It was Christopher Woolf Roe5. He was by no means happy, and he was obsessed6 with a melancholy7 interest as to what his father would have to say when he knew what the school had done. He gazed out mournfully over the forsaken8 football ground. No sound of any boyish voice reached his ear. It might have been holiday time. So when a step sounded unexpectedly behind him on the gravel9 path he turned in surprise. The school porter was crossing from the neighbourhood of the Head’s room, and something in his manner suggested that he was conveying a message. Roe, starving for company, looked at him as a pig looks at some farm hand carrying a pan of swill10.
“Do you want me?” he asked hopefully enough.
The porter answered with dignity. As a man of 183discrimination he had been on the school’s side throughout this strife11, and he was not disposed to make conversation with one whom he considered something of a traitor12.
“The Headmaster wishes to speak to you, sir,” said he, and withdrew.
Without a word Roe moved away dejectedly towards the stained-glass windows of his father’s room, and passed through the old oak door beside the steps. He had not even the heart to whistle as he went.
He knocked at the door and was greeted by ominous13 silence. He went in. The Head was standing14 by the fireplace, leaning against the mantelpiece, and by every line of his face Roe could see that he was going to address him not as a father but as the Headmaster of a Public School. He moved silently across the carpet.
“Did you want me, sir?” said he respectfully.
He placed one hand in the other and rubbed them gently together.
The Head looked at him grimly. Half-an-hour ago he had stood at his window looking out upon his kingdom. It had struck him quite suddenly that the neighbourhood of the school was strangely quiet. He had leaned out a little farther. He could still see nobody about. Finally he had craned his neck to its limit and turned his head all ways. There was no doubt about it. The school was deserted. He had never seen the place so quiet on a Saturday. The seats under the trees were all unoccupied. No sound came from the fives courts. No figure could be discerned on any pathway. The only houses that he could see looked uninhabited. Sudden perplexity had settled upon him. He had furrowed15 his brows.... Next he had left his room and had gone into the school and along the corridors to places from which he could see the playing fields from every angle. 184He peered into the common rooms, inspected the library.... His suspicions became a certainty. There was something wrong. He went back to his own room, and all the way along the corridor the tap of his footfall produced a hollow, echoing ring that spoke16 of utter emptiness.
From his own window he took one final peep on to the football ground. There at last he had seen a solitary17 youth, Harley’s Cinderella, walking with downcast mien18 aimlessly across his front. It was his son.
In the five minutes that had elapsed since that moment he had endeavoured to reason things out, but it had been like groping one’s way in the dark through some strange underworld. He was utterly19 bewildered, and he was conscious of fast-growing anger. He eyed his son for a little while petulantly20, and at last he spoke.
“There is nobody anywhere about the school,” said he indignantly. “The place is deserted. Can you offer any explanation?”
Roe did not hesitate. He was, in point of fact, glad to get it off his chest. Besides the news was sensational21 and there is always a certain gratification in breaking news of a kind that makes a man jump out of his slippers22.
He spoke incisively23.
“Yes,” said he, “I think I can tell you what’s happened. The First Fifteen have gone to Rainhurst to play the match of the season, and every fellow in the school who could has gone over to see the game.”
The effect of this news exceeded all expectation.
For one moment his father merely looked dazed. But as he began to recover Roe slowly backed towards the wall. Then he found himself staring helplessly towards his father’s table, absolutely fascinated by the fixed24 glare of his wide eyes shining with concentrated 185anger from behind their spectacles, just as a rabbit is frozen still by the cold eyes of a snake. His father did not speak. He just subsided25 slowly into his chair and his eyes never left his son’s unhappy countenance26. He was looking him through and through, and Roe could see that he was at the same time turning it all over in his mind and looking at this outburst by a fettered27 school from every possible angle. Nothing was going to escape consideration. The probability was that he was no more vexed28 at the open lawlessness of such a match than at the astounding29 fact that the officially appointed captain of football at the school had been left out of the team by those who had selected it. He was very clearly taken aback.
At last his lips jerked open and he spoke, but no muscle of his body moved, and his eyes never for one instant shifted from their close examination of his son. His voice was ominously31 hard and dry. He said:
“If you knew that this was going to happen why did you not mention it in time for me to stop it?”
Roe moved a pace nearer to the wall.
“Coles said——” he began.
“Coles?” snapped the Head. “What part has he in this? Has he gone with the team? Is Coles playing for the school?”
Roe tried to steady himself before he spoke. He answered after a moment’s pause:
“He’s playing. But he had a reason. He thought that if he refused suspicion would settle upon him and spoil our chance of doing any good later on. There was another thing too. He had made a plan.”
“What plan?” The Head stood up. “Coles seems to imagine,” he exclaimed, “that I wish him to come to my support with underhand plots. I require no such help whatever. His suggestions of 186late have been an open insult to the power of my authority. You will tell Coles that whatever I require of him will be obtained by exacting32 his obedience33 to my instructions and not by lending my ear to subterfuges34. Coles utterly misconceives his position. You will tell him that I am exceedingly angry to find that to advance some plot of his own he agreed to disobey my orders.”
“And you,” declared his father, “what have you done to stop this open defiance36 of my instructions? You are captain of football here, and as my own son you came to this school with a ready-made reputation. You could, by strong action, have swayed the school to my support within a fortnight. Instead you have been crassly37 inactive. This match has taken place under your very nose and you have not so much as lifted a finger to prevent it. We are well into the second half of term, and instead of showing determination in tackling the state of affairs you are content to be made ridiculous by a youngster whose sole qualification to captaincy is his popularity. I am amazed.”
Roe moved a step farther back.
“I thought——” he began.
“Be silent,” commanded the Head. “Listen to me. Immediately Rouse returns you will tell him to come to my room without a moment’s delay——”
Roe interrupted.
“It’s no use sending for Rouse,” said he. “Everybody who’s playing has sworn to take a share of the blame.”
The Head stared at him. Roe proceeded to explain, but the Head was impatient.
“I shall see Rouse,” he repeated. “And you, as captain of football, will make it your business to give him those instructions personally. There is another thing. Mr Nicholson has gone up to London for 187the day. I understand he is returning by car very late to-night. Instruct the porter to send to his rooms and leave word that I require to see him here to-morrow morning immediately before chapel38. You yourself will remain about the school until Rouse returns. Whatever time it may be you will see that he comes here forthwith. If I am not here he will wait until I return. You clearly understand?”
“Yes, sir,” said Roe, in a melancholy whisper.
The Head pointed30 towards the door, turned in his chair and picked up a paper with hands that were trembling with suppressed wrath39. Roe closed the door gently behind him.
As soon as he had gone the Head threw his paper on to the floor and stood up. He moved to the window and stood there a moment looking out upon the school’s strange solitude40. It was tea-time. By now the match must be nearly over. Within a few hours those who had broken his strict command would be returning and going to their respective houses.
He had until then to make up his mind as to the penalty that must be paid. Rouse had challenged his son’s authority, and his son had proved hopelessly unable to compete with him. Sudden keen disappointment came into the Head’s heart. He felt extraordinarily41 alone. There was no single being in the whole school who was upon his side. He had sent for his son in the belief that his son stood out amongst ordinary boys as he stood out amongst ordinary headmasters. His son had failed. He had nobody now to depend upon. He stood entirely42 alone. But the school had challenged him and he must find an answer.
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1
deserted
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| adj.荒芜的，荒废的，无人的，被遗弃的 | |
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misery
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| n.痛苦，苦恼，苦难；悲惨的境遇，贫苦 | |
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detention
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| n.滞留，停留；拘留，扣留；(教育)留下 | |
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clandestine
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| adj.秘密的，暗中从事的 | |
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roe
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| n.鱼卵；獐鹿 | |
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obsessed
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| adj.心神不宁的,鬼迷心窍的,沉迷的 | |
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melancholy
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| n.忧郁，愁思；adj.令人感伤（沮丧）的，忧郁的 | |
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8
Forsaken
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| adj. 被遗忘的, 被抛弃的 动词forsake的过去分词 | |
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9
gravel
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| n.砂跞；砂砾层；结石 | |
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swill
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| v.冲洗；痛饮；n.泔脚饲料；猪食；（谈话或写作中的）无意义的话 | |
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strife
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| n.争吵，冲突，倾轧，竞争 | |
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12
traitor
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| n.叛徒，卖国贼 | |
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ominous
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| adj.不祥的，不吉的，预兆的，预示的 | |
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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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15
furrowed
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| v.犁田，开沟( furrow的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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16
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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17
solitary
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| adj.孤独的，独立的，荒凉的；n.隐士 | |
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18
mien
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| n.风采；态度 | |
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utterly
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| adv.完全地，绝对地 | |
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petulantly
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sensational
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| adj.使人感动的，非常好的，轰动的，耸人听闻的 | |
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slippers
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| n. 拖鞋 | |
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incisively
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| adv.敏锐地，激烈地 | |
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24
fixed
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| adj.固定的，不变的，准备好的；(计算机)固定的 | |
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25
subsided
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| v.（土地）下陷（因在地下采矿）( subside的过去式和过去分词 )；减弱；下降至较低或正常水平；一下子坐在椅子等上 | |
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26
countenance
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| n.脸色，面容；面部表情；vt.支持，赞同 | |
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27
fettered
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| v.给…上脚镣，束缚( fetter的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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28
vexed
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| adj.争论不休的；（指问题等）棘手的；争论不休的问题；烦恼的v.使烦恼( vex的过去式和过去分词 )；使苦恼；使生气；详细讨论 | |
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29
astounding
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| adj.使人震惊的vt.使震惊，使大吃一惊astound的现在分词) | |
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30
pointed
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| adj.尖的，直截了当的 | |
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31
ominously
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| adv.恶兆地，不吉利地；预示地 | |
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32
exacting
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| adj.苛求的，要求严格的 | |
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obedience
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| n.服从，顺从 | |
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34
subterfuges
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| n.（用说谎或欺骗以逃脱责备、困难等的）花招，遁词( subterfuge的名词复数 ) | |
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35
miserably
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| adv.痛苦地；悲惨地；糟糕地；极度地 | |
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36
defiance
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| n.挑战，挑衅，蔑视，违抗 | |
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37
crassly
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| adv.粗鲁地，愚钝地 | |
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38
chapel
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| n.小教堂，殡仪馆 | |
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39
wrath
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| n.愤怒，愤慨，暴怒 | |
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40
solitude
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| n. 孤独; 独居,荒僻之地,幽静的地方 | |
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41
extraordinarily
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| adv.格外地；极端地 | |
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42
entirely
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| ad.全部地，完整地；完全地，彻底地 | |
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