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Just William · Just William

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  Chapter one of Just William. It all began with William's aunt, who was
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  in a good temper that morning and gave him a shilling for posting a letter
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  for her and carrying her parcels from the grocer's. Buy some sweets or go
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  to the pictures, she said carelessly as she gave it to him. William
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  walked slowly down the road, gazing thoughtfully at the coin. After deep calculations,
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  based on the fact that a shilling is the equivalent of two sixpences,
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  he came to the conclusion that both luxuries could be indulged in. In the
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  matter of sweets, William frankly upheld the superiority of quantity over quality. Moreover,
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  he knew every sweet shop within a two miles radius of his home whose
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  proprietor added an extra suite after the scale had descended, and he patronized these
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  shops exclusively with solemn face and eager eye. He always watched the process of
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  weighing, and stingy shops were known and banned by him. He wandered now
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  to his favorite confectioner and stood outside the window for five minutes, torn between
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  the rival attractions of gooseberry eyes and marble balls. Both were sold at four
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  ounces for twopence. William never purchased more expensive luxuries. At last, his
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  frowning brow relaxed, and he entered the shop sixpence worth of gooseberry eyes.
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  He said, with a slightly self conscious air. The extent of his purchases
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  rarely exceeded a penny, Hello, said the shopkeeper, in amused surprise.
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  Got a bit of money this morning, explained William carelessly, with the air
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  of a rothschew. He watched the weighing of the emerald green dainties with silent
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  intensity, saw with satisfaction the extra one added after the scale had fallen,
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  received the precious paper bag, and, putting two sweets into his mouth,
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  walked out of the shop. Sucking slowly, he walked down the road towards
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  the picture palace. William was not in the habit of frequenting picture palaces.
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  He had only been there once before in his life. It was a thrilling
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  program. First came the story of desperate crooks, who, on coming out
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  of any building, glanced cautiously up and down the street in huddled, crouching
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  attitudes, then crept ostentatiously on their way in a manner guaranteed to attract attention
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  and suspicion at any place and time the plot was involved. They were pursued
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  by police, they leapt on to a moving train, and then for no
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  accountable reason, leapt from that on to a moving motor car, and from
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  that they plunged into a moving river. It was thrilling, and William thrilled.
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  Sitting quite motionless, he watched with wide fascinated eyes, though his jaws
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  never ceased their rotatory movement, and every now and then his hand would go
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  mechanically to the paper bag on his knees and convey a gooseberry eye to his
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  mouth. The next play was a simple country love story in which figured a
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  simple country maiden wooed by the squire, who was marked out as the villain
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  by his mustachios. After many adventures, the simple country maiden was won by
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  a simple country son of the soil in picturesque rustic attire, whose emotions were
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  faithfully portrayed by gestures that must have required much gymnastic skill. The villain was
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  finally shown languishing in a prison cell, still indulging in frequent eyebrow play.
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  Next came another love story, this time of a noble hearted couple consumed with
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  mutual passion and kept apart not only by a series of misunderstandings possible only in
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  a picture play, but also by maidenly pride and reserve on the part of
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  the heroine, and manly pride and reserve on the part of the hero that
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  forced them to hide their ardor beneath a cold and haughty exterior. The heroine's
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  brother moved through the story like a good fairy, tender and protective towards his
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  orphaned sister, and ultimately explained to each the burning passion of the other.
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  It was moving and touching, and William was moved and touched. The next
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  was a comedy. It began by a solitary workman engaged upon the repainting of
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  the door, and ended with a miscellaneous crowd of people, all covered with
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  paint, falling downstairs on top of one another. It was amusing. William
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  was riotously and loudly amused. Lastly came the pathetic story of a drunkard's downward
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  path. He began as a wild young man in evening clothes, drinking intoxicants
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  and playing cards. He ended as a wild old man in rags, still
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  drinking intoxicants and playing cards. He had a small child with a pious and
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  superior expression, who spent her time weeping over him and exhorting him to a
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  better life, till in a moment of justifiable exasperation, he threw a beer
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  bottle at her head. He then bedewed her bed in hospital with penitent tears,
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  tore out his hair, flung up his arms toward heaven, beat his
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  waistcoat, and clasped her to his breast so that it was not to be
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  wondered at that. After all that excitement, the child had a relapse,
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  and with the words good bye, father, do not think of what you
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  have done, I forgive you, passed peacefully away. William drew a deep
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  breath at the end, and still sucking, arose with the throng and passed
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  out. Once outside, he glanced cautiously around and slunk down the road in
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  the direction of his home. Then he doubled suddenly and ran down a back
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  street. To put his imaginary pursuers off his track, he took a pencil
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  from his pocket, and, leveling it at the empty air, fired twice.
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  Two of his pursuers fell dead. The rest came on with redoubled vigor.
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  There was no time to be lost. Running for dear life, he
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  dashed down the next street, leaving in his wake an elderly gentleman, nursing
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  his toe and cursing volubly. As he neared his gait, William again drew
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  the pencil from his pocket, and, still looking back down the road and
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  firing as he went, he rushed into his own gateway. William's father,
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  who had stayed at home that day because of a bad headache and a touch
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  of liver, picked himself up from the middle of a rhododendron bush and seized
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  William by the back of his neck. You young ruffian, he roared,
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  What do you mean by charging into me like that? William gently disengaged himself.
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  Bubbah, I wasn't chargin, father, he said meekly. I was
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  only just coming in at the gate, same as other folks. I just
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  wasn't lookin just the way you were comin out. But can't look always at
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  once cause be quiet, roared William's father. Like the rest of the family,
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  he dreaded William's eloquence. What's that on your tongue? Put your tongue
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  out, William obeyed. The color of William's tongue would have put to shame
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  Spring's freshest tents. How many times am I to tell you? Bellowed William's
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  father that I won't have you going about eating filthy poisons all day between meals.
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  It's not filthy poison, said William. It's just a few sweets.
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  Aunt Susan gave me cause I kindly went to the post office for her.
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  And be quiet, Have you got any more of the foul things? They're
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  not foul things, said William doggedly. They're good. Just have one and
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  try. They're just a few sweets. Aunt Susan kindly gave me, and
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  be quiet? Where are they? Slowly and reluctantly, William drew forth his
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  bag. His father seized it and flung it far into the bushes. For
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  the next ten minutes, William conducted a thorough and systematic search among the bushes,
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  and for the rest of the day consumed gooseberry eyes and garden soil in
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  fairly equal proportions. He wandered round to the back garden and climbed on to
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  the wall. Hello, said the little girl next door, looking up.
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  Something about the little girl's head and curls reminded William of the simple country maiden.
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  There was a touch of the artistic temperament about William. He promptly felt
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  himself the simple country sun of the soil. Hello, Joan, he said,
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  in a deep, husky voice, intended to be expressive of intense affection.
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  Have you missed me while I've been away? Didn't know you've been away,
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  said Joan. Why are you talking so funny? For I'm not talkin
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  funny, said William, in the same husky voice. I can't help talking
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  like this. You've got a cold, That's what you've got. That's what
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  mother said when she saw you splashing about with your rain tub this morning.
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  She said. The next thing that we shall hear of William Brown will be
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  he's in bed with a cold. It's not a cold, said William mysteriously.
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  It's just the way I feel. What are you eating? Gooseberry eyes?
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  Like one? He took the packet from his pocket and handed it over
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  to her. Go On, take two, three, he said, in
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  reckless generosity. But they're dirty, go on, it's only ordinary dirt.
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  It soon sucks off. They're jolly good He poured a shower of them lavishly
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  down to her. I say, he said, reverting to his character of
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  simple country lover. Did you say you'd missed me? I bet you didn't
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  think of me as much as I did of you. I just bet you
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  didn't. His voice had sunk deeper and deeper till it almost died away.
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  I say, William, does your throat hurt you? Awful that you've got
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  to talk like that? Her blue eyes were anxious and sympathetic. William put
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  one hand to his throat and frowned. Um a bit, he confessed lightly.
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  Oh William, She clasped her hands. Does it hurt all the time?
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  Her solicitude was flattering. I don't talk much about it anyway, do
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  I? He said manfully. She started up and stared at him with big
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  blue eyes. Oh, William, is it? Is it your lungs?
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  I've got an aunt that's got lungs, and she coughs and coughs. William
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  coughed hastily, and it hurts her and makes her awful bad. Oh William,
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  I do hope you've not got lungs. Her tender, anxious little face
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  was upturned to him. I guess I have got lungs, he said,
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  but I don't make a fuss about him. He coughed again. What does
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  the doctor say about it? William considered a minute. He says it's lungs,
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  all right, he said. At last, he says, I got
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  her. Be jolly careful, William. Would you like my new paint box.
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  I don't think so, not now, thanks. I've got three balls
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  and one's quite new. Wouldn't you like it? William? No? Thanks,
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  You see, it's it's no use my collectin a lot of things.
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  You never know with lungs. Oh, William, Her distress was pathetic,
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  of course, he said hastily. If I'm careful, it'll be all right.
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  Don't you worry about me. Joan from the house. That's mother.
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  Good bye, William, Dear. If father brings me home any chocolate,
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  I'll bring it in to you, I will, honest. Thanks for the
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  gooseberry eyes. Goodbye, goodbye, and don't worry about me, he added
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  bravely. He put another gooseberry eye into his mouth and wandered round aimlessly to
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  the front of the house. His grown up sister Ethel was at the front
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  door, shaking hands with a young man. I'll do all I can for
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  you, she was saying earnestly. Their hands were clasped. I know you
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  will, he said, equally earnestly. Both look and handclasp were long.
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  The young man walked away. Ethel stood at the door, gazing after him,
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  with a far away look in her eyes. William was interested. That
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  was Jack Morgan, wasn't it. He said, yes, said Ethel absently,
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  and went into the house. The look, the long hand clasp.
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  The words lingered in William's memory. They must be jolly fond of each other,
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  like people are when they are engaged. But he knew they weren't engaged.
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  Perhaps they were too proud to let each other know how fond they were
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  of each other. Like the man and girl at the pictures, Ethel wanted
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  a brother like the one in the pictures, to let the man know that
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  she was fond of him. Then a light came suddenly into William's mind,
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  and he stood deep in thought. Inside the dining room, Ethel was talking
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  to her mother. He's going to propose to her next Sunday. He told
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  me about it because I'm her best friend, and he wanted to ask me
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  if I thought he'd any chance I said, I thought he had, And
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  I said I'd try and prepare her a little and put in a good word
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  for him if I could. Isn't it thrilling? Yes? Dear, By
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  the way, did you see William anywhere? I do hope he's not in
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  mischief. He was in the front garden a minute ago. She went to
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  the window. Now he's not there now. Though William had just arrived at
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  mister Morgan's house, the maid showed him up into mister Morgan's sitting room.
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  Mister Brown, she announced. The young man rose to receive his guest with
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  politeness not unmixed with bewilderment. His quaintance with William was of the slightest good
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  afternoon, said William. I've come from Ethel. Yes. Yes, William
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  fumbled in his pocket and at last drew forth a rosebud, slightly crushed by
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  its close confinement, in the company of the gooseberry eyes, A penknife,
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  a top, and a piece of putty. She sent you, this,
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  said William gravely. Mister Morgan gazed at it with the air of one who
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  is sleepwalking. Yes, er very kind of her, kinder keepsake souvenir explained
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  William, Yes, er er any message? Oh, yes, she wants
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  you to come in and see her this evening. Er. Yes, of
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  course, I've just come from her. Perhaps she remains remembered something she wanted
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  to tell me after I'd gone, Perhaps than any particular time. No,
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  about seven, I expect. Oh yes, mister Morgan's eyes were fixed with
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  a fascinated, wondering gaze upon the limp and by no means spotless rosebud.
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  You say she sent this yes, and no other message? No? Uh,
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  well say I'll come with pleasure, will you? Yes? Silence?
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  Then she thinks an awful lot of you ethel does Mister Morgan passed a hand
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  over his brow. Yes kind, very kind, I'm sure, always talking
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  about you in her sleep, went on William, warming to his theme.
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  I sleep in the next room and I can hear her talking about you all
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  night, just saying your name over and over and over again. Jack Morgan,
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  Jack Morgan, Jack Morgan. William's voice was husky and soulful, just
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  like that, over and over again, Jack Morgan, Jack Morgan, Jack
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  Morgan. Mister Morgan was speechless. He sat gazing with horror stricken face at
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  his young visitor are you sure, he said at last. It might be
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  someone else's name, now,'tisn't, said William firmly. It's yours,
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  Jack Morgan, Jack Morgan, Jack Morgan, just like that, And she
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  eats just nothing now, always hanging round the windows to watch you pass.
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  The perspiration stood out in beads on mister Morgan's brow. It's horrible, he
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  said at last, in a hoarse whisper. William was gratified the young man
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  had at last realized his cruelty. But William never liked to leave a task
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  half done. He still sat on and calmly and silently considered his next statement.
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  Mechanically, he put a hand into his pocket and conveyed a gooseberry eye
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  to his mouth. Mister Morgan also sat in silence, with a stricken look
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  upon his face, gazing into vacancy. She's got your photo, said William,
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  at last, fixed up into one of those little round things on a
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  chain round her neck. Are you sure, said mister Morgan desperately. Sure's
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  fate, said William, rising, Well, i'd better be gone. She
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  particular wants to see you alone to night goodbye. But mister Morgan did not
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  answer. He sat huddled up in his chair, staring in front of him,
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  long after William had gone jauntily on his way. Then he moistened his
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  dry lips. Good lord, he groaned. William was thinking of the pictures
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  as he went home. That painter one was jolly good when they all got
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  all over paint and when they fell downstairs. William suddenly guffawed out loud at
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  the memory. But what had the painter Chap been doing at the very beginning
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  before he began to paint. He'd been getting off the old paint with a
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  sort of torch thing and a knife. Then he began putting the new paint
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  on, just sort of melting the old paint and then scraping it off.
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  William had never seen it done in real life, but he supposed that was
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  the way you did get old paint off, melting it with some sort of
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  fire, then scraping it off. He wasn't sure whether it was that,
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  but he could find out. As he entered the house, he took his
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  penknife from his pocket, opened it thoughtfully, and went upstairs. Mister Brown
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  came home about dinner time. How's your head, father, said Ethel sympathetically.
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  Rotten, said mister Brown, sinking wearily into an arm chair. Perhaps
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  dinner will do it good, said missus browne it ought to be ready now.
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  The housemaid entered the room. Mister Morgan, Mum, he wants to
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  see Miss Ethel. I've shown him into the library, now, exploded mister
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  Brown. What the de why the dickens? Is the young idiot coming at
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  this time of day, seven o'clock? What time does he think we have
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  dinner? What does he mean by coming round paying calls on people at dinner
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  time? What? Ethel, dear, interrupted missus Brown. Do go and
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  see what he wants and get rid of him as soon as you can.
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  Ethel entered the library, carefully closing the door behind her to keep out the
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  sound of her father's comments, which were plainly audible across the hall. She
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  noticed something wan and haggard looking on mister Morgan's face as he rose to greet
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  her. Er good good evening, Miss Brown, Good evening, mister Morgan.
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  Then they sat in silence, both awaiting some explanation of the visit.
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  The silence became oppressive. Mister Morgan, with an air of acute misery and
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  embarrassment, shifted his feet and coughed ethel looked at the clock. Then,
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  Ah, was it raining when you came, mister Morgan raining, Er,
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  no, no, not at all. Silence. I thought it looked like
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  rain this afternoon. Ah, yes, of course, Er, no,
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  not at all. Silence. It does make the road so bad round here
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  when it rains. Yes, mister Morgan put up a hand as though to
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  loosen his collar. Er very bad, almost impassable. Er quite silence Again.
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  Inside the drawing room, mister Brown was growing restive. Is dinner to
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  be kept waiting for that youth all night? Quarter past seven? You know,
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  it's just what I can't stand having my meals interfered with. Is my
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  digestion to be ruined simply because this young nincompoop chooses to pay his social calls
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  at seven o'clock at night, Well then we must ask him to dinner,
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  said missus Brown desperately. We really must. We must not, said mister
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  Brown. Can't I stay away from the office for one day with a headache
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  without having to entertain all the young jackasses for miles around? The telephone bell
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  rang. He raised his hands above his head. Oh I'll go, dear,
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  said Missus Brown hastily. She returned with a worried frown on her brow.
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  It's Missus Clive, she said. She says Joan has been very sick
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  because of some horrible sweets William gave her. And she said she was so
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  sorry to hear about William and hoped he'd be better soon. I couldn't quite
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  make it out, but it seems that William has been telling them that he
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  had to go and see a doctor about his lungs, and the doctor said
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  they were very weak and he'd have to be careful. Mister Browne sat up
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  and looked at her. But but wh why on on earth? He said
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  slowly. I don't know, dear, said missus Browne helplessly. I don't
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  know anything about it. He's mad, said mister brown with conviction. Mad.
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  It's the only explanation. Then came the opening and shutting of the front
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  door, and Ethel entered. She was very flushed. He's gone, she
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  said, mother, it's simply horrible. He didn't tell me much, but
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  it seems that William actually went to his house and told him that I wanted
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  to see him alone at seven o'clock this evening. I've hardly spoken to William
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  to day. He couldn't have misunderstood anything I said. And he actually took
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  a flower with him, a dreadful looking rosebud, and said, I'd scent
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  it. I simply didn't know where to look or what to say. It
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  was horrible. Missus Brown sat gazing weakly at her daughter. Mister Brown rose
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  with the air of a man goaded beyond endurance. Where is William, he
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  said shortly. I don't know, but I thought I heard him go upstairs
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  some time ago. William was upstairs for the last twenty minutes. He had
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  been happily and quietly engaged upon his bedroom door with a lighted taper in one
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  hand and penknife in the other. There was no doubt about it. By
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  successful experiment, he had proved that that was the way you got old paint
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  off. When mister Brown came upstairs, he had entirely stripped one panel of
• 27:08
  its paint. An hour later, William sat in the back garden on an
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  upturned box, sucking with a certain dogged defiance the last and dirtiest of the
• 27:22
  gooseberry eyes. Sadly, he reviewed the day. It had not been a
• 27:27
  success. His generosity to the little girl next door had been misconstrued into an
• 27:33
  attempt upon her life. His efforts to help his only sister's love affair had
• 27:40
  been painfully misunderstood. Lastly, because, among other things, he had discovered
• 27:47
  a perfectly scientific method of removing old paint, he had been brutally assaulted by
• 27:53
  a violent and unreasonable parent. Suddenly, William began to work under If his
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  father drank, he saw himself through a mist of pathos, as a drunkard's
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  child. He tried to imagine his father weeping over him in hospital and begging
• 28:12
  his forgiveness. It was a wonder he wasn't there now anyway. His shoulder
• 28:19
  drooped, his whole attitude became expressive of extreme dejection. Inside the house,
• 28:29
  his father, reclining at length in an arm chair, discoursed to his wife
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  on the subject of his son. One hand was pressed to his aching brow
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  and the other gesticulating freely. He's insane, he said, stark, raving
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  insane. You ought to take him to a doctor and get his brain examined.
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  Look at him to day. He begins by knocking me into the middle
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  of the rhododendron bushes under no provocation. Mind you, I hadn't spoken to
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  him. Then he tries to poison that nice little thing next door with some
• 29:07
  vile stuff I thought I'd thrown away. Then he goes about telling people he's
• 29:12
  consumptive. He looks at, doesn't he. Then he takes extraordinary messages and
• 29:18
  love tokens from Ethel to strange young men and brings them here just when we're
• 29:25
  going to begin dinner, and then goes round burning and hacking at the doors.
• 29:30
  What's the sense in it, in any of it? They're the acts
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  of a lunatic. You ought to have his brain examined. Missus Brown cut
• 29:41
  off her darning wool and laid aside the sock she had just finished darning.
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  Oh it certainly sounds very silly, dear, she said mildly. But there
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  might be some explanation of it all, if only we knew boys are such
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  funny things. She looked at the clock and went over to the window.
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  William, she called, it's your bedtime, dear. William rose sadly and
• 30:08
  came slowly into the house. Good Night, mother, he said. Then
• 30:14
  he turned a mournful and reproachful eye upon his father. Good Night father,
• 30:19
  he said, don't think about what you've done. I for he stopped and
• 30:25
  decided hastily but wisely, to retire with all possible speed and of chapter one.
• 30:37
  Chapter two, William the intruder. She's different from everybody else in the
• 30:45
  world, stammered Robert ecstatically. You simply couldn't describe her. No one could.
• 30:52
  His mother continued to darn his socks and made no comment. Only William,
• 30:59
  his young brother, showed interest. How she different from any one else?
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  He demanded? Is she blind or lame or something? Robert turned on
• 31:10
  him with exasperation. Oh, go and play at trains, he said,
• 31:15
  A child like you can't understand anything. William retired with dignity to the window
• 31:22
  and listened with interest, unabated to the rest of the conversation. Yes,
• 31:29
  but who is she, dear, said their mother Robert. I can't think
• 31:33
  how you get these big holes in your heels. Robert ran his hands wildly
• 31:38
  through his hair. I've told you who she is, mother, he said,
• 31:44
  I've been talking about her ever since I came into the room. Yes,
• 31:48
  I know, dear, but you haven't mentioned her name or anything about
• 31:52
  her. Well, Robert spoke with an air of superhuman patience. She's a
• 32:00
  miss Cannon and she's staying with the Clives. And I met her out with
• 32:05
  Missus Clive this morning, and she introduced me. And she's the most beautiful
• 32:09
  girl I've ever seen. And she ah, yes, said missus Brown hastily.
• 32:15
  You told me all that, well, went on the infatuated Robert.
• 32:21
  We must have her to tea. I know I can't marry yet, not
• 32:24
  while I'm still at college. But I could get to know her. Not
• 32:30
  that I suppose she'd look at me. She's miles above me, miles above
• 32:35
  anyone. She's the most beautiful girl I've ever seen. You can't imagine her.
• 32:42
  You wouldn't believe me if i'd described her. No one could describe her,
• 32:47
  she missus Brown interrupted him with haste. I'll ask missus Clive to bring
• 32:52
  her over one afternoon. I've no more of this blue wool, Robert.
• 32:59
  I wish you didn't have your socks such different colors. I shall have to
• 33:02
  use mauve. It's right on the heel. It won't show, Robert gave
• 33:08
  a gasp of horror. You can't, mother, how do you know it
• 33:14
  won't show? And even if it didn't show, the thought of it,
• 33:19
  it's it's a crisis. Of my life. Now I've met her. I
• 33:22
  can't go about feeling ridiculous, I say, said William, open mouthed.
• 33:30
  Are you spoony on her? William, don't use such vulgar expressions, said
• 33:36
  missus Brown. Robert just feels a friendly interest in her, don't you,
• 33:40
  Robert? A friendly interest? Groaned Robert in despair. No one ever tries
• 33:47
  to understand what I feel. After all, I've told you about her,
• 33:52
  and that she's the most beautiful girl I've ever seen, and miles above me
• 33:58
  and above any one. And you think I feel a friendly interest in her?
• 34:05
  It's It's the one great passion of my life. It's well, put
• 34:09
  in Missus Brown mildly. I'll ring up Missus Clive and ask if she's doing
• 34:15
  anything tomorrow afternoon. Robert's tragic young face lit up. Then he stood wrapped
• 34:22
  in thought and a cloud of anxiety overcast. It. Ellen can press the
• 34:28
  trousers of my brown suit to night, can't? She? And mother?
• 34:32
  Could you get me some socks and a tie before tomorrow? Blue? I
• 34:37
  think a bright blue, you know, not too bright, but not so
• 34:42
  as you don't notice them. I wish the laundry was a decent one.
• 34:46
  You know, a man's collar ought to shine when it's new on. They
• 34:51
  never put a shine on to them. I'd better have some new ones for
• 34:54
  tomorrow. It's so important how one looks. She people judge you on how
• 35:01
  you look. They at Missus Brown laid her work aside. I'll go and
• 35:07
  ring up Missus Clive now, she said. When she returned, William had
• 35:13
  gone, and Robert was standing by the window, his face pale with suspense
• 35:17
  and a napoleonic frown on his brow. Missus Clive can't come, announced Missus
• 35:24
  Brown in her comfortable voice. But miss Cannon will come alone. It appears
• 35:30
  she's met Ethel before, so you needn't worry any more, dear, Robert
• 35:37
  gave a sardonic laugh. Worry, he said, there's plenty to worry about.
• 35:42
  Still, what about William? Well, what about him? Well?
• 35:49
  Can't he go away somewhere tomorrow? Things never go right when William's there,
• 35:54
  you know they don't. The poor boy must have tea with us, Dear.
• 36:00
  He'll be very good. I'm sure Ethel will be home then and she'll
• 36:05
  help. I'll tell William not to worry you. I'm sure he'll be good.
• 36:12
  William had received specific instructions. He was not to come into the house
• 36:17
  till the tea bell rang, and he was to go out and play in
• 36:21
  the garden again directly after tea. He was perfectly willing to obey them.
• 36:28
  He was thrilled by the thought of Robert in the role of the lovelorn hero.
• 36:32
  He took the situation quite seriously. He was in the garden when the
• 36:37
  visitor came up the drive. He had been told not to obtrude himself upon
• 36:43
  her notice, so he crept up silently and peered at her through the rhododendron
• 36:49
  bushes. The proceeding also happened to suit his character of the moment, which
• 36:53
  was that of a red Indian chief. Miss Cannon was certainly pretty. She
• 37:00
  had brown hair, brown eyes, and dimples that came and went in her
• 37:05
  rosy cheeks. She was dressed in white and carried a parasol. She walked
• 37:10
  up the drive, looking neither to right nor left, till a slight movement
• 37:15
  in the bushes arrested her attention. She turned quickly and saw a small boy's
• 37:22
  face smeared black with burnt cork and framed in hen's feathers tied on with tape.
• 37:29
  The dimples peeped out. Hail O, great chief, she said.
• 37:35
  William gazed at her open mouth. Such intelligence on the part of a grown
• 37:40
  up was unusual, Chief red Hand, he supplied, with a fierce scowl.
• 37:47
  She bowed, low, brown eyes alight with merriment. And what death
• 37:53
  awaits the poor white face who has fallen defenseless into his hand? You better
• 38:00
  come quiet to my wigwoman Sea, said Red Hand darkly. She threw a
• 38:07
  glance to the bend in the drive behind which lay the house, and with
• 38:12
  a low laugh, followed him through the bushes. From one point the drawing
• 38:16
  room window could be seen, and there the anxious Robert stood, pale with
• 38:22
  anxiety, stiff and upright in his newly creased trousers, well turned up to
• 38:29
  show the new blue socks, his soulful eyes fixed steadfastly on the bend in
• 38:35
  the drive round which the beloved should come every now and then his nervous hand
• 38:40
  wandered up to touch the new tie and gleaming new collar, which was rather
• 38:46
  too high and too tight for comfort, but which the shopkeeper had informed his
• 38:52
  hairesed customer was the latest and most correct shape. Meanwhile, while the beloved
• 39:00
  had reached William's dugout. William had made this himself of branches cut down from
• 39:07
  the trees, and spent many happy hours in it with one or other of
• 39:12
  his friends. Here is the wigwam, Pale Face, he said, in
• 39:16
  a sepulchral voice. Stand here while I decide with Snake Face and the other
• 39:22
  chiefs what's going to be done to you. There's snake Face and the others,
• 39:27
  he added in his natural voice, pointing to a small cluster of shrubs.
• 39:32
  Approaching these, he stood and talked fiercely and unintelligibly for a few minutes,
• 39:39
  turning his scowling, corked face and pointing his finger at her every now
• 39:45
  and then, as apparently he described his capture. Then he approached her again.
• 39:53
  That was read Indian what I was talking, then, he explained in
• 39:58
  his ordinary voice, then, sinking into its low roaring note and scowling more
• 40:05
  ferociously than ever, Snake Face says to Pale Face must be scalped and cooked
• 40:08
  and eate. He took out a penknife and opened it as though to perform
• 40:15
  the operation. Then continued, But me and the others say that if you'll
• 40:21
  be a squaw and cook for us. We'll let you go alive. Miss
• 40:25
  Cannon dropped on to her knees, most humble and grateful. Thanks great Red
• 40:31
  Hand, she said, I will with pleasure be your squaw. I've got
• 40:37
  a fire round here, said William, proudly, leading her to the back
• 40:42
  of the wigwam, where a small wood fire smoldered spiritlessly, choked by a
• 40:47
  large tin full of a dark liquid. That o, squaw said, Red
• 40:53
  Hand, with a dramatic gesture, is a pale face we caught last night.
• 41:00
  The squaw clasped her hands together. Oh how lovely, she said,
• 41:06
  is he cooking? Red Hand nodded. Then I'll get you some feathers,
• 41:12
  he said, obligingly. You ought to have feathers too. He retired into
• 41:16
  the depth of the wigwam and returned with a handful of hen feathers. Miss
• 41:22
  Cannon took off her big, shady hat and stuck the feathers into her fluffy
• 41:28
  brown hair. With a laugh. This is jolly, she said, I
• 41:32
  love red Indians. I've got some cork. You can have to do your
• 41:37
  face too, went on William, with reckless generosity. It soon burns in
• 41:43
  the fire. She threw a glance towards the chimneys of the house that could
• 41:47
  be seen through the trees, and shook her pretty head regretfully. I'm afraid
• 41:53
  i'd better not, she said, sadly. Well, he said, Now
• 41:59
  I'll go huntin, and you stir the pale face, and we'll eat him
• 42:01
  when I come back. Now i'll be off. You watch me track.
• 42:07
  He opened his clasp knife with a bloodthirsty flourish, and casting sinister glances round
• 42:14
  him, crept upon his hands and knees into the bushes. He circled about
• 42:20
  well within his squaw's vision, obviously bent upon impressing her. She stirred the
• 42:27
  mixture in the tin with a twig and threw him every now and then the
• 42:31
  admiring glances he so evidently desired. Soon he returned, carrying over his shoulder
• 42:39
  a door mat, which he threw down at her feet. A venison o
• 42:45
  squaw, he said, in a lordly voice, Let it be cooked.
• 42:50
  I've had it out all morning, he added, in his ordinary tones.
• 42:54
  They've not missed it yet. He fetched from the wigwam two small jagged tins,
• 43:01
  and, taking the larger tin off the fire, poured some into each.
• 43:07
  Now, he said, here's some pale face for you. Squaw.
• 43:12
  Oh, she said, I'm sure he's awfully good. But oh, you
• 43:16
  needn't be frightened of it, said William protectively. It's jolly good, I
• 43:21
  can tell you. He picked up the paper cover of a packet of soup
• 43:24
  from behind the trees. It's just that and water, and it's jolly good.
• 43:30
  How lovely do they let you? They don't let me, he broke
• 43:37
  in hastily. But there's heaps in the larder and they don't notice one every
• 43:42
  now and then, go on encouragingly. I don't mind you, haven't it,
• 43:46
  honest, I don't. I'll get some more soon. Bravely, she
• 43:52
  raised the tin to her lips and took a sip. Gorgeous, she said,
• 43:57
  shutting her eyes, and then she drank the tin. William's face shone
• 44:02
  with pride and happiness, but it clouded over as the sound of a bell
• 44:07
  rang out from the house. Crumbs, that's tea. Hastily, Miss Cannon
• 44:14
  took the feathers from her hair and put on her hat. You don't keep
• 44:20
  a looking glass in your wigwam I suppose? She said? N No,
• 44:24
  admitted William. But I'll get one for next time you come. I'll get
• 44:29
  one from Ethel's room. Won't she mind? She won't know, said William,
• 44:35
  simply. Miss Cannon smoothed down her dress. I'm horribly late. What
• 44:42
  will they think of me? It was awful of me to come with you.
• 44:46
  I'm always doing awful things. That's a secret between you and me.
• 44:52
  She gave William a smile that dazzled him. Now come in and we'll confess.
• 45:00
  I can't, said William. I've got to wash and come down tidy.
• 45:05
  I promised I would. It's a special day because of Robert. You
• 45:09
  know, well, you know because of Robert. He looked up at her
• 45:15
  mystified face with a significant nod. Robert was frantic. He had run his
• 45:23
  hands through his hair so often that it stood around his head like a spiked
• 45:29
  hal We can't begin without her, he said. She'll think we're awful.
• 45:34
  It will put her off me forever. She's not used to being treated like
• 45:39
  that. She's the sort of girl people don't begin without. She's the most
• 45:45
  beautiful girl I've ever met in all my life. And you, my own
• 45:50
  mother, treat her like this. You may be ruining my life. You've
• 45:55
  got no idea what this means to me? If you'd seen her, you'd
• 46:00
  feel more sympathy. I simply can't describe her. I I I set four
• 46:06
  o'clock, Robert said missus Brown firmly, and it's after half past. Ethel,
• 46:12
  tell Emma she can ring the bell and bring in tea. The perspiration
• 46:16
  stood out on Robert's brow. It's the downfall of all my hopes, he
• 46:23
  said hoarsely. Then a few minutes after the echoes of the tea bell died
• 46:30
  away, the front door bell rang sharply. Robert stroked his hair down with
• 46:36
  wild, unrestrained movements of his hands, and summoned a tortured smile to his
• 46:42
  lips. Miss Cannon appeared upon the threshold, bewitching and demure. Aren't I
• 46:51
  perfectly disgraceful? She said, with her low laugh. To tell the truth,
• 46:55
  I met your little boy in the drive, and I've been with him
• 47:00
  some time. He's a perfect little dear, isn't he. Her brown eyes
• 47:06
  rested on Robert. Robert moistened his lips and smiled the tortured smile, but
• 47:13
  was beyond speech. Yes, I know, Ethel, and I met your
• 47:16
  son yesterday, wasn't it Robert murmured unintelligibly, raising one hand to the two
• 47:24
  tight collar, and then bowed vaguely in her direction. Then they went in
• 47:30
  to tea. William, his hair well brushed, the cork partially washed from
• 47:37
  his face, and the feathers removed, arrived a few minutes later. Conversation
• 47:44
  was carried on, chiefly by Miss Cannon and ethel Robert racked his brain for
• 47:50
  some striking remark, something that would raise him in her esteem, far above
• 47:54
  the ranks of the ordinary young man, but nothing came. Whenever her brown
• 48:00
  eyes rested on him, however, he summoned the mirthless smile to his lips
• 48:07
  and raised a hand to relieve the strain of the imprisoning collar. Desperately he
• 48:13
  felt the precious moments passing, and his passion yet unrevealed except by his eyes,
• 48:21
  whose message he was afraid she had not read. As they rose from
• 48:25
  tea, William turned to his mother with an anxious, sibilant whisper. Ought
• 48:31
  I to have put on my best suit too. The demure lights danced in
• 48:37
  Miss Cannon's eyes, and the look the perspiring Robert sent him would have crushed
• 48:44
  a less bold spirit. William had quite forgotten the orders he had received to
• 48:51
  retire from the scene directly after tea. He was impervious to all hints.
• 48:58
  He followed in the train of the all anchoring Miss Cannon to the drawing room
• 49:01
  and sat on the sofa with Robert, who had taken his seat next his
• 49:07
  beloved. Are you er fond of reading? Miss Cannon? Began Robert with
• 49:14
  a painful effort. I wrote a tale once, said William, boastfully,
• 49:21
  leaning over Robert before she could answer. It was a jolly good one.
• 49:25
  I showed it to some people. I'll show it to you if you like.
• 49:30
  It began with a pirate on a raft and he stole some jewelry,
• 49:35
  and the king the jewels belonged to was coming after him on a steamer,
• 49:38
  And just when he was coming up to him, he jumped into the water
• 49:42
  and took the jewels with him, and fish eat the jewels, and the
• 49:45
  king caught it, and he paused for breath. Oh, I'd love to
• 49:50
  read it, said Miss Cannon. Robert turned sideways, and resting an arm
• 49:54
  on his knee to exclude the persistent William, spoke in a husky voice,
• 50:01
  what is your favorite flower? Miss Cannon? William's small head was craned round
• 50:07
  Robert's arm. I've got a garden. I've got a virginia stock growing all
• 50:13
  over it. It grows up in no time, and a stirred and pressed
• 50:16
  grows in no time too. I like things that grow quick, don't you?
• 50:21
  You get tired of waiting for the other swords, don't you? Robert
• 50:24
  rose desperately. Would you care to see the garden and greenhouses, miss Cannon?
• 50:30
  He said, I'd love to, said Miss Cannon, with a threatening
• 50:37
  glare at William. Robert led the way to the garden, and William,
• 50:42
  all innocent animation followed. Can you tie knots? What can't become untied?
• 50:47
  He demanded? No, she said, I wish I could. I can.
• 50:53
  I'll show you. I'll get a piece of string and show you afterwards.
• 50:58
  It's easy, but it wants practice, that's all. And I'll teach
• 51:00
  you how to make aeroplanes out of paper what fly in the air when it's
• 51:04
  windy. That's quite easy, only you've got to be careful to get them
• 51:08
  the right size. I can make them, and I can make lots of
• 51:12
  things out of matchboxes and things, and the infuriated Robert interrupted, These are
• 51:17
  my father's roses. He's very proud of them. They're beautiful. Well wait
• 51:23
  till you see my Virginia stock. That's all. Wait. Will you have
• 51:28
  this te rose, miss Cannon. Robert's face was purple as he presented.
• 51:32
  It suits you. You are flowers, and you that is. I'm sure
• 51:40
  you love flowers. You should always have flowers. If I uh, and
• 51:47
  I'll get you those red ones and that white one broke in. The equally
• 51:51
  infatuated William determined not to be out shown. And I'll get you some of
• 51:57
  my Virginia stock. And I don't give my Virginia stock anyone, he added
• 52:00
  with emphasis. When they re entered the drawing room, Miss Cannon carried a
• 52:06
  large bouquet of Virginia stock and white and red roses, which completely hid Robert's
• 52:13
  tea rose. William was by her side, chatting airily and confidently. Robert
• 52:21
  followed a pale statue of despair. In answer to Robert's agonized glance, missus
• 52:29
  Brown summoned William to her corner, while Robert and Miss Cannon took their seat
• 52:34
  again upon the sofa. I I by hope, I I I hope,
• 52:38
  said Robert, soulfully. I I hope your stay here is a long one.
• 52:45
  Well, why shan't I just speak to her? William's whisper was loud
• 52:49
  and indignant. Sh dear, said Missus Brown. I should like to show
• 52:54
  you some of the walks around here, went on Robert desperately, with a
• 52:59
  fearful glance towards the corner where William stood in righteous indignation before his mother.
• 53:06
  If I could have that, or a pleasure or honor, I was only
• 53:12
  just speaking to her, went on. William's voice wasn't doing any harm?
• 53:15
  Was I only speaking to her? The silence was intense. Robert purple opened
• 53:23
  his lips to say something, anything to drown that horrible voice, but nothing
• 53:30
  would come. Miss Cannon was obviously listening to William. Is no one else
• 53:36
  ever to speak to her? The sibilant whisper, raised in indignant appeal,
• 53:42
  filled all the room just because Roberts fell in love with her. The horror
• 53:47
  of the moment haunted Robert's nights and days for weeks to come. Missus Brown
• 53:53
  coughed hastily and began to describe at unnecessary length the ravages of the caterpillars upon
• 54:00
  her husband's favorite rose tree. William withdrew with dignity to the garden a minute
• 54:07
  later, and Miss Cannon rose from the sofa. I must be going,
• 54:13
  I'm afraid, she said, with a smile. Robert, anguished and overpowered,
• 54:19
  rose slowly. You must come again some time, he said, weakly,
• 54:23
  but with passion undaunted. I will she said. I'm longing to see
• 54:30
  more of William. I adore William. They comforted Robert's wounded feelings as best
• 54:37
  they could, but it was Ethel who devised the plan that finally cheered him.
• 54:44
  She suggested a picnic on the following Thursday, which happened to be Robert's
• 54:49
  birthday and incidentally the last day of Miss Cannon's visit, and the picnic party
• 54:55
  was to consist of Robert, Ethel, missus Clive, and Miss Cannon,
• 55:01
  and William was not even to be told where it was to be. The
• 55:06
  invitation was sent that evening, and Robert spent the week dreaming of picnic lunches
• 55:13
  and suggesting impossible dainties of which the cook had never heard. It was not
• 55:21
  until she threatened to give notice that he reluctantly agreed to leave the arrangements to
• 55:25
  her. He sent his white flannels, which were perfectly clean, to the
• 55:31
  laundry, with a note attached, hinting darkly at legal proceedings if they were
• 55:37
  not sent back spotless. By Thursday morning, he went about with an expression
• 55:44
  of set and solemn purpose upon his frowning countenance. William he utterly ignored.
• 55:52
  He bought a book of poems at a second hand bookshop and kept them on
• 55:55
  the table by his bed. They saw nothing of Miss Cannon in the interval,
• 56:02
  but Thursday dawned bright and clear, and Robert's anxious spirits rose. He
• 56:08
  was presented with a watch and chain by his father, and with a bicycle
• 56:14
  by his mother, and a tin of toffee, given not without ulterior motive
• 56:20
  by William. They met missus Clive and Miss Cannon at the station and took
• 56:25
  tickets to a village a few miles away. Whence they had decided to walk
• 56:30
  to a shady spot on the riverbank. William's dignity was slightly offended by his
• 56:37
  pointed exclusion from the party, but he had resigned himself to it, and
• 56:42
  spent the first part of the morning in the character of chief red hand among
• 56:45
  the rhododendron bushes. He had added an ostrich feather found in Ethel's room to
• 56:52
  his head dress and used almost a whole cork on his face. He wore
• 56:58
  the door mat pinned to his shoulders. After melting some treacle to toffee in
• 57:05
  rain water over his smoking fire, adding orange juice, and drinking the resulting
• 57:10
  liquid, he tired of the game and wandered upstairs to Robert's bedroom to inspect
• 57:16
  his birthday presents. The tin of toffee was on the table by Robert's bed.
• 57:23
  William took one or two as a matter of course, and began to
• 57:28
  read the love poems. He was horrified a few minutes later to see the
• 57:34
  tin empty, but he fastened the lid with a sigh, wondering if Robert
• 57:39
  would guess who had eaten them. He was afraid he would anyway he'd given
• 57:45
  him them, and anyway he hadn't known he was eating them. He then
• 57:52
  went to the dressing table and tried on the watch and chain at various angles
• 57:57
  and with various postures. He finally resisted the temptation to wear them for the
• 58:02
  rest of the morning and replaced them on the dressing table. Then he wandered
• 58:08
  downstairs and round to the shed, where Robert's new bicycle stood in all its
• 58:15
  glory. It was shining and spotless, and William gazed at it in awe
• 58:21
  and admiration. He came to the conclusion that he could do it no possible
• 58:25
  harm by leading it carefully round the house. Encouraged by the fact that Missus
• 58:32
  Brown was out shopping, he walked it round the house several times. He
• 58:37
  much enjoyed the feeling of importance and possession that it gave him. He felt
• 58:43
  loath to part with it. He wondered if it was very hard to ride.
• 58:47
  He had tried to ride one once when he was staying with an aunt.
• 58:52
  He stood on a garden bench and with difficulty, transferred himself from that
• 58:58
  to the bicycle seat. To his surprise and delight, he rode for a
• 59:02
  few yards before he fell off. He tried again, and fell off again.
• 59:08
  He tried again, and rode straight into a holly bush. He forgot
• 59:15
  everything in his determination to master the art. He tried again, and again
• 59:22
  he fell off, or rode into the holly bush again and again. The
• 59:27
  shining black paint of the bicycle was scratched, the handlebars were slightly bent,
• 59:34
  and dulled. William himself was bruised and battered, but unbeaten. At last
• 59:40
  he managed to avoid the fatal magnet of the holly bush to steer an unsteady
• 59:46
  zigzag course down the drive and out into the road. He had had no
• 59:52
  particular intention of riding into the road. In fact, he was still wearing
• 59:58
  his befeathered head gear and the mat pinned to his shoulders. It was only
• 1:00:05
  when he was actually in the road that he realized that recreat was impossible,
• 1:00:09
  that he had no idea how to get off the bicycle. What followed was
• 1:00:15
  to William more like a nightmare than anything else. He saw a motorlarrye coming
• 1:00:21
  towards him, and in sudden panic, turned down a side street and from
• 1:00:25
  there into another side street. People came out of their houses to watch him
• 1:00:31
  pass. Children booed or cheered him, and ran after him in crowds,
• 1:00:37
  and William went on and on simply because he could not stop. His iron
• 1:00:44
  nerve had failed him. He had not even the presence of mind to fall
• 1:00:47
  off. He was quite lost. He had left the town behind him and
• 1:00:53
  did not know where he was going. But wherever he went he was the
• 1:00:58
  center of attraction. The strange figure with blackened streaked face, mat flying behind
• 1:01:05
  in the wind, and a head dress of feathers, from which every now
• 1:01:08
  and then one floated away, brought the population to its doors. Some said
• 1:01:15
  he had escaped from an asylum, some that he was an advertisement of something.
• 1:01:22
  The children were inclined to think he was part of a circus. William
• 1:01:25
  himself had passed beyond despair. His face was white and set. His first
• 1:01:32
  panic had changed to a dull certainty that this would go on forever. He
• 1:01:38
  would never know how to stop. He supposed he would go right across England.
• 1:01:45
  He wondered if he were near the sea now he couldn't be far off.
• 1:01:50
  He wondered if he would ever see his mother and father again, And
• 1:01:53
  his feet pedaled mechanically along. They did not reach the pedals at the lowest
• 1:02:00
  point. They had to catch them as they came up and send them down
• 1:02:04
  with all their might. It was very tiring. William wondered if people would
• 1:02:09
  be sorry if he dropped down dead. I have said that William did not
• 1:02:15
  know where he was going, but fate knew. The picnickers walked down the
• 1:02:22
  hill from the little station to the river bank. It was a beautiful morning.
• 1:02:27
  Robert, his heart and hopes high, walked beside his goddess, reveling
• 1:02:32
  in his nearness to her, though he could think of nothing to say to
• 1:02:37
  her. But Ethel and missus Clive chattered gaily. We've given William the slip,
• 1:02:43
  said Ethel with a laugh. He's no idea where we've gone even I'm
• 1:02:47
  sorry, said miss Cannon. I'd have loved William to be here. You
• 1:02:52
  don't know him, said Ethel fervently. What a beautiful morning it is,
• 1:02:59
  murmured Robert, feeling that some remark was due from him. Am I walking
• 1:03:05
  too fast for you, Miss Cannon? Oh no? May I carry your
• 1:03:09
  parasol for you? He inquired, humbly. Oh no thanks. He proposed
• 1:03:16
  a boat on the river after lunch, and it appeared that Miss Cannon would
• 1:03:21
  love it, but Ethel and miss Clive would rather stay on the bank.
• 1:03:25
  His cup of bliss was full. It would be his opportunity of sealing lifelong
• 1:03:31
  friendship with her, of arranging a regular correspondence and hinting at his ultimate intentions.
• 1:03:39
  He must tell her that, of course, while he was at college,
• 1:03:44
  he was not in a position to offer his heart and hand, but
• 1:03:47
  if she could wait, he began to compose speeches in his mind. They
• 1:03:54
  reached the bank and opened the luncheon baskets. Unhampered by Robert, the cook
• 1:04:00
  had surpassed herself. They spread the white cloth and took up their positions around
• 1:04:05
  it under the shade of the trees. Just as Robert was taking up a
• 1:04:11
  plate of sandwiches to hand them with a courteous gesture to miss Cannon, his
• 1:04:15
  eyes fell upon the long white road leading from the village to the river side,
• 1:04:21
  and remained fixed there, his face frozen with horror. The hand that
• 1:04:29
  held the plate dropped lifelessly back again on the tablecloth. Their eyes followed his.
• 1:04:36
  A curious figure was cycling along the road, a figure with blackened face
• 1:04:43
  and a few drooping feathers on its head, and a door mat flying in
• 1:04:47
  the wind. A crowd of small children ran behind, cheering. It was
• 1:04:54
  a figure vaguely familiar to them. All. It can't be, said Robert
• 1:05:00
  hoarsely, passing a hand over his brow. No one spoke. It came
• 1:05:06
  nearer and nearer. There was no mistaking it. William gasped four voices.
• 1:05:15
  William came to the end of the road. He did not turn aside to
• 1:05:20
  either of the roads by the river side. He did not even recognize or
• 1:05:26
  look at them. With set colorless face. He rode on to the river
• 1:05:30
  bank and straight amongst them. They fled from before his charge. He rode
• 1:05:38
  over the tablecloth, over the sandwiches, paddies, rolls and cakes, down
• 1:05:43
  the bank and into the river. They rescued him, and the bicycle fate
• 1:05:51
  was against Robert. Even there. It was a passing boatman who performed the
• 1:05:57
  rescue. William emerged soaked to the skin, utterly exhausted, but feeling vaguely
• 1:06:03
  heroic. He was not in the least surprised to see them. He would
• 1:06:10
  have been surprised at nothing. And Robert wiped and examined his battered bicycle in
• 1:06:17
  impotent fury in the background, while Miss Cannon pillowed William's dripping head on her
• 1:06:24
  arm, fed him on hot coffee and sandwiches, and called him my poor
• 1:06:30
  darling red hand. She insisted on going home with him. All through the
• 1:06:36
  journey she sustained the character of his faithful squaw, then leaving a casual invitation
• 1:06:45
  to Robert and Ethel to come over to tea. She departed to pack.
• 1:06:50
  Missus Brown descended the stairs from William's room with a tray on which reposed a
• 1:06:57
  half empty bowl of gruel, and met Robert in the hall. Robert,
• 1:07:01
  she remonstrated, you really needn't look so upset. Robert glared at her and
• 1:07:09
  laughed a hollow laugh. Upset, he echoed, outraged by the inadequacy of
• 1:07:15
  the expression. You'd be upset if your life was ruined, you'd be upset.
• 1:07:21
  I've a right to be upset. He passed his hand desperately through his
• 1:07:27
  already ruffled hair. You're going there to tea, she reminded him, Yes,
• 1:07:33
  he said, bitterly, with other people who can talk with other people?
• 1:07:39
  There no one can. I'd have talked to her on the river.
• 1:07:44
  I'd got heaps of things ready in my mind to say. And William comes
• 1:07:49
  along and spoils my whole life and my bicycle. And she's the most beautiful
• 1:07:57
  girl I've ever seen in my life. And I've wanted that bicycle for ever
• 1:08:01
  so long, and it's not fit to ride. But poor William has caught
• 1:08:08
  a very bad chill, dear, so you oughtn't to feel bitter to him,
• 1:08:13
  and he'll have to pay for your bicycle being mended. He'll have no
• 1:08:16
  pocket money till it's paid for. You'd think, said Robert, with a
• 1:08:20
  despairing gesture in the direction of the hall table, and apparently addressing it.
• 1:08:27
  You'd think four grown up people in a house could keep a boy of William's
• 1:08:31
  age in order, wouldn't you. You'd think he wouldn't be allowed to go
• 1:08:36
  about spoiling people's lives and ruining their bicycles. Well, he jolly won't do
• 1:08:43
  it again, he ended darkly. Missus Brown proceeded in the direction of the
• 1:08:48
  kitchen Robert, She said, soothingly over her shoulder. You surely want to
• 1:08:54
  be at peace with your little brother when he's not well. What won't you
• 1:08:59
  peace? He said. Robert turned his haggard countenance upon her, as though
• 1:09:03
  his ears must have deceived him peace. I'll wait. I'll wait till he's
• 1:09:09
  all right and going about. I won't start till then that peace. It's
• 1:09:15
  not peace. It's an armistice. That's all. End of Chapter two,
• 1:09:24
  Chapter three, William below stairs. William was feeling embittered with life in general.
• 1:09:31
  He was passing through one of his not infrequent periods of unpopularity. The
• 1:09:38
  climax had come with the gift of sixpence bestowed on him by a timid ant
• 1:09:44
  who hoped thus to purchase his good will. With the sixpence, he had
• 1:09:48
  bought a balloon adorned with the legs and head of a duck. Fashioned in
• 1:09:53
  cardboard, this could be blown up to its fullest extent and then left to
• 1:09:59
  subside. It took several minutes to subside, and during those minutes it emitted
• 1:10:04
  a long, drawn out and high pitched groan. The advantage of this was
• 1:10:11
  obvious. William could blow it up to its fullest extent in private, and
• 1:10:16
  leave it to subside in public, concealed beneath his coat. While this was
• 1:10:21
  going on, William looked around as though in bewildered astonishment. He inflated it
• 1:10:28
  before he went to breakfast. He then held it firmly and secretly, so
• 1:10:33
  as to keep it inflated till he was sitting at the table. Then he
• 1:10:38
  let it subside. His mother knocked over a cup of coffee, and his
• 1:10:43
  father cut himself with the bread knife. Ethel His elder sister indulged in a
• 1:10:48
  mild form of nervous breakdown. William sat with a face of startled innocence.
• 1:10:55
  But nothing enraged his family so much as William's expression of innocence. They fell
• 1:11:01
  upon him, and he defended himself as well as he could. Yes,
• 1:11:05
  he was holding the balloon under the table. Well, he'd blown it up
• 1:11:11
  some time ago. He couldn't keep it blown up forever. He had to
• 1:11:15
  let the air out some time. He couldn't help it making a noise when
• 1:11:19
  the air went out. It was the way it was made. He hadn't
• 1:11:24
  made it. He set off to school with an air of injured innocence and
• 1:11:30
  the balloon. Observing an elderly and irascible looking gentleman in front of him,
• 1:11:36
  He went a few steps down a back street, blew up his balloon and
• 1:11:42
  held it tightly under his coat. Then, when abreast of the old gentleman,
• 1:11:46
  he let it off. The old gentleman gave a leap into the air
• 1:11:51
  and glared fiercely around. He glanced at the small, virtuous looking schoolboy with
• 1:11:59
  obvious no instrument of torture at his lips, and then concentrated his glare of
• 1:12:04
  fury and suspicion on the upper windows. William hastened on to the next pedestrian.
• 1:12:12
  He had quite a happy walk to school. School was at first equally
• 1:12:17
  successful. William opened his desk hastily inflated his balloon, closed his desk,
• 1:12:24
  then gazed round with his practiced expression of horrified astonishment at what followed. He
• 1:12:31
  drove the French master to distraction. Step out, Who makes the noise?
• 1:12:38
  He screamed. No one stepped out, and the noise continued at intervals.
• 1:12:44
  The mathematics master finally discovered and confiscated the balloon. I hope, said the
• 1:12:50
  father at lunch, that they've taken away that infernal machine of yours. William
• 1:12:58
  replied sadly that they had. He added that some people didn't seem to think
• 1:13:02
  it was stealing to take other people's things. Then we may look forward to
• 1:13:09
  a little piece this evening, said the father politely. Not that it matters
• 1:13:14
  to me, as I'm going out to dinner. The only thing that relieves
• 1:13:17
  the tedium of going out to dinner is the fact that for a short time
• 1:13:23
  one has a rest from William. William acknowledged the compliment by a scowl and
• 1:13:30
  a mysterious muttered remark to the effect that some people were always at him during
• 1:13:38
  preparation. In afternoon school, he read a story book kindly lent him by
• 1:13:43
  his next door neighbor. It was not because he had no work to do
• 1:13:46
  that William read a story book in preparation. It was a mark of defiance
• 1:13:51
  to the world in general. It was also a very interesting story book.
• 1:13:57
  It opened with the hero as a small boy, misunderstood and ill treated by
• 1:14:02
  every one around him. Then he ran away. He went to sea,
• 1:14:08
  and in a few years made an immense fortune in the gold fields. He
• 1:14:12
  returned in the last chapter and forgave his family and presented them with a noble
• 1:14:17
  mansion and several shiploads of gold. The idea impressed William all except the end
• 1:14:25
  part. He thought he'd prefer to have the noble mansion himself and pay rare
• 1:14:30
  visits to his family, during which he would listen to their humble apologies and
• 1:14:35
  perhaps give them a nugget or two, but not very much, certainly not
• 1:14:41
  much to ethel. He wasn't sure whether he'd ever really forgive them. He'd
• 1:14:46
  have rooms full of squeaky balloons and trumpets in his house anyway, and he'd
• 1:14:51
  keep caterpillars and white rats all over the place too. Things they made such
• 1:14:58
  a fuss about in their old house. And he'd always go about in dirty
• 1:15:02
  boots, and he'd never brush his hair or wash. And he'd keep dozens
• 1:15:08
  of motor cars, and he wouldn't let ethel go out in any of them.
• 1:15:13
  He was roused from this enthralling day dream by the discovery and confiscation of
• 1:15:17
  his story book by the master in charge, and the subsequent fury of its
• 1:15:23
  owner. In order adequately to express his annoyance, he dropped a little ball
• 1:15:29
  of blotting paper soaked in ink down William's back. William, on attempting retaliation,
• 1:15:36
  was sentenced to stay in half an hour. After school, he returned
• 1:15:42
  gloomily to his history book upside down and his misanthropic view of life. He
• 1:15:48
  compared himself bitterly with the hero of the story book, and decided not to
• 1:15:54
  waste another moment of his life in uncongenial surroundings. He made a firm determination
• 1:16:00
  to run away. As soon as he was released from school. He walked
• 1:16:05
  briskly down the road away from the village. In his pocket, reposed the
• 1:16:11
  balloon he had made the cheering discovery that the mathematics master had left it on
• 1:16:16
  his desk, so he had joyfully taken it again into his possession. He
• 1:16:21
  thought he might reach the coast before night and get to the gold fields before
• 1:16:27
  next week. He didn't suppose it took long to make a fortune there.
• 1:16:31
  He might be back before next Christmas. And crumbs he'd jolly well make people
• 1:16:36
  sit up. He wouldn't go to school, for one thing, and he'd
• 1:16:42
  be jolly careful who he gave nuggets to. For another. He'd give nuggets
• 1:16:46
  to the butcher's boy, and the postman, and the man who came to
• 1:16:50
  tune the piano, and the chimney sweep. He wouldn't give any to any
• 1:16:56
  of his family or any of the masters at the school. He'd just serve
• 1:17:00
  people out the way they served him. He just would. The road to
• 1:17:05
  the coast seemed rather long, and he was growing rather tired. He walked
• 1:17:12
  in a ditch for a change, and then scraped through a hedge and took
• 1:17:15
  a short cut across a plowed field. Dusk was falling fast, and even
• 1:17:20
  William's buoyant spirits began to flag. The fortune part was all very well,
• 1:17:28
  but in the meantime he was cold and tired and hungry. He hadn't yet
• 1:17:33
  reached the coast, much less the gold fields. Something must be done.
• 1:17:41
  He remembered that the boy in the story had begged his way to the coast.
• 1:17:45
  William determined to beg his but at present there seemed nothing to beg it
• 1:17:51
  from except a hawthorn hedge and a scarecrow in the field behind it. He
• 1:17:59
  wandered on disconsolately, deciding to begin his career as a beggar at the first
• 1:18:05
  sign of human habitation. At last, he discovered a pair of iron gates
• 1:18:11
  through the dusk, and, assuming an expression of patient suffering, calculated to
• 1:18:16
  melt a heart of stone, walked up the drive. At the front door,
• 1:18:23
  he smoothed down his hair he had lost his cap on the way,
• 1:18:28
  pulled up his stockings, and rang the bell. After an interval, a
• 1:18:32
  stout gentleman in the garb of a butler opened the door and glared ferociously up
• 1:18:40
  and down. William, Please, began William plaintively. The stout gentleman interrupted,
• 1:18:47
  If you're the new boots, He said, majestically, go round to
• 1:18:51
  the back door. If you're not, go away. He then shut the
• 1:18:59
  door in William's face. William on the top step considered the question for a
• 1:19:04
  few minutes. It was dark and cold, with every prospect of becoming darker
• 1:19:11
  and colder, he decided to be the new Boots. He found his way
• 1:19:16
  round to the back door and knocked firmly. It was opened by a large
• 1:19:21
  woman in a print dress and apron. Why ja WoT, she said aggressively,
• 1:19:28
  he said, said William firmly, to come around if I was the
• 1:19:31
  new Boots. The woman surveyed him in grim disapproval. You've been round to
• 1:19:39
  the front, she said, nerve. Her disapproval increased to suspicion. Where's
• 1:19:46
  your things? She said? Come in, said William, without a moment's
• 1:19:50
  hesitation. Too tired to bring em with you, she said sarcastically, All
• 1:19:57
  right, come in. William came in gratefully. It was a large,
• 1:20:02
  warm, clean kitchen. A small kitchen maid was peeling potatoes at a sink,
• 1:20:08
  and a housemaid in black with the frilled cap and apron was powdering her
• 1:20:14
  nose before a glass on the wall. They both turned to stare at William.
• 1:20:18
  Here's the new boots, announced cook is valet. Bringin is things?
• 1:20:24
  Later, the housemaid looked up William from his muddy boots to his untidy hair,
• 1:20:30
  then down William from his untidy hair to his muddy boots. Impert at
• 1:20:35
  looking child, she commented, haughtily. Returning to her task, William decided
• 1:20:42
  inwardly that she was to have no share at all in the nuggets. The
• 1:20:47
  kitchen maid giggled and winked at William with obviously friendly intent. William mentally promised
• 1:20:55
  her half a shipload of nuggets now then smutty, said the housemaid, without
• 1:21:00
  turning round. None of your sauce, add your tea, said the cook
• 1:21:05
  to William. William's spirits rose, No, he said, plaintively, all
• 1:21:13
  right, sit down at the table. William's spirits soared sky high. He
• 1:21:18
  sat at the table, and the cook put a large plate of bread and
• 1:21:24
  butter before him. William set to work at once. The housemaid regarded him
• 1:21:30
  scornfully, learnt his way of eating at the zoo, she said, pityingly.
• 1:21:35
  The kitchen maid giggled again and gave William another wink. William had given
• 1:21:42
  himself up to wholehearted epicurean enjoying of his bread and butter, and took no
• 1:21:47
  notice of them At this moment the butler entered. He subjected the quite unmoved
• 1:21:55
  William to another long survey. When next you a hintering of this house,
• 1:22:00
  my boy, he said, kindly, remember that the front door is reserved
• 1:22:05
  for gentry, and the back for brats. William merely looked at him coldly
• 1:22:13
  over a hunk of bread and butter. Mentally, he knocked him off the
• 1:22:17
  list of nugget receivers. The butler looked sadly round the room. They're all
• 1:22:25
  the same, he lamented. Eat eat, eat nothin but eat eat all
• 1:22:30
  day and eat all night. He's not been an ouse two minutes and he's
• 1:22:34
  at it. Eat, Eat, eat. He'll have all the buttons burst
• 1:22:39
  off his uniform in a week, like what the largest one had. Like
• 1:22:43
  eatin better than workin', don't you, he said sarcastically to William. Yes,
• 1:22:48
  I do too, said William with firm conviction. The kitchen maid giggled
• 1:22:55
  again, and the housemaid gave a sigh expressive of scorn and weariness as she
• 1:23:00
  drew a thin pencil over her eyebrows. Well, if you've quite finished,
• 1:23:08
  my lord, said the butler, in ponderous irony, I'll show you to
• 1:23:13
  your room. William indicated that he had quite finished, and was led up
• 1:23:17
  to a very small bedroom. Over a chair lay a page's uniform with the
• 1:23:24
  conventional row of brass buttons down the front of the coat. Dogs, explained
• 1:23:29
  the butler briefly. Your dog's fix em on quick as you can. There's
• 1:23:33
  company to dinner to night. William fixed them on. You're smaller than what
• 1:23:40
  the last one was, said the butler, critically, they hang a bit
• 1:23:43
  loose. Never mind, we've a week or two of stuffin. You'll have
• 1:23:46
  most probable bustin', so it's as well to hang loose first. Now come
• 1:23:50
  on, oo's bringin over your things. Er, a friend explained William.
• 1:23:58
  I suppose it is a bit too much to expect you to carry your own
• 1:24:02
  parcels, went on the butler. In these here days bloomin bolshevist, I
• 1:24:08
  expect, aren't you. William condescended to explain himself. I'm a gold digger,
• 1:24:15
  he said. Crikey, said the butler. William was led down again
• 1:24:21
  to the kitchen. The butler threw open a door that led to a small
• 1:24:26
  pantry. This yere is where you work, and this here, pointing to
• 1:24:30
  a large kitchen. Is where you live? You have not? He ended
• 1:24:34
  haughtily the hentry into the servants, all crumbs, said William. You might
• 1:24:43
  as well begin at once, went on the butler. There's all this lunch
• 1:24:46
  knives to clean. Here's a hapron, here's a knife board, and here's
• 1:24:50
  the knife powder. Shut the bewildered William into the small pantry and turned to
• 1:24:58
  the cook. What do you think think of him? He said? He
• 1:25:00
  looks, said the cook gloomily. The sort of boy will have trouble with
• 1:25:06
  not much clarse, said the housemaid, arranging her frilled apron. It surprises
• 1:25:13
  me how many creatures like a boy can grow into an experienced, sensible,
• 1:25:18
  broad minded man like you, mister Biggs. Mister Biggs simpered and straightened his
• 1:25:26
  necktie. Well, he admitted, as a boy, of course, I
• 1:25:30
  wasn't like him. Here the pantry door opened, and William's face, plentifully
• 1:25:36
  adorned with knife powder, came round. I've done some of the knives,
• 1:25:42
  he said, Shall I be doin something else? And finished the others afterwards.
• 1:25:46
  How many have you done, said mister Biggs? One or two,
• 1:25:50
  said William vaguely, Then with a concession to accuracy. Well two, but
• 1:25:57
  I'm feeling tired of doin knives. The kitchen maid emitted a scream of delight,
• 1:26:03
  and the cook heaved a deep sigh. The butler advanced slowly and majestically
• 1:26:11
  towards William's tousled head, which was still craned around the pantry door. You'll
• 1:26:16
  finish them nives, my boy, he said. Or William considered the weight
• 1:26:21
  and sighs of mister Biggs. All right, he said, pacifically, I'll
• 1:26:27
  finish the knives. He disappeared, closing the pantry door behind him. He's
• 1:26:32
  going to be a trial, said the cook. And no mistake, trial's
• 1:26:39
  hardly the word, said mister Biggs. Affliction, supplied the housemaid. That's
• 1:26:45
  more like it, said mister Biggs. Here William's head appeared again. What
• 1:26:50
  time supper, he said. He retired precipitately at a hysterical shriek from the
• 1:26:57
  kitchen maid and a roar of fury the butler. You'd better go and do
• 1:27:02
  your potatoes in the pantry, said the cook to the kitchen maid. And
• 1:27:06
  let's have a bit of piece in here. An seees he's doin of his
• 1:27:10
  work, all right, the kitchen maid departed joyfully to the pantry. William
• 1:27:15
  was sitting by the table, idly toying with a knife. He had experimented
• 1:27:20
  upon the knife powder by mixing it with water, and the little brown pies
• 1:27:26
  that were the result lay in a row on the mantelpiece. He had also
• 1:27:30
  tasted it, as the dark stains upon his lips testified. His hair was
• 1:27:36
  standing straight up on his head, as it always did when life was strenuous.
• 1:27:42
  He began the conversation. You'd be surprised, he said, if you
• 1:27:46
  knew what I really was. She giggled. Go on, she said,
• 1:27:53
  what are you? I'm a gold digger, he said, I've got shiploads
• 1:27:59
  and ship loads of gold, at least I will have soon. I'm not
• 1:28:04
  going to give him, pointing towards the door, any nor any of them
• 1:28:10
  in there. What about me, said the kitchen maid, winking at the
• 1:28:15
  cat. As the only third person to be let into the joke, you
• 1:28:20
  said, William, graciously shall have a whole lot of nuggets. Look here,
• 1:28:27
  with a princely flourish, he took up a knife and cut off three
• 1:28:30
  buttons from the middle of his coat and gave them to her. You keep
• 1:28:34
  those, and they'll be kind of tokens. See when I come home rich,
• 1:28:40
  you show me the buttons, and I'll remember and give you the nuggets.
• 1:28:44
  See, I'll maybe marry you, he promised, if I've not married
• 1:28:48
  any one else. The kitchen maid put her head round the pantry door.
• 1:28:54
  He's looney, she said. It's lovely listen to him talkin. Further conversation
• 1:29:00
  was prevented by the ringing of the front door bell and the arrival of company.
• 1:29:08
  Mister Biggs and the housemaid departed to do the honors. The kitchen maid
• 1:29:13
  ran to help with the dishing up, and William was left sitting on the
• 1:29:16
  pantry table, idly making patterns in knife powder with his finger. What was
• 1:29:23
  he a doin, said the cook to the kitchen maid. Nuttin cept talkin',
• 1:29:29
  said the kitchen maid. He's a cure, he is, she added,
• 1:29:33
  if you finished the knives, called out the cook. There's some boots
• 1:29:38
  and shoes on the floor to be done, brushes and blacking on the shelf.
• 1:29:44
  William arose with alacrity. He thought boots would be more interesting than knives.
• 1:29:49
  He carefully concealed the pile of uncleaned knives behind the knife box and began
• 1:29:56
  on the shoes. The butler returned, soup ready, he said, the
• 1:30:01
  company's just gone into the dining room. A pal of the master's decent lookin
• 1:30:06
  bloke, he added, patronizingly. William, in his pantry had covered a
• 1:30:13
  brush very thickly with blacking, and was putting it in heavy layers on the
• 1:30:17
  boots and shoes. A large part of it adhered to his own hands.
• 1:30:23
  The butler looked in at him. What's happened to your buttons, he said,
• 1:30:28
  sternly. Come off, said William. Bust Off corrected the butler.
• 1:30:33
  I said, so soon as I saw you, I said, you'd have
• 1:30:38
  eat your buttons, bust Off in a week. Well you've eaten bust Off
• 1:30:43
  in ten minutes, eaten and destroyin of his clothes, he said, gloomily,
• 1:30:47
  returning to the kitchen. It's all boys ever do, eatin and destroyin
• 1:30:53
  of their clothes. He went out with the soup, and William was left
• 1:30:57
  with the boots. Was getting tired of boots. He'd covered them all thickly
• 1:31:01
  with blacking, and he didn't know what to do next. Then suddenly he
• 1:31:06
  remembered his balloon in his pocket. Upstairs, it might serve to vary the
• 1:31:12
  monotony of life. He slipped quietly upstairs for it, and then returned to
• 1:31:17
  his boots. Soon mister Biggs and the housemaid returned with the empty soup plates.
• 1:31:25
  Then through the kitchen resounded a high pitched squeal, dying away slowly and
• 1:31:30
  shrilly. The housemaid screamed, locks said the cook. Someone's a torturren of
• 1:31:39
  the poor cat to death. He'll be that blessed boy. The butler advanced
• 1:31:45
  manfully and opened the pantry door. William stood holding in one hand an inflated
• 1:31:50
  balloon with the cardboard head and the legs of a duck. The butler approached
• 1:31:57
  him, if you let off that thing oncece more, you little varmit,
• 1:32:03
  he said, ah threateningly. He had advanced his large expanse of countenance very
• 1:32:11
  close to Williams. Acting upon a sudden, uncontrollable impulse, William took up
• 1:32:17
  the brush, thickly smeared with blacking and pushed back mister Biggs's face with it.
• 1:32:25
  There was a moment's silence of sheer horror. Then mister Biggs hurled himself
• 1:32:30
  furiously upon William. In the dining room, sat the Master and mistress of
• 1:32:38
  the house and their guest. Did the new boots arrive, said the master
• 1:32:43
  to his wife, Yes, she said, any good, he said.
• 1:32:47
  He doesn't seem to have impressed Biggs very favorably. She said, but they
• 1:32:53
  never do, the human boy said. The guest is given us as a
• 1:32:58
  discipline. I possess one, though he is my own son. I find
• 1:33:03
  it difficult to describe the atmosphere of peace and relief that pervades the house when
• 1:33:10
  he is out of it. I'd like to meet your son, said the
• 1:33:13
  host. You probably will sooner or later, said the guest, gloomily.
• 1:33:18
  Every one in the neighborhood meets him sooner or later. He does not hide
• 1:33:24
  his light under a bushel. Personally, I prefer people who haven't met him.
• 1:33:29
  They can't judge me by him. At this moment, the butler came
• 1:33:33
  in with a note. No answer, he said, and departed with his
• 1:33:40
  slow dignity. Excuse me, said the lady as she opened it. It's
• 1:33:45
  from my sister. I hope she read that you aren't inconvenienced much by the
• 1:33:50
  non arrival of the boots I engaged for you. He's got flu, but
• 1:33:57
  he's come, she said wonderingly. There came the sound of an angry shout,
• 1:34:01
  a distant scream, and the clattering of heavy running footsteps growing nearer.
• 1:34:10
  A revolution, I expect, said the guest wearily. The reds are upon
• 1:34:15
  us. At that moment the door was burst open, and in rushed a
• 1:34:19
  boy with a blacking brush in one hand and an inflated balloon in the other.
• 1:34:26
  He was much disheveled, with three buttons off the front of his uniform,
• 1:34:30
  and his face streaked with knife powder and blacking. Behind him ran a
• 1:34:35
  fat butler, his face purple with fury beneath a large smear of blacking.
• 1:34:43
  The boy rushed round the table, slipped on the polished floor, clutched desperately
• 1:34:49
  at the neck of the guest, bringing both guest and chair down upon the
• 1:34:54
  floor beside him. In a sudden silence of utter peril horror, guest and
• 1:35:01
  boy sat on the floor and stared at each other. Then the boy's nerveless
• 1:35:08
  hand relaxed its hold upon the balloon, which had somehow or others survived the
• 1:35:14
  vicissitudes of the flight, and a shrill squeak rang through the silence of the
• 1:35:19
  room. The master and mistress of the house sat looking round in dazed astonishment.
• 1:35:28
  As the guest looked at the boy, there appeared on his countenance amazement,
• 1:35:33
  then incredulity, and finally frozen horror. As the boy looked at the
• 1:35:41
  guest, there appeared on his countenance amazement, then incredulity, and finally blank
• 1:35:48
  dejection. Good Lord, said the guest. It's William, Oh crumbs,
• 1:35:56
  said the boots. It's father. End of Chapter three, Chapter four,
• 1:36:05
  The Fall of the Idol. William was bored. He sat at his desk
• 1:36:12
  in the sunny school room and gazed dispassionately at a row of figures on the
• 1:36:16
  blackboard. It isn't since, he murmured, scornfully. Miss Drew was also
• 1:36:24
  bored, but unlike William, she tried to hide the fact. If the
• 1:36:29
  interest on a hundred pounds for one year is five pounds, she said wearily,
• 1:36:34
  then William Brown, douce it up and don't look so stupid. William
• 1:36:41
  changed his position from that of lalling over one side of his desk to that
• 1:36:45
  of lolling over the other, and began to justify himself. Well, I
• 1:36:51
  can't understand any of it. It's enough to make any one look stupid when
• 1:36:56
  he can't understand any of it. I can't think of why people go on
• 1:37:00
  giving people bits of money, for giving him lots of money, and go
• 1:37:03
  on and on doin it. It don't seem makes sense. Anyone's a mug
• 1:37:09
  for giving anyone a hundred pounds just cause he says, he'll go on giving
• 1:37:13
  him five pounds and go on stickin to his hundred pounds. How's he to
• 1:37:16
  know he will? Well, he warmed to his subject. What's to stop
• 1:37:20
  him not given any five pounds once he's got hold of a hundred pounds and
• 1:37:25
  going on sticking to the hundred pounds. Miss Drew checked him by a slim
• 1:37:30
  upraised hand, William, she said, patiently, just listen to me now.
• 1:37:38
  Suppose her eyes roved round the room and settled on a small, red
• 1:37:44
  haired boy. Suppose that Eric wanted a hundred pounds for something, and you
• 1:37:49
  lent it to him. I wouldn't lend Eric a hundred pounds, he said
• 1:37:54
  firmly, because I hadn't got it. I've only got three and a halfpennies,
• 1:37:58
  and I won't lend that to Eric because I'm not such a mug.
• 1:38:01
  Because I lent him my mouth organ once and he bit a bit off,
• 1:38:05
  and miss Drew interrupted sharply, teaching on a hot afternoon is rather trying.
• 1:38:13
  You'd better stay in after school, William, and I'll explain. William scowled,
• 1:38:19
  emitted his monosyllable of scornful disdain huh, and relapsed into gloom. He
• 1:38:28
  brightened, however, on remembering a lizard he had caught on the way to
• 1:38:31
  school, and drew it from its hiding place in his pocket. But the
• 1:38:36
  lizard had abandoned the unequal struggle for existence among the stones, top penknife,
• 1:38:43
  bits of putty, and other small objects that inhabited William's pocket. The housing
• 1:38:48
  problem had been too much for it. William, in disgust, shrouded the
• 1:38:55
  remains in blotting paper and disposed of it in his neighbour's ink pot. The
• 1:39:00
  neighbor protested, and an enlivening scrimmage ensued. Finally, the lizard was dropped
• 1:39:08
  down the neck of an inveterate enemy of William's in the next row, and
• 1:39:12
  was extracted only with the help of obliging friends. Threats of vengeance followed,
• 1:39:18
  couched in blood curdling terms and written on blotting paper. Meanwhile, Miss Drew
• 1:39:26
  explained simple practice to a small but earnest coterie of admirers in the front row,
• 1:39:32
  and William in the back row, whiled away the hours for which his
• 1:39:36
  father paid the education authorities a substantial sum. But his turn was to come.
• 1:39:45
  At the end of afternoon school. One by one the class departed,
• 1:39:50
  leaving William only nonchalantly chewing an India rubber and glaring at Miss Drew. Now,
• 1:39:59
  William, Miss Drew was severely patient. William went up to the platform
• 1:40:04
  and stood by her desk. You see, if some one borrows a hundred
• 1:40:10
  pounds from some one else. She wrote down the figures on a piece of
• 1:40:15
  paper. Bending low over her desk, the sun poured in through the window,
• 1:40:20
  showing the little golden curls in the nape of her neck. She lifted
• 1:40:25
  to William eyes that were stern and frowning, but blue as blue above flushed
• 1:40:31
  cheeks. Don't you see, William? She said? There was a faint
• 1:40:36
  perfume about her and William, the devil may care, pirate and robber chief,
• 1:40:43
  the stern, despiser of all things effeminate, felt the first dart of
• 1:40:47
  the malicious blind god, He blushed and simpered. Ah, yes, I
• 1:40:56
  see all about it now, he assured her. You've explained Ain't it all
• 1:41:00
  plain now? I couldn't understand it before. It's a bit soft, in't
• 1:41:05
  it anyway? To go lending hundred pounds about just cause someone says they'll give
• 1:41:12
  you five pounds next year. Some folks as mugs. But I do understand
• 1:41:16
  now. I couldn't understand it before. You'd have found it simpler if you
• 1:41:23
  hadn't played with dead lizards all the time, she said, wearily, closing
• 1:41:29
  her books. William gasped. He went home her devoted slave. Certain members
• 1:41:36
  of the class always deposited dainty bouquets on her desk In the morning. William
• 1:41:43
  was determined to outshine the rest. He went into the garden with a large
• 1:41:47
  basket and a pair of scissors. The next morning, before he set out
• 1:41:50
  for school, it happened that no one was about. He went first to
• 1:41:57
  the hot house. It was a riot of color. He worked there with
• 1:42:01
  a thoroughness and concentration worthy of a nobler cause. He came out staggering beneath
• 1:42:09
  a piled up basket of hothouse blooms. The hot house itself was bare and
• 1:42:15
  desolate. Hearing a sound in the back garden, he hastily decided to delay
• 1:42:20
  no longer, but to set out to school at once. He set out
• 1:42:26
  as unostentatiously as possible. Miss Drew, entering her class room, was aghast
• 1:42:33
  to see, instead of the usual small array of buttonholes on her desk,
• 1:42:39
  a mass of already withering hothouse flowers, completely covering her desk and chair.
• 1:42:45
  William was a boy who never did things by halves, good heavens. She
• 1:42:51
  cried in consternation. William blushed with pleasure. He changed his seat to one
• 1:42:59
  in the front doront row. All that morning he sat his eyes fixed on
• 1:43:03
  her earnestly, dreaming of moments in which he rescued her from robbers and pirates.
• 1:43:10
  Here he was somewhat inconsistent with his own favorite role of robber chief and
• 1:43:15
  pirate, and bore her, fainting in his strong arms to safety. Then
• 1:43:21
  she clung to him in love and gratitude, and they were married at once
• 1:43:26
  by the Archbishops of Canterbury and York. William would have no half measures.
• 1:43:32
  They were to be married by the Archbishops of Canterbury and York or else the
• 1:43:38
  pope. He wasn't sure that he wouldn't rather have the pope. He would
• 1:43:43
  wear his black pirate suit with the skull and crossbones. No, no,
• 1:43:48
  that would not do. What have I just been saying, William said,
• 1:43:54
  Miss Drew. Eh. William coughed and gazed at her soulfully bound money,
• 1:44:00
  he said hopefully. William, she snapped, this isn't an arithmetic lesson.
• 1:44:06
  I'm trying to teach you about the Armada. Oh that said William brightly and
• 1:44:13
  ingratiatingly. Oh yes, tell me something about it. Um, I don't
• 1:44:18
  know anything, not just yet. I've been telling you about it. I
• 1:44:25
  do wish you'd listen, she said despairingly. William relapsed into silence, none
• 1:44:30
  plussed but by no means cowed. When he reached home that evening, he
• 1:44:36
  found that the garden was the scene of excitement and hubbub. One policeman was
• 1:44:42
  measuring the panes of glass in the conservatory door, and another was on his
• 1:44:46
  knees examining the beds near his grown up sister. Ethel was standing at the
• 1:44:53
  front door. Every single flower has been stolen from the conservatory sometime this morning.
• 1:45:00
  She said excitedly. We've only just been able to get the police.
• 1:45:04
  William, did you see any one about when you went to school this morning?
• 1:45:10
  William pondered deeply, his most guileless and innocent expression came to his face.
• 1:45:17
  No, he said, at last, No, ethel, I didn't
• 1:45:20
  see nobody. William coughed and discreetly withdrew. That evening, he settled down
• 1:45:29
  at the library table, spreading out his books around him, a determined frown
• 1:45:33
  upon his small face. His father was sitting in an arm chair by the
• 1:45:39
  window, reading the evening paper. Father said, William, suddenly, suppose
• 1:45:45
  I came to you and said you was to give me a hundred pounds,
• 1:45:47
  and I'd give you five pounds next year and so on? Would you give
• 1:45:51
  it me? I should not, my son, said his father firmly.
• 1:45:58
  William sighed, I knew there was something wrong with it, he said.
• 1:46:03
  Mister Brown returned to the leading article, but not for long. Father,
• 1:46:10
  What was the date of the armada? Good heavens, how should I know?
• 1:46:15
  I wasn't there? William sighed, Well, I'm trying to write about
• 1:46:20
  it and why it failed? And why did it fail? Mister Brown groaned,
• 1:46:26
  gathered up his paper and retired to the dining room. He had almost
• 1:46:31
  finished the leading article when William appeared, his arms full of books, and
• 1:46:38
  sat down quietly at the table. Father, what's the French for? My
• 1:46:44
  aunt is walking in the garden. What on earth are you doing, said
• 1:46:48
  mister Brown irritably. I'm doing my home lessons, said William virtuously. I
• 1:46:55
  never even knew you had the things to do. No, William admitted gently,
• 1:47:00
  I don't generally take much bother over them, but I'm going to now
• 1:47:05
  cause miss drew. He blushed slightly and paused cause miss drew. He blushed
• 1:47:13
  more deeply and began to stammer cause miss drew. He was almost apoplectic.
• 1:47:23
  Mister Brown quietly gathered up his paper and crept out to the verandah, where
• 1:47:29
  his wife sat with the week's mending. William's gone raving mad in the dining
• 1:47:34
  room, he said pleasantly as he sat down. Takes the form of a
• 1:47:39
  wild thirst for knowledge and a babbling of a misdrawing or drew or something.
• 1:47:45
  He's best left alone. Missus Brown merely smiled placidly over the mending. Mister
• 1:47:54
  Brown had finished one leading article and begun another. Before William appeared again.
• 1:48:00
  He stood in the doorway, frowning and stern. Father, what's the capital
• 1:48:05
  of Holland Good heavens? Said his father, by him an encyclopedia? Anything?
• 1:48:15
  Anything? What does he think I am? What? I'd better set
• 1:48:19
  apart a special room for his homework, said missus Brown soothingly. Now that
• 1:48:25
  he's beginning to take such an interest a room, echoed his father bitterly.
• 1:48:30
  He wants a whole house. Miss Drew was surprised and touched by William's earnestness
• 1:48:38
  and attention. The next day, at the end of the afternoon school,
• 1:48:42
  he kindly offered to carry her books home for her. He waved aside all
• 1:48:46
  protests. He marched home by her side, discoursing pleasantly, his small freckled
• 1:48:54
  face beaming devotion. I like pirates, don't you, Miss Drew? And
• 1:49:00
  robbers and things like that, Miss Drew, Would you like to be married
• 1:49:03
  to a robber? He was trying to reconcile his old beloved dream of his
• 1:49:09
  future estate with the new one of becoming Miss Drew's husband. No, she
• 1:49:15
  said firmly. His heart sank. Nor a pirate, he said, sadly,
• 1:49:21
  No, they're quite nice, really pirates, he assured her. I
• 1:49:30
  think not well, he said, resignedly. We'll just have to go huntin
• 1:49:34
  wild animals and things. That'll be all right, who, she said,
• 1:49:41
  bewildered, Well, just you wait, he said darkly. Then would you
• 1:49:46
  rather be married by the Archbishop of York or the Pope? The Archbishop?
• 1:49:51
  I think, she said gravely. He nodded, all right. She was
• 1:49:59
  distinctly am used. She was less amused. The next evening, Miss Drew
• 1:50:04
  had a male cousin, a very nice looking male cousin with whom she often
• 1:50:10
  went for walks in the evening. This evening, by chance, they passed
• 1:50:15
  William's house, and William, who was in the garden, threw aside his
• 1:50:18
  temporary role of pirate and joined them. He trotted happily on the other side
• 1:50:25
  of Miss Drew. He entirely monopolized the conversation. The male cousin seemed to
• 1:50:31
  encourage him, and this annoyed Miss Drew. He refused to depart in spite
• 1:50:36
  of Miss Drew's strong hints. He had various items of interest to impart,
• 1:50:43
  and he imparted them with the air of one assured of an appreciative hearing.
• 1:50:48
  He had found a dead rat the day before and given it to his dog.
• 1:50:53
  But his dog didn't like him dead, and neither did the old cat,
• 1:50:57
  so he'd buried it. Did Miss Drew like all those he'd got her
• 1:51:00
  the other day? He was afraid that he couldn't bring any more like that
• 1:51:04
  just yet? Were there pirates now? Well? What would folks do to
• 1:51:09
  one? If there was one? He didn't see why there shouldn't be pirates
• 1:51:12
  now, he thought he'd started anyway. He'd liked to shoot a lion.
• 1:51:15
  He was going to one day. He'd shoot a lion and a tiger.
• 1:51:18
  He'd bring the skin home to mister who, as she liked, he grew
• 1:51:23
  recklessly generous. He'd bring home lots of skins of all sorts of animals for
• 1:51:27
  Miss Drew. Don't you think you ought to be going home? William,
• 1:51:31
  said Miss Drew coldly. William hastened to reassure her. Oh no, not
• 1:51:39
  forever so long yet, he said, isn't it your bed time? Oh
• 1:51:44
  no, not yet, not forever so long. The male cousin was giving
• 1:51:49
  William his whole attention. What does Miss Drew teach you at school? William?
• 1:51:55
  He said? Oh, just ordinary things, our mothers and things,
• 1:51:59
  and out lending a hundred pounds. That's an awful soft thing. I understand
• 1:52:03
  it, he added, hastily, fearing further explanation. But it's soft.
• 1:52:10
  My father thinks it is, too, and he ought to No, he's
• 1:52:13
  been abroad lots of times. He's been chased by a bull. My father
• 1:52:16
  has. The shades of night were falling fast when William reached Miss Drew's house,
• 1:52:23
  still discoursing volubly. He was drunk with success. He interpreted his idle
• 1:52:30
  silence as the silence of rapt admiration. He was passing through the gate with
• 1:52:35
  his two companions with the air of one assured of welcome, when Miss Drew
• 1:52:41
  shut the gate upon him firmly. You'd better go home now, William,
• 1:52:45
  she said. William hesitated. I don't mind coming in a bit, he
• 1:52:50
  said, I'm not tired. But Miss Drew and the male cousin were already
• 1:52:57
  half way up the walk. Willia turned his steps homeward. He met ethel
• 1:53:02
  near the gate. William, where have you been? I've been looking for
• 1:53:08
  you everywhere. It's hours past your bedtime. I was going a walk with
• 1:53:13
  Miss Drew, but you should have come home at your bedtime. I don't
• 1:53:18
  think she wanted me to go, he said, with dignity. I think
• 1:53:21
  it wouldn't have been polite. William found that a new and serious element had
• 1:53:28
  entered his life. It was not without its disadvantages. Many had been the
• 1:53:33
  little diversions by which William had been wont to while away the hours of instruction.
• 1:53:39
  In spite of his devotion to Miss Drew, he missed the old days
• 1:53:43
  of carefree exuberance. But he kept his new seat in the front row and
• 1:53:48
  clung to his role of earnest student. He was beginning to find, also
• 1:53:54
  that a conscientious performance of home lessons limited his activities after schools, But at
• 1:54:00
  present he hugged his chains. Miss Drew, from her seat on the platform,
• 1:54:06
  found William's soulful, concentrated gaze somewhat embarrassing, and his questions even more
• 1:54:15
  so. As he went out of school, he heard her talking to another
• 1:54:19
  mistress. I'm very fond of syringa, she was saying, I love to
• 1:54:26
  have some. William decided to bring her syringa handfuls of syringa armfuls of syringa.
• 1:54:34
  He went straight home to the gardener no, I ain't got no syringa.
• 1:54:41
  Please step off my rose bed, mister William. No, there ain't
• 1:54:45
  any syringa in this ere garding. I dun'to for. Why please leave my
• 1:54:49
  rose pipe alone, mister William. Huh, ejaculated William scornfully, turning away,
• 1:54:59
  He went round the gard garden. The gardener had been quite right.
• 1:55:02
  There were gilder roses everywhere, but no syringa. He climbed the fence and
• 1:55:09
  surveyed the next garden. There were gilder roses everywhere, but no syringa.
• 1:55:15
  It must have been some peculiarity in the soil. William strolled down the road,
• 1:55:21
  scanning the gardens as he went. All had gilder roses, none had
• 1:55:28
  syringa. Suddenly he stopped on a table. In the window of a small
• 1:55:32
  house at the bottom of the road was a vase of syringa. He did
• 1:55:38
  not know who lived there. He entered the garden cautiously. No one was
• 1:55:44
  about. He looked into the room. It was empty. The window was
• 1:55:49
  open at the bottom. He scrambled in, removing several layers of white paint
• 1:55:56
  from the window sill. As he did so. He was determined to have
• 1:56:00
  that syringea. He took it, dripping from the vase, and was preparing
• 1:56:04
  to depart when the door opened and a fat woman appeared upon the threshold.
• 1:56:11
  The scream that she emitted at sight of William curdled the very blood in his
• 1:56:15
  veins. She dashed to the window, and William, in self defense,
• 1:56:21
  dodged round the table and out of the door. The back door was open,
• 1:56:27
  and William blindly fled by it. The fat woman did not pursue.
• 1:56:31
  She was leaning out of the window, and her shrieks rent the air.
• 1:56:36
  Police help, murder robbers. The quiet little street rang with the raucous sounds.
• 1:56:45
  William felt cold shivers creeping up and down his spine. He was in
• 1:56:49
  a small back garden from which he could see no exit. Meanwhile, the
• 1:56:56
  shrieks were redoubled. Help, Help, Help, Then came the sounds of
• 1:57:01
  the front door opening and men's voices, hullo, who is it? What
• 1:57:08
  is it? William glared round wildly. There was a hen house in the
• 1:57:14
  corner of the garden, and into this he dashed, tearing open the door
• 1:57:18
  and plunging through a mass of flying feathers and angry disturbed hens. William crouched
• 1:57:26
  in a corner of the dark hen house, determinedly clutching his bunch of syringa.
• 1:57:31
  Distant voices were at first all he could hear. Then they came nearer,
• 1:57:38
  and he heard the fat lady's voice, loudly declaiming he was quite a
• 1:57:43
  small man, but with such an evil face. I just had one glimpse
• 1:57:47
  of him as he dashed past me. I'm sure he'd murdered me if I
• 1:57:53
  hadn't cried for help. Oh, the coward and a poor defenseless woman.
• 1:58:00
  He was standing by the silver table. I disturbed him at his work of
• 1:58:03
  crime. I feel so upset. I shan't sleep for nights. I shall
• 1:58:11
  see his evil, murderous face and a poor, unarmed woman. Can you
• 1:58:17
  give us no details, madam said a man's voice. Could you recognize him
• 1:58:23
  again anywhere? She said firmly, Such a criminal face. You've no idea
• 1:58:30
  how upset I am. I might have been a lifeless corpse now if I
• 1:58:34
  hadn't had the courage to cry for help. We're measuring the footprints, Madam.
• 1:58:41
  You say he went out by the front door. I'm convinced he did.
• 1:58:45
  I'm convinced he's hiding in the bushes by the gate. Such a low
• 1:58:50
  face. My nerves are absolutely jarred. We'll search the bushes again, madam,
• 1:58:58
  said the other voice, weary. But I expect he has escaped by
• 1:59:02
  now. The brute, said the fat lady. Oh, the brute,
• 1:59:06
  and that face. If I hadn't had the courage to cry out. The
• 1:59:13
  voices died away, and William was left alone in a corner of the hen
• 1:59:16
  house. A white hen appeared in the little doorway, squawked at him angrily,
• 1:59:24
  and retired cackling indignation. Visions of life long penal servitude or hanging passed
• 1:59:32
  before William's eyes. He'd rather be executed, really, he'd hoped they'd execute
• 1:59:39
  him. Then he heard the fat lady bidding good bye to the policeman.
• 1:59:44
  Then she came to the back garden, evidently with a friend, and continued
• 1:59:48
  to pour forth her troubles. And he dashed past me, dear, quite
• 1:59:54
  a small man, but with such an evil face. A black appeared in
• 2:00:00
  the little doorway, and, with an angry squawk at William, returned to
• 2:00:05
  the back garden. I think you're splendid, dear, said the invisible friend.
• 2:00:12
  How you had the courage. The white hen gave a sardonic scream.
• 2:00:17
  You'd better come in and rest, darling, said the friend. I'd better,
• 2:00:23
  said the fat lady, in a plaintive, suffering voice. I do
• 2:00:27
  feel very very shaken. Their voices ceased. The door was closed, and
• 2:00:34
  all was still cautiously, very cautiously. A much disheveled William crept from the
• 2:00:43
  hen house and round the side of the house. Here he found a locked
• 2:00:47
  side gate, over which he climbed, and very quietly he glided down to
• 2:00:53
  the front gate and to the road. Where's William this evening, said missus
• 2:00:58
  Brown. I'd I do hope he won't stay out after his bedtime. Oh,
• 2:01:02
  I've just met him, said Ethel. He was going up to his
• 2:01:06
  bedroom. He was covered with hen feathers and holding a bunch of syringa.
• 2:01:12
  Mad sighed his father, mad, mad Mad. The next morning, William
• 2:01:19
  laid a bunch of syringa upon Miss Drew's desk. He performed the offering with
• 2:01:25
  an air of quiet manly pride. Miss Drew recoiled, not syringa, William,
• 2:01:32
  I simply can't bear the smell. William gazed at her in silent astonishment.
• 2:01:40
  For a few moments then. But but you said you said, you
• 2:01:47
  said you were fond of syringa and that you liked to have them. Did
• 2:01:51
  I say syringa, said miss Drew vaguely. I meant gilder roses. William's
• 2:02:00
  gaze was one of stony contempt. He went slowly back to his old seat
• 2:02:05
  at the back of the room. That evening, he made a bonfire with
• 2:02:11
  several choice friends and played Red Indian in the garden. There was a certain
• 2:02:16
  thrill in returning to the old life, hullo, said his father, encountering
• 2:02:23
  William creeping on all fours among the bushes, I thought you did home lessons.
• 2:02:28
  Now, William arose to an upright position. I'm not going to take
• 2:02:33
  much bother over him now, said William. Mis Drew. She can't talk
• 2:02:39
  straight. She dun'no what she means. That's always the trouble with women,
• 2:02:44
  agreed his father. William says his idol has feet of clay, he said
• 2:02:48
  to his wife, who had approached. I dunno, she's got feet of
• 2:02:53
  clay, said William. The literal all I say is she can't talk straight.
• 2:02:59
  I had no end of trouble, and she didn't know what she means.
• 2:03:02
  I think her feet's all right. She walks all right. Besides,
• 2:03:08
  when they make folks false feet, they make him of wood, not play.
• 2:03:14
  End of chapter four, Chapter five the show. The Outlaws sat around
• 2:03:21
  the old barn, plunged in deep thought. Henry, the oldest member,
• 2:03:28
  aged twelve and one quarter, had said, in a moment of inspiration,
• 2:03:33
  let's think of something else to do, something quite fresh from what we've ever
• 2:03:40
  done before. And the Outlaws were thinking. They had engaged in mortal combat
• 2:03:46
  with one another. They had cooked strange ingredients over a smoking and reluctant flame
• 2:03:54
  with a fine disregard of culinary conventions. They had tracked each other over the
• 2:04:00
  countryside with gait and complexions intended to represent those of the Aborigines of South America.
• 2:04:08
  They had even turned their attention to kidnapping without any striking success, and
• 2:04:15
  these occupations had palled in all its activities. The Society of Outlaws, comprising
• 2:04:23
  four members, aimed at a simple, unostentatious mode of procedure. In their
• 2:04:30
  shrinking from the glare of publicity, they showed an example of unaffected modesty that
• 2:04:36
  many other public societies might profitably emulate. The parents of the members were unaware
• 2:04:45
  of the very existence of the society. The ill timed and tactless interference of
• 2:04:50
  parents had nipped in the bud many a cherished plan, and by bitter experience,
• 2:04:58
  the outlaws had learnt that secrecy was their only protection. Owing to the
• 2:05:03
  rules and restrictions of an unsympathetic world that orders school hours from nine to four,
• 2:05:11
  their meetings were confined to half holidays and occasionally Sunday afternoons. William,
• 2:05:18
  the ever ingenious, made the first suggestion, Let's shoot things with bows and
• 2:05:26
  arrows, same as real outlaws used to. He said, what things?
• 2:05:32
  What bows and arrows? Said Henry and Gingers simultaneously, Oh, anything,
• 2:05:42
  birds and cats and hens and things, and and buy bows and arrows.
• 2:05:46
  You can buy them in shops. We can make them, said Douglas,
• 2:05:50
  hopefully not like you can get them in shops. They'd shoot crooked or something
• 2:05:57
  if we made them. They've got to be just so to shoot straight.
• 2:06:01
  I saw some in Brook's window too, just right, just the same as
• 2:06:05
  real outlaws had. How much, said the outlaws breathlessly. Five shillings target's
• 2:06:13
  for learnin on before we began shooting real things. At all five shillings,
• 2:06:18
  breathed Douglas. He might as well have said five pounds. We've not got
• 2:06:26
  five shillings. Henry's not having any money since he broke their drawing room window,
• 2:06:30
  and Ginger only has threepence a week and has got to give collection.
• 2:06:35
  And we've not paid for the guinea pig yet, the one that got into
• 2:06:41
  ginger sister's hat and she was so mad at And oh, never mind all
• 2:06:45
  that, said William scornfully. We'll just get five shillings. How well,
• 2:06:54
  uncertainly, grown ups can always get money when they want it. How again,
• 2:07:01
  William disliked being tied down to details. Oh, bazaars and things.
• 2:07:08
  Impatiently, bazaars, exploded Henry, who'd come to a bazaar if we had
• 2:07:14
  one? Who would just tell me that? If you're so clever, who'd
• 2:07:18
  come to it? Besides, you've got to sell things at a bazaar,
• 2:07:23
  haven't you what we sell? We've got nothin to sell, have we?
• 2:07:28
  What's the good of having a bazaar with nothing to sell and no one to
• 2:07:31
  buy it? Just tell me that Henry always enjoyed scoring off William well chosen
• 2:07:41
  things, said William desperately, There was a moment's silence. Then Ginger repeated
• 2:07:46
  thoughtfully shows, and Douglas, whose eldest brother was home from college for his
• 2:07:54
  vacation, murmured self consciously. By jove, we could do a show,
• 2:08:01
  said Ginger, get animals and things and charge money for looking at them.
• 2:08:07
  Who'd pay it, said Henry the doubter. Any one would you'd pay to
• 2:08:13
  see animals? Wouldn't you real animals people do at the zoo, don't they.
• 2:08:18
  Well, we'll get some animals. That's easy enough, isn't it.
• 2:08:22
  A neighboring church clock struck four, and the meeting was adjourned. Well,
• 2:08:30
  we'll have a show and get money and buy bows and arrows and shoot things,
• 2:08:35
  summed up William, and we'll arrange the show next week. William returned
• 2:08:41
  home slowly and thoughtfully. He sat on his bed, his hands in his
• 2:08:46
  pockets, his brow drawn into a frown, his thoughts wandering in a dream
• 2:08:52
  land of wonderful shows and rare exotic beasts. Suddenly, from the next room
• 2:09:00
  came a thin sound that gathered volume till it seemed to fill the house like
• 2:09:05
  the roaring of a lion. Then died gradually away and was followed by silence,
• 2:09:11
  but only for a second. It began again a small whisper that grew
• 2:09:18
  louder and louder, became a raucous bellow, then faded slowly away, to
• 2:09:26
  rise again after a moment's silence. In the next room, William's mother's aunt,
• 2:09:33
  Emily, was taking her afternoon nap. Aunt Emily had come down a
• 2:09:37
  month ago for a week's visit and had not yet referred to the date of
• 2:09:43
  her departure. William's father was growing anxious. She was a stout, healthy
• 2:09:50
  lady who spent all her time recovering from a slight illness she had had two
• 2:09:56
  years ago. Her life held two a patience, and only two these were
• 2:10:03
  eating and sleeping. For William, she possessed a subtle but irresistible fascination her
• 2:10:11
  stature, her appetite, her gloom, added to the fact that she utterly
• 2:10:16
  ignored him, attracted him strongly. The tea bell rang, and the sound
• 2:10:24
  of the snoring ceased abruptly. This entertainment over, William descended to the dining
• 2:10:31
  room, where his father was addressing his mother with some heat. Is she
• 2:10:35
  going to stay here forever or only for a few years? I'd like to
• 2:10:41
  know because perceiving William. He stopped abruptly, and William's mother murmured, it's
• 2:10:48
  so nice to have her dear. Then Aunt Emily entered, Have you slept
• 2:10:54
  well? Aunt slept? Repeated Aunt Emily, majestic. I hardly expect to
• 2:11:01
  sleep in my state of health. A little rest is all I can expect.
• 2:11:07
  Sorry, you're no better, said William's father, sardonically. Better,
• 2:11:13
  she repeated again, indignantly, It will be a long time before I'm better.
• 2:11:20
  She lowered her large, healthy frame into a chair, carefully selected a
• 2:11:24
  substantial piece of bread and butter, and attacked it with vigor. I'm going
• 2:11:31
  to the post after tea, said William's mother. Would you care to come
• 2:11:35
  with me? Aunt Emily took a large helping of jam. You hardly expect
• 2:11:41
  me to go out in the evening in my state of health. Surely,
• 2:11:45
  it's years since I went out after tea, and I was at the post
• 2:11:50
  office this morning. There were a lot of people there, but they served
• 2:11:54
  me first. I suppose they saw I looked ill. William's father choked suddenly
• 2:12:01
  and apologized, but not humbly, though, I must say, went on.
• 2:12:07
  Aunt Emily this place does suit me. I think after a few months
• 2:12:11
  here I should be a little stronger. Past the jam, William. The
• 2:12:18
  glance that William's father fixed upon her would have made a stronger woman Quail.
• 2:12:24
  But Aunt Emily was scraping out the last remnants of jam and did not notice.
• 2:12:30
  I'm a bit overtired to day, I think she went on, I'm
• 2:12:35
  so apt to forget how weak I am, and then I overdo it.
• 2:12:39
  I'm ready for the cake, William. I just sat out in the sun
• 2:12:43
  yesterday afternoon and sat a bit too long and overtired myself. I ought to
• 2:12:50
  write letters after tea, but I don't think I have the strength another piece
• 2:12:56
  of cake, William. I'll go upstairs to rest instead. I think.
• 2:13:01
  I hope you'll keep the house quiet. It's so rarely that I can get
• 2:13:05
  a bit of sleep. William's father left the room abruptly. Williams sat on
• 2:13:13
  and watched with fascinated eyes the cake disappear, and finally followed the large,
• 2:13:20
  portly figure upstairs and sat down in his room to plan the show and incidentally
• 2:13:26
  listen with a certain thrilled awe for the sounds from next door. The place
• 2:13:33
  and time of the show presented no little difficulty to hold it in the old
• 2:13:39
  barn would give a way to the world the cherished secret of their meeting place.
• 2:13:46
  It was William who suggested his bedroom to be entered not by way of
• 2:13:50
  the front door and staircase, but by the less public way of the garden
• 2:13:56
  wall and scullery roof. Ever an opmust he affirmed that no one would see
• 2:14:03
  or hear. The choice of a time was limited to Wednesday afternoon, Saturday
• 2:14:09
  afternoon, and Sunday. Sunday at first was ruled out as impossible, but
• 2:14:16
  there were difficulties about Wednesday afternoon and Saturday afternoon. On Wednesday afternoon, Ginger
• 2:14:22
  and Douglas were unwilling and ungraceful pupils at a dancing class. On Saturday afternoon,
• 2:14:31
  William's father gardened and would command a view of the garden wall and scullery
• 2:14:37
  roof on these afternoons. Also, Cook and Emma, both of a suspicious
• 2:14:43
  turn of mind, would be at large. On Sunday, Cook and Emma
• 2:14:50
  went out, William's mother paid a regular weekly visit to an old friend,
• 2:14:54
  and William's father spent the afternoon on the sofa, dead to the world.
• 2:15:01
  Moreover, as he pointed out to the Outlaws, the members of the Sunday
• 2:15:05
  School could be waylaid and induced to attend the show, and they would probably
• 2:15:11
  be provided with money for collection. The more William thought over it, the
• 2:15:16
  more attractive became the idea of a Sunday afternoon in spite of superficial difficulties.
• 2:15:24
  Therefore, Sunday afternoon was finally chosen. The day was fortunately a fine one,
• 2:15:31
  and William and the other outlaws were at work early. William had asked
• 2:15:37
  his mother, with an expression of meekness and virtue that ought to have warned
• 2:15:43
  her of danger, if he might have just a few friends in his room
• 2:15:48
  for the afternoon. His mother, glad that her husband should be spared his
• 2:15:52
  son's restless company, gave willing permission. By half last too, the exhibits
• 2:16:01
  were ready. In a cage. By the window sat a white rat painted
• 2:16:07
  in faint alternate stripes of blue and pink. This was douglas contribution, hand
• 2:16:15
  painted by himself in watercolors. It wore a bewildered expression and occasionally licked its
• 2:16:22
  stripes, and then obviously wished it hadn't. Its cage bore a notice printed
• 2:16:28
  on cardboard rat from China. Rats are all like this in China. Next
• 2:16:39
  came a cat belonging to William's sister, Smuts by name, now imprisoned beneath
• 2:16:46
  a basket chair. At the best of times, Smuts were short tempered,
• 2:16:50
  and all its life had cherished a bitter hatred of William. Now enclosed by
• 2:16:58
  its enemy in a prison to go two feet square, its fury knew no
• 2:17:03
  bounds. It tore at the basket work. It flew wildly round and round,
• 2:17:09
  scratching, spitting, swearing. Its chair bore the simple and appropriate notice
• 2:17:16
  wild cat. William watched it with honest pride and prayed fervently that its indignation
• 2:17:24
  would not abate during the afternoon. Next came a giant composed of Douglas upon
• 2:17:31
  Ginger's back, draped in two sheets tied tightly round douglas neck. This was
• 2:17:39
  labeled genuine Giant. Ginger was already growing restive. His muffled voice was heard
• 2:17:48
  from the folds of the sheets, informing the other outlaws that it was a
• 2:17:52
  bit thick, and he hadn't known it would be like this, or he
• 2:17:56
  wouldn't have done it, and anyway, he was going to change with Douglas
• 2:18:00
  halftime, or he'd chuck up the whole thing. The next exhibit was a
• 2:18:05
  black fox fur of William's mother's, to which was fortunately attached a head and
• 2:18:11
  several feet, and which he had surreptitiously removed from her wardrobe. This had
• 2:18:18
  been tied up, stuffed with waste paper, and wired by William till it
• 2:18:24
  was, in his eyes, remarkably lifelike, as the legs, even with
• 2:18:28
  the assistance of wire, refused to support the body, and the head would
• 2:18:35
  only droop sadly to the ground. It was perforce exhibited in a recumbent attitude.
• 2:18:41
  It bore marks of sticky fingers and of several side slips of the scissors
• 2:18:48
  when William was cutting the wire, but on the whole he was justly proud
• 2:18:52
  of it. It bore the striking but untruthful legend bare shot by outlaw in
• 2:19:00
  Russier. Next came Blue Dog. This was Henry's fox terrier, generally known
• 2:19:07
  as Chips. For Chips, the world was very black. Henry's mastermind had
• 2:19:15
  scorned his paint box and his watercolors. Henry had borrowed a blue bag and
• 2:19:22
  dabbed it liberally over chips. Chips had after the first wild frenzied struggle offered
• 2:19:30
  no resistance. He now sat a picture of black despair, turning every now
• 2:19:37
  and then a melancholy eye upon the still enraged smuts. But for him,
• 2:19:45
  cats and joy and life and fighting were no more. He was abject shamed
• 2:19:52
  a blue dog. William himself, as showman, was an imposing figure.
• 2:20:01
  He was robed in a red dressing gown of his father's that trailed on the
• 2:20:05
  ground behind him and over whose cords and in front he stumbled ungracefully as he
• 2:20:13
  walked. He had cut a few strands from the fringe of a rug and
• 2:20:18
  glued them to his lips to represent mustaches. They fell in two straight lines
• 2:20:24
  over his mouth. On his head was a tensil crown, once worn by
• 2:20:31
  his sister as fairy Queen. The show had been widely advertised, and all
• 2:20:37
  the neighboring children had been individually canvassed, but under strict orders of secrecy.
• 2:20:43
  The threats of what the outlaws would do if their secret were disclosed had kept
• 2:20:50
  many a child awake at night. William surveyed the room proudly, not a
• 2:20:56
  bad show for a penny, I should say, I guess there aren't many
• 2:21:01
  like it anyway, Do shut up talking, Ginger. It'll spoil it all.
• 2:21:05
  If folks hear the giant talking out of his stomach, it's Douglas that's
• 2:21:11
  got to do the giant's talking. Any one could see that. I say,
• 2:21:16
  they're comin. Look they're comin. Along the wall there was a thin
• 2:21:22
  line of children climbing along the wall in a single file on all fours.
• 2:21:28
  They ascended the scullery roof and approached the window. These were the first arrivals
• 2:21:33
  who had called on their way to Sunday school. Henry took their pennies,
• 2:21:39
  and William cleared his throat and began. White rat from China, Ladies and
• 2:21:43
  gentlemen, pink and blue striped. All rats as pink and blue striped in
• 2:21:50
  China. This was the only genuine China rat in England. Brought over from
• 2:21:56
  China special last week, just for the show It lives on China. Bread
• 2:22:01
  and butter brought over special too. Wash it, jeered an unbeliever. Just
• 2:22:07
  wash it and let's see it. Then wash it, repeated the showman indignantly.
• 2:22:15
  It's gotter be washed. It's washed every morning and night, same as
• 2:22:18
  you or me. China rats have gotter be washed or they die right off.
• 2:22:24
  Washingham don't make no difference to their stripes. Anyone knows that that knows
• 2:22:28
  anything about China rats, I guess, he laughed scornfully and turned to Smuts.
• 2:22:35
  Smuts had grown used to the basket chair and was settling down for a
• 2:22:39
  nap. William crouched down on all fours, ran his fingers along the basket
• 2:22:46
  work, and putting his face close to it, gave vent to a malicious
• 2:22:52
  howl. Smuts sprang at him, scratching and spitting. Wildcat, said William
• 2:22:58
  triumphantly. Look at it kill anyone if it got out spring at their throats,
• 2:23:03
  it would and scratch their eyes out with its paws and bite their necks
• 2:23:09
  till its teeth met. If I just moved away that chair, it would
• 2:23:13
  spring out at you. They moved hastily away from the chair, and I
• 2:23:18
  bet some of you would be dead pretty quick. It could have any one's
• 2:23:22
  head right off with bitin and scratchin right off, separate from their bodies.
• 2:23:28
  There was an awe stricken silence, then gone, it's Smuts, it's your
• 2:23:37
  sister's cat. William laughed, as though vastly amused by this idea. Smuts,
• 2:23:43
  he said, giving a surreptitious kick to the chair that infuriated its occupant
• 2:23:50
  still more. I guess there wouldn't be many of us left in this house
• 2:23:54
  if Smuts was like this. They passed on to the giant. A giant,
• 2:24:01
  said William, re arranging the tinsel crown, which was slightly too big
• 2:24:07
  for him. Real giant, look at it, as big as two of
• 2:24:11
  you put together. How do you think he gets in at doors and things?
• 2:24:16
  Has to have everything made special? Look at him, walk walk,
• 2:24:22
  ginger. Ginger took two steps forward. Douglas clutched his shoulders and murmured anxiously.
• 2:24:30
  By jove, go on, urged William scornfully. That's not walkin'.
• 2:24:37
  The goaded ginger's voice came from the giant's middle regions. If you go on
• 2:24:43
  talkin at me, I'll drop him. I'm just about sick of it,
• 2:24:46
  all right, said William hastily. Anyway, it's a giant, he went
• 2:24:52
  on to his audience, A jolly fine giant. It's got Douglas's face,
• 2:24:58
  said one of his audience. William was for a moment at a loss.
• 2:25:03
  Well, he said, At last, giants got to have some sort of
• 2:25:07
  face, hasn't it? Can't not have a face, can it. The
• 2:25:11
  Russian bear, which had often been seen adorning the shoulders of William's mother and
• 2:25:18
  was promptly recognized, was greeted with ribbled jeers. But there was no doubt
• 2:25:24
  as to the success of the blue dog. Chips advanced deprecatingly, blue head
• 2:25:30
  drooping and blue tail between blue legs, making abject apologies for his horrible condition.
• 2:25:37
  But Henry had done his work well. They stood around in rapt admiration.
• 2:25:46
  Blue Dog, said the showman, walking forward proudly and stumbling violently over
• 2:25:52
  the cords of the dressing gown. Blue Dog, he repeated, recovering his
• 2:25:56
  balance and removing the tinsel crown from his nose to his brow. You never
• 2:26:03
  saw a blue dog before, did you No? And you aren't likely to
• 2:26:07
  see one again neither. It was made blue special for this show. It's
• 2:26:11
  the only blue dog in the world. Folks will be coming from all over
• 2:26:16
  the world to see this blue dog, and thrown in in a penny show.
• 2:26:22
  If it was in the zoo, you'd have to pay a shilling to
• 2:26:24
  see it. I bet it's it's just luck for you it's here. I
• 2:26:30
  guess the folks at the zoo wish they'd got it. Tain't many shows have
• 2:26:35
  blue dogs, brown and black and white, but not blue. Why folks
• 2:26:41
  pay many just to see shows of ornery dogs. So you're just lucky to
• 2:26:46
  see a blue dog and a dead bear from Russia, and a giant and
• 2:26:50
  a wildcat and a China rat for just one penny. After each speech,
• 2:26:56
  William had to remove from his mouth the rug fringe, which persisted in obeying
• 2:27:01
  the force of gravity, rather than William's idea of what a mustache should be.
• 2:27:07
  It's just paint Henry's gaits being painted blue, said one critic, feebly.
• 2:27:15
  But on the whole the outlaws had scored a distinct success in the blue
• 2:27:20
  dog. Then, while they stood in silent admiration round the unhappy animal,
• 2:27:26
  came a sound from the next door, a gentle sound, like the sighing
• 2:27:31
  of the wind through the trees. It rose and fell, It rose again
• 2:27:37
  and fell again. It increased in volume with each repetition, till at its
• 2:27:45
  height it sounded like a wild animal in pain. What's that? Asked the
• 2:27:50
  audience, breathlessly. William was slightly uneasy. He was not sure whether this
• 2:27:58
  fresh development would add luster or dishonor to his show. Yes, he said
• 2:28:05
  darkly, to gain time. What is it? I guess you'd like to
• 2:28:09
  know what it is? Gone. It's just snorin, snorin, repeated William.
• 2:28:18
  It's not ornery snorin. That isn't just listen, that's all. You
• 2:28:22
  couldn't snore like that, I bet mah. They listened, spellbound to the
• 2:28:28
  gentle sound, growing louder and louder, till at its loudest it brought rapt
• 2:28:35
  smiles to their faces, then ceasing abruptly, then silence, then again,
• 2:28:41
  the gentle sound that grew and grew. William asked Henry in a stage whisper
• 2:28:48
  if they oughtn't to charge extra for listening to it. The audience hastily explained
• 2:28:54
  that they weren't listening, They just couldn't help hearin. A second batch of
• 2:29:00
  sightseers had arrived and were paying their entrance pennies, but the first batch refused
• 2:29:07
  to move. William, emboldened by success, opened the door and they crept
• 2:29:13
  out to the landing and listened with ears pressed to the magic door. Henry
• 2:29:20
  now did the honors of showman. William stood majestic in his glorious apparel,
• 2:29:26
  deep in thought. Then to his face came the faint smile that inspiration brings
• 2:29:33
  to her votaries. He ordered the audience back into the show room and shut
• 2:29:37
  the door. Then he took off his shoes and softly and with bated breath,
• 2:29:43
  opened Aunt Emily's door and peeped within. It was rather a close afternoon,
• 2:29:50
  and she lay on her bed on the top of her eider down.
• 2:29:54
  She had slipped off her dress skirt so as not to crush it, and
• 2:29:58
  she lay in her immense stature in a blouse and striped petticoat, while from
• 2:30:05
  her open mouth issued the fascinating sounds in sleep. Aunt Emily was not beautiful.
• 2:30:13
  William thoughtfully propped up a cushion in the doorway and stood considering the situation.
• 2:30:22
  In a few minutes, the showroom was filled with a silent, expectant
• 2:30:28
  crowd. In a corner near the door was a new notice place for taking
• 2:30:33
  off shoes and taking oath of silence. William, after administering the oath of
• 2:30:41
  silence to a select party, in his most impressive manner led them shoeless and
• 2:30:48
  on tiptoe to the next room. From Aunt Emily's bed hung another notice fat
• 2:30:56
  wild woman Torqun native language. They stood in a hushed, delighted group around
• 2:31:03
  her bed. The sounds never ceased, never abated. William only allowed them
• 2:31:11
  two minutes in the room. They came out reluctantly, paid more money,
• 2:31:16
  joined the end of the queue, and re entered. More and more children
• 2:31:22
  came to see the show, but the show now consisted solely in Aunt Emily.
• 2:31:28
  The China rat had licked off all its stripes. Smuts was fast asleep,
• 2:31:35
  Ginger was sitting down on the seat of a chair, and Douglas on
• 2:31:39
  the back of it. And Ginger had insisted at last on air and sight,
• 2:31:45
  and had put his head out where the two sheets joined. The Russian
• 2:31:48
  there had fallen on to the floor, and no one had picked it up.
• 2:31:54
  Chips lay in a disconsolate heap, a victim of acute melancholia, and
• 2:32:00
  no one cared for any of these things. Newcomers passed by them hurriedly and
• 2:32:05
  stood shoeless in the queue outside Aunt Emily's room, eagerly awaiting their turn.
• 2:32:13
  Those who came out simply went to the end again to wait another turn.
• 2:32:18
  Many returned home for more money for Aunt Emily was onepence extra, and each
• 2:32:26
  visit after the first a halfpenny. The Sunday School bell pealed forth at summons,
• 2:32:33
  but no one left the show. The vicar was depressed that evening the
• 2:32:39
  attendants at Sunday School had been the worst on record, and still Aunt Emily
• 2:32:46
  slept and snored with a rapt silent crowd around her. But William could never
• 2:32:54
  rest content he possessed ambition that would have put many of his to shame.
• 2:33:01
  He cleared the room and reopened it after a few minutes, during which his
• 2:33:05
  clients waited in breathless suspense. When they re entered, there was a fresh
• 2:33:13
  exhibit. William's keen eye had been searching out each detail of the room.
• 2:33:18
  On the table by her bed now stood a glass containing teeth that William had
• 2:33:24
  discovered on the washstand, and a switch of hair and a toothless comb that
• 2:33:31
  William had discovered on the dressing table. These all bore notices fat wild woman's
• 2:33:39
  teeth, fat wild woman's hair, fat wild woman's comb. Were it not
• 2:33:46
  that the slightest noise meant instant expulsion from the show. Some of their number
• 2:33:52
  had already suffered that bitter fate. There would have been no restraining the audience.
• 2:33:58
  As it was. They crept in silent expectant, thrilled to watch and
• 2:34:05
  listen for the blissful two minutes, and aunt Emily never failed them. Still
• 2:34:11
  she slept and snored. They borrowed money recklessly from each other, the poor
• 2:34:18
  sold their dearest treasures to the rich. And still they came again and again,
• 2:34:24
  and still aunt Emily slept and snored. It would be interesting to know
• 2:34:31
  how long this would have gone on had she not on the top note of
• 2:34:35
  appeal. That was a pure delight to her audience. Awakened with a start
• 2:34:41
  and glanced around her. At first, she thought that the cluster of small
• 2:34:46
  boys around her was a dream, especially as they turned and fled precipitately at
• 2:34:52
  once. Then she sat up, and her eye fell upon the table by
• 2:34:58
  her, bed, the notices, and finally upon the petrified, horror stricken
• 2:35:03
  showman. She sprang up, and, seizing him by the shoulders, shook
• 2:35:09
  him till his teeth chattered. The tinsel crown fell down, encircling ears and
• 2:35:16
  nose, and one of his mustaches fell limply at his feet. You wicked
• 2:35:22
  boy, she said, as she shook him. You wicked, wicked,
• 2:35:24
  wicked boy. He escaped from her grasp and fled to the showroom, where,
• 2:35:33
  in sheer self defense, he moved a table and three chairs across the
• 2:35:37
  door. The room was empty except for Henry, the blue dog, and
• 2:35:43
  the still sleeping Smuts. All that was left of the giant was the crumpled
• 2:35:48
  sheets. Douglas had with an awe, stricken by jove, snatched up his
• 2:35:54
  rat as he ran. The last of their clients was seen grambling along the
• 2:36:01
  top of the garden wall on all fours with all possible speed. Mechanically.
• 2:36:07
  William straightened his crown. She's woke, he said, She's mad wild.
• 2:36:13
  He listened apprehensively for angry footsteps descending the stairs and his father's dread summons,
• 2:36:22
  but none came. Aunt Emily could be heard moving about in her room,
• 2:36:28
  but that was all. A wild hope came to him that given a little
• 2:36:33
  time, she might forget the incident. Let's count the money, said Henry.
• 2:36:39
  At last they counted four and six, screamed William, four and six.
• 2:36:46
  Jolly good, I should say, and it would only have been about
• 2:36:52
  two shillings without Aunt Emily. I thought of her, didn't I. I
• 2:36:56
  guess you can all be jolly grateful to me, all right, said Henry
• 2:37:01
  unkindly. I'm not envying you, am I. You're welcome to it.
• 2:37:07
  When she tells your father, Aunt William's proud spirits dropped. Then came the
• 2:37:13
  opening of the fateful door and heavy steps descending the stairs. William's mother had
• 2:37:20
  returned from her weekly visit to her friend. She was placing her umbrella in
• 2:37:26
  the stand as Aunt Emily, hatted and coated and carrying a bag, descended.
• 2:37:33
  William's father had just awakened from his peaceful Sunday afternoon slumber, and hearing
• 2:37:39
  his wife had come into the hall, aunt Emily fixed her eye upon him.
• 2:37:46
  Will you be good enough to procure a conveyance? She said, after
• 2:37:52
  the indignities to which I have been subjected in this house, I refuse to
• 2:37:58
  remain in it. A moment longer. Quivering with indignation, she gave details
• 2:38:05
  of the indignities to which she had been subjected. William's mother pleaded, apologized,
• 2:38:13
  coaxed. William's father went quietly out to procure a conveyance. When he
• 2:38:20
  returned, she was still talking in the hall. A crowd of vulgar little
• 2:38:26
  boys, she was saying, and horrible indecent placards all over the room.
• 2:38:33
  He carried her bag down to the cab, and me in my state of
• 2:38:37
  health, she said. As she followed him from the cab. She gave
• 2:38:43
  her parting shot. And if this horrible thing hadn't happened, I might have
• 2:38:48
  stayed with you all the winter and perhaps part of the spring. William's father
• 2:38:56
  wiped his brow with his handkerchief as the cab drove off. How dreadful,
• 2:39:01
  said his wife, but she avoided meeting his eye. It's a it's disgraceful
• 2:39:07
  of William, she went on, with sudden spirit. You must speak to
• 2:39:11
  him, I will, said his father determinedly. William, he shouted sternly
• 2:39:18
  from the hall. William's heart sank. She's told, he murmured, his
• 2:39:26
  last hope gone. You'd better go and get it over, advised Henry.
• 2:39:31
  William repeated the voice still more fiercely. Henry moved nearer the window, prepared
• 2:39:39
  for instant flight. If the voice's owner should follow it up the stairs,
• 2:39:45
  go on, he urged, he'll only come up for you. William slowly
• 2:39:50
  removed the barricade and descended the stairs. He had remembered to take off the
• 2:39:56
  crown and dressing gown, but his one sided must ustash still hung limply over
• 2:40:01
  his mouth. His father was standing in the hall. What's that horrible thing
• 2:40:09
  on your face? He began whiskers, answered William laconically. His father accepted
• 2:40:16
  the explanation. Is it true? He went on that you actually took your
• 2:40:22
  friends into your aunt's room without permission and hung vulgar placards around it. William
• 2:40:31
  glanced up into his father's face and suddenly took hope. Mister Brown was no
• 2:40:37
  actor. Yes, he admitted. It's disgraceful, said mister Brown. Disgraceful,
• 2:40:45
  that's all. But it was not quite all. Something hard and round
• 2:40:50
  slipped into William's hand. He ran lightly upstairs. Hullo, said, Henry,
• 2:40:58
  surprised, that's not take him long. What William opened his hand and
• 2:41:03
  showed something that shone upon his extended palm. Look, he said, crumbs.
• 2:41:09
  Look, it was a bright half crown. End of Chapter five,
• 2:41:18
  Chapter six A question of grammar. It was raining. It had been raining
• 2:41:24
  all morning William was intensely bored with his family. What can I do?
• 2:41:33
  He demanded of his father for the tenth time, Nothing, said his father
• 2:41:37
  fiercely, from behind his newspaper. William followed his mother into the kitchen.
• 2:41:43
  What can I do? He said, plaintively. Couldn't you just sit quietly,
• 2:41:48
  suggested his mother. That's not doing anything, William said, I could
• 2:41:54
  sit quietly all day, he went on aggressively if I wanted. But you
• 2:42:01
  never do no, cause there wouldn't be any sense in it, would there.
• 2:42:07
  Couldn't you read or draw or something. No, that's lessons, that's
• 2:42:13
  not doin anything. I could teach you to knit if you like. With
• 2:42:18
  one crushing glance, William left her. He went to the drawing room,
• 2:42:24
  where his sister Ethel was knitting a jumper and talking to a friend. And
• 2:42:31
  I heard her say to him. She was saying, she broke off with
• 2:42:35
  the sigh of a patient martyr. As William came in, he sat down
• 2:42:39
  and glared at her. She exchanged a glance of resigned exasperation with her friend.
• 2:42:48
  What are you doing, William? Said the friend sweetly, Nunn said
• 2:42:52
  William, with a scowl, shut the door after you when you go out,
• 2:42:58
  won't you, William said ethel willy sweetly. William, at that insult,
• 2:43:03
  rose with dignity and went to the door. At the door he turned.
• 2:43:09
  I wouldn't stay here now, he said, with slow contempt, Not
• 2:43:16
  even if, even if, even if he paused to consider the most remote
• 2:43:24
  contingency, Not even if you wanted me, he said at last emphatically.
• 2:43:31
  He shut the door behind him, and his expression relaxed into a sardonic smile.
• 2:43:39
  I bet they feel small, he said, to the umbrella stand.
• 2:43:43
  He went to the library, where his seventeen year old brother Robert was showing
• 2:43:48
  off his new rifle to a friend. You see, he was saying,
• 2:43:54
  then catching sight of William's face round the corner, Oh get out. William
• 2:44:01
  got out. He returned to his mother in the kitchen with a still more
• 2:44:05
  jaundiced view of life. It was still raining. His mother was looking at
• 2:44:11
  the tradesman's books. Can I go out? He said, gloomily, No,
• 2:44:16
  of course not. It's pouring. I don't mind rain. Don't be
• 2:44:22
  silly. William considered that few boys in the whole world were handicapped by more
• 2:44:30
  unsympathetic parents than he. Why, he said, pathetically, have they got
• 2:44:37
  friends and me? Not? I suppose you didn't think of asking anyone?
• 2:44:41
  She said, calmly, Well can I have some one? Now? No,
• 2:44:48
  it's too late, said missus Brown, raising her head from the butcher's
• 2:44:52
  book and murmuring ten and elevenpence to herself. Well when can I? She
• 2:45:00
  raised a harassed face. William, do be quiet any time? If you
• 2:45:05
  ask? Eighteen and twopence? Can I have lots? Oh? Go ask
• 2:45:11
  your father? William went out. He returned to the dining room, where
• 2:45:18
  his father was still reading a paper. The sigh with which his father greeted
• 2:45:22
  his entrance was not one of relief. If you've come to ask questions,
• 2:45:28
  he began, threateningly, I haven't, said William quickly. Father. When
• 2:45:35
  you're all away on Saturday, can I have a party? No? Of
• 2:45:39
  course, not, said his father irritably. Can't you do something? William
• 2:45:46
  goaded into desperation, burst into a flood of eloquence. The sort of things
• 2:45:52
  I want to do they don't want me to do, and the sort of
• 2:45:56
  things I don't want to do they want me to do, mother said to
• 2:46:00
  net Net. His scorn and fury were indescribable. His father looked out of
• 2:46:07
  the window. Thank Heaven it stopped raining. Go out, William went out.
• 2:46:16
  There were some quite interesting things to do outside in the road. There
• 2:46:20
  were puddles, and the sensation of walking through a puddle, as every boy
• 2:46:26
  knows, is a very pleasant one. The hedges, when shaken, sent
• 2:46:31
  quite a shower bath upon the shaker, which also is a pleasant sensation.
• 2:46:37
  The ditch was full, and there was the thrill of seeing how often one
• 2:46:41
  could jump across it without going in. One went in more often than not.
• 2:46:48
  It is also fascinating to walk in mud, scraping it along with one's
• 2:46:54
  boots. William's spirits rose, but he could not shake off the idea of
• 2:46:58
  the party. Quite suddenly, he wanted to have a party, and he
• 2:47:03
  wanted to have it on Saturday. His family would be away on Saturday.
• 2:47:09
  They were going to spend the day with an aunt. Ants rarely included William
• 2:47:15
  in their invitation. He came home wet and dirty and cheerful. He approached
• 2:47:22
  his father warily, did you say I could have a party? Father?
• 2:47:26
  He said casually, No, I did not, said mister Brown firmly.
• 2:47:33
  William let the matter rest for the present. He spent most of the English
• 2:47:39
  grammar class and school next morning, considering it there was a great deal to
• 2:47:46
  be said for a party in the absence of one's parents and grown up brother
• 2:47:50
  and sister. He liked to ask George and Ginger and Henry and Douglas,
• 2:47:56
  and and and heaps of them. He'd liked to ask them all. They
• 2:48:03
  were the whole class, thirty in number. What have I just been saying?
• 2:48:09
  William William sighed, that was the foolish sort of question that schoolmistresses were
• 2:48:16
  always asking. They ought to know themselves what they'd just been saying better than
• 2:48:22
  anyone he never knew. Why were they always asking him? He looked blank.
• 2:48:28
  Then was it anything about participles? He remembered something vaguely about participles,
• 2:48:37
  but it mightn't have been to day. Miss Jones groaned, that was ever
• 2:48:43
  so long ago, William, She said, you've not been attending. William
• 2:48:50
  cleared his throat with a certain dignity and made no answer. Tell him Henry.
• 2:48:58
  Henry ceased his drawling occupation of trying to push a fly into his ink
• 2:49:03
  weell with his nib and answered mechanically, two negatives make an affirmative. Yes,
• 2:49:11
  say that William. William repeated it without betraying any great interest in the
• 2:49:16
  fact. Yes, what's a negative William? William sighed something about photographs,
• 2:49:26
  He said obligingly, no, snapped Miss Jones. She found William and the
• 2:49:31
  heat William particularly rather trying. It's no and not and an affirmative is yes,
• 2:49:43
  oh, said William politely. So two nos and nots means yes if
• 2:49:52
  they're in the same sentence. If you said there's not no money in the
• 2:49:56
  box, you mean there is. William considered. He said oh again.
• 2:50:05
  Then he seemed suddenly to become intelligent. Then he said, if you say
• 2:50:11
  no and not in the same sentence, does it mean yes? Certainly?
• 2:50:18
  William smiled. William's smile was a rare thing. Thank you, he said.
• 2:50:28
  Miss Jones was quite touched. It's all right, William, she said,
• 2:50:33
  I'm glad you're beginning to take an interest in your work. William was
• 2:50:39
  murmuring to himself. No, of course not, and no I did not,
• 2:50:46
  and ah no and a not mean a yes. So he meant yes,
• 2:50:52
  of course and yes I did. He waited till the friday before he
• 2:50:58
  gave his invitation with a casual air. My folks, has gone away tomorrow,
• 2:51:03
  and they said I could have a few friends in to tea. Can
• 2:51:07
  you come? Tell your mother? They said, just to come, and
• 2:51:11
  not bother to write. He was a born strategist. Not one of his
• 2:51:16
  friend's parents guessed the true state of affairs. When William's conscience, that curious
• 2:51:24
  organ rose to reproach him, he said, to it firmly, he said
• 2:51:28
  I could. He said yes, of course, he said yes, I
• 2:51:33
  did. He asked them all. He thought that while you are having a
• 2:51:39
  party, you might as well have a big one. He hinted darkly at
• 2:51:43
  unrestrained joy and mirth. They all accepted the invitation. William's mother took an
• 2:51:52
  anxious farewell of him on Saturday morning. You don't mind being left, darling,
• 2:51:58
  do you, No, mother, said William, with perfect truth.
• 2:52:03
  You won't do anything we've told you not to do, will you no,
• 2:52:09
  mother, only things you said yes to. Cook and Jane had long looked
• 2:52:16
  forward to this day. There would be very little to do in the house,
• 2:52:20
  and as far as William was concerned, they hoped for the best.
• 2:52:24
  William was out all the morning. At lunch, he was ominously quiet and
• 2:52:31
  polite. Jane decided to go with her young man to the pictures. Cook
• 2:52:37
  said she didn't mind being left, as that Master William had gone out and
• 2:52:41
  there seemed to be no prospect of his return before tea time. So Jane
• 2:52:48
  went to the pictures. About three o'clock, the postman came, and Cook
• 2:52:52
  went to the door for the letters. Then she stood gazing down the road
• 2:52:58
  as though trance fixed. William had collected his guests en route. He was
• 2:53:05
  bringing them joyfully home with him. Clean and starched and prim had they issued
• 2:53:11
  from their homes, but they had grown hilarious under William's benign influence. They
• 2:53:18
  had acquired sticks and stones and old tins from the ditches as they came along.
• 2:53:24
  They perceived, from William's general attitude towards it, that it was no
• 2:53:30
  ordinary party. They were a happy crowd. William headed them with a trumpet.
• 2:53:37
  They trooped in at the garden gate. Cook, pale and speechless,
• 2:53:43
  watched them. Then her speechlessness departed. You're not coming in here, she
• 2:53:50
  said, fiercely. What have you brought all those boys cluttering up the garden.
• 2:53:56
  They've come to Tea, said William calmly. He grew paler still that
• 2:54:03
  they've not. She said fiercely, what your father'd say? He said they
• 2:54:09
  could come, said William. I asked him, and he said yes,
• 2:54:13
  of course. And I asked him if he'd said so, and he said
• 2:54:18
  yes, I did. That's what he said. Cause of English grammar and
• 2:54:22
  what miss Jones said. Cook's answer was to slam the door in his face
• 2:54:28
  and lock it. The thirty guests were slightly disconcerted, but not for long.
• 2:54:35
  Come on, shouted William excitedly. She's the enemy. Let's storm her
• 2:54:41
  old castle. The guest's spirits rose. This promised to be infinitely superior to
• 2:54:48
  the usual party. They swarmed round to the back of the house. The
• 2:54:54
  enemy had bolted the back door and was fastening all the windows. Purple with
• 2:55:00
  fury, she shook her fist at William through the drawing room window. William
• 2:55:05
  brandished his piece of stick and blew his trumpet in defiant reply. The army
• 2:55:11
  had armed itself with every kind of weapon, including the raspberry canes, whose
• 2:55:18
  careful placing was the result of a whole day's work of William's father. William
• 2:55:24
  decided to climb up to the balcony outside Ethel's open bedroom window with the help
• 2:55:30
  of his noble band. The air was full of their defiant warhoops. They
• 2:55:35
  filled the front garden, trampling on all the rose beds, cheering William as
• 2:55:41
  he swarmed up to the balcony, his trumpet between his lips. The enemy
• 2:55:46
  appeared at the window and shut it with a bang, and William startled,
• 2:55:52
  dropped down among his followers. They raised a hoarse roar of anger. Me
• 2:56:00
  an old cat, shouted the enraged general. The blood of the army was
• 2:56:05
  up. No army of thirty strong, worthy of its name would ever consent
• 2:56:11
  to be worsted by an enemy of one. All the doors and windows were
• 2:56:18
  bolted. There was only one thing to be done, and this the General
• 2:56:22
  did, encouraged by loyal cheers from his army. Go it, oh,
• 2:56:28
  William, Yeah. He The stone with which William broke the drawing room window
• 2:56:37
  fell upon a small occasional table, scattering Missus Brown's cherished silver far and wide.
• 2:56:46
  William, with the born general's contempt for the minor devastations of war,
• 2:56:50
  enlarged the whole and helped his gallant band through with only a limited number of
• 2:56:58
  cuts and scre They were drunk with the thrill of battle. They left the
• 2:57:05
  garden with its wreck of rose trees and its trampled lawn, and crowded through
• 2:57:09
  the broken window, with imminent danger to life and limb. The enemy was
• 2:57:16
  shutting the small window of the coal cellar, and there William imprisoned her,
• 2:57:22
  turning the key with a loud yell of triumph. The party then proceeded.
• 2:57:28
  It fulfilled the expectations of the guests that it was to be a party unlike
• 2:57:33
  any other party. At other parties, they played hide and seek with smiling
• 2:57:39
  but firm mothers and aunts and sisters stationed at intervals, with damping effects upon
• 2:57:46
  one's spirits. With not in the bedrooms, dear, and mind the umbrella
• 2:57:52
  stand, and certainly not in the drawing room, and don't shout so loud,
• 2:57:58
  darling. But this was hide and seek from the realms of perfection,
• 2:58:05
  up the stairs and down the stairs in all the bedrooms, sliding down the
• 2:58:09
  balusters, in and out of the drawing room, leaving trails of muddy boots
• 2:58:16
  and shattered ornaments as they went. Ginger found a splendid hiding place in Robert's
• 2:58:22
  bed, where his boots left a perfect impression of their muddy soles in several
• 2:58:28
  places. Henry found another in Ethel's wardrobe, crouching upon her satin evening shoes
• 2:58:37
  among her evening dresses. George banged the drawing room door with such violence that
• 2:58:43
  the handle came off in his hand. Douglas became entangled in the dining room
• 2:58:50
  curtain, which yielded to his struggles and descended upon him and an old china
• 2:58:56
  bowl upon the sideboard. It was such a party as none of them had
• 2:59:01
  dreamed of. It was bliss undiluded. The house was full of shouting and
• 2:59:09
  yelling, of running to and fro of small boys, mingled with subterranean murmurs
• 2:59:15
  of Cook's rage. Cook was uttering horrible imprecations and hurling lumps of coal at
• 2:59:22
  the door. She was irish and longed to return to the fray. It
• 2:59:28
  was William who discovered first that it was tea time and there was no tea.
• 2:59:35
  At first he felt slightly aggrieved. Then he thought of the larder,
• 2:59:41
  and his spirits rose come on. He called, I'll just get what you
• 2:59:46
  can. They trooped in, panting, shouting, laughing, and all just
• 2:59:54
  got what they could. Ginger seized the remnants of a cold ham and picked
• 3:00:00
  the bone George, with great gusto, drank a whole jar of cream.
• 3:00:05
  William and Douglas between them ate a gooseberry pie. Henry ate a whole currant
• 3:00:13
  cake, each foraged for himself. They ate two bowls of cold vegetables,
• 3:00:20
  a joint of cold beef, two pots of honey, three dozen oranges,
• 3:00:24
  three loaves, and two pots of dripping. They experimented upon lard onions and
• 3:00:33
  raw sausages. They left the larder a place of gaping emptiness. Meanwhile,
• 3:00:39
  Cook's voice, growing hoarser and hoarser as the result of the inhalation of cold
• 3:00:46
  dust and exhalation of imprecations, still arose from the depths, And still the
• 3:00:52
  door of the coal cellar shook and rattled. Then one of the guests who
• 3:00:58
  had been in the drawing room window came back. She's coming home, he
• 3:01:03
  shouted excitedly. They flocked to the window. Jane was bidding a fond farewell
• 3:01:11
  to her young man at the side gate. Don't let her come in,
• 3:01:16
  yelled William. Come on, with a smile of blissful reminiscence upon her face.
• 3:01:22
  Jane turned in at the gate. She was totally unprepared for being met
• 3:01:28
  by a shower of missiles from upper windows. A lump of lard hit her
• 3:01:33
  on the ear and knocked her hat on to one side. She retreated hastily
• 3:01:39
  to the side gate. Go on, send her into the road. A
• 3:01:46
  shower of onions, the ham bone, and a few potatoes pursued her into
• 3:01:52
  the road. Shouts of triumph rent the air. Then the shouts of triumph
• 3:01:58
  died away. Abruptly, William's smile also faded away, and his hand,
• 3:02:05
  in the act of flinging an onion, dropped. A cab was turning in
• 3:02:09
  at the front gate. In the sudden silence that fell upon the party,
• 3:02:16
  Cook's hoarse cries for vengeance rose with redoubled force from the coal cellar. William
• 3:02:24
  grew pale. The cab contained his family. Two hours later, a small
• 3:02:33
  feminine friend of William, who had called with a note for his mother,
• 3:02:37
  looked up to William's window and caught sight of William's untidy head. Come and
• 3:02:43
  play with me, William, she called eagerly. I can't. I'm going
• 3:02:48
  to bed, said William sternly. Why are you ill, William? No,
• 3:02:56
  well, why are you going to bed? William? William leant out
• 3:03:00
  to the window. I'm going to bed, he said, cause my father
• 3:03:03
  don't understand about English grammar. That's why. End of chapter six, Chapter
• 3:03:11
  seven, William joins the Band of Hope. William, you've been playing that
• 3:03:18
  dreadful game again, said Missus Brown despairingly. William, his suit covered with
• 3:03:24
  dust, his tie under one ear, his face begrimed, and his knees
• 3:03:30
  cut, looked at her in righteous indignation. I haven't. I haven't done
• 3:03:35
  anything what you said i'd not to. It was lions and tamers. What
• 3:03:39
  you said i'd not to play. Well, I've not played lions and tamers,
• 3:03:43
  not since you said i'd not to. I wouldn't do it, not
• 3:03:46
  if thousands of people asked me to not when you said i'd not to,
• 3:03:50
  I Missus Brown interrupted him. Well what have you been playing at, she
• 3:03:56
  said wearily. It was tigers and tamers, said William. It's a different
• 3:04:03
  game altogether. In Lions and tamers. Half of you is lions and the
• 3:04:07
  other half tamers, and the tamers try to tame the lions, and the
• 3:04:11
  lions try not to be tamed. That's lions and tamers. It's all there
• 3:04:16
  is to it. It's quite a little game. What do you do in
• 3:04:22
  tigers and tamers, said Missus Brown suspiciously. Well, William considered deeply,
• 3:04:31
  well, he repeated, lamely, in tigers and tamers, half of you
• 3:04:35
  is tigers, you see, and the other half it's exactly the same thing,
• 3:04:43
  William said Missus Brown with sudden spirit. I don't see how you can
• 3:04:48
  call it the same thing, said William doggedly. You can't call a lion
• 3:04:52
  a tiger, can you. It just isn't one. They're in quite different
• 3:04:56
  cages in the zoo. Tigers and tamers can't be zactly the same as lions
• 3:05:01
  and tamer's. Well, then, said Missus Brown firmly, you're never to
• 3:05:07
  play tigers and tamers either, And now go and wash your face. William's
• 3:05:13
  righteous indignation increased my face, he repeated, as if he could hardly believe
• 3:05:20
  his ears. My face. I've washed it twice to day. I washed
• 3:05:24
  it when I got up, and I washed it for dinner. You told
• 3:05:28
  me to, Well, just go and look at it. William walked over
• 3:05:33
  to the looking glass and surveyed his reflection with interest. Then he passed his
• 3:05:39
  hands lightly over the discolored surface of his face, stroked his hair back,
• 3:05:43
  and straightened his tie. This done, he turned hopefully to his mother.
• 3:05:50
  It's no good, she said. You must wash your face and brush your
• 3:05:54
  hair, and you'd better change your suit and stockings. They're simply covered with
• 3:06:01
  dust. William turned slowly to go from the room. I shouldn't think,
• 3:06:07
  he said bitterly as he went. I shouldn't think. There's many houses where
• 3:06:11
  so much washin and brushin goes on as in this, and I'm glad for
• 3:06:16
  their sakes. She heard him coming downstairs. Ten minutes later, William,
• 3:06:24
  she called. He entered. He was transformed, his face and hair shone,
• 3:06:31
  He had changed his suit. His air of righteous indignation had not diminished.
• 3:06:37
  That's better, said his mother approvingly. Now, William, do just
• 3:06:43
  sit down here till tea time. There's only about ten minutes, and it's
• 3:06:46
  no good you're going out. You'll only get yourself into a mess again if
• 3:06:52
  you don't sit still. William glanced round the drawing room with the air of
• 3:06:58
  one goaded beyond bearing. Here, Well, dear, just till tea time?
• 3:07:05
  What can I do in here? There's nothing to do? Is there?
• 3:07:11
  I can't sit still and not do anything? Can I, oh read
• 3:07:16
  a book? There are ever so many books over there that you haven't read,
• 3:07:20
  and I'm sure you'd like some of them. Try one of Scott's,
• 3:07:24
  she ended, rather doubtfully. William walked across the room with an expression of
• 3:07:31
  intense suffering, took out a book at random, and sat down in an
• 3:07:35
  attitude of aloof dignity, holding the book upside down. It was thus that
• 3:07:43
  Missus de Vere Carter found him when she was announced a moment later. Missus
• 3:07:48
  Devere Carter was a recent addition to the neighborhood. Before her marriage, she
• 3:07:54
  had been one of the Randalls of Herefordshire. Every One on whom Missus de
• 3:07:58
  Vere Carter smiled felt intensely flattered. She was tall and handsome, and gushing
• 3:08:07
  and exquisitely dressed. Her arrival had caused quite a sensation. Everyone agreed that
• 3:08:15
  she was charming. On entering Missus Brown's drawing room, she saw a little
• 3:08:20
  boy, dressed very neatly, with a clean face and well brushed hair,
• 3:08:26
  sitting quietly on a low chair in a corner, reading a book. The
• 3:08:31
  little dear, she murmured, as she shook hands with Missus Brown. William's
• 3:08:37
  face darkened. Missus de Vere Carter floated over to him, Well, my
• 3:08:45
  little man, and how are you? Her little man did not answer,
• 3:08:50
  partly because Missus de Vere Carter had put a hand on his head and pressed
• 3:08:54
  his face against her perfumed, befrilled bosom. His nose narrowly escaped being impaled
• 3:09:03
  on the thorn of a large rose that nestled there. I adore children,
• 3:09:09
  she cooed to his mother over his head. William freed his head with a
• 3:09:16
  somewhat brusque movement, and she took up his book Scott. She murmured,
• 3:09:22
  dear little laddie. Seeing the expression on William's face, his mother hastily drew
• 3:09:28
  her guest aside. Do come and sit over here? She said, nervously,
• 3:09:35
  what perfect weather we're having. William walked out of the room. You
• 3:09:41
  know, I'm frightfully interested in social work, went on her charming guest,
• 3:09:46
  especially among children. I adore children, sweet little dear of yours, and
• 3:09:54
  I always get on with them. Of course I get on with most people.
• 3:10:00
  My personality. You know, you've heard perhaps that I've taken over the
• 3:10:05
  band of hope here and I'm turning it into such a success. The pets,
• 3:10:11
  Yes, three lumps. Please, Well, now it's here. I
• 3:10:15
  want you to help me. You will, dear, won't you? You
• 3:10:18
  and your little mannikin. I want to get a different class of children to
• 3:10:22
  join the Band of Hope. Such a sweet name, isn't it? It
• 3:10:28
  would do the village children such a lot of good to meet with children of
• 3:10:33
  our class. Missus Brown was flattered. After all, Missus de vere Carter
• 3:10:39
  was one of the Randalls, for instance, went on the flute like tones.
• 3:10:45
  When I came in and saw your little treasure sitting there so sweetly.
• 3:10:50
  She pointed dramatically to the chair that had lately been graced by William's presence.
• 3:10:56
  I thought to myself, Oh, I must get him to come. It's
• 3:11:01
  the refining influence of children in our class that the village children need. What
• 3:11:09
  delicious cakes. You will lend him to me, won't you? We meet
• 3:11:13
  once a week on Wednesday afternoons. May he come? I'll take great care
• 3:11:20
  of him. Missus Brown hesitated. Er, Yes, she said, doubtfully,
• 3:11:28
  but I don't know that William is really suited to that sort of thing.
• 3:11:33
  However, Oh, you can't put me off, said Missus de Vere
• 3:11:37
  Carter, shaking a playful bejeweled finger. Don't I know him already? I
• 3:11:43
  count him one of my dearest little friends. It never takes me long to
• 3:11:48
  know children. I'm a born child lover. William happened to be passing through
• 3:11:54
  the hall as Missus de Vere Carter came out of the drawing room, followed
• 3:11:58
  by Missus Brown. There you are, she said, I thought you'd be
• 3:12:03
  waiting to say good bye to me. She stretched out her arm with an
• 3:12:09
  encircling movement, but William stepped back and stood looking at her with a sinister
• 3:12:13
  frown. I have so enjoyed seeing you. I hope you'll come again,
• 3:12:20
  untruthfully, stammered Missus Brown, moving so as to block out the sight of
• 3:12:26
  William's face. But Missus de Vere Carter was not to be checked. There
• 3:12:31
  are people to whom the expression on a child's face conveys absolutely nothing. Once
• 3:12:37
  more, she floated towards William. Good Bye, Willie, dear, you're
• 3:12:43
  not too old to kiss me, are you. Missus Brown gasped at the
• 3:12:48
  look of concentrated fury on William's face. Older and stronger people than Missus de
• 3:12:56
  Vere Carter would have quailed, but she only smiled as with another virulent glare
• 3:13:01
  at her, he turned on his heel and walked away. Oh the sweet
• 3:13:07
  shy thing she could. I love them shy. Mister Brown was told of
• 3:13:13
  the proposal, Well, he said slowly. I can't quite visualize William at
• 3:13:22
  a Band of Hope meeting. But of course if you want him to,
• 3:13:26
  he must go, you see, said missus Brown with a worried frown.
• 3:13:31
  She made such a point of it, and she really is very charming,
• 3:13:37
  and after all, she's rather influential. She was one of the randalls.
• 3:13:41
  You know, it seems silly to offend her. Did William like her?
• 3:13:48
  She was sweet with him, at least she meant to be sweet, she
• 3:13:52
  corrected herself hastily. But you know how touchy William is, and you know
• 3:13:58
  the name he all hate, so I can never understand why, after all,
• 3:14:05
  lots of people are called Willie. The morning of the day of the
• 3:14:09
  Band of Hope meeting arrived, William came down to breakfast with an agonized expression
• 3:14:16
  on his healthy countenance. He sat down on his seat and raised his hand
• 3:14:22
  to his brow with a hollow groan. Missus Brown started up in dismay.
• 3:14:28
  Oh, William, what's the matter. Gutter sick headache? Said William in
• 3:14:33
  a faint voice. Oh, dear, I am sorry. You'd better go
• 3:14:39
  and lie down. I'm so sorry, dear. I think I will go
• 3:14:45
  and lie down, said William's plainting, suffering voice. I'll just have breakfast
• 3:14:50
  first. Oh, I wouldn't, not with a sick headache. William gazed
• 3:14:56
  hungrily at the eggs and bacon. I I think I should eat some,
• 3:15:01
  mother jest a bit. No, I wouldn't, Dear, it will only
• 3:15:05
  make it worse. Very reluctantly, William returned to his room. Missus Brown
• 3:15:13
  visited him after breakfast. No, he was not better, but he'd thought
• 3:15:18
  he'd go for a little walk. Yes, he still felt very sick.
• 3:15:22
  She suggested a strong dose of salt and water. He might feel better if
• 3:15:28
  he'd been actually sick. No, he'd hate to give her the trouble.
• 3:15:33
  Besides, it wasn't that kind of sickness. He was most emphatic on that
• 3:15:37
  point. It wasn't that kind of sickness. He thought a walk would do
• 3:15:43
  him good. He felt he'd like a walk well wrapped up and walking with
• 3:15:48
  little unsteady steps. He set off down the drive, followed by his mother's
• 3:15:54
  anxious eyes. Then he crept back behind the rhododendron bushes, next time to
• 3:16:00
  the wall, and climbed in at the larder window. The cook came agitatedly
• 3:16:05
  to missus Brown half an hour later, followed by William, pale and outraged.
• 3:16:13
  He's eat nearly everything, ma'am. You never saw such a thing.
• 3:16:18
  He's eat the cold am and the kidney pie, and he's eat them three
• 3:16:20
  cold sausages, and he's eat all that new jar of lemon cheese. William
• 3:16:26
  gasped, Missus Brown, you can't have a sick headache if you've eaten all
• 3:16:31
  that. That was the end of the sick headache. He spent the rest
• 3:16:37
  of the morning with Henry and Douglas and Ginger. William and Henry and Douglas
• 3:16:43
  and Ginger constituted a secret society called the Outlaws. It had few aims beyond
• 3:16:50
  that of secrecy. William was his acknowledged leader, and he was proud of
• 3:16:56
  the honor. If they knew, if they get he grew hot and cold
• 3:17:01
  at the thought. Suppose they saw him going, or someone told them he
• 3:17:09
  would never hold up his head again. He made tentative efforts to find out
• 3:17:13
  their plans for the afternoon. If only he knew where they'd be, he
• 3:17:18
  might avoid them somehow, but he got no satisfaction. They spent the morning
• 3:17:26
  rabbiting in a wood with Henry's fox terrier Chips and William's mongrel Jumble. None
• 3:17:33
  of them saw or heard a rabbit, but Jumble chased a butterfly and a
• 3:17:39
  bee and scratched up a mole hill and was stung by a wasp, and
• 3:17:43
  Chips caught a field mouse, so the time was not wasted. William's interest,
• 3:17:50
  however, was half hearted. He was turning over plan after plan in
• 3:17:56
  his mind, all of which he finally rejected as impractical. He entered the
• 3:18:03
  dining room for lunch rather earlier than usual. Only Robert and Ethel, his
• 3:18:09
  elder brother and sister, were there. He came in limping, his mouth
• 3:18:13
  set into a straight line of agony, his brows frowning. HULLO, what's
• 3:18:20
  up, said Robert, who had not been at breakfast and had forgotten about
• 3:18:24
  the band of Hope. I've sprained my ankle, said William weakly. Here,
• 3:18:31
  sit down, old Chap and let me feel it, said Robert sympathetically.
• 3:18:35
  William sat down meekly upon a chair. Which is it, erm this
• 3:18:43
  it's a pity you limped with the other, said Ethel dryly. That was
• 3:18:48
  the end of the sprained ankle. The Band of Hope meeting was to begin
• 3:18:54
  at three. His family received with complete indifference his complaint of a sudden agonizing
• 3:19:01
  toothache at half past two, of acute rheumatism at twenty five to three,
• 3:19:07
  and a touch of liver. William considered this a heaven sent inspiration. It
• 3:19:13
  was responsible for many of his father's absences from work at twenty to three.
• 3:19:18
  At a quarter to three, he was ready in the hall. I'm sure
• 3:19:24
  you'll enjoy it, William, said Missus Brown soothingly. I expect you'll all
• 3:19:28
  play games and have quite a good time. William treated her with silent contempt.
• 3:19:35
  Hey Jumble, he called, After all, life could never be absolutely
• 3:19:41
  black as long as it held jumble. Jumble darted ecstatically from the kitchen regions,
• 3:19:48
  his mouth covered with gravy, dropping a half picked bone on the hall
• 3:19:52
  carpet as he came. William, you can't take a dog to Band of
• 3:19:56
  Hope. Meeting. Why not, said William indignantly. I don't see why
• 3:20:01
  not. Dogs don't drink beer, do they. They've as much right at
• 3:20:07
  a Band of Hope meeting as I have, haven't they. There seems just
• 3:20:11
  nothing anyone can do well. I'm sure it wouldn't be allowed. No one
• 3:20:18
  takes dogs to meetings. She held Jumble firmly by the collar, and William
• 3:20:24
  set off reluctantly down the drive. I hope you'll enjoy it, she called
• 3:20:30
  cheerfully. He turned back and looked at her. It's a wonder I'm not
• 3:20:35
  dead, he said, bitterly. The things I have to do, he
• 3:20:41
  walked slowly. A dejected dismal figure at the gate. He stopped and glanced
• 3:20:46
  cautiously up and down the road. There were three more figures coming down the
• 3:20:52
  road, with short intervals between them. They were Henry, Douglas and Ginger.
• 3:21:00
  William's first instinct was to dart back and wait till they had passed.
• 3:21:05
  Then something about their figures struck him. They also had a dejected, dismal,
• 3:21:11
  hang dog look. He waited for the first one, Henry. Henry
• 3:21:16
  gave him a shamefaced glance and was going to pass him. By you gone
• 3:21:22
  too, said William. Henry gasped in surprise. Did she come to your
• 3:21:28
  mother? Was his reply. He was surprised to see Ginger and Douglas behind
• 3:21:35
  him, and Ginger was surprised to see Douglas behind him. They walked together,
• 3:21:41
  sheepishly in a depressed silence, to the village hall. Once Ginger raised
• 3:21:46
  a hand to his throat, cut her beastly throat, he complained, I
• 3:21:50
  don't ought to be out. I'm ill too, said Henry. I told
• 3:21:56
  him so, and he said Douglas, and me, said William, with
• 3:22:01
  a horse mirthless laugh, cruel sort of things, sending us all out ill
• 3:22:07
  like this. At the door of the village hall, they halted, and
• 3:22:13
  William looked longingly towards the field. It's no good, said Ginger, sadly
• 3:22:18
  they'd find out. Bitter and despondent. They entered within sat A handful of
• 3:22:26
  gloomy children, who inspired solely by hopes of the annual treat, were regular
• 3:22:33
  attendants at the meeting. Missus de Vere Carter came sailing down to them,
• 3:22:39
  her frills and scarfs floating around her, bringing with her a strong smell of
• 3:22:43
  perfume. Dear children, she said, Welcome to our little gathering. These,
• 3:22:52
  she addressed the regular members, who turned gloomy eyes upon the outlaws.
• 3:22:56
  These are our dear new friends. We must make them so happy. Dear
• 3:23:03
  children, She led them to seats in the front row, and, taking
• 3:23:07
  her stand in front of them, addressed the meeting. Now, girlies,
• 3:23:13
  dear, and laddies dear, what do I expect you to be at these
• 3:23:18
  meetings? And in answer came a bored, monotonous chant. Respectful and reposeful.
• 3:23:26
  I have a name, children, dear, respectful and reposeful, Missus
• 3:23:33
  de vere Carter. That's it, children, dear, respectful and reposeful.
• 3:23:41
  Now, our little new friends, what do I expect you to be?
• 3:23:46
  No answer? The outlaws sat horrified, outraged, shamed. You're such shy
• 3:23:56
  darlings, aren't you, she said, stretching out an arm. William retreated
• 3:24:01
  hastily, and Ginger's face was pressed hard against a diamond brooch. You won't
• 3:24:07
  be shy with us long. I'm sure we're so happy here, happy and
• 3:24:13
  good. Now, children, dear, what is it we must be?
• 3:24:18
  Again? The bored, monotonous chant, Happy and good, Missus de vere
• 3:24:24
  Carter. That's it now, darlings in the front row. You tell me,
• 3:24:31
  Willie pet you begin, What is it we must be? At that
• 3:24:37
  moment, William was nearer committing murder than at any other time in his life.
• 3:24:43
  He caught a gleam in Henry's eye. Henry would remember. William choked,
• 3:24:50
  but made no answer. You tell me, then, Harry boy.
• 3:24:56
  Henry went purple, and William's spirits. Ah, you won't be so shy
• 3:25:03
  next week, will they? Children? Dear? No, Missus de Vere
• 3:25:07
  Carter, came the prompt listless response. Now we'll begin with one of our
• 3:25:13
  dear little songs. Give out the books. She seated herself at the piano,
• 3:25:20
  Number five, sparkling water. Collect your thoughts, children, dear?
• 3:25:24
  Are you ready? She struck the opening chords. The outlaws, though provided
• 3:25:31
  with books, did not join in. They had no objection to water as
• 3:25:37
  a beverage. They merely objected to singing about it. Missus de Vere Carter
• 3:25:43
  rose from the piano. Now we'll play one of our games. Children.
• 3:25:46
  Dear, You can begin by yourselves, can't you, darlings. I'll just
• 3:25:52
  go across the field and see why little Teddy Wheeler hasn't come. He must
• 3:25:58
  be regular mustn't he laddies dear? Now, what game shall we play?
• 3:26:03
  We had Puss in the corner last week, hadn't we We'll have here we
• 3:26:09
  go round the mulberry bush this week? Shall we? No? Not blind
• 3:26:13
  Man's buff darling. It's a horrid rough game. Now while I'm gone,
• 3:26:20
  see if you can make these four shy darlings more at home? Will you
• 3:26:24
  and play quietly? Now? Before I go, tell me four things that
• 3:26:30
  you must be respectful and reposeful and happy and good. Missus de vere Carter
• 3:26:41
  came the chant. She was away about a quarter of an hour. When
• 3:26:46
  she returned, the game was in full swing. But it was not Here
• 3:26:52
  we go round the mulberry bush. There was a screaming, struggling crowd of
• 3:26:56
  children in the village hall. Benches were overturned and several chairs broken. With
• 3:27:03
  yells and whoops and blows and struggles. The tamers tried to tame with growls
• 3:27:11
  and snarls and bites and struggles. The animals tried not to be tamed.
• 3:27:16
  Gone was all listlessness and all boredom. And William his tie hanging in shreds,
• 3:27:24
  his coat torn, his head cut, and his voice hoarse led the
• 3:27:30
  fray as a tamer. Come on you, I'll get you there. Go
• 3:27:37
  at men, catch him, beat'em, knife em, kill em.
• 3:27:41
  The spirited roarings and bellowing of the animals was almost blood curdling. Above it
• 3:27:46
  all, Missus de vere Carter coaxed and expostulated and wrung her hands, respectful
• 3:27:54
  and reposeful, happy and good Laddie's dear and Willie floated unheeded over the tide
• 3:28:01
  of battle. Then, somebody reports afterwards differed as to who it was,
• 3:28:09
  rushed out of the door into the field, and there the battle was fought
• 3:28:13
  to a finish. From there the band of Hope undismissed, reluctantly separated to
• 3:28:20
  its various homes, battered and bruised, but blissfully happy. Missus Brown was
• 3:28:28
  anxiously awaiting William's return. When she saw him, she gasped and sat down
• 3:28:35
  weakly on a hall chair. William, I've not, said William, quickly,
• 3:28:41
  looking at her out of a fast closing eye. I've not been playing
• 3:28:48
  at either of them, not those what you said. I'd not to then
• 3:28:54
  what it was. It was tamer's and crocodiles, and we played it at
• 3:29:01
  the Band of Hope end of Chapter seven, Chapter eight, The Outlaws.
• 3:29:11
  It was a half holiday, and William was in his bedroom making careful preparations
• 3:29:16
  for the afternoon. On the mantelpiece stood in readiness, half a cake the
• 3:29:22
  result of a successful raid on the larder, and a bottle of licorice water.
• 3:29:28
  This beverage was made by shaking up a piece of licorice in water.
• 3:29:33
  It was much patronized by the band of Outlaws, to which William belonged,
• 3:29:37
  and which met secretly every half holiday in a disused barn about a quarter of
• 3:29:43
  a mile from William's house. So far, the Outlaws had limited their activities
• 3:29:48
  to wrestling matches, adventure seeking, and culinary operations. The week before they
• 3:29:56
  had cooked two sausages which William had taken from the larder on Cook's night out
• 3:30:01
  and had conveyed to the barn beneath his shirt and next his skin. Perhaps
• 3:30:07
  cooked is too euphemistic a term to be quite accurate. They had held the
• 3:30:13
  sausage over a smoking fire till completely blackened, and then consumed the charred remains
• 3:30:18
  with the utmost relish. William put the bottle of licorice water in one pocket
• 3:30:24
  and the half cake in another, and was preparing to leave the house in
• 3:30:28
  his usual stealthy fashion through the bathroom window, down the scullery roof, and
• 3:30:35
  down the water pipe hand over hand to the back garden. Even when unencumbered
• 3:30:41
  by the presence of a purloined half cake, William infinitely preferred this mode of
• 3:30:46
  exit to the simpler one of walking out the front door. As he came
• 3:30:52
  out onto the landing, however, he heard the sound of the opening and
• 3:30:56
  shutting of the hall door, and of exuberant greetings in the hall. Oh,
• 3:31:01
  I'm so glad you've come, dear, And this is the baby.
• 3:31:05
  Oh the duck, well, dear knows eugin goo goo goo goo. This
• 3:31:13
  was William's mother. Oh crumbs, said William, and retreated hastily. He
• 3:31:20
  sat down on his bed to wait till the coast was clear. Soon came
• 3:31:24
  the sound of footsteps ascending the stairs. Oh, William, said his mother
• 3:31:30
  as she entered his room. Missus, Butler's come with her baby to spend
• 3:31:33
  the afternoon, and we'd arranged to go out till tea time with the baby.
• 3:31:39
  But she's got such a headache. I'm insisting on her lying down for
• 3:31:43
  the afternoon in the drawing room. But she's so worried about the baby not
• 3:31:48
  getting out this nice afternoon, oh, said William without interest. Well,
• 3:31:56
  cook's out and Emma has to get the tea and answer the door, and
• 3:32:01
  Ethel's away. And I told missus Butler I was sure you wouldn't mind taking
• 3:32:05
  the baby out for a bit in the perambulator. William stared at her,
• 3:32:11
  speechless. The Medusa's classic expression of horror was as nothing to William's at that
• 3:32:18
  moment. Then he moistened his lips and spoke in a hoarse voice. Me,
• 3:32:26
  he said, me, me, take a baby out in a pram.
• 3:32:31
  Well, dear, said his mother deprecatingly. I know it's your half
• 3:32:37
  holiday, but you'll be out of doors getting the fresh air, which is
• 3:32:41
  the great thing. It's a nice baby and a nice pram and not heavy
• 3:32:46
  to push, and Missus Butler would be so grateful to you. Yes,
• 3:32:52
  I should think she'd be, that, said William bitterly. She'd have a
• 3:32:56
  right to be that if I took the baby out in a pre Now,
• 3:33:01
  William, I'm sure you'd like to help, and I'm sure you wouldn't like
• 3:33:05
  your father, to hear that you wouldn't even do a little thing like that
• 3:33:09
  for poor missus Butler. And she's got such a headache. A little thing
• 3:33:16
  like that, repeated William, out of the bitterness of his soul. But
• 3:33:22
  the fates were closing round him. He was aware that he would have no
• 3:33:26
  peace till he had done the horrible thing demanded of him. Sorrowfully and reluctantly,
• 3:33:33
  he bowed to the inevitable. All right, he muttered, I'll be
• 3:33:37
  down in a minute. He heard them fussing over the baby in the hall.
• 3:33:43
  Then he heard his elder brother's voice. You surely don't mean to say,
• 3:33:48
  mother, Robert was saying, with the crushing superiority of eighteen, that
• 3:33:54
  you're going to trust that child to William. Well, William's mother, someone
• 3:34:01
  has to take him out. It's such a lovely afternoon. I'm sure it's
• 3:34:05
  very kind of William on his half holiday too. And she's got such a
• 3:34:11
  headache. Well, of course, said Robert, in the voice of one
• 3:34:16
  who washes his hands of all further responsibility. You know William as well as
• 3:34:20
  I do, Oh dear, sighed William's mother. And everything so nicely settled
• 3:34:28
  Robert and you must come and find fault with it all. If you don't
• 3:34:33
  want William to take him out, will you take him out yourself. Robert
• 3:34:37
  retreated hastily to the dining room and continued the conversation from a distance. I
• 3:34:45
  don't want to take him out myself, thanks very much. All the same,
• 3:34:50
  all I say is you know William as well as I do. I'm
• 3:34:54
  not finding fault with anything. I simply am stating a fact. Then William
• 3:35:01
  came downstairs. Here he is dear all ready for you, and you needn't
• 3:35:07
  go far away, just up and down the road if you like, but
• 3:35:11
  stay out till tea time. He's a dear little baby, isn't he?
• 3:35:16
  And isn't it a nice Willie Billy den to take it out a nice Tata
• 3:35:20
  while his mummy goes by by din William blushed for pure shame. He pushed
• 3:35:28
  the pram down to the end of the road and round the corner. In
• 3:35:33
  comparison with William's feelings, the feelings of some of the early martyrs must have
• 3:35:39
  been pure bliss. A nice way for an outlaw to spend the afternoon.
• 3:35:46
  He dreaded to meet any of his brother outlaws yet irresistibly, and as a
• 3:35:52
  magnet, their meeting place attracted him. He wheeled the pram off the road
• 3:35:58
  and down the country lane towards the field which held their sacred barn. He
• 3:36:03
  stopped at the stile that led into the field and gazed wistfully across to the
• 3:36:09
  barn in the distance. The infant sat and sucked its thumb and stared at
• 3:36:15
  him, And finally it began to converse. Blah blah blah blah blah blah
• 3:36:20
  blah blah. Oh, you shut up, said William, crushingly. Annoyed
• 3:36:26
  at the prolonged halt, it seized its pram cover, pulled it off its
• 3:36:31
  hooks, and threw it into the road. While William was picking it up,
• 3:36:37
  it threw the pillow on to his head. Then it chuckled. William
• 3:36:43
  began to conceive an active dislike of it. Suddenly the great idea came to
• 3:36:50
  him. His face cleared, he took a piece of string from his pocket
• 3:36:56
  and tied the pram carefully to the railings. Then, lifting the baby cautiously
• 3:37:01
  and gingerly out, he climbed the stile with it and set off across the
• 3:37:07
  fields towards the barn. He held the baby to his chest with both arms
• 3:37:13
  clapped tightly round its waist. Its feet dangled in the air. It occupied
• 3:37:18
  the time by kicking William in the stomach, pulling his hair, and putting
• 3:37:24
  its fingers in his eyes. It beats me, panted William to himself.
• 3:37:31
  What people see in babies scratchin and kickin, and blindin folks and pullin their
• 3:37:37
  hair all out. When he entered the barn, he was greeted by a
• 3:37:41
  sudden silence. Look here, began one outlaw in righteous indignation. It's a
• 3:37:48
  kidnap, said William triumphantly. We'll get a ransom on it. They gazed
• 3:37:56
  at him in awed admiration. This was surely the cream of outlawry. He
• 3:38:03
  set the infant on the ground, where it toddled for a few steps,
• 3:38:07
  and sat down suddenly and violently. It then stared fixedly at the tallest boy
• 3:38:15
  present and smiled seraphically, Dad Dad, Dad, Dad Dad Dad. Douglas,
• 3:38:22
  the tallest boy grinned sheepishly. It thinks I'm its father, he explained
• 3:38:28
  complacently to the company. Well, said Henry, who was William's rival for
• 3:38:33
  the leadership of the Outlaws, what do we do first? That's the question
• 3:38:39
  in books, said the outlaw called Ginger. They write a note to its
• 3:38:45
  people and say they want a ransom. Oh we won't do that, not
• 3:38:48
  just yet, said William hastily. Well it's not much sense holding something up
• 3:38:54
  to ransom and not telling the folks that they've got to pay or nothin is
• 3:38:58
  it, said Ginger, with the final air of a man whose logic is
• 3:39:03
  unassailable. N No, said William, but with a gleam of hope.
• 3:39:09
  Who's got a paper and pencil? I'm simply state in the fact, who's
• 3:39:15
  got a paper and pencil? No one spoke, Oh yes, went on
• 3:39:20
  William, in triumph go on, write a note, write a note without
• 3:39:24
  paper and pencil, and we'll all watch. Ha Well, said Ginger sulkily.
• 3:39:31
  I don't s'pose they had paper and pencils and outlaw days they weren't invented.
• 3:39:37
  They wrote on on on leaves or something. He ended vaguely. Well,
• 3:39:43
  go on, write on leaves, said William, still more triumphant.
• 3:39:48
  We're not stopping you, are We on simply state, in the fact,
• 3:39:52
  write on leaves. They were interrupted by a yell of pain from Douglas,
• 3:40:00
  flattered by the parental relations so promptly established by the baby, he had ventured
• 3:40:05
  to make its further acquaintance, with vague memories of his mother's treatment of infants.
• 3:40:11
  He had inserted a finger in its mouth. The infant happened to possess
• 3:40:16
  four front teeth, too upper and too lower, and they closed like a
• 3:40:22
  vice upon Douglas's finger. He was now examining the marks. Look right deep
• 3:40:30
  down, see it. What you think of that nearly to the bone,
• 3:40:35
  pretty savage baby you've brought along, he said to William. I jolly well
• 3:40:41
  know that, said William, feelingly. It's your own fault for touching it.
• 3:40:46
  It's all right if you leave it alone. Just don't touch it,
• 3:40:48
  that's all anyway. It's mine, And I never said you could go fooling
• 3:40:54
  about with it, did I? It wouldn't bite me. I bet well,
• 3:41:00
  what about the ransom, persisted Henry. Some one can go and tell
• 3:41:05
  its people and bring back the ransom, suggested Ginger. There was a short
• 3:41:11
  silence. Then Douglas took his injured finger from his mouth and asked pertinently who
• 3:41:18
  William brought it? Suggested Henry, Yes, so I bet I've done my
• 3:41:24
  share. Well, what's anyone else goin to do? I'd like to know,
• 3:41:31
  go round to every house in this old place and ask if they've had
• 3:41:35
  a baby taken off them, and if they've pay a ransom for it back.
• 3:41:41
  That's sense, isn't it. You know where you got it from,
• 3:41:43
  don't you? And you can go and get its ransom. I can,
• 3:41:48
  but I'm not goin to, said William. Finally, I'm simply statin' a
• 3:41:52
  fact. I'm not goin to. And if anyone says I daren't glancing round
• 3:41:58
  pugnationly, I'll fight em for it. No one said he daren't. The
• 3:42:05
  fact was too patent to need stating. Henry hastily changed the subject. Anyway,
• 3:42:13
  What have we brought for the feast? William produced his licorice, water
• 3:42:18
  and half cake Douglas, two slices of raw ham and a dog biscuit ginger,
• 3:42:24
  some popcorn and some cold boiled potatoes wrapped up in newspaper. Henry a
• 3:42:31
  cold apple dumpling and a small bottle of paraffine oil. I knew the wood
• 3:42:37
  would be wet after the rain. It's to make the fire burn, that's
• 3:42:41
  sense. Isn't it only one thing to cook, said Ginger, sadly,
• 3:42:46
  looking at the slices of ham. We can cook up the potatoes and the
• 3:42:50
  dumpling. They don't look half enough cooked. Let's put them on the floor
• 3:42:56
  here and go out for adventures, first, all different ways, and back
• 3:43:01
  in a quarter of an hour. The outlaws generally spent part of the afternoon
• 3:43:07
  dispersed in search of adventure. So far they had wooed the Goddess of danger,
• 3:43:13
  chiefly by trespassing on the ground of irascible farmers in hopes of a chase,
• 3:43:18
  which were generally fulfilled. They deposited their store on the ground in a
• 3:43:24
  corner of the barn, and, with a glance at the kidnap, who
• 3:43:30
  was seated happily upon the floor, engaged in chewing its hat strings, they
• 3:43:35
  went out, carefully closing the door. After a quarter of an hour,
• 3:43:41
  Ginger and William arrived at the door simultaneously from opposite directions. Any lock,
• 3:43:48
  no same, here, Let's start the old fire going. They opened the
• 3:43:54
  door and went in. The infant was sitting on the floor among the store,
• 3:44:00
  or rather among what was left of the stores. There was paraffin oil
• 3:44:05
  on its hair, face, arms, frock, and feet. It was
• 3:44:09
  drenched in paraffin oil. The empty bottle and its hat lay by its side,
• 3:44:16
  mingled with the paraffine oil all over. Its person was cold boiled potato.
• 3:44:22
  It was holding the apple dumpling in its hand ball. It announced ecstatically
• 3:44:28
  from behind its mask of potato and paraffin oil. They stood in silence for
• 3:44:35
  a moment. Then, who's going to make that fire burn now, said
• 3:44:41
  Ginger, glaring at the empty bottle. Yes, said William slowly. And
• 3:44:48
  who's going to take that baby home? I'm simply state in the fact,
• 3:44:54
  who's going to take that baby home? There was no doubt that when William
• 3:44:58
  kN descended to adopt a phrase from any of his family's vocabularies, he considerably
• 3:45:05
  overworked it. Well, it did it itself. It's no one else's fault,
• 3:45:11
  is it. No, it's not, said William. But that's the
• 3:45:16
  sort of thing folks never see. Anyway. I'm going to wash its face
• 3:45:22
  what with? William took out his grimy handkerchief and advanced upon his prey.
• 3:45:28
  His bottle of licorice water was lying untouched in the corner. He took out
• 3:45:33
  the cork going to wash it in that dirty stuff. It's made of water,
• 3:45:39
  clean water. I made it myself, so I bet I ought to
• 3:45:45
  know, oughtn't I that's what folks wash in. Isn't it clean water?
• 3:45:50
  Yes? Bitterly? And what are we going to drink? I'd like to
• 3:45:54
  know. You'd think that baby had got enough of our stuff, our potato.
• 3:46:00
  It isn't our apple dumplin and our oil without you going and given it
• 3:46:03
  our licorice water as well. William was passing his handkerchief moistened with licorice water
• 3:46:11
  over the surface of the baby's face. The baby had caught a corner of
• 3:46:15
  it firmly between its teeth and refused to release it. If you'd like to
• 3:46:20
  take this baby home like this, he said, you wouldn't be thinking much
• 3:46:24
  about drinking licorice water. I'm simply statin'. Oh shut up saying that,
• 3:46:31
  said Ginger, in sudden exasperation. I'm sick of it. At that moment,
• 3:46:35
  the door was flung open, and in walked slowly a large cow,
• 3:46:41
  closely followed by Henry and Douglas. Henry's face was one triumphant beam. He
• 3:46:48
  felt that his prestige eclipsed by William's kidnapping coup was restored. I've brought a
• 3:46:56
  cow, he announced, fetched it all the way from farmer Lytton's field.
• 3:47:01
  Five feels off too, and it took some fetching too. Well what for,
• 3:47:09
  said William, after a moment's silence. Henry gave a superior laugh.
• 3:47:13
  What for You've not read much about outlaws? I guess they always drove in
• 3:47:20
  cattle from the surrounding districts. Well, what for, said William again,
• 3:47:26
  giving a tug at his handkerchief, which the infant still refused to release.
• 3:47:33
  Well, erm, well, um, to kill and roast, I suppose,
• 3:47:39
  said Henry lamely. Well, go on, said William, Kill it
• 3:47:43
  and roast it. We're not stopping you, are We kill it and roast
• 3:47:48
  it and get hung for murder. I suppose it's murder to kill a Cow's
• 3:47:54
  same as it is to kill people, scept for butchers. The cow advanced
• 3:48:00
  slowly and deprecatingly towards the kidnap, who promptly dropped the handkerchief and beamed with
• 3:48:07
  joy. Bow wow, it said excitedly. Anyway, let's get on with
• 3:48:13
  the feast, said Douglas. Feast, echoed Ginger bitterly feast. Not much
• 3:48:20
  feast left that baby William brought's used all the paraffine oil and potatoes, and
• 3:48:26
  it squashed the apple dumpling, and Williams washed its face in the licorice water.
• 3:48:33
  Henry gazed at it dispassionately and judiciously. Yes, it looks like as
• 3:48:39
  if someone had washed it in licorice water, and as if it had used
• 3:48:43
  up all the oil and potatoes. It doesn't look like as if it would
• 3:48:48
  fetch much ransom. You seem to have pretty well mucked it up. Oh,
• 3:48:54
  shut up about the baby, said William, putting up his damp and
• 3:48:58
  now prune colored hankerchief. I'm just about sick of it. Come on with
• 3:49:03
  the fire. They made a little pile of twigs in the field and began
• 3:49:07
  the process of lighting it. I hope that cow won't hurt the kidnap,
• 3:49:13
  said Douglas. Suddenly, go and see William, it's your kidnap. Well,
• 3:49:18
  it's Henry's cow, And I'm sorry for that cow if it tries playing
• 3:49:22
  tricks on that baby. But he rose from his knees reluctantly and threw open
• 3:49:28
  the barn door. The cow and the baby were still gazing admiringly at each
• 3:49:35
  other. From the cow's mouth, at the end of a long sodden ribbon
• 3:49:41
  hung the chewed remains of the baby's hat. The baby was holding up the
• 3:49:46
  dog biscuit and crowed delightfully as the cow bent down its head and cautiously and
• 3:49:52
  gingerly smelt it. As William entered, the cow turned round and switched its
• 3:50:00
  tail against the baby's head. At the piercing howl that followed. The whole
• 3:50:07
  band of outlaws entered the barn. What are you doing to the poor little
• 3:50:11
  thing, said Douglas to William. It's Henry's cow, said William, despairingly.
• 3:50:18
  It hid it. Oh, go on, shut up, do shut
• 3:50:22
  up. The howls redoubled. You brought it, said Henry, accusingly,
• 3:50:28
  raising his voice to be heard above the baby's fury and indignation. Can't you
• 3:50:33
  stop it? Not much sense taking babies about if you don't know how to
• 3:50:39
  stop em crying. The baby was now purple in the face. The outlaws
• 3:50:46
  stood around and watched it helplessly. Perhaps it's hungry, suggested Douglas. He
• 3:50:52
  took up half the cake from the remains of the stores and held it out
• 3:50:56
  tentatively to the baby. The baby stopped crying. Suddenly, Dad dad da
• 3:51:03
  da dad dad, it said tearfully. Douglas blushed and grinned. Keeps on
• 3:51:09
  thinking I'm its father, he said, with conscious superiority. Here like some
• 3:51:16
  cake. The baby broke off a handful and conveyed it to its mouth.
• 3:51:22
  It's eating it, cried Douglas in shrill excitement. After thoroughly masticating it,
• 3:51:28
  however, the baby repented of its condescension and ejected the mouthful in several installments.
• 3:51:35
  William blushed for it. Oh, come on, let's go and look
• 3:51:41
  at the fire, he said weakly. They left the barn and returned to
• 3:51:46
  the scene of the fire lighting. The cow, still swinging the remains of
• 3:51:50
  the baby's hat from its mouth, was standing with its front feet firmly planted
• 3:51:56
  on the remains of what had been a promising fire. Look, cried William
• 3:52:03
  in undisguised pleasure. Look at Henry's cow. Pretty nice sort of cow you've
• 3:52:09
  brought, Henry. Not much sense taking cows about if you can't stop them
• 3:52:13
  putting folks fires out. After a heated argument, the outlaws turned their attention
• 3:52:18
  to the cow. The cow refused to be shewed off. It simply stood
• 3:52:24
  immovable and stared them out. Ginger approached cautiously and gave it a little push.
• 3:52:33
  It switched its tail into his eye and continued to much the baby's hat
• 3:52:37
  string. Upon William's approaching, it lowered its head, and William retreated hastily.
• 3:52:45
  At last, they set off to collect some fresh wood and light a
• 3:52:48
  fresh fire. Soon they were blissfully consuming two blackened slices of ham, the
• 3:52:56
  popcorn, and what was left of the cake. After the feast, Ginger
• 3:53:03
  and William, as wild Indians, attacked the barn, which was defended by
• 3:53:07
  Douglas and Henry. The kidnap crawled round inside on all fours, picking up
• 3:53:15
  any treasures it might come across on route and testing their effect on its palate.
• 3:53:20
  Occasionally, it carried on a conversation with its defenders, bringing with it
• 3:53:26
  a strong perfume of paraffine oil as it approached. Blah blah blah blah blah
• 3:53:31
  blah blad Dad dad dad Ago, William had insisted on a place on the
• 3:53:37
  attacking side. I couldn't put any feelin, he explained, into fightin for
• 3:53:43
  that baby. When they finally decided to set off homewards. William gazed hopelessly
• 3:53:50
  at his charge. Its appearance defies description. For many years afterwards, William
• 3:53:58
  associated babies in his mind with paraffine, oil and potato. Just help me
• 3:54:05
  get the potato out of its hair, he pleaded. Never mind the oil
• 3:54:09
  and the rest of it my hat. Doesn't it smell funny? And doesn't
• 3:54:15
  it look funny? All oil and potato and bits of cake, said Ginger.
• 3:54:20
  Oh, shut up about it, said William, irritably. The cow
• 3:54:24
  followed them down to the stile and watched them sardonically as they climbed it.
• 3:54:31
  Bow Wow, murmured the baby in affectionate farewell. William looked wildly about for
• 3:54:37
  the pram, but the pram was gone. Only the piece of string dangled
• 3:54:43
  from the railings crumbs, said William, talk about bad luck. I'm simply
• 3:54:50
  state, in the fact, talk about bad luck. At that minute,
• 3:54:56
  the pram appeared, charging down the hill at full speed with a cargo of
• 3:55:01
  small boys. At the bottom of the hill, it overturned into a ditch,
• 3:55:07
  accompanied by its cargo. To judge from its appearance, it had passed
• 3:55:13
  the afternoon performing the operation. That's my pram, said William to the cargo,
• 3:55:18
  as it emerged joyfully from the ditch. Garne, so's ours. We
• 3:55:24
  found it well, I left it there. Come on, we'll fight for
• 3:55:28
  it, said Ginger, rolling up his sleeves in a business like manner.
• 3:55:33
  The other outlaws followed his example. The pram's cargo eyed them appraisingly. Oh
• 3:55:41
  all right, take your rotten old pram, they said. At last,
• 3:55:46
  Douglas placed the baby in its seat, and William thoughtfully put up the hood
• 3:55:50
  to shield his charge as far as possible from the curious gaze of the passers
• 3:55:56
  by. His charge was now chewing the pram cover and talking excitedly to itself.
• 3:56:03
  With a heart steeled for any fate. William turned the corner into his
• 3:56:09
  own road. The baby's mother was standing at his gate. There you are,
• 3:56:16
  she called. I was getting quite anxious. Thank you so much,
• 3:56:20
  dear, But that is what she said before she saw the baby. End
• 3:56:30
  of chapter eight. Chapter nine William and White Satin. I'd simply love to
• 3:56:39
  have a page, murmured Miss Grant wistfully. A wedding seems so second rate
• 3:56:45
  without a page. Missus Brown, her aunt and hostess, looked across the
• 3:56:50
  tea table at her younger son, who was devouring iced cake with that disregard
• 3:56:56
  for consequences which is the mark of youth. There's William, she said,
• 3:57:01
  doubtfully. Then you've had quite enough cake, William. Miss Grant studied William's
• 3:57:09
  countenance, which at that moment expressed intense virtue, persecuted beyond all bearing.
• 3:57:16
  Enough, he repeated, I've had hardly any yet. I was only just
• 3:57:22
  beginnin to have some when you looked at me. It's a plain cake.
• 3:57:26
  It won't do me any harm. It wouldn't eat it if it do me
• 3:57:30
  any harm. Sugar's good for you. Animals eat it to keep healthy.
• 3:57:35
  Horses eat it, and and I don't do him any harm. And Paul,
• 3:57:37
  parrots and things eat it and and won't do him any Oh, don't
• 3:57:41
  argue, William, said his mother wearily. William's gift of eloquence was known
• 3:57:48
  and feared in his family circle. Then Miss Grant brought out the result of
• 3:57:54
  her study of his countenance. He's got such a modern face, she said.
• 3:58:01
  There's something essentially midy, evil and romantic about the idea of a page.
• 3:58:09
  Missus Brown, from whose house the wedding was to take place, looked
• 3:58:13
  worried. There's nothing medieval or romantic about William. She said, Well,
• 3:58:20
  Miss Grant's intellectual face lit up. What about his cousin, Dereta. They're
• 3:58:26
  about the same age, aren't they both eleven? Well, the two of
• 3:58:31
  them in white satin with bunches of hally, don't you think would you mind
• 3:58:35
  having her to stay for the ceremony? Miss Grant always referred to her wedding
• 3:58:41
  as the ceremony. If you don't have his hair cut for a bit,
• 3:58:46
  he mightn't look so bad. William had retired to the garden with his three
• 3:58:52
  bosom friends, Ginger, Henry and Douglas, where he was playing his latest
• 3:58:58
  game of mountaineering. A plank had been placed against the garden wall, and
• 3:59:03
  up this scrambled the three roped together and wearing feathers in their caps. William
• 3:59:09
  was wearing an old golf cap of his mother's and mentally pictured himself as an
• 3:59:15
  impressive and heroic figure. Before they reached the top, they invariably lost their
• 3:59:22
  foothold, rolled down the plank, and fell in a confused and bruised heap
• 3:59:26
  at the bottom. The bruises in no way detracted from the charm of the
• 3:59:31
  game. To William, the fascination of any game consisted mainly in the danger
• 3:59:37
  to life and limb involved. The game had been suggested by an old alpinstock,
• 3:59:43
  which had been thoughtlessly presented to William by a friend of mister Brown's.
• 3:59:48
  The paint of the staircase and upstairs corridor had been completely ruined before the family
• 3:59:54
  knew of the gift, and the alpinstock had been confiscated for a week,
• 4:00:01
  then restored on the condition that it was not to be brought into the house.
• 4:00:05
  The result was the game of mountaineering up the plank. They carried the
• 4:00:11
  alpen stock in turns, but William had two turns running to mark the fact
• 4:00:16
  that he was its proud possessor. Missus Brown approached William on the subject of
• 4:00:22
  his prospective role of page with a certain apprehension. The normal attitude of William's
• 4:00:30
  family towards William was one of apprehension. Would you like to go to cousin
• 4:00:35
  Sybil's wedding? She said? No, I wouldn't, said William without hesitation.
• 4:00:41
  Wouldn't you like to go dressed up? She said? Red engine,
• 4:00:46
  said William with a gleam of hope. Er un No, not exactly pirate,
• 4:00:54
  not quite. I'd go as a red engine, or I go as
• 4:00:58
  a pirate, he said firmly. But I wouldn't go as anything else.
• 4:01:03
  A page said Miss Grant's clear, melodious voice is a medieval and romantic idea,
• 4:01:09
  William. There's the glamor of chivalry about it that should appeal strongly to
• 4:01:15
  a boy of your age. William turned his inscrutable countenance upon her and gave
• 4:01:20
  her a cold glare. They discussed his costume in private. I've got a
• 4:01:28
  pair of lovely white silk stockings, said his mother. They'd do for tights.
• 4:01:35
  And Ethel has got a satin petticoat that's just beginning to go in one
• 4:01:39
  place. I should think we could make some sort of costume from that,
• 4:01:45
  don't you. We'll buy some more white satin and get some patterns. No,
• 4:01:52
  I won't wear Ethel's old clothes, said William, smoldering. You all
• 4:01:56
  just want to make me look ridiculous. You don't care how ridic'lous I look.
• 4:02:03
  I shall be ridic'less all the rest of my life going about in Ethel's
• 4:02:07
  old clothes. I just won't do it. I just won't do any old
• 4:02:11
  weddin' No, I don't want to see cousin Sybyl married, and I just
• 4:02:16
  won't be made lookin ridic'lus in Ethel's old clothes. They reasoned, and coaxed
• 4:02:22
  and threatened, but in vain. Finally William yielded to parental authority and went
• 4:02:28
  about his world with an air of a martyr, doomed to the stake.
• 4:02:33
  Even the game of mountaineering had lost its charm, and the alpenstock lay neglected
• 4:02:39
  against the garden wall. The attitude of his select circle of friends was not
• 4:02:46
  encouraging. Yeah, page, who's going to be a page? Oh crumbs,
• 4:02:52
  a page all dressed up in Why dear little Willy, won't he look
• 4:02:58
  sweet? Life became very full. It was passed, chiefly in the avenging
• 4:03:07
  of insults. William cherished a secret hope that the result of this would be
• 4:03:13
  to leave him disfigured for life and so unable to attend the wedding. However,
• 4:03:20
  except for a large lump on his forehead, he was none the worse.
• 4:03:24
  He eyed the lump thoughtfully in his looking glass and decided that with a
• 4:03:30
  little encouragement. It might render his public appearance in an affair of romance and
• 4:03:35
  impossibility, But the pain which resulted from one heroic effort at banging it against
• 4:03:43
  the wall caused him to abandon the plan. Dorita arrived the next week and
• 4:03:50
  with her small brother, Michael, aged three. Dorita was slim and graceful,
• 4:03:56
  with a pale, little oval face and dark curling hair. Miss Grant
• 4:04:01
  received her on the doorstep. Well, my little maid of honor, she
• 4:04:05
  said, in her flute like tones, Welcome. We're going to be such
• 4:04:11
  friends, you and me and William the bride. She blushed and bridled,
• 4:04:16
  becomingly and her little page and her little maid of honor. William's a boy,
• 4:04:22
  and he's just a little bit thoughtless and doesn't realize the romance of it
• 4:04:28
  all. I'm sure you will. I see it in your dear little face.
• 4:04:33
  We'll have some lovely talks together. Her eyes fell upon Michael and narrowed.
• 4:04:39
  Suddenly, he'd look sweet too in white satin, wouldn't he, turning
• 4:04:45
  to missus Brown, he could walk between them. We could buy some more
• 4:04:50
  white satin. When they had gone, the Maid of Honor turned dark,
• 4:04:56
  long lashed demure eyes upon william soft mug that she said in clear, refined
• 4:05:03
  tones, nodding in the direction of the door through which the tall figure of
• 4:05:09
  Miss Grant had just disappeared. William was vaguely cheered by her attitude. Are
• 4:05:16
  you keen on this spifling wedding affair? She went on carelessly, cause I
• 4:05:22
  jolly well tell you I'm not. William felt that he had found a kindred
• 4:05:28
  spirit. He unbent so far as to take her to the stable and show
• 4:05:33
  her a field mouse he had caught and was keeping in a cardboard box.
• 4:05:37
  Dejeenet to dance, he confided, And it ought to fetch a jolly lot
• 4:05:43
  of money when it can dance proper dance and mice do you know? They
• 4:05:48
  show him on the stage, and people on the stage get pounds and pounds
• 4:05:52
  every night. So I bet mice do too, at least the folks the
• 4:05:58
  mice belonged to what dance on the stage. I'm teaching it to dance by
• 4:06:01
  holding a biscuit over its head and moving it about. It bit me twice
• 4:06:07
  yesterday, he proudly displayed his mutilated finger. I only caught it yesterday.
• 4:06:13
  It ought to learn all right to day he said hopefully. Her intense disappointment
• 4:06:20
  when the only trace of the field mouse that could be found was the cardboard
• 4:06:26
  box with a hole gnawed at one corner, drew William's heart to her still
• 4:06:31
  more, he avoided Henry Douglas and Ginger. Henry Douglas and Ginger had sworn
• 4:06:39
  to be at the church door to watch William descend from the carriage in the
• 4:06:45
  glory of his white satin apparel, and William felt that friendship could not stand
• 4:06:50
  the strain. He sat with Dorita on the cold and perilous perch of the
• 4:06:56
  garden wall and discussed and Sybil and the wedding. Dorita's language delighted and fascinated
• 4:07:05
  William. She's a soppy old looney, she would remark, sweetly, shaking
• 4:07:11
  her dark curls. The soppiest old looney you'd see in any old place on
• 4:07:16
  this old earth. You bet your life she's made of sop. I wouldn't
• 4:07:22
  be found dead in a ditch with her, wouldn't touch her with the butt
• 4:07:26
  end of a barge pole. She's an assified cow. She is hum Those
• 4:07:31
  children are a lethal disappointing as regards character to a child lover like myself,
• 4:07:39
  confided Miss Grant to her intellectual fiancee. I've tried to sound their depths,
• 4:07:45
  but there are no depths to sound. There is none of the mystery,
• 4:07:48
  the glamor the clouds of glory about them. They are so so material.
• 4:07:56
  The day of the ordeal drew nearer and nearer, and William's spirit sank lower
• 4:08:03
  and lower. His life seemed to stretch before him, youth, manhood,
• 4:08:09
  and old age, dreary and desolate, filled only with humiliation and shame.
• 4:08:18
  His prestige and reputation would be blasted forever. He would no longer be William
• 4:08:24
  the Red Indian, the pirate, the daredevil. He would simply be the
• 4:08:30
  boy who went to a wedding dressed in white satin. Evidently there would be
• 4:08:35
  a surging crowd of small boys at the church door. Every boy for miles
• 4:08:41
  round who knew William even by sight, had volunteered the information that he would
• 4:08:46
  be there. William was to ride with Dorita and Michael in the bride's carriage.
• 4:08:52
  In imagination, he already descended from the carriage and heard the chorus of
• 4:08:58
  jeers. His cheeks grew hot at the thought. His life for years afterward
• 4:09:05
  would consist solely in the avenging of insults. He followed the figure of the
• 4:09:11
  blessing bride to be with a baleful glare. In his worst moments, he
• 4:09:18
  contemplated murder. The violence of his outburst. When his mother mildly suggested a
• 4:09:24
  wedding present to the bride from her page and maid of honor, horrified her.
• 4:09:31
  I'm being made to look ridiculous all the rest of my life, he
• 4:09:35
  ended. I'm not giving her no present. I know what I'd like to
• 4:09:39
  give her, he added darkly, Yes, and I do too, missus
• 4:09:45
  Brown forbore to question further. The day of the wedding dawned coldly, bright
• 4:09:52
  and sunny. William's expressions of agony and complaints of various startling symptoms of serious
• 4:10:00
  illnesses were ignored by his experienced family circle. Michael was dressed first of the
• 4:10:07
  three in his minute white satin suit and sent down into the morning room to
• 4:10:13
  play quietly. Then an unwilling William was captured from the darkest recess of the
• 4:10:18
  stable and dragged, pale and protesting, to the slaughter. Yes, and
• 4:10:24
  I'll die pretty soon, probably, he said pathetically. Then perhaps you'll be
• 4:10:28
  a bit sorry, and I shan't care. Michael, there survived two of
• 4:10:35
  the instincts of primitive man, the instinct of foraging for food and that of
• 4:10:41
  concealing it from his enemies when found. Earlier in the day, he had
• 4:10:46
  paid a visit to the kitchen and found it empty. Upon the table lay
• 4:10:50
  a pound of butter and a large bag of oranges. These he had promptly
• 4:10:56
  confiscated, and with a fear of an eruption born of experience, he had
• 4:11:01
  retired with them under the table in the morning room. Before he could begin
• 4:11:07
  his feast, he had been called upstairs to be dressed for the ceremony.
• 4:11:13
  On his return, immaculate in white satin, he found to his joy that
• 4:11:18
  his treasure trove had not been discovered. He began on the butter. First,
• 4:11:26
  what he could not eat, he smeared over his face and curly hair.
• 4:11:31
  Then he felt a sudden compunction and tried to remove all traces of the
• 4:11:37
  crime by rubbing his face and hair violently with a wooly mat. Then he
• 4:11:43
  sat down on the chesterfield and began the oranges. They were very yellow and
• 4:11:50
  juicy and rather over ripe. He crammed them into his mouth with both little
• 4:11:56
  fat hands at once. He was well aware, even at his tender years,
• 4:12:03
  that life's sweetest joys came soonest to an end. Orange juice mingled in
• 4:12:09
  with wool, fluff and butter on his small, round face. It trickled
• 4:12:13
  down his cheeks and fell onto his white lace collar. His mouth and the
• 4:12:18
  region round it were completely yellow. He had emptied the oranges out of the
• 4:12:24
  bag. All around him on the seat, he was sitting in a pool
• 4:12:28
  of juice. His suit was covered with it, mingled with pips and skin,
• 4:12:35
  and still he ate on. His first interruption was William and Dorita,
• 4:12:41
  who came slowly downstairs, holding hands in silent sympathy. Two gleaming figures in
• 4:12:48
  white satin. They walked to the end of the room. They also had
• 4:12:54
  been sent to the morning room, with orders to play quietly until some play.
• 4:13:01
  William had echoed coldly, I don't feel much like playing. They stared
• 4:13:07
  at Michael, open mouthed and speechless. Lumps of butter and bits of wool
• 4:13:15
  stuck in his girls and adhered to the upper portion of his face. They
• 4:13:20
  had been washed away from the lower portion of it by orange juice. His
• 4:13:24
  suit was almost covered with it. Behind, he was saturated with it crumbs,
• 4:13:31
  said William. At last, you'll catch it, remarked his sister.
• 4:13:37
  Michael retreated hastily from the scene of his misdeeds. Miketh good now, he
• 4:13:43
  lithed deprecatingly. They looked at the seat he had left a pool of crushed
• 4:13:50
  orange fragments and juice, and then they looked at each other. He'll not
• 4:13:56
  be able to go, said Dorita slowly. Again they looked at the empty
• 4:14:03
  orange covered chesterfield, and again they looked at each other. Heath kite,
• 4:14:09
  good now, said Michael hopefully. Then the Maid of Honor, aware that
• 4:14:16
  cold deliberation often kills the most glorious impulses, seized William's hand. Sit down
• 4:14:24
  quick, she whispered, sharply, without a word. They sat down.
• 4:14:30
  They sat till they felt the cold moisture penetrate to their skins. Then William
• 4:14:35
  heaved a deep sigh. We can't go now, he said. Through the
• 4:14:43
  open door, they saw a little group coming, Miss Grant in shining white,
• 4:14:48
  followed by William's mother, arrayed in her brightest and best and William's father,
• 4:14:54
  whose expression revealed a certain weariness, mingled with a relief that the whole
• 4:15:00
  thing would soon be over. Here's the old sardine, all togged up,
• 4:15:05
  whispered Dorita, William, Dorita, Michael. They called slowly. William,
• 4:15:13
  Dorita and Michael obeyed the summons. When miss Grant's eyes fell upon the strange
• 4:15:20
  object that was Michael, she gave a loud scream, Michael, Oh,
• 4:15:28
  the dreadful child. She clashed the center of the door and looked as though
• 4:15:33
  about to swoon. Michael began to sob. Poor Mikey, he said through
• 4:15:41
  his tear, he feels felt thick. They removed him hastily. Never mind,
• 4:15:48
  dear, said Missus Brown soothingly. The other two looked sweet. But
• 4:15:52
  mister Brown had wandered further into the room and thus obtained a sudden and startling
• 4:15:58
  view of the page and Maid of honor from behind what where? He began
• 4:16:06
  explosively. William and Dorita turned to him instinctively, thus providing Missus Brown and
• 4:16:14
  the bride with the spectacle that had so disturbed him. The bride gave a
• 4:16:19
  second scream, shriller and wilder than the first. Oh what have they done?
• 4:16:27
  Oh, the wretched children? And just when I wanted to feel calm,
• 4:16:33
  just when all depends on my feeling calm. Just when we was walking
• 4:16:40
  round the room and we sat down on the chesterfield and there was the stuff
• 4:16:44
  on it, and it came on our clothes, explained William stonily and monotonously,
• 4:16:49
  and all in one breath. Why did you sit down, said his
• 4:16:55
  mother. Well, we was walking round and we just felt tired, and
• 4:17:00
  we sat down on the chesterfield and there was a stuff on it and it
• 4:17:03
  came on. Oh stop, didn't you see it there? William considered,
• 4:17:10
  Well, we was just walking round the room, and he said, and
• 4:17:12
  we just felt tired and we sat stop saying that couldn't we make cloaks,
• 4:17:19
  wailed the bride to hang down and cover them all behind. It wouldn't take
• 4:17:25
  long. Mister Brown took out his watch. The carriage has been waiting a
• 4:17:30
  quarter of an hour already, he said, firmly. We've no time to
• 4:17:34
  spare. Come along, my dear. We'll continue the investigation after the service.
• 4:17:41
  You can't go, of course, you must stay at home now,
• 4:17:45
  he ended, turning a stern eye upon William. There was an unconscious note
• 4:17:51
  of envy in his voice. And I did so want to have a page
• 4:17:56
  said Miss Grant plaintively as she turned away. Joy and Hope returned to William
• 4:18:03
  with a bound As the sound of wheels was heard down the drive. He
• 4:18:08
  turned head over heels several times on the lawn, then caught sight of his
• 4:18:14
  long neglected alpinstick leaning against a wall. Come on, he shouted, joyfully.
• 4:18:21
  I'll teach you a game. I made it up. It's mountaineering.
• 4:18:25
  She watched him place a plank against the wall and began his perilous ascent.
• 4:18:32
  You're a mug, she said in her clear, sweet voice. I know
• 4:18:36
  a mountaineering game worth ten of that old thing. And it says much for
• 4:18:41
  the character and moral force of the Maid of Honor that William meekly put himself
• 4:18:47
  in the position of pupil. It must be explained at this point that the
• 4:18:52
  domestics of the Brown household were busy arranging refreshments in a marquee in the garden.
• 4:19:00
  The front hall was quite empty. In about a quarter of an hour,
• 4:19:04
  the game of mountaineering was in full swing. On the lowest steps of
• 4:19:11
  the staircase reposed the mattress from William's father's and mother's bed. Above it,
• 4:19:18
  the mattress from Miss Grant's bed, above that the mattress from William's bed,
• 4:19:23
  and on the top the mastress from Dorita's bed. In all the bedrooms,
• 4:19:29
  the bedclothes lay in disarray on the floor. A few nails driven through the
• 4:19:34
  ends of the mattresses into the stairs secured the stability of the mountain. Still
• 4:19:41
  wearing their robes of ceremony, they scrambled up in stocking feet every now and
• 4:19:47
  then, losing foothold and rolling down to the pile of pillows and bolsters taken
• 4:19:52
  indiscriminately from all the beds, which was arranged at the foot of the staircase.
• 4:20:00
  Their mirth was riotous and uproarious. They used the alpenstock in turns.
• 4:20:06
  It was a great help. They could get a firm hold on the mattresses
• 4:20:10
  with the point of the alpenstock. Williams stood at the top of the mountain,
• 4:20:15
  hot and panting, his alpenstock in his hand, and paused for breath.
• 4:20:21
  He was well aware that retribution was not far off, was in the
• 4:20:26
  neighboring church, to be quite exact, and would return in a carriage within
• 4:20:30
  the next few minutes. He was aware that an explanation of the yellow stain
• 4:20:37
  was yet to be demanded. He was aware that this was not a use
• 4:20:41
  to which the family mattresses could legitimately be put, but he cared for none
• 4:20:48
  of these things. In his mind's eye, he only saw a crowd of
• 4:20:52
  small boys assembled outside a church door, with eager eyes fixed on a care
• 4:21:00
  marriage from which descended Miss Grant, Missus Brown, and mister Brown. His
• 4:21:07
  life stretched before him, bright and rose colored. A smile of triumph curved
• 4:21:12
  his lips. Yeah, who waited at a church door for someone who?
• 4:21:18
  What? Never came? Yeah? I hope you didn't get a bad cold
• 4:21:25
  waitin for me on Wednesday at the church door? Some folks as easy had
• 4:21:30
  I bet you all believed I was coming on Wednesday. Such sentences floated idly
• 4:21:37
  through his mind. I say, my turn for that stick with a spike.
• 4:21:42
  William handed it to her. In silence, I say, she repeated,
• 4:21:48
  What do you think of this marriage business? Dunno, said William laconically.
• 4:21:53
  If I'd got to Mary went on the maid of honor, I'd as
• 4:21:57
  soon marry you as any one. I wouldn't mind, said the page gallantly,
• 4:22:03
  But he added hastily in ornery clothes. Oh yes, She lost her
• 4:22:10
  foothold and rolled down to the pile of pillows. From them came her voice,
• 4:22:15
  muffled but clear as ever. You bet your life in ornery clothes.
• 4:22:23
  End of Chapter nine, Chapter ten, William's New Year's Day. William went
• 4:22:32
  whistling down the street, his hands in his pockets. William's whistle was more
• 4:22:37
  penetrating than melodious. Sensitive people fled shuddering at the sound. The proprietor of
• 4:22:44
  the sweet shop, however, was not sensitive. He nodded affably as William
• 4:22:48
  passed. William was a regular customer of his, as regular, that is,
• 4:22:55
  as a wholly inadequate allowance would permit. In courage, William paused at
• 4:23:00
  the doorway and ceased to whistle. Hello, mister Moss. He said,
• 4:23:06
  Hello, William, said, mister Moss, Nathan cheap to day, went
• 4:23:10
  on William hopefully. Mister Moss shook his head. Tuppet's announced cheapest, he
• 4:23:15
  said. William sighed, that's awful, dear, he said, What isn't
• 4:23:22
  dear? Tell me that what isn't dear? Said mister Moss, lugubriously.
• 4:23:27
  Well, gimme two ounces. I'll pay you tomorrow, said William casually,
• 4:23:33
  mister Moss shook his head. Go on, said William, I get my
• 4:23:37
  money tomorrow. You know I get my money tomorrow, cash, young sir,
• 4:23:44
  said mister Moss. Heavily. My terms is cash. However, he
• 4:23:48
  relented, I'll give you a few over when the scales is down tomorrow for
• 4:23:52
  a New Year's gift. Honest injun, honest engun. Well, gimme them
• 4:24:00
  now, then, said William. Mister Moss hesitated. They wouldn't be no
• 4:24:06
  New Year's gift, then, would they, he said. William considered.
• 4:24:11
  I'll eat'em to day, but I'll think about em tomorrow. He promised.
• 4:24:15
  That'll make him a New Year's gift. Mister Moss took out a handful
• 4:24:19
  of assorted fruit drops and passed them to William. William received them gratefully.
• 4:24:26
  And what good resolution are you going to take tomorrow, went on mister Moss.
• 4:24:32
  William crunched in silence for a minute. Then good resolution, he questioned,
• 4:24:37
  I ain't got none. You've got to have a good resolution for New
• 4:24:41
  Year's Day, said mister Moss firmly. Same as giving up sugar and tea
• 4:24:48
  and lent and wearing blue on Oxford and Cambridge Boat Race day, said William
• 4:24:52
  with interest. Yes, same as that. Well, you've got to think
• 4:24:57
  of some fault you'd like to cure and start tomorrow. William pondered. Can't
• 4:25:04
  think of anything? He said, At last you think of something for me.
• 4:25:10
  You might take one to do your school work properly, he suggested.
• 4:25:15
  William shook his head. No, he said, that wouldn't be much fun,
• 4:25:18
  would it, Crumbs, it wouldn't. Or to keep your clothes tidy,
• 4:25:23
  went on his friend. William shuddered at the thought, or to give
• 4:25:30
  up shouting and twistling. William crammed two more sweets into his mouth and shook
• 4:25:37
  his head very firmly. Crumbs know, he ejaculated indistinctly. Or to be
• 4:25:44
  perlite, perlite? Yes, please, and thank you, and if you
• 4:25:51
  don't mind me saying so, and if you excuse me, contradictin of you?
• 4:25:55
  And can I do anything for you? And such like. William was
• 4:26:00
  struck with this. Yes I might be that, he said. He straightened
• 4:26:06
  his collar and stood up. Yes, I might try beIN that. How
• 4:26:11
  long has it to go on? Though not long, said mister Moss.
• 4:26:17
  Only the first day generally, folks generally give'em up after that. What's
• 4:26:22
  yours? Said William, putting four sweets into his mouth as he spoke.
• 4:26:26
  Mister Moss looked round his little shop with the air of a conspirator, then
• 4:26:32
  leant forward confidentially. I'm going to arsk her again, he said, Who,
• 4:26:38
  said William? Mystified some one I've arked regular every New Year's Day for
• 4:26:45
  ten years, asked what, said William, gazing sadly at his last suite.
• 4:26:52
  Arsket to take me, of course, said mister Moss, with an
• 4:26:55
  air of contempt for William's want of intelligence. Take you where, said William?
• 4:27:02
  Where do you want to go? Why can't you go yourself? Ter
• 4:27:06
  marry me, I means, said mister Moss, blushing slightly as he spoke.
• 4:27:11
  Well, said William, with a judicial air. I wouldn't have asked
• 4:27:17
  the same one for ten years. I'd have tried some one else. I'd
• 4:27:21
  have gone on asking other people if I wanted to get married. You'd be
• 4:27:25
  sure to find some one that wouldn't mind you with a sweet shop too.
• 4:27:30
  She must be as softy. Does she know you've got a sweet shop?
• 4:27:33
  Mister Moss merely sighed and popped a bull's eye into his mouth with an air
• 4:27:38
  of abstracted melancholy. The next morning, William leapt out of bed with an
• 4:27:45
  expression of stern resolve. I'm going to be polite, he remarked to his
• 4:27:51
  bedroom furniture. I'm going to be polite all day. He met his father
• 4:27:56
  on the stairs as he went down to breakfast. Good mornin, he said,
• 4:28:00
  with what he fondly imagines to be a courtly manner. Can I do
• 4:28:04
  anything for you to day? His father looked down at him suspiciously. What
• 4:28:11
  do you want now, he demanded. William was hurt. I'm only being
• 4:28:17
  polite. It's, you know, one of those things you take on New
• 4:28:21
  Year's Day. Well, I've took one to be polite. His father apologized.
• 4:28:27
  I'm sorry, he said, You see, I'm not used to it.
• 4:28:32
  It startled me. At breakfast, William's politeness shone forth in all its
• 4:28:37
  glory. Can I pass you anything, Robert, he said sweetly. His
• 4:28:44
  elder brother coldly ignored him. Going to reign again, he said, to
• 4:28:48
  the world in general, if you'll excuse me for contradicting of you, Robert
• 4:28:53
  said, William, I heard the milkman saying it was going to be fine,
• 4:28:57
  if you'll excuse me comradicting you. Look here, said Robert angrily,
• 4:29:04
  less of your cheek. Seems to me, no one in this house understands
• 4:29:10
  what being polite is, said William bitterly. Seems to me one might go
• 4:29:15
  on being polite in this house for years and no one know what one was
• 4:29:18
  doing. His mother looked at him anxiously. You're feeling quite well, dear,
• 4:29:25
  aren't you, she said. You. You haven't got a headache or
• 4:29:27
  anything, have you. No, I'm being polite, he said irritably,
• 4:29:33
  then pulled himself up suddenly. I'm quite well. Thank you, mother,
• 4:29:37
  dear, he said, in a tone of cloying sweetness. Does it hurt
• 4:29:42
  you much? Inquired his brother tenderly. No, thank you, Robert,
• 4:29:48
  said William politely. After breakfast, he received his pocket money with courteous gratitude.
• 4:29:56
  Thank you very much, father, not at all. Pray, don't
• 4:30:00
  mention it, William. It's quite all right, said mister Brown, not
• 4:30:04
  to be outdone. Then it's rather trying. How long does it last?
• 4:30:11
  What the resolution? Oh, be impolite, he said. They didn't often
• 4:30:17
  do it after the first day. He's quite right, whoever he is,
• 4:30:22
  said mister Brown, they don't. He's going to ask her again, volunteered
• 4:30:26
  William, who ask who what, said mister Brown. But William had departed.
• 4:30:33
  He was already on his way to mister Moss's shop. Mister Moss was
• 4:30:37
  at the door, hatted and coated and gazing anxiously down the street. Good
• 4:30:42
  morning, mister Moss, said William politely. Mister Moss took out a large
• 4:30:48
  antique watch. He's late, he said, I shall miss the train.
• 4:30:52
  Oh dear, it will be the first New Year's Day I've missed in ten
• 4:30:57
  years. Will was inspecting the sweets with an air of an expert. Them
• 4:31:03
  pink ones are new, he said at last. How much are they?
• 4:31:07
  Eightpence a quarter? Oh dear, I shall miss the train. They're very
• 4:31:14
  small ones, said William disparagingly. You'd think they'd be less than that,
• 4:31:18
  Small ones like that. Will you? Will you do something for me and
• 4:31:25
  I'll give you a quarter of those suits. William gasped. The offer was
• 4:31:30
  almost too munificent to be true. I'll do anything for that, he said,
• 4:31:37
  simply. Well, just stay in the shop till my nephew Bill comes.
• 4:31:41
  He'll be here in two shakes, and I'll miss my train. If
• 4:31:45
  I don't go now, he's going to keep the shop for me till I'm
• 4:31:48
  back, and he'll be here any minute now. Just tell him I had
• 4:31:52
  to run for to catch my train. And if anyone comes into the shop
• 4:31:56
  before he comes, just tell him to wait or to come back later.
• 4:32:02
  You can weigh yourself a quarter of those sweets. Mister Moss was certainly in
• 4:32:07
  a holiday mood. William pinched himself just to make sure he was still alive
• 4:32:11
  and had not been translated. Suddenly to the realms of the blest. Mister
• 4:32:17
  Moss, with a last anxious glance at his watch, hurried off in the
• 4:32:22
  direction of the station. William was left alone. He spent a few moments
• 4:32:26
  indulging in roseate day dreams. The ideal of his childhood, perhaps of everyone's
• 4:32:33
  childhood, was realized. He had a sweet shop. He walked round the
• 4:32:40
  shop with a conscious swagger, pausing to pop into his mouth a butter ball,
• 4:32:45
  composed, as the label stated, of pure farm cream and best butter.
• 4:32:52
  It was all his, all, those rows and rows of gleaming bottles
• 4:32:57
  of sweets of every size and color, those boxes and boxes of attractively arranged
• 4:33:06
  chocolates deliberately, he imagined himself as their owner. By the time he had
• 4:33:11
  walked around the shop three times, he believed that he was the owner.
• 4:33:18
  At this point, a small boy appeared in the doorway. William scowled at
• 4:33:22
  him. Well, he said, ungraciously, what do you want? Then,
• 4:33:29
  suddenly remembering his resolution, please, what do you want? Where's uncle?
• 4:33:34
  Said the small boy with equal ungraciousness, Cause our bill's ill and can't
• 4:33:40
  come. William waved him off. That's all right, he said, you
• 4:33:45
  tell him, that's all right, that's quite all right. See, now
• 4:33:48
  you go off. The small boy stood as though rooted to the spot.
• 4:33:53
  William pressed into one of his hands a stick of licorice, and into the
• 4:33:57
  other a packet of chocolate. Now you go away. I don't want you
• 4:34:03
  here. See you go away, you little assified cow. William's invective was
• 4:34:08
  often wholly original. The small boy made off, still staring and clutching his
• 4:34:15
  spoils. William started to the door and yelled to the retreating figure, if
• 4:34:21
  you don't mind me saying so. He had already come to look upon the
• 4:34:26
  resolution as a kind of God who must, at all costs be propitiated already,
• 4:34:33
  the resolution seemed to have bestowed upon him the dream of his life.
• 4:34:38
  A fully equipped sweet shop, he wandered round again and discovered a holy new
• 4:34:45
  sweetmeat called cocoernut kisses. Its only drawback was its instability. It melted away
• 4:34:53
  in the mouth at once, so much so that almost before William was aware
• 4:34:59
  of it, he was confronted by the empty box. He returned to the
• 4:35:04
  more solid charms of the pineapple crisp. He was interrupted by the entrance of
• 4:35:11
  a thin lady of uncertain age. Good morning, she said, icily,
• 4:35:18
  where's mister moss? William answered, as well as the presence of five sweets
• 4:35:23
  in his mouth would allow him. I can't hear a word you say,
• 4:35:29
  she said, more frigidly than ever. William removed two of his five suites
• 4:35:36
  and placed them temporarily on the scale. Gone, he said, laconically,
• 4:35:41
  then murmured vaguely thank you, as the thought of the resolution loomed up in
• 4:35:45
  his mind. Who's in charge, me, said William ungrammatically. She looked
• 4:35:53
  at him with distinct disapproval. Well, I'll have one of those bars of
• 4:36:00
  auklets. William, looking round the shop, realized suddenly that his own depredations
• 4:36:06
  had been on no small scale, but there was a chance of making good
• 4:36:11
  any loss that mister Moss might otherwise have sustained. He looked down at the
• 4:36:17
  twopenny bars schillin each, he said firmly. She gasped. They were only
• 4:36:23
  tuppence yesterday. They're gone up since, said William, brazenly, adding a
• 4:36:29
  vague if you'll kindly excuse me saying so, gone up? She repeated indignantly.
• 4:36:36
  Have you heard from the makers they've gone up? Yes'm, said William
• 4:36:40
  politely. When did you hear this mornin'? If you don't mind me saying
• 4:36:45
  so. William's manner of fulsome politeness seemed to madden her. Did you hear
• 4:36:52
  by post esum by post this mornin'? She glared at him with vindictive triumph.
• 4:37:00
  I happen to live opposite you, wicked lying boy, and I know
• 4:37:04
  that the postman did not call here this morning. William met her eye calmly.
• 4:37:11
  No, they came round to see me in the night. The makers
• 4:37:14
  did. You couldn't have heard them, he added, hastily. It was
• 4:37:18
  when you was asleep, if you'll excuse me, contradictin of you. It
• 4:37:22
  is a great gift to be able to lie so as to convince other people.
• 4:37:27
  It is a still greater gift to be able to lie so as to
• 4:37:32
  convince oneself. William was possessed of the latter gift. I shall certainly not
• 4:37:38
  pay more than tuppence, said his customer, severely, taking a bar of
• 4:37:42
  chocolate and laying down tuppence on the counter. And I shall report this shop
• 4:37:48
  to the profiteering Committee. It's scandalous and a pack of wicked lies. William
• 4:37:56
  scowled at her. They're a shillin, he said. I don't want your
• 4:38:00
  nasty old tuppences. I said, there was a shillin. He followed her
• 4:38:04
  to the door. She was crossing the street to her house. You you
• 4:38:11
  old thief, he yelled after her. Though true to his resolution, he
• 4:38:15
  added softly, with dogged determination. If you don't mind me saying so,
• 4:38:22
  I'll set the police on you. His late customer shouted angrily back across the
• 4:38:26
  street, You wicked, blasphemous boy. William put out his tongue at her,
• 4:38:33
  then returned to the shop and closed the door. Here he discovered that
• 4:38:38
  the door, when opened rang a bell, and after filling his mouth with
• 4:38:44
  licorice all sorts. He spent the next five minutes vigorously opening and shutting the
• 4:38:49
  door till something went wrong with the mechanism of the bell. At this he
• 4:38:55
  fortified himself with a course of nutty footballs, and, standing on a chair,
• 4:39:00
  began ruthlessly to dismember the bell. He was disturbed by the entry of
• 4:39:07
  another customer, Swallowing a nutty football hole, he hastened to his post behind
• 4:39:14
  the counter. The newcomer was a little girl of about nine, a very
• 4:39:18
  dainty little girl, dressed in a white fur coat and cap and long white
• 4:39:23
  gaiters. Her hair fell in golden curls over her white fur shoulders. Her
• 4:39:30
  eyes were blue, her cheeks were velvety and rosy. Her mouth was like
• 4:39:36
  a baby's. William had seen this vision on various occasions in the town,
• 4:39:41
  but had never yet addressed it. Whenever he had seen it, his heart
• 4:39:47
  in the midst of his body had been even as melting wax. He smiled
• 4:39:52
  a self conscious, sheepish smile, his freckled face blushed to the roots of
• 4:39:57
  his short, stubby hair. She seemed to find nothing odd in the fact
• 4:40:03
  of a small boy being in charge of a sweet shop. She came up
• 4:40:07
  to the counter. Please, I want two twopenny bars of chocolate. Her
• 4:40:12
  voice was very clear and silvery. Ecstasy rendered William speechless. His smile grew
• 4:40:22
  wider and more foolish. Seeing his two half sucked pineapple crisps exposed upon the
• 4:40:27
  scales, he hastily put them into his mouth. She laid four pennies on
• 4:40:33
  the counter. William found his voice. You can have lots for that,
• 4:40:40
  he said, huskily. They've gone cheap, they've gone ever so cheap.
• 4:40:45
  You can take all the box full for that, he went on recklessly.
• 4:40:49
  He pressed the box into her reluctant hands. And what else would you like?
• 4:40:56
  You just tell me that, Tell me what else you like? Please,
• 4:41:00
  I haven't any more money, gasped a small, bewildered voice. Oh
• 4:41:04
  money don't matter, said William. Things is cheap. To day things is
• 4:41:08
  awful cheap, to day awful cheap. You can have anything you like for
• 4:41:14
  that fourpence. Anything you like. Because it's New Year's Day, said the
• 4:41:18
  vision with a gleam of understanding. Yes, said William, because it's that
• 4:41:26
  Is it your shop? Yes? Said William with an air of importance.
• 4:41:30
  It's all my shop. She gazed at him in admiration and envy. I'd
• 4:41:37
  love to have a sweet shop, she said wistfully. Well, you take
• 4:41:41
  anything you like, said William generously. She collected as much as she could
• 4:41:45
  carry and started towards the door. Thank you, thank you, ever so,
• 4:41:52
  she said gratefully. William stood leaning against the door, in the easy
• 4:41:56
  attitude of the good natured to all providing mail. It's all right, he
• 4:42:02
  said, with an indulgent smile. Quite all right, Quite all right.
• 4:42:07
  Then, with an inspiration born of memories of his father earlier in the day,
• 4:42:14
  Not at all, don't mention it, not at all, Quite all
• 4:42:18
  right. He stopped, simply for lack of further expressions, and bowed with
• 4:42:23
  would be gracefulness as she went through the doorway. As she passed the window,
• 4:42:30
  she was rewarded by a spreading, effusive smile. In a flushed face.
• 4:42:36
  She stopped and kissed her hand. William blinked with pure emotion. He
• 4:42:44
  continued his smile long after its recipient had disappeared. Then absent mindedly, he
• 4:42:51
  crammed his mouth with a handful of mixed dewdrops and sat down behind the counter.
• 4:42:57
  As he crunched maxt dewdrops. He indulged in a day dream in which
• 4:43:03
  he rescued the little girl in the white fur coat from robbers and pirates and
• 4:43:08
  a burning house. He was just leaping nimbly from the roof of the burning
• 4:43:14
  house, holding the little girl in the white fur coat in his arms,
• 4:43:18
  when he caught sight of two of his friends flattening their noses at the window.
• 4:43:23
  He rose from his seat and went to the door. Hello Ginger,
• 4:43:27
  Hello Henry, he said, with an unsuccessful effort to appear void of self
• 4:43:33
  consciousness. They gazed at him in wonder. I've got a shop, he
• 4:43:40
  went on, casually, Come on in and look at it. They peeped
• 4:43:45
  round the doorway cautiously, and reassured by the sight of William, obviously in
• 4:43:51
  sole possession, they entered open mouthed. They gazed at the boxes and bottles
• 4:43:57
  of sweets. Al's cave was nothing to this. Howd you get at William
• 4:44:04
  gasped Ginger. Someone gave it to me, said William. I took one
• 4:44:10
  of them things to be polite, and someone gave it to me. Go
• 4:44:14
  on, he said, kindly, just help yourselves, not at all,
• 4:44:17
  not at all, Just help yourselves, and don't mention it. They needed
• 4:44:22
  no second bidding. With the unerring instinct of childhood, not unsupported by experience,
• 4:44:30
  that at any minute their eden might be invaded by the avenging angel in
• 4:44:33
  the shape of a grown up, they made full use of their time.
• 4:44:37
  They went from box to box, putting handfuls of sweets and chocolates into their
• 4:44:44
  mouths. They said nothing, simply because speech was under the circumstances of physical
• 4:44:49
  impossibility. Showing a foresight for the future worthy of the noble ant itself so
• 4:44:57
  often held up as a model to check childhood, they filled pockets in the
• 4:45:02
  intervals of cramming their mouths. A close observer might have noticed that William now
• 4:45:08
  ate. Little William himself had been conscious for some time of a curious and
• 4:45:15
  inexplicable feeling of coldness towards the tempting dainties around him. He was, however,
• 4:45:22
  loathed to give in to the weakness, and every now and then he
• 4:45:26
  nonchalantly put into his mouth a toasted square or a fruity bit. It happened
• 4:45:33
  that a loutish boy of about fourteen was passing the shop at the sight of
• 4:45:40
  three small boys rapidly consuming the contents, he became interested. What you're doing
• 4:45:45
  of he said, indignantly, standing in the doorway. You get out of
• 4:45:51
  my shop, said William, valiantly, your shop, said the boy.
• 4:45:56
  You're bloomin well, pinchin things out of someone else else shop. I can
• 4:46:00
  see here. Gimme some of them. You get out, said William.
• 4:46:06
  Get out yourself, said the other. If I'd not took one to be
• 4:46:10
  polite, said William, threatening, I'd knock you down. You would,
• 4:46:14
  would yer, said the other, beginning to roll up his sleeves. Yes,
• 4:46:18
  and I would too. You get out. Seizing the nearest bottle,
• 4:46:23
  which happened to contain acid drops, he began to fire them at his opponent's
• 4:46:29
  head. One hit him in the eye. He retired into the street.
• 4:46:34
  William, now a fire for battle, followed him, still hurling acid drops
• 4:46:40
  with all his might. A crowd of boys collected together. Some gathered acid
• 4:46:45
  drops from the gutter. Others joined the scrimmage. William, Henry and Ginger
• 4:46:52
  carried on a noble fight against heavy odds. It was only the sight of
• 4:46:57
  the proprietor of the shop, coming briskly down the sidewalk that put an end
• 4:47:03
  to the battle. The street boys made off with what spoils they could gather
• 4:47:08
  in one direction, and Ginger and Henry in another. William, clasping an
• 4:47:15
  empty acid drop bottle to his bosom, was left to face mister Moss.
• 4:47:21
  Mister Moss entered and looked round with an air of bewilderment. Where's Bill,
• 4:47:26
  he said, He's ill, said William. He couldn't come. I've been
• 4:47:33
  keeping shop for you. I've done the best I could. He looked round
• 4:47:37
  the rifled shop and hastened to propitiate the owner as far as possible. I've
• 4:47:44
  got some money for you, he added, soothingly, pointing to the four
• 4:47:48
  pennies that represented his morning's takings. Is not much, he went on,
• 4:47:52
  with some truth, looking again at the rows of emptied boxes and half emptied
• 4:47:57
  bottles, and the debris that is alwaysn't everywhere, the inevitable result of a
• 4:48:03
  battle. But mister Moss hardly seemed to notice it. Thanks William, he
• 4:48:11
  said, almost humbly. William, she's took me. She's gone to marry
• 4:48:15
  me. Isn't it grand? After all these years. I'm afraid there's a
• 4:48:22
  bit of a mess, said William, returning to the more important matter.
• 4:48:27
  Mister Moss waved aside his apologies. It doesn't matter, William, he said,
• 4:48:34
  nothing matters today. She's took me at last. I'm going to shut
• 4:48:38
  shop this afternoon and go over to her again. Thanks for staying, William,
• 4:48:45
  not at all. Don't mention it, said William nobly. Then I
• 4:48:48
  think I've had enough of that being plied. Will one morning do for this
• 4:48:53
  year? Do you think? Erm? Yes, well, I'll shut up.
• 4:48:59
  Don't to stay, William. You'll want to be getting home for lunch,
• 4:49:03
  lunch, quite definitely. William decided that he did not want any lunch.
• 4:49:10
  The very thought of lunch brought with it a feeling of active physical discomfort,
• 4:49:15
  which was much more than mere absence of hunger. He decided to go
• 4:49:21
  home as quickly as possible, though not to lunch. Goodbye, he said.
• 4:49:27
  Good bye, said mister Moss. I'm afraid you'll find some things gone,
• 4:49:33
  said William faintly. Some boys was in. Ah, that's all right,
• 4:49:37
  William, said, mister Moss roused again from his rosy dreams. That's
• 4:49:41
  quite all right. But it was not quite all right with William. Reader.
• 4:49:48
  If you had been left at the age of eleven, in sole charge
• 4:49:52
  of a sweet shop for a whole morning? Would it have been all right
• 4:49:56
  with you? I trow not. But we will not follow William through the
• 4:50:03
  humiliating hours of the afternoon. We will leave him as pale and unsteady,
• 4:50:10
  but as yet master of the situation. He wends his homeward way end of
• 4:50:17
  chapter ten, Chapter eleven, The best laid Plans, Part one. She's
• 4:50:26
  she's a real but a chelly, said the young man dreamily, as he
• 4:50:32
  watched the figure of William's sister Ethel disappearing into the distance. William glared at
• 4:50:38
  him. Bottled cherry yourself, he said, indignantly. She can't help having
• 4:50:45
  red hair, can she? No more'n you can help? Heaven? His
• 4:50:48
  eyes wandered speculatively over the young man, in search of physical defects, having
• 4:50:56
  big ears, he ended. The young man not resent the insult, He
• 4:51:02
  did not even hear it. His eyes were still fixed upon the slim figure
• 4:51:06
  in the distance. Eyes of blue and hair, red gold, he said
• 4:51:11
  softly, red gold. I had to put that because it's got both colors
• 4:51:18
  in it, red gold, eyes of blue and hair, red gold.
• 4:51:25
  What rhymes with gold? Cold, suggested William brightly. That's jolly good too,
• 4:51:33
  cause she's got her cold. She was sneezing all last night. No,
• 4:51:38
  it should be something about her heart being cold. Eyes of blue and
• 4:51:45
  hair red gold, heart of ice, so stony cold. That's jolly good,
• 4:51:52
  said William with admiration. It's just like what you read in real books,
• 4:51:56
  poetry books. The young man, James French by name, had met
• 4:52:03
  Ethel at an evening party and had succumbed to her charm. Lacking courage to
• 4:52:08
  pursue the acquaintance, he had cultivated the friendship of her small brother, under
• 4:52:15
  a quite erroneous impression that this would win him her good graces. What would
• 4:52:21
  you like most in the world, he said, suddenly, leaning forward from
• 4:52:25
  his seat on the top of the gate. Suppose some one let you choose
• 4:52:30
  white rats, said William without a moment's hesitation. The young man was plunged
• 4:52:37
  in deep thought. I'm thinking away, he said at last. I've I've
• 4:52:45
  nearly got it. Just walk home with me, will you. I'll give
• 4:52:48
  you something when we get there, he bribed with pathetic pleading, noting William's
• 4:52:55
  reluctant face. I want to tell you my idea. They walked down the
• 4:53:02
  lane. Together, the young man talked volubly and earnestly. William's mouth opened
• 4:53:08
  wide with amazement and disapproving horror. The words white rats were repeated frequently.
• 4:53:18
  Finally, William nodded his head as though acquiescing. I s'pose you're balmy on
• 4:53:25
  her, he said, resigningly at the end, like what folks are in
• 4:53:29
  books. I'm wana with long tales mind. William was not unacquainted with the
• 4:53:37
  tender passion. He had been to the pictures, he had read books.
• 4:53:42
  He had seen his elder brother Robert pass several times through every stage of the
• 4:53:48
  consuming fever. He had himself decided, in moments of deep emotion to marry
• 4:53:55
  the little girl next door as soon as he should reach Manhood's estate. He
• 4:54:00
  was willing to further his new friend's suit by every legitimate means, but he
• 4:54:06
  was rather aghast at the means suggested. Still white rats were white rats.
• 4:54:15
  The next morning, William assumed his expression of shining virtue, the expression he
• 4:54:21
  reserved for special occasions. You go on choppin this mornin, he inquired politely
• 4:54:27
  of Ethel. You know I am, said Ethel, shortly, Shall I
• 4:54:33
  come with you to carry parcels and things, said William unctuously. Ethel looked
• 4:54:38
  at him with sudden suspicion. What do you want, she said, I'm
• 4:54:44
  not going to buy you anything. William looked pained. I don't want anything,
• 4:54:51
  he said. I just want to help you, that's all. I
• 4:54:55
  just want to carry your parcels for you. I I just don't want you
• 4:55:00
  to get tired. That's all all right. Ethel was still suspicious. You
• 4:55:07
  can come and you can carry parcels, but you won't get a penny out
• 4:55:11
  of me. They walked down together to the shops, and William meekly allowed
• 4:55:18
  himself to be laden with many parcels. Ethel's grim suspicion passed into bewilderment as
• 4:55:25
  he passed toy shop after toy shop without a glance in imagination, he was
• 4:55:32
  already teaching complicated tricks to a pair of white rats. It's awfully decent of
• 4:55:40
  you, William, said, Ethel at last, almost persuaded that she had
• 4:55:45
  misjudged William for the greater part of his life. Do you feel all right?
• 4:55:52
  I mean, you don't feel ill or anything, do you? No?
• 4:55:57
  He said, absently, then directed himself hastily at least, not just
• 4:56:03
  now. I feel all right just now. I feel as if I might
• 4:56:07
  not feel all right soon, but I don't know. Ethel looked anxious.
• 4:56:15
  Let's get home quickly. What have you been eating? Nothing, said William
• 4:56:21
  indignantly. It's not that sort of not well, it's quite different. What
• 4:56:26
  sort is it? It's nothing? Not just now? I'm all right just
• 4:56:32
  now. They walked in silence till they had left the road behind and had
• 4:56:37
  turned off to the long country road that led to William's house. Then,
• 4:56:42
  slowly and deliberately, still clasping his burden of parcels, William sat down on
• 4:56:49
  the ground. I can't walk any more, Ethel, he said, turning
• 4:56:55
  his healthy countenance up to her. I'm took ill. Sudden. She looked
• 4:57:00
  down at him impatiently. Don't be absurd, William, she said. Get
• 4:57:07
  up. I'm not absurd, he said firmly. I'm took ill. Where
• 4:57:12
  do you feel ill? All over? He said guardedly. Does your ankle
• 4:57:18
  hurt? Yes? And my knees and all up me. I just can't
• 4:57:25
  walk. I'm took too ill to walk. She looked round anxiously. Oh
• 4:57:32
  what are we going to do? It's a quarter of a mile home.
• 4:57:37
  At that moment there appeared the figure of a tall young man. He drew
• 4:57:41
  nearer and raised his hat. Anything wrong, miss Brown, he said,
• 4:57:47
  blushing deeply. Just look at William, said Ethel, pointing dramatically at the
• 4:57:53
  small figure seated comfortably in the dust of the road. He says, he
• 4:57:59
  can't walk, and Goodness knows what we're going to do. The young man
• 4:58:03
  bent over William, but avoided meeting his eyes. You feeling ill, my
• 4:58:08
  little man, he said, cheerfully. Huh, snorted William. That's a
• 4:58:15
  nice thing for you to ask, when you know you told me. The
• 4:58:18
  young man coughed long and loud. All right, he said, hastily.
• 4:58:23
  Well, let's see what we can do. Could you get on my back
• 4:58:27
  and then I can carry you home? Give me your parcels. That's right,
• 4:58:33
  no, miss Brown, I insist on carrying the parcels. I couldn't
• 4:58:40
  dream of allowing you. Well, if you're sure you'd rather leave me the
• 4:58:45
  big ones anyway, Now, William, are we ready? William clung on
• 4:58:52
  behind nothing loth and they set off rather slowly down the road. Ethel was
• 4:58:59
  overcome with gratitude. It is kind of you, mister French, I don't
• 4:59:04
  know what we should have done without you. I do hope he's not fearfully
• 4:59:08
  heavy, and I do hope he's not beginning anything infectious. Do let me
• 4:59:15
  take the other parcels, won't you really? Mother will be grateful to you.
• 4:59:21
  It's such a strange thing, isn't it. I've never heard of such
• 4:59:25
  a thing before. I've always thought William was so strong. I hope it's
• 4:59:30
  not consumption or anything like that. How does consumption begin? Mister French had
• 4:59:38
  had no conception of the average weight of a sturdy small boy of eleven.
• 4:59:45
  He stumbled along unsteadily. Oh no, he panted. Don't mention it,
• 4:59:51
  don't mention it. It's a pleasure, really, it is. No.
• 4:59:56
  Indeed, you mustn't take the parcels. You have quite enough, already,
• 5:00:02
  quite enough. No, he isn't a bit heavy, not a bit.
• 5:00:07
  I'm so glad I happened to come by it a moment that I could do
• 5:00:11
  you a service, So glad. He paused to mop his brow. He
• 5:00:18
  was breathing very heavily. There was a violent and quite unreasonable hatred of William
• 5:00:25
  at his heart. Uh, don't you think you could walk now just a
• 5:00:30
  bit, William, he said, with a touch of exasperation in his panting
• 5:00:34
  voice. I'll help you walk, all right. William acceeded readily. I
• 5:00:41
  don't mind. I'll lean on you hard, shall I? Do you feel
• 5:00:45
  well enough? Said Ethel anxiously. Oh, yes, I can walk now
• 5:00:51
  if he wants, I mean, if he doesn't mind me holding on to
• 5:00:55
  his arm. I feel as if I was going to be quite all right
• 5:00:59
  soon. I'm I'm nearly all right now. The three of them walked slowly
• 5:01:04
  up the drive to the Brown's house, William leaning heavily on the young man's
• 5:01:10
  arm. Missus Brown saw them from the window and ran to the door.
• 5:01:15
  Oh dear, she said, you've run over him on your motorcycle. I
• 5:01:19
  knew you'd run over somebody soon, I said, when I saw you passing
• 5:01:25
  on it yesterday. Ethel interrupted indignantly. Why mother, mister French has been
• 5:01:32
  so kind. I can't think what I'd have done without him. William was
• 5:01:37
  taken ill and couldn't walk, and mister French has carried him all the way
• 5:01:41
  from the other end of the road on his back. Oh, I'm so
• 5:01:47
  sorry, How very kind of you, mister French, do come in and
• 5:01:52
  stay to lunch. William go upstairs to bed at once, and I'll ring
• 5:01:56
  up doctor Ware. No o, said William firmly. Don't bother poor doctor
• 5:02:03
  Ware. I'm all right now, honest I am. He'd be mad to
• 5:02:08
  come and find me. All right. Of course you must see a doctor.
• 5:02:14
  No, I mustn't. You don't understand. It wasn't that kind of
• 5:02:18
  not wellness. A doctor couldn't have done me no good. I just just
• 5:02:25
  came over queer, he ended, remembering a phrase he had heard used recently
• 5:02:30
  by the charwoman. What do you think, mister French, said Missus Brown
• 5:02:34
  anxiously. Both Missus Brown and Ethel turned to him, as to an oracle.
• 5:02:41
  He looked from one to the other, and a deep flush of guilt
• 5:02:45
  overspread his countenance. Oh um, er well, he said nervously. He
• 5:02:53
  looks all right, doesn't he. I I er, I wouldn't bother,
• 5:02:59
  just to don't worry him with questions. Just let him go about as usual.
• 5:03:07
  I think it's best to let him forget it, he added weakly.
• 5:03:15
  Of course he's growing very fast. Yes, I expect it was just a
• 5:03:19
  sort of growing weakness, said mister French brightly. But mister French was splendid,
• 5:03:26
  said Ethel, enthusiastically, simply splendid. William. I don't think you
• 5:03:33
  realize how kind it was of mister French. I think you ought to thank
• 5:03:37
  him. William fixed his benefactor with a cold eye. Thank you very much,
• 5:03:45
  indeed for carrying me, he said. Then, as his mother turned
• 5:03:48
  to Ethel with a remark about the lunch, he added, too, remember
• 5:03:55
  and with long tails. Mister French stayed for lunch and spent the afternoon golfing
• 5:04:02
  with Ethel. Up at the Lynx. William was wrapped up in rugs and
• 5:04:07
  laid upon the library sofa after lunch, and left to sleep off his mysterious
• 5:04:11
  complaint in quietness with the blinds down. Missus Brown, entering on tiptoe to
• 5:04:18
  see how her son was faring, found him gone. Oh he's gone,
• 5:04:25
  she said anxiously to her husband. I left him so comfortable on the sofa
• 5:04:30
  and told him to try to sleep. Sleep is so important when you're ill.
• 5:04:36
  And now he's gone, he'll probably stay away till bedtime. All right,
• 5:04:41
  said her husband, sardonically. Be thankful for small mercies. Ethel and
• 5:04:48
  her esquire returned to tea, and, yielding to the entreaties of the family,
• 5:04:55
  who looked upon him as Williams savior, he stayed to dinner. He
• 5:05:00
  spent the evening playing inadequate accompaniments to Ethel's songs and ejaculating at intervals rapturous expressions
• 5:05:08
  of delight. It was evident that Ethel was flattered by his obvious admiration.
• 5:05:15
  He stayed till nearly eleven, and then, almost drunk with happiness, he
• 5:05:22
  took his leave, while the family again thanked him profusely. As he walked
• 5:05:27
  down the drive with a smile on his lips and his mind flitting among the
• 5:05:33
  blissful memories of the evening, an upper window was opened cautiously, and a
• 5:05:38
  small head peeped out through the still air. The words shot out, two
• 5:05:45
  mind and with long tails Part two? Where did you get it from?
• 5:05:53
  Demanded mister Brown. Fiercely, William pocketed his straying pet. A friend gave
• 5:06:00
  it me? What friend, mister French, the man what carried me when
• 5:06:06
  I was took ill sudden? He gave me it. I didn't know it
• 5:06:11
  was going to go into your slipper. I wouldn't have let it if i'd
• 5:06:15
  known an I didn't know it was goin to bite your toe. It didn't
• 5:06:18
  mean to bite your toe. I spect it thought it was me givin it
• 5:06:23
  somethin to eat. I expect be quiet. What on earth did mister French
• 5:06:30
  give you the confounded thing for? I dunno. I spect he just wanted
• 5:06:34
  to. He seems to have taken quite a fancy to William, said missus
• 5:06:40
  Brown, ethel blushed faintly. He seems to have taken a spite against me,
• 5:06:48
  said mister Brown bitterly. How many of the wretched pests have you got?
• 5:06:53
  They're rats, corrected William White, uns I've only got two, good
• 5:07:00
  heavens, he's got two. Where's the other in the shed? Well?
• 5:07:07
  Keep it there, do you hear? And this savage brute as well,
• 5:07:11
  Good Lord, My toes nearly eaten off. They ought to wear mussels.
• 5:07:18
  They've got rabies. Where's Jumble? He's in the shed too, hopefully.
• 5:07:25
  No, he didn't like him, but I'm trying to teach him to like
• 5:07:29
  him. I let him loose and let him look at him with me holdin
• 5:07:33
  on to him. Yes, go on doing that, said mister Brown,
• 5:07:37
  encouragingly, accidents sometimes happen. That night, William obeyed the letter of the
• 5:07:45
  law by keeping the rats in a box on his bedroom window sill. The
• 5:07:51
  household was roused in the early hours of the morning by piercing screams from Ethel's
• 5:07:56
  room. The more advances of the pear, named Rufus, had escaped from
• 5:08:03
  the box and descended to Ethel's room by way of the creeper. Ethel awoke
• 5:08:08
  suddenly to find it seated on her pillow, softly pawing her hair. The
• 5:08:17
  household, in their various sleeping attire, flocked to her room at the screams.
• 5:08:23
  Ethel was hysterical. They fed her on hot tea and biscuits to steady
• 5:08:30
  her nerves. It was horrible, she said. It was pulling at my
• 5:08:34
  hair. It just sat there with its pink nose and long tail. It
• 5:08:40
  was perfectly horrible. Where is the wretched animal, said mister Brown, looking
• 5:08:48
  round with murder in his eyes. I've got it, father, piped up
• 5:08:52
  William's small voice at the back of the crowd. Ethel didn't understand. It
• 5:08:59
  was plain with her. It didn't mean to frighten her it. I told
• 5:09:03
  you not to keep them in the house. Mister Brown, in large pajamas,
• 5:09:10
  looked fiercely down at William in small pajamas, with the cause of all
• 5:09:15
  the tumult clasped lovingly to his breast. Ethel in bed continued to gasp weakly
• 5:09:22
  in the intervals of drinking tea. They weren't in the house, said William
• 5:09:29
  firmly. They were outside the window, right outside the window, right on
• 5:09:34
  the sill. You can't call outside the window in the house, can you.
• 5:09:40
  I put it outside the house. I can't help it coming inside the
• 5:09:44
  house when I'm asleep, can I? Mister Brown eyed his son solemnly.
• 5:09:52
  The next time I catch either of those animals inside this house, William,
• 5:09:56
  he said, slowly, I'll wring its neck. When mister French called the
• 5:10:04
  next afternoon, he felt that his popularity had declined. I can't think why
• 5:10:11
  you gave William such dreadful things, Ethel said, weakly, lying on the
• 5:10:18
  sofa. I feel quite upset. I've got such a headache, and my
• 5:10:23
  nerves are a wreck. Absolutely. Mister French worked hard that afternoon and evening
• 5:10:30
  to regain his lost ground. He sat by the sofa and talked in low
• 5:10:37
  tones. He read aloud to her. He was sympathetic, penitent, humble,
• 5:10:42
  and devoted. In spite of all his efforts, However, he felt
• 5:10:48
  that his old prestige was gone. He was no longer the man who carried
• 5:10:55
  William home. He was the man who gave William the rat. He felt
• 5:11:00
  that in the eyes of the Brown household, he was solely responsible for Ethel's
• 5:11:06
  collapse. There was reproach even in the eyes of the housemaid who showed him
• 5:11:11
  out in the drive he met William. William was holding a grimy, blood
• 5:11:18
  stained handkerchief round his finger. There was reproach in William's eyes also. It's
• 5:11:25
  bit me, he said, indignantly, one of those rats. What you
• 5:11:30
  gave Me's bit me. I'm awfully sorry, said mister French penitently, then
• 5:11:36
  with sudden spirit, Well you asked for rats, didn't you, Yes,
• 5:11:41
  said William, but not savage ones. I never asked for savage ones,
• 5:11:47
  did I. I didn't ask for rats that would scare Ethel and bite me,
• 5:11:51
  did I. I was just teaching it to dance on its hind legs
• 5:11:56
  and holding up its front ones for it, and it went and bit me.
• 5:12:00
  Mister French looked at him, apprehensively. You uh, you'd better not
• 5:12:07
  tell your mother or or sister about your finger. I I I wouldn't like
• 5:12:11
  your sister to be upset any more. Don't you want me to let him
• 5:12:15
  know? Um? No, Well, what will you give me not to?
• 5:12:22
  Said William brazenly. Mister French plunged his hand into his pocket. I'll
• 5:12:27
  give you half a crown, he said. William pocketed the coin. All
• 5:12:33
  right, he said, if I washed the blood off and get my hands
• 5:12:37
  dirty, nobody'll notice. Things went well for several days after that. Mister
• 5:12:44
  French arrived the next morning laden with flowers and grapes. The household unbent towards
• 5:12:51
  him. Ethel arranged a day's golfing with him. William spent a blissful day
• 5:12:56
  with his half crown. There was a fair in full swing on the fair
• 5:13:00
  ground, and thither William and Jumble wended their way. William had eleven consecutive
• 5:13:08
  rides on the Merry Go Round. He had made up his mind to have
• 5:13:12
  twelve, but much to his regret, had to relinquish the twelfth, owing
• 5:13:18
  to certain unpleasant physical sensations with a lordly air. He entered seven tenths in
• 5:13:26
  succession, and sat gazing in a silent intensity of rapture at the strong man,
• 5:13:33
  the fat woman, the India rubber jointed boy, the Siamese twins,
• 5:13:38
  the human eel, the manheaded elephant, and the talking monkey. In each
• 5:13:45
  tent. He stayed silent and enraptured, till ejected by the showmen to make
• 5:13:51
  room for others who were anxious to feast their eyes upon the marvels. Having
• 5:13:56
  now completely recovered from this sensations caused by the Merry go Round, he purchased
• 5:14:03
  a large bag of popcorn and stood leaning against a tent pole till he had
• 5:14:08
  consumed it. Then he purchased two sticks of nougat, and with it drank
• 5:14:14
  two bottles of ginger beer. The remaining fourpence was spent upon a large packet
• 5:14:19
  of a red sticky mixture called Canadian Delight. Dusk was falling by this time,
• 5:14:29
  and slowly, very slowly, William returned home. He firmly refused all
• 5:14:36
  food. At supper, Missus Brown grew anxious. William, you don't look
• 5:14:42
  a bit well, she said. You don't feel like you did the other
• 5:14:47
  day, do you. William met mister French's eye across the table, and
• 5:14:52
  mister French blushed. No, not a bit like that, said William.
• 5:15:00
  When pressed, he admitted, having gone to the fair. Some one gave
• 5:15:06
  me half a crown. He excused himself plaintively. I just had to go
• 5:15:10
  somewhere. It's perfectly absurd of people, said missus Brown, indignantly, to
• 5:15:17
  give large sums of money to a boy of William's age. It always ends
• 5:15:22
  this way. People ought to know better. As they passed out from the
• 5:15:26
  supper table, William whispered hoarsely to mister French. It was the half crown
• 5:15:33
  what you give me. Don't tell them, whispered mister French, desperately,
• 5:15:38
  while you give me. Not to Furtively, mister French passed a two shilling
• 5:15:44
  piece into his hand. Glorious vistas opened up before William's eyes. He decided
• 5:15:52
  finally that mister French must join the family life. Then would be an endless
• 5:15:57
  succession of half crowns and two shilling pieces. The next day was Sunday,
• 5:16:03
  and William went to the shed directly after breakfast to continue the teaching of Rufus,
• 5:16:08
  the dancing rat. Rufus was to be taught to dance the other now
• 5:16:15
  christened Cromwell was to be taught to be friends with Jumble. So far,
• 5:16:21
  this training had only reached the point of Cromwell's sitting motionless in the cage,
• 5:16:26
  while in front of it, William violently restrained the enraged Jumble from murder.
• 5:16:33
  Still, William thought if they looked at each other long enough, friendship would
• 5:16:37
  grow. So they looked at each other each day till William's arm eight.
• 5:16:45
  As yet, friendship had not grown. William it's time for church. William
• 5:16:52
  groaned. That was the worst of Sundays. He was sure that with another
• 5:16:57
  half hour's practice, Rufus would dance and Cromwell would be friends with Jumble.
• 5:17:03
  He was a boy not to be daunted by circumstance. He put Rufus in
• 5:17:08
  his pocket and put the cage containing Cromwell on the top of a pile of
• 5:17:14
  boxes, leaving Jumble to continue the gaze of friendship from the floor. He
• 5:17:21
  walked to church quietly and demurely behind his family, one hand clutching his prayer
• 5:17:26
  book, the other in his pocket clasping Rufus. He hoped to be able
• 5:17:33
  to continue the training during the litany. He was not disappointed. Ethel was
• 5:17:38
  on one side of him, and there was no one on the other.
• 5:17:44
  He knelt down devoutly, one hand shading his face, the other firmly holding
• 5:17:48
  Rufus's front paws. As he walked it round and round on the floor,
• 5:17:55
  he grew more and more interested in its progress, tell William to kneel up
• 5:18:00
  and not to fidget. Missus Brown passed down via Ethel. William gave her
• 5:18:07
  a virulent glance as he received the message, and, turning his back on
• 5:18:11
  her, continued the dancing lesson. The litany passed more quickly than he ever
• 5:18:18
  remembered its doing before. He replaced the rat in his pocket as they rose
• 5:18:23
  for the hymn. It was during the hymn that the catastrophe occurred. The
• 5:18:30
  Browns occupied the front seat of the church. While the second verse was being
• 5:18:34
  sung, the congregation was electrified by the sight of a small, long tailed,
• 5:18:41
  white creature appearing suddenly upon mister Brown's shoulder. Ethel's scream almost drowned the
• 5:18:49
  organ. Mister Brown put up his hand, and the intruder jumped upon his
• 5:18:56
  head and stood there for a second, digging his claw into his victim's scalp.
• 5:19:02
  Mister Brown turned upon his son, a purple face that promised future vengeance.
• 5:19:08
  The choir turned fascinated eyes upon it, and the hymn died away.
• 5:19:15
  William's face was a mask of horror. Rufus next appeared, running along the
• 5:19:22
  rim of the pulpit. There was a sudden, unceremonial exit of most of
• 5:19:27
  the female portion of the congregation. The clergyman grew pale as Rufus approached and
• 5:19:34
  slid up his reading desk. A choir boy quickly grabbed it and retired into
• 5:19:41
  the vestry and thence home before his right to its possession could be questioned.
• 5:19:47
  William found his voice. He's took it, he said, in a sibilant
• 5:19:52
  whisper. It's mine. He took it, sh said Ethel, it's mine,
• 5:20:00
  persisted William. It's what mister French give me for being took ill that
• 5:20:03
  day. You know what, said Ethel, leaning towards him. The hymn
• 5:20:10
  was in full swing again. Now he gave it me for being took ill,
• 5:20:15
  so he could come and carry me home, cause he was gone on
• 5:20:18
  you and it's mine, and that boy's took it, and it was just
• 5:20:22
  gettin to dancin'. Sh hissed mister Brown violently. I shall never look any
• 5:20:29
  one in the face again, lamented missus Brown. On the way home,
• 5:20:34
  I think everyone was in church, and the way Ethel screamed it was awful.
• 5:20:41
  I shall dream of it for nights. William, I don't know how
• 5:20:47
  you could. Well, it's mine, said William. That boy'd no business
• 5:20:52
  to take it. It was gettin to know me. Didn't mean it to
• 5:20:56
  get loose and get on that father's head, and didn't mean it to I
• 5:21:03
  meant it to be quiet and stay in my pocket. It's mine anyway,
• 5:21:07
  and that boy took it. It's not yours any more, my son,
• 5:21:11
  said mister Brown firmly. Ethel walked along with lips tight shut. In the
• 5:21:18
  distance, walking towards them was a tall, jaunty figure. It was mister
• 5:21:23
  French, who, ignorant of what had happened, was coming gaily on to
• 5:21:29
  meet them. Returning from church. He was smiling as he came, secure
• 5:21:33
  in his reception, composing airy compliments in his mind. As Ethel came on,
• 5:21:40
  he raised his hat with a flourish and beamed at her effusively. Ethel
• 5:21:45
  walked past him without a glance and with head high, leaving him aghast and
• 5:21:52
  despairing, staring after her down the road. He never saw mister and missus
• 5:21:57
  Brown. William realized the situation. The future half crowns and two shilling pieces
• 5:22:06
  seemed to vanish away. He protested vehemently, Ethel, don't get mad at
• 5:22:11
  mister French. He didn't mean anything. He only wanted to do something for
• 5:22:17
  you, cause he was mad on you. It's horrible, said Ethel.
• 5:22:22
  First you bring that dreadful animal to church, and then I find that he's
• 5:22:26
  deceived me, and you helped him. I hope father takes the other one
• 5:22:32
  away. He won't, said William. He never said anything about that.
• 5:22:37
  The others learnin to be friends with Jumble in the shed. I say,
• 5:22:41
  Ethel, don't be mad at mister French. He oh, don't talk about
• 5:22:47
  him, said Ethel angrily. William, who was something of a philosopher,
• 5:22:52
  accepted failure and the loss of any riches. A future allied with mister French
• 5:22:57
  might have brought him all right, He said, well, I've got the
• 5:23:03
  other one left anyway. They entered the drive and began to walk up to
• 5:23:07
  the front door. From the bushes came a scampering and breaking of twigs.
• 5:23:14
  As Jumble dashed out to meet his master, his demeanor held more than ordinary
• 5:23:19
  pleasure. It expressed pride and triumph. At his master's feet, he laid
• 5:23:26
  his proud offering the mangled remains of Cromwell. William gasped, oh, William
• 5:23:36
  said, ethel, I'm so sorry. William assumed an expression of proud restrained
• 5:23:42
  sorrow. All right, he said generously, it's not your fault, really,
• 5:23:49
  and it's not Jumble's fault. Perhaps he thought it was what I was
• 5:23:53
  trying to teach him to do. It's just no one's fault. We'll have
• 5:23:59
  to bury it. His spirits rose, I'll do the real bury in service
• 5:24:03
  out of the prayer book. He stood still, gazing down at what was
• 5:24:08
  left of Jumble's friend. Jumble stood by it, proud and pleased, looking
• 5:24:15
  up, with his head on one side and his tail wagging. Sadly,
• 5:24:19
  William reviewed the downfall of his hopes. Gone was mister French and all he
• 5:24:26
  stood for. Gone was Rufus, Gone was Cromwell. He put his hand
• 5:24:32
  into his pocket and it came in contact with the two shilling piece. Well,
• 5:24:38
  he said, slowly and philosophically, I've got that left anyway. End
• 5:24:45
  of chapter eleven, Chapter twelve Jumbo, William's father carefully placed the bow and
• 5:24:53
  arrow at the back of the library cupboard, then closed the cupboard door and
• 5:24:59
  locked it. In grim silence, William's eyes, large, reproachful, and
• 5:25:04
  gloomy, followed every movement. Three windows and Missus Clive's cat, all in
• 5:25:14
  one morning began mister Brown sternly, I didn't mean to hit the cat,
• 5:25:19
  said William earnestly. I didn't, honest. I wouldn't go round teasing cats.
• 5:25:26
  They get so mad at you cats do it just gotten away. I
• 5:25:30
  couldn't stop shooting in time, and I didn't mean to break those windows.
• 5:25:33
  I wasn't trying to hit them. I've not hit anything I was trying to
• 5:25:37
  hit yet, wistfully, I've not got into it. It's just a knack.
• 5:25:44
  It just wants practice. Mister Brown pocketed the key. It's a knack
• 5:25:49
  you aren't likely to acquire by practice on this instrument, he said dryly.
• 5:25:56
  William wandered out into the garden and looked sadly up at the garden wall.
• 5:26:02
  But the little girl next door was away and could offer no sympathy, even
• 5:26:07
  if he climbed up to his precarious seat on the top. Fate was against
• 5:26:12
  him in every way. With a deep sigh, he went out of the
• 5:26:17
  garden gate and strolled down the road disconsolately, hands in pockets, life stretched
• 5:26:25
  empty and uninviting before him without his bow and arrow, and Ginger would have
• 5:26:30
  his bow and arrow. Henry would have his bow and arrow, Douglas would
• 5:26:36
  have his bow and arrow. He William alone would be a thing apart,
• 5:26:41
  a social outcast, a boy without a bow and arrow, For bows and
• 5:26:48
  arrows were the fashion. If only one of the others would break a window
• 5:26:53
  or hit A silly old cat that hadn't the sense to keep out of the
• 5:26:57
  way. Came to a style leading into a field and took his seat upon
• 5:27:03
  it, dejectedly, his elbows on his knees, his chin in his hands.
• 5:27:08
  Life was simply not worth living. A rotten old cat, he said
• 5:27:15
  aloud, A rotten old cat, and didn't even hurt it. It made
• 5:27:19
  a fuss just out of spite, screaming and carrying on, and windows as
• 5:27:26
  if glass wasn't cheap enough and easy to put in, I could I could
• 5:27:32
  mend them myself if I got the stuff to do it. I he stopped.
• 5:27:37
  Something was coming down the road. It came jauntily with a light dancing
• 5:27:42
  step. Fox terrier ears, cocked, retriever nose raised, Collie tail wagging
• 5:27:49
  slightly, dock sumed, body a quiver with the joy of life. It
• 5:27:56
  stopped in front of William with a glad bark of welcome and stood eager,
• 5:28:00
  alert, friendly a mongrel unashamed rats fetch him out, said William idly.
• 5:28:10
  It gave a little spring and waited, front, paws apart and crouching,
• 5:28:15
  a waggish eye upraised to William. William broke off a stick from the hedgerow
• 5:28:22
  and threw it His visitor darted after it with a shrill bark, took it
• 5:28:26
  up, worried it, threw it into the air, caught it, growled
• 5:28:30
  at it, finally brought it back to William and waited, panting, eager,
• 5:28:36
  unmistakably grinning, begging for more. William's drooping spirits revived. He descended
• 5:28:45
  from his perch and examined its collar. It bore the one word jumble,
• 5:28:51
  hey, jumble, he called, setting off down the road. Jumble jumped
• 5:28:56
  up round him, dashed off, dashed back worried his boots, jumped up
• 5:29:02
  at him again in wild eager friendship, dashed off again, begged for another
• 5:29:07
  stick, caught it, rolled over with it, growled at it, then
• 5:29:11
  chewed it up and laid the remains at William's feet. Good old Chap,
• 5:29:17
  said William encouragingly. Good old Jumble come on, Then Jumble came on.
• 5:29:25
  William walked through the village with a self conscious air of proud yet careless ownership,
• 5:29:30
  while Jumble gamboled around his heels. Every now and then he would turn
• 5:29:36
  his head and whistle imperiously to recall his straying protege from the investigation of ditches
• 5:29:42
  and roadside. It was a whistle, commanding, controlling, yet withal careless
• 5:29:49
  that William had sometimes practiced privately in readiness for the blissful day when fate should
• 5:29:57
  present him with a real live dog of his own. So far, fate
• 5:30:03
  in the persons of his father and mother had been proof against all his pleading.
• 5:30:08
  William passed a blissful morning. Jumble swam in the pond, he fetched
• 5:30:15
  sticks out of it. He shook himself violently all over William. He ran
• 5:30:19
  after a hen. He was chased by a cat. He barked at a
• 5:30:23
  herd of cows. He pulled down a curtain that was hanging out in a
• 5:30:27
  cottage garden to dry. He was mischievous, affectionate, humorous, utterly irresistible,
• 5:30:37
  and he completely adopted William. William would turn a corner with a careless
• 5:30:42
  swagger, and then watch breathlessly to see if the rollicking, frisky little figure
• 5:30:48
  would follow, And always it came tearing eagerly after him. William was rather
• 5:30:55
  late to lunch. His father and mother, and elder brother and sisters were
• 5:31:00
  just beginning the meal. He slipped quietly and unostentatiously into his seat. His
• 5:31:08
  father was reading a newspaper. Mister Brown always took two daily papers, one
• 5:31:15
  of which he perused at breakfast and the other at lunch. William said,
• 5:31:19
  missus Brown, I do wish you'd be on time, and I do wish
• 5:31:25
  you'd brush your hair before you came to table. William raised a hand to
• 5:31:30
  perform the operation, but catching sight of its color, hastily lowered it.
• 5:31:36
  No ethel, dear, I didn't know any one had taken lavender cottage an
• 5:31:41
  artist. How nice, William, dear? Do sit still? Have they
• 5:31:47
  moved in. Yet, yes, said Ethel. They've taken it furnished for
• 5:31:52
  two months. I think, Oh my goodness. Just look at William's hands.
• 5:31:57
  William put his hands under the table and glared at her. Go and
• 5:32:03
  wash your hands, dear, said missus Brown patiently. For eleven years she
• 5:32:08
  had filled the trying position of William's mother. It had taught her patience.
• 5:32:15
  William rose reluctantly. They're not dirty, he said, in a tone of
• 5:32:21
  righteous indignation. Well, anyway, they've been dirtier other times, and you've
• 5:32:26
  said nothing. I can't be always washing them, can I. Some sorts
• 5:32:30
  of hands get dirty quicker than others, and if you keep on washing,
• 5:32:36
  it only makes them worse. And Ethel groaned, and William's father lowered his
• 5:32:41
  paper. William withdrew quickly, but with an air of dignity. And just
• 5:32:48
  look at his boots, said Ethel, as he went, simply caked.
• 5:32:52
  And his stockings are soaking wet. You can see from here he's been right
• 5:32:57
  in the pond, by the look of him. And William heard no more.
• 5:33:03
  There were moments when he actively disliked Ethel. He returned a few minutes
• 5:33:08
  later, shining with cleanliness, his hair brushed back fiercely off his face.
• 5:33:15
  His nails, murmured Ethel. As he sat down, well, said Missus
• 5:33:21
  Brown, go on telling us about the new people. William, do hold
• 5:33:25
  your knife properly, dear, yes, Ethel. William finished his meal in
• 5:33:30
  silence, then brought forth his momentous announcement. I've got her dog, he
• 5:33:37
  said, with an air of importance. What sort of a dog? And
• 5:33:41
  who gave it to you? Said Robert and Ethel simultaneously. No one gave
• 5:33:48
  it me, he said, I just got it. It began following me
• 5:33:51
  this mornin, and I couldn't get rid of it. It wouldn't go anyway.
• 5:33:56
  It followed me all round the village, and it came home with me.
• 5:34:00
  I couldn't get rid of it anyhow. Where is it now, said
• 5:34:04
  Missus Brown anxiously. In the back garden, mister Brown folded up his paper,
• 5:34:11
  digging up my flower beds, I suppose, he said, with despairing
• 5:34:17
  resignation. He's tied up all right, William reassured him. I tied him
• 5:34:22
  to the tree in the middle of the rose bed. The rose bed groaned
• 5:34:26
  his father, Good Lord, has he had anything to eat? Demanded Robert
• 5:34:33
  sternly. Yes, said William, avoiding his mother's eye. I found a
• 5:34:38
  few bits of old things for him in the larder. William's father took out
• 5:34:44
  his watch and rose from the table. Well you'd better take it to the
• 5:34:48
  police station this afternoon, he said shortly the police station, repeated William hoarsely.
• 5:34:56
  It's not a lost dog. It it just doesn't belong to any one,
• 5:35:00
  at least it didn't poor thing feelingly it It doesn't want much to make
• 5:35:07
  it happy. It can sleep in my room and just eat scraps. Mister
• 5:35:14
  Brown went out without answering. You'll have to take it, you know,
• 5:35:18
  William, said missus Brown, So be quick. You know where the police
• 5:35:22
  station is, don't you. Shall I come with you? No, thank
• 5:35:26
  you, said William hastily. A few minutes later he was walking down to
• 5:35:32
  the police station, followed by the still eager Jumble, who trotted along unconscious
• 5:35:37
  of his doom. Upon William's face was a set, stern expression, which
• 5:35:45
  cleared slightly as he neared the police station. He stood at the gate and
• 5:35:49
  looked at Jumble. Jumble placed his front paws ready for a game, and
• 5:35:53
  wagged his tail well said William, here you are, here's the police station.
• 5:36:00
  Jumble gave a shrill bark. Hurry up with that stick or that race,
• 5:36:06
  whichever you like, he seemed to say. Well, go in,
• 5:36:11
  said William, nodding his head in the direction of the door. Jumble began
• 5:36:17
  to worry a big stone in the road. He rolled it along with his
• 5:36:21
  paws, then ran after it with fierce growls. Well, it's the police
• 5:36:26
  station, said William, Go in if you want. With that, he
• 5:36:32
  turned on his heel and walked home without one backward glance. But he walked
• 5:36:37
  slowly, with many encouraging hey jumbles and many short, commanding whistles, and
• 5:36:45
  Jumble trotted happily at his heels. There was no one in the garden,
• 5:36:52
  there was no one in the hall. There was no one on the stairs.
• 5:36:56
  Fate, for once was on William's side. William appeared at the tea
• 5:37:02
  table, well washed and brushed, wearing that air of ostentatious virtue that those
• 5:37:08
  who knew him best connected with his most daring coos. Did you take that
• 5:37:15
  dog to the police station, William, said William's father. William coughed,
• 5:37:21
  yes, father, he said meekly, with his eyes upon his plate,
• 5:37:26
  and what did they say about it? Nothing? Father, I suppose I'd
• 5:37:32
  better spend the evening replanting those rose trees, went on his father bitterly,
• 5:37:37
  and William gave him a whole steak and kidney pie. Murmured missus Brown cook,
• 5:37:42
  will have to make another for tomorrow. William coughed again, politely,
• 5:37:48
  but did not raise his eyes from his plate. What is that noise,
• 5:37:52
  said Ethel Listen. They sat listening intently. There was a dull, rating
• 5:38:00
  sound, as of the scratching of wood. It's upstairs, said Robert,
• 5:38:04
  with the air of a Sherlock. Holmes. Then came a shrill, impatient
• 5:38:11
  bark. It's a dog, said the four of them simultaneously. It's William's
• 5:38:17
  dog. They all turned horrified eyes upon William, who colored slightly but continued
• 5:38:23
  to eat a piece of cake with an unconvincing air of abstraction. I thought
• 5:38:30
  you said you'd taken that dog to the police station, William, said mister
• 5:38:34
  Brown, sternly. I did, said William, with decision. I did
• 5:38:40
  take it to the police station, and I came home. I suppose it
• 5:38:44
  must have got out and come home and gone up into my bedroom. Where
• 5:38:48
  did you leave it in the police station? No, at it just at
• 5:38:55
  the gate. Mister Brown rose with an air of weariness Robert. He said,
• 5:39:03
  will you please see that that animal goes to the police station this evening,
• 5:39:08
  Yes, father, said Robert, with a vindictive glare at William.
• 5:39:14
  William followed him upstairs. Beastly, nuisance, muttered Robert. Jumble, who
• 5:39:21
  was chewing William's door, greeted them ecstatically. Look, said William, bitterly.
• 5:39:27
  Look at how it knows one nice thing to send a dog that knows
• 5:39:32
  one like that to the police station. Mean sort of trick, Robert surveyed
• 5:39:37
  it, coldly, rotten, little mongrel, he said, from the heights
• 5:39:42
  of superior knowledge. Mongrel, said William indignantly. There just isn't no mongrel
• 5:39:48
  about him. Look at him, and he can learn tricks as easy as
• 5:39:53
  easy. Look at him, Sit up and beg I only taught him this
• 5:39:59
  afternoon. He took a biscuit out of his pocket and held it up.
• 5:40:04
  Jumble rose unsteadily on to his hind legs and tumbled over backwards. He wagged
• 5:40:11
  his tail and grinned intensely. Amused Robert's expression of superiority, relaxed. Do
• 5:40:18
  it again, he said, not so far back here give it me.
• 5:40:23
  Come on, come on, old Chap. That's it now stay there,
• 5:40:29
  stay there, good dog got any more. Let's try him again. During
• 5:40:37
  the next twenty minutes, they taught him to sit up, and almost taught
• 5:40:41
  him trust and paid for. There was certainly a charm about Jumble. Even
• 5:40:47
  Robert felt it. Then Ethel's voice came up the stairs. Robert, Sidney
• 5:40:52
  Bellew's come for you. Blow the wretched dog, said the fickle Robert,
• 5:40:59
  rising read and disheveled from stooping over Jumble. We were going to rock to
• 5:41:03
  Fairfield's and the beastly police stations right out of our way. I'll take it,
• 5:41:10
  Robert said William kindly. I will really. Robert eyed him suspiciously.
• 5:41:17
  Yes, you took it this afternoon, didn't you. I will honest to
• 5:41:22
  night. Robert. Well, I couldn't, could I? After all this
• 5:41:29
  I don't know, said Robert darkly. No one ever knows what you are
• 5:41:33
  going to do. Sydney's voice came up. Hurry up, old Chap.
• 5:41:38
  We shall never have time to do it before dark. If you aren't quick,
• 5:41:44
  I'll take him, honest, Robert Robert hesitated and was lost. Well,
• 5:41:51
  he said, you just mind you do, that's all, or I'll
• 5:41:55
  jolly well hear about it. I'll see you do too. So William started
• 5:42:00
  off once more towards the police station, with Jumble still blissfully happy at his
• 5:42:06
  yeels. William walked slowly, eyes fixed on the ground, brows knit in
• 5:42:11
  deep thought. It was very rarely that William admitted himself beaten, Hello,
• 5:42:18
  William. William looked up. Ginger stood before him, holding his bow and
• 5:42:23
  arrows ostentatiously. You've had your bow and arrow took off you, he jeered.
• 5:42:30
  William fixed his eye moodily upon him for a minute, then very gradually
• 5:42:33
  his eye brightened and his face cleared. William had an idea. If I
• 5:42:41
  give you a dog half time, he said, slowly, will you give
• 5:42:45
  me your bow and arrows half time? Where's your dog? Said Ginger suspiciously.
• 5:42:52
  William did not turn his head. There's one behind me, isn't there?
• 5:42:56
  He said anxiously, Hey, Jumble, Oh yes, he's just come
• 5:43:00
  out of the ditch. Well, continued William. I'm taking him to the
• 5:43:04
  police station and I'm just going on and he's following me, and if you
• 5:43:10
  take him off me. I won't see you cause I won't turn round.
• 5:43:12
  And just take hold of his collar, and he's called Jumble, and take
• 5:43:17
  him up to the old barn, and we'll keep him there and join at
• 5:43:19
  him and feed him days and days about. And you can let me practice
• 5:43:23
  on your bow and arrow. That's fair, isn't it, Ginger considered thoughtfully?
• 5:43:30
  All right, he said laconically. William walked on to the police station
• 5:43:34
  without turning round. Well, whispered Robert sternly. That evening I took him,
• 5:43:41
  Robert least. I started off with him, but when i'd got there,
• 5:43:45
  he'd gone. I looked round and he'd just gone. I couldn't see
• 5:43:51
  him anywhere, so I came home. Well, if he comes to this
• 5:43:56
  house again, said Robert, I'll ring his neck. So just you look
• 5:44:02
  out. Two days later, William sat in the barn on an upturned box,
• 5:44:07
  chin in hands, gazing down at Jumble. A paper bag containing Jumble's
• 5:44:12
  ration for the day lay beside him. It was his day of ownership.
• 5:44:18
  The collecting of Jumble's scraps was a matter of infinite care and trouble. They
• 5:44:25
  consisted in a piece of bread that William had managed to slip into his pocket
• 5:44:30
  during breakfast, a piece of meat he had managed to slip into his pocket
• 5:44:33
  during dinner, a jam puff stolen from the larder, and a bone removed
• 5:44:40
  from the dustbin. Ginger roamed the fields with his bow and arrow while William
• 5:44:45
  reveled in the ownership of Jumble. Tomorrow, William would roam the fields with
• 5:44:51
  bow and arrow, and Ginger would assume ownership of Jumble. William had spent
• 5:44:57
  the morning teaching Jumble several implicated tricks and adoring him more and more completely each
• 5:45:03
  moment. He grudged him bitterly to Ginger, but the charm of the bow
• 5:45:10
  and arrow was strong. He wished to terminate the partnership, to resign Ginger's
• 5:45:15
  bow and arrow, and take the irresistible Jumble wholly to himself. He thought
• 5:45:22
  of the bow and arrow in the library cupboard. He thought, planned,
• 5:45:26
  plotted, but could find no way out. He did not see a man
• 5:45:32
  come to the door of the barn and stand there, leaning against the doorpost
• 5:45:36
  watching him. He was a tall man with a thin, lean face and
• 5:45:41
  a loose fitting tweed suit. As his eyes lit upon William and Jumble,
• 5:45:47
  they narrowed suddenly, and his mobile lips curved into a slight, unconscious smile.
• 5:45:53
  Jumble saw him first and went towards him, wagging his tail. William
• 5:46:00
  looked up and scowled ungraciously. The stranger raised his hat. Good afternoon,
• 5:46:07
  he said, politely. Do you remember what you were thinking about? Just
• 5:46:11
  then? William looked at him with a certain interest, Speculating upon his probable
• 5:46:18
  insanity, he imagined lunatics were amusing people. Yes, well, if you'll
• 5:46:26
  think of it again and look just like that, I'll give you anything you
• 5:46:30
  like. It's a rash promise, but I will William promptly complied. He
• 5:46:37
  quite forgot the presence of the strange man, who took a little block out
• 5:46:41
  of his pocket and began to sketch William's inscrutable, brooding face. Daddy,
• 5:46:49
  the man sighed and put away his block. You'll do it again for me
• 5:46:55
  one day, won't you, And I'll keep my promise. Hello. A
• 5:47:00
  little girl appeared now at the barn door. Dainty, dark eyed, and
• 5:47:06
  exquisitely dressed. She threw a lightning flash at the occupants of the barn.
• 5:47:11
  Daddy, she screamed, it's Jumble. It is Jumble. Oh you horrid
• 5:47:18
  dog stealing boy. Jumble ran to her with shrill barks of welcome, then
• 5:47:23
  ran back to William to reassure him of his undying loyalty. It is Jumble,
• 5:47:30
  said the man. He's called Jumble, he explained to William, because
• 5:47:36
  he is a Jumble. He's all sorts of a dog. You know.
• 5:47:40
  This is Nennette, my daughter, and my name is Jarrold, and I've
• 5:47:44
  taken Lavender Cottage for two months. We're roving vagabonds. We never stay anywhere
• 5:47:49
  longer than two months, so now you know all about us. Jumble seems
• 5:47:55
  to have adopted you. Nennette, my dear, you are completely ousted from
• 5:48:00
  Jumble's heart. This gentleman reigned supreme. I didn't steal him, said William,
• 5:48:07
  indignantly. He just came. He began following me. I didn't want
• 5:48:11
  him to, not just at first, anyway, not much anyway. I
• 5:48:18
  suppose a dreadful fear came to his heart. I suppose you want him back.
• 5:48:26
  You can keep him for a bit if you want him, can't he
• 5:48:29
  Daddy, Daddy's going to buy me a pom, a dear little white palm.
• 5:48:34
  When we lost Jumble. I thought I'd rather have a palm. Jumble's
• 5:48:40
  so rough, and he's not really a good dog. I mean he's no
• 5:48:45
  pedigree. Then can I keep him just for a bit, said William,
• 5:48:51
  his voice husky with eagerness. Oh yes, I'd much rather have a quieter
• 5:48:56
  sort of a dog. Would you like to come and see our It's just
• 5:49:00
  over here. William, slightly bewildered but greatly relieved, set off with her.
• 5:49:07
  Mister Jarrow followed slowly behind. It appeared that Miss Nnette Jarrow was rather
• 5:49:14
  a wonderful person. She was eleven years old. She had visited every capital
• 5:49:18
  in Europe, seen the best art and heard the best music in each.
• 5:49:23
  She had been to every play then on in London. She knew all the
• 5:49:29
  newest dances. Do you like Paris? She asked William as they went towards
• 5:49:33
  Lavender Cottage. Never been there, said William, stolidly, glancing round surreptitiously
• 5:49:40
  to see that Jumble was following. She shook her dark curly head from side
• 5:49:45
  to side. A little trick she had you, funny boy may Voo Piles
• 5:49:51
  franseais Nespa. William disdained to answer. He whistled to Jumble, who was
• 5:49:59
  chasing anim imaginary rabbit in a ditch. Can you jazz? She asked,
• 5:50:06
  I don't know, he said guardedly. I've not tried. I expect I
• 5:50:11
  could. She took a few flying, graceful steps with slim, black silk
• 5:50:17
  encased legs. That's it, I'll teach you at home. We'll dance it
• 5:50:22
  to a gramophone. William walked on in silence. She stopped suddenly under a
• 5:50:30
  tree and held up her little, vivacious, piquant face to him. You
• 5:50:34
  can kiss me if you like, she said. William looked at her dispassionately.
• 5:50:41
  I don't want to, thanks, he said politely. Oh you are
• 5:50:45
  a funny boy, she said, with a ripple of laughter. And you
• 5:50:49
  look so rough and untidy. You're rather like Jumble. Do you like Jumble?
• 5:50:56
  Yes, said William. His voice had a sudden quaver in it.
• 5:51:00
  His ownership of Jumble was a thing of the past. You can have him
• 5:51:06
  for always and always, she said suddenly. Now kiss me. He kissed
• 5:51:11
  her cheek awkwardly, with the air of one determined to do his duty,
• 5:51:17
  but with a great glad relief at his heart. I'd love to see you
• 5:51:22
  dance, she laughed, you would look funny. She took a few more
• 5:51:26
  fairy steps. You've seen Pavlova, haven't you, Tono? You must know.
• 5:51:33
  I mustn't, said William irritably. I might have seen him and not
• 5:51:38
  known it was him, mightn't I? She raced back to her father with
• 5:51:42
  another ripple of laughter. He's such a funny boy, daddy. And he
• 5:51:48
  can't jazz, and he's never seen Pavlova, and he can't talk French.
• 5:51:53
  And I've given him jumble and he didn't want to kiss me. Mister Jarrod
• 5:51:57
  fixed William with a dryly quizzical smile. Beware, young man, he said.
• 5:52:03
  She'll try to educate you. I know her. I warn you.
• 5:52:08
  As they got to the door of Lavender Cottage, he turned to William.
• 5:52:14
  Now just sit and think for a minute. I'll keep my promise. I
• 5:52:18
  do like you, said Nennette graciously, as he took his departure. You
• 5:52:23
  must come again. I'll teach you heaps of things. I think i'd like
• 5:52:27
  to marry you when we grow up. You are so RESTful. William came
• 5:52:34
  home the next afternoon to find mister Jarrow in the arm chair in the library,
• 5:52:40
  talking to his father. I was just dry for a subject, he
• 5:52:45
  was saying, at my wits end, and when I saw them there,
• 5:52:48
  I had a heaven sent inspiration. Ah. Here he is. Nennette wants
• 5:52:53
  you to come to tea tomorrow, William. Nennette's given him jumble. Do
• 5:52:59
  you mind turning to mister Brown. Mister Brown swallowed hard. I'm trying not
• 5:53:06
  to, he said. He kept us all awake last night, but I
• 5:53:11
  suppose we'll get used to it. And I made him a rash promise,
• 5:53:15
  went on, mister Jarrow, and I'm jolly well going to keep it if
• 5:53:19
  it's humanly possible. William, what would you like best in all the world.
• 5:53:26
  William fixed his eyes unflinchingly upon his father. I'd like my bow and
• 5:53:32
  arrows back out of that cupboard, he said firmly. Mister Jarrow looked at
• 5:53:37
  William's father beseechingly. Don't let me down, he implored. I'll pay for
• 5:53:42
  all the damage. Slowly, and with a deep sigh, mister Brown drew
• 5:53:48
  a bunch of keys from his pocket. It means that we all go once
• 5:53:53
  more in hourly peril of our lives, he said, resignedly. After tea
• 5:54:00
  William set off again down the road. The setting sun had turned the sky
• 5:54:04
  to gold. There was a gold haze over all the countryside. The clear
• 5:54:11
  bird songs filled all the air, and the hedgerows were bursting into summer.
• 5:54:15
  And through it all march to William with a slight swagger, his bow under
• 5:54:21
  one arm, his arrows under the other, while at his heels trotted jumble,
• 5:54:26
  eager, playful, adoring a mongrel, unashamed, all sorts of a
• 5:54:32
  dog, And at William's heart was a proud, radiant happiness. There was
• 5:54:40
  a picture at that year's Academy that attracted a good deal of attention. It
• 5:54:45
  was of a boy sitting on an upturned box in a barn, his elbows
• 5:54:49
  on his knees, his chin in his hands. He was gazing down at
• 5:54:55
  a mongrel dog, and in his freckled face was the solemnity and unconscious eager
• 5:55:00
  wistfulness that is the mark of youth. His untidy, unbrushed hair stood up
• 5:55:07
  round his face. The mongrel was looking up, quivering, expectant, trusting,
• 5:55:14
  adoring, some reflection of the boy's eager wistfulness showing in the eyes and
• 5:55:19
  cocked ears. It was called friendship Missus Brown went up to see it.
• 5:55:27
  She said it wasn't really a very good likeness of William, and she wished
• 5:55:33
  they'd make him look a little tidier. End of chapter twelve. End of
• 5:55:42
  Just William by Rickmel Crompton