Hugh Walpole

“ Thompson went up to London. The rumors that sprang to life were marvelous. Stokesley had been seen at a theatre in London and had been chased all the way down the Strand by an enormous crowd. Raikes had struck a policeman and been put in a cell. They had been to Buckingham Palace and interviewed her Majesty. They had started on a slaver for the South Seas. They had taken up jobs as waiters in a London restaurant——
To Jeremy, these days were torture. In the first place, he was dazzled by their splendor. Why had he been such a fool as to refuse to go with them? One might die to-morrow. ”

“ But had Jeremy told all that he knew on that first Sunday evening, many precious hours might have been gained and the fugitives caught at once. Alone in that little dormitory at night, the two empty beds staring at him, he had fallen into dreams—distressing, accusing nightmares. By Tuesday morning he was not at all sure that he was not a desperate criminal, worthy of prison and perhaps, even, of hanging. ”

“ Boys are extraordinarily susceptible to atmosphere. During the cricket term, Jeremy had been of no account at all—quite a decent kid, but no use at cricket. But before the autumn term was a week old, he was spoken as the probable scrum half that year, kid though he was. Stokesley was in the first fifteen as a forward, but his place was a little uncertain, and Pug Raikes was nowhere near the first fifteen at all and cared nothing for football. ”

“ It’s so dull. You must feel that yourself, Stocky, even with your beastly football. Nothing ever happens, and it’s ages before we go to Rugby. You’d much better come, too. Of course you’re a bit young, but they’ll probably want a cabin-boy on the ship, and then we’ll be in the South Seas where you bathe all the time and can shy at coconuts, and there are heaps and heaps of monkeys, and you shoot tigers and—” He paused for breath..
A cabin-boy! Had it not been one of his earliest dreams? Jeremy’s mind flew back to that day, now so long ago, when he had begged the sea-captain to take him. ”

“ Thompson paused, looked out of the window, walked up and down the room a little, then said:
“I make it a rule always to believe what any boy tells me. I’ve never found you untruthful, Cole. I don’t say that you’re not telling the truth now, but I know what you boys’ code is. You mustn’t sneak about another boy whatever happens. That’s a code that has something to be said for it. It happens to have nothing to be said for it just now. You’re young, and I don’t expect you realize what this means. It involves many people besides themselves—their fathers and mothers and every one in this school. ”

“ It will be a Sunday—probably next Sunday. We’re allowed off all the afternoon, and there’s a train at Saroby Junction that goes to London at four o’clock. We’ll be in London by seven.”
“If they catch you,” said Jeremy slowly, “there’ll be the most awful row.”
“Of course,” said Stokesley contemptuously. “But they won’t. How can they? We’ll be in London by call-over. And we’ll move to different hotels, and as soon as we think they’re on to us, we’ll be off to Southampton. There are boats go every day.”
It was plain that Raikes was caught more and more deeply as Stokesley developed the plan. ”

“ We cannot lead completely selfish lives—God does not mean us to do so. Our school is our friend. We belong to it, and we must be proud oi it.”
He stepped back. The school-sergeant came forward and whispered something to Stokesley. Stokesley himself undid his braces. His trousers fell down over his ankles. He bent forward over the table, hiding his face with his hands. Jeremy could not look. He felt sick; he wanted to cry. He heard the sound of the descending birch. One, two, three, four, five, six, seven—would it never end?—eight, nine, ten, eleven, twelve. ”