Summary

Chapter 3. Chapter three begins on May 24, Queen Victoria’s birthday. The narration shifts to a third person omniscient point of view. The reader is taken to Groddick’s boys’ school, where there are approximately 1000 male students. The school inspector, who visits the school twice a year to check attendance and administer intelligence tests, arrives at the school. He lectures the young boys, saying that they may have heard about the war in Abyssinia and seen pictures of the “King of Ethiopia.” However, he reminds them that the British Empire is always on the side of peace. The boys then do a number of musical performances for the inspector where they recite what they have learned. The inspector announces that three of the boys are going on to high school, which is an enormous achievement. He gives each of those boys three pennies each. He then...