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Donā€™t attempt to deny it! Ye have! A sergeant? More shame to you, then, anā€™ the worst bargain Her Majesty ever made! A sergeant, to run about the country poachinā€™ā€”on your pension! Damnable! Oh, damnable! But Iā€™ll be considerate. Iā€™ll be merciful. By gad, Iā€™ll be the very essence oā€™ humanity! Did ye, or did ye not, see my notice-boards? Donā€™t attempt to deny it! Ye did. Silence, Sergeant!ā€

Twenty-one years in the army had left their mark on Foxy. He obeyed.

ā€œNow. March!ā€ The high Lodge gate shut with a clang. ā€œMy duty! A sergeant to tell me my duty!ā€ puffed Colonel Dabney. ā€œGood Lard! more sergeants!ā€

ā€œItā€™s King! Itā€™s King!ā€ gulped Stalky, his head on the horsehair pillow. McTurk was eating the rag-carpet before the speckless hearth, and the sofa heaved to the emotions of Beetle. Through the thick glass the figures without showed blue, distorted, and menacing.

ā€œIā€”I protest against this outrage.ā€ King had evidently been running up hill. ā€œThe man was entirely within his duty. Letā€”let me give you my card.ā€

ā€œHeā€™s in flannels!ā€ Stalky buried his head again.

ā€œUnfortunatelyā€”most unfortunatelyā€”I have not one with me, but my name is King, sir, a housemaster of the College, and you will find me preparedā€”fully preparedā€”to answer for this manā€™s action. Weā€™ve seen threeā€”ā€

ā€œDid ye see my notice-boards?ā€

ā€œI admit we did; but under the circumstancesā€”ā€

ā€œI stand inloco_parentis_.ā€ Proutā€™s deep voice was added to the discussion. They could hear him pant.

ā€œFā€™what?ā€ Colonel Dabney was growing more and more Irish.

ā€œIā€™m responsible for the boys under my charge.ā€

ā€œYe are, are ye? Then all I can say is that ye set them a very bad exampleā€”a damā€™ bad example, if I may say so. I do not own your boys. Iā€™ve not seen your boys, anā€™ I tell you that if there was a boy grinninā€™ in every bush on the place, still yeā€™ve no shadow of a right here, cominā€™ up from the combe that way, anā€™ frighteninā€™ everything in it. Donā€™t attempt to deny it. Ye did. Ye should have come to the Lodge anā€™ seen me like Christians, instead of chasinā€™ your damā€™ boys through the length and breadth of my covers. Inloco_parentis_ ye are? Well, Iā€™ve not forgotten my Latin either, anā€™ Iā€™ll say to you: ā€˜Quiscustodiet_ipsos_custodes_.ā€™ If the masters trespass, how can we blame the boys?ā€

ā€œBut if I could speak to you privately,ā€ said Prout.

ā€œIā€™ll have nothing private with you! Ye can be as private as ye please on the other side oā€™ that gate anā€™ā€”I wish ye a very good afternoon.ā€

A second time the gate clanged. They waited till Colonel Dabney had returned to the house, and fell into one anotherā€™s arms, crowing for breath.

ā€œOh, my Soul! Oh, my King! Oh, my Heffy! Oh, my Foxy! Zeal, all zeal, Mr. Simple.ā€ Stalky wiped his eyes. ā€œOh! Oh I Oh!ā€”ā€˜I did boil the exciseman!ā€™ We must get out of this or weā€™ll be late for tea.ā€

ā€œGeā€”Geā€”get the badger and make little Hartopp happy. Maā€”maā€”make ā€˜em all happy,ā€ sobbed McTurk, groping for the door and kicking the prostrate Beetle before him.

They found the beast in an evil-smelling box, left two half-crowns for payment, and staggered home. Only the badger grunted most marvelous like Colonel Dabney, and they dropped him twice or thrice with shrieks of helpless laughter. They were but imperfectly recovered when Foxy met them by the Fives Court with word that they were to go up to their dormitory and wait till sent for.

ā€œWell, take this box to Mr. Hartoppā€™s rooms, then. Weā€™ve done something for the Natural History Society, at any rate,ā€ said Beetle.

ā€œā€˜Fraid that wonā€™t save you, young genā€™elmen,ā€ Foxy answered, in an awful voice. He was sorely ruffled in his mind.

ā€œAll sereno, Foxibus.ā€ Stalky had reached the extreme stage of hiccups. ā€œWeā€”weā€™ll never desert you, Foxy. Hounds choppinā€™ foxes in cover is more a proof of vice, ainā€™t it?ā€¦ No, youā€™re right. Iā€™mā€”Iā€™m not quite well.ā€

ā€œTheyā€™ve gone a bit too far this time,ā€ Foxy thought to himself. ā€œVery far gone, Iā€™d say, excepā€™ there was no smell of liquor. Anā€™ yet it isnā€™t like ā€˜emā€”somehow. King and Prout they ā€˜ad their dressinā€™-down same as me. Thatā€™s one comfort.ā€

ā€œNow, we must pull up,ā€ said Stalky, rising from the bed on which he had thrown himself. ā€œWeā€™re injured innocenceā€”as usual. We donā€™t know what weā€™ve been sent up here for, do we?ā€

ā€œNo explanation. Deprived of tea. Public disgrace before the house,ā€ said McTurk, whose eyes were running over. ā€œItā€™s damā€™ serious.ā€

ā€œWell, hold on, till King loses his temper,ā€ said Beetle. ā€œHeā€™s a libelous old rip, anā€™ heā€™ll be in a ravinā€™ paddy-wack. Proutā€™s too beastly cautious. Keep your eye on King, and, if he gives us a chance, appeal to the Head. That always makes ā€˜em sick.ā€

They were summoned to their housemasterā€™s study, King and Foxy supporting Prout, and Foxy had three canes under his arm. King leered triumphantly, for there were tears, undried tears of mirth, on the boysā€™ cheeks. Then the examination began.

Yes, they had walked along the cliffs. Yes, they had entered Colonel Dabneyā€™s grounds. Yes, they had seen the notice-boards (at this point Beetle sputtered hysterically). For what purpose had they entered Colonel Dabneyā€™s grounds? ā€œWell, sir, there was a badger.ā€

Here King, who loathed the Natural History Society because he did not like Hartopp, could no longer be restrained. He begged them not to add mendacity to open insolence. But the badger was in Mr. Hartoppā€™s rooms, sir. The Sergeant had kindly taken it up for them. That disposed of the badger, and the temporary check brought Kingā€™s temper to boiling-point. They could hear his foot on the floor while Prout prepared his lumbering inquiries. They had settled into their stride now. Their eyes ceased to sparkle; their faces were blank; their hands hung beside them without a twitch. They were learning, at the expense of a fellow-countryman, the lesson of their race, which is to put away all emotion and entrap the alien at the proper time.

So far good. King was importing himself more freely into the trial, being vengeful where Prout was grieved. They knew the penalties of trespassing? With a fine show of irresolution, Stalky admitted that he had gathered some information vaguely bearing on this head, but he thoughtā€”The sentence was dragged out to the uttermost: Stalky did not wish to play his trump with such an opponent. Mr. King desired no buts, nor was he interested in Stalkyā€™s evasions. They, on the other hand, might be interested in his poor views. Boys who creptā€”who sneakedā€”who lurkedā€”out of bounds, even the generous bounds of the Natural History Society, which they had falsely joined as a cloak for their misdeedsā€”their vicesā€”their villainiesā€”their immoralitiesā€”

ā€œHeā€™ll break cover in a minute,ā€ said Stalky to himself. ā€œThen weā€™ll run into him before he gets away.ā€

Such boys, scabrous boys, moral lepersā€”the current of his words was carrying King off his feetā€”evil-speakers, liars, slow-belliesā€”yea, incipient drunkardsā€¦

He was merely working up to a peroration, and the boys knew it; but McTurk cut through the frothing sentence, the others echoing:

ā€œI appeal to the Head, sir.ā€

ā€œI appeal to the head, sir.ā€

ā€œI appeal to the Head, sir.ā€

It was their unquestioned right. Drunkenness meant expulsion after a public flogging. They had been accused of it. The case was the Headā€™s, and the Headā€™s alone.

ā€œThou hast appealed unto Caesar: unto Caesar shalt thou go.ā€ They had heard that sentence once or twice before in their careers. ā€œNone the less,ā€ said King, uneasily, ā€œyou would be better advised to abide by our decision, my young friends.ā€

ā€œAre we allowed to associate with the rest of the school till we see the Head, sir?ā€ said McTurk to his housemaster, disregarding King. This at once lifted the situation to its loftiest plane. Moreover, it meant no work, for moral leprosy was strictly quarantined, and the Head never executed judgment till twenty-four cold hours later.

ā€œWellā€”erā€”if you persist in your defiant attitude,ā€ said King, with a loving look at the canes under Foxyā€™s arm. ā€œThere is no alternative.ā€

Ten minutes later the news was over the whole school. Stalky and Co. had fallen at lastā€”fallen by drink. They had been drinking. They had returned blind-drunk from a hut. They were even now lying hopelessly intoxicated on the dormitory floor. A few bold spirits crept up to look, and received boots about the head from the criminals.

ā€œWeā€™ve got himā€”got him on the Caudine Toasting-fork!ā€ said Stalky, after those hints were taken. ā€œKingā€™ll have to prove his charges up to the giddy hilt.ā€

ā€œToo much ticklee, him bust,ā€ Beetle quoted from a book of his reading. ā€œDidnā€™t I say heā€™d go pop if we lat un bide?ā€

ā€œNo prep., either, O ye incipient drunkards,ā€ said McTurk, ā€œand itā€™s trig night, too. Hullo! Hereā€™s our dear friend Foxy. More tortures, Foxibus?ā€

ā€œIā€™ve brought you something to eat, young gentlemen,ā€ said the Sergeant from behind a crowded tray. Their wars had ever been waged without malice, and a suspicion floated in Foxyā€™s mind that boys who allowed themselves to be tracked so easily might, perhaps, hold something in reserve. Foxy had served through the Mutiny, when early and accurate information was worth much.

ā€œIā€”I noticed you ā€˜adnā€™t ā€˜ad anything to eat, anā€™ I spoke to Gumbly, anā€™ he said you wasnā€™t exactly cut off from supplies. So I brought up this. Itā€™s your potted ā€˜am tin, ainā€™t it, Mr. Corkran?ā€

ā€œWhy, Foxibus, youā€™re a brick,ā€ said Stalky. ā€œI didnā€™t think you had this muchā€”whatā€™s the word, Beetle?ā€

ā€œBowels,ā€ Beetle replied, promptly. ā€œThank you, Sergeant. Thatā€™s young Carterā€™s potted ham, though.ā€

ā€œThere was a C on it. I thought it was Mr. Corkranā€™s. This is a very serious business, young gentlemen. Thatā€™s what it is. I didnā€™t know, perhaps, but there might be something on your side which you hadnā€™t said to Mr. King or Mr. Prout, maybe.ā€

ā€œThere is. Heaps, Foxibus.ā€ This from Stalky through a full mouth.

ā€œThen you see, if that was the case, it seemed to me I might represent it, quiet so to say, to the ā€˜Ead when he asks me about it. Iā€™ve got to take ā€˜im the charges to-night, anā€™ā€”it looks bad on the face of it.ā€

ā€œā€˜Trocious bad, Foxy. Twenty-seven cuts in the Gym before all the school, and public expulsion. ā€˜Wine is a mocker, strong drink is raginā€™,ā€™ā€ quoth Beetle.

ā€œItā€™s nothinā€™ to make fun of, young gentlemen. I ā€˜ave to go to the ā€˜Ead with the charges. Anā€™ā€”anā€™ you maynā€™t be aware, perā€™aps, that I was followinā€™ you this afternoon; havinā€™ my suspicions.ā€

ā€œDid ye see the notice-boards?ā€ croaked McTurk, in the very brogue of Colonel Dabney.

ā€œYeā€™ve eyes in your head. Donā€™t attempt to deny it. Ye did!ā€ said Beetle.

ā€œA sergeant! To run about poachinā€™ on your pension! Damnable, O damnable!ā€ said Stalky, without pity.

ā€œGood Lord!ā€ said the Sergeant, sitting heavily upon a bed. ā€œWhereā€”where the devil was you? I might haā€™ known it was a doā€”somewhere.ā€

ā€œOh, you clever maniac!ā€ Stalky resumed. ā€œWe maynā€™t be aware you were followinā€™ us this afternoon, maynā€™t we? ā€˜Thought you were stalkinā€™ us, eh? Why, we led you bung into it, of course. Colonel Dabneyā€”donā€™t you think heā€™s a nice man, Foxy?ā€”Colonel Dabneyā€™s our pet particular friend. Weā€™ve been goinā€™ there for weeks and weeks, he invited us. You and your duty! Curse your duty, sir! Your duty was to keep off his covers.ā€

ā€œYouā€™ll never be able to hold up your head again, Foxy. The fags ā€˜ll hoot at you,ā€ said Beetle.

ā€œThink of your giddy prestige!ā€ The Sergeant was thinkingā€”hard.

ā€œLook ā€˜ere, young gentlemen,ā€ he said, earnestly. ā€œYou arenā€™t surely ever goinā€™ to tell, are you? Wasnā€™t Mr. Prout and Mr. King inā€”in it too?ā€

ā€œFoxibusculus, they was. They wasā€”singular horrid. Caught it worse than you. We

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