"I"ll have my car round in five minutes," said The Infant. "Ipps"ll help carry "em downstairs," and he shook Mr. Wontner by the hand.
We were all perfectly serious till the two bundles were dumped on a divan in the hall, and the boys waked and began to realise what had happened.
"Yah!" said Mr. Wontner, with the simplicity of twelve years old. "Who"s scored now?" And he sat upon them. The tension broke in a storm of laughter, led, I think, by Ipps.
"Asinine--absolutely asinine!" said Mr. Wontner, with folded arms from his lively chair. But he drank in the flattery and the fellowship of it all with quite a brainless grin, as we rolled and stamped round him, and wiped the tears from our cheeks.
"Hang it!" said Bobby Trivett. "We"re defeated!"
"By tactics, too," said Eames. "I didn"t think you knew "em, Clausewitz.
It"s a fair score. What are you going to do with us?"
"Take you back to Mess," said Mr. Wontner.
"Not like this?"
"Oh no. Worse--much worse! I haven"t begun with you yet. And you thought you"d scored! Yah!"
They had scored beyond their wildest dream. The man in whose hands it lay to shame them, their Colonel, their Adjutant, their Regiment, and their Service, had cast away all shadow of his legal rights for the sake of a common or bear-garden rag--such a rag as if it came to the ears of the authorities, would cost him his commission. They were saved, and their saviour was their equal and their brother. So they chaffed and reviled him as such till he again squashed the breath out of them, and we others laughed louder than they.
"Fall in!" said Stalky when the limousine came round. "This is the score of the century. I wouldn"t miss it for a brigade! We shan"t be long, Infant!"
I hurried into a coat.
"Is there any necessity for that reporter-chap to come too?" said Mr.
Wontner in an unguarded whisper. "He isn"t dressed for one thing."
Bobby and Eames wriggled round to look at the reporter, began a joyous bellow, and suddenly stopped.
"What"s the matter?" said Wontner with suspicion.
"Nothing," said Bobby. "I die happy, Clausewitz. Take me up tenderly."
We packed into the car, bearing our sheaves with us, and for half an hour, as the cool night-air fanned his thoughtful brow, Mr. Wontner was quite abreast of himself. Though he said nothing unworthy, he triumphed and trumpeted a little loudly over the sacks. I sat between them on the back seat, and applauded him servilely till he reminded me that what I had seen and what he had said was not for publication. I hinted, while the boys plunged with joy inside their trappings, that this might be a matter for arrangement. "Then a sovereign shan"t part us," said Mr.
Wontner cheerily, and both boys fell into lively hysterics. "I don"t see where the joke comes in for you," said Mr. Wontner. "I thought it was my little jokelet to-night."
"No, Clausewitz," gasped Bobby. "Some is, but not all. I"ll be good now.
I"ll give you my parole till we get to Mess. I wouldn"t be out of this for a fiver."
"Nor me," said Eames, and he gave his parole to attempt no escape or evasion.
"Now, I suppose," said Mr. Wontner largely to Stalky, as we neared the suburbs of Ash, "you have a good deal of practical joking on the Stock Exchange, haven"t you?"
"And when were you on the Stock Exchange, Uncle Leonard?" piped Bobby, while Eames laid his sobbing head on my shoulder.
"I"m sorry," said Stalky, "but the fact is, I command a regiment myself when I"m at home. Your Colonel knows me, I think." He gave his name. Mr.
Wontner seemed to have heard of it. We had to pick Eames off the floor, where he had cast himself from excess of delight.
"Oh, Heavens!" said Mr. Wontner after a long pause. "What have I done?
What haven"t I done?" We felt the temperature in the car rise as he blushed.
"You didn"t talk tactics, Clausewitz?" said Bobby. "Oh, say it wasn"t tactics, darling!"
"It was," said Wontner.
Eames was all among our feet again, crying, "If you don"t let me get my arms up, I"ll be sick. Let"s hear what you said. Tell us."
But Mr. Wontner turned to Stalky. "It"s no good my begging your pardon, sir, I suppose," he said.
"Don"t you notice "em," said Stalky. "It was a fair rag all round, and anyhow, you two youngsters haven"t any right to talk tactics. You"ve been rolled up, horse, foot, and guns."
"I"ll make a treaty. If you"ll let us go and change presently," said Bobby, "I"ll promise we won"t tell about you, Clausewitz. _You_ talked tactics to Uncle Len? Old Dhurrah-bags will like that. He don"t love you, Claus."
"If I"ve made one a.s.s of myself, I shall take extra care to make a.s.ses of you!" said Wontner. "I want to stop, please, at the next milliner"s shop on the right. It ought to be close here."
He evidently knew the country even in the dark, for the car stopped at a brilliantly-lighted millinery establishment, where--it was Sat.u.r.day evening--a young lady was clearing up the counter. I followed him, as a good reporter should.
"Have you got--" he began. "Ah, those"ll do!" He pointed to two hairy plush beehive bonnets, one magenta, the other a conscientious electric blue. "How much, please? I"ll take them both, and that bunch of peac.o.c.k feathers, and that red feather thing." It was a brilliant crimson-dyed pigeon"s wing.
"Now I want some yards of muslin with a nice, fierce pattern, please."
He got it--yellow with black tulips--and returned heavily laden.
"Sorry to have kept you," said he. "Now we"ll go to my quarters to change and beautify."
We came to them--opposite a dun waste of parade-ground that might have been Mian Mir--and bugles as they blew and drums as they rolled set heart-strings echoing.
We hoisted the boys out and arranged them on chairs, while Wontner changed into uniform, but stopped when he saw me taking off my jacket.
"What on earth"s that for?" said he.
"Because you"ve been wearing my evening things," I said. "I want to get into "em again, if you don"t mind."
"Then you aren"t a reporter?" he said.
"No," I said, "but that shan"t part us."
"Oh, hurry!" cried Eames in desperate convulsions. "We can"t stand this much longer. "Tisn"t fair on the young."
"I"ll attend to you in good time," said Wontner; and when he had made careful toilet, he unwrapped the bonnets, put the peac.o.c.k"s feather into the magenta one, pinned the crimson wing on the blue one, set them daintily on the boys" heads, and bade them admire the effect in his shaving-gla.s.s while he ripped the muslin into lengths, bound it first, and draped it artistically afterwards a little below their knees. He finished off with a gigantic sash-bow, obi fashion. "Hobble skirts," he explained to Stalky, who nodded approval.
Next he split open the bottom of each sack so that they could walk, but with very short steps. "I ought to have got you white satin slippers,"
he murmured, "and I"m sorry there"s no rouge."
"Don"t worry on our account, old man--you"re doing us proud," said Bobby from under his hat. "This beats milk-punch and mayonnaise."
"Oh, why didn"t we think of these things when we had him at our mercy?"
Eames wailed. "Never mind--we"ll try it on the next chap. You"ve a mind, Claus."