Chapter 19

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_ CHAPTER NINETEEN.

Mr Rebble stepped up into the loft, closely followed by Mr Hasnip, who stared from one to the other with a peculiar smile upon his lip.

"Fighting, eh?" said Mr Rebble. "Disgraceful! Why, Dicksee and Dean have been fighting too, and--yes--Mercer."

"Yes, sir," cried little Wilson. "Mercer and Dicksee had theirs first, then Burr major and Burr junior. Bill Dean hasn't been fighting. It was only that Burr junior gave him a wipe."

I felt as if I were the chief offender, and as I heard these words, I longed not to deliver wipes, but to have a good wash.

"Disgraceful!" exclaimed Mr Rebble. "Who began it? You, I suppose, Burr."

My first instinct was to disclaim this excitedly, but I thought it would be cowardly, so I held my tongue, leaving it to Burr major to answer.

To my surprise, though, he remained silent, and little Wilson squeaked out,--

"No, sir, please, sir, it wasn't Burr junior, sir. Eely Burr sent for Burr and Mercer to come and be licked; but," added the boy, with a malicious grin, "he hasn't licked them yet."

"Disgraceful! disgraceful!" cried Mr Rebble. "Well, the Doctor will decide what is to be done. Quick, boys, the dinner bell will.--Ah, there it goes!"

There was a hurried rush off at this, the boys being only too glad to get beyond hearing of the usher's scolding, and we who were left hurriedly scrambled on our jackets in a shamefaced way.

"This matter will have to be thoroughly investigated," said Mr Rebble; "but be quick now and make yourselves presentable. I shudder at what the Doctor would say if he saw you all in this condition. Come, Hasnip."

They both descended like pantomime demons through the trap, and we followed, Burr major going first, with his brow knit and his bruised face looking sulky and sour, while Dicksee turned to give Tom Mercer a savagely vindictive look which was not pleasant to see.

"Won't you shake hands?" I said, as my adversary was about to descend.

He gave me a quick look, but made no answer. Hodson however, spoke as we reached the stable.

"Why, Burr," he said, "I didn't know that you could fight like that."

"No," I said, "and I did not know either."

Then we hurried in and ran up to our room, where I was glad to get soap and towel to my bruised face.

"Oh, you are lucky, Tom!" I panted, as I hurriedly bent over the basin, fully expecting to be reported for coming up to the dormitory out of hours. "Why, you don't show a bit."

"Nor you neither," he replied.

"Oh!" I gasped, as I looked in the glass.

"Well, not so very much," he said.

"But--but I don't hardly know myself," I said despondently. "What a face!"

"Well, it does look rather like a muffin," he cried.

"Ah, you may laugh," I said. "My eyes are just like they were when I was stung by a bee, and my lip's cut inside, and this tooth is loose, and--Oh dear, it's all growing worse!"

"Yes, it's sure to go on getting worse for a day or two, and then it will begin to get better. Ready?"

"Ready! No," I cried, as I listened to his poor consolation. "I'm getting horrid. I daren't go down."

"You must--you must. Come and face it out before you get worse."

"But I don't seem to have got a face," I cried, glaring out of two slits at my reflection in the glass. "It's just as if some one had been sitting on it for a week. Oh, you ugly brute!"

"So are you."

"I meant myself, of course, Tom."

"Never mind, never mind. Hooray! hooray!" he cried, dancing round the room and snapping his fingers; "we've licked 'em--we've licked 'em! and you're cock of the school. Hooray! hooray!"

"But I half wish I hadn't won now," I said.

"You will not to-morrow. Oh dear! poor old Eely! didn't he squirm! Oh, I say! I wish I had given it to old Dicksee ten times as much."

I couldn't help laughing, but it hurt horribly, and I was serious again directly.

"I say," I said painfully, "old Lom did teach us well!"

"Teach us! It was splendid. I feel as if I could go down and fight the Doctor."

"Do you?" I said dolefully. "I feel as if he is going to fight us."

"Not he; come on. You can't afford to be afraid of anything now."

"Hadn't I better stop?" I suggested, with another look in the glass.

"No; you must come. If you don't, the Doctor is sure to send for you, and that will make it worse. I say!"

"Well?"

"People who fight used to take the spoils of the vanquished. I wish I could have taken old Dicksee's four-bladed knife, with the lancet and corkscrew to it, and you could have taken old Eely's watch."

"I don't want his watch," I said snappishly.

"I do, and I'd have changed with you. Come on."

We ran down-stairs, and, feeling very nervous, hurried to the schoolroom, from whose open windows came the clatter of knives and forks.

Fortunately for us, we had to enter at the opposite end to where the Doctor would be seated, nominally taking his meal with us, and of course the ushers knew that we must be late, so with heads bent down we hurried in, conscious that every eye was upon us, and that the temporary cessation of the rattle on the plates was due to the boys leaving off eating to stare at our injuries.

I saw both Mr Rebble and Mr Hasnip look up and frown as they caught sight of my damaged face, and I was congratulating myself on escaping the Doctor's eye, when he looked up, frowned, and went on with his lunch.

"It's all right," whispered Mercer, scuffling into his place beside me, the boys around, to my great surprise, seeming to look at my marks with quite respectful eyes, and evidently as a conqueror's honours or laurels, when there was a sharp tapping on the table from the Doctor's knife-handle.

Profound silence ensued, Mercer just gripping my knee and whispering,--

"Oh, crikey!"

"Mr Rebble," said the doctor in deep tones.

"Sir?"

"To the commercial man punctuality is the soul of business; to the gentleman it is the soul of honour; and to the scholastic pupil it is the soul of er--er--the soul of er--er--er--duty. Be good enough to see that Mercer and Burr junior have impositions. Er--rum! Er--rum!" The Doctor finished by coughing in a peculiar way, and the clatter of knives and forks began again.

"He don't know yet about the fights," I whispered; "and, I say, look!"

"What's the matter?"

"Eely hasn't come down yet."

"Fatty has. I say, just look at his eyes."

"Horrid!" I whispered. "He looks fatter than ever. But Eely--oh, I hope he isn't very bad!"

"I hope he is," said Mercer maliciously. "He's been fagging me these three years. I know he's twice as bad as you, and serve him right."

We began our dinners, but Mercer's appetite was as bad as mine. The salt made my mouth smart, and every bite hurt my loose tooth. But there were congratulatory smiles from all round whenever I looked up, and every boy who could reach me with his foot gave me a friendly kick under the table, Mercer coming in for his share. In fact, I found that I had suddenly become the most popular boy in the school, though I did not at all appreciate the honour then.

"Look: there's Eely," whispered Mercer, as a tall thin figure now appeared at the door, then suddenly grew shorter by the lad bending down as low as possible, and creeping toward his place by Stewart and Dicksee.

But it was all in vain, the clatter of the knives and forks ceased, and the boys watched him, and whispered, drawing the Doctor's attention to the bent figure; and once more, after fixing his gold eyeglasses on the bridge of his nose by the hinge, and watching till my late adversary had crept into his place, he tapped the table with his knife-handle loudly.

"Young gentlemen," he rolled out in sonorous tones, "have the goodness to button up your pockets, and to be on the _qui vive_. I just saw the door darkened by a sinister-looking figure, which crept in as if to commit a burglary, a petty larceny, a scholastic form of shop-lifting, or some crime of that kind, so be upon your guard. Did any one else see the figure?"

There was a pause, then Dicksee spoke with a malicious grin upon his fat face.

"Please, sir, I did. It was Burr major."

"Dear me! Indeed? Mr Burr, have the goodness to stand up and explain this extraordinary conduct."

Oh, poor old Eely! I thought sympathetically, as poor Burr major stood up, hanging his head, and looking much shorter than usual, and I heartily wished that Mercer had punished Dicksee more.

"Dear me! Burr major, what is the er--er--eh? I beg your pardon, Mr Rebble."

The Doctor bent toward his first lieutenant with great dignity, and the latter said a few words in a low tone.

"Dear me! Indeed? Oh, I see!" said the Doctor. "Burr major, you can sit down. You will come to my room directly after dinner, and--er--er-- what names did you say Mr Rebble?"

"Oh dear! It's coming, Frank," whispered Mercer.

"Exactly!" said the Doctor, after a conference in a low tone with Mr Rebble. "I see. Er--rum! Dicksee, Hodson."

"Please, sir, I wasn't fighting," cried Hodson excitedly.

Mr Rebble whispered to the Doctor.

"An accessory, it seems, Hodson," said the Doctor. "You will come to my room directly after dinner, with Mercer and Burr junior. I have not heard the names of the other boys who were present," continued the Doctor.

"Please, sir, Wilson was one," cried Dicksee.

"Thank you, Dicksee," said the Doctor drily, as he fixed him with his glittering glasses; "I am obliged to you. History repeats itself. There has always been one in every confederation ready to betray his fellows to save his own skin. I am afraid, Dicksee, that your skin will not be safe. Were you present, Wilson?"

"Yes, sir," said the little fellow.

"Fighting?"

"No, sir, I wasn't fighting; but--"

"But?" said the Doctor; "well, what?"

"Please, sir, I couldn't help liking it."

"Humph!" ejaculated the Doctor. "Well, you need not come this time. To resume, I do not know the names of the boys who were present, and I do not want to know. Dicksee was in too great a hurry. Now proceed with your dinner."

The meal went on, but my face felt more stiff, and my appetite was decidedly worse.

I was longing to go and do as a dog would under the circumstances,--go and curl up somewhere out of sight till I got better, for my head ached, so did my heart; my face throbbed and felt stiff; and altogether I was, like Mercer, as "miserable as mizzer,"--so he put it,--when the Doctor tapped the table again, we all rose, grace was said, and the words of doom came rolling through the place:

"In a quarter of an hour's time, young gentlemen."

Then the Doctor marched sedately out of the room, the masters followed, and the boys trooped into the ground, and we had to go too, feeling doleful in the extreme, but that did give way to a sense of pride, for there was a rush made for us directly; and as I was surrounded by a crowd, all eagerly congratulating me on my conquest, there was poor Burr major almost alone on the other side of the ground, dejected, deposed. Not quite alone, for Hodson and Wilson both went and stood by his side.

It may appear strange, but, of course excepting Mercer, I felt as if I liked those two boys at that moment better than any one in the school, for, young as I was, I could not help thinking that if ever Burr major and I had another encounter, and I were to be beaten, they would all turn from me as quickly as they came over to my side.

I was soon tired of hearing the same praise over and over again, and being asked to show this one and that one how I managed to hit out so well. But Mercer and I had a quiet understanding that we would keep our own counsel about the matter, and let any one who wanted to learn how to box think it out for himself.

I was not kept waiting long to muse over my position, and be stared at by all the boys, who took the greatest interest in my swellings, cuts, and marks, for Mr Rebble came to the door, and shouted,--

"Now, young gentlemen, the Doctor is waiting." I felt a curious shiver run through me, as I glanced round for Tom Mercer.

He was close at hand, ready to whisper,--

"It don't matter what he says, Frank; he can't undo what we have done, and old Eely will never dare to tackle you again."

"Or you."

"Oh, I didn't say that. Come on."

We went up to where Mr Rebble was standing, and found that Mr Hasnip was there too.

As we went in, Mr Hasnip came close to my side. "Nice object you look for a gentleman's son, sir! Going to be a soldier, eh?"

"Yes, sir!"

"Then keep your fighting for the enemy, not for your schoolfellows." Then in a lower voice--"Gave him a thorough good thrashing, didn't you?" he said.

"Yes, sir: I suppose so."

"Humph! serve him right. He wanted his comb cut. Getting insufferable with his conceit!--By the way, you needn't tell any of your schoolfellows I said that, for, of course, you had no business to fight."

"I didn't want to, sir, but Burr major made us fight. He sent a lot of the boys to bring us into the loft, 'to take the conceit out of us,' he said."

"And you took the conceit out of him instead, eh? Well, I daresay he wishes he had not sent for you now."

"I'm afraid he does."

"Yes. Well, here we are. I'm a terrible tartar to you over your lessons, but I'm not angry with you. Had some fights too, when I was your age. Now then, speak up like a man."

The door was thrown open, and we had to walk in, the two ushers standing on either side of the door, like policemen dealing with culprits, and then ranging us before the Doctor's table, behind which he sat, leaning back in his great leather-covered chair.

"Er--rum!" he coughed. "Sit down, Mr Rebble--take a chair, Mr Hasnip. Let me see," he continued, adjusting his gold-rimmed eyeglasses. "Burr major, Burr junior,--humph! ought to be Burr minor,--Natural History Mercer who loves poaching the General's rabbits, Dicksee, and Hodson."

The Doctor looked severe, but not very, as he inspected us all.

"Hah!" he ejaculated at last; "four as disreputable-looking fellows as it would be possible to find in the lowest town in Sussex. Aren't you ashamed of yourselves?"

"No answer, eh?" said the Doctor, after a pause. "Well, Hodson, you are not like these four. You did not fight, I suppose."

"No, sir. I was Burr major's second."

"That's almost as bad as the fighting. Come, you shall speak out. Who was in the wrong?"

"Please, sir, I'd rather not give an opinion."

"Please, sir, I know!" cried Dicksee.

"Thank you. I would rather take some other boy's opinion," cried the Doctor sarcastically. "Your eyes don't look as if you can see clearly. There, it is plain enough to me that you were all in the wrong, and I feel greatly annoyed to find my young gentlemen conducting themselves like the disreputable low boys who frequent the fairs and racecourses of the county. Look at yourselves. Did you ever see such a ghastly sight? Burr major, your face is horrible. As for you, Dicksee, I am ashamed of you. Suppose any of your relatives presented themselves at this moment, and wanted to see you. What could I say? There, actually, as I speak, I can hear wheels coming up the road, and, as they are light wheels, they must either be those of visitors, or of the butcher's cart--I--er--mean some trade-person's cart, which is not likely at this time of day. Fighting, young gentlemen, is a brutal practice, dating back to the very earliest ages of mankind, and no doubt imitated from the wild beasts whom they saw around them. Whereas you live in these later days, in the midst of civilisation in its highest, most cultivated forms, so that there is no excuse whatever for your acts."

The Doctor coughed, and the two ushers looked at each other and nodded their approval.

"Look at yourselves," continued the Doctor; and we all turned sharply to gaze in a small circular mirror at the end of the library.

"No, no," said the Doctor blandly, "I did not mean at your bodily disfigurations in the glass, but at the mental blurs in your natures. I--There, boys!" he cried suddenly; "I am not in the vein to moralise in this way, so I must speak plainly. I am ashamed of you, and, occupying as I do toward you the temporary position of parent, I honestly declare that if I did my duty by you, I should get a cane or a rod, and flog you all severely, but--"

"May I come in?" said a pleasant voice, and the door was slightly opened.

"Yes, my dear. No! engaged. What is it?"

"That lady and gentleman have driven over from Rye about their sons," said Mrs Doctor, coming right in; "and--Oh, my dears! what have you been doing?"

"There, there, Matilda!" cried the Doctor hastily. "Go back! I'll come in a few minutes;" and he hurried the pleasant old lady out of the room, before turning to us.

"There! you see," he cried,--"you see the effect your appearance has upon one who always takes the greatest of interest in you, and, er--Mr Rebble, I feel disposed to be lenient this time, as the boys have pretty well punished themselves. I leave it to you. Moderate impositions. There, go at once and shut yourselves up in your dormitories. No, more fighting, mind, or I shall be as severe as the sternest tyrant you read of in your classic studies."

He hurried out of the library, and the ushers took us all into custody again, and led us out into the playground.

"There!" said Mr Rebble; "you heard the Doctor's orders. Go to your rooms. Not you, Hodson. Come to my desk, and I'll set your imposition at once. Nice and easily you have got off. You can come down to-morrow morning, I suppose."

The two masters went off with Hodson, and we four made our way to the back staircase so hurriedly, that we nearly wedged ourselves at the foot, with the result that we were once more face to face, Mercer and I against Burr major and Dicksee, as in the fight.

I felt shocked now and more sorry than ever for Burr major, as I fully realised how terribly I had knocked him about. My hand twitched, and I was about to raise it, and offer to shake hands, or say something about being sorry; but he checked it at once by giving me a virulent look, and saying,--

"Wait a bit; I'll pay you out for all this," and, thrusting me aside, he sent me staggering against the wall, and rushed up-stairs, but only to trip and fall sprawling.

"Serve you right," cried Dicksee. "Yah!" Then, turning to us, he held out his hand. "Here, I'll be friends with you both." _

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