Mr. Pen was all in a tremor of pleasure as the bustling tailor tried on a
gown and pronounced that it was an excellent fit; and then he put the
pretty college cap on, in rather a dandified manner and somewhat on one
side, as he had seen Fiddicombe, the youngest master at Grey Friars,
wear it. And he inspected the entire costume with a great deal of
satisfaction in one of the great gilt mirrors which ornamented Mr. Buck's
lecture-room: for some of these college divines are no more above
looking--glasses than a lady is, and look to the set of their gowns and
caps quite as anxiously as folks do of the lovelier sex. The Major smiled
as he saw the boy dandifying himself in the glass: the old gentleman was
not displeased with the appearance of the comely lad.
Then Davis, the skip or attendant, led the way, keys in hand, across the
quadrangle, the Major and Pen following him, the latter blushing, and
pleased with his new academical habiliments, across the quadrangle to the
rooms which were destined for the freshman; and which were vacated by the
retreat of the gentleman-pensioner, Mr.
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