Not just plebes, either; a lot of industrialists were secretly financing him, in hope that he would help them break up the labor unions.
"Space Viking"
Henry Beam Piper
Barely an upper class man in the hall was paying any heed whatever to these self-conscious plebes.
"Dave Darrin's First Year at Annapolis"
H. Irving Hancock
The boys on the floor below the Cockloft were out by this time, and they were enjoying the spectacle quite as much as the plebes above.
"Frank Merriwell's Chums"
Burt L. Standish