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    For the next few days, Stilian and Kit mostly talked or played games in one of the empty classrooms. They tried to get into the library, but one of the judges told them that it was for faculty and law students only, and that they would probably find it boring. Stilian knew the man was annoyed by their laughing and talking, but he didn't say anything.
    On the fourth day of their stay, they were poking idly around amidst the stacks of old desks and chairs in the attic of the classroom wing trying to decide what to do, when Stilian heard a commotion in the courtyard. He and Kit looked down through a dormer window and saw young men pouring through the big gates and into the dormitory wing on the other side of the courtyard. There was a large wagon with the livery of the postal service on it parked inside the gate. A rowdy group laughing loudly as unloaded boxes and trunks. The students were returning to Blue House.
    "I wonder if they ever get tired of school? Look how old they are. Why, they're practically middle-aged," said Kit.
    "You can't wait to go to school at Grayholme."
    "Yes, but I'm not like most kids. Most kids in Longfield hated school. I had to pretend that I did too, so they wouldn't pick on me. Did they tease you?"
    "Sometimes. It was mostly because I was skinny and not very good at games."
    "Oh." Stilian rubbed the dust from the window pane before him. "You like to read, don't you?" Kit asked.
    "Yeah, but I haven't done much. There are too many chores to do on the farm, and Father doesn't like to see me sitting still. He says reading is idleness."
    "I don't like your father."
    * * *
    The next night, Kit woke Stilian from a dream. "Quit shoving me!" said Stilian, opening his eyes to faint starlight.
    He felt a tug on the covers as Kit moved in the dark. "You were talking in your sleep."
    "I was dreaming. I was lying in a field and my mother was there, singing to me. Then a storm came and we ran inside, only it wasn't our house and it wasn't my mother, it was Miss Gorse, our school teacher, and she told me I had to take a bath."
    Kit yawned audibly and rolled onto his side. "It's all right. The judges are pretty nice, most of them. Go back to sleep."
    After a moment, Stilian sighed and curled up against Kit's back.
    * * *
    The next day, Stilian told Kit he wanted to see what was in the library. "Nobody's in there before breakfast. I checked this morning, on the way from the bath house, and it was empty. Let's get up early and see what books they have." Kit did not require much convincing. He wanted to see the books as much as Stilian did. So the next morning, they got up as soon as they could see a pink glow at the horizon. It was cold, so they tiptoed down to the library with oil lamps in their hands and blankets wrapped around their shoulders.
    The library was a large room with built-in shelves that went all the way up to the ceiling. There were ladders that you could slide from side to side to get to the high shelves. Heavy tables and chairs occupied center of the room. Set into the corner between two walls was a large stone fireplace--empty and cold at this hour. On either side, the walls had tall, narrow windows set in between the shelves. Above the mantle, there was a large portrait of an impressively bearded, old man in a blue tunic who was holding a jar in one hand. In the jar, Stilian could make out a purple heart. The old man was fingering a twig of holly leaves, which was pinned to his shoulder. Stilian found the picture rather gruesome, but Kit laughed at it.
    As soon as they'd taken stock of the room, they set down their lamps on a table and started to survey the books. Not surprisingly, most of them were about law or courtroom procedure, but there were also books about history, economics, agriculture, and even theater. Stilian found one with drawings of scenes from famous plays, and took it to a table to examine more closely. Kit discovered a history of ancient warfare that had descriptions of famous