about noon
Ernest was among those who had to be confirmed , and was deeply impressed with the solemn importance of the ceremony . When he felt the huge old bishop drawing down upon him as he knelt in chapel he could hardly breathe , and when the apparition paused before him and laid its hands upon his head he was frightened almost out of his wits . He felt that he had arrived at one of the great turning points of his life , and that the Ernest of the future could resemble only very faintly the Ernest of the past . This happened at about noon , but by the one o'clock dinner-hour the effect of the confirmation had worn off , and he saw no reason why he should forego his annual amusement with the bonfire ; so he went with the others and was very valiant till the image was actually produced and was about to be burnt ; then he felt a little frightened . It was a poor thing enough , made of paper , calico and straw , but they had christened it The Rev. Theobald Pontifex , and he had a revulsion of feeling as he saw it being carried towards the bonfire . Still he held his ground , and in a few minutes when all was over felt none the worse for having assisted at a ceremony which , after all , was prompted by a boyish love of mischief rather than by rancour . I should say that Ernest had written to his father , and told him of the unprecedented way in which he was being treated ; he even ventured to suggest that Theobald should interfere for his protection and reminded him how the story had been got out of him , but Theobald had had enough of Dr Skinner for the present ; the burning of the school list had been a rebuff which did not encourage him to meddle a second time in the internal economics of Roughborough .