“Bah!” shouted Dr. Brownjohn. “Impudent nonsense, you young sloth. Why didn’t you get your Certificate?” “I failed in Arithmetic, sir.” “You’ll fail in your whole life, boy,” prophesied Dr. Brownjohn in bull-deep accents of reproach. “Aren’t you ashamed of yourself?” “No, sir,” said Michael. “I don’t think I am, because I worked jolly hard.” “Worked, you abominable little loafer? You’ve never worked in your life. You could be the finest scholar in the school, and you’re merely a coruscation of slatternly, slipshod paste. Bah! What do you expect to do when you leave school? Um?” “I want to go to Oxford.” “Then get the Balliol Scholarship.” “I don’t want to be at Balliol,” said Michael. “Then get the major scholarship at Trinity, Cambridge.” “I don’t intend to go to Cambridge,” said Michael. “Good heavens, boy,” roared Dr. Brownjohn, “are you trying to arrange your own career?” “No, sir,” said Michael. “But I want to go to St. Mary’s, Oxford.” “Then get a scholarship at St. Mary’s.” “But I don’t want to be a Scholar of any college. I want to go up as a Commoner.” The veins on Dr. Brownjohn’s forehead swelled with wrath, astonishment and dismay. “Get out of my sight,” he thundered. “Get back into your class-room. I’ve done with you; I take no more interest in you. You’re here to earn glory for your school, you’re here to gain a scholarship, not to air your own opinions. Get out of my sight, you young scoundrel. How dare you argue with me? You shan’t go into the History Sixth! You shall stew in your own obstinate juice in the Upper Fifth until I choose to move you out of it. Do you hear? Go back into your class-room. I’ll write to your mother. She’s an idiotic woman, and you’re a slovenly, idle, good-for-nothing cub.” Overwhelmed with failure and very sensitive to the inquisitive glances of his classmates, Michael sat down in his own desk again as unobtrusively as he could. Michael’s peace of mind was not increased by the consciousness of Mr. Cray’s knowledge of his appeal to withdraw from the Upper Fifth, and he became exposed to a large amount of sarcasm in allusion to his expressed inclination towards history. He was continually referred to as an authority on Constitutions; he was invited to bring forward comparisons from more modern times to help the elucidation of the Syracusan expedition or the Delian Confederacy. All that Michael gained from Mr. Cray was a passion for second-hand books—the latest and most fervid of all his collecting hobbies.