About this story
Listen closely, Frank; he feels ill, and the medicine I gave him has not improved his temper or pronunciation. You step into this one-chapter preview with Mercer at the center, where choices turn on the people, promises, and pressure already in the room. You faced your first unscheduled day at Meade Place with friendship, rivalry, and consequence still unsettled. The chapter closes on a continuation question rather than resolving the novel's larger arc.
How it opens
On your first morning at Meade Place, Mercer nudged you toward the lower desk where Dicksee struggled through a reading.
Listen closely, Frank; he feels ill, and the medicine I gave him has not improved his temper or pronunciation.
You asked whether he meant a blow, and he explained that his doctor's son experiment followed too many cakes.
Frank BurrCalling it medicine does not show the dose was wise or that his discomfort came from the cakes alone.
Mr RebbleReturn to your seat, Dicksee, and learn what careless reading failed to teach you aloud.
Enter the school without joining cruelty, pranks, or gossip merely to belong.