The usual game of baiting the maths teacher falls flat for Babington when he tries it on the substitute, a much younger man. Then comes temptation in the shape of a theatre ticket for a new play ... in London ...
| J. S. M. Babington | a pupil at St. Austin's |
| Mr Reginald Seymour | a substitute teacher |
| Peterson | a pupil |
| Jenkins | another pupil |
| Babington's cousin | |
| Richards | a friend of Babington's cousin |
First published October 1901 in the Public School Magazine.
Rugger Blue
- he had represented Cambridge University at Rugby Football. (The US 'letter' is similar.)
'... student of Tennyson ... the old order is in the habit of changing and yielding place to the new.'
- Alfred, Lord Tennyson, Morte d'Arthur.
Hall and Knight
- a series of books on algebra, still available.
'... the old order is in the habit of changing and yielding place to the new.'
- Tennyson, Idylls of the King. The Passing of Arthur.
Charing Cross Underground
- a station on London's underground railway (subway) network. It was re-named Embankment in 1976 and is just south of Charing Cross mainline station.
Jaw and double impot
- jaw is to talk for a long time, to lecture. An impot is an imposition, in this context some task as punishment.
Daily Telegraph
- a national broadsheet newspaper, still going strong.
Guy's
- a London hospital.
Uppingham and Rugby
- two public schools.
See page on public schools for general information on life at St. Austin's.