It Lay On My Left; And On The Right, Directly
Opposite To It, Was An Inn, Into Which I Went.
I suppose it was during the hour of recreation, or in playtime, when
I got to Eton, for I saw the boys in the yard before the college,
which was enclosed by a low wall, in great numbers, walking and
running up and down.
Their dress struck me particularly. From the biggest to the least,
they all wore black cloaks, or gowns, over coloured clothes, through
which there was an aperture for their arms. They also wore besides
a square hat or cap, that seemed to be covered with velvet, such as
our clergymen in many places wear.
They were differently employed - some talking together, some playing,
and some had their books in their hands, and were reading; but I was
soon obliged to get out of their sight, they stared at me so as I
came along, all over dust, with my stick in my hand.
As I entered the inn, and desired to have something to eat, the
countenance of the waiter soon gave me to understand that I should
there find no very friendly reception. Whatever I got they seemed
to give me with such an air as showed too plainly how little they
thought of me, and as if they considered me but as a beggar. I must
do them the justice to own, however, that they suffered me to pay
like a gentleman. No doubt this was the first time this pert,
bepowdered puppy had ever been called on to wait on a poor devil who
entered their place on foot.
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