You don't suppose any one would be frightened out of his skin by anything a couple of asses who'd been kicked out of the monitorship had to say ?" Bloomfield certainly had the habit of expressing himself warmly at times, and on the present occasion he may have done so rather more warmly than the case deserved.

But he was put out and angry at the ridiculous performance of the Parrett's boys, in which he felt the entire house was more or less compromised.
As to Riddell, Bloomfield still kept his own private opinion of him, but the difference between him and his more ardent comrades was that he had the sense to keep what he thought to himself.
At any rate, he gave deep offence now to Game and Ashley, who retired in high dudgeon and greatly crestfallen to proclaim their wrongs to a small and sympathetic knot of admirers.
Perhaps the most serious blow these officious young gentlemen had received--hardly second to their snubbing by the Parretts' captain--had been the mutiny of their own juniors, on whose cooperation they had calculated to a dead certainty.
To find Parson, Bosher, King, and Co.

standing up in defence of Riddell against _them_ was a phenomenon so wonderful, when they came to think of it, that they were inclined to imagine they themselves were the only sane boys left out of a house of lunatics.

And this was the only consolation that mixed with the affair at all.
As to these juniors, they had far more to think about.

In three days the match with Welch's would be upon them, and a panic ensued on the discovery.
They had been contemptuously confident of their superior prowess, and it was not until one or two of them had actually been down to inspect the play of the rival team, and Bloomfield had come down to one of their own practices and declared publicly that they were safe to be beaten hollow, that they regarded the coming contest seriously.
Then they went to work in grim earnest.