Wren did not quite know what to make of this. Why had not Fenn said aword to him? There were one or two prefects in the school whom hemight have met even at such close quarters and yet have cherished ahope that they had not seen him. Once he had run right into Drew, ofthe School House, and escaped unrecognised. But with Fenn it wasdifferent. Compared to Fenn, lynxes were astigmatic. He must havespotted him.
There was a vein of philosophy in Wren's composition. He felt that hemight just as well be hanged for a sheep as a lamb. In other words,having been caught down town without leave, he might as well staythere and enjoy himself a little while longer before going back to beexecuted. So he strolled off down the High Street, bought a few thingsat a stationer's, and wound up with an excellent tea at theconfectioner's by the post-office.
It was as he was going to this meal that Kennedy caught sight of him.
Kennedy had come down town to visit the local photographer, to whom hehad entrusted a fortnight before the pleasant task of taking hisphotograph. As he had heard nothing from him since, he was now comingto investigate. He entered the High Street as Wren was turning intothe confectioner's, saw him, and made a note of it for futurereference.
When Wren returned to the house just before lock-up, he sought counselof Walton.
"I say," he said, as he handed over the honey he had saved so neatlyfrom destruction, "what would you do? Just as I was coming out of theshop, I barged into Fenn. He must have twigged me.""Didn't he say anything?""Not a word. I couldn't make it out, because he must have seen me. Weweren't a yard away from one another.""It's dark in the shop," suggested Walton.
"Not at the door; which is where we met."Before Walton could find anything to say in reply to this, theirconversation was interrupted by Spencer.
"Kennedy wants you, Wren," said Spencer. "You'd better buck up; he'sin an awful wax."Next to Walton, the vindictive Spencer objected most to Wren, and hedid not attempt to conceal the pleasure he felt in being the bearer ofthis ominous summons.
The group broke up. Wren went disconsolately upstairs to Kennedy'sstudy; Walton smacked Spencer's head--more as a matter of form thanbecause he had done anything special to annoy him--and retired to thesenior dayroom; while Spencer, muttering darkly to himself, avoided asecond smack and took cover in the junior room, where he consoledhimself by toasting a piece of india-rubber in the gas till it madethe atmosphere painful to breathe in, and recalling with pleasure thecondition Walton's face had been in for the day or two following hisencounter with Kennedy in the dormitory.
Kennedy was working when Wren knocked at his door.
He had not much time to spare on a bounds-breaking fag; and his mannerwas curt.
"I saw you going into Rose's, in the High Street, this afternoon,Wren," he said, looking up from his Greek prose. "I didn't give youleave. Come up here after prayers tonight. Shut the door."Wren went down to consult Walton again. His attitude with regard to alicking from the head of the house was much like that of the otherfags. Custom had, to a certain extent, inured him to these painfulinterviews, but still, if it was possible, he preferred to keep out ofthem. Under Fenn's rule he had often found a tolerably thin excuseserve his need. Fenn had so many other things to do that he was notunwilling to forego an occasional licking, if the excuse was goodenough. And he never took the trouble to find out whether theingenious stories Wren was wont to serve up to him were true or not.
Kennedy, Wren reflected uncomfortably, had given signs that thiseasy-going method would not do for him. Still, it might be possible tohunt up some story that would meet the case. Walton had a gift in thatdirection.
"He says I'm to go to his study after prayers," reported Wren. "Can'tyou think of any excuse that would do?""Can't understand Fenn running you in," said Walton. "I thought henever spoke to Kennedy."Wren explained.
"It wasn't Fenn who ran me in. Kennedy was down town, too, and twiggedme going into Rose's. I went there and had tea after I got your thingsat the grocer's.""Oh, he spotted you himself, did he?" said Walton. "And he doesn'tknow Fenn saw you?""I don't think so.""Then I've got a ripping idea. When he has you up tonight, swear thatyou got leave from Fenn to go down town.""But he'll ask him.""The odds are that he won't. He and Fenn had a row at the beginning ofterm, and never speak to one another if they can help it. It's ten toone that he will prefer taking your yarn to going and asking Fenn ifit's true or not. Then he's bound to let you off."Wren admitted that the scheme was sound.
At the conclusion of prayers, therefore, he went up again to Kennedy'sstudy, with a more hopeful air than he had worn on his previous visit.
"Come in," said Kennedy, reaching for the swagger-stick which he wasaccustomed to use at these ceremonies.
"Please, Kennedy," said Wren, glibly. "I did get leave to go down townthis afternoon.""What!"Wren repeated the assertion.
"Who gave you leave?""Fenn."The thing did not seem to be working properly. When he said the word"Fenn", Wren expected to see Kennedy retire baffled, conscious thatthere was nothing more to be said or done. Instead of this, the remarkappeared to infuriate him.
"It's just like your beastly cheek," he said, glaring at thered-headed delinquent, "to ask Fenn for leave instead of me. You knowperfectly well that only the head of the house can give leave to godown town. I don't know how often you and the rest of the juniordayroom have played this game, but it's going to stop now. You'dbetter remember another time when you want to go to Rose's that I'vegot to be consulted first."With which he proceeded to ensure to the best of his ability that thememory of Master Wren should not again prove treacherous in thisrespect.
"How did it work?" asked Walton, when Wren returned.
"It didn't," said Wren, briefly.
Walton expressed an opinion that Kennedy was a cad; which, howeversound in itself, did little to improve the condition of Wren.
Having disposed of Wren, Kennedy sat down seriously to consider thisnew development of a difficult situation. Hitherto he had imaginedFenn to be merely a sort of passive resister who confined himself tothe Achilles-in-his-tent business, and was only a nuisance because herefused to back him up. To find him actually aiding and abetting thehouse in its opposition to its head was something of a shock. And yet,if he had given Wren leave to go down town, he had probably done thesame kind office by others. It irritated Kennedy more than the mostovert act of enmity would have done. It was not good form. It washitting below the belt. There was, of course, the chance that Wren'sstory had not been true. But he did not build much on that. He did notyet know his Wren well, and believed that such an audacious lie wouldbe beyond the daring of a fag. But it would be worth while to makeinquiries. He went down the passage to Fenn's study. Fenn, however,had gone to bed, so he resolved to approach him on the subject nextday. There was no hurry.
He went to his dormitory, feeling very bitter towards Fenn, andrehearsing home truths with which to confound him on the morrow.
| 欢迎访问英文小说网 |