"No--if you won"t let me have the dog--"
"Dog in the Wheatfield. Joke!--laugh, you chaps," interjected D"Arcy.
"I shall have rabbits," said Fisher minor.
"Good old rabbits! Did you ever keep any? What were their names?" said Wally.
"Don"t you know?" said Ashby, solemnly. "One was called `How" and the other `Now," weren"t they, Fisher minor?"
Whereupon there was mirth at the expense of Fisher minor.
Silence having been procured, D"Arcy began to write.
"`Cobbrer de Capillars is my favrite--" What is it? Bird, beast, or fish, Wally?"
"Shut up; bird, of course."
"`Bird,"" continued the essayist. "`It was in Nore"s arck and is good eating"--that"s all I know about it. Tell us something more, Wally, there"s a good chap."
"Oh, bother. Don"t go disturbing, it spoils everything."
"`The cobberer oart not to be disterbd for it spoyls everything--it spoyls your close and--" wire in, Wally, what else does it do? You might tell a chap."
"What I"ll do to you, you cad, and that"s pull your nose if you don"t shut up!" retorted Wally, who was busy over his own theme.
"`--and puis yore knows if yore a cad, and don"t shut up." There, bother it, that ought to do--twelve lines. Good enough for him."
"Stuck in the stops?" asked Ashby.
"No; by the way--glad you reminded me--I suppose about every four words, eh?"
"Something about that," said Ashby.
So D"Arcy sprinkled a few stops judiciously through his copy, and having done so began to upbraid his partners for their slowness.
Some time was lost in suppressing him, but he was eventually disposed of under the bath, which was turned upside down to accommodate him and sat upon by the other three, who were thus able to continue their work in peace.
Ashby was done first. He had a congenial subject and wrote _con amore_.
"I shall now say something about the pig which is my favourite annimal-- The pig is a quadruped--Sometimes he is male in which case he is called a hog. Sometimes he is female in which case he is called a sow. Pigs were rings in their noses and are fond of apple-peal. Their young are called litter and are very untidy in their habbits. Pig"s cheek is nice to eat and pork in season is a treat." (The writer was very proud of this little outbreak of poetry.)
"It is preferrablest roast with sage and apple sauce. I hope I have now described the pig and told you why he is my favourite."
Fisher minor, on the uncongenial topic of the rabbit, found composition difficult and punctuation impossible.
"I like rabbits next best to dogs which Wally has taken mine were black and white one was one and the other the other the white one died first of snuffles he had lobears the other had the same pequliarity and was swoped for 2 white mice who eskaped the first-night owing to the size of the bars there is a kind of rabbit called welsh rabbit that my father is fond of he says it goes best on toast but I give mine oats and bran it is a mistake for boys to keep rabbits because first they give them too much and burst them and then they give them too little and starve them which is not wright and makes the rabbit skinny to eat if a boy feeds rabbits well he can get his mother to give him half-a-crown a peace to make pies of them which is very agreeable so I therefore on this account consider rabbits favourites."
Before this conclusion had been reached, Wally, with a complacent smile, had laid down his pen, flattering himself he had made a real good thing of the dog. He scorned commonplace language, and, mindful of the eloquent periods of certain newspapers of his acquaintance, had "let out" considerably on his favourite theme, which, if the spelling and punctuation had been as good as the language, would have been a fine performance.
"The dog is the sublymest, gift of beficient nature to the zografical Speeches, He has been the confidenshul playmate of; man since before the creation, he is compounded of the most plezing trays and Generaly ansers to the endeering name of carlo? if you put his noes at the extremity of a rat-Hole he: will continue their ad libbitums till he has his man; In Barberous lands there is an exorable law ordayning muscles but It can be invaded by a little despeshun and sang frore, as one side of the streat is not unfrequentedly Outside the rools so that if you take him that side the politician cannot Run him in which is the wulgar for lagging him for not [waring Mussles I have] ockasionaly done bobys this Way myself so that I am convinzed of my voracity, the lesson we learn from this is that dogs should be treeted kindly and not Injected to unkind tretemant there? was Ice a dog with the pattrynamie of dognes who lived in a tub but; tubs are not helthy kenels because, they Roal when you dont stick brix under, which teechus to be kind `to our" fello animals and pleze Our masters--I will. Only include by adding that dogs like cake? which Shoes how like they are to boys who have kind masters that they strive to pleas in ewery way in Their incapacity as the righter of this esay strives ever to endevor."
"That ought to fetch him," said the delighted author, as he dotted his last "i," and released D"Arcy from under the bath. "Now I vote we stow it, and--"
Here there was a loud knock at the door and a senior"s voice calling, "Open the door, you youngsters."
The intruder was Dangle, at sight of whom the backs of our four heroes went up.
"What do you youngsters mean by bagging one of our b.a.l.l.s!" said the Modern senior. "Give it me directly."
"It doesn"t belong to you," said Wally; "it"s my young brother"s."
"Do you hear?--give it to me," said Dangle. "He can fetch it if he wants it. You"re not our prefect," retorted Wally.
None of the four were more astounded than Wally himself at the audacity of this speech. It must have been due to the exhilarating effect of his tea and essay combined.
Dangle was evidently unprepared for defiance of this sort and became threatening.
"If you don"t give me that ball at once, I"ll give the lot of you the best hiding you ever had in your lives."
"Try it. We"re not going to give up the ball. There! If Percy wants it, let him come for it. Back up, you chaps."
In a tussle between one big boy and four small ones, the odds are usually in favour of the former, but Dangle on the present occasion did not find his task quite as easy as he expected. The juniors defended themselves with great tenacity, and although the senior"s blows came home pretty hard, he could only deal with them one at a time. It got to be a little humiliating to discover that he would have to fight hard to gain his end, and his temper evaporated rapidly.
Seizing his opportunity, when Fisher minor, who had been fighting perhaps the least steadily of the four--yet doggedly enough--was within reach, he struck out at him wildly, determined to get him disposed of first. It was a cruel blow even for a fellow in Dangle"s plight. The small boy recoiled half-stunned, and uttered a yell which for an instant startled the bully.
Before Dangle had time to recover, the three survivors were upon him tooth and nail; at the same moment the door opened again, and Rollitt, of all persons, stood in the room.
He took in the situation at a glance--the big boy white with rage, his three a.s.sailants with heads down and lips tight, pounding away, and Fisher minor leaning against the wall with his handkerchief to his face.
"Stop!" said he in a voice which suspended hostilities at once. Then turning to Dangle he said--
"Get out."
Bangle glared defiantly, and remained where he was, whereupon Rollitt, without another word, lifted him in his arms like a child, and slinging him across his shoulders marched forth.
Wakefield"s boys were just trooping up the staircase from the fields, and at this strange apparition stood still and made a lane for it to pa.s.s. Dangle"s struggles were futile. The giant, if he was aware of them, heeded them no more than the kicking of a kitten, and proceeded deliberately down the stairs, past everybody, juniors, middle-boys, prefects and all, and walked with his burden out at the door. There every one expected the scene would end.
But no. He walked on sedately across the Green. Indifferent as to who saw him or what they said, until he came to the door of Forder"s house, where he entered. Up the stairs he stumped amid gaping juniors and menacing middle, boys until he reached his captive"s study; where without ceremony he deposited him, and, not vouchsafing a word, turned on his heel.
Strangely enough, no one had the presence of mind to challenge him or demand reparation for the insult to their house. He neither dawdled nor hurried.
At the door a bodyguard of Cla.s.sics had a.s.sembled to meet him and escort him back. But he had no need of their services. He made his way through them as coolly as if he was coming from cla.s.s; and utterly indifferent to the rising clamour and shouts behind him--for the Moderns had by this time recovered breath enough to use their tongues--reached Wakefield"s, where without a word to any one he proceeded to his own study and shut himself in to continue the scientific experiments which had only been interrupted a few minutes before by the sudden cry of distress from the one boy in Fellsgarth to whom he owed the least obligation.
CHAPTER TEN.
HOW PERCY GOT BACK HIS FOOTBALL.