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diff --git a/21037.txt b/21037.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..da0fc9f --- /dev/null +++ b/21037.txt @@ -0,0 +1,11772 @@ +Project Gutenberg's The Cock-House at Fellsgarth, by Talbot Baines Reed + +This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with +almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + + +Title: The Cock-House at Fellsgarth + +Author: Talbot Baines Reed + +Release Date: April 11, 2007 [EBook #21037] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ASCII + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE COCK-HOUSE AT FELLSGARTH *** + + + + +Produced by Nick Hodson of London, England + + + + +The Cock-House at Fellsgarth + +By Talbot Baines Reed +________________________________________________________________________ +For some reason this book was quite hard to convert to e-Book, so that +if any error is detected by a reader I would be grateful if I could be +told, either by email, or by using our Bulletin Board. + +This is another story set in a nineteenth century boy's boarding school, +and is quite similar to "The Fifth Form at Saint Dominic's". + +At the time it was greatly acclaimed, and said to be very like a real +boarding school, but things must have changed because I was at one such +school only fifty years after this book was written, and I can't imagine +any of it happening at my school. On the other hand I was also at a +boarding school for boys aged 8 to 13, which was much more like the +school in this story. As I say, things must have changed. + +It takes about ten hours to play as an audiobook. There are a number of +quite tense incidents, particularly when a party of boys decide to walk +up a nearby mountain, and the weather turns very nasty. This is in +chapters 17 to 19. But there are many other well-described incidents, +so do read the book, remembering that boys' slang has changed greatly in +the past hundred years. +________________________________________________________________________ +THE COCK-HOUSE AT FELLSGARTH + +BY TALBOT BAINES REED + + + +CHAPTER ONE. + +GREEN AND BLUE. + +First-night at Fellsgarth was always a festive occasion. The holidays +were over, and school had not yet begun. All day long, from remote +quarters, fellows had been converging on the dear old place; and here +they were at last, shoulder to shoulder, delighted to find themselves +back in the old haunts. The glorious memories of the summer holidays +were common property. So was not a little of the pocket-money. So, by +rule immemorial, were the contents of the hampers. And so, as they +discovered to their cost, were the luckless new boys who had to-day +tumbled for the first time headlong into the whirlpool of public school +life. + +Does some one tell me he never heard of Fellsgarth? I am surprised. +Where can you have been brought up that you have never heard of the +venerable ivy-clad pile with its watch-tower and two wings, planted +there, where the rivers Shale and Shargle mingle their waters, a mile or +more above Hawkswater? My dear sir, Fellsgarth stood there before the +days when Henry the Eighth, (of whom you may have possibly heard in the +history books) abolished the monasteries and, some wicked people do say, +annexed their contents. + +There is very little of the old place standing now. A piece of the wall +in the head-master's garden and the lower buttresses of the watch-tower, +that is all. The present building is comparatively modern; that is to +say, it is no older than the end of the Civil Wars, when some lucky +adherent to the winning side built it up as a manor-house and disfigured +the tower with those four pepper-castors at the corners. Successive +owners have tinkered the place since then, but they cannot quite spoil +it. Who can spoil red brick and ivy, in such a situation? + +Not know Fellsgarth! Have you never been on Hawkswater then, with its +lonely island, and the grey screes swooping down into the clear water? +And have you never seen Hawk's Pike, which frowns in on the fellows +through the dormitory window? I don't ask if you have been up it. Only +three persons, to my knowledge (guides and natives of course excepted), +have done that. Yorke was one, Mr Stratton was another, and the +other--but that's to be part of my story. + +First-night, as I have said, was a specially "go-as-you-please" occasion +at the school. Masters, having called over their roll, disappeared into +their own quarters and discreetly heard nothing. Dames, having received +and unpacked the "night-bags," retired elsewhere to wrestle with the big +luggage. The cooks, having passably satisfied the cravings of two +hundred and fifty hungry souls, and having removed out of harm's way the +most perishable of the crockery, shrugged their shoulders and shut +themselves into the kitchens, listening to the noise and speculating on +the joys of the coming term. + +What a noise it was! Niagara after the rains, or an express train in a +tunnel, or the north wind in a gale against the Hawk's Back might be +able to beat it. But then Fellsgarth was not competing; each of the +fellows was merely chatting pleasantly to his neighbours. It was hardly +a fair trial. And yet it was not bad for the School. When Dangle, who +owned the longest ear in the school, could not hear a word which +Brinkman, who owned the loudest voice, shouted into it, it spoke +somewhat for what Fellsgarth might do in the way of noise if it tried. + +The only two persons who were not actively contributing to the general +clamour were the two new boys who sat wedged in among a mass of juniors +at one of the lower tables. They may have considered that the beating +of their hearts was noisy enough. But people in this world are slow at +hearing other people's hearts beat. No one seemed to notice it. + +It is due to the stouter of these two young gentlemen to say that the +beating of his heart, and the general state of amaze in which he found +himself, did not interfere greatly with his appetite. He had brought +that accomplishment, if no other, from home, and not being engaged like +those around him in conversation, he contrived to put away really a most +respectable meal. Indeed, his exploits in this direction had already +become a matter for remark among his neighbours. + +"It's all right," said one of the juniors, who answered to the name of +D'Arcy; "his buttons are sewn on with wire. They'll hold." + +"I suppose he's made of gutta-percha," observed another. "He'll stretch +a little more before he's done." + +"I say, what a bill he's running up! By the way, what do they charge +for this kind of pudding?" + +"It's a dear kind--and nothing like as good as the sort we get for +regular. I never could understand why they make fellows shell out for +what they eat first-night." + +"It _is_ a swindle," said D'Arcy, solemnly. "I've had to make a very +light meal, because I've only half a crown, and I'm afraid there won't +be much change left out of that." + +The new boy was just laying butter on a roll, and preparing to close the +proceedings of the meal with a good square turn of bread and butter. +But as D'Arcy's words fell on his ears he suddenly stopped short and +looked up. + +"I say," said he, "isn't this dinner charged in the house bill then?" + +D'Arcy laughed derisively. + +"Well, you most be a muff. Don't you know school doesn't begin till to- +morrow? They give you dinner to-night, but you're not obliged to eat +it." + +The new boy took a gulp of water, which he calculated would be gratis +under any circumstances, and then gasped--"I say, I didn't know that." + +D'Arcy looked solemn. "Jolly awkward," said he; "what have you had?" + +Whereupon Master Ashby, the new boy, entered on a detailed confession, +which D'Arcy, evidently an expert at mental arithmetic, "totted up" as +he went along. + +"How many times pudding did you say?" he asked towards the end, "Twice +and a bit." + +"Three and ten; I dare say he won't be stiff about the bit, three and +ten; and that roll and butter--" + +"I've not eaten them." + +"No, but you've touched them. You'll be charged, unless you can get a +fellow to take them off your hands." + +"Will _you_ have them?" asked Ashby. + +Whereupon there was a laugh at _D'Arcy's_ expense, which annoyed that +young gentleman. + +"I don't want your second-hand grub. You'd better take it round and see +what you can get for it." + +Ashby looked at the bread, and then glanced round the table. + +"No," said he, "I'll have it and pay for it, if it comes to that." + +"That'll be four bob." + +Ashby gave a gulp of despair. + +"I've not got so much." + +"Then you'll get in a jolly row." + +"Could you lend me one and six, I say?" asked the new boy. + +Again D'Arcy got the worst of the laugh. + +"Didn't you hear me say I'd only just got enough to pay for my own? But +I tell you what; you can hide under the table. You're not known." + +Ashby looked round, and felt about with his foot under the table to +ascertain what room there might be there. Then he flushed up. "No, I +shan't," said he; "I'd get into the row instead." + +As his eye travelled round and marked the curious smile on every face it +suddenly dawned upon him that he had been "done." His first sensation +was one of immense relief. He should not have to pay for his dinner +after all! His second was a cunning device for getting out of the +dilemma. + +"I thought you'd begin to laugh soon," said he to D'Arcy. "I knew you +couldn't keep it up." + +D'Arcy turned very red in the face and glared at this audacious +youngster in deserved wrath. + +"What do you mean, you young ass? You know you've swallowed it all." + +"He swallowed all the grub anyhow," said another. + +"No, I've not," said Master Ashby. "I'd have another go-in now. I knew +he'd have to laugh in the end." + +It was hopeless to deal seriously with a rebel of this sort. D'Arcy +tried to ride off on the high horse; but it was not a very grand +spectacle, and Ashby, munching up the remains of his roll, was generally +held to have scored. The relief with which he hailed the discovery of +his mistake was so genuine, and the good spirits and appetite the +incident put into him were so imperturbable, as to disarm further +experiment at his expense, and he was left comparatively free to enjoy +the noise and imbibe his first impression of Fellsgarth in his own way. + +The other new boy, meanwhile, was not altogether without his +difficulties. + +Fisher minor, to which name this ingenuous young gentleman answered, +would probably have been the first to pour contempt on the verdure of +his companion. He had come up to Fellsgarth determined that, in +whatever respect he failed, no one should lightly convict him of being +green. He had wormed out of his brother in the Sixth a few hints of +what was considered the proper thing at Fellsgarth, and these, with the +aid of his own brilliant intellect and reminiscences of what he had read +in the books, served, as he hoped, both to forewarn and forearm him +against all the uncomfortable predicaments into which the ordinary new +boy is apt to fall. + +It must be confessed that as he sat and listened to the noise, and +marked how little Fellsgarth appeared to recognise his existence, he +felt a trifle uneasy and nervous. He wasn't sure now that he knew +everything. All these fellows seemed to be so thoroughly at home, and +to know so exactly what to do; he wished he could do the same. + +He wished, for instance, he could spin a fork round with his first +finger and thumb while he talked, as Yorke, the captain, was doing. He +did once privately try, while he was not talking, but it was a dismal +failure. The fork fell with a great clatter to the floor and attracted +general attraction his way. He picked the weapon up with as easy an air +as he could assume, whistling _sotto voce_ to himself as he did it, so +as to appear unconcerned. + +"Look out, I say; you mustn't whistle at meal-times, it's bad manners," +said a voice at his side. + +He turned round and perceived a pleasant-looking youth of the species +junior, in a red tie and wrist studs to match. + +This youth evidently knew what was what at Fellsgarth; and a further +glance at him convinced Fisher minor that he had met him in a good hour. +For all dinner-time he had been exercised as to whether it was the +thing to wear the jacket opened or buttoned. Yorke wore his buttoned, +so did a good many of the Sixth; and Fisher minor had consequently +buttoned up too. But his new friend, who was pronounced in all his ways +and evidently an authority on etiquette, wore his open. Fisher minor +therefore furtively slipped his fingers down and opened his coat. + +"You're a new kid, I suppose," said he of the red necktie. + +"Yes, I'm Fisher minor." + +"What, son of Fisher the boat-builder? I didn't know he had one so +old." + +"No, oh no. That's my brother up there, talking to the Dux." + +"The who? I don't see any ducks." + +"I mean Yorke, you know, the captain." + +"Why ever do you call him ducks? You'd better let him catch you calling +him names like that. Oh, you're a brother of old Fisher? You look it." + +Fisher minor was alarmed at the tone in which this observation was made. +It seemed to imply that Fisher major was not quite all that could be +desired, and yet the younger brother did not exactly know what it was in +the elder which called for repudiation. However, he was spared the pain +of deciding by a new voice on his other side. + +"What's that, Wally? Does this kid say he belongs to Fisher? Oh, my +stars, what form we're coming to!" + +Fisher minor glanced round, and experienced a shock as he did so. + +For the new speaker was so like the last that he was tempted to suppose +the latter had suddenly changed seats and contrived to substitute a blue +necktie for a red, and button his jacket during the feat. But when he +looked back, the owner of the red tie was still in his place. After +considerable wagging of his head, he was forced to admit that he was +seated between two different persons. + +"Why, he can't help that," said the gentleman addressed as Wally. + +Fisher minor laughed feebly, and really wished his brother would pay a +little more attention to the "form." + +"Of course," said Wally, talking across to his twin brother, "fellows +can't tell what asses they look until they're told. Don't you remember +the chap last term who always wore his trousers turned up, till the +prefects made him turn them down or go on the Modern side." + +"Catch us taking any of your cast-off louts on our side," retorted the +other brother, who evidently belonged to the slighted side; "yes-- +shocking bad form it was--and when he turned them down at last, they +found seventy-four nibs, fifty matches, and nobody knows how many +candle-ends." + +All this time Fisher minor, with panic at his heart, was furiously +trying to turn down his trouser-ends with his feet. What a lucky escape +for him to get this warning in time! During the walk round the grounds +he had turned his ends up, and had quite forgotten to put them down +again when he came in. Now, no coaxing would get them down without +manual assistance. He sat clawing with one foot after another, +lacerating his shins and his garments in vain. At length in despair he +dropped his fork again, and under cover of this diversion attempted to +stoop and adjust the intractable folds. + +In his flurry he naturally forgot the fork; so that when, after a minute +and a half, he emerged without it into the upper world, his two +companions were not a little perplexed. + +"What have you been up to down there? Do you generally eat your grub +under the table?" asked Wally. "All I can say is, it's the best place +for him if he wears his hair like that," said the other in tones of +alarm. "Young kid, I never noticed that before! Whatever induces you +to part it on the right? Did you ever hear of a Fellsgarth fellow-- Oh, +I say, what a wigging you'll get! Look at me and Wally and Yorke and +all of 'em. Whew! it makes one ill to see it! Just look round for +yourself." + +As more than half of those present appeared to have no parting at all, +and most of the rest parted on the left, Fisher minor realised with +horror that he had been guilty of a terrible solecism. + +The alarm depicted in the faces of both the twins was proof enough that +the matter was a critical one. It was no time for shuffling. He had +had enough of that over his trouser-ends. He must throw himself on the +mercy of his critics. + +"I quite forgot--of course," said he hurriedly; "I--I--" + +"Look here," said Wally, hurriedly shoving a pocket-comb into his hands; +"you'd better go downstairs again and change it sharp, or you'll be +spotted. Cut along." + +So Fisher minor began with shame to look once more for his fork, and in +doing so crawled well under the table, and sitting down proceeded +nervously and painfully to open up a parting on the left side of his +head. It was an arduous task, and not made easier by the unjustifiable +conduct of the twins, who having got their man safe under hatches began +to kick out in an unceremonious fashion and basely betray his retreat to +their friends and neighbours. + +"Pass him on!" + +"Hack it through!" + +"Ware cats!" was the cry, in the midst of which the luckless Fisher +minor, finding a return to his old place effectually barred, and +wearying of the ceremony of running a gauntlet of all the legs along the +table before it was half over, made a hasty selection of what seemed to +him the mildest pair within reach, and clutching at them convulsively, +hung on for dear life. + +The owner of the limbs in question was Ranger, a prefect of his house +and more or less of a grandee at Fellsgarth. As he was unaware of the +cause of the excitement around him, this sudden assault from below took +him aback, and he started up from his chair in something as near a panic +as a Fellsgarth prefect could be capable of. Naturally his parasite +followed him. + +To Ranger's credit, he took in the situation rapidly, and did not abuse +his opportunities. + +"What's this?" he demanded, lifting up Fisher minor, with his hair all +on end and the pocket-comb still in his hand, by the coat-collar. "Who +does this belong to?" + +No one in particular owned the object in question. + +"What are you?" asked the prefect. + +"I'm Fisher minor; I got under the table, somehow." + +"So I should suppose. Afraid of the draughts, I suppose." + +"It was Wally and his brother put me there. I didn't mean--" + +"Oh--Wally, was it? Here, young Wheatfield, you shouldn't leave your +property about like this. It's against rules. Here, hook on, and don't +go chucking it about any more." + +"All serene," said the twin. "Come along, kid. Done with my comb? You +look ever so much better form now; doesn't he, you chaps? How came you +to lose your way downstairs?" + +Fisher minor owned himself utterly unable to account for the +misadventure, and discreetly remained silent until the signal was given +to return thanks and separate every boy to his own house. + +As he was wandering across the court, very dismal and apprehensive of +what more was in store for him, a lean youth with a pale face and very +showily attired accosted him. + +"Hullo, kid, are you a new chap?" + +"Yes," replied Fisher minor, eyeing the stranger suspiciously. + +"What side are you on?" + +Fisher stared interrogatively. + +"Well, then, are you Modern or Classic?" + +"I don't know, really," said Fisher minor, wishing he knew which he +ought to proclaim himself. Then making a bold venture, he said, "I +believe Modern." + +"Good job for you," said the youth; "saves me the trouble of kicking +you. Can you lend me a bob? I'll give it you back to-morrow as soon as +I've unpacked." + +It did strike Fisher minor as queer that any one should pack shillings +up in a trunk, but he was too pleased to oblige this important and +fashionable-looking personage to raise any question. + +"Yes. Can you give me change out of a half-crown? Or you can pay me +the lot back to-morrow, I shan't be wanting it till then," said he. + +"All serene, kid; I'm glad you are our side. I shall be able to give +you a leg-up with the fellows. Whose house are you in?" + +"Wakefield's, the same as my brother." + +"What--then you must be a Classic! They're all Classics at Wakefield's. +Why can't you tell the truth when you're asked, instead of a howling +pack of lies?" + +"I didn't know, really, I thought--" + +"Come, that's a good one. Any idiot knows what side he's on at +Fellsgarth." + +Fisher minor was greatly confused to stand convicted thus of greenness. + +"You see," said he, putting on a little "side" to cover his shame, "I +was bound to be stuck on the same side as my brother, you know." + +"Nice for you. Not a gentleman among them. All paupers and prigs," +said this young Modern, waxing eloquent. "You'll suit them down to the +ground." Considering that Fisher minor had just lent the speaker half a +crown, these taunts struck him as not exactly grateful. At the same +time he writhed under the reproach, and felt convinced that Classics +were not at all the "form" at Fellsgarth. + +"Why," pursued the other, pocketing his coin in order to release his +hands for a little elocution, "we could boy 'em up twice over. The +workhouse isn't in it with Wakefield's. There's not a day but they come +cadging to us, wanting to borrow our tin, or our grub, or something. +There, look at that chap going across there! He's one of 'em. Regular +casual-ward form about him. He's the meanest, stingiest lout in all +Fellsgarth." + +"Why," exclaimed Fisher minor, looking in alarm towards this prodigy of +baseness, "why, that's--that's Fisher, my brother!" + +The Modern youth's jaw fell with a snap, and his cheeks lost what little +colour they had. + +"What? Why didn't you tell me! Look here, you needn't tell him what I +said. It was quite between ourselves, you know. I must be cutting, I +say. See you again some day." + +And he vanished, leaving Fisher minor considerably more bewildered, and +poorer by a cool half-crown, than he had been five minutes ago. + + + +CHAPTER TWO. + +LAMB'S SINGING. + +Wakefield's house, as Fisher minor entered it under his brother's wing, +hardly seemed to the new boy as disreputable a haunt as his recent +Modern friend had led him to expect. Nor did the sixty or seventy +fellows who clustered in the common room strike him as exactly the +lowest stratum of Fellsgarth society. Yorke, the captain, for instance, +with his serene, well-cut face, his broad shoulders and impressive voice +hardly answered to the description of a lout. Nor did Ranger, of the +long legs, with speed written in every inch of his athletic figure, and +gentleman in every line of his face, look the sort of fellow to be +mistaken for a cad. Even Fisher major, about whom the younger brother +had been made to feel decided qualms, could hardly have been the hail- +fellow-well-met he was with everybody, had he been all the new boy's +informant had recently described him. + +Indeed, Fisher minor, when presently he gathered himself together +sufficiently to look round him, was surprised to see so few traces of +the "casual-ward" in his new house. True, most of the fellows might be +poor--which, of course, was highly reprehensible; and some of them might +not be connected with the nobility, which showed a great lack of proper +feeling on their part. But as a rule they held up their heads and +seemed to think very well of themselves and one another; while their +dress, if it was not in every case as fashionable as that of the +temporary owner of Fisher minor's half-crown, was at least passably well +fitting. + +Fisher minor, for all his doubts about the company he was in, could not +help half envying these fellows, as he saw with what glee and self- +satisfaction they entered into their own at Wakefield's. They were all +so glad to be back, to see again the picture of Cain and Abel on the +wall, to scramble for the corner seat in the ingle-bench, to hear the +well-known creak on the middle landing, to catch the imperturbable tick +of the dormitory clock, to see the top of Hawk's Pike looming out, down +the valley, clear and sharp in the falling light. + +Fisher minor and Ashby, as they sat dismally and watched all the fun, +wondered if the time would ever come when they would feel as much at +home as all this. It was a stretch of imagination beyond their present +capacity. + +To their alarm, Master Wally Wheatfield presently recognised them from +across the room, and came over patronisingly to where they sat. + +"Hullo, new kids! thinking of your mas, and the rocking-horses, and +Nurse Jane, and all that? Never mind, have a good blub, it'll do you +good." + +Considering how near, in strict secrecy, both the young gentlemen +addressed were to the condition indicated by the genial twin, this +exhortation was not exactly kind. + +They tried to look as if they did not mind it, and Fisher minor +naturally did his best to appear knowing. + +"I don't mind," said he, with a snigger; "they're all milksops at home. +I'd sooner be here." + +"I wouldn't," put in the sturdy Ashby. "I think it's horrid not to see +a face you know." + +"There you are; what did I say! Screaming for his mammy," gibed Wally. + +"And if I was," retorted Master Ashby, warming up, "she's a lot better +worth it than yours, so now!" + +Master Wally naturally fired up at this. Such language was hardly +respectful from a new junior to an old. + +"I'll pull your nose, new kid, if you cheek me." + +"And I'll pull yours, if you cheek my mother." + +"Booh, booh, poor baby! Who's cheeking your mother? I wouldn't cheek +her with a pair of tongs. Something better to do. I say, are both you +kids Classics?" + +"Yes," they replied. + +"I thought you must be Moderns, you're both so precious green. All +right, there'll be lamb's singing directly, then you'll have to sit up." + +"What's lamb's singing?" said Ashby. + +"Don't you know?" replied Wally, glad to have recovered the whip hand. +"It's this way. Every new kid has to sing in his house the first-night. +You'll have to." + +"Oh," faltered Ashby, "I can't; I don't know anything." + +"Can't get out of it; you must," said the twin, charmed to see the +torture he was inflicting. "So must you, Hair-parting." + +Fisher minor was too knowing a hand to be caught napping. He had had +the tip about lamb's singing from his brother last term, and was +prepared. He joined in, therefore, against Ashby. + +"What, didn't you know that, kid? You must be green. _I_ knew it all +along." + +"That's all right," said Wheatfield. "Now I'm going. I can't fool away +all my evening with you. By the way, mind you don't get taking up with +any Modern kids. It's not allowed, and you'll get it hot if you do. My +young brother," (each twin was particularly addicted to casting +reflections on his brother's age) "is a Modern. Don't you have anything +to do with him. And whatever you do, don't lend any of them money, or +there'll be a most awful row. That's why we always call up +subscriptions for the house clubs on first-night. It cleans the fellows +out, and then they can't lend any to the Moderns. You'll have to shell +out pretty soon, as soon as Lamb's singing is over. Ta, ta." + +This last communication put Fisher minor in a terrible panic. He had +evidently committed a gross breach of etiquette in lending that Modern +boy (whose name he did not even know) a half-crown; and now, when the +subscriptions were called for, he would have to declare himself before +all Wakefield's a pauper. + +"I say," said he to Ashby, dropping the patronising for the pathetic, +"could you ever lend me half-a-crown? I've--I've lost mine--I'll pay it +you back next week faithfully." + +"I've only got five bob," said Ashby; "to last all the term, and half a +crown of that will go in the clubs to-night." + +"But you'll get it back in a week--really you will," pleaded Fisher +minor, "and I'll--" + +But here there was a sudden interruption. Every one, from the captain +down, looked towards the new boys, and a shout of "lamb's singing," +headed by Wally Wheatfield, left little doubt as to what it all meant. + +"Pass up the new kids down there," called one of the prefects. +Whereupon Fisher minor and Ashby, rather pale and very nervous, were +hustled up to the top of the room, where sat the grandees in a row round +the table on which the sacrifice was to take place. + +For the benefit of the curious it may be explained that "lamb's +singing," the name applied to the musical performances of new boys at +Fellsgarth on first-night, is supposed to have derived its title from +the frequency with which these young gentlemen fell back upon "Mary had +a little lamb" as their theme on such occasions. + +"Isn't one of them your minor?" asked Yorke of Fisher senior. + +"Yes," said the latter rather apologetically; "the one with the light +hair. He's not much to look at. The fact is, I only know him slightly. +They say at home he's a nice boy." + +"Does he spend much of his time under tables, as a rule?" asked Ranger, +recognising the lost property which had hung on to his legs at dinner- +time. "If so, I'll take the other one for my fag." + +"He's bagged already," said Denton. "Fisher and I put our names down +for him an hour ago." + +"Well, that's cool. If Fisher wanted a fag he might as well have taken +his own minor." + +"Fisher major knew better," said the gentleman in question. "It might +raise awkward family questions if I had him." + +"Wouldn't it be fairer to toss up?" suggested the captain. "Or I don't +mind swopping Wally Wheatfield for him; if you really--" + +Ranger laughed. + +"No, thank you, I draw the line at Wally. I wouldn't deprive you of him +for the world. I suppose I must have this youngster. Let's hear him +sing first." + +"Yes, lamb's singing. Now, you two, one at a time. Who's first? +Alphabetical order." + +Ashby, with an inward groan, mounted the rostrum. If anything could +have been more cruel than the noise which greeted his appearance, it was +the dead silence which followed it. Fellows sat round, staring him out +of countenance with critical faces, and rejoicing in his embarrassment. + +"What's the title!" demanded some one. + +"I don't know any songs," said Ashby presently, "and I can't sing." + +"Ho, ho! we've heard that before. Come, forge ahead." + +"I only know the words of one that my con--somebody I know--sings, +called the _Vigil_. I don't know the tune." + +"That doesn't matter--out with it." + +So Ashby, pulling himself desperately together, plunged recklessly into +the following appropriate ditty; which, failing its proper tune, he +manfully set at the top of his voice, and with all the energy he was +capable of, to the air of the _Vicar of Bray_-- + + The stealthy night creeps o'er the lea, + My darling, haste away with me. + Beloved, come I see where I stand, + With arms outstretched upon the strand. + + The night creeps on; my love is late, + O love, my love, I wait, I wait; + The soft wind sighs mid crag and pine; + Haste, O my sweet; be mine, be mine! + +This spirited song, the last two lines of which were aught up as a +chorus, fairly brought down the house; and Ashby, much to his surprise, +found himself famous. He had no idea he could sing so well, or that the +fellows would like the words as much as they seemed to do. Yet they +cheered him and encored him, and yelled the chorus till the roof almost +fell in. + +"Bravo," shouted every one, the captain himself included, as he +descended from the table; "that's a ripping song." + +"That sends up the price of our fag, I fancy," said Denton to his chum. +"Your young brother won't beat that." + +"Next man in," shouted Wheatfield, hustling forward Fisher minor. "Now, +kid, lamm it on and show them what you can do." + +"Title! title!" cried the meeting. + +Now, if truth must be told, Fisher minor had come to Fellsgarth +determined that whatever else he failed in, he would make a hit at +"lamb's singing." He had made a careful calculation as to what sort of +song would go down with the company and at the same time redeem his +reputation from all suspicion of greenness; and he flattered himself he +had hit upon the exact article. + +"Oh," said he, with an attempt at offhand swagger, in response to the +demand. "It's a comic song, called _Oh no_." + +It disconcerted him a little to see how seriously everybody settled down +to listen, and how red his brother's face turned as he took a back seat +among the seniors. Never mind. Wait till they heard his song. That +would fetch them! + +He had carefully studied not only the song but the appropriate action. +As he knew perfectly well, there is one invariable attitude for a comic +song. The head must be tilted a little to one side. One eyebrow must +be raised and the opposite corner of the mouth turned down. One knee +should be slightly bent; the first finger and thumb of one hand should +rest gracefully in the waistcoat pocket, and the other hand should be +free for gesture. + +All these points Fisher minor attended to now as carefully as his +nervousness would permit, and felt half amused at the thought of how +comic the fellows must think him. + +"Do you--" he began. + +But at this point Ranger unfeelingly interrupted, and put the vocalist +completely out. + +"Did you say `Oh no' or `How now'?" + +"Oh no," repeated the singer. + +"You mean h-o-w n-o-w?" + +"Oh no; it's o-h n-o." + +"Thanks--sorry to interrupt. Fire away." Fisher tried to get himself +back into attitude, and began again in a thin treble voice;-- + +Do you think I'm just as green as grass! Oh no! + +Do you take me for a silly ass! Oh no! Do you think I don't know A +from B! Do you think I can't tell he from she! Do you think I swallow +all I see? + +Oh no--not me! He was bewildered by the unearthly silence of his +audience. No one stirred a muscle except Wheatfield, who was apparently +wiping away a tear. Was the song too deep for them, or perhaps he did +not sing the words distinctly, or perhaps they _had_ laughed and he had +not noticed? At any rate he would try the next verse, which was certain +to amuse them. He looked as droll as he could, and by way of +heightening the effect, stuck his two thumbs into the armholes of his +waistcoat and wagged his hands in time with the song. + +Do you think I lie abed all day? + +Oh no! Do you guess I skate on ice in May? + +Oh no! Do you think I can't tell what is what? Do you think I don't +know pepper's hot? Or whereabouts my i's to dot? + +Oh no, no rot! + +As he concluded, Fisher minor summoned up enough resolution to shake his +head and lay one finger to his nose in the most approved style of +comedy, and then awaited the result. + +Fellows apparently did not take in that the song was at an end, for they +neither cheered nor smiled. So Fisher minor made an elaborate bow to +show it was all over. The result was the same. A gloomy silence +prevailed, in the midst of which the singer, never more perplexed in his +life, descended from the table and proceeded to look out for the +congratulations of his admirers. + +"Beautiful song," said Wally, still mopping his face. + +"I never thought I could be so touched by anything. We generally get +comic songs on first-night." + +"This _is_ a comic one," said Fisher minor. + +"Go on," said Wheatfield; "tell that to D'Arcy here--he'll believe you-- +eh, D'Arcy?" D'Arcy looked mysterious. + +"It's no laughing matter, young Wheatfield," said he, in a loud whisper, +evidently intended for the eager ears of Fisher minor. "I heard Yorke +just now ask Denton if he thought Fisher's minor was all there. Denton +seemed quite cut up, and said he hadn't known it before, but it must be +a great family trouble to the Fishers. It accounted for Fisher major's +frequent low spirits. You know," continued D'Arcy confidentially, "I +can't help myself thinking it's a little rough on Fisher major for his +people to send a minor who's afflicted like this to Fellsgarth. They +might at least have put him on the Modern side. He'd have been better +understood there." + +This speech Fisher minor listened to with growing perplexity. Was +D'Arcy in jest or earnest? He seemed to be in earnest, and the serious +faces of his listeners looked like it too. Had the captain really made +that remark to Denton? Suppose there _was_ something in it! Suppose, +without his knowing, he was really a little queer in his head! His +people might have told him of it. And Fisher major, his brother--even +he hadn't heard of it! Oh dear! oh dear! How was he ever to recover +his reputation for sanity? Whatever induced him to sing that song? + +Poor Fisher minor devoutly wished himself home again, within reach of +his mother's soothing voice and his sisters' smiles. _They_ understood +him. These fellows didn't. _They_ knew he was not an idiot. These +fellows didn't. + +Further reflection was cut short by a loud call to order and cheers, as +Yorke, the captain, rose to his feet. + +Every one liked Yorke. As captain of the School even the Moderns looked +up to him, and were forced to admit that he was a credit to Fellsgarth. +In Wakefield's, his own house, he was naturally an idol. Prodigious +stories were afloat as to his wisdom and his prowess. Examiners were +reported to have rent their clothes in despair at his answers; and at +football, rumour had it that once, in one of the out-matches against +Ridgmoor, he had run the ball down the field with six of the other side +on his back, and finished up with a drop at the goal from thirty yards. + +But his popularity in his own house depended less on these exploits than +on his general good-nature and incorruptible fairness. He scorned to +hit an opponent when he was down, and yet he would knock down a friend +as soon as a foe if the credit of the School required it. A few, +indeed, there were whose habit it was to sneer at Yorke for being what +they called "a saint." The captain of Fellsgarth would have been the +last to claim such a title for himself; yet those who knew him best knew +that in all he did, even in the common concerns of daily school life, he +relied on the guidance and help of a Divine Friend, and was not ashamed +to own his faith. + +The one drawback to his character in the eyes of certain of his fellow- +prefects and others at Wakefield's was that in the standing feud between +Classics and Moderns he would take no part. He demanded the allegiance +of all parties on behalf of the School, and if any man refused it, Yorke +was the sort of person who would make it his business to know the reason +why. + +Now as he got up and waited for the cheers to cease, no one could deny +that he wasn't as fine a captain as Wakefield's could expect to see for +many a day. And for the first time some of those who even feared him +realised with a qualm that this was the last "first-night" on which he +would be there to make the usual speech. + +"Gentlemen," he said, "we are all glad to be back in the old place," +(cheers). "At any rate I am," (loud cheers). "On first-night, as you +know, we always combine business with pleasure. We have just had the +pleasure," (laughter, in the midst of which Fisher minor pricked up his +ears and wondered if his song wasn't going to be appreciated after all). +"The lambs have bleated and done their level best, I'm sure," (renewed +laughter, and cries of "How now?"). "Now for the business. Gentlemen, +the house clubs demand your support." (Fisher minor turned deadly green +as he remembered the Modern boy and his half-crown. He looked round +wildly for Ashby, but Ashby was standing between Wally and D'Arcy, and +the proximity was not encouraging for Fisher's purpose. The idea +occurred to him of appealing to his brother. But Fisher major, pen in +hand, sat at the receipt of custom, and he dare not approach). "We hope +there will be no shirking. Every fellow in the house is expected to +back up the clubs. If the House clubs are not kept up to the mark, the +School clubs are sure to go down," (cheers). "We don't ask much. The +seniors pay 5 shillings, the middle-boys 3 shillings 6 pence, and the +juniors 2 shillings 6 pence." (Fisher minor glanced frantically in the +direction of the door, and began to edge that way.) "Now, gentlemen, one +word more. You know, last term, there was a lot of bad blood between +Classics and Moderns," (great cheers and three groans for the Moderns). +"Of course it's open to any idiot who likes to make a fool of himself, +and quarrel with anybody he likes. He's welcome to do it up to a +certain point, if it gives him pleasure. But I want to say this--and +I'd say it if the whole of the school was here--that if these rows once +begin to interfere with the honour of the School in sports or anything +else, as they nearly did last term, the fellows who indulge in them will +be dropped on pretty heavily, no matter what side or what house they +belong to." + +The captain looked so uncommonly like meaning what he said, that D'Arcy, +who had already made an appointment to fight Lickford, a Modern boy, at +the Three Oaks before breakfast to-morrow, quailed under his eye, and +wondered if he could with dignity "scratch" the engagement. + +A general movement towards the table at which Fisher major sat with his +pen and account-book followed the captain's speech. Of all the company +present, only one failed to enrol himself. He was a new boy called +Fisher minor, who, evidently worn out by the fatigues of the day and +unversed in the etiquette of first-night, had sought the dame at a +somewhat early hour, and received her permission to go to bed. + +Such at least was that lady's version when Fisher major, having missed +his minor, made inquiries respecting his absence. + +"Best thing he could do, to make himself scarce, after such a +performance," said the elder brother to Denton, who accompanied him. + +"Yes, indeed, I envy Ranger his fag. It's a lucky thing we bagged the +other one in time." + +"The young donkey couldn't be in better hands," said Fisher; "but I say, +Den, didn't the captain come down rather heavy with his thunder to- +night? What does it all mean?" + +"Bows, I expect," said Denton. "He's not going to stand what went on +last term, and I'm jolly glad of it. We must back him up." + +"If he means I'm not to feel inclined to kick Dangle whenever I see him, +I can't promise him much." + +"Dangle's a good quarter-mile man, and a good long-stop. If your +kicking him prevents his playing for the School, you'll have to mind +your eye, my boy. That's what he means." + +"Oh!" grunted Fisher major, "I suppose the rows will begin to-morrow, +when we elect the officers for the School clubs. Those fellows are sure +to want to stick their own men in." + +"At any rate you're safe enough for treasurer, old man. But come, I'm +dead sleepy to-night. Time enough for rows to-morrow and the next day." + + + +CHAPTER THREE. + +CANVASSING. + +When Fisher major woke early next morning he had the curious sensation +of something on his mind without knowing what it was. + +He was not out of sorts. The private supper of which he and Denton and +Ridgway had partaken last night in Ranger's study had been wholesome, if +miscellaneous. Ranger's people had given him a hamper to bring back, +containing a good many good things--cake, biscuits, potted meats, jam, +Worcester sauce, pickles, coffee, and other groceries intended to +diversify the breakfasts of the half. By some error of judgment this +valuable article of luggage had come from town in the van, where it had +apparently been placed at the very bottom of the baggage. The +consequence was, that when it came to be opened, its several ingredients +were found to have got loose, and fused together in a most hopeless way. +Jam, and pickles, and Liebig's extract, and moist sugar were +indistinguishable. The only thing seemed to be to attack the concoction +_en masse_, without needless delay, and to that end Ranger had summoned +the assistance of his friends and neighbours. Fisher major was unable +to attribute any part of the weight on his mind to this perfectly +wholesome and homely refreshment. + +What was it? It was not Denton. He had come back as loyal and festive +as ever, threatening to work hard this half, and determined to have +Fisher major as his guest at the rectory on the lake for the Christmas +vac. + +Nor was it the captain's speech last night that bothered him. True, it +was not altogether conciliatory to those, who, like Fisher major, were +resolved to have no truce with the enemy. Of course it was the right +thing for Yorke to say. But Yorke knew, as well as anybody, that the +Classics meant to keep their house Cock-House at Fellsgarth. + +Nor was it the accounts; although Fisher minor had to own to himself he +was not a grand hand at finance, and that if he was appointed treasurer +of the School clubs, as well as of his House clubs, he would have his +work cut out for him to keep both funds clear and solvent. + +What then was it? His young brother? He supposed it must be. The +young donkey had made a bad beginning at Fellsgarth--which was bad +enough. But had the elder brother done quite the decent thing in half +disowning him, and letting him run on his fate in the way he had? A +little brotherly backing up, a word or two of warning, and, if needs be, +a little timely intimidation, might have made all the difference to the +youngster, and would not have done the senior much harm. + +Yes; it was this precious minor of his who was on Fisher major's mind. +It was too late, of course, to pick up the milk already spilled. But it +might be worth while to give him a word of admonition as to his future +conduct. + +With this view he sent Ashby (who, with all the alacrity of a brand-new +fag, punctually presented himself for orders before getting-up bell had +ceased ringing) to summon Fisher minor to his brother's room. + +"Well, kid," said the elder brother, commencing his toilet, "how did you +get on? Sleep well?" + +"Middling," said Fisher minor. "Some of the fellows had put pepper on +the blankets, and it got into my eyes--that's all." + +"It's a good job they did nothing worse." + +"Well," said Fisher minor, who was evidently in a limp state, and had +not at all enjoyed his night, "they _did_ tease a good deal." + +"Humph--who did!" + +"Well, there was that boy they call--" + +"Stop," said Fisher major, turning round fiercely in the middle of +brushing his hair; "do you mean to say you don't know that it's only +cads who sneak about one another?" + +"But you asked me." + +"Of course I did, and made sure you wouldn't let out. I hope they'll +give you a few more lively nights, to teach you better." + +The young brother's lips gave an ominous quiver at this unfeeling +speech, and he horrified Fisher major by betraying imminent symptoms of +tears. + +"Look here, Joey," said the senior, rather more soothingly, "you've made +a jolly bad start, and that can't be helped. The mistake you made is in +thinking you know everything, whereas you're about as green as they make +them. Why ever do you pretend not to be? Look at that other new kid-- +the other one who sang. He's green too; but, bless you, it's no crime, +and all the fellows take to him because he doesn't put on side like you. +Why, that song you sang--oh, my stars!--what on _earth_ put that rot +into your head?" + +This finished up poor Fisher minor. The recollection of his performance +last night was more than he could stand, and he began to whimper. + +"Come, old chap," said Fisher major, kindly, patting him on the +shoulder; "perhaps it's not all your fault. I suppose I ought to have +given you a leg-up, and prevented you making a fool of yourself. You'll +get on right enough if you don't swagger. And in any case, don't +blubber." + +"I shall never get on here," said the new boy. "All the fellows are +against me. Besides--I didn't know it was wrong; and--oh, Tom?--I lent +a fellow half a crown, and now I've nothing to pay for the clubs!" + +Fisher major laughed. + +"I thought from your tones you were going to confess a murder, at least. +You'd better look alive and get the half-crown back." + +"That's just it. I lent it in the dark to a--a Modern chap; and I don't +know his name." + +"Upon my honour, Joey, you are a-- Well, it's no good saying what you +are. I hope you'll see your money again, that's all." + +Fisher minor groaned. + +"Would you ever mind lending me half-a-crown for the clubs, just this +once?" he pleaded. + +"Very convenient arrangement. I suppose I shall have to. At least I'll +mark you as paid; and if you've not got back what you've lent your +friend before I have to shell out, I shall have to pay it for you." + +"Thanks, Tom; you're an awful brick," said the younger brother, +brightening up rapidly. "I say, I wish I could be your fag. Couldn't +I?" + +"Ranger's bagged you--you'll get on better with him than me. He won't +stand as much nonsense as I might. There! he is calling. Cut along, +and don't go making such an ass of yourself again. You'll have to get +on the best you can with your fellows; I can't interfere with them +unless they break rules, you know. You can come in here, of course, any +time you like, and if you want a leg-up with preparation, and Ranger's +busy, you may as well do your work here." + +After this Fisher major felt a little easier in his conscience, and was +able to face the tasks of the day with a lighter mind than if he had had +the care of his minor upon it all the time. + +The school work of the day was not particularly onerous. Dr Ringwood, +the head-master, held a sort of reception of the Sixth, and delivered, +as was his wont, a little lecture on the work to be taken up during the +ensuing half, interspersed with a few sarcastic references to the work +of the previous half, and one or two jokes, which scoffers like Ridgway +used to say must have cost him many serious hours during the holidays to +develop. + +"Aristophanes," said the head-master, after calling attention to the +particular merits of the Greek play to be undertaken, "did not write +solely for the Sixth form of a public school. I am afraid some of you, +last term, thought that Euripides did. He will require more than usual +attention. I am sure he can easily receive it. I would not, if I were +you boys, be too chary this term of extra work. Some of you are almost +painfully conscientious in your objection to overdo a particular study. +Aristophanes is an author with whom liberties may safely be taken in +this respect. The test of a good classical scholar, remember, is not +the work he is obliged to do, but what he is not obliged to do--his +extra work; I advise you not to be afraid to try it. The Sanatorium has +been unusually free of cases of over-pressure lately. A quarter of an +hour's extra work a day by the Sixth is not at all likely to tax its +capacity," etcetera. + +This was the doctor's pleasant style, delivered with a severe face and +downcast eyes. + +Then ensued a little lecture to the prefects on their duties and +responsibilities, which was respectfully listened to. To judge by it, +such a thing as any rumour of dissensions between rival sides and houses +in the school had never reached his ears. And yet the knowing ones said +the doctor knew better than the captain himself everything that went on +in Fellsgarth, and could at any moment lay his hand on an offender. But +he preferred to leave the police of the place to his head boys; and on +the whole it was perhaps better for the School that he did. + +To a larger or less degree the other forms, Classic and Modern, were +lectured in similar strains by their respective masters. The new boys +among the junior division were, perhaps, the only ones who listened +attentively to what Mr Stratton, the young, cheery athlete who presided +over their studies, had to say. And even the irrespectful admiration +was a good deal distracted by the babel of voices which was going on all +round them. + +"Never mind him," said D'Arcy; "he's a kid of a master, and don't know +any better. It's all rot. Bless you, we get the same thing--" + +"D'Arcy," said the master, suddenly, "I was recommending the value of +extra work, especially for clever boys. Perhaps you will try the +experiment with fifty lines of Virgil by this time to-morrow." + +"There you are," said D'Arcy, appealing to his neighbours; "didn't I +tell you he talked rot? Did you ever hear such a stale joke as that?" + +The two new boys were tremendously impressed by this sudden swoop of +vengeance, and gazed open-mouthed at the master for the rest of the +class, stealing only now and again a hasty glance at D'Arcy to see how +he was bearing up against his sore afflictions. + +D'Arcy, to do him justice, appeared to be bearing up very well. He was, +in truth, engaged in a mental calculation as to how, during the coming +term, he could most economically "job" out the impositions which usually +fell to his share. If his countenance now and then brightened as he met +the awe-struck gaze of the two new boys, it was because in them he +thought he discerned a lively hope of solving the problem creditably to +himself and not unprofitably to them. + +"Come along," said he as soon as the class was released; "let's get out +into the fresh air and have a cool. Hullo, Wally," as the owner of that +name trotted up, "what's up?" + +"Up?" said Wally in tones of injured innocence; "one would think you +didn't know it was School club elections on in an hour, and all the +chaps to whip up! If the Moderns turn up in force, it'll be touch-and- +go if they don't carry every man. I can't stop now--mind you bring +those kids." + +And off he went with all the importance of captain's fag on his +electioneering tour. + +"Wally's right," said D'Arcy. "It'll be a close shave to carry our men. +You see, kids," added he condescendingly, "it's just this way. The +Moderns are going to try to carry the clubs to-day, and if they do, the +whole of us aren't going to stand it, and there'll be such a jolly row +in Fellsgarth as--well, wait till you _see_." + +This sounded very awful. Fisher minor would have liked to know what +sort of clubs were to be carried, but did not like to ask. Ashby, +however, more honest, demanded further particulars. + +"I don't know what you mean," said he. + +"Don't suppose you do. Whose fault is that? All you've got to do is to +yell for our side and vote for our men." + +That seemed simple enough, if D'Arcy would _only_ vouchsafe to tell them +when to begin. + +"Come along," said the latter. "We've half an hour yet to canvass. You +know Wally's and my study?" + +"Yes." + +"All right; now you," pointing to Ashby, "you hang outside that door. +That's the Modern minors' class. Collar one of them as they come out, +or two if you can; and fetch 'em up to my room. You," pointing to +Fisher minor, "go and prowl about the kids' gymnasium and fetch any one +with a blue ribbon on his hat, as many as you can bag. I'm going to see +if I can find some of 'em near the tuck-shop. Kick twice on my door and +say `Balbus,' so that I shall know it's you. Go on; off you go. Don't +muff it, whatever you do, or it'll be your fault if Fellsgarth goes to +pot." + +Ashby, whose uncle was an M.P., had had some little experience in +general elections, but he never remembered canvassing of this kind +before. However, D'Arcy had an authoritative air about him, and as the +School was evidently in peril, and there was no suspicion of practical +joking in the present case, he marched off sturdily to the Modern +minors' class-room, and sheltering himself conveniently behind the door, +waited the turn of events. + +He had not to wait long. He could hear the master announcing the lesson +for preparation, and the general shuffle which precedes the dismissal of +a class. Then his heart beat a little faster as he distinguished +footsteps and heard the unsuspecting enemy approaching his way. + +Now Ashby, although a new boy, was _man_ enough to calculate one or two +things. One was that his best chance was either to attack the head or +the tail of the procession; and secondly, that as the head boys in a +form are usually those nearest the front, and conversely, the lowest are +usually nearest to the door, the smallest boys would probably be the +first to come out. For all of which reasons he decided to make his +swoop at once, and if possible abscond with his booty before the main +body arrived on the scene. + +The event justified his shrewdness. The moment the door opened, two +small Moderns scampered out clean into the arms of the expectant +kidnapper, who before they had time so much as to inquire who he was or +what he wanted, had a grip on the coat-collar of each, and was racing +them as hard as their short legs could carry them across the grass. + +"Let go, you cad!" squeaked one, presently. "What we you doing!" + +"It's only fun," said Ashby, encouragingly; "come along." + +The other prisoner was more practical. He tried to bite his captor's +hand, and when he failed in that, he tried to kick. But though he +succeeded better in this, the pace was kept up and the grip on his +collar, if anything, tightened. Whereupon he attempted to sit down. +But that, though it retarded the progress, was still insufficient to +arrest it. The pace dropped to a quick walk, and in due time, greatly +to Ashby's relief, the portal of Wakefield's was reached. + +Here, of course, all was safe. If any of the few boys hanging about had +been inclined to concern themselves in the affair, the colour of the +ribbon on the victims' hats was quite sufficient reason for allowing the +law to take its course; and Ashby, who began to grow very tired of his +burden (which insisted on sitting down on either side all the way +upstairs), arrived at length at Messrs. D'Arcy and Wally's door without +challenge. + +He had no need to knock, or say "Balbus," as the room was empty. The +other canvassers had evidently not yet returned. + +With a sigh of relief he deposited his loads on the carpet and locked +the door. + +"Let us go, you cad!" yelled the prisoners. "What do you want bringing +us here into this place for?" + +"Fun," said Ashby. "You'll know presently." + +"If you don't let us out, we'll yell till a master comes." + +"Will you?--we're used to yelling here. Yell away; it'll do you good." + +To the credit of the two "voters" they did their best, and made such a +hideous uproar that Ashby began to grow uneasy, and was immensely +relieved when presently he heard outside a sound as of coals being +carelessly carried up the staircase. Some one was evidently coming up +with a good load. + +Ashby was prudent enough not to open the door till an irregular double +kick and a breathless cry of "Balbus, look sharp," apprised him that +another of the electioneering agents had returned. He then cautiously +opened the door, and in tumbled D'Arcy, gasping, yet triumphant, under +the weight of three fractious youngsters. + +"Bully for us," said he, surveying the harvest. "Five for our side. +Jolly well done of you, kid--you're a stunner. Two of mine are new +kids--they came easy enough; but the other's a regular badger." + +The badger in question seemed determined to maintain his reputation, for +he flew upon his captor, calling upon his fellow-prisoners to do the +same. All but the new boys obeyed, and the two "canvassers" were very +hard put to it for a while, and might have fared yet worse, had not +D'Arcy astutely hung out a flag of truce. "Look here," said he; "I +never knew such idiots as you Modern kids are. Here I've done my best +to be friends and invited you to a spread in my room; and now you won't +even let me go to the cupboard and get out the black currant jam and +cake." + +"You're telling crams; that's not why you brought us here. You're a +howling--" + +"Yes, really," said D'Arcy, in quite a friendly tone, "Cry _pax_ for one +minute, and if I don't hand out the things you may go; honour bright. +I've a good mind to kick you out without giving you anything." + +The caged animals sullenly fell back and eyed the cupboard which D'Arcy +leisurely opened. A row of half a dozen pots on a top shelf, a segment +of a plum-cake, and something that looked very like honey in the comb, +met their greedy eyes. + +"There you are," said D'Arcy. "What did I tell you! They belong to +Wally; he'll be here directly. You'll be all right--all except _you_," +said he, singling out his principal assailant. "You don't know how to +behave, like these other kids. I shall advise Wally not to waste any of +his stuff on you." + +"I didn't know it was a feast," said the youth, much softened. "I +thought you were only humbugging; really I did." + +"I've a good mind to do what you think. You'd better mind your eye, I +can tell you--I wish Wally would come. There's five o'clock striking-- +I'll go and look for him. Ashby, you see if he's in the library; you +kids, stay here, and lock the door, and don't let anybody in but Wally. +Do you hear? If you do, you'll get it pretty hot for being out of your +house. And look here, if Wally doesn't come by half-past, you can help +yourselves." + +"Thanks awfully," said the party. + +"Mind! honour bright you don't touch a thing till the clock strikes the +half. When you've done, stay here till one of us comes to fetch you, +and we'll see you safe out. Don't go without, as our chaps are awfully +down on Moderns this term, and you'll get flayed alive. If they've seen +you come in, they'll try to get at you, be sure; so lock yourselves in, +whatever you do, and don't make the room in too great a mess. Come +along, Ashby; let's look for Wally." + +"Cut hard," said he, as soon as they stood outside, and had heard the +lock within duly turned. "We've only just time to get over; that's five +votes lost to their side! Real good business! I wonder where the other +new kid is? He was bound to make a mess of it. That's why I sent him +to the gymnasium; it's closed to-day." + +"Hooray for the Cock-House!" shouted Ashby, as, side by side with his +now admiring patron, he entered the School Hall, where the ceremony of +club elections was just beginning. + +At the door they encountered Wheatfield. + +"Such games!" whispered D'Arcy, clapping him joyously on the back. +"We've got five Modern kids boxed up in our room, waiting for the clock +to strike the half-hour before they have a tuck in at our empty jam- +pots." + +"Ha, ha!" said Wheatfield; "splendid joke!" and vanished. + +D'Arcy's countenance suddenly turned pale as he gripped his companion by +the arm. + +"What's the matter?" inquired Ashby, alarmed for his friend's health. +"What's up?" + +"It's all up! We're regularly done. My, that _is_ a go!" + +"Whatever do you mean?" + +"Why, you blockhead, didn't you see that was the wrong Wheatfield--not +Wally, but the Modern one! And now he's gone to let those chaps out, +and we're clean done for!" + +"Whew! what is to be done?" groaned Ashby, almost as pale as his friend. + + + +CHAPTER FOUR. + +A CLOSE ELECTION. + +Ever since certain well-meaning governors, two years ago, had succeeded +in forcing upon Fellsgarth the adoption of a Modern side, the School had +been rent by factions whose quarrels sometimes bordered on civil war. +When people squabble about the management of a school outside, the boys +are pretty sure to quarrel and take sides against one another inside. + +The old set, consisting mostly of the Classical boys, felt very sore on +the question. It was a case of sentiment, not argument. If boys, said +they, wanted to learn science and modern languages, let them; but don't +let them come fooling around at Fellsgarth and spoiling the reputation +of a good old classical school. There were plenty of schools where +fellows could be brought up in a new-fangled way. Let them go to one of +these, and leave Fellsgarth in peace to her dead authors. + +The boys who used such arguments, it is fair to say, were not always the +most profound classical scholars. Most of them, like D'Arcy and Wally +Wheatfield, had a painful acquaintance with the masterpieces of old- +world literature in the way of impositions, but there their interest +frequently ended. The upper Classical boys, however, though not so +noisily hostile, had their own strong opinions about the new departure; +and when it was discovered that the new Modern side had not only +alienated one or two of their old comrades, but, so far from being +apologetic, were disposed to claim equal rights with, and in certain +cases superior privileges to, the old boys, the relations became +strained all round. + +As it happened, the Modern set consisted of a number of moderate +athletes who could not be wholly ignored in the School sports, and had +no intention of being ignored. And to add to their crimes they numbered +among them a good number of rich boys, who boasted in public of their +wealth with a freedom which was particularly aggravating to the +Classical seniors, who were for the most part boys to whose parents +money was an important consideration. + +As has been said, the rivalry had been growing acute all last term, and +but for Yorke's determined indifference, it might long ago have come to +a rupture. Now, every one felt that at any moment the peace might be +broken, and civil war break out between the two sides at Fellsgarth. + +The School clubs offered a rare opportunity for an exhibition of party +feeling, for they were the common ground on which every one was bound to +meet every one else on _level_ terms. + +By an old rule, every member of the House clubs was a member of the +School clubs and had the privilege of electing the committee and +officers for the year. It was this business which brought together the +crowd that flocked into the Hall to-day; and it was in view of this +critical event that Mr D'Arcy had carefully shut up five voters of the +other side in his study until the election should be over. + +"Whatever's to be done?" asked Ashby, with blank countenance. + +"Nobody but a born idiot would begin to ask riddles just now!" retorted +D'Arcy surlily. "Shut up; that's what's to be done." + +"I expect it will be all right," persisted the dogged Ashby, venturing +on a further remark. "They won't let him in, if he's not Wally; or if +they do, they'll go for him." + +"I hope they will. Anyhow we've done our best. Stick near the door. +We may be able to bundle a few of 'em out before the voting comes on. +Look out, Yorke's speaking. Yell as hard as you can." + +Whereupon Ashby lay his head back and yelled until D'Arcy kicked him and +told him it was time to shut up. + +Yorke was moving a resolution that the captains, vice-captains, +secretaries, and treasurers of each house should form the School sports +committee, whose business it would be to arrange matches, keep the +ground, make rules, and generally organise the athletics of Fellsgarth. +He hoped every one would agree to this. + +Clapperton, the Modern captain, and head of Forder's house, rose to +second the motion. + +"Howl away!" said D'Arcy, nudging his _protege_. Whereupon Ashby held +on to a desk and howled till the windows shook. + +"That'll do," shouted D'Arcy in his ear after a moment or two, and +Ashby, thankful for the relief, shut off steam and awaited his next +orders. + +Clapperton was a big, smirking fellow, rather loudly dressed, with a +persuasive voice and what was intended to be a condescending manner. +Some fellows could never make out why Clapperton did not go down in +Fellsgarth. He tried to be civil, he was lavish with his pocket-money, +and always disclaimed any desire to quarrel with anybody. And yet no +one oared for him, while of course the out-and-out champions of the +rival side hated him. He seconded with pleasure the motion of "his +friend Yorke,"--("Cheek!" exclaimed D'Arcy, _sotto voce_; "what business +has he to call our captain his friend!") This was the old rule of +Fellsgarth, and a very good rule. It meant hard work, but he was always +glad to do what he could for the old School. (It always riled the +Classics to hear a Modern talking about "the old School," and their +backs went up at this.) He had been on this committee two years now, +and had had the pleasure in a humble way of helping the clubs through +one or two of their financial difficulties, and he should be glad to +serve again. He seconded the motion. + +It was a trial to one or two who had listened to see that the names were +being put to the vote by Yorke _en bloc_, without giving them the chance +of voting against anybody. Never mind, their chance for that would +come! + +The next business was the election of captain of the clubs; and of +course Yorke was chosen by acclamation. No one dared oppose him. Even +"his friend Clapperton," who had the pleasure of proposing him, was sure +every one would be as glad as he would to see "his fellow-captain" (oh, +how the Classics squirmed and ground their teeth at the expression!) at +the head of the clubs. + +The pent-up feelings of D'Arcy and those of his way of thinking found +some relief in the demonstration which accompanied the carrying of this +resolution. It was too good a chance to be lost, and for three minutes +by the clock the Classics stood on their feet and cheered their +champion, glaring defiantly as they did so at the Moderns, who having +held up their hands and cheered a little, relapsed into silence and left +the noise in the hands of the other side. + +Then followed the election of vice-captain, which of course had to go to +Clapperton. This time the Moderns had their demonstration amid the +silence of the Classics, who thought they had never in their lives seen +fellows make such asses of themselves. + +It was twenty minutes past the hour, and D'Arcy and Ashby were both +getting uncomfortable and impatient. What did these Modern idiots want +to waste the time of everybody by standing there and bellowing! It was +scandalous. + +"Shut up--go on to the next vote," they cried, but in vain. The Moderns +were going to have their full share, if not a little more, of the row, +and to stop them before their time was hopeless. + +"Disgusting exhibition, isn't it?" said D'Arcy; "never mind. Hullo, I +say, there's some one at the door. It's those chaps!" + +No, it was only Fisher minor, who, having waited meekly all this time +outside the deserted gymnasium, now ventured, like a degenerate +Casabianca, to desert his post and come and see what was going forward +in the Hall. + +As he tried to enter, a Modern boy, seeing by his ribbon that he was on +the wrong side, put his foot against the door and tried to turn him +back. But his little plot dismally failed. For D'Arcy and Ashby, +shocked and horrified witnesses of this scandalous act of corruption, +came to the rescue with a hubbub which even made itself heard above the +shouting. + +"Let him in!--howling cheat!--he's trying to shut out one of our side! +Ya-boo! That's the way you elect your men, is it! Come in, Fisher +minor. Let him in, do you hear? All right; come on, you fellows, and +kick this Modern chap out for a wretched sneak--(that'll be seven off +their side, counting Wheatfield; and one more to us--bully!) Yah, +cheats! turn 'em out!" + +Amid such cries of virtuous indignation, Fisher minor was hauled in, and +his obstructor, by the same _coup de main_, excluded. Fisher minor +might have had his head turned by this triumphal entry, had he not +recognised in the ejected Modern boy the gentleman to whom he had lent +his half-crown on the previous evening. Any reminder of yesterday's +misfortunes was depressing to him, and his joy at finding himself on the +right side of the door now was decidedly damped by the knowledge that +his half-crown was on the wrong. However, there was no time for +explanations, as the shouting had ceased, and an evidently important +event was about to take place. This was the appointment of treasurer, +for whom each of the rival sides had a candidate; that of the Classics +being Fisher major, and that of the Moderns Brinkman of Forder's house, +a particular enemy of the other side, and reputed to be rich and no +gentlemen. + +Both candidates were briefly proposed and seconded by boys of their own +side, and both having declared their intention of going to the vote, a +show of hands was demanded. + +The excitement of our young friends at the end of the Hall while this +tedious operation was in progress may well be imagined. The captain had +sternly ordained silence during the voting; so that all they could do +was to hold up their hands to the very top of their reach, and keep a +wild look-out that they were being counted, and that none of the enemy +was in any way, moral or physical, circumventing them. As for Fisher +minor, he simply trembled with excitement as he cast his eyes round and +calculated his brother's chances. He could not comprehend how any one +could dare not to vote for Fisher major; and absorbed in that wonder he +continued to hold up his hand long after the two tellers had agreed +their figure, and the captain had ordered "hands down." + +"Fisher major, one hundred and twenty-seven votes; now, hands up for +Brinkman." + +"Whew!" said D'Arcy, fanning himself with his handkerchief; "it'll be a +close shave. I say, we'd better lean up hard against the door. It'll +keep out the draughts." + +"They've got it, I'm afraid," said Ashby, looking round at the forest of +hands; "we hadn't as many as that." + +"I say, that cad Brinkman is voting for himself," said some one. + +"What a shame! My brother didn't. He's too honourable," said Fisher +minor. + +"Hullo! `How now'--you there?" cried Wally. + +Whereupon, amid great laughter, Fisher minor retired modestly behind the +rest. + +The counting seemed interminable, and every moment, to the guilty ears +of Ashby, there seemed to be a sound of footsteps without. At last, +however, the cry, "hands down," came once more, and you might have heard +a pin drop. + +"Fisher major, one hundred and twenty-seven votes; Brinkman, one hundred +and twenty-two. Fisher is elected." + +Amid the terrific Classic cheers which greeted this announcement, D'Arcy +and Ashby exchanged glances. + +Those five voters, waiting patiently in Wally's room for the clock to +strike the half-hour, would have turned the scale! + +Ashby wished the majority had been greater or less. But he tried to be +jubilant, and in response to D'Arcy's thumps on the back yelled and +roared till he was black in the face. + +As he did so, he caught sight through the window of a small procession +of five or six boys emerging from the door of Wakefield's house and +starting at a trot in the direction of Hall. + +"I say," shouted he in D'Arcy's ear, "here they come!" + +D'Arcy abruptly ceased shouting and descended from his form. + +"Come and squash up near the front," said he, hurriedly; "more room, you +know, up there." + +"Hoo, hoo! nearly licked that time," shouted a Modern youth near the +door, as they moved forward. "Served you right!" + +"Never mind, we'll take it out of you, next vote," retorted D'Arcy. +"Come on, kid; squash up." Then a happy thought struck him. The boys +immediately near the door were mostly Moderns. What a fine bit of +electioneering, if he could get them to shut out their own men! So he +shouted, "Look out, our side! Mind they don't keep out any of our +chaps. Just the sort of dodge they'd be up to." + +Whereupon the Moderns set their backs determinedly against the door and +wagged their heads at one another, and were obliged to D'Arcy for the +tip. + +"That'll do for 'em," said that delighted schemer; "they won't let 'em +in, you bet. Look out--they're going to vote for secretary now." + +The Classical side candidate for this important office was Ranger, +almost as great an idol in his house as the captain himself. His Modern +opponent was Dangle, a clever senior, reputed to be Clapperton's toady +and man-of-all-work. It was felt that if he were secretary, there would +be a strong Modern bias given to the clubs, which in the opinion of the +Classic partisans would be disastrous. + +The show of hands had been taken for Ranger, and every one was silent to +hear the figures, when a hideous clamour arose at the door, with shouts +of-- + +"Open the door I let us in. Cheats! Fair play!" + +To D'Arcy's satisfaction, as from the safe shelter of a front place he +peered down that way, the Moderns held their post at the door and +refused to let it open. For a minute it looked as if they would +succeed; when suddenly the irate Wally appeared on the scene, followed +by Fisher minor, and shouting, "Cheats! cads! Let our fellows in!" went +for the obstructionists. + +"Stupid ass!" growled D'Arcy. "It's all up now. Why couldn't he have +let them be?" + +A short and sharp _melee_ followed. The Classics were reinforced +rapidly, and the Moderns, seeing their plot detected and fearing the +intervention of the seniors, sullenly raised the blockade, and allowed +the door to open. + +Whereat in tumbled Percy Wheatfield with five young Moderns at his +heels--the very five who had been waiting for the clock to strike in +Wally's study. + +"What do you mean by keeping us out!" demanded Percy of his brother, who +chanced to be the first person he encountered. + +"What are you talking about?" retorted Wally, extremely chagrined to +discover who it was he had been helping. "We were the chaps who let you +in! It was your own cads who were keeping you out. Ask them." + +"We thought you were Classics," said one of the offenders, letting the +cat out of the bag. + +"Oh, you beauty! Wait till I get some of you outside," bellowed the +outraged Percy. + +"Order! Shut up, you kids down there!" was the cry from the front. + +"Shut up, you kids down there!" echoed D'Arcy and Ashby on their own +account. + +"Ranger one hundred and twenty-three. Hands up for Dangle; and if the +youngsters down there don't make less noise, I'll adjourn the meeting," +said the captain. This awful threat secured silence while the counting +proceeded. D'Arcy's face grew longer and longer, and Wally at the back +began to breathe vengeance on the world at large. + +"Hands down." + +The captain turned and said something to Clapperton; and Fisher major, +who overheard what was said, looked very glum. Every one knew what was +coming. + +"Ranger one hundred and twenty-three votes, Dangle one hundred and +twenty-four. Dangle is--" + +The shouts of the Moderns drowned the last words, and the captain had to +wait a minute before he could finish what he had to say. + +"The votes are very close," said he. "If any one would like, we can +count again." + +"No, no!" cried Ranger. "It's all right. I don't dispute it." + +"That concludes the elections," said the captain. + +And amid loud cheers and counter-cheers the meeting dispersed. + +The prefects of Wakefield's house met that evening in Yorke's study to +talk over the events of the afternoon. + +The captain was the only person present who appeared to regard the +result of the elections with equanimity. + +"After all," said he, "though I'm awfully sorry about old Ranger, it +seems fairer to have the officers evenly divided. There's much less +chance of a row than it we were three to their one." + +"That's all very well," said Fisher, whose pleasure in his own election +had been completely spoiled by the defeat of his friend, "if we could +count on fair play. You know Dangle as well as I do. I'd sooner resign +myself than have him secretary." + +"What rot!" said Ranger. "You'd probably only give them another man. +No, we shall have to see we get fair play." + +"And give it, too," said the captain. + +"They simply packed the meeting," said Dalton, "and fetched up five +juniors at the very end, who turned the scale. If our fellows had done +the same, we should have been all right." + +"I don't see the use of growling now it's well over," said Yorke; "the +great thing is to see we get the best men into the teams, and that they +play up." + +"We hardly need go outside Wakefield's for that," said Fisher major; +"they've not a man worth his salt in a football scrimmage." + +"Look out that they haven't more than we have, that's all," said the +captain, gloomily. "I tell you what, you fellows," added he, with a +touch of temper in his voice, "if our house is to be Cock-House at +Fellsgarth, we can't afford to make fools of ourselves. The School's a +jolly sight more important than any one house, and as long as I'm +captain of the School clubs I don't intend to inquire what house a man +belongs to so long as he can play. We can keep all our jealousy for the +House club if you like; but if it's to be carried into the School sports +we may as well dissolve the clubs and scratch all our matches at once." + +"I wonder if Clapperton is giving vent to the same patriotic sentiments +to his admirers," said Ridgway, laughing. "Fancy him, and Dangle, and +Brinkman conspiring together for the glory of the School." + +"Why not!" said the captain, testily. "Why won't you give anybody +credit for being decent outside Wakefield's?" + +"I'm afraid old Yorke hardly gives any one credit for being decent in +it. For pity's sake don't lecture any more to-night, old man," said +Dalton. "I'll agree to anything rather than that." + +"There's just one more thing," said Yorke, "which you may take as +lecture or not as you like. Clapperton said something about helping out +the clubs with money. Fisher major, you are the treasurer; don't have +any of that. Don't take more than the regular subscription from +anybody, and don't take less. If there's a deficit let's all stump up +alike. We don't want anybody's charity." + +This sentiment was generally applauded, and restored the captain in the +good opinion of every one present. After all, old Yorke's bark was +always worse than his bite. He wasn't going to be put upon by the other +side, however much he seemed to stick up for them. + +Ranger waited a few minutes after the others had gone. + +"Look here, Ranger," said the captain, "you must back me up in this. +You can afford to do it, because you've been beaten. I only wish you +were in my place. I know you hate those fellows, and are cut up to have +lost the secretaryship." + +"I'm not going to break my heart about that," said Ranger. + +"Of course not. You're going to do what will be a lot more useful. +You're going to work as hard for the School as if you were secretary and +captain in one; and you're going to back me up in keeping the peace, +aren't you?" + +"Would you, if you were in my shoes?" said Ranger. + +"I might find it hard, but I almost think I should try. And if I had +your good temper, I should succeed too." + +Ranger laughed. + +"I didn't think you went in for flattery, Yorke. Anyhow, I believe you +are right. I'll be as affectionate as I can to those Modern chaps. +Ugh! good night." + +After the day's excitement Fellsgarth went to bed early. But no one +dreamed, least of all the heroes of the exploit themselves, how much was +to depend during the coming months on those five small voters who had +waited patiently in Wally Wheatfield's study that afternoon to hear the +clock strike 5:30. + + + +CHAPTER FIVE. + +PERCY WHEATFIELD, ENVOY EXTRAORDINARY. + +The misgivings of the Classics were justified. The Moderns did not +accept their victory at Elections with a meekness which augured harmony +for the coming half. + +On the contrary, they executed that difficult acrobatic feat known as +going off their heads, with jubilation. + +For many terms they had groaned under a sense of inferiority, partly +imagined but partly well founded, in their relations with the rival +side. The Classics had given themselves airs, and, what was worse, +proved their right to give them. In its early days the Modern side was +not "in it" at Fellsgarth. Its few members were taught to look upon +themselves as altogether a lower order of creation than the pupils of +the old foundation, and had accepted the position with due humility. +Then certain rebellious spirits had arisen, who dared to ask why their +side wasn't as good as any other? The answer was crushing. "What can +you do? Only French, and book-keeping and `stinks'"--(the strictly +Classical nickname for chemistry). "You can't put a man into the +cricket or football field worth his salt; your houses are rowdy; your +men do nothing at the University; two out of three of you are not even +gentlemen." Whereupon the Moderns went in desperately for sports, and +claimed to be represented in the School clubs. They maintained that +they were as good gentlemen as any who talked Latin and Greek; and to +prove it they jingled their money in their trouser-pockets, and asked +what the Classics could do in that line. The Classics could do very +little, and fell back on their moral advantages. By degrees the new +side grew in numbers, and made themselves heard rather more definitely. +They put into the field one or two men who could not honestly be denied +a place in the School teams; and they began to figure also among the +School prefects. The present seniors, Clapperton and his friends, +carried the thing a step further, and insisted on equal rights with +their rivals in all the School institutions. To their surprise they +found an ally in Yorke, who, as we have already said, hurt the feelings +of many of his admirers by his Quixotic insistence on fair play all +round. + +The proceedings yesterday had been the most recent instance of the flow +in the tide of Modern progress at Fellsgarth. Reinforced by an unusual +influx of new boys, they had aimed at, and succeeded in winning, their +level half of the control of the School clubs; and Yorke had looked on +and let them do it! + +No wonder they went off their heads as they discoursed on their triumph, +and no wonder they already pictured themselves masters of Fellsgarth! + +It never does occur to some people that the mountain is not climbed till +the top is reached. + +"Really, you know," said Brinkman, "I felt half sorry for those poor +beggars; they did look so sick when Dangle was elected." + +"It's my opinion," said Clapperton, "you'd have been in too, if all our +fellows had turned up. I saw four or five of our youngsters come in at +the last moment." + +"Yes--by the way," said Dangle, "that ought to be looked into. It's +fishy, to say the least of it, and would have made all the difference to +Brinkman's election." + +"Do you know who the fellows were?" asked Clapperton. + +"I believe your fag was one of them." + +"Percy Wheatfield? Catch him being shut out of anything. But I'll ask +about it. Fancy poor Yorke's feelings if we were to demand a new +election!" + +"I tell you what," said Dangle, "I don't altogether understand Yorke. +He tries to pass off as fair, and just, and all that sort of thing; but +one can't be sure he's not playing a game of his own." + +"We shall easily see that when it comes to choosing the football fifteen +against Rendlesham. I mean to send him in a list of fellows on our +side. It's only fair we should have half of them our men." + +"Half fifteen is seven and a half," said Fullerton, a melancholy senior +who had not yet spoken; "how will you manage about that?" + +"Shut up, you ass!" + +"I only asked," said Fullerton. "It doesn't matter to me, I don't mind +going as the half man, if you like. If you send seven names you'll be +in a minority in the fifteen, and if you send eight you'll be in a +majority. It doesn't matter to me a bit." + +"Just like Fullerton. Always asking riddles that haven't got an +answer," said Dangle. + +"I wonder how Fisher will manage the treasurership," said Brinkman, who +was evidently sore at his defeat. "I shouldn't have thought accounts +were much in his line." + +"He can't have very hard work doing his own," said Clapperton, laughing, +"but that's not his fault, poor beggar. Only I think it would be much +better to have a fellow for treasurer who wasn't in a chronic state of +being hard up." + +"I suppose you mean," said Fullerton, who had a most awkwardly blunt way +of putting things, "he'd have less temptation to steal. I hope Fisher's +not a thief." + +"What an idiot you are, Fullerton!" said Clapperton; "whoever said he +was?" + +"I didn't. I only asked what you thought. It doesn't much matter to +me, except that it wouldn't be creditable to the School." + +"Of course it wouldn't; it's hardly creditable to our side to have a +jackass in it," said Clapperton. + +"Oh, all right--I'll go. I dare say you'll get on as well without me." + +The others presently followed his example, and Clapperton, left to +himself, proceeded to draw up his list. + +"Dear Yorke," he wrote, "You will probably be making up the fifteen for +the Rendlesham match shortly. Please put down me, Brinkman, Dangle, +Fullerton, West, Harrowby, and Ramshaw major, to play from our side. +This will give your side the odd man. + +"Yours truly,-- + +"Geo. Clapperton." + +This important epistle accomplished, he shouted for his fag to come and +convey it to its destination. + +It was not till after several calls, on an increasing scale of +peremptoriness, that Master Percy condescended to appear. When he did, +he was covered with dust from head to foot, and his face, what could be +seen of it, was visibly lopsided. + +"Why don't you come when you're called? Whatever have you been up to-- +fighting?" + +"Rather not," said Percy, "only boxing. You see, it was this way; +Cottle brought a pair of gloves up this term, and young Lickford had an +old pair; so we three and Ramshaw have been having an eight-handed mill. +It was rather jolly; only Ramshaw and Lickford had the old gloves on, +and they've all the horse-hair out, so Cottle and I got it rather hot on +the face. But we took it out of them with our body blows--above the +belt, you know--not awfully above. I couldn't come when you called, +because we were wrestling out one of the rounds. It's harder work an +eight-handed wrestle than four hands. Just when you called first, I +nearly had Cottle and Lickford down, but you put me off my trip, and +Ramshaw had me over instead." + +"All very interesting," said Clapperton, "but you'll have to come sharp +next time or I shall trip you up myself. Take this note over to Yorke. +Stop while he reads it, and if there's any answer, bring it; if not, +don't wait." + +"Can't Cash take it? We're not nearly finished." + +"No. Cut off, sharp!" + +"Awful shame!" growled the messenger to himself, as he departed. "I +hate Clapperton; he always waits till I'm enjoying myself, and then +routs me out. I shan't stand it much longer. What does he want with +Yorke! Perhaps it's a challenge. Yes, by the way, very good chance! +I'll see what that cad Wally's got to say about those kids I found in +his room yesterday. Nice old games he gets up to; Wally's all very well +when he's asleep, or grubbing, or doing impositions, but he's a sight +too artful out of school, like all those Classic kids. One's as bad as +another." + +As if to emphasise this sentiment, a Classic kid at that moment came +violently into collision with Master Percy's waistcoat. + +It was Fisher minor, who had once more caught sight in the distance of +the mysterious borrower of his half-crown, and was giving chase. + +"Where are you coming to, you kid. You've nearly smashed a button. +I'll welt you for that." + +"I beg your pardon, Wally, I--" + +"Wally--what do you mean by calling me Wally?" exclaimed Percy. + +"Well, Wheatfield, I beg your pardon; I was in a hurry to catch a fellow +up and I didn't see you." + +"Didn't you? Well, you'll feel me. Take that." + +Fisher minor meekly accepted the cuff, and, full of his half-crown, +essayed to proceed. But Percy stopped him. + +"You're that new kid, Fisher's minor, aren't you?" + +It astonished Fisher minor, that the speaker, whom he supposed he had +seen only ten minutes ago, should so soon have forgotten his name. + +"Yes, but I say, Wally, I mean Wheatfield--" + +"Humph--I suppose you held up both hands for your precious brother +yesterday." + +"No, only one. I was nearly late, though. I waited an hour at the +gymnasium, you know, and no Modern chaps came out at all." + +Percy began to smell rats. + +"Waited at the gymnasium, did you? Who told you to do that?" + +"Oh, you know--it was part of the canvassing." + +"Oh, _you_ were in that job, were you, my boy? All serene, I'll--" + +"I say," cried Fisher minor, turning pale, "aren't you Wally Wheatfield? +I thought--" + +"Me Wally? what do you take me for? I'll let you know who I am. You're +a beauty, you are. Some of our chaps'll tell you who I am, Mr +Canvasser. Now, look here, you stop there till I come back from +Yorke's. If you move an inch--whew! you'll find the weather pretty +warm, I can tell you. Canvassing? You'll get canvassed, I fancy, +before you grow much taller." + +And off stalked the indignant Percy, promising himself a particularly +pleasant afternoon, as soon as his errand to the captain was over. + +Yorke was at work, with his lexicon and notebooks on the table, when the +envoy entered. + +"Well, is that you or your brother?" inquired he. + +"Not my brother, if I know it," said Percy. + +"That's not much help. He says exactly the same when I put the same +question to him." + +"He does, does he? I owe Wally one already, now--" + +"Thanks--then you're not Wally. What do you want?" + +"This note. Clapperton said I was to wait while you read it, and bring +an answer if there was one." + +Yorke read the note, and smiled as he did so. Percy wished he knew what +was in it. He didn't know Clapperton could make jokes. + +"Any answer?" he demanded. + +"Yes--there's an answer," said the captain. + +He took out a list of names from his pocket, and compared it with that +on Clapperton's letter. Then he wrote as follows:-- + +"Dear Clapperton,--The fifteen against Rendlesham is already made up as +follows," (here followed the list). "You will see it includes six of +the names you sent. We must play the best team we can; and I think we +shall have it. + +"Yours truly,-- + +"Cecil Yorke." + +"There's the answer. Take it over at once." + +"I like his style," growled Percy to himself. "He don't seem to have a +`please' about him. Catch me hurrying myself for him; I've got this +precious canvasser to look after." + +And he returned at a leisurely pace to the rendezvous. + +No Fisher minor was there! + +That young gentleman, when left to himself, found himself in a +perspiration of doubt and fear. He had made a most awkward blunder, and +confessed the delinquencies of his comrades to the very last man they +would wish to know of them. That was bad enough; but, to make things +worse, he was to be let in for the blame of the whole affair, and, with +Master Percy's assistance, was shortly to experience warm weather among +the Moderns. + +Happy thought! He would not stay where he was. He would retire, as the +Latin book said, into winter quarters, and entrench himself in the +stronghold of Wally and D'Arcy and Ashby. If he _was_ to get it hot, he +would sooner get it from them than from the barbarians in Forder's. + +With which desperate conclusion, and once more devoutly wishing himself +safe at home, he made tracks, at a rapid walk, to Wally's room. His +three comrades were all there. + +"What's up?" said they as he entered, with agitated face. + +"Oh, I say, it's all because you and your brother are so alike. I met +him just now; and--he's heard about that canvassing, you know, and I +thought you'd like to know." + +"You mean to say you blabbed?" said Wally, jumping to his feet. + +"It's your fault," said D'Arcy. "I've made the same mistake myself. +Why can't you grow a moustache or something to distinguish you?" + +"Why can't you get your brother to be a Classic! then it wouldn't +matter--either of you would do," suggested Ashby. + +Ashby was beginning to feel quite at home in Wakefield's. + +"I'll let some of you see if it won't matter," retorted Wally. "If +they've got wind of that affair the other side, there'll be a fearful +row. They'll want another election. Oh, you young idiot! That comes +of trusting a new kid, that sings comic songs, and parts his hair the +wrong side, with a secret. D'Arcy's nearly as big an ass as you are +yourself, to trust you." + +After this Philippic, Wally felt a little better, and was ready to +consider what had better be done. + +"He's bound to come here, you chaps," said he. "You cut. Leave him to +me--I'll tackle him." + +Fisher minor considered this uncommonly good advice, and obeyed it with +alacrity. The other two followed less eagerly. They would have liked +to stay and see the fun. + +As Wally expected, his affectionate relative, being baulked of his prey +outside, came to pay a fraternal visit. + +"What cheer?" said he. "I say, have you seen a kid called Fisher minor? +The new kid, you know, that we had a lark with at dinner on first- +night." + +"Oh, that chap. Bless you, he messes in our study. What about him?" + +"I want him. I want to say something to him." + +"I'll tell him." + +"All right. He's come and told you, has he? and you're hiding him? +Never mind; I'll bowl him out, the beauty. I know all about that little +game of yours, yesterday, you know!" + +"What little game?" + +"As if you didn't know! Do you suppose I didn't find five of 'em shut +up here yesterday, being kept out of the way at Elections?" + +"Yes; and do you suppose if it hadn't been for me they'd have got into +the Hall at all? Don't be a beast, Percy, if you can help. They stayed +here of their own accord. No one kept them in. I say, have some +toffee?" + +"Got any?" + +"Rather. A new brew this morning. I say, you can have half of it." + +"Thanks, awfully, Wally." + +"You see--oh, take more than that--these new kids are such born asses, +they boss everything. You should have heard that Fisher minor at lamb's +singing the other night--like the toffee? I say, don't be a sneak about +those chaps. You'd never have got them in without me. I backed you up, +and got the door open. I say--would you like a Turkish stamp? I've got +one to swop--but you can have it if you like." + +"Thanks, old man. Yes, new kinds are rot. Well, ta, ta--better make it +up, I suppose. I say, I shan't have time to write home to-day. You +write this time, and I'll do the two next week." + +"All serene, if you like. Here, you're leaving one of your bits of +toffee. Ta, ta, old chappie." + +And these great twin brethren, whose infirmity it was always to be fond +of one another when they were together, and to scorn one another when +they were apart, separated in a most amicable fashion. + +"Well?" asked the three exiles, putting in their heads as soon as the +enemy had gone. + +"Choked him off," said Wally, fanning himself. "Jolly hard work. But +he came round." + +Percy, meanwhile, having suddenly remembered his errand, hastened back +to the house. As he did so he observed notices of the fifteen for the +Rendlesham match posted on Wakefield's door, on the school-board, and at +Forder's. He solaced himself by writing in bold characters the word +"beast" against each of the names which belonged to a Classic boy, and +discovered, when his task was done, that he had inscribed the word nine +times out of fifteen on each notice. Whereupon he made off at a run to +his senior's. + +"Well," said Clapperton, evidently anxious, "didn't I tell you to come +back at once! Any answer?" + +"Yes, this," said Percy, producing the captain's letter. "I say, Yorke +grinned like anything when he read yours." + +"Did he?" replied Clapperton, opening the envelope. + +Evidently Yorke in his reply had not been guilty of a joke, for the face +of the Modern captain was dark and scowling as he read it. + +"Cool cheek," muttered he. "Dangle was right, after all. You can go, +youngster." + +"All right. I say, they've got the fifteen stuck up on the boards--six +of our chaps in it. We ought to lick them this year." + +But as Clapperton did not do him the favour of heeding his observations, +he retired, and tried vainly to collect his scattered forces to conclude +the eight-handed boxing match, which had been so unfeelingly interrupted +an hour ago. + +Clapperton, to do him justice, could not deny to himself that the team +selected by the captain was the best fighting fifteen the School could +put into the football field. But, having advanced his claim for half +numbers, his pride was hurt at finding it almost contemptuously set +aside. It would never do for him to climb down now. + +The Moderns, after all, had a right to have their men in; and he had a +right to assume they were better players than some of the selected +Classics. It was easy to work himself into a rage, and talk about +favouritism, and abuse of privilege, and all that. His popularity in +his own house depended on his fighting their battles, and he must do it +now. So he wrote a reply to Yorke. + +"Dear Yorke,--I do not agree with you about the fifteen. I consider the +men on our side whom you have omitted are better than the three I have +marked on your list. If we are to make the clubs a success, we ought to +pull together, and let there be no suspicion, however groundless, of +favouritism. + +"Yours truly, Geo. Clapperton." + +To this letter, which he sent over by another junior, more expeditious +than his last, he received the following reply:-- + +"Dear Clapperton,--Sides have nothing to do with it. If the best +fifteen names were all on your side, I should have to select them. But +they are not. The fifteen I have chosen are undoubtedly the best men we +have, and the team most likely to win the match. I suppose that is what +we play for. + +"Yours truly,-- + +"Cecil Yorke." + +This polite correspondence Clapperton laid before his friends. The +general feeling was that the Moderns were being unfairly and +disrespectfully used. + +"It's the old story over again," said Dangle. "If we don't look after +ourselves, nobody else will." + +"At any rate, as long as he's captain, I suppose he has the right to +pick the team," said Fullerton. "_I_ shouldn't be particularly sorry if +he were to leave me out. It wouldn't matter to me." + +"Who cares whether it matters to you? It matters to our side," said +Brinkman, "and we oughtn't to stand it." + + + +CHAPTER SIX. + +ROLLITT. + +Rollitt of Wakefield's was a standing mystery at Fellsgarth. Though he +had been three years at the school, and worked his way up from the +junior form to one of the first six, no one knew him. He had no +friends, and did not want any. He rarely spoke when not obliged to do +so; and when he did, he said either what was unexpected or disagreeable. +He scarcely ever played in the matches, but when he did he played +tremendously. Although a Classic, he was addicted to scientific +research and long country walks. His study was a spectacle for +untidiness and grime. He abjured his privilege of having a fag. No one +dared to take liberties with him, for he had an arm like an oak branch, +and a back as broad as the door. + +All sorts of queer stories were afloat about him. It was generally +whispered that his father was a common workman, and that the son was +being kept at school by charity. Any reference to his poverty was the +one way of exciting Rollitt. But it was too risky an amusement to be +popular. + +His absence of mind, however, was his great enemy at school. Of him the +story was current that once in the Fourth, when summoned to the front to +call-over the register, he called his own name among the rest, and +receiving no reply, looked to his place, and seeing the desk vacant, +marked Rollitt down as absent. Another time, having gone to his room +after morning school to change into his flannels for cricket, he had +gone to bed by mistake, and slept soundly till call-bell next morning. +"Have you heard Rollitt's last?" came to be the common way of prefacing +any unlikely story at Fellsgarth; and what with fact and fiction, the +hero had come to be quite a mythical celebrity at Fellsgarth. + +His thrift was another of his characteristics. He had never been seen +to spend a penny, unless it was to save twopence. If fellows had dared, +they would have liked now and then to pay his subscriptions to the +clubs; or even hand on an old pair of cricket shoes or part of the +contents of a hamper for his benefit. But woe betide them if they ever +tried it! The only extravagance he had ever been known to commit was +some months ago, when he bought a book of trout-flies, which rumour said +must have cost him as much as an ordinary Classic's pocket-money for a +whole term. + +To an impressionable youth like Fisher minor it was only natural that +Rollitt should be an object of awe. For a day or two after his arrival, +when the stories he had heard were fresh in his memory, the junior was +wont to change his walk to a tip-toe as he passed the queer boy's door. +If ever he met him face to face, he started and quaked like one who has +encountered a ghost or a burglar. After a week this excess of deference +toned down. Finding that Rollitt neither hurt nor heeded him, he +abandoned his fears, and, instead of running away, stood and stared at +his man, as if by keeping his eye hard on him he could discover his +mystery. + +It was two or three days after Elections that Fisher minor, having +discovered by the absence of everybody from their ordinary haunts that +it was a half-holiday, took it into his head to explore a little way +down the Shargle Valley. He believed the other fellows had gone up; and +he thought it a little unfriendly that they should have left him in the +lurch. + +He was not particularly fond of woods, unless there were nuts in them; +or of rivers, unless there were stones on the banks to shy in. Still, +it seemed to be half-holiday form at Fellsgarth to go down valleys, so +he went, quite indifferent to the beauties of Nature, and equally +indifferent as to where this walk brought him. + +A mile below Fellsgarth, as everybody knows, the Shargle tumbles wildly +into the Shayle, with a great fuss of rapids and cataracts and "narrows" +to celebrate the fact; and a mile further, the united streams flow +tamely out among reeds and gravel islands into Hawkswater. + +Fisher minor had nearly reached the junction, and was proceeding to +speculate on the possibility of picking his way among the stones towards +the lake, when he caught sight of a boat in the middle of the rapid +stream. It was tied somewhat carelessly to the overhanging branch of a +tree, which bent and creaked with every lurch of the boat in the passing +rapids. Standing in the stern as unconcerned as if he was on an island +in a duck-pond, was Rollitt with his fishing-rod, casting diligently +into the troubled waters. + +For the first time the junior enjoyed an uninterrupted view of the +object of his curiosity. He found it hard to recognise at first in the +eager, sportsmanlike figure, with his animated face, the big shambling +fellow whom he had so often eyed askance in the passages at Wakefield's. +But there was no mistaking the shabby clothes, the powerful arms, the +broad, square back. Rollitt the sportsman was another creature from +Rollitt the Classic, and Fisher minor was critic enough to see that the +advantage was with the former. + +There was no chance of being detected. Rollitt was far too busy to heed +anything but the six-pounder that struggled and plunged and tore away +with his line to the end of the reel. Had all Fellsgarth stood +congregated on the banks, he would never have noticed them. + +Ah! he was beginning to wind in now, gingerly and artfully, and the +fish, sulking desperately among the stones, was beginning to find his +master. It was a keen battle between those two. Now the captive would +dive behind a rock and force the line out a yard or two; now the captor +would coax it on from one hiding-place to the next, and by a cunning +flank movement cut off its retreat. Then, yielding little by little, +the fish would feign surrender, till just as it seemed within reach, +twang would go the line and the rod bend almost double beneath the +sudden plunge. Then the patient work would begin again. The man's +temper was more than a match for that of the victim, and, exhausted and +despondent, the fish would, sooner or later, have to submit to the +inexorable. + +How long it might have gone on Fisher could never tell; for once, when +victory seemed on the point of declaring for the angler, and the shining +fins of the fish floundered despairingly almost within his reach, a +downward dash nearly wrenched the rod from his hands and sent him +sprawling on to the thwarts. The sudden lurch of the boat was too much +for the ill-tied rope, and to Fisher's horror the noose gave way and +sent boat and fisherman spinning down the rapids at five miles an hour. + +Rollitt either did not notice the accident or was too engrossed to heed +it. He still had his fish, though as far off as before, and once more +the tedious task of coaxing him out of his tantrums was to begin over +again. It was useless to shout. The roar of the water among the stones +above and over the rocks below was deafening, and Fisher's piping voice +could never make itself heard above it. He tried to throw a stone, but +its little splash was lost in the hurly-burly of the rapids. It was +hopeless to expect that Rollitt would see him. He had no eyes but for +his rod. + +The last glimpse Fisher minor caught of him as the boat, side-on, +swirled round the turn towards the falls below, he was standing on the +seat, craning his neck for a glimpse of his prize, and winding in +gingerly on the reel as he did so. Then he disappeared. + +With a groan of panic the small boy started to follow. The boulders +were big and rough, and it was hard work to go at ordinary rate, still +more to run. Happily, however, after a few steps he stumbled upon a +path which, though it seemed to lead from the river, would take him, he +calculated, back to it above the falls at the end of the bend in which +the boat was. It was a tolerable path, and Fisher minor never got over +ground so fast before or after. A few seconds brought him out of the +wood on to the river-bank, where the stream, deepening and hushing, +gathers itself for its great leap over the falls. + +Had the boat already passed, and was he too late! No; there it came, +sidling along on the swift waters, the angler still at his post, leaning +over with his landing-net, within reach at last of his hard-earned +prize. What could Fisher minor do! The stream was fairly narrow, and +the boat, sweeping round the bend, was, if anything, nearer the other +side, where the banks were high. His one chance was to attract the +anglers attention. Had that angler been any one but Rollitt, it might +have been easy. + +Arming himself with a handful of stones, Fisher minor waited till the +boat came within a few yards. Then with a great shout he flung with all +his might at the boat. + +The sudden fusillade might have been unheeded, had not one stone struck +the angler's hand just as he was manoeuvring his landing-net under the +fish. In the sudden start he missed his aim and looked up. + +"Look out!" screamed Fisher. "You're adrift! Catch the branch!" + +And he pointed wildly to the branch of an ash which straggled out over +the water just above the fall. + +Rollitt took in the situation at last. He cast a regretful glance at +the fish as it gave its last victorious leap and vanished. Then, +standing on the gunwale and measuring his distance from the tree, he +jumped. For a moment Fisher minor thought he had missed; for the branch +yielded and went under with his weight. But in a moment, just as the +boat with a swoop plunged over the fall, he rose, clutching securely and +hauling himself inch by inch out of the torrent. To Fisher, who watched +breathlessly, it seemed as if every moment the branch would snap and +send the senior back to his fate. But it held out bravely and supported +him as he gradually drew himself up and finally perched high and dry +above the water. + +Fisher minor's difficulties now began. Having seen his man safe he +would have liked to run away; for he was not at all sure how Rollitt +would take it. Besides, he wouldn't much care to be seen by fellows +like Wally or D'Arcy walking back in his company to Fellsgarth. On the +other hand, it seemed rather low to desert a fellow just when he was +half-drowned and might be hurt. What had he better do? Rollitt decided +for him. + +He came along the bough to where the boy stood, and dropped to the +ground in front of him. + +"Thanks," he said, and held out his hand. + +Fisher was horribly alarmed. The tone in which the word was spoken was +very like that which Giant Blunderbore may have used when dinner was +announced. However, he summoned up courage to hold out his hand, and +was surprised to find how gently Rollitt grasped it. + +"I didn't mean to hurt you with the stones," he said. + +"You didn't. Come and look for the boat, Fisher minor." + +"He knows my name then," soliloquised the minor, beginning to recover a +little from his panic. "I hope nobody will see me." + +The boat was found bottom upwards--a wreck, with its side stove in, +entangled in a mass of flotsam and jetsam which had gathered in one of +the side eddies below the waterfall. + +"Haul in, Fisher minor," growled Rollitt, surveying the wreck. + +With difficulty they got it ashore and turned it right side up. + +"Rod, flies, net, all gone," said Rollitt, half angry; "and fish too." + +"It was such a beauty, the trout you hooked. I wish you'd got it. You +nearly had it too when you had to jump out," ventured Fisher. + +Rollitt looked down almost amiably at the speaker. Had the boy studied +for weeks he could not have made a more conciliatory speech. + +"Can't be helped," said the senior. "Might have been worse. Thanks +again. Come and see Mrs Wisdom." + +Mrs Wisdom was a decent young widow woman in whom the Fellsgarth boys +felt a considerable interest. Her husband, late gamekeeper at Shargle +Lodge, had always had a civil word for the young gentlemen, especially +those addicted to sport, by whom he had been looked up to as a universal +authority and ally. In addition to his duties at the Lodge, which were +very ill paid, he had eked out his slender income by the help of a boat, +which he kept on the lower reach below the falls, and which was, in the +season, considerably patronised by the schoolboys. When last season he +met his death over one of the cliffs of Hawk's Pike, every one felt +sympathy for the widow and her children, who were thus left homeless and +destitute. An effort was made, chiefly by the School authorities, to +get her some laundry work, and find her a home in one of the little +cottages on the School farm, near the river; while the boys made it +almost a point of honour never to hire another boat down at the lake if +Mrs Wisdom's was to be had. + +Last week the boat had been brought up to the cottage on a cart, to be +repainted for the coming season, and while here Rollitt had begged the +use of it for this particular afternoon to fish from in the upper reach. + +"Take care of her, Master Rollitt," said the widow; "she's a'most all +I've got left, except the children. My John, he did say the upper reach +was no water for boats." + +"I'll take care," said Rollitt. + +As the two boys now walked slowly, towards the cottage, Fisher minor +could see that his companion's face was working ominously. He mistook +it for ill-temper at the time, for he did not know Mrs Wisdom's +history, or what the wreck meant to her. + +She was at her door as they approached, and as she looked up and saw +their long faces, the poor woman jumped at the truth at once. + +"Don't say there's anything wrong with the boat, Master Rollitt. Don't +tell me that." + +Rollitt nodded, almost sternly. + +"It went over the fall," said Fisher, feeling that something ought to be +said. "Rollitt only just got out in time." + +"Over the fall! Then it's smashed," cried she, bursting into tears. +"It was to keep our body and soul together this season. Now what'll +become of us! Oh, Master Rollitt, I did think you'd take care of my +boat. It was all I had left--bar the children. What'll _they_ do now?" + +Rollitt stood by grimly silent till she had had her cry and looked up. + +"I'm sorry," said he, in a voice that meant what it said. "What was it +worth?" + +"Worth? Everything to me." + +"What would a new one cost?" + +"More than I could pay, or you either. My John gave five pound for +her--and oh, how we scrimped to save it! Where's it to come from now!" +and she relapsed again into tears. + +Rollitt waited a little longer, but there was nothing more to add; and +presently he signalled Fisher to come away. + +He was silent all the way home. The junior did not dare to speak to +him--scarcely to look up in his face. Yet it did occur to him that if +any one had a right to be in a bad temper over that afternoon's +proceedings it was Mrs Wisdom, and not Rollitt. + +As they neared the school, Fisher minor began to feel dreadfully +compromised by his company. Rollitt's clothes were wet and muddy; his +hands and face were dirty with his scramble along the tree; his air was +morose and savage, and his stride was such that the junior had to trot a +step or two every few yards to keep up. What would fellows think of +him! Suppose Ranger were to see him, or, still worse, the Modern +Wheatfield, or-- + +At this moment fate solved his problem. For just ahead of him, turning +the corner of Fowler's Wall, was the cadaverous individual who owed him +half a crown. + +"Oh, excuse me, Rollitt," said he, "there's a fellow there I want to +speak to. Good-bye." + +Rollitt did not appear either to hear the words or notice the desertion, +but stalked on till he reached Wakefields'. The house seemed to be +empty. Evidently none of the other half-holiday makers had returned. +Study doors stood open; an unearthly silence reigned in Wally's +quarters. Even the tuck-shop was deserted. + +The only person he met was Dangle, the clubs' secretary, who had +penetrated into the enemy's quarter in order to confer with his dear +colleague the treasurer as to calling a committee meeting, and was now +returning unsuccessful. + +"Ah, Rollitt," said he, "tell Fisher major, will you, I want to see him +as soon as he comes in. I'd leave a line for him, but I don't know his +room." + +Whether Rollitt heard or not, he had to guess. At any rate he hardly +felt sanguine that his message would be delivered. + +As for Rollitt, he shut himself into his study with a bang, and might +have been heard by any one who took the trouble to listen, pacing up and +down the floor for a long time that evening. He did not put in an +appearance in the common room, and although Yorke sent to ask him to +tea, he forgot all about the invitation, and even if he had remembered +it, would have forgotten whether he had said Yes or No. + +The next morning--Sunday--just as the chapel bell was beginning to ring, +Widow Wisdom was startled by a loud knock at her door. + +"Oh, Master Rollitt," said she, and her eyes were red still, "is the +boat safe after all?" + +"No; but I've got you another. Farmer Gay's was for sale on the lake-- +I've bought it. It's yours now." + +"Farmer Gay's--mine? Oh, go on, Master Rollitt, how could _you_ buy a +boat any more than me? You've no money to spare, I know." + +"It's yours--here's the receipt," said the boy, with almost a scowl. + +"But, Master Rollitt--" + +But Master Rollitt had gone to be in time for chapel. + + + +CHAPTER SEVEN. + +TRIAL BY JURY. + +Fisher minor's hopes rose high within him as he stalked his debtor +across the School Green. Three times already he had encountered him, +but fate had stepped in to prevent the collection of his dues. Now-- + +He had arrived at this stage when a voice at his side sent a cold shiver +down his back. + +"Hullo, kid, got you at last, then? That's what you call waiting where +I left you, do you?" + +"I didn't promise to wait," said Fisher. "You told me to." + +"It's the same thing. Now you'll come along with me, my beauty." + +Had Fisher minor been anything but a raw hand, it might have occurred to +him that it would take Percy Wheatfield all his time to convey a boy +his, Fisher's, size against his will into Forder's house. But such is +the force of innocence on one side, and authority on the other, that the +new boy laid down his arms, and followed his captor meekly into the +enemy's citadel. Just as they were entering, a posse of the enemy +appeared on the scene, consisting, among other supporters of the Modern +cause, of Ramshaw, Cottle, Lickford, and Cash. + +"Here's a game, Rammy," cried Percy. "Got him at last! This is the +villain, this is the murdering, highway forger. Come on, you kid; +you're in for it." + +It did occur to Fisher minor at this juncture that a change of air might +be refreshing. But it was too late now. The enemy had him fast. There +was no getting out of the "warm weather" which had been promised him. + +"Come on--we'll have a regular Old Bailey of it," cried Percy. "Go and +tell the fellows, and collar some witnesses, do you hear; and tell the +hangman he'll be wanted in half an hour." + +This promise of judicial dispatch was not consoling to the prisoner, who +had grave doubts as to the impartiality of the tribunal before which he +was to be arraigned. He wondered if Ashby, or D'Arcy, or any of his +friends would appear among the witnesses. + +The trial took place in the room jointly owned by Percy, Ramshaw, +Cottle, and Lickford. A chair was planted on the bed for the +accommodation of the judge. The fender was brought out in front of the +chest of drawers for a witness-box; while Rix minimus, who officiated as +jury, sat on a footstool on the table. + +As for the prisoner, a dock was provided for him in the form of a wash- +stand, out of which the basin had been removed to make room for his +uneasy person in the vacant hole. + +"Now, you chaps," said Percy, who had naturally appointed himself, in +addition to his other offices, "usher of the court", "no larks. Shut +up. This is a big job. This young cad cheated at Elections." + +Here the door opened, and Dangle looked in. + +"What on earth is all this row?" he said. + +"A trial. I say, Dangle, will you be judge? It's a Classic kid that +cheated at Elections." + +"No, really, I didn't," said Fisher, painfully aware that so far, the +trial was going against him. + +Dangle, who fancied something might come of this, was condescending +enough to say he didn't mind playing at judge, if they liked. Whereat, +amid cheers, he was voted to the chair on the bed, where he sat rather +precariously, and ordered silence in the court. + +"Who is the prisoner?" + +"Go on, kid, tell 'em your name," said Percy, encouragingly. + +"Fisher minor--really I didn't do anything," said the prisoner. + +"What's the charge?" said the judge. + +"You see, it's this way," said Percy, forgetting to go inside the +fender--"Bam, and Cot, and Lick and I were having a ripping eight-handed +mill in here the other day--" + +The prisoner thought over all his crimes, and could recall nothing that +was even remotely connected with an eight-handed mill. + +"Cot and Lick had got gloves with no horse-hair in them, you know, so +they lammed it pretty hard; but Ram and I were just scrunching them +up--" + +"Crams! You never got near us. My nose wasn't hit once," said Cottle. + +"No; but we had you in the ribs." + +"Under the belt," ejaculated Lickford. + +"No, it wasn't--I say, Dangle," said the witness, "it was just on his +waistcoat pocket, and he says that's below the belt. If he likes to +wear his belt round his neck, of course he gets hit under." + +"And if you wear yours round your ankle, there's not much room for your +bread-basket," retorted Cottle. + +"And where does Fisher minor come in?" asked the judge; "was he in the +middle of the mill?" + +"No. You see, we were just in the middle of it, and these jolly cheats +were beginning to cave in--" + +"Ho, ho!--It would take a lot more than you to make us--" + +"Order in the court--go on, Wheatfield." + +"There you are--shut up, you chaps--beginning to cave in, when +Clapperton yelled for me, and I had to go." + +"Lucky job for you," growled Cottle. "You wouldn't have been able to go +at all five minutes later." + +Whereupon Percy appealed to the court to keep order. + +"Fire away," said the judge, "that's nothing to do with the prisoner." + +"Oh, hasn't it!--You see, Clapperton wanted me to take a letter to +Yorke. It must have been a screamer, for Yorke yelled when he read it. +I wanted him to let me finish our mill first, but--" + +"Who, Yorke?" + +"No, Clapperton. If there'd been time for another round--" + +"Now, then, don't let's have any more of that mill," said the judge. + +"That's just what they felt at the time, wasn't it, Lick?" ejaculated +Cottle. + +"Did we?--wait till you see, my beauty," said the witness. "I wish you +wouldn't interrupt. Oh, so I had to go, and this kid came and caught me +a jolly crack in the stomach." + +"Which side of your belt?" inquired Lickford. + +"The side you'll get it hot, my boy, next time I catch you," retorted +Percy. + +"That'll be under, you bet," said Lickford. + +"I didn't mean to hurt you," said the prisoner, who began to hope that +the charge against him was to prove much less serious than he had at +first feared, "I apologise." + +"Shut up, don't talk to me--talk to the jury." + +As the jury at this moment was struggling manfully to protect his +hassock from the depredations of Cash, who was anxious to investigate +its interior, it was not much use addressing him; so Fisher subsided, +and wished the hole of Percy's wash-stand had been at least so much +easier in diameter as to allow him room to sigh. + +"Fire away," said the judge, "we shall be all night at this." + +"Well, you see," continued Percy, "it's this way. I've got a brother, +you know, called Wally, a seedy Classic chap, and up to no end of low +tricks." + +"We know him," echoed the court generally. + +"Not got such a rummy-shaped waist as his brother, though," whispered +Cottle. + +"All right, young Cottle, I'll take it out of you, you'll see." + +"What'll you take! I keep mine outside," replied Cottle. + +"Order in the court. Forge away, Wheatfield." + +"I should like to know how I'm to forge away, with these two asses +fooling about down here? Why can't you raise them to the bench to keep +them quiet? Oh yes--well, you see, this kid, being new, and green, and +about as high old an idiot as they make them--did you fellows see him on +first-night? I say! oh my--" + +"Look here, Wheatfield," said the judge, sternly, "if you aren't done in +three minutes, I'll call the next witness." + +"_He_ wouldn't know anything about it, bless you," said Percy. "You +see, it was like this--this kid thought I was Wally--what do you think +of that?" + +"Cheek. Jolly rough on Wally," remarked Cash. The witness looked at +the interrupter, and tried to make out whether his remark was a +compliment or the reverse. He decided that, as he had only three +minutes left, he had better defer thinking the question out till +afterwards. + +"So, of course, he began to swagger about his big brother--" + +"No, you asked me--" began the prisoner. + +"Shut up," cried Percy, sternly, "how am I to get done in three minutes +if--" + +"Only two left now," said Ramshaw. + +"Go on, Ram, I've not been a minute yet." + +"Yes, you have--sixty-five seconds," said Ramshaw, who held his watch in +his hand. + +"I never did believe in those Waterbury turnips, they always stop when +you--oh yes!--swaggered about his big brother and all those fellows over +there, and blabbed out there'd been a regular plant among 'em to rig the +Elections, and he and a lot of 'em had been out canvassing and bagged a +lot of our kids and locked them out, and if it hadn't been for that, +Brinkman would have pulled off the treasurership, and if it hadn't been +for me getting wind of it, and going and fetching them out and bringing +them into Hall in the nick of time, Ranger would have got the +secretaryship, and our side would have been jolly well out of it, and I +mean to say it's a howling swindle--and--hope--there'll--be--a--jolly-- +good--row kicked--up--and--you--needn't--say--I--let--out--about it-- +because--Wally--asked--me--to--keep--it--mum--and I--said--" + +"Time's up," said Ramshaw. "No side?" + +Whereupon the witness stopped short triumphantly, like an athlete who +has just won his race by a neck. + +"Come," said the judge, "this is getting interesting. Who's the next +witness? Are any of our fellows who were collared here?" + +"Rather--young Rix is one." + +"Please, Dangle," said the prisoner, "I didn't touch anybody. I was-- +that is--" + +"Don't tell crams," said Percy, "it's a bad habit." + +"Rix had better go into the witness-box," said the judge. + +"What about the jury?" asked that functionary. + +"Oh, I'd keep the place warm," volunteered Percy. + +Whereupon Rix quitted his hassock, and entered the fender. + +"I and Slingsby got nailed by a Classic cad outside our form door. I +kicked him on the shins, though," said he. + +"What Classic cad!" + +"Oh, I don't know; a new kid with sandy hair, a horrid lout. It was +Wally's room we were taken to, and they fooled us about high tea and +that sort of thing. The place was swarming with our chaps who had been +collared." + +"How many?" asked the judge. "Fifty?" + +"Not quite so many; there were four or five." + +"Next witness." + +Another of the captives gave similar evidence. After which, Lickford +deposed that he had seen the troop come in to Elections just in time to +vote for Dangle. + +"Yes; and who tried to keep us out, I'd like to know?" said Percy. +"There you are, it was _you_!" + +"I thought you were on the other side." + +"Did you? I'm very glad Wally gave you a welting for it. I wish he'd +do it again." + +"He hits above the belt, that's how I know him from you," retorted +Lickford. + +"Order--what's the prisoner got to say!" + +"Crams," said Percy, "it's no use asking him." + +"Wait a bit," said the judge. "Fisher minor, how many of our chaps did +you collar?" + +"None, really," said the prisoner. "I waited by the gymnasium." + +"Oh. What for?" + +"Well, I was canvassing." + +"What did you wait at the gymnasium for?" This was awkward. Fisher +minor found himself getting into a tight corner, tighter even than the +wash-stand. "I was told to." + +"Who by? your brother, I suppose." + +"Oh no. My brother wouldn't do such a thing." + +"What sort of thing?" + +"Why, try to collar fellows off the other side." + +"Oh, that was your little game, was it? Whose idea was it? Yorke's?" + +"Oh no. It was D'Arcy spoke to me." + +"Oh, D'Arcy. And who spoke to him? Whose fag is he?" + +"Ridgway's." + +"And what did Ridgway tell him?" + +"I don't think Ridgway told him anything. The only one I heard speak to +him was Wally." + +"Wretched young sneak!" said Percy. "I'll let Wally know that." + +"Wally, he's Yorke's fag. Who else was there?" + +"Only me and Ashby." + +"Who does Ashby fag for?" + +"My brother, Fisher major." + +"I thought you said just now your brother wasn't in it. You'd better be +careful, youngster." + +For the life of him, Fisher minor, in his bewildered state, could not +make out how Ridgway, and Yorke, and Fisher major all seemed to have got +mixed up in the affair. + +"You mean to say," said the judge, "you don't know what the orders to +the fags were?" + +"No, really--I only heard of it from D'Arcy." + +"Your brother never said anything to you direct!" + +"Oh no." + +"Has he said anything since?" + +"Oh no; that is, he only said it was a pity Ranger got beaten." + +"Did he say how it happened?" + +"He said if the five Modern chaps hadn't turned up at the last moment, +he'd have won." + +"Was he angry about it?" + +"He was rather in a wax." + +"Did he tell you you were an ass?" + +"Not that time." + +"Another time?" + +"Yes, once or twice." + +"'Cute chap, your brother," said Percy, aside. + +"Shut up, Wheatfield. Now tell me this, young Fisher major," said +Dangle, with an air of importance which intimidated the prisoner; "what +was it your brother said about the election?" + +"It wasn't to me, it was to Ranger, my senior. He said it was a regular +sell, and he'd have given a lot to see you beaten, because he knew you +couldn't play fair at anything, even if you tried." + +Some of the court were rude enough to laugh at this very candid +confession; but the judge himself failed to see any humour in it. + +"Oh, that's what he said? And yet you mean to tell me, after that, that +your brother had nothing to do with trying to get Ranger elected instead +of me?" + +"I suppose he had; but I'm sure he didn't mean to do anything fishy, any +more than I did. I thought it was only a joke." + +"You've a nice notion of a joke. That'll do, you can cut." + +"What!" exclaimed Percy, aghast, "aren't you going to hang him?" + +"No, I must go. You can finish the trial yourselves." + +As soon as the judge had quitted the bench, Percy mounted it, and +proceeded to sum up. + +"You're a nice article, you are," said he, addressing the +prisoner--"what do you mean by sneaking on my young brother, Wally, eh? +You'll get it hot for that, I can tell you. You're to be hanged, drawn, +and quartered; then you're to be kicked all round our side; then you're +to be ducked in the river; then you're to kneel down and lick every +chap's boots; then you're to be executed; then you're to be burnt alive; +then you're to write out fifty Greek verbs; then you're-- Hallo, who's +there? Come in! what do you want?" + +This abrupt curtailment of the prisoner's doom was occasioned by a +modest tap at the door; probably some belated witness come to add his +evidence to the rest, "Come in, can't you?" repeated Percy. + +Whereupon the door opened with a swing, and in rushed Wally, D'Arcy, +Ashby, and three or four other Classic fags. How they had got wind of +the capture of their man it would be hard to say; but now they had come +to fetch him. + +The only thing visible in Percy's room for several minutes was dust--out +of which proceeded yells, and howls, and recriminations which would have +done credit to Pandemonium. As the cloud rolled by, the Classics might +be seen in a firm phalanx, with their man in the middle, backing on to +the door. Signs of carnage lay all around. Lickford was struggling, +head downward, in the wash-stand. Cash was leaning up in a corner, with +his hand modestly placed over his nose. Ramshaw and Cottle were engaged +in deadly strife on the floor, each under the fond delusion that the +other was a Classic; while the twin brothers, armed with the better pair +of boxing-gloves, were having a friendly spar in the middle. + +It was a victory all along the line for the invaders, and when, a moment +afterwards, they stampeded in a body, and marched with shouts of victory +down the passage, carrying the late prisoner among them, there was no +mistake about the ignominious defeat of the besieged garrison. + +That evening Fisher major received a polite note from his colleague, the +secretary. + +"Dear Fisher,--It is only right to tell you, that we have discovered +that five of our fellows were prevented from voting at Elections by boys +of your side, apparently acting under orders from their seniors. We +don't profess to know who were at the bottom of it, but it is a fact +that the election for treasurer would have gone differently but for this +very shady trick. Clapperton and most of us are not disposed to claim a +new election, now everything is settled, and you have already got in +most of the subscriptions. But it makes us think that even the virtuous +Classics at Fellsgarth are not absolutely perfect even yet--which is a +pity. + +"Yours truly,-- + +"R. Dangle." + +This pleasant letter, Fisher major, raging, carried to the captain. + +Yorke pulled a long face when he read it. + +"There's no truth in it, surely?" said he. + +"I can't answer for any foolery the juniors have been up to; but apart +from that, it's a sheer lie, and the fellows deserve to be kicked." + +"Much better offer them a new election," said the captain. + +"What! They'll get their man in." + +"My dear fellow, suppose they do. You'll still belong to Fellsgarth. +They mustn't have a chance of saying they don't get fair play." + +"Well, perhaps you're right. I don't care twopence about the +treasurership, but I wouldn't like to be beaten by Brinkman." + +"I hope you won't be, old man," said the captain. + +Next morning, when fellows got up, they found the following notice on +the boards: + +"Elections. + +"A protest having been handed in against the recent election for +treasurer, notice is given that a fresh election will be held for this +office on Friday next at 3. + +"C.Y., Captain." + + + +CHAPTER EIGHT. + +ONE TOO MANY. + +The seniors of Forder's house were by no means gratified at the +captain's prompt reply to Dangle's accusation. Indeed, that active and +energetic official had written to Fisher on his own responsibility, and +was now a little hurt to find that his colleagues were half inclined to +repudiate his action. + +"Why ever couldn't you speak about the thing before you wrote like +that?" said Clapperton. "We don't want another election." + +"You weren't going to sit down meekly, and let those fellows cheat +without saying a word, were you?" retorted Dangle. + +"No--rather not. But that wasn't the way to do it. It would have paid +us much better to stand on our dignity." + +"In other words," said Fullerton in his melancholy voice, "to have a +grievance, and nurse it well." + +"You idiot!" said Clapperton. "I don't want you to tell me what I +mean." + +"I wasn't, I was telling the others," said Fullerton. "But I agree with +you. If we have another election and get beaten, we shall be far worse +off than if we were able to take heaven and earth to witness we had been +wronged and were too noble to seek revenge." + +If Fullerton could have translated Cicero as well as he translated +Clapperton, what a good Classic he would have been! + +"We'd better decline the new election at once," said Brinkman; "it +concerns me more than anybody else; and I agree with Clapperton." + +"Why ever not have the new election?" said Dangle. "We're bound to get +our man in." + +"Better decline it first," said Clapperton. "They'll be glad enough not +to let it go to a trial, I expect." + +"Hurrah for injured innocence," said Fullerton; "it's the best paying +thing I know." + +The result of this conference was, that Dangle went across after school +next morning to the captain's study where Fisher and Ranger happened to +be calling at the same time. + +"Look here, Yorke," said the secretary, adopting his most civil tones, +"you quite misunderstood my letter to Fisher major. We don't want +another election. We'd just as soon let things stop as they are. It +was rough on us, of course; but it divides the offices up more fairly to +have them as they are." + +"Thanks," said Yorke, "that's not good enough. We'll have another +election on Friday." + +Dangle's face fell. + +"You're fools if you do," said he. "Those five votes will make all the +difference." + +"I don't care if they've five hundred," said Yorke. + +"Oh, all right. You've no message about the cheats who kept our men +out, have you? Probably they've been promoted to prefects!" + +"You took care not to commit yourself to any names; but, as you wrote to +Fisher major, you probably include him as one of the cheats. If so, I +dare say he'll be glad to discuss the matter with you outside." + +"I never said it was he," said Dangle hurriedly. + +"But I know who it was." + +"Three of our juniors, I understand?" said Yorke. "The fags of three of +your prefects, yes." + +"Fisher," said the captain, "will you fetch Ashby, D'Arcy, and Fisher +minor here?" + +The young gentlemen in question were not far away busily engaged in +their joint study, with Wally's assistance, in getting up a stock of +impositions, which should serve as a common fund on which to draw daring +the term. + +The idea was D'Arcy's. + +"You see," he had said, "we're bound to catch it, some of as, and it's a +jolly fag having to do the lines just when they're wanted. My notion +is, if we just keep a little stock by us, it'll be awfully handy. Why, +suppose young Ashby were to get fifty lines at morning school next +Saturday, what about his chance of getting into the 58th fifteen?" + +"It's the 6th fifteen, not the 58th," said Ashby. + +"Well, there's not much difference." + +"It would be jolly awkward," said Ashby. + +"Yes; and you always do get potted just when it is jolliest awkward," +said D'Arcy. "That's why it's such a tip to have your impots written +before you get them. Penny wise, pound foolish, you know." + +It was not at all clear what this valuable aphorism had to do with the +subject in hand, but it impressed the two new boys considerably. + +"And just fancy," continued Wally, driving home his chum's nails with +considerable industry, "just fancy if young Fisher was to have to sit up +here swotting over lines, just when his brother wants his vote in Hall +on Friday! Why, one vote will make all the difference." + +Fisher immediately called for pens, ink, and paper, which Wally and +D'Arcy promptly supplied for him and Ashby, and a scene of unparalleled +industry ensued. Even D'Arcy insisted on doing his share, which +consisted of drawing niggers in various stages of public execution, +labelled with the names of Clapperton, Dangle, and Brinkman, while Wally +generally superintended and assisted, by playing fives against the wall. + +"I say," said he presently, "I suppose it's all out about your precious +canvassing. That beast Percy has gone and blabbed--after me giving him +toffee too!" + +"Never mind," said D'Arcy, "we rather took it out of them, I fancy, +yesterday. They won't mess about with us in a hurry again." + +"No, we did pull that off pretty well. I'm sorry for our seniors, you +know. We did our best for them, and we shan't be able to give them the +same leg-up on Friday." + +"They ought to be pretty civil to us this term, anyhow," said Wally. + +Whereupon Fisher major entered the room. + +"Yorke wants D'Arcy, Ashby, and my minor. Come at once, he's waiting." + +"Don't he want me?" said Wally, evidently afraid lest his services were +going to be overlooked. "I was in it too, you know, Fisher." + +"Were you? Oh, you'd better come too, then." + +"Thanks." + +And the four, disposing themselves meekly for their coming honours, +followed, single file, into the captain's room. + +"Wally wished to come too," explained Fisher. "He says he was in it." + +It perplexed the four heroes to see Dangle there. What did he want! +And why did the captain look so stern? And, oh, horrors, what was that +switch on the table for? + +Gradually it dawned upon them that the honours in store for them would +fall rather thicker than they were prepared for; and Wally, for one, +wished he had stayed at home. + +"You youngsters," said the captain, "it is said that you four behaved +unfairly last election, by keeping out five boys from voting. Is that +true?" + +"Yes," said Ashby. + +"They were only Modern kids," explained D'Arcy. + +"They wouldn't have got in for the second vote, if it hadn't been for +me," remarked Wally. + +"I didn't catch any boys; I couldn't find any," said Fisher minor. + +"You see, Yorke," said D'Arcy, who began to realise that he was "boss of +this show," "these two kids are new kids; they oughtn't to be licked; +it's Wally and me." + +"Me?" exclaimed the injured Wally; "I like your style, young D'Arcy; +what did _I_ do?" + +"All right, it's me then, if you like!" + +"I don't mind being in it, to give you a leg-up," said Wally, touched by +the heroism of his friend, "but you might let a chap bowl himself out, +you know. All right, Yorke, it was me and D'Arcy." + +"You should say _I_ and D'Arcy," said Ranger. + +"What, were _you_ in it? Good old--" + +"No, you young ass; it's bad grammar to say _me_ and D'Arcy were in it." + +"I never knew you were. It's the first we've heard of it; isn't it, you +chaps?" + +The chaps most emphatically agreed that it was. + +"Let them be, Ranger," said the captain. "There'll be time enough for a +grammar lesson after." + +"Can't do it to-day, we've got syntax this afternoon," said D'Arcy. + +"Now, you youngsters, look here," said the captain. "You may think +you're very clever; but this sort of thing is cheating, and cheating is +what cads do. We don't want any of it inside Fellsgarth. Dangle, here +are the youngsters, and here is the switch; will you lick them, or shall +I?" + +"I don't want to lick them. Let them off," growled Dangle. + +The hopes of the culprits rose for a moment, but they went down below +zero when Yorke picked up the cane. + +"Wheatfield, come here." + +Wally held out his case-hardened hand and received half a dozen cuts, +for which it is saying a good deal that they made the recipient dance. + +D'Arcy followed, and received his six with meek indifference. If he had +come first, he would probably have danced. But as Wally had done that, +he stood firm. + +Ashby received three cuts only, which astonished him dreadfully. It was +his first acquaintance with the cane. He had never realised before what +a venomous instrument it can be. Still, he bore it like a man. + +Poor Fisher minor had a similar experience. With his brother looking +on, and his messmates to watch how he bore it, he passed through the +ordeal creditably. His three "Ohs" varied in cadence from anguish to +surprise, and from surprise to mild expostulation, "Oh!" "Ehee!" "Ow!" +after which he felt very pleased, on his brother's account, that he had +not shed tears. + +"Now cut," said the captain, "and if you're bowled out in that sort of +thing again, you won't be let off so easy." + +"Yorke's a beast," said Wally, when the shattered forces mastered once +more in his study, "but he's a just beast. He gave it us all hot +alike." + +No one disputed the proposition. + +"I thought he'd let you new kids off, but he didn't. It's just as well. +It'll do you good, and make you sit up." + +"Jolly sell for that cad Dangle," said D'Arcy. "He thought Yorke was +going to shirk it." + +"He can't say that now," said Ashby, rubbing the palm of his hand up and +down his thigh. + +Dangle, meanwhile, had returned to his quarters with the unsatisfactory +report of his mission. + +"Bother them!" said Clapperton. "They take advantage of us whenever +there's a chance. Now they've offered a new election, and licked the +youngsters, the wind is out of our sails." + +"When it comes to the time, I shall decline to be nominated," said +Brinkman. + +"That won't be much good. You'll get some of our fellows voting for you +whether you stand or not. And if some vote, all must." + +"We shall have to see all our men turn up," said Dangle. "It was a +tight enough shave for the secretaryship." + +"Yes. If we don't carry it now, we'd much better have left it alone. I +only wish we had." + +"There's this to be said," said Dangle, anxious to make the best of his +mistake; "if we do get three officers to their one, there should be no +doubt about our getting properly represented in the fifteen next week." + +"Ah--yes; we've still that bone to pick with them." + +As the Friday approached, signs of excitement in the coming conquest +were plainly visible. By tacit agreement the return match between +Percy's adherents and Wally's was postponed till after the election. +Absentees at the last election were diligently looked up by their +respective prefects, and ordered to be in attendance. Minute +calculations were made by the knowing ones, which decided within one or +two what Brinkman's majority would be. Even in Wakefield's it was +admitted that the Classic chance was a slender one. + +"I wish it was all over," said Fisher major. "I'm getting sick of these +precious accounts already, and shall be glad to hand them over." + +"You won't lose them," said Dalton, "if we can help. You may have to +vote for yourself, though." + +"Catch me. I've come to the conclusion I wasn't born a treasurer, and I +couldn't conscientiously vote for myself. I only wish I could back +out." + +"You can't do that now," said his friend. "Bless you, we can keep the +accounts for you. We couldn't for Brinkman." + +When morning school was over on the Friday, there was a general stampede +for the Hall, where boys crowded up for good seats a quarter of an hour +before the time, and enlivened the interval with cheers and +demonstrations for their favourite candidate. Wally and his friends +were particularly active in their corner, and addressed the meeting +generally in favour of Fisher major. + +"Back up, you Classic kids!" shouted Wally, standing on his seat and +apostrophising a group of the Sixth who were standing near. "Fisher's +your friend! Won the mile in 4-38; batting average 34.658742.3; +bowling, 12 wickets an innings, and 3 runs an over. Never tells lies, +or cheats. Always comes home sober and gives silver in the collection. +He won't waste your money or cook your accounts, like some chaps; and +he'll run the ball up the field, instead of sitting down in the middle +of the scrummage like the Modern chaps to keep warm. Walk up! walk up! +vote for Fisher and economy! Hooray for Fisher! Down with the swell +mob!" + +Amid such torrents of eloquence the cause of Fisher major was not likely +to go by default. + +Brinkman, too, was not without his champions, who, however, avoided set +speeches and confined themselves to personalities and generalities, such +as-- + +"Who cheats at Elections?" + +"Oh, my hands, what a licking!" + +"How now--not me!" (Here Fisher minor coloured up.) "Look out, you +chaps, there's a Classic cad blushing." + +"No! where? won't he want a rest after it!" + +"Here comes Brinkman! Hooray for honesty and fair play! Hooray for the +Moderns! Down with Wakefield's kids! Send 'em home to their mas!" + +"Shut up there! Sit down, you youngsters." + +Whereupon there fell a lull. + +Fisher minor surveyed the scene with anxious trepidation. If his +brother were to lose now, it would be his--Fisher minor's--fault. He +would never be able to hold up his head again. How he wished he had a +dozen votes! + +"Strong muster," he heard some one say near him. "I expect every +fellow's here." + +"Except Rollitt." + +"Of, of course," said the other, with a laugh, "no one ever expects +him." + +"Why not?" said Fisher minor to himself. "Why shouldn't Rollitt come +and vote?" + +He quite shuddered at the audacity of the idea; and yet, when he looked +up to the front and saw his brother standing there, worried and uneasy, +and realised that in a few minutes he was to stand his ordeal, the +younger brother's courage rose within him, and he edged towards the +door. + +In due time Yorke arose. This time, amid the vociferous cheers of his +own side, a few of the Moderns ventured to mingle howls. They soon +discovered their mistake, for not even their own side was with them as a +body. They were hooted down with execrations, and the result of this +interposition was that the captain was cheered for twice the usual time. + +"You fellows," said he, as soon as there was silence, "you probably +understand from the notice why this meeting is called. The last +election was very close, and I am sorry to say there was not fair play. +I am still more sorry to say the offenders were juniors in Wakefield's," +(terrific yells and hoots from the Moderns), "who ought to have known +better, and who I hope are thoroughly ashamed of themselves," (terrific +cheers, during which, D'Arcy, Wally, and Ashby, who had been standing on +a form, modestly took seats and exchanged defiant signals with the youth +of the Modern side through the chinks of the crowd). "They have had the +licking they deserve," ("Not half of it!" and laughter), "as Dangle +here, who was present at the time, will testify." (Dangle scowled at +this reference--What right had the captain to score off him?). "Of +course under the circumstances it was necessary to have a new election. +Fisher here," (tremendous cheers, amidst which the culprits, +considering that the storm had blown over, remounted their perches) +"would scorn to be treasurer of the clubs, and everybody would scorn him +too, if there was any suspicion of foul play about his election. He has +resigned, like an honest man; and our business is now to elect a +treasurer." (Cheers and "Vote for Fisher major" from Wally.) + +Dalton rose and proposed his friend Fisher major, which Ranger briefly +seconded. + +Dangle thereupon proposed Brinkman. He was sorry the School was being +put to the trouble of this new election. They hadn't wanted it on their +side; and his friend had been very reluctant to stand. But of course, +as the election was to take place, he hoped Brinkman would win by a +majority which would show the School what Fellsgarth thought about the +foul play which had been tried on at the last election. + +Clapperton seconded the nomination, and assured his friends that, now +the offence had been acknowledged and atoned for by the castigation of +the offenders, they would try to forget it and feel to the other side as +if it had not occurred. + +Clapperton, of course, was cheered by his side; and yet his chief +admirers did not feel as proud of him as they would have liked. His +tone was patronising, and Fellsgarth could not stand being patronised, +even by its captain. + +Just as the meeting was settling down for the important business of the +vote, a sensational incident took place. + +The door swung open, and in strode Rollitt, with Fisher minor, panting +and pale, at his heels. + +The new-comer, heedless of the astonishment caused by his appearance, +strode negligently up to the front where the other prefects were, while +his escort modestly slipped into the arms of his admiring friends. + +For a moment the meeting looked on with amused bewilderment. Then it +suddenly dawned on everybody that this meant a new voter; and terrific +shouts of jubilation went up from the Classics; during which Fisher +minor had his back thumped almost in two. + +For once in his life he was a hero! How he wished his young sisters +could have seen him then! + +"Never mind," shouted Percy across the room, "he's bound to vote the +wrong side, or forget to vote at all." + +"Order! Those who vote for Brinkman, hold up your hands." + +It was far too serious to humbug now. Even D'Arcy was grave as he +surveyed the force of the enemy. + +Two tellers had been appointed from either side, so that the votes were +counted four times, and the total was not allowed till all were agreed +on the result. + +"Brinkman has one hundred and twenty-eight votes." + +Loud and long were the cheers which greeted this announcement. The +knowing ones felt that it practically meant victory for the Moderns, for +it was one more vote than Fisher major had won with last time. + +"Now, hands up for Fisher major." + +Amid dead silence the Classic hands went up. Anxious eyes were cast in +Rollitt's direction. But he, strange to say, was all there, and held up +his hand with the rest. + +Fisher major himself at the last moment kept his own hand down. He had +decided that, if Brinkman voted for himself, he would do the same. +Brinkman had voted. But, when it came to following his example, the +candidate's pride went on strike, and, whether it lost the election or +not, he declined to vote, Three of the tellers evidently agreed, but the +other had to count again before he made the figure right. Then the +written paper was handed up to Yorke, "Brinkman 128, Fisher major, 129-- +Fisher is elected." + + + +CHAPTER NINE. + +CARRIED NEM. CON. + +It must not be supposed that in the midst of the excitement of School +politics the intellectual side of the Fellsgarth juniors, life was being +quite neglected. + +On the contrary, they complained that so far from being neglected it was +rather overdone. + +The Classic juniors, for instance, suffered many things at the hands of +the cheerful Mr Stratton, who really worked hard to instil into their +opening minds some rudiments of those studies from which their side took +its name. He took pains to explain not only when a thing was wrong, but +why; and, unlike some of his calling, he devoted his chief attention to +his most backward boys. This was his great offence in the eyes of +D'Arcy and Wally and some of their fraternity, because under the +arrangement they came in for the special attention alluded to. + +"That kid," said Wally, one day, _sotto voce_, as class was proceeding, +"has no more idea of teaching than my hat. We don't get a chance to +_do_ things ourselves, with him always messing about and looking over. +It's rude to look over. I mean to mark my exercise _private_ in +future." + +"The thing is," said D'Arcy, "if he'd anything original to say it +wouldn't matter so. But he's always talking the same old rot about +roots. What's the use of a root, I should like to know, if you can't +bury it? Eh, kid?" + +Fisher minor, to whom the question was addressed, did not know, and +remarked that they didn't teach Latin here the same way as when he +learned from a governess at home. + +He regretted this admission almost as soon as he had made it. For Wally +and D'Arcy immediately got paper and began to draw fancy portraits of +Fisher minor learning Latin under the old _regime_. The point of these +illustrations was not so much in the figures as in the conversation. +The figures were more or less unlike the originals; at least, Fisher +minor declared that the three isosceles triangles piled by Wally one on +the top of the other were not a bit like his governess; while the plum- +pudding on two sticks, with a little pudding above for a head which +emitted four huge tears, the size of an orange, from either eye, he +regarded as a simple libel on himself. In one sense the likenesses were +speaking--that is, a gibbous balloon proceeded from the mouth of each +figure, wherein the following dialogue was indicated. +"_Governess_.--`Naughty little Tommy-wommy, didn't know his Latin. +Tommy must have a smack when he goes bye-bye.' _Tommy_.--`Booh, hoo, +how bow, yow, wow, oh my! I'll tell my ma!'" + +"Bring up that paper, Wheatfield," said Mr Stratton. + +Wally made a wild grab at Ashby's exercise, and was proceeding to take +it up when the master stopped him. + +"Not that; the other, Wheatfield. Bring it immediately." + +Whereupon Wally with shame had to rejoice Ashby's heart by restoring his +_exercise_, and take up in its place the fancy portrait. + +Mr Stratton gazed attentively and critically at this work of art. + +"Not at all well done, Wheatfield," said he. "Sit down at my table here +and draw me thirty copies of it before you leave this room. Next boy, +go on." + +Wally confessed, in later life, that of all the impositions he had had +in the course of his chequered career, none had been more abominable and +wearisome than this. Oh, how he got to detest that governess and her +ward, and how sickening their talk became before the task was half over! + +He sat in that room nearly three hours by the clock, groaning over this +task, and when at last he went in search of Mr Stratton with the +original and thirty copies in his hand, he felt as limp and flabby, +bodily and mentally, as he had ever done in his life. + +Mr Stratton, who was having tea in his own room, examined each picture +in turn, and rejected two as not fair copies of the original. + +"Do these two again--here," said he. + +Wally meekly obeyed. He had not a kick left in him. + +"That's better," said the young master when they were done. "Now sit +down and have some tea." + +It was a solemn meal. Mr Stratton went quietly on with his meal, +looking up now and then to see that his guest was supplied with bread +and butter and cake and biscuits. Wally was equally silent. He felt +sore against the master, but he liked his cake--and the tea was "tip- +top." + +The ceremony came to an end about the same time as the cake, and then +Mr Stratton said, pointing to the papers-- + +"You can put them in the fire now, Wheatfield." + +Wally obeyed with grim satisfaction. + +"Thanks. You can go now. You must come another day and bring your +friends. Good-bye," and he shook hands. + +"I wonder if the chap's all there," said Wally to himself as he limped +over to his quarters. "He forgot to jaw me. Wonder if I ought to have +reminded him? Wonder who he gets his cake from? I wouldn't care for +many more impots like that. It was pretty civil of him asking me to +tea, when you come to think of it. Not sure I sha'n't back him up a bit +this half, and make the chaps do so too. Wonder if he meant all four of +us to come to tea? One cake wouldn't go round. Besides, there's no +saying how that young cad Fisher minor would behave." + +This little episode was not without its effect on all the occupants of +Wally's study. For that young gentleman had not the slightest intention +of turning over a new leaf by himself. No, bother it; if he was going +to "back up" Stratton, the other fellows would have to back up too. + +His one grief was that the stock of impositions stored up by the +industry of the two new boys would not be likely to be wanted now, which +would be wicked waste. D'Arcy had already occasionally drawn on them, +and one day nearly spoiled the whole arrangement by taking up to Mr +Wakefield fifty lines of Virgil precisely five minutes after they had +been awarded. Fortunately, however, his hands were exceedingly grimy at +the time, so that Mr Wakefield sent him back for ablutions before he +would communicate with him. And in the interval he fortunately +discovered his error, and instead of taking up the imposition with his +clean hands, he delighted the master with a knotty inquiry as to one of +the active tenses of the Latin verb "To be." + +However, there was no saying when the impositions might not come in +useful, and meanwhile Ashby and Fisher minor were taken off the job and +ordered to sit up hard with their work for Stratton. + +"You know," said Wally, propounding his scheme of moral reform in a +little preliminary speech, "you kids are not sent up here to waste your +time. No more's D'Arcy." + +"How do you know what I was sent up here for?" said D'Arcy. "It wasn't +to hear your jaw." + +"Shut up. I've just been having tea with Stratton, and we were talking +about you chaps, him and I--I mean he and _me_." + +"You didn't get on to English grammar, did you, while you were about +it?" asked Ashby. + +"No. Look here, you chaps, no larks. It would be rather a spree if we +put our back into it this term, wouldn't it?--beastly sell, you know, +for the others; and rather civil to Stratton too, for asking us to tea." + +This last argument was more impressive than the first; and the company +said they supposed they might. + +"All right--of course we may have to shut off a lark or two, but unless +we stick-- Hullo, I say, look at those Modern chaps down there punting a +football on our side of the path! Cheek! Why, it's Cash and my young +brother. I say, let's go and drive them off, you fellows." + +So the four descended, and a brisk scrimmage ensued, which resulted in +the complete rout of the invaders and the capture of their football. + +With which tremendous prize the victorious army returned to quarters and +continued their discussion on moral reform. + +"Yes, as I was saying, we shall have to stick to it a bit. But young +Stratton'll make it worth our while, I fancy." + +This hidden allusion to the tea and cake completed the speaker's +argument, and the party forthwith sat down with one ink-pot among them +for preparation. + +As it happened, the preparation for the day was an English Essay on +"Your favourite Animal," with special attention to the spelling and the +stops. + +It was always a sore point with the Classic juniors to be set an English +lesson. They could understand being taught Latin, but they considered +they ought to be exempt from writing and spelling their own language. +It wasn't Classics, and they didn't like it, and they oughtn't to be let +in for it. However, it was no use growling; and as the subject (apart +from the spelling and points) was a congenial one, it seemed a fair +opening for the commencement of their reformed career. + +"Look here," said Wally, "don't let's all have the same beast. I'm +going to have a dog." + +"Oh, I wanted a dog," said Fisher minor. + +"Can't; he's bagged. Have a cat?" + +"No, I don't like cats--can't I write about a dog too?" + +"That would be rot. Haven't you got the whole of Noah's Ark to pick +from--lions, tigers, ants, hippopotamuses, cobra de capellos?" + +"How much?" asked D'Arcy. "Are they good to eat?" + +"Uncommon good. Will you take cobra de capellos?" + +"Ah right," said D'Arcy; "I don't mind." + +"I shall take pigs," said Ashby. + +"There you are," said Wally; "there's lots left. You have cows, kid--" + +"No--if you won't let me have the dog--" + +"Dog in the Wheatfield. Joke!--laugh, you chaps," interjected D'Arcy. + +"I shall have rabbits," said Fisher minor. + +"Good old rabbits! Did you ever keep any? What were their names?" said +Wally. + +"Don't you know?" said Ashby, solemnly. "One was called `How' and the +other `Now,' weren't they, Fisher minor?" + +Whereupon there was mirth at the expense of Fisher minor. + +Silence having been procured, D'Arcy began to write. + +"`Cobbrer de Capillars is my favrite--' What is it? Bird, beast, or +fish, Wally?" + +"Shut up; bird, of course." + +"`Bird,'" continued the essayist. "`It was in Nore's arck and is good +eating'--that's all I know about it. Tell us something more, Wally, +there's a good chap." + +"Oh, bother. Don't go disturbing, it spoils everything." + +"`The cobberer oart not to be disterbd for it spoyls everything--it +spoyls your close and--' wire in, Wally, what else does it do? You +might tell a chap." + +"What I'll do to you, you cad, and that's pull your nose if you don't +shut up!" retorted Wally, who was busy over his own theme. + +"`--and puis yore knows if yore a cad, and don't shut up.' There, +bother it, that ought to do--twelve lines. Good enough for him." + +"Stuck in the stops?" asked Ashby. + +"No; by the way--glad you reminded me--I suppose about every four words, +eh?" + +"Something about that," said Ashby. + +So D'Arcy sprinkled a few stops judiciously through his copy, and having +done so began to upbraid his partners for their slowness. + +Some time was lost in suppressing him, but he was eventually disposed of +under the bath, which was turned upside down to accommodate him and sat +upon by the other three, who were thus able to continue their work in +peace. + +Ashby was done first. He had a congenial subject and wrote _con amore_. + +"I shall now say something about the pig which is my favourite annimal-- +The pig is a quadruped--Sometimes he is male in which case he is called +a hog. Sometimes he is female in which case he is called a sow. Pigs +were rings in their noses and are fond of apple-peal. Their young are +called litter and are very untidy in their habbits. Pig's cheek is nice +to eat and pork in season is a treat." (The writer was very proud of +this little outbreak of poetry.) + +"It is preferrablest roast with sage and apple sauce. I hope I have now +described the pig and told you why he is my favourite." + +Fisher minor, on the uncongenial topic of the rabbit, found composition +difficult and punctuation impossible. + +"I like rabbits next best to dogs which Wally has taken mine were black +and white one was one and the other the other the white one died first +of snuffles he had lobears the other had the same pequliarity and was +swoped for 2 white mice who eskaped the first-night owing to the size of +the bars there is a kind of rabbit called welsh rabbit that my father is +fond of he says it goes best on toast but I give mine oats and bran it +is a mistake for boys to keep rabbits because first they give them too +much and burst them and then they give them too little and starve them +which is not wright and makes the rabbit skinny to eat if a boy feeds +rabbits well he can get his mother to give him half-a-crown a peace to +make pies of them which is very agreeable so I therefore on this account +consider rabbits favourites." + +Before this conclusion had been reached, Wally, with a complacent smile, +had laid down his pen, flattering himself he had made a real good thing +of the dog. He scorned commonplace language, and, mindful of the +eloquent periods of certain newspapers of his acquaintance, had "let +out" considerably on his favourite theme, which, if the spelling and +punctuation had been as good as the language, would have been a fine +performance. + +"The dog is the sublymest, gift of beficient nature to the zografical +Speeches, He has been the confidenshul playmate of; man since before the +creation, he is compounded of the most plezing trays and Generaly ansers +to the endeering name of carlo? if you put his noes at the extremity of +a rat-Hole he: will continue their ad libbitums till he has his man; In +Barberous lands there is an exorable law ordayning muscles but It can be +invaded by a little despeshun and sang frore, as one side of the streat +is not unfrequentedly Outside the rools so that if you take him that +side the politician cannot Run him in which is the wulgar for lagging +him for not [waring Mussles I have] ockasionaly done bobys this Way +myself so that I am convinzed of my voracity, the lesson we learn from +this is that dogs should be treeted kindly and not Injected to unkind +tretemant there? was Ice a dog with the pattrynamie of dognes who lived +in a tub but; tubs are not helthy kenels because, they Roal when you +dont stick brix under, which teechus to be kind `to our' fello animals +and pleze Our masters--I will. Only include by adding that dogs like +cake? which Shoes how like they are to boys who have kind masters that +they strive to pleas in ewery way in Their incapacity as the righter of +this esay strives ever to endevor." + +"That ought to fetch him," said the delighted author, as he dotted his +last "i," and released D'Arcy from under the bath. "Now I vote we stow +it, and--" + +Here there was a loud knock at the door and a senior's voice calling, +"Open the door, you youngsters." + +The intruder was Dangle, at sight of whom the backs of our four heroes +went up. + +"What do you youngsters mean by bagging one of our balls!" said the +Modern senior. "Give it me directly." + +"It doesn't belong to you," said Wally; "it's my young brother's." + +"Do you hear?--give it to me," said Dangle. "He can fetch it if he +wants it. You're not our prefect," retorted Wally. + +None of the four were more astounded than Wally himself at the audacity +of this speech. It must have been due to the exhilarating effect of his +tea and essay combined. + +Dangle was evidently unprepared for defiance of this sort and became +threatening. + +"If you don't give me that ball at once, I'll give the lot of you the +best hiding you ever had in your lives." + +"Try it. We're not going to give up the ball. There! If Percy wants +it, let him come for it. Back up, you chaps." + +In a tussle between one big boy and four small ones, the odds are +usually in favour of the former, but Dangle on the present occasion did +not find his task quite as easy as he expected. The juniors defended +themselves with great tenacity, and although the senior's blows came +home pretty hard, he could only deal with them one at a time. It got to +be a little humiliating to discover that he would have to fight hard to +gain his end, and his temper evaporated rapidly. + +Seizing his opportunity, when Fisher minor, who had been fighting +perhaps the least steadily of the four--yet doggedly enough--was within +reach, he struck out at him wildly, determined to get him disposed of +first. It was a cruel blow even for a fellow in Dangle's plight. The +small boy recoiled half-stunned, and uttered a yell which for an instant +startled the bully. + +Before Dangle had time to recover, the three survivors were upon him +tooth and nail; at the same moment the door opened again, and Rollitt, +of all persons, stood in the room. + +He took in the situation at a glance--the big boy white with rage, his +three assailants with heads down and lips tight, pounding away, and +Fisher minor leaning against the wall with his handkerchief to his face. + +"Stop!" said he in a voice which suspended hostilities at once. Then +turning to Dangle he said-- + +"Get out." + +Dangle glared defiantly, and remained where he was, whereupon Rollitt, +without another word, lifted him in his arms like a child, and slinging +him across his shoulders marched forth. + +Wakefield's boys were just trooping up the staircase from the fields, +and at this strange apparition stood still and made a lane for it to +pass. Dangle's struggles were futile. The giant, if he was aware of +them, heeded them no more than the kicking of a kitten, and proceeded +deliberately down the stairs, past everybody, juniors, middle-boys, +prefects and all, and walked with his burden out at the door. There +every one expected the scene would end. + +But no. He walked on sedately across the Green. Indifferent as to who +saw him or what they said, until he came to the door of Forder's house, +where he entered. Up the stairs he stumped amid gaping juniors and +menacing middle, boys until he reached his captive's study; where +without ceremony he deposited him, and, not vouchsafing a word, turned +on his heel. + +Strangely enough, no one had the presence of mind to challenge him or +demand reparation for the insult to their house. He neither dawdled nor +hurried. + +At the door a bodyguard of Classics had assembled to meet him and escort +him back. But he had no need of their services. He made his way +through them as coolly as if he was coming from class; and utterly +indifferent to the rising clamour and shouts behind him--for the Moderns +had by this time recovered breath enough to use their tongues--reached +Wakefield's, where without a word to any one he proceeded to his own +study and shut himself in to continue the scientific experiments which +had only been interrupted a few minutes before by the sudden cry of +distress from the one boy in Fellsgarth to whom he owed the least +obligation. + + + +CHAPTER TEN. + +HOW PERCY GOT BACK HIS FOOTBALL. + +It was not to be expected that in the present state of party feeling at +Fellsgarth the incident recorded in the last chapter would be confined +to a personal quarrel between Dangle and Rollitt. + +If it be true that it takes two to make a quarrel, there was not much to +be feared in the latter respect. For Rollitt was apparently unaware +that he had done anything calling for general remark, and went his ways +with his customary indifference. + +When Dangle, egged on by the indignation of his friends, had gone across +to find him and demand satisfaction, Rollitt had told him to call again +to-morrow, as he was busy. + +Dangle therefore called again. + +"I've come to ask if you mean to apologise for what you did the other +day? If you don't--" + +"Get out!" said Rollitt, going on with his work. + +"--If you don't," continued Dangle, "you'll have to take the +consequences." + +"Get out!" + +"If you funk it, Rollitt, you'd better say so." + +"Get out," said Rollitt, rising slowly to his feet. + +Dangle reported, when he got back to his house, that argument had been +hopeless. Yet he meant to take it out of his adversary some other way. + +But if the principals in the quarrel were inactive, their adherents on +either side took care to keep up the feud. + +The Modern juniors especially, who felt very sore at the indignity put +upon their house, took up the cudgels very fiercely. Secretly they +admitted that Dangle had cut rather a poor figure, and that they could +have made a much better job over the impounded football than he had by +his interference. But that had nothing to do with the conduct of the +enemy, whom they took every opportunity of defying and deriding. + +"There go the sneaks," shouted Lickford, as the four Classic juniors +paraded arm in arm across the Green. "Who got licked by our chap and +had to squeal for a prefect to come and help them? Oh my--waterspouts!" + +"Ya--_how now_--_oh no, not me_!" Percy shouted for the special benefit +of Fisher minor. + +"Look at them! They daren't come our side. Cowards!--daren't come on +to our side of the path," chimed in Cash. + +"Look at their short legs," called Ramshaw; "only useful for cutting +away when they see a Modern." + +"Who got licked on the hands for cheating at Elections, and blubbed like +anything!" put in Cottle. + +The four heroes walked on, hearing every word and trying to appear as if +they did not. They spoke to one another with forced voices and +mechanical smiles, and did their best not to be self-conscious in the +matter of their legs. + +But as the defiance grew bolder in proportion as they walked further, +Wally said-- + +"I say, this is a drop too much. We can't stand this, eh?" + +"No; the cads!" chimed in the other three. + +"Tell you what," said Wally, "it wouldn't be a bad joke to have a punt- +about with their football right under their noses, would it?" + +"How if they bag it?" + +"Bother!--we must chance that." + +"I say," said Ashby, "if we could bag their boots first!" + +"Can't do that; but we might wait till they're in their class after +breakfast in the morning. They go in half an hour before us. I know, +they all sit near the window, and are squinting out at everybody that +passes. Won't they squirm?" + +Next morning therefore at early school, as Percy and Company sat huddled +at their desks in the Modern class-room, biting their pens, groaning +over their sums, and gazing dismally from the window all at the same +time, they had the unspeakable anguish of beholding Wally, D'Arcy, +Ashby, and Fisher minor, with _their_ ball, having a ding-dong game of +punt-about on the sacred Modern grass, under their very eyes. + +How these four enjoyed themselves and kicked about the ball, nodding and +kissing their hands all the while at the mortified enemy, who sat like +caged beasts glaring at them through their bars, and gnawing their +fingers in impotent fury! + +Sometimes, to add a little relish to the sport, they invited a passing +prefect of their own house to give the ball a punt, and once a neat +drop-kick from D'Arcy left a muddy splotch on the face of the sundial +above border's door. + +This was too much; and when, a few minutes later, they caught sight of +the marauders waving to them and calling attention by pantomimic gesture +to the fact that they were carrying off the ball once more to their own +quarters, Percy could contain himself no longer. + +"Beasts!" he ejaculated. + +"Wheatfield," said Mr Forder, who was in charge of the class, "write me +out fifty lines of the _Paradise Lost_ and a letter of apology in Latin +for using bad language in class." + +Percy was conducted home by his friends that morning in a critical +state. He felt it necessary to kick somebody, and therefore kicked +them; and they, entirely misunderstanding his motives, kicked back. +Consequently, a good deal of time was occupied in arranging matters all +round on a comfortable footing; by the end of which time the fraternity, +though marred in visage, felt generally easier in its mind. + +It was no use appealing to the Modern prefects. They had made a mess of +it so far, and weren't to be trusted. Nor did the course of lodging a +complaint with Yorke commend itself to the company. It might be +mistaken for telling tales. How would it do to-- + +Here entered Robert, the school porter, with a letter addressed +"Wheatfield minor, Mr Forder's," in a scholarly hand. + +"Wheatfield minor," snarled Percy; "that's not me, Bob. What do you +take me for! Here, take it over to Wakefield's, and look about for the +dirtiest, ugliest, beastliest kid you can see. That's Wheatfield +minor." + +"You'll be sore to know him by his likeness to Percy," added Cash, by +way of encouragement. + +"But Wakefield's ain't Forder's," observed the sage Robert. "Look what +the envelope says." + +True; it must be meant for Percy after all. + +"You go and tell him it's like his howling cheek to call me minor, +whoever it is; and when I catch him I'll welt him. Do you hear?" + +"Very good, sir, I'll tell him," said the porter with a grin. + +Meanwhile Percy had opened the letter and caught sight of the signature. + +He uttered a whistle of amazement. + +"Hullo!" he cried, "it's from Stratton! Whatever--Oh, I say, Bob, it +doesn't matter about that message; do you hear!" + +"Won't be no trouble, sir," said the porter. + +"If I want to give it I'll do it myself," said Percy. + +"Whatever's it about?" said his friends. + +"Dear Wheatfield minor,"--(cheek!) read Percy, "Mrs Stratton and I will +be glad to see you and three or four of your friends to tea this evening +at six. I will arrange with Mr Forder to give you exeats from +preparation." + +"Humph!" grunted Percy--"rather civil--I hear he gives rather good grub. +I vote we go." + +"May as well. It gets us off preparation too," said Cash. + +"Who said _you_ were in it?" replied Percy. "Catch me taking you unless +you behave. I've a good mind to take Clapperton and Brinkman and Dangle +and Fullerton." + +This threat reduced the clan to obedience at once, and Percy sat down +presently, and wrote in his most admired style-- + +"Wheatfield major," (the "major" was heavily underlined) "is much +obliged to Mr Stratton for his invitation to him to tea in his room, +and he will be glad to bring the following of his friends, if he has no +objection, with him; viz. Lickford, Ramshaw, Cash, and Cottle. With +kind regards from P.W.;" and sent the note over by the hand of the +youngest of the Modern juniors. + +This diversion served for a time to heal the mental ravages of the +morning, and to occupy the attention of the company most of the +afternoon. + +"Case of Sunday-go-to-meeting, isn't it?" said lickford. + +"Rather. Mind you tog up well, you chaps; I'm not going to take four +louts out to tea with me, I promise you." + +Whereupon ensued great searchings of hearts and wardrobes, to see what +could be done in the way of appropriate decoration. The invitation came +at an awkward time, for it was Friday afternoon, and Mrs Wisdom rarely +sent home the washing before Saturday. Consequently it was a work of +some difficulty to muster five clean collars among the party, still less +as many shirt-fronts. + +Lickford spent at least an hour over his last Sunday's shirt with ink- +eraser, trying to get it to look tidy; while Cottle, more ingenious, +neatly gummed pieces of white paper over the dirty spots on his. + +A great discussion took place as to chokers. Percy, who had one, +threatened to leave behind any one not similarly adorned. It was only +by adroit cajolery, and persuading him that he, as personal conductor of +the party, had a right to be sweller than the rest, that he could be +induced to waive the point. + +The same argument had to be urged with regard to boots, as none of the +others had patent leathers, which Percy insisted was the first thing any +one looked to see if you had on at a party. It was urged that as most +of the time would be spent with the feet under the table, this, though +sound in law, was not in the present case of such vital importance in +equity. Objection waived once more. + +Finally, when all was ready, Percy held a full-dress parade of his +forces, and looked each of them up and down as minutely and critically +as an officer of the Guards inspecting his company. He objected to Cash +wearing white gloves, as he had none himself, and he nearly cashiered +Cottle for having a coloured handkerchief, because he himself had a +brand-new white one. At length, however, all these little details were +arranged, and as the school clock began to chime the hour the order to +march was given, and the company proceeded at the double to Mr +Stratton's house. + +Mr Stratton was more or less of a favourite with both sides at +Fellsgarth. He had a small house, in which were representatives of both +factions, but most of them of the quieter sort, who, being obliged to +live together under one roof, did not see so much to quarrel about out +of doors. Mr Stratton, too, took the juniors' divisions of each +school, and so kept fairly well in touch with both. Add to this, that +he was a good all round athlete, that he had a serene and cheerful +temper, and, what is of scarcely less importance, a charming young wife, +and you have several very good reasons why he was one of the most +popular masters at Fellsgarth. The juniors, on the whole, appreciated +him. When he was down on them they forgave him on account of his youth, +and when he complained that he could not get them to understand his +precepts, they asked one another whose fault was that. Occasionally he +condoned all his offences by an act of hospitality, and for once in a +way betrayed that he recognised the merits of a select few of his pupils +by asking them to tea. + +This was evidently the ease now, and as our five young Moderns trotted +across the Green, they wished their enemies in Wakefield's could only +have looked out and witnessed their triumph. + +Little they dreamed that at that moment Wally, Ashby, D'Arcy, and Fisher +minor, resplendent in shirts and collars fresh from the wash, with their +eight hands encased in white kid and their eight feet in patent leather, +were standing about in Mr Stratton's drawing-room, wondering who on +earth it was whose non-arrival was preventing the ringing of the tea- +bell. + +When presently Percy and his party were ushered in, and discovered who +were their fellow-guests, it did some credit to their breeding that they +remembered to go up and shake hands with Mr and Mrs Stratton, and did +not immediately fly at the enemy's throat. The enemy, however, were +equally taken aback, and were fully entitled to half the credit for the +self-control with which the discovery was received. + +"There's no need to introduce you to one another, I'm sure," said Mr +Stratton. "By the way, Wheatfield--you I mean," pointing to Percy, "I +must apologise for calling you minor. It was very kind of you to put me +right." + +Wally glared up at this, and would have liked to put the matter right +there and then, but Mrs Stratton said-- + +"It isn't fair to number twins at all, is it?" + +"Unless," suggested D'Arcy, blushing to find himself talking, "unless +you reckon them half each." + +This only mended matters to the extent of raising a laugh at the expense +of the twins, who felt mutually uncomfortable. + +The tea-bell, however, relieved the tension, "Come," said the hostess. +"You must take one another in. No, that won't do, all Mr Wakefield's +boys together. Two of you come this side--that's right; and Cottle and +Ramshaw, you go over there. Now, you're beautifully sorted. Edward, +dear, you mustn't talk till you've handed round the tea-cake to our +guests. Lickford, do you take cream and sugar? And you too, twins? Oh +really, dear, you don't call those slices, do you? Do let Ashby cut up +the cake; I'm sure he knows better than you what a slice is; don't you, +Ashby?" + +Apparently Ashby did; and the party, thus genially thrown together and +set to work, soon began, to experience the balmy influences of a +convivial high tea. + +Very little was spoken at first except by Mr Stratton, who gave a brief +account of a University cricket match in which he had once played--a +narrative which served as a most soothing refrain to the silent exercise +in which his listeners were engaged. Presently a few questions were put +in by the boys, followed by a few observations which gradually, by the +adroit piloting of the host, loyally backed up by his wife, developed +into a discussion on the use and abuse of "third man up" in modern +cricket. After this knotty point was disposed of the talk grew more +general, and Wally became aware that his brother was handing him the +apricot jam. + +The act, simple in itself, meant a great deal to Wally. He liked +apricot jam, and had not been able to get at it all the evening. As he +now helped himself he admitted to himself that Percy was not quite such +a lout as he had occasionally thought him. + +"Thanks awfully, Percy. Did you like that toffee I gave you the other +day?" + +"Rather. It was spiffing," said Percy. "I say, I don't mind writing +home this week if you like." + +"Oh, don't you grind; I will." + +"Really I don't mind." + +"No more do I. I say, can you reach the butter?" + +"Rather. Better rinse this dish up here between us. There's another +down there." + +Similar scenes of reconciliation were taking place elsewhere. Cottle +was asking Ashby his riddle; D'Arcy was laying down the law in the +admiring hearing of Ramshaw and Lickford as to the cooking of sprats on +the shovel; while Fisher minor was telling the sympathetic Mrs Stratton +all about the people at home. Mr Stratton was wise enough not to +disturb this state of affairs by talk of his own. When, however, the +meal began to flag, and his guests one by one abandoned the attack, he +proposed an adjournment to the drawing-room. + +"I want the advice of you youngsters," said he presently, "about +something I dare say you all know something about. I mean the old +School shop." + +The party looked guilty. Didn't they know the tuck-shop? + +"It seems to me," said Mr Stratton, "it's rather in a bad way just now; +don't you think so? Robert hasn't time to look after it, and wants to +give it up. He says it doesn't pay; and really some of his things +aren't particularly nice. I went and had a jam tart there this morning. +It was like shoe-leather; and the jam was almost invisible." + +Wally laughed. He knew those tarts well. + +"I think it would be a pity if it was given up; don't you? We all want +a little grub now and then; besides, it's an old School institution." + +"Robert charges three-halfpence a-piece for those tarts," said D'Arcy. + +"Yes--think of that. I've no doubt you could get them for half the +price at Penchurch. What I was thinking was, why shouldn't some of us +carry on the shop ourselves?" + +The boys opened their eyes. The idea of carrying on a tuck-shop on +their own account opened a vista of such endless possibilities, that +they were quite startled. + +"It ought to be easy enough if we manage properly," said Mr Stratton. +"Suppose, now, we who are here were to form a committee and decide to +run the shop, how should we begin?" + +"It depends on what Robert left behind," said Percy. + +"Oh, we wouldn't take over any of his stuff. No, the first thing would +be to reckon up how much we should want to start with, and either club +together or get some one to advance it. How many tarts do you suppose +are sold a day?" + +"Hundreds," said Ashby. + +"Well, according to Robert, about eighty. But say one hundred. That at +a penny each would be about 8 shillings for tarts. Then the ginger- +beer. Would twenty bottles do? That would be 3 shillings 4 pence, +supposing they cost 2 pence each. That's 11 shillings 4 pence. What +next? Apples? Suppose we put them down at 2 shillings 6 pence--13 +shillings 10 pence. Sweets? Well, say 2 shillings 6 pence more--16 +shillings 4 pence. Nuts 1 shilling--17 shillings 4 pence. It mounts +up, you see. We ought at least to have 25 or 30 shillings to start +with. Well, I happen to know somebody who would lend that amount to the +shareholders for a little time if we should want it. Now suppose we've +got our money. We ought to send to some of the best shops and market +people in the town to see what we could get our things for. As it +happens, Mrs Stratton when she was in Penchurch this morning did +inquire, and this is her report. The tarts that we should sell for a +penny we could get for three farthings each, so that on a hundred tarts +we should make a profit of 2 shillings 1 penny. And the confectioner +would send his cart up every day with fresh tarts of different kinds of +jam, and take back yesterday's stale ones at half-price. That would be +a great improvement, wouldn't it?" + +"Rather," said everybody. + +"Then the ginger-beer. Would you believe it, if we undertake to take +not less than twelve bottles a day daring the half we can get them for a +penny each, and might sell them for three-halfpence. That would make a +great increase in the demand, I fancy, and every bottle we can sell, we +make a dear halfpenny profit. The same with the sweets. You can get +most sorts for 9 or 10 pence a pound, and if we sell at a penny an +ounce, you see we get 7 or 8 pence profit. I should vote for only +getting the best kind of sweets, and making rather less profit than +that. At any rate, you see, if we are careful, we ought pretty soon to +be able to pay back what we owe, and after providing for the expense of +a person to mind the shop and do the selling, put by a little week by +week, which will go to the School clubs or anything else the fellows +decide. What do you think of the plan?" + +They all thought it would be magnificent. + +"I see no reason why you youngsters should not manage it splendidly by +yourselves at soon as you get once started. You'll have to draw up +strict rules, of course, for managing the shop, and make up the +accounts; and look out sharp that you aren't selling anything at a loss. +Remember, the cheaper you can sell (provided you get a fair profit), +the more customers you'll have. And the better your stuff is, the more +it will be liked. Mrs Stratton says she will act as banker, and take +care of the money at the end of each day and pay out what you want for +stores. Don't say anything about it out of doors at present; talk it +over among yourselves daring the week, and if you think it will work, +tell me, and we'll have a regular business meeting to settle +preliminaries. Now suppose we have a game of crambo?" + +When the party broke up, Moderns and Classics strolled affectionately +across the Green arm in arm, deep in confabulation as to the projected +shop. + +When they reached the door of Wakefield's, Wally said, "By the way, have +any of you chaps lost a football? There's one kicking about in our +room. Hang outside and I'll chuck it to you out of the window." + +Which he did. And the ball proved to be the very one the Moderns had +lost a week ago! How curious! + + + +CHAPTER ELEVEN. + +FELLSGARTH VERSUS RENDLESHAM. + +How it came that Rollitt played, after all, in the Rendlesham match, no +one could properly understand. + +His name was not down on the original list. Yorke _had_ given up asking +him to play, as he always either excused himself, or, what was worse, +promised to come and failed at the last moment. + +After the defeat of the Moderns at the second election, the question of +the selection of the fifteen had been allowed to drop; and those who +were keen on victory hoped no further difficulty would arise. Two days +before the match, however, Brinkman was unlucky enough to hurt his foot, +and to his great mortification was forbidden by the doctor to play. The +news of his accident caused general consternation, as he was known to be +a good forward and a useful man in a scrimmage. Clapperton increased +the difficulty by coming over to say that as Brinkman was laid up, he +had arranged for Corder to play instead. + +Corder, as it happened, was a Modern senior, a small fellow, and reputed +an indifferent player. + +"He wouldn't do at all," said Yorke, decisively. + +"Why not? Surely we've got a right to find a substitute for our own +man," said Clapperton, testily. + +"What do you mean by your own man? Who cares twopence whose man he is, +as long as he plays up? The fifteen are Fellsgarth men, and no more +yours than they are mine." + +"If they were as much mine as yours no one would complain." + +"You mean to say that if you were captain of the fifteen you'd put +Corder in the team for a first-class match?" + +"Why not? There are plenty worse than he." + +"There are so many better, that he is out of the question." + +"That means only five of our men are to play against ten of yours." + +"You're talking rot, Clapperton, and you know it. If I'm captain, I'll +choose my own team. If you don't like it, or if the best fifteen men in +the school aren't in it, you are welcome to complain. I hope you will." + +"It strikes me pretty forcibly our fellows won't fancy being snubbed +like this. It would be a bad job if they showed as much on the day of +the match." + +"It would be a bad job--for them," said the captain. + +When Yorke repeated this disagreeable conversation to his friends later +on, they pulled long faces. + +"I suppose he means they don't intend to play up," said Dalton. + +"If that's so," said Fisher major, "why not cut them all out and make up +the fifteen of fellows you can depend on?" + +"That wouldn't do," said Yorke. "I expect when the time comes they'll +play up all right. After all, Clapperton and Fullerton are two of our +best men." + +"But what about the vacant place?" + +"I've four or five names all better than Corder," said the captain, "but +none of them as good as Brinkman." + +The company generally, it is to be feared, did not lament as honestly as +Yorke did, the accident to their rival. They did not profess to +rejoice, of course; still they bore the blow with equanimity. + +Next morning, to the astonishment of everybody, the notice board +contained an abrupt announcement in the captain's hand, that in +consequence of Brinkman's inability to play, Rollitt would take his +place in the fifteen. + +Yorke himself could not account for this sudden act of patriotism. +Rollitt, he said, had looked into his room last night at bedtime and +said-- + +"I'll play on Saturday," and vanished. + +Fisher minor was perhaps, of all persons, better able to explain the +mystery than any one else. He had overheard in Ranger's study a general +lamentation about the prospects for Saturday, and a wish expressed by +his brother that Rollitt were not so unsociable and undependable. +Everybody agreed it was utterly useless to ask him to play, and that +they would have to get a second-rate man to fill the empty place, and so +most probably lose the match. + +Fisher minor heard all this, and when presently, on his way to his own +den, he passed Rollitt's door, a tremendous resolution seized him to +take upon himself the duty of ambassador extraordinary for the School. +Rollitt appeared to owe him no grudge for throwing stones the other day, +and had already come to his relief handsomely at the time of the second +election and in the affair with Dangle. On the whole, Fisher minor +thought he might venture. + +Rollitt was reading hard by the light of one small candle when he +entered. + +"Please, Rollitt," said the boy, "would you ever mind playing for the +School on Saturday?" + +Rollitt looked up in such evident alarm that Fisher major put his hand +on the latch of the door, and made ready to bolt. + +"I'll see--get out," said Rollitt. + +And Fisher minor did get out. + +It was really too absurd to suppose that Rollitt was going to play in +the fifteen to oblige Fisher minor. So at least thought that young +gentleman, and remained discreetly silent about his interview, hoping +devoutly no one would hear of it. + +The joy of the Classics was almost equal to the fury of the Moderns. +The latter could not deny that Rollitt was a host in himself, and worth +a dozen Corders. Yet it galled them to see him quietly put in the +vacant place, and to hear the jubilation on every hand. + +For Rollitt was the fellow who had publicly insulted the Moderns in the +person of Dangle; and not only that, but--poor and shabby as he was--had +shown himself utterly indifferent to their indignation and contemptuous +of their threats. + +"Why," Dangle said, "the fellow's a pauper! he can't even pay for his +clubs! His father's a common fellow, I'm told." + +"Yes, and I heard," said Brinkman, "his fees up here are paid for him. +Why, we might just as well have Bob in the fifteen." + +"A jolly sight better. Bob knows how to be civil." + +"It is a crime to be poor," said Fullerton. "I hope I shall never +commit it." + +"Well," said Clapperton, ignoring this bit of sarcasm, "if he was well +enough off to buy a cake of soap once a term, it wouldn't be so bad. I +believe when he wants a wash he goes down to Mrs Wisdom and borrows a +bit of hers." + +"By the way, that reminds me," said Dangle; "did you fellows ever hear +about Mrs Wisdom's boat? The lout had it out the other day in the +rapids, and let it go over the falls, and it got smashed up." + +"What!" exclaimed everybody. + +"Do you mean," said Brinkman, "poor Widow Wisdom has lost her boat owing +to that cad? Why, she'll be ruined? However is she to get a new one?" + +"That's the extraordinary thing," said Dangle. "It was she told me +about it. She says that Rollitt went straight away to the lake and +bought her a boat that was for sale there; and she's got it now down in +the lower reach; and it's a better one than the other." + +"What!" exclaimed Clapperton, incredulously; "Rollitt bought a new boat! +Bosh!" + +"It was a second-hand one for sale cheap. But it cost five pounds. She +showed me the receipt." + +"Stuff and nonsense. She was gammoning you," said Clapperton. + +"All right," said Dangle, snappishly; "you're not obliged to believe it +unless you like." + +And there the conversation ended. + +The day of the great match came at last. The Rendlesham men, who had to +come from a distance, were not due till one o'clock, and, as may be +imagined, the interval was peculiarly trying to some of the inhabitants +of Fellsgarth. The farce of morning school was an ordeal alike to +masters and boys. If gazing up at the clouds could bring down the rain, +a deluge should have fallen before 10 a.m. As the hour approached the +impatience rose to fever heat. It was the first match of the season. +For the last three years the two teams had met in deadly combat, and +each time the match had ended in a draw, with not one goal kicked on +either side. Victory or defeat to-day would be a crisis in the history +of Fellsgarth. Woe betide the man who missed a point or blundered a +kick! + +Percy and his friends put on flannels in honour of the occasion and +sallied out an hour before the time to look at the ground and inspect +the new goal and flag posts which Fisher major, as the first act of his +treasurership, had ordered for the School. + +It disgusted them somewhat to find that Wally and his friends--also in +flannels--were on the spot before them, and, having surveyed the new +acquisitions, had calmly bagged the four front central seats in the +pavilion reserved by courtesy for the head-master and his ladies. + +Since the tea at Mr Stratton's, the juniors had abated somewhat of +their immemorial feud, although the relations were still occasionally +subject to tension. + +"Hullo, you kids," cried Wally, as his brother approached, "how do you +do? Pretty well this morning? That's right--so are we. Have a seat? +Plenty of room in the second row." + +Considering that no one had yet put in an appearance, this was strictly +correct. Yet it did not please the Modern juniors. + +"You'll get jolly well turned out when Ringwood comes," said Percy. +"Come on, you chaps," added he to his own friends. "What's the use of +sitting on a bench like schoolboys an hour before the time? Let's have +a trot." + +"Mind you don't dirty your white bags," cried D'Arcy. + +"No, we might be mistaken for Classic kids if we did," shouted Cottle. +"Ha, ha!" + +Whereupon, and not before time, the friends parted for a while. + +When Percy and Co. returned, they found the pavilion was filling up, +and, greatly to their delight, the front row was empty. The enemy had +been cleared out; and serve them right. + +"Come on, you chaps," said Lickford; "don't let's get stuck in there. +Come over to the oak tree, and get up there. It's the best view in the +field." + +Alas! when they got to the oak tree, four friendly voices hailed them +from among the leaves. + +"How are you, Modern kids? There's a ripping view up here. Have an +acorn? Mind your eye. Sorry we're full up. Plenty of room up the +poplar tree." + +The Moderns scorned to reply, and walked back sulkily to the pavilion, +not without parting greetings from their friends up the oak tree, and +squatted themselves on the steps. + +The place was filling up now. Mrs Stratton was there with some +visitors. All the little Wakefields were there, of course--"minor, +minimus, and minimissima," as they were called--uttering war-whoops in +honour of their house. And there was a knot of Rendlesham fellows +talking among themselves and generally taking stock of the Fellsgarth +form. Mr Stratton, in civilian dress, as became the umpire, was the +first representative of the School to show up on the grass. A distant +cheer from the top of the oak tree hailed his arrival, and louder cheers +still from the steps of the pavilion indicated that the popular master +was not the private property of any faction in Fellsgarth. + +To Fisher minor it was amazing how Mr Stratton could talk and laugh as +pleasantly as he did with the umpire for the other side. He felt sure +_he_ could not have done it himself. + +Suddenly it occurred to Fisher minor, by what connection of ideas he +could not tell, what an awful thing it would be if Rollitt were to +forget about the match. The horror of the idea, which had all the +weight of a presentiment, sent the colour from his cheeks, and without a +word to anybody he slid down the tree and began to run with all his +might towards the school. + +"What's the row--collywobbles!" asked D'Arcy. + +But no one was in a position to answer. A fusillade of acorns from the +tree, and derisive compliments of "Well run!" "Bravo, Short-legs!" from +the pavilion steps, greeted the runner as he passed that warm corner. +He didn't care. Even the captain and his own brother, whom he met going +down to the field of battle, did not divert him. He rushed panting up +the stairs and into Rollitt's study. + +Rollitt was sitting at the table taking observations of a crumb of bread +through a microscope. + +"Rollitt," gasped the boy, "the match! It's just beginning, and you +promised to play. Do come, or we shall be licked!" + +Rollitt took a further look at the crumb and then got up. + +"I forgot," said he; "come on, Fisher minor." + +"Aren't you going to put on flannels?" asked the boy. + +"Why!" said Rollitt roughly, stalking out. + +Fisher minor wondered if the reason was that he had none. But he was +too full of his mission to trouble about that, and, keeping his prize +well in sight, for fear he should go astray, had the satisfaction of +seeing him arrive on the field of battle just as the opposing forces +were taking their places, and just as the Classic seniors were inwardly +calling themselves fools for having depended for a moment on a hopeless +fellow of this sort. + +The Classic juniors felt a good deal compromised by the champion's +shabby cloth trousers and flannel shirt, but they cheered lustily all +the same, while the Moderns, having expressed their indignation to one +another, relieved their feelings by laughing. + +But a moment after, everybody forgot everything but the match. + +The Rendlesham men looked very trim and dangerous in their black and +white uniform; and when presently their captain led off with a +magnificent place-kick which flew almost into the School lines, Classics +and Moderns forgot their differences and squirmed with a common +foreboding. Fullerton promptly returned the ball into _medias res_, and +the usual inaugural scrimmage ensued. To the knowing ones, who judged +from little things, it seemed that the present match was likely to be as +even as any of its predecessors. The forwards were about equally +weighted, and the quarter and half-backs who hovered outside seemed +equally alert and light-footed. + +Presently the ball squeezed out on the School side and gave Ranger the +first chance of a run. He used it well, and with Fisher major and Yorke +on his flanks got well past the Rendlesham forwards amid loud cheers +from the oak tree. But the enemy's quarter-back pinned him in a moment; +yet not before he had passed the ball neatly to Fisher on his left. +Fisher struggled on a few yards further with the captain and Dangle +backing up, but had to relinquish the ball to the former before he could +reach the half-backs. Yorke, always wary and cool-headed, had measured +the forces against him, and as soon as he had the ball, ran back a step +or two, to break the ugly rush of two of the enemy who were nearest, and +then with a sweep distanced them, and charging through their half-backs +made a dash for the goal. For a moment friend and foe held their +breath. He looked like doing it. But in his _detour_ he had given time +for Blackstone, the Rendlesham fast runner, to get under way and sweep +down to meet him just as he reeled out of the clutches of the half- +backs. Next moment Yorke was down, and Dangle was not there to pick up +the ball. + +This rush served pretty well to exhibit the strong and weak points of +either side. It was evident, for instance, that both Ranger and Yorke +were men to be marked by the other side, and that Dangle, on the +contrary, was playing slack. + +A series of scrimmages followed, in the midst of which the ball +gravitated back to the centre of the field. Runs were attempted on +either side; once or twice the ball went out into touch, and once or +twice a drop-kick sent it flying over the forwards' heads. But it came +back inevitably, so that after twenty minutes' hard play it lay in +almost the identical spot from which it had first been kicked off. + +The onlookers began to feel a little depressed. It was not to be a +walk-over for the School, at any rate. Indeed, it seemed doubtful +whether from the last and toughest of these scrimmages the ball would +ever emerge again to the light of day. + +Suddenly, however; it become evident that the _status quo_ was about to +give way, and that the fortunes of either side were going to take a new +turn. No one in the game, still less outside, could at first tell what +had happened. Then it occurred to Yorke and one or two others that +Rollitt, who had hitherto been playing listlessly and sleepily, was +waking up. His head, high above his fellows, was seen violently +agitated in the middle of the scrimmage, and presently it struggled +forward till it came to where the ball lay. A moment later, the +Rendlesham side of the scrimmage showed signs of breaking, and a moment +after that Rollitt, quickly picking up the ball, burst through both +friend and foe. + +"Back up, Dangle! back up, Ranger!" shouted Yorke. + +"Look out behind!" cried the Rendlesham captain. + +Rollitt carried that ball pretty much as he had carried Dangle a day or +two before, almost contemptuously, indifferent as to who opposed him or +who got in his way. The only difference was that whereas he then +walked, now he ran. And when Rollitt chose to run, as Fellsgarth knew, +even Ranger, the swift-footed, was not in it. + +The enemy's forwards were shaken off, and their quarter-backs distanced. +The half-backs closed on him with a simultaneous charge that made him +reel. But he kept his feet better than they, and staggered on with one +of them hanging to his arm. + +"Look out in goal!" shouted the Rendlesham men. + +"Back up, you fellows!" cried Yorke. + +In his struggle with the man on his arm, Rollitt lost pace enough to +enable Blackstone to overtake and make a wild dash, not at the man, but +the ball. The onslaught was partly successful, for the ball fell. +Dangle, who was close behind, made an attempt to pick it up, but before +he could do so, Rollitt, like a hound momentarily checked, dashed back +to recover it himself, knocking over, as he did so, both Dangle and +Blackstone. + +He had it again, and once more was off, this time with only the enemy's +back to intercept him. The back did his best, and sacrificed himself +nobly for his side, but he was no match for the Fellsgarth giant, who +simply rode over him, and followed by a mighty roar of cheering from the +onlookers, carried the ball behind the goals, touching it down with +almost fastidious precision exactly half-way between the poles. + +A minute later and Yorke, with one of his beautifully neat "places," had +sent the ball spinning over the bar, as unmistakable a goal as the +School had ever kicked. + +The cheers which followed this exploit were completely lost on Rollitt, +who, having completed his run, dawdled back to his fellow-forwards, and +had not even the curiosity to watch the issue of the captain's kick. + +As the sides changed ends, Dangle, with a black face, came up to him. + +"You knocked me over on purpose then, you cad, I could see it!" snarled +he. + +"Get out!" said Rollitt, shouldering the speaker aside. + +This was too much for Dangle. Full of rage, he went to Yorke. + +"I don't mean to stand this, Yorke. Rollitt--" + +"Shut up!" said the captain. "Spread out, you fellows, and be ready. +Go to your place, Dangle." + +Dangle sullenly obeyed. + +"I'll let you see if I'm to be insulted and made a fool of before all +the school," growled he. "Catch me bothering myself any more." + +As if to give him an opportunity of enforcing his protest, the kick-off +of the losing side fell close at his feet. He picked it up, and for a +moment the sporting instinct prompted him to make a rush. But he caught +sight of Yorke and Rollitt both looking his way, and the bad blood in +him prevailed. He deliberately sent the ball with a little side-kick +into Blackstone's hands, who, running forward a step, sent it, with a +mighty drop, right over the School line. It almost grazed the goal post +as it passed, and it was all Fullerton could do to save the touch-down +before the whole advance guard of the enemy were upon him. + +The whole thing had been so wilfully done that there was no mistaking +its meaning. + +"Hold the ball!" cried Yorke, as the side ranged out for the kick-off. +"Dangle, get off the field." + +"What do you mean?" said Dangle, very white. + +"What I say. You'll either do that or be kicked off." + +Here Clapperton interposed. + +"Don't go, Dangle; he's no right to turn you off or talk to you like +that before the field because of an accident. If you go, I'll go too." + +"Go, both of you, then," said Yorke. + +The two Modern boys looked for a moment as though they doubted their own +ears. What could Yorke mean, in the middle of a critical match like +this? + +He evidently meant what he said. + +"Are you going or not?" said he. + +It was a choice of evils. To play now would be to surrender. To stay +where they were would render them liable to a kicking in the presence of +all Fellsgarth. They sullenly turned on their heels and walked behind +the goals. Most of the spectators supposed it was a case of sprained +ankle or some such damage received in the cause of the School. But the +acute little birds who sat in the oak tree were not to be deceived, and +took good care to point the moral of the incident for the public +benefit. + +"Whiroo! Cads! Kicked out! Serve 'em right! Good riddance! Play up, +you chaps!" + +The chaps needed no encouragement. With two men short it was next to +impossible to add to their present advantage. But they contrived to +stand their ground and save the School goal. And when at last the +welcome "No side" was called, the cheers which greeted them proclaimed +that the School had won that day one of the biggest victories on its +record. + + + +CHAPTER TWELVE. + +THE MODERNS ON STRIKE. + +In the festivities with which the glorious victory of the School against +Rendlesham was celebrated Yorke took no part. + +The captain was very decidedly down in the mouth. This was the end of +his endeavour to administer rule with a perfectly even hand, and give no +ground for a whisper of anything like unfair play to the opposition! +This was what his popularity and authority were valued at! For the +first time in her annals, Fellsgarth fellows had mutinied on the field +of battle and to their captain's face. + +Had it been Dangle only, it would have mattered less. His feud with +Rollitt was notorious, and would account for any ebullition of bad +temper. But when Clapperton not only patronised the mutiny but joined +in it, things were come to a crisis which it required all Yorke's +courage and coolness to cope with. + +It might have solaced him if he could have heard a discussion which was +taking place in the rebels' quarters. + +"It served them precious well right," said Clapperton, trying to justify +what, to say the least of it, wanted some excuse. "We'd stood it long +enough." + +"It's bad enough," said Dangle, "to have the fifteen packed with Classic +fellows; but when they take to attacking us before the whole field, it's +time something was done. I'm as certain as possible that Rollitt +deliberately knocked me over that time." + +"It was rather warm measures, though," said Brinkman, "to walk off the +field. We might have got licked." + +"I'm not at all sure if it wouldn't have been a very good thing if we +had," said Clapperton. "At any rate, it will be a lesson to them what +it might come to." + +"Nothing like scuttling a ship in mid-ocean if you want to be attended +to. The only awkward thing is, you are apt to go down with it," said +Fullerton. + +"Do shut up, and don't try to be funny," said Clapperton. "Of course no +one wants to wreck the clubs. We shall play up hard next time, and then +they'll see it's worth their while to be civil to us." + +"Yes," said Brinkman, "it won't do to let them say we aren't the friends +of the School." + +"There's not the least fear of any one thinking that now," gibed +Fullerton. + +"Well," said Dangle, "as we are to play the return with Rendlesham this +day week, we shall have a chance of letting them see what we can do. +Only if that cad Rollitt plays, it won't be easy to be civil." + +These patriotic young gentlemen were a good deal disconcerted next +morning to find that they had been reckoning without their host. The +captain had posted up the fifteen to play next week. The list contained +the names of Fullerton, Brinkman, and two others on the Modern side, but +omitted those of Clapperton and Dangle. + +In their wildest dreams the malcontents had never reckoned on the +captain taking such a step as this. They knew that they were necessary +to the efficiency of any team, and that without them, especially against +Rendlesham, it would be almost a farce to go into the field at all. + +At first they were disposed to laugh and sneer; then to bluster. Then +it dawned on them gradually that for once in their lives they had made a +mistake. They had not even the credit of refusing to play, but had been +ignominiously kicked out. + +A council of war was held, in which mutual recriminations, assisted by +Fullerton's candid reflections on the situation, occupied a considerable +share of the time. + +The result of their deliberations was that Clapperton and Dangle went +over in no very amiable frame of mind to the captain. + +Yorke, as it happened, was having an uneasy conference with his own side +at the time. Delighted as the Classics were at the blow which had been +struck at the mutineers, the prospect of almost certain defeat next +Saturday made them anxious for compromise. + +"If I were you," said Fisher major, "I'd give them a chance of +explaining and apologising." + +"There can be no apology," said Yorke. + +"You are quite right in theory," said Denton; "but wouldn't it be rather +a crow for them to see that we are licked without them?" + +"We mustn't be licked," said the captain. "We held our own without them +yesterday." + +"Yes; but we were on our own ground, and had a goal to the good before +they struck." + +"I think old Yorke is quite right," said Ranger. "We may be licked, and +if we are they'll crow. On the other hand, if we let them play now +they'll crow worse. I think we'd better be beaten by Rendlesham than by +traitors." + +"Shan't you let them play at all this half?" said Fisher. + +"That depends on themselves," said Yorke. + +"Hullo! here they come," said Ranger. + +The two Moderns were a little disconcerted to find themselves confronted +with the body of Classic seniors. + +"Oh, you're engaged," said Clapperton; "we'll come again." + +"No, we were talking about the team; I suppose that's what you've come +about." + +"Yes," said Clapperton; "we want to know what it means!" + +"Really I don't see how it could have been put plainer. It means that +the fifteen men named are going to play on Saturday." + +"Look here, Yorke," said Clapperton, "if you think I've come over here +to beg you to put Dangle and me into the team, you're mistaken--" + +"I don't think it. You know it's impossible." + +"All I can say is, it's sheer spite and nothing else. Dangle was +deliberately knocked over by that cad Rollitt--" + +"Who is not present, and may therefore be called names with safety," +said Ranger. + +"Shut up, Ranger, there's a good fellow," said the captain. + +"And Dangle had a right to object," continued Clapperton. + +"He had no right to play into the hands of the other side," said Yorke. + +"How do you know I did?" said Dangle. + +"Do you mean to say you didn't?" said Yorke. + +"I didn't come here to be catechised by you. Are you going to put +Clapperton and me in the fifteen or not? That's what we came to know." + +"No--certainly not," said the captain; "and as that's all, you may as +well go." + +"Very well," sneered Clapperton, who was in a high temper, "you'll be +sorry for it. Come on, Dangle." + +"There's only one thing to be done now," said he, when they had got back +to their own side; "we must none of us play. That will bring them to +reason." + +Brinkman approved of the idea. + +"There's more sense in that," said he, "than you two sticking out. That +will reduce the team to a Classic fifteen, and if they get licked it +won't matter." + +"There's no possible chance of their making up a fifteen without us?" +asked Dangle. + +"None at all. They haven't the men," said Clapperton, brightening up. +"The fact is, we have them at our mercy; and if they want us to play +again they'll have to ask us properly." + +"Meanwhile Fellsgarth will get on splendidly," said Fullerton. + +"Shut up. Don't you see it will be all the better for everybody in the +long run?" + +"I can't say I do at present. It may come by and by--" + +"We must see that everybody backs up in this," said Brinkman. "One +traitor would spoil everything." + +"That's what Yorke said on Saturday, wasn't it?" asked Fullerton +innocently, "At least, he said two traitors. Yorke will not see that +what's right for one fellow is naughty for another." + +"Look here, Fullerton," said Clapperton, who was sensitive enough to +feel the sting of all this, "you don't suppose we're doing this for fun, +do you? Will you promise not to play on Saturday, even if you are +asked?" + +"What if I don't?" said Fullerton. + +"You won't find it particularly comfortable on this side of the School, +that's all," said Brinkman. + +Fullerton meditated and turned the matter over. + +"I think on the whole," said he, mimicking Clapperton, "that as this is +for the highest good of the School, and as everybody is to be all the +better in the long run, and as we're all going to be noble and sacrifice +ourselves together, you may put me down as not playing on Saturday. +_Dulce et decorum est pro patria_--I beg pardon, I'm not on the Classic +side yet." + +The other players named on the list consented more or less reluctantly +to follow the same example. After morning school, therefore, when the +fellows looked at the notice board, they saw, to their bewilderment, the +names of the four Modern fellows struck out and the following note +appended to the captain's list-- + +"Notice. + +"The following players protest against the exclusion of two names from +the above list, and decline to play on Saturday, viz., Brinkman, +Fullerton, Ramshaw major, and Smith." + +Underneath this, a juvenile hand had carefully inscribed in bold +characters-- + +"Jolly good riddance of bad rubbish." Signed, "Wheatfield, W., D'Arcy, +Ashby, Fisher minor." + +Fisher minor, who signed this latter manifesto by proxy had hastened to +carry the news of it to his brother. + +"The cads!" said the junior. "We are sure to be beaten; I shall never +dare to get Rollitt twice running." + +"What do you mean?" asked the elder brother, turning round. + +"Oh, don't tell," said Fisher minor, "I didn't mean to say anything; you +see, I thought he wouldn't fly out, so I asked him last time." + +"You! What do you know of Rollitt? Why should he play to oblige you?" + +Fisher minor, wishing he had not mentioned Rollitt's name, related, +somewhat apologetically, the story of the adventure on the Shayle. + +"Why," said the elder brother, "you saved his life, young 'un. No +wonder he's civil to you!" + +"Oh, please don't tell him I told you." + +"All right; but what about the boat? It must have been smashed to bits. +What did Mrs Wisdom say?" + +"Oh, Rollitt was very honourable and bought her another. She told me +so--and I've seen the new boat." + +"Rollitt bought it! Why, he's as poor as a church mouse. How could he +get the money, I'd like to know?" + +"He got it the very next day," said Fisher minor. "I suppose he had +some; but promise you won't say anything." + +"What's the use of making a secret of it? I won't say anything unless +you like. But I must go to Yorke." + +The captain was quite prepared for the action of the Moderns. + +"They've struck," said he. "Now the question is, shall we play on +Saturday, or scratch the match?" + +The unanimous verdict was in favour of playing, whatever the result. + +"Of course we are never sure of Rollitt until we've got him," said he, +"so we may have to play without him." + +"Would Stratton play for us?" asked some one. + +"No, don't let's go outside and ask masters. We're in for a licking; +but we'll make the best fight we can." + +So yet another notice appeared on the board before nightfall. + +"The School team on Saturday will consist of the following." (Here +followed the names, all, of course, on the Classical side.) + +"A meeting of the clubs is summoned for October 3, at four p.m., in +Hall." + +Of these two announcements the first amused, the second perplexed the +good young men of the Modern side. The new fifteen consisted half of +raw outsiders who had never played in a first-class match before, and +were utterly unknown to fame on the football field. But the summons for +October 3 was puzzling. Did it mean a general row, or was the captain +going to resign, or was an attempt to be made to expel the mutineers? + +Clapperton did not like it. He had expected Yorke would have come to +terms before now, and it disconcerted him to see that, on the contrary, +the captain seemed determined to carry the thing through. + +The only thing, of course, was for the Moderns to abstain in a body from +the meeting. But could they depend on their forces to obey their +leaders? It was all very well to compel four players to refuse to act; +but to constrain 120 boys to do the same was a less easy task. + +It seemed to Clapperton that he would do best to strike the iron while +hot; and for that purpose he made a descent next morning into the +quarters of his fag. If he could secure the juniors, it would be +something. + +He found Percy there alone, diligently working. That young gentleman +had in fact been reminded in pretty forcible terms by Mr Forder that he +had not yet handed in his Latin letter of apology ordered a week ago. +Percy had hoped if he forgot it long enough Mr Forder would forget it +too, and it had startled and grieved him very much to-day to receive +notice that unless he brought his _poena_ in an hour he would be sent up +to the doctor. + +Consequently, while his comrades were out enjoying themselves, he was +here in a shocking bad temper, with a Latin Dictionary in front of him, +trying to express his contrition for having used bad language in class a +week ago. + +He had got a little way. Latin prose for a Modern junior is a trifle +thorny; but Percy had a rough and ready way with him which, if it did +not emulate Cicero, at least made his meaning tolerably clear. + +"Care Magistere Fordere, Ego sum excessive tristis ut ego usebam malam +linguam in classem alteram diem. Ego apologizo, et ego non facerebo +illud iterum. Ego spero ut vos voluntas prodonnere," (it took him some +time to arrive at this classical term for "you will forgive") "me hanc +tempus." + +This was all very well, but it only took up about six lines out of ten, +and he was in despair how to continue. His ideas, his temper, and his +Latin had all evaporated. When Clapperton entered, he did not even look +up. + +"Cut, whoever you are, and hang yourself," said he. + +"Hullo, Percy! What's the row with you?" + +"Don't talk to me," said Percy. "It's that beast Forder." + +"Where are the others? I want to talk to you youngsters." + +"How do I know where every ass in the place is? What do you want?" + +The tone in which the inquiry was made was not encouraging. + +"It's about the meeting next week. We don't mean to attend it." + +"Don't you? Our lot does. We're going. Rather." + +"It's a dodge of the other side. They're going to get the clubs into +their own hands, and we've decided none of our fellows shall go. Then +they can't do anything." + +"Can't they? You don't know my young brother Wally as well as I do. +He'll do something, bless you; but I rather fancy they won't have it all +to themselves. _We'll_ put a spoke in their wheels." + +"Look here, young Wheatfield," said Clapperton, put out by the +obtuseness of his fag, "the long and short of it is you're not to go. +You know what's happened. Our side has been snubbed and cut out of the +games by those fellows; and now they want to get us to come to their +precious meeting to help them collar the clubs." + +"That's just why I and my chaps are going to turn up," said Percy. +"We'll let them know!" + +"Do you hear what I say? You're not to go, you or any of them. If you +can't understand the reason, I dare say you'll understand a thrashing. +You'll get it unless you stand out like the rest of us." + +"I say, what's the Latin for `wrong,' Clapperton?" + +"Do you hear what I say?" + +"Yes, yes--is it `malus,' or `unrectus,' or what?" + +"Are you going to do what I tell you?" + +"How can I say what the chaps'll do?" + +"You must tell them; you're fags' captain. They must do what you tell +them." + +"I'd jolly well like to catch them not," said Percy, tossing his head: +"I'd teach 'em. I say, do you think `unrectus' will do?" + +"Remember, you'll get it pretty hot if you disobey in this, I promise +you." + +"Perhaps `malus' is better form," suggested the junior. + +Clapperton left in despair. + +"What a fearful ass I was," said Percy when he had gone, "not to make +him write my impot! Just like me. Catch our lot not going to that +meeting! We aint going to skulk. Whew! there goes the quarter to! I +shall never get done this brutal thing." + +"Id est malus non facere quad magister dicit. Vos voluntas laetus +audire ut Fellsgarthus liquebat Rendleshamus ad pedemballum super +Saturdaium durare," (Saturday last). "Nos obtenebanus unum goalum ad +nil quod non erat malum. Ego debeo nunc concludere. Ego sum vestrum +fideliter Perceius Granum agrum." (Percy flattered himself he knew the +correct Latin for his own name.) + +He had a rush to get this work of art over to Mr Forder in time, and +was considerably mortified to observe that the master did not seem at +all gratified by the performance. Just like Forder! the more you laid +yourself out to please him, the worse he was. + +"Leave it, sir. I'll speak to you to-morrow." + +"That means a licking," said Percy to himself. "I can see it in his +eye. All serene. That's his way of showing his gratitude." + +And he went back in a very bad temper to his own room, where his +comrades had arrived to greet him. + +"Why ever can't you chaps be in the way when you're wanted?" prowled +Percy. "There was Clapperton in here just now talking rot about the +meeting next week. What do you think? He says we're not to go to it." + +"Why not?" + +Percy in his lucid manner tried to explain. + +"All gammon," said Lickford. "If we're to be stopped going to Hall, we +shall be stopped grub next." + +This was an argument that went home. + +"If Clapperton had made it worth our while, you know," said Cottle, "it +might have been different. I don't care much about the meeting; but if +I stop away for him, I'll get something for it." + +This mercenary view of the subject was new to Percy, but he frankly +accepted it. + +"I tell you what," said he; "here, give us a pen; we'll just draw up a +few conditions. If he accepts them we'll stay away; if he don't, he may +hang himself before we sit out." + +After much deliberation, the following charter of six points was drawn +up and laid on Clapperton's table. + +"On the following conditions the undersigned will stop out of Hall on +October 3,--namely, to wit, viz., i.e.:-- + +"1. No more fagging. + +"2. Don't go to bed till 9:30. + +"3. A study a-piece. + +"4. The prefects shall be abolished. Any prefect reporting to Forder +to be kicked. + +"5. Except between 9:30 p.m. and 7:30 a.m. we do as we like. + +"6. That the four following Classic cads get their noses pulled; namely +Wheatfield, W., D'Arcy, Ashby, and Fisher minor. + +"If these are agreed to, we won't go to the meeting." + + (Signed by) Wheatfield, P., M.P. + Cottle, Major-General. + Lickford, D.D. + Ramshaw minor, F.S.A. + Cash, LL.D., etcetera, etcetera. + + + +CHAPTER THIRTEEN. + +CORDER TO THE FRONT. + +The morning of the return match with Rendlesham was damp and muggy, and +so assorted well with the spirits of Fellsgarth generally. + +The juniors of course were cheerful--everything came in the day's work +for them--but among the seniors on either side gloom prevailed. Even +Ranger, the lighthearted, was snappish, as his fag discovered; and +Denton, the amiable, hoped he would not, for his temper's sake, meet too +many Moderns between morning and evening. The captain, though he kept +up his usual show of serenity, was evidently worried. But he had no +notion of giving in. No! If the School was to be thrashed let them +take their thrashing like men, and not whine about like the "other +boys." + +"After all," said he to Ranger, "we may not get glory, but we needn't +lose it. Only, for goodness' sake, let us keep our rows to ourselves, +and not talk about them out of doors." + +"Right you are!" said his friend. "I wish I had your temper. The cads! +And after the way you've treated them, too. Why, some of us thought +you went out of your way to favour them." + +The captain grunted, and began to throw his flannels into his bag. + +"What about Rollitt?" he asked. + +"No go. He's gone off for a day's fishing." + +The captain whistled dismally. "Then we must play a man short. There's +no one else worth putting in. It's like marching to one's execution," +he said; "I wish it was all over. But it's only just beginning." + +The Moderns were gloomy too. They had taken their course, and they must +stand by it now. When they came to reflect, it was not a particularly +glorious one, nor did it seem to promise much by way of compensation. +They were done out of football for the rest of the term; they were +reduced to a faction in Fellsgarth, and what was worse, they were +secretly doubtful whether they were quite as much in the right as they +tried to persuade themselves. + +They had taken their course, however, and must go on. + +"I suppose none of our side will go on the omnibus," said Brinkman. + +"Why not?" said Clapperton. "It will do them good to have spectators. +I shall go; not that I care about it, but just to assert my rights." + +"Hurrah for self-sacrifice!" said Fullerton. "If your principles will +allow you to take chicken and tongue sandwiches with you, I'll go too." + +"It's ten to one they'll try to prevent our going," said Dangle; "I hope +they'll try." + +When the two coaches drove up to carry the fifteen and the prefects and +other privileged boys to the scene of conflict, a good deal of surprise +was evinced at the appearance of Clapperton, Brinkman, Dangle, and +Fullerton, in ordinary costume, and without bags, ready to accompany the +party. + +Contrary to their expectations and hopes, no protest was made, and, as +far as the Classic seniors were concerned, no notice was vouchsafed +them. This was annoying, particularly as the juniors present took care +to call attention to their presence. + +"Look at 'em," cried Wally; "don't they look clever?" + +"Kicked out of the team--serve 'em right!" shouted Ashby. + +"Who's kicked out?" retorted the Modern fags. "It would take better +chaps than you to kick them out." + +"Don't you wish you could kick them in? They know better," retorted +Percy and Co. + +Amid such embarrassing comments, the four Modern heroes mounted to their +places. + +The cheers of their adherents hardly made up for the chilly welcome of +their travelling companions. Yorke, seeing Clapperton looking for a +place, politely moved up to make room, and then turned his back and +talked to Ranger. The other three were similarly cut off, Dangle +finding himself in between Fisher major and Denton, who talked across +him. Brinkman, on another coach, was tucked in among some rowdy Classic +middle-boys who were discussing the "strike" very vigorously among +themselves. As for Fullerton, he was lucky enough to get the seat +beside the driver, where, at any rate, he could count on one sympathetic +soul into whose ears to pour his occasional words of wisdom. + +Just as the first coach was starting, a shout was heard from across the +Green, and Corder, the Modern boy whose services were declined on the +previous occasion, equipped in an ulster and with his bag in his hand, +appeared signalling for the _cortege_ to wait. + +"Well! what is it?" demanded Dangle. + +"Is Yorke there? Yorke, can I play to-day?" + +"No, you can't," said Dangle in a menacing undertone. "None of us are +playing; you know that." + +"I don't see why I mayn't play if I have the chance," said Corder. "I +awfully want to play in the fifteen." + +"We're a man short," said Yorke. "You can play, Corder." + +"If you dare to come and play," said Dangle, still in a whisper, "you'll +find it so precious hot for yourself afterwards that you'll be sorry for +it." + +"Yorke says I may play," persisted Corder; "I don't see why I +shouldn't." + +"Cad! traitor! blackleg!" yelled Percy and Co., as they saw their man +mount the coach. + +"Ha, ha! got _one_ man among you who isn't a coward and a sneak, and-- +and a howling kid!" retorted Wally. "Gee up!" Whereat the whips +cracked and the happy party drove off. + +Corder was one of those obtuse youths who can never take in more than +one idea at a time. His present idea was football. He had come up this +term with a consuming ambition to get into the fifteen, and had played +hard and desperately to secure his end. Last week, when Brinkman was +obliged to retire, he thought his chance was come, and great was his +mortification when he found that his nomination was not accepted by the +captain. Still he didn't despair. When he saw the vacancies caused in +the team by the defection of the Moderns, his hopes rose again; but once +more they were dashed by the captain's announcement of a fifteen made up +wholly of Classics. + +To-day he had not had the heart to come out and see the coaches start, +and was moping in his own room, when some one brought in word that +Rollitt was not going to play after all, and that the team was setting +out a man short. + +Whereupon Corder dashed into his ulster, flung his flannels into his +bag, and tore out of his house just in time to secure for himself the +long-coveted honour, and find himself in the glorious position of +"playing for the School." + +How was such a fellow likely to trouble his head about strikes, and +protests, and organised desertion? + +Fortunately for the comfort of his journey, he had to pack himself away +on the floor between the feet of Ridgway and another of the team, who, +if they kicked him at all, only did it by accident or by way of +encouragement, and not as Dangle or Brinkman might have done, in spite. + +The rain was coming down pretty steadily by the time the party got to +their destination, and the gloom on the brows of the four Modern +prefects deepened as they looked up and speculated on the delights of +standing for an hour on the wet grass watching their rivals play. + +"Dangle," said Clapperton, "we must stop that cad Corder's playing at +all cost. It will upset everything. Come and talk to him." + +But Corder, perhaps with an inkling of what was in store for him, had +entrenched himself behind a number of other players, and in close +proximity to Ranger, who had evidently told himself off to see that the +last recruit of the fifteen was not tampered with. + +The signals of the two seniors were studiously not observed, and when +Dangle, getting desperate, said-- + +"Corder, half a minute; Clapperton wants you." Ranger interposed with-- + +"Come on, you fellows, it's time we got into our flannels," and +effectually checkmated the manoeuvre. + +"If he doesn't get paid out for this," growled Clapperton, "I'm precious +mistaken." + +"Yes; and the other fellows must see that he is. If this sort of thing +spreads, we may as well cave in at once." + +The Rendlesham fellows hovered about under shelter till the last moment, +grumbling at the weather, the grass, and the dock. At length the +Fellsgarth boys put in an appearance; sides were solemnly tossed for, +and the order to "spread out" was given. + +"Hullo!" said one of the Rendlesham men as he passed Clapperton and +Dangle, "why aren't you playing? Afraid of the cold?" + +"No, we scratched because--" + +"Have you got that big man down who was so hot in the scrimmages? I +forget his name. _He's_ not one of the delicate ones, I fancy." + +"No more are we; we're not playing because--" + +"Hullo! they're waiting," said the player, and went off, leaving the +explanation still unfinished. + +One of the last to run out was Corder. + +"You young cad," growled Clapperton as he passed; "take my advice and +don't play, unless--" + +"Come on, Corder--waiting," shouted Yorke. + +Corder obeyed like lightning. + +The match began disastrously for Fellsgarth. Within five minutes of the +kick-off, a run up by one of the Rendlesham quarter-backs carried the +ball right into the School lines, and a touch-down resulted. On a fine +day like last Saturday a goal would have been certain, but on the wet +grass, the try did not come off. But five minutes later, a drop-kick +from the middle of the field by the Rendlesham captain secured a +magnificent goal for the home team. + +Clapperton sneered. + +"What I expected," said he. "They'll be lucky if they don't lose a +dozen." + +Yorke, on the contrary, was cheering up. Bad as these opening ten +minutes had been, he fancied his team was not going to do so badly after +all. The new players were working like mad in the scrimmage. Ranger +was as quick on his feet in the wet as in the dry; and Corder at half- +back had been surprisingly steady. + +Before kicking off again he made one or two changes. He moved Ridgway, +who was a heavy weight, up into the forwards. Corder, greatly to his +delight, was entrusted with the goal, and Fisher major moved up to half- +back. The forwards were ordered on no account to break loose, but if +necessary to keep the ball among them till time was called. + +Then, with his well-known "On you go!" he lacked off. + +The ball was almost immediately locked up in a tight, fierce scrimmage. +The boys took the captain's advice with a vengeance, and held the ball +among their feet doggedly, neither letting it through on their side, nor +forcing it out on the side of the enemy. + +At length, however, it could be seen filtering out sideways, just where +the captain was hovering outside the scrimmage. + +"Let it come!" he whispered. "Look out, Ranger!" + +Next moment the ball was under his arm, and before any one realised that +the scrimmage was up, he was off with it and among the enemy's half- +backs. The half-backs knew Yorke of old, and closed upon him before he +could double or get round them. + +"Pass!" shouted Ranger. + +It was beautifully done, while Yorke was falling and Ranger brushing +past. The enemy's half-backs were not in it with the fleet Fellsgarth +runner, nor was their back; and to their own utter amazement, three +minutes later the School placed to their credit an easy goal. + +Then did Clapperton and Dangle and Brinkman gnash their teeth till they +ached, and Fullerton, standing near, had his gibe. + +"It was worth coming here in the rain to see that, wasn't it?" + +The match was not yet over. The Rendlesham men, startled into attention +by this unexpected rebuff, took care that such a misadventure should not +happen again, and making all the use they could of their superior +weight, bore down the scrimmages and forced the ball into the open. +Once they carried it through with a splendid rush, and their captain +picking it up under the very feet of the boys, ran it forward a few +yards, and took a drop-kick which missed by only a few inches. + +A little later came Corder's chance. He had lived all the term for this +moment. If he was taken back to Fellsgarth on a shutter he would not +care, so long as he did himself credit now. + +He had a clear field to start with, and was well out of touch before the +advance guard of the enemy bore down on him. Then it was a sight to see +him wriggle and dodge, and twist and turn in and out among them, +threading them like a needle through a string of beads, and slipping +through their hands like an eel. + +"Well played indeed, Corder!" cried Yorke. + +Oh, what music was in the sound! What would he not dare now! + +On he went, now diving under an arm, now staggering round a leg; now +jumping like a kangaroo against an opponent. The very sight of his +evolutions seemed to demoralise the Rendlesham men. They floundered and +slid on the slippery grass, and made wild grabs without ever reaching +him. It was really too ridiculous to be eluded by a raw hand like +this--and yet he eluded them. + +Half-way down the field he ran with a roar of applause at his back, and +only a handful of the enemy left ahead. How splendid if he could only +pass them, and make his record with a run from one goal to the other! + +Alas! a swoop from behind greeted the proud thought; two hands clawed at +his shoulders, and from his shoulders slipped to his waist, and from his +waist slid down to his ankles, where for a moment they held, and sent +the runner tripping over on his nose in the mud, with the ball spinning +away a yard ahead. + +It was all up. No! Fisher was on the spot, and at Fisher's heels +Ridgway. The Rendlesham backs flung themselves in the way, but only to +divert, not to stop their career. When Corder picked himself up and +rubbed the mud out of his eyes, the first thing he saw was Ridgway +sitting behind the enemy's line with the ball comfortably resting on his +knee! It was another for the School--perhaps a goal. + +Alas! on that ground the long side-kick was too much even for Yorke. It +shot wide, and Rendlesham breathed again. + +But the long and short of it was that the match was a tie; a goal and a +try to each side; and that to Corder belonged the credit of a big hand +in the lesser point. + +"Awfully well run, Corder," said the captain, as, time having been +called, the two walked off the field together. "You must play for us +again." + +After that, who should say life was not worth living? + +The very weather seemed to change for Corder. The sun came out, flowers +sprang up at his feet, birds started singing in the trees overhead. +What a letter he would have to write home to-morrow! The captain's pat +on the back sent a glow all through him. Who wouldn't be a Fellsgarth +chap after all? + +It scarcely damped his joy to perceive that neither Clapperton, Dangle, +nor Brinkman shared in the general congratulations, but looked more +black and threatening than ever as he passed. Pooh! what did he care +for that! + +How he enjoyed the glorious Rendlesham high tea, and the drive home in +the rain with everybody talking and laughing and rejoicing, singing +songs and shouting war-cries! He was quite sorry when it came to an +end, and he had to dismount and go over alone to his own house. + +He could hear the shouts and huzzas of the Classics across the Green as +Wakefield's turned out in a body to welcome their men. No one at +Forder's turned out to welcome him. The four prefects themselves had +not even waited for him. + +For the first time that day Corder felt himself wishing he had a little +sympathy in his jubilation. It was dull, when everybody over on the +other side was shouting himself hoarse, to hear not a "cheep" of +congratulation from his own fellows. + +However, it didn't matter much. He went to his room and changed, and +hoped his messmate Wilson would not be long in coming for supper and a +gossip. + +Wilson came presently, but his face was glum and his manner frigid. + +"Oh, here you are, old chap; I'm peckish. Did you hear about the match, +we--" + +"Shut up," said Wilson; "you're a cad. I don't want to talk to you." + +Corder put down his knife and fork, and looked up in amazement. This +from Wilson! He knew Clapperton was sore about it, but Wilson-- + +He went on eating while thinking it out, and Wilson ate too in silence, +and then rose to go. + +"Are you not going to prepare to-night?" + +"Yes, in Dangle's room." + +And Corder was left alone. + +This was too bad of Wilson--to-night of all nights. He would go and +look up Selby. Selby, he knew, would be interested in the day's news, +for had they not practised drop-kicks together for an hour a day all +this term? + +Selby was in, but not at all glad to see him. + +"Are you busy, old man?" asked Corder. + +"I don't want you here," said Selby. + +"Why, what's the row?" + +"Row? You're a sneak, that's the row. Cut!" + +Surely Selby must be out of sorts to talk like that. Corder stood in +the door for a moment, on the off-chance that his friend might be +joking. But no; Selby turned his back and began to read a book. + +This was getting monotonous. Corder returned to his study to think it +out a little more. His fag, Cash, was there looking for a paper. + +"Hullo, youngster! that you? We didn't get beaten after all, to-day, I +suppose you heard." + +Cash's reply was laconic, to say the least of it. He turned round and +put out his tongue. + +"None of your cheek, I say," said Corder, "or I'll--" + +"How _dare_ you speak to me!" said the junior; "you're a cad--I'm not +going to fag for a cad." + +And he vanished. + +Corder went to bed that night sorely perplexed. And his perplexity was +not relieved when he rose next morning and found a paper on his table +with the following genial notice:-- + +"Any boy in Forder's found speaking to Corder the sneak will be cut by +the house. By Order." + + + +CHAPTER FOURTEEN. + +THE SHOP OPENS. + +Robert--no one knew his surname--was a regular institution at +Fellsgarth. Pluralist and jack-of-all-trades as he was, he seemed +unable to make much of a hand at anything he took up. He was School +porter, owner of the School shop, keeper of the club properties, and +occasional School policeman; and he discharged none of his functions +well. The masters did not regard him with much confidence, the boys, +for the most part, did not care for him, the other men about the place +disliked him. And yet, as part and parcel of Fellsgarth, every one put +up with him. + +As has already been hinted, his management of the School shop had been a +conspicuous failure--both for himself and the young innocents who +squandered their substance on his tarts. He complained that he could +make no profit; and as his method for recouping himself was to supply +the worst possible article at the highest possible price, his young +customers neglected him and aggravated his loss. + +It was rumoured that another more questionable method of replenishing +his exchequer was by laying odds on the School games, which (as in the +case of the second Rendlesham match) did not always turn out in the way +he expected. This, however, was only rumour, and was not to be reckoned +among Bob's known transgressions, which were general stupidity, +surliness, unsteadiness, and an inveterate distaste for veracity. + +Such being his reputation, it astonished no one on the Monday following +the events recorded in the last chapter to see the shutters of the shop +at the Watch-tower Gate up, and a rudely scrawled announcement, "This +shop is closed." + +But what did cause astonishment was a subsequent announcement inscribed +in print letters:-- + +"This establishment will reopen on Wednesday under entirely new +management. Superior grub at greatly reduced prices. No more shoe- +leather or flat swipes! Best tarts 1 penny each; ditto ginger-beer 11/2 +pence a bottle. Fresh fruit and pastry daily. Rally round the old +shop! + +"By Order." + +Speculation ran high as to who the enterprising new tradesman could be. +Some said it was Mrs Wisdom. Others said one of the Penchurch shops +was going to run it as a branch. Others suggested that some of the +seniors had a hand in it. But the truth never once leaked out. + +Our nine juniors played an artful part in that day's business. They +mingled with the crowd in front of the notice, and freely bandied about +wild conjectures as to who the new manager or managers could be, at the +same time hinting broadly that _they_ intended to patronise the new +concern. + +"Tell you what," said D'Arcy, "perhaps it's the doctor wants to turn an +honest penny. Don't blame him either." + +"Perhaps it's Rollitt," suggested Cash, amid laughter. "What a game! +He'll go selling tarts by the pint and ginger-beer by the ounce. Whew! +think of Rollitt's ginger-beer." + +"I asked Bob if he knew who it was," said Wally, "and he said, `No, he +wished he did; he'd get something out of him for good-will.'" + +"What's that?" asked Ashby. "If he'd said bad temper, there might have +been some of that going about." + +"Anyhow," said Wally, "I rather fancy the thing myself. The things +can't be worse than they have been, and if they're fresh every day, +they're bound to be better, and the tarts are a halfpenny less, and so's +the ginger-pop." + +"Hooroo!" said Cottle; "you can get half as much again for the same +money. I wish they'd open to-day." + +After which, one by one they tailed off, leaving a general impression +behind them that whoever else was in the secret, these nine young +innocent lambs were not. + +Matters had not advanced to this stage without considerable +deliberation. Several committee meetings had been held, some of which, +under Mr Stratton's presidency, had been of a practical nature, others, +without his controlling presence, had ended in dust. On the whole, +however, the young merchant adventurers had exhibited a reasonable grasp +of their responsibilities and an aptitude for dealing with the necessary +details. + +One point discussed was whether the shop should be open all day, or only +at certain times. Mr Stratton was in favour of the latter. He urged +that during the off hours between eleven and twelve, and in the +afternoon between four and six, would be ample. + +The committee argued, from personal experience, that there were other +hours of the day when a fellow felt in the humour for a "blow out." To +this Mr Stratton replied, "Let him `blow out' by all means, but not on +the company's premises. He could do his shopping during shop hours, and +`blow out' with his purchases at any hour of the day or night the School +rules permitted. They couldn't undertake to provide a banqueting hall +for their customers." + +"But," urged the committee, "if you have a shopman, why not get your +money's worth out of him?" + +"Why waste our money on a shopman at all?" propounded Mr Stratton to +his astounded fellow-directors. "Why not take turns behind the counter +ourselves; say one of the Wheatfields and Cash one week, and Cottle and +Ashby the next, and so on? The hours proposed were not school hours; +and though the persons on duty might occasionally be done out of a game, +still it would fall on all alike, and would be a little sacrifice for +the common good." + +"But," said Percy, whose hair was on end at this tremendous proposition, +"suppose Wally--that is, I mean, wouldn't it be necessary to count the +tarts before each chap went on duty and see how many there were at the +end?" + +"It might with you and your lot," retorted Wally, very red in the face. +"It'd be best to have a weighing machine handy and charge you 8 pence a +pound for every pound extra you weighed at the end of the day!" + +"We'll neither count nor weigh," said Mr Stratton; "we'll trust to +every fellow's honour. Why, if we couldn't do that, do you suppose the +shop would keep open a week?" + +This impressed the meeting vastly, and the discussion was changed to the +question of profits. + +The boys were in favour of screwing all they could out of their +customers. They didn't see why, if Bob sold bad tarts for three- +halfpence, they shouldn't sell good ones at least for the same price. + +"It's giving it to 'em both ends," said they. + +"Why not?" said the master. "We want the fellows to get the benefit. +We don't want all the profit. As it is, we shall make a farthing on +every tart we sell. We ought to sell four times as many as Bob did, +oughtn't we?" + +"Quite that," said they. + +"Very well; see how that works out." + +And Mr Stratton took his chalk and worked out this sum on the black- +board:-- + +12 bad tarts at 11/2 pence = 1 shilling, 6 pence, cost 9 pence, profit 9 +pence. + +48 good tarts at 1 penny = 4 shillings, cost 3 shillings, profit 1 +shilling. + +"You see," said he, "if we can only increase the demand, we shall easily +make Bob's profit, and more. Having good tarts will increase it in one +way, and selling cheap will increase it another. It's worth trying, +anyhow." + +And so the deliberations went on, and the boys' minds gradually took on +the new idea. + +The thirty shillings, Mr Stratton reported, had been advanced, and Mrs +Stratton was appointed a subcommittee to lay it out. A method of +accounts was arranged. The first day's stock was to be charged at the +selling price to the shopman for the day. At the end of the day he was +to hand over to the treasurer the money he had taken and what was left +of the stock, which two items together ought to make up the sum of his +responsibility. It was felt that in a very few days the committee would +ascertain pretty nearly what quantity of each article was consumed, and +would be able to order accordingly. Any deficiency was to be set down +to bad management, and no other reason; and any shopman deficient three +days running was to forfeit his right to officiate again during that +term. + +Lots were solemnly drawn for the distinction of opening the shop, and +the choice fell on D'Arcy, and Lickford, who for the next day or two +went about shaking in their shoes. As the day drew nearer, the venture +seemed a tremendous one, and Mr Stratton had to use all his powers of +encouragement to keep his colleagues from not taking fright at the last +moment. + +"It will all go swimmingly, you'll see," said he. "I will hold myself +in readiness to come down and back you up if there's the least hitch, +but I shall be greatly disappointed if you need me." + +The last act of the committee before commencing proceedings was to draw +up a manifesto, which was copied out and duly affixed to the notice +boards and the shop-shutters on the morning of the opening. + +_Under the distinguished patronage of Mr and Mrs Stratton_. + + The Fellsgarth Shop will be opened this day from 11 to 12, + And 4 To 8, + and daily (sundays excepted) till further notice. + The following prime goods, at the cheap prices affixed. + [Here followed a list of the stores.] + Ready money. No tick. Change given. + no more stomach-ache!! + Real jam! + Ripe fruit! + Fresh pastry! + All the season's novelties. Nothing stale. + Boys of Fellsgarth-- + Come in your thousands! + No risk to man or boy. + No favour. + Masters and fags treated alike. + All the profits for the clubs. + Treasurer, Mrs Stratton. + Managing directors, Nine gentlemen, Carefully Selected. + President, Mr Stratton. + Plenty for all. No questions asked. + All are welcome. + Come early and stay late. + + _By Order_. + +This soul-stirring manifesto, which had the hearty approval both of the +president and treasurer (who carefully revised the spelling), threw some +satisfactory light on the mystery. Who were the "carefully selected +gentlemen" was still obscure, although it was generally held that +Fellsgarth only contained nine individuals answering to that particular +description. What was more important was that Mr and Mrs Stratton +were at the back of the venture. If so, it was not a swindle, and the +grub was pretty sure to be right. The new price list, moreover, was +very satisfactory, and on the whole the hours were approved of. + +When the eleven o'clock bell sounded, on the Wednesday morning, a +general movement was made for the Watch-Tower Gate, where, firmly +entrenched behind a clean counter piled up with the good things a +schoolboy holds dear, demurely stood D'Arcy and Lickford, looking very +anxious and scared. + +At judiciously selected points among the crowd their friends looked on +sympathetically. + +After the laughter which had greeted the discovery had died away, an +awkward pause ensued. No one exactly liked to start. The seniors +present felt their dignity would be compromised. The middle-boys did +not like to do what the seniors were too shy to do. The juniors were +afraid some one might laugh if they led off. Consequently for a minute +or two every one stared at the two shopmen, who cast down their eyes, +and blushed and simpered. + +At length, however, the ice was broken in a very pretty way. For Mrs +Stratton on her way out of the school looked in, and taking in the +situation, advanced to the counter and said-- + +"A bottle of ginger-beer, if you please, Lickford." + +Lickford, who, to use his own polite phrase, was "bossing the drinks and +fruit" for the day, nearly tumbled down with the shock of this sudden +challenge, and made a wild grab at the nearest bottle within reach. The +eyes of Fellsgarth were upon him; he lost his head entirely, and made +herculean efforts to draw the cork without loosing the wire. His +contortions were terrible. + +When he could not hold the bottle firm enough between his knees, he +tried gripping it between his feet. Then in a hot whisper he besought +D'Arcy to hang on to the end, and for a time the bottle was invisible +under the two. Then he took another, amid the enthusiastic cheers of +the spectators, and was proceeding to release the corkscrew from the +refractory vessel, when Mrs Stratton said in her pleasant way-- + +"I see you keep the new kind of bottles that have the corks wired down. +They are much better than the old, and it's very little trouble undoing +the wire." + +This saved Lickford. In a moment the wire was removed, and the cork +burst out triumphantly, even before it was pulled, showering a grateful +froth of fizz into the waistcoat of the operator. + +"It's beautifully well up. Thank you, Lickford, how much?" said Mrs +Stratton. + +"They're a shilling a dozen. I mean three-halfpence each," said D'Arcy. +"We can give you change." + +"Here's twopence. I'll take a halfpenny apple. That will make it +right, won't it?" + +And amid loud cheers she departed. + +The ice thus broken, a rush took place, as Ridgway, who was poetical, +said-- + +"Fellows may step in where angels didn't fear to tread." + +Then did D'Arcy and Lickford pant and perspire, and wish they had never +been born. Hands reached in from all sides, and helped themselves to +cakes and tarts, and coppers showered in on them from nobody could tell +where. + +They found themselves handing change out into space, and sowing sweets +broadcast among the crowd. + +The other directors meanwhile, as in duty bound, nobly rallied round +them, and added to their embarrassment. + +"Walk up, walk up!" shouted Wally. "Try our brandy-balls, eight a +penny. Eight brandy-balls for Dalton; you chaps, look sharp. Change +for a sov. for Clapperton; beg pardon, sixpence (didn't know he kept +such small coins). Hullo, hullo! stand by for my young brother Percy! +He's just a-going to begin. Fifteen jam tarts, half a pound of +peppermints, half a dozen ginger-beer. Bite his money hard, D'Arcy; see +there are no bad 'uns. I know the chap!" + +"Bah! I hope they've got better toffee here than that muck you make," +said Percy. + +"Come, wake up!" cried Cash. "I've been waiting five minutes for my +cake." + +"Can't have 'em; we've run out," said D'Arcy. + +"Well, you must be a green one only to get such a few," said a middle- +boy, who had also built his hopes on the same delicacy. + +"Very sorry," said Percy to the company generally. "You must excuse +these chaps--raw hands--they don't know how to manage at present. Give +'em time. They'll do better; won't you, Lickford? Takes some time to +get a notion into Lickford's head, but when it gets there, my word, it +sticks. Get in a double lot of cakes to-morrow, do you hear, or I shall +give you the sack." + +Despite these pleasant recriminations the business went on merrily. The +"tuck" was pronounced a great advance on anything Robert had provided, +and rumours of its excellence penetrated into quarters which had never +contributed customers to the old shop. + +In the afternoon the crowd was less, but the business more steady. Mr +Stratton dropped in for a slice of cake, and Mrs Wakefield and the +three little Wakefields came to patronise the undertaking. One or two +fellows, too, sent their fags to secure "extras" for tea, and one or two +left orders for another day. Inquiries were made, moreover, for certain +articles, such as lemons, tea-cakes, etcetera, which the shopmen took a +note of as worth laying in a stock of. And the lack of demand for a few +of the things they had, suggested to the same astute young merchants +that they might be dispensed with in future. + +Of course, a few boys tried to interfere with the regulations by +demanding "tick," and wanting to make bargains. But they were promptly +met by a _non possumus_ from the directors present, and finally brought +to reason by being referred to Mr Stratton. + +The day passed without the necessity of any appeal to the president. An +anxious consultation was, however, held in his room after closing time. +Naturally, owing to the exceptional rush, the accounts were a little +out, but as they happened to be on the right side this was a matter for +congratulation rather than distress. Nearly two pounds had been taken, +and the stock left on hand was valued at five shillings, so that +actually it was possible to repay half of the thirty shillings lent, +after the very first day. Mr Stratton, however, advised that only ten +shillings should be repaid this time, and the other five shillings put +into a reserve fund, in case of need. + +"Of course, you can't expect to do as big a business as this every day," +said he. "It will settle down to a regular jog-trot in a few days, and +then we shall be able to judge much better how we stand. I shall be +very well satisfied if we make about five shillings clear a day." + +"I think you boys have started very well," began the treasurer, but her +husband held up his finger admonishingly. + +"I should have been very disappointed with them if they had not," said +he. "It's easy enough to start, the thing will be to keep it up." + +"Remember," he added, "it will be better not to brag out of doors about +our profits or that sort of thing. It will be time enough to talk about +that when we are able to hand over a good lump sum to the clubs. Now +it's time you went to preparation. Good night all." + +"I tell you what," said Lickford to his fellow-shopman as they walked +across the Green, "we shall have to be pretty smart to-morrow if we're +to get to the club meeting." + +"Why," said D'Arcy, "I thought none of you Modern cads were going to +show up?" + +"We heard you'd all funked it," said Wally. + +"I don't blame them," said Ashby; "they've not much to be proud of, +those Modern chaps." + +"Never mind," said Fisher minor, "Fellsgarth can get on well enough +without them." + +The party came to a halt and regarded one another seriously, and Percy +said-- + +"Whoever told you we weren't going to turn up, told crams. We're +coming. We'll see you don't have it all to yourselves, rather!" + +"My eye, won't you get licked for it! Nice to belong to a house where +you mayn't sneeze unless your senior lets you." + +"Go on! Shut up! See if you can't canvass a bit. That's what you're +best at--that, and getting it hot on the hands for cheating." Whereupon +the troops separated. + +The taunts of the Classics made their rivals wince, despite their +affected contempt. To-morrow was the day of the meeting; and between +now and then they must decide whether or not they would obey their own +seniors and stay away, or revolt and take the consequences. The +unanimous opinion was in favour of revolt, unless Clapperton made it +uncommonly worth their while to obey. + +They were not destined to remain long in doubt, for the senior invaded +their quarters that very evening. + +"Just remember, you youngsters," said he, "no one is going to the +meeting to-morrow from our side." + +"Oh?" + +"Any fellow who goes will get it hot, I promise him." + +"Ah! What about our conditions? What have you done about them?" + +"Put them in the coal-scuttle; and I've a good mind to put all five of +you there too, for your impudence." + +"Ah!" + +The captain turned on his heel, with a final warning. + +"That settles it, you chaps," said Percy, when he had gone. "We go." + +"Rather," replied everybody. + + + +CHAPTER FIFTEEN. + +SOMETHING WRONG IN THE ACCOUNTS. + +Fisher major sat in his study after morning class, next morning, the +picture of boredom and perplexity. Lists of names, receipt-books, cash- +box, bills, and account-books were littered on the table before him. +Between these and a cobweb on the ceiling his troubled looks travelled, +as he gnawed the end of his pen, and passed his fingers aimlessly +through his hair. + +There was something wrong; and what it was he could not for the life of +him make out. To any one familiar with Fisher major's business--or, +rather, unbusiness--habits, there was nothing wonderful in that. He was +happy-go-lucky in all his dealings. He could receive a subscription one +day, and only remember, in a panic, to enter it a week after. His money +he kept all over the place; some in his desk, some in the cash-box, some +in the drawer of his inkstand. He had a vague idea that he had a +special reason for dividing it thus--that one lot may have belonged to +the School clubs, another to the House clubs, and another to something +else. But which was which it passed his wit to remember. + +He had had his doubts of the business all along. His friends had urged +him to take the office, and with their help he had persuaded himself its +duties were simple and easily discharged. He had determined he would do +the thing thoroughly well. He had bought these account-books out of his +own private purse, and spent an evening in beautifully ruling them in +red ink, with one column for the date, one for the name, and three for +pounds, shillings, and pence. He had procured two letter-files, +labelled respectively "Club" and "House," into which to put his +receipts. And he had provided himself with a dozen elastic bands and an +equal number of paper-fasteners. What more could a treasurer desire? + +Alas! the beautiful account-books got mixed up with one another, the +letter-files remained empty, and the elastic bands somehow did duty as +football garters. The Club accounts were scrawled, for the most part, +in pencil on the backs of envelopes, awaiting a grand transcription into +the books; and the receipts, pending a similar fortunate time, where +huddled away in the drawer with Greek verses and letters from the people +at home. + +Things had now come to a pass. The captain had yesterday suggested +that, in view of the meeting to-day, it would be well to have the +accounts made up, so as to be able, if called upon, to state exactly how +they stood financially. + +"All serene," said Fisher; "I'll let you have the lot in ten minutes." + +It was now considerably more than ten hours since the rash undertaking +had been given, and the accounts were considerably more confused than +they had been when Fisher sat down to square them. + +The Club and House accounts were hopelessly mixed. Some fellows +appeared to have paid several times over to both funds, and others not +once to either. Worse than that, Fisher could not find his memorandum +of what he had paid out in small disbursements since term began. Still +worse, when he did come in desperation to lump both funds together, and +deduct the total amount he had spent, he found himself between L4 and L5 +out of pocket! + +That was the serious discovery which, on this particular morning, was +preying on his spirits and making him look a picture of bewilderment. + +"I'm bothered if I can make it out," said he to himself. "Everybody's +marked down as paid--I remember noticing that weeks ago. At that rate I +ought to have L25 for the Clubs, and L9 12 shillings for the House. +Yes, that's right--I had that; there's a note of it; three lots--L15 7 +shillings 6 pence on September 1, L7 2 shillings 6 pence on September +13, and L12 2 shillings on another day--that makes the total. There you +are. Why on earth did I put them away in separate lots? Then I paid L5 +for the new goals, and something else--what was it? Oh, that was for +the House balls--oh, but we are lumping the two together. What was it? +I know, 17 shillings 6 pence--that's L5 17 shillings 6 pence; and +something else, I know, came to a pound--L6 17 shillings 6 pence. Take +that from L34 12 shillings, leaves L27 14 shillings 6 pence--and I've +only got L22 18 shillings 6 pence! Where, in the name of wonder, has +the rest gone?" + +And once more the dismal operation of adding up, counting, and +subtracting began anew, with the same, or almost the same, result--there +was a mistake of something like L4 10 shillings, whichever way you +looked at it. + +Dalton, who came in presently, could throw no further light on the +problem. He added up the columns, counted the money, subtracted the +payments and arrived at the same result. + +Had the difference been smaller, it might have been accounted for by a +few subscriptions omitted or a few payments not entered. But L4 10 +shillings was too big a sum to leak away by accident; and, with the +exception of the new goals, Fisher major was confident nothing had been +spent approaching the figure. + +Dalton then proposed a fresh hunt through the study, in case the missing +sum might be hidden for safety in some corner. So the room was turned +upside down; the bed-clothes were shaken out, pockets searched, books +turned over, tea-pots peered into; but all to no purpose. + +The captain looked in while the search was proceeding. + +"Have you got the-- Hullo, what's up?" + +"Why," said Fisher major, "there's a discrepancy. We ought to have L27 +14 shillings 6 pence, and there's about L4 10 shillings short." + +"Do you mean that's missing in the Club accounts?" + +"Well, either in that or the House clubs, or in both lumped together. I +say, I wish you'd add that up, there's a good fellow. The addition may +be wrong." + +But no; the captain made it the same as Dalton. + +Ranger and Ridgway dropped in while the audit was in progress, and were +promptly pounced upon to add the columns too. Evidently the mistake was +not there. They made the total precisely the same. + +"It must be in the payments, then," said Fisher. So the whole party sat +down, and scrutinised the hapless treasurer's bills and vouchers, and, +after allowing him the benefit of every imaginable doubt, still brought +the deficit out at the same uncompromising figure. + +"Let's have another look round," suggested Fisher. So once more the +study was turned topsy-turvy, and every nook and cranny searched. But +no money was there, nor any sign of it. + +The captain looked grave. + +"It's precious awkward," said he. + +"It's sure to turn up," said Fisher. "I'll go over the whole thing +again, and have the room searched." + +"Meanwhile," said Ranger, "it's to be hoped no questions are asked by +the fellows opposite." + +"Not much chance; I hear they are none of them going to turn up," said +Dalton. + +"That's their look-out," responded the captain. + +Much to their disgust, Ashby and Fisher minor were summoned from the +vicinity of the shop that morning to assist the treasurer in his +hopeless search. They did not mind turning a study upside down on their +own account, but they strongly objected to have to do it for any one +else. + +Fisher major did not at first vouchsafe much information with regard to +the missing object. + +"Look round everywhere," said he, "and see if you see anything." + +Ashby looked, and said he saw a lot of things. + +"I mean money, of course," said the treasurer. + +Whereupon the two simultaneously made a grab at the loose cash on the +table, declaring they had found it first go off. + +"No--not that. It's some that's missing." + +"How much?" asked Ashby. + +"Never mind--a pound or two." + +"Are you sure it's about in the room?" + +"That's what I want you to look and see, you young donkey!" + +"Two pounds," said Ashby; "was it all in silver?" + +"No--it was three or four pounds--about L4 10. I don't know what it was +in." + +"Four pound ten--that's a lot," said the young brother. "I thought you +said you were hard up?" + +"So I did. It's not my money, but the club's. What's that to do with +it? I want you to see if you can find it while I'm down in class." + +Whereupon they set to work. They emptied the contents of every drawer +in a glorious heap on the floor. They shook out his socks, and turned +the pockets of all his coats inside out. They pulled his bed about the +room, and shook out all his sheets. They raked out his fire, and prised +up a loose board in the floor. They emptied his basins into his bath, +and investigated the works of his eight-day clock. But high or low they +could find no money. + +Fisher's study did not get over that morning's quest in a hurry. When +the owner returned, he wished devoutly he had never been ass enough to +confide the task to a couple of raw Goths like these. Whatever chance +there may have been before of discovering any mislaid article, it was +now hopelessly and irredeemably gone. + +He dismissed the two youngsters with a kick, which they felt to be very +ungrateful after all the trouble they had taken. Limp in spirits and +grimy in personal appearance, they crawled away to the shop to console +themselves with ginger-beer and a cheese-cake. + +"Hullo," said Lickford, as they arrived, "what have you been up to? +Sweeping the chimneys? I heard they wanted it on your side. What'll +you have? We've been doing prime. Where have you been?" + +"We've been hunting about in my senior's study for some club money +that's lost; about four pou--" + +"Shut up!" said Ashby, nudging his companion. "What do you want to blab +all over the place about it for?" + +"How much?--four pounds?" said a voice near; and looking round, to their +horror they saw Dangle. + +"All right," said Ashby, trying to save the situation, "it's bound to +turn up. He stuck it in a specially safe place, and can't remember +where. Look sharp with the ginger-beer, young Lickford." + +"Money down first," said Lickford. "Catch me trusting any of you +Classic chaps with tick! You've got no tin generally, to begin with, +and then you go and lose it." + +"That's better than stealing it," retorted Ashby. + +"The thing is," said Dangle, breaking in on these pleasant +recriminations, "it wouldn't matter if it was Fisher's own money that +was lost. But it belongs to all of us." + +"I tell you he's found it by now," said Ashby. Then, turning to Fisher +minor, he whispered, "you howling young ass, you've done it! Now +there'll be a regular row, and your brother will have you to thank for +it!" + +"Don't blame him," said Dangle. "It's quite right of him to tell the +truth." + +With which highly moral pronouncement the Modern senior strolled away. + +Lickford was too much engrossed by a sudden influx of customers to +improve the occasion; and Fisher minor, who never enjoyed ginger-beer +less in his life, was allowed to depart in peace to meditate on the evil +of his ways, and the possible hot water he had been preparing for his +brother. + +He had sense enough to reflect that he had better make a clean breast of +it to his brother at once. + +To his surprise, the latter took the news that Dangle had heard of the +deficiency in the accounts more quietly than he had expected. + +"I do wish you'd hold your tongue out of doors about things that don't +concern you," said he. + +"Will Dangle get you into a row?" asked Fisher minor. + +"Dangle? I'm not responsible to him more than to any one else. The +money's lost; and unless I can find it or make out where the mistake +comes in, I shall have to stump up--that's all." + +"But, I say, you haven't got money enough," said the boy. + +"I know that, you young duffer." + +"Whatever will you do?" + +Fisher major laughed. + +"I shan't steal it, if that's any comfort to you; and I shan't cook the +accounts." + +"I say, I wonder if Rollitt could lend it you. He must have some money, +for he paid for Widow Wisdom's new boat, you know." + +"I heard of that. I wish I saw my way to paying my debts as well as he +did." + +"I say, shall I ask him?" + +"Certainly not. The best thing you can do is to shut up." + +Fisher minor felt very grateful to his brother for not thrashing him, +and went in to afternoon school meekly, though out of spirits. + +"Well," said D'Arcy, as he took his place, "what's the latest? Who are +you going to get into a mess now! Has Yorke been swindling anybody +lately, or Ranger been getting tight! You're bound to have some story +about somebody." + +"I didn't mean-- It's not wicked to lose money," pleaded Fisher minor. +"I never thought--" + +"That's just it," said Wally. "You couldn't if you tried. Dangle will +make a nice thing out of it, thanks to you. Classic treasurer been and +collared Modern boys' money--that sort of thing--and they'll kick him +out and stick in one of their own lot, and call it triumph of honesty. +Oh, you beauty; you _can_ do things nicely when you try?" + +"I wish I'd never come up here at all," moaned Fisher minor. + +"Humph. That would have been a bad go for Fellsgarth," said D'Arcy. +"Shut up--Forder's looking. If we're lagged we shan't get in to the +meeting." + +The dreaded misadventure did not occur; and punctually at the hour our +four young gentlemen trooped into Hall. Everything was very quiet +there. The place was only half full. The Classics had turned up in +force, but the mutineering house was so far unrepresented. Presently, +however, five juvenile figures might be seen marching arm in arm across +the Green, keeping a sharp look-out on every side. + +Before they arrived in Hall, a solitary figure wearing the Modern +colours had made his way up to the seniors' end. It was Corder, looking +very limp and haggard, and with a savage flash of the eyes which told +how ill "Coventry" was agreeing with his spirits. The cheers, with +which he was greeted, due quite as much to his pluck in coming to-day as +to his exploit at the match last Saturday, appeared to disconcert rather +than please him, and he took a corner seat as far as possible from the +Classic seniors present. When, however, Percy and Co. entered the Hall, +a much livelier demonstration ensued. Cheers and compliments and pats +on the back showered fast on the youthful "blacklegs," and tended +greatly to exaggerate in their own eyes the importance of their action. + +"We shall get jolly well welted for it, you fellows," said Percy, with +all the swagger of a popular martyr. "Never mind; we aren't going to be +done out of Hall for anybody." + +"At any rate, they won't hurt _you_ for it," cried Wally, disparaging. +"Kids like you won't hurt." + +"We've come to see you cads don't get it all your own way," said Cash. +"That's what we've come for!" + +"Ho, ho! Hope you've brought your lunch. You'll be kept here a day or +two, if you're going to wait for that!" + +When Yorke and the other prefects arrived on the scene there were, of +course, loud cheers; but as the opposition was not there to make any +counter-demonstration, it was not quite as noisy as on former occasions. + +Percy did, indeed, attempt to get up a little opposition at this stage +by calling for "three cheers for the Moderns"; but as he was left to +give them by himself--even his own adherents declining to be drawn into +cheers for Clapperton--the display fell rather flat. + +The captain's speech was short and to the point. Of course they knew +why the meeting was called. There had been mutiny at Fellsgarth. +Fellows had deliberately set themselves against his authority as +captain, which was a minor thing, and against the success of Fellsgarth +in sports, which was a low and shabby thing. (Cheers.) He wasn't going +to mention names; but he meant to say this, that they had much better +dissolve the club right away--(No, no)--than not all pull together. +Last Saturday, as every one knew, they had been left utterly in the +lurch; and but for good luck, and the good play of some of the fifteen-- +amongst whom, he was glad to say, was one fellow who had had the pluck +to act on his own judgment of what was due to the School--(loud and +prolonged cheers, in the midst of which Corder perked up, and looked +pleased)--they had held their own with a very scratch team. They +couldn't expect to do as much again--(Why not?)--and it _was not_ fair +to the School to play matches without all their best men in the team. +The proposal he had to make was that unless the fellows now standing out +chose to return to their allegiance to the School within a week, all +future matches for the term should be scratched, and the club dissolved. + +The captain's proposal caused considerable consternation. Ridgway rose, +and said he considered the motion dealt far too leniently with the +mutineers. He would say, drum them out of the club, and reorganise +without them. + +Denton asked if it would not be more honest and straightforward to +summon them to the next match, and if they didn't turn up give them the +thrashing they deserved? + +Fisher major said he supported the captain's proposal. It was nonsense +their playing with scratch teams, and letting it be supposed that was +the best the School could do. Some of the fellows on strike were no +doubt good players, and that made it all the more discreditable of them +to try to damage the School record by crippling the team. They no doubt +hoped that they would be begged to rejoin on their--own terms. Rather +than that, he was in favour of disbanding the club, and letting the +fellows devote their energy to running and jumping, and other sports, +where each fellow could distinguish himself independently of what any +others chose to do. (Hear, hear.) + +Ranger also supported Yorke's motion. Very likely the mutineers would +crow, and say the club couldn't get on without them. No more they +could, in a sense. But he, for one, was not going to ask them to come +back, and would sooner break up the club, and let them have the +satisfaction of knowing they had injured Fellsgarth. + +Amid loud cheers Corder followed. He was sorry, he said, there was to +be no more football, but supposed there was nothing else they could do. +He was glad to see some Moderns present, even though they were only +juniors. (Laughter.) It showed that there were some fellows on the +Modern side that stuck by the School. He fancied these youngsters could +take care of themselves. He was glad to hear a human voice again. +(Laughter.) It might be fun to some present, but he could assure them +it was none to him. No one had spoken to him for four days. He was cut +by his house, and had to thank even some of the juniors present for +assisting to make his life in Forder's miserable. He didn't care much, +so far. They might make him cave in, in the long run. (No! Stick +out!) Let the fellow who cried "Stick out," come and try it. His only +offence had been that he had played for the School. To do anything for +the School was now considered a crime on the Modern side. (Shame.) +Anyhow, he should vote for the captain's motion; and though he wasn't +particularly sweet on the Classics as a body, he was beginning to think +they weren't quite as bad as his own side. + +Percy hereupon rose, amid derisive cheers. He didn't know why the names +of him and his lot had been brought in; but he just wanted to say that +they were here to-day because they had a right to come, and weren't +going to be kept out by anybody--not if they knew it. (Rather not!) He +and his lot thought there wasn't much to choose between anybody, +especially the juniors of the Classic side, who thought they were jolly +clever, but were about the biggest stuck-uppest louts he-- (Order. Kick +him out.) He hoped the meeting would rally round the School shop, where +every one was treated alike, and got the best grub for the money of any +school going. They were going to get some Ribston-- (Order. Time.) +All right. They shouldn't hear what he was going to say now. (Loud +cheers.) + +Yorke said they all seemed to be pretty much of the same mind; and he +would put his motion to the vote. + +This accordingly was done, and carried without a dissentient voice. + + + +CHAPTER SIXTEEN. + +A BELEAGUERED GARRISON. + +The decision arrived at by the club meeting speedily came to the ears of +the recalcitrant Moderns, and by no means pleased them. They had +expected at least that some one would propose that they should be met +half-way, and appealed to, for the sake of the School, to abandon their +attitude. That would have given them an opportunity of figuring in an +heroic light before Fellsgarth, and showing how, for the general good, +they could afford even to overlook the slight which had been put upon +them. + +But now, so far from that, they figured as the party who had wrecked the +School clubs for the sake of a petty pique, and in their absence had +been quietly deposed along with every one else from office and +privilege, and left looking uncommonly foolish and uncommonly +ridiculous. + +Yorke himself hardly realised, when he made his downright motion, that +he was dealing the hardest blow possible at the mutiny. A mutiny is all +very well as long as there is some one to mutiny against. But now, even +this luxury was denied them. + +Naturally the wrath of Clapperton and his friends fell on the traitors +in their own camp whose presence at the meeting had made it impossible +to discredit it as entirely one-sided in its composition. + +That Corder would go, every one was prepared for. He had laid up for +himself yet one more rod in pickle, and should punctually taste its +quality. + +But the mutiny of the juniors was a surprise. No one imagined that +their threats at revolt were anything more than the ordinary bluster in +which these young braves notoriously dealt. Had they sinned in +ignorance it would have mattered less. But they had gone to the meeting +in deliberate defiance of their captain's order, and in the face of his +warning as to what the consequences of disobedience would be. + +The discipline of the house was at an end if a flagrant act of +insubordination like this was to be allowed to pass unnoticed. Besides, +if allowed to spread, other fellows would go over to the enemy, and the +"moral" effect of the strike would be at an end. + +A peremptory summons was therefore dispatched to Percy and his friends +to appear before the prefects of their house that same evening. + +"That all?" inquired Percy of the middle-boy who brought the message. +"We hear you. You needn't stop." + +"I'll tell him you'll come?" said the messenger. + +"I don't mind what you tell him. Cut out of our room, that's all. We +aren't particular, me and my chaps; but we draw the line at louts." + +"He says if you don't come--" + +"What's to prevent him saying anything he likes? Look here, young +Gamble," (Gamble was at least two years the senior of any boy present), +"if you don't cut your sticks, they'll be cut for you. So there." + +Gamble gave a general invitation to the party to come and try to tamper +with his sticks, and departed with a final caution as to the +desirability of obeying their captain. + +"Lick," said Percy, when he had gone, "how much grub have we got in the +room?" + +"What are you talking about? You aren't hungry surely, after that go-in +at the shop?" + +"Have we got enough for two days?" + +The party opened their eyes, and began to suspect the drift of the +inquiry. + +"No; but Maynard owes us a loaf, and Spanker some butter, and those kids +in Reynolds' study half a tongue." + +"All right; go out and get it all in, sharp. Scrape up all you can." + +"What, are we going to have a blockade?" + +"Rather. You don't suppose we're going to cave in to Clapperton, do +you?" + +"But we shan't want enough for two days, shall we?" + +"Shan't we, that's all! To-morrow's exeat day, and no school. Next +day's Sunday, and next day exeat doesn't end till twelve. We may have +to stick out three days." + +"Whew! we _shall_ want a lot of grub," said Cash. + +"You young pig; that's all you think about. You'll have to go on jolly +short rations, I can promise you. Do you know what we're going to do?" + +No one had an idea what they were going to do. + +"Do you know those four Classic kids," said Percy, "my younger brother +and his lot? They've not been quite such cads lately as they used to +be, have they?" + +"They've been a bit more civil," said Cottle. "I suppose that's because +of the shop." + +"What about them?" asked Ramshaw. + +"Why, I fancy if we asked them, they might come over and back us up. Of +course they'd have to bring their own grub; and we'd kick them out if +they weren't civil. What do you say?" + +"Rather a lark," said Lickford. + +"All serene. I'll go and see about it. Keep it dark, whatever you do, +and mind you scrape up all the grub that's owing us. There's no time to +lose, I say; Clapperton expects us in half an hour. Wire in!" + +By the end of half an hour the larder had been fairly well replenished. +Lickford and Cash had gone round on a general raid; recovering by force, +where persuasion failed, their outstanding loans, and in other cases +borrowing additional supplies in the same genial manner. Among other +booty, they secured a tin of pressed beef from Spanker, who had to be +clouted on the head before he would "lend it," and some sardines from +another boy, who was thankful to find any one to take them off his hands +at any price. + +Cottle and Ramshaw, acting on sealed orders from their leader, had been +round borrowing a screw-driver and screws, a few yards of rope, and +other material of war, among which was a squirt belonging to Reynolds, +who had been pleased to "swap" it for a couple of Greek stamps which +Cottle had to dispose of. + +Many were the fears lest not only should Percy fail to secure the +services of the Classic juniors, but should himself be too late to take +part in the siege. However, much to their relief, this was not so; as +presently he came over arm in arm with Wally (who carried a parcel under +his arm), followed at a respectful distance by D'Arcy, Ashby, and Fisher +minor, the bulkiness of whose pockets gave promise of a further addition +to the sinews of war. + +By general consent the visitors slipped in, not in a body, but casually +one by one, and so escaped special observation. As soon as they were +all assembled, Percy gave the order to screw up, and pile on the +barricades. + +_Wally_, who was disposed to be patronising, snuffed up somewhat at his +brother's calm assumption of the command. + +"Why didn't you say you wanted screws?" said he; "we've got one or two +long ones. That's not the way to stick it in, young Lickford; make the +hole more sideways. Here, I'll do it for you." + +"I'll tell you what," said D'Arcy, "you chaps had better begin to move +up the bed against the door, in case they come before we're fast in. +Fire away. Stick it close up, and young Lickford can stand on to it to +put in the screw." + +"Come on, Cash; stick these parcels out of the way," said Ashby, handing +out the provender; "they'll be better in the cupboard. Mind how you put +them in." + +"You've got a knife, Cottle," said Fisher minor. "Cut these bits of +wood into wedges to go under the door. They'll make it pretty secure." + +In this manner the Classic auxiliaries coolly took charge of the +arrangements before ever their hosts had time to realise that they had +been relegated to a back seat. + +However, just now there was no time for arguing questions of precedence +and authority. The enemy might be upon them at any moment, and they had +a lot to do before their outworks could be said to be in a proper state +of defence. + +The screws in the door were driven hard home into the wainscot; the +wedges underneath were tightly fixed. The bed, with bedding complete, +was drawn against the entry. A second line of defence was thrown up of +chairs, chest of drawers, book-case, and wash-stand. Beyond that were +stacked against the wall cricket bats, stumps, boxing-gloves, and other +dangerous-looking implements, for use in a last emergency. At Percy's +suggestion, and under Wally's direction, an additional loophole was +bored in the panel of the door (in flagrant forgetfulness of the rights +of School property), through which, as well as through the ventilating +holes above, the enemy might be reconnoitred and operated on. + +These preliminaries being complete, and Fisher minor having been perched +on the table (which was on the bed), with his eye to the loophole, the +company, to pass the time, resolved itself into a committee on the +School shop, and waited anxiously for the attack. + +Percy was specially anxious, for he had enlisted his four recruits on +the distinct understanding there would be a row, and all the blame would +fall on his head if by any ill-luck the evening passed off quietly. + +Already the Classic juniors were beginning to get impatient, and hinting +that they saw no fun in the proceeding so far, when Fisher minor +scrambled down from his perch and cried: + +"Sh!--here comes somebody." + +"About time," said Wally, taking possession of the squirt. + +As he spoke, the footsteps halted at the door, and the handle turned. + +"Lie low, you chaps," whispered Percy. "Don't let them know you're here +to begin with. Hullo! who's that?" + +"Let me in!" cried Gamble, outside. + +"Can't; we're busy," replied Lickford. + +"We've got a committee meeting, and you'd better cut," cried Percy. + +"Do you hear?" replied the ambassador; "let me in." + +"There's plenty of room in your own study, ain't there? Why don't you +go there? We don't want you here." + +"Cut your sticks, and learn your rotten Modern lessons," shouted Wally, +who began to be tired of being a listener. + +Luckily, Cottle knocked over one of the chairs at this juncture, which +served to conceal the voice of the speaker from the ears outside. + +"All right," said Gamble; "you'll catch it. Clapperton sent me to tell +you if you don't come to his room directly, he'll come and fetch you +himself. There!" + +"Good evening," cried Ramshaw. "Our love to them all at home." + +D'Arcy, meanwhile, had mounted the bed, and by means of a pea-shooter +materially assisted in the departure of the discomfited envoy. + +"Now we're getting livery," said Wally, proceeding to load his squirt +out of the jug. "Better light the candle, one of you, and have some +light on the subject." + +A terrible discovery ensued. Neither candle nor matches could be found! +In a quarter of an hour daylight would depart, and after that--well, +the prospect was not brilliant, at any rate. However, there was no time +to do anything but recriminate, which the company industriously did +until the sentinel again gave the signal to stand by. + +"Look here," said Percy, "we'd better keep him jawing as long as he'll +stand it, and not let fly till he begins to get violent--eh?" + +"All serene," said Wally; "that won't be long." + +"No; and he'll bring the whole kit of prefects with him. What a high +old time there'll be!" chuckled D'Arcy. + +"There's one lucky thing," said Cash. "Forder and his dame have gone +out for the evening; so we shan't hurt _their_ feelings." + +"Look out--it's Clapperton," whispered the sentinel. + +Clapperton tried the door, and on finding it fast, gave it a kick. + +"Hello! who's there?" + +"Open the door; let me in!" + +"Who is it? that young cad Gamble again?" cried Percy, with a wink; the +company generally. + +"No. Do you hear? Let me in!" + +"Say what your name is. How do we know you aren't a Classic cad? Oh! +ow!" + +This last interjection was in answer to a fraternal kick from behind. + +"You know who I am," replied Clapperton. "Let me in!" + +"Very sorry, Corder, we can't let you in. Clapperton says we're to cut +you, because you played a jolly sight too well last week." + +"It's not Corder, it's me--Clapperton." + +"Go on! no larks, whoever you are. Clapperton's got something better to +do than go to tea-parties in fags' rooms. Go and tell that to the +Clap-- Oh! ow! I mean, try it on next door!" + +"I tell you what," said Clapperton, whose temper, none of the best, was +rapidly evaporating, "if you young cads don't open the door instantly, +I'll break it open." + +"If you do, we'll tell Clapperton. He'll welt you for it. _He_ won't +let you spoil our new paint, not if he knows it. Good old Clappy?" + +A thundering kick was the only reply, which shook the plaster of the +walls, and nearly sent Fisher minor headlong with terror off his perch. + +This was getting serious. But in Percy's judgment the time was not even +yet ripe for extreme measures. The assailant might be given a little +rope yet. + +He took it, and worked himself into a childish passion against the +refractory door, encouraged by the friendly gibes of the besieged. "Go +it!" + +"Two to one on his boots!" + +"Keep your temper!" + +"Come in!" "Stick to it!" "One more and you'll do it!" and so on. + +It was hardly likely that the spectacle of the captain of the house in a +towering rage, toying to kick his way into a fag's room, would long be +allowed to continue unheeded by the rest of the inhabitants of Forder's, +and in a very short time new voices without apprised the beleaguered +garrison that the enemy was sitting down in force. + +Brinkman's voice could be heard demanding admission, and presently +Dangle's; while a _posse_ of mercenary middle-boys relieved Clapperton +of the kicking. The stout old door held out bravely and defied all +their efforts. + +Presently a pause was made, and Dangle's voice outside was heard +demanding a parley. + +"Young Wheatfield," he said, "it will be wiser for you to open the door +at once. If you don't it will be broken open, and you needn't expect to +get off easy then. Take my advice, and don't be a fool." + +"Thanks awfully," said Percy. "I and my chaps are just going to sit +down to tea. Wish you could join us, whoever you are. We've got as +much right to have tea in our study as you have in yours. That's right! +Kick away! Never mind the varnish! Somebody tapping at the study +door." + +"It's no good wasting time over young asses like them," Brinkman was +heard to say. + +"I don't mean to go now," said Clapperton. "They shall have such a +hiding, all of them, as they won't forget in a hurry." + +"It's funny how when we seniors strike against the School it's so noble, +and when these juniors strike against us it's so inexcusable," said +Fullerton. "Strikes always did puzzle me." + +"If, instead of talking rubbish, you'd go and fetch Robert with a +crowbar to smash open the door," said Clapperton, "you'd be more use." + +It was getting quite dark in the room by this time, but Wally could be +heard refilling his squirt at the jug, "I mean to start now," said he. + +Percy came beside him. + +"All serene," said he; "but why use water when there's ink?" + +"My eye! I never thought of that. Rather! I say, old man, while I +remember it, I'll write home this week. Don't you fag, good old Percy." + +"Oh no, it's my turn." + +"Oh, let me. Is that the ink-pot? Hold it tight while I get a good go +at it." + +"Suppose we tickle them up with the pea-shooter first," suggested +Lickford. "Mind how you go over the chairs, Cash," added he, as that +hero in the dark got entangled in the second line of fortifications. + +"All serene--wire away! Young Ashby, you'd better mix up some soap and +coal-dust in the water for use when the ink's done." + +By this time the attack without had redoubled, and Cash, mounting up to +the loophole, began to operate on the besiegers with his pea-shooter. +He had to guess where to shoot, for though the gas was alight in the +passage, he was unable for anatomical reasons to look and shoot through +the same hole at the same time. However, he had the satisfaction of +feeling sure his fire was taking effect, by the aggravated exclamations +of the besiegers, who vowed terrific vengeance for this fresh insult. +In due time the marksman fell short of ammunition and was carefully +helped down from his post in the dark, while Wally and Percy, gingerly +carrying the squirt, ascended in his place. + +"Hand up the basin," said Wally, "and get another lot of water ready." + +"I say," said Fisher minor, who was always being seized by heroic +impulses, "if you could let me down out of the window by the rope, I'd +be able to get a candle." + +"Good old `How now!' awfully good notion," said Wally. "You chaps see +to that, while my young brother and I work the squirt. Don't tell +anybody what's up, young Fisher, and get back as soon as you can." + +So, while the squirt was carefully being levelled in the face of the +enemy, Fisher minor, with the end of the rope round his waist, was +swinging precariously in mid-air out of the window, heartily repenting, +until his feet touched _terra firma_, of his rash and desperate +undertaking. + +Before he was safe, the great attack had been delivered through the +loophole. The kickers had receded from the door a pace or two in order +to get up impetus for a combined onslaught, and Clapperton with a poker +in his hand was advancing to annihilate the lock, when Percy, who was +reconnoitring from the ventilating holes, gave the signal to have at +them. + +Whereupon Wally let fly with all his might, and converted half of the +enemy, their captain included, into Ethiopians. + +The effect was instantaneous. The four-footed kick did not come off. +Clapperton's poker fell with a clatter on the floor, and a howl went up +which electrified both besiegers and besieged. + +"Look alive now!" said Wally. "Let 'em have the water! Keep it up!" + +For five minutes an almost uninterrupted flow of coloured water poured +through the loophole and kept the enemy at bay. But even a jugful will +not last for ever, and presently the squirt gave a dismal groan on the +bottom of the basin. + +Almost at the same moment an ominous crack proclaimed that the good old +door was giving way by degrees under the now renewed attack of the +besiegers. + +"They'll have it, after all," said Percy. + +"Tell you what! Suppose we slip out by the window, and you chaps come +and have supper in our room. Rather a lark, eh? It's getting a bit +slow here. Nice sell for them too. Besides, they can't get at you over +on our side." + +This hospitable invitation fitted in with the humour of the company +generally, particularly as every moment the door gave a more doubtful +sound than before. + +In three minutes the whole party was on the grass below, where Fisher +minor, returning breathless, with a candle and matches, encountered +them. + +"Come on, you chaps," said Wally. "I'd give sixpence to see how they +look when they find we've gone--ha! ha!" + +They salved their honour with a keen sense of the humour of the +situation, and followed their host across the Green in the dark, not at +all sorry to have a harbour of refuge in sight, though very loth to +admit that this rearward movement was a retreat. + +At the door of Wakefield's, to their consternation, they met Ranger. + +"What on earth are all you youngsters up to at this hour?" + +"It's all right," said Wally. "The shop committee, you know. We're +going to talk things over in my room. Come on, you Modern kids. We'll +make an exception for you this once, and let you into Wakefield's; won't +we, Ranger? But it mustn't occur again." + +Yet another peril awaited them before they were safe in port. This time +it was Mr Stratton on the stairs. + +"Ah, here you are--all of you," said he. "I came to look for you. I +want to hear how the shop is doing." + +"Very well, thank you, sir. I say, Mr Stratton," said Wally, with a +presence of mind which moved the admiration of his friends, "would you +mind coming to a committee meeting in my and my chaps' room! We can +show you the things we want ordered next week, if you don't mind." + +"Certainly; I'll come. I'm delighted to find you're sticking so well to +the business." + +And so it happened that when at last Percy's door succumbed, and the +besiegers rushed in, vowing vengeance and slaughter, to find the room +empty, the nine innocents were sitting prettily round the table in +Wally's room with Mr Stratton in the chair, deciding that until +November was out it would be premature to order oranges for the +Fellsgarth shop. + + + +CHAPTER SEVENTEEN. + +HAWK'S PIKE. + +Victory has its drawbacks, like everything else. The brilliant retreat +of the Modern juniors and their auxiliaries under the enemy's fire was +all very well as a strategic movement. But when it came to deciding +what to do next, the difficulties of the situation became painfully +apparent. + +Mr Stratton stayed half an hour chatting over the shop affairs, and +then rose to go. + +"Good night, boys. It's time for Mr Forder's boys to be back in their +house." + +This unpleasant reminder had a very damping effect on the conviviality +of the party generally. As soon as the master had gone, Wally said-- + +"It strikes me you Modern kids are in a bit of a mess." + +"I'm afraid your bedroom will be a little untidy," said Fisher minor. + +"The best thing you can do is to climb back by the window," suggested +D'Arcy. + +"I don't fancy you'll want a warming-pan to-night," said Ashby. + +This was all very nice and helpful. The heroes looked at one another +dismally. + +"We must lump it," said Percy. "They can't do anything very bad." + +"Can't they?" said Cottle. "Were you ever licked by Brinkman?" + +"No," said the others. + +"All right--I have been--that's all." This sounded alarming. D'Arcy +said-- + +"Why don't you come over to our side, and out that lot! We could have +no end of larks if you were Classics, instead of little Modern beasts." + +"Our side's as good as yours," snapped Lickford. "All serene; you'd +better go and join them," said Wally. + +This did not advance the argument much further. Of course it was out of +the question to go and tell tales to the Classic prefects, or even to +their own master. Nor was the suggestion of sleeping that night on the +Classic side hailed with enthusiasm by either party. + +On the whole D'Arcy's suggestion of getting back by the window seemed +the most hopeful. When once back they would go straight to bed, where +they would be safe for a while. Then, if they could manage to rise at +the supernatural hour of six, they might succeed in evading the +penalties of rebellion for another day. For to-morrow being exeat day, +they would be free to roam where they liked. And they had a very good +idea that wherever it was, they would give Forder's house a very wide +berth. + +"Tell you what!" exclaimed Wally, slapping his brother on the back so +hard as to cause him to yell loud enough to bring every prefect of +Fellsgarth on to the spot. "Tell you what, old chappies; of course we +will! Why ever didn't we think of it before--eh?" + +"Think of what?" + +"Why, we'll go up Hawk's Pike, of course." + +"Of course we will," said everybody. + +What mattered it to _them_ that Hawk's Pike had defied the ordinary +tourist for generations? _They_ weren't ordinary tourists, or anything +like. + +"You come over for us at six," said Wally. "Bring the grub we left in +your room. It'll be a regular sell for all those chaps. We'll make a +day of it." + +It seemed a magnificent solution of the problem; and on the strength of +it the five truants departed, not without misgivings, for their +quarters. + +The rope was still dangling from their window, and Cash, whose father +was in the Navy, was selected by general consent as the member of the +party best qualified to make the first ascent. He modestly tried to +induce some one else to assume the honour, but he was outvoted, and, +devoutly hoping to find the coast clear of the enemy, he addressed +himself to the venture. + +It was not particularly arduous for a decent climber, and in a couple of +minutes his companions saw him swing himself on to the ledge, and +disappear into the room. + +In a moment he put out his head. + +"All clear," said he. "The door's smashed in, and all the things kicked +about anyhow; but there's no one about." + +That was the main thing. The company speedily followed, materially +assisted in their clamber by sundry knots tied in the rope by the +ingenious Cash, and by his energetic hauling from above. + +The programme was carried out without a hitch. Without waiting for the +bed-bell they one and all presented themselves to the dormitory dame, +and requested permission to turn in, pleading severe fatigue (which was +by no means imaginary) as the reason for this unwonted haste. So +smartly was the retirement effected, that no one was aware of their +return to their house until half an hour later. When the dormitory +filled up, their five noses were discernible peeping from out the +sheets. + +Whatever chastisement the prefects may have had in store for them +evidently could not be administered at present. For a disturbance in +the dormitory was a capital offence in Mr Forder's eyes, and, as the +master's room was adjacent, and he was known to have returned and to be +within earshot, the only thing possible was secretly to promise the +rebels a warm time of it as soon as they woke next morning. + +But Revenge sleeps sounder than Caution. As five struck in the clock +tower, Ramshaw, who had had it on his mind he might oversleep himself, +and, in consequence, had been up looking at his watch every ten minutes +during the night, slipped finally out of bed, and roused each of his +partners. He expected no gratitude for his good offices, and was not +disappointed. The sleepers growled and grunted at his well-meant +efforts, pulled the clothes over their heads, called him unfriendly +names, threatened him with untold vengeance, and scouted all idea of +danger by delay, till he was almost tired of trying. But by the end of +three-quarters of an hour, with the aid of a moist sponge and other +persuasives, he got them to their feet well awake to a sense of the +undertaking before them. + +They still grumbled--at the cold, and the darkness, and the fatigue, and +blamed Ramshaw for all three. They heartily despised themselves for +their promise to the Classic boys last night, and still more for the row +with their own prefects, which was the cause for all this inconvenience. +But as they gradually slipped on their clothes, and the warm bed +receded more into the background, they cheered up and recovered their +courage. + +There was no difficulty in getting out. The dormitory door stood open. +Brinkman, who was the prefect on duty, lay snoring loud and long in the +end bed. Mr Forder's bedroom was on the safe side of a brick wall. +Carrying their boots in their hands they slunk off to their study, where +they made a hasty selection from the miscellaneous provisions stored +over-night, and then, one by one, solemnly slid down the rope. + +Once on the grass, in the chill, dark air, depression fell upon them a +second time. Their thoughts returned to the snug beds they had left. +Even Brinkman and Clapperton could not take it out of them more than +this white frost and nipping air. However, the bell began to toll six; +and the thought of their companions in discomfort spurred them on to +energy. They crawled across the Green to Wakefield's. + +Four ghostly figures were visible in the feeble dawn, hovering under the +wall. + +"Got the grub?" + +It was the cheery voice of Wally Wheatfield, at sound of which the +pilgrims took comfort, and were glad they had turned out after all. + +The first thing was to get clear of Fellsgarth, which was easily +accomplished, as no one was about. Even had they been observed, beyond +the general wonder of seeing nine juniors taking a morning walk at 6 +a.m., there was nothing to interfere with their liberty. As soon as +they got into Shargle Woods a brief council of war was held. + +"It's a jolly stiff climb," said Wally. + +"I've got a compass," said Ashby, as if that disposed of the difficulty. +Ashby had an ulster, which just then seemed to some of his comrades a +still more enviable possession. + +"How many miles?" asked Lickford. + +"Miles? Who ever reckoned mountains by miles? It's three hours to the +top." + +"That'll be nine o'clock," wisely observed Cash. + +"Who knows the way up?" Percy asked. + +"Way up? Can't you see it?" said Wally. "When you get to the bottom, +you go straight up." + +"All very well for you. I can't walk up a perpendicular cliff. I dare +say I could come straight down if I tried," submitted Percy. + +"Oh, there are lots of paths. It's as easy as pot," said Wally. +"Suppose we have a bit of grub now. It'll be less to carry, you know." + +Whereupon an attack was made on the provisions, with the result that +considerably less was left to carry up. + +The meal ended, a start was made in earnest, and the party trailed down +the valley towards the lake at an easy jog-trot, and came to the +conclusion that ascending a pike was ridiculously simple work. + +By the time they reached the lake, and began to strike up the winding +lane that led round to the rearward slopes of the great mountain, an +hour had passed. + +"Nearly half-way there," said Fisher minor, hoping some one would +corroborate the statement. + +"Oh, we don't count that bit we've come anything," said Wally. "We're +just starting up now." + +"Oh," said Fisher, again hoping to be confirmed. "Then it's only two +hours' climb?" + +"That's all you know about it. Wisdom used to say he could do it in +three hours from the lake-side. But he was a wonner to go. Come along; +wire in, you chaps." + +"Where did Wisdom get killed?" asked Percy, by way of a little genial +conversation. + +"I heard over the other side, down the cliffs above the lake. He got +caught in a mist and lost his way." + +"How do you know this is the right way up?" asked Cottle. + +"Because it's as plain as the nose on your face," retorted the guide. + +It was a long dreary pull up the lower slope, over the wet grass and +through the bracken, and Fisher minor before he accomplished the first +stage was heartily sick of Hawk's Pike. One or two of his companions, +to tell the truth, were not quite as enamoured of the expedition as they +tried to appear, but they kept their emotions to themselves. Wally was +the only member of the party who was uniformly cheerful, and no one, not +even Percy, exactly liked to incur his contempt by appearing to enjoy +the clamber less than he. + +"Come on, you chaps," cried the leader as he staggered to the top of the +slope. "Keep it up. What a crow it will be for us, when we get to the +top!" + +"I suppose," gasped Fisher minor, as he threw himself on the grass, +"we're half-way now?" + +"Getting on," said Wally. "I dare say on the top of that next ridge we +shall be able to see the top." + +"What, isn't that the top?" said poor Fisher, craning his head up +towards the beetling crag above them. + +"Top? No, that's the knob half-way down we see from the school window. +The stiff part begins after that." + +Really Wally, if he had tried to be heartless, could not have succeeded +better. Had he but expressed some hint at regret that the distance was +so long, or vouchsafed the least semblance of a growl at the labour +involved, they would have loved him. As it was, they durst do nothing +but hate him, and accept his information joyously. + +"That's nothing," said Lickford. "I feel quite fresh; don't you, you +chaps?" + +"Rather!" they chimed in plaintively. + +"Better get on," said Wally, after a few minutes more. How they loathed +Wally then! + +The new slope was worse than the first; for the grass was more boggy, +and big stones here and there jarred their tender feet. Besides, it +grieved them to see Wally zigzagging steadily on ahead, utterly +regardless of their distress behind. Yet no one exactly liked to stop. +Had any one had the courage to do so, they would have gone down like a +row of ninepins. + +Let no one charge these boys with chicken-heartedness. On the contrary, +they worked up that slope like heroes; all the more so that they were +ready to drop, and durst not for very shame. There is no hero like the +coward who compels himself to be brave. Many a man in history has +become famous for an exploit that cost him far less than this climb cost +the Fellsgarth juniors. Therefore let this record at least award the +the credit they deserve.--It was some satisfaction, when the knob was +reached, and they looked up at the black towering crags above, to see +that even Wally seemed staggered for a moment. + +"We may as well have a rest and some grub before we tackle that lot," +said he. "What do you say?" + +The motion was carried unanimously. + +"It's eleven o'clock," said Cash. "We've been five hours already." + +"Thank goodness we've broken the back of it," said Fisher minor. + +"I don't know so much about that," said Percy. + +"We shan't get up that as easily as we've done so far, I fancy." + +"Rather not," said Wally, cheerfully, with his mouth full of sandwich. +"I believe it's not so bad after we get past those rocks though, on to +the top." + +"What," cried Fisher, "isn't _that_ the top then?" + +"Bless you, no. We have to go down a bit when we get there, and cross a +bog, and then the real pike begins." + +The information was received with dead silence, and the party sat grimly +munching their lunch with upturned eyes. + +"Which way do we go?" asked Cottle presently. + +"I suppose up by the stream. It's bound to lead up to the bog." + +The stream in question was a torrent which fell in a series of leaps +through a narrow gorge in the rocks. + +Fisher minor looked very blue. + +"I wish I'd got my strong boots," said he. + +The dismal tone in which he uttered the words startled the others. + +"I say, young Fisher," said D'Arcy, "you're not done yet, are you!" + +Fisher minor had not the pluck to say "Yes." + +"I'll be game after this rest. I got a little blown up that last bit, +that's all." + +"It doesn't look awfully far now," said Ashby. + +"It's further than it looks. Come on; let's be jogging," said Wally. + +The new ascent, which consisted chiefly in clambering from stone to +stone up the rocky ravine, was less exhausting than the tramp up the +bog, and as Wally was no better at this sort of climbing than any of the +rest, he did not dishearten them by getting hopelessly ahead, but kept +with the party. Occasionally they had to help one another up a +specially stiff ledge, and this mutual accommodation was an additional +source of comfort to the weak goers. Progress was very slow. Cash, +having hauled himself up on to a little platform of moss, looked at his +watch and was alarmed to find it was past one. The huge ravine, at the +far head of which they could see the open sky, seemed a tremendous +distance yet. And after that, according to Wally, was to come the bog +and the cliffs beyond, on which Wisdom lost his life. + +Yet none of these things was quite so bad as the rolling up of some +fleecy clouds behind them, which effaced the view below, and seemed to +be crawling up the mountain in pursuit of them. + +Cash pointed this out to Wally, who grunted. + +"We shall miss the view from the top," said he. + +"If we ever get there," said Cash. + +On they scrambled again, casting every now and then a longing look +upward at the grim ravine head, and now and then an anxious glance +behind at the fast overhauling clouds. + +"We're bound to get out of it up there," sang out Wally. + +But almost as he spoke the light mist swept past him, blotting out +everything but the boulder he stood on and a rift of the dashing water +at his feet. + +The clouds had befriended Fisher minor. They did what he durst not do; +ordered the party to halt. + +"Where are you?" shouted Wally from the invisible. "Here; where are +you?" + +"Stay there; and I'll come to you." + +Slowly the party foregathered, and stood huddled in the blinding mist on +a flat rock. + +"It's blowing over," said Wally. "We'd better make back for the hill- +side, and get out of this ravine till it clears up." + +It was no easy task scrambling back, down that difficult way, over +boulders already made slippery by the moist mist, and not able to see +four yards ahead. The clouds poured up to meet them in column upon +column, growing denser and wetter every minute. At last, how they +scarcely knew, they came down to where the rush of the water ceased and +the stones gave place to wet grass. + +"We must be somewhere near where we sat down last," said Ashby. "Whew! +it's cold." + +"The thing is," said Percy, "aren't we too much out to the left? +There's no sign of a path that I can see." + +"This looks like one," said a voice ahead, which they recognised as +Wally's. "Come along--this way." + +They followed as well as they could, and groped about for the path. +Then they shouted. + +Wally replied out of the mist. + +"Stay there a bit--it's not a path. I'll yell when I've got it." + +They waited, and for five minutes listened anxiously for the signal. +Then they thought they heard it away to the right, and floundered off in +pursuit. But after a little they discovered that they were going +uphill. + +"Hadn't we better go back to where we were," said Cash, "or we may miss +him?" + +It occurred to most of the party that they had missed him already. +Still, they decided to go back. + +Presently they distinctly heard what sounded like a voice below them. + +"That must be he. Yell!" + +They shouted, and again there seemed to come a faint response. + +"All right," said Percy. "Stay where you are, and I'll go and fetch him +up." + +And he vanished into the mist. + +"What's the time?" said Ashby, as the party stood dismally waiting. + +"Half-past four. It's a good job it doesn't get dark till six." + +"Only an hour and a half," said Cottle; "I wish those chaps would come." + +But though they strained their ears and eyes, no sign of the missing +ones came; nothing but the swish of the rain and the whistle of the wind +through the grass. + +"We'd better go on," said D'Arcy presently; "they'll probably get down +some other way. Look sharp, or it will be dark." + +So they started at a fast walk down the boggy slope. + +"Keep close," said D'Arcy after a time. "Are you all there?" + +Everybody answered for himself, but not for his neighbour. + +"You there, young Fisher minor?" + +"Yes," replied Fisher's voice from the rear. + +He seemed so near that they started on again. + +But after another five minutes, Ashby, who was last but one, shouted +again. + +"Where are you, Fisher minor?" + +There was no answer. + +"Wait a bit, you fellows. Fisher minor's behind." + +But no answer came from that direction either. + +"Here's a go," said Ashby to himself. "That kid Fisher's gone lame, and +he'll be lost if I don't wait for him." + +So he dismally turned back, shouting and whistling as he went. + +The clouds all round grew duller and heavier in the fading light, and +the wind-blown rain struck keenly on the wanderer's cheek. + +"That kid," said Ashby to himself, as he sturdily tramped through the +marsh, "ought not to have come. He's not up to it." + +But despite all his shouting and whistling and cooeying, not a sound +came out of the mist but the wind and the driving of the rain. + +Still Ashby could not bring himself to leave the "kid" in the lurch. +Even if he did not find him it would be better to-- + +"Ah! what was that?" + +He clapped his hands to his mouth and shouted against the wind with all +his might. + +His voice was flung back in his face; but with it there came the feeble +sound of a "coo-ey" somewhere near. + +Ashby sprang to it like a drowning man to a straw. If it was only a +lost sheep it would be some company. For ten minutes he beat round, +shouting all the time, and once or twice fancying he heard an answer. + +Then suddenly he came upon a great boulder, against which leaned Fisher +minor, whimpering and shivering. + +"Here you are!" said Ashby, joyously. "Thank God for it! I gave you up +for lost. The others are gone on. Come on. Hang on my arm, old hoss." + +"I can't; I'm too fagged to go on. I'm awfully sleepy, Ashby. You go +on; I'll come presently." + +Ashby's reply was prompt and vigorous. He took his fellow-junior by the +arm and began to march him down the slope as fast, almost faster than +his weary legs would carry him. + +And as they started, the last of the light died out of the mist, and +left them in blank darkness. + + + +CHAPTER EIGHTEEN. + +ROLLITT MAKES A RECORD FOR FELLSGARTH. + +The Modern seniors had slept on soundly that morning, secure of their +prey. The military operations of the preceding evening, although they +resulted in the night of the besieged, had not tended to the glory of +the besiegers. Indeed, when the door had at last been broken in and it +was discovered that the birds had flown, a titter had gone round at the +expense of Messrs. Clapperton, Dangle, and Brinkman, which had been +particularly riling to those gentlemen. + +When in the morning the birds were found to have flown once more, the +position of the seniors became positively painful. Fullerton, as usual, +did not salve the wound. + +"I should say--not that it matters much to me--that that scores another +to the rebels," said he. "How very naughty of them not to stay and be +whopped, to be sure!" + +"The young cads!" growled Clapperton, who had the grace to be perfectly +aware that he had been made ridiculous. "I don't envy them when I get +hold of them." + +"No more do I," said Fullerton, "with their door off its hinges. It +will be very draughty." + +"Do shut up. Why don't you go and join the enemy at once, if you're so +fond of them?" said Dangle. + +"Well," said Clapperton, "they will keep; but we must have it out with +Corder now. It's no use simply cutting him; he'll have to be taught +that he can't defy the house for nothing. Go and tell him to come, +Brinkman." + +But Corder's back was against the wall, literally and metaphorically. + +To Brinkman's demand (almost the first voice he had heard speaking to +him for a week) he returned a curt refusal. + +"Well, I'll make you come," said Brinkman. Whereupon Corder retreated +behind his table and invited the interloper to begin. + +To dodge round and round a study table after a nimble boy is not a very +dignified operation for a prefect, particularly when the object of his +chase is a prefect too; and Brinkman presently abandoned the quest and +went off, breathing threatenings and slaughter, for reinforcements. + +So did Corder. Less sensitive than his junior fellow-martyrs, he +marched straight across to Yorke's study. The captain was away, but in +the adjoining room he found Fisher major and Denton, poring over their +endless accounts. + +"You two," said Corder, "you're prefects. You're wanted over on the +other side to stop bullying." + +"Who's being bullied?" + +"I am. I've been cut dead for a week. I'm sick of it. Now they're +going to lick me. I'd take my chance against them one at a time, but I +can't tackle three of them." + +"Is it for playing in the match?" + +"Yes, that and going to the meeting. Nothing else. I'd go to twenty a +day, if I had the chance, to spite them." + +"Who are bullying you?" + +"Clapperton, Brinkman, and Dangle, of course." + +"I tell you what," said Denton, "we couldn't go over. We've no +authority. But there's nothing to prevent you staying here and letting +them fetch you. Then we can interfere." + +"All serene," said Corder; "I hope they will come. I say, I wish you'd +let me wait here and hear you fellows talk. I've not had a word spoken +to me for a week. I can tell you it's no joke. I laughed at it at +first, and thought it would be nice rather than otherwise. But after +two days, you chaps, it gets to be decidedly slow; you begin to wonder +if it isn't worth caving in. But that would be _such_ a howling come +down, when all you've done is to do what you had a right to do--or +rather what you're bound to do--play up for the School." + +"And jolly well you played too," said Usher. + +"It was a lucky turn. You know I was so awfully glad to be in the +fifteen, and felt I could do anything. Of course the lucky thing was my +getting past their forwards, and then--" And then Corder bunched into a +delighted account of the never-to-be-forgotten match, during which the +cloud passed away from his face, the light came back to his eyes, and +the spirit into his voice. + +"What business have they to stop me," said he, "or bully me for it?" + +"None. And Yorke, when he hears of it, will report it to the doctor." + +"No, don't let him do that. What's the use? If I can stay here it's +all right." + +An hour later, about the time that the young mountaineers were beginning +to look out for their second wind on the lower slope, Dangle came across +in a vicious temper. + +He had not come to look for Corder, the sight of whom in the sanctuary +of a Classic study took him aback. + +"That's where you're sneaking, is it?" said he. "I'm not surprised." + +"Not much need to sneak from _you_. It's three against one I object +to," said Corder. "But if you like to fetch Clapperton and Brinkman +over here, we can have it out comfortably now." + +"You must think yourself uncommonly important if you suppose we're going +to trouble about an ass like you," said Dangle. "I never once thought +of you." + +"What have you come for, then?" said Fisher. "Hadn't you better wait +till you're invited before you come where you're not wanted?" + +"I've come on club business, and I've a perfect right to come. You +fellows, I hear, have taken it into your heads to dissolve the club." + +"What of that? Why didn't you come and vote against it if you didn't +like it?" + +"Thank you. It wasn't quite good enough. What I want to know is, what +is the treasurer going to do with the money? I suppose that's hardly +going to be treated as a perquisite for him?" + +Fisher major looked troubled. He had dreaded this awkward question for +days. For the lost money was still missing. + +"You know it's nothing of the kind." + +"What are you going to do with it, then?" + +"That's for the club to decide. If you'd come to the meeting you could +have proposed something." + +"It's funny how sore you are about that precious hole-and-corner meeting +of yours. How much is there on hand?" + +"You'll know presently." + +"I dare say--as soon as you've hit on a dodge for getting over that +little deficiency of four or five pounds--eh?" + +Fisher major looked up in astonishment. How had the fellow heard about +that? + +Dangle laughed. + +"You thought it was a snug little secret of your own, didn't you? +You're mistaken. And you're mistaken if you think we aren't going to +get at the bottom of it." + +Fisher major rose to his feet. + +"Look here, Dangle," said he; "do you mean to insinuate that _I've_ +taken the club money!" + +"I never said so." + +"Or that I was going to cook the accounts so that it should not be +known?" + +"I didn't mean _you_ were." + +"Whom did you mean? Me?" said Denton. + +"No; I didn't say anybody," said Dangle, beginning to feel himself in a +fix. "All I meant was, we want to know what's become of the money?" + +"You don't want to know more than I do," said Fisher major. "I'd have +handed over the money days ago, if I could only have found it." + +"Do you suspect any one?" said Dangle. + +"Suspect? No. No one comes here that would be likely to take it." + +"You leave it about, though. I've noticed that myself. Who's your +fag?" + +"As honest a man as you, every bit, and that's saying a good deal for +_you_," retorted Fisher major, hotly. + +"Keep your temper. Who's study is that next yours?" + +"That's Yorke's." + +"No: on the other side." + +"That's Rollitt's. I suppose you're going to insinuate--" + +"Stop a bit," said Dangle, suddenly, turning to close the door before he +proceeded. "When did you first miss the money?" + +"You're uncommonly interested in the accounts," said Fisher; "if you +want to know so much, it was ten days ago." + +"I'm interested because I've an idea. When did you get in the +subscriptions?" + +"They were all in a week before the first Rendlesham match, the match +where you--" + +Fisher major stopped. + +Dangle took no notice of the broken taunt, and said-- + +"Look here, Fisher. There's no love lost between you and me, and it +doesn't affect me." + +"Or me." + +"For all that, I don't care to see you or the clubs robbed without +giving you a friendly hint." + +"You're very kind. Who is the culprit? The doctor?" + +"No; _Rollitt_. Stay," said he, waving down the interruption, "I +shouldn't be fool enough to say it unless I was pretty sure. Tell me +this, Fisher; when you go out and leave money about do you lock your +door?" + +"No. We don't have to do that this side." + +"Did you ever see Rollitt in here?" + +"No." + +"Do you know that on the first half-holiday this term Rollitt nearly +came to grief on the river?" + +"What on earth has that to do with it?" + +"Everything. You heard of it? Your young brother was with him, of +course. And you heard that he lost Widow Wisdom's boat over the falls." + +"Yes," said Fisher, suddenly beginning to see the drift of the cross- +examination. + +"And you heard that the very next day he bought her a new one for five +pounds?" + +"Yes, I did; but whatever right have you to connect that with the +missing money?" + +"Wait a bit. You were away all that afternoon, weren't you!" + +"Yes." + +"I wasn't. I happened to come over to look for you, and found you were +out. The only fellow I met in the house was Rollitt. He'd just got +back, and I met him at the door of this room. There, you can make what +you like of it. Even a Classic knows what twice two makes." + +And he turned on his heel and left the room. + +"There's goes a thoroughbred cad for you," said Denton. + +"I don't know how we came to let him go without a kicking," said Fisher. + +"Shall I call to him to come back?" asked Corder. + +"Of course," said Fisher major, "it _is_ a curious coincidence about +Rollitt. But I never thought of connecting the two things together +before." + +"No. It's utter guesswork on Dangle's part." + +"If it comes to that," said Corder, "if Dangle was over here that +afternoon, why shouldn't he have collared it as well as Rollitt?" + +"He has any amount of money. He's not hard up, like Rollitt." + +"All I can say is," said Denton, "I wish that cad had kept his +suspicions to himself." + +The object of these suspicions, meanwhile, blissfully unconscious of the +interest with which he was being remembered at Fellsgarth, was utilising +his holiday in the prosecution of his favourite sport. + +This time he did not fish from a boat, nor did he affect the upper +stream. He tried the lower reach; and not very successfully. For he +had never been able to replace the tackle lost on the eventful afternoon +when Widow Wisdom's boat had gone over the falls. He had his fly-book +still, and had come across an old reel which, fitted to a makeshift rod +with common twine, had to do duty until he could afford a regular new +turnout. It was better than nothing, but the fish seemed somehow to get +wind of the fact that they were not being treated with proper respect, +and refused to have more to do than they could help with irregular- +looking apparatus. + +Rollitt put up with their unreasonableness for a long time that morning +and afternoon. With infinite patience he tried one fly after another, +and either bank in turn. He gave them a chance of being hooked under +the falls, or right down on the flats by the lake. But it was no go. +They wouldn't be tempted. + +At last, as it was growing dusk, he became conscious that it had been +raining fast for half an hour, and that he was wet through. He looked +up and saw a grim pall of wet lying over the lake and all up the side of +Hawk's Pike, of which only the lower slope was distinguishable through +the mist. It was not a promising evening; and Rollitt, now he came to +think of it, might as well go back to Fellsgarth as stand about here. + +So he collected his tackle and turned homeward. His path from the lake +brought him across the track which leads round to the back of the +mountain; and he was just turning in here when he heard what sounded +like a halloo on the hill-side. It was probably only a shepherd calling +his dog, but he waited to make sure. + +Yes, it was a shout, but it sounded more like a sheep than a man. +Rollitt shouted back. A quick response came, and presently out of the +mist a shadowy form emerged running down the slope, hopping over the +boulders, and making for the lane. + +A minute more and Wally presented himself. + +"Hullo, is that you, Rollitt? I thought I was lost. I say, have you +seen the others?" + +Rollitt shook his head. + +"Whew! I made sure they'd come down. I say, what a go if they're lost +up there, a night like this?" + +Rollitt looked up at the dim mountain-side and nodded again. + +"I thought I was on a path, you know, and hallooed to them. They didn't +hear, so I went back for them, and--so we've missed." + +"Who!" said Rollitt. + +"Do you know my young brother Percy, a Modern kid? He was one, and all +our lot, you know, D'Arcy and Ashby and Fisher minor and--" + +"Fisher minor," said Rollitt, suddenly becoming interested; "up there?" + +"Yes--he's the lame horse of the party--not up to it. What's up, I +say?" + +Rollitt had suddenly deposited his rod under the wall, and quitting the +path was beginning to strike up the base of the hill. + +"Go, and bring guides," he growled. + +"You'll get lost, to a dead certainty. I say, can't I come too?" said +the boy, looking very miserable. + +"No. Fetch guides. Come with them. Quick." + +There were no guides to be had nearer than Penchurch, four miles off, +and Wally, very cold and wet and hungry and footsore, with a big load on +his heart as he thought of Percy, pulled himself together with an effort +and stumped off. + +Rollitt strode on up the slope in the gathering night. Cold and weather +mattered little to him, still less did danger. But Fisher minor +mattered very much. For Percy or any of the rest he might probably have +stayed where he was; but for the one boy in Fellsgarth he oared about he +would cheerfully go over a precipice. + +Every now and again he stood still and shouted. But in the wind and +rain it was impossible to say if any one heard him or called again. + +After an hour or more he found himself on the first ridge, where for a +few yards the ground is level before it rises again. Here he called +again, once or twice. Once there came, as he thought, a faint distant +whistle, but by no manner of calling could he get it to come again. He +started off in the direction from which it seemed to come, calling all +the way, but never a voice came out of the darkness. For a couple of +hours he doggedly haunted the place, loth to leave it while a chance +remained. Then he gave it up, and started once more up the steep slope. +He looked at his watch by the light of a match. It was eleven o'clock. +He shuddered, but not with the cold, and went on. + +Something--who could say what?--told him that he must go higher yet. +Once last year, in company with Wisdom, he had been as far as the upper +bog, and had wanted to go to the top. But Wisdom had dissuaded him. +Now, even in the darkness the ground seemed familiar, and he tramped on +up the swampy steep till presently he found himself near the sound of +rushing water at the foot of the great ravine. + +The stream had grown so strong since the afternoon that to shout against +it was more hopeless than ever. Yet Rollitt shouted. Had a voice +replied, he felt sure he could have heard it. But none did. + +Up the steep ravine he went, finding the going easier than through the +spongy swamps below. About half-way up, just where the juniors ten +hours ago had decided to turn back, as he looked up, he saw what seemed +like clear sky through a frame in the mist. Was it clearing after all? +Yes. The higher he got the more the mist broke up into fleeting clouds, +which swept aside every few moments and let in a dim glimmer of +moonlight on the scene. + +At the top of the ravine he shouted again; but all was still. Even the +wind was dying down, and the rain fell with a deadened sob at his feet. +Three o'clock! Wisdom had told him, the day they had been up there, +that the top was only three-quarters of an hour beyond where he stood. +Something still cried "Excelsior" within him, and without halting longer +than to satisfy himself by another shout, he started on. + +How he achieved that tremendous climb he could never say. The clouds +had rolled off, and the moonlight lit up the rocks almost like day. +Never once did he pull up or flag in his ascent. He even ceased to +shout. + +Presently there loomed before him, gleaming in the moonlight, the cairn. +For the first time in its annals, a Fellsgarth boy had got to the top +of Hawk's Pike. + +But, so far from elation at the glory of the achievement, Rollitt +uttered a groan of dismay when he looked round and found no one there +after all. That he would find Fisher minor there he had never doubted; +and now--all this had been time lost. + +Without waiting to heed the glorious moonlight prospect over lake and +hill, he turned almost savagely, and scrambled down the crags. It was +perilous work--more perilous than the scramble up. But Rollitt did not +think of danger, and therefore perhaps did not meet it. In half an hour +he was down on the bog--and in an hour after, just as a faint break in +the east gave warning that the night was gone, he stood bruised and +panting at the foot of the gorge on the second ridge. + +He was too dispirited to shout now. It had not been given to him after +all to rescue his friend. He would have done better if he had never-- + +There was a big boulder just ahead, poised almost miraculously on its +edge, on the sloping hill-side. It looked as if a moderate blast of +wind would send it headlong to the bottom. But it had stood there for +centuries, a shelter for sheep in winter from the snow and hail. + +What made Rollitt bound now in the direction of this rock, like a man +shot? Surely not to admire a natural curiosity, or to seek shelter +under its wing. + +No. He had found that his quest after all had not been in vain. There, +curled up under the overhanging rock, lying one almost across the other +for warmth, with cheek touching cheek, and Ashby's coat covering both, +were Fisher minor and his chum--not dead, but sleeping soundly! + + + +CHAPTER NINETEEN. + +CORDER STRIKES A BLOW FOR LIBERTY. + +The absence of the juniors had excited no curiosity in either house till +evening. It was a holiday, and though the rule was that even on a +holiday no boy should go "out of touch," as it was called, that is, +beyond a certain radius, without permission, it was not always enforced. +The Modern seniors had every reason to guess the object of this +prolonged absence. They had promised many things to the juniors when +they caught them. It was not surprising, while things were as warm as +they were, that the young rebels should give Fellsgarth a wide berth. + +As to the Classic juniors, no one was surprised at anything they did, in +reason. + +But when "call-over" came and all nine names were returned absent (in +addition to that of Rollitt and a few other habitual vagrants), fellows +began to ask where they were. + +"Has any one seen Wally?" asked Yorke, who had just had the unusual +experience of making his own tea and cooking his own eggs. + +"He's probably fooling about somewhere out of bounds with my fag," said +Ranger. "He'll have to catch it, Fisher, though he is your brother." + +"Let him have it," said Fisher. "I'd do the same to your young brother +if I had the chance. But to change the subject, I've something to tell +you fellows that's rather awkward. That money hasn't turned up yet." + +"That is awkward," said Yorke. "I wish I could help you out with it, +but I'm cleaned out." + +"Oh, that's not it. Of course I'm responsible, and must get the +governor to make it good. Dear old governor, he'll do it, but he'll +pull a precious long face, and go round the house lowering the gas and +telling every one he must economise, with two such expensive sons as me +and my minor at school. It's not that, though. Dangle came over this +morning, and wanted to know what we were going to do about the accounts, +now we've dissolved the clubs; and somehow or other he's heard of the +deficiency, and wants to know all about it." + +"I hope you told him," said Yorke. + +"Of course I did; but he told me a lot more than I could tell him. He +thinks he knows what's become of it." + +And Fisher proceeded to narrate Dangle's suspicions against Rollitt. + +The captain's face grew very long as the story went on. Then he said-- + +"I hope to goodness there's nothing in it. Is it a fact about Widow +Wisdom's boat?" + +"Yes; my young brother was with Rollitt that day, and told me about it +as a secret. But as it's out now, there's no good keeping it." + +"Dangle has a spite against Rollitt. If any one else had told you this, +there might have been something in it." + +"And if it had been any one but Rollitt bought the boat, it would have +been nothing. But he's so frightfully poor. He'd no time to write +home, even if he could have got money from there, and there was no one +here he could borrow of. Why, he must have gone off very first thing in +the morning and bought the boat." + +"And are you quite certain you had all the money collected by that +Saturday?" asked Yorke. + +"Yes; and what's more, I'm almost certain I counted it and made it come +right. That's the last time it has come right." + +The captain drummed his fingers on the table and looked very miserable. + +"I wish, Fisher," said he, "I hadn't advised you to take that +treasurership. If we could only be quite sure there wasn't some mistake +in the accounts, it would be different. It would be a frightful thing +to suspect Rollitt unless it was absolutely certain." + +"You're welcome to round on me," said Fisher, looking quite as miserable +as his chief. "I was a fool to take your advice. I'd much sooner make +the money up myself, and not say a word about it to any one." + +"You can't do that now. You may be sure Dangle won't let it drop." + +"What shall you do?" asked Ranger. + +"What would _you_ do?" said Yorke, testily. "Isn't it bad enough to be +in a fix like this without being asked hopeless questions? I'm sorry, +old man, I've lost my temper; and as it's not come back I vote we say no +more on the subject at present." + +The evening wore on, and still the truants did not return. At ten +o'clock Yorke reported their absence to Mr Wakefield, and Mr Wakefield +reported it to the head-master. A similar report reached him from the +matron of Mr Forders house with regard to the missing ones there; and +presently, further report was made that Rollitt was not in the school. + +No one could give any account of their probable whereabouts. Rollitt +had been seen going out with a rod early in the day, but no one had seen +any of the juniors since last night, when they had prematurely gone to +bed in their own dormitory. A consultation was held, in which all sorts +of conjectures were put forward, the most plausible of which was that +the juniors had organised an expedition to Seastrand, a fashionable +watering-place an hour distant on the railway, which both Wally and +Lickford had separately been heard to express a desire to visit. It +seemed probable that they had lost the last train back, and would +literally "not come home till morning." + +In which case warm things were promised to be ready for my gentlemen. + +As to Rollitt, his vagaries were consistent with any explanation. He +may have gone to Penchurch in mistake for Fellsgarth, and curled himself +up in the church porch, mistaking it for his bed. + +In any case the general impression was that nothing could be done till +morning, and that the juniors at least were making themselves pretty +comfortable, wherever they might be. + +Still, Fisher major felt a vague uneasiness. Had he been quite sure his +brother was in the capable company of his fellow-fags, he would have +been comparatively comfortable. But the possibility of the feckless +youngster wandering about benighted somewhere on his own account added a +new weight to the burden which already lay on the spirit of the luckless +treasurer of the School clubs. + +"I've a good mind to turn out and look for my minor," said he to Denton. + +"What could you do? He's all right. You couldn't do anything in the +dark, and on a night like this. I'm game to turn out any hour you like +in the morning, if he's not come by then. I bet you the four young +scamps will all stroll in for call-over, and wonder whatever the fuss +was about." + +There was nothing to be done, and Fisher lay awake all night, listening +to every sound, and reproaching himself over and over again (as one will +do when everything goes wrong) that he had made such a mess of +everything this term. + +About daybreak there came a ring at the school-bell, and half the school +jumped to its feet. Fisher was down on the Green among the first, in +slippers and ulster. + +Five shivering youngsters were standing inside the gate, with dripping +garments and chattering teeth and white faces--D'Arcy, Lickford, +Ramshaw, Cottle, and Cash--but no Fisher minor. + +"Where's my minor?" asked the senior. + +"What! hasn't he turned up?" said D'Arcy. "Haven't Wally and Percy and +Ashby turned up? We got lost on Hawk's Pike. I'm awfully hungry, I +say." + +"No one's turned up. Do you mean to say he's out on the hill a night +like this?" + +"He was behind--he and Ashby. He was a lame duck, you know. The others +were in front." + +"Were they together?" + +"Who? Young Fisher minor and Ashby? I don't think so." + +"Ashby yelled to see if we knew where he was, and must have gone to look +for him. We made sure they'd be back long ago, didn't we, you chaps?" + +Here the doctor and several of the prefects came on the scene. The +truants were ordered to the hot bath and bed at once, and a council was +held as to what should be done. Fisher major did not wait to take part +in it. He rushed to his room, flung on his clothes and boots, and +started off, accompanied by Denton, at full speed, in the direction of +the mountain. + +Neither spoke a word. As they passed Widow Wisdom's, Denton darted in. + +"Have your fire alight and some food ready. Some of our youngsters have +been all night on the mountain. We're going to look for them." + +Half-way to the lake, they were pulled up by a shout from across the +stream. It was Percy Wheatfield, dead beat, sitting on a log, as white +and miserable as a ghost. + +"I say, have you chaps seen Wally?" he called. + +"No; we're off to look. Some of them have turned up. Can you get as +far as Widow Wisdom's? There's a roaring fire and some grub waiting +there. We'll see after Wally." + +Percy staggered to his feet. He had been wandering, he could not say +where, all night. The very mention of the words "fire" and "food" +revived him. + +"Get up to school as soon as you can and get to bed. You can't be any +use looking for the rest. There's plenty of us to do that. Good-bye." + +It was half-past seven when they reached the lake and turned up the +mountain path. The mist had vanished, and the late autumn sun was +shining brightly on the hill-side. The distant barking of a dog above +apprised them that some one was abroad already, and the hopes of the +searchers rose within them as they struck up the steep slope. + +Half-way up they stood and shouted; but no reply came except the far- +away barking of the shepherd's dogs. "We shall be able to see a good +way all round when we get on to the ridge," said Denton. + +Almost as he spoke, a shout close by startled them. Looking up they +perceived emerging from behind some boulders a little procession. + +Fisher major's blood ran cold as he saw it. For at the head stalked a +stalwart guide, who carried in his arms one small boy, while in the rear +followed a form which they recognised as Rollitt's carrying on his back +another. Between the two tramped a third junior, hanging on to the arm +of another guide. + +What terrified Fisher major more than anything was to see that the head +of the boy on Rollitt's back had fallen helplessly forward on the +shoulder of his porter. + +With a groan the elder brother bounded to the spot. The history of +years flashed through his mind as he did so. He saw the people at home +and heard their voices. He seemed to be in the nursery, hectoring it, +as big brothers will, among the little ones, amongst whom was a little +boy with curly hair and a shrill piping voice. He called to mind the +first-night of this term, and the vision of his young brother breaking +down with his new-boy troubles next morning. All this and more fleeted +through his mind as he bounded to where Rollitt stood. + +"Hush!" said the latter, almost gruffly. "Asleep." + +So he was. It had scarcely roused him when Rollitt had picked him up +two hours ago from his roost under the rocking-stone. And having once +been perched on his preserver's back his head fell forward again, and +there it had lain ever since. How Rollitt had carried him so far, +resting only now and then, and that in a way not to disturb his burden, +only those who knew the huge strength of the Fellsgarth giant could +understand. + +"Hullo," said Wally, greeting the new-comers in a limp, sleepy way, +"have you seen my young brother Percy? He was--" + +"Yes--Percy's all right; so are all the rest." + +"I'm all right," sang out Ashby from the front. "This chap wanted to +carry me, so I let him." + +"Jolly glad you were to get the lift," said Wally. "You new kids +oughtn't to have come. Twenty-four hours on the hills is nothing when +you get used to--" + +Here Wally (who had had twenty-six hours) suddenly collapsed and tumbled +over from sheer fatigue on the grass. + +Fisher and Denton made a chair of their hands for him, and so the +procession went on. + +A cart was in waiting at the foot of the slope, filled with warm wraps +and other restoratives, and in less than two hours the whole party was +safe inside the walls of Fellsgarth. + +Hot baths, blankets, food, and a little physic, succeeded in a very few +days in restoring the invalided truants to their sorrowing class-mates. +Fisher minor was the only member of the party about whom any serious +uneasiness existed, and he, thanks to a wiry constitution and a rooted +dislike to do what nobody else did, got off with a bad cold, which +detained him in his house for a fortnight. + +Rollitt, as might have been expected, vanished to his own quarters as +soon as he had deposited his precious burden into Mr Wakefield's +charge. No one heard of his having been to the top. To Fisher's thanks +he returned a grumpy "Not at all." And the curious inquiries of others +he met by shutting his door and saying "Get out" to any one who entered. + +As might be expected also, the Modern seniors were baulked, after all, +of their promised vengeance on the rebels. On the contrary, while the +fags were making merry on chicken and toasting their toes at the roaring +fire in the sanatorium, Clapperton, Brinkman, and Dangle were hauled up +into the presence of the head-master, and there seriously reprimanded +for the damage done to one of the doors in Mr Forder's house, and +cautioned not to let such a breach of discipline happen again, under a +pain of severer penalties. + +"If you are unable to keep order in your own house," said the doctor +cuttingly, "your duty is to report the matter to me, and I will deal +with it. Remember that another time." + +This incident did not tend to smooth the ruffled plumes of the +discomfited heroes. + +Still less did another little rebuff, which happened a few days later. + +Corder had taken advantage of the general excitement attending the +escapade of the juniors to return to his own quarters and attempt once +more to resume the privileges of ordinary civilised life. He only +partially succeeded. Two or three boys, among whom was Fullerton, who +were getting sick of the present state of affairs and longing for +football once more, had begun seriously to doubt what advantage was +coming to themselves or any one else by the strike. Among these Corder +found a temporary shelter. But the authority of the seniors still +controlled the general public opinion of the house, and the life of the +boycotted boy was still only half tolerable. + +At the first attempt at violence, however, Corder walked across to his +Classic allies, and took up his quarters in their study, where he +remained all day. + +At bedtime he declined to return to his own house; particularly when a +summons to that effect was sent across by Clapperton, who by this time +had a very good idea of the rebel's whereabouts. + +"I'm not going over," said Corder. + +"But you can't stay here all night," said Denton. + +"What shall you do--turn me out?" asked the fugitive. + +"No. But you'd better go, and if you don't like the look of things out +there, you'd better speak to Forder." + +"No. I'd sooner stop," said Corder, doggedly. "I'm sorry to put you +fellows about after your being so kind, but I'm not going over there." + +Yorke was consulted, and took upon himself the responsibility of +detaining the refugee for the night. + +"All right, thanks," said Corder, and turned in. + +Next morning word came from Mr Forder requiring that the truant should +answer for his absence. + +Corder obeyed, with some misgivings, and explained briefly that he had +been bullied and did not want to stand it. + +Mr Forder, who had a peculiar faculty for saddling the wrong horse, was +not satisfied with this explanation, and chose to suspect some other. +Corder had never been a satisfactory boy. He had probably been making +himself objectionable, and had been glad of an excuse to break rules. +The master did not demand particulars. He gave the culprit an +imposition, and ordered him to obey the rules of his house; and another +time, if he had any grievance, to come with it to him instead of taking +the law into his own hands. + +Whereupon Corder departed in high dudgeon. + +It was no use holding out now. He had better give in, and own himself +beaten. It would be so much easier than resisting any longer. + +For an hour of two he was permitted to go in and out unmolested. But +after morning school, he was going out to solace himself with some +solitary kicks at the football, when just on the steps of the house +Brinkman pounced upon him. + +"I've got you now, have I, you cad?" said he. "You just come back with +me." + +"I won't. Let go!" cried Corder, in a temporary panic, wriggling +himself away and escaping a few yards. + +Brinkman, however, was quickly after him, determined this time to hold +him fast. Corder, though a senior, was a small boy, and had never +before thought of pitting, himself against the Modern bully. + +But once already this term he had come suddenly to realise that he could +do better than he gave himself credit for. And now that matters seemed +desperate, when there was no escape, and his fate stared him in the +face, it occurred to Corder he would show fight. + +He had right on his side. He had done no harm to Brinkman or anybody +else. Why shouldn't he let out, and stand up for himself? + +So, to Brinkman's utter amazement, he was met by a blow and a defiant +challenge to "come on." + +What Brinkman might have done is doubtful, but at that moment Yorke and +Ranger strolled by. + +"Hullo! What's this? A fight?" said the captain. + +"Rather," said Corder, now thoroughly strung up to the point. "I say, +Yorke, will you stop and see fair play?" + +The captain hesitated a moment. Any other fight he would have felt it +his duty to stop. This fight seemed to be an exception. It would +probably do more good than harm. + +"Yes, if you like," said he. + +"I'm not going to fight a little beggar like that," said Brinkman. + +"Yes, you are," said Ranger, "and I'll see fair play for you." + +"I promise you I'll make it so hot for him that he'll be sorry for it." + +"I don't care," said Corder. "If you don't fight you're a coward. +There!" + +At this point Dangle came out. + +"Here, your man wants a second," said Ranger; "you'll suit him better +than I." + +The usual crowd collected, minus the junior faction, who complained +bitterly for a year after that they had been deliberately done out of +being present by the malice of the principals. One result of their +absence was that the proceedings were comparatively quiet. Every one +present knew what the quarrel was, and not a few, for their own sakes, +hoped Corder would make a good fight of it. + +Dangle sneered at the whole thing, and counselled his man audibly not to +be too hard on the little fool. + +His advice was not wanted. Corder, for a fellow of his make and +inexperience, exhibited good form, and persistently walked his man round +the ring, dodging his blows and getting in a knock for himself every now +and then. Brinkman soon dropped the disdainful style in which he +commenced proceedings, and became proportionately wild and unsteady. + +"Now's your chance, young 'un; he's lost his temper," whispered the +captain. + +Whereupon Corder, hardly knowing how he managed it, danced his man once +more round and round, till he was out of breath, and then slipped in +with a right, left--left, right, which, though they made up hardly one +good blow among them, were so well planted, and followed one another so +rapidly, that Brinkman lost his balance under them, and fell sprawling +on the ground. + +At the same moment Mr Stratton came up, and the crowd dispersed as if +by magic. + +"What is this?" said the master, appealing to the captain. + +"A fight, sir," said Yorke. "A necessary one." + +"Between Corder and Brinkman? Come and tell me about it, Yorke." + +So while Corder, amid the jubilations of his supporters, who had grown +twenty-fold since the beginning of the fight, was being escorted to his +quarters, and Brinkman, crestfallen and bewildered, was being left by +his disgusted backers to help himself, Yorke strolled on with Mr +Stratton, and gave him, as well as he could, an account of the +circumstances which for weeks had been leading up to this climax. + +"I think it was as well to allow it," said the master, "but there must +be no more of it. You have a hard task before you to pull things +together, Yorke, but it will be work well done." + +"Was it the right thing to dissolve the clubs, sir?" asked Yorke. + +"At the time, yes. But watch your chance of reviving them. You must +have some common interest on foot, to bring the two sides together." + +The captain walked back to his house in a brown study. He had half +hoped Mr Stratton might offer to interpose and restore the harmony of +the School. But no, the master had left it to the captain, and Yorke's +courage rose within him. God helping him, he would pull Fellsgarth +together before he left. + +On the Green he met Fullerton. It was long since the Modern and Classic +seniors had nodded as they passed, but in the curious perversity of +things both did so now. + +"There's been a fight, I hear?" said Fullerton. + +"Yes. Brinkman and Corder. Corder had the best of it." + +"I'm jolly glad. Corder's got more pluck than you'd give him credit +for." + +"Yes; he's had a rough time of it in your house." + +"So he has, poor beggar. It's rather humiliating to wait till he has +licked his man before one takes his side; but upon my word, I'm as sick +of it all as he is." + +"It is rather rough on fellows who aren't allowed to do what they've a +right to do," said Yorke. "I say, have you anything special on after +afternoon school?" + +"No, why?" + +"Only that I wish you'd come and have tea with me." + +Fullerton laughed. + +"Bribery and corruption?" said he. "Anyhow, I'll come." + + + +CHAPTER TWENTY. + +"FAMA VOLAT." + +The Modern seniors had certainly experienced a run of bad luck since the +inauguration of the strike, which was to have brought their rivals down +on their knees and secured for the Modern side a supremacy in +Fellsgarth. + +The second Rendlesham match, the defection of Corder, the mutiny of the +juniors, the disbanding of the clubs, the row with the head-master, and +finally, the defeat of Brinkman by his own victim, might be held to be +enough to chasten their spirits, and induce them to ask themselves +whether the game was worth the candle. + +But, such is the infatuation of wrong-headedness, they still breathed +vengeance on some one; and this time their victim was to be Rollitt. + +The grudge against him had been steadily accumulating during the term. +His outrage on the gentle Dangle was yet to be atoned for. His crime of +playing in the fifteen was yet unappeased. His contempt of the whole +crew of his enemies was not to be pardoned. Even his rescue of the lost +juniors told against him, for it had helped to turn the public feeling +of the School in favour of those recalcitrant young rebels. So far +there had been no getting at him. He would not quarrel. He would not +even recognise the existence of any one he did not care for. + +But now a chance had come. The more they discussed it, the more morally +certain was it that he was answerable for the disappearance of the money +from the Club funds. The very reluctance of his own house to take +action in the matter showed that they at least appreciated the gravity +of the suspicion. + +It was a trump card for the Moderns. By pushing it now, they would be +doing a service to the School. They would pose as the champions of +honesty. They would be mortifying the Classics, even while they +pretended to assist them; and, above all, they would wipe out scores +with Rollitt himself, in a way he could not well disregard. + +Clapperton and Dangle were not superlatively clever boys; but, whether +by chance or design, they certainly hit upon an admirable method for +bringing the matter to a crisis. + +Dangle took upon himself to confide his suspicions, as a dead and +terrible secret, to Wilcox, a middle-boy of Forder's house, and +notorious as the most prolific gossip in Fellsgarth; who, moreover, was +known to have several talking acquaintances in the other houses. + +Wilcox received Dangle's communication with astonishment and--oh, of +course, he wouldn't breathe a word of it to any one, not for the world; +it was a bad business, but it was Fisher major's business to see it put +right, and so on. + +That night as Wilcox and his friend Underwood were retiring to rest, the +former confided to the latter, under the deadliest pledge of secrecy, +that there was a scandal going on about the School accounts. He +mightn't say more except that the fellow suspected was one of the last +he himself should have dreamt of, although others might be less +surprised. + +That was not all. Next morning he sat next to Calder, a Classic boy, in +Hall, and asked him if he could keep a secret. Oh yes, Calder could +keep any amount of secrets. Then Wilcox told him the same story that he +had confided to Underwood, only adding that the amount in question was +said to be several pounds. + +Calder hazarded the names of several boys; but Wilcox shrugged his +shoulders at them all. + +"You'd better not ask me," he said; "it will only get out and make +trouble." + +"Oh! but I promise I wouldn't tell a soul," said Calder. + +"I can't tell you, though. But I'll tell you this. You'd never guess +the fellow had had as much in his pocket all his life." + +"What--do you mean Rollitt?" + +"I can't tell you, I say. I'm not at liberty to mention names." + +The rumour thus admirably started went on merrily. + +Before nightfall it was known in half a dozen Modern studies that the +Club funds had been robbed of L10 or L12 by a Classic boy, and that he +was being shielded by his own seniors. On the Classic side four or five +fellows whispered to one another that Rollitt had been caught in the act +of stealing money out of Fisher major's rooms a day or two ago. + +Presently, one enterprising gossip sent the story of Widow Wisdom's boat +rolling in and out with the rumour of the stolen money. Encouraged by +that, some one else hinted that there had been deficiencies last term as +well as this; and in and out with the new story was started the report +that last term Rollitt had set up with a fishing-tackle and book of +flies worth ever so much. + +A couple of days later the number of boys in the secret had multiplied +fast, and Rollitt, as he walked across the Green to Hall or class, was +watched and pointed out mysteriously by a score or more of curious boys. + +Of course the story grew to all sorts of curious shapes. Percy (who was +the first of the invalided juniors to appear in his usual haunts) had it +from Rix, who had had it from Banks, who had had it from Underwood, who +had had it from Wilcox, who had had it from Dangle, who had been present +on the occasion, that Rollitt had met the head-master in a lane near +Widow Wisdom's, and holding a pistol at his head had made him turn out +all his pockets, and relieved him of fifty pounds. + +Percy said he didn't believe it. + +Whereupon Rix reduced the amount to thirty pounds. + +Percy still could not accept the story. + +Whereat Rix, anxious to meet his friend as far as possible, substituted +a walking-stick for the pistol. + +Still Percy's gullet could not swallow even what was left. + +Whereupon Rix suggested that it was open to doubt whether it was the +doctor who was robbed or Fisher major. It _might_ have been the latter. + +Still Percy looked sceptical. + +Which called forth an explanation that Rix did not mean to say that +Dangle actually witnessed the occurrence; but that he knew it for a fact +all the same. + +Percy shook his head still. + +And Rix, feeling much injured, laid the scene of the outrage in Fisher's +study, and conceded that the money might belong to the clubs, and might +be only five pounds. + +Percy had the temerity once more to express doubt. Whereupon Rix flatly +declined to come down another penny in the amount, or alter his story +one iota, with one possible exception; that the money may have been +taken when Fisher major was not in his room. + +Percy considered the anecdote had been boiled down sufficiently for +human consumption, and grieved Rix prodigiously by saying that he knew +all about it weeks ago, and what did he mean by coming and telling him +his wretched second-hand stories? + +However, whatever variations the rumour underwent as it passed from hand +to hand, it managed to retain its three most salient points all +through--namely, that Fisher major had been robbed; that the money taken +belonged to the club; and that the suspected thief was Rollitt. + +For a week or two Rollitt remained profoundly ignorant of the charges +against him. His unapproachable attitude was the despair both of friend +and enemy. Yorke, who would have given anything to let him have an +opportunity of denying or explaining the charge, was at his wits' end +how to get at him. Dangle, on the contrary, who was chiefly interested +in the penalties in store for the thief, was equally at a loss how to +bring him to bay. + +He would see no one. He shut himself in his study and fastened the +door. In class and Hall he was practically deaf and dumb; and in his +solitary walks by the river it was as much as any one's comfort for the +whole term was worth to accost him. + +By one of those strange coincidences which often bring the most unlikely +persons into sympathy, Yorke and Dangle each decided to write what they +hesitated to say. + +Yorke had endless difficulty over his letter. He could not bring +himself to believe Rollitt a thief, yet he could not deny that +suspicions existed. Still less could he evade his duty as captain to +see things right. The latter duty he might have put off on Mr +Wakefield or the doctor. But the mere reporting to them of the +circumstances would fix the suspicions on Rollitt more pointedly than +they were already, and certainly more pointedly than Yorke wished them +to be. + +"Dear Rollitt," he wrote, "I hope you will not resent my writing to tell +you of a rumour which is afloat very injurious to you, and one which I +feel quite sure you can dispose of at once. I would not write about it, +only I am very anxious for the sake of everybody you should deny it, and +so shut up others who would be glad enough if it were true. A sum of +money, about L4 10 shillings, belonging to the Club funds has been lost +from Fisher major's room. The rumour is that you have taken it, and +those who accuse you make much of the coincidence that about the time +when the money was said to be lost, you spent a similar sum in the +purchase of a new boat for Widow Wisdom. If I didn't feel quite sure +you would be able to deny the charge and explain anything about it that +seems suspicious, I should not have cared to write this. + +"Yours truly,-- + +"C. Yorke." + +Dangle's letter was less ingenuous. + +"The secretary of the Fellsgarth clubs has been requested to ask Rollitt +the following questions in reference to a sum of about L4 10 shillings +missing from the funds in the treasurer's hands. + +"1. Is it true that Rollitt was seen at the door of Fisher major's room +on Saturday afternoon, September 21, at a time when everybody else was +absent from the house? + +"2. Is it true that immediately afterwards Rollitt paid five pounds for +a new boat for Widow Wisdom? + +"3. Where did that money come from? + +"4. Does Rollitt know that he is suspected by every boy in Fellsgarth +of having stolen it; and that now that the clubs are dissolved the +treasurer will be called upon to refund the money? + +"5. What is Rollitt going to do? Does he deny it? If not, will he +take the consequences? + +"Signed for the Club Committee,-- + +"T. Dangle, Sec." + +Fisher minor, the only boy to whom a missive to the School hermit might +safely be entrusted, was on his way to Rollitt's study with the +captain's note in his hand, when he was met on the stairs by Cash. + +"What cheer, kid?" said the latter. "Where are you off to?" + +"Taking a letter to Rollitt," said Fisher minor. + +"That's just what I am, from Dangle. I say, you may as well give him +the two. No answer. Ta-ta." And he thrust his missive into Fisher's +hands. + +It was just as easy to hand Rollitt two letters as one. So Fisher +proceeded on his errand. + +Rollitt was writing a letter, which he hurriedly put aside when the +messenger entered. + +"Get out!" he said, looking up. But when he saw who the intruder was +his tone relaxed a little. + +"Fisher minor? Better?" + +"Yes, thanks. I had a cold, but that was all. I say, Rollitt, you were +an awful brick helping us down that night." + +"Nonsense!" said Rollitt, pulling out his paper and going on writing. + +"Here are two letters for you," said the boy. + +Rollitt motioned him gruffly to lay them down on the table and depart-- +which he did gladly. + +Rollitt went on writing. It may be no breach of confidence if we allow +the reader to glance over his shoulder. + +"Dear Mother,--You ask me if I am happy, and how I like school. I am +not happy, and I hate Fellsgarth. Nobody cares about me. It's no use +my trying to be what I am not. I am not a gentleman, and I hope I never +shall be, if the fellows here are specimens. Just because I'm poor they +have nothing to do with me. I don't complain of that. I prefer it. +I'd much sooner be working for my living like father than wasting my +time at a place like this. If those ladies would give the money they +spend on keeping me here to you and father it would do much more good. +There is only one boy I care about here, and he is a little fellow who +was kind to me of his own accord, and doesn't fight shy of me because +I've no money and live on charity. I would ever so much rather come and +live at home at the end of this term. It would be even worse at Oxford +than it is here; and the ladies, if they want to be kind, will let me +leave. I know you and father want me to become a grand gentleman. I +would a hundred times rather be what I really am, and live at home with +you. + +"Your loving son,-- + +"Alfred." + +This dismal letter concluded, the writer produced his books and began +work, heedless of the two letters on his table, which lay all day where +Fisher minor had deposited them. + +He went in and out to class, and those who watched him saw no signs of +trouble in his demeanour. In the afternoon he stole up to the river +with his rod; and any one who had seen him land his three-pounder, and +leave it, as he left all his fish, at Widow Wisdom's cottage, would have +been puzzled by his indifferent air. + +That evening, as he was about to go to bed, he discovered the letters. + +Dangle's letter, which he opened first, he scarcely seemed to heed. The +sight of the name at foot was sufficient. He crumpled it up and tossed +it in the corner. + +But Yorke's aroused him. He read it through once or twice, and his face +grew grim as he did so. Presently he went to the corner and picked up +Dangle's letter and once more read it. Then he crumpled up both +together, and instead of going to bed sat in his chair and looked at the +wall straight in front of him. + +The next day those who watched him saw him go into school and out as +usual, except that he seemed less listless and more observant. He +glanced aside now and then at the groups of boys who stood and looked +after him, and his face had a cloud on it which was almost thunderous. + +"Did you give my letter to Rollitt?" said Yorke to Fisher minor. + +"Yes, yesterday; and one from Dangle too," said the junior. + +"Dangle!" said the captain to himself; "he'll think we are in collusion. +Why ever didn't I leave it alone?" + +He felt thus still more when later on in the day Dangle came over. + +"I hear you have written to Rollitt for an explanation. It was about +time. What does he reply?" + +Yorke's back went up at the dictatorial tone of the inquiry. + +"If there is anything to tell you, you will hear," said he. + +"That means he hasn't replied, I suppose. I have taken care that he +shall reply. I have told Forder all about it." + +"You've told Forder? You cad!" exclaimed Yorke, in a tone which made +Dangle thankful he was near the door. + +"Yes," snarled he. "It may be your interest to shield a thief, but it's +not in the interest of Fellsgarth. You won't take the matter up; Forder +will. I've told him you know about it, and will give him all the +particulars. Hope you'll enjoy it." + +And he disappeared, only just in time for his own comfort. + +Yorke's rage was unbounded. Of all the masters, Mr Forder was the one +he would least have chosen to take up an affair of this kind. He was +harsh, unsympathetic, hasty. And of all persons to prime the master in +the circumstances of the case, Dangle was the least to be trusted. + +His temptation was to go at once to Rollitt, and force the matter to a +conclusion before Mr Forder had time to interfere. Things were going +from bad to worse. Would they never come right again? + +Next morning, before he could decide what to do, a message came from Mr +Forder, requesting him and his fellow-prefects to come across to the +master's room. + +In no amiable frame of mind they obeyed. As they expected, Clapperton, +Brinkman, Dangle, and Fullerton were also present. + +"This is a most serious case," said Mr Forder. "Yorke, I understand +you know more about it than any one. Will you kindly say all you know?" + +"I know nothing," said the captain, "except that I believe the story is +groundless." + +"That is unsatisfactory. In a matter like this, there must be nothing +like sheltering the wrong-doer." + +"It's because we were afraid of that, sir," said Clapperton, "that we +thought it right to tell you about it." + +"Of course. Fisher major, perhaps you will tell us about the missing +money." + +Fisher major briefly related his loss and the efforts he had made to +discover it. + +"And what are your grounds for suspecting Rollitt?" + +"I don't suspect him, sir; or rather I should not if it were not for +what Dangle has said about him." + +Thereupon Dangle was called upon to repeat his accusation. + +"It seems to me," said the master, "we require two important witnesses +to make the case clear. I believe Mrs Wisdom is in the house at +present. Will you inquire, Fullerton, and if so, tell her to come here? +And will you, Fisher major, fetch your brother?" + +After a painful delay, in which the rival seniors sat glaring at one +another, and the master made notes of the evidence so far, the two +witnesses were forthcoming. + +Widow Wisdom had nothing to say except in praise of Master Rollitt, and +was glad enough in support of it to relate the incident of the boat, and +even produce the receipt, which she carried about like a talisman in her +pocket. She had no idea that her glowing testimony was to be used +against her favourite, or she would have bitten off her tongue sooner +than give it: + +As for Fisher minor, confused and abashed in the presence of so many +seniors, he blundered out his story of the eventful half-holiday, +looking in vain towards his brother to ascertain if he was doing well or +ill. He blabbed all he knew about Rollitt; the condition of his study, +the nature of his solitary walks, the poverty of his possessions-- +everything that could possibly confirm the suspicions against him; and +forgot to mention anything which might in the least avail on the other +side. + +At the close of the court-martial Mr Forder summed up. + +"I am afraid it is a very clear case," said he. "It is very painful to +think that a Fellsgarth boy should come to such a pass. The matter must +be reported to the head-master. But before doing so it would be fair to +see Rollitt, and hear what he has to say. We have no right to condemn +any one unheard. If he is innocent, it will be easy for him to prove +it. Fisher major, will you tell him to come?" + +Fisher major reluctantly obeyed. It was nearly half an hour before he +returned, and then he came alone. + +"I cannot find Rollitt, sir. He is not in the house. He was absent +from morning call-over. And the house-keeper says he was not in his +room this morning, and that his bed was not slept in last night." + + + +CHAPTER TWENTY ONE. + +BOLTED! + +However slowly the rumour of Rollitt's dishonesty had spread through the +School, the news of his disappearance spread like wildfire. + +Mr Forder's desire to keep the matter from being talked about was +eminently futile, for Wally and Percy Wheatfield both knew all about it +five minutes after Fisher major had discovered the absence of the +"suspect." + +By everybody except a very few infatuated persons, such as Yorke and +Fisher minor, Rollitt's flight was taken as conclusive evidence of his +guilt. + +"If he hadn't done it, why shouldn't he stay and face it?" asked +Clapperton. + +"The wonder to me is," sneered Dangle, "that he brazened it out as long +as he did." + +"Suppose you were in his shoes," said Yorke, "suspected by every one, +with the evidence black against you, and Dangle in charge of the +prosecution, how would you like it?" + +"If I'm in charge of the prosecution," said Dangle, colouring up, "it's +because _you_, whose duty it was to see the matter put right, were doing +all you could to shield the scoundrel." + +"I did nothing because I didn't believe him guilty, and I don't yet," +said the captain hotly; "and if you call him scoundrel again in my +hearing, I'll knock you down." + +"Keep your temper," said Dangle, glad, all the same, that there were one +or two fellows between him and the captain. "_You_ may not care about +the credit of Fellsgarth. We do." + +"You!" retorted Yorke, with such withering contempt that Dangle half +wished he had left the matter alone. + +"The thing is," said Ranger, "what is to be done!" + +"Nothing," said Yorke. "Forder has gone to tell the doctor all about +it. They'll take it into their own hands to hunt him down--perhaps with +Dangle's assistance. All we've got to do is--" + +Here Fullerton interrupted-- + +"--is to say all the evil we can about a fellow who is down and can't +defend himself." + +"What's the matter with Fullerton?" said Clapperton, with a sneer; +"surely he's not become one of Rollitt's champions?" + +"If it matters specially to you what I think," said Fullerton, "I don't +believe a word of your precious story. First of all, Fisher major's +such a fool at accounts that it's not at all certain the money is lost; +secondly, Dangle is the accuser; thirdly, Rollitt is the accused; +fourthly, because if a similar charge were made against me, I should +certainly disappear." + +"Ha, ha!" snarled Brinkman, "they've got hold of poor Fullerton, have +they? I wish them joy of him." + +"Thanks very much," said Fullerton; "I don't intend to desert the dear +Moderns. You will have a splendid chance of taking it out of me for +daring to believe somebody innocent that you think guilty. I shall be +happy to see any three of you, whenever you like, I can hit out as well +as young Corder, so I hope Brinkman won't come. But Dangle now, or even +Clapperton, I shall be charmed to see. It's really their duty as +prefects to suppress any one who dares have an opinion of his own. I +simply long to be suppressed!" + +This astounding revolt for the time being diverted attention from the +topic of the hour. The laughter with which it was greeted by the +Classics present did not tend to add to the comfort of Clapperton, +Brinkman, and Dangle, who very shortly discovered that it was time to go +to their own house. + +"Wait for me," said Fullerton; "I'm coming too." + +And, to their disgust, the rebel strolled along, with his hands in his +pockets, in their company, whistling pleasantly to himself and +absolutely ignoring their unfriendly attitude. + +Meanwhile the question, "Where is Rollitt?" continued to exercise +Fellsgarth, from the head-master down to the junior fag. Bit by bit all +that could be found out about his movements came to light. His study +was visited by the masters. It disclosed the usual state of grime and +confusion. His fishing-rod and tackle were there. There had been no +attempt to pack his few belongings, which lay scattered about in dismal +disorder. The photograph of the pleasant, homely-looking woman on the +mantelpiece, with the inscription below, "Alfred, from Mother," stood in +its usual place. His Aristophanes lay open in the window-sill at the +place for to-day's lesson. Everything betokened an abrupt and hasty +departure. + +Among the papers on his table was a fragment of some accounts recording +the outlay of little more than a few pence a week since the beginning of +the term. + +When inquiry came to be made, it was found that he was last seen after +afternoon class yesterday, when he unexpectedly went to the School shop +and purchased from the attendant there (who had been put in charge of +that establishment during the indisposition of the managing directors) +half a dozen Abernethy biscuits. + +The matron at Wakefield's remembered that only a day or two ago a parcel +had arrived for Rollitt--another unusual circumstance--containing a ham. +Of this possession no sign was now to be found in his study. + +The inference from all these circumstances of course was, that however +abruptly he had departed, he had not gone home, but somewhere where food +would not be easy to procure in the ordinary way. + +Messengers were sent to Penchurch to acquaint the police and inquire at +various places on the way for news of the missing boy. But no one had +seen him "out of touch" for several days--since his last fishing +expedition. + +His home address was of course on the School books, and thither a +telegram was sent. But as the place was beyond the region of the wire, +no reply came for a day, when in answer to the doctor's inquiry if the +wanderer had returned home, there came an abrupt "No." + +Meanwhile the doctor had had another conference with the seniors of both +houses, and inquired with every sign of dissatisfaction into the merits +of the suspicions which were the apparent cause of Rollitt's +disappearance. + +To his demand why the matter was not reported to him, Yorke replied that +as far as he and Fisher major were concerned they did not suspect +Rollitt, and therefore had had nothing to report. The Modern seniors, +on the other hand, put in the plea that they had looked to the Classics +to take the matter up, and when they declined to do so, had reported the +matter to Mr Forder. + +Then the doctor went into the particulars of Dangle's feud with the +missing boy, much to the embarrassment of the former. + +"He insulted you by turning you out of Mr Wakefield's house, you say. +Why were you there?" + +"I went to speak to some juniors." + +"About what?" + +"Clapperton wanted them--" + +"No, I didn't. You went--" interrupted Clapperton. + +"Silence, Clapperton. What were they wanted for, Dangle?" + +"They had cheated at Elections." + +"What was your object, then?" + +"To punish them." + +"Are you not aware that the captain of the School is the only prefect +who is allowed to punish?" + +"Yes, sir, but--" + +"Well?" + +"We were not sure that their own prefects were going to take any notice +of it." + +"I caned all four of them for it, and you saw me do it," said Yorke. + +"Humph. And as to Rollitt, how came he to be present?" asked the +doctor. + +"He came in." + +"What were you doing when he came in?" + +"There was a scuffle." + +"You were striking those boys? What did Rollitt do? Did he strike +you?" + +"No, sir." + +"What then?" + +"He--he," said Dangle, flushing up to be obliged to record the fact in +the presence of the other seniors, "he dragged me across the Green." + +"Then you say he attacked you on another occasion on the football +field?" + +And Dangle had to stand an uncomfortable cross-examination on this +incident too. + +"What had it all got to do with Rollitt?" asked every one of himself. + +"I ask you all these questions, Dangle," said the doctor, when he had +brought this chapter of history up to date, "because it seems to me you +are Rollitt's chief accuser in this matter. I wish I were able to feel +that you were not personally interested in your charges proving to be +true. That, of course, does not affect the case, as far as Rollitt is +concerned. The evidence against him is merely conjecture, so far." + +"But I met him at Fisher's door that afternoon," said Dangle, determined +to make the most of his strong points. + +"Why," said Fisher, "you told me you didn't know which my door was, when +you first spoke about it." + +"I found out since, and it was the same door." + +"Was he coming out of the room or going in!" + +"Coming out." + +"You are sure of that?" + +"Yes, I remember because the door nearly struck me as he opened it." + +"However could it do that!" exclaimed Fisher. "My door opens inwards!" + +Dangle coloured up with confusion and stammered-- + +"I--I thought it--I suppose I was wrong." + +"I think so," said the doctor frigidly. "Thank you, boys, I needn't +keep you longer at present." + +"You idiot!" said Clapperton, as he and the discomfited Dangle walked +back to Forder's. "You've made a precious mess of it, and made the +whole house ridiculous. Why couldn't you let it alone? You've mulled +everything you've put your finger into this term." + +"Look here, Clapperton," said Dangle, in a white heat, "I've stood a lot +from you this term--a jolly lot. I've done your dirty work, and--" + +"What do you mean? What dirty work have I asked you to do?" + +"Plenty that you've not had the pluck to do yourself." + +"I dare you to repeat it, you liar!" + +"You shall do your own in future, I know that." + +"Dangle, hold your tongue, you cad!" + +"I shall do nothing of the kind, you snob!" + +Whereupon ensued the most wonderful spectacle of the half, a fight +between Clapperton and Dangle. It was nearly dark, and no one was +about, and history does not record how it ended. But in Hall that night +both appeared with visages suspiciously marred, and it was noted by many +an observant eye that diplomatic relations between the two were +suspended. + +But while old friends had thus been falling out on Rollitt's account, +old enemies had on the same grounds been making it up. + +The juniors having recovered of their colds, and finding themselves once +more in the full possession of their appetite, their liberty, and their +spirits, celebrated their convalescence by a general _melee_ in Percy's +room, under the specious pretext of a committee meeting of the shop- +directors. This business function being satisfactorily concluded, they +turned their attention to the condition of things in general. + +That Fellsgarth should have got itself into a regular mess during their +enforced retirement caused them no surprise. What else could any one +expect? + +But that any one should dare to suspect and make things hot for a fellow +without consulting _them_, caused them both pain and astonishment. It +quite slipped their memories that not long since some of them had been +glad enough to listen to disparaging talk about the School hermit. That +was a detail. On the whole they had stuck to him, and they meant to +stick to him now! + +Many things were in his favour. He had won a goal for the School. He +had dispensed with his right to a fag, and had let the juniors of all +grades generally alone. He was on nodding terms with Fisher minor, one +of their lot. He had come up Hawk's Pike at much personal inconvenience +to look for them. And he had been a customer to the extent of six +Abernethys at the School shop. + +For all these reasons (which were quite apart from party considerations) +it was decided _nem. con_. that Rollitt was a "good old sort" and must +be stuck by. + +Whereupon the nine of them sallied out arm in arm across the Green, on +the look-out for some one who might hold a contrary opinion. + +After some search they found a Modern middle-boy, who, catching sight of +Fisher minor, shouted, "How now! Who nobbled the Club money?" which +made Fisher minor suddenly detach himself from his company, and +shouting, "That's him!" start in pursuit. What a bull-dog it was +getting, to be sure! + +The whole party joined in the hue-and-cry, and might have run the +fugitive down, had not the head-master stalked across the Green at that +moment on his way to Mr Wakefield's. + +At sight of him they pulled up short, looked unutterably amiable, doffed +their caps, and made as though they were merely out to take the air on +this beautiful November afternoon. + +To Fisher minor the interruption was a sad one. That fellow was the +borrower of his half-crown; for weeks he had lost sight of him. Now, +suddenly, chance had seemed to bring both man and money within reach, +when, alas! the Harpy swooped down and took off the prize from under his +very nose. + +The doctor having passed, they continued their search for any one who +had a bad word to say for Rollitt. + +But as it was nearly dark, and rain was falling, the craven maligners +kept indoors, and would not be caught. + +So the juniors relieved themselves by giving three cheers for Rollitt +under every window round the Green, and then fell to abusing Fisher +minor because his brother, Fisher major, had lost the money which +Rollitt was said to have stolen. + +"There's no doubt that kid's at the bottom of it," said Percy. "First +of all, he's a Classic cad." + +Here the speaker was obliged to pause, on a friendly admonition from the +boot of his brother Wally. + +"He's a Classic kid," continued he. + +"You said cad." + +"I said cad? do you hear that, you chaps? Thinks I don't know how to +spell." + +"You said he was a Classic cad." + +"There you are; you've said it now. Kick him, you chaps. How dare he +say he's a Classic cad?" said Percy. + +This verbal squabble being settled at last, Percy proceeded to explain +Fisher minor's position. + +"If he hadn't come to Fellsgarth, Rollitt would have been smashed to +bits over the falls. And if Rollitt had been smashed to bits--" + +"He couldn't have bought six Abernethys at the shop," suggested D'Arcy. + +"Right you are! And what's more, he couldn't have eaten them if he had, +and he couldn't have run away. There you are, I said this kid was at +the bottom of it." + +"But who'd have collared the money in that case?" asked Ashby. + +Percy reflected. This was a decided point. + +"Well, you see," said he, "it's this way. If young Fisher minor hadn't +been born, he wouldn't have had a governor and a mater, and if he hadn't +had a governor and a mater, no more would Fisher major. And if Fisher +major hadn't had a governor and a mater he'd never have been elected +treasurer, and if he'd not been elected treasurer he wouldn't have lost +the money. So you see the young un's at the bottom of it again." + +"I know a shorter way than that," said D'Arcy. "If young Fisher minor +hadn't fetched Rollitt up to vote that day, Fisher major wouldn't have +been elected, and then he couldn't have lost the money." + +"Isn't that what I said?" said Percy, indignant to be thus summarily +paraphrased. + +"Are you going to lick me for being born?" inquired Fisher minor. + +"Good mind to. It's all your fault good old Rollitt's gone." + +"Those six Abernethys won't last him long," suggested Cash. + +"No. We must keep a stock of them now, and call them `Rollitt's +particular.' I fancy they might fetch three-halfpence each." + +"I say," said Wally, "I vote we find Rollitt. He's not a bad sort, you +know." + +"All very well," said Percy, "if one only knew where to look." + +"It's my notion he's either gone home or to the top of Hawk's Pike. I +don't well see where else he could be." + +"London?" suggested Cottle. + +"Not got the money." + +"Walked there?" + +"Not got the boots." + +"He can't be hanging about near here. Everybody knows him. No; you bet +he's gone to the top of Hawk's Pike, and he's going to stay there till +the clouds roll by." + +This brought up a painful reminiscence. None of the party, except +Wally, exactly favoured the idea of another attempt on the great +mountain. + +"Tell you what," said Percy, "those biscuits will last him over to- +night. We'll see if there's any news of him in the morning, and if not +we'll organise an expedition to find him. I say, let's go and have +another shop committee somewhere." + +"Where?" + +"Suppose we have it in Rollitt's study. He was a jolly good sort, you +know. It would please him." + +The logic of this proposition did not detain the meeting. + +They decided to go in the usual way. That is, the four Classic boys +boldly marched into their house together, and the five Moderns dropped +in one by one artlessly and quite by accident. + +As Fisher minor passed his brother's door he thought he would just look +in. At the same moment the house matron, with a very important face, +was bounding into the room. + +"Master Fisher," said she, "Mrs Wisdom's just sent back that flannel +shirt of yours." + +"Oh! At last. She's only had it six weeks. About long enough," said +Fisher major. "I'd given it up for lost." + +"It got left at the bottom of the bag, and she never noticed it till +last night. And what do you think, Master Fisher! there was _this_ in +the breast pocket." And she handed him a little brown paper parcel. + +Fisher major snatched at it with an ejaculation more like horror than +anything else, and tore the paper open. + +Four sovereigns and some silver dropped on to the table. + +"Why," gasped he, "that's it! I remember now. I got it on the field +just before the Rendlesham match, and stuck it in that pocket, and it +went clean out of my head. Oh, my word, what _have_ I done? What an +awful mess I've made!" + +Not even Fisher minor stayed to dispute this statement, but hurried off +with the great news to the shop committee next door. + + + +CHAPTER TWENTY TWO. + +COMING TO. + +Fisher major's discovery put the finishing touch to the discomfiture of +the Modern seniors. + +And the manner in which they came by the news of it by no means tended +to salve the wound which it inflicted. + +The shop committee was so convulsed by the intelligence which Fisher +minor brought, that they then and there promised themselves the pleasure +of conveying the good news to Rollitt's accusers in person. They +accordingly adjourned in a body to the Modern side. + +"Won't Clapperton grin!" said Percy. "I say, you chaps, we may as well +let him have it one at a time. Then he'll hear it nine times over, do +you see? I'll go first." + +The idea seemed a good one, but risky. Cottle calculated that after +about the fourth time Clapperton would be a little riled. He therefore +modestly proposed to follow Percy. Cash and Lickford competed smartly +for the third place, the former being successful. Ramshaw, having to +come fifth, had decided misgivings as to the fun of the thing; while the +Classic juniors declined to play unless all the others remained on the +spot ready to back up in case of emergency. + +It was also decided that, for precautionary reasons, the key of +Clapperton's door should be removed for the time being, lest he should +try to lock the good news out; and that an interval of two minutes +should be allowed to elapse between each messenger's announcement. + +Little dreaming of the exquisite torture being prepared for him, +Clapperton sat in his study engaged in the farce of preparation. + +He had plenty to think of besides lessons. Things had all gone wrong +with him. Dangle and he had fought. Brinkman, after his thrashing by +Corder, no longer counted. Fullerton had rebelled, and was taking boys +over every day to the enemy. Corder had successfully defied his-- +Clapperton's--authority, and the juniors snapped their fingers at him. + +And yet Clapperton had come up this term determined to lay himself out +for his side, and be the most popular prefect in Fellsgarth! + +His one comfort was that the Classics were under a cloud too. One of +their number was a runaway thief; and a stigma rested on their side +worse than any that attached to the Moderns. + +He was trying to make the most of this questionable consolation when the +door opened, and Percy bounced in. + +"I say, Clapperton; Fisher's found the money. Rollitt's not a thief. +Ain't you glad? Hurray!" + +And, without waiting, he retired as suddenly as he had come. + +Clapperton gaped at the door by which he had gone in amazement. He had +never calculated on this. This was the worst thing yet. It showed +Yorke had been right, and that he and Dangle-- + +The door opened again, and Cottle ran in. "Hurray, Clapperton! The +money's found. Rollitt's no thief. Ain't you glad?" And he, too, +vanished. + +There must be something in it. What a fool he would look to all +Fellsgarth! Perhaps it was only a plot, though, to shield Rollitt. +Perhaps-- + +The door once more swung open, and in jumped Cash. + +"Clapperton, I say--Hooray! That money's been found. Rollitt's no +thief. Ain't you glad?" + +Hullo! At this rate he would get to know the news. How they would crow +on the other side! He wondered if Fisher major had done it on purp-- + +Again there was a scuffle of feet at the door, and Lickford stepped in. + +"Oh! Clapperton," he said. "Hooray, Clapperton! The money's turned +up, and Rollitt's no thief. Ain't you glad?--and, oh, I say, +Clapperton--hooray!" + +"Come here," said Clapperton, sternly. + +But, oh dear no; Lickford was pressed, and couldn't stay. + +"The young asses!" growled Clapperton. "Why can't they keep their +precious news to themselves? If they'd tried, they couldn't have made +bigger nuisances of themselves. I suppose, now, Yorke will--" + +The door swung open again, and Ramshaw, hanging on to the handle, swung +in with it. + +"Hooray, Clapperton! Rollitt's no thief. That money's turned up. +Ain't you glad? I am--good evening." + +This final greeting was cut short by a ruler which Clapperton sent +flying at the messenger's head. Ramshaw dodged in time, and the ruler +flew out into the passage, where it was promptly captured by Fisher +minor, whose turn came next. + +"Thank goodness that's the end of the young cads!" growled Clapperton. +"They've done it on purpose; and I'll pay them out for it. That ass, +Fisher major, he's bound to--" + +Here there came a modest tap at the door, and Fisher minor peeped in, +apologetically. + +"Well, what do you want? You've no business on this side; go to your +own house." + +"All right, Clapperton," said Fisher, speaking with unwonted rapidity. +"I only thought you'd like to know my brother's found the money. +Hurray! Rollitt's no thief; ain't you glad?--Yeow!" + +This last exclamation was in response to a grab from the enraged +Clapperton, which, though it failed to catch the messenger, clawed his +face. + +"I've had enough of this," said the senior. "I don't care--. Hullo! +where's my key?" + +The key was not to be seen. He looked out into the passage; it was not +there. No one else was in sight. + +He returned viciously to his seat at the table, and began to read again. + +The door had opened, and Ashby, on tip-toe, was in the room before the +senior noticed the fresh intrusion. + +"Rollitt's no thief; ain't you glad? The money's found. Hurray, +Clapperton!--done it!" exclaimed Ashby, all in one breath, dancing out +of the room in conscious pride at his exploit. + +"All very well," said D'Arcy, whose turn came next; "how am I to do it?" + +"No shirking," said Wally; "I come after you." + +"Look here," said D'Arcy; "if you chaps give me a leg-up, I'll let him +have it through his window. I can reach round from this passage window +to his if you hang on to my legs." + +"Good dodge," said Wally, admiringly, "but we'd better turn the key on +the door first. If he came out and spotted us holding you, we might +have to drop you." + +So the key was quietly put in the lock and turned; and D'Arcy, firmly +held by the heels, wriggled himself out of the window, and, with the aid +of a pipe, pulled himself up, with his face to the window of +Clapperton's study. + +That worthy was beginning to congratulate himself that he would be +spared a further repetition of the uncomfortable news that night, when a +sudden, loud voice at one of the open lattice panes almost startled him +out of his skin. + +"Oh, Clapperton! Ain't you glad? Rollitt's no thief. The money's +found. Good evening--have you used our soap? Haul in, you chaps! +Sharp!" + +The persecuted senior, after the first surprise, made a frantic rush, +first at the window, and then, finding the bird flown, at the door. The +latter was locked. He could hear a scuffling and scrambling in the +lobby outside, followed by a stampede; after which dead silence +prevailed, save for the vicious kicking of the imprisoned hero at his +own door. + +"Whew!" said Wally, fanning himself when the juniors were safe back in +Percy's study. "That was a squeak, if you like. How on earth am I to +do it?" + +"Better let him off," suggested some one. + +Wally resented the suggestion as an insult. + +"Not likely," said he. "I'll do it. I don't care, if you all back up." + +And in a minute, when the sound of the kicking had ceased, and +Clapperton had apparently retired once more to his work, he crept out +into the lobby, followed stealthily by the whole band. + +As they passed the head of the stairs, whose voice should they hear +below, inquiring of a middle-boy if Clapperton was in the house, but the +doctor's? + +"Yes, sir; shall I tell him you want him?" said the boy. + +"No, I'll go up to his room," said the head-master. + +"Whew!" said Wally, "what a go! and the door's locked on the outside!" + +"I'll go and turn it quietly," said Percy, "if you back up in case he +flies out." + +But the precaution was not needed. Percy, who luckily had just taken +off his boots, slipped up silently to the door, and the others from +their lurking-place saw him quietly turn the key and then walk back, +evidently unheard by the prisoner within. + +He passed the stair-head just before the doctor came up, and to their +great relief ran into the arms of his friends unchallenged. + +The doctor, indeed, was too pre-occupied to dream that, as he went to +Clapperton's study, nine small heads were craning out of a door at the +end of the passage, watching his every step. + +"I say," whispered Ashby, in tones of horror, "suppose Clap thinks it's +one of us, and goes for him!" + +"My eye, what a go!" ejaculated Cash. + +They saw the stately figure stand a moment at the door and turn the +handle. + +Next moment he reeled back with an exclamation of amazement, nearly +felled to the ground by a bulky dictionary hurled at his head! + +The nine lurkers fairly embraced one another in horror at the sight of +this awful outrage; and when, a moment after, they saw the doctor gather +himself together and return to the charge, this time closing the door +behind him, they did not envy the unlucky Clapperton the awkward five +minutes in store for him. + +How the two arranged matters no one could say. But as no sounds of +violence issued, and the doctor did not summon any one to fetch his +cane, they concluded Clapperton had offered a sufficiently humble +apology for his mistake. + +"Hold on, now," said Wally, after three minutes had passed; "I'll try it +now--it's my only chance. You Classic kids be ready to cut home with me +as soon as I come back." + +So, starting at a run like one who had come a long distance and expected +to find the senior alone, he dashed unceremoniously into Clapperton's +study, of course not appearing to notice the distinguished company +present, crying-- + +"I say, Clapperton. Hooray! The money's found. Rollitt's no thief. +Ain't you glad! Oh, the doctor! I beg your pardon, sir." + +The next moment he, D'Arcy, Ashby, and Fisher minor were descending the +stairs three steps at a time on the way back to Mr Wakefield's as fast +as their legs would carry them, and with all the righteous satisfaction +of men who had done their duty at all costs. + +"I reckon," said Wally, "he pretty well knows about it now--and if he +don't, the doctor will rub it in." + +The unfortunate Clapperton, indeed, required no one to "rub in" the fact +that he had made a mess of things. + +The doctor did not attempt to do it. He merely carried the news of the +finding of the money, and desired Clapperton, as the head of the house, +to make it known as widely as possible. + +"I say nothing now of the cruel wrong which has been inflicted by hasty +suspicion on Rollitt. That shadow is still on the School. But the +worst shadow, that a Fellsgarth boy was a thief, is happily removed, and +I wish every boy in this house to hear of it at the earliest possible +moment." + +And the doctor went, leaving Clapperton to gulp down the bitter pill as +best he could. + +Why should he have the job to do? He had not been the first to start +the suspicions. Dangle had done that--Dangle, with whom he had fought. +Why should not Dangle be called upon to put it right? Unluckily, Dangle +was not the captain of Forder's. He was not as responsible in starting +the rumour as Clapperton, in his position, had been in adopting it. + +It was more than he could bring himself to, to summon the house and +announce the news publicly. If Dangle and Brinkman had been with him +still, the three of them together might have brazened it out. But his +colleagues were sulking in their own quarters, and whatever had to be +done must be done singlehanded. + +He therefore sat down in no very happy frame of mind and wrote out the +following curt notice for the house-boards.-- + +"Notice. + +"The head-master wishes it to be known that the Club money supposed to +be missing has been found by the treasurer. + +"Geo. Clapperton." + +This ungracious document he copied out three times, and taking advantage +of every one being in his study for preparation, affixed with his own +hand on the notice boards at the house-door and on each landing. + +"There!" said he, with a sneer of disgust, as he returned to his own +room, "let them make the most of that." + +An hour later the dormitory bell sounded, and he could hear the +scuffling of feet on the lobby outside, and the clamour of voices as +boys hustled one another in front of the boards. Evidently the majority +regarded the announcement in a jocular manner; and when a distant shout +of laughter came up from the passage below, and down from the landing +above, it was clear that Forders did not take the matter very much to +heart. + +"It was ridiculous, when you come to think of it," soliloquised +Clapperton, "that a blundering ass like Fisher major should have brought +the School into such a precious mess." + +The noise gradually died away as fellows one by one dropped of to bed. + +Clapperton waited till they were gone before he followed. As he passed +the notice board he glanced at the document which had lately cost him so +much pain. It was still there; but not as he left it. A sentence had +been squeezed in between his own words and his signature at the bottom +of the sheet, which, as it was a fair imitation of his back-sloped +handwriting, had all the appearance of forming part of his manifesto. +Clapperton gasped with fury as he read the amended notice:-- + +"Notice. + +"The head-master wishes it to be known that, the Club money supposed to +be missing has been found by the treasurer, and that I am a beast and a +sneak to have accused Rollitt of stealing it. + +"Geo. Clapperton." + +He tore the paper from the board, and stamped on it in his rage. Then +he went downstairs to look at the notice on the school-door. It read +precisely like the other, the imitation being perhaps better. He stayed +only to tear this down, and proceeded to the other landing, where the +same insult confronted him. + +Who the author might be he was free to guess. + +As he lay awake that night, tossing and turning, he racked his brain to +devise some retribution. + +And yet, his more sensible self told him, hadn't he been leading up to +this all the term? What had he done to make the fellows respect, much +more like, him? He had bullied, and swaggered, and set himself against +the good of the School. The fellows who followed him only did so in the +hope of getting something--either fun or advantage--out of the +agitation. They didn't care twopence about Clapperton, and were ready +enough to drop him as soon as ever it suited their turn. The one or two +things he could do well, and for which anybody respected him--as, for +instance, football--he had deliberately shut himself off from, leaving +his authority to depend only on the very qualities he had least cause to +be proud of. + +It was easy enough to say that Brinkman and Dangle cut even a poorer +figure over this wretched business than he. But who troubled their +heads about Brinkman and Dangle? The former had already been snuffed +out hopelessly, and dared not show his face. Dangle, as everybody knew, +had a personal grudge against Rollitt, and was unhampered by scruples as +to how he scored. But he--Clapperton--he had always tried to pose as a +decent sort of fellow, with some kind of interest in the good of the +School and some sort of notion about common honour and decency. Ugh! +this was what had come of it! As he lay awake that night, the sound of +the laughter round the notice boards and the "Ain't you glad?" of the +juniors dinned in his ears, sometimes infuriating, sometimes humiliating +him; but in either case mockingly reminding him that Clapperton's +greatest enemy in Fellsgarth was the captain of the Modern side. + +Next morning brought no news of the missing boy, and a vague feeling of +anxiety spread through the School. Boys remembered how proud and +sensitive Rollitt had been, and how dreadful was the accusation against +him. Suppose he had done something desperate? He had cared little +enough for danger when all went well. Would he be likely to care more, +now that the School was in league against him, pointing to him as a +thief, and hounding him out of its society? + +All sorts of dreadful possibilities occurred both to masters and boys; +and all the while a feeling of fierce resentment was growing against the +fellows whose accusations had been the cause of all the mischief. + +Dangle, as he crossed the Green to class, was hooted all the way. +Brinkman was followed about with derisive cheers, and cries of "Look +out! Corder's coming"; and Clapperton, when he appeared, was silently +cut. Fellows went out of the way to avoid him; and the chair on either +side of him was left vacant in Hall. + +"Did you hear," said Ramshaw to his neighbour at the prefects' table at +dinner-time, "that they've begun to drag the lake to-day?" + +A grim silence greeted the question. Fellows tried to go on with their +meal. But somehow Ramshaw had destroyed every one's appetite. + +"Nonsense!" said Yorke. "He took food with him. You forget that." + +"That looks as if he'd gone off the beaten track somewhere," said +Fullerton. + +"It does--and Hawk's Pike is as likely a place as any other," said +Yorke. + +"Whew! there was frost on it the other night," some one said. "I wish +the doctor would let us go out and look for him. We've a much better +chance of finding him than police and guides." + +Here the signal was given to rise, and every one dispersed. Yorke +stayed--one of the last. As he went out he caught sight of a solitary +figure walking moodily ahead, with hands dug in pockets and head down, +the picture of dejection. + +Yorke could hardly recognise in this back view his old rival and enemy, +Clapperton. Yet he it was. A few weeks ago, and he always marched to +and from his house in the boisterous company of friends and admirers. +Now he was left alone. + +A flush of something like shame mounted to the captain's cheeks. He had +no love for this fellow. He owed him little gratitude. And yet the +sight of him thus solitary, cut off from the stream, stirred him. + +Did he not try, in his humble way, to follow in the footsteps of One Who +said, "Love your enemies, do good to them that hate you"? And was not +this an opportunity for putting that faith of his to the test of +practice? + +He quickened his pace, and overtook Clapperton. The Modern senior +wheeled round half-savagely. + +"Clapperton," said the captain, "we've been enemies all this term. I've +thought harshly of you, and you've thought harshly of me. Why shouldn't +we be friends?" + +"What!" almost growled Clapperton; "are you making a fool of me?" + +"No--but we've tried hating one another long enough. Let's try being +friends for a change." + +They stood facing one another; the one serene, honest, inviting; the +other dejected and doubting. But as their eyes met the fires kindled +again in Clapperton's face, and the cloud swept off his brow. He pulled +his hand from his pocket and held it out. + +"Done with you, Yorke. You're the last fellow in Fellsgarth I expected +to call friend just now." + + + +CHAPTER TWENTY THREE. + +THE VOYAGE OF THE COCK-HOUSE. + +Yorke was roused before daybreak next morning by a voice at his bedside. + +"Is that you, Yorke?" + +The voice was Mr Stratton's. The captain bounded to his feet at once. + +"What is it, sir? Has he been found?" + +"No," said the master; "no news. Every place has been searched where he +would be likely to be, except the mountain. It seems a very off-chance +that he has gone up there; still, it is possible. He has been on it +once or twice before. I am going there now. Would you care to come +too?" + +The captain gratefully acquiesced. For a week he had been chafing at +the doctor's orders that no boy should go beyond the bounds. His +request to be allowed to undertake this very expedition had been twice +refused already. + +"The doctor has given you an _exeat_ if you wish to go," said Mr +Stratton. "We are to take a guide, and it is quite understood we may be +late in getting back. I shall be glad of your company." + +Yorke was ready in ten minutes--thankful at last to be allowed to do +something, yet secretly doubting if anything would come of this forlorn +quest. + +Apart from Rollitt, however, good did come of it to Fellsgarth. For +during the long walk master and boy got to understand one another better +than ever before. With a common ambition for the welfare of the School, +and a common trouble at the dissensions which had split it up during the +present term, they also discovered a common hope for better times ahead. + +They discussed all sorts of plans, and exchanged confidences about all +sorts of difficulties. And all the while they felt drawn close to one +another, exchanging the ordinary relations of master and boy for those +of friend and friend. + +Some of my readers may say that Mr Stratton must have been a very +foolish master to give himself away to a boy, or that Yorke must have +been a very presuming boy to talk so familiarly to a master. Who cares +what they were, if they and Fellsgarth were the better for that +morning's walk? + +"In many ways," said Mr Stratton, "a head boy has as much +responsibility for the good of a school as a head-master--always more +than an assistant master. You could wreck the School in a week if you +chose; and it is in your hands to pull it together more than any of us +masters, however much we should like to do it. And you'll do it, old +fellow!" + +And so they turned up the lane that led round to the back of the +mountain. + +The news that Mr Stratton and the captain had gone up Hawk's Pike to +look for Rollitt soon spread through Fellsgarth that morning. The souls +of our friends the juniors were seriously stirred by it. + +Their promise--or shall we say threat?--to organise a search-party up +the mountain on their own account had been lost sight of somewhat in the +exciting distractions of the last twenty-four hours; but now that they +found the ground cut from under their feet they were very indignant. +Secretly, no doubt, they were a little relieved to find that they had +been forestalled in the perilous venture of a winter ascent of the +formidable pike they had such good cause to remember. + +It was a mean trick of Yorke's to "chowse" them out of the credit, they +protested. Now he would get all the glory, and they would get none. + +"I tell you what," said Percy. "It's my notion Rollitt's not gone up +the mountain at all. It's just a dodge of those two to get a jolly good +spree for themselves. Pooh! They'll get lost. We shall have to go and +look for them, most likely." + +"And then," said Lickford, "somebody will have to come and look for us." + +"And Rollitt's not here to do it," said Fisher minor. + +This cast the company back on to their original subject. + +"It's my notion," said Wally, "he's got on the island in the middle of +the lake, like Robinson Crusoe." + +"Rather a lark," said Ashby, "to get up a search-party and go and look +for him there." + +The idea took wonderfully. To-day was "Founder's Day," a whole holiday. +They would certainly go and look for Rollitt on the island. + +The preparations disclosed an odd conception on the part of the +explorers of the serious nature of their quest. Their stated object was +to rescue a lost schoolfellow. Why, therefore, did they decide to take +nine pennyworth of brandy-balls, a football, a pair of boxing-gloves, +and other articles of luxury not usually held to be necessary to the +equipment of a relief expedition? + +As regards food, they possessed too keen a recollection of the straits +they had been put to up the mountain a few weeks ago to neglect that +important consideration now. + +Naturally, ham and Abernethys were the victuals selected. Had not +Rollitt made these classical as the staff of life during voluntary exile +from school? + +They were compelled to put up with a very small sample of the former. +Lickford had been bequeathed a bone by his senior yesterday, to which +adhered a few fragments of a once small ham. Possibly it might, with +careful carving, furnish nine small slices. + +It was better than nothing. They would make up for its deficiency by a +double lot of Abernethys. + +So they trooped off to the shop. + +According to their own rules, this establishment was only open between +11 and 12 in the morning, and not at all on holidays. + +But another rule said that the committee might in certain cases suspend +or alter the rules. + +Whereupon Percy moved, and Ashby seconded, the following resolution: +"That this shop be, and is, hereby opened for the space of five +minutes." The motion was carried unanimously. + +D'Arcy and Cottle, whose turn it was to be on duty, solemnly took down +the shutters, and ranged themselves behind the counter. + +"What can I do for you, my little dears?" said the former, +encouragingly. "Money down. No tick. Try some of our Rollitt's +particular--three-halfpence each." + +"No, they're not, you cheat!--they're a penny. We'd better have two +each," said Wally. + +"Hullo! I say," exclaimed D'Arcy. "Look here, you fellows." + +He pointed to the heap of Abernethy biscuits, on the top of which lay a +sixpence. + +"That's what you call looking after the money," said Wally. "Left that +there all night." + +"No--not a bit of it. But I tell you what," said D'Arcy, who had +rapidly been counting the pile of biscuits; "there were twenty-four +biscuits there when we left last night. I'm certain of it; weren't +there, young Cottle?" + +"Yes. I remember that," testified Cottle. + +"Very well; then some one's been here in the night, for there are only +eighteen biscuits now, and this sixpence." + +"Perhaps Yorke got some before he started?" + +"How could he? No one can get in here without the latch-key; and only +the two chaps who are on duty keep that." + +"Perhaps it's the owls in the belfry?" + +"They don't generally pay ready money for what they take." + +"I say!" exclaimed Wally; "I expect it's Rollitt. He'd have finished +his others by this time, and he sneaked back in the night for some more. +Good old Rollitt!" + +Wally did not stay to explain how Rollitt could have got in any more +than any one else. His suggestion made a deep impression. It touched +them to feel that, amid all his distresses, Rollitt was loyal to the +School shop; and if anything was needed to spur them on to his rescue, +this did it. + +They bought up the remaining eighteen biscuits between them, and sallied +forth. + +"You see," said Wally, "it's much more likely to be the island than the +mountain. There's water there, for one thing." + +"There's water on the mountain," said Ashby; "plenty." + +"But not good to drink, you ass!" argued Wally. + +"And there's that old broken boat-house to live in, and lots of wood to +make fires, and ducks to bag and fish to catch. I say! I expect he's +having rather a lark." + +The prospect of sharing in his wild sports urged them on still faster. + +At the lake-side a new problem arose. If Rollitt was on the island, how +had he got there? And, still more important, how were they to get +there? Widow Wisdom's boat had already been laid up for the winter; and +the few others, which in the summer were generally kept at the river- +mouth for the use of the boys, had been taken back to Penchurch. The +only craft available was a flat-bottomed punt used by fishermen, and at +present moored to a stake at the river-bank. It was capacious, +certainly, but not exactly the sort of boat in which to get up much +pace, particularly as its sole apparent mode of propulsion was by means +of two very long boat-hooks, one on either side. These details, +however, presented few obstacles to the minds of the enterprising +explorers. The punt was in many ways adapted for a voyage such as they +proposed to take. There was room to walk about in it. Nay, who should +say the boxing-gloves and football might not have scope for themselves +within its ample lines? + +The one question was whether the boat-hooks were long enough to touch +bottom all the way from the shore to the island. Wally paced one, and +found it measured eighteen feet. + +"Ought to do," said he; "it's bound not to be deeper than that." + +So the punt, which was christened the "Cock-house" for the occasion, was +loosed from her moorings, the Abernethys and knuckle-bone and other +stores were put on board, the boat-hooks, by a combined effort, were got +into position, and the party embarked for the rescue of Rollitt. + +Thanks to the stream, their progress at first was satisfactory. They +were delighted to find how easily they went. Wally with one boat-book +on one side, and Percy with the other on the other side, had +comparatively little to do except to prevent their hooks getting stuck +in the mud at the bottom, and refusing to come out. Any one watching +them would have said these boys had been born in a barge. They carried +their long poles to the prow, and plunged them in there with a mighty +splash. Then they shoved away, till the end of the poles came within +reach of their hands. Then, in perfect step and time, they started to +march, each down his own side of the boat, calling on their friends and +admirers to get out of the way. Then, as they neared the stern, and the +prospect of pulling up their hooks and returning fora'd for another +"punt" loomed ahead, their faces grew anxious and concerned. They began +to hold on "hard all," a yard from the end of the walk, and tug +frantically to get themselves free. Sometimes the hook came out easily, +in which case they fell backwards into the arms of their friends. At +other times it stuck, and they had to detain the progress of the boat a +minute or more to get it out. And sometimes it all but escaped them, +and continued sticking up out of the water while the barge itself +floated on. Happily, the last tragedy never quite came off, although it +was periodically imminent. + +When, however, the stream opened into the lake, the progress became much +less exciting. The water was a little lumpy, and had a tendency, while +they were walking back at the end of one punt in order to start another, +of jumping the "Cock-House" back into precisely the same position from +which she had lately started. + +After about half an hour's fruitless efforts the twins were seized with +a generous desire not to monopolise the whole of the fun of the voyage. + +"Like to have a go!" said Wally to D'Arcy. + +"You may have a turn if you like, Lick," said Percy. + +Whereupon D'Arcy and Lickford took up the rowing for the "Cock-House," +greatly assisted and enlivened in their operations by the advice and +encouragement of the late navigators. + +"Two to one on Lick," cried Wally, as the two started their mad career +down the boat. "Look out! he's gaining." + +"You've made her go an inch and a half," said Percy. + +"Hang on tight now, and pull it up," said Wally, as Lickford, red in the +face with excitement, was straining himself to release the hook from the +mud. + +"Keep her trim," said Percy, laying hold of D'Arcy's feet, as the latter +was gradually letting himself be hauled out of the boat by his +refractory pole. + +In due time D'Arcy and Lickford unselfishly gave up the poles to Cottle +and Ashby; and they, after a reasonable season of struggle and peril, +nobly ceded them to Ramshaw and Cash, Fisher minor waiving his claim, +and electing to sit "odd man out" and steer. + +As at the end of an hour and a half's manful shoving the net progress +made was a yard back into the stream of the river, the talents of the +helmsman were not put to a very severe test. + +"I say, it's rather slow," said Wally; "let's have some of Rollitt's +particular." + +So while Percy with a small pair of scissors--none of the party, +marvellous to relate, had brought a knife--was carving the remnant of +ham, and Ashby was counting out nine brandy-balls from the bag, each +member of the party produced one of his Abernethys, and fell-to with all +the appetite that waits on hard and honest toil. + +"Not much of a pace yet," remarked D'Arcy. "Why, we're going better now +we've stopped rowing than we were before." + +"That's because the wind's changed," said Wally. "If we'd only got a +sail we could make her go." + +"Why not stick up the two poles, and fasten our coats or something +between for a sail!" suggested Percy. + +"Good idea! the poles are long enough for all the nine. One of 'em can +go through right sleeves, and the other through left. It'll make a +ripping sail." + +So, despite the season of the year, the nine voyagers divested +themselves of their coats, which were industriously threaded by the +sleeves on either pole. The top coat was spiked by the hooks, and those +below were ingeniously buttoned one to the other to keep them up. + +Every one agreed it made a ripping sail. The difficulty was to hoist +it. There were no holes in which to fix the parallel masts. They would +have to be held in position, as the breeze was stiffening, and it +required all hands aloft. + +At length, by superhuman exertions, the complex fabric was slowly +hoisted to the perpendicular, looking very like a ladder, up which nine +scarecrows were clambering. However, no matter what it looked like now, +as Wally predicted, they'd spank along. + +"We're going already," gasped he, panting with the exertion of holding +up his mast. "Look out now! here's a nice breeze coming." + +He was right. Next moment the vast foresail fell with a run by the +board, and the nine athletes below were nearly shot into the air by the +force of the collapse. The coats, fortunately, held together +sufficiently well to enable them to be hauled on board in a piece; but +as they were soaked through, they afforded very little comfort to the +distressed seamen, who decided forthwith to shorten sail at once, and +take to the poles once more. + +But by this time the "Cock-House," thanks to the tremendous impetus it +had just received, was twenty yards from the shore; and Wally, when he +put down his pole, nearly went after it, in the vain search for a +bottom. + +"Here's a go!" said he; "I say, you chaps, I almost fancy, after all, +Rollitt must be up the mountain. What do you say?" + +"I thought so all along," said Fisher minor. "If he is, Yorke and +Stratton will find him." + +"Good old Yorke! I say--we may as well back water a bit." + +Easier said than done. The old punt, now she was once out on the vasty +deep, behaved pretty much as she and the wind between them pleased. For +a time it looked very much as if, after all the explorers would reach +their destination. + +But presently--just, indeed, as the explorers had started a small +football match (Association rules), Classics against Moderns, to keep +themselves warm, the fickle breeze shifted, and sent the "Cock-House" +lumbering inshore a mile or so north of the river-mouth. The Classics +had just scored their 114th goal as she grounded, and it was declared by +common consent that the voyage was at an end. + +Luckily, she came ashore near to a little creek, into which, by +prodigious haulings and shovings, she was turned; and here, in a rude +way, they succeeded in mooring her until a more convenient season. + +The call-over bell was just beginning to ring when the nine mariners got +back to Fellsgarth. + +Great cheering was going on on the Green, and boys were crowding +together discussing some great news. + +"What is it?--Rollitt turned up?" asked the juniors. + +"No; haven't you heard? Yorke and Stratton went up to look for him on +Hawk's Pike. They didn't find him, but _they got to the top_!" + +"Got to the top! One of our chaps got to the top of Hawk's Pike. +Hurroo. Yell, you chaps. Bravo, Yorke! Bully for Fellsgarth!" + +"I wish they'd found Rollitt, all the same," said Fisher minor; "I'm +afraid he's gone for good." + +"Not he. Didn't we nearly find him to-day, you young muff?" retorted +Wally. "Besides, a fellow who's gone for good wouldn't come and buy +sixpenny-worth of Abernethys at our shop in the night, would he?" + +Fisher minor took what comfort he could from the assurance, and trooped +in with his fellow-adventurers to call-over. + + + +CHAPTER TWENTY FOUR. + +"BURY THE HATCHET!" + +Notwithstanding Yorke's exploit, and the prevailing hopefulness of the +juniors, the feeling of gloom deepened on Fellsgarth when another day +ended, and no news was forthcoming of the lost boy. + +To a great many it was a shock to hear he was not on the mountain. From +what was known of his eccentricities and recklessness, it seemed as +likely as not he would retreat up there and remain till he was fetched +down. + +When it was found he was not there, there seemed to be nowhere else left +to look. The lake (quite independently of the eventful cruise of the +"Cock-house") had been thoroughly searched; Penchurch had been +ransacked; every cottage and home in the neighbourhood had been called +at. The river-banks, up and down stream, had been searched too, and +daily communication with Rollitt's home made it increasingly clear he +had not gone there. + +The incident of the six Abernethys and the 6 pence was not seriously +considered. There was no evidence that Rollitt had effected the +mysterious purchase, and the eccentricities of the young shopmen left it +very doubtful whether more than half of that story was not a sensational +fiction of their own. + +Masters and boys alike went to bed full of trouble and foreboding. + +Fisher major, more perhaps than any one, took the situation to heart. +He had never ranged himself with Rollitt's accuser; yet, had it not been +for his bad management and stupidity, all the trouble would never have +come about. Now, if anything grave had happened to the missing boy, +Fisher major felt that on his shoulders rested all the blame. + +But his misery was turned into rage when, just before bedtime, a fag +came over with the following letter from Dangle:-- + +"I am not surprised you should be so ready to be imposed upon. You have +done mischief enough already; but you have been robbed all the same. +Any one but a simpleton would see that the turning up of the money just +when it did was a suspicious coincidence. What could be easier than for +the thief either to impose on Widow Wisdom, and get her to bring back +the money with the story about the shirt; or else, during one of his +frequent visits there, as soon as he saw that he was found out, to slip +it into the pocket himself! Where he got it from I don't pretend to +guess; but I don't mind betting that somebody in the School is poorer by +L4 10 shillings for this tardy act of restitution. It deceived no one +but you. `None are so blind,' etcetera. + +"R. Dangle." + +Fisher fairly tore his hair over this scoundrelly document. His impulse +was to go over then and there, drag the writer out of his bed, and make +him literally swallow his own words. He might have done it, had not the +captain just then looked in. + +"Why, what's up?" said the latter, who seemed none the worse for his big +climb. "What's the matter?" + +"Matter? Read this!" shouted Fisher. + +Yorke read the letter. An angry flush spread over his face as he did +so. + +"He shall answer for it to-night!" said Fisher. "No, not to-night. Let +the cad have a night's rest. He shall answer for it to-morrow, though, +before the whole School. Let me have the letter, old man." + +"If you'll promise to make him smart for it." + +"You can make your mind easy about that." Next morning, to the surprise +of every one, a notice appeared on the door of each house. + +Notice. + +"A School meeting is summoned for this afternoon at 3. + + "(Signed) C. Yorke (Wakefield's). + G. Clapperton (Forder's). + P. Bingham (Stratton's). + L. Porter (Wilbraham's)." + +"What's up now?" said Wally, as he read it. "Like Clapperton's cheek to +go sticking his name under our man's--and old Bingham, too! What right +has he to stick his nose in it?--and, ha, ha, Porter! that's the green +idiot in specs, who calls himself captain of Wilbraham's! Well, I +never!" + +"Shall you go?" asked D'Arcy. + +"Rather! Wonder what they're up to, though?" + +"Perhaps Rollitt's found, and they're going to trot him out." + +"Perhaps they're going to have an eight-handed mill, those four--you +know--like what we had." + +"I know, when you rammed me below the belt," said Cottle. + +"Crams. You know I played on your third waistcoat button. I was never +below it once." + +"Perhaps Yorke's going to give a lecture on the ascent of Hawk's Pike." + +"I know what it is. They're going to give the chaps back their +subscriptions. What a run there'll be on the shop directly after!" + +This last rumour was industriously put about by the juniors, and was +believed in a good many quarters. + +A new diversion, however, served to put aside speculation for a time. + +"Hullo, who's that lout?" asked D'Arcy, as he and Wally, having shaken +off the others for a season, were "taking a cool," arm in arm near the +playing-field gate. + +The object of this remark was a stalwart, middle-aged, labouring man, +who carried an American cloth bag in his hand, and, to judge by the mud +on his garments, had travelled some distance. He was trying to open the +gate into the field, and on seeing our two juniors beckoned to them +inquiringly. + +"You can't get in there," said Wally. "You'll have to go to the other +gate at the Watch-Tower." + +"Is this here Fellsgarth School, young master?" said the man. + +"Rather," replied Wally. + +"Is the governor at home!" + +"Who--Ringwood? I don't know; they'll tell you at the gate." + +"He's come to mend the door of your young brother's room, I expect," +said D'Arcy. "I hope he won't bung up the squirt-hole while he's about +it." + +"No. I say, carpenter," said Wally, as the man was about to turn off in +the direction of the other gate, "when you mend that door in Forder's, +make it strong, do you hear? It gets kicked at rather by fellows. And +don't bung--" + +"Carpenter? I ain't no carpenter. I want to see the governor." + +Gruffly as the man spoke, he evidently regarded the two young gentlemen +as persons of some distinction, and lingered a moment longer to ask +another question. + +"Beg your pardon, young gents," said he; "but you don't chance to know +if Alf Rollitt has come back?" + +They gazed at him in amazement. + +"Rollitt? no. Do _you_ know where he is, I say?" + +"Not come back?" said the man, hoarsely. "I made sure as he'd be back +afore now." + +"Do you know where he is?" repeated Wally. + +"Not me--he's bound to be somewheres. But the missus, she wouldn't rest +till I come and see." + +"The missus! I say, do you _know_ Rollitt?" + +"Well, they do say it's a wise father as don't know his own child." + +"What! Are _you_ Rollitt's father?" asked they, glancing involuntarily +at the shabby clothes and rough, weatherbeaten face. + +"Nothing to be ashamed of, are it?" said the stranger. "'Tain't my +Alf's fault I ain't in gents' togs." + +This rebuke abashed our two juniors considerably. + +"Rather not," said Wally. "Our lot's backing Rollitt up, you know. +We've been out to look for him, haven't we, D'Arcy?" + +"Of course we have; good old Rollitt," said D'Arcy. + +"Thank you kindly, young gents," said Mr Rollitt, who seemed rather +dazed. "I ain't no scholar, nor no gent either. But my boy Alf's a +good boy, and he don't mean no disrespect to the likes of you by running +away. He's bound to be somewheres." + +"I say," said Wally, "if you come round to the other gate, you can get +in--we'll show you where Ringwood's house is." + +"Tell you what," said he to D'Arcy, as the two boys went back by the +field to meet him, "he doesn't seem a bad sort of chap--it won't do to +let my young brother Percy and those Modern cads get hold of him. I +vote we nurse him on our side while he's here." + +"All serene," said D'Arcy. "Ask him to tea after the meeting." + +"I suppose we shall have to let those other chaps be in it too," +suggested Wally dubiously, after a moment. + +"Better. We'll all see him through together." + +The spectacle of two juniors, looking very important, carefully +conducting an anxious-faced labouring man across the School Green, was +enough to rouse a little curiosity. And when presently the bodyguard, +after sundry whispered communications, increased from two to nine, who +marched three in front, two behind, and two on either side of their +celebrity, speculation became active and warm. + +The escort glared defiantly at any one who ventured to approach the +group; but when it was observed that they made straight for the doctor's +house, and one by one shook hands with the visitor on the doorstep, +there was very little doubt left as to who the stranger might be. + +"Mind you come to tea," said Wally, as they parted. + +"Don't you make no mistake, I'll be there," said the guest. + +Work in school that morning dragged heavily. The impending meeting was +perplexing the minds of not a few. The phenomenon of Yorke's and +Clapperton's names appended to the same document puzzled boys who still +kept alive the animosity which had wrecked the School clubs earlier in +he term and brought the sports to a deadlock. And the addition of the +names of the captains of the other two houses made it evident that the +whole School was concerned in the business. This, coupled with the +mystery of Rollitt's disappearance, and the now notorious internecine +feuds of the Modern seniors, gave promise of one of the biggest meetings +ever held in Hall. + +As to the juniors, they had a treble care on their mind. First, the +meeting, and the expected refunding of the Club subscriptions; second, +the consequent run on the shop; and third, the "small and early" +in Wally's study afterwards to meet A. Rollitt, Senior, Esq. + +However, despite all these cares, the morning's work was got through, +the dreaded impositions were avoided, and when the midday meal was ended +a general rush was made for the familiar benches in Hall. + +The state of doubt every one was in operated adversely to the usual +cheering. Fellows didn't know whom they were expected to cheer. +Dangle, for instance, pale and sullen,--were the Moderns expected to +cheer him? The Classics hissed him, which was one reason why his own +house should applaud. But then, if they cheered Dangle, how should they +do about Clapperton, who had fought Dangle a week ago? They got over +the difficulty by doing neither, but starting party cries which they +could safely cheer; and chaffing everybody all round. + +Punctually at three, Yorke rose and said they no doubt were curious to +know what the meeting was called for. It was called for one or two +purposes. The first was to see if they could revive the School clubs. +(Cheers.) He wasn't going to say a word of ancient history. +(Laughter.) But as they stood now, they had a lot of fellows anxious to +play, they had the materials for as good a fifteen this winter, and as +good an eleven next spring (cheers), as any school in the country; and +yet the playing-fields stood idle, and the name of Fellsgarth was +dropping out of all the records. They had had enough of that sort of +thing. Every one was sick of it. Fellows had agreed with him when it +was proposed to disband the clubs; he hoped they would agree with him +now that the time had come for reviving them. But there was to be a +difference. The clubs were not to be open to everybody, as heretofore. +They didn't want everybody. (Hear, hear, from Wally, D'Arcy, Ashby, and +Fisher, as they pointed across to the Modern juniors.) They only wanted +fellows who would play and _could_ play; as to the former, that of +course would be decided by the fellow himself, who would send in an +application to the committee. As to the latter, that would be decided +by the captain. (Oh!) Yes, by the captain. What's the good of a +captain if he's not to decide a matter like that? And if the fellow is +not satisfied with the captain's decision, he may appeal to Mr +Stratton, the new president of the club. (Cheers.) There's nothing to +prevent any one who plays his best joining--there's nothing to prevent +those youngsters at the end of the room, who are kicking up such a row, +joining the clubs, as long as they work hard in the field. (Cheers and +laughter.) The fellows who won't be eligible are the louts, and those +who can play but won't. (Loud cheers.) + +Clapperton rose to second the motion. He had lost a great deal of his +"side" during the last few days, and though he looked in better tiff +than he had done lately, the present occasion was evidently an effort. +He said: "Yorke has made a generous speech. He avoided ancient history, +and therefore did not go into the reason why the clubs were dissolved +and the School sports came to smash. I could tell you--but what's the +use? You all know. Yorke said to me before the meeting, `Let bygones +be bygones, old man--we were all to blame--bury the hatchet--let's get +right for the future.' Gentlemen, there was one fellow who was not to +blame. His name was _not_ Clapperton. It was Yorke." (Loud cheers.) +"But I say with him, if you let me, `Bury the hatchet.'" (Cheers.) "And +to prove it, I beg to hand in my name to the committee for election. I +answer for myself that I am willing to play; and if the captain decides +that I can play," (laughter), "why, I will play." (Loud applause.) + +Fullerton and Corder both sprang up to support the motion. The former +made way for Corder, who merely wished to say how delighted he was. He +also voted for the burying of the hatchet. He had minded being stopped +football more than anything else. He gave in his name. He would play, +and he might tell them that the captain had already told him he could +play. (Laughter, and cries of "Blow your own trumpet.") All right--it +was the only thing he had to be cocky about; and he meant to be cocky. +He supported the motion. (Cheers.) + +Fullerton handed in his name, and was very glad to think that he and his +old friend Clapperton would have a chance of running up the field again +together. ("If you're elected!" from the end of the room, and +laughter.) Oh, of course, if he was elected. He hoped when the +gentleman down there was captain, fifty years hence, he would deal as +liberally with candidates as he was sure Yorke would deal now. +(Laughter, at Wally's expense.) + +The other prefects followed suit, and gave in their allegiance to the +new clubs. Curiosity was alive to see what attitude Brinkman and Dangle +would adopt. For a while it seemed as if they would take no part; but +at length, when Yorke was about to put the motion, Brinkman rose and +said, "I made up my mind when I came here I'd have no more to do with +the clubs. But Yorke's `Bury the hatchet' gives a fellow a chance. If +you mean that," (Yes, yes), "if this is a fresh start, here's my name!" +(Loud cheers.) "You needn't cheer. I didn't mean to give it--but now I +have, I--I--won't shirk it," and he sat down hurriedly. + +Then Dangle rose, with a sneer on his face. + +"This sort of thing is infectious. I can't feel quite so sure as some +of you about burying the hatchet; but, not to be peculiar, you may put +me down--" + +"And I can tell you at once, and before all these fellows," said Yorke, +rising hotly, and interrupting, "that we won't have you! And that +brings me to the other business--and that's about Rollitt. We can't +bury the hatchet so easily, as far as he is concerned. For he is still +absent, and no one knows what has become of him. I'm not going to say a +word to make little of Fisher's major's mistake. It was bad enough, in +all conscience, for Rollitt. But it was only a mistake. But what do +you fellows say of the cad who deliberately gets up a story about him; +and, even when he finds out there is not a shadow of truth in it, +repeats it in a worse form than before? There are some here who believed +the first report and joined in the suspicions. That was hardly to be +wondered at. But every one of them had the decency, as soon as the +money was found, to admit that they had been wrong, and to regret their +unfair suspicion of a Fellsgarth fellow. All but one--this cad here! +Only last night, you fellows, he wrote the letter I hold in my hand. I +mean to read it to you, and I hope you won't forget it in a hurry." + +"You shan't read it; it wasn't to you!" said Dangle, making a rush at +the paper; "give it back!" + +"You shall have it back," said Yorke in a warmer temper than any one had +seen him in before, "when I've read it. Stop, and listen to it. +It'll do you good." + +"Read away!" sneered Dangle, giving up the contest. "It's the truth." + +Yorke read, and as he proceeded, shame and anger rose to boiling-point +in the audience, so that towards the end the reader's voice was almost +drowned in the hisses. + +"There," said the captain, crumpling up the paper in his hand and +flinging it at the writer's feet, "there's your letter; and until you +apologise to the whole school you have insulted, you needn't expect +we'll bury the hatchet!" + +Dangle scowled round and tried to swagger. + +"Is that all the business?" he sneered. + +"No!" shouted some voices. "He ought to be kicked." + +"Wait a bit," cried Wally, excitedly, standing on a form, "there's +Rollitt's governor just come. Some of our chaps have gone to fetch him. +He'll--" + +Here the door opened, and, escorted by half a dozen of the juniors, Mr +Rollitt, looking more bewildered than ever, walked in. + +He looked apologetically from one side to the other, saying, "Thank'ee +kindly," and "No offence, young gents," until he found himself at the +end of the Hall among the prefects. + +Then Yorke got up again, still hot with temper, and a dead silence +ensued. Dangle smiled at first. But his face gradually blanched as he +looked round and found his retreat cut off, and guessed what was coming. + +"Mr Rollitt," said Yorke, "we are your son's schoolfellows. A great +wrong has been done him. He has been suspected of being a thief, and +has run away. We all now know that he's not a thief; and we are ashamed +that he has ever been suspected. We hope he will come back, so that we +may tell him so. But there is one fellow here who still says your son +is a thief, although he knows as well as we do he isn't. What shall we +do to him?" + +Mr Rollitt looked up and down, casting a glance first at his young +protectors at the end of the Hall, then scanning the benches before him, +then running his eye along the row of prefects, and finally taking the +measure of Yorke as he stood and waited for an answer. + +Then suddenly the question seemed to come home. + +"My son Alf a thief? There's one of 'em says that, is there? My son +Alf a thief? Do to him! Why, I'll tell you. Just keep him till my son +Alf comes back, and make him go and say it to his face. That's what _I_ +should do to him, young gents." + +"That's what we will do," said Yorke. "The meeting is over." + +And amid the excitement that ensued, the rush to put down names for the +new club, the cheers and hootings and hand-shakings of old enemies, Mr +Rollitt was carried off in triumph by his nine hosts to high tea in +Wally Wheatfield's room. + + + +CHAPTER TWENTY FIVE. + +THE WATCH-TOWER. + +Wally's study--he always liked to call it a "study," but his friends +preferred to call it a den--could comfortably accommodate six. The +juniors had frequently to own that nine, the normal size of the party, +was a jam. When, in addition to that, a big, brawny man was thrown in, +it came to be a serious question as to how the four walls would sustain +the strain. + +Wally, however, was determined to manage somehow. He indignantly +rejected Percy's offer to his more spacious apartment over the way. No. +He had captured the lion--he and D'Arcy--and they would entertain him +in their own den. + +After all, it was not so bad. It only meant letting the fire out and +putting one chair in the fender, and shoving the other end of the table +(which had been doubled in length by the addition of the table out of a +neighbouring room, that was within four inches of the same height) close +up against the door, which it was just possible to shut. As, however, +the door opened outwards, it was necessary for the gentleman occupying +the foot of the table to sit out in the passage, much to the +inconvenience of the casual passers-by. + +To a shy man like Mr Rollitt, it was a difficult position to find +himself the honoured guest of nine young gentlemen like these. + +"Thank'ee kindly, young masters," said he, when Ashby relieved him of +his hat and Fisher minor of his bag, and Percy undermined him with a +chair, and Cottle handed him the _Boy's Own Paper_, and Cash came in +with a hassock, and D'Arcy put a railway rug over his knees. + +Wally, whose ideas of hospitality were of the old school, deemed it +expedient, while tea was being served, to engage his guest on the +subject of the weather. + +"Rather finer the last few days than it was the other week when it +rained?" said he. "Rollitt's having fine weather for his trip." + +This was an artful way of introducing the topic of the hour. + +"Thank you kindly, yes. He's bound to be somewheres, is my Alf," +replied Mr Rollitt. + +"It's all right; we're backing him up. He made a ripping run for the +School against Rendlesham. He bashed the ball through the scrimmage, +you know, and then nipped it up right under their noses and ran it +through. They couldn't collar him, he bowled 'em over right and left, +and danced on 'em, and landed the touch clean behind the post." + +"He meant no harm, young gents, didn't my Alf. He ain't often wiolent, +he ain't. There's no offence, I hope?" said the father, quite +overwhelmed by this alarming recital. + +"No; it was a jolly good run. You ought to have seen it; I and my lot +were up the oak, you know; we could have tucked you in. My young +brother Percy and his Modern cads--k-i-d-s (I never can pronounce it)-- +were on the steps." + +"Oh," said the poor guest, feeling he ought to reciprocate the civility +of his entertainers. "Steps is nice things to be on when you ain't got +nowheres else." + +"Tea!" shouted Fisher minor, who with Ashby had been busily charging the +table. + +It was now the turn of the hosts to be shy. At this late period of the +term funds had run low, and extras were at a premium. A busy hour had +been spent during the forenoon in both houses collecting outstanding +debts, contracting loans at the point of the sword, and laying out the +contents of the common purse at the shop in delicacies suitable to the +occasion. Abernethys and ham, of course, figured prominently. The cake +and jam was rather a "scratch lot," as they mostly consisted of +"outsides" and "pot-ends" collected from various sources and amalgamated +into one stock. But, to compensate for this, Wally had managed to get +round the matron, and by representing to her the delicate nature of the +entertainment, wheedled her out of a pot of "extra special" tea, and a +small jug of cream. For the rest, there were the relics of the "Cock- +House" commissariat, a cocoa-nut, generously contributed by Fisher +major, and the usual allowance of bread and butter. + +The principal delicacy of the feast, however, was contributed by a fair +lady, and to Percy belonged the honour and glory of its acquisition. + +On his way from Hall he had run flop into the arms of Mrs Stratton, who +was carrying in her hands a small basket of hothouse grapes. + +"I'm awfully sorry, I say, Mrs Stratton," said the culprit, as the +basket and its contents fell to the ground. "So am I," said Mrs +Stratton. "There's two bunches out of three not bashed," said Percy, on +his knees picking up the ruin. "I say, Mrs Stratton, if you'd let me +pay for the other I can give you twopence a week, beginning next week. +I'd rather, you know." + +Mrs Stratton laughed pleasantly. It was always a satisfaction, she +told her husband, to come into collision with a junior. He always got +the best of it. + +"No, thank you, Wheatfield. But I tell you what you must do." + +"All serene, Mrs Stratton," said Percy submissively, preparing himself +for a hundred lines at least. + +"One of the bunches is damaged. You must take it and get your friends +to help you eat it. Good-bye." + +On the whole, therefore, the spread provided for Mr Rollitt was a +respectable one, and not likely to do discredit to his entertainers. + +He was installed in the place of honour in the fender, Wally occupying +the seat in the passage, the others ranging themselves on either side of +the board. They watched their guest's eye somewhat anxiously, to detect +in it any signs of predilection for any particular dish. But he, poor +man, was too bewildered by the novel experience he was undergoing to +betray any symptoms of appetite. + +"What'll you have?" said Percy, presently. + +"Well, if you've got a bit of bread and cheese and a drop of something, +I don't mind, thank you kindly." + +This was rather a damper; but Wally was equal to the emergency. + +"Have an Abernethy--that's what Rollitt's been living on. You'll like +it. We keep a stock in our shop." + +"Only a penny each," said Ramshaw, explanatorily. + +"Better have some jam with it," said Cottle. + +"Like some tea?" inquired D'Arcy, who had charge of the pot, beginning +to fill up a mug the size of the slop-basin with the matron's "extra +special." + +"The cake's not so bad--there's several lumps not a bit stale," said +Ashby. + +"If you like cocoa-nut," said Fisher minor, "my brother's lent us one, +and I'll cut you a chunk." + +"And there's some grapes for you, when you're ready," said Percy, +proudly; "a present from a lady." + +The awkward thing was that, in their eagerness to see their guest eat, +none of the juniors took anything. They continued to pile up the good +man's plate till he didn't know where to begin, and fairly bewildered +him by each commending the excellence of his own particular delicacy +"Thank'ee, young gents. I ain't much of a eater when I'm away from +home; no more ain't my Alf. But I'll take a snack, anyhow." + +Whereupon, to their delight, he commenced an onslaught on the viands +before him, every morsel he ate being followed by eighteen admiring eyes +into his mouth. He made short work of the Abernethys and cake, tossed +off the tea as if it were a thimbleful, jerked down the hunk of cocoa- +nut, gulped the grapes, and generally gave the spectators an admirable +and comprehensive performance. + +They were charmed. So much so, that out of sheer pleasure they began to +eat too. The meal, if brief, was a merry one. Mr Rollitt took a +special fancy to the Abernethys--a choice which of course put the shop- +directors in an ecstasy. They only reproached themselves that they had +not provided twelve instead of six. + +At length, partly because there was nothing left but lukewarm water and +the toughest crusts of the cake, and partly because the guest's appetite +was beginning to flag, the solid portion of the meal came to an end, and +the social began. + +After sundry nudgings and whisperings and signals among the juniors, +Wally filled up his cup with warm water and rose to his feet. + +"Ladies and gentlemen," he said, "I--you know--that is--shut up, young +Cash, unless you want to do it--instead of me--it's this way, you see, +you chaps: I sort of think we ought to drink the health of Rollitt's +governor. He's a good old sort, and we're backing up old Rollitt. It +wasn't a very grand spread. There'd have been some sardines if you'd +come last week; but that greedy pig D'Arcy--" + +"Go on; it was _you_ finished them, three in two gulps," protested the +outraged D'Arcy. + +"Look here, young D'Arcy," said Wally, seriously, "am I making this +speech, or are you. If you don't shut up, I'll jolly well make you.--We +hope you've liked it, and don't mind our drinking your health, you know. +It'll be jolly when old Rollitt turns up. We'd ask you again to- +morrow, you know, only the grub's run short. Therefore, I have much +pleasure in proposing your health." + +The toast was drunk with acclamation, the party joining in "For he's a +jolly good fellow," much to the alarm of the occupants of the +neighbouring studies, who flocked out in the passage to see what the +noise was about. + +Wally assured them there was no grub left, so they needn't hang about; +but a good many of them remained all the same, to hear Mr Rollitt's +speech. + +"Thank'ee kindly, young masters," began he, with his usual formula; "I +ain't no schollard like my Alf is. He could talk to you straight. I'm +sorry he ain't here, gents. He's bound to be somewheres, and I'm sure +it's no offence meant, his going away. I likes your style, and I hopes +that young fly-by-night who says my Alf's a thief will tell him so to +his face. My Alf'll settle him proper. Them as pays for my Alf's +schooling--which it's two kind ladies, masters, as my missus was kinder +foster-sister to--means to make a gent of my Alf. But, bless you, he'd +sooner be along of me in the building trade. Not that my Alf ain't a +schollard, and can't behave himself. He do behave beautiful to his +mother, does Alf, and ain't nothink of a fine gent at home. So there, I +tell you straight, and no offence meant, young masters. I like your +style, I do. Don't you take on about my Alf bein' a-missing. He's +bound to be somewheres. I know'd him do it afore, when things went +contrairy. But he wasn't fur off, and come back. On'y don't let 'im +cop hold of that there jumper as says he's a thief, or there'll be a row +in the 'ouse. Why, my Alf's that straight he wouldn't rob a dog of his +bone, not if he was starving. That's flat. So here's to you, young +gents; and if you happen to be passing near Crackstoke way, me and my +missus'll be proud to see yer. Here's luck!" + +The speech was rapturously applauded, not only by the party present, but +by the knot of fellows in the passage, who were taking advantage of the +necessarily open door to join in the proceedings as outsiders. + +Wally, however, resented the intrusion, and as soon as the speech of the +evening was ended, ordered one of the tables to be cleared, and placing +his chair upon it, made room for the door to be closed on the intruders, +much to their disappointment. + +After the favourable reception of his speech, Mr Rollitt became very +much more at home, and produced a pipe from his pocket, which he +proceeded in the most natural way to light. His hosts gazed in a +somewhat awe-struck way at the proceeding, but Wally gave the right cue. + +"That's right, Mr Rollitt; make yourself at home." + +"So I are. You see, in my days, schooling worn't what it is. Now this +here school must be a topper." + +"It's not bad," said Percy. "You see there was a jolly row on this term +between the Classics and our lot, and they had to be taken down a bit." + +"_Did_ they?" retorted Wally, very indignant; "how many pegs did _you_ +come down? Who had to get our chaps to come and give them a leg-up +every other day?" + +"Who swindled at Elections and got licked on the hands, eh!" + +"Who got their football bagged, and couldn't get it back?" + +"Who got kicked out of the front row at the Rendlesham match?" + +"'Armony, gents, 'armony," said Mr Rollitt, waving his pipe +encouragingly. + +The rebuke was opportune. It wasn't fair to the guest to squabble +before him. + +"We've stashed all that," said Percy, presently; "they got civil to us, +so we got civil to them, and we're all in the shop together. And we're +all backing up old Rollitt, ain't we, you chaps, and we're going down in +a lump for the clubs; and we all shelled out for this do; so it's all +right now. See?" + +Mr Rollitt thought he did, and nodded amiably. + +"You see, it's not much larks unless we're all in it. We went up Hawk's +Pike, you know." + +"No," said Mr Rollitt. "How did that happen?" + +"Well, it was this way, you see," began Percy, taking up, as was his +wont, the narrative at a remote period. "After those Classic cads--k-i- +d-s, you know, had--(Shut up, Wally, I said k-i-d-s; can't you spell?) +had caved in." + +"Who caved in!" expostulated the Classics. + +"Well, after Stratton's, you know, when we started the shop--I say, +you'll have to come and see the shop--well--it was before that, though; +it was when the row began about Corder not being stuck in--that was +before that, you know--Brinkman screwed his foot, so there was a man +short for the team, so Clapperton--that's our prefect, you know; he's +all right now, but he--hullo, I say, he's gone asleep!" + +Sure enough Mr Rollitt, weary with his long journey, with the +excitement of the day, and with the excellence of the tea, had dozed off +comfortably, on his chair in the fender, with his pipe in his mouth. + +Percy felt it unnecessary to pursue his lucid narrative, and the nine +hosts sat watching their man as his head nodded forward, and the urgent +necessity for a snore presently rendered the position of the pipe no +longer tenable. + +It was a triumph! No man could have gone off like that unless he had +felt thoroughly comfortable. The railway rug was again produced and +laid over his knees, and his feet were gently lifted on the hassock, and +a pillow was neatly inserted at the back of the chair; and all looked so +snug, and the hospitable juniors were so pleased with the result, that +they had the vanity to let the door stand open, so that all who passed +by might see how comfortable they could make a guest when they liked. + +To heighten the effect, they decided to do their preparation on the +spot, and so not only impress the sleeper when he awoke, but advertise +themselves to the outside world as boys who by no means neglected the +serious side of school life for its lighter functions. + +It must be owned that next day when the work thus accomplished was +subjected to the microscopic test of the master's eyes, it was not any +better--some said it was even worse--than usual. That had nothing to do +with the present. + +Wally, who put his chair out again in the passage, had most of his time +occupied in making pantomimic appeals for silence from passers-by, to +whom he pointed out the figure of the sleeping Mr Rollitt as a +justification. The others, debarred from speech (for it was considered +that even a whisper might awaken the sleeper, although the violent +process of tucking him up just now had failed to do so), were reduced to +communication with one another in writing, which took up so much time +and paper that very little of either was left for lessons. + +At last, after half an hour's suspense, the clang of the house-bell for +call-over broke the spell. Mr Rollitt grunted and yawned and opened +his eyes, looked about for his pipe, inspected the rug on his knees, +took his feet off the hassock, and finally realised where he was. + +"I was nigh 'andy asleep that time," said he, rummaging in his pocket +for a lucifer. + +"It's all right; we were doing our prep, you know. Now we've got to be +called over. If you stick here, we'll be back in a jiffy, and then +we'll take you to see the shop," said Wally. + +"Thank'ee kindly," said the guest; "don't put yourselves about for me. +Take your time, young gents." + +"We shan't be long. I say, wait for us, won't you? Don't you go out +with any other chaps. They ain't in it, you know." + +"I ain't a-going with nobody, don't you make no mistake," was the +visitor's satisfactory assurance. + +They had some thoughts about locking him in, to make sure of him, but +decided to trust his parole, and trooped down impatiently to call-over, +binding one another to assemble at the shop immediately afterwards, +whither Wally and Percy were to conduct their guest. + +To the satisfaction of these young gentlemen, the bird was safely in his +cage when they returned, dimly visible through the smoke, looking at the +pictures in the illustrated paper. He meekly obeyed their summons, +relieving their embarrassment somewhat by putting his pipe away in his +pocket as he rose. + +"Where's the rest of the pals?" asked he. + +"Down at the shop. It's not the regular hour, you know. But we can get +in with the key. Come along, Mr Rollitt." + +The old Watch-Tower, which, as the reader knows, is the oldest remaining +portion of Fellsgarth, was rather an imposing-looking edifice for so +mundane an establishment as the School shop. The shop, indeed, occupied +only a small apartment on the ground floor, which had previously been +used as a porter's lodge, the remainder of the structure, including the +disused belfry and watch-turret, being abandoned to the owls and ghosts +and ivy, which accorded best with the ancient traditions of the place. + +Mr Rollitt, whose profession sharpened his observation for specimens of +bygone achievements in his own line of business, noted the venerable +exterior before him with admiration. + +"That there bit of bricks and mortar," said he, "warn't built +yesterday." + +"Oh, it's millions of years old," said Wally; "but our shop, you know, +has only just been started." + +"They don't make copin's like them to-day," repeated Mr Rollitt. + +"We go in for good grub cheap," said Percy; "no shoe-leather, like Bob +used to sell." + +"I reckon them top courses is a hundred year after this here bottom +part. Not much jerry there neither." + +"We boss it among us, you know," said Wally, "and take turns to serve. +We don't get a bad profit either." + +Here they were joined by the rest of the party. But to their +disappointment Mr Rollitt's interest in the shop was small compared +with that he showed in the lay of the bricks, the run of the beams, and +the hardness of the mortar. + +"They knowed their way about, straight, those days," said he, picking +away between two of the bricks with his nail. + +"Try one of our `Rollitt's particular,'" pleaded D'Arcy, in the hope +that this invitation at least would interest him. + +But no. He went "nosing round," taking no notice of the stores, and +putting off all invitations with a "Thank'ee kindly, not to-day." + +It was a sore blow to his hosts. After what they had done for him, +after the way they had nursed him all day, after the tea they had given +him, and the pipes he had smoked in their study! They could have thrown +him overboard in their mortification. But the dread lest some one else, +some of the middle-boys, for instance, should get hold of him and "run" +him, decided them to pocket their feelings and back him up still. + +"No offence, young gents," said he presently; "but if you've a ladder +'andy, I'd like to take a look up there." + +"Oh, there's nothing up there--only bats and owls," said Wally, "and +there's no ladder." + +But Mr Rollitt pointed out in a corner, behind the back of the shop, +some protruding bits of stone let into the brick, evidently with a view +to form a rude ladder or stair to the chambers above. + +This promised well. An exploration of the Watch-tower offered some +little compensation for the slight put on their shop. + +"I never saw that before," said Wally. "I vote we go up." + +Mr Rollitt led the way with all the agility of a practical hodman. The +steps ended with a trap-door in the ceiling, which he pushed up before +him. + +"Mind how you go, young gents," said he to his followers; "one at a time +on them stones." + +The trap-door opened into a sort of passage, at the end of which was a +narrow brick corkscrew staircase. + +It was too dark to do anything but feel their way up; Mr Rollitt +leading, and testing every step as he went along. + +"Why," said Wally suddenly, and with a touch of alarm in his voice, as +they were halting a moment to allow Mr Rollitt to inspect with the end +of a lucifer one of the loophole windows, "why, look up there--there's a +light!" + +They looked. And there, struggling apparently from under a door which +closed the head of the stairs, came a streak of light. + +"I say--it's ghosts," said Fisher minor. "Let's go back." + +"More likely it's my Alf," said Mr Rollitt. "I know'd he was +somewheres not fur off." + +He went up, followed at a more respectful distance than before by the +boys, and pushed open the door. + +They heard the sound of an exclamation within, and a noise as of some +one starting to his feet. Next moment, as the light streamed down the +staircase, they heard a familiar voice say-- + +"Father!" + +"That's me, Alf, my boy; I know'd you was somewheres 'andy." + +"I say," said Wally, in an excited whisper to his followers, "we'd best +cut back, you chaps. They don't want us up there." + +The delicate suggestion was appreciated by the party, who forthwith made +a precipitate retreat. + +"We as good as found him, that's one thing, and nobody else was in it," +said Percy triumphantly. + +"Rather not. Keep it mum. Let's go and light the fire in his room, and +have some grub ready for him. Good old Rollitt, I'm jolly glad he's +turned up!" + +"That's how he got the Abernethys," said D'Arcy. "Jolly honest to pay +for them." + +"You don't suppose anybody would collar things out of the shop and not +pay for them, you lout, do you?" + +Whereat, leaving the door on the latch, they marched arm in arm across +the School Green kicking every junior they met, and mystifying everybody +by whistling at the top of their voices, "See the conquering hero +comes." + + + +CHAPTER TWENTY SIX. + +THE FINAL KICK. + +Rollitt's return to Fellsgarth was almost as mysterious as his +disappearance. He answered to his name at call-over next morning as if +he had never missed a day this term. And as Dr Ringwood and the other +masters were present, and made no remark, it was generally concluded +that the truant had turned up over-night, and had had it out with the +authorities before bedtime. + +Mr Rollitt, Senior, had departed. He had looked into Wally's study +after the owner and his crew were in bed to get his bag, and had been +driven down in the doctor's fly to Penchurch. + +It was also understood that most of the Classic seniors had dropped into +Rollitt's study early that morning. To some he had said, "Get out"; +with others he had shaken hands. The captain had evidently been among +the latter; as, on the notice board that morning, among the names of the +fifteen who were to play the first match for the new clubs on Saturday +against Penchurch, was that of Rollitt. The excitement caused by this +discovery almost put into the shade for the time the equally remarkable +fact that Clapperton and Brinkman were included in the same team. + +Where Rollitt had been, and what he had been doing, remained a mystery. +It was, of course, out of the question to ask him. Conjecture was rife, +and was greatly assisted by the juniors, who hazarded all sorts of +plausible explanations for the general benefit. + +"Think he's been to Land's End?" said Wally. "I hear you can do it in a +week--sharp walking." + +"You can get to America in that time," said Lickford. + +"Yes--he does seem to have rather a twang on him. Perhaps that's where +he's been to," remarked D'Arcy. + +"Penny bank coal-mine's only fifty miles away," said Percy. "It runs +under the sea ever so far. I should say it was a ripping place to hide +in." + +From which and other similar remarks it was concluded that the juniors +had a much better notion as to where Rollitt had been than they chose to +admit. + +They eagerly embraced the first opportunity of going to the shop, and +investigating the scene of the mystery for themselves. They carefully +locked the outer door against possible intruders, and then in Indian +file ascended the stone ladder, and after it the corkscrew staircase. + +The room in which they found themselves was pretty much as Rollitt had +left it. It had evidently been made use of by a former lodge-keeper as +a dwelling-room, for there was a ragged paper on the wall, and an +attempt here and there to board over dangerous holes in the floor. +Besides which there was a rude shutter to the tiny window, by means of +which no doubt Rollitt had succeeded in concealing his presence at +night. The remains of a wood fire were on the hearth, and a candle-end +showed (what they already knew) that the hermit did not spend all his +evenings in darkness. + +More than this, in one corner still lay some of the wraps which he had +evidently used to extemporise a bed. And an empty box on end in the +window convinced them he had sat down during part of his residence. +There was also a leaf of exercise paper and a Horace lying on the floor, +which evidently had not been brought there by the owls. Altogether, as +they looked round, they concluded that, but for the cold, he might have +had worse quarters during his temporary exile. + +But the discovery that delighted them most was a fragment of a newspaper +in which were wrapped the not yet exhausted end of a ham, and half a +biscuit! + +Over these relics they dwelt with quite an affectionate interest, till +somebody said-- + +"What did he have to drink? He didn't take any of our ginger-beer, and +there's no water here." + +"Why, you duffer, of course he could get out any time he liked. It's +only a latch on the door; any one can open it from inside. He could +easily get down to the river in the night, and have a tub, and fetch up +some water." + +They decided that in future the shop committee, except when Mr and Mrs +Stratton were present, should meet nowhere but in "Rollitt's chamber," +as they forthwith named the room, and proceeded to dedicate it to that +use there and then. + +"Do you know," said Wally, "that after we pay back Mr Stratton what he +lent us to start with, there'll be a clear L5 to give to the clubs out +of the profits?" + +"Not bad," said Percy. "They ought to put us in the first fifteen for +that." + +"Never mind," said D'Arcy; "they've got a jolly hot fifteen for +Saturday, Rollitt and all of 'em. We ought to put the Penchurch chaps +to bed for once, I fancy." + +This was the general impression throughout the School; and, as if to +make up for the abstinence of the past few weeks, the fervour of the +athletic set waxed high as the eventful day drew near. Yorke had out +his men once or twice, practising kicks, and selecting where in the +field each player could work to best advantage. + +Rollitt, of course, did not attend these practices; but Clapperton and +Brinkman did, and soon lost the embarrassment with which they first +faced their old rivals and enemies. Corder was down too; dreadfully +afraid lest by _some_ mishap he should discredit himself, and so be +knocked out of his coveted place in the team. Mr Stratton was on the +spot also, advising and admonishing--as no one knew better how to do. +Even the doctor showed his interest in the new departure of the clubs by +coming down too, and by giving directions to reserve seats in the +pavilion for a party of his friends. + +The only unenthusiastic person, except Rollitt, was Dangle. He tried at +first to brazen it out, and came down to the field with a sneer on his +face to look, so he said, "at the good boys exercising themselves." But +the juniors soon routed him out of that attitude. + +"Booh, hoo! Rollitt's coming! Wants to hear you call him a thief. +Run--he'll catch you! Put it on, well run, Dangle, you've missed him +this time. Coast's clear, now; you can come back. We'll protect you," +and so on. + +These attentions made Dangle's visits to the field less frequent. In +school, he kept the swagger up still longer. + +"So," said he one day to Clapperton, "I thought you didn't approve of +cutting fellows dead?" + +"No more I do." + +"Why do you do it, then?" + +"Have you apologised to Rollitt?" + +"No." + +"Has Rollitt thrashed you?" + +"No." + +"When one or the other has happened, I shall be delighted to shake +hands," said Clapperton. + +The alternative was a dismal one, but Dangle saw no third way. Which +course was least to be desired he could not for the life of him decide. +A fight with Rollitt he knew would end disastrously. But to apologise-- +and in public! + +The reader has already had two football matches in the course of this +story. He shall not be wearied with a third. + +Suffice it to say the Penchurch men--men, not boys--presented themselves +on the appointed day, and all Fellsgarth turned out to see the battle. + +Fisher minor scored one more triumph by bringing Rollitt up to the +scratch, and so completing as sound and taut a team as Yorke had ever +led on to victory. + +Mrs Stratton was there, wearing the School colours round her hat; and +the doctor was there with his field-glasses, pointing out the heroes of +the School to his distinguished visitors. + +This time, by much squeezing and mutual accommodation, the oak tree was +made to hold nine persons. Who those nine were none could guess, unless +indeed they happened to be standing within a hundred yards of the spot +without cotton-wool in their ears. + +From the first it went hard with the Penchurch men. The School had +never played up better. The scrimmages were beautifully packed, and the +quarter and half-backs were never off the spot. Only when, above the +crowd, Rollitt's head was seen to be at work, and it was apparent he had +waked up for a time, was there any risk of confusion. But Yorke's "Play +on Rollitt!" generally pulled the scrimmage together again, and warned +friend and (after a time) foe what to expect. + +There was no holding Rollitt back when he once made up his mind to get +the ball through; and no stopping him when once he got fairly started on +a run. Twice before half-time and once after he scored a touch-down. +Twice Yorke did the same, and once Clapperton. + +Corder discovered that a fellow does not always score, and yet may play +a steady, useful game. He was disappointed that it was only left him to +do the latter; and he set himself down as a failure. But Mr Stratton +put him on his feet wonderfully at the end. + +"You've improved, Corder. You never played as well." + +The others worked well, and contributed to the great result, and +perhaps, better still, grudged no one his greater glory. It was +Fellsgarth that was playing, not Fullerton, Ranger, Brinkman, Fisher +major, or anybody else. + +The final goal was Clapperton's. It was an historic event. For the +first time in the match the Penchurch men had worked the ball up into +the boys' quarters, and fears were being entertained lest, after all, +they would save their "duck." The half-backs and quarter-backs of the +School were squeezed in, all of a lump, between touch and goal; and +those who looked on noticed with alarm that, as matters now stood, an +easy drop-kick from any of the enemy's forwards might capture the goal. + +Rollitt was the first to put an end to this dangerous state of things. +He bore down the scrimmage after his usual fashion, and succeeded, as he +broke through, in getting the ball into his hands. But for once he +could get no further. Twenty hands seized him and carried him to the +ground, but not before he had sent back the ball into Fisher's hands. + +"Back up now--hard and fast!" cried Yorke. + +Never was order more beautifully carried out, Fisher minor held the +leather long enough to pass it to Brinkman. Brinkman staggered on a +yard or two and slipped it back to Denton. Denton made a yard or two +more and passed it to Corder. Corder fell back with it into the arms of +Ranger. Ranger let Corder drop, but captured the ball, and with one of +his lightning swoops carried it out of the ruck for twenty yards, when, +as he fell, Yorke came up and captured it. Yorke, alas, was cut short +in his career before he had gone ten yards, but Clapperton was there to +take it. Away he went, shaking off the nearest of his assailants and +distancing others, till he too fell gloriously, with his body in play, +and his hands in touch, thirty yards from the enemy's lines. The +serried ranks formed up on either side. Clapperton, as he stood, ball +in hand, ready to throw in, passed his eye along the line of his +friends, and stopped short of Yorke. Yorke understood. He caught the +ball, and quick as thought, returned it to Clapperton, who, swooping +round behind the line, got clear with it once more, and crossing the +field, curving in all the way, carried into the enemy's lines at their +far corner, whence with a wide sweep he brought it round right behind +their posts, a beautiful climax to a beautiful piece of co-operative +play. + +As Mr Stratton said, nothing all that term had been more hopeful of the +new spirit of mutual confidence and support in the School than this +triumphant rally. + +But the goal was yet to be kicked. To Yorke, of course, belonged the +honour. + +But Yorke, to every one's surprise, stood out. + +"No," said he. "It's Clapperton's goal; he shall kick it." + +So Fellsgarth, perhaps for the first and only time in its records, stood +by and witnessed the phenomenon of its captain carrying out the ball and +placing it for the vice-captain to kick. + +It needed all Clapperton's nerve to save him from flurry and failure +even over an easy task like this. But he pulled himself together and +kicked the goal. + +And with that kick he sent flying into the air the last remnant of the +bad blood and jealousy which had marred the term and all but wrecked the +good old School. + +Here let us say good-bye--perhaps not for good. For Yorke and Rollitt, +and Clapperton and Fisher, and all of them, are still alive and kicking. + +Rollitt, to the general regret, but to his own satisfaction, left +Fellsgarth at the end of the term for the more congenial course of a +school of engineering. Before he left he invited Fisher minor to tea in +his room, and alarmed that young gentleman by sitting for a whole hour +without uttering a word. At length, when the guest had to leave, he +said-- + +"Thanks, Fisher minor. Thank those fellows of yours. Tell Yorke the +money that bought the boat was what I had been saving for something +else. I'll write to you. Get out, now." + +That was the last of Rollitt. + +Dangle never made up his mind either to apologise or take a thrashing. +He never met Rollitt after the return of the latter. When breaking-up +day came, he got an excuse to go home earlier than the general crowd; +and when School reassembled in January it was known he had left +Fellsgarth for good. + +The two events of the breaking-up "Hall" were--first the announcement by +the doctor that, at his request, Yorke would stay on another term at +Fellsgarth; secondly, the presentation of a purse containing five pounds +to the School clubs by the nine juniors, as the profits for the term on +the business of the School shop. + +Which of these two events produced the more terrific cheers the reader +must take upon himself to decide. + +An hour later, Messrs. Wally, D'Arcy, Ashby, Fisher minor, Percy, +Cottle, Lickford, Ramshaw, and Cash, limited, walked arm in arm across +the Green, after a farewell call on Mrs Stratton, on their way to the +School omnibus, which waited at the Watch-Tower. Their progress was +temporarily interrupted by the sudden bolt of Fisher minor in pursuit of +a lank, cadaverous figure, wearing the Modern colours, who was strolling +innocently off in the direction of Mr Forder's house. + +"The young un's got 'em again," said Wally. "Here, come back, young +Fisher minor, can't you? We shan't wait." + +Fisher minor pulled up. He looked wistfully first at the retreating +figure in the distance, then at his eight friends. With a sigh he +decided on the latter; and for that term, at least, finally abandoned +the quest of his unlucky half-crown. + +It took some little time to arrange matters on the omnibus, as one or +two innocent middle-boys had had the audacity to occupy the box-seat and +the row behind, and had to be cajoled or pulled down. How could any one +dare, when those two seats just held nine, to imagine that they were not +sacred property? + +"That's better," said Wally, when at last the party were safely up, with +two rugs over their eighteen knees, and a gross of brandy-balls +circulating for the common comfort. "Touch 'em up, driver. Give 'em +their heads! I tell you what, you chaps, this has been rather a slow +half. I vote we have some larks next term." + +"Rather!" chimed in the chorus. + +THE END. + + + + + + +End of Project Gutenberg's The Cock-House at Fellsgarth, by Talbot Baines Reed + +*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE COCK-HOUSE AT FELLSGARTH *** + +***** This file should be named 21037.txt or 21037.zip ***** +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: + http://www.gutenberg.org/2/1/0/3/21037/ + +Produced by Nick Hodson of London, England + +Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions +will be renamed. + +Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no +one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation +(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without +permission and without paying copyright royalties. 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