noon
`` But you ought to chip in sometimes , Bert , or the boys will think that you 're a coward , '' urged Frank . `` I ca n't help it if they do , Shorty , '' was Bert 's unshaken reply . `` I do n't feel like it myself , and , what 's more , father does n't want me to . '' The very next day there was a row of unusual dimensions , brought about by one of the Garrison boys at the noon recess having started a fight with one of the National boys , which almost in a twinkling of an eye involved all the boys belonging to both schools then in the Parade . It was a lively scene , that would have gladdened the heart of an Irishman homesick for the excitement of Donnybrook Fair . There were at least one hundred boys engaged , the sides being pretty evenly matched , and the battle ground was the centre of the Parade . To drive the other school in ignominious flight from this spot was the object of each boyish regiment , and locked in hostile embrace , like the players in a football match when a `` maul '' has been formed , they swayed to and fro , now one side gaining , now the other , while shouts of `` Go in , Nationals ! ''