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Chapter 6: I Enlarge My Circle of Acquaintance
After the holidays, when Mr. Creakle, the Headmaster returned to the school, David was brought before him by the man with the wooden leg. The headmaster was a stout gentleman. He had deep-set eyes, a little noise, a large chin and thin wet looking hair which was turning grey. The most remarkable thing about him was that he seemed to have no voice and always spoke in a whisper. Due to this, the man with the wooden leg acted as an interpreter by repeating the words loudly.
Mr. Creakle was very stern with David and pulled his ear. He introduced himself as a Tartar. When David requested him to take off the writing from his back, the headmaster was furious. David got so scared of him that he fled to his room and seeing that he was not pursued there, he went to bed and lay quaking with fear for a couple of hours.
Mr. Sharp, the first master, and the students - Tommy Tradddles, J. Steerforth and others returned to school after the holidays. Steerforth, a senior boy, handsome and reputed to be a great scholar was said to have great influence over Mr. Creakle, so much so that the merciless and severe Headmaster never ventured to lay his hands on him.
However; Steerforth was very kind to David. He became one of his best friends at School. He told David that he would always take care of him. He spent seven shillings of David's in arranging a feast for him. That night, saying good-night to David, Steerforth asked him if he had a sister. When David replied in the negative, Steerforth said, "That's a pity. If you had one, I should think she would have been a pretty; timid little, bright-eyed short of girl. I should have liked to know her. Good night, young Copperfield."