"Ah!" said Rogers, catching the meaning of Wilson"s remark instanter; "if we only could cork him up there for the afternoon! That would pay him out for Merishall"s call-over lines."
"We"ll chance it," said Wilson. "If we can"t do it, well, we didn"t know Gussy was in--eh?"
"Rather! That is the exact fable we"ll serve out to Todd, if necessary."
Breaking cover, the young Biffenites had secured the door of the punt-house without any difficulty, and then had run for dear life.
"Golly!" said Rogers, pulling up when well out of sight of the boat-house; "we did that rather neat, eh? Hanged if Toddy wasn"t smoking like a chimney. Did you twig his weed?"
"Regular stench," said Wilson. "Toddy will have to swim out through the front way, or howl for help. The punt is sure to be locked."
"He"ll have to take a header off the punt into the moat, and that isn"t crystal, exactly."
"Six yards of mud is about the figure," said Wilson, almost hysterically.
"I say, old man, if we"d only been able to bottle up Jim Cotton along with his chum! What price Biffen"s for the Houser, then?"
"_If_" said Wilson, wistfully. "Wouldn"t the dervishes walk into Taylor"s bowling, if Bully wasn"t there to sling them in?"
"Never mind," said Rogers, hardly daring to contemplate the ravishing prospect of Taylor"s house without Cotton, "the dervishes are sure to come out strong this afternoon. Let "em once get their eye in, and either of "em is good enough for a hundred."
The two young Biffenites found the faithful Grim holding the fort in the front bench of the pavilion against the ardent a.s.saults of some Taylorian juniors, who could not see what Grim wanted with three seats.
The fellows of the two houses were rapidly lining up for the match, and d.i.c.k Worcester had sent to Biffen"s making affectionate inquiries for the dervishes. By-and-by, word was brought to Worcester that the two were not to be found in the neighbourhood; and a further hurried search by anxious Biffenites, headed by Rogers and Wilson, had a like result.
"Isn"t it awful, Grimmy?" said Rogers. "Where can the idiots be?"
Worcester and Acton had a consultation. "If they don"t turn up in time we"ll have to make a start without "em."
"If we have to go in we may give "em up. We can"t bat subst.i.tutes."
"No fear!" said d.i.c.k. "Cotton isn"t likely to hear of that, and, besides, it"s just like the rotten thing you might expect from those n.i.g.g.e.rs."
Acton smiled. "All right, old chap. Put in Grim and Rogers in their place. The little beggars will be as keen as mustard."
So Grim and Rogers had the honour of representing their house, since the dervishes did not turn up. Rogers, when he shut the door on Todd, did not guess that he had shut up Biffen"s crack bats too. That Biffen"s lost the match, and made no sort of show against Cotton"s bowling, may also, perhaps, be attributed to the inadvertent imprisonment of Mehtah and "Lamb."
The imprisoned trio had not had a very lively time that afternoon in the punt-house. The door remained obstinately shut, and neither Todd nor his two companions relished a swim in the moat as the price of freedom. The dervishes took matters very calmly; the desire to play for Biffen"s was not strong enough to counterbalance the natural shrinking from a header into the duckweed and a run home in wet clothes. Singh Ram had a final try at the door, and then murmured--so Gus said--"Kismet," and relit his half-smoked cigar. Todd, indeed, shouted l.u.s.tily; but when he realized that by contributing to the escape of the dervishes he might contribute to the downfall of his own house, he stopped himself in the middle of an unearthly howl. For three hours Gus remained a half-voluntary prisoner; but, when he judged it safe, he created such a pandemonium that young Hill hurried out of the farm stable, thinking there must be some weird tragedy taking place at the punt-house. He had hurried across and let the trio out.
The dervishes got a mixed reception from Biffen"s crowd. Worcester was almost eloquent in his language, and Acton was calmly indifferent.
"But I tell you, Worcester, some beast locked us in the punt-house."
"I wish they"d kept you there," said d.i.c.k, unmollified.
Whilst Worcester was swallowing his tea, Rogers and Wilson craved audience. Their faces were as long as fiddles.
"Oh, Worcester!" began Rogers, tremulously, "we"ve come to tell you that it was we who lost Biffen"s the houser."
"Why, Wilson didn"t play, and you caught Cotton," said d.i.c.k, astonished.
"But we locked the dervishes in the punt-house--we thought there was only Todd inside."
"Oh, you did, you little beggars, did you?" said Worcester, considering the doleful and grief-stricken Biffenites. "Well, here"s a shilling for each of you if you keep it dark. I"m deucedly glad the dervishes didn"t play. I"d rather lose a dozen housers than feel the n.i.g.g.e.rs were indispensable. Now, cut; and next time you bottle "em up, see they don"t get out."
"Golly!" said Rogers, as the two left Worcester to his tea. "I suppose the sun"s affected Worcester"s brain."
Whilst the dervishes were explaining matters to Worcester the other prisoner was elbowing his way into the crowd around the Fifth Form notice-board, whereon were pinned the final lists. Jim Cotton was planted squarely before the board, eyeing the contents with huge delight, and when he caught sight of the struggling Gus he haled him vigorously forward.
"Here you are, Gus! By Jove, Toddy, you"ve done it this time, you old Perry fizzler!"
Gus eyed the list with delighted eyes.
This is what he saw: "First--Todd, A.V.R.--history medal, and chemistry prize."
Need I say anything more of either Todd or Cotton? Todd entered the Sixth when the summer holidays were over, and Phil Bourne writes me often and tells me what a big gun Todd is in the schools. Jim Cotton was entered upon the roll-call of some celebrated "crammer" near the Crystal Palace. If crammers" hearts _could_ be broken, Jim, I should say, will accomplish the feat. But if ever James Cotton _does_ get into the Army he will never disgrace his regiment.
CHAPTER x.x.x
THE END OF THE FEUD
Thoroughly satisfied with himself and all the world, Acton had on the last Sat.u.r.day of the term--the election for the captaincy was to be held that night--left the cricket field to the enthusiasts, and turned his feet towards the old Lodestone Farm, the road he knew so well. He wanted to be alone with his happy thoughts. He was more than satisfied with himself, and, as he walked along, he mowed down with his ash-plant thistles and nettles in sheer joyfulness of heart. His long feud with Bourne would come to a joyful end that night. Mivart"s election was certain, and Mivart"s election would pay for all--for the loss of the "footer" cap, and for that terrible half-hour after Bourne had knocked him out, when he felt himself almost going mad from hatred, rage, disgust, and defeat. He had engineered his schemes beautifully; his revenge would be as perfect. The loss of the captaincy would be a bitter, bitter pill for Bourne to swallow.
Whilst he strode on, engrossed with these pleasant thoughts, he fancied he heard shouts and cries somewhere in the distance behind him. He turned round, and down the long stretch of white road he saw a cloud of dust rolling with terrific speed towards him. For one moment he wondered whatever was the matter, but out of the dust he could see the flashing of carriage-wheels, the glitter of harness, and the shining coats of a couple of horses. The carriage came rocking towards him at a terrible rate, sometimes the wheels on one side off the road altogether; the horses had their heads up, and Acton could hear their terrified snorting as they thundered towards him.
"A runaway!" said Acton, backing into the hedge. "They"ll come a cropper at the little bridge. What a smash there"ll be!" As the runaway horses, galloping like the furies, came nearer, Acton saw something which made his blood run cold. "Jove!" he cried, darting out from the hedge, "there"s a lady in the carriage!" Acton was almost frozen with the horror of the thing. "She"ll be smashed to pieces at the bridge."
Acton glanced to the little bridge half a mile down the long white road, where the road narrowed to meet the low stone walls, and he knew as well as though he saw it that the carriage would catch the bridge and be shivered to match-wood. The horses must be stopped before they reached it, or the lady would be killed. Now Acton, with all his faults, was no coward. Without thinking of the terrible risk he ran, he sprang out into the middle of the road and waved his arms frantically at the horses moving like a thunderbolt towards him. But they were too maddened with terror to heed this waving apparition in their path, and Acton, in the very nick of time, just jumped aside and avoided the carriage-pole, pointed like a living lance at his breast.
[Ill.u.s.tration: AS THE HORSES WHIRLED PAST, HE CLUTCHED MADLY AT THE LOOSE REINS.]
As the horses whirled past, he clutched madly at the loose reins, see-sawing in the air. He held them, and the leather slid through his frenzied grasp, cutting his palms to the bone. When he reached the loop he was jerked off his feet with a terrible shock, and was whirled along the dusty road, the carriage-wheels grinding, crunching, and skidding within a foot of his head. Luckily the reins held, and when, after being dragged a hundred yards or so, and half choked by the thick dust, he managed to scramble to his feet, he pulled with frenzied, convulsive strength on the off-side rein. The horses swerved to the fearful saw on their jaws, and pulled nearly into the left-hand hedge. Acton"s desperate idea was to overturn the carriage into the hedge before the horses could reach the bridge, for he felt he could no more pull them up than he dare let them go. There was just a chance for the lady if she were overturned into the bank or hedge, but none whatever if she were thrown at the bridge. In a minute or so the carriage lurched horribly sideways: there was a grinding crash, and the carriage overturned bodily into the bank. The lady was shot out, and the next minute the horses"
hoofs were making tooth-picks of the wrecked carriage.
Acton darted up the bank and found the lady dazed and bruised, but was overjoyed to see she wasn"t dead. "Are you much hurt?"
"No, I don"t think so," she said, with a brave smile; "but I expected to be killed any moment. You are a brave man, sir, to risk your life for a stranger."
Acton said quietly, "Not at all; but I think I was very lucky to turn them in time."
In a minute or two there was a small crowd. Half a dozen stray cyclists had wheeled up, and with their help Acton got out the horses, dreadfully cut about the legs and shivering with terror, from the wreckage. Down the dusty road were men running for dear life, and ahead of all Acton caught sight of a well-known athletic figure running like a deer, and in another moment Phil Bourne was asking the lady in panting bursts if she were not really hurt.
"No, Phil; not in the least. I owe my life to this gentleman, who pulled the horses into the bank before they could reach the bridge."
Phil wheeled round, his face beaming with grat.i.tude, but when he saw Acton, pale to the lips, the words of thankfulness froze on his lips.
For one instant he stared at his old enemy with wonder and amazement, then, with a gesture of utter grat.i.tude, he said--