Cricket is the great safety-valve. If you like the game, and are in aposition to play it at least twice a week, life can never be entirelygrey. As time went on, and his average for Lower Borlock reached thefifties and stayed there, Mike began, though he would not haveadmitted it, to enjoy himself. It was not Wrykyn, but it was a verydecent substitute.
The only really considerable element making for discomfort3 now was Mr.
Downing. By bad luck it was in his form that Mike had been placed onarrival; and Mr. Downing, never an easy form-master to get on with,proved more than usually difficult in his dealings with Mike.
They had taken a dislike to each other at their first meeting; and itgrew with further acquaintance. To Mike, Mr. Downing was all that amaster ought not to be, fussy4, pompous5, and openly influenced in hisofficial dealings with his form by his own private likes and dislikes.
To Mr. Downing, Mike was simply an unamiable loafer, who did nothingfor the school and apparently6 had none of the instincts which shouldbe implanted in the healthy boy. Mr. Downing was rather strong on thehealthy boy.
The two lived in a state of simmering hostility7, punctuated8 atintervals by crises, which usually resulted in Lower Borlock having toplay some unskilled labourer in place of their star batsman, employeddoing "over-time."One of the most acute of these crises, and the most important, in thatit was the direct cause of Mike's appearance in Sedleigh cricket, hadto do with the third weekly meeting of the School Fire Brigade.
It may be remembered that this well-supported institution was underMr. Downing's special care. It was, indeed, his pet hobby and theapple of his eye.
Just as you had to join the Archaeological Society to secure theesteem of Mr. Outwood, so to become a member of the Fire Brigade was asafe passport to the regard of Mr. Downing. To show a keenness forcricket was good, but to join the Fire Brigade was best of all.
The Brigade was carefully organised. At its head was Mr. Downing,a sort of high priest; under him was a captain, and under the captaina vice-captain. These two officials were those sportive allies, Stoneand Robinson, of Outwood's house, who, having perceived at a very earlydate the gorgeous opportunities for ragging which the Brigade offeredto its members, had joined young and worked their way up.
Under them were the rank and file, about thirty in all, of whomperhaps seven were earnest workers, who looked on the Brigade in theright, or Downing, spirit. The rest were entirely1 frivolous9.
The weekly meetings were always full of life and excitement.
At this point it is as well to introduce Sammy to the reader.
Sammy, short for Sampson, was a young bull-terrier belonging to Mr.
Downing. If it is possible for a man to have two apples of his eye,Sammy was the other. He was a large, light-hearted dog with a whitecoat, an engaging expression, the tongue of an ant-eater, and a mannerwhich was a happy blend of hurricane and circular saw. He had longlegs, a tenor10 voice, and was apparently made of india-rubber.
Sammy was a great favourite in the school, and a particular friend ofMike's, the Wrykynian being always a firm ally of every dog he metafter two minutes' acquaintance.
In passing, Jellicoe owned a clock-work rat, much in request duringFrench lessons.
We will now proceed to the painful details.
* * * * *The meetings of the Fire Brigade were held after school in Mr.
Downing's form-room. The proceedings11 always began in the same way, bythe reading of the minutes of the last meeting. After that theentertainment varied12 according to whether the members happened to befertile or not in ideas for the disturbing of the peace.
To-day they were in very fair form.
As soon as Mr. Downing had closed the minute-book, Wilson, of theSchool House, held up his hand.
"Well, Wilson?""Please, sir, couldn't we have a uniform for the Brigade?""A uniform?" Mr. Downing pondered"Red, with green stripes, sir,"Red, with a thin green stripe, was the Sedleigh colour.
"Shall I put it to the vote, sir?" asked Stone.
"One moment, Stone.""Those in favour of the motion move to the left, those against it tothe right."A scuffling of feet, a slamming of desk-lids and an upset blackboard,and the meeting had divided.
Mr. Downing rapped irritably13 on his desk.
"Sit down!" he said, "sit down! I won't have this noise anddisturbance. Stone, sit down--Wilson, get back to your place.""Please, sir, the motion is carried by twenty-five votes to six.""Please, sir, may I go and get measured this evening?""Please, sir----""Si-_lence_! The idea of a uniform is, of course, out of thequestion.""Oo-oo-oo-oo, sir-r-r!""Be _quiet!_ Entirely out of the question. We cannot plunge14 intoneedless expense. Stone, listen to me. I cannot have this noise anddisturbance! Another time when a point arises it must be settled by ashow of hands. Well, Wilson?""Please, sir, may we have helmets?""Very useful as a protection against falling timbers, sir," saidRobinson.
"I don't think my people would be pleased, sir, if they knew I wasgoing out to fires without a helmet," said Stone.
The whole strength of the company: "Please, sir, may we have helmets?""Those in favour--" began Stone.
Mr. Downing banged on his desk. "Silence! Silence!! Silence!!! Helmetsare, of course, perfectly15 preposterous16.""Oo-oo-oo-oo, sir-r-r!""But, sir, the danger!""Please, sir, the falling timbers!"The Fire Brigade had been in action once and once only in the memoryof man, and that time it was a haystack which had burnt itself outjust as the rescuers had succeeded in fastening the hose to thehydrant.
"Silence!""Then, please, sir, couldn't we have an honour cap? It wouldn't beexpensive, and it would be just as good as a helmet for all thetimbers that are likely to fall on our heads."Mr. Downing smiled a wry2 smile.
"Our Wilson is facetious17," he remarked frostily.
"Sir, no, sir! I wasn't facetious! Or couldn't we have footer-tops,like the first fifteen have? They----""Wilson, leave the room!""Sir, _please_, sir!""This moment, Wilson. And," as he reached the door, "do me one hundredlines."A pained "OO-oo-oo, sir-r-r," was cut off by the closing door.
Mr. Downing proceeded to improve the occasion. "I deplore18 this growingspirit of flippancy19," he said. "I tell you I deplore it! It is notright! If this Fire Brigade is to be of solid use, there must be lessof this flippancy. We must have keenness. I want you boys above all tobe keen. I--What is that noise?"From the other side of the door proceeded a sound like water gurglingfrom a bottle, mingled20 with cries half-suppressed, as if somebody werebeing prevented from uttering them by a hand laid over his mouth. Thesufferer appeared to have a high voice.
There was a tap at the door and Mike walked in. He was not alone.
Those near enough to see, saw that he was accompanied by Jellicoe'sclock-work rat, which moved rapidly over the floor in the direction ofthe opposite wall.
"May I fetch a book from my desk, sir?" asked Mike.
"Very well--be quick, Jackson; we are busy."Being interrupted in one of his addresses to the Brigade irritated Mr.
Downing.
The muffled21 cries grew more distinct.
"What--is--that--noise?" shrilled22 Mr. Downing.
"Noise, sir?" asked Mike, puzzled.
"I think it's something outside the window, sir," said Stonehelpfully.
"A bird, I think, sir," said Robinson.
"Don't be absurd!" snapped Mr. Downing. "It's outside the door.
Wilson!""Yes, sir?" said a voice "off.""Are you making that whining23 noise?""Whining noise, sir? No, sir, I'm not making a whining noise.""What _sort_ of noise, sir?" inquired Mike, as many Wrykynianshad asked before him. It was a question invented by Wrykyn for use injust such a case as this.
"I do not propose," said Mr. Downing acidly, "to imitate the noise;you can all hear it perfectly plainly. It is a curious whining noise.""They are mowing24 the cricket field, sir," said the invisible Wilson.
"Perhaps that's it.""It may be one of the desks squeaking25, sir," put in Stone. "They dosometimes.""Or somebody's boots, sir," added Robinson.
"Silence! Wilson?""Yes, sir?" bellowed26 the unseen one.
"Don't shout at me from the corridor like that. Come in.""Yes, sir!"As he spoke27 the muffled whining changed suddenly to a series of tenorshrieks, and the india-rubber form of Sammy bounded into the room likean excited kangaroo.
Willing hands had by this time deflected28 the clockwork rat from thewall to which it had been steering29, and pointed30 it up the alley-waybetween the two rows of desks. Mr. Downing, rising from his place, wasjust in time to see Sammy with a last leap spring on his prey31 andbegin worrying it.
"A rat!" shouted Robinson.
The twenty-three members of the Brigade who were not earnest instantlydealt with the situation, each in the manner that seemed proper tohim. Some leaped on to forms, others flung books, all shouted. It wasa stirring, bustling33 scene.
Sammy had by this time disposed of the clock-work rat, and was nowstanding, like Marius, among the ruins barking triumphantly34.
The banging on Mr. Downing's desk resembled thunder. It rose above allthe other noises till in time they gave up the competition and diedaway.
Mr. Downing shot out orders, threats, and penalties with the rapidityof a Maxim35 gun.
"Stone, sit down! Donovan, if you do not sit down, you will beseverely punished. Henderson, one hundred lines for gross disorder36!
Windham, the same! Go to your seat, Vincent. What are you doing,Broughton-Knight? I will not have this disgraceful noise and disorder!
The meeting is at an end; go quietly from the room, all of you.
Jackson and Wilson, remain. _Quietly_, I said, Durand! Don'tshuffle your feet in that abominable37 way."Crash!
"Wolferstan, I distinctly saw you upset that black-board with amovement of your hand--one hundred lines. Go quietly from the room,everybody."The meeting dispersed38.
"Jackson and Wilson, come here. What's the meaning of this disgracefulconduct? Put that dog out of the room, Jackson."Mike removed the yelling Sammy and shut the door on him.
"Well, Wilson?""Please, sir, I was playing with a clock-work rat----""What business have you to be playing with clock-work rats?""Then I remembered," said Mike, "that I had left my Horace in my desk,so I came in----""And by a fluke, sir," said Wilson, as one who tells of strangethings, "the rat happened to be pointing in the same direction, so hecame in, too.""I met Sammy on the gravel39 outside and he followed me.""I tried to collar him, but when you told me to come in, sir, I had tolet him go, and he came in after the rat."It was plain to Mr. Downing that the burden of sin was shared equallyby both culprits. Wilson had supplied the rat, Mike the dog; but Mr.
Downing liked Wilson and disliked Mike. Wilson was in the FireBrigade, frivolous at times, it was true, but nevertheless a member.
Also he kept wicket for the school. Mike was a member of theArchaeological Society, and had refused to play cricket.
Mr. Downing allowed these facts to influence him in passing sentence.
"One hundred lines, Wilson," he said. "You may go."Wilson departed with the air of a man who has had a great deal of fun,and paid very little for it.
Mr. Downing turned to Mike. "You will stay in on Saturday afternoon,Jackson; it will interfere40 with your Archaeological studies, I fear,but it may teach you that we have no room at Sedleigh for boys whospend their time loafing about and making themselves a nuisance. Weare a keen school; this is no place for boys who do nothing but wastetheir time. That will do, Jackson."And Mr. Downing walked out of the room. In affairs of this kind amaster has a habit of getting the last word.
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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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wry
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| adj.讽刺的；扭曲的 | |
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discomfort
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| n.不舒服，不安，难过，困难，不方便 | |
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fussy
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| adj.为琐事担忧的，过分装饰的，爱挑剔的 | |
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pompous
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| adj.傲慢的，自大的；夸大的；豪华的 | |
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apparently
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| adv.显然地；表面上，似乎 | |
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hostility
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| n.敌对，敌意；抵制［pl.］交战，战争 | |
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punctuated
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| v.（在文字中）加标点符号，加标点( punctuate的过去式和过去分词 )；不时打断某事物 | |
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frivolous
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| adj.轻薄的；轻率的 | |
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tenor
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| n.男高音（歌手），次中音（乐器），要旨，大意 | |
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proceedings
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| n.进程，过程，议程；诉讼(程序)；公报 | |
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varied
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| adj.多样的，多变化的 | |
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irritably
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| ad.易生气地 | |
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plunge
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| v.跳入，(使)投入，(使)陷入；猛冲 | |
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perfectly
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| adv.完美地，无可非议地，彻底地 | |
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preposterous
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| adj.荒谬的，可笑的 | |
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facetious
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| adj.轻浮的，好开玩笑的 | |
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deplore
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| vt.哀叹，对...深感遗憾 | |
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flippancy
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| n.轻率；浮躁；无礼的行动 | |
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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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muffled
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| adj.（声音）被隔的；听不太清的；（衣服）裹严的；蒙住的v.压抑，捂住( muffle的过去式和过去分词 )；用厚厚的衣帽包着（自己） | |
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shrilled
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| （声音）尖锐的，刺耳的，高频率的( shrill的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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whining
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| n. 抱怨，牢骚 v. 哭诉，发牢骚 | |
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mowing
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| n.割草，一次收割量，牧草地v.刈，割( mow的现在分词 ) | |
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squeaking
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| v.短促地尖叫( squeak的现在分词 )；吱吱叫；告密；充当告密者 | |
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bellowed
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| v.发出吼叫声，咆哮（尤指因痛苦）( bellow的过去式和过去分词 )；（愤怒地）说出（某事），大叫 | |
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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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deflected
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| 偏离的 | |
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steering
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| n.操舵装置 | |
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pointed
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| adj.尖的，直截了当的 | |
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prey
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| n.被掠食者，牺牲者，掠食；v.捕食，掠夺，折磨 | |
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reigned
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| vi.当政，统治（reign的过去式形式） | |
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bustling
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| adj.喧闹的 | |
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triumphantly
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| ad.得意洋洋地；得胜地；成功地 | |
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maxim
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| n.格言，箴言 | |
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disorder
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| n.紊乱，混乱；骚动，骚乱；疾病，失调 | |
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abominable
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| adj.可厌的，令人憎恶的 | |
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dispersed
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| adj. 被驱散的, 被分散的, 散布的 | |
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gravel
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| n.砂跞；砂砾层；结石 | |
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interfere
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| v.(in)干涉，干预；(with)妨碍，打扰 | |
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