half past seven
When Bonzig left , the boys gathered round `` le nouveau , '' large and small , and asked questions . And just before the bell sounded for French literature , I saw him defending himself with his two British fists against Dugit , a big boy with whiskers , who had him by the collar and was kicking him to rights . It seems that Dugit had called him , in would-be English , `` Pretty voman , '' and this had so offended him that he had hit the whiskered one straight in the eye . Then French literature for the _ quatrième _ till six ; then dinner for all -- soup , boiled beef -LRB- not salt -RRB- , lentils ; and Gruyère cheese , quite two ounces each ; then French rounders till half past seven ; then lesson preparation -LRB- with _ Monte Cristos _ in one 's lap , or _ Mysteries of Paris _ , or _ Wandering Jews _ -RRB- till nine . Then , ding-dang-dong , and , at the sleepy usher 's nod , a sleepy boy would rise and recite the perfunctory evening prayer in a dull singsong voice -- beginning , `` Notre Père , qui êtes aux cieux , vous dont le regard scrutateur pénêtre jusque dans les replis les plus profonds de nos coeurs , '' etc. , etc. , and ending , `` au nom du Père , du Fils , et du St. Esprit , ainsi soit-il ! '' And then , bed -- Josselin in my dormitory , but a long way off , between d'Adhémar and Laferté ; while Palaiseau snorted and sniffed himself to sleep in the bed next mine , and Rapaud still tried to read the immortal works of the elder Dumas by the light of a little oil-lamp six yards off , suspended from a nail in the blank wall over the chimney-piece . * * * * * -LSB- Illustration : A LITTLE PEACE-MAKER -RSB- The Institution F. Brossard was a very expensive private school , just twice as expensive as the most expensive of the Parisian public schools -- Ste.-Barbe , François Premier , Louis-le-Grand , etc. .