"At the risk of seeming to rub it in, Forge, I want to tender my sincere sympathy," said Harwood, sitting beside him. "In your shoes I'd be puzzled what to do."
"Thanks—yes. I'm pretty well bunkered, Harwood. Unconsciously, by your kindness in collecting all those subs., you did us a bad turn; they all went."
"And by now, doubtless, have been spent on a fuddle in the Thieves' Kitchen," Harwood agreed. "More of my mistaken zeal3 coming back on me! The money's gone—Kismet! No subscriptions4, no paper!"
The captain turned sharply round to stare at the Prefect. "What do you mean, Harwood? 'No paper!' Are you thinking, then, that there'll be no Rooke's House Rag after this?"
Luke gave his pleasant laugh. "Well, it's rather a natural inference, Forge. Paper costs money. Printing-ink ditto. If the money's in the Thieves' Kitchen it can't be spent here. Ergo, you are justified6 in ceasing publication."
He felt annoyed during this speech to find himself getting somewhat red in the face beneath the questioning scrutiny7 of Dick's clear eyes. There was something about what he had said which evidently did not appeal to the Captain.
"I say, Harwood, please don't suggest a get-out that I'm sure you wouldn't adopt yourself! Take the Foxes' money and give them nothing in return! Impossible!"
"But you didn't take the brass—the burglars pinched it. Don't be too straitlaced, Forge, for your own sake. Men of business 'wind up' when their funds are stolen, and nobody blames them. It's simply Fate!"
"Oh, thanks for the tip, Harwood! Perhaps I am over-squeamish, but I took a quarter's subscription5 from Foxenby in exchange for a fortnightly mag., and I mean, by hook or by crook8, to deliver the goods."
Harwood jumped up and shot out his hand impulsively9. There seemed to be a troublesome lump in his throat as he spoke10.
"Bravo, old fellow! You're top-hole. Keep the flag flying by all means, and if there's anything I can do to help; any—er—little loan——"
Contrary to his custom, Harwood did not efface13 himself this time. He resumed his seat beside Dick and talked in quiet tones of other things, apparently14 oblivious15 of a growing disturbance16 in the shrubbery behind him—a row which closely concerned him, too, because the Juniors of his House were foremost in making it.
It was not now the old squabble between Merry Men and Squirms, to which the Prefects, by common consent, turned a deaf ear. On this occasion the Squirms had it all to themselves. They were "ragging" somebody, and the shrieks17 of their victim were agonized18 enough to suggest a lynching.
"Are your youngsters killing19 a pig this morning, Harwood?" the Captain inquired, uneasily. "Rather more din20 than usual, what? Shouldn't like the Old Man to hear it in his present raw state."
Harwood looked languidly round at the heaving mass in the shrubbery. "It'll die down," he said. "Like Bo-peep's lost sheep, they're better left alone. Let me see, what was I saying? Oh, about that Cup re-play, old man——"
He got no further, for at that moment the dishevelled victim of the Squirms' horseplay burst from the shrubbery and fastened his dirty hands frantically21 on the Prefect's knees.
"Oh, Harwood, please, they're murdering me—murdering me, I say. Send them back—take their sticks from them. I'm beaten black and blue!"
The boy's fat, unwholesome cheeks shook like those of an overfed man. His small eyes protruded22 with fear. Though bearing no visible sign of ill-usage, he looked the picture of abject23 terror.
"But—but aren't you going to do anything for me, Harwood?"
"Yes—I'm going to cane25 some of the dirt off your hands if you aren't inside Holbeck's within half a minute," said Harwood, inexorably.
This was an order which few Juniors would have dared to disobey, but the trembling boy, after a nervous glance back at the Squirms (discreetly silent now), stretched out an imploring26 hand to the Captain.
"Oh, please, Forge, won't you protect me?" he whined27. "Harwood never will. He doesn't care if they kill me!"
Here, indeed, was rank rebellion—open defiance28 of a prefect, and insult heaped upon it. For the second time, Peter Mawdster had committed the gross offence of appealing to the Captain of the School over the head of his own prefect.
Dick said nothing at all. With a nod to Harwood, he rose to go.
"Hop29 into my study at once, Mawdster," said Harwood furiously. "As you're determined30 to seek trouble, you shall have it—six on each hand."
This incident—trivial perhaps in itself—left an unpleasant impression on Dick's mind. That a cheeky youngster from another House should twice have tried to secure his protection was irritating enough, but Harwood's method of handling the shrubbery trouble did not strike him as possessing the wisdom of Solomon. Whatever Mawdster had done to deserve his unpopularity, in bullying31 him so badly the Squirms had earned punishment. Yet the Prefect of Holbeck's House, without inquiry32, caned33 the victim and let the tormentors go free!
"Is that bias34 or just an error of judgment35?" Dick asked of Roger, to whom he confided36 the details of the occasion.
"I'd better not voice an opinion, Dick! Where Luke Harwood is concerned, possibly I'm one-eyed, too!"
"But wouldn't you, in my place, have interfered37?"
"Emphatically, no. If anybody in Holbeck's House has a grievance38 against its prefect, he can report it to Mr. Holbeck. There is a further Court of Appeal—to the Headmaster himself."
"Well put, Roger, K.C.! You have freed my mind. I want nothing more on it than is already there, I can assure you."
He was about to tell Roger what Harwood had said about ceasing the publication of the Rag, but a second thought stopped his tongue. He did not himself question the sincerity39 of Harwood's suggestion, but he felt instinctively40 that Roger would. He feared that Roger, always prejudiced against The Foxonian's editor, would say that the wish was father to the thought—that the early death of The Rooke's House Rag, leaving The Foxonian once more alone in the field, would just suit Harwood's book. So he changed the subject for another.
"I've got my exeat, Roger, and shall cycle to Moston to see the Fairtype Press manager this afternoon."
"Good luck!" said Roger. "Hope he'll be decent about it."
Head scholar of Rooke's House though he was, neck-and-neck rival of Luke Harwood in the race for the Christmas prizes, Roger made mistakes that afternoon which caused amused astonishment41 in class. Work could not hold him. His thoughts were elsewhere. Heart and mind he was with Dick Forge in the Moston printing-office, wherein much that affected42 their reputation at Foxenby was in the balance to-day.
What if that fair-spoken printing manager declined to wait for his money, or, worse still, refused to print off another number of the Rag? Luke Harwood had already announced a "special term-end number" of The Foxonian—how humiliating it would be if no Rag appeared as a counter-blast to it!
Yet, if such a downfall threatened them, Roger was powerless to avert43 it. His people were in poor circumstances; only by dint44 of winning scholarships could Roger keep himself at Foxenby. The small burden of his scanty45 savings46 had been lifted from him by the burglars, and Dick had been relieved of far more. No wonder Roger had no appetite for tea that night! His eyes were pools of troubled light as he raised them to greet Dick on the latter's return.
"Come, dear old fiddle-face, cheer up!" laughed Dick. "All's well!"
"Easily!" said Dick. "That printer's heart must be all aswim with the milk of human kindness. It seems he'd read about the burglary in the newspaper, which was obviously hard up for 'copy', because it mentioned us by name as co-editors of the Rag, and made far more sympathetic fuss over our loss than it did over the Head's. Well, Mr. Printer put out his hand, said how sorry he was and all that, and told me to lose no sleep—he'd do his bit in the publication department if I cared to carry on."
"Why, what a brick! Who'd have thought it from the looks of him? At first I considered him rather soapily insincere."
"You're a funny old ox, Roger—always suspicious of everybody!"
"Except of you, old sport," Roger replied. "Didn't he want a guarantee of some sort?"
"None whatever. Accepted without demur49 my promise to pay up in full next term. Made me blush half-way down my back by saying he could see I was the soul of honour. And I can manage it quite O.K. by the exercise of strict economy. It means mortgaging a year's allowance at least, and docking every kind of luxury, but who cares for that if the dear old Rag goes on?"
"Nobody—three cheers!" cried Roger. "Out with the ink and paper, you jolly old editor chap! I'm going to present your next number with a burlesque50 of the burglary, just to show the school how lightly we carry misfortune!"
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1
verge
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| n.边，边缘；v.接近，濒临 | |
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condole
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| v.同情；慰问 | |
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zeal
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| n.热心，热情，热忱 | |
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subscriptions
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| n.（报刊等的）订阅费( subscription的名词复数 )；捐款；（俱乐部的）会员费；捐助 | |
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subscription
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| n.预订，预订费，亲笔签名，调配法，下标（处方） | |
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justified
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| a.正当的，有理的 | |
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scrutiny
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| n.详细检查，仔细观察 | |
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crook
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| v.使弯曲；n.小偷，骗子，贼；弯曲(处) | |
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impulsively
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| adv.冲动地 | |
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spoke
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| n.（车轮的）辐条；轮辐；破坏某人的计划；阻挠某人的行动 v.讲，谈（speak的过去式）；说；演说；从某种观点来说 | |
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awfully
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| adv.可怕地，非常地，极端地 | |
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entirely
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| ad.全部地，完整地；完全地，彻底地 | |
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efface
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| v.擦掉，抹去 | |
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apparently
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| adv.显然地；表面上，似乎 | |
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oblivious
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| adj.易忘的，遗忘的，忘却的，健忘的 | |
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disturbance
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| n.动乱，骚动；打扰，干扰；(身心)失调 | |
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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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agonized
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| v.使（极度）痛苦，折磨( agonize的过去式和过去分词 )；苦斗；苦苦思索；感到极度痛苦 | |
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killing
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| n.巨额利润；突然赚大钱，发大财 | |
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din
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| n.喧闹声，嘈杂声 | |
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frantically
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| ad.发狂地, 发疯地 | |
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protruded
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| v.（使某物）伸出，（使某物）突出( protrude的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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abject
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| adj.极可怜的，卑屈的 | |
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filthy
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| adj.卑劣的；恶劣的，肮脏的 | |
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cane
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| n.手杖，细长的茎，藤条；v.以杖击，以藤编制的 | |
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imploring
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| 恳求的，哀求的 | |
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whined
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| v.哀号( whine的过去式和过去分词 )；哀诉，诉怨 | |
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defiance
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| n.挑战，挑衅，蔑视，违抗 | |
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hop
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| n.单脚跳，跳跃；vi.单脚跳，跳跃；着手做某事；vt.跳跃，跃过 | |
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determined
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| adj.坚定的；有决心的 | |
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bullying
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| v.恐吓，威逼( bully的现在分词 )；豪；跋扈 | |
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inquiry
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| n.打听，询问，调查，查问 | |
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caned
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| vt.用苔杖打（cane的过去式与过去分词形式） | |
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bias
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| n.偏见，偏心，偏袒；vt.使有偏见 | |
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judgment
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| n.审判；判断力，识别力，看法，意见 | |
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confided
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| v.吐露（秘密，心事等）( confide的过去式和过去分词 )；（向某人）吐露（隐私、秘密等） | |
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interfered
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| v.干预( interfere的过去式和过去分词 )；调停；妨碍；干涉 | |
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grievance
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| n.怨愤，气恼，委屈 | |
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sincerity
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| n.真诚，诚意；真实 | |
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instinctively
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| adv.本能地 | |
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astonishment
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| n.惊奇，惊异 | |
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affected
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| adj.不自然的，假装的 | |
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avert
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| v.防止，避免；转移(目光、注意力等) | |
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44
dint
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| n.由于，靠；凹坑 | |
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45
scanty
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| adj.缺乏的，仅有的，节省的，狭小的，不够的 | |
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savings
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| n.存款，储蓄 | |
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oozing
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| v.（浓液等）慢慢地冒出，渗出( ooze的现在分词 )；使（液体）缓缓流出；（浓液）渗出，慢慢流出 | |
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48
oracle
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| n.神谕，神谕处，预言 | |
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49
demur
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| v．表示异议，反对 | |
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50
burlesque
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| v.嘲弄，戏仿；n.嘲弄，取笑，滑稽模仿 | |
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