Chapter 10 - Page 2

merely
lowering their heads to the level of a desk for propriety's sake.
Lastly, the third class of candidates (which seemed a small one)
consisted of oldish men--some of them in frock coats, but the
majority in jackets, and with no linen to be seen. These
preserved a serious demeanour, sat by themselves, and had a very
dingy look. The man who had afforded me consolation by being
worse dressed than myself belonged to this class. Leaning forward
upon his elbows, and running his fingers through his grey,
dishevelled hair as he read some book or another, he had thrown
me only a momentary glance--and that not a very friendly one--
from a pair of glittering eyes. Then, as I sat down, he had
frowned grimly, and stuck a shiny elbow out to prevent me from
coming any nearer. On the other hand, the gymnasium men were
over-sociable, and I felt rather afraid of their proximity. One
of them did not hesitate to thrust a book into my hands, saying,
"Give that to that fellow over there, will you?" while another
of them exclaimed as he pushed past me, "By your leave, young
fellow!" and a third made use of my shoulder as a prop when he
wanted to scramble over a desk. All this seemed to me a little
rough and unpleasant, for I looked upon myself as immensely
superior to such fellows, and considered that they ought not to
treat me with such familiarity. At length, the names began to be
called out. The gymnasium men walked out boldly, answered their
questions (apparently) well, and came back looking cheerful. My
own class of candidates were much more diffident, as well as
appeared to answer worse. Of the oldish men, some answered well,
and some very poorly. When the name "Semenoff " was called out my
neighbour with the grey hair and glittering eyes jostled me
roughly, stepped over my legs, and went up to one of the
examiners' tables. It was plain from the aspect of the professors
that he answered well and with assurance, yet, on returning to
his place, he did not wait to see where he was placed on the
list, but quietly collected his notebooks and departed. Several
times I shuddered at the sound of the voice calling out the
names, but my turn did not come in exact alphabetical order,
though already names had begun to be called beginning with "I."

"Ikonin and Tenieff!" suddenly shouted some one from the
professors' end of the hall.

"Go on, Ikonin! You are being called," said a tall, red-faced
gymnasium student near me. "But who is this BARtenieff or
MORtenieff or somebody? I don't know him."

"It must be you," whispered St. Jerome loudly in my ear.

"MY name is IRtenieff," I said to the red-faced student.