I'm catty all over," said McTurk, "though I washed twice."

"An' I nearly broke Beetle's brolly plantin' her where she would blossom!"

The situation was beyond speech, but not laughter. There was some
attempt that night to demonstrate against the three in their
dormitory; so they came forth.

"You see," Beetle began suavely as he loosened his braces, "the
trouble with you is that you're a set of unthinkin' asses. You've no
more brains than spidgers. We've told you that heaps of times,
haven't we.?"

"We'll give the three of you a dormitory lickin'. You always jaw at us
as if you were prefects," cried one.

"Oh, no, you won't," said Stalky, "because you know that if you did
you'd get the worst of it sooner or later. _We_ aren't in any hurry.
We can afford to wait for our little revenges. You've made howlin'
asses of yourselves, and just as soon as King gets hold of your