"I believe so," said Charteris.
"Out of bounds," observed the man.
Charteris was surprised. This grasp of technical lore on the part of a total outsider was as unexpected as it was gratifying.
"What do you know about bounds?" said Charteris.
"I know you ain"t allowed to come "ere, and you"ll get it "ot from your master for coming."
"Ah, but he won"t know. I shan"t tell him, and I"m sure you will respect my secret."
Charteris smiled in a winning manner.
"Ho!" said the man, "Ho indeed!"
There is something very clinching about the word "Ho". It seems definitely to apply the closure to any argument. At least, I have never yet met anyone who could tell me the suitable repartee.
"Well," said Charteris affably, "don"t let me keep you. I must be going on."
"Ho!" observed the man once more. "Ho indeed!"
"That"s a wonderfully shrewd remark," said Charteris. "I can see that, but I wish you"d tell me exactly what it means."
"You"re out of bounds."
"Your mind seems to run in a groove. You can"t get off that bounds business. How do you know Stapleton"s out of bounds?"
"I have made enquiries," said the man darkly.
"By Jove," said Charteris delightedly, "this is splendid. You"re a regular sleuth-hound. I dare say you"ve found out my name and House too?"
"I may "ave," said the man, "or I may not "ave."
"Well, now you mention it, I suppose one of the two contingencies is probable. Well, I"m awfully glad to have met you. Good-bye. I must be going."
"You"re goin" with me."
"Arm in arm?"
"I don"t want to _"ave_ to take you."
"No," said Charteris, "I should jolly well advise you not to try. This is my way."
He walked on till he came to the road that led to St Austin"s. The secretary of the Old Crockfordians stalked beside him with determined stride.
"Now," said Charteris, when they were on the road, "you mustn"t mind if I walk rather fast. I"m in a hurry."
Charteris"s idea of walking rather fast was to dash off down the road at quarter-mile pace. The move took the man by surprise, but, after a moment, he followed with much panting. It was evident that he was not in training. Charteris began to feel that the walk home might be amusing in its way. After they had raced some three hundred yards he slowed down to a walk again. It was at this point that his companion evinced a desire to do the rest of the journey with a hand on the collar of his coat.
"If you touch me," observed Charteris with a surprising knowledge of legal _minutiae_, "it"ll be a technical a.s.sault, and you"ll get run in; and you"ll get beans anyway if you try it on."
The man reconsidered matters, and elected not to try it on.
Half a mile from the College Charteris began to walk rather fast again.
He was a good half-miler, and his companion was bad at every distance.
After a game struggle he dropped to the rear, and finished a hundred yards behind in considerable straits. Charteris shot in at Merevale"s door with five minutes to spare, and went up to his study to worry Welch by telling him about it.
"Welch, you remember the Bargee who scragged Tony? Well, there have been all sorts of fresh developments. He"s just been pacing me all the way from Stapleton."
"Stapleton! Have you been to Stapleton? Did Merevale give you leave?"
"No. I didn"t ask him."
"You _are_ an idiot. And now this Bargee man will go straight to the Old Man and run you in. I wonder you didn"t think of that."
"Curious I didn"t."
"I suppose he saw you come in here?"
"Rather. He couldn"t have had a better view if he"d paid for a seat.
Half a second; I must just run up with these volumes to Tony."
When he came back he found Welch more serious than ever.
"I told you so," said Welch. "You"re to go to the Old Man at once. He"s just sent over for you. I say, look here, if it"s only lines I don"t mind doing some of them, if you like."
Charteris was quite touched by this sporting offer.
"It"s awfully good of you," he said, "but it doesn"t matter, really. I shall be all right."
Ten minutes later he returned, beaming.
"Well," said Welch, "what"s he given you?"
"Only his love, to give to you. It was this way. He first asked me if I wasn"t perfectly aware that Stapleton was out of bounds. "Sir," says I, "I"ve known it from childhood"s earliest hour." "Ah," says he to me, "did Mr Merevale give you leave to go in this afternoon?" "No," says I, "I never consulted the gent you mention.""
"Well?"
"Then he ragged me for ten minutes, and finally told me I must go into extra the next two Sat.u.r.days."
"I thought so."
"Ah, but mark the sequel. When he had finished, I said that I was sorry I had mistaken the rules, but I had thought that a chap was allowed to go into Stapleton if he got leave from a master. "But you said that Mr Merevale did not give you leave," said he. "Friend of my youth," I replied courteously, "you are perfectly correct. As always. Mr Merevale did not give me leave, but," I added suavely, "Mr Dacre did." And I came away, chanting hymns of triumph in a mellow baritone, and leaving him in a dead faint on the sofa. And the Bargee, who was present during the conflict, swiftly and silently vanished away, his morale considerably shattered. And that, my gentle Welch," concluded Charteris cheerfully, "put me one up. So pa.s.s the biscuits, and let us rejoice if we never rejoice again."
_Chapter 3_