Hitherto the social circle in which they moved had been limited on the male side to Father, Mr. Evans, and Mr. Pipes, together with the milkman, the lamplighter, and a few more nodding acquaintances; and on the female to Tattie Fowler, Cook, and a long line of housemaids. The children could neither read nor write; the fact that they possessed1 immortal2 souls was practically unrevealed to them; and their religious exercises were limited to a single stereotyped3 prayer, imparted by Cook, and perfunctorily delivered night and morning by the children, at the bidding of the housemaid in charge, to a mysterious Power whose sole function, so far as they could gather, was to keep an eye upon them during their attendant's frequent nights-out, and to report delinquencies (by some occult means) on her return.
Of the ordinary usages of polite society they knew little or nothing. To Pip and Pipette etiquette4 and deportment were summed up in [Pg 25] the following nursery laws, as amended5 by the Kitchen:—
I. Girls, owing to some mysterious infirmity which is never apparent, and for which they are not responsible, must be helped first to everything.
II. A boy must on no account punch a girl, even though she is older and bigger than himself. (For reason, see I.)
III. A girl must not scratch a boy. Not that the boy matters, but it is unladylike.
IV. Real men do not play with dolls. (However, you may pretend to be a doctor, and administer medicine, without loss of dignity.)
V. Real ladies do not climb the trees in the garden in the Square. (But you can get over this difficulty by pretending to be a boy or a monkey for half an hour.)
VI. Girls never have dirty hands—only boys. (For solution of this difficulty see note on V.)
VII. You must never tell tales. Girls must be specially6 careful about this, not because they are more prone7 to do so, but because boys think they are.
VIII. Real men never kiss girls, but they may sometimes permit girls to kiss them.
IX. You must eat up your bread-and-butter before you have any cake. (This rule holds good, they found out later, all through life.)
[Pg 26] X. Do not blow upon your tea to cool it: this is very vulgar. Pour it into your saucer instead.
Clearly it was high time they went to school, and Father, who had had vague thoughts for some time about "procuring8 a tutor" for Pip, finally made up his mind, and despatched both children one morning in the brougham to Mr. Pocklington's.
The school was a comfortable-looking building, standing9 inside high walls in a secluded10 corner of Regent's Park. On the gate shone a large brass11 plate bearing the inscription—
WENTWORTH HOUSE SCHOOL
AND
KINDERGARTEN.
Mr. POCKLINGTON.
The Misses POCKLINGTON.
The children could not read this, but Mr. Evans, who accompanied them in the brougham on the first morning, kindly12 consented to do so, his efforts to pronounce the word "Kindergarten" (an enterprise upon which he embarked13 before realising that he might with perfect safety have left it out altogether) pleasantly beguiling14 [Pg 27] the time until the gate was opened by a boy in buttons.
Pip and Pipette found themselves in a cheerful-looking hall, larger and brighter than that at home, and stood staring with solemn eyes at the unwonted objects around them. From a room on their right came a subdued15 hum, and upstairs they could hear juvenile16 voices singing in chorus. They were put to wait in a small room.
Presently the door opened, and an old gentleman with white whiskers and a black velveteen jacket trotted17 in. Mr. Evans bowed respectfully.
"The doctor's compliments, sir, and I was to inquire what time the young lady and gentleman was to be sent for?" he said.
"Our morning hours," replied Mr. Pocklington with a precise air, "are from nine-thirty till twelve-thirty. At twelve-thirty we take exercise in the playground. Should the weather be inclement18 we adjourn19 to the Gymnasium. Luncheon20 is served at one-thirty, and we resume our studies at two-thirty. We desist from our labours at four."
Mr. Evans having made a dignified21 exit, the children, for the first time in their lives, found themselves alone in the world, and suddenly realised that the world was very big and they were very small. Pipette was at once handed [Pg 28] over to a lady called Miss Arabella, while Pip was escorted by Mr. Pocklington to the changing-room, where he was given a peg22 for his coat, a peg for his cap, a locker23 for his boots, and a wash-hand basin for his ablutions (everything carefully labelled and numbered), and was otherwise universally equipped for the battle of life. Then he was taken into Mr. Pocklington's private sitting-room24, whence, after a brief but all too adequate inquiry25 into his attainments26, he was unhesitatingly relegated27 to the lowest class in the school, where he found Pipette already installed at the bottom of the bottom bench. Here we will leave them for a time, dumbly gazing at the opening page of a new reading-book, whereon appears the presentment of what they have hitherto regarded as a donkey, but which three large printed letters at the foot of the page inform them must henceforth be called an A-S-S.
Mr. Pocklington had been intended by nature for an old maid. He was an elderly faddist29 of a rather tiresome30 type, with theories upon every possible subject, from cellular31 underclothing to the higher education of women. He was a widower32, and was assisted in the management of the school by his three daughters—Miss Mary, Miss Arabella, and Miss Amelia.
The daily routine of Wentworth House School was marked by an Old-World precision and formality [Pg 29] which adults might have found a trifle irksome; but it did the children no particular harm beyond making them slightly priggish in their manners, and no particular good beyond instilling33 into them a few habits of order and method.
The day began at twenty minutes past nine with "whistle-in." The "monitor" for the week—a patriarch of ten or eleven—appeared at the side door, which gave on to the playground, and blew a resonant34 blast on a silver whistle. Followed a scramble35 in the dressing-rooms, while boys and girls changed their boots for slippers36. At three minutes to the half-hour the monitor, having hung the whistle on its proper peg and armed him-(or her-) self with a dinner-bell, clanged out a summons to "line up." Thereupon the pupils of Wentworth House School formed a double queue along the passage, the eldest37 boy with the eldest girl, and so on,—Mr. Pocklington believed in mingling38 the sexes thoroughly39: it taught girls not to whisper and giggle40, and gave boys ease of manner in the presence of females,—and at the stroke of nine-thirty, to the accompaniment of an ear-splitting fantasia on the bell, the animals marched arm-in-arm into the ark (as represented by the large schoolroom), where Noah (Mr. Pocklington), supported by Shem, Ham, and Japheth (Amazonian Miss Mary, shy [Pg 30] and retiring Miss Arabella, and pretty and frivolous41 Miss Amelia) stood ready to take roll-call.
Roll-call at Wentworth House was an all-embracing function. Besides answering their names, pupils were required to state whether they required "lunch" at the interval42, and to announce the name of any library books that they might be borrowing or returning. Parental43 petitions and ultimatums44 were also delivered at this time. As might have been expected in such an establishment, all communications had to be couched in elegant and suitable phraseology of Mr. Pocklington's own composition. Consequently roll-call was a somewhat protracted45 function. As a rule the performance consisted of a series of conversations of the following type:—
Mr. Pocklington. Reginald!
A high squeaky Voice. Present, sir. I wish to take a glass of milk during the interval, and I am returning "The Young Carthaginian," thanking you for the loan-of-the-same.
Or—
Mr. Pocklington. Beatrice!
A rather breathless little Voice. Present, sir. I wish to take a glass of milk and a bun [very emphatic46 this] durin' the interval, and I propose, with your permission, to borrow this copy of "Carrots Just a Little Boy"; and, please, I've got a note from mum—I [Pg 31] mean I am the bearer of a letter from my mother asking for you to be so kind as to—to excuse my not havin' done all my home work, 'cos I forgot—
Mr. Pocklington. Beatrice!
The R. B. L. V. I mean 'cos I neglected [there was no such word as "forget" in Mr. Pocklington's curriculum] to take the book home. And, please, mum—my mother would have written to you by post last night, only she forg—neglected to do it till it was too late.
And Beatrice, having unburdened herself of a task which has been clouding her small horizon ever since breakfast, sits down with a sigh of intense relief.
On the first morning after their arrival, Mr. Pocklington, having called out the last name and registered the last glass of milk, drew the attention of the school to Pip and Pipette.
"You have to welcome two fresh companions this morning," he said. "I will enter their names on the register, and will then read them aloud to you, in order that you may know how to address your new friends."
Turning to Pip, Mr. Pocklington asked his name.
"Pip."
"No, no," said Mr. Pocklington testily47. "Your first baptismal name, boy!"
Pip, to whom the existence of baptismal names [Pg 32] was now revealed for the first time, merely turned extremely red and shook his head.
"We do not countenance49 childish nicknames here," said Mr. Pocklington grandly. "What is your Christian50 name, boy?"
Pip, to whom Christian and baptismal names were an equal mystery, continued to sit mute, glaring the while in a most disconcerting fashion at poor Miss Arabella, who happened to sit opposite to him.
Mr. Pocklington turned impatiently to Pipette.
"What is your brother's name?"
"Please, it's just Pip," replied Pipette plaintively51, groping for Pip's hand under the desk. "He hasn't got any other name, I don't fink."
"Perhaps it is Philip," suggested pretty Miss Amelia. "I believe"—with a little blush—"that 'Pip' is occasionally used as an abbreviation for that name. Is your name Philip, little boy?" she asked, leaning forward to Pip, with a glance which he would have valued considerably52 more if he had been ten years older.
"I don't know," said Pip.
"I think it must be Philip," said Miss Amelia, turning to her father.
So Pip was inscribed53 on the roll as Philip, which, as it happened, was his real name. (By the way, his surname was Wilmot.)
"Now, your first baptismal name, little girl?" [Pg 33] said Mr. Pocklington briskly, turning to Pipette.
"Please, it's Pipette," she replied apprehensively55.
Her fears were not ungrounded. The school began to titter.
"Pipette? My dear, that is a quite impossible name. A pipette is a small glass instrument employed in practical chemistry. Surely you have some proper baptismal name! Perhaps you can suggest a solution again," he added, turning to Miss Amelia.
No, Miss Amelia could offer no suggestion. Her forte56, it appeared, was gentlemen's names. As a matter of fact, Pipette's name, as ascertained57 by reference to Father by post that night, was Dorothea, and she had been laughingly christened "Pipette" by her mother, because her father, when summoned from the laboratory to view his newly born daughter, had arrived holding a pipette in his hand.
So Pip and Pipette, much to their surprise and indignation, found themselves addressed as Philip and Dorothea respectively, and as such joined in the pursuit of knowledge in company with a motley crew of Arthurs, Reginalds, Ermyntrudes, Winifreds, and the like. Surnames were not employed in the school. If two children possessed the same Christian name they were distinguished58 by the addition of any other sub-title they happened [Pg 34] to possess. Three unfortunate youths, for instance, were addressed respectively as John Augustus, John William, and John Evelyn.
Things at Wentworth House School move in a stereotyped circle, and Pip and Pipette soon became familiar with the curriculum. There were three classes, they found. The First Class, the veterans, nearly old enough to go to a preparatory school, dwelt in a stuffy59 apartment called "The Study." Their learning was profound, for they were taught a mysterious language called Latin, and another, even more mysterious, called "Alzeber" (or something like that). The Second Class, conducted by Miss Mary—formidable, but a good sort—in a corner of the schoolroom, did not fly so high. They studied history and geography, and were addicted60 to a fearsome form of parlour-game called "Mentalarithmetic," which involved much shrieking61 of answers to highly impossible questions about equally dividing seventeen apples among five boys.
Pip and Pipette occupied a humble62 position in the Third Class, where they soon developed a fervent63 admiration64 for pretty Miss Amelia, who was always smiling, always daintily dressed, and charmingly inaccurate65 and casual.
On Thursday afternoons the whole school assembled in the Music Room. Here faded Miss Arabella thumped66 mechanically on the piano, [Pg 35] while the pupils of Wentworth House School chanted an inexplicable67 and interminable ditty entitled "Doh-ray-me-fah." The words of this canticle were printed on a canvas sheet upon the wall, and the method of inculcation was somewhat peculiar68. Mr. Pocklington, taking his stand beside the sheet, would lay the tip of his little white wand upon the word "Doh" printed at the bottom. Miss Arabella would strike a note upon the piano, and the school would reproduce the same with no uncertain sound, sustaining it by one prolonged howl until the white wand slid up to "Ray," an example which the vocalists would attempt to follow to the best of their ability, and with varying degrees of success. Having rallied and concentrated his forces on "Ray," Mr. Pocklington would advance to "Me," and then to "Fah," the effects achieved by the elder male choristers, whose voices were reaching the cracking stage, as the scale approached the topmost "Doh," being as surprising as they were various.
The hour always concluded with a sort of musical steeplechase. The white wand would skip incontinently from Doh to Fah, and from Me to Soh, the singers following after—faint yet pursuing. At the end of three minutes, the field having tailed out, so to speak, every note in the gamut69 was being sung, fortissimo, by at [Pg 36] least one member of the choir70, and the total effect was more suggestive of a home for lost dogs than an academy for the sons and daughters of gentlemen.
Our friends enjoyed this diversion hugely. Pipette, who could carol like a lark71, hopped72 from note to note with an agility73 only equalled by that of the white wand itself. Pip, who had no music in his soul, adopted a different method of procedure. Selecting a note well within his compass, he would stick to it with characteristic thoroughness and a gradually blackening countenance, until a final flourish from the white wand intimated to all and sundry74 that this nuisance must now cease.
Pip and Pipette were also submitted to a rather farcical ordeal75 which Mr. Pocklington called his "common-sense test." Shortly after their arrival they were called into the Study, where Mr. Pocklington, after a little homily on the danger of judging by appearances and the fallaciousness of giving preference to quantity rather than quality, produced a threepenny-bit and a penny, and commanded his auditors76 to take their choice. Pipette unhesitatingly picked the threepenny-bit, and was commended for her acumen77. Pip, when it came to his turn, selected the penny, and after being soundly rated for his stupidity was cast forth28 from the Study and [Pg 37] bidden to learn sense. A week later he was again put to the test, and again chose the penny, repeating his performance with stolid78 regularity79 when given a further opportunity of redeeming80 his character the following week. After that the affair developed into a kind of round game, Mr. Pocklington producing the two coins from time to time and Pip invariably selecting the penny,—a proceeding81 which gave his preceptor unlimited82 opportunities for tiresome little lectures to the school in general, and Pip in particular, on the subjects mentioned above.
Finally, after the entertainment had been repeated week by week for some time, Pipette, whose loyal little soul chafed83 at the sycophantic84 giggles85 of the other boys and girls when Pip was being scarified by Mr. Pocklington, boldly broached86 the matter to her brother.
"Pip, why don't you take the fripenny-bit? If you did he'd stop bein' so howwid to you."
Pip regarded his sister's small eager face with cold scorn.
"If once I took the threepenny-bit," he replied, "he'd stop offerin' the money altogether. Why, I've made eightpence since I came here. Silly kid!"
This was the last occasion in their lives on which Pipette ever questioned the wisdom of her beloved brother's actions.
[Pg 38] Both children made friends rapidly. Pip, indeed, soon after his arrival, received a proposal of marriage, which, ever ready to oblige a lady, he accepted forthwith. But he was reckoning without Pipette. That jealous little person, finding one day that Pip had suddenly deserted87 her, and was at that moment actually sharing his morning bun with his fiancée in the boot-room, incontinently burst in upon the lovers, and after a brief but decisive interview despatched her rival howling from the room, remaining herself to share the bun with the newly restored Pip, who, to be quite frank, had been finding the r?le of a Romeo, however passive, rather exacting88.
Isabel Dinting, the disappointed lady, was inconsolable for a day or two, but she eventually recovered her spirits, and lived to heap coals of fire on Pip's head, as you shall hear.
One of the most curious and characteristic institutions at Wentworth House School was Mr. Pocklington's system of "Task-Tickets." Every boy and girl on entering the school received ten little tablets about the size of visiting-cards, inscribed with his or her name, and numbered from one to ten consecutively89. If a pupil failed in a lesson or broke a rule, one of his Task-Tickets was impounded, and was not restored until the faulty lesson was perfected or a specified90 imposition performed. Periodically there would [Pg 39] be an "inspection," and many a small head whose owner was discovered to be short of tickets would be hung in shame that day. Only such confirmed reprobates92 as Thomas Oates, the bad boy of the school (whom Mr. Pocklington in his more jocular moments addressed as "Titus," much to his hearers' mystification), could endure the stigma93 of being perpetually without a full complement94. Thomas indeed once electrified95 the school by announcing to Miss Mary, when asked for a ticket in default of an unlearned lesson, that all his tickets were in pawn96 already, and that, until he had redeemed97 one of the same, he would be unable to oblige her. Mr. Pocklington and the majority of his staff were horror-struck at such iniquity98; but Miss Mary, in whom was concentrated most of the common sense of the family, instituted a search in Master Thomas's desk, with the result that she triumphantly99 fished out no less than five tickets. All of which goes to prove that Thomas Oates, like a good many of us, preferred notoriety, even as a malefactor100, to respectable oblivion.
The Task-Ticket system presented another feature of interest. Besides their regulation ten ordinary tickets, Mr. Pocklington's pupils were entitled to acquire "Special Task-Tickets." If you weeded the garden, or filled some ink-pots, or wrote a specially neat copy, you were presented [Pg 40] with a Task-Ticket marked "Special" in red ink in one corner. Next time a breakdown101 in work or the infraction102 of a rule brought you within the sphere of operations of Mr. Pocklington's penal103 code, exemption104 from punishment could be purchased by payment of one or more of your Special Task-Tickets. This scheme was attractive in several ways. Good children—chiefly little girls, it must be admitted—accumulated these treasures assiduously for the mere48 joy of possession, the trifling105 fact that their owners were far too virtuous106 to be likely ever to have need of them being more than counterbalanced by the comfortable glow of satisfaction with which the existence of such a moral bank-balance suffused107 their rather self-righteous little bosoms108. Wicked children, on the other hand, would laboriously109 collect tickets against a rainy day, and, having accumulated a sufficient store to pay for the consequences, would indulge in a prolonged orgy of sin until the last ticket was gone. Thomas Oates once found ten Special Task-Tickets in an old desk, and having straightway filled a like number of buttoned boots in the girls' dressing-room with soap-and-water, proffered110 the same in compensation. However, the possession of so much hoarded111 virtue112 in such a proclaimed reprobate91 roused the suspicions of the authorities. Inquiries113 were set on foot, the [Pg 41] fraud was discovered, and Thomas was only saved from expulsion from Wentworth House School by the intercession of pretty Miss Amelia, who cherished a weakness for all renegades of the opposite sex.
Pip's tear-stained ex-fiancée, Isabel Dinting, anxious to drive away the depression resultant upon her unfortunate attachment114, allowed herself to become badly bitten with the ticket-collecting mania115. Her own ten ordinary tickets invariably presented a full muster116, and all her soul was set upon the acquisition of Specials. These, by the way, were transferable, and consequently Isabel's friends were requested to bestir themselves, and by extra acts of virtue earn something to contribute to her store. Pip himself assisted her. One day he caught and expelled from the classroom a troublesome bumblebee, and, much to his surprise, was awarded a Special Task-Ticket by the grateful Miss Amelia. He promptly117 handed over the gift to Isabel, whose gratification knew no bounds. Touched by his adorer's thanks, Pip decided118 in his quiet way to help her further. Next morning the schoolroom suffered from a positive inundation119 of bumblebees, and the services rendered by Pip in removing them were rewarded by more Specials, all of which were duly handed over to the now greatly consoled Isabel. When, however, [Pg 42] the phenomenon occurred again on the following morning, Miss Mary, who did not share her sister's romantic belief in the integrity of the male sex, became suspicious, and insisted on searching Pip's desk. An incautiously handled paper bag emitted a perfect cascade120 of moribund121 bumblebees, and Pip's ingenious device for obliging a lady stood revealed. After that he made no more contributions to the supply.
Mention has already been made of that arch-ruffian Master Thomas Oates. With him Pip waged war from the day that he entered the school. Hostilities123 commenced immediately. Thomas dared Pip to place his hand in a can of almost boiling water in the dressing-room. Pip did so, and kept it there unwinkingly for the space of a full minute. Next day his hand was skinless, and Father had to dress it for him in splendidly conspicuous124 bandages. Pip retaliated125 by initiating126 a breath-holding contest, in which his opponent was not only worsted, but admitted his defeat by an involuntary and sonorous127 gurgle right in the middle of one of Mr. Pocklington's customary harangues129 on nothing in particular in the large schoolroom. He was promptly scarified for his unseemly conduct and fined three Task-Tickets.
One afternoon, to the curiosity of all and the trepidation130 of some, "Whistle-in" sounded at [Pg 43] two-fifteen instead of two-twenty-five. Evidently something momentous131 was about to occur.
All his pupils being seated, and the roll having been called, Mr. Pocklington, with an air of portentous132 solemnity, explained the reason for which they were assembled and met together. It was nothing very dreadful after all, but the seriousness with which the subject was treated by their preceptor impressed the children with a hazy133 feeling that they were assisting at a murder trial.
Some person or persons unknown, it appeared, had invaded the Study, and had embellished134 the features of a bust135 of Julius C?sar, which stood on the mantelpiece, with some assorted136 coloured chalks, which further investigation137 proved to have been stolen from the chalk-box by the blackboard. Mr. Pocklington, who was not blessed with a sense of humour, sought to drive home the enormity of this offence by ocular demonstration138. He rang the bell; and after a short but impressive pause the door of the schoolroom was thrown open by the pageboy, and the butler staggered majestically139 in, carrying Julius C?sar on a tea-tray. That empire-builder's "make-up" could hardly be called a becoming one. A red nose gave him a bibulous140 appearance, his blue chin suggested late rising [Pg 44] and the absence of a razor, and a highly unsymmetrical moustache, executed in mauve chalk, stood out in vivid contrast to his blackened right eye. It says much for the impression which Mr. Pocklington's introductory harangue128 had produced that not a child in the room so much as smiled.
The perspiring141 butler having set down his alcoholic-looking burden upon a small table and withdrawn142, attended by his satellite,—the only person present, by the way, who appeared inclined to regard the situation with levity,—Mr. Pocklington once more addressed his cowering143 audience.
"I will now ask the perpetrator of this outrage144," he thundered, "to stand up, that I may punish him as he deserves."
The little girls all shivered with apprehension145, but one or two little boys looked slightly amused. They were not very old or experienced, but they were not green enough to join gratuitously146 in a game of "Dilly, Dilly, come and be killed!"
Mr. Pocklington played his next card.
"I may add," he continued, "that a boy was seen to leave the Study in a surreptitious manner shortly after this offence must have been committed. No one has entered the Study since. That boy, therefore, must be the culprit. If he does not immediately respond to the dictates147 of [Pg 45] his conscience and stand up in his place—I shall expose him! Now, please!"
There was a death-like silence, suddenly broken by piercing shrieks148 from one Gwendoline Harvey, aged122 seven, for whose infant nerves the strain had proved too great.
"Please, it wasn't me," she wailed149, "and—and—and I've lost my hankey!"
Tender-hearted Miss Arabella supplied the deficiency, and led her out, still sobbing150. The inquisition was resumed.
"I shall give the culprit one more minute," announced Mr. Pocklington in the tones of a Grand Inquisitor.
There was another tense silence. The inmates151 of Wentworth House School breathed hard, looked straight before them, and waited with their small mouths wide open. One or two little girls—and small boys, for that matter—gripped the benches convulsively, and with difficulty refrained from screaming.
"The minute has elapsed," proclaimed the Grand Inquisitor. "Philip, stand up!"
"Ah!" A long, shuddering153 sigh, partly of relief and partly of apprehension, ran round the room. Pipette turned deathly pale. Pip rose slowly to his feet, staring intently in his disconcerting way at the besotted features of Julius C?sar.
[Pg 46] "Philip," said Mr. Pocklington, "you were seen coming out of the Study at one-twenty. What have you to say?"
Pip had nothing to say, but transferred his gaze to Mr. Pocklington. As a matter of fact he had not entered the Study. He had spent some time, it was true, in the passage outside the door, but that was because he was waiting for Thomas Oates, having arranged to meet him there for five minutes, for the purpose of adjusting a small difference on a matter of a purely154 personal character, calling for plenty of elbow-room and freedom from publicity155. Tommy Oates had not appeared, and Pip had been late for luncheon in consequence.
"Do you confess to this outrage?" inquired Mr. Pocklington, coming suddenly to the point.
Pip collected himself. Then as common politeness seemed to demand some sort of reply, he said, "No."
Another slight shudder152 passed round the room.
"Do you know anything about the matter?"
Pip was about to reply with another negative, when it suddenly flashed across his mind that as he stood outside the Study waiting for Master Oates he had experienced considerable difficulty in getting rid of Isabel Dinting, who had hovered156 around him in a highly flattering but most embarrassing [Pg 47] fashion just when he wished to compose and concentrate his faculties157 for his coming interview with Tommy. What was she doing there? What could her business have been? In plain truth she had come to avert158 a possible battle between Pip and Tommy, but this never occurred to Pip: he had not thought it possible that any one should take such a close interest in his movements. Anyhow this was no concern of his. Accordingly he said, "No" a second time.
Then came another question.
"Do you deny having been in the Study?"
"Yes."
"But you were seen coming from the passage leading to the Study door."
No answer.
"Do you admit that you were in that passage?"
"Yes." (Sensation.)
"Philip," said Mr. Pocklington, "that passage leads only to the Study. What other motive159 can have taken you there?"
No answer. It is difficult on the spur of the moment to frame a plausible160 excuse for having in cold blood arranged a sanguinary encounter outside your Principal's study door.
"Do you decline to answer?"
Again no reply from Pip. Another pause. Mr. Pocklington, now as excited as a terrier halfway161 [Pg 48] down a rabbit-hole, with difficulty refrained from pronouncing sentence on the spot. However, he restrained himself so far as to remember to sum up.
"Appearances are against you, Philip," he began. "You were seen leaving the—the scene of the outrage in a suspicious manner shortly after that outrage was committed. You decline to state what business took you there. No one else visited the spot during the time under consideration—at least—by the way, did you see any one else while you—during that period?"
This chance shot hit Pip hard. That Isabel Dinting should have painted Julius C?sar's nose red seemed almost beyond the bounds of human probability. Still she undoubtedly162 had been there, and with Mr. Pocklington in his present state the sudden revelation of such a fact would probably cause a perfect eruption163. Pip hesitated.
"Was any one else there?" reiterated164 Mr. Pocklington.
Pip was essentially165 a truthful166 boy, and the idea of saying, "No" never occurred to him. Accordingly he said nothing, as before.
The eruption immediately took place.
"Philip," thundered Mr. Pocklington, "I have asked you two questions. You have answered neither of them. Do you decline to do so?"
[Pg 49] A very long pause this time. Then—"Yes," said Pip briefly167.
"In that case," replied Mr. Pocklington, metaphorically168 assuming the black cap, "I must pronounce you guilty. Still, I would rather you confessed than were convicted. I will give you one more minute."
Sixty palpitating seconds passed. Forty juvenile hearts bumped tumultuously, and Pip still stood up, a very straight, very silent, and not undignified little figure.
"Have you anything further to say?" inquired Mr. Pocklington at last, now almost convinced that he was the Lord Chief Justice himself.
Pip shook his head. He seldom wasted words.
"Then I pronounce you guilty. You have committed an offence against decency169 and good taste that I have never known paralleled in the history of this school. Your punishment"—the children held their breath—"must be a matter for consideration. Meanwhile—"
Mr. Pocklington paused, and frowned at Isabel Dinting, who was groping for something in her desk.
"Meanwhile," he continued, having suddenly decided to keep Pip in durance vile170 until a punishment could be devised in keeping with his crime, "you will be incarcerated—Well, Isabel?"
[Pg 50] Isabel Dinting was standing up in her place, with her small countenance flushed and apprehensive54, but bravely waving one hand in the air to attract attention. In the other she grasped a rather grubby and bulgy171 envelope.
"Please, may I speak to Pi—Philip?" she gasped173.
Mr. Pocklington was too surprised to be pedantic174.
"To Philip? Why, my child?"
"Because—well, because I've got somefing to give him."
"This is hardly the time for an exchange of gifts," remarked Mr. Pocklington severely175.
"But may I?" persisted Isabel, with a boldness which surprised herself.
"I cannot imagine what your gift can be, but if it has any bearing on the present deplorable case, I should be only too thankful to permit—"
But long before this homily was completed Isabel had slipped out of her seat and was standing by Pip's side, whispering excitedly into his ear and endeavouring to thrust the grubby envelope into his hands.
"Take them," she panted. "There's thirty-five of them. Give him them all, now, and he'll let you off."
Poor little Isabel! Surely under all the broad heavens there was no crime that could not be [Pg 51] atoned176 for by the surrender of thirty-five laboriously acquired Special Task-Tickets!
Pip smiled at her. He was a plain-looking little boy, but he possessed an extraordinarily177 attractive smile, and Isabel felt utterly178, absolutely, and completely rewarded for her sacrifice.
Meanwhile Mr. Pocklington had come to the conclusion that all this was highly irregular.
"Bring me that envelope!" he commanded.
Pip handed up the envelope. Mr. Pocklington opened it, and out tumbled the thirty-five Special Task-Tickets.
"What is all this?" he inquired testily.
"Special Task-Tickets," replied Pip.
"To whom do they belong?"
"Isabel."
"No—they belong to Pip!" screamed that small maiden179. "Won't you let him off if he gives them all to you, please? I've given them to him. I—I don't mind losin' them."
Isabel's voice quavered suddenly; and then, having conducted her case unflinchingly past the critical point, she dissolved, woman-like, into reactionary180 tears.
There was a long silence now, broken only by Isabel's sobs181. Pip stood still stiffly at attention, facing the grinning effigy182 of Julius C?sar. Every child in the room (except Pipette) was lost in admiration of Isabel's heroic devotion, for all [Pg 52] knew how precious was her collection of tickets to her. Miss Mary smiled genially183; Miss Amelia's eyes filled with sympathetic tears. Even Mr. Pocklington was touched. Hastily he flung together in his mind a few sentences appropriate to the occasion. "Unselfishness"—"devotion to a friend"—"a lesson for all"—the rounded phrases formed themselves upon his tongue. He was ready now.
"I cannot refrain—" he began.
It was true enough, but he got no further; for above the formal tones of his voice, above the stifled184 whispering of the school, and above the now unrestrained lamentations of Isabel Dinting, rose the voice of Master Thomas Oates, in a howl in which remorse185, hysteria, and apprehension were about equally mingled186.
"It was me!" he roared. "Booh—hoo!"
His sinful but sentimental187 soul, already goaded188 to excessive discomfort189 by the promptings of an officious conscience, had with difficulty endured the inquisition upon the innocent Pip, and after Isabel's romantic intervention190 he could contain himself no longer. Confession191 burst spontaneously from his lips.
"It was me!" he repeated, fortissimo, knuckling192 his eyes.
There was a final astonished gasp172 from the school.
[Pg 53] "It was I, Thomas," corrected Mr. Pocklington, the ruling passion strong even at this crisis.
"No it wasn't!" roared Thomas, determined193 to purge194 his soul. "It was me! I was in the Study when Pip was outside, and I did it and got out when he was talking to Isabel, and—and I won't do it again. Aah—ooh!"
Pip became a hero, of course, but bore his honours with indifference195.
Isabel expostulated with him.
"It was awful brave of you to say nothin' all the time," she remarked admiringly.
"There was nothing to say," replied Pip, with truth.
"But you said nothin' when you knew it was Tommy all the time," persisted Isabel, anxious to keep her idol196 on his pedestal.
"I didn't think it was Tommy," said Pip; "I thought it was you."
Isabel's round eyes grew positively197 owl-like.
"Me? Oh, Pip! How splendid of you!"
In his lifetime Pip inspired three women with love for him—two more than his proper allowance. Isabel was the first. The others will follow in due course.
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1
possessed
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| adj.疯狂的；拥有的，占有的 | |
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immortal
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| adj.不朽的；永生的，不死的；神的 | |
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stereotyped
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| adj.(指形象、思想、人物等)模式化的 | |
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etiquette
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| n.礼仪，礼节；规矩 | |
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Amended
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| adj. 修正的 动词amend的过去式和过去分词 | |
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specially
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| adv.特定地；特殊地；明确地 | |
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prone
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| adj.(to)易于…的，很可能…的；俯卧的 | |
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procuring
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| v.（努力）取得， （设法）获得( procure的现在分词 )；拉皮条 | |
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standing
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| n.持续，地位；adj.永久的，不动的，直立的，不流动的 | |
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secluded
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| adj.与世隔绝的；隐退的；偏僻的v.使隔开，使隐退( seclude的过去式和过去分词) | |
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brass
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| n.黄铜；黄铜器，铜管乐器 | |
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kindly
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| adj.和蔼的，温和的，爽快的；adv.温和地，亲切地 | |
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embarked
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| 乘船( embark的过去式和过去分词 )； 装载； 从事 | |
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14
beguiling
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| adj.欺骗的，诱人的v.欺骗( beguile的现在分词 )；使陶醉；使高兴；消磨（时间等） | |
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15
subdued
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| adj. 屈服的，柔和的，减弱的 动词subdue的过去式和过去分词 | |
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juvenile
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| n.青少年，少年读物；adj.青少年的，幼稚的 | |
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trotted
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| 小跑，急走( trot的过去分词 )； 匆匆忙忙地走 | |
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inclement
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| adj.严酷的，严厉的，恶劣的 | |
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adjourn
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| v.（使）休会，（使）休庭 | |
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luncheon
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| n.午宴，午餐，便宴 | |
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dignified
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| a.可敬的，高贵的 | |
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peg
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| n.木栓，木钉；vt.用木钉钉，用短桩固定 | |
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locker
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| n.更衣箱，储物柜，冷藏室，上锁的人 | |
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24
sitting-room
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| n.（BrE）客厅，起居室 | |
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25
inquiry
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| n.打听，询问，调查，查问 | |
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26
attainments
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| 成就，造诣； 获得( attainment的名词复数 )； 达到； 造诣； 成就 | |
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27
relegated
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| v.使降级( relegate的过去式和过去分词 )；使降职；转移；把…归类 | |
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forth
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| adv.向前；向外，往外 | |
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faddist
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| n.趋于时尚者，好新奇的人 | |
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30
tiresome
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| adj.令人疲劳的，令人厌倦的 | |
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cellular
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| adj.移动的；细胞的，由细胞组成的 | |
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widower
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| n.鳏夫 | |
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33
instilling
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| v.逐渐使某人获得（某种可取的品质），逐步灌输( instil的现在分词 )；逐渐使某人获得（某种可取的品质），逐步灌输( instill的现在分词 ) | |
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resonant
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| adj.(声音)洪亮的，共鸣的 | |
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35
scramble
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| v.爬行，攀爬，杂乱蔓延，碎片，片段，废料 | |
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slippers
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| n. 拖鞋 | |
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eldest
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| adj.最年长的，最年老的 | |
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38
mingling
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| adj.混合的 | |
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39
thoroughly
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| adv.完全地，彻底地，十足地 | |
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40
giggle
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| n.痴笑，咯咯地笑；v.咯咯地笑着说 | |
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41
frivolous
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| adj.轻薄的；轻率的 | |
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42
interval
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| n.间隔，间距；幕间休息，中场休息 | |
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43
parental
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| adj.父母的；父的；母的 | |
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44
ultimatums
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| 最后通牒( ultimatum的名词复数 ) | |
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45
protracted
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| adj.拖延的；延长的v.拖延“protract”的过去式和过去分词 | |
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emphatic
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| adj.强调的，着重的；无可置疑的，明显的 | |
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testily
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| adv. 易怒地, 暴躁地 | |
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mere
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| adj.纯粹的；仅仅，只不过 | |
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countenance
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| n.脸色，面容；面部表情；vt.支持，赞同 | |
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50
Christian
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| adj.基督教徒的；n.基督教徒 | |
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51
plaintively
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| adv.悲哀地，哀怨地 | |
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52
considerably
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| adv.极大地；相当大地；在很大程度上 | |
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53
inscribed
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| v.写，刻( inscribe的过去式和过去分词 )；内接 | |
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54
apprehensive
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| adj.担心的，恐惧的，善于领会的 | |
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apprehensively
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| adv.担心地 | |
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56
forte
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| n.长处，擅长；adj.(音乐)强音的 | |
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57
ascertained
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| v.弄清，确定，查明( ascertain的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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58
distinguished
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| adj.卓越的，杰出的，著名的 | |
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59
stuffy
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| adj.不透气的，闷热的 | |
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60
addicted
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| adj.沉溺于....的，对...上瘾的 | |
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61
shrieking
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| v.尖叫( shriek的现在分词 ) | |
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62
humble
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| adj.谦卑的，恭顺的；地位低下的；v.降低，贬低 | |
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63
fervent
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| adj.热的，热烈的，热情的 | |
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64
admiration
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| n.钦佩，赞美，羡慕 | |
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65
inaccurate
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| adj.错误的，不正确的，不准确的 | |
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66
thumped
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| v.重击， （指心脏）急速跳动( thump的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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67
inexplicable
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| adj.无法解释的，难理解的 | |
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68
peculiar
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| adj.古怪的，异常的；特殊的，特有的 | |
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69
gamut
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| n.全音阶，(一领域的)全部知识 | |
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70
choir
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| n.唱诗班，唱诗班的席位，合唱团，舞蹈团；v.合唱 | |
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71
lark
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| n.云雀，百灵鸟；n.嬉戏，玩笑；vi.嬉戏 | |
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72
hopped
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| 跳上[下]( hop的过去式和过去分词 )； 单足蹦跳； 齐足（或双足）跳行； 摘葎草花 | |
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73
agility
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| n.敏捷，活泼 | |
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74
sundry
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| adj.各式各样的，种种的 | |
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75
ordeal
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| n.苦难经历，（尤指对品格、耐力的）严峻考验 | |
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76
auditors
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| n.审计员，稽核员( auditor的名词复数 )；（大学课程的）旁听生 | |
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77
acumen
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| n.敏锐，聪明 | |
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78
stolid
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| adj.无动于衷的，感情麻木的 | |
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79
regularity
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| n.规律性，规则性；匀称，整齐 | |
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80
redeeming
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| 补偿的，弥补的 | |
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81
proceeding
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| n.行动，进行，(pl.)会议录，学报 | |
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82
unlimited
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| adj.无限的，不受控制的，无条件的 | |
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83
chafed
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| v.擦热（尤指皮肤）( chafe的过去式 )；擦痛；发怒；惹怒 | |
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84
sycophantic
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| adj.阿谀奉承的 | |
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85
giggles
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| n.咯咯的笑( giggle的名词复数 )；傻笑；玩笑；the giggles 止不住的格格笑v.咯咯地笑( giggle的第三人称单数 ) | |
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86
broached
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| v.谈起( broach的过去式和过去分词 )；打开并开始用；用凿子扩大（或修光）；（在桶上）钻孔取液体 | |
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87
deserted
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| adj.荒芜的，荒废的，无人的，被遗弃的 | |
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88
exacting
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| adj.苛求的，要求严格的 | |
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89
consecutively
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| adv.连续地 | |
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90
specified
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| adj.特定的 | |
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91
reprobate
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| n.无赖汉；堕落的人 | |
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92
reprobates
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| n.道德败坏的人，恶棍( reprobate的名词复数 ) | |
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93
stigma
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| n.耻辱，污名；(花的)柱头 | |
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94
complement
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| n.补足物，船上的定员；补语；vt.补充，补足 | |
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95
electrified
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| v.使电气化( electrify的过去式和过去分词 )；使兴奋 | |
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96
pawn
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| n.典当，抵押，小人物，走卒；v.典当，抵押 | |
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97
redeemed
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| adj. 可赎回的，可救赎的 动词redeem的过去式和过去分词形式 | |
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98
iniquity
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| n.邪恶；不公正 | |
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99
triumphantly
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| ad.得意洋洋地；得胜地；成功地 | |
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100
malefactor
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| n.罪犯 | |
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101
breakdown
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| n.垮，衰竭；损坏，故障，倒塌 | |
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102
infraction
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| n.违反；违法 | |
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103
penal
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| adj.刑罚的；刑法上的 | |
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104
exemption
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| n.豁免，免税额，免除 | |
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105
trifling
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| adj.微不足道的；没什么价值的 | |
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106
virtuous
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| adj.有品德的，善良的，贞洁的，有效力的 | |
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107
suffused
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| v.（指颜色、水气等）弥漫于，布满( suffuse的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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108
bosoms
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| 胸部( bosom的名词复数 )； 胸怀； 女衣胸部（或胸襟）； 和爱护自己的人在一起的情形 | |
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109
laboriously
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| adv.艰苦地；费力地；辛勤地；（文体等）佶屈聱牙地 | |
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110
proffered
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| v.提供，贡献，提出( proffer的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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111
hoarded
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| v.积蓄并储藏（某物）( hoard的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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112
virtue
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| n.德行，美德；贞操；优点；功效，效力 | |
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113
inquiries
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| n.调查( inquiry的名词复数 )；疑问；探究；打听 | |
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114
attachment
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| n.附属物，附件；依恋；依附 | |
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115
mania
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| n.疯狂；躁狂症，狂热，癖好 | |
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116
muster
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| v.集合，收集，鼓起，激起；n.集合，检阅，集合人员，点名册 | |
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117
promptly
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| adv.及时地，敏捷地 | |
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118
decided
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| adj.决定了的，坚决的；明显的，明确的 | |
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119
inundation
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| n.the act or fact of overflowing | |
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120
cascade
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| n.小瀑布，喷流；层叠；vi.成瀑布落下 | |
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121
moribund
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| adj.即将结束的，垂死的 | |
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122
aged
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| adj.年老的，陈年的 | |
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123
hostilities
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| n.战争；敌意(hostility的复数)；敌对状态；战事 | |
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124
conspicuous
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| adj.明眼的，惹人注目的；炫耀的，摆阔气的 | |
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125
retaliated
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| v.报复，反击( retaliate的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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126
initiating
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| v.开始( initiate的现在分词 )；传授；发起；接纳新成员 | |
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127
sonorous
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| adj.响亮的，回响的；adv.圆润低沉地；感人地；n.感人，堂皇 | |
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128
harangue
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| n.慷慨冗长的训话，言辞激烈的讲话 | |
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129
harangues
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| n.高谈阔论的长篇演讲( harangue的名词复数 )v.高谈阔论( harangue的第三人称单数 ) | |
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130
trepidation
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| n.惊恐，惶恐 | |
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131
momentous
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| adj.重要的，重大的 | |
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132
portentous
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| adj.不祥的，可怕的，装腔作势的 | |
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133
hazy
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| adj.有薄雾的，朦胧的；不肯定的，模糊的 | |
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134
embellished
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| v.美化( embellish的过去式和过去分词 )；装饰；修饰；润色 | |
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135
bust
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| vt.打破；vi.爆裂；n.半身像；胸部 | |
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136
assorted
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| adj.各种各样的，各色俱备的 | |
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137
investigation
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| n.调查，调查研究 | |
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138
demonstration
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| n.表明，示范，论证，示威 | |
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139
majestically
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| 雄伟地； 庄重地； 威严地； 崇高地 | |
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140
bibulous
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| adj.高度吸收的，酗酒的 | |
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141
perspiring
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| v.出汗，流汗( perspire的现在分词 ) | |
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142
withdrawn
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| vt.收回；使退出；vi.撤退，退出 | |
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143
cowering
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| v.畏缩，抖缩( cower的现在分词 ) | |
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144
outrage
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| n.暴行，侮辱，愤怒；vt.凌辱，激怒 | |
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145
apprehension
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| n.理解，领悟；逮捕，拘捕；忧虑 | |
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gratuitously
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| 平白 | |
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147
dictates
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| n.命令，规定，要求( dictate的名词复数 )v.大声讲或读( dictate的第三人称单数 )；口授；支配；摆布 | |
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148
shrieks
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| n.尖叫声( shriek的名词复数 )v.尖叫( shriek的第三人称单数 ) | |
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149
wailed
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| v.哭叫，哀号( wail的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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150
sobbing
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| <主方>Ⅰ adj.湿透的 | |
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151
inmates
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| n.囚犯( inmate的名词复数 ) | |
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152
shudder
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| v.战粟，震动，剧烈地摇晃；n.战粟，抖动 | |
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153
shuddering
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| v.战栗( shudder的现在分词 )；发抖；（机器、车辆等）突然震动；颤动 | |
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154
purely
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| adv.纯粹地，完全地 | |
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155
publicity
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| n.众所周知，闻名；宣传，广告 | |
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156
hovered
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| 鸟( hover的过去式和过去分词 )； 靠近（某事物）； （人）徘徊； 犹豫 | |
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157
faculties
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| n.能力( faculty的名词复数 )；全体教职员；技巧；院 | |
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158
avert
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| v.防止，避免；转移(目光、注意力等) | |
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159
motive
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| n.动机，目的；adv.发动的，运动的 | |
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160
plausible
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| adj.似真实的，似乎有理的，似乎可信的 | |
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161
halfway
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| adj.中途的，不彻底的，部分的；adv.半路地，在中途，在半途 | |
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162
undoubtedly
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| adv.确实地，无疑地 | |
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163
eruption
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| n.火山爆发；（战争等）爆发；（疾病等）发作 | |
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164
reiterated
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| 反复地说，重申( reiterate的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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165
essentially
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| adv.本质上，实质上，基本上 | |
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166
truthful
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| adj.真实的，说实话的，诚实的 | |
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167
briefly
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| adv.简单地，简短地 | |
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168
metaphorically
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| adv. 用比喻地 | |
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169
decency
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| n.体面，得体，合宜，正派，庄重 | |
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170
vile
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| adj.卑鄙的，可耻的，邪恶的；坏透的 | |
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171
bulgy
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| a.膨胀的；凸出的 | |
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172
gasp
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| n.喘息，气喘；v.喘息；气吁吁他说 | |
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173
gasped
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| v.喘气( gasp的过去式和过去分词 )；喘息；倒抽气；很想要 | |
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174
pedantic
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| adj.卖弄学问的；迂腐的 | |
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175
severely
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| adv.严格地；严厉地；非常恶劣地 | |
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176
atoned
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| v.补偿，赎（罪）( atone的过去式和过去分词 )；补偿，弥补，赎回 | |
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177
extraordinarily
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| adv.格外地；极端地 | |
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178
utterly
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| adv.完全地，绝对地 | |
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179
maiden
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| n.少女，处女；adj.未婚的，纯洁的，无经验的 | |
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180
reactionary
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| n.反动者，反动主义者；adj.反动的，反动主义的，反对改革的 | |
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181
sobs
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| 啜泣（声），呜咽（声）( sob的名词复数 ) | |
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182
effigy
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| n.肖像 | |
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183
genially
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| adv.亲切地，和蔼地；快活地 | |
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184
stifled
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| （使）窒息， （使）窒闷( stifle的过去式和过去分词 )； 镇压，遏制； 堵 | |
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185
remorse
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| n.痛恨，悔恨，自责 | |
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186
mingled
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| 混合，混入( mingle的过去式和过去分词 )； 混进，与…交往[联系] | |
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187
sentimental
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| adj.多愁善感的，感伤的 | |
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188
goaded
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| v.刺激( goad的过去式和过去分词 )；激励；（用尖棒）驱赶；驱使（或怂恿、刺激）某人 | |
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189
discomfort
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| n.不舒服，不安，难过，困难，不方便 | |
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190
intervention
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| n.介入，干涉，干预 | |
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191
confession
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| n.自白，供认，承认 | |
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192
knuckling
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| n.突球v.（指人）指关节( knuckle的现在分词 )；（指动物）膝关节，踝 | |
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193
determined
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| adj.坚定的；有决心的 | |
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194
purge
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| n.整肃，清除，泻药，净化；vt.净化，清除，摆脱；vi.清除，通便，腹泻，变得清洁 | |
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195
indifference
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| n.不感兴趣，不关心，冷淡，不在乎 | |
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196
idol
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| n.偶像，红人，宠儿 | |
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197
positively
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| adv.明确地，断然，坚决地；实在，确实 | |
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