George Manville Fenn

“ We were in the schoolroom, deep in private study, and as Mercer studied, he kept on turning his eyes to gaze round the room, repeating his lessons all the while, so that he would not have looked particular if any one had been watching us, but no one was visible. Every now and then the voices of the boys in the play-field floated toward us, and we sat in momentary expectation of being seen by one of the bigger fellows, and ordered off into the field by our tyrants; but the moments still glided by, and at last Mercer thrust his book into his desk. ”

“ I cried merrily.
“Ah, you’re getting tired of natural history,” said Mercer, seating himself on the edge of the bin, and looking lovingly down at its contents, for this conversation took place up in the loft.
“Wrong!” I cried. “I get fonder of it every day; but I’m not going to skin and stuff things to please anybody, not even you.”
“I’m sorry for you,” said Mercer. “You’re going to be a soldier. My father says I’m to be a doctor. You’re going to destroy, and I’m going to preserve.” ”

“ I said; “it was Lom here.”
“Nay, lad, you got hold of him diving, first. If it hadn’t been for you, I shouldn’t have had anything to rub. But I was thinking.”
“What of, Lom?”
“Of how strange it is, lads, that we somehow have to help and do good to them who’ve always been our enemies. That chap’s always hated you, Mr Burr.”
“Yes, I’m afraid so, Lomax,” I said, with a sigh.
“And so you go into the water, and save his life.”
“Yes, ’tis rum,” said Mercer. “A nasty, disagreeable beggar. I hate him. But I am glad he wasn’t drowned.” ”

“ I don’t believe the Doctor knows. He isn’t petty; he scolds you and canes you if you’ve done anything he don’t like, but as soon as you’ve had your punishment, it’s all over, and he forgets what’s past. I say!”
“Well?”
“He will not expel us; I’m not afraid of that.”
In about half an hour, we heard Mr Rebble’s steps again.
“Now then, the physic’s ready,” whispered Mercer. “Don’t you cry out. It hurts a good deal, and the Doctor hits precious hard, but the pain soon goes off, and it will only please old Rebble if you seem to mind.” ”

“ I was to be wicket-keeper, and Mercer, from his clever and enduring running, and power to cover so much ground, was made long field off.
Burr major and Stewart were to bowl, with Dicksee as a change when necessary, for he had a peculiar knack and twist in handling a ball, and could puzzle good players by sending in an innocent-looking, slowly-pitched ball, which looked as if it was going wide, and, when it had put the batsman off his guard, and induced him to change his position, so as to send the ball flying out of the field, it would suddenly curl round and go right into the wicket. ”

“ I said; “but not military fashion.”
“You? you ride, sir?” said the old soldier scornfully. “Rubbish! Don’t talk to me. I know how you ride—like a sack of wool with two legs. Knees up to your chin and your nose parting the horse’s mane all down his neck.”
“Oh, nonsense, Lom!”
“Fact, sir, fact. Think I don’t know? A civilian rides, sir, like a monkey, bumping himself up and down, and waggling his elbows out like a young chicken learning to fly. There, you be easy, and I’ll teach you how to ride same as I did how to fight.” ”

“ You, Mercer, knew better; but you, sir, had to learn that you have broken one of the most rigid rules of my establishment. I object to fighting, as savage, brutal, and cruel, and I will not allow it here. Mr Rebble, give these boys heavy impositions, and you will both of you stop in and study every day for a fortnight under Mr Hasnip’s directions. Some principals would have administered the cane or the birch, but I object to those instruments as being, like fighting, savage, brutal, and cruel, only to be used as a last resource, when ordinary punishments suitable for gentlemen fail. ”

“ I shall break with Tom Mercer for ever, but I’ll tell him why. We’ve learned to box for something, and perhaps he’ll be best man. No, he won’t. I shall have right on my side, and as he is guilty he will feel cowardly. I will thrash him till he can hardly crawl, and then, when he is weak and miserable, I’ll tell him all I have found out, and make him go and put the watch back where Eely can find it, and then it will never be known who took it, and Mercer will not be expelled in disgrace as a common thief. ”

“ Human nature is a curious thing, and the older one grows the more strange and wonderful it seems. There was I watching Tom Mercer from the window, and the minute before I felt as if I would have given anything to have him there alone with our jackets off, to put in force the old sergeant’s teaching, knowing that I could in my passion nearly knock his head off. ”

“ I have not heard the names of the other boys who were present,” continued the Doctor.
“Please, sir, Wilson was one,” cried Dicksee.
“Thank you, Dicksee,” said the Doctor drily, as he fixed him with his glittering glasses; “I am obliged to you. History repeats itself. There has always been one in every confederation ready to betray his fellows to save his own skin. I am afraid, Dicksee, that your skin will not be safe. Were you present, Wilson?” ”

“ Come, squire, can you dress yourself?”
“Yes, if you’ll all go away,” cried Dicksee in a snarling tone. “Who’s a-going to dress with you all a-staring like that?”
“Go into the shed, Dicksee,” said Mr Rebble. “Can you walk?”
“Of course, I can, sir;” and he scrambled up.
“Had a long job of course,” said the surgeon; and then— “He don’t seem very grateful for being brought back to life. Well, gentlemen, there’s little to do. Let him go to bed soon, and have a good night’s rest. I don’t suppose he will be much worse in the morning when I come.” ”

“ For, as we passed along by the edge of the wood, a great white-breasted bird flew by, and went softly along by the side of the trees, till it disappeared far ahead.
“There’s a rabbit,” I said, as I caught sight of the white tuft of fur which so often betrays the presence of the little creatures, and directly after a sharp rap, rap—the warning given by them of danger—was heard ahead, and a dozen ran rushing out of the field into the shelter of the wood.
“Look at them, how they swarm!” cried Mercer. “Why we might catch a hundred, and no one would be a bit the worse for it. ”

“ You are a good chap. I wish a new boy would come every day. Hooray! old Rebble’s off. Bet sixpence he goes down to the river bottom-fishing. He never catches anything. Goes and sits in his spectacles, blinking at his float, and the roach come and give it a bob and are off again long before he strikes. Hi yi yi yi!” he shouted; “here we are again!” and, jumping on to the form and from there to the desk, he bent down, took lightly hold of the sides, threw up his heels, and stood on his head.
“Here, look at old Mercer!” cried a boy.
“Bravo, Senna T!” ”

“ In other words, he was going to try and smooth over his despicable behaviour.
“A coward! A sneak! I hate him!” I muttered, as I stood there close to the window, as if unable to drag myself away, but listening greedily all the while, as Mercer went on in an excited whisper, insulting me, as I called it.
“Oh, I say, do speak, Frank,” he said. “I can’t stop long, and there’d be a row if any one knew I came to you. I am so sorry, Frank. I’ve been down to Polly Hopley’s, and bought a lot of her turnovers and some sweet tuck. I want to send it up to you. Haven’t you any string?” ”

“ Mr Hasnip, whom he now publicly presented to us, was an Oxford gentleman, who would take our weak points in hand, strengthen them, and help him, the Doctor, to maintain the high position his establishment had held for so many years.
Of course we all looked very hard at the new usher, who was a pale, yellowish-looking man, with eyes hidden by smoked glasses, which enabled him to see without being seen, and he now smiled at us as if he were going to bite, and was nicknamed Parsnip by Mercer on the instant.
“He’ll be a teaser,” whispered Mercer. “Going to strengthen our weak parts, is he? ”

“ And now we shall be too late, I thought, as I hurried on my trousers, slipped out of the dormitory door, to run down to the end of the passage, where I could look out and see the sun shining brightly on the gold letters of the clock face, where, to my great delight, the hands pointed to half-past four.
Plenty of time, and I went back and roused up Mercer, who started into wakefulness, looking quite guilty.
“All right!” he said. “I only just shut my eyes. What’s o’clock?” ”

“ Why, there’s one on,” said Mercer. “Here, give me your rod;” and he stepped quickly out on to the penstock, and made a cast with my line, trying to throw it over the top part of his own rod, which was slowly sailing away, floating on the water with a curious motion going on at the end, which kept diving down, as if something was trying to draw it under water.
It was all plain enough: a fish had hooked itself, and at the first tug, the light bamboo rod had glided off the penstock, to act as a big, long float, for the cork was deep down somewhere out of sight. ”

“ What do you think of it?”
“Think of it?” cried Mercer. “I think old Eely Burr had better mind what he’s up to, or he’ll find he has made a mistake.”
“Hah!” said Lomax, “don’t you get too puffed up, my lad. You wait, for you don’t know anything at all yet. That’s just the thin end of the wedge, but still I think you’ve learned something. That’s it,” he continued, drawing off the gloves. “By and by you’ll have to fight against me, and I shall show you a few things that will startle you. But are you satisfied?”
“Why, it’s glorious!” I cried.
“What? to learn to fight with your fists?” ”

“ I thought I heard one, Magg,” whispered Mercer, ignoring the remark. “I say, let me catch the next.”
“Either of you may if you can,” he replied; and we waited again for some time.
“Try some fresh place,” whispered Mercer.
“Nay; they all run one into another; the ground under here’s like the rat-holes up at the old house. There goes one.”
For a rabbit bolted from a hole higher up, turned on seeing us, and darted up toward the pines.
“Farret’s working beautifully,” said Magglin. ”

“ He saluted us and marched off, while we went round to the back and made our way to the stables and up into the loft, for Mercer to have a peep at the ferret, which tried hard to get out. Then, closing the slate down close, he spun round, cut a caper, struck an attitude, and began sparring and dancing round me in the most absurd manner.
“Oh, only wait!” he cried, pausing to take breath. “I do feel so glad! But, I say, we mustn’t have that ferret there. I know. I’ll put it in the bin, watering-pot and all, or it’ll either get out, or some of the boys’ll come and look, and let it go.” ”

“ I said.
“More have I,” cried Mercer defiantly.
“Oh, very well,” said Burr major. “More cheeky than ever. What shall I do, boys? give ’em stick or let ’em stand up and take it?”
“A fight, a fight!” rose in chorus.
“All right. I’ll dress the groom boy, and Dicksee shall give the other chap his dose.”
A curious sensation of trouble and bewilderment came over me, as I gave a quick glance round at the bare loft, with its cob-webbed windows and eager little crowd of boys, all expectant and flushed with desire for the scene.
“Ah, look out! he’s going to bolt,” shouted Hodson. ”

“ I was a natural boy once again, and, going back to Mercer’s bedside, I began to think that there was no fun in seeing him sleeping away there while I was wide awake; so, stealing softly to his little wash-stand, I took the towel, dipped one corner carefully in the jug, and then, with a big drop ready to fall, I held it close to his nose, squeezed it a little, and the drop fell.
The effect was instantaneous.
Mercer gave a spring which made his bed creak, and sat up staring at me.
“What are you doing?” he said. “Why can’t you be quiet? Has the bell rung?” ”

“ We boys used to think the days at old Browne’s very long and tedious, and often enough feel a mortal hatred of Euclid as a tyrant who had invented geometry for the sake of driving boys mad. What distaste, too, we had for all the old Romans who had bequeathed their language to us; just as if English wasn’t ten times better, Mercer used to say.
“Bother their old declensions and conjugations!” he would cry. “What’s the good of them all? I call it a stupid language to have no proper prepositions and articles and the rest of it: tucking i’s, a’s, and e’s at the end of words instead.” ”

“ I must have been very stupid in some things, sharp as I was in others, and I have often thought since that Mr Rebble’s irritability was due to the constant trouble we gave him; that Mr Hasnip was at heart a thorough gentleman; and as for “Old Browne,” as we called him, he was a ripe scholar and a genuine loveable old Englishman, with the health and welfare of his boys thoroughly at heart.
We thought nothing of it. A boy’s nature does not grasp all these things. ”

“ I said.
“No; nearly all young rats,” said Mercer, counting. “Twenty-two,” he cried, “and all fresh. Why, they must have been caught last night. That’s a fine mouse,” he cried, taking one up by its tail.
“Why, that must be a young rat,” I said. “That little one’s a mouse.”
“No; this is a field mouse. Look at his long tail and long ears. The rats have got shorter, thicker tails, and look thicker altogether.”
“Now then, are you young gents a-coming down?” ”

“ Mercer said dolefully.
“And their nets, eh? Here, you stand still. You try to run away, and I’ll send a charge o’ small shot after you, and that can run faster than you can.”
“More’n you dare do, big Bob Hopley,” cried Magglin, backing away up the hill; and I thought how cowardly the man’s nature must be, for him to propose this expedition and then sneak away from us like that. ”

“ My father wouldn’t send me a watch without it was.”
“I can’t see any holes,” said one.
“And I don’t see any jewels,” said another.
“Where are they, then?” said Hodson.
“The other side, of course.”
“Then what’s the good of them?”
“Makes a watch more valuable,” said Burr major haughtily. “There, don’t crowd in so. I’m going to put it away now.”
“What jewels are they?” said a boy. “Pearls?”
“Diamonds,” said Mercer, with his eyes fixed on the watch, “to make hard points for the wheels to swing upon, because diamonds won’t wear.”
“Oh, hark at him!” cried Burr major. “Old Senna knows all about it. ”

“ I’m ’bliged to go there, and nothing I can do’s good enough for her. If I give her anything, she chucks it at me, because it aren’t good enough.”
“I should think not, indeed,” said Mercer. “What decent girl’s going to listen to such a ragged scaramouche as you are?”
“Well, I can’t help it, young gen’lemen.”
“Yes, you can. Go to work like a man, and grow respectable,” I said. “I should be ashamed to idle about as you do.”
“Why, aren’t you two always idling about?”
“No. We do our work first,” I said.
“I say, Magg, here comes Bob Hopley!” cried Mercer mischievously. ”

“ Lastly, I began to think I must fight, and that I had better prepare to take care of myself, for Burr major deliberately threw himself into a graceful attitude and addressed me.
“Now, you young sniveller,” he said haughtily, “you have brought this on yourself. I am going to give you a lesson that will teach you to behave yourself in future, and you too, Senna Tea. You’re fond of physic; you shall have such a dose. Mind, you boys, that old Jollop doesn’t sneak off.” ”

“ The check was caused by a ball sent skying by Hodson and cleverly caught, with the result that one of our best cricketers shouldered his bat and marched off the ground, but proudly, for he had had a splendid innings, and quite a jubilation of clapping hands ran round the field.
Another took his place, and helped Burr major to make a little longer stand, but the spirit had gone out of his play, which became more and more cautious. He stole one here and sent the ball for one there, but made no more brilliant hits for threes and fours. ”

“ We both glanced at the tray, which bore a jug and two mugs and a plate with a couple of big hunches of bread. Then Mercer looked up half reproachfully at Mr Rebble, who was moving toward the door.
“They’ve forgotten the butter, sir,” he said.
“No, my boy, no,” replied the usher; “butter is a luxury reserved for the good. The Doctor will send for you both by and by.” ”

“ I feel as if I couldn’t hit a fellow who saved my life.”
“Look here,” I said angrily, “you’re always trying to bring up that stupid nonsense about the holding you up on the penstock. If you do it again, I will hit you.”
“Boo! Not you. You’re afraid,” cried Mercer derisively. “Who pulled the chap out of the water when he was half drowned, and saved him? Who—”
I clapped my hand over his mouth.
“Won’t do, Tom,” I said. “It’s all sham. We can’t fight. I daresay old Lom’s right, though.”
“What do you mean?”
“That we shall be able to knock Eely and Dicksee into the middle of next week.” ”