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Just William - Richmal Crompton · Classic Fiction Library

• 0:00
  Speaker 1: Chapter one of Just William. It all began with William's aunt,
• 0:07
  Speaker 1: who was in a good temper that morning and gave
• 0:10
  Speaker 1: him a shilling for posting a letter for her and
• 0:14
  Speaker 1: carrying her parcels from the grocer's. Buy some sweets or
• 0:18
  Speaker 1: go to the pictures, she said carelessly as she gave
• 0:21
  Speaker 1: it to him. William walked slowly down the road, gazing
• 0:26
  Speaker 1: thoughtfully at the coin. After deep calculations, based on the
• 0:31
  Speaker 1: fact that a shilling is the equivalent of two sixpences,
• 0:36
  Speaker 1: he came to the conclusion that both luxuries could be
• 0:39
  Speaker 1: indulged in. In the matter of sweets, William frankly upheld
• 0:45
  Speaker 1: the superiority of quantity over quality. Moreover, he knew every
• 0:50
  Speaker 1: sweet shop within a two miles radius of his home
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  Speaker 1: whose proprietor added an extra suite after the scale had descended,
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  Speaker 1: and he patronized these shops exclusively with solemn face and
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  Speaker 1: eager eye. He always watched the process of weighing, and
• 1:09
  Speaker 1: stingy shops were known and banned by him. He wandered
• 1:15
  Speaker 1: now to his favorite confectioner and stood outside the window
• 1:19
  Speaker 1: for five minutes, torn between the rival attractions of gooseberry
• 1:24
  Speaker 1: eyes and marble balls. Both were sold at four ounces
• 1:29
  Speaker 1: for twopence. William never purchased more expensive luxuries. At last,
• 1:35
  Speaker 1: his frowning brow relaxed, and he entered the shop sixpence
• 1:40
  Speaker 1: worth of gooseberry eyes. He said, with a slightly self
• 1:44
  Speaker 1: conscious air. The extent of his purchases rarely exceeded a penny, Hello,
• 1:51
  Speaker 1: said the shopkeeper, in amused surprise. Got a bit of
• 1:55
  Speaker 1: money this morning, explained William carelessly, with the air of
• 1:59
  Speaker 1: a rothschew. He watched the weighing of the emerald green
• 2:03
  Speaker 1: dainties with silent intensity, saw with satisfaction the extra one
• 2:08
  Speaker 1: added after the scale had fallen, received the precious paper bag, and,
• 2:13
  Speaker 1: putting two sweets into his mouth, walked out of the shop.
• 2:18
  Speaker 1: Sucking slowly, he walked down the road towards the picture palace.
• 2:23
  Speaker 1: William was not in the habit of frequenting picture palaces.
• 2:26
  Speaker 1: He had only been there once before in his life.
• 2:30
  Speaker 1: It was a thrilling program. First came the story of
• 2:35
  Speaker 1: desperate crooks, who, on coming out of any building, glanced
• 2:40
  Speaker 1: cautiously up and down the street in huddled, crouching attitudes,
• 2:45
  Speaker 1: then crept ostentatiously on their way in a manner guaranteed
• 2:50
  Speaker 1: to attract attention and suspicion at any place and time
• 2:55
  Speaker 1: the plot was involved. They were pursued by police, they
• 3:00
  Speaker 1: leapt on to a moving train, and then for no
• 3:03
  Speaker 1: accountable reason, leapt from that on to a moving motor car,
• 3:08
  Speaker 1: and from that they plunged into a moving river. It
• 3:13
  Speaker 1: was thrilling, and William thrilled. Sitting quite motionless, he watched
• 3:19
  Speaker 1: with wide fascinated eyes, though his jaws never ceased their
• 3:24
  Speaker 1: rotatory movement, and every now and then his hand would
• 3:27
  Speaker 1: go mechanically to the paper bag on his knees and
• 3:31
  Speaker 1: convey a gooseberry eye to his mouth. The next play
• 3:35
  Speaker 1: was a simple country love story in which figured a
• 3:39
  Speaker 1: simple country maiden wooed by the squire, who was marked
• 3:43
  Speaker 1: out as the villain by his mustachios. After many adventures,
• 3:49
  Speaker 1: the simple country maiden was won by a simple country
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  Speaker 1: son of the soil in picturesque rustic attire, whose emotions
• 3:58
  Speaker 1: were faithfully portrayed by gestures that must have required much
• 4:03
  Speaker 1: gymnastic skill. The villain was finally shown languishing in a
• 4:09
  Speaker 1: prison cell, still indulging in frequent eyebrow play. Next came
• 4:15
  Speaker 1: another love story, this time of a noble hearted couple
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  Speaker 1: consumed with mutual passion and kept apart not only by
• 4:25
  Speaker 1: a series of misunderstandings possible only in a picture play,
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  Speaker 1: but also by maidenly pride and reserve on the part
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  Speaker 1: of the heroine, and manly pride and reserve on the
• 4:37
  Speaker 1: part of the hero that forced them to hide their
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  Speaker 1: ardor beneath a cold and haughty exterior. The heroine's brother
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  Speaker 1: moved through the story like a good fairy, tender and
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  Speaker 1: protective towards his orphaned sister, and ultimately explained to each
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  Speaker 1: the burning passion of the other. It was moving and touching,
• 5:02
  Speaker 1: and William was moved and touched. The next was a comedy.
• 5:08
  Speaker 1: It began by a solitary workman engaged upon the repainting
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  Speaker 1: of the door, and ended with a miscellaneous crowd of people,
• 5:17
  Speaker 1: all covered with paint, falling downstairs on top of one another.
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  Speaker 1: It was amusing. William was riotously and loudly amused. Lastly
• 5:30
  Speaker 1: came the pathetic story of a drunkard's downward path. He
• 5:34
  Speaker 1: began as a wild young man in evening clothes, drinking
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  Speaker 1: intoxicants and playing cards. He ended as a wild old
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  Speaker 1: man in rags, still drinking intoxicants and playing cards. He
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  Speaker 1: had a small child with a pious and superior expression,
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  Speaker 1: who spent her time weeping over him and exhorting him
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  Speaker 1: to a better life, till in a moment of justifiable exasperation,
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  Speaker 1: he threw a beer bottle at her head. He then
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  Speaker 1: bedewed her bed in hospital with penitent tears, tore out
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  Speaker 1: his hair, flung up his arms toward heaven, beat his waistcoat,
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  Speaker 1: and clasped her to his breast so that it was
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  Speaker 1: not to be wondered at that. After all that excitement,
• 6:24
  Speaker 1: the child had a relapse, and with the words good bye, father,
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  Speaker 1: do not think of what you have done, I forgive you,
• 6:34
  Speaker 1: passed peacefully away. William drew a deep breath at the end,
• 6:40
  Speaker 1: and still sucking, arose with the throng and passed out.
• 6:44
  Speaker 1: Once outside, he glanced cautiously around and slunk down the
• 6:49
  Speaker 1: road in the direction of his home. Then he doubled
• 6:53
  Speaker 1: suddenly and ran down a back street. To put his
• 6:56
  Speaker 1: imaginary pursuers off his track, he took a pencil from
• 7:00
  Speaker 1: his pocket, and, leveling it at the empty air, fired twice.
• 7:06
  Speaker 1: Two of his pursuers fell dead. The rest came on
• 7:11
  Speaker 1: with redoubled vigor. There was no time to be lost.
• 7:15
  Speaker 1: Running for dear life, he dashed down the next street,
• 7:19
  Speaker 1: leaving in his wake an elderly gentleman, nursing his toe
• 7:24
  Speaker 1: and cursing volubly. As he neared his gait, William again
• 7:29
  Speaker 1: drew the pencil from his pocket, and, still looking back
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  Speaker 1: down the road and firing as he went, he rushed
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  Speaker 1: into his own gateway. William's father, who had stayed at
• 7:41
  Speaker 1: home that day because of a bad headache and a
• 7:44
  Speaker 1: touch of liver, picked himself up from the middle of
• 7:47
  Speaker 1: a rhododendron bush and seized William by the back of
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  Speaker 1: his neck. You young ruffian, he roared, What do you
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  Speaker 1: mean by charging into me like that? William gently disengaged himself. Bubbah,
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  Speaker 1: I wasn't chargin, father, he said meekly. I was only
• 8:06
  Speaker 1: just coming in at the gate, same as other folks.
• 8:09
  Speaker 1: I just wasn't lookin just the way you were comin out.
• 8:12
  Speaker 1: But can't look always at once cause be quiet, roared
• 8:17
  Speaker 1: William's father. Like the rest of the family, he dreaded
• 8:21
  Speaker 1: William's eloquence. What's that on your tongue? Put your tongue out,
• 8:28
  Speaker 1: William obeyed. The color of William's tongue would have put
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  Speaker 1: to shame Spring's freshest tents. How many times am I
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  Speaker 1: to tell you? Bellowed William's father that I won't have
• 8:41
  Speaker 1: you going about eating filthy poisons all day between meals.
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  Speaker 1: It's not filthy poison, said William. It's just a few sweets.
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  Speaker 1: Aunt Susan gave me cause I kindly went to the
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  Speaker 1: post office for her. And be quiet, Have you got
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  Speaker 1: any more of the foul things? They're not foul things,
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  Speaker 1: said William doggedly. They're good. Just have one and try.
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  Speaker 1: They're just a few sweets. Aunt Susan kindly gave me,
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  Speaker 1: and be quiet? Where are they? Slowly and reluctantly, William
• 9:15
  Speaker 1: drew forth his bag. His father seized it and flung
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  Speaker 1: it far into the bushes. For the next ten minutes,
• 9:23
  Speaker 1: William conducted a thorough and systematic search among the bushes,
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  Speaker 1: and for the rest of the day consumed gooseberry eyes
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  Speaker 1: and garden soil in fairly equal proportions. He wandered round
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  Speaker 1: to the back garden and climbed on to the wall. Hello,
• 9:41
  Speaker 1: said the little girl next door, looking up. Something about
• 9:45
  Speaker 1: the little girl's head and curls reminded William of the
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  Speaker 1: simple country maiden. There was a touch of the artistic
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  Speaker 1: temperament about William. He promptly felt himself the simple country
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  Speaker 1: sun of the soil. Hello, Joan, he said, in a deep,
• 10:02
  Speaker 1: husky voice, intended to be expressive of intense affection. Have
• 10:07
  Speaker 1: you missed me while I've been away? Didn't know you've
• 10:11
  Speaker 1: been away, said Joan. Why are you talking so funny?
• 10:14
  Speaker 1: For I'm not talkin funny, said William, in the same
• 10:19
  Speaker 1: husky voice. I can't help talking like this. You've got
• 10:24
  Speaker 1: a cold, That's what you've got. That's what mother said
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  Speaker 1: when she saw you splashing about with your rain tub
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  Speaker 1: this morning. She said. The next thing that we shall
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  Speaker 1: hear of William Brown will be he's in bed with
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  Speaker 1: a cold. It's not a cold, said William mysteriously. It's
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  Speaker 1: just the way I feel. What are you eating? Gooseberry eyes?
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  Speaker 1: Like one? He took the packet from his pocket and
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  Speaker 1: handed it over to her. Go On, take two, three,
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  Speaker 1: he said, in reckless generosity. But they're dirty, go on,
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  Speaker 1: it's only ordinary dirt. It soon sucks off. They're jolly
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  Speaker 1: good He poured a shower of them lavishly down to her.
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  Speaker 1: I say, he said, reverting to his character of simple
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  Speaker 1: country lover. Did you say you'd missed me? I bet
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  Speaker 1: you didn't think of me as much as I did
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  Speaker 1: of you. I just bet you didn't. His voice had
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  Speaker 1: sunk deeper and deeper till it almost died away. I say, William,
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  Speaker 1: does your throat hurt you? Awful that you've got to
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  Speaker 1: talk like that? Her blue eyes were anxious and sympathetic.
• 11:39
  Speaker 1: William put one hand to his throat and frowned. Um
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  Speaker 1: a bit, he confessed lightly. Oh William, She clasped her hands.
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  Speaker 1: Does it hurt all the time? Her solicitude was flattering.
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  Speaker 1: I don't talk much about it anyway, do I? He
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  Speaker 1: said manfully. She started up and stared at him with
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  Speaker 1: big blue eyes. Oh, William, is it? Is it your lungs?
• 12:06
  Speaker 1: I've got an aunt that's got lungs, and she coughs
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  Speaker 1: and coughs. William coughed hastily, and it hurts her and
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  Speaker 1: makes her awful bad. Oh William, I do hope you've
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  Speaker 1: not got lungs. Her tender, anxious little face was upturned
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  Speaker 1: to him. I guess I have got lungs, he said,
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  Speaker 1: but I don't make a fuss about him. He coughed again.
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  Speaker 1: What does the doctor say about it? William considered a minute.
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  Speaker 1: He says it's lungs, all right, he said. At last,
• 12:41
  Speaker 1: he says, I got her. Be jolly careful, William. Would
• 12:45
  Speaker 1: you like my new paint box. I don't think so,
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  Speaker 1: not now, thanks. I've got three balls and one's quite new.
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  Speaker 1: Wouldn't you like it? William? No? Thanks, You see, it's
• 13:00
  Speaker 1: it's no use my collectin a lot of things. You
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  Speaker 1: never know with lungs. Oh, William, Her distress was pathetic,
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  Speaker 1: of course, he said hastily. If I'm careful, it'll be
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  Speaker 1: all right. Don't you worry about me. Joan from the house.
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  Speaker 1: That's mother. Good bye, William, Dear. If father brings me
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  Speaker 1: home any chocolate, I'll bring it in to you, I will, honest.
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  Speaker 1: Thanks for the gooseberry eyes. Goodbye, goodbye, and don't worry
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  Speaker 1: about me, he added bravely. He put another gooseberry eye
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  Speaker 1: into his mouth and wandered round aimlessly to the front
• 13:44
  Speaker 1: of the house. His grown up sister Ethel was at
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  Speaker 1: the front door, shaking hands with a young man. I'll
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  Speaker 1: do all I can for you, she was saying earnestly.
• 13:55
  Speaker 1: Their hands were clasped. I know you will, he said,
• 14:00
  Speaker 1: equally earnestly. Both look and handclasp were long. The young
• 14:07
  Speaker 1: man walked away. Ethel stood at the door, gazing after him,
• 14:12
  Speaker 1: with a far away look in her eyes. William was interested.
• 14:17
  Speaker 1: That was Jack Morgan, wasn't it. He said, yes, said
• 14:22
  Speaker 1: Ethel absently, and went into the house. The look, the
• 14:27
  Speaker 1: long hand clasp. The words lingered in William's memory. They
• 14:32
  Speaker 1: must be jolly fond of each other, like people are
• 14:36
  Speaker 1: when they are engaged. But he knew they weren't engaged.
• 14:40
  Speaker 1: Perhaps they were too proud to let each other know
• 14:42
  Speaker 1: how fond they were of each other. Like the man
• 14:46
  Speaker 1: and girl at the pictures, Ethel wanted a brother like
• 14:49
  Speaker 1: the one in the pictures, to let the man know
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  Speaker 1: that she was fond of him. Then a light came
• 14:56
  Speaker 1: suddenly into William's mind, and he stood deep in thought.
• 15:01
  Speaker 1: Inside the dining room, Ethel was talking to her mother.
• 15:05
  Speaker 1: He's going to propose to her next Sunday. He told
• 15:10
  Speaker 1: me about it because I'm her best friend, and he
• 15:13
  Speaker 1: wanted to ask me if I thought he'd any chance
• 15:17
  Speaker 1: I said, I thought he had, And I said I'd
• 15:20
  Speaker 1: try and prepare her a little and put in a
• 15:23
  Speaker 1: good word for him if I could. Isn't it thrilling? Yes? Dear,
• 15:29
  Speaker 1: By the way, did you see William anywhere? I do
• 15:32
  Speaker 1: hope he's not in mischief. He was in the front
• 15:35
  Speaker 1: garden a minute ago. She went to the window. Now
• 15:39
  Speaker 1: he's not there now. Though William had just arrived at
• 15:43
  Speaker 1: mister Morgan's house, the maid showed him up into mister
• 15:47
  Speaker 1: Morgan's sitting room. Mister Brown, she announced. The young man
• 15:53
  Speaker 1: rose to receive his guest with politeness not unmixed with bewilderment.
• 15:59
  Speaker 1: His quaintance with William was of the slightest good afternoon,
• 16:04
  Speaker 1: said William. I've come from Ethel. Yes. Yes, William fumbled
• 16:12
  Speaker 1: in his pocket and at last drew forth a rosebud,
• 16:16
  Speaker 1: slightly crushed by its close confinement, in the company of
• 16:20
  Speaker 1: the gooseberry eyes, A penknife, a top, and a piece
• 16:24
  Speaker 1: of putty. She sent you, this, said William gravely. Mister
• 16:30
  Speaker 1: Morgan gazed at it with the air of one who
• 16:32
  Speaker 1: is sleepwalking. Yes, er very kind of her, kinder keepsake
• 16:42
  Speaker 1: souvenir explained William, Yes, er er any message? Oh, yes,
• 16:50
  Speaker 1: she wants you to come in and see her this evening. Er. Yes,
• 16:56
  Speaker 1: of course, I've just come from her. Perhaps she remains
• 17:00
  Speaker 1: remembered something she wanted to tell me after I'd gone,
• 17:04
  Speaker 1: Perhaps than any particular time. No, about seven, I expect.
• 17:12
  Speaker 1: Oh yes, mister Morgan's eyes were fixed with a fascinated,
• 17:17
  Speaker 1: wondering gaze upon the limp and by no means spotless rosebud.
• 17:24
  Speaker 1: You say she sent this yes, and no other message? No? Uh,
• 17:35
  Speaker 1: well say I'll come with pleasure, will you? Yes? Silence?
• 17:43
  Speaker 1: Then she thinks an awful lot of you ethel does
• 17:48
  Speaker 1: Mister Morgan passed a hand over his brow. Yes kind,
• 17:56
  Speaker 1: very kind, I'm sure, always talking about you in her sleep,
• 18:00
  Speaker 1: went on William, warming to his theme. I sleep in
• 18:04
  Speaker 1: the next room and I can hear her talking about
• 18:07
  Speaker 1: you all night, just saying your name over and over
• 18:10
  Speaker 1: and over again. Jack Morgan, Jack Morgan, Jack Morgan. William's
• 18:16
  Speaker 1: voice was husky and soulful, just like that, over and
• 18:21
  Speaker 1: over again, Jack Morgan, Jack Morgan, Jack Morgan. Mister Morgan
• 18:27
  Speaker 1: was speechless. He sat gazing with horror stricken face at
• 18:31
  Speaker 1: his young visitor are you sure, he said at last.
• 18:37
  Speaker 1: It might be someone else's name, now, 'tisn't, said William firmly.
• 18:42
  Speaker 1: It's yours, Jack Morgan, Jack Morgan, Jack Morgan, just like that,
• 18:47
  Speaker 1: And she eats just nothing now, always hanging round the
• 18:50
  Speaker 1: windows to watch you pass. The perspiration stood out in
• 18:55
  Speaker 1: beads on mister Morgan's brow. It's horrible, he said at last,
• 19:01
  Speaker 1: in a hoarse whisper. William was gratified the young man
• 19:07
  Speaker 1: had at last realized his cruelty. But William never liked
• 19:12
  Speaker 1: to leave a task half done. He still sat on
• 19:16
  Speaker 1: and calmly and silently considered his next statement. Mechanically, he
• 19:21
  Speaker 1: put a hand into his pocket and conveyed a gooseberry
• 19:25
  Speaker 1: eye to his mouth. Mister Morgan also sat in silence,
• 19:29
  Speaker 1: with a stricken look upon his face, gazing into vacancy.
• 19:35
  Speaker 1: She's got your photo, said William, at last, fixed up
• 19:38
  Speaker 1: into one of those little round things on a chain
• 19:41
  Speaker 1: round her neck. Are you sure, said mister Morgan desperately.
• 19:48
  Speaker 1: Sure's fate, said William, rising, Well, i'd better be gone.
• 19:53
  Speaker 1: She particular wants to see you alone to night goodbye.
• 19:59
  Speaker 1: But mister Morgan did not answer. He sat huddled up
• 20:04
  Speaker 1: in his chair, staring in front of him, long after
• 20:07
  Speaker 1: William had gone jauntily on his way. Then he moistened
• 20:12
  Speaker 1: his dry lips. Good lord, he groaned. William was thinking
• 20:19
  Speaker 1: of the pictures as he went home. That painter one
• 20:22
  Speaker 1: was jolly good when they all got all over paint
• 20:27
  Speaker 1: and when they fell downstairs. William suddenly guffawed out loud
• 20:33
  Speaker 1: at the memory. But what had the painter Chap been
• 20:36
  Speaker 1: doing at the very beginning before he began to paint.
• 20:40
  Speaker 1: He'd been getting off the old paint with a sort
• 20:43
  Speaker 1: of torch thing and a knife. Then he began putting
• 20:47
  Speaker 1: the new paint on, just sort of melting the old
• 20:51
  Speaker 1: paint and then scraping it off. William had never seen
• 20:56
  Speaker 1: it done in real life, but he supposed that was
• 20:59
  Speaker 1: the way you did get old paint off, melting it
• 21:03
  Speaker 1: with some sort of fire, then scraping it off. He
• 21:07
  Speaker 1: wasn't sure whether it was that, but he could find out.
• 21:11
  Speaker 1: As he entered the house, he took his penknife from
• 21:14
  Speaker 1: his pocket, opened it thoughtfully, and went upstairs. Mister Brown
• 21:22
  Speaker 1: came home about dinner time. How's your head, father, said
• 21:27
  Speaker 1: Ethel sympathetically. Rotten, said mister Brown, sinking wearily into an
• 21:33
  Speaker 1: arm chair. Perhaps dinner will do it good, said missus
• 21:37
  Speaker 1: browne it ought to be ready now. The housemaid entered
• 21:41
  Speaker 1: the room. Mister Morgan, Mum, he wants to see Miss Ethel.
• 21:45
  Speaker 1: I've shown him into the library, now, exploded mister Brown.
• 21:51
  Speaker 1: What the de why the dickens? Is the young idiot
• 21:54
  Speaker 1: coming at this time of day, seven o'clock? What time
• 21:59
  Speaker 1: does he think we have dinner? What does he mean
• 22:02
  Speaker 1: by coming round paying calls on people at dinner time? What? Ethel, dear,
• 22:09
  Speaker 1: interrupted missus Brown. Do go and see what he wants
• 22:13
  Speaker 1: and get rid of him as soon as you can.
• 22:16
  Speaker 1: Ethel entered the library, carefully closing the door behind her
• 22:21
  Speaker 1: to keep out the sound of her father's comments, which
• 22:24
  Speaker 1: were plainly audible across the hall. She noticed something wan
• 22:29
  Speaker 1: and haggard looking on mister Morgan's face as he rose
• 22:33
  Speaker 1: to greet her. Er good good evening, Miss Brown, Good evening,
• 22:39
  Speaker 1: mister Morgan. Then they sat in silence, both awaiting some
• 22:45
  Speaker 1: explanation of the visit. The silence became oppressive. Mister Morgan,
• 22:51
  Speaker 1: with an air of acute misery and embarrassment, shifted his
• 22:56
  Speaker 1: feet and coughed ethel looked at the clock. Then, Ah,
• 23:02
  Speaker 1: was it raining when you came, mister Morgan raining, Er, no, no,
• 23:10
  Speaker 1: not at all. Silence. I thought it looked like rain
• 23:16
  Speaker 1: this afternoon. Ah, yes, of course, Er, no, not at all. Silence.
• 23:25
  Speaker 1: It does make the road so bad round here when
• 23:28
  Speaker 1: it rains. Yes, mister Morgan put up a hand as
• 23:34
  Speaker 1: though to loosen his collar. Er very bad, almost impassable.
• 23:43
  Speaker 1: Er quite silence Again. Inside the drawing room, mister Brown
• 23:51
  Speaker 1: was growing restive. Is dinner to be kept waiting for
• 23:55
  Speaker 1: that youth all night? Quarter past seven? You know, it's
• 24:00
  Speaker 1: just what I can't stand having my meals interfered with.
• 24:04
  Speaker 1: Is my digestion to be ruined simply because this young
• 24:08
  Speaker 1: nincompoop chooses to pay his social calls at seven o'clock
• 24:12
  Speaker 1: at night, Well then we must ask him to dinner,
• 24:16
  Speaker 1: said missus Brown desperately. We really must. We must not,
• 24:21
  Speaker 1: said mister Brown. Can't I stay away from the office
• 24:25
  Speaker 1: for one day with a headache without having to entertain
• 24:28
  Speaker 1: all the young jackasses for miles around? The telephone bell rang.
• 24:34
  Speaker 1: He raised his hands above his head. Oh I'll go, dear,
• 24:39
  Speaker 1: said Missus Brown hastily. She returned with a worried frown
• 24:43
  Speaker 1: on her brow. It's Missus Clive, she said. She says
• 24:48
  Speaker 1: Joan has been very sick because of some horrible sweets
• 24:52
  Speaker 1: William gave her. And she said she was so sorry
• 24:56
  Speaker 1: to hear about William and hoped he'd be better soon.
• 25:00
  Speaker 1: I couldn't quite make it out, but it seems that
• 25:03
  Speaker 1: William has been telling them that he had to go
• 25:06
  Speaker 1: and see a doctor about his lungs, and the doctor
• 25:10
  Speaker 1: said they were very weak and he'd have to be careful.
• 25:14
  Speaker 1: Mister Browne sat up and looked at her. But but
• 25:17
  Speaker 1: wh why on on earth? He said slowly. I don't know, dear,
• 25:24
  Speaker 1: said missus Browne helplessly. I don't know anything about it.
• 25:29
  Speaker 1: He's mad, said mister brown with conviction. Mad. It's the
• 25:34
  Speaker 1: only explanation. Then came the opening and shutting of the
• 25:39
  Speaker 1: front door, and Ethel entered. She was very flushed. He's gone,
• 25:46
  Speaker 1: she said, mother, it's simply horrible. He didn't tell me much,
• 25:51
  Speaker 1: but it seems that William actually went to his house
• 25:55
  Speaker 1: and told him that I wanted to see him alone
• 25:58
  Speaker 1: at seven o'clock this evening. I've hardly spoken to William
• 26:03
  Speaker 1: to day. He couldn't have misunderstood anything I said. And
• 26:09
  Speaker 1: he actually took a flower with him, a dreadful looking rosebud,
• 26:14
  Speaker 1: and said, I'd scent it. I simply didn't know where
• 26:18
  Speaker 1: to look or what to say. It was horrible. Missus
• 26:23
  Speaker 1: Brown sat gazing weakly at her daughter. Mister Brown rose
• 26:28
  Speaker 1: with the air of a man goaded beyond endurance. Where
• 26:33
  Speaker 1: is William, he said shortly. I don't know, but I
• 26:38
  Speaker 1: thought I heard him go upstairs some time ago. William
• 26:43
  Speaker 1: was upstairs for the last twenty minutes. He had been
• 26:46
  Speaker 1: happily and quietly engaged upon his bedroom door with a
• 26:51
  Speaker 1: lighted taper in one hand and penknife in the other.
• 26:55
  Speaker 1: There was no doubt about it. By successful experiment, he
• 27:00
  Speaker 1: had proved that that was the way you got old
• 27:02
  Speaker 1: paint off. When mister Brown came upstairs, he had entirely
• 27:08
  Speaker 1: stripped one panel of its paint. An hour later, William
• 27:13
  Speaker 1: sat in the back garden on an upturned box, sucking
• 27:18
  Speaker 1: with a certain dogged defiance the last and dirtiest of
• 27:21
  Speaker 1: the gooseberry eyes. Sadly, he reviewed the day. It had
• 27:27
  Speaker 1: not been a success. His generosity to the little girl
• 27:31
  Speaker 1: next door had been misconstrued into an attempt upon her life.
• 27:36
  Speaker 1: His efforts to help his only sister's love affair had
• 27:40
  Speaker 1: been painfully misunderstood. Lastly, because, among other things, he had
• 27:46
  Speaker 1: discovered a perfectly scientific method of removing old paint, he
• 27:51
  Speaker 1: had been brutally assaulted by a violent and unreasonable parent. Suddenly,
• 27:58
  Speaker 1: William began to work under If his father drank, he
• 28:02
  Speaker 1: saw himself through a mist of pathos, as a drunkard's child.
• 28:08
  Speaker 1: He tried to imagine his father weeping over him in
• 28:11
  Speaker 1: hospital and begging his forgiveness. It was a wonder he
• 28:17
  Speaker 1: wasn't there now anyway. His shoulder drooped, his whole attitude
• 28:22
  Speaker 1: became expressive of extreme dejection. Inside the house, his father,
• 28:30
  Speaker 1: reclining at length in an arm chair, discoursed to his
• 28:34
  Speaker 1: wife on the subject of his son. One hand was
• 28:38
  Speaker 1: pressed to his aching brow and the other gesticulating freely.
• 28:43
  Speaker 1: He's insane, he said, stark, raving insane. You ought to
• 28:48
  Speaker 1: take him to a doctor and get his brain examined.
• 28:52
  Speaker 1: Look at him to day. He begins by knocking me
• 28:55
  Speaker 1: into the middle of the rhododendron bushes under no provocation.
• 29:00
  Speaker 1: Mind you, I hadn't spoken to him. Then he tries
• 29:04
  Speaker 1: to poison that nice little thing next door with some
• 29:07
  Speaker 1: vile stuff I thought I'd thrown away. Then he goes
• 29:11
  Speaker 1: about telling people he's consumptive. He looks at, doesn't he.
• 29:16
  Speaker 1: Then he takes extraordinary messages and love tokens from Ethel
• 29:21
  Speaker 1: to strange young men and brings them here just when
• 29:24
  Speaker 1: we're going to begin dinner, and then goes round burning
• 29:28
  Speaker 1: and hacking at the doors. What's the sense in it,
• 29:32
  Speaker 1: in any of it? They're the acts of a lunatic.
• 29:36
  Speaker 1: You ought to have his brain examined. Missus Brown cut
• 29:41
  Speaker 1: off her darning wool and laid aside the sock she
• 29:44
  Speaker 1: had just finished darning. Oh it certainly sounds very silly, dear,
• 29:49
  Speaker 1: she said mildly. But there might be some explanation of
• 29:53
  Speaker 1: it all, if only we knew boys are such funny things.
• 29:59
  Speaker 1: She looked at the clock and went over to the window. William,
• 30:03
  Speaker 1: she called, it's your bedtime, dear. William rose sadly and
• 30:09
  Speaker 1: came slowly into the house. Good Night, mother, he said.
• 30:14
  Speaker 1: Then he turned a mournful and reproachful eye upon his father.
• 30:18
  Speaker 1: Good Night father, he said, don't think about what you've done.
• 30:23
  Speaker 1: I for he stopped and decided hastily but wisely, to
• 30:29
  Speaker 1: retire with all possible speed and of chapter one. Chapter two,
• 30:39
  Speaker 1: William the intruder. She's different from everybody else in the world,
• 30:46
  Speaker 1: stammered Robert ecstatically. You simply couldn't describe her. No one could.
• 30:53
  Speaker 1: His mother continued to darn his socks and made no comment.
• 30:58
  Speaker 1: Only William, his young brother, showed interest. How she different
• 31:03
  Speaker 1: from any one else? He demanded? Is she blind or
• 31:07
  Speaker 1: lame or something? Robert turned on him with exasperation. Oh,
• 31:12
  Speaker 1: go and play at trains, he said, A child like
• 31:16
  Speaker 1: you can't understand anything. William retired with dignity to the
• 31:22
  Speaker 1: window and listened with interest, unabated to the rest of
• 31:26
  Speaker 1: the conversation. Yes, but who is she, dear, said their
• 31:31
  Speaker 1: mother Robert. I can't think how you get these big
• 31:35
  Speaker 1: holes in your heels. Robert ran his hands wildly through
• 31:40
  Speaker 1: his hair. I've told you who she is, mother, he said,
• 31:44
  Speaker 1: I've been talking about her ever since I came into
• 31:47
  Speaker 1: the room. Yes, I know, dear, but you haven't mentioned
• 31:51
  Speaker 1: her name or anything about her. Well, Robert spoke with
• 31:56
  Speaker 1: an air of superhuman patience. She's a miss Cannon and
• 32:01
  Speaker 1: she's staying with the Clives. And I met her out
• 32:05
  Speaker 1: with Missus Clive this morning, and she introduced me. And
• 32:09
  Speaker 1: she's the most beautiful girl I've ever seen. And she ah, yes,
• 32:13
  Speaker 1: said missus Brown hastily. You told me all that, well,
• 32:18
  Speaker 1: went on the infatuated Robert. We must have her to tea.
• 32:23
  Speaker 1: I know I can't marry yet, not while I'm still
• 32:26
  Speaker 1: at college. But I could get to know her. Not
• 32:30
  Speaker 1: that I suppose she'd look at me. She's miles above me,
• 32:34
  Speaker 1: miles above anyone. She's the most beautiful girl I've ever seen.
• 32:40
  Speaker 1: You can't imagine her. You wouldn't believe me if i'd
• 32:44
  Speaker 1: described her. No one could describe her, she missus Brown
• 32:50
  Speaker 1: interrupted him with haste. I'll ask missus Clive to bring
• 32:53
  Speaker 1: her over one afternoon. I've no more of this blue wool, Robert.
• 32:59
  Speaker 1: I wish you didn't have your socks such different colors.
• 33:02
  Speaker 1: I shall have to use mauve. It's right on the heel.
• 33:06
  Speaker 1: It won't show, Robert gave a gasp of horror. You can't, mother,
• 33:13
  Speaker 1: how do you know it won't show? And even if
• 33:16
  Speaker 1: it didn't show, the thought of it, it's it's a crisis.
• 33:21
  Speaker 1: Of my life. Now I've met her. I can't go
• 33:24
  Speaker 1: about feeling ridiculous, I say, said William, open mouthed. Are
• 33:30
  Speaker 1: you spoony on her? William, don't use such vulgar expressions,
• 33:36
  Speaker 1: said missus Brown. Robert just feels a friendly interest in her,
• 33:41
  Speaker 1: don't you, Robert? A friendly interest? Groaned Robert in despair.
• 33:47
  Speaker 1: No one ever tries to understand what I feel. After all,
• 33:52
  Speaker 1: I've told you about her, and that she's the most
• 33:54
  Speaker 1: beautiful girl I've ever seen, and miles above me and
• 33:59
  Speaker 1: above any one. And you think I feel a friendly
• 34:03
  Speaker 1: interest in her? It's It's the one great passion of
• 34:07
  Speaker 1: my life. It's well, put in Missus Brown mildly. I'll
• 34:12
  Speaker 1: ring up Missus Clive and ask if she's doing anything
• 34:15
  Speaker 1: tomorrow afternoon. Robert's tragic young face lit up. Then he
• 34:21
  Speaker 1: stood wrapped in thought and a cloud of anxiety overcast. It.
• 34:27
  Speaker 1: Ellen can press the trousers of my brown suit to night, can't? She?
• 34:32
  Speaker 1: And mother? Could you get me some socks and a
• 34:35
  Speaker 1: tie before tomorrow? Blue? I think a bright blue, you know,
• 34:40
  Speaker 1: not too bright, but not so as you don't notice them.
• 34:44
  Speaker 1: I wish the laundry was a decent one. You know,
• 34:47
  Speaker 1: a man's collar ought to shine when it's new on.
• 34:50
  Speaker 1: They never put a shine on to them. I'd better
• 34:54
  Speaker 1: have some new ones for tomorrow. It's so important how
• 34:58
  Speaker 1: one looks. She people judge you on how you look.
• 35:03
  Speaker 1: They at Missus Brown laid her work aside. I'll go
• 35:07
  Speaker 1: and ring up Missus Clive now, she said. When she returned,
• 35:12
  Speaker 1: William had gone, and Robert was standing by the window,
• 35:16
  Speaker 1: his face pale with suspense and a napoleonic frown on
• 35:21
  Speaker 1: his brow. Missus Clive can't come, announced Missus Brown in
• 35:26
  Speaker 1: her comfortable voice. But miss Cannon will come alone. It
• 35:30
  Speaker 1: appears she's met Ethel before, so you needn't worry any more, dear,
• 35:36
  Speaker 1: Robert gave a sardonic laugh. Worry, he said, there's plenty
• 35:42
  Speaker 1: to worry about. Still, what about William? Well, what about him? Well?
• 35:49
  Speaker 1: Can't he go away somewhere tomorrow? Things never go right
• 35:54
  Speaker 1: when William's there, you know they don't. The poor boy
• 35:58
  Speaker 1: must have tea with us, Dear. He'll be very good.
• 36:02
  Speaker 1: I'm sure Ethel will be home then and she'll help.
• 36:06
  Speaker 1: I'll tell William not to worry you. I'm sure he'll
• 36:10
  Speaker 1: be good. William had received specific instructions. He was not
• 36:17
  Speaker 1: to come into the house till the tea bell rang,
• 36:20
  Speaker 1: and he was to go out and play in the
• 36:22
  Speaker 1: garden again directly after tea. He was perfectly willing to
• 36:26
  Speaker 1: obey them. He was thrilled by the thought of Robert
• 36:30
  Speaker 1: in the role of the lovelorn hero. He took the
• 36:33
  Speaker 1: situation quite seriously. He was in the garden when the
• 36:38
  Speaker 1: visitor came up the drive. He had been told not
• 36:42
  Speaker 1: to obtrude himself upon her notice, so he crept up
• 36:46
  Speaker 1: silently and peered at her through the rhododendron bushes. The
• 36:50
  Speaker 1: proceeding also happened to suit his character of the moment,
• 36:54
  Speaker 1: which was that of a red Indian chief. Miss Cannon
• 36:59
  Speaker 1: was certainly pretty. She had brown hair, brown eyes, and
• 37:03
  Speaker 1: dimples that came and went in her rosy cheeks. She
• 37:07
  Speaker 1: was dressed in white and carried a parasol. She walked
• 37:11
  Speaker 1: up the drive, looking neither to right nor left, till
• 37:15
  Speaker 1: a slight movement in the bushes arrested her attention. She
• 37:19
  Speaker 1: turned quickly and saw a small boy's face smeared black
• 37:23
  Speaker 1: with burnt cork and framed in hen's feathers tied on
• 37:27
  Speaker 1: with tape. The dimples peeped out. Hail O, great chief,
• 37:33
  Speaker 1: she said. William gazed at her open mouth. Such intelligence
• 37:40
  Speaker 1: on the part of a grown up was unusual, Chief
• 37:44
  Speaker 1: red Hand, he supplied, with a fierce scowl. She bowed, low,
• 37:49
  Speaker 1: brown eyes alight with merriment. And what death awaits the
• 37:55
  Speaker 1: poor white face who has fallen defenseless into his hand?
• 38:00
  Speaker 1: You better come quiet to my wigwoman Sea, said Red
• 38:04
  Speaker 1: Hand darkly. She threw a glance to the bend in
• 38:09
  Speaker 1: the drive behind which lay the house, and with a
• 38:12
  Speaker 1: low laugh, followed him through the bushes. From one point
• 38:16
  Speaker 1: the drawing room window could be seen, and there the
• 38:20
  Speaker 1: anxious Robert stood, pale with anxiety, stiff and upright in
• 38:25
  Speaker 1: his newly creased trousers, well turned up to show the
• 38:30
  Speaker 1: new blue socks, his soulful eyes fixed steadfastly on the
• 38:34
  Speaker 1: bend in the drive round which the beloved should come
• 38:39
  Speaker 1: every now and then his nervous hand wandered up to
• 38:42
  Speaker 1: touch the new tie and gleaming new collar, which was
• 38:47
  Speaker 1: rather too high and too tight for comfort, but which
• 38:51
  Speaker 1: the shopkeeper had informed his hairesed customer was the latest
• 38:56
  Speaker 1: and most correct shape. Meanwhile, while the beloved had reached
• 39:01
  Speaker 1: William's dugout. William had made this himself of branches cut
• 39:07
  Speaker 1: down from the trees, and spent many happy hours in
• 39:10
  Speaker 1: it with one or other of his friends. Here is
• 39:14
  Speaker 1: the wigwam, Pale Face, he said, in a sepulchral voice.
• 39:19
  Speaker 1: Stand here while I decide with Snake Face and the
• 39:22
  Speaker 1: other chiefs what's going to be done to you. There's
• 39:25
  Speaker 1: snake Face and the others, he added in his natural voice,
• 39:29
  Speaker 1: pointing to a small cluster of shrubs. Approaching these, he
• 39:35
  Speaker 1: stood and talked fiercely and unintelligibly for a few minutes,
• 39:40
  Speaker 1: turning his scowling, corked face and pointing his finger at
• 39:45
  Speaker 1: her every now and then, as apparently he described his capture.
• 39:51
  Speaker 1: Then he approached her again. That was read Indian what
• 39:56
  Speaker 1: I was talking, then, he explained in his ordinary voice, then,
• 40:01
  Speaker 1: sinking into its low roaring note and scowling more ferociously
• 40:05
  Speaker 1: than ever, Snake Face says to Pale Face must be
• 40:08
  Speaker 1: scalped and cooked and eate. He took out a penknife
• 40:13
  Speaker 1: and opened it as though to perform the operation. Then continued,
• 40:18
  Speaker 1: But me and the others say that if you'll be
• 40:21
  Speaker 1: a squaw and cook for us. We'll let you go alive.
• 40:25
  Speaker 1: Miss Cannon dropped on to her knees, most humble and grateful.
• 40:31
  Speaker 1: Thanks great Red Hand, she said, I will with pleasure
• 40:35
  Speaker 1: be your squaw. I've got a fire round here, said William, proudly,
• 40:41
  Speaker 1: leading her to the back of the wigwam, where a
• 40:43
  Speaker 1: small wood fire smoldered spiritlessly, choked by a large tin
• 40:49
  Speaker 1: full of a dark liquid. That o, squaw said, Red Hand,
• 40:54
  Speaker 1: with a dramatic gesture, is a pale face we caught
• 40:58
  Speaker 1: last night. The squaw clasped her hands together. Oh how lovely,
• 41:05
  Speaker 1: she said, is he cooking? Red Hand nodded. Then I'll
• 41:11
  Speaker 1: get you some feathers, he said, obligingly. You ought to
• 41:14
  Speaker 1: have feathers too. He retired into the depth of the
• 41:18
  Speaker 1: wigwam and returned with a handful of hen feathers. Miss
• 41:23
  Speaker 1: Cannon took off her big, shady hat and stuck the
• 41:26
  Speaker 1: feathers into her fluffy brown hair. With a laugh. This
• 41:30
  Speaker 1: is jolly, she said, I love red Indians. I've got
• 41:35
  Speaker 1: some cork. You can have to do your face too,
• 41:38
  Speaker 1: went on William, with reckless generosity. It soon burns in
• 41:43
  Speaker 1: the fire. She threw a glance towards the chimneys of
• 41:47
  Speaker 1: the house that could be seen through the trees, and
• 41:50
  Speaker 1: shook her pretty head regretfully. I'm afraid i'd better not,
• 41:55
  Speaker 1: she said, sadly. Well, he said, Now I'll go huntin,
• 42:00
  Speaker 1: and you stir the pale face, and we'll eat him
• 42:02
  Speaker 1: when I come back. Now i'll be off. You watch
• 42:05
  Speaker 1: me track. He opened his clasp knife with a bloodthirsty flourish,
• 42:11
  Speaker 1: and casting sinister glances round him, crept upon his hands
• 42:16
  Speaker 1: and knees into the bushes. He circled about well within
• 42:21
  Speaker 1: his squaw's vision, obviously bent upon impressing her. She stirred
• 42:27
  Speaker 1: the mixture in the tin with a twig and threw
• 42:30
  Speaker 1: him every now and then the admiring glances he so
• 42:34
  Speaker 1: evidently desired. Soon he returned, carrying over his shoulder a
• 42:40
  Speaker 1: door mat, which he threw down at her feet. A
• 42:44
  Speaker 1: venison o squaw, he said, in a lordly voice, Let
• 42:49
  Speaker 1: it be cooked. I've had it out all morning, he added,
• 42:53
  Speaker 1: in his ordinary tones. They've not missed it yet. He
• 42:58
  Speaker 1: fetched from the wigwam two small jagged tins, and, taking
• 43:03
  Speaker 1: the larger tin off the fire, poured some into each. Now,
• 43:08
  Speaker 1: he said, here's some pale face for you. Squaw. Oh,
• 43:13
  Speaker 1: she said, I'm sure he's awfully good. But oh, you
• 43:17
  Speaker 1: needn't be frightened of it, said William protectively. It's jolly good,
• 43:21
  Speaker 1: I can tell you. He picked up the paper cover
• 43:24
  Speaker 1: of a packet of soup from behind the trees. It's
• 43:27
  Speaker 1: just that and water, and it's jolly good. How lovely
• 43:33
  Speaker 1: do they let you? They don't let me, he broke
• 43:37
  Speaker 1: in hastily. But there's heaps in the larder and they
• 43:40
  Speaker 1: don't notice one every now and then, go on encouragingly.
• 43:45
  Speaker 1: I don't mind you, haven't it, honest, I don't. I'll
• 43:49
  Speaker 1: get some more soon. Bravely, she raised the tin to
• 43:53
  Speaker 1: her lips and took a sip. Gorgeous, she said, shutting
• 43:58
  Speaker 1: her eyes, and then she drank the tin. William's face
• 44:03
  Speaker 1: shone with pride and happiness, but it clouded over as
• 44:07
  Speaker 1: the sound of a bell rang out from the house. Crumbs,
• 44:11
  Speaker 1: that's tea. Hastily, Miss Cannon took the feathers from her
• 44:16
  Speaker 1: hair and put on her hat. You don't keep a
• 44:20
  Speaker 1: looking glass in your wigwam I suppose? She said? N No,
• 44:25
  Speaker 1: admitted William. But I'll get one for next time you come.
• 44:29
  Speaker 1: I'll get one from Ethel's room. Won't she mind? She
• 44:34
  Speaker 1: won't know, said William, simply. Miss Cannon smoothed down her dress.
• 44:40
  Speaker 1: I'm horribly late. What will they think of me? It
• 44:44
  Speaker 1: was awful of me to come with you. I'm always
• 44:47
  Speaker 1: doing awful things. That's a secret between you and me.
• 44:53
  Speaker 1: She gave William a smile that dazzled him. Now come
• 44:57
  Speaker 1: in and we'll confess. I can't, said William. I've got
• 45:03
  Speaker 1: to wash and come down tidy. I promised I would.
• 45:07
  Speaker 1: It's a special day because of Robert. You know, well,
• 45:11
  Speaker 1: you know because of Robert. He looked up at her
• 45:16
  Speaker 1: mystified face with a significant nod. Robert was frantic. He
• 45:23
  Speaker 1: had run his hands through his hair so often that
• 45:26
  Speaker 1: it stood around his head like a spiked hal We
• 45:30
  Speaker 1: can't begin without her, he said. She'll think we're awful.
• 45:34
  Speaker 1: It will put her off me forever. She's not used
• 45:39
  Speaker 1: to being treated like that. She's the sort of girl
• 45:41
  Speaker 1: people don't begin without. She's the most beautiful girl I've
• 45:46
  Speaker 1: ever met in all my life. And you, my own mother,
• 45:51
  Speaker 1: treat her like this. You may be ruining my life.
• 45:55
  Speaker 1: You've got no idea what this means to me? If
• 45:59
  Speaker 1: you'd seen her, you'd feel more sympathy. I simply can't
• 46:03
  Speaker 1: describe her. I I I set four o'clock, Robert said
• 46:07
  Speaker 1: missus Brown firmly, and it's after half past. Ethel, tell
• 46:12
  Speaker 1: Emma she can ring the bell and bring in tea.
• 46:16
  Speaker 1: The perspiration stood out on Robert's brow. It's the downfall
• 46:22
  Speaker 1: of all my hopes, he said hoarsely. Then a few
• 46:27
  Speaker 1: minutes after the echoes of the tea bell died away,
• 46:31
  Speaker 1: the front door bell rang sharply. Robert stroked his hair
• 46:35
  Speaker 1: down with wild, unrestrained movements of his hands, and summoned
• 46:40
  Speaker 1: a tortured smile to his lips. Miss Cannon appeared upon
• 46:45
  Speaker 1: the threshold, bewitching and demure. Aren't I perfectly disgraceful? She said,
• 46:53
  Speaker 1: with her low laugh. To tell the truth, I met
• 46:56
  Speaker 1: your little boy in the drive, and I've been with
• 46:59
  Speaker 1: him some time. He's a perfect little dear, isn't he.
• 47:05
  Speaker 1: Her brown eyes rested on Robert. Robert moistened his lips
• 47:10
  Speaker 1: and smiled the tortured smile, but was beyond speech. Yes,
• 47:15
  Speaker 1: I know, Ethel, and I met your son yesterday, wasn't
• 47:19
  Speaker 1: it Robert murmured unintelligibly, raising one hand to the two
• 47:25
  Speaker 1: tight collar, and then bowed vaguely in her direction. Then
• 47:31
  Speaker 1: they went in to tea. William, his hair well brushed,
• 47:35
  Speaker 1: the cork partially washed from his face, and the feathers removed,
• 47:40
  Speaker 1: arrived a few minutes later. Conversation was carried on, chiefly
• 47:45
  Speaker 1: by Miss Cannon and ethel Robert racked his brain for
• 47:50
  Speaker 1: some striking remark, something that would raise him in her esteem,
• 47:54
  Speaker 1: far above the ranks of the ordinary young man, but
• 47:58
  Speaker 1: nothing came. Whenever her brown eyes rested on him, however,
• 48:03
  Speaker 1: he summoned the mirthless smile to his lips and raised
• 48:08
  Speaker 1: a hand to relieve the strain of the imprisoning collar.
• 48:12
  Speaker 1: Desperately he felt the precious moments passing, and his passion
• 48:17
  Speaker 1: yet unrevealed except by his eyes, whose message he was
• 48:22
  Speaker 1: afraid she had not read. As they rose from tea,
• 48:27
  Speaker 1: William turned to his mother with an anxious, sibilant whisper.
• 48:32
  Speaker 1: Ought I to have put on my best suit too.
• 48:36
  Speaker 1: The demure lights danced in Miss Cannon's eyes, and the
• 48:40
  Speaker 1: look the perspiring Robert sent him would have crushed a
• 48:44
  Speaker 1: less bold spirit. William had quite forgotten the orders he
• 48:49
  Speaker 1: had received to retire from the scene directly after tea.
• 48:54
  Speaker 1: He was impervious to all hints. He followed in the
• 48:58
  Speaker 1: train of the all anchoring Miss Cannon to the drawing
• 49:01
  Speaker 1: room and sat on the sofa with Robert, who had
• 49:05
  Speaker 1: taken his seat next his beloved. Are you er fond
• 49:11
  Speaker 1: of reading? Miss Cannon? Began Robert with a painful effort.
• 49:17
  Speaker 1: I wrote a tale once, said William, boastfully, leaning over
• 49:22
  Speaker 1: Robert before she could answer. It was a jolly good one.
• 49:26
  Speaker 1: I showed it to some people. I'll show it to
• 49:29
  Speaker 1: you if you like. It began with a pirate on
• 49:32
  Speaker 1: a raft and he stole some jewelry, and the king
• 49:36
  Speaker 1: the jewels belonged to was coming after him on a steamer,
• 49:39
  Speaker 1: And just when he was coming up to him, he
• 49:41
  Speaker 1: jumped into the water and took the jewels with him,
• 49:44
  Speaker 1: and fish eat the jewels, and the king caught it,
• 49:46
  Speaker 1: and he paused for breath. Oh, I'd love to read it,
• 49:50
  Speaker 1: said Miss Cannon. Robert turned sideways, and resting an arm
• 49:55
  Speaker 1: on his knee to exclude the persistent William, spoke in
• 50:00
  Speaker 1: a husky voice, what is your favorite flower? Miss Cannon?
• 50:06
  Speaker 1: William's small head was craned round Robert's arm. I've got
• 50:10
  Speaker 1: a garden. I've got a virginia stock growing all over it.
• 50:14
  Speaker 1: It grows up in no time, and a stirred and
• 50:16
  Speaker 1: pressed grows in no time too. I like things that
• 50:19
  Speaker 1: grow quick, don't you? You get tired of waiting for
• 50:22
  Speaker 1: the other swords, don't you? Robert rose desperately. Would you
• 50:28
  Speaker 1: care to see the garden and greenhouses, miss Cannon? He said,
• 50:32
  Speaker 1: I'd love to, said Miss Cannon, with a threatening glare
• 50:37
  Speaker 1: at William. Robert led the way to the garden, and William,
• 50:42
  Speaker 1: all innocent animation followed. Can you tie knots? What can't
• 50:47
  Speaker 1: become untied? He demanded? No, she said, I wish I could.
• 50:53
  Speaker 1: I can. I'll show you. I'll get a piece of
• 50:56
  Speaker 1: string and show you afterwards. It's easy, but it wants practice,
• 51:00
  Speaker 1: that's all. And I'll teach you how to make aeroplanes
• 51:02
  Speaker 1: out of paper what fly in the air when it's windy.
• 51:05
  Speaker 1: That's quite easy, only you've got to be careful to
• 51:08
  Speaker 1: get them the right size. I can make them, and
• 51:11
  Speaker 1: I can make lots of things out of matchboxes and things,
• 51:14
  Speaker 1: and the infuriated Robert interrupted, These are my father's roses.
• 51:20
  Speaker 1: He's very proud of them. They're beautiful. Well wait till
• 51:25
  Speaker 1: you see my Virginia stock. That's all. Wait. Will you
• 51:28
  Speaker 1: have this te rose, miss Cannon. Robert's face was purple
• 51:32
  Speaker 1: as he presented. It suits you. You are flowers, and
• 51:39
  Speaker 1: you that is. I'm sure you love flowers. You should
• 51:44
  Speaker 1: always have flowers. If I uh, and I'll get you
• 51:48
  Speaker 1: those red ones and that white one broke in. The
• 51:51
  Speaker 1: equally infatuated William determined not to be out shown. And
• 51:56
  Speaker 1: I'll get you some of my Virginia stock. And I
• 51:58
  Speaker 1: don't give my Virginia stock anyone, he added with emphasis.
• 52:03
  Speaker 1: When they re entered the drawing room, Miss Cannon carried
• 52:06
  Speaker 1: a large bouquet of Virginia stock and white and red roses,
• 52:11
  Speaker 1: which completely hid Robert's tea rose. William was by her side,
• 52:17
  Speaker 1: chatting airily and confidently. Robert followed a pale statue of despair.
• 52:26
  Speaker 1: In answer to Robert's agonized glance, missus Brown summoned William
• 52:30
  Speaker 1: to her corner, while Robert and Miss Cannon took their
• 52:34
  Speaker 1: seat again upon the sofa. I I by hope, I
• 52:38
  Speaker 1: I I hope, said Robert, soulfully. I I hope your
• 52:42
  Speaker 1: stay here is a long one. Well, why shan't I
• 52:46
  Speaker 1: just speak to her? William's whisper was loud and indignant.
• 52:51
  Speaker 1: Sh dear, said Missus Brown. I should like to show
• 52:55
  Speaker 1: you some of the walks around here, went on Robert desperately,
• 52:59
  Speaker 1: with a fearful glance towards the corner where William stood
• 53:03
  Speaker 1: in righteous indignation before his mother. If I could have that,
• 53:07
  Speaker 1: or a pleasure or honor, I was only just speaking
• 53:13
  Speaker 1: to her, went on. William's voice wasn't doing any harm?
• 53:16
  Speaker 1: Was I only speaking to her? The silence was intense.
• 53:22
  Speaker 1: Robert purple opened his lips to say something, anything to
• 53:27
  Speaker 1: drown that horrible voice, but nothing would come. Miss Cannon
• 53:32
  Speaker 1: was obviously listening to William. Is no one else ever
• 53:37
  Speaker 1: to speak to her? The sibilant whisper, raised in indignant appeal,
• 53:42
  Speaker 1: filled all the room just because Roberts fell in love
• 53:45
  Speaker 1: with her. The horror of the moment haunted Robert's nights
• 53:50
  Speaker 1: and days for weeks to come. Missus Brown coughed hastily
• 53:55
  Speaker 1: and began to describe at unnecessary length the ravages of
• 54:00
  Speaker 1: the caterpillars upon her husband's favorite rose tree. William withdrew
• 54:05
  Speaker 1: with dignity to the garden a minute later, and Miss
• 54:09
  Speaker 1: Cannon rose from the sofa. I must be going, I'm afraid,
• 54:14
  Speaker 1: she said, with a smile. Robert, anguished and overpowered, rose slowly.
• 54:21
  Speaker 1: You must come again some time, he said, weakly, but
• 54:25
  Speaker 1: with passion undaunted. I will she said. I'm longing to
• 54:30
  Speaker 1: see more of William. I adore William. They comforted Robert's
• 54:36
  Speaker 1: wounded feelings as best they could, but it was Ethel
• 54:40
  Speaker 1: who devised the plan that finally cheered him. She suggested
• 54:45
  Speaker 1: a picnic on the following Thursday, which happened to be
• 54:48
  Speaker 1: Robert's birthday and incidentally the last day of Miss Cannon's visit,
• 54:54
  Speaker 1: and the picnic party was to consist of Robert, Ethel,
• 54:59
  Speaker 1: missus Clive, and Miss Cannon, and William was not even
• 55:04
  Speaker 1: to be told where it was to be. The invitation
• 55:07
  Speaker 1: was sent that evening, and Robert spent the week dreaming
• 55:12
  Speaker 1: of picnic lunches and suggesting impossible dainties of which the
• 55:17
  Speaker 1: cook had never heard. It was not until she threatened
• 55:22
  Speaker 1: to give notice that he reluctantly agreed to leave the
• 55:25
  Speaker 1: arrangements to her. He sent his white flannels, which were
• 55:30
  Speaker 1: perfectly clean, to the laundry, with a note attached, hinting
• 55:35
  Speaker 1: darkly at legal proceedings if they were not sent back spotless.
• 55:40
  Speaker 1: By Thursday morning, he went about with an expression of
• 55:44
  Speaker 1: set and solemn purpose upon his frowning countenance. William he
• 55:50
  Speaker 1: utterly ignored. He bought a book of poems at a
• 55:53
  Speaker 1: second hand bookshop and kept them on the table by
• 55:57
  Speaker 1: his bed. They saw nothing of Miss Cannon in the interval,
• 56:03
  Speaker 1: but Thursday dawned bright and clear, and Robert's anxious spirits rose.
• 56:09
  Speaker 1: He was presented with a watch and chain by his father,
• 56:13
  Speaker 1: and with a bicycle by his mother, and a tin
• 56:16
  Speaker 1: of toffee, given not without ulterior motive by William. They
• 56:22
  Speaker 1: met missus Clive and Miss Cannon at the station and
• 56:26
  Speaker 1: took tickets to a village a few miles away. Whence
• 56:29
  Speaker 1: they had decided to walk to a shady spot on
• 56:32
  Speaker 1: the riverbank. William's dignity was slightly offended by his pointed
• 56:37
  Speaker 1: exclusion from the party, but he had resigned himself to it,
• 56:42
  Speaker 1: and spent the first part of the morning in the
• 56:44
  Speaker 1: character of chief red hand among the rhododendron bushes. He
• 56:49
  Speaker 1: had added an ostrich feather found in Ethel's room to
• 56:52
  Speaker 1: his head dress and used almost a whole cork on
• 56:56
  Speaker 1: his face. He wore the door mat pinned to his shoulders.
• 57:02
  Speaker 1: After melting some treacle to toffee in rain water over
• 57:06
  Speaker 1: his smoking fire, adding orange juice, and drinking the resulting liquid,
• 57:12
  Speaker 1: he tired of the game and wandered upstairs to Robert's
• 57:16
  Speaker 1: bedroom to inspect his birthday presents. The tin of toffee
• 57:21
  Speaker 1: was on the table by Robert's bed. William took one
• 57:25
  Speaker 1: or two as a matter of course, and began to
• 57:28
  Speaker 1: read the love poems. He was horrified a few minutes
• 57:32
  Speaker 1: later to see the tin empty, but he fastened the
• 57:37
  Speaker 1: lid with a sigh, wondering if Robert would guess who
• 57:41
  Speaker 1: had eaten them. He was afraid he would anyway he'd
• 57:46
  Speaker 1: given him them, and anyway he hadn't known he was
• 57:49
  Speaker 1: eating them. He then went to the dressing table and
• 57:53
  Speaker 1: tried on the watch and chain at various angles and
• 57:57
  Speaker 1: with various postures. He finally resisted the temptation to wear
• 58:03
  Speaker 1: them for the rest of the morning and replaced them
• 58:06
  Speaker 1: on the dressing table. Then he wandered downstairs and round
• 58:11
  Speaker 1: to the shed, where Robert's new bicycle stood in all
• 58:15
  Speaker 1: its glory. It was shining and spotless, and William gazed
• 58:20
  Speaker 1: at it in awe and admiration. He came to the
• 58:24
  Speaker 1: conclusion that he could do it no possible harm by
• 58:28
  Speaker 1: leading it carefully round the house. Encouraged by the fact
• 58:32
  Speaker 1: that Missus Brown was out shopping, he walked it round
• 58:36
  Speaker 1: the house several times. He much enjoyed the feeling of
• 58:39
  Speaker 1: importance and possession that it gave him. He felt loath
• 58:43
  Speaker 1: to part with it. He wondered if it was very
• 58:46
  Speaker 1: hard to ride. He had tried to ride one once
• 58:50
  Speaker 1: when he was staying with an aunt. He stood on
• 58:53
  Speaker 1: a garden bench and with difficulty, transferred himself from that
• 58:58
  Speaker 1: to the bicycle seat. To his surprise and delight, he
• 59:02
  Speaker 1: rode for a few yards before he fell off. He
• 59:06
  Speaker 1: tried again, and fell off again. He tried again, and
• 59:11
  Speaker 1: rode straight into a holly bush. He forgot everything in
• 59:16
  Speaker 1: his determination to master the art. He tried again, and
• 59:20
  Speaker 1: again he fell off, or rode into the holly bush
• 59:25
  Speaker 1: again and again. The shining black paint of the bicycle
• 59:30
  Speaker 1: was scratched, the handlebars were slightly bent, and dulled. William
• 59:35
  Speaker 1: himself was bruised and battered, but unbeaten. At last he
• 59:41
  Speaker 1: managed to avoid the fatal magnet of the holly bush
• 59:45
  Speaker 1: to steer an unsteady zigzag course down the drive and
• 59:49
  Speaker 1: out into the road. He had had no particular intention
• 59:53
  Speaker 1: of riding into the road. In fact, he was still
• 59:57
  Speaker 1: wearing his befeathered head gear and the mat pinned to
• 1:00:02
  Speaker 1: his shoulders. It was only when he was actually in
• 1:00:06
  Speaker 1: the road that he realized that recreat was impossible, that
• 1:00:10
  Speaker 1: he had no idea how to get off the bicycle.
• 1:00:14
  Speaker 1: What followed was to William more like a nightmare than
• 1:00:18
  Speaker 1: anything else. He saw a motorlarrye coming towards him, and
• 1:00:23
  Speaker 1: in sudden panic, turned down a side street and from
• 1:00:26
  Speaker 1: there into another side street. People came out of their
• 1:00:31
  Speaker 1: houses to watch him pass. Children booed or cheered him,
• 1:00:35
  Speaker 1: and ran after him in crowds, and William went on
• 1:00:39
  Speaker 1: and on simply because he could not stop. His iron
• 1:00:44
  Speaker 1: nerve had failed him. He had not even the presence
• 1:00:47
  Speaker 1: of mind to fall off. He was quite lost. He
• 1:00:52
  Speaker 1: had left the town behind him and did not know
• 1:00:54
  Speaker 1: where he was going. But wherever he went he was
• 1:00:58
  Speaker 1: the center of attraction. The strange figure with blackened streaked face,
• 1:01:04
  Speaker 1: mat flying behind in the wind, and a head dress
• 1:01:07
  Speaker 1: of feathers, from which every now and then one floated away,
• 1:01:12
  Speaker 1: brought the population to its doors. Some said he had
• 1:01:16
  Speaker 1: escaped from an asylum, some that he was an advertisement
• 1:01:20
  Speaker 1: of something. The children were inclined to think he was
• 1:01:24
  Speaker 1: part of a circus. William himself had passed beyond despair.
• 1:01:30
  Speaker 1: His face was white and set. His first panic had
• 1:01:34
  Speaker 1: changed to a dull certainty that this would go on forever.
• 1:01:39
  Speaker 1: He would never know how to stop. He supposed he
• 1:01:42
  Speaker 1: would go right across England. He wondered if he were
• 1:01:46
  Speaker 1: near the sea now he couldn't be far off. He
• 1:01:50
  Speaker 1: wondered if he would ever see his mother and father again,
• 1:01:54
  Speaker 1: And his feet pedaled mechanically along. They did not reach
• 1:01:59
  Speaker 1: the pedals at the lowest point. They had to catch
• 1:02:02
  Speaker 1: them as they came up and send them down with
• 1:02:04
  Speaker 1: all their might. It was very tiring. William wondered if
• 1:02:09
  Speaker 1: people would be sorry if he dropped down dead. I
• 1:02:14
  Speaker 1: have said that William did not know where he was going,
• 1:02:17
  Speaker 1: but fate knew. The picnickers walked down the hill from
• 1:02:23
  Speaker 1: the little station to the river bank. It was a
• 1:02:26
  Speaker 1: beautiful morning. Robert, his heart and hopes high, walked beside
• 1:02:31
  Speaker 1: his goddess, reveling in his nearness to her, though he
• 1:02:35
  Speaker 1: could think of nothing to say to her. But Ethel
• 1:02:38
  Speaker 1: and missus Clive chattered gaily. We've given William the slip,
• 1:02:43
  Speaker 1: said Ethel with a laugh. He's no idea where we've
• 1:02:46
  Speaker 1: gone even I'm sorry, said miss Cannon. I'd have loved
• 1:02:51
  Speaker 1: William to be here. You don't know him, said Ethel fervently.
• 1:02:56
  Speaker 1: What a beautiful morning it is, murmured Robert, feeling that
• 1:03:01
  Speaker 1: some remark was due from him. Am I walking too
• 1:03:05
  Speaker 1: fast for you, Miss Cannon? Oh no? May I carry
• 1:03:10
  Speaker 1: your parasol for you? He inquired, humbly. Oh no thanks.
• 1:03:16
  Speaker 1: He proposed a boat on the river after lunch, and
• 1:03:19
  Speaker 1: it appeared that Miss Cannon would love it, but Ethel
• 1:03:22
  Speaker 1: and miss Clive would rather stay on the bank. His
• 1:03:26
  Speaker 1: cup of bliss was full. It would be his opportunity
• 1:03:30
  Speaker 1: of sealing lifelong friendship with her, of arranging a regular
• 1:03:35
  Speaker 1: correspondence and hinting at his ultimate intentions. He must tell
• 1:03:41
  Speaker 1: her that, of course, while he was at college, he
• 1:03:44
  Speaker 1: was not in a position to offer his heart and hand,
• 1:03:48
  Speaker 1: but if she could wait, he began to compose speeches
• 1:03:53
  Speaker 1: in his mind. They reached the bank and opened the
• 1:03:57
  Speaker 1: luncheon baskets. Unhampered by Robert, the cook had surpassed herself.
• 1:04:03
  Speaker 1: They spread the white cloth and took up their positions
• 1:04:06
  Speaker 1: around it under the shade of the trees. Just as
• 1:04:10
  Speaker 1: Robert was taking up a plate of sandwiches to hand
• 1:04:12
  Speaker 1: them with a courteous gesture to miss Cannon, his eyes
• 1:04:17
  Speaker 1: fell upon the long white road leading from the village
• 1:04:20
  Speaker 1: to the river side, and remained fixed there, his face
• 1:04:26
  Speaker 1: frozen with horror. The hand that held the plate dropped
• 1:04:31
  Speaker 1: lifelessly back again on the tablecloth. Their eyes followed his.
• 1:04:37
  Speaker 1: A curious figure was cycling along the road, a figure
• 1:04:42
  Speaker 1: with blackened face and a few drooping feathers on its head,
• 1:04:46
  Speaker 1: and a door mat flying in the wind. A crowd
• 1:04:50
  Speaker 1: of small children ran behind, cheering. It was a figure
• 1:04:55
  Speaker 1: vaguely familiar to them. All. It can't be, said Robert hoarsely,
• 1:05:01
  Speaker 1: passing a hand over his brow. No one spoke. It
• 1:05:06
  Speaker 1: came nearer and nearer. There was no mistaking it. William
• 1:05:13
  Speaker 1: gasped four voices. William came to the end of the road.
• 1:05:19
  Speaker 1: He did not turn aside to either of the roads
• 1:05:22
  Speaker 1: by the river side. He did not even recognize or
• 1:05:26
  Speaker 1: look at them. With set colorless face. He rode on
• 1:05:30
  Speaker 1: to the river bank and straight amongst them. They fled
• 1:05:35
  Speaker 1: from before his charge. He rode over the tablecloth, over
• 1:05:39
  Speaker 1: the sandwiches, paddies, rolls and cakes, down the bank and
• 1:05:45
  Speaker 1: into the river. They rescued him, and the bicycle fate
• 1:05:52
  Speaker 1: was against Robert. Even there. It was a passing boatman
• 1:05:56
  Speaker 1: who performed the rescue. William emerged soaked to the skin,
• 1:06:01
  Speaker 1: utterly exhausted, but feeling vaguely heroic. He was not in
• 1:06:07
  Speaker 1: the least surprised to see them. He would have been
• 1:06:10
  Speaker 1: surprised at nothing. And Robert wiped and examined his battered
• 1:06:16
  Speaker 1: bicycle in impotent fury in the background, while Miss Cannon
• 1:06:21
  Speaker 1: pillowed William's dripping head on her arm, fed him on
• 1:06:26
  Speaker 1: hot coffee and sandwiches, and called him my poor darling
• 1:06:31
  Speaker 1: red hand. She insisted on going home with him. All
• 1:06:37
  Speaker 1: through the journey she sustained the character of his faithful squaw,
• 1:06:42
  Speaker 1: then leaving a casual invitation to Robert and Ethel to
• 1:06:47
  Speaker 1: come over to tea. She departed to pack. Missus Brown
• 1:06:52
  Speaker 1: descended the stairs from William's room with a tray on
• 1:06:56
  Speaker 1: which reposed a half empty bowl of gruel, and met
• 1:06:59
  Speaker 1: Robert in the hall. Robert, she remonstrated, you really needn't
• 1:07:04
  Speaker 1: look so upset. Robert glared at her and laughed a
• 1:07:10
  Speaker 1: hollow laugh. Upset, he echoed, outraged by the inadequacy of
• 1:07:16
  Speaker 1: the expression. You'd be upset if your life was ruined,
• 1:07:20
  Speaker 1: you'd be upset. I've a right to be upset. He
• 1:07:25
  Speaker 1: passed his hand desperately through his already ruffled hair. You're
• 1:07:30
  Speaker 1: going there to tea, she reminded him, Yes, he said, bitterly,
• 1:07:36
  Speaker 1: with other people who can talk with other people? There
• 1:07:41
  Speaker 1: no one can. I'd have talked to her on the river.
• 1:07:44
  Speaker 1: I'd got heaps of things ready in my mind to say.
• 1:07:48
  Speaker 1: And William comes along and spoils my whole life and
• 1:07:53
  Speaker 1: my bicycle. And she's the most beautiful girl I've ever
• 1:07:58
  Speaker 1: seen in my life. And I've wanted that bicycle for
• 1:08:01
  Speaker 1: ever so long, and it's not fit to ride. But
• 1:08:06
  Speaker 1: poor William has caught a very bad chill, dear, so
• 1:08:10
  Speaker 1: you oughtn't to feel bitter to him, and he'll have
• 1:08:13
  Speaker 1: to pay for your bicycle being mended. He'll have no
• 1:08:17
  Speaker 1: pocket money till it's paid for. You'd think, said Robert,
• 1:08:21
  Speaker 1: with a despairing gesture in the direction of the hall table,
• 1:08:25
  Speaker 1: and apparently addressing it. You'd think four grown up people
• 1:08:30
  Speaker 1: in a house could keep a boy of William's age
• 1:08:33
  Speaker 1: in order, wouldn't you. You'd think he wouldn't be allowed
• 1:08:36
  Speaker 1: to go about spoiling people's lives and ruining their bicycles. Well,
• 1:08:42
  Speaker 1: he jolly won't do it again, he ended darkly. Missus
• 1:08:47
  Speaker 1: Brown proceeded in the direction of the kitchen Robert, She said,
• 1:08:51
  Speaker 1: soothingly over her shoulder. You surely want to be at
• 1:08:54
  Speaker 1: peace with your little brother when he's not well. What
• 1:08:57
  Speaker 1: won't you peace? He said. Robert turned his haggard countenance
• 1:09:02
  Speaker 1: upon her, as though his ears must have deceived him peace.
• 1:09:07
  Speaker 1: I'll wait. I'll wait till he's all right and going about.
• 1:09:12
  Speaker 1: I won't start till then that peace. It's not peace.
• 1:09:17
  Speaker 1: It's an armistice. That's all. End of Chapter two, Chapter three,
• 1:09:25
  Speaker 1: William below stairs. William was feeling embittered with life in general.
• 1:09:32
  Speaker 1: He was passing through one of his not infrequent periods
• 1:09:36
  Speaker 1: of unpopularity. The climax had come with the gift of
• 1:09:40
  Speaker 1: sixpence bestowed on him by a timid ant who hoped
• 1:09:45
  Speaker 1: thus to purchase his good will. With the sixpence, he
• 1:09:49
  Speaker 1: had bought a balloon adorned with the legs and head
• 1:09:52
  Speaker 1: of a duck. Fashioned in cardboard, this could be blown
• 1:09:56
  Speaker 1: up to its fullest extent and then left to subside.
• 1:10:00
  Speaker 1: It took several minutes to subside, and during those minutes
• 1:10:04
  Speaker 1: it emitted a long, drawn out and high pitched groan.
• 1:10:10
  Speaker 1: The advantage of this was obvious. William could blow it
• 1:10:14
  Speaker 1: up to its fullest extent in private, and leave it
• 1:10:17
  Speaker 1: to subside in public, concealed beneath his coat. While this
• 1:10:22
  Speaker 1: was going on, William looked around as though in bewildered astonishment.
• 1:10:27
  Speaker 1: He inflated it before he went to breakfast. He then
• 1:10:31
  Speaker 1: held it firmly and secretly, so as to keep it
• 1:10:34
  Speaker 1: inflated till he was sitting at the table. Then he
• 1:10:38
  Speaker 1: let it subside. His mother knocked over a cup of coffee,
• 1:10:43
  Speaker 1: and his father cut himself with the bread knife. Ethel
• 1:10:47
  Speaker 1: His elder sister indulged in a mild form of nervous breakdown.
• 1:10:52
  Speaker 1: William sat with a face of startled innocence. But nothing
• 1:10:56
  Speaker 1: enraged his family so much as William's expression of innocence.
• 1:11:01
  Speaker 1: They fell upon him, and he defended himself as well
• 1:11:04
  Speaker 1: as he could. Yes, he was holding the balloon under
• 1:11:08
  Speaker 1: the table. Well, he'd blown it up some time ago.
• 1:11:12
  Speaker 1: He couldn't keep it blown up forever. He had to
• 1:11:16
  Speaker 1: let the air out some time. He couldn't help it
• 1:11:19
  Speaker 1: making a noise when the air went out. It was
• 1:11:22
  Speaker 1: the way it was made. He hadn't made it. He
• 1:11:26
  Speaker 1: set off to school with an air of injured innocence
• 1:11:30
  Speaker 1: and the balloon. Observing an elderly and irascible looking gentleman
• 1:11:36
  Speaker 1: in front of him, He went a few steps down
• 1:11:39
  Speaker 1: a back street, blew up his balloon and held it
• 1:11:43
  Speaker 1: tightly under his coat. Then, when abreast of the old gentleman,
• 1:11:47
  Speaker 1: he let it off. The old gentleman gave a leap
• 1:11:51
  Speaker 1: into the air and glared fiercely around. He glanced at
• 1:11:56
  Speaker 1: the small, virtuous looking schoolboy with obvious no instrument of
• 1:12:01
  Speaker 1: torture at his lips, and then concentrated his glare of
• 1:12:05
  Speaker 1: fury and suspicion on the upper windows. William hastened on
• 1:12:10
  Speaker 1: to the next pedestrian. He had quite a happy walk
• 1:12:14
  Speaker 1: to school. School was at first equally successful. William opened
• 1:12:20
  Speaker 1: his desk hastily inflated his balloon, closed his desk, then
• 1:12:25
  Speaker 1: gazed round with his practiced expression of horrified astonishment at
• 1:12:30
  Speaker 1: what followed. He drove the French master to distraction. Step out,
• 1:12:36
  Speaker 1: Who makes the noise? He screamed. No one stepped out,
• 1:12:40
  Speaker 1: and the noise continued at intervals. The mathematics master finally
• 1:12:46
  Speaker 1: discovered and confiscated the balloon. I hope, said the father
• 1:12:51
  Speaker 1: at lunch, that they've taken away that infernal machine of yours.
• 1:12:57
  Speaker 1: William replied sadly that they had. He added that some
• 1:13:02
  Speaker 1: people didn't seem to think it was stealing to take
• 1:13:04
  Speaker 1: other people's things. Then we may look forward to a
• 1:13:09
  Speaker 1: little piece this evening, said the father politely. Not that
• 1:13:13
  Speaker 1: it matters to me, as I'm going out to dinner.
• 1:13:17
  Speaker 1: The only thing that relieves the tedium of going out
• 1:13:20
  Speaker 1: to dinner is the fact that for a short time
• 1:13:23
  Speaker 1: one has a rest from William. William acknowledged the compliment
• 1:13:29
  Speaker 1: by a scowl and a mysterious muttered remark to the
• 1:13:33
  Speaker 1: effect that some people were always at him during preparation.
• 1:13:38
  Speaker 1: In afternoon school, he read a story book kindly lent
• 1:13:42
  Speaker 1: him by his next door neighbor. It was not because
• 1:13:46
  Speaker 1: he had no work to do that William read a
• 1:13:48
  Speaker 1: story book in preparation. It was a mark of defiance
• 1:13:52
  Speaker 1: to the world in general. It was also a very
• 1:13:55
  Speaker 1: interesting story book. It opened with the hero as a
• 1:13:59
  Speaker 1: small boy, misunderstood and ill treated by every one around him.
• 1:14:04
  Speaker 1: Then he ran away. He went to sea, and in
• 1:14:08
  Speaker 1: a few years made an immense fortune in the gold fields.
• 1:14:12
  Speaker 1: He returned in the last chapter and forgave his family
• 1:14:16
  Speaker 1: and presented them with a noble mansion and several shiploads
• 1:14:20
  Speaker 1: of gold. The idea impressed William all except the end part.
• 1:14:26
  Speaker 1: He thought he'd prefer to have the noble mansion himself
• 1:14:29
  Speaker 1: and pay rare visits to his family, during which he
• 1:14:33
  Speaker 1: would listen to their humble apologies and perhaps give them
• 1:14:37
  Speaker 1: a nugget or two, but not very much, certainly not
• 1:14:41
  Speaker 1: much to ethel. He wasn't sure whether he'd ever really
• 1:14:45
  Speaker 1: forgive them. He'd have rooms full of squeaky balloons and
• 1:14:49
  Speaker 1: trumpets in his house anyway, and he'd keep caterpillars and
• 1:14:54
  Speaker 1: white rats all over the place too. Things they made
• 1:14:58
  Speaker 1: such a fuss about in their old house. And he'd
• 1:15:01
  Speaker 1: always go about in dirty boots, and he'd never brush
• 1:15:05
  Speaker 1: his hair or wash. And he'd keep dozens of motor cars,
• 1:15:09
  Speaker 1: and he wouldn't let ethel go out in any of them.
• 1:15:13
  Speaker 1: He was roused from this enthralling day dream by the
• 1:15:16
  Speaker 1: discovery and confiscation of his story book by the master
• 1:15:20
  Speaker 1: in charge, and the subsequent fury of its owner. In
• 1:15:25
  Speaker 1: order adequately to express his annoyance, he dropped a little
• 1:15:29
  Speaker 1: ball of blotting paper soaked in ink down William's back. William,
• 1:15:35
  Speaker 1: on attempting retaliation, was sentenced to stay in half an hour.
• 1:15:40
  Speaker 1: After school, he returned gloomily to his history book upside
• 1:15:45
  Speaker 1: down and his misanthropic view of life. He compared himself
• 1:15:50
  Speaker 1: bitterly with the hero of the story book, and decided
• 1:15:54
  Speaker 1: not to waste another moment of his life in uncongenial surroundings.
• 1:15:59
  Speaker 1: He made a firm determination to run away. As soon
• 1:16:02
  Speaker 1: as he was released from school. He walked briskly down
• 1:16:07
  Speaker 1: the road away from the village. In his pocket, reposed
• 1:16:11
  Speaker 1: the balloon he had made the cheering discovery that the
• 1:16:14
  Speaker 1: mathematics master had left it on his desk, so he
• 1:16:18
  Speaker 1: had joyfully taken it again into his possession. He thought
• 1:16:22
  Speaker 1: he might reach the coast before night and get to
• 1:16:25
  Speaker 1: the gold fields before next week. He didn't suppose it
• 1:16:29
  Speaker 1: took long to make a fortune there. He might be
• 1:16:33
  Speaker 1: back before next Christmas. And crumbs he'd jolly well make
• 1:16:37
  Speaker 1: people sit up. He wouldn't go to school, for one thing,
• 1:16:41
  Speaker 1: and he'd be jolly careful who he gave nuggets to.
• 1:16:45
  Speaker 1: For another. He'd give nuggets to the butcher's boy, and
• 1:16:48
  Speaker 1: the postman, and the man who came to tune the piano,
• 1:16:52
  Speaker 1: and the chimney sweep. He wouldn't give any to any
• 1:16:56
  Speaker 1: of his family or any of the masters at the school.
• 1:17:00
  Speaker 1: He'd just serve people out the way they served him.
• 1:17:04
  Speaker 1: He just would. The road to the coast seemed rather long,
• 1:17:09
  Speaker 1: and he was growing rather tired. He walked in a
• 1:17:12
  Speaker 1: ditch for a change, and then scraped through a hedge
• 1:17:15
  Speaker 1: and took a short cut across a plowed field. Dusk
• 1:17:19
  Speaker 1: was falling fast, and even William's buoyant spirits began to flag.
• 1:17:25
  Speaker 1: The fortune part was all very well, but in the
• 1:17:28
  Speaker 1: meantime he was cold and tired and hungry. He hadn't
• 1:17:34
  Speaker 1: yet reached the coast, much less the gold fields. Something
• 1:17:39
  Speaker 1: must be done. He remembered that the boy in the
• 1:17:42
  Speaker 1: story had begged his way to the coast. William determined
• 1:17:48
  Speaker 1: to beg his but at present there seemed nothing to
• 1:17:52
  Speaker 1: beg it from except a hawthorn hedge and a scarecrow
• 1:17:56
  Speaker 1: in the field behind it. He wandered on disconsolately, deciding
• 1:18:02
  Speaker 1: to begin his career as a beggar at the first
• 1:18:06
  Speaker 1: sign of human habitation. At last, he discovered a pair
• 1:18:10
  Speaker 1: of iron gates through the dusk, and, assuming an expression
• 1:18:14
  Speaker 1: of patient suffering, calculated to melt a heart of stone,
• 1:18:19
  Speaker 1: walked up the drive. At the front door, he smoothed
• 1:18:24
  Speaker 1: down his hair he had lost his cap on the way,
• 1:18:28
  Speaker 1: pulled up his stockings, and rang the bell. After an interval,
• 1:18:33
  Speaker 1: a stout gentleman in the garb of a butler opened
• 1:18:36
  Speaker 1: the door and glared ferociously up and down. William, Please,
• 1:18:43
  Speaker 1: began William plaintively. The stout gentleman interrupted, If you're the
• 1:18:48
  Speaker 1: new boots, He said, majestically, go round to the back door.
• 1:18:54
  Speaker 1: If you're not, go away. He then shut the door
• 1:19:00
  Speaker 1: in William's face. William on the top step considered the
• 1:19:04
  Speaker 1: question for a few minutes. It was dark and cold,
• 1:19:09
  Speaker 1: with every prospect of becoming darker and colder, he decided
• 1:19:14
  Speaker 1: to be the new Boots. He found his way round
• 1:19:17
  Speaker 1: to the back door and knocked firmly. It was opened
• 1:19:21
  Speaker 1: by a large woman in a print dress and apron.
• 1:19:25
  Speaker 1: Why ja WoT, she said aggressively, he said, said William firmly,
• 1:19:31
  Speaker 1: to come around if I was the new Boots. The
• 1:19:34
  Speaker 1: woman surveyed him in grim disapproval. You've been round to
• 1:19:39
  Speaker 1: the front, she said, nerve. Her disapproval increased to suspicion.
• 1:19:47
  Speaker 1: Where's your things? She said? Come in, said William, without
• 1:19:51
  Speaker 1: a moment's hesitation. Too tired to bring em with you,
• 1:19:55
  Speaker 1: she said sarcastically, All right, come in. William came in gratefully.
• 1:20:02
  Speaker 1: It was a large, warm, clean kitchen. A small kitchen
• 1:20:06
  Speaker 1: maid was peeling potatoes at a sink, and a housemaid
• 1:20:10
  Speaker 1: in black with the frilled cap and apron was powdering
• 1:20:13
  Speaker 1: her nose before a glass on the wall. They both
• 1:20:17
  Speaker 1: turned to stare at William. Here's the new boots, announced
• 1:20:21
  Speaker 1: cook is valet. Bringin is things? Later, the housemaid looked
• 1:20:27
  Speaker 1: up William from his muddy boots to his untidy hair,
• 1:20:31
  Speaker 1: then down William from his untidy hair to his muddy boots.
• 1:20:36
  Speaker 1: Impert at looking child, she commented, haughtily. Returning to her task,
• 1:20:41
  Speaker 1: William decided inwardly that she was to have no share
• 1:20:45
  Speaker 1: at all in the nuggets. The kitchen maid giggled and
• 1:20:49
  Speaker 1: winked at William with obviously friendly intent. William mentally promised
• 1:20:55
  Speaker 1: her half a shipload of nuggets now then smutty, said
• 1:21:00
  Speaker 1: the housemaid, without turning round. None of your sauce, add
• 1:21:04
  Speaker 1: your tea, said the cook to William. William's spirits rose, No,
• 1:21:11
  Speaker 1: he said, plaintively, all right, sit down at the table.
• 1:21:15
  Speaker 1: William's spirits soared sky high. He sat at the table,
• 1:21:20
  Speaker 1: and the cook put a large plate of bread and
• 1:21:24
  Speaker 1: butter before him. William set to work at once. The
• 1:21:28
  Speaker 1: housemaid regarded him scornfully, learnt his way of eating at
• 1:21:33
  Speaker 1: the zoo, she said, pityingly. The kitchen maid giggled again
• 1:21:38
  Speaker 1: and gave William another wink. William had given himself up
• 1:21:43
  Speaker 1: to wholehearted epicurean enjoying of his bread and butter, and
• 1:21:48
  Speaker 1: took no notice of them At this moment the butler entered.
• 1:21:53
  Speaker 1: He subjected the quite unmoved William to another long survey.
• 1:21:59
  Speaker 1: When next you a hintering of this house, my boy,
• 1:22:02
  Speaker 1: he said, kindly, remember that the front door is reserved
• 1:22:06
  Speaker 1: for gentry, and the back for brats. William merely looked
• 1:22:11
  Speaker 1: at him coldly over a hunk of bread and butter. Mentally,
• 1:22:16
  Speaker 1: he knocked him off the list of nugget receivers. The
• 1:22:21
  Speaker 1: butler looked sadly round the room. They're all the same,
• 1:22:25
  Speaker 1: he lamented. Eat eat, eat nothin but eat eat all
• 1:22:30
  Speaker 1: day and eat all night. He's not been an ouse
• 1:22:34
  Speaker 1: two minutes and he's at it. Eat, Eat, eat. He'll
• 1:22:37
  Speaker 1: have all the buttons burst off his uniform in a week,
• 1:22:40
  Speaker 1: like what the largest one had. Like eatin better than workin',
• 1:22:45
  Speaker 1: don't you, he said sarcastically to William. Yes, I do too,
• 1:22:50
  Speaker 1: said William with firm conviction. The kitchen maid giggled again,
• 1:22:55
  Speaker 1: and the housemaid gave a sigh expressive of scorn and
• 1:23:00
  Speaker 1: weariness as she drew a thin pencil over her eyebrows. Well,
• 1:23:06
  Speaker 1: if you've quite finished, my lord, said the butler, in
• 1:23:10
  Speaker 1: ponderous irony, I'll show you to your room. William indicated
• 1:23:16
  Speaker 1: that he had quite finished, and was led up to
• 1:23:18
  Speaker 1: a very small bedroom. Over a chair lay a page's
• 1:23:22
  Speaker 1: uniform with the conventional row of brass buttons down the
• 1:23:26
  Speaker 1: front of the coat. Dogs, explained the butler briefly. Your
• 1:23:31
  Speaker 1: dog's fix em on quick as you can. There's company
• 1:23:34
  Speaker 1: to dinner to night. William fixed them on. You're smaller
• 1:23:39
  Speaker 1: than what the last one was, said the butler, critically,
• 1:23:42
  Speaker 1: they hang a bit loose. Never mind, we've a week
• 1:23:46
  Speaker 1: or two of stuffin. You'll have most probable bustin', so
• 1:23:49
  Speaker 1: it's as well to hang loose first. Now come on,
• 1:23:52
  Speaker 1: oo's bringin over your things. Er, a friend explained William.
• 1:23:58
  Speaker 1: I suppose it is a bit too much to expect
• 1:24:01
  Speaker 1: you to carry your own parcels, went on the butler.
• 1:24:05
  Speaker 1: In these here days bloomin bolshevist, I expect, aren't you.
• 1:24:10
  Speaker 1: William condescended to explain himself. I'm a gold digger, he said. Crikey,
• 1:24:18
  Speaker 1: said the butler. William was led down again to the kitchen.
• 1:24:23
  Speaker 1: The butler threw open a door that led to a
• 1:24:26
  Speaker 1: small pantry. This yere is where you work, and this here,
• 1:24:30
  Speaker 1: pointing to a large kitchen. Is where you live? You
• 1:24:34
  Speaker 1: have not? He ended haughtily the hentry into the servants,
• 1:24:38
  Speaker 1: all crumbs, said William. You might as well begin at once,
• 1:24:44
  Speaker 1: went on the butler. There's all this lunch knives to clean.
• 1:24:48
  Speaker 1: Here's a hapron, here's a knife board, and here's the
• 1:24:51
  Speaker 1: knife powder. Shut the bewildered William into the small pantry
• 1:24:57
  Speaker 1: and turned to the cook. What do you think think
• 1:25:00
  Speaker 1: of him? He said? He looks, said the cook gloomily.
• 1:25:04
  Speaker 1: The sort of boy will have trouble with not much clarse,
• 1:25:09
  Speaker 1: said the housemaid, arranging her frilled apron. It surprises me
• 1:25:14
  Speaker 1: how many creatures like a boy can grow into an experienced, sensible,
• 1:25:19
  Speaker 1: broad minded man like you, mister Biggs. Mister Biggs simpered
• 1:25:25
  Speaker 1: and straightened his necktie. Well, he admitted, as a boy,
• 1:25:30
  Speaker 1: of course, I wasn't like him. Here the pantry door opened,
• 1:25:34
  Speaker 1: and William's face, plentifully adorned with knife powder, came round.
• 1:25:40
  Speaker 1: I've done some of the knives, he said, Shall I
• 1:25:43
  Speaker 1: be doin something else? And finished the others afterwards. How
• 1:25:47
  Speaker 1: many have you done, said mister Biggs? One or two,
• 1:25:51
  Speaker 1: said William vaguely, Then with a concession to accuracy. Well two,
• 1:25:57
  Speaker 1: but I'm feeling tired of doin knives. The kitchen maid
• 1:26:02
  Speaker 1: emitted a scream of delight, and the cook heaved a
• 1:26:06
  Speaker 1: deep sigh. The butler advanced slowly and majestically towards William's
• 1:26:12
  Speaker 1: tousled head, which was still craned around the pantry door.
• 1:26:17
  Speaker 1: You'll finish them nives, my boy, he said. Or William
• 1:26:21
  Speaker 1: considered the weight and sighs of mister Biggs. All right,
• 1:26:26
  Speaker 1: he said, pacifically, I'll finish the knives. He disappeared, closing
• 1:26:30
  Speaker 1: the pantry door behind him. He's going to be a trial,
• 1:26:35
  Speaker 1: said the cook. And no mistake, trial's hardly the word,
• 1:26:40
  Speaker 1: said mister Biggs. Affliction, supplied the housemaid. That's more like it,
• 1:26:46
  Speaker 1: said mister Biggs. Here William's head appeared again. What time supper,
• 1:26:51
  Speaker 1: he said. He retired precipitately at a hysterical shriek from
• 1:26:57
  Speaker 1: the kitchen maid and a roar of fury the butler.
• 1:27:02
  Speaker 1: You'd better go and do your potatoes in the pantry,
• 1:27:05
  Speaker 1: said the cook to the kitchen maid. And let's have
• 1:27:07
  Speaker 1: a bit of piece in here. An seees he's doin
• 1:27:10
  Speaker 1: of his work, all right, the kitchen maid departed joyfully
• 1:27:14
  Speaker 1: to the pantry. William was sitting by the table, idly
• 1:27:18
  Speaker 1: toying with a knife. He had experimented upon the knife
• 1:27:22
  Speaker 1: powder by mixing it with water, and the little brown
• 1:27:25
  Speaker 1: pies that were the result lay in a row on
• 1:27:29
  Speaker 1: the mantelpiece. He had also tasted it, as the dark
• 1:27:33
  Speaker 1: stains upon his lips testified. His hair was standing straight
• 1:27:38
  Speaker 1: up on his head, as it always did when life
• 1:27:40
  Speaker 1: was strenuous. He began the conversation. You'd be surprised, he said,
• 1:27:46
  Speaker 1: if you knew what I really was. She giggled. Go on,
• 1:27:52
  Speaker 1: she said, what are you? I'm a gold digger, he said,
• 1:27:58
  Speaker 1: I've got shiploads and ship loads of gold, at least
• 1:28:02
  Speaker 1: I will have soon. I'm not going to give him,
• 1:28:07
  Speaker 1: pointing towards the door, any nor any of them in there.
• 1:28:12
  Speaker 1: What about me, said the kitchen maid, winking at the cat.
• 1:28:16
  Speaker 1: As the only third person to be let into the joke,
• 1:28:21
  Speaker 1: you said, William, graciously shall have a whole lot of nuggets.
• 1:28:25
  Speaker 1: Look here, with a princely flourish, he took up a
• 1:28:29
  Speaker 1: knife and cut off three buttons from the middle of
• 1:28:32
  Speaker 1: his coat and gave them to her. You keep those,
• 1:28:36
  Speaker 1: and they'll be kind of tokens. See when I come
• 1:28:39
  Speaker 1: home rich, you show me the buttons, and I'll remember
• 1:28:43
  Speaker 1: and give you the nuggets. See, I'll maybe marry you,
• 1:28:47
  Speaker 1: he promised, if I've not married any one else. The
• 1:28:51
  Speaker 1: kitchen maid put her head round the pantry door. He's looney,
• 1:28:55
  Speaker 1: she said. It's lovely listen to him talkin. Further conversation
• 1:29:01
  Speaker 1: was prevented by the ringing of the front door bell
• 1:29:04
  Speaker 1: and the arrival of company. Mister Biggs and the housemaid
• 1:29:10
  Speaker 1: departed to do the honors. The kitchen maid ran to
• 1:29:13
  Speaker 1: help with the dishing up, and William was left sitting
• 1:29:17
  Speaker 1: on the pantry table, idly making patterns in knife powder
• 1:29:21
  Speaker 1: with his finger. What was he a doin, said the
• 1:29:25
  Speaker 1: cook to the kitchen maid. Nuttin cept talkin', said the
• 1:29:29
  Speaker 1: kitchen maid. He's a cure, he is, she added, if
• 1:29:35
  Speaker 1: you finished the knives, called out the cook. There's some
• 1:29:38
  Speaker 1: boots and shoes on the floor to be done, brushes
• 1:29:41
  Speaker 1: and blacking on the shelf. William arose with alacrity. He
• 1:29:47
  Speaker 1: thought boots would be more interesting than knives. He carefully
• 1:29:51
  Speaker 1: concealed the pile of uncleaned knives behind the knife box
• 1:29:55
  Speaker 1: and began on the shoes. The butler returned, soup ready,
• 1:30:01
  Speaker 1: he said, the company's just gone into the dining room.
• 1:30:04
  Speaker 1: A pal of the master's decent lookin bloke, he added, patronizingly. William,
• 1:30:11
  Speaker 1: in his pantry had covered a brush very thickly with blacking,
• 1:30:15
  Speaker 1: and was putting it in heavy layers on the boots
• 1:30:18
  Speaker 1: and shoes. A large part of it adhered to his
• 1:30:22
  Speaker 1: own hands. The butler looked in at him. What's happened
• 1:30:27
  Speaker 1: to your buttons, he said, sternly. Come off, said William.
• 1:30:31
  Speaker 1: Bust Off corrected the butler. I said, so soon as
• 1:30:35
  Speaker 1: I saw you, I said, you'd have eat your buttons,
• 1:30:39
  Speaker 1: bust Off in a week. Well you've eaten bust Off
• 1:30:43
  Speaker 1: in ten minutes, eaten and destroyin of his clothes, he said, gloomily,
• 1:30:48
  Speaker 1: returning to the kitchen. It's all boys ever do, eatin
• 1:30:52
  Speaker 1: and destroyin of their clothes. He went out with the soup,
• 1:30:56
  Speaker 1: and William was left with the boots. Was getting tired
• 1:31:00
  Speaker 1: of boots. He'd covered them all thickly with blacking, and
• 1:31:04
  Speaker 1: he didn't know what to do next. Then suddenly he
• 1:31:07
  Speaker 1: remembered his balloon in his pocket. Upstairs, it might serve
• 1:31:12
  Speaker 1: to vary the monotony of life. He slipped quietly upstairs
• 1:31:16
  Speaker 1: for it, and then returned to his boots. Soon mister
• 1:31:21
  Speaker 1: Biggs and the housemaid returned with the empty soup plates.
• 1:31:25
  Speaker 1: Then through the kitchen resounded a high pitched squeal, dying
• 1:31:30
  Speaker 1: away slowly and shrilly. The housemaid screamed, locks said the cook.
• 1:31:37
  Speaker 1: Someone's a torturren of the poor cat to death. He'll
• 1:31:41
  Speaker 1: be that blessed boy. The butler advanced manfully and opened
• 1:31:47
  Speaker 1: the pantry door. William stood holding in one hand an
• 1:31:51
  Speaker 1: inflated balloon with the cardboard head and the legs of
• 1:31:55
  Speaker 1: a duck. The butler approached him, if you let off
• 1:32:00
  Speaker 1: that thing oncece more, you little varmit, he said, ah threateningly.
• 1:32:07
  Speaker 1: He had advanced his large expanse of countenance very close
• 1:32:11
  Speaker 1: to Williams. Acting upon a sudden, uncontrollable impulse, William took
• 1:32:17
  Speaker 1: up the brush, thickly smeared with blacking and pushed back
• 1:32:22
  Speaker 1: mister Biggs's face with it. There was a moment's silence
• 1:32:27
  Speaker 1: of sheer horror. Then mister Biggs hurled himself furiously upon William.
• 1:32:34
  Speaker 1: In the dining room, sat the Master and mistress of
• 1:32:38
  Speaker 1: the house and their guest. Did the new boots arrive,
• 1:32:42
  Speaker 1: said the master to his wife, Yes, she said, any good,
• 1:32:47
  Speaker 1: he said. He doesn't seem to have impressed Biggs very favorably.
• 1:32:51
  Speaker 1: She said, but they never do, the human boy said.
• 1:32:56
  Speaker 1: The guest is given us as a discipline. I possess one,
• 1:33:01
  Speaker 1: though he is my own son. I find it difficult
• 1:33:04
  Speaker 1: to describe the atmosphere of peace and relief that pervades
• 1:33:09
  Speaker 1: the house when he is out of it. I'd like
• 1:33:12
  Speaker 1: to meet your son, said the host. You probably will
• 1:33:16
  Speaker 1: sooner or later, said the guest, gloomily. Every one in
• 1:33:20
  Speaker 1: the neighborhood meets him sooner or later. He does not
• 1:33:23
  Speaker 1: hide his light under a bushel. Personally, I prefer people
• 1:33:28
  Speaker 1: who haven't met him. They can't judge me by him.
• 1:33:32
  Speaker 1: At this moment, the butler came in with a note.
• 1:33:36
  Speaker 1: No answer, he said, and departed with his slow dignity.
• 1:33:42
  Speaker 1: Excuse me, said the lady as she opened it. It's
• 1:33:45
  Speaker 1: from my sister. I hope she read that you aren't
• 1:33:49
  Speaker 1: inconvenienced much by the non arrival of the boots I
• 1:33:53
  Speaker 1: engaged for you. He's got flu, but he's come, she
• 1:33:58
  Speaker 1: said wonderingly. There came the sound of an angry shout,
• 1:34:02
  Speaker 1: a distant scream, and the clattering of heavy running footsteps
• 1:34:07
  Speaker 1: growing nearer. A revolution, I expect, said the guest wearily.
• 1:34:13
  Speaker 1: The reds are upon us. At that moment the door
• 1:34:18
  Speaker 1: was burst open, and in rushed a boy with a
• 1:34:20
  Speaker 1: blacking brush in one hand and an inflated balloon in
• 1:34:24
  Speaker 1: the other. He was much disheveled, with three buttons off
• 1:34:29
  Speaker 1: the front of his uniform, and his face streaked with
• 1:34:32
  Speaker 1: knife powder and blacking. Behind him ran a fat butler,
• 1:34:37
  Speaker 1: his face purple with fury beneath a large smear of blacking.
• 1:34:43
  Speaker 1: The boy rushed round the table, slipped on the polished floor,
• 1:34:49
  Speaker 1: clutched desperately at the neck of the guest, bringing both
• 1:34:52
  Speaker 1: guest and chair down upon the floor beside him. In
• 1:34:57
  Speaker 1: a sudden silence of utter peril horror, guest and boy
• 1:35:02
  Speaker 1: sat on the floor and stared at each other. Then
• 1:35:07
  Speaker 1: the boy's nerveless hand relaxed its hold upon the balloon,
• 1:35:11
  Speaker 1: which had somehow or others survived the vicissitudes of the flight,
• 1:35:16
  Speaker 1: and a shrill squeak rang through the silence of the room.
• 1:35:21
  Speaker 1: The master and mistress of the house sat looking round
• 1:35:25
  Speaker 1: in dazed astonishment. As the guest looked at the boy,
• 1:35:30
  Speaker 1: there appeared on his countenance amazement, then incredulity, and finally
• 1:35:37
  Speaker 1: frozen horror. As the boy looked at the guest, there
• 1:35:42
  Speaker 1: appeared on his countenance amazement, then incredulity, and finally blank dejection.
• 1:35:51
  Speaker 1: Good Lord, said the guest. It's William, Oh crumbs, said
• 1:35:57
  Speaker 1: the boots. It's father. End of Chapter three, Chapter four,
• 1:36:06
  Speaker 1: The Fall of the Idol. William was bored. He sat
• 1:36:12
  Speaker 1: at his desk in the sunny school room and gazed
• 1:36:15
  Speaker 1: dispassionately at a row of figures on the blackboard. It
• 1:36:19
  Speaker 1: isn't since, he murmured, scornfully. Miss Drew was also bored,
• 1:36:24
  Speaker 1: but unlike William, she tried to hide the fact. If
• 1:36:29
  Speaker 1: the interest on a hundred pounds for one year is
• 1:36:32
  Speaker 1: five pounds, she said wearily, then William Brown, douce it
• 1:36:37
  Speaker 1: up and don't look so stupid. William changed his position
• 1:36:42
  Speaker 1: from that of lalling over one side of his desk
• 1:36:46
  Speaker 1: to that of lolling over the other, and began to
• 1:36:49
  Speaker 1: justify himself. Well, I can't understand any of it. It's
• 1:36:54
  Speaker 1: enough to make any one look stupid when he can't
• 1:36:57
  Speaker 1: understand any of it. I can't think of why people
• 1:37:00
  Speaker 1: go on giving people bits of money, for giving him
• 1:37:03
  Speaker 1: lots of money, and go on and on doin it.
• 1:37:06
  Speaker 1: It don't seem makes sense. Anyone's a mug for giving
• 1:37:10
  Speaker 1: anyone a hundred pounds just cause he says, he'll go
• 1:37:12
  Speaker 1: on giving him five pounds and go on stickin to
• 1:37:15
  Speaker 1: his hundred pounds. How's he to know he will? Well,
• 1:37:18
  Speaker 1: he warmed to his subject. What's to stop him not
• 1:37:21
  Speaker 1: given any five pounds once he's got hold of a
• 1:37:24
  Speaker 1: hundred pounds and going on sticking to the hundred pounds.
• 1:37:28
  Speaker 1: Miss Drew checked him by a slim upraised hand, William,
• 1:37:34
  Speaker 1: she said, patiently, just listen to me now. Suppose her
• 1:37:40
  Speaker 1: eyes roved round the room and settled on a small,
• 1:37:43
  Speaker 1: red haired boy. Suppose that Eric wanted a hundred pounds
• 1:37:48
  Speaker 1: for something, and you lent it to him. I wouldn't
• 1:37:52
  Speaker 1: lend Eric a hundred pounds, he said firmly, because I
• 1:37:55
  Speaker 1: hadn't got it. I've only got three and a halfpennies,
• 1:37:58
  Speaker 1: and I won't lend that to Eric because I'm not
• 1:38:02
  Speaker 1: such a mug. Because I lent him my mouth organ
• 1:38:05
  Speaker 1: once and he bit a bit off, and miss Drew
• 1:38:08
  Speaker 1: interrupted sharply, teaching on a hot afternoon is rather trying.
• 1:38:13
  Speaker 1: You'd better stay in after school, William, and I'll explain.
• 1:38:19
  Speaker 1: William scowled, emitted his monosyllable of scornful disdain huh, and
• 1:38:26
  Speaker 1: relapsed into gloom. He brightened, however, on remembering a lizard
• 1:38:31
  Speaker 1: he had caught on the way to school, and drew
• 1:38:34
  Speaker 1: it from its hiding place in his pocket. But the
• 1:38:37
  Speaker 1: lizard had abandoned the unequal struggle for existence among the stones,
• 1:38:42
  Speaker 1: top penknife, bits of putty, and other small objects that
• 1:38:46
  Speaker 1: inhabited William's pocket. The housing problem had been too much
• 1:38:51
  Speaker 1: for it. William, in disgust, shrouded the remains in blotting
• 1:38:56
  Speaker 1: paper and disposed of it in his neighbour's ink pot.
• 1:39:00
  Speaker 1: The neighbor protested, and an enlivening scrimmage ensued. Finally, the
• 1:39:07
  Speaker 1: lizard was dropped down the neck of an inveterate enemy
• 1:39:10
  Speaker 1: of William's in the next row, and was extracted only
• 1:39:14
  Speaker 1: with the help of obliging friends. Threats of vengeance followed,
• 1:39:19
  Speaker 1: couched in blood curdling terms and written on blotting paper. Meanwhile,
• 1:39:26
  Speaker 1: Miss Drew explained simple practice to a small but earnest
• 1:39:30
  Speaker 1: coterie of admirers in the front row, and William in
• 1:39:34
  Speaker 1: the back row, whiled away the hours for which his
• 1:39:37
  Speaker 1: father paid the education authorities a substantial sum. But his
• 1:39:43
  Speaker 1: turn was to come. At the end of afternoon school.
• 1:39:48
  Speaker 1: One by one the class departed, leaving William only nonchalantly
• 1:39:53
  Speaker 1: chewing an India rubber and glaring at Miss Drew. Now, William,
• 1:40:00
  Speaker 1: Miss Drew was severely patient. William went up to the
• 1:40:05
  Speaker 1: platform and stood by her desk. You see, if some
• 1:40:09
  Speaker 1: one borrows a hundred pounds from some one else. She
• 1:40:13
  Speaker 1: wrote down the figures on a piece of paper. Bending
• 1:40:16
  Speaker 1: low over her desk, the sun poured in through the window,
• 1:40:21
  Speaker 1: showing the little golden curls in the nape of her neck.
• 1:40:25
  Speaker 1: She lifted to William eyes that were stern and frowning,
• 1:40:29
  Speaker 1: but blue as blue above flushed cheeks. Don't you see, William?
• 1:40:34
  Speaker 1: She said? There was a faint perfume about her and William,
• 1:40:40
  Speaker 1: the devil may care, pirate and robber chief, the stern,
• 1:40:44
  Speaker 1: despiser of all things effeminate, felt the first dart of
• 1:40:48
  Speaker 1: the malicious blind god, He blushed and simpered. Ah, yes,
• 1:40:56
  Speaker 1: I see all about it now, he assured her. You've
• 1:40:59
  Speaker 1: explained Ain't it all plain now? I couldn't understand it before.
• 1:41:04
  Speaker 1: It's a bit soft, in't it anyway? To go lending
• 1:41:09
  Speaker 1: hundred pounds about just cause someone says they'll give you
• 1:41:12
  Speaker 1: five pounds next year. Some folks as mugs. But I
• 1:41:16
  Speaker 1: do understand now. I couldn't understand it before. You'd have
• 1:41:22
  Speaker 1: found it simpler if you hadn't played with dead lizards
• 1:41:26
  Speaker 1: all the time, she said, wearily, closing her books. William gasped.
• 1:41:32
  Speaker 1: He went home her devoted slave. Certain members of the
• 1:41:37
  Speaker 1: class always deposited dainty bouquets on her desk In the morning.
• 1:41:42
  Speaker 1: William was determined to outshine the rest. He went into
• 1:41:46
  Speaker 1: the garden with a large basket and a pair of scissors.
• 1:41:49
  Speaker 1: The next morning, before he set out for school, it
• 1:41:53
  Speaker 1: happened that no one was about. He went first to
• 1:41:57
  Speaker 1: the hot house. It was a riot of color. He
• 1:42:01
  Speaker 1: worked there with a thoroughness and concentration worthy of a
• 1:42:04
  Speaker 1: nobler cause. He came out staggering beneath a piled up
• 1:42:09
  Speaker 1: basket of hothouse blooms. The hot house itself was bare
• 1:42:15
  Speaker 1: and desolate. Hearing a sound in the back garden, he
• 1:42:19
  Speaker 1: hastily decided to delay no longer, but to set out
• 1:42:23
  Speaker 1: to school at once. He set out as unostentatiously as possible.
• 1:42:30
  Speaker 1: Miss Drew, entering her class room, was aghast to see,
• 1:42:34
  Speaker 1: instead of the usual small array of buttonholes on her desk,
• 1:42:39
  Speaker 1: a mass of already withering hothouse flowers, completely covering her
• 1:42:44
  Speaker 1: desk and chair. William was a boy who never did
• 1:42:48
  Speaker 1: things by halves, good heavens. She cried in consternation. William
• 1:42:55
  Speaker 1: blushed with pleasure. He changed his seat to one in
• 1:42:59
  Speaker 1: the front doront row. All that morning he sat his
• 1:43:03
  Speaker 1: eyes fixed on her earnestly, dreaming of moments in which
• 1:43:07
  Speaker 1: he rescued her from robbers and pirates. Here he was
• 1:43:11
  Speaker 1: somewhat inconsistent with his own favorite role of robber chief
• 1:43:15
  Speaker 1: and pirate, and bore her, fainting in his strong arms
• 1:43:19
  Speaker 1: to safety. Then she clung to him in love and gratitude,
• 1:43:24
  Speaker 1: and they were married at once by the Archbishops of
• 1:43:27
  Speaker 1: Canterbury and York. William would have no half measures. They
• 1:43:33
  Speaker 1: were to be married by the Archbishops of Canterbury and
• 1:43:36
  Speaker 1: York or else the pope. He wasn't sure that he
• 1:43:40
  Speaker 1: wouldn't rather have the pope. He would wear his black
• 1:43:44
  Speaker 1: pirate suit with the skull and crossbones. No, no, that
• 1:43:49
  Speaker 1: would not do. What have I just been saying, William said,
• 1:43:54
  Speaker 1: Miss Drew. Eh. William coughed and gazed at her soulfully
• 1:43:59
  Speaker 1: bound money, he said hopefully. William, she snapped, this isn't
• 1:44:05
  Speaker 1: an arithmetic lesson. I'm trying to teach you about the Armada.
• 1:44:10
  Speaker 1: Oh that said William brightly and ingratiatingly. Oh yes, tell
• 1:44:17
  Speaker 1: me something about it. Um, I don't know anything, not
• 1:44:21
  Speaker 1: just yet. I've been telling you about it. I do
• 1:44:25
  Speaker 1: wish you'd listen, she said despairingly. William relapsed into silence,
• 1:44:31
  Speaker 1: none plussed but by no means cowed. When he reached
• 1:44:35
  Speaker 1: home that evening, he found that the garden was the
• 1:44:38
  Speaker 1: scene of excitement and hubbub. One policeman was measuring the
• 1:44:43
  Speaker 1: panes of glass in the conservatory door, and another was
• 1:44:47
  Speaker 1: on his knees examining the beds near his grown up sister.
• 1:44:51
  Speaker 1: Ethel was standing at the front door. Every single flower
• 1:44:56
  Speaker 1: has been stolen from the conservatory sometime this morning. She
• 1:45:01
  Speaker 1: said excitedly. We've only just been able to get the police. William,
• 1:45:06
  Speaker 1: did you see any one about when you went to
• 1:45:08
  Speaker 1: school this morning? William pondered deeply, his most guileless and
• 1:45:15
  Speaker 1: innocent expression came to his face. No, he said, at last, No, ethel,
• 1:45:21
  Speaker 1: I didn't see nobody. William coughed and discreetly withdrew. That evening,
• 1:45:28
  Speaker 1: he settled down at the library table, spreading out his
• 1:45:32
  Speaker 1: books around him, a determined frown upon his small face.
• 1:45:37
  Speaker 1: His father was sitting in an arm chair by the window,
• 1:45:40
  Speaker 1: reading the evening paper. Father said, William, suddenly, suppose I
• 1:45:45
  Speaker 1: came to you and said you was to give me
• 1:45:47
  Speaker 1: a hundred pounds, and I'd give you five pounds next
• 1:45:50
  Speaker 1: year and so on? Would you give it me? I
• 1:45:54
  Speaker 1: should not, my son, said his father firmly. William sighed,
• 1:46:00
  Speaker 1: I knew there was something wrong with it, he said.
• 1:46:04
  Speaker 1: Mister Brown returned to the leading article, but not for long. Father,
• 1:46:10
  Speaker 1: What was the date of the armada? Good heavens, how
• 1:46:14
  Speaker 1: should I know? I wasn't there? William sighed, Well, I'm
• 1:46:20
  Speaker 1: trying to write about it and why it failed? And
• 1:46:22
  Speaker 1: why did it fail? Mister Brown groaned, gathered up his
• 1:46:27
  Speaker 1: paper and retired to the dining room. He had almost
• 1:46:32
  Speaker 1: finished the leading article when William appeared, his arms full
• 1:46:37
  Speaker 1: of books, and sat down quietly at the table. Father,
• 1:46:42
  Speaker 1: what's the French for? My aunt is walking in the garden.
• 1:46:46
  Speaker 1: What on earth are you doing, said mister Brown irritably.
• 1:46:51
  Speaker 1: I'm doing my home lessons, said William virtuously. I never
• 1:46:56
  Speaker 1: even knew you had the things to do. No, William
• 1:47:00
  Speaker 1: admitted gently, I don't generally take much bother over them,
• 1:47:04
  Speaker 1: but I'm going to now cause miss drew. He blushed
• 1:47:08
  Speaker 1: slightly and paused cause miss drew. He blushed more deeply
• 1:47:14
  Speaker 1: and began to stammer cause miss drew. He was almost apoplectic.
• 1:47:23
  Speaker 1: Mister Brown quietly gathered up his paper and crept out
• 1:47:27
  Speaker 1: to the verandah, where his wife sat with the week's mending.
• 1:47:32
  Speaker 1: William's gone raving mad in the dining room, he said
• 1:47:35
  Speaker 1: pleasantly as he sat down. Takes the form of a
• 1:47:39
  Speaker 1: wild thirst for knowledge and a babbling of a misdrawing
• 1:47:44
  Speaker 1: or drew or something. He's best left alone. Missus Brown
• 1:47:50
  Speaker 1: merely smiled placidly over the mending. Mister Brown had finished
• 1:47:55
  Speaker 1: one leading article and begun another. Before William appeared again.
• 1:48:01
  Speaker 1: He stood in the doorway, frowning and stern. Father, what's
• 1:48:06
  Speaker 1: the capital of Holland Good heavens? Said his father, by
• 1:48:12
  Speaker 1: him an encyclopedia? Anything? Anything? What does he think I am? What?
• 1:48:19
  Speaker 1: I'd better set apart a special room for his homework,
• 1:48:22
  Speaker 1: said missus Brown soothingly. Now that he's beginning to take
• 1:48:26
  Speaker 1: such an interest a room, echoed his father bitterly. He
• 1:48:31
  Speaker 1: wants a whole house. Miss Drew was surprised and touched
• 1:48:36
  Speaker 1: by William's earnestness and attention. The next day, at the
• 1:48:41
  Speaker 1: end of the afternoon school, he kindly offered to carry
• 1:48:44
  Speaker 1: her books home for her. He waved aside all protests.
• 1:48:48
  Speaker 1: He marched home by her side, discoursing pleasantly, his small
• 1:48:53
  Speaker 1: freckled face beaming devotion. I like pirates, don't you, Miss Drew?
• 1:48:59
  Speaker 1: And robbers and things like that, Miss Drew, Would you
• 1:49:03
  Speaker 1: like to be married to a robber? He was trying
• 1:49:06
  Speaker 1: to reconcile his old beloved dream of his future estate
• 1:49:10
  Speaker 1: with the new one of becoming Miss Drew's husband. No,
• 1:49:15
  Speaker 1: she said firmly. His heart sank. Nor a pirate, he said, sadly, No,
• 1:49:24
  Speaker 1: they're quite nice, really pirates, he assured her. I think
• 1:49:30
  Speaker 1: not well, he said, resignedly. We'll just have to go
• 1:49:35
  Speaker 1: huntin wild animals and things. That'll be all right, who,
• 1:49:40
  Speaker 1: she said, bewildered, Well, just you wait, he said darkly.
• 1:49:46
  Speaker 1: Then would you rather be married by the Archbishop of
• 1:49:49
  Speaker 1: York or the Pope? The Archbishop? I think, she said gravely.
• 1:49:55
  Speaker 1: He nodded, all right. She was distinctly am used. She
• 1:50:01
  Speaker 1: was less amused. The next evening, Miss Drew had a
• 1:50:06
  Speaker 1: male cousin, a very nice looking male cousin with whom
• 1:50:10
  Speaker 1: she often went for walks in the evening. This evening,
• 1:50:14
  Speaker 1: by chance, they passed William's house, and William, who was
• 1:50:17
  Speaker 1: in the garden, threw aside his temporary role of pirate
• 1:50:21
  Speaker 1: and joined them. He trotted happily on the other side
• 1:50:25
  Speaker 1: of Miss Drew. He entirely monopolized the conversation. The male
• 1:50:31
  Speaker 1: cousin seemed to encourage him, and this annoyed Miss Drew.
• 1:50:35
  Speaker 1: He refused to depart in spite of Miss Drew's strong hints.
• 1:50:40
  Speaker 1: He had various items of interest to impart, and he
• 1:50:44
  Speaker 1: imparted them with the air of one assured of an
• 1:50:47
  Speaker 1: appreciative hearing. He had found a dead rat the day
• 1:50:50
  Speaker 1: before and given it to his dog. But his dog
• 1:50:54
  Speaker 1: didn't like him dead, and neither did the old cat,
• 1:50:57
  Speaker 1: so he'd buried it. Did Miss Drew like all those
• 1:51:00
  Speaker 1: he'd got her the other day? He was afraid that
• 1:51:03
  Speaker 1: he couldn't bring any more like that just yet? Were
• 1:51:06
  Speaker 1: there pirates now? Well? What would folks do to one?
• 1:51:09
  Speaker 1: If there was one? He didn't see why there shouldn't
• 1:51:12
  Speaker 1: be pirates now, he thought he'd started anyway. He'd liked
• 1:51:15
  Speaker 1: to shoot a lion. He was going to one day.
• 1:51:17
  Speaker 1: He'd shoot a lion and a tiger. He'd bring the
• 1:51:20
  Speaker 1: skin home to mister who, as she liked, he grew
• 1:51:23
  Speaker 1: recklessly generous. He'd bring home lots of skins of all
• 1:51:26
  Speaker 1: sorts of animals for Miss Drew. Don't you think you
• 1:51:30
  Speaker 1: ought to be going home? William, said Miss Drew coldly.
• 1:51:35
  Speaker 1: William hastened to reassure her. Oh no, not forever so
• 1:51:40
  Speaker 1: long yet, he said, isn't it your bed time? Oh no,
• 1:51:45
  Speaker 1: not yet, not forever so long. The male cousin was
• 1:51:49
  Speaker 1: giving William his whole attention. What does Miss Drew teach
• 1:51:54
  Speaker 1: you at school? William? He said? Oh, just ordinary things,
• 1:51:58
  Speaker 1: our mothers and things, and out lending a hundred pounds.
• 1:52:01
  Speaker 1: That's an awful soft thing. I understand it, he added, hastily,
• 1:52:06
  Speaker 1: fearing further explanation. But it's soft. My father thinks it is, too,
• 1:52:11
  Speaker 1: and he ought to No, he's been abroad lots of times.
• 1:52:14
  Speaker 1: He's been chased by a bull. My father has. The
• 1:52:18
  Speaker 1: shades of night were falling fast when William reached Miss
• 1:52:22
  Speaker 1: Drew's house, still discoursing volubly. He was drunk with success.
• 1:52:28
  Speaker 1: He interpreted his idle silence as the silence of rapt admiration.
• 1:52:34
  Speaker 1: He was passing through the gate with his two companions
• 1:52:37
  Speaker 1: with the air of one assured of welcome, when Miss
• 1:52:40
  Speaker 1: Drew shut the gate upon him firmly. You'd better go
• 1:52:45
  Speaker 1: home now, William, she said. William hesitated. I don't mind
• 1:52:50
  Speaker 1: coming in a bit, he said, I'm not tired. But
• 1:52:54
  Speaker 1: Miss Drew and the male cousin were already half way
• 1:52:57
  Speaker 1: up the walk. Willia turned his steps homeward. He met
• 1:53:02
  Speaker 1: ethel near the gate. William, where have you been? I've
• 1:53:07
  Speaker 1: been looking for you everywhere. It's hours past your bedtime.
• 1:53:12
  Speaker 1: I was going a walk with Miss Drew, but you
• 1:53:15
  Speaker 1: should have come home at your bedtime. I don't think
• 1:53:19
  Speaker 1: she wanted me to go, he said, with dignity. I
• 1:53:22
  Speaker 1: think it wouldn't have been polite. William found that a
• 1:53:26
  Speaker 1: new and serious element had entered his life. It was
• 1:53:30
  Speaker 1: not without its disadvantages. Many had been the little diversions
• 1:53:35
  Speaker 1: by which William had been wont to while away the
• 1:53:37
  Speaker 1: hours of instruction. In spite of his devotion to Miss Drew,
• 1:53:42
  Speaker 1: he missed the old days of carefree exuberance. But he
• 1:53:46
  Speaker 1: kept his new seat in the front row and clung
• 1:53:49
  Speaker 1: to his role of earnest student. He was beginning to find,
• 1:53:53
  Speaker 1: also that a conscientious performance of home lessons limited his
• 1:53:58
  Speaker 1: activities after schools, But at present he hugged his chains.
• 1:54:04
  Speaker 1: Miss Drew, from her seat on the platform, found William's soulful,
• 1:54:09
  Speaker 1: concentrated gaze somewhat embarrassing, and his questions even more so.
• 1:54:16
  Speaker 1: As he went out of school, he heard her talking
• 1:54:19
  Speaker 1: to another mistress. I'm very fond of syringa, she was saying,
• 1:54:25
  Speaker 1: I love to have some. William decided to bring her
• 1:54:29
  Speaker 1: syringa handfuls of syringa armfuls of syringa. He went straight
• 1:54:36
  Speaker 1: home to the gardener no, I ain't got no syringa.
• 1:54:41
  Speaker 1: Please step off my rose bed, mister William. No, there
• 1:54:45
  Speaker 1: ain't any syringa in this ere garding. I dun'to for.
• 1:54:49
  Speaker 1: Why please leave my rose pipe alone, mister William. Huh,
• 1:54:54
  Speaker 1: ejaculated William scornfully, turning away, He went round the gard garden.
• 1:55:00
  Speaker 1: The gardener had been quite right. There were gilder roses everywhere,
• 1:55:05
  Speaker 1: but no syringa. He climbed the fence and surveyed the
• 1:55:10
  Speaker 1: next garden. There were gilder roses everywhere, but no syringa.
• 1:55:15
  Speaker 1: It must have been some peculiarity in the soil. William
• 1:55:20
  Speaker 1: strolled down the road, scanning the gardens as he went.
• 1:55:25
  Speaker 1: All had gilder roses, none had syringa. Suddenly he stopped
• 1:55:31
  Speaker 1: on a table. In the window of a small house
• 1:55:34
  Speaker 1: at the bottom of the road was a vase of syringa.
• 1:55:38
  Speaker 1: He did not know who lived there. He entered the
• 1:55:41
  Speaker 1: garden cautiously. No one was about. He looked into the room.
• 1:55:47
  Speaker 1: It was empty. The window was open at the bottom.
• 1:55:52
  Speaker 1: He scrambled in, removing several layers of white paint from
• 1:55:56
  Speaker 1: the window sill. As he did so. He was determined
• 1:56:00
  Speaker 1: to have that syringea. He took it, dripping from the vase,
• 1:56:04
  Speaker 1: and was preparing to depart when the door opened and
• 1:56:08
  Speaker 1: a fat woman appeared upon the threshold. The scream that
• 1:56:12
  Speaker 1: she emitted at sight of William curdled the very blood
• 1:56:16
  Speaker 1: in his veins. She dashed to the window, and William,
• 1:56:20
  Speaker 1: in self defense, dodged round the table and out of
• 1:56:24
  Speaker 1: the door. The back door was open, and William blindly
• 1:56:28
  Speaker 1: fled by it. The fat woman did not pursue. She
• 1:56:32
  Speaker 1: was leaning out of the window, and her shrieks rent
• 1:56:36
  Speaker 1: the air. Police help, murder robbers. The quiet little street
• 1:56:42
  Speaker 1: rang with the raucous sounds. William felt cold shivers creeping
• 1:56:48
  Speaker 1: up and down his spine. He was in a small
• 1:56:51
  Speaker 1: back garden from which he could see no exit. Meanwhile,
• 1:56:56
  Speaker 1: the shrieks were redoubled. Help, Help, Help, Then came the
• 1:57:02
  Speaker 1: sounds of the front door opening and men's voices, hullo,
• 1:57:07
  Speaker 1: who is it? What is it? William glared round wildly.
• 1:57:13
  Speaker 1: There was a hen house in the corner of the garden,
• 1:57:15
  Speaker 1: and into this he dashed, tearing open the door and
• 1:57:19
  Speaker 1: plunging through a mass of flying feathers and angry disturbed hens.
• 1:57:25
  Speaker 1: William crouched in a corner of the dark hen house,
• 1:57:28
  Speaker 1: determinedly clutching his bunch of syringa. Distant voices were at
• 1:57:34
  Speaker 1: first all he could hear. Then they came nearer, and
• 1:57:38
  Speaker 1: he heard the fat lady's voice, loudly declaiming he was
• 1:57:43
  Speaker 1: quite a small man, but with such an evil face.
• 1:57:47
  Speaker 1: I just had one glimpse of him as he dashed
• 1:57:49
  Speaker 1: past me. I'm sure he'd murdered me if I hadn't
• 1:57:53
  Speaker 1: cried for help. Oh, the coward and a poor defenseless woman.
• 1:58:00
  Speaker 1: He was standing by the silver table. I disturbed him
• 1:58:04
  Speaker 1: at his work of crime. I feel so upset. I
• 1:58:08
  Speaker 1: shan't sleep for nights. I shall see his evil, murderous
• 1:58:13
  Speaker 1: face and a poor, unarmed woman. Can you give us
• 1:58:18
  Speaker 1: no details, madam said a man's voice. Could you recognize
• 1:58:23
  Speaker 1: him again anywhere? She said firmly, Such a criminal face.
• 1:58:29
  Speaker 1: You've no idea how upset I am. I might have
• 1:58:33
  Speaker 1: been a lifeless corpse now if I hadn't had the
• 1:58:36
  Speaker 1: courage to cry for help. We're measuring the footprints, Madam.
• 1:58:41
  Speaker 1: You say he went out by the front door. I'm
• 1:58:45
  Speaker 1: convinced he did. I'm convinced he's hiding in the bushes
• 1:58:48
  Speaker 1: by the gate. Such a low face. My nerves are
• 1:58:53
  Speaker 1: absolutely jarred. We'll search the bushes again, madam, said the
• 1:58:58
  Speaker 1: other voice, weary. But I expect he has escaped by now.
• 1:59:04
  Speaker 1: The brute, said the fat lady. Oh, the brute, and
• 1:59:07
  Speaker 1: that face. If I hadn't had the courage to cry out.
• 1:59:13
  Speaker 1: The voices died away, and William was left alone in
• 1:59:16
  Speaker 1: a corner of the hen house. A white hen appeared
• 1:59:20
  Speaker 1: in the little doorway, squawked at him angrily, and retired
• 1:59:26
  Speaker 1: cackling indignation. Visions of life long penal servitude or hanging
• 1:59:32
  Speaker 1: passed before William's eyes. He'd rather be executed, really, he'd
• 1:59:38
  Speaker 1: hoped they'd execute him. Then he heard the fat lady
• 1:59:42
  Speaker 1: bidding good bye to the policeman. Then she came to
• 1:59:45
  Speaker 1: the back garden, evidently with a friend, and continued to
• 1:59:49
  Speaker 1: pour forth her troubles. And he dashed past me, dear,
• 1:59:54
  Speaker 1: quite a small man, but with such an evil face.
• 1:59:59
  Speaker 1: A black appeared in the little doorway, and, with an
• 2:00:03
  Speaker 1: angry squawk at William, returned to the back garden. I
• 2:00:08
  Speaker 1: think you're splendid, dear, said the invisible friend. How you
• 2:00:13
  Speaker 1: had the courage. The white hen gave a sardonic scream.
• 2:00:18
  Speaker 1: You'd better come in and rest, darling, said the friend.
• 2:00:22
  Speaker 1: I'd better, said the fat lady, in a plaintive, suffering voice.
• 2:00:27
  Speaker 1: I do feel very very shaken. Their voices ceased. The
• 2:00:33
  Speaker 1: door was closed, and all was still cautiously, very cautiously.
• 2:00:40
  Speaker 1: A much disheveled William crept from the hen house and
• 2:00:44
  Speaker 1: round the side of the house. Here he found a
• 2:00:47
  Speaker 1: locked side gate, over which he climbed, and very quietly
• 2:00:51
  Speaker 1: he glided down to the front gate and to the road.
• 2:00:56
  Speaker 1: Where's William this evening, said missus Brown. I'd I do
• 2:01:00
  Speaker 1: hope he won't stay out after his bedtime. Oh, I've
• 2:01:04
  Speaker 1: just met him, said Ethel. He was going up to
• 2:01:06
  Speaker 1: his bedroom. He was covered with hen feathers and holding
• 2:01:10
  Speaker 1: a bunch of syringa. Mad sighed his father, mad, mad Mad.
• 2:01:18
  Speaker 1: The next morning, William laid a bunch of syringa upon
• 2:01:22
  Speaker 1: Miss Drew's desk. He performed the offering with an air
• 2:01:25
  Speaker 1: of quiet manly pride. Miss Drew recoiled, not syringa, William,
• 2:01:33
  Speaker 1: I simply can't bear the smell. William gazed at her
• 2:01:39
  Speaker 1: in silent astonishment. For a few moments then. But but
• 2:01:44
  Speaker 1: you said you said, you said you were fond of
• 2:01:49
  Speaker 1: syringa and that you liked to have them. Did I
• 2:01:53
  Speaker 1: say syringa, said miss Drew vaguely. I meant gilder roses.
• 2:01:59
  Speaker 1: William's gaze was one of stony contempt. He went slowly
• 2:02:04
  Speaker 1: back to his old seat at the back of the room.
• 2:02:09
  Speaker 1: That evening, he made a bonfire with several choice friends
• 2:02:13
  Speaker 1: and played Red Indian in the garden. There was a
• 2:02:17
  Speaker 1: certain thrill in returning to the old life, hullo, said
• 2:02:22
  Speaker 1: his father, encountering William creeping on all fours among the bushes,
• 2:02:27
  Speaker 1: I thought you did home lessons. Now, William arose to
• 2:02:31
  Speaker 1: an upright position. I'm not going to take much bother
• 2:02:35
  Speaker 1: over him now, said William. Mis Drew. She can't talk straight.
• 2:02:40
  Speaker 1: She dun'no what she means. That's always the trouble with women,
• 2:02:44
  Speaker 1: agreed his father. William says his idol has feet of clay,
• 2:02:49
  Speaker 1: he said to his wife, who had approached. I dunno,
• 2:02:53
  Speaker 1: she's got feet of clay, said William. The literal all
• 2:02:57
  Speaker 1: I say is she can't talk straight. I had no
• 2:03:00
  Speaker 1: end of trouble, and she didn't know what she means.
• 2:03:03
  Speaker 1: I think her feet's all right. She walks all right. Besides,
• 2:03:08
  Speaker 1: when they make folks false feet, they make him of wood,
• 2:03:11
  Speaker 1: not play. End of chapter four, Chapter five the show.
• 2:03:21
  Speaker 1: The Outlaws sat around the old barn, plunged in deep thought. Henry,
• 2:03:27
  Speaker 1: the oldest member, aged twelve and one quarter, had said,
• 2:03:31
  Speaker 1: in a moment of inspiration, let's think of something else
• 2:03:36
  Speaker 1: to do, something quite fresh from what we've ever done before.
• 2:03:42
  Speaker 1: And the Outlaws were thinking. They had engaged in mortal
• 2:03:47
  Speaker 1: combat with one another. They had cooked strange ingredients over
• 2:03:52
  Speaker 1: a smoking and reluctant flame with a fine disregard of
• 2:03:56
  Speaker 1: culinary conventions. They had tracked each other over the countryside
• 2:04:01
  Speaker 1: with gait and complexions intended to represent those of the
• 2:04:06
  Speaker 1: Aborigines of South America. They had even turned their attention
• 2:04:10
  Speaker 1: to kidnapping without any striking success, and these occupations had
• 2:04:17
  Speaker 1: palled in all its activities. The Society of Outlaws, comprising
• 2:04:23
  Speaker 1: four members, aimed at a simple, unostentatious mode of procedure.
• 2:04:30
  Speaker 1: In their shrinking from the glare of publicity, they showed
• 2:04:34
  Speaker 1: an example of unaffected modesty that many other public societies
• 2:04:39
  Speaker 1: might profitably emulate. The parents of the members were unaware
• 2:04:45
  Speaker 1: of the very existence of the society. The ill timed
• 2:04:49
  Speaker 1: and tactless interference of parents had nipped in the bud
• 2:04:53
  Speaker 1: many a cherished plan, and by bitter experience, the outlaws
• 2:04:59
  Speaker 1: had learnt that secrecy was their only protection. Owing to
• 2:05:04
  Speaker 1: the rules and restrictions of an unsympathetic world that orders
• 2:05:08
  Speaker 1: school hours from nine to four, their meetings were confined
• 2:05:13
  Speaker 1: to half holidays and occasionally Sunday afternoons. William, the ever ingenious,
• 2:05:21
  Speaker 1: made the first suggestion, Let's shoot things with bows and arrows,
• 2:05:27
  Speaker 1: same as real outlaws used to. He said, what things?
• 2:05:33
  Speaker 1: What bows and arrows? Said Henry and Gingers simultaneously, Oh, anything,
• 2:05:42
  Speaker 1: birds and cats and hens and things, and and buy
• 2:05:45
  Speaker 1: bows and arrows. You can buy them in shops. We
• 2:05:49
  Speaker 1: can make them, said Douglas, hopefully not like you can
• 2:05:53
  Speaker 1: get them in shops. They'd shoot crooked or something if
• 2:05:57
  Speaker 1: we made them. They've got to be just so to
• 2:06:00
  Speaker 1: shoot straight. I saw some in Brook's window too, just right,
• 2:06:05
  Speaker 1: just the same as real outlaws had. How much, said
• 2:06:09
  Speaker 1: the outlaws breathlessly. Five shillings target's for learnin on before
• 2:06:15
  Speaker 1: we began shooting real things. At all five shillings, breathed Douglas.
• 2:06:21
  Speaker 1: He might as well have said five pounds. We've not
• 2:06:25
  Speaker 1: got five shillings. Henry's not having any money since he
• 2:06:29
  Speaker 1: broke their drawing room window, and Ginger only has threepence
• 2:06:34
  Speaker 1: a week and has got to give collection. And we've
• 2:06:37
  Speaker 1: not paid for the guinea pig yet, the one that
• 2:06:40
  Speaker 1: got into ginger sister's hat and she was so mad
• 2:06:44
  Speaker 1: at And oh, never mind all that, said William scornfully.
• 2:06:49
  Speaker 1: We'll just get five shillings. How well, uncertainly, grown ups
• 2:06:56
  Speaker 1: can always get money when they want it. How again,
• 2:07:02
  Speaker 1: William disliked being tied down to details. Oh, bazaars and things. Impatiently, bazaars,
• 2:07:11
  Speaker 1: exploded Henry, who'd come to a bazaar if we had one?
• 2:07:15
  Speaker 1: Who would just tell me that? If you're so clever,
• 2:07:19
  Speaker 1: who'd come to it? Besides, you've got to sell things
• 2:07:22
  Speaker 1: at a bazaar, haven't you what we sell? We've got
• 2:07:26
  Speaker 1: nothin to sell, have we? What's the good of having
• 2:07:30
  Speaker 1: a bazaar with nothing to sell and no one to
• 2:07:32
  Speaker 1: buy it? Just tell me that Henry always enjoyed scoring
• 2:07:37
  Speaker 1: off William well chosen things, said William desperately, There was
• 2:07:44
  Speaker 1: a moment's silence. Then Ginger repeated thoughtfully shows, and Douglas,
• 2:07:51
  Speaker 1: whose eldest brother was home from college for his vacation,
• 2:07:55
  Speaker 1: murmured self consciously. By jove, we could do a show,
• 2:08:01
  Speaker 1: said Ginger, get animals and things and charge money for
• 2:08:05
  Speaker 1: looking at them. Who'd pay it, said Henry the doubter.
• 2:08:11
  Speaker 1: Any one would you'd pay to see animals? Wouldn't you
• 2:08:15
  Speaker 1: real animals people do at the zoo, don't they. Well,
• 2:08:19
  Speaker 1: we'll get some animals. That's easy enough, isn't it. A
• 2:08:23
  Speaker 1: neighboring church clock struck four, and the meeting was adjourned. Well,
• 2:08:30
  Speaker 1: we'll have a show and get money and buy bows
• 2:08:33
  Speaker 1: and arrows and shoot things, summed up William, and we'll
• 2:08:37
  Speaker 1: arrange the show next week. William returned home slowly and thoughtfully.
• 2:08:44
  Speaker 1: He sat on his bed, his hands in his pockets,
• 2:08:47
  Speaker 1: his brow drawn into a frown, his thoughts wandering in
• 2:08:51
  Speaker 1: a dream land of wonderful shows and rare exotic beasts. Suddenly,
• 2:08:58
  Speaker 1: from the next room came a thin sound that gathered
• 2:09:02
  Speaker 1: volume till it seemed to fill the house like the
• 2:09:05
  Speaker 1: roaring of a lion. Then died gradually away and was
• 2:09:10
  Speaker 1: followed by silence, but only for a second. It began
• 2:09:15
  Speaker 1: again a small whisper that grew louder and louder, became
• 2:09:21
  Speaker 1: a raucous bellow, then faded slowly away, to rise again
• 2:09:26
  Speaker 1: after a moment's silence. In the next room, William's mother's aunt, Emily,
• 2:09:33
  Speaker 1: was taking her afternoon nap. Aunt Emily had come down
• 2:09:38
  Speaker 1: a month ago for a week's visit and had not
• 2:09:41
  Speaker 1: yet referred to the date of her departure. William's father
• 2:09:46
  Speaker 1: was growing anxious. She was a stout, healthy lady who
• 2:09:51
  Speaker 1: spent all her time recovering from a slight illness she
• 2:09:55
  Speaker 1: had had two years ago. Her life held two a patience,
• 2:10:00
  Speaker 1: and only two these were eating and sleeping. For William,
• 2:10:07
  Speaker 1: she possessed a subtle but irresistible fascination her stature, her appetite,
• 2:10:14
  Speaker 1: her gloom, added to the fact that she utterly ignored him,
• 2:10:19
  Speaker 1: attracted him strongly. The tea bell rang, and the sound
• 2:10:24
  Speaker 1: of the snoring ceased abruptly. This entertainment over, William descended
• 2:10:30
  Speaker 1: to the dining room, where his father was addressing his
• 2:10:34
  Speaker 1: mother with some heat. Is she going to stay here
• 2:10:37
  Speaker 1: forever or only for a few years? I'd like to
• 2:10:42
  Speaker 1: know because perceiving William. He stopped abruptly, and William's mother murmured,
• 2:10:48
  Speaker 1: it's so nice to have her dear. Then Aunt Emily entered,
• 2:10:54
  Speaker 1: Have you slept well? Aunt slept? Repeated Aunt Emily, majestic.
• 2:11:01
  Speaker 1: I hardly expect to sleep in my state of health.
• 2:11:04
  Speaker 1: A little rest is all I can expect. Sorry, you're
• 2:11:09
  Speaker 1: no better, said William's father, sardonically. Better, she repeated again, indignantly,
• 2:11:15
  Speaker 1: It will be a long time before I'm better. She
• 2:11:20
  Speaker 1: lowered her large, healthy frame into a chair, carefully selected
• 2:11:24
  Speaker 1: a substantial piece of bread and butter, and attacked it
• 2:11:28
  Speaker 1: with vigor. I'm going to the post after tea, said
• 2:11:33
  Speaker 1: William's mother. Would you care to come with me? Aunt
• 2:11:37
  Speaker 1: Emily took a large helping of jam. You hardly expect
• 2:11:41
  Speaker 1: me to go out in the evening in my state
• 2:11:43
  Speaker 1: of health. Surely, it's years since I went out after tea,
• 2:11:48
  Speaker 1: and I was at the post office this morning. There
• 2:11:51
  Speaker 1: were a lot of people there, but they served me first.
• 2:11:56
  Speaker 1: I suppose they saw I looked ill. William's father choked
• 2:12:00
  Speaker 1: suddenly and apologized, but not humbly, though, I must say,
• 2:12:06
  Speaker 1: went on. Aunt Emily this place does suit me. I
• 2:12:11
  Speaker 1: think after a few months here I should be a
• 2:12:14
  Speaker 1: little stronger. Past the jam, William. The glance that William's
• 2:12:19
  Speaker 1: father fixed upon her would have made a stronger woman Quail.
• 2:12:24
  Speaker 1: But Aunt Emily was scraping out the last remnants of
• 2:12:27
  Speaker 1: jam and did not notice. I'm a bit overtired to day,
• 2:12:32
  Speaker 1: I think she went on, I'm so apt to forget
• 2:12:36
  Speaker 1: how weak I am, and then I overdo it. I'm
• 2:12:40
  Speaker 1: ready for the cake, William. I just sat out in
• 2:12:44
  Speaker 1: the sun yesterday afternoon and sat a bit too long
• 2:12:48
  Speaker 1: and overtired myself. I ought to write letters after tea,
• 2:12:52
  Speaker 1: but I don't think I have the strength another piece
• 2:12:56
  Speaker 1: of cake, William. I'll go upstairs to rest instead. I think.
• 2:13:01
  Speaker 1: I hope you'll keep the house quiet. It's so rarely
• 2:13:04
  Speaker 1: that I can get a bit of sleep. William's father
• 2:13:09
  Speaker 1: left the room abruptly. Williams sat on and watched with
• 2:13:14
  Speaker 1: fascinated eyes the cake disappear, and finally followed the large,
• 2:13:20
  Speaker 1: portly figure upstairs and sat down in his room to
• 2:13:24
  Speaker 1: plan the show and incidentally listen with a certain thrilled
• 2:13:29
  Speaker 1: awe for the sounds from next door. The place and
• 2:13:35
  Speaker 1: time of the show presented no little difficulty to hold
• 2:13:39
  Speaker 1: it in the old barn would give a way to
• 2:13:42
  Speaker 1: the world the cherished secret of their meeting place. It
• 2:13:47
  Speaker 1: was William who suggested his bedroom to be entered not
• 2:13:51
  Speaker 1: by way of the front door and staircase, but by
• 2:13:54
  Speaker 1: the less public way of the garden wall and scullery roof.
• 2:13:59
  Speaker 1: Ever an opmust he affirmed that no one would see
• 2:14:03
  Speaker 1: or hear. The choice of a time was limited to
• 2:14:07
  Speaker 1: Wednesday afternoon, Saturday afternoon, and Sunday. Sunday at first was
• 2:14:13
  Speaker 1: ruled out as impossible, but there were difficulties about Wednesday
• 2:14:18
  Speaker 1: afternoon and Saturday afternoon. On Wednesday afternoon, Ginger and Douglas
• 2:14:24
  Speaker 1: were unwilling and ungraceful pupils at a dancing class. On
• 2:14:30
  Speaker 1: Saturday afternoon, William's father gardened and would command a view
• 2:14:35
  Speaker 1: of the garden wall and scullery roof on these afternoons. Also,
• 2:14:41
  Speaker 1: Cook and Emma, both of a suspicious turn of mind,
• 2:14:45
  Speaker 1: would be at large. On Sunday, Cook and Emma went out,
• 2:14:51
  Speaker 1: William's mother paid a regular weekly visit to an old friend,
• 2:14:55
  Speaker 1: and William's father spent the afternoon on the sofa, dead
• 2:15:00
  Speaker 1: to the world. Moreover, as he pointed out to the Outlaws,
• 2:15:05
  Speaker 1: the members of the Sunday School could be waylaid and
• 2:15:08
  Speaker 1: induced to attend the show, and they would probably be
• 2:15:12
  Speaker 1: provided with money for collection. The more William thought over it,
• 2:15:17
  Speaker 1: the more attractive became the idea of a Sunday afternoon
• 2:15:21
  Speaker 1: in spite of superficial difficulties. Therefore, Sunday afternoon was finally chosen.
• 2:15:29
  Speaker 1: The day was fortunately a fine one, and William and
• 2:15:33
  Speaker 1: the other outlaws were at work early. William had asked
• 2:15:38
  Speaker 1: his mother, with an expression of meekness and virtue that
• 2:15:42
  Speaker 1: ought to have warned her of danger, if he might
• 2:15:45
  Speaker 1: have just a few friends in his room for the afternoon.
• 2:15:50
  Speaker 1: His mother, glad that her husband should be spared his
• 2:15:53
  Speaker 1: son's restless company, gave willing permission. By half last too,
• 2:16:01
  Speaker 1: the exhibits were ready. In a cage. By the window
• 2:16:05
  Speaker 1: sat a white rat painted in faint alternate stripes of
• 2:16:10
  Speaker 1: blue and pink. This was douglas contribution, hand painted by
• 2:16:16
  Speaker 1: himself in watercolors. It wore a bewildered expression and occasionally
• 2:16:22
  Speaker 1: licked its stripes, and then obviously wished it hadn't. Its
• 2:16:27
  Speaker 1: cage bore a notice printed on cardboard rat from China.
• 2:16:34
  Speaker 1: Rats are all like this in China. Next came a
• 2:16:40
  Speaker 1: cat belonging to William's sister, Smuts by name, now imprisoned
• 2:16:45
  Speaker 1: beneath a basket chair. At the best of times, Smuts
• 2:16:50
  Speaker 1: were short tempered, and all its life had cherished a
• 2:16:54
  Speaker 1: bitter hatred of William. Now enclosed by its enemy in
• 2:16:59
  Speaker 1: a prison to go two feet square, its fury knew
• 2:17:02
  Speaker 1: no bounds. It tore at the basket work. It flew
• 2:17:07
  Speaker 1: wildly round and round, scratching, spitting, swearing. Its chair bore
• 2:17:13
  Speaker 1: the simple and appropriate notice wild cat. William watched it
• 2:17:20
  Speaker 1: with honest pride and prayed fervently that its indignation would
• 2:17:24
  Speaker 1: not abate during the afternoon. Next came a giant composed
• 2:17:30
  Speaker 1: of Douglas upon Ginger's back, draped in two sheets tied
• 2:17:36
  Speaker 1: tightly round douglas neck. This was labeled genuine Giant. Ginger
• 2:17:44
  Speaker 1: was already growing restive. His muffled voice was heard from
• 2:17:48
  Speaker 1: the folds of the sheets, informing the other outlaws that
• 2:17:52
  Speaker 1: it was a bit thick, and he hadn't known it
• 2:17:55
  Speaker 1: would be like this, or he wouldn't have done it,
• 2:17:58
  Speaker 1: and anyway, he was going to change with Douglas halftime,
• 2:18:02
  Speaker 1: or he'd chuck up the whole thing. The next exhibit
• 2:18:06
  Speaker 1: was a black fox fur of William's mother's, to which
• 2:18:10
  Speaker 1: was fortunately attached a head and several feet, and which
• 2:18:14
  Speaker 1: he had surreptitiously removed from her wardrobe. This had been
• 2:18:19
  Speaker 1: tied up, stuffed with waste paper, and wired by William
• 2:18:23
  Speaker 1: till it was, in his eyes, remarkably lifelike, as the legs,
• 2:18:29
  Speaker 1: even with the assistance of wire, refused to support the body,
• 2:18:34
  Speaker 1: and the head would only droop sadly to the ground.
• 2:18:37
  Speaker 1: It was perforce exhibited in a recumbent attitude. It bore
• 2:18:43
  Speaker 1: marks of sticky fingers and of several side slips of
• 2:18:47
  Speaker 1: the scissors when William was cutting the wire, but on
• 2:18:51
  Speaker 1: the whole he was justly proud of it. It bore
• 2:18:54
  Speaker 1: the striking but untruthful legend bare shot by outlaw in Russier.
• 2:19:02
  Speaker 1: Next came Blue Dog. This was Henry's fox terrier, generally
• 2:19:08
  Speaker 1: known as Chips. For Chips, the world was very black.
• 2:19:13
  Speaker 1: Henry's mastermind had scorned his paint box and his watercolors.
• 2:19:19
  Speaker 1: Henry had borrowed a blue bag and dabbed it liberally
• 2:19:24
  Speaker 1: over chips. Chips had after the first wild frenzied struggle
• 2:19:30
  Speaker 1: offered no resistance. He now sat a picture of black despair,
• 2:19:36
  Speaker 1: turning every now and then a melancholy eye upon the
• 2:19:41
  Speaker 1: still enraged smuts. But for him, cats and joy and
• 2:19:46
  Speaker 1: life and fighting were no more. He was abject shamed
• 2:19:53
  Speaker 1: a blue dog. William himself, as showman, was an imposing figure.
• 2:20:01
  Speaker 1: He was robed in a red dressing gown of his
• 2:20:04
  Speaker 1: father's that trailed on the ground behind him and over
• 2:20:08
  Speaker 1: whose cords and in front he stumbled ungracefully as he walked.
• 2:20:14
  Speaker 1: He had cut a few strands from the fringe of
• 2:20:17
  Speaker 1: a rug and glued them to his lips to represent mustaches.
• 2:20:23
  Speaker 1: They fell in two straight lines over his mouth. On
• 2:20:27
  Speaker 1: his head was a tensil crown, once worn by his
• 2:20:31
  Speaker 1: sister as fairy Queen. The show had been widely advertised,
• 2:20:36
  Speaker 1: and all the neighboring children had been individually canvassed, but
• 2:20:41
  Speaker 1: under strict orders of secrecy. The threats of what the
• 2:20:45
  Speaker 1: outlaws would do if their secret were disclosed had kept
• 2:20:50
  Speaker 1: many a child awake at night. William surveyed the room proudly,
• 2:20:56
  Speaker 1: not a bad show for a penny, I should say,
• 2:21:00
  Speaker 1: I guess there aren't many like it anyway, Do shut
• 2:21:04
  Speaker 1: up talking, Ginger. It'll spoil it all. If folks hear
• 2:21:07
  Speaker 1: the giant talking out of his stomach, it's Douglas that's
• 2:21:11
  Speaker 1: got to do the giant's talking. Any one could see that.
• 2:21:16
  Speaker 1: I say, they're comin. Look they're comin. Along the wall
• 2:21:21
  Speaker 1: there was a thin line of children climbing along the
• 2:21:24
  Speaker 1: wall in a single file on all fours. They ascended
• 2:21:29
  Speaker 1: the scullery roof and approached the window. These were the
• 2:21:33
  Speaker 1: first arrivals who had called on their way to Sunday school.
• 2:21:37
  Speaker 1: Henry took their pennies, and William cleared his throat and began.
• 2:21:42
  Speaker 1: White rat from China, Ladies and gentlemen, pink and blue striped.
• 2:21:48
  Speaker 1: All rats as pink and blue striped in China. This
• 2:21:52
  Speaker 1: was the only genuine China rat in England. Brought over
• 2:21:56
  Speaker 1: from China special last week, just for the show It
• 2:22:00
  Speaker 1: lives on China. Bread and butter brought over special too.
• 2:22:06
  Speaker 1: Wash it, jeered an unbeliever. Just wash it and let's
• 2:22:09
  Speaker 1: see it. Then wash it, repeated the showman indignantly. It's
• 2:22:15
  Speaker 1: gotter be washed. It's washed every morning and night, same
• 2:22:18
  Speaker 1: as you or me. China rats have gotter be washed
• 2:22:22
  Speaker 1: or they die right off. Washingham don't make no difference
• 2:22:26
  Speaker 1: to their stripes. Anyone knows that that knows anything about
• 2:22:30
  Speaker 1: China rats, I guess, he laughed scornfully and turned to Smuts.
• 2:22:36
  Speaker 1: Smuts had grown used to the basket chair and was
• 2:22:39
  Speaker 1: settling down for a nap. William crouched down on all fours,
• 2:22:45
  Speaker 1: ran his fingers along the basket work, and putting his
• 2:22:48
  Speaker 1: face close to it, gave vent to a malicious howl.
• 2:22:53
  Speaker 1: Smuts sprang at him, scratching and spitting. Wildcat, said William triumphantly.
• 2:23:00
  Speaker 1: Look at it kill anyone if it got out spring
• 2:23:04
  Speaker 1: at their throats, it would and scratch their eyes out
• 2:23:06
  Speaker 1: with its paws and bite their necks till its teeth met.
• 2:23:10
  Speaker 1: If I just moved away that chair, it would spring
• 2:23:14
  Speaker 1: out at you. They moved hastily away from the chair,
• 2:23:18
  Speaker 1: and I bet some of you would be dead pretty quick.
• 2:23:22
  Speaker 1: It could have any one's head right off with bitin
• 2:23:24
  Speaker 1: and scratchin right off, separate from their bodies. There was
• 2:23:30
  Speaker 1: an awe stricken silence, then gone, it's Smuts, it's your
• 2:23:37
  Speaker 1: sister's cat. William laughed, as though vastly amused by this idea. Smuts,
• 2:23:44
  Speaker 1: he said, giving a surreptitious kick to the chair that
• 2:23:49
  Speaker 1: infuriated its occupant still more. I guess there wouldn't be
• 2:23:53
  Speaker 1: many of us left in this house if Smuts was
• 2:23:56
  Speaker 1: like this. They passed on to the giant. A giant,
• 2:24:02
  Speaker 1: said William, re arranging the tinsel crown, which was slightly
• 2:24:07
  Speaker 1: too big for him. Real giant, look at it, as
• 2:24:11
  Speaker 1: big as two of you put together. How do you
• 2:24:14
  Speaker 1: think he gets in at doors and things? Has to
• 2:24:17
  Speaker 1: have everything made special? Look at him, walk walk, ginger.
• 2:24:24
  Speaker 1: Ginger took two steps forward. Douglas clutched his shoulders and
• 2:24:28
  Speaker 1: murmured anxiously. By jove, go on, urged William scornfully. That's
• 2:24:35
  Speaker 1: not walkin'. The goaded ginger's voice came from the giant's
• 2:24:40
  Speaker 1: middle regions. If you go on talkin at me, I'll
• 2:24:44
  Speaker 1: drop him. I'm just about sick of it, all right,
• 2:24:48
  Speaker 1: said William hastily. Anyway, it's a giant, he went on
• 2:24:52
  Speaker 1: to his audience, A jolly fine giant. It's got Douglas's face,
• 2:24:58
  Speaker 1: said one of his audience. William was for a moment
• 2:25:01
  Speaker 1: at a loss. Well, he said, At last, giants got
• 2:25:06
  Speaker 1: to have some sort of face, hasn't it? Can't not
• 2:25:09
  Speaker 1: have a face, can it. The Russian bear, which had
• 2:25:13
  Speaker 1: often been seen adorning the shoulders of William's mother and
• 2:25:18
  Speaker 1: was promptly recognized, was greeted with ribbled jeers. But there
• 2:25:23
  Speaker 1: was no doubt as to the success of the blue dog.
• 2:25:27
  Speaker 1: Chips advanced deprecatingly, blue head drooping and blue tail between
• 2:25:33
  Speaker 1: blue legs, making abject apologies for his horrible condition. But
• 2:25:39
  Speaker 1: Henry had done his work well. They stood around in
• 2:25:43
  Speaker 1: rapt admiration. Blue Dog, said the showman, walking forward proudly
• 2:25:50
  Speaker 1: and stumbling violently over the cords of the dressing gown.
• 2:25:54
  Speaker 1: Blue Dog, he repeated, recovering his balance and removing the
• 2:25:58
  Speaker 1: tinsel crown from his nose to his brow. You never
• 2:26:03
  Speaker 1: saw a blue dog before, did you No? And you
• 2:26:06
  Speaker 1: aren't likely to see one again neither. It was made
• 2:26:10
  Speaker 1: blue special for this show. It's the only blue dog
• 2:26:14
  Speaker 1: in the world. Folks will be coming from all over
• 2:26:17
  Speaker 1: the world to see this blue dog, and thrown in
• 2:26:20
  Speaker 1: in a penny show. If it was in the zoo,
• 2:26:23
  Speaker 1: you'd have to pay a shilling to see it. I
• 2:26:26
  Speaker 1: bet it's it's just luck for you it's here. I
• 2:26:30
  Speaker 1: guess the folks at the zoo wish they'd got it.
• 2:26:33
  Speaker 1: Tain't many shows have blue dogs, brown and black and white,
• 2:26:38
  Speaker 1: but not blue. Why folks pay many just to see
• 2:26:43
  Speaker 1: shows of ornery dogs. So you're just lucky to see
• 2:26:47
  Speaker 1: a blue dog and a dead bear from Russia, and
• 2:26:50
  Speaker 1: a giant and a wildcat and a China rat for
• 2:26:53
  Speaker 1: just one penny. After each speech, William had to remove
• 2:26:58
  Speaker 1: from his mouth the rug fringe, which persisted in obeying
• 2:27:02
  Speaker 1: the force of gravity, rather than William's idea of what
• 2:27:06
  Speaker 1: a mustache should be. It's just paint Henry's gaits being
• 2:27:12
  Speaker 1: painted blue, said one critic, feebly. But on the whole
• 2:27:16
  Speaker 1: the outlaws had scored a distinct success in the blue dog. Then,
• 2:27:22
  Speaker 1: while they stood in silent admiration round the unhappy animal,
• 2:27:27
  Speaker 1: came a sound from the next door, a gentle sound,
• 2:27:31
  Speaker 1: like the sighing of the wind through the trees. It
• 2:27:35
  Speaker 1: rose and fell, It rose again and fell again. It
• 2:27:40
  Speaker 1: increased in volume with each repetition, till at its height
• 2:27:45
  Speaker 1: it sounded like a wild animal in pain. What's that?
• 2:27:50
  Speaker 1: Asked the audience, breathlessly. William was slightly uneasy. He was
• 2:27:56
  Speaker 1: not sure whether this fresh development would add luster or
• 2:28:01
  Speaker 1: dishonor to his show. Yes, he said darkly, to gain time.
• 2:28:07
  Speaker 1: What is it? I guess you'd like to know what
• 2:28:11
  Speaker 1: it is? Gone. It's just snorin, snorin, repeated William. It's
• 2:28:18
  Speaker 1: not ornery snorin. That isn't just listen, that's all. You
• 2:28:23
  Speaker 1: couldn't snore like that, I bet mah. They listened, spellbound
• 2:28:28
  Speaker 1: to the gentle sound, growing louder and louder, till at
• 2:28:33
  Speaker 1: its loudest it brought rapt smiles to their faces, then
• 2:28:37
  Speaker 1: ceasing abruptly, then silence, then again, the gentle sound that
• 2:28:43
  Speaker 1: grew and grew. William asked Henry in a stage whisper
• 2:28:49
  Speaker 1: if they oughtn't to charge extra for listening to it.
• 2:28:52
  Speaker 1: The audience hastily explained that they weren't listening, They just
• 2:28:57
  Speaker 1: couldn't help hearin. A second batch of sightseers had arrived
• 2:29:02
  Speaker 1: and were paying their entrance pennies, but the first batch
• 2:29:06
  Speaker 1: refused to move. William, emboldened by success, opened the door
• 2:29:12
  Speaker 1: and they crept out to the landing and listened with
• 2:29:16
  Speaker 1: ears pressed to the magic door. Henry now did the
• 2:29:21
  Speaker 1: honors of showman. William stood majestic in his glorious apparel,
• 2:29:27
  Speaker 1: deep in thought. Then to his face came the faint
• 2:29:31
  Speaker 1: smile that inspiration brings to her votaries. He ordered the
• 2:29:35
  Speaker 1: audience back into the show room and shut the door.
• 2:29:39
  Speaker 1: Then he took off his shoes and softly and with
• 2:29:42
  Speaker 1: bated breath, opened Aunt Emily's door and peeped within. It
• 2:29:48
  Speaker 1: was rather a close afternoon, and she lay on her
• 2:29:51
  Speaker 1: bed on the top of her eider down. She had
• 2:29:55
  Speaker 1: slipped off her dress skirt so as not to crush it,
• 2:29:59
  Speaker 1: and she lay in her immense stature in a blouse
• 2:30:03
  Speaker 1: and striped petticoat, while from her open mouth issued the
• 2:30:07
  Speaker 1: fascinating sounds in sleep. Aunt Emily was not beautiful. William
• 2:30:15
  Speaker 1: thoughtfully propped up a cushion in the doorway and stood
• 2:30:20
  Speaker 1: considering the situation. In a few minutes, the showroom was
• 2:30:25
  Speaker 1: filled with a silent, expectant crowd. In a corner near
• 2:30:30
  Speaker 1: the door was a new notice place for taking off
• 2:30:34
  Speaker 1: shoes and taking oath of silence. William, after administering the
• 2:30:41
  Speaker 1: oath of silence to a select party, in his most
• 2:30:45
  Speaker 1: impressive manner led them shoeless and on tiptoe to the
• 2:30:49
  Speaker 1: next room. From Aunt Emily's bed hung another notice fat
• 2:30:56
  Speaker 1: wild woman Torqun native language. They stood in a hushed,
• 2:31:02
  Speaker 1: delighted group around her bed. The sounds never ceased, never abated.
• 2:31:09
  Speaker 1: William only allowed them two minutes in the room. They
• 2:31:13
  Speaker 1: came out reluctantly, paid more money, joined the end of
• 2:31:18
  Speaker 1: the queue, and re entered. More and more children came
• 2:31:23
  Speaker 1: to see the show, but the show now consisted solely
• 2:31:27
  Speaker 1: in Aunt Emily. The China rat had licked off all
• 2:31:31
  Speaker 1: its stripes. Smuts was fast asleep, Ginger was sitting down
• 2:31:36
  Speaker 1: on the seat of a chair, and Douglas on the
• 2:31:39
  Speaker 1: back of it. And Ginger had insisted at last on
• 2:31:43
  Speaker 1: air and sight, and had put his head out where
• 2:31:47
  Speaker 1: the two sheets joined. The Russian there had fallen on
• 2:31:51
  Speaker 1: to the floor, and no one had picked it up.
• 2:31:54
  Speaker 1: Chips lay in a disconsolate heap, a victim of acute melancholia,
• 2:32:00
  Speaker 1: and no one cared for any of these things. Newcomers
• 2:32:04
  Speaker 1: passed by them hurriedly and stood shoeless in the queue
• 2:32:08
  Speaker 1: outside Aunt Emily's room, eagerly awaiting their turn. Those who
• 2:32:14
  Speaker 1: came out simply went to the end again to wait
• 2:32:17
  Speaker 1: another turn. Many returned home for more money for Aunt
• 2:32:23
  Speaker 1: Emily was onepence extra, and each visit after the first
• 2:32:29
  Speaker 1: a halfpenny. The Sunday School bell pealed forth at summons,
• 2:32:34
  Speaker 1: but no one left the show. The vicar was depressed
• 2:32:38
  Speaker 1: that evening the attendants at Sunday School had been the
• 2:32:43
  Speaker 1: worst on record, and still Aunt Emily slept and snored
• 2:32:49
  Speaker 1: with a rapt silent crowd around her. But William could
• 2:32:54
  Speaker 1: never rest content he possessed ambition that would have put
• 2:32:59
  Speaker 1: many of his to shame. He cleared the room and
• 2:33:03
  Speaker 1: reopened it after a few minutes, during which his clients
• 2:33:07
  Speaker 1: waited in breathless suspense. When they re entered, there was
• 2:33:12
  Speaker 1: a fresh exhibit. William's keen eye had been searching out
• 2:33:17
  Speaker 1: each detail of the room. On the table by her
• 2:33:21
  Speaker 1: bed now stood a glass containing teeth that William had
• 2:33:25
  Speaker 1: discovered on the washstand, and a switch of hair and
• 2:33:30
  Speaker 1: a toothless comb that William had discovered on the dressing table.
• 2:33:35
  Speaker 1: These all bore notices fat wild woman's teeth, fat wild
• 2:33:41
  Speaker 1: woman's hair, fat wild woman's comb. Were it not that
• 2:33:47
  Speaker 1: the slightest noise meant instant expulsion from the show. Some
• 2:33:52
  Speaker 1: of their number had already suffered that bitter fate. There
• 2:33:55
  Speaker 1: would have been no restraining the audience. As it was.
• 2:34:00
  Speaker 1: They crept in silent expectant, thrilled to watch and listen
• 2:34:06
  Speaker 1: for the blissful two minutes, and aunt Emily never failed them.
• 2:34:11
  Speaker 1: Still she slept and snored. They borrowed money recklessly from
• 2:34:17
  Speaker 1: each other, the poor sold their dearest treasures to the rich.
• 2:34:21
  Speaker 1: And still they came again and again, and still aunt
• 2:34:26
  Speaker 1: Emily slept and snored. It would be interesting to know
• 2:34:31
  Speaker 1: how long this would have gone on had she not
• 2:34:34
  Speaker 1: on the top note of appeal. That was a pure
• 2:34:37
  Speaker 1: delight to her audience. Awakened with a start and glanced
• 2:34:42
  Speaker 1: around her. At first, she thought that the cluster of
• 2:34:46
  Speaker 1: small boys around her was a dream, especially as they
• 2:34:51
  Speaker 1: turned and fled precipitately at once. Then she sat up,
• 2:34:56
  Speaker 1: and her eye fell upon the table by her, bed,
• 2:35:00
  Speaker 1: the notices, and finally upon the petrified, horror stricken showman.
• 2:35:06
  Speaker 1: She sprang up, and, seizing him by the shoulders, shook
• 2:35:10
  Speaker 1: him till his teeth chattered. The tinsel crown fell down,
• 2:35:14
  Speaker 1: encircling ears and nose, and one of his mustaches fell
• 2:35:19
  Speaker 1: limply at his feet. You wicked boy, she said, as
• 2:35:23
  Speaker 1: she shook him. You wicked, wicked, wicked boy. He escaped
• 2:35:29
  Speaker 1: from her grasp and fled to the showroom, where, in
• 2:35:33
  Speaker 1: sheer self defense, he moved a table and three chairs
• 2:35:37
  Speaker 1: across the door. The room was empty except for Henry,
• 2:35:42
  Speaker 1: the blue dog, and the still sleeping Smuts. All that
• 2:35:46
  Speaker 1: was left of the giant was the crumpled sheets. Douglas
• 2:35:50
  Speaker 1: had with an awe, stricken by jove, snatched up his
• 2:35:55
  Speaker 1: rat as he ran. The last of their clients was
• 2:35:59
  Speaker 1: seen grambling along the top of the garden wall on
• 2:36:02
  Speaker 1: all fours with all possible speed. Mechanically. William straightened his crown.
• 2:36:10
  Speaker 1: She's woke, he said, She's mad wild. He listened apprehensively
• 2:36:16
  Speaker 1: for angry footsteps descending the stairs and his father's dread summons,
• 2:36:22
  Speaker 1: but none came. Aunt Emily could be heard moving about
• 2:36:27
  Speaker 1: in her room, but that was all. A wild hope
• 2:36:31
  Speaker 1: came to him that given a little time, she might
• 2:36:35
  Speaker 1: forget the incident. Let's count the money, said Henry. At
• 2:36:40
  Speaker 1: last they counted four and six, screamed William, four and six.
• 2:36:47
  Speaker 1: Jolly good, I should say, and it would only have
• 2:36:51
  Speaker 1: been about two shillings without Aunt Emily. I thought of her,
• 2:36:55
  Speaker 1: didn't I. I guess you can all be jolly grateful
• 2:36:59
  Speaker 1: to me, all right, said Henry unkindly. I'm not envying you,
• 2:37:05
  Speaker 1: am I. You're welcome to it. When she tells your father,
• 2:37:09
  Speaker 1: Aunt William's proud spirits dropped. Then came the opening of
• 2:37:15
  Speaker 1: the fateful door and heavy steps descending the stairs. William's
• 2:37:20
  Speaker 1: mother had returned from her weekly visit to her friend.
• 2:37:24
  Speaker 1: She was placing her umbrella in the stand as Aunt Emily,
• 2:37:28
  Speaker 1: hatted and coated and carrying a bag, descended. William's father
• 2:37:34
  Speaker 1: had just awakened from his peaceful Sunday afternoon slumber, and
• 2:37:39
  Speaker 1: hearing his wife had come into the hall, aunt Emily
• 2:37:44
  Speaker 1: fixed her eye upon him. Will you be good enough
• 2:37:49
  Speaker 1: to procure a conveyance? She said, after the indignities to
• 2:37:55
  Speaker 1: which I have been subjected in this house, I refuse
• 2:37:58
  Speaker 1: to remain in it. A moment longer. Quivering with indignation,
• 2:38:04
  Speaker 1: she gave details of the indignities to which she had
• 2:38:08
  Speaker 1: been subjected. William's mother pleaded, apologized, coaxed. William's father went
• 2:38:16
  Speaker 1: quietly out to procure a conveyance. When he returned, she
• 2:38:22
  Speaker 1: was still talking in the hall. A crowd of vulgar
• 2:38:26
  Speaker 1: little boys, she was saying, and horrible indecent placards all
• 2:38:31
  Speaker 1: over the room. He carried her bag down to the cab,
• 2:38:36
  Speaker 1: and me in my state of health, she said. As
• 2:38:40
  Speaker 1: she followed him from the cab. She gave her parting shot.
• 2:38:45
  Speaker 1: And if this horrible thing hadn't happened, I might have
• 2:38:49
  Speaker 1: stayed with you all the winter and perhaps part of
• 2:38:52
  Speaker 1: the spring. William's father wiped his brow with his handkerchief
• 2:38:58
  Speaker 1: as the cab drove off. How dreadful, said his wife,
• 2:39:03
  Speaker 1: but she avoided meeting his eye. It's a it's disgraceful
• 2:39:08
  Speaker 1: of William, she went on, with sudden spirit. You must
• 2:39:12
  Speaker 1: speak to him, I will, said his father determinedly. William,
• 2:39:18
  Speaker 1: he shouted sternly from the hall. William's heart sank. She's told,
• 2:39:25
  Speaker 1: he murmured, his last hope gone. You'd better go and
• 2:39:29
  Speaker 1: get it over, advised Henry. William repeated the voice still
• 2:39:35
  Speaker 1: more fiercely. Henry moved nearer the window, prepared for instant flight.
• 2:39:41
  Speaker 1: If the voice's owner should follow it up the stairs,
• 2:39:45
  Speaker 1: go on, he urged, he'll only come up for you.
• 2:39:49
  Speaker 1: William slowly removed the barricade and descended the stairs. He
• 2:39:54
  Speaker 1: had remembered to take off the crown and dressing gown,
• 2:39:58
  Speaker 1: but his one sided must ustash still hung limply over
• 2:40:02
  Speaker 1: his mouth. His father was standing in the hall. What's
• 2:40:07
  Speaker 1: that horrible thing on your face? He began whiskers, answered
• 2:40:12
  Speaker 1: William laconically. His father accepted the explanation. Is it true?
• 2:40:20
  Speaker 1: He went on that you actually took your friends into
• 2:40:24
  Speaker 1: your aunt's room without permission and hung vulgar placards around it.
• 2:40:30
  Speaker 1: William glanced up into his father's face and suddenly took hope.
• 2:40:36
  Speaker 1: Mister Brown was no actor. Yes, he admitted. It's disgraceful,
• 2:40:43
  Speaker 1: said mister Brown. Disgraceful, that's all. But it was not
• 2:40:48
  Speaker 1: quite all. Something hard and round slipped into William's hand.
• 2:40:54
  Speaker 1: He ran lightly upstairs. Hullo, said, Henry, surprised, that's not
• 2:41:00
  Speaker 1: take him long. What William opened his hand and showed
• 2:41:04
  Speaker 1: something that shone upon his extended palm. Look, he said, crumbs. Look,
• 2:41:11
  Speaker 1: it was a bright half crown. End of Chapter five,
• 2:41:18
  Speaker 1: Chapter six A question of grammar. It was raining. It
• 2:41:24
  Speaker 1: had been raining all morning William was intensely bored with
• 2:41:29
  Speaker 1: his family. What can I do? He demanded of his
• 2:41:34
  Speaker 1: father for the tenth time, Nothing, said his father fiercely,
• 2:41:38
  Speaker 1: from behind his newspaper. William followed his mother into the kitchen.
• 2:41:44
  Speaker 1: What can I do? He said, plaintively. Couldn't you just
• 2:41:48
  Speaker 1: sit quietly, suggested his mother. That's not doing anything, William said,
• 2:41:55
  Speaker 1: I could sit quietly all day, he went on aggressively
• 2:41:58
  Speaker 1: if I wanted. But you never do no, cause there
• 2:42:04
  Speaker 1: wouldn't be any sense in it, would there. Couldn't you
• 2:42:08
  Speaker 1: read or draw or something. No, that's lessons, that's not
• 2:42:14
  Speaker 1: doin anything. I could teach you to knit if you like.
• 2:42:19
  Speaker 1: With one crushing glance, William left her. He went to
• 2:42:24
  Speaker 1: the drawing room, where his sister Ethel was knitting a
• 2:42:27
  Speaker 1: jumper and talking to a friend. And I heard her
• 2:42:31
  Speaker 1: say to him. She was saying, she broke off with
• 2:42:35
  Speaker 1: the sigh of a patient martyr. As William came in,
• 2:42:39
  Speaker 1: he sat down and glared at her. She exchanged a
• 2:42:43
  Speaker 1: glance of resigned exasperation with her friend. What are you doing, William?
• 2:42:49
  Speaker 1: Said the friend sweetly, Nunn said William, with a scowl,
• 2:42:55
  Speaker 1: shut the door after you when you go out, won't you,
• 2:42:58
  Speaker 1: William said ethel willy sweetly. William, at that insult, rose
• 2:43:04
  Speaker 1: with dignity and went to the door. At the door
• 2:43:08
  Speaker 1: he turned. I wouldn't stay here now, he said, with
• 2:43:13
  Speaker 1: slow contempt, Not even if, even if, even if he
• 2:43:22
  Speaker 1: paused to consider the most remote contingency, Not even if
• 2:43:28
  Speaker 1: you wanted me, he said at last emphatically. He shut
• 2:43:33
  Speaker 1: the door behind him, and his expression relaxed into a
• 2:43:37
  Speaker 1: sardonic smile. I bet they feel small, he said, to
• 2:43:42
  Speaker 1: the umbrella stand. He went to the library, where his
• 2:43:46
  Speaker 1: seventeen year old brother Robert was showing off his new
• 2:43:51
  Speaker 1: rifle to a friend. You see, he was saying, then
• 2:43:55
  Speaker 1: catching sight of William's face round the corner, Oh get out.
• 2:44:00
  Speaker 1: William got out. He returned to his mother in the
• 2:44:04
  Speaker 1: kitchen with a still more jaundiced view of life. It
• 2:44:09
  Speaker 1: was still raining. His mother was looking at the tradesman's books.
• 2:44:14
  Speaker 1: Can I go out? He said, gloomily, No, of course not.
• 2:44:18
  Speaker 1: It's pouring. I don't mind rain. Don't be silly. William
• 2:44:25
  Speaker 1: considered that few boys in the whole world were handicapped
• 2:44:29
  Speaker 1: by more unsympathetic parents than he. Why, he said, pathetically,
• 2:44:36
  Speaker 1: have they got friends and me? Not? I suppose you
• 2:44:40
  Speaker 1: didn't think of asking anyone? She said, calmly, Well can
• 2:44:45
  Speaker 1: I have some one? Now? No, it's too late, said
• 2:44:49
  Speaker 1: missus Brown, raising her head from the butcher's book and
• 2:44:53
  Speaker 1: murmuring ten and elevenpence to herself. Well when can I?
• 2:45:00
  Speaker 1: She raised a harassed face. William, do be quiet any time?
• 2:45:05
  Speaker 1: If you ask? Eighteen and twopence? Can I have lots? Oh?
• 2:45:11
  Speaker 1: Go ask your father? William went out. He returned to
• 2:45:17
  Speaker 1: the dining room, where his father was still reading a paper.
• 2:45:21
  Speaker 1: The sigh with which his father greeted his entrance was
• 2:45:24
  Speaker 1: not one of relief. If you've come to ask questions,
• 2:45:29
  Speaker 1: he began, threateningly, I haven't, said William quickly. Father. When
• 2:45:35
  Speaker 1: you're all away on Saturday, can I have a party? No?
• 2:45:40
  Speaker 1: Of course, not, said his father irritably. Can't you do something?
• 2:45:46
  Speaker 1: William goaded into desperation, burst into a flood of eloquence.
• 2:45:52
  Speaker 1: The sort of things I want to do they don't
• 2:45:55
  Speaker 1: want me to do, and the sort of things I
• 2:45:57
  Speaker 1: don't want to do they want me to do, mother
• 2:46:00
  Speaker 1: said to net Net. His scorn and fury were indescribable.
• 2:46:07
  Speaker 1: His father looked out of the window. Thank Heaven it
• 2:46:11
  Speaker 1: stopped raining. Go out, William went out. There were some
• 2:46:17
  Speaker 1: quite interesting things to do outside in the road. There
• 2:46:21
  Speaker 1: were puddles, and the sensation of walking through a puddle,
• 2:46:25
  Speaker 1: as every boy knows, is a very pleasant one. The hedges,
• 2:46:30
  Speaker 1: when shaken, sent quite a shower bath upon the shaker,
• 2:46:34
  Speaker 1: which also is a pleasant sensation. The ditch was full,
• 2:46:40
  Speaker 1: and there was the thrill of seeing how often one
• 2:46:42
  Speaker 1: could jump across it without going in. One went in
• 2:46:46
  Speaker 1: more often than not. It is also fascinating to walk
• 2:46:51
  Speaker 1: in mud, scraping it along with one's boots. William's spirits rose,
• 2:46:57
  Speaker 1: but he could not shake off the idea of the party.
• 2:47:01
  Speaker 1: Quite suddenly, he wanted to have a party, and he
• 2:47:04
  Speaker 1: wanted to have it on Saturday. His family would be
• 2:47:08
  Speaker 1: away on Saturday. They were going to spend the day
• 2:47:11
  Speaker 1: with an aunt. Ants rarely included William in their invitation.
• 2:47:17
  Speaker 1: He came home wet and dirty and cheerful. He approached
• 2:47:22
  Speaker 1: his father warily, did you say I could have a party? Father?
• 2:47:27
  Speaker 1: He said casually, No, I did not, said mister Brown firmly.
• 2:47:33
  Speaker 1: William let the matter rest for the present. He spent
• 2:47:38
  Speaker 1: most of the English grammar class and school next morning,
• 2:47:43
  Speaker 1: considering it there was a great deal to be said
• 2:47:46
  Speaker 1: for a party in the absence of one's parents and
• 2:47:49
  Speaker 1: grown up brother and sister. He liked to ask George
• 2:47:53
  Speaker 1: and Ginger and Henry and Douglas, and and and heaps
• 2:48:00
  Speaker 1: of them. He'd liked to ask them all. They were
• 2:48:04
  Speaker 1: the whole class, thirty in number. What have I just
• 2:48:09
  Speaker 1: been saying? William William sighed, that was the foolish sort
• 2:48:14
  Speaker 1: of question that schoolmistresses were always asking. They ought to
• 2:48:19
  Speaker 1: know themselves what they'd just been saying better than anyone
• 2:48:23
  Speaker 1: he never knew. Why were they always asking him? He
• 2:48:28
  Speaker 1: looked blank. Then was it anything about participles? He remembered
• 2:48:35
  Speaker 1: something vaguely about participles, but it mightn't have been to day.
• 2:48:41
  Speaker 1: Miss Jones groaned, that was ever so long ago, William,
• 2:48:45
  Speaker 1: She said, you've not been attending. William cleared his throat
• 2:48:51
  Speaker 1: with a certain dignity and made no answer. Tell him Henry.
• 2:48:58
  Speaker 1: Henry ceased his drawling occupation of trying to push a
• 2:49:02
  Speaker 1: fly into his ink weell with his nib and answered mechanically,
• 2:49:07
  Speaker 1: two negatives make an affirmative. Yes, say that William. William
• 2:49:14
  Speaker 1: repeated it without betraying any great interest in the fact. Yes,
• 2:49:20
  Speaker 1: what's a negative William? William sighed something about photographs, He
• 2:49:27
  Speaker 1: said obligingly, no, snapped Miss Jones. She found William and
• 2:49:32
  Speaker 1: the heat William particularly rather trying. It's no and not
• 2:49:39
  Speaker 1: and an affirmative is yes, oh, said William politely. So
• 2:49:47
  Speaker 1: two nos and nots means yes if they're in the
• 2:49:52
  Speaker 1: same sentence. If you said there's not no money in
• 2:49:57
  Speaker 1: the box, you mean there is. William considered. He said
• 2:50:03
  Speaker 1: oh again. Then he seemed suddenly to become intelligent. Then
• 2:50:10
  Speaker 1: he said, if you say no and not in the
• 2:50:14
  Speaker 1: same sentence, does it mean yes? Certainly? William smiled. William's
• 2:50:22
  Speaker 1: smile was a rare thing. Thank you, he said. Miss
• 2:50:29
  Speaker 1: Jones was quite touched. It's all right, William, she said,
• 2:50:33
  Speaker 1: I'm glad you're beginning to take an interest in your work.
• 2:50:38
  Speaker 1: William was murmuring to himself. No, of course not, and
• 2:50:44
  Speaker 1: no I did not, and ah no and a not
• 2:50:49
  Speaker 1: mean a yes. So he meant yes, of course and
• 2:50:54
  Speaker 1: yes I did. He waited till the friday before he
• 2:50:59
  Speaker 1: gave his invitation with a casual air. My folks, has
• 2:51:03
  Speaker 1: gone away tomorrow, and they said I could have a
• 2:51:06
  Speaker 1: few friends in to tea. Can you come? Tell your mother?
• 2:51:10
  Speaker 1: They said, just to come, and not bother to write.
• 2:51:14
  Speaker 1: He was a born strategist. Not one of his friend's
• 2:51:18
  Speaker 1: parents guessed the true state of affairs. When William's conscience,
• 2:51:23
  Speaker 1: that curious organ rose to reproach him, he said, to
• 2:51:27
  Speaker 1: it firmly, he said I could. He said yes, of course,
• 2:51:32
  Speaker 1: he said yes, I did. He asked them all. He
• 2:51:38
  Speaker 1: thought that while you are having a party, you might
• 2:51:41
  Speaker 1: as well have a big one. He hinted darkly at
• 2:51:44
  Speaker 1: unrestrained joy and mirth. They all accepted the invitation. William's
• 2:51:52
  Speaker 1: mother took an anxious farewell of him on Saturday morning.
• 2:51:56
  Speaker 1: You don't mind being left, darling, do you, No, mother,
• 2:52:01
  Speaker 1: said William, with perfect truth. You won't do anything we've
• 2:52:06
  Speaker 1: told you not to do, will you no, mother, only
• 2:52:10
  Speaker 1: things you said yes to. Cook and Jane had long
• 2:52:15
  Speaker 1: looked forward to this day. There would be very little
• 2:52:19
  Speaker 1: to do in the house, and as far as William
• 2:52:22
  Speaker 1: was concerned, they hoped for the best. William was out
• 2:52:27
  Speaker 1: all the morning. At lunch, he was ominously quiet and polite.
• 2:52:32
  Speaker 1: Jane decided to go with her young man to the pictures.
• 2:52:37
  Speaker 1: Cook said she didn't mind being left, as that Master
• 2:52:41
  Speaker 1: William had gone out and there seemed to be no
• 2:52:43
  Speaker 1: prospect of his return before tea time. So Jane went
• 2:52:48
  Speaker 1: to the pictures. About three o'clock, the postman came, and
• 2:52:53
  Speaker 1: Cook went to the door for the letters. Then she
• 2:52:56
  Speaker 1: stood gazing down the road as though trance fixed. William
• 2:53:02
  Speaker 1: had collected his guests en route. He was bringing them
• 2:53:07
  Speaker 1: joyfully home with him. Clean and starched and prim had
• 2:53:12
  Speaker 1: they issued from their homes, but they had grown hilarious
• 2:53:15
  Speaker 1: under William's benign influence. They had acquired sticks and stones
• 2:53:21
  Speaker 1: and old tins from the ditches as they came along.
• 2:53:25
  Speaker 1: They perceived, from William's general attitude towards it, that it
• 2:53:29
  Speaker 1: was no ordinary party. They were a happy crowd. William
• 2:53:35
  Speaker 1: headed them with a trumpet. They trooped in at the
• 2:53:38
  Speaker 1: garden gate. Cook, pale and speechless, watched them. Then her
• 2:53:45
  Speaker 1: speechlessness departed. You're not coming in here, she said, fiercely.
• 2:53:52
  Speaker 1: What have you brought all those boys cluttering up the garden.
• 2:53:56
  Speaker 1: They've come to Tea, said William calmly. He grew paler
• 2:54:01
  Speaker 1: still that they've not. She said fiercely, what your father'd say?
• 2:54:08
  Speaker 1: He said they could come, said William. I asked him,
• 2:54:12
  Speaker 1: and he said yes, of course. And I asked him
• 2:54:16
  Speaker 1: if he'd said so, and he said yes, I did.
• 2:54:20
  Speaker 1: That's what he said. Cause of English grammar and what
• 2:54:24
  Speaker 1: miss Jones said. Cook's answer was to slam the door
• 2:54:29
  Speaker 1: in his face and lock it. The thirty guests were
• 2:54:32
  Speaker 1: slightly disconcerted, but not for long. Come on, shouted William excitedly.
• 2:54:39
  Speaker 1: She's the enemy. Let's storm her old castle. The guest's
• 2:54:44
  Speaker 1: spirits rose. This promised to be infinitely superior to the
• 2:54:49
  Speaker 1: usual party. They swarmed round to the back of the house.
• 2:54:54
  Speaker 1: The enemy had bolted the back door and was fastening
• 2:54:57
  Speaker 1: all the windows. Purple with fury, she shook her fist
• 2:55:01
  Speaker 1: at William through the drawing room window. William brandished his
• 2:55:06
  Speaker 1: piece of stick and blew his trumpet in defiant reply.
• 2:55:11
  Speaker 1: The army had armed itself with every kind of weapon,
• 2:55:15
  Speaker 1: including the raspberry canes, whose careful placing was the result
• 2:55:20
  Speaker 1: of a whole day's work of William's father. William decided
• 2:55:25
  Speaker 1: to climb up to the balcony outside Ethel's open bedroom
• 2:55:28
  Speaker 1: window with the help of his noble band. The air
• 2:55:32
  Speaker 1: was full of their defiant warhoops. They filled the front garden,
• 2:55:38
  Speaker 1: trampling on all the rose beds, cheering William as he
• 2:55:41
  Speaker 1: swarmed up to the balcony, his trumpet between his lips.
• 2:55:46
  Speaker 1: The enemy appeared at the window and shut it with
• 2:55:49
  Speaker 1: a bang, and William startled, dropped down among his followers.
• 2:55:55
  Speaker 1: They raised a hoarse roar of anger. Me an old cat,
• 2:56:01
  Speaker 1: shouted the enraged general. The blood of the army was up.
• 2:56:07
  Speaker 1: No army of thirty strong, worthy of its name would
• 2:56:11
  Speaker 1: ever consent to be worsted by an enemy of one.
• 2:56:16
  Speaker 1: All the doors and windows were bolted. There was only
• 2:56:19
  Speaker 1: one thing to be done, and this the General did,
• 2:56:24
  Speaker 1: encouraged by loyal cheers from his army. Go it, oh, William, Yeah.
• 2:56:29
  Speaker 1: He The stone with which William broke the drawing room
• 2:56:36
  Speaker 1: window fell upon a small occasional table, scattering Missus Brown's
• 2:56:42
  Speaker 1: cherished silver far and wide. William, with the born general's
• 2:56:48
  Speaker 1: contempt for the minor devastations of war, enlarged the whole
• 2:56:53
  Speaker 1: and helped his gallant band through with only a limited
• 2:56:58
  Speaker 1: number of cuts and scre They were drunk with the
• 2:57:02
  Speaker 1: thrill of battle. They left the garden with its wreck
• 2:57:06
  Speaker 1: of rose trees and its trampled lawn, and crowded through
• 2:57:10
  Speaker 1: the broken window, with imminent danger to life and limb.
• 2:57:15
  Speaker 1: The enemy was shutting the small window of the coal cellar,
• 2:57:19
  Speaker 1: and there William imprisoned her, turning the key with a
• 2:57:23
  Speaker 1: loud yell of triumph. The party then proceeded. It fulfilled
• 2:57:29
  Speaker 1: the expectations of the guests that it was to be
• 2:57:32
  Speaker 1: a party unlike any other party. At other parties, they
• 2:57:37
  Speaker 1: played hide and seek with smiling but firm mothers and
• 2:57:41
  Speaker 1: aunts and sisters stationed at intervals, with damping effects upon
• 2:57:46
  Speaker 1: one's spirits. With not in the bedrooms, dear, and mind
• 2:57:51
  Speaker 1: the umbrella stand, and certainly not in the drawing room,
• 2:57:56
  Speaker 1: and don't shout so loud, darling. But this was hide
• 2:58:01
  Speaker 1: and seek from the realms of perfection, up the stairs
• 2:58:06
  Speaker 1: and down the stairs in all the bedrooms, sliding down
• 2:58:10
  Speaker 1: the balusters, in and out of the drawing room, leaving
• 2:58:14
  Speaker 1: trails of muddy boots and shattered ornaments as they went.
• 2:58:19
  Speaker 1: Ginger found a splendid hiding place in Robert's bed, where
• 2:58:24
  Speaker 1: his boots left a perfect impression of their muddy soles
• 2:58:28
  Speaker 1: in several places. Henry found another in Ethel's wardrobe, crouching
• 2:58:35
  Speaker 1: upon her satin evening shoes among her evening dresses. George
• 2:58:40
  Speaker 1: banged the drawing room door with such violence that the
• 2:58:44
  Speaker 1: handle came off in his hand. Douglas became entangled in
• 2:58:49
  Speaker 1: the dining room curtain, which yielded to his struggles and
• 2:58:54
  Speaker 1: descended upon him and an old china bowl upon the sideboard.
• 2:58:59
  Speaker 1: It was such a party as none of them had
• 2:59:02
  Speaker 1: dreamed of. It was bliss undiluded. The house was full
• 2:59:08
  Speaker 1: of shouting and yelling, of running to and fro of
• 2:59:12
  Speaker 1: small boys, mingled with subterranean murmurs of Cook's rage. Cook
• 2:59:18
  Speaker 1: was uttering horrible imprecations and hurling lumps of coal at
• 2:59:23
  Speaker 1: the door. She was irish and longed to return to
• 2:59:27
  Speaker 1: the fray. It was William who discovered first that it
• 2:59:32
  Speaker 1: was tea time and there was no tea. At first
• 2:59:37
  Speaker 1: he felt slightly aggrieved. Then he thought of the larder,
• 2:59:41
  Speaker 1: and his spirits rose come on. He called, I'll just
• 2:59:46
  Speaker 1: get what you can. They trooped in, panting, shouting, laughing,
• 2:59:52
  Speaker 1: and all just got what they could. Ginger seized the
• 2:59:57
  Speaker 1: remnants of a cold ham and picked the bone George,
• 3:00:02
  Speaker 1: with great gusto, drank a whole jar of cream. William
• 3:00:07
  Speaker 1: and Douglas between them ate a gooseberry pie. Henry ate
• 3:00:12
  Speaker 1: a whole currant cake, each foraged for himself. They ate
• 3:00:17
  Speaker 1: two bowls of cold vegetables, a joint of cold beef,
• 3:00:22
  Speaker 1: two pots of honey, three dozen oranges, three loaves, and
• 3:00:27
  Speaker 1: two pots of dripping. They experimented upon lard onions and
• 3:00:33
  Speaker 1: raw sausages. They left the larder a place of gaping emptiness. Meanwhile,
• 3:00:40
  Speaker 1: Cook's voice, growing hoarser and hoarser as the result of
• 3:00:45
  Speaker 1: the inhalation of cold dust and exhalation of imprecations, still
• 3:00:51
  Speaker 1: arose from the depths, And still the door of the
• 3:00:54
  Speaker 1: coal cellar shook and rattled. Then one of the guests
• 3:00:59
  Speaker 1: who had been in the drawing room window came back.
• 3:01:03
  Speaker 1: She's coming home, he shouted excitedly. They flocked to the window.
• 3:01:09
  Speaker 1: Jane was bidding a fond farewell to her young man
• 3:01:12
  Speaker 1: at the side gate. Don't let her come in, yelled William.
• 3:01:17
  Speaker 1: Come on, with a smile of blissful reminiscence upon her face.
• 3:01:23
  Speaker 1: Jane turned in at the gate. She was totally unprepared
• 3:01:27
  Speaker 1: for being met by a shower of missiles from upper windows.
• 3:01:32
  Speaker 1: A lump of lard hit her on the ear and
• 3:01:35
  Speaker 1: knocked her hat on to one side. She retreated hastily
• 3:01:40
  Speaker 1: to the side gate. Go on, send her into the road.
• 3:01:46
  Speaker 1: A shower of onions, the ham bone, and a few
• 3:01:49
  Speaker 1: potatoes pursued her into the road. Shouts of triumph rent
• 3:01:55
  Speaker 1: the air. Then the shouts of triumph died away. Abruptly,
• 3:02:00
  Speaker 1: William's smile also faded away, and his hand, in the
• 3:02:05
  Speaker 1: act of flinging an onion, dropped. A cab was turning
• 3:02:10
  Speaker 1: in at the front gate. In the sudden silence that
• 3:02:14
  Speaker 1: fell upon the party, Cook's hoarse cries for vengeance rose
• 3:02:19
  Speaker 1: with redoubled force from the coal cellar. William grew pale.
• 3:02:26
  Speaker 1: The cab contained his family. Two hours later, a small
• 3:02:33
  Speaker 1: feminine friend of William, who had called with a note
• 3:02:36
  Speaker 1: for his mother, looked up to William's window and caught
• 3:02:40
  Speaker 1: sight of William's untidy head. Come and play with me, William,
• 3:02:45
  Speaker 1: she called eagerly. I can't. I'm going to bed, said
• 3:02:50
  Speaker 1: William sternly. Why are you ill, William? No, well, why
• 3:02:56
  Speaker 1: are you going to bed? William? William leant out to
• 3:03:00
  Speaker 1: the window. I'm going to bed, he said, cause my
• 3:03:04
  Speaker 1: father don't understand about English grammar. That's why. End of
• 3:03:10
  Speaker 1: chapter six, Chapter seven, William joins the Band of Hope. William,
• 3:03:17
  Speaker 1: you've been playing that dreadful game again, said Missus Brown despairingly. William,
• 3:03:23
  Speaker 1: his suit covered with dust, his tie under one ear,
• 3:03:27
  Speaker 1: his face begrimed, and his knees cut, looked at her
• 3:03:31
  Speaker 1: in righteous indignation. I haven't. I haven't done anything what
• 3:03:37
  Speaker 1: you said i'd not to. It was lions and tamers.
• 3:03:40
  Speaker 1: What you said i'd not to play. Well, I've not
• 3:03:43
  Speaker 1: played lions and tamers, not since you said i'd not to.
• 3:03:46
  Speaker 1: I wouldn't do it, not if thousands of people asked
• 3:03:49
  Speaker 1: me to not when you said i'd not to, I
• 3:03:52
  Speaker 1: Missus Brown interrupted him. Well what have you been playing at,
• 3:03:57
  Speaker 1: she said wearily. It was tigers and tamers, said William.
• 3:04:03
  Speaker 1: It's a different game altogether. In Lions and tamers. Half
• 3:04:07
  Speaker 1: of you is lions and the other half tamers, and
• 3:04:10
  Speaker 1: the tamers try to tame the lions, and the lions
• 3:04:12
  Speaker 1: try not to be tamed. That's lions and tamers. It's
• 3:04:16
  Speaker 1: all there is to it. It's quite a little game.
• 3:04:21
  Speaker 1: What do you do in tigers and tamers, said Missus
• 3:04:24
  Speaker 1: Brown suspiciously. Well, William considered deeply, well, he repeated, lamely,
• 3:04:33
  Speaker 1: in tigers and tamers, half of you is tigers, you see,
• 3:04:38
  Speaker 1: and the other half it's exactly the same thing, William
• 3:04:43
  Speaker 1: said Missus Brown with sudden spirit. I don't see how
• 3:04:47
  Speaker 1: you can call it the same thing, said William doggedly.
• 3:04:50
  Speaker 1: You can't call a lion a tiger, can you. It
• 3:04:53
  Speaker 1: just isn't one. They're in quite different cages in the zoo.
• 3:04:58
  Speaker 1: Tigers and tamers can't be zactly the same as lions
• 3:05:02
  Speaker 1: and tamer's. Well, then, said Missus Brown firmly, you're never
• 3:05:07
  Speaker 1: to play tigers and tamers either, And now go and
• 3:05:11
  Speaker 1: wash your face. William's righteous indignation increased my face, he repeated,
• 3:05:19
  Speaker 1: as if he could hardly believe his ears. My face.
• 3:05:22
  Speaker 1: I've washed it twice to day. I washed it when
• 3:05:25
  Speaker 1: I got up, and I washed it for dinner. You
• 3:05:28
  Speaker 1: told me to, Well, just go and look at it.
• 3:05:33
  Speaker 1: William walked over to the looking glass and surveyed his
• 3:05:36
  Speaker 1: reflection with interest. Then he passed his hands lightly over
• 3:05:40
  Speaker 1: the discolored surface of his face, stroked his hair back,
• 3:05:44
  Speaker 1: and straightened his tie. This done, he turned hopefully to
• 3:05:49
  Speaker 1: his mother. It's no good, she said. You must wash
• 3:05:53
  Speaker 1: your face and brush your hair, and you'd better change
• 3:05:57
  Speaker 1: your suit and stockings. They're simply covered with dust. William
• 3:06:03
  Speaker 1: turned slowly to go from the room. I shouldn't think,
• 3:06:07
  Speaker 1: he said bitterly as he went. I shouldn't think. There's
• 3:06:11
  Speaker 1: many houses where so much washin and brushin goes on
• 3:06:15
  Speaker 1: as in this, and I'm glad for their sakes. She
• 3:06:19
  Speaker 1: heard him coming downstairs. Ten minutes later, William, she called.
• 3:06:25
  Speaker 1: He entered. He was transformed, his face and hair shone,
• 3:06:31
  Speaker 1: He had changed his suit. His air of righteous indignation
• 3:06:36
  Speaker 1: had not diminished. That's better, said his mother approvingly. Now, William,
• 3:06:42
  Speaker 1: do just sit down here till tea time. There's only
• 3:06:46
  Speaker 1: about ten minutes, and it's no good you're going out.
• 3:06:49
  Speaker 1: You'll only get yourself into a mess again if you
• 3:06:52
  Speaker 1: don't sit still. William glanced round the drawing room with
• 3:06:57
  Speaker 1: the air of one goaded beyond bearing. Here, Well, dear,
• 3:07:03
  Speaker 1: just till tea time? What can I do in here?
• 3:07:08
  Speaker 1: There's nothing to do? Is there? I can't sit still
• 3:07:12
  Speaker 1: and not do anything? Can I, oh read a book?
• 3:07:17
  Speaker 1: There are ever so many books over there that you
• 3:07:20
  Speaker 1: haven't read, and I'm sure you'd like some of them.
• 3:07:23
  Speaker 1: Try one of Scott's, she ended, rather doubtfully. William walked
• 3:07:29
  Speaker 1: across the room with an expression of intense suffering, took
• 3:07:32
  Speaker 1: out a book at random, and sat down in an
• 3:07:36
  Speaker 1: attitude of aloof dignity, holding the book upside down. It
• 3:07:42
  Speaker 1: was thus that Missus de Vere Carter found him when
• 3:07:45
  Speaker 1: she was announced a moment later. Missus Devere Carter was
• 3:07:50
  Speaker 1: a recent addition to the neighborhood. Before her marriage, she
• 3:07:54
  Speaker 1: had been one of the Randalls of Herefordshire. Every One
• 3:07:58
  Speaker 1: on whom Missus de Vere Carter smiled felt intensely flattered.
• 3:08:04
  Speaker 1: She was tall and handsome, and gushing and exquisitely dressed.
• 3:08:10
  Speaker 1: Her arrival had caused quite a sensation. Everyone agreed that
• 3:08:15
  Speaker 1: she was charming. On entering Missus Brown's drawing room, she
• 3:08:21
  Speaker 1: saw a little boy, dressed very neatly, with a clean
• 3:08:25
  Speaker 1: face and well brushed hair, sitting quietly on a low
• 3:08:29
  Speaker 1: chair in a corner, reading a book. The little dear,
• 3:08:33
  Speaker 1: she murmured, as she shook hands with Missus Brown. William's
• 3:08:38
  Speaker 1: face darkened. Missus de Vere Carter floated over to him, Well,
• 3:08:44
  Speaker 1: my little man, and how are you? Her little man
• 3:08:49
  Speaker 1: did not answer, partly because Missus de Vere Carter had
• 3:08:53
  Speaker 1: put a hand on his head and pressed his face
• 3:08:56
  Speaker 1: against her perfumed, befrilled bosom. His nose narrowly escaped being
• 3:09:02
  Speaker 1: impaled on the thorn of a large rose that nestled there.
• 3:09:07
  Speaker 1: I adore children, she cooed to his mother over his head.
• 3:09:14
  Speaker 1: William freed his head with a somewhat brusque movement, and
• 3:09:18
  Speaker 1: she took up his book Scott. She murmured, dear little laddie.
• 3:09:25
  Speaker 1: Seeing the expression on William's face, his mother hastily drew
• 3:09:29
  Speaker 1: her guest aside. Do come and sit over here? She said, nervously,
• 3:09:35
  Speaker 1: what perfect weather we're having. William walked out of the room.
• 3:09:41
  Speaker 1: You know, I'm frightfully interested in social work, went on
• 3:09:45
  Speaker 1: her charming guest, especially among children. I adore children, sweet
• 3:09:52
  Speaker 1: little dear of yours, and I always get on with them.
• 3:09:57
  Speaker 1: Of course I get on with most people. My personality.
• 3:10:01
  Speaker 1: You know, you've heard perhaps that I've taken over the
• 3:10:05
  Speaker 1: band of hope here and I'm turning it into such
• 3:10:08
  Speaker 1: a success. The pets, Yes, three lumps. Please, Well, now
• 3:10:14
  Speaker 1: it's here. I want you to help me. You will, dear,
• 3:10:17
  Speaker 1: won't you? You and your little mannikin. I want to
• 3:10:21
  Speaker 1: get a different class of children to join the Band
• 3:10:24
  Speaker 1: of Hope. Such a sweet name, isn't it? It would
• 3:10:29
  Speaker 1: do the village children such a lot of good to
• 3:10:32
  Speaker 1: meet with children of our class. Missus Brown was flattered.
• 3:10:37
  Speaker 1: After all, Missus de vere Carter was one of the Randalls,
• 3:10:42
  Speaker 1: for instance, went on the flute like tones. When I
• 3:10:46
  Speaker 1: came in and saw your little treasure sitting there so sweetly.
• 3:10:50
  Speaker 1: She pointed dramatically to the chair that had lately been
• 3:10:54
  Speaker 1: graced by William's presence. I thought to myself, Oh, I
• 3:10:59
  Speaker 1: must get him to come. It's the refining influence of
• 3:11:04
  Speaker 1: children in our class that the village children need. What
• 3:11:09
  Speaker 1: delicious cakes. You will lend him to me, won't you?
• 3:11:14
  Speaker 1: We meet once a week on Wednesday afternoons. May he come?
• 3:11:18
  Speaker 1: I'll take great care of him. Missus Brown hesitated. Er, Yes,
• 3:11:26
  Speaker 1: she said, doubtfully, but I don't know that William is
• 3:11:30
  Speaker 1: really suited to that sort of thing. However, Oh, you
• 3:11:36
  Speaker 1: can't put me off, said Missus de Vere Carter, shaking
• 3:11:39
  Speaker 1: a playful bejeweled finger. Don't I know him already? I
• 3:11:44
  Speaker 1: count him one of my dearest little friends. It never
• 3:11:47
  Speaker 1: takes me long to know children. I'm a born child lover.
• 3:11:53
  Speaker 1: William happened to be passing through the hall as Missus
• 3:11:56
  Speaker 1: de Vere Carter came out of the drawing room, followed
• 3:11:59
  Speaker 1: by Missus Brown. There you are, she said, I thought
• 3:12:04
  Speaker 1: you'd be waiting to say good bye to me. She
• 3:12:07
  Speaker 1: stretched out her arm with an encircling movement, but William
• 3:12:11
  Speaker 1: stepped back and stood looking at her with a sinister frown.
• 3:12:16
  Speaker 1: I have so enjoyed seeing you. I hope you'll come again, untruthfully,
• 3:12:21
  Speaker 1: stammered Missus Brown, moving so as to block out the
• 3:12:25
  Speaker 1: sight of William's face. But Missus de Vere Carter was
• 3:12:29
  Speaker 1: not to be checked. There are people to whom the
• 3:12:32
  Speaker 1: expression on a child's face conveys absolutely nothing. Once more,
• 3:12:38
  Speaker 1: she floated towards William. Good Bye, Willie, dear, you're not
• 3:12:44
  Speaker 1: too old to kiss me, are you. Missus Brown gasped
• 3:12:49
  Speaker 1: at the look of concentrated fury on William's face. Older
• 3:12:54
  Speaker 1: and stronger people than Missus de Vere Carter would have quailed,
• 3:12:58
  Speaker 1: but she only smiled as with another virulent glare at her,
• 3:13:03
  Speaker 1: he turned on his heel and walked away. Oh the
• 3:13:07
  Speaker 1: sweet shy thing she could. I love them shy. Mister
• 3:13:13
  Speaker 1: Brown was told of the proposal, Well, he said slowly.
• 3:13:20
  Speaker 1: I can't quite visualize William at a Band of Hope meeting.
• 3:13:24
  Speaker 1: But of course if you want him to, he must go,
• 3:13:29
  Speaker 1: you see, said missus Brown with a worried frown. She
• 3:13:32
  Speaker 1: made such a point of it, and she really is
• 3:13:35
  Speaker 1: very charming, and after all, she's rather influential. She was
• 3:13:40
  Speaker 1: one of the randalls. You know, it seems silly to
• 3:13:44
  Speaker 1: offend her. Did William like her? She was sweet with him,
• 3:13:51
  Speaker 1: at least she meant to be sweet, she corrected herself hastily.
• 3:13:55
  Speaker 1: But you know how touchy William is, and you know
• 3:13:59
  Speaker 1: the name he all hate, so I can never understand why,
• 3:14:04
  Speaker 1: after all, lots of people are called Willie. The morning
• 3:14:09
  Speaker 1: of the day of the Band of Hope meeting arrived,
• 3:14:12
  Speaker 1: William came down to breakfast with an agonized expression on
• 3:14:17
  Speaker 1: his healthy countenance. He sat down on his seat and
• 3:14:21
  Speaker 1: raised his hand to his brow with a hollow groan.
• 3:14:25
  Speaker 1: Missus Brown started up in dismay. Oh, William, what's the matter.
• 3:14:31
  Speaker 1: Gutter sick headache? Said William in a faint voice. Oh, dear,
• 3:14:36
  Speaker 1: I am sorry. You'd better go and lie down. I'm
• 3:14:41
  Speaker 1: so sorry, dear. I think I will go and lie down,
• 3:14:46
  Speaker 1: said William's plainting, suffering voice. I'll just have breakfast first. Oh,
• 3:14:52
  Speaker 1: I wouldn't, not with a sick headache. William gazed hungrily
• 3:14:57
  Speaker 1: at the eggs and bacon. I I think I should
• 3:15:01
  Speaker 1: eat some, mother jest a bit. No, I wouldn't, Dear,
• 3:15:05
  Speaker 1: it will only make it worse. Very reluctantly, William returned
• 3:15:10
  Speaker 1: to his room. Missus Brown visited him after breakfast. No,
• 3:15:16
  Speaker 1: he was not better, but he'd thought he'd go for
• 3:15:19
  Speaker 1: a little walk. Yes, he still felt very sick. She
• 3:15:23
  Speaker 1: suggested a strong dose of salt and water. He might
• 3:15:27
  Speaker 1: feel better if he'd been actually sick. No, he'd hate
• 3:15:31
  Speaker 1: to give her the trouble. Besides, it wasn't that kind
• 3:15:35
  Speaker 1: of sickness. He was most emphatic on that point. It
• 3:15:39
  Speaker 1: wasn't that kind of sickness. He thought a walk would
• 3:15:43
  Speaker 1: do him good. He felt he'd like a walk well
• 3:15:47
  Speaker 1: wrapped up and walking with little unsteady steps. He set
• 3:15:51
  Speaker 1: off down the drive, followed by his mother's anxious eyes.
• 3:15:56
  Speaker 1: Then he crept back behind the rhododendron bushes, next time
• 3:16:00
  Speaker 1: to the wall, and climbed in at the larder window.
• 3:16:04
  Speaker 1: The cook came agitatedly to missus Brown half an hour later,
• 3:16:08
  Speaker 1: followed by William, pale and outraged. He's eat nearly everything, ma'am.
• 3:16:16
  Speaker 1: You never saw such a thing. He's eat the cold
• 3:16:18
  Speaker 1: am and the kidney pie, and he's eat them three
• 3:16:21
  Speaker 1: cold sausages, and he's eat all that new jar of
• 3:16:24
  Speaker 1: lemon cheese. William gasped, Missus Brown, you can't have a
• 3:16:30
  Speaker 1: sick headache if you've eaten all that. That was the
• 3:16:35
  Speaker 1: end of the sick headache. He spent the rest of
• 3:16:38
  Speaker 1: the morning with Henry and Douglas and Ginger. William and
• 3:16:42
  Speaker 1: Henry and Douglas and Ginger constituted a secret society called
• 3:16:47
  Speaker 1: the Outlaws. It had few aims beyond that of secrecy.
• 3:16:52
  Speaker 1: William was his acknowledged leader, and he was proud of
• 3:16:56
  Speaker 1: the honor. If they knew, if they get he grew
• 3:17:01
  Speaker 1: hot and cold at the thought. Suppose they saw him going,
• 3:17:06
  Speaker 1: or someone told them he would never hold up his
• 3:17:10
  Speaker 1: head again. He made tentative efforts to find out their
• 3:17:15
  Speaker 1: plans for the afternoon. If only he knew where they'd be,
• 3:17:19
  Speaker 1: he might avoid them somehow, but he got no satisfaction.
• 3:17:25
  Speaker 1: They spent the morning rabbiting in a wood with Henry's
• 3:17:29
  Speaker 1: fox terrier Chips and William's mongrel Jumble. None of them
• 3:17:34
  Speaker 1: saw or heard a rabbit, but Jumble chased a butterfly
• 3:17:38
  Speaker 1: and a bee and scratched up a mole hill and
• 3:17:42
  Speaker 1: was stung by a wasp, and Chips caught a field mouse,
• 3:17:46
  Speaker 1: so the time was not wasted. William's interest, however, was
• 3:17:51
  Speaker 1: half hearted. He was turning over plan after plan in
• 3:17:56
  Speaker 1: his mind, all of which he finally rejected as impractical.
• 3:18:02
  Speaker 1: He entered the dining room for lunch rather earlier than usual.
• 3:18:07
  Speaker 1: Only Robert and Ethel, his elder brother and sister, were there.
• 3:18:12
  Speaker 1: He came in limping, his mouth set into a straight
• 3:18:15
  Speaker 1: line of agony, his brows frowning. HULLO, what's up, said Robert,
• 3:18:21
  Speaker 1: who had not been at breakfast and had forgotten about
• 3:18:24
  Speaker 1: the band of Hope. I've sprained my ankle, said William weakly. Here,
• 3:18:31
  Speaker 1: sit down, old Chap and let me feel it, said
• 3:18:34
  Speaker 1: Robert sympathetically. William sat down meekly upon a chair. Which
• 3:18:39
  Speaker 1: is it, erm this it's a pity you limped with
• 3:18:44
  Speaker 1: the other, said Ethel dryly. That was the end of
• 3:18:49
  Speaker 1: the sprained ankle. The Band of Hope meeting was to
• 3:18:53
  Speaker 1: begin at three. His family received with complete indifference his
• 3:18:59
  Speaker 1: complaint of a sudden agonizing toothache at half past two,
• 3:19:04
  Speaker 1: of acute rheumatism at twenty five to three, and a
• 3:19:08
  Speaker 1: touch of liver. William considered this a heaven sent inspiration.
• 3:19:13
  Speaker 1: It was responsible for many of his father's absences from
• 3:19:16
  Speaker 1: work at twenty to three. At a quarter to three,
• 3:19:21
  Speaker 1: he was ready in the hall. I'm sure you'll enjoy it, William,
• 3:19:26
  Speaker 1: said Missus Brown soothingly. I expect you'll all play games
• 3:19:30
  Speaker 1: and have quite a good time. William treated her with
• 3:19:34
  Speaker 1: silent contempt. Hey Jumble, he called, After all, life could
• 3:19:41
  Speaker 1: never be absolutely black as long as it held jumble.
• 3:19:45
  Speaker 1: Jumble darted ecstatically from the kitchen regions, his mouth covered
• 3:19:49
  Speaker 1: with gravy, dropping a half picked bone on the hall
• 3:19:52
  Speaker 1: carpet as he came. William, you can't take a dog
• 3:19:56
  Speaker 1: to Band of Hope. Meeting. Why not, said William indignantly.
• 3:20:01
  Speaker 1: I don't see why not. Dogs don't drink beer, do they.
• 3:20:06
  Speaker 1: They've as much right at a Band of Hope meeting
• 3:20:09
  Speaker 1: as I have, haven't they. There seems just nothing anyone
• 3:20:12
  Speaker 1: can do well. I'm sure it wouldn't be allowed. No
• 3:20:18
  Speaker 1: one takes dogs to meetings. She held Jumble firmly by
• 3:20:22
  Speaker 1: the collar, and William set off reluctantly down the drive.
• 3:20:27
  Speaker 1: I hope you'll enjoy it, she called cheerfully. He turned
• 3:20:32
  Speaker 1: back and looked at her. It's a wonder I'm not dead,
• 3:20:36
  Speaker 1: he said, bitterly. The things I have to do, he
• 3:20:41
  Speaker 1: walked slowly. A dejected dismal figure at the gate. He
• 3:20:46
  Speaker 1: stopped and glanced cautiously up and down the road. There
• 3:20:50
  Speaker 1: were three more figures coming down the road, with short
• 3:20:54
  Speaker 1: intervals between them. They were Henry, Douglas and Ginger. William's
• 3:21:00
  Speaker 1: first instinct was to dart back and wait till they
• 3:21:03
  Speaker 1: had passed. Then something about their figures struck him. They
• 3:21:08
  Speaker 1: also had a dejected, dismal, hang dog look. He waited
• 3:21:14
  Speaker 1: for the first one, Henry. Henry gave him a shamefaced
• 3:21:19
  Speaker 1: glance and was going to pass him. By you gone too,
• 3:21:23
  Speaker 1: said William. Henry gasped in surprise. Did she come to
• 3:21:28
  Speaker 1: your mother? Was his reply. He was surprised to see
• 3:21:33
  Speaker 1: Ginger and Douglas behind him, and Ginger was surprised to
• 3:21:37
  Speaker 1: see Douglas behind him. They walked together, sheepishly in a
• 3:21:42
  Speaker 1: depressed silence, to the village hall. Once Ginger raised a
• 3:21:47
  Speaker 1: hand to his throat, cut her beastly throat, he complained,
• 3:21:51
  Speaker 1: I don't ought to be out. I'm ill too, said Henry.
• 3:21:56
  Speaker 1: I told him so, and he said Douglas, and me,
• 3:22:01
  Speaker 1: said William, with a horse mirthless laugh, cruel sort of things,
• 3:22:06
  Speaker 1: sending us all out ill like this. At the door
• 3:22:11
  Speaker 1: of the village hall, they halted, and William looked longingly
• 3:22:14
  Speaker 1: towards the field. It's no good, said Ginger, sadly they'd
• 3:22:19
  Speaker 1: find out. Bitter and despondent. They entered within sat A
• 3:22:26
  Speaker 1: handful of gloomy children, who inspired solely by hopes of
• 3:22:31
  Speaker 1: the annual treat, were regular attendants at the meeting. Missus
• 3:22:36
  Speaker 1: de Vere Carter came sailing down to them, her frills
• 3:22:40
  Speaker 1: and scarfs floating around her, bringing with her a strong
• 3:22:43
  Speaker 1: smell of perfume. Dear children, she said, Welcome to our
• 3:22:49
  Speaker 1: little gathering. These, she addressed the regular members, who turned
• 3:22:54
  Speaker 1: gloomy eyes upon the outlaws. These are our dear new friends.
• 3:23:00
  Speaker 1: We must make them so happy. Dear children, She led
• 3:23:05
  Speaker 1: them to seats in the front row, and, taking her
• 3:23:08
  Speaker 1: stand in front of them, addressed the meeting. Now, girlies, dear,
• 3:23:13
  Speaker 1: and laddies dear, what do I expect you to be
• 3:23:17
  Speaker 1: at these meetings? And in answer came a bored, monotonous chant.
• 3:23:24
  Speaker 1: Respectful and reposeful. I have a name, children, dear, respectful
• 3:23:31
  Speaker 1: and reposeful, Missus de vere Carter. That's it, children, dear,
• 3:23:38
  Speaker 1: respectful and reposeful. Now, our little new friends, what do
• 3:23:44
  Speaker 1: I expect you to be? No answer? The outlaws sat horrified, outraged, shamed.
• 3:23:54
  Speaker 1: You're such shy darlings, aren't you, she said, stretching out
• 3:23:59
  Speaker 1: an arm. William retreated hastily, and Ginger's face was pressed
• 3:24:04
  Speaker 1: hard against a diamond brooch. You won't be shy with
• 3:24:08
  Speaker 1: us long. I'm sure we're so happy here, happy and good. Now, children, dear,
• 3:24:16
  Speaker 1: what is it we must be? Again? The bored, monotonous chant,
• 3:24:22
  Speaker 1: Happy and good, Missus de vere Carter. That's it now,
• 3:24:29
  Speaker 1: darlings in the front row. You tell me, Willie pet
• 3:24:32
  Speaker 1: you begin, What is it we must be? At that moment,
• 3:24:38
  Speaker 1: William was nearer committing murder than at any other time
• 3:24:42
  Speaker 1: in his life. He caught a gleam in Henry's eye.
• 3:24:47
  Speaker 1: Henry would remember. William choked, but made no answer. You
• 3:24:53
  Speaker 1: tell me, then, Harry boy. Henry went purple, and William's spirits. Ah,
• 3:25:02
  Speaker 1: you won't be so shy next week, will they? Children? Dear? No,
• 3:25:07
  Speaker 1: Missus de Vere Carter, came the prompt listless response. Now
• 3:25:13
  Speaker 1: we'll begin with one of our dear little songs. Give
• 3:25:16
  Speaker 1: out the books. She seated herself at the piano, Number five,
• 3:25:21
  Speaker 1: sparkling water. Collect your thoughts, children, dear? Are you ready?
• 3:25:27
  Speaker 1: She struck the opening chords. The outlaws, though provided with books,
• 3:25:33
  Speaker 1: did not join in. They had no objection to water
• 3:25:37
  Speaker 1: as a beverage. They merely objected to singing about it.
• 3:25:41
  Speaker 1: Missus de Vere Carter rose from the piano. Now we'll
• 3:25:45
  Speaker 1: play one of our games. Children. Dear, You can begin
• 3:25:49
  Speaker 1: by yourselves, can't you, darlings. I'll just go across the
• 3:25:53
  Speaker 1: field and see why little Teddy Wheeler hasn't come. He
• 3:25:58
  Speaker 1: must be regular mustn't he laddies dear? Now, what game
• 3:26:02
  Speaker 1: shall we play? We had Puss in the corner last week,
• 3:26:06
  Speaker 1: hadn't we We'll have here we go round the mulberry
• 3:26:10
  Speaker 1: bush this week? Shall we? No? Not blind Man's buff darling.
• 3:26:15
  Speaker 1: It's a horrid rough game. Now while I'm gone, see
• 3:26:20
  Speaker 1: if you can make these four shy darlings more at home?
• 3:26:24
  Speaker 1: Will you and play quietly? Now? Before I go, tell
• 3:26:29
  Speaker 1: me four things that you must be respectful and reposeful
• 3:26:35
  Speaker 1: and happy and good. Missus de vere Carter came the chant.
• 3:26:43
  Speaker 1: She was away about a quarter of an hour. When
• 3:26:47
  Speaker 1: she returned, the game was in full swing. But it
• 3:26:51
  Speaker 1: was not Here we go round the mulberry bush. There
• 3:26:55
  Speaker 1: was a screaming, struggling crowd of children in the village hall.
• 3:27:00
  Speaker 1: Benches were overturned and several chairs broken. With yells and
• 3:27:05
  Speaker 1: whoops and blows and struggles. The tamers tried to tame
• 3:27:10
  Speaker 1: with growls and snarls and bites and struggles. The animals
• 3:27:14
  Speaker 1: tried not to be tamed. Gone was all listlessness and
• 3:27:20
  Speaker 1: all boredom. And William his tie hanging in shreds, his
• 3:27:25
  Speaker 1: coat torn, his head cut, and his voice hoarse led
• 3:27:30
  Speaker 1: the fray as a tamer. Come on you, I'll get
• 3:27:34
  Speaker 1: you there. Go at men, catch him, beat 'em, knife em,
• 3:27:39
  Speaker 1: kill em. The spirited roarings and bellowing of the animals
• 3:27:44
  Speaker 1: was almost blood curdling. Above it all, Missus de vere
• 3:27:48
  Speaker 1: Carter coaxed and expostulated and wrung her hands, respectful and reposeful,
• 3:27:56
  Speaker 1: happy and good Laddie's dear and Willie floated unheeded over
• 3:28:01
  Speaker 1: the tide of battle. Then, somebody reports afterwards differed as
• 3:28:08
  Speaker 1: to who it was, rushed out of the door into
• 3:28:11
  Speaker 1: the field, and there the battle was fought to a finish.
• 3:28:15
  Speaker 1: From there the band of Hope undismissed, reluctantly separated to
• 3:28:21
  Speaker 1: its various homes, battered and bruised, but blissfully happy. Missus
• 3:28:27
  Speaker 1: Brown was anxiously awaiting William's return. When she saw him,
• 3:28:32
  Speaker 1: she gasped and sat down weakly on a hall chair. William,
• 3:28:40
  Speaker 1: I've not, said William, quickly, looking at her out of
• 3:28:44
  Speaker 1: a fast closing eye. I've not been playing at either
• 3:28:49
  Speaker 1: of them, not those what you said. I'd not to
• 3:28:54
  Speaker 1: then what it was. It was tamer's and crocodiles, and
• 3:29:01
  Speaker 1: we played it at the Band of Hope end of
• 3:29:06
  Speaker 1: Chapter seven, Chapter eight, The Outlaws. It was a half holiday,
• 3:29:13
  Speaker 1: and William was in his bedroom making careful preparations for
• 3:29:17
  Speaker 1: the afternoon. On the mantelpiece stood in readiness, half a
• 3:29:22
  Speaker 1: cake the result of a successful raid on the larder,
• 3:29:26
  Speaker 1: and a bottle of licorice water. This beverage was made
• 3:29:30
  Speaker 1: by shaking up a piece of licorice in water. It
• 3:29:33
  Speaker 1: was much patronized by the band of Outlaws, to which
• 3:29:37
  Speaker 1: William belonged, and which met secretly every half holiday in
• 3:29:41
  Speaker 1: a disused barn about a quarter of a mile from
• 3:29:44
  Speaker 1: William's house. So far, the Outlaws had limited their activities
• 3:29:49
  Speaker 1: to wrestling matches, adventure seeking, and culinary operations. The week
• 3:29:55
  Speaker 1: before they had cooked two sausages which William had taken
• 3:29:59
  Speaker 1: from the larder on Cook's night out and had conveyed
• 3:30:03
  Speaker 1: to the barn beneath his shirt and next his skin.
• 3:30:07
  Speaker 1: Perhaps cooked is too euphemistic a term to be quite accurate.
• 3:30:12
  Speaker 1: They had held the sausage over a smoking fire till
• 3:30:15
  Speaker 1: completely blackened, and then consumed the charred remains with the
• 3:30:20
  Speaker 1: utmost relish. William put the bottle of licorice water in
• 3:30:24
  Speaker 1: one pocket and the half cake in another, and was
• 3:30:28
  Speaker 1: preparing to leave the house in his usual stealthy fashion
• 3:30:31
  Speaker 1: through the bathroom window, down the scullery roof, and down
• 3:30:35
  Speaker 1: the water pipe hand over hand to the back garden.
• 3:30:39
  Speaker 1: Even when unencumbered by the presence of a purloined half cake,
• 3:30:44
  Speaker 1: William infinitely preferred this mode of exit to the simpler
• 3:30:48
  Speaker 1: one of walking out the front door. As he came
• 3:30:52
  Speaker 1: out onto the landing, however, he heard the sound of
• 3:30:55
  Speaker 1: the opening and shutting of the hall door, and of
• 3:30:58
  Speaker 1: exuberant greetings in the hall. Oh, I'm so glad you've come, dear,
• 3:31:04
  Speaker 1: And this is the baby. Oh the duck, well, dear
• 3:31:08
  Speaker 1: knows eugin goo goo goo goo. This was William's mother.
• 3:31:15
  Speaker 1: Oh crumbs, said William, and retreated hastily. He sat down
• 3:31:20
  Speaker 1: on his bed to wait till the coast was clear.
• 3:31:24
  Speaker 1: Soon came the sound of footsteps ascending the stairs. Oh, William,
• 3:31:29
  Speaker 1: said his mother as she entered his room. Missus, Butler's
• 3:31:33
  Speaker 1: come with her baby to spend the afternoon, and we'd
• 3:31:36
  Speaker 1: arranged to go out till tea time with the baby.
• 3:31:40
  Speaker 1: But she's got such a headache. I'm insisting on her
• 3:31:43
  Speaker 1: lying down for the afternoon in the drawing room. But
• 3:31:47
  Speaker 1: she's so worried about the baby not getting out this
• 3:31:50
  Speaker 1: nice afternoon, oh, said William without interest. Well, cook's out
• 3:31:57
  Speaker 1: and Emma has to get the tea and answer the door,
• 3:32:00
  Speaker 1: and Ethel's away. And I told missus Butler I was
• 3:32:04
  Speaker 1: sure you wouldn't mind taking the baby out for a
• 3:32:07
  Speaker 1: bit in the perambulator. William stared at her, speechless. The
• 3:32:13
  Speaker 1: Medusa's classic expression of horror was as nothing to William's
• 3:32:18
  Speaker 1: at that moment. Then he moistened his lips and spoke
• 3:32:22
  Speaker 1: in a hoarse voice. Me, he said, me, me, take
• 3:32:29
  Speaker 1: a baby out in a pram. Well, dear, said his
• 3:32:34
  Speaker 1: mother deprecatingly. I know it's your half holiday, but you'll
• 3:32:38
  Speaker 1: be out of doors getting the fresh air, which is
• 3:32:41
  Speaker 1: the great thing. It's a nice baby and a nice
• 3:32:45
  Speaker 1: pram and not heavy to push, and Missus Butler would
• 3:32:49
  Speaker 1: be so grateful to you. Yes, I should think she'd be, that,
• 3:32:54
  Speaker 1: said William bitterly. She'd have a right to be that
• 3:32:58
  Speaker 1: if I took the baby out in a pre Now, William,
• 3:33:02
  Speaker 1: I'm sure you'd like to help, and I'm sure you
• 3:33:05
  Speaker 1: wouldn't like your father, to hear that you wouldn't even
• 3:33:08
  Speaker 1: do a little thing like that for poor missus Butler.
• 3:33:12
  Speaker 1: And she's got such a headache. A little thing like that,
• 3:33:17
  Speaker 1: repeated William, out of the bitterness of his soul. But
• 3:33:22
  Speaker 1: the fates were closing round him. He was aware that
• 3:33:25
  Speaker 1: he would have no peace till he had done the
• 3:33:28
  Speaker 1: horrible thing demanded of him. Sorrowfully and reluctantly, he bowed
• 3:33:34
  Speaker 1: to the inevitable. All right, he muttered, I'll be down
• 3:33:39
  Speaker 1: in a minute. He heard them fussing over the baby
• 3:33:43
  Speaker 1: in the hall. Then he heard his elder brother's voice.
• 3:33:47
  Speaker 1: You surely don't mean to say, mother, Robert was saying,
• 3:33:50
  Speaker 1: with the crushing superiority of eighteen, that you're going to
• 3:33:55
  Speaker 1: trust that child to William. Well, William's mother, someone has
• 3:34:02
  Speaker 1: to take him out. It's such a lovely afternoon. I'm
• 3:34:05
  Speaker 1: sure it's very kind of William on his half holiday too.
• 3:34:10
  Speaker 1: And she's got such a headache. Well, of course, said Robert,
• 3:34:15
  Speaker 1: in the voice of one who washes his hands of
• 3:34:17
  Speaker 1: all further responsibility. You know William as well as I do,
• 3:34:23
  Speaker 1: Oh dear, sighed William's mother. And everything so nicely settled
• 3:34:28
  Speaker 1: Robert and you must come and find fault with it all.
• 3:34:32
  Speaker 1: If you don't want William to take him out, will
• 3:34:35
  Speaker 1: you take him out yourself. Robert retreated hastily to the
• 3:34:39
  Speaker 1: dining room and continued the conversation from a distance. I
• 3:34:45
  Speaker 1: don't want to take him out myself, thanks very much.
• 3:34:48
  Speaker 1: All the same, all I say is you know William
• 3:34:53
  Speaker 1: as well as I do. I'm not finding fault with anything.
• 3:34:57
  Speaker 1: I simply am stating a fact. Then William came downstairs.
• 3:35:03
  Speaker 1: Here he is dear all ready for you, and you
• 3:35:07
  Speaker 1: needn't go far away, just up and down the road
• 3:35:10
  Speaker 1: if you like, but stay out till tea time. He's
• 3:35:14
  Speaker 1: a dear little baby, isn't he? And isn't it a
• 3:35:17
  Speaker 1: nice Willie Billy den to take it out a nice
• 3:35:20
  Speaker 1: Tata while his mummy goes by by din William blushed
• 3:35:26
  Speaker 1: for pure shame. He pushed the pram down to the
• 3:35:30
  Speaker 1: end of the road and round the corner. In comparison
• 3:35:34
  Speaker 1: with William's feelings, the feelings of some of the early
• 3:35:38
  Speaker 1: martyrs must have been pure bliss. A nice way for
• 3:35:43
  Speaker 1: an outlaw to spend the afternoon. He dreaded to meet
• 3:35:47
  Speaker 1: any of his brother outlaws yet irresistibly, and as a magnet,
• 3:35:53
  Speaker 1: their meeting place attracted him. He wheeled the pram off
• 3:35:57
  Speaker 1: the road and down the country lane towards the field
• 3:36:00
  Speaker 1: which held their sacred barn. He stopped at the stile
• 3:36:05
  Speaker 1: that led into the field and gazed wistfully across to
• 3:36:09
  Speaker 1: the barn in the distance. The infant sat and sucked
• 3:36:13
  Speaker 1: its thumb and stared at him, And finally it began
• 3:36:18
  Speaker 1: to converse. Blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah. Oh,
• 3:36:23
  Speaker 1: you shut up, said William, crushingly. Annoyed at the prolonged halt,
• 3:36:29
  Speaker 1: it seized its pram cover, pulled it off its hooks,
• 3:36:32
  Speaker 1: and threw it into the road. While William was picking
• 3:36:36
  Speaker 1: it up, it threw the pillow on to his head.
• 3:36:40
  Speaker 1: Then it chuckled. William began to conceive an active dislike
• 3:36:45
  Speaker 1: of it. Suddenly the great idea came to him. His
• 3:36:52
  Speaker 1: face cleared, he took a piece of string from his
• 3:36:55
  Speaker 1: pocket and tied the pram carefully to the railings. Then,
• 3:37:00
  Speaker 1: lifting the baby cautiously and gingerly out, he climbed the
• 3:37:05
  Speaker 1: stile with it and set off across the fields towards
• 3:37:08
  Speaker 1: the barn. He held the baby to his chest with
• 3:37:12
  Speaker 1: both arms clapped tightly round its waist. Its feet dangled
• 3:37:17
  Speaker 1: in the air. It occupied the time by kicking William
• 3:37:21
  Speaker 1: in the stomach, pulling his hair, and putting its fingers
• 3:37:25
  Speaker 1: in his eyes. It beats me, panted William to himself.
• 3:37:31
  Speaker 1: What people see in babies scratchin and kickin, and blindin
• 3:37:35
  Speaker 1: folks and pullin their hair all out. When he entered
• 3:37:39
  Speaker 1: the barn, he was greeted by a sudden silence. Look here,
• 3:37:45
  Speaker 1: began one outlaw in righteous indignation. It's a kidnap, said
• 3:37:50
  Speaker 1: William triumphantly. We'll get a ransom on it. They gazed
• 3:37:56
  Speaker 1: at him in awed admiration. This was surely the cream
• 3:38:01
  Speaker 1: of outlawry. He set the infant on the ground, where
• 3:38:06
  Speaker 1: it toddled for a few steps, and sat down suddenly
• 3:38:09
  Speaker 1: and violently. It then stared fixedly at the tallest boy
• 3:38:15
  Speaker 1: present and smiled seraphically, Dad Dad, Dad, Dad Dad Dad. Douglas,
• 3:38:22
  Speaker 1: the tallest boy grinned sheepishly. It thinks I'm its father,
• 3:38:28
  Speaker 1: he explained complacently to the company. Well, said Henry, who
• 3:38:33
  Speaker 1: was William's rival for the leadership of the Outlaws, what
• 3:38:37
  Speaker 1: do we do first? That's the question in books, said
• 3:38:41
  Speaker 1: the outlaw called Ginger. They write a note to its
• 3:38:45
  Speaker 1: people and say they want a ransom. Oh we won't
• 3:38:48
  Speaker 1: do that, not just yet, said William hastily. Well it's
• 3:38:53
  Speaker 1: not much sense holding something up to ransom and not
• 3:38:56
  Speaker 1: telling the folks that they've got to pay or nothin
• 3:38:59
  Speaker 1: is it, said Ginger, with the final air of a
• 3:39:02
  Speaker 1: man whose logic is unassailable. N No, said William, but
• 3:39:09
  Speaker 1: with a gleam of hope. Who's got a paper and pencil?
• 3:39:13
  Speaker 1: I'm simply state in the fact, who's got a paper
• 3:39:16
  Speaker 1: and pencil? No one spoke, Oh yes, went on William,
• 3:39:21
  Speaker 1: in triumph go on, write a note, write a note
• 3:39:25
  Speaker 1: without paper and pencil, and we'll all watch. Ha Well,
• 3:39:30
  Speaker 1: said Ginger sulkily. I don't s'pose they had paper and
• 3:39:34
  Speaker 1: pencils and outlaw days they weren't invented. They wrote on
• 3:39:39
  Speaker 1: on on leaves or something. He ended vaguely. Well, go on,
• 3:39:45
  Speaker 1: write on leaves, said William, still more triumphant. We're not
• 3:39:50
  Speaker 1: stopping you, are We on simply state, in the fact,
• 3:39:53
  Speaker 1: write on leaves. They were interrupted by a yell of
• 3:39:58
  Speaker 1: pain from Douglas, flattered by the parental relations so promptly
• 3:40:03
  Speaker 1: established by the baby, he had ventured to make its
• 3:40:06
  Speaker 1: further acquaintance, with vague memories of his mother's treatment of infants.
• 3:40:12
  Speaker 1: He had inserted a finger in its mouth. The infant
• 3:40:16
  Speaker 1: happened to possess four front teeth, too upper and too lower,
• 3:40:21
  Speaker 1: and they closed like a vice upon Douglas's finger. He
• 3:40:26
  Speaker 1: was now examining the marks. Look right deep down, see it.
• 3:40:32
  Speaker 1: What you think of that nearly to the bone, pretty
• 3:40:36
  Speaker 1: savage baby you've brought along, he said to William. I
• 3:40:41
  Speaker 1: jolly well know that, said William, feelingly. It's your own
• 3:40:44
  Speaker 1: fault for touching it. It's all right if you leave
• 3:40:47
  Speaker 1: it alone. Just don't touch it, that's all anyway. It's mine,
• 3:40:52
  Speaker 1: And I never said you could go fooling about with it,
• 3:40:55
  Speaker 1: did I? It wouldn't bite me. I bet well, what
• 3:41:00
  Speaker 1: about the ransom, persisted Henry. Some one can go and
• 3:41:04
  Speaker 1: tell its people and bring back the ransom, suggested Ginger.
• 3:41:10
  Speaker 1: There was a short silence. Then Douglas took his injured
• 3:41:14
  Speaker 1: finger from his mouth and asked pertinently who William brought it?
• 3:41:21
  Speaker 1: Suggested Henry, Yes, so I bet I've done my share. Well,
• 3:41:27
  Speaker 1: what's anyone else goin to do? I'd like to know,
• 3:41:32
  Speaker 1: go round to every house in this old place and
• 3:41:35
  Speaker 1: ask if they've had a baby taken off them, and
• 3:41:38
  Speaker 1: if they've pay a ransom for it back. That's sense,
• 3:41:42
  Speaker 1: isn't it. You know where you got it from, don't you?
• 3:41:45
  Speaker 1: And you can go and get its ransom. I can,
• 3:41:49
  Speaker 1: but I'm not goin to, said William. Finally, I'm simply
• 3:41:52
  Speaker 1: statin' a fact. I'm not goin to. And if anyone
• 3:41:56
  Speaker 1: says I daren't glancing round pugnationly, I'll fight em for it.
• 3:42:03
  Speaker 1: No one said he daren't. The fact was too patent
• 3:42:07
  Speaker 1: to need stating. Henry hastily changed the subject. Anyway, What
• 3:42:14
  Speaker 1: have we brought for the feast? William produced his licorice,
• 3:42:18
  Speaker 1: water and half cake Douglas, two slices of raw ham
• 3:42:22
  Speaker 1: and a dog biscuit ginger, some popcorn and some cold
• 3:42:27
  Speaker 1: boiled potatoes wrapped up in newspaper. Henry a cold apple
• 3:42:32
  Speaker 1: dumpling and a small bottle of paraffine oil. I knew
• 3:42:36
  Speaker 1: the wood would be wet after the rain. It's to
• 3:42:39
  Speaker 1: make the fire burn, that's sense. Isn't it only one
• 3:42:44
  Speaker 1: thing to cook, said Ginger, sadly, looking at the slices
• 3:42:48
  Speaker 1: of ham. We can cook up the potatoes and the dumpling.
• 3:42:52
  Speaker 1: They don't look half enough cooked. Let's put them on
• 3:42:56
  Speaker 1: the floor here and go out for adventures, first, all
• 3:43:00
  Speaker 1: different ways, and back in a quarter of an hour.
• 3:43:04
  Speaker 1: The outlaws generally spent part of the afternoon dispersed in
• 3:43:08
  Speaker 1: search of adventure. So far they had wooed the Goddess
• 3:43:12
  Speaker 1: of danger, chiefly by trespassing on the ground of irascible
• 3:43:17
  Speaker 1: farmers in hopes of a chase, which were generally fulfilled.
• 3:43:22
  Speaker 1: They deposited their store on the ground in a corner
• 3:43:26
  Speaker 1: of the barn, and, with a glance at the kidnap,
• 3:43:29
  Speaker 1: who was seated happily upon the floor, engaged in chewing
• 3:43:33
  Speaker 1: its hat strings, they went out, carefully closing the door.
• 3:43:39
  Speaker 1: After a quarter of an hour, Ginger and William arrived
• 3:43:42
  Speaker 1: at the door simultaneously from opposite directions. Any lock, no same, here,
• 3:43:51
  Speaker 1: Let's start the old fire going. They opened the door
• 3:43:55
  Speaker 1: and went in. The infant was sitting on the floor
• 3:43:59
  Speaker 1: among the store, or rather among what was left of
• 3:44:02
  Speaker 1: the stores. There was paraffin oil on its hair, face, arms, frock,
• 3:44:08
  Speaker 1: and feet. It was drenched in paraffin oil. The empty
• 3:44:14
  Speaker 1: bottle and its hat lay by its side, mingled with
• 3:44:18
  Speaker 1: the paraffine oil all over. Its person was cold boiled potato.
• 3:44:23
  Speaker 1: It was holding the apple dumpling in its hand ball.
• 3:44:28
  Speaker 1: It announced ecstatically from behind its mask of potato and
• 3:44:32
  Speaker 1: paraffin oil. They stood in silence for a moment. Then,
• 3:44:39
  Speaker 1: who's going to make that fire burn now, said Ginger,
• 3:44:43
  Speaker 1: glaring at the empty bottle. Yes, said William slowly. And
• 3:44:49
  Speaker 1: who's going to take that baby home? I'm simply state
• 3:44:53
  Speaker 1: in the fact, who's going to take that baby home?
• 3:44:57
  Speaker 1: There was no doubt that when William kN descended to
• 3:45:01
  Speaker 1: adopt a phrase from any of his family's vocabularies, he
• 3:45:05
  Speaker 1: considerably overworked it. Well, it did it itself. It's no
• 3:45:10
  Speaker 1: one else's fault, is it. No, it's not, said William.
• 3:45:15
  Speaker 1: But that's the sort of thing folks never see. Anyway.
• 3:45:19
  Speaker 1: I'm going to wash its face what with? William took
• 3:45:24
  Speaker 1: out his grimy handkerchief and advanced upon his prey. His
• 3:45:29
  Speaker 1: bottle of licorice water was lying untouched in the corner.
• 3:45:33
  Speaker 1: He took out the cork going to wash it in
• 3:45:37
  Speaker 1: that dirty stuff. It's made of water, clean water. I
• 3:45:42
  Speaker 1: made it myself, so I bet I ought to know,
• 3:45:45
  Speaker 1: oughtn't I that's what folks wash in. Isn't it clean water? Yes? Bitterly?
• 3:45:53
  Speaker 1: And what are we going to drink? I'd like to know.
• 3:45:56
  Speaker 1: You'd think that baby had got enough of our stuff,
• 3:45:59
  Speaker 1: our potato. It isn't our apple dumplin and our oil
• 3:46:03
  Speaker 1: without you going and given it our licorice water as well.
• 3:46:07
  Speaker 1: William was passing his handkerchief moistened with licorice water over
• 3:46:11
  Speaker 1: the surface of the baby's face. The baby had caught
• 3:46:15
  Speaker 1: a corner of it firmly between its teeth and refused
• 3:46:18
  Speaker 1: to release it. If you'd like to take this baby
• 3:46:22
  Speaker 1: home like this, he said, you wouldn't be thinking much
• 3:46:25
  Speaker 1: about drinking licorice water. I'm simply statin'. Oh shut up
• 3:46:30
  Speaker 1: saying that, said Ginger, in sudden exasperation. I'm sick of it.
• 3:46:35
  Speaker 1: At that moment, the door was flung open, and in
• 3:46:38
  Speaker 1: walked slowly a large cow, closely followed by Henry and Douglas.
• 3:46:45
  Speaker 1: Henry's face was one triumphant beam. He felt that his
• 3:46:50
  Speaker 1: prestige eclipsed by William's kidnapping coup was restored. I've brought
• 3:46:56
  Speaker 1: a cow, he announced, fetched it all the way from
• 3:47:00
  Speaker 1: farmer Lytton's field. Five feels off too, and it took
• 3:47:05
  Speaker 1: some fetching too. Well what for, said William, after a
• 3:47:10
  Speaker 1: moment's silence. Henry gave a superior laugh. What for You've
• 3:47:16
  Speaker 1: not read much about outlaws? I guess they always drove
• 3:47:20
  Speaker 1: in cattle from the surrounding districts. Well, what for, said
• 3:47:25
  Speaker 1: William again, giving a tug at his handkerchief, which the
• 3:47:29
  Speaker 1: infant still refused to release. Well, erm, well, um, to
• 3:47:37
  Speaker 1: kill and roast, I suppose, said Henry lamely. Well, go on,
• 3:47:42
  Speaker 1: said William, Kill it and roast it. We're not stopping you,
• 3:47:47
  Speaker 1: are We kill it and roast it and get hung
• 3:47:51
  Speaker 1: for murder. I suppose it's murder to kill a Cow's
• 3:47:54
  Speaker 1: same as it is to kill people, scept for butchers.
• 3:47:59
  Speaker 1: The cow advanced slowly and deprecatingly towards the kidnap, who
• 3:48:04
  Speaker 1: promptly dropped the handkerchief and beamed with joy. Bow wow,
• 3:48:10
  Speaker 1: it said excitedly. Anyway, let's get on with the feast,
• 3:48:14
  Speaker 1: said Douglas. Feast, echoed Ginger bitterly feast. Not much feast
• 3:48:21
  Speaker 1: left that baby William brought's used all the paraffine oil
• 3:48:25
  Speaker 1: and potatoes, and it squashed the apple dumpling, and Williams
• 3:48:29
  Speaker 1: washed its face in the licorice water. Henry gazed at
• 3:48:34
  Speaker 1: it dispassionately and judiciously. Yes, it looks like as if
• 3:48:40
  Speaker 1: someone had washed it in licorice water, and as if
• 3:48:43
  Speaker 1: it had used up all the oil and potatoes. It
• 3:48:47
  Speaker 1: doesn't look like as if it would fetch much ransom.
• 3:48:51
  Speaker 1: You seem to have pretty well mucked it up. Oh,
• 3:48:54
  Speaker 1: shut up about the baby, said William, putting up his
• 3:48:57
  Speaker 1: damp and now prune colored hankerchief. I'm just about sick
• 3:49:02
  Speaker 1: of it. Come on with the fire. They made a
• 3:49:05
  Speaker 1: little pile of twigs in the field and began the
• 3:49:09
  Speaker 1: process of lighting it. I hope that cow won't hurt
• 3:49:12
  Speaker 1: the kidnap, said Douglas. Suddenly, go and see William, it's
• 3:49:17
  Speaker 1: your kidnap. Well, it's Henry's cow, And I'm sorry for
• 3:49:21
  Speaker 1: that cow if it tries playing tricks on that baby.
• 3:49:26
  Speaker 1: But he rose from his knees reluctantly and threw open
• 3:49:29
  Speaker 1: the barn door. The cow and the baby were still
• 3:49:33
  Speaker 1: gazing admiringly at each other. From the cow's mouth, at
• 3:49:38
  Speaker 1: the end of a long sodden ribbon hung the chewed
• 3:49:42
  Speaker 1: remains of the baby's hat. The baby was holding up
• 3:49:45
  Speaker 1: the dog biscuit and crowed delightfully as the cow bent
• 3:49:50
  Speaker 1: down its head and cautiously and gingerly smelt it. As
• 3:49:56
  Speaker 1: William entered, the cow turned round and switched its tail
• 3:50:01
  Speaker 1: against the baby's head. At the piercing howl that followed.
• 3:50:06
  Speaker 1: The whole band of outlaws entered the barn. What are
• 3:50:10
  Speaker 1: you doing to the poor little thing, said Douglas to William.
• 3:50:14
  Speaker 1: It's Henry's cow, said William, despairingly. It hid it. Oh,
• 3:50:20
  Speaker 1: go on, shut up, do shut up. The howls redoubled.
• 3:50:26
  Speaker 1: You brought it, said Henry, accusingly, raising his voice to
• 3:50:30
  Speaker 1: be heard above the baby's fury and indignation. Can't you
• 3:50:34
  Speaker 1: stop it? Not much sense taking babies about if you
• 3:50:38
  Speaker 1: don't know how to stop em crying. The baby was
• 3:50:42
  Speaker 1: now purple in the face. The outlaws stood around and
• 3:50:47
  Speaker 1: watched it helplessly. Perhaps it's hungry, suggested Douglas. He took
• 3:50:53
  Speaker 1: up half the cake from the remains of the stores
• 3:50:57
  Speaker 1: and held it out tentatively to the baby. The baby
• 3:51:00
  Speaker 1: stopped crying. Suddenly, Dad dad da da dad dad, it
• 3:51:05
  Speaker 1: said tearfully. Douglas blushed and grinned. Keeps on thinking I'm
• 3:51:11
  Speaker 1: its father, he said, with conscious superiority. Here like some cake.
• 3:51:17
  Speaker 1: The baby broke off a handful and conveyed it to
• 3:51:21
  Speaker 1: its mouth. It's eating it, cried Douglas in shrill excitement.
• 3:51:26
  Speaker 1: After thoroughly masticating it, however, the baby repented of its
• 3:51:30
  Speaker 1: condescension and ejected the mouthful in several installments. William blushed
• 3:51:37
  Speaker 1: for it. Oh, come on, let's go and look at
• 3:51:41
  Speaker 1: the fire, he said weakly. They left the barn and
• 3:51:46
  Speaker 1: returned to the scene of the fire lighting. The cow,
• 3:51:50
  Speaker 1: still swinging the remains of the baby's hat from its mouth,
• 3:51:54
  Speaker 1: was standing with its front feet firmly planted on the
• 3:51:57
  Speaker 1: remains of what had been a promising fire. Look, cried
• 3:52:02
  Speaker 1: William in undisguised pleasure. Look at Henry's cow. Pretty nice
• 3:52:08
  Speaker 1: sort of cow you've brought, Henry. Not much sense taking
• 3:52:11
  Speaker 1: cows about if you can't stop them putting folks fires out.
• 3:52:16
  Speaker 1: After a heated argument, the outlaws turned their attention to
• 3:52:20
  Speaker 1: the cow. The cow refused to be shewed off. It
• 3:52:24
  Speaker 1: simply stood immovable and stared them out. Ginger approached cautiously
• 3:52:31
  Speaker 1: and gave it a little push. It switched its tail
• 3:52:34
  Speaker 1: into his eye and continued to much the baby's hat string.
• 3:52:39
  Speaker 1: Upon William's approaching, it lowered its head, and William retreated hastily.
• 3:52:45
  Speaker 1: At last, they set off to collect some fresh wood
• 3:52:49
  Speaker 1: and light a fresh fire. Soon they were blissfully consuming
• 3:52:54
  Speaker 1: two blackened slices of ham, the popcorn, and what was
• 3:52:58
  Speaker 1: left of the cake. After the feast, Ginger and William,
• 3:53:04
  Speaker 1: as wild Indians, attacked the barn, which was defended by
• 3:53:08
  Speaker 1: Douglas and Henry. The kidnap crawled round inside on all fours,
• 3:53:14
  Speaker 1: picking up any treasures it might come across on route
• 3:53:17
  Speaker 1: and testing their effect on its palate. Occasionally, it carried
• 3:53:22
  Speaker 1: on a conversation with its defenders, bringing with it a
• 3:53:26
  Speaker 1: strong perfume of paraffine oil as it approached. Blah blah
• 3:53:30
  Speaker 1: blah blah blah blah blad Dad dad dad Ago, William
• 3:53:36
  Speaker 1: had insisted on a place on the attacking side. I
• 3:53:40
  Speaker 1: couldn't put any feelin, he explained, into fightin for that baby.
• 3:53:46
  Speaker 1: When they finally decided to set off homewards. William gazed
• 3:53:50
  Speaker 1: hopelessly at his charge. Its appearance defies description. For many
• 3:53:56
  Speaker 1: years afterwards, William associated babies in his mind with paraffine,
• 3:54:02
  Speaker 1: oil and potato. Just help me get the potato out
• 3:54:06
  Speaker 1: of its hair, he pleaded. Never mind the oil and
• 3:54:09
  Speaker 1: the rest of it my hat. Doesn't it smell funny?
• 3:54:14
  Speaker 1: And doesn't it look funny? All oil and potato and
• 3:54:18
  Speaker 1: bits of cake, said Ginger. Oh, shut up about it,
• 3:54:22
  Speaker 1: said William, irritably. The cow followed them down to the
• 3:54:26
  Speaker 1: stile and watched them sardonically as they climbed it. Bow Wow,
• 3:54:32
  Speaker 1: murmured the baby in affectionate farewell. William looked wildly about
• 3:54:38
  Speaker 1: for the pram, but the pram was gone. Only the
• 3:54:42
  Speaker 1: piece of string dangled from the railings crumbs, said William,
• 3:54:48
  Speaker 1: talk about bad luck. I'm simply state, in the fact,
• 3:54:52
  Speaker 1: talk about bad luck. At that minute, the pram appeared,
• 3:54:58
  Speaker 1: charging down the hill at full speed with a cargo
• 3:55:02
  Speaker 1: of small boys. At the bottom of the hill, it
• 3:55:05
  Speaker 1: overturned into a ditch, accompanied by its cargo. To judge
• 3:55:10
  Speaker 1: from its appearance, it had passed the afternoon performing the operation.
• 3:55:16
  Speaker 1: That's my pram, said William to the cargo, as it
• 3:55:19
  Speaker 1: emerged joyfully from the ditch. Garne, so's ours. We found
• 3:55:25
  Speaker 1: it well, I left it there. Come on, we'll fight
• 3:55:29
  Speaker 1: for it, said Ginger, rolling up his sleeves in a
• 3:55:31
  Speaker 1: business like manner. The other outlaws followed his example. The
• 3:55:37
  Speaker 1: pram's cargo eyed them appraisingly. Oh all right, take your
• 3:55:42
  Speaker 1: rotten old pram, they said. At last, Douglas placed the
• 3:55:47
  Speaker 1: baby in its seat, and William thoughtfully put up the
• 3:55:50
  Speaker 1: hood to shield his charge as far as possible from
• 3:55:54
  Speaker 1: the curious gaze of the passers by. His charge was
• 3:55:58
  Speaker 1: now chewing the pram cover and talking excitedly to itself.
• 3:56:03
  Speaker 1: With a heart steeled for any fate. William turned the
• 3:56:08
  Speaker 1: corner into his own road. The baby's mother was standing
• 3:56:13
  Speaker 1: at his gate. There you are, she called. I was
• 3:56:17
  Speaker 1: getting quite anxious. Thank you so much, dear, But that
• 3:56:23
  Speaker 1: is what she said before she saw the baby. End
• 3:56:30
  Speaker 1: of chapter eight. Chapter nine William and White Satin. I'd
• 3:56:38
  Speaker 1: simply love to have a page, murmured Miss Grant wistfully.
• 3:56:43
  Speaker 1: A wedding seems so second rate without a page. Missus Brown,
• 3:56:48
  Speaker 1: her aunt and hostess, looked across the tea table at
• 3:56:52
  Speaker 1: her younger son, who was devouring iced cake with that
• 3:56:56
  Speaker 1: disregard for consequences which is the mark of youth. There's William,
• 3:57:02
  Speaker 1: she said, doubtfully. Then you've had quite enough cake, William.
• 3:57:08
  Speaker 1: Miss Grant studied William's countenance, which at that moment expressed
• 3:57:12
  Speaker 1: intense virtue, persecuted beyond all bearing. Enough, he repeated, I've
• 3:57:18
  Speaker 1: had hardly any yet. I was only just beginnin to
• 3:57:23
  Speaker 1: have some when you looked at me. It's a plain cake.
• 3:57:26
  Speaker 1: It won't do me any harm. It wouldn't eat it
• 3:57:29
  Speaker 1: if it do me any harm. Sugar's good for you.
• 3:57:33
  Speaker 1: Animals eat it to keep healthy. Horses eat it, and
• 3:57:36
  Speaker 1: and I don't do him any harm. And Paul, parrots
• 3:57:39
  Speaker 1: and things eat it and and won't do him any Oh,
• 3:57:42
  Speaker 1: don't argue, William, said his mother wearily. William's gift of
• 3:57:47
  Speaker 1: eloquence was known and feared in his family circle. Then
• 3:57:52
  Speaker 1: Miss Grant brought out the result of her study of
• 3:57:55
  Speaker 1: his countenance. He's got such a modern face, she said.
• 3:58:01
  Speaker 1: There's something essentially midy, evil and romantic about the idea
• 3:58:07
  Speaker 1: of a page. Missus Brown, from whose house the wedding
• 3:58:11
  Speaker 1: was to take place, looked worried. There's nothing medieval or
• 3:58:16
  Speaker 1: romantic about William. She said, Well, Miss Grant's intellectual face
• 3:58:22
  Speaker 1: lit up. What about his cousin, Dereta. They're about the
• 3:58:27
  Speaker 1: same age, aren't they both eleven? Well, the two of
• 3:58:31
  Speaker 1: them in white satin with bunches of hally, don't you
• 3:58:35
  Speaker 1: think would you mind having her to stay for the ceremony?
• 3:58:39
  Speaker 1: Miss Grant always referred to her wedding as the ceremony.
• 3:58:44
  Speaker 1: If you don't have his hair cut for a bit,
• 3:58:46
  Speaker 1: he mightn't look so bad. William had retired to the
• 3:58:51
  Speaker 1: garden with his three bosom friends, Ginger, Henry and Douglas,
• 3:58:56
  Speaker 1: where he was playing his latest game of mountaineering. A
• 3:59:00
  Speaker 1: plank had been placed against the garden wall, and up
• 3:59:04
  Speaker 1: this scrambled the three roped together and wearing feathers in
• 3:59:08
  Speaker 1: their caps. William was wearing an old golf cap of
• 3:59:12
  Speaker 1: his mother's and mentally pictured himself as an impressive and
• 3:59:16
  Speaker 1: heroic figure. Before they reached the top, they invariably lost
• 3:59:21
  Speaker 1: their foothold, rolled down the plank, and fell in a
• 3:59:25
  Speaker 1: confused and bruised heap at the bottom. The bruises in
• 3:59:30
  Speaker 1: no way detracted from the charm of the game. To William,
• 3:59:34
  Speaker 1: the fascination of any game consisted mainly in the danger
• 3:59:38
  Speaker 1: to life and limb involved. The game had been suggested
• 3:59:42
  Speaker 1: by an old alpinstock, which had been thoughtlessly presented to
• 3:59:46
  Speaker 1: William by a friend of mister Brown's. The paint of
• 3:59:49
  Speaker 1: the staircase and upstairs corridor had been completely ruined before
• 3:59:55
  Speaker 1: the family knew of the gift, and the alpinstock had
• 3:59:58
  Speaker 1: been confiscated for a week, then restored on the condition
• 4:00:03
  Speaker 1: that it was not to be brought into the house.
• 4:00:06
  Speaker 1: The result was the game of mountaineering up the plank.
• 4:00:10
  Speaker 1: They carried the alpen stock in turns, but William had
• 4:00:14
  Speaker 1: two turns running to mark the fact that he was
• 4:00:17
  Speaker 1: its proud possessor. Missus Brown approached William on the subject
• 4:00:22
  Speaker 1: of his prospective role of page with a certain apprehension.
• 4:00:28
  Speaker 1: The normal attitude of William's family towards William was one
• 4:00:32
  Speaker 1: of apprehension. Would you like to go to cousin Sybil's wedding?
• 4:00:37
  Speaker 1: She said? No, I wouldn't, said William without hesitation. Wouldn't
• 4:00:43
  Speaker 1: you like to go dressed up? She said? Red engine,
• 4:00:46
  Speaker 1: said William with a gleam of hope. Er un No,
• 4:00:50
  Speaker 1: not exactly pirate, not quite. I'd go as a red engine,
• 4:00:57
  Speaker 1: or I go as a pirate, he said firmly. But
• 4:01:00
  Speaker 1: I wouldn't go as anything else. A page said Miss
• 4:01:04
  Speaker 1: Grant's clear, melodious voice is a medieval and romantic idea, William.
• 4:01:10
  Speaker 1: There's the glamor of chivalry about it that should appeal
• 4:01:14
  Speaker 1: strongly to a boy of your age. William turned his
• 4:01:18
  Speaker 1: inscrutable countenance upon her and gave her a cold glare.
• 4:01:24
  Speaker 1: They discussed his costume in private. I've got a pair
• 4:01:30
  Speaker 1: of lovely white silk stockings, said his mother. They'd do
• 4:01:34
  Speaker 1: for tights. And Ethel has got a satin petticoat that's
• 4:01:38
  Speaker 1: just beginning to go in one place. I should think
• 4:01:42
  Speaker 1: we could make some sort of costume from that, don't you.
• 4:01:46
  Speaker 1: We'll buy some more white satin and get some patterns. No,
• 4:01:52
  Speaker 1: I won't wear Ethel's old clothes, said William, smoldering. You
• 4:01:57
  Speaker 1: all just want to make me look ridiculous. You don't
• 4:02:00
  Speaker 1: care how ridic'lous I look. I shall be ridic'less all
• 4:02:04
  Speaker 1: the rest of my life going about in Ethel's old clothes.
• 4:02:08
  Speaker 1: I just won't do it. I just won't do any
• 4:02:11
  Speaker 1: old weddin' No, I don't want to see cousin Sybyl married,
• 4:02:15
  Speaker 1: and I just won't be made lookin ridic'lus in Ethel's
• 4:02:18
  Speaker 1: old clothes. They reasoned, and coaxed and threatened, but in vain.
• 4:02:25
  Speaker 1: Finally William yielded to parental authority and went about his
• 4:02:29
  Speaker 1: world with an air of a martyr, doomed to the stake.
• 4:02:34
  Speaker 1: Even the game of mountaineering had lost its charm, and
• 4:02:37
  Speaker 1: the alpenstock lay neglected against the garden wall. The attitude
• 4:02:43
  Speaker 1: of his select circle of friends was not encouraging.
• 4:02:48
  Speaker 2: Yeah, page, who's going to be a page? Oh crumbs,
• 4:02:53
  Speaker 2: a page all dressed up in Why dear little Willy,
• 4:02:58
  Speaker 2: won't he look sweet? Life became very full. It was passed,
• 4:03:06
  Speaker 2: chiefly in the avenging of insults. William cherished a secret
• 4:03:11
  Speaker 2: hope that the result of this would be to leave
• 4:03:14
  Speaker 2: him disfigured for life and so unable to attend the wedding. However,
• 4:03:20
  Speaker 2: except for a large lump on his forehead, he was
• 4:03:23
  Speaker 2: none the worse. He eyed the lump thoughtfully in his
• 4:03:27
  Speaker 2: looking glass and decided that with a little encouragement. It
• 4:03:31
  Speaker 2: might render his public appearance in an affair of romance
• 4:03:35
  Speaker 2: and impossibility, But the pain which resulted from one heroic
• 4:03:41
  Speaker 2: effort at banging it against the wall caused him to
• 4:03:45
  Speaker 2: abandon the plan. Dorita arrived the next week and with
• 4:03:50
  Speaker 2: her small brother, Michael, aged three. Dorita was slim and graceful,
• 4:03:56
  Speaker 2: with a pale, little oval face and dark curling hair.
• 4:04:01
  Speaker 2: Miss Grant received her on the doorstep. Well, my little
• 4:04:05
  Speaker 2: maid of honor, she said, in her flute like tones, Welcome.
• 4:04:10
  Speaker 2: We're going to be such friends, you and me and
• 4:04:13
  Speaker 2: William the bride. She blushed and bridled, becomingly and her
• 4:04:18
  Speaker 2: little page and her little maid of honor. William's a boy,
• 4:04:23
  Speaker 2: and he's just a little bit thoughtless and doesn't realize
• 4:04:27
  Speaker 2: the romance of it all. I'm sure you will. I
• 4:04:31
  Speaker 2: see it in your dear little face. We'll have some
• 4:04:34
  Speaker 2: lovely talks together. Her eyes fell upon Michael and narrowed. Suddenly,
• 4:04:41
  Speaker 2: he'd look sweet too in white satin, wouldn't he, turning
• 4:04:45
  Speaker 2: to missus Brown, he could walk between them.
• 4:04:49
  Speaker 1: We could buy some more white satin. When they had gone,
• 4:04:54
  Speaker 1: the Maid of Honor turned dark, long lashed demure eyes
• 4:04:58
  Speaker 1: upon william soft mug that she said in clear, refined tones,
• 4:05:05
  Speaker 1: nodding in the direction of the door through which the
• 4:05:08
  Speaker 1: tall figure of Miss Grant had just disappeared. William was
• 4:05:13
  Speaker 1: vaguely cheered by her attitude. Are you keen on this
• 4:05:17
  Speaker 1: spifling wedding affair? She went on carelessly, cause I jolly
• 4:05:22
  Speaker 1: well tell you I'm not. William felt that he had
• 4:05:26
  Speaker 1: found a kindred spirit. He unbent so far as to
• 4:05:31
  Speaker 1: take her to the stable and show her a field
• 4:05:34
  Speaker 1: mouse he had caught and was keeping in a cardboard box.
• 4:05:38
  Speaker 1: Dejeenet to dance, he confided, And it ought to fetch
• 4:05:42
  Speaker 1: a jolly lot of money when it can dance proper
• 4:05:45
  Speaker 1: dance and mice do you know? They show him on
• 4:05:49
  Speaker 1: the stage, and people on the stage get pounds and
• 4:05:52
  Speaker 1: pounds every night. So I bet mice do too, at
• 4:05:57
  Speaker 1: least the folks the mice belonged to what dance on
• 4:06:00
  Speaker 1: the stage. I'm teaching it to dance by holding a
• 4:06:03
  Speaker 1: biscuit over its head and moving it about. It bit
• 4:06:07
  Speaker 1: me twice yesterday, he proudly displayed his mutilated finger. I
• 4:06:12
  Speaker 1: only caught it yesterday. It ought to learn all right
• 4:06:16
  Speaker 1: to day he said hopefully. Her intense disappointment when the
• 4:06:21
  Speaker 1: only trace of the field mouse that could be found
• 4:06:25
  Speaker 1: was the cardboard box with a hole gnawed at one corner,
• 4:06:29
  Speaker 1: drew William's heart to her still more, he avoided Henry
• 4:06:34
  Speaker 1: Douglas and Ginger. Henry Douglas and Ginger had sworn to
• 4:06:40
  Speaker 1: be at the church door to watch William descend from
• 4:06:44
  Speaker 1: the carriage in the glory of his white satin apparel,
• 4:06:48
  Speaker 1: and William felt that friendship could not stand the strain.
• 4:06:53
  Speaker 1: He sat with Dorita on the cold and perilous perch
• 4:06:57
  Speaker 1: of the garden wall and discussed and Sybil and the wedding.
• 4:07:02
  Speaker 1: Dorita's language delighted and fascinated William. She's a soppy old looney,
• 4:07:08
  Speaker 1: she would remark, sweetly, shaking her dark curls. The soppiest
• 4:07:13
  Speaker 1: old looney you'd see in any old place on this
• 4:07:16
  Speaker 1: old earth. You bet your life she's made of sop.
• 4:07:21
  Speaker 1: I wouldn't be found dead in a ditch with her,
• 4:07:24
  Speaker 1: wouldn't touch her with the butt end of a barge pole.
• 4:07:28
  Speaker 1: She's an assified cow. She is hum Those children are
• 4:07:33
  Speaker 1: a lethal disappointing as regards character to a child lover
• 4:07:38
  Speaker 1: like myself, confided Miss Grant to her intellectual fiancee. I've
• 4:07:43
  Speaker 1: tried to sound their depths, but there are no depths
• 4:07:46
  Speaker 1: to sound. There is none of the mystery, the glamor
• 4:07:50
  Speaker 1: the clouds of glory about them. They are so so material.
• 4:07:57
  Speaker 1: The day of the ordeal drew nearer and nearer, and
• 4:08:02
  Speaker 1: William's spirit sank lower and lower. His life seemed to
• 4:08:07
  Speaker 1: stretch before him, youth, manhood, and old age, dreary and desolate,
• 4:08:14
  Speaker 1: filled only with humiliation and shame. His prestige and reputation
• 4:08:20
  Speaker 1: would be blasted forever. He would no longer be William
• 4:08:25
  Speaker 1: the Red Indian, the pirate, the daredevil. He would simply
• 4:08:29
  Speaker 1: be the boy who went to a wedding dressed in
• 4:08:32
  Speaker 1: white satin. Evidently there would be a surging crowd of
• 4:08:37
  Speaker 1: small boys at the church door. Every boy for miles
• 4:08:42
  Speaker 1: round who knew William even by sight, had volunteered the
• 4:08:46
  Speaker 1: information that he would be there. William was to ride
• 4:08:50
  Speaker 1: with Dorita and Michael in the bride's carriage. In imagination,
• 4:08:55
  Speaker 1: he already descended from the carriage and heard the chorus
• 4:08:59
  Speaker 1: of jeers. His cheeks grew hot at the thought. His
• 4:09:05
  Speaker 1: life for years afterward would consist solely in the avenging
• 4:09:09
  Speaker 1: of insults. He followed the figure of the blessing bride
• 4:09:13
  Speaker 1: to be with a baleful glare. In his worst moments,
• 4:09:18
  Speaker 1: he contemplated murder. The violence of his outburst. When his
• 4:09:23
  Speaker 1: mother mildly suggested a wedding present to the bride from
• 4:09:27
  Speaker 1: her page and maid of honor, horrified her. I'm being
• 4:09:32
  Speaker 1: made to look ridiculous all the rest of my life,
• 4:09:35
  Speaker 1: he ended. I'm not giving her no present. I know
• 4:09:39
  Speaker 1: what I'd like to give her, he added darkly, Yes,
• 4:09:43
  Speaker 1: and I do too, missus Brown forbore to question further.
• 4:09:49
  Speaker 1: The day of the wedding dawned coldly, bright and sunny.
• 4:09:54
  Speaker 1: William's expressions of agony and complaints of various startling symptoms
• 4:09:59
  Speaker 1: of serious illnesses were ignored by his experienced family circle.
• 4:10:05
  Speaker 1: Michael was dressed first of the three in his minute
• 4:10:09
  Speaker 1: white satin suit and sent down into the morning room
• 4:10:13
  Speaker 1: to play quietly. Then an unwilling William was captured from
• 4:10:17
  Speaker 1: the darkest recess of the stable and dragged, pale and protesting,
• 4:10:23
  Speaker 1: to the slaughter. Yes, and I'll die pretty soon, probably,
• 4:10:27
  Speaker 1: he said pathetically. Then perhaps you'll be a bit sorry,
• 4:10:30
  Speaker 1: and I shan't care. Michael, there survived two of the
• 4:10:35
  Speaker 1: instincts of primitive man, the instinct of foraging for food
• 4:10:40
  Speaker 1: and that of concealing it from his enemies when found.
• 4:10:45
  Speaker 1: Earlier in the day, he had paid a visit to
• 4:10:47
  Speaker 1: the kitchen and found it empty. Upon the table lay
• 4:10:51
  Speaker 1: a pound of butter and a large bag of oranges.
• 4:10:55
  Speaker 1: These he had promptly confiscated, and with a fear of
• 4:10:59
  Speaker 1: an eruption born of experience, he had retired with them
• 4:11:03
  Speaker 1: under the table in the morning room. Before he could
• 4:11:07
  Speaker 1: begin his feast, he had been called upstairs to be
• 4:11:11
  Speaker 1: dressed for the ceremony. On his return, immaculate in white satin,
• 4:11:17
  Speaker 1: he found to his joy that his treasure trove had
• 4:11:21
  Speaker 1: not been discovered. He began on the butter. First, what
• 4:11:26
  Speaker 1: he could not eat, he smeared over his face and
• 4:11:30
  Speaker 1: curly hair. Then he felt a sudden compunction and tried
• 4:11:36
  Speaker 1: to remove all traces of the crime by rubbing his
• 4:11:39
  Speaker 1: face and hair violently with a wooly mat. Then he
• 4:11:44
  Speaker 1: sat down on the chesterfield and began the oranges. They
• 4:11:49
  Speaker 1: were very yellow and juicy and rather over ripe. He
• 4:11:54
  Speaker 1: crammed them into his mouth with both little fat hands
• 4:11:57
  Speaker 1: at once. He was well aware, even at his tender years,
• 4:12:03
  Speaker 1: that life's sweetest joys came soonest to an end. Orange
• 4:12:08
  Speaker 1: juice mingled in with wool, fluff and butter on his small,
• 4:12:11
  Speaker 1: round face. It trickled down his cheeks and fell onto
• 4:12:16
  Speaker 1: his white lace collar. His mouth and the region round
• 4:12:20
  Speaker 1: it were completely yellow. He had emptied the oranges out
• 4:12:24
  Speaker 1: of the bag. All around him on the seat, he
• 4:12:27
  Speaker 1: was sitting in a pool of juice. His suit was
• 4:12:31
  Speaker 1: covered with it, mingled with pips and skin, and still
• 4:12:36
  Speaker 1: he ate on. His first interruption was William and Dorita,
• 4:12:42
  Speaker 1: who came slowly downstairs, holding hands in silent sympathy. Two
• 4:12:47
  Speaker 1: gleaming figures in white satin. They walked to the end
• 4:12:52
  Speaker 1: of the room. They also had been sent to the
• 4:12:55
  Speaker 1: morning room, with orders to play quietly until some play.
• 4:13:02
  Speaker 1: William had echoed coldly, I don't feel much like playing.
• 4:13:07
  Speaker 1: They stared at Michael, open mouthed and speechless. Lumps of
• 4:13:13
  Speaker 1: butter and bits of wool stuck in his girls and
• 4:13:16
  Speaker 1: adhered to the upper portion of his face. They had
• 4:13:20
  Speaker 1: been washed away from the lower portion of it by
• 4:13:23
  Speaker 1: orange juice. His suit was almost covered with it. Behind,
• 4:13:28
  Speaker 1: he was saturated with it crumbs, said William. At last,
• 4:13:34
  Speaker 1: you'll catch it, remarked his sister. Michael retreated hastily from
• 4:13:40
  Speaker 1: the scene of his misdeeds. Miketh good now, he lithed deprecatingly.
• 4:13:47
  Speaker 1: They looked at the seat he had left a pool
• 4:13:49
  Speaker 1: of crushed orange fragments and juice, and then they looked
• 4:13:54
  Speaker 1: at each other. He'll not be able to go, said
• 4:13:58
  Speaker 1: Dorita slowly. Again they looked at the empty orange covered chesterfield,
• 4:14:05
  Speaker 1: and again they looked at each other. Heath kite, good now,
• 4:14:11
  Speaker 1: said Michael hopefully. Then the Maid of Honor, aware that
• 4:14:16
  Speaker 1: cold deliberation often kills the most glorious impulses, seized William's hand.
• 4:14:24
  Speaker 1: Sit down quick, she whispered, sharply, without a word. They
• 4:14:28
  Speaker 1: sat down. They sat till they felt the cold moisture
• 4:14:33
  Speaker 1: penetrate to their skins. Then William heaved a deep sigh.
• 4:14:39
  Speaker 1: We can't go now, he said. Through the open door,
• 4:14:43
  Speaker 1: they saw a little group coming, Miss Grant in shining white,
• 4:14:48
  Speaker 1: followed by William's mother, arrayed in her brightest and best
• 4:14:53
  Speaker 1: and William's father, whose expression revealed a certain weariness, mingled
• 4:14:59
  Speaker 1: with a relief that the whole thing would soon be over.
• 4:15:03
  Speaker 1: Here's the old sardine, all togged up, whispered Dorita, William, Dorita, Michael.
• 4:15:11
  Speaker 1: They called slowly. William, Dorita and Michael obeyed the summons.
• 4:15:18
  Speaker 1: When miss Grant's eyes fell upon the strange object that
• 4:15:22
  Speaker 1: was Michael, she gave a loud scream, Michael, Oh, the
• 4:15:28
  Speaker 1: dreadful child. She clashed the center of the door and
• 4:15:34
  Speaker 1: looked as though about to swoon. Michael began to sob.
• 4:15:39
  Speaker 1: Poor Mikey, he said through his tear, he feels felt thick.
• 4:15:44
  Speaker 1: They removed him hastily. Never mind, dear, said Missus Brown soothingly.
• 4:15:50
  Speaker 1: The other two looked sweet. But mister Brown had wandered
• 4:15:55
  Speaker 1: further into the room and thus obtained a sudden and
• 4:15:59
  Speaker 1: startling view of the page and Maid of honor from
• 4:16:02
  Speaker 1: behind what where? He began explosively. William and Dorita turned
• 4:16:10
  Speaker 1: to him instinctively, thus providing Missus Brown and the bride
• 4:16:15
  Speaker 1: with the spectacle that had so disturbed him. The bride
• 4:16:20
  Speaker 1: gave a second scream, shriller and wilder than the first.
• 4:16:25
  Speaker 1: Oh what have they done? Oh, the wretched children? And
• 4:16:31
  Speaker 1: just when I wanted to feel calm, just when all
• 4:16:34
  Speaker 1: depends on my feeling calm. Just when we was walking
• 4:16:40
  Speaker 1: round the room and we sat down on the chesterfield
• 4:16:43
  Speaker 1: and there was the stuff on it, and it came
• 4:16:46
  Speaker 1: on our clothes, explained William stonily and monotonously, and all
• 4:16:51
  Speaker 1: in one breath. Why did you sit down, said his mother. Well,
• 4:16:57
  Speaker 1: we was walking round and we just felt tired, and
• 4:17:00
  Speaker 1: we sat down on the chesterfield and there was a
• 4:17:02
  Speaker 1: stuff on it and it came on. Oh stop, didn't
• 4:17:06
  Speaker 1: you see it there? William considered, Well, we was just
• 4:17:11
  Speaker 1: walking round the room, and he said, and we just
• 4:17:13
  Speaker 1: felt tired and we sat stop saying that couldn't we
• 4:17:18
  Speaker 1: make cloaks, wailed the bride to hang down and cover
• 4:17:22
  Speaker 1: them all behind. It wouldn't take long. Mister Brown took
• 4:17:27
  Speaker 1: out his watch. The carriage has been waiting a quarter
• 4:17:31
  Speaker 1: of an hour already, he said, firmly. We've no time
• 4:17:34
  Speaker 1: to spare. Come along, my dear. We'll continue the investigation
• 4:17:40
  Speaker 1: after the service. You can't go, of course, you must
• 4:17:44
  Speaker 1: stay at home now, he ended, turning a stern eye
• 4:17:48
  Speaker 1: upon William. There was an unconscious note of envy in
• 4:17:52
  Speaker 1: his voice. And I did so want to have a
• 4:17:56
  Speaker 1: page said Miss Grant plaintively as she turned away. Joy
• 4:18:02
  Speaker 1: and Hope returned to William with a bound As the
• 4:18:06
  Speaker 1: sound of wheels was heard down the drive. He turned
• 4:18:09
  Speaker 1: head over heels several times on the lawn, then caught
• 4:18:13
  Speaker 1: sight of his long neglected alpinstick leaning against a wall.
• 4:18:18
  Speaker 1: Come on, he shouted, joyfully. I'll teach you a game.
• 4:18:22
  Speaker 1: I made it up. It's mountaineering. She watched him place
• 4:18:27
  Speaker 1: a plank against the wall and began his perilous ascent.
• 4:18:32
  Speaker 1: You're a mug, she said in her clear, sweet voice.
• 4:18:35
  Speaker 1: I know a mountaineering game worth ten of that old thing.
• 4:18:40
  Speaker 1: And it says much for the character and moral force
• 4:18:43
  Speaker 1: of the Maid of Honor that William meekly put himself
• 4:18:47
  Speaker 1: in the position of pupil. It must be explained at
• 4:18:52
  Speaker 1: this point that the domestics of the Brown household were
• 4:18:56
  Speaker 1: busy arranging refreshments in a marquee in the garden. The
• 4:19:00
  Speaker 1: front hall was quite empty. In about a quarter of
• 4:19:04
  Speaker 1: an hour, the game of mountaineering was in full swing.
• 4:19:09
  Speaker 1: On the lowest steps of the staircase reposed the mattress
• 4:19:13
  Speaker 1: from William's father's and mother's bed. Above it, the mattress
• 4:19:19
  Speaker 1: from Miss Grant's bed, above that the mattress from William's bed,
• 4:19:24
  Speaker 1: and on the top the mastress from Dorita's bed. In
• 4:19:28
  Speaker 1: all the bedrooms, the bedclothes lay in disarray on the floor.
• 4:19:33
  Speaker 1: A few nails driven through the ends of the mattresses
• 4:19:36
  Speaker 1: into the stairs secured the stability of the mountain. Still
• 4:19:41
  Speaker 1: wearing their robes of ceremony, they scrambled up in stocking
• 4:19:45
  Speaker 1: feet every now and then, losing foothold and rolling down
• 4:19:50
  Speaker 1: to the pile of pillows and bolsters taken indiscriminately from
• 4:19:55
  Speaker 1: all the beds, which was arranged at the foot of
• 4:19:58
  Speaker 1: the staircase. Their mirth was riotous and uproarious. They used
• 4:20:04
  Speaker 1: the alpenstock in turns. It was a great help. They
• 4:20:08
  Speaker 1: could get a firm hold on the mattresses with the
• 4:20:10
  Speaker 1: point of the alpenstock. Williams stood at the top of
• 4:20:14
  Speaker 1: the mountain, hot and panting, his alpenstock in his hand,
• 4:20:19
  Speaker 1: and paused for breath. He was well aware that retribution
• 4:20:24
  Speaker 1: was not far off, was in the neighboring church, to
• 4:20:27
  Speaker 1: be quite exact, and would return in a carriage within
• 4:20:31
  Speaker 1: the next few minutes. He was aware that an explanation
• 4:20:36
  Speaker 1: of the yellow stain was yet to be demanded. He
• 4:20:40
  Speaker 1: was aware that this was not a use to which
• 4:20:43
  Speaker 1: the family mattresses could legitimately be put, but he cared
• 4:20:48
  Speaker 1: for none of these things. In his mind's eye, he
• 4:20:52
  Speaker 1: only saw a crowd of small boys assembled outside a
• 4:20:56
  Speaker 1: church door, with eager eyes fixed on a care marriage
• 4:21:00
  Speaker 1: from which descended Miss Grant, Missus Brown, and mister Brown.
• 4:21:07
  Speaker 1: His life stretched before him, bright and rose colored. A
• 4:21:11
  Speaker 1: smile of triumph curved his lips. Yeah, who waited at
• 4:21:17
  Speaker 1: a church door for someone who? What? Never came?
• 4:21:21
  Speaker 2: Yeah?
• 4:21:22
  Speaker 1: I hope you didn't get a bad cold waitin for
• 4:21:25
  Speaker 1: me on Wednesday at the church door? Some folks as
• 4:21:29
  Speaker 1: easy had I bet you all believed I was coming
• 4:21:33
  Speaker 1: on Wednesday. Such sentences floated idly through his mind. I say,
• 4:21:40
  Speaker 1: my turn for that stick with a spike. William handed
• 4:21:44
  Speaker 1: it to her. In silence, I say, she repeated, What
• 4:21:48
  Speaker 1: do you think of this marriage business? Dunno, said William laconically.
• 4:21:54
  Speaker 1: If I'd got to Mary went on the maid of honor,
• 4:21:58
  Speaker 1: I'd as soon marry you as any one. I wouldn't mind,
• 4:22:02
  Speaker 1: said the page gallantly, But he added hastily in ornery clothes.
• 4:22:08
  Speaker 1: Oh yes, She lost her foothold and rolled down to
• 4:22:12
  Speaker 1: the pile of pillows. From them came her voice, muffled
• 4:22:16
  Speaker 1: but clear as ever. You bet your life in ornery clothes.
• 4:22:24
  Speaker 1: End of Chapter nine, Chapter ten, William's New Year's Day.
• 4:22:31
  Speaker 1: William went whistling down the street, his hands in his pockets.
• 4:22:35
  Speaker 1: William's whistle was more penetrating than melodious. Sensitive people fled
• 4:22:40
  Speaker 1: shuddering at the sound. The proprietor of the sweet shop, however,
• 4:22:45
  Speaker 1: was not sensitive. He nodded affably as William passed. William
• 4:22:51
  Speaker 1: was a regular customer of his, as regular, that is,
• 4:22:55
  Speaker 1: as a wholly inadequate allowance would permit. In courage, William
• 4:23:00
  Speaker 1: paused at the doorway and ceased to whistle. Hello, mister Moss.
• 4:23:05
  Speaker 1: He said, Hello, William, said, mister Moss, Nathan cheap to day,
• 4:23:10
  Speaker 1: went on William hopefully. Mister Moss shook his head. Tuppet's
• 4:23:15
  Speaker 1: announced cheapest, he said. William sighed, that's awful, dear, he said,
• 4:23:22
  Speaker 1: What isn't dear? Tell me that what isn't dear? Said
• 4:23:26
  Speaker 1: mister Moss, lugubriously. Well, gimme two ounces. I'll pay you tomorrow,
• 4:23:31
  Speaker 1: said William casually, mister Moss shook his head. Go on,
• 4:23:37
  Speaker 1: said William, I get my money tomorrow. You know I
• 4:23:40
  Speaker 1: get my money tomorrow, cash, young sir, said mister Moss. Heavily.
• 4:23:46
  Speaker 1: My terms is cash. However, he relented, I'll give you
• 4:23:50
  Speaker 1: a few over when the scales is down tomorrow for
• 4:23:53
  Speaker 1: a New Year's gift. Honest injun, honest engun. Well, gimme
• 4:23:59
  Speaker 1: them now, then, said William. Mister Moss hesitated. They wouldn't
• 4:24:05
  Speaker 1: be no New Year's gift, then, would they, he said.
• 4:24:09
  Speaker 1: William considered. I'll eat 'em to day, but I'll think
• 4:24:13
  Speaker 1: about em tomorrow. He promised. That'll make him a New
• 4:24:16
  Speaker 1: Year's gift. Mister Moss took out a handful of assorted
• 4:24:20
  Speaker 1: fruit drops and passed them to William. William received them gratefully.
• 4:24:26
  Speaker 1: And what good resolution are you going to take tomorrow,
• 4:24:30
  Speaker 1: went on mister Moss. William crunched in silence for a minute.
• 4:24:34
  Speaker 1: Then good resolution, he questioned, I ain't got none. You've
• 4:24:40
  Speaker 1: got to have a good resolution for New Year's Day,
• 4:24:43
  Speaker 1: said mister Moss firmly. Same as giving up sugar and
• 4:24:47
  Speaker 1: tea and lent and wearing blue on Oxford and Cambridge
• 4:24:51
  Speaker 1: Boat Race day, said William with interest. Yes, same as that. Well,
• 4:24:57
  Speaker 1: you've got to think of some fault you'd like to
• 4:25:00
  Speaker 1: cure and start tomorrow. William pondered. Can't think of anything?
• 4:25:06
  Speaker 1: He said, At last you think of something for me.
• 4:25:10
  Speaker 1: You might take one to do your school work properly,
• 4:25:13
  Speaker 1: he suggested. William shook his head. No, he said, that
• 4:25:18
  Speaker 1: wouldn't be much fun, would it, Crumbs, it wouldn't. Or
• 4:25:23
  Speaker 1: to keep your clothes tidy, went on his friend. William
• 4:25:27
  Speaker 1: shuddered at the thought, or to give up shouting and twistling.
• 4:25:33
  Speaker 1: William crammed two more sweets into his mouth and shook
• 4:25:37
  Speaker 1: his head very firmly. Crumbs know, he ejaculated indistinctly. Or
• 4:25:44
  Speaker 1: to be perlite, perlite? Yes, please, and thank you, and
• 4:25:51
  Speaker 1: if you don't mind me saying so, and if you
• 4:25:53
  Speaker 1: excuse me, contradictin of you? And can I do anything
• 4:25:57
  Speaker 1: for you? And such like. William was struck with this.
• 4:26:03
  Speaker 1: Yes I might be that, he said. He straightened his
• 4:26:07
  Speaker 1: collar and stood up. Yes, I might try beIN that.
• 4:26:11
  Speaker 1: How long has it to go on? Though not long,
• 4:26:15
  Speaker 1: said mister Moss. Only the first day generally, folks generally
• 4:26:20
  Speaker 1: give 'em up after that. What's yours? Said William, putting
• 4:26:24
  Speaker 1: four sweets into his mouth as he spoke. Mister Moss
• 4:26:28
  Speaker 1: looked round his little shop with the air of a conspirator,
• 4:26:31
  Speaker 1: then leant forward confidentially. I'm going to arsk her again,
• 4:26:36
  Speaker 1: he said, Who, said William? Mystified some one I've arked
• 4:26:43
  Speaker 1: regular every New Year's Day for ten years, asked what,
• 4:26:48
  Speaker 1: said William, gazing sadly at his last suite. Arsket to
• 4:26:53
  Speaker 1: take me, of course, said mister Moss, with an air
• 4:26:56
  Speaker 1: of contempt for William's want of intelligence. Take you where,
• 4:27:00
  Speaker 1: said William? Where do you want to go? Why can't
• 4:27:04
  Speaker 1: you go yourself? Ter marry me, I means, said mister Moss,
• 4:27:09
  Speaker 1: blushing slightly as he spoke. Well, said William, with a
• 4:27:14
  Speaker 1: judicial air. I wouldn't have asked the same one for
• 4:27:17
  Speaker 1: ten years. I'd have tried some one else. I'd have
• 4:27:21
  Speaker 1: gone on asking other people if I wanted to get married.
• 4:27:24
  Speaker 1: You'd be sure to find some one that wouldn't mind
• 4:27:27
  Speaker 1: you with a sweet shop too. She must be as softy.
• 4:27:31
  Speaker 1: Does she know you've got a sweet shop? Mister Moss
• 4:27:35
  Speaker 1: merely sighed and popped a bull's eye into his mouth
• 4:27:39
  Speaker 1: with an air of abstracted melancholy. The next morning, William
• 4:27:44
  Speaker 1: leapt out of bed with an expression of stern resolve.
• 4:27:48
  Speaker 1: I'm going to be polite, he remarked to his bedroom furniture.
• 4:27:52
  Speaker 1: I'm going to be polite all day. He met his
• 4:27:56
  Speaker 1: father on the stairs as he went down to breakfast.
• 4:27:59
  Speaker 1: Good mornin, he said, with what he fondly imagines to
• 4:28:02
  Speaker 1: be a courtly manner. Can I do anything for you
• 4:28:06
  Speaker 1: to day? His father looked down at him suspiciously. What
• 4:28:11
  Speaker 1: do you want now, he demanded. William was hurt. I'm
• 4:28:16
  Speaker 1: only being polite. It's, you know, one of those things
• 4:28:20
  Speaker 1: you take on New Year's Day. Well, I've took one
• 4:28:24
  Speaker 1: to be polite. His father apologized. I'm sorry, he said,
• 4:28:29
  Speaker 1: You see, I'm not used to it. It startled me.
• 4:28:34
  Speaker 1: At breakfast, William's politeness shone forth in all its glory.
• 4:28:39
  Speaker 1: Can I pass you anything, Robert, he said sweetly. His
• 4:28:44
  Speaker 1: elder brother coldly ignored him. Going to reign again, he said,
• 4:28:49
  Speaker 1: to the world in general, if you'll excuse me for
• 4:28:53
  Speaker 1: contradicting of you, Robert said, William, I heard the milkman
• 4:28:56
  Speaker 1: saying it was going to be fine, if you'll excuse
• 4:28:59
  Speaker 1: me comradicting you. Look here, said Robert angrily, less of
• 4:29:05
  Speaker 1: your cheek. Seems to me, no one in this house
• 4:29:09
  Speaker 1: understands what being polite is, said William bitterly. Seems to
• 4:29:14
  Speaker 1: me one might go on being polite in this house
• 4:29:16
  Speaker 1: for years and no one know what one was doing.
• 4:29:20
  Speaker 1: His mother looked at him anxiously. You're feeling quite well, dear,
• 4:29:25
  Speaker 1: aren't you, she said. You. You haven't got a headache
• 4:29:28
  Speaker 1: or anything, have you. No, I'm being polite, he said irritably,
• 4:29:33
  Speaker 1: then pulled himself up suddenly. I'm quite well. Thank you, mother, dear,
• 4:29:39
  Speaker 1: he said, in a tone of cloying sweetness. Does it
• 4:29:43
  Speaker 1: hurt you much? Inquired his brother tenderly. No, thank you, Robert,
• 4:29:49
  Speaker 1: said William politely. After breakfast, he received his pocket money
• 4:29:54
  Speaker 1: with courteous gratitude. Thank you very much, father, not at all. Pray,
• 4:30:01
  Speaker 1: don't mention it, William. It's quite all right, said mister Brown,
• 4:30:05
  Speaker 1: not to be outdone. Then it's rather trying. How long
• 4:30:10
  Speaker 1: does it last? What the resolution? Oh, be impolite, he said.
• 4:30:16
  Speaker 1: They didn't often do it after the first day. He's
• 4:30:20
  Speaker 1: quite right, whoever he is, said mister Brown, they don't.
• 4:30:24
  Speaker 1: He's going to ask her again, volunteered William, who ask
• 4:30:28
  Speaker 1: who what, said mister Brown. But William had departed. He
• 4:30:33
  Speaker 1: was already on his way to mister Moss's shop. Mister
• 4:30:37
  Speaker 1: Moss was at the door, hatted and coated and gazing
• 4:30:41
  Speaker 1: anxiously down the street. Good morning, mister Moss, said William politely.
• 4:30:46
  Speaker 1: Mister Moss took out a large antique watch. He's late,
• 4:30:51
  Speaker 1: he said, I shall miss the train. Oh dear, it
• 4:30:55
  Speaker 1: will be the first New Year's Day I've missed in
• 4:30:57
  Speaker 1: ten years. Will was inspecting the sweets with an air
• 4:31:02
  Speaker 1: of an expert. Them pink ones are new, he said
• 4:31:06
  Speaker 1: at last. How much are they? Eightpence a quarter? Oh dear,
• 4:31:11
  Speaker 1: I shall miss the train. They're very small ones, said
• 4:31:15
  Speaker 1: William disparagingly. You'd think they'd be less than that, Small
• 4:31:20
  Speaker 1: ones like that. Will you? Will you do something for
• 4:31:25
  Speaker 1: me and I'll give you a quarter of those suits.
• 4:31:28
  Speaker 1: William gasped. The offer was almost too munificent to be true.
• 4:31:35
  Speaker 1: I'll do anything for that, he said, simply. Well, just
• 4:31:39
  Speaker 1: stay in the shop till my nephew Bill comes. He'll
• 4:31:42
  Speaker 1: be here in two shakes, and I'll miss my train.
• 4:31:45
  Speaker 1: If I don't go now, he's going to keep the
• 4:31:47
  Speaker 1: shop for me till I'm back, and he'll be here
• 4:31:50
  Speaker 1: any minute now. Just tell him I had to run
• 4:31:53
  Speaker 1: for to catch my train. And if anyone comes into
• 4:31:56
  Speaker 1: the shop before he comes, just tell him to wait
• 4:32:00
  Speaker 1: or to come back later. You can weigh yourself a
• 4:32:03
  Speaker 1: quarter of those sweets. Mister Moss was certainly in a
• 4:32:07
  Speaker 1: holiday mood. William pinched himself just to make sure he
• 4:32:11
  Speaker 1: was still alive and had not been translated. Suddenly to
• 4:32:14
  Speaker 1: the realms of the blest. Mister Moss, with a last
• 4:32:18
  Speaker 1: anxious glance at his watch, hurried off in the direction
• 4:32:22
  Speaker 1: of the station. William was left alone. He spent a
• 4:32:27
  Speaker 1: few moments indulging in roseate day dreams. The ideal of
• 4:32:31
  Speaker 1: his childhood, perhaps of everyone's childhood, was realized. He had
• 4:32:38
  Speaker 1: a sweet shop. He walked round the shop with a
• 4:32:41
  Speaker 1: conscious swagger, pausing to pop into his mouth a butter ball, composed,
• 4:32:47
  Speaker 1: as the label stated, of pure farm cream and best butter.
• 4:32:53
  Speaker 1: It was all his, all, those rows and rows of
• 4:32:57
  Speaker 1: gleaming bottles of sweets of every size and color, those
• 4:33:02
  Speaker 1: boxes and boxes of attractively arranged chocolates deliberately, he imagined
• 4:33:09
  Speaker 1: himself as their owner. By the time he had walked
• 4:33:13
  Speaker 1: around the shop three times, he believed that he was
• 4:33:16
  Speaker 1: the owner. At this point, a small boy appeared in
• 4:33:20
  Speaker 1: the doorway. William scowled at him. Well, he said, ungraciously,
• 4:33:27
  Speaker 1: what do you want? Then, suddenly remembering his resolution, please,
• 4:33:32
  Speaker 1: what do you want? Where's uncle? Said the small boy
• 4:33:36
  Speaker 1: with equal ungraciousness, Cause our bill's ill and can't come.
• 4:33:41
  Speaker 1: William waved him off. That's all right, he said, you
• 4:33:45
  Speaker 1: tell him, that's all right, that's quite all right. See,
• 4:33:48
  Speaker 1: now you go off. The small boy stood as though
• 4:33:52
  Speaker 1: rooted to the spot. William pressed into one of his
• 4:33:56
  Speaker 1: hands a stick of licorice, and into the other a
• 4:33:59
  Speaker 1: packet of chocolate. Now you go away. I don't want
• 4:34:03
  Speaker 1: you here. See you go away, you little assified cow.
• 4:34:08
  Speaker 1: William's invective was often wholly original. The small boy made off,
• 4:34:13
  Speaker 1: still staring and clutching his spoils. William started to the
• 4:34:18
  Speaker 1: door and yelled to the retreating figure, if you don't
• 4:34:21
  Speaker 1: mind me saying so. He had already come to look
• 4:34:26
  Speaker 1: upon the resolution as a kind of God who must,
• 4:34:30
  Speaker 1: at all costs be propitiated already, the resolution seemed to
• 4:34:36
  Speaker 1: have bestowed upon him the dream of his life. A
• 4:34:39
  Speaker 1: fully equipped sweet shop, he wandered round again and discovered
• 4:34:45
  Speaker 1: a holy new sweetmeat called cocoernut kisses. Its only drawback
• 4:34:51
  Speaker 1: was its instability. It melted away in the mouth at once,
• 4:34:56
  Speaker 1: so much so that almost before William was aware of it,
• 4:35:00
  Speaker 1: he was confronted by the empty box. He returned to
• 4:35:05
  Speaker 1: the more solid charms of the pineapple crisp. He was
• 4:35:10
  Speaker 1: interrupted by the entrance of a thin lady of uncertain age.
• 4:35:15
  Speaker 1: Good morning, she said, icily, where's mister moss? William answered,
• 4:35:22
  Speaker 1: as well as the presence of five sweets in his
• 4:35:25
  Speaker 1: mouth would allow him. I can't hear a word you say,
• 4:35:29
  Speaker 1: she said, more frigidly than ever. William removed two of
• 4:35:35
  Speaker 1: his five suites and placed them temporarily on the scale. Gone,
• 4:35:40
  Speaker 1: he said, laconically, then murmured vaguely thank you, as the
• 4:35:44
  Speaker 1: thought of the resolution loomed up in his mind. Who's
• 4:35:48
  Speaker 1: in charge, me, said William ungrammatically. She looked at him
• 4:35:54
  Speaker 1: with distinct disapproval. Well, I'll have one of those bars
• 4:35:59
  Speaker 1: of auklets. William, looking round the shop, realized suddenly that
• 4:36:05
  Speaker 1: his own depredations had been on no small scale, but
• 4:36:10
  Speaker 1: there was a chance of making good any loss that
• 4:36:12
  Speaker 1: mister Moss might otherwise have sustained. He looked down at
• 4:36:17
  Speaker 1: the twopenny bars schillin each, he said firmly. She gasped.
• 4:36:23
  Speaker 1: They were only tuppence yesterday. They're gone up since, said William, brazenly,
• 4:36:28
  Speaker 1: adding a vague if you'll kindly excuse me saying so,
• 4:36:32
  Speaker 1: gone up? She repeated indignantly. Have you heard from the
• 4:36:37
  Speaker 1: makers they've gone up? Yes'm, said William politely. When did
• 4:36:42
  Speaker 1: you hear this mornin'? If you don't mind me saying so.
• 4:36:47
  Speaker 1: William's manner of fulsome politeness seemed to madden her. Did
• 4:36:52
  Speaker 1: you hear by post esum by post this mornin'? She
• 4:36:57
  Speaker 1: glared at him with vindictive triumph. I happen to live
• 4:37:01
  Speaker 1: opposite you, wicked lying boy, and I know that the
• 4:37:05
  Speaker 1: postman did not call here this morning. William met her
• 4:37:10
  Speaker 1: eye calmly. No, they came round to see me in
• 4:37:13
  Speaker 1: the night. The makers did. You couldn't have heard them,
• 4:37:16
  Speaker 1: he added, hastily. It was when you was asleep, if
• 4:37:20
  Speaker 1: you'll excuse me, contradictin of you. It is a great
• 4:37:24
  Speaker 1: gift to be able to lie so as to convince
• 4:37:27
  Speaker 1: other people. It is a still greater gift to be
• 4:37:30
  Speaker 1: able to lie so as to convince oneself. William was
• 4:37:34
  Speaker 1: possessed of the latter gift. I shall certainly not pay
• 4:37:39
  Speaker 1: more than tuppence, said his customer, severely, taking a bar
• 4:37:43
  Speaker 1: of chocolate and laying down tuppence on the counter. And
• 4:37:47
  Speaker 1: I shall report this shop to the profiteering Committee. It's
• 4:37:51
  Speaker 1: scandalous and a pack of wicked lies. William scowled at her.
• 4:37:57
  Speaker 1: They're a shillin, he said. I don't want your nasty
• 4:38:00
  Speaker 1: old tuppences. I said, there was a shillin. He followed
• 4:38:05
  Speaker 1: her to the door. She was crossing the street to
• 4:38:08
  Speaker 1: her house. You you old thief, he yelled after her.
• 4:38:14
  Speaker 1: Though true to his resolution, he added softly, with dogged determination.
• 4:38:19
  Speaker 1: If you don't mind me saying so, I'll set the
• 4:38:23
  Speaker 1: police on you. His late customer shouted angrily back across
• 4:38:27
  Speaker 1: the street, You wicked, blasphemous boy. William put out his
• 4:38:33
  Speaker 1: tongue at her, then returned to the shop and closed
• 4:38:36
  Speaker 1: the door. Here he discovered that the door, when opened
• 4:38:41
  Speaker 1: rang a bell, and after filling his mouth with licorice
• 4:38:45
  Speaker 1: all sorts. He spent the next five minutes vigorously opening
• 4:38:49
  Speaker 1: and shutting the door till something went wrong with the
• 4:38:52
  Speaker 1: mechanism of the bell. At this he fortified himself with
• 4:38:56
  Speaker 1: a course of nutty footballs, and, standing on a chair,
• 4:39:01
  Speaker 1: began ruthlessly to dismember the bell. He was disturbed by
• 4:39:06
  Speaker 1: the entry of another customer, Swallowing a nutty football hole,
• 4:39:11
  Speaker 1: he hastened to his post behind the counter. The newcomer
• 4:39:16
  Speaker 1: was a little girl of about nine, a very dainty
• 4:39:20
  Speaker 1: little girl, dressed in a white fur coat and cap
• 4:39:23
  Speaker 1: and long white gaiters. Her hair fell in golden curls
• 4:39:28
  Speaker 1: over her white fur shoulders. Her eyes were blue, her
• 4:39:32
  Speaker 1: cheeks were velvety and rosy. Her mouth was like a baby's.
• 4:39:37
  Speaker 1: William had seen this vision on various occasions in the town,
• 4:39:42
  Speaker 1: but had never yet addressed it. Whenever he had seen it,
• 4:39:46
  Speaker 1: his heart in the midst of his body had been
• 4:39:49
  Speaker 1: even as melting wax. He smiled a self conscious, sheepish smile,
• 4:39:56
  Speaker 1: his freckled face blushed to the roots of his short,
• 4:39:59
  Speaker 1: stubby hair. She seemed to find nothing odd in the
• 4:40:03
  Speaker 1: fact of a small boy being in charge of a
• 4:40:06
  Speaker 1: sweet shop. She came up to the counter. Please, I
• 4:40:10
  Speaker 1: want two twopenny bars of chocolate. Her voice was very
• 4:40:15
  Speaker 1: clear and silvery. Ecstasy rendered William speechless. His smile grew
• 4:40:22
  Speaker 1: wider and more foolish. Seeing his two half sucked pineapple
• 4:40:27
  Speaker 1: crisps exposed upon the scales, he hastily put them into
• 4:40:31
  Speaker 1: his mouth. She laid four pennies on the counter. William
• 4:40:36
  Speaker 1: found his voice. You can have lots for that, he said, huskily.
• 4:40:41
  Speaker 1: They've gone cheap, they've gone ever so cheap. You can
• 4:40:46
  Speaker 1: take all the box full for that, he went on recklessly.
• 4:40:50
  Speaker 1: He pressed the box into her reluctant hands. And what
• 4:40:54
  Speaker 1: else would you like? You just tell me that, Tell
• 4:40:58
  Speaker 1: me what else you like? Please, I haven't any more money,
• 4:41:02
  Speaker 1: gasped a small, bewildered voice. Oh money don't matter, said William.
• 4:41:07
  Speaker 1: Things is cheap. To day things is awful cheap, to
• 4:41:10
  Speaker 1: day awful cheap. You can have anything you like for
• 4:41:14
  Speaker 1: that fourpence. Anything you like. Because it's New Year's Day,
• 4:41:19
  Speaker 1: said the vision with a gleam of understanding. Yes, said William,
• 4:41:24
  Speaker 1: because it's that Is it your shop? Yes? Said William
• 4:41:28
  Speaker 1: with an air of importance. It's all my shop. She
• 4:41:32
  Speaker 1: gazed at him in admiration and envy. I'd love to
• 4:41:37
  Speaker 1: have a sweet shop, she said wistfully. Well, you take
• 4:41:41
  Speaker 1: anything you like, said William generously. She collected as much
• 4:41:46
  Speaker 1: as she could carry and started towards the door. Thank you,
• 4:41:50
  Speaker 1: thank you, ever so, she said gratefully. William stood leaning
• 4:41:55
  Speaker 1: against the door, in the easy attitude of the good
• 4:41:59
  Speaker 1: natured to all providing mail. It's all right, he said,
• 4:42:03
  Speaker 1: with an indulgent smile. Quite all right, Quite all right. Then,
• 4:42:08
  Speaker 1: with an inspiration born of memories of his father earlier
• 4:42:12
  Speaker 1: in the day, Not at all, don't mention it, not
• 4:42:16
  Speaker 1: at all, Quite all right. He stopped, simply for lack
• 4:42:21
  Speaker 1: of further expressions, and bowed with would be gracefulness as
• 4:42:26
  Speaker 1: she went through the doorway. As she passed the window,
• 4:42:30
  Speaker 1: she was rewarded by a spreading, effusive smile. In a
• 4:42:34
  Speaker 1: flushed face. She stopped and kissed her hand. William blinked
• 4:42:41
  Speaker 1: with pure emotion. He continued his smile long after its
• 4:42:46
  Speaker 1: recipient had disappeared. Then absent mindedly, he crammed his mouth
• 4:42:52
  Speaker 1: with a handful of mixed dewdrops and sat down behind
• 4:42:57
  Speaker 1: the counter. As he crunched maxt dewdrops. He indulged in
• 4:43:02
  Speaker 1: a day dream in which he rescued the little girl
• 4:43:05
  Speaker 1: in the white fur coat from robbers and pirates and
• 4:43:09
  Speaker 1: a burning house. He was just leaping nimbly from the
• 4:43:13
  Speaker 1: roof of the burning house, holding the little girl in
• 4:43:16
  Speaker 1: the white fur coat in his arms, when he caught
• 4:43:20
  Speaker 1: sight of two of his friends flattening their noses at
• 4:43:23
  Speaker 1: the window. He rose from his seat and went to
• 4:43:26
  Speaker 1: the door. Hello Ginger, Hello Henry, he said, with an
• 4:43:31
  Speaker 1: unsuccessful effort to appear void of self consciousness. They gazed
• 4:43:37
  Speaker 1: at him in wonder. I've got a shop, he went on, casually,
• 4:43:42
  Speaker 1: Come on in and look at it. They peeped round
• 4:43:46
  Speaker 1: the doorway cautiously, and reassured by the sight of William,
• 4:43:50
  Speaker 1: obviously in sole possession, they entered open mouthed. They gazed
• 4:43:56
  Speaker 1: at the boxes and bottles of sweets. Al's cave was
• 4:44:01
  Speaker 1: nothing to this. Howd you get at William gasped Ginger.
• 4:44:07
  Speaker 1: Someone gave it to me, said William. I took one
• 4:44:10
  Speaker 1: of them things to be polite, and someone gave it
• 4:44:12
  Speaker 1: to me. Go on, he said, kindly, just help yourselves,
• 4:44:17
  Speaker 1: not at all, not at all, Just help yourselves, and
• 4:44:19
  Speaker 1: don't mention it. They needed no second bidding. With the
• 4:44:24
  Speaker 1: unerring instinct of childhood, not unsupported by experience, that at
• 4:44:30
  Speaker 1: any minute their eden might be invaded by the avenging
• 4:44:33
  Speaker 1: angel in the shape of a grown up, they made
• 4:44:36
  Speaker 1: full use of their time. They went from box to box,
• 4:44:40
  Speaker 1: putting handfuls of sweets and chocolates into their mouths. They
• 4:44:45
  Speaker 1: said nothing, simply because speech was under the circumstances of
• 4:44:49
  Speaker 1: physical impossibility. Showing a foresight for the future worthy of
• 4:44:55
  Speaker 1: the noble ant itself so often held up as a
• 4:44:59
  Speaker 1: model to check childhood, they filled pockets in the intervals
• 4:45:03
  Speaker 1: of cramming their mouths. A close observer might have noticed
• 4:45:07
  Speaker 1: that William now ate. Little William himself had been conscious
• 4:45:12
  Speaker 1: for some time of a curious and inexplicable feeling of
• 4:45:18
  Speaker 1: coldness towards the tempting dainties around him. He was, however,
• 4:45:23
  Speaker 1: loathed to give in to the weakness, and every now
• 4:45:27
  Speaker 1: and then he nonchalantly put into his mouth a toasted
• 4:45:30
  Speaker 1: square or a fruity bit. It happened that a loutish
• 4:45:35
  Speaker 1: boy of about fourteen was passing the shop at the
• 4:45:39
  Speaker 1: sight of three small boys rapidly consuming the contents, he
• 4:45:44
  Speaker 1: became interested. What you're doing of he said, indignantly, standing
• 4:45:49
  Speaker 1: in the doorway. You get out of my shop, said William, valiantly,
• 4:45:54
  Speaker 1: your shop, said the boy. You're bloomin well, pinchin things
• 4:45:59
  Speaker 1: out of someone else else shop. I can see here.
• 4:46:02
  Speaker 1: Gimme some of them. You get out, said William. Get
• 4:46:06
  Speaker 1: out yourself, said the other. If I'd not took one
• 4:46:10
  Speaker 1: to be polite, said William, threatening, I'd knock you down.
• 4:46:13
  Speaker 1: You would, would yer, said the other, beginning to roll
• 4:46:17
  Speaker 1: up his sleeves. Yes, and I would too. You get out.
• 4:46:22
  Speaker 1: Seizing the nearest bottle, which happened to contain acid drops,
• 4:46:26
  Speaker 1: he began to fire them at his opponent's head. One
• 4:46:30
  Speaker 1: hit him in the eye. He retired into the street. William,
• 4:46:35
  Speaker 1: now a fire for battle, followed him, still hurling acid
• 4:46:40
  Speaker 1: drops with all his might. A crowd of boys collected together.
• 4:46:45
  Speaker 1: Some gathered acid drops from the gutter. Others joined the scrimmage. William,
• 4:46:51
  Speaker 1: Henry and Ginger carried on a noble fight against heavy odds.
• 4:46:56
  Speaker 1: It was only the sight of the proprietor of the shop,
• 4:47:00
  Speaker 1: coming briskly down the sidewalk that put an end to
• 4:47:03
  Speaker 1: the battle. The street boys made off with what spoils
• 4:47:07
  Speaker 1: they could gather in one direction, and Ginger and Henry
• 4:47:12
  Speaker 1: in another. William, clasping an empty acid drop bottle to
• 4:47:17
  Speaker 1: his bosom, was left to face mister Moss. Mister Moss
• 4:47:22
  Speaker 1: entered and looked round with an air of bewilderment. Where's Bill,
• 4:47:27
  Speaker 1: he said, He's ill, said William. He couldn't come. I've
• 4:47:33
  Speaker 1: been keeping shop for you. I've done the best I could.
• 4:47:37
  Speaker 1: He looked round the rifled shop and hastened to propitiate
• 4:47:41
  Speaker 1: the owner as far as possible. I've got some money
• 4:47:44
  Speaker 1: for you, he added, soothingly, pointing to the four pennies
• 4:47:48
  Speaker 1: that represented his morning's takings. Is not much, he went on,
• 4:47:53
  Speaker 1: with some truth, looking again at the rows of emptied
• 4:47:57
  Speaker 1: boxes and half emptied bottles, and the debris that is
• 4:48:01
  Speaker 1: alwaysn't everywhere, the inevitable result of a battle. But mister
• 4:48:06
  Speaker 1: Moss hardly seemed to notice it. Thanks William, he said,
• 4:48:11
  Speaker 1: almost humbly. William, she's took me. She's gone to marry me.
• 4:48:17
  Speaker 1: Isn't it grand? After all these years. I'm afraid there's
• 4:48:23
  Speaker 1: a bit of a mess, said William, returning to the
• 4:48:26
  Speaker 1: more important matter. Mister Moss waved aside his apologies. It
• 4:48:33
  Speaker 1: doesn't matter, William, he said, nothing matters today. She's took
• 4:48:37
  Speaker 1: me at last. I'm going to shut shop this afternoon
• 4:48:40
  Speaker 1: and go over to her again. Thanks for staying, William,
• 4:48:45
  Speaker 1: not at all. Don't mention it, said William nobly. Then
• 4:48:49
  Speaker 1: I think I've had enough of that being plied. Will
• 4:48:52
  Speaker 1: one morning do for this year? Do you think? Erm? Yes, well,
• 4:48:58
  Speaker 1: I'll shut up. Don't to stay, William. You'll want to
• 4:49:01
  Speaker 1: be getting home for lunch, lunch, quite definitely. William decided
• 4:49:07
  Speaker 1: that he did not want any lunch. The very thought
• 4:49:11
  Speaker 1: of lunch brought with it a feeling of active physical discomfort,
• 4:49:16
  Speaker 1: which was much more than mere absence of hunger. He
• 4:49:20
  Speaker 1: decided to go home as quickly as possible, though not
• 4:49:25
  Speaker 1: to lunch. Goodbye, he said. Good bye, said mister Moss.
• 4:49:30
  Speaker 1: I'm afraid you'll find some things gone, said William faintly.
• 4:49:34
  Speaker 1: Some boys was in. Ah, that's all right, William, said,
• 4:49:38
  Speaker 1: mister Moss roused again from his rosy dreams. That's quite
• 4:49:42
  Speaker 1: all right. But it was not quite all right with William. Reader.
• 4:49:49
  Speaker 1: If you had been left at the age of eleven,
• 4:49:52
  Speaker 1: in sole charge of a sweet shop for a whole morning?
• 4:49:55
  Speaker 1: Would it have been all right with you? I trow not.
• 4:50:00
  Speaker 1: But we will not follow William through the humiliating hours
• 4:50:04
  Speaker 1: of the afternoon. We will leave him as pale and unsteady,
• 4:50:10
  Speaker 1: but as yet master of the situation. He wends his
• 4:50:13
  Speaker 1: homeward way end of chapter ten, Chapter eleven, The best
• 4:50:22
  Speaker 1: laid Plans, Part one. She's she's a real but a chelly,
• 4:50:29
  Speaker 1: said the young man dreamily, as he watched the figure
• 4:50:33
  Speaker 1: of William's sister Ethel disappearing into the distance. William glared
• 4:50:38
  Speaker 1: at him. Bottled cherry yourself, he said, indignantly. She can't
• 4:50:44
  Speaker 1: help having red hair, can she? No more'n you can help? Heaven?
• 4:50:49
  Speaker 1: His eyes wandered speculatively over the young man, in search
• 4:50:53
  Speaker 1: of physical defects, having big ears, he ended. The young
• 4:50:59
  Speaker 1: man not resent the insult, He did not even hear it.
• 4:51:03
  Speaker 1: His eyes were still fixed upon the slim figure in
• 4:51:07
  Speaker 1: the distance. Eyes of blue and hair, red gold, he
• 4:51:12
  Speaker 1: said softly, red gold. I had to put that because
• 4:51:17
  Speaker 1: it's got both colors in it, red gold, eyes of
• 4:51:22
  Speaker 1: blue and hair, red gold. What rhymes with gold? Cold,
• 4:51:29
  Speaker 1: suggested William brightly. That's jolly good too, cause she's got
• 4:51:34
  Speaker 1: her cold. She was sneezing all last night. No, it
• 4:51:39
  Speaker 1: should be something about her heart being cold. Eyes of
• 4:51:44
  Speaker 1: blue and hair red gold, heart of ice, so stony cold.
• 4:51:50
  Speaker 1: That's jolly good, said William with admiration. It's just like
• 4:51:55
  Speaker 1: what you read in real books, poetry books. The young man,
• 4:52:00
  Speaker 1: James French by name, had met Ethel at an evening
• 4:52:04
  Speaker 1: party and had succumbed to her charm. Lacking courage to
• 4:52:09
  Speaker 1: pursue the acquaintance, he had cultivated the friendship of her
• 4:52:13
  Speaker 1: small brother, under a quite erroneous impression that this would
• 4:52:17
  Speaker 1: win him her good graces. What would you like most
• 4:52:22
  Speaker 1: in the world, he said, suddenly, leaning forward from his
• 4:52:25
  Speaker 1: seat on the top of the gate. Suppose some one
• 4:52:29
  Speaker 1: let you choose white rats, said William without a moment's hesitation.
• 4:52:36
  Speaker 1: The young man was plunged in deep thought. I'm thinking away,
• 4:52:42
  Speaker 1: he said at last. I've I've nearly got it. Just
• 4:52:47
  Speaker 1: walk home with me, will you. I'll give you something
• 4:52:50
  Speaker 1: when we get there, he bribed with pathetic pleading, noting
• 4:52:55
  Speaker 1: William's reluctant face. I want to tell you my idea.
• 4:53:01
  Speaker 1: They walked down the lane. Together, the young man talked
• 4:53:05
  Speaker 1: volubly and earnestly. William's mouth opened wide with amazement and
• 4:53:11
  Speaker 1: disapproving horror. The words white rats were repeated frequently. Finally,
• 4:53:18
  Speaker 1: William nodded his head as though acquiescing. I s'pose you're
• 4:53:24
  Speaker 1: balmy on her, he said, resigningly at the end, like
• 4:53:28
  Speaker 1: what folks are in books. I'm wana with long tales mind.
• 4:53:34
  Speaker 1: William was not unacquainted with the tender passion. He had
• 4:53:39
  Speaker 1: been to the pictures, he had read books. He had
• 4:53:43
  Speaker 1: seen his elder brother Robert pass several times through every
• 4:53:48
  Speaker 1: stage of the consuming fever. He had himself decided, in
• 4:53:53
  Speaker 1: moments of deep emotion to marry the little girl next
• 4:53:56
  Speaker 1: door as soon as he should reach Manhood's estate. He
• 4:54:01
  Speaker 1: was willing to further his new friend's suit by every
• 4:54:04
  Speaker 1: legitimate means, but he was rather aghast at the means suggested.
• 4:54:10
  Speaker 1: Still white rats were white rats. The next morning, William
• 4:54:16
  Speaker 1: assumed his expression of shining virtue, the expression he reserved
• 4:54:22
  Speaker 1: for special occasions. You go on choppin this mornin, he
• 4:54:26
  Speaker 1: inquired politely of Ethel. You know I am, said Ethel, shortly,
• 4:54:32
  Speaker 1: Shall I come with you to carry parcels and things,
• 4:54:35
  Speaker 1: said William unctuously. Ethel looked at him with sudden suspicion.
• 4:54:41
  Speaker 1: What do you want, she said, I'm not going to
• 4:54:45
  Speaker 1: buy you anything. William looked pained. I don't want anything,
• 4:54:51
  Speaker 1: he said. I just want to help you, that's all.
• 4:54:55
  Speaker 1: I just want to carry your parcels for you. I
• 4:54:59
  Speaker 1: just don't want you to get tired. That's all all right.
• 4:55:05
  Speaker 1: Ethel was still suspicious. You can come and you can
• 4:55:09
  Speaker 1: carry parcels, but you won't get a penny out of me.
• 4:55:14
  Speaker 1: They walked down together to the shops, and William meekly
• 4:55:18
  Speaker 1: allowed himself to be laden with many parcels. Ethel's grim
• 4:55:22
  Speaker 1: suspicion passed into bewilderment as he passed toy shop after
• 4:55:27
  Speaker 1: toy shop without a glance in imagination, he was already
• 4:55:32
  Speaker 1: teaching complicated tricks to a pair of white rats. It's
• 4:55:39
  Speaker 1: awfully decent of you, William, said, Ethel at last, almost
• 4:55:44
  Speaker 1: persuaded that she had misjudged William for the greater part
• 4:55:48
  Speaker 1: of his life. Do you feel all right? I mean,
• 4:55:52
  Speaker 1: you don't feel ill or anything, do you? No? He said, absently,
• 4:55:59
  Speaker 1: then directed himself hastily at least, not just now. I
• 4:56:04
  Speaker 1: feel all right just now. I feel as if I
• 4:56:08
  Speaker 1: might not feel all right soon, but I don't know.
• 4:56:12
  Speaker 1: Ethel looked anxious. Let's get home quickly. What have you
• 4:56:17
  Speaker 1: been eating? Nothing, said William indignantly. It's not that sort
• 4:56:23
  Speaker 1: of not well, it's quite different. What sort is it?
• 4:56:28
  Speaker 1: It's nothing? Not just now? I'm all right just now.
• 4:56:34
  Speaker 1: They walked in silence till they had left the road
• 4:56:36
  Speaker 1: behind and had turned off to the long country road
• 4:56:40
  Speaker 1: that led to William's house. Then, slowly and deliberately, still
• 4:56:46
  Speaker 1: clasping his burden of parcels, William sat down on the ground.
• 4:56:52
  Speaker 1: I can't walk any more, Ethel, he said, turning his
• 4:56:55
  Speaker 1: healthy countenance up to her. I'm took ill. Sudden. She
• 4:57:01
  Speaker 1: looked down at him impatiently. Don't be absurd, William, she said.
• 4:57:06
  Speaker 1: Get up. I'm not absurd, he said firmly. I'm took ill.
• 4:57:13
  Speaker 1: Where do you feel ill? All over? He said guardedly.
• 4:57:18
  Speaker 1: Does your ankle hurt? Yes? And my knees and all
• 4:57:23
  Speaker 1: up me. I just can't walk. I'm took too ill
• 4:57:27
  Speaker 1: to walk. She looked round anxiously. Oh what are we
• 4:57:32
  Speaker 1: going to do? It's a quarter of a mile home.
• 4:57:37
  Speaker 1: At that moment there appeared the figure of a tall
• 4:57:40
  Speaker 1: young man. He drew nearer and raised his hat. Anything wrong,
• 4:57:46
  Speaker 1: miss Brown, he said, blushing deeply. Just look at William,
• 4:57:51
  Speaker 1: said Ethel, pointing dramatically at the small figure seated comfortably
• 4:57:56
  Speaker 1: in the dust of the road. He says, he can't walk,
• 4:58:00
  Speaker 1: and Goodness knows what we're going to do. The young
• 4:58:04
  Speaker 1: man bent over William, but avoided meeting his eyes. You
• 4:58:08
  Speaker 1: feeling ill, my little man, he said, cheerfully. Huh, snorted William.
• 4:58:14
  Speaker 1: That's a nice thing for you to ask, when you
• 4:58:16
  Speaker 1: know you told me. The young man coughed long and loud.
• 4:58:22
  Speaker 1: All right, he said, hastily. Well, let's see what we
• 4:58:25
  Speaker 1: can do. Could you get on my back and then
• 4:58:29
  Speaker 1: I can carry you home? Give me your parcels. That's right, no,
• 4:58:35
  Speaker 1: miss Brown, I insist on carrying the parcels. I couldn't
• 4:58:40
  Speaker 1: dream of allowing you. Well, if you're sure you'd rather
• 4:58:44
  Speaker 1: leave me the big ones anyway, Now, William, are we ready?
• 4:58:51
  Speaker 1: William clung on behind nothing loth and they set off
• 4:58:55
  Speaker 1: rather slowly down the road. Ethel was overcome with gratitude.
• 4:59:01
  Speaker 1: It is kind of you, mister French, I don't know
• 4:59:05
  Speaker 1: what we should have done without you. I do hope
• 4:59:08
  Speaker 1: he's not fearfully heavy, and I do hope he's not
• 4:59:11
  Speaker 1: beginning anything infectious. Do let me take the other parcels,
• 4:59:17
  Speaker 1: won't you really? Mother will be grateful to you. It's
• 4:59:21
  Speaker 1: such a strange thing, isn't it. I've never heard of
• 4:59:25
  Speaker 1: such a thing before. I've always thought William was so strong.
• 4:59:30
  Speaker 1: I hope it's not consumption or anything like that. How
• 4:59:34
  Speaker 1: does consumption begin? Mister French had had no conception of
• 4:59:40
  Speaker 1: the average weight of a sturdy small boy of eleven.
• 4:59:45
  Speaker 1: He stumbled along unsteadily. Oh no, he panted. Don't mention it,
• 4:59:51
  Speaker 1: don't mention it. It's a pleasure, really, it is. No. Indeed,
• 4:59:57
  Speaker 1: you mustn't take the parcels. You have quite enough, already,
• 5:00:02
  Speaker 1: quite enough. No, he isn't a bit heavy, not a bit.
• 5:00:08
  Speaker 1: I'm so glad I happened to come by it a
• 5:00:10
  Speaker 1: moment that I could do you a service, So glad.
• 5:00:15
  Speaker 1: He paused to mop his brow. He was breathing very heavily.
• 5:00:20
  Speaker 1: There was a violent and quite unreasonable hatred of William
• 5:00:25
  Speaker 1: at his heart. Uh, don't you think you could walk
• 5:00:29
  Speaker 1: now just a bit, William, he said, with a touch
• 5:00:33
  Speaker 1: of exasperation in his panting voice. I'll help you walk,
• 5:00:38
  Speaker 1: all right. William acceeded readily. I don't mind. I'll lean
• 5:00:43
  Speaker 1: on you hard, shall I? Do you feel well enough?
• 5:00:47
  Speaker 1: Said Ethel anxiously. Oh, yes, I can walk now if
• 5:00:52
  Speaker 1: he wants, I mean, if he doesn't mind me holding
• 5:00:55
  Speaker 1: on to his arm. I feel as if I was
• 5:00:57
  Speaker 1: going to be quite all right soon. I'm I'm nearly
• 5:01:01
  Speaker 1: all right now. The three of them walked slowly up
• 5:01:05
  Speaker 1: the drive to the Brown's house, William leaning heavily on
• 5:01:09
  Speaker 1: the young man's arm. Missus Brown saw them from the
• 5:01:13
  Speaker 1: window and ran to the door. Oh dear, she said,
• 5:01:17
  Speaker 1: you've run over him on your motorcycle. I knew you'd
• 5:01:21
  Speaker 1: run over somebody soon, I said, when I saw you
• 5:01:24
  Speaker 1: passing on it yesterday. Ethel interrupted indignantly. Why mother, mister
• 5:01:31
  Speaker 1: French has been so kind. I can't think what I'd
• 5:01:34
  Speaker 1: have done without him. William was taken ill and couldn't walk,
• 5:01:39
  Speaker 1: and mister French has carried him all the way from
• 5:01:42
  Speaker 1: the other end of the road on his back. Oh,
• 5:01:46
  Speaker 1: I'm so sorry, How very kind of you, mister French,
• 5:01:51
  Speaker 1: do come in and stay to lunch. William go upstairs
• 5:01:55
  Speaker 1: to bed at once, and I'll ring up doctor Ware.
• 5:01:59
  Speaker 1: No o, said William firmly. Don't bother poor doctor Ware.
• 5:02:04
  Speaker 1: I'm all right now, honest I am. He'd be mad
• 5:02:09
  Speaker 1: to come and find me. All right. Of course you
• 5:02:12
  Speaker 1: must see a doctor. No, I mustn't. You don't understand.
• 5:02:17
  Speaker 1: It wasn't that kind of not wellness. A doctor couldn't
• 5:02:21
  Speaker 1: have done me no good. I just just came over queer,
• 5:02:26
  Speaker 1: he ended, remembering a phrase he had heard used recently
• 5:02:30
  Speaker 1: by the charwoman. What do you think, mister French, said
• 5:02:34
  Speaker 1: Missus Brown anxiously. Both Missus Brown and Ethel turned to him,
• 5:02:40
  Speaker 1: as to an oracle. He looked from one to the other,
• 5:02:43
  Speaker 1: and a deep flush of guilt overspread his countenance. Oh um,
• 5:02:49
  Speaker 1: er well, he said nervously. He looks all right, doesn't he.
• 5:02:55
  Speaker 1: I I er, I wouldn't bother, just to don't worry
• 5:03:01
  Speaker 1: him with questions. Just let him go about as usual.
• 5:03:07
  Speaker 1: I think it's best to let him forget it, he
• 5:03:13
  Speaker 1: added weakly. Of course he's growing very fast. Yes, I
• 5:03:19
  Speaker 1: expect it was just a sort of growing weakness, said
• 5:03:22
  Speaker 1: mister French brightly. But mister French was splendid, said Ethel, enthusiastically,
• 5:03:29
  Speaker 1: simply splendid. William. I don't think you realize how kind
• 5:03:35
  Speaker 1: it was of mister French. I think you ought to
• 5:03:38
  Speaker 1: thank him. William fixed his benefactor with a cold eye.
• 5:03:43
  Speaker 1: Thank you very much, indeed for carrying me, he said. Then,
• 5:03:48
  Speaker 1: as his mother turned to Ethel with a remark about
• 5:03:51
  Speaker 1: the lunch, he added, too, remember and with long tails.
• 5:03:57
  Speaker 1: Mister French stayed for lunch and spent the afternoon golfing
• 5:04:02
  Speaker 1: with Ethel. Up at the Lynx. William was wrapped up
• 5:04:06
  Speaker 1: in rugs and laid upon the library sofa after lunch,
• 5:04:10
  Speaker 1: and left to sleep off his mysterious complaint in quietness
• 5:04:14
  Speaker 1: with the blinds down. Missus Brown, entering on tiptoe to
• 5:04:19
  Speaker 1: see how her son was faring, found him gone. Oh
• 5:04:24
  Speaker 1: he's gone, she said anxiously to her husband. I left
• 5:04:28
  Speaker 1: him so comfortable on the sofa and told him to
• 5:04:31
  Speaker 1: try to sleep. Sleep is so important when you're ill.
• 5:04:36
  Speaker 1: And now he's gone, he'll probably stay away till bedtime.
• 5:04:42
  Speaker 1: All right, said her husband, sardonically. Be thankful for small mercies.
• 5:04:48
  Speaker 1: Ethel and her esquire returned to tea, and, yielding to
• 5:04:53
  Speaker 1: the entreaties of the family, who looked upon him as
• 5:04:56
  Speaker 1: Williams savior, he stayed to dinner. He spent the evening
• 5:05:01
  Speaker 1: playing inadequate accompaniments to Ethel's songs and ejaculating at intervals
• 5:05:08
  Speaker 1: rapturous expressions of delight. It was evident that Ethel was
• 5:05:13
  Speaker 1: flattered by his obvious admiration. He stayed till nearly eleven,
• 5:05:19
  Speaker 1: and then, almost drunk with happiness, he took his leave,
• 5:05:24
  Speaker 1: while the family again thanked him profusely. As he walked
• 5:05:28
  Speaker 1: down the drive with a smile on his lips and
• 5:05:31
  Speaker 1: his mind flitting among the blissful memories of the evening,
• 5:05:36
  Speaker 1: an upper window was opened cautiously, and a small head
• 5:05:40
  Speaker 1: peeped out through the still air. The words shot out,
• 5:05:45
  Speaker 1: two mind and with long tails Part two? Where did
• 5:05:53
  Speaker 1: you get it from? Demanded mister Brown. Fiercely, William pocketed
• 5:05:58
  Speaker 1: his straying pet. A friend gave it me? What friend,
• 5:06:04
  Speaker 1: mister French, the man what carried me when I was
• 5:06:07
  Speaker 1: took ill sudden? He gave me it. I didn't know
• 5:06:11
  Speaker 1: it was going to go into your slipper. I wouldn't
• 5:06:14
  Speaker 1: have let it if i'd known an I didn't know
• 5:06:17
  Speaker 1: it was goin to bite your toe. It didn't mean
• 5:06:20
  Speaker 1: to bite your toe. I spect it thought it was
• 5:06:23
  Speaker 1: me givin it somethin to eat. I expect be quiet.
• 5:06:28
  Speaker 1: What on earth did mister French give you the confounded
• 5:06:31
  Speaker 1: thing for? I dunno. I spect he just wanted to.
• 5:06:37
  Speaker 1: He seems to have taken quite a fancy to William,
• 5:06:40
  Speaker 1: said missus Brown, ethel blushed faintly. He seems to have
• 5:06:46
  Speaker 1: taken a spite against me, said mister Brown bitterly. How
• 5:06:51
  Speaker 1: many of the wretched pests have you got? They're rats,
• 5:06:55
  Speaker 1: corrected William White, uns I've only got two, good heavens,
• 5:07:01
  Speaker 1: he's got two. Where's the other in the shed? Well?
• 5:07:07
  Speaker 1: Keep it there, do you hear? And this savage brute
• 5:07:11
  Speaker 1: as well, Good Lord, My toes nearly eaten off. They
• 5:07:17
  Speaker 1: ought to wear mussels. They've got rabies. Where's Jumble? He's
• 5:07:22
  Speaker 1: in the shed too, hopefully. No, he didn't like him,
• 5:07:27
  Speaker 1: but I'm trying to teach him to like him. I
• 5:07:30
  Speaker 1: let him loose and let him look at him with
• 5:07:32
  Speaker 1: me holdin on to him. Yes, go on doing that,
• 5:07:37
  Speaker 1: said mister Brown, encouragingly, accidents sometimes happen. That night, William
• 5:07:43
  Speaker 1: obeyed the letter of the law by keeping the rats
• 5:07:46
  Speaker 1: in a box on his bedroom window sill. The household
• 5:07:52
  Speaker 1: was roused in the early hours of the morning by
• 5:07:55
  Speaker 1: piercing screams from Ethel's room. The more advances of the pear,
• 5:08:01
  Speaker 1: named Rufus, had escaped from the box and descended to
• 5:08:05
  Speaker 1: Ethel's room by way of the creeper. Ethel awoke suddenly
• 5:08:10
  Speaker 1: to find it seated on her pillow, softly pawing her hair.
• 5:08:16
  Speaker 1: The household, in their various sleeping attire, flocked to her
• 5:08:22
  Speaker 1: room at the screams. Ethel was hysterical. They fed her
• 5:08:27
  Speaker 1: on hot tea and biscuits to steady her nerves. It
• 5:08:32
  Speaker 1: was horrible, she said. It was pulling at my hair.
• 5:08:36
  Speaker 1: It just sat there with its pink nose and long tail.
• 5:08:40
  Speaker 1: It was perfectly horrible. Where is the wretched animal, said
• 5:08:47
  Speaker 1: mister Brown, looking round with murder in his eyes. I've
• 5:08:52
  Speaker 1: got it, father, piped up William's small voice at the
• 5:08:55
  Speaker 1: back of the crowd. Ethel didn't understand. It was plain
• 5:09:00
  Speaker 1: with her. It didn't mean to frighten her it. I
• 5:09:03
  Speaker 1: told you not to keep them in the house. Mister Brown,
• 5:09:09
  Speaker 1: in large pajamas, looked fiercely down at William in small pajamas,
• 5:09:14
  Speaker 1: with the cause of all the tumult clasped lovingly to
• 5:09:18
  Speaker 1: his breast. Ethel in bed continued to gasp weakly in
• 5:09:23
  Speaker 1: the intervals of drinking tea. They weren't in the house,
• 5:09:29
  Speaker 1: said William firmly. They were outside the window, right outside
• 5:09:33
  Speaker 1: the window, right on the sill. You can't call outside
• 5:09:38
  Speaker 1: the window in the house, can you. I put it
• 5:09:41
  Speaker 1: outside the house. I can't help it coming inside the
• 5:09:44
  Speaker 1: house when I'm asleep, can I? Mister Brown eyed his
• 5:09:49
  Speaker 1: son solemnly. The next time I catch either of those
• 5:09:55
  Speaker 1: animals inside this house, William, he said, slowly, I'll wring
• 5:10:00
  Speaker 1: its neck. When mister French called the next afternoon, he
• 5:10:07
  Speaker 1: felt that his popularity had declined. I can't think why
• 5:10:12
  Speaker 1: you gave William such dreadful things, Ethel said, weakly, lying
• 5:10:18
  Speaker 1: on the sofa. I feel quite upset. I've got such
• 5:10:22
  Speaker 1: a headache, and my nerves are a wreck. Absolutely. Mister
• 5:10:28
  Speaker 1: French worked hard that afternoon and evening to regain his
• 5:10:32
  Speaker 1: lost ground. He sat by the sofa and talked in
• 5:10:37
  Speaker 1: low tones. He read aloud to her. He was sympathetic, penitent, humble,
• 5:10:43
  Speaker 1: and devoted. In spite of all his efforts, However, he
• 5:10:48
  Speaker 1: felt that his old prestige was gone. He was no
• 5:10:53
  Speaker 1: longer the man who carried William home. He was the
• 5:10:58
  Speaker 1: man who gave William the rat. He felt that in
• 5:11:01
  Speaker 1: the eyes of the Brown household, he was solely responsible
• 5:11:06
  Speaker 1: for Ethel's collapse. There was reproach even in the eyes
• 5:11:10
  Speaker 1: of the housemaid who showed him out in the drive
• 5:11:14
  Speaker 1: he met William. William was holding a grimy, blood stained
• 5:11:19
  Speaker 1: handkerchief round his finger. There was reproach in William's eyes also.
• 5:11:25
  Speaker 1: It's bit me, he said, indignantly, one of those rats.
• 5:11:29
  Speaker 1: What you gave Me's bit me. I'm awfully sorry, said
• 5:11:34
  Speaker 1: mister French penitently, then with sudden spirit, Well you asked
• 5:11:39
  Speaker 1: for rats, didn't you, Yes, said William, but not savage ones.
• 5:11:45
  Speaker 1: I never asked for savage ones, did I. I didn't
• 5:11:49
  Speaker 1: ask for rats that would scare Ethel and bite me,
• 5:11:51
  Speaker 1: did I. I was just teaching it to dance on
• 5:11:54
  Speaker 1: its hind legs and holding up its front ones for it,
• 5:11:58
  Speaker 1: and it went and bit me. Mister French looked at him, apprehensively.
• 5:12:04
  Speaker 1: You uh, you'd better not tell your mother or or
• 5:12:08
  Speaker 1: sister about your finger. I I I wouldn't like your
• 5:12:12
  Speaker 1: sister to be upset any more. Don't you want me
• 5:12:16
  Speaker 1: to let him know? Um? No, Well, what will you
• 5:12:21
  Speaker 1: give me not to? Said William brazenly. Mister French plunged
• 5:12:26
  Speaker 1: his hand into his pocket. I'll give you half a crown,
• 5:12:29
  Speaker 1: he said. William pocketed the coin. All right, he said,
• 5:12:35
  Speaker 1: if I washed the blood off and get my hands dirty,
• 5:12:38
  Speaker 1: nobody'll notice. Things went well for several days after that.
• 5:12:43
  Speaker 1: Mister French arrived the next morning laden with flowers and grapes.
• 5:12:49
  Speaker 1: The household unbent towards him. Ethel arranged a day's golfing
• 5:12:54
  Speaker 1: with him. William spent a blissful day with his half crown.
• 5:12:59
  Speaker 1: There was a fair in full swing on the fair ground,
• 5:13:02
  Speaker 1: and thither William and Jumble wended their way. William had
• 5:13:07
  Speaker 1: eleven consecutive rides on the Merry Go Round. He had
• 5:13:12
  Speaker 1: made up his mind to have twelve, but much to
• 5:13:15
  Speaker 1: his regret, had to relinquish the twelfth, owing to certain
• 5:13:20
  Speaker 1: unpleasant physical sensations with a lordly air. He entered seven
• 5:13:26
  Speaker 1: tenths in succession, and sat gazing in a silent intensity
• 5:13:31
  Speaker 1: of rapture at the strong man, the fat woman, the
• 5:13:35
  Speaker 1: India rubber jointed boy, the Siamese twins, the human eel,
• 5:13:40
  Speaker 1: the manheaded elephant, and the talking monkey. In each tent.
• 5:13:45
  Speaker 1: He stayed silent and enraptured, till ejected by the showmen
• 5:13:51
  Speaker 1: to make room for others who were anxious to feast
• 5:13:54
  Speaker 1: their eyes upon the marvels. Having now completely recovered from
• 5:13:59
  Speaker 1: this sensations caused by the Merry go Round, he purchased
• 5:14:03
  Speaker 1: a large bag of popcorn and stood leaning against a
• 5:14:07
  Speaker 1: tent pole till he had consumed it. Then he purchased
• 5:14:11
  Speaker 1: two sticks of nougat, and with it drank two bottles
• 5:14:14
  Speaker 1: of ginger beer. The remaining fourpence was spent upon a
• 5:14:19
  Speaker 1: large packet of a red sticky mixture called Canadian Delight.
• 5:14:26
  Speaker 1: Dusk was falling by this time, and slowly, very slowly,
• 5:14:32
  Speaker 1: William returned home. He firmly refused all food. At supper,
• 5:14:38
  Speaker 1: Missus Brown grew anxious. William, you don't look a bit well,
• 5:14:44
  Speaker 1: she said. You don't feel like you did the other day,
• 5:14:47
  Speaker 1: do you. William met mister French's eye across the table,
• 5:14:53
  Speaker 1: and mister French blushed. No, not a bit like that,
• 5:14:58
  Speaker 1: said William. When pressed, he admitted, having gone to the fair.
• 5:15:05
  Speaker 1: Some one gave me half a crown. He excused himself plaintively.
• 5:15:09
  Speaker 1: I just had to go somewhere. It's perfectly absurd of people,
• 5:15:14
  Speaker 1: said missus Brown, indignantly, to give large sums of money
• 5:15:18
  Speaker 1: to a boy of William's age. It always ends this way.
• 5:15:23
  Speaker 1: People ought to know better. As they passed out from
• 5:15:27
  Speaker 1: the supper table, William whispered hoarsely to mister French. It
• 5:15:32
  Speaker 1: was the half crown what you give me. Don't tell them,
• 5:15:36
  Speaker 1: whispered mister French, desperately, while you give me. Not to Furtively,
• 5:15:42
  Speaker 1: mister French passed a two shilling piece into his hand.
• 5:15:47
  Speaker 1: Glorious vistas opened up before William's eyes. He decided finally
• 5:15:52
  Speaker 1: that mister French must join the family life. Then would
• 5:15:57
  Speaker 1: be an endless succession of half crowns and two shilling pieces.
• 5:16:03
  Speaker 1: The next day was Sunday, and William went to the
• 5:16:06
  Speaker 1: shed directly after breakfast to continue the teaching of Rufus,
• 5:16:09
  Speaker 1: the dancing rat. Rufus was to be taught to dance
• 5:16:14
  Speaker 1: the other now christened Cromwell was to be taught to
• 5:16:18
  Speaker 1: be friends with Jumble. So far, this training had only
• 5:16:22
  Speaker 1: reached the point of Cromwell's sitting motionless in the cage,
• 5:16:26
  Speaker 1: while in front of it, William violently restrained the enraged
• 5:16:30
  Speaker 1: Jumble from murder. Still, William thought if they looked at
• 5:16:35
  Speaker 1: each other long enough, friendship would grow. So they looked
• 5:16:40
  Speaker 1: at each other each day till William's arm eight. As yet,
• 5:16:45
  Speaker 1: friendship had not grown. William it's time for church. William groaned.
• 5:16:54
  Speaker 1: That was the worst of Sundays. He was sure that
• 5:16:57
  Speaker 1: with another half hour's practice, Rufus would dance and Cromwell
• 5:17:02
  Speaker 1: would be friends with Jumble. He was a boy not
• 5:17:05
  Speaker 1: to be daunted by circumstance. He put Rufus in his
• 5:17:09
  Speaker 1: pocket and put the cage containing Cromwell on the top
• 5:17:14
  Speaker 1: of a pile of boxes, leaving Jumble to continue the
• 5:17:17
  Speaker 1: gaze of friendship from the floor. He walked to church
• 5:17:22
  Speaker 1: quietly and demurely behind his family, one hand clutching his
• 5:17:26
  Speaker 1: prayer book, the other in his pocket clasping Rufus. He
• 5:17:32
  Speaker 1: hoped to be able to continue the training during the litany.
• 5:17:36
  Speaker 1: He was not disappointed. Ethel was on one side of him,
• 5:17:41
  Speaker 1: and there was no one on the other. He knelt
• 5:17:44
  Speaker 1: down devoutly, one hand shading his face, the other firmly
• 5:17:49
  Speaker 1: holding Rufus's front paws. As he walked it round and
• 5:17:53
  Speaker 1: round on the floor, he grew more and more interested
• 5:17:57
  Speaker 1: in its progress, tell William to kneel up and not
• 5:18:01
  Speaker 1: to fidget. Missus Brown passed down via Ethel. William gave
• 5:18:07
  Speaker 1: her a virulent glance as he received the message, and,
• 5:18:11
  Speaker 1: turning his back on her, continued the dancing lesson. The
• 5:18:16
  Speaker 1: litany passed more quickly than he ever remembered its doing before.
• 5:18:21
  Speaker 1: He replaced the rat in his pocket as they rose
• 5:18:24
  Speaker 1: for the hymn. It was during the hymn that the
• 5:18:27
  Speaker 1: catastrophe occurred. The Browns occupied the front seat of the church.
• 5:18:34
  Speaker 1: While the second verse was being sung, the congregation was
• 5:18:38
  Speaker 1: electrified by the sight of a small, long tailed, white
• 5:18:42
  Speaker 1: creature appearing suddenly upon mister Brown's shoulder. Ethel's scream almost
• 5:18:50
  Speaker 1: drowned the organ. Mister Brown put up his hand, and
• 5:18:54
  Speaker 1: the intruder jumped upon his head and stood there for
• 5:18:58
  Speaker 1: a second, digging his claw into his victim's scalp. Mister
• 5:19:03
  Speaker 1: Brown turned upon his son, a purple face that promised
• 5:19:07
  Speaker 1: future vengeance. The choir turned fascinated eyes upon it, and
• 5:19:13
  Speaker 1: the hymn died away. William's face was a mask of horror.
• 5:19:19
  Speaker 1: Rufus next appeared, running along the rim of the pulpit.
• 5:19:23
  Speaker 1: There was a sudden, unceremonial exit of most of the
• 5:19:28
  Speaker 1: female portion of the congregation. The clergyman grew pale as
• 5:19:33
  Speaker 1: Rufus approached and slid up his reading desk. A choir
• 5:19:38
  Speaker 1: boy quickly grabbed it and retired into the vestry and
• 5:19:42
  Speaker 1: thence home before his right to its possession could be questioned.
• 5:19:47
  Speaker 1: William found his voice. He's took it, he said, in
• 5:19:51
  Speaker 1: a sibilant whisper. It's mine. He took it, sh said Ethel,
• 5:19:58
  Speaker 1: it's mine, persisted William. It's what mister French give me
• 5:20:03
  Speaker 1: for being took ill that day. You know what, said Ethel,
• 5:20:08
  Speaker 1: leaning towards him. The hymn was in full swing again.
• 5:20:12
  Speaker 1: Now he gave it me for being took ill, so
• 5:20:15
  Speaker 1: he could come and carry me home, cause he was
• 5:20:18
  Speaker 1: gone on you and it's mine, and that boy's took it,
• 5:20:21
  Speaker 1: and it was just gettin to dancin'. Sh hissed mister
• 5:20:25
  Speaker 1: Brown violently. I shall never look any one in the
• 5:20:30
  Speaker 1: face again, lamented missus Brown. On the way home, I
• 5:20:35
  Speaker 1: think everyone was in church, and the way Ethel screamed
• 5:20:40
  Speaker 1: it was awful. I shall dream of it for nights. William,
• 5:20:45
  Speaker 1: I don't know how you could. Well, it's mine, said William.
• 5:20:51
  Speaker 1: That boy'd no business to take it. It was gettin
• 5:20:54
  Speaker 1: to know me. Didn't mean it to get loose and
• 5:20:58
  Speaker 1: get on that father's head, and didn't mean it to
• 5:21:02
  Speaker 1: I meant it to be quiet and stay in my pocket.
• 5:21:06
  Speaker 1: It's mine anyway, and that boy took it. It's not
• 5:21:10
  Speaker 1: yours any more, my son, said mister Brown firmly. Ethel
• 5:21:14
  Speaker 1: walked along with lips tight shut. In the distance, walking
• 5:21:20
  Speaker 1: towards them was a tall, jaunty figure. It was mister French, who,
• 5:21:25
  Speaker 1: ignorant of what had happened, was coming gaily on to
• 5:21:29
  Speaker 1: meet them. Returning from church. He was smiling as he came,
• 5:21:33
  Speaker 1: secure in his reception, composing airy compliments in his mind.
• 5:21:39
  Speaker 1: As Ethel came on, he raised his hat with a
• 5:21:42
  Speaker 1: flourish and beamed at her effusively. Ethel walked past him
• 5:21:47
  Speaker 1: without a glance and with head high, leaving him aghast
• 5:21:52
  Speaker 1: and despairing, staring after her down the road. He never
• 5:21:57
  Speaker 1: saw mister and missus Brown. William realized the situation. The
• 5:22:03
  Speaker 1: future half crowns and two shilling pieces seemed to vanish away.
• 5:22:08
  Speaker 1: He protested vehemently, Ethel, don't get mad at mister French.
• 5:22:13
  Speaker 1: He didn't mean anything. He only wanted to do something
• 5:22:17
  Speaker 1: for you, cause he was mad on you. It's horrible,
• 5:22:21
  Speaker 1: said Ethel. First you bring that dreadful animal to church,
• 5:22:26
  Speaker 1: and then I find that he's deceived me, and you
• 5:22:29
  Speaker 1: helped him. I hope father takes the other one away.
• 5:22:33
  Speaker 1: He won't, said William. He never said anything about that.
• 5:22:37
  Speaker 1: The others learnin to be friends with Jumble in the shed.
• 5:22:41
  Speaker 1: I say, Ethel, don't be mad at mister French. He oh,
• 5:22:46
  Speaker 1: don't talk about him, said Ethel angrily. William, who was
• 5:22:51
  Speaker 1: something of a philosopher, accepted failure and the loss of
• 5:22:55
  Speaker 1: any riches. A future allied with mister French might have
• 5:22:58
  Speaker 1: brought him all right, He said, well, I've got the
• 5:23:03
  Speaker 1: other one left anyway. They entered the drive and began
• 5:23:08
  Speaker 1: to walk up to the front door. From the bushes
• 5:23:11
  Speaker 1: came a scampering and breaking of twigs. As Jumble dashed
• 5:23:15
  Speaker 1: out to meet his master, his demeanor held more than
• 5:23:19
  Speaker 1: ordinary pleasure. It expressed pride and triumph. At his master's feet,
• 5:23:26
  Speaker 1: he laid his proud offering the mangled remains of Cromwell.
• 5:23:32
  Speaker 1: William gasped, oh, William said, ethel, I'm so sorry. William
• 5:23:40
  Speaker 1: assumed an expression of proud restrained sorrow. All right, he
• 5:23:46
  Speaker 1: said generously, it's not your fault, really, and it's not
• 5:23:51
  Speaker 1: Jumble's fault. Perhaps he thought it was what I was
• 5:23:54
  Speaker 1: trying to teach him to do. It's just no one's fault.
• 5:23:58
  Speaker 1: We'll have to bury it. His spirits rose, I'll do
• 5:24:03
  Speaker 1: the real bury in service out of the prayer book.
• 5:24:07
  Speaker 1: He stood still, gazing down at what was left of
• 5:24:09
  Speaker 1: Jumble's friend. Jumble stood by it, proud and pleased, looking up,
• 5:24:15
  Speaker 1: with his head on one side and his tail wagging. Sadly,
• 5:24:20
  Speaker 1: William reviewed the downfall of his hopes. Gone was mister
• 5:24:25
  Speaker 1: French and all he stood for. Gone was Rufus, Gone
• 5:24:29
  Speaker 1: was Cromwell. He put his hand into his pocket and
• 5:24:34
  Speaker 1: it came in contact with the two shilling piece. Well,
• 5:24:39
  Speaker 1: he said, slowly and philosophically, I've got that left anyway.
• 5:24:45
  Speaker 1: End of chapter eleven, Chapter twelve Jumbo, William's father carefully
• 5:24:53
  Speaker 1: placed the bow and arrow at the back of the
• 5:24:56
  Speaker 1: library cupboard, then closed the cupboard door and locked it.
• 5:25:00
  Speaker 1: In grim silence, William's eyes, large, reproachful, and gloomy, followed
• 5:25:07
  Speaker 1: every movement. Three windows and Missus Clive's cat, all in
• 5:25:14
  Speaker 1: one morning began mister Brown sternly, I didn't mean to
• 5:25:18
  Speaker 1: hit the cat, said William earnestly. I didn't, honest. I
• 5:25:24
  Speaker 1: wouldn't go round teasing cats. They get so mad at
• 5:25:27
  Speaker 1: you cats do it just gotten away. I couldn't stop
• 5:25:31
  Speaker 1: shooting in time, and I didn't mean to break those windows.
• 5:25:34
  Speaker 1: I wasn't trying to hit them. I've not hit anything
• 5:25:37
  Speaker 1: I was trying to hit yet, wistfully, I've not got
• 5:25:42
  Speaker 1: into it. It's just a knack. It just wants practice.
• 5:25:46
  Speaker 1: Mister Brown pocketed the key. It's a knack you aren't
• 5:25:51
  Speaker 1: likely to acquire by practice on this instrument, he said dryly.
• 5:25:57
  Speaker 1: William wandered out into the garden and looked sadly up
• 5:26:01
  Speaker 1: at the garden wall. But the little girl next door
• 5:26:04
  Speaker 1: was away and could offer no sympathy, even if he
• 5:26:08
  Speaker 1: climbed up to his precarious seat on the top. Fate
• 5:26:13
  Speaker 1: was against him in every way. With a deep sigh,
• 5:26:17
  Speaker 1: he went out of the garden gate and strolled down
• 5:26:20
  Speaker 1: the road disconsolately, hands in pockets, life stretched empty and
• 5:26:26
  Speaker 1: uninviting before him without his bow and arrow, and Ginger
• 5:26:31
  Speaker 1: would have his bow and arrow. Henry would have his
• 5:26:34
  Speaker 1: bow and arrow, Douglas would have his bow and arrow.
• 5:26:38
  Speaker 1: He William alone would be a thing apart, a social outcast,
• 5:26:44
  Speaker 1: a boy without a bow and arrow, For bows and
• 5:26:48
  Speaker 1: arrows were the fashion. If only one of the others
• 5:26:52
  Speaker 1: would break a window or hit A silly old cat
• 5:26:55
  Speaker 1: that hadn't the sense to keep out of the way.
• 5:27:00
  Speaker 1: Came to a style leading into a field and took
• 5:27:03
  Speaker 1: his seat upon it, dejectedly, his elbows on his knees,
• 5:27:07
  Speaker 1: his chin in his hands. Life was simply not worth living.
• 5:27:13
  Speaker 1: A rotten old cat, he said aloud, A rotten old cat,
• 5:27:18
  Speaker 1: and didn't even hurt it. It made a fuss just
• 5:27:21
  Speaker 1: out of spite, screaming and carrying on, and windows as
• 5:27:27
  Speaker 1: if glass wasn't cheap enough and easy to put in,
• 5:27:31
  Speaker 1: I could I could mend them myself if I got
• 5:27:34
  Speaker 1: the stuff to do it. I he stopped. Something was
• 5:27:39
  Speaker 1: coming down the road. It came jauntily with a light
• 5:27:43
  Speaker 1: dancing step. Fox terrier ears, cocked, retriever nose raised, Collie
• 5:27:49
  Speaker 1: tail wagging slightly, dock sumed, body a quiver with the
• 5:27:53
  Speaker 1: joy of life. It stopped in front of William with
• 5:27:57
  Speaker 1: a glad bark of welcome and stood eager, alert, friendly
• 5:28:03
  Speaker 1: a mongrel unashamed rats fetch him out, said William idly.
• 5:28:10
  Speaker 1: It gave a little spring and waited, front, paws apart
• 5:28:14
  Speaker 1: and crouching, a waggish eye upraised to William. William broke
• 5:28:20
  Speaker 1: off a stick from the hedgerow and threw it His
• 5:28:23
  Speaker 1: visitor darted after it with a shrill bark, took it up,
• 5:28:27
  Speaker 1: worried it, threw it into the air, caught it, growled
• 5:28:31
  Speaker 1: at it, finally brought it back to William and waited, panting, eager,
• 5:28:36
  Speaker 1: unmistakably grinning, begging for more. William's drooping spirits revived. He
• 5:28:44
  Speaker 1: descended from his perch and examined its collar. It bore
• 5:28:48
  Speaker 1: the one word jumble, hey, jumble, he called, setting off
• 5:28:54
  Speaker 1: down the road. Jumble jumped up round him, dashed off,
• 5:28:59
  Speaker 1: dashed back worried his boots, jumped up at him again
• 5:29:02
  Speaker 1: in wild eager friendship, dashed off again, begged for another stick,
• 5:29:08
  Speaker 1: caught it, rolled over with it, growled at it, then
• 5:29:12
  Speaker 1: chewed it up and laid the remains at William's feet.
• 5:29:16
  Speaker 1: Good old Chap, said William encouragingly. Good old Jumble come on,
• 5:29:21
  Speaker 1: Then Jumble came on. William walked through the village with
• 5:29:27
  Speaker 1: a self conscious air of proud yet careless ownership, while
• 5:29:31
  Speaker 1: Jumble gamboled around his heels. Every now and then he
• 5:29:36
  Speaker 1: would turn his head and whistle imperiously to recall his
• 5:29:40
  Speaker 1: straying protege from the investigation of ditches and roadside. It
• 5:29:45
  Speaker 1: was a whistle, commanding, controlling, yet withal careless that William
• 5:29:51
  Speaker 1: had sometimes practiced privately in readiness for the blissful day
• 5:29:57
  Speaker 1: when fate should present him with a real live dog
• 5:30:00
  Speaker 1: of his own. So far, fate in the persons of
• 5:30:04
  Speaker 1: his father and mother had been proof against all his pleading.
• 5:30:09
  Speaker 1: William passed a blissful morning. Jumble swam in the pond,
• 5:30:14
  Speaker 1: he fetched sticks out of it. He shook himself violently
• 5:30:18
  Speaker 1: all over William. He ran after a hen. He was
• 5:30:22
  Speaker 1: chased by a cat. He barked at a herd of cows.
• 5:30:26
  Speaker 1: He pulled down a curtain that was hanging out in
• 5:30:28
  Speaker 1: a cottage garden to dry. He was mischievous, affectionate, humorous,
• 5:30:35
  Speaker 1: utterly irresistible, and he completely adopted William. William would turn
• 5:30:41
  Speaker 1: a corner with a careless swagger, and then watch breathlessly
• 5:30:45
  Speaker 1: to see if the rollicking, frisky little figure would follow,
• 5:30:49
  Speaker 1: And always it came tearing eagerly after him. William was
• 5:30:55
  Speaker 1: rather late to lunch. His father and mother, and elder
• 5:30:59
  Speaker 1: brother and sisters were just beginning the meal. He slipped
• 5:31:04
  Speaker 1: quietly and unostentatiously into his seat. His father was reading
• 5:31:10
  Speaker 1: a newspaper. Mister Brown always took two daily papers, one
• 5:31:15
  Speaker 1: of which he perused at breakfast and the other at lunch.
• 5:31:20
  Speaker 1: William said, missus Brown, I do wish you'd be on time,
• 5:31:24
  Speaker 1: and I do wish you'd brush your hair before you
• 5:31:26
  Speaker 1: came to table. William raised a hand to perform the operation,
• 5:31:32
  Speaker 1: but catching sight of its color, hastily lowered it. No ethel, dear,
• 5:31:37
  Speaker 1: I didn't know any one had taken lavender cottage an artist.
• 5:31:42
  Speaker 1: How nice, William, dear? Do sit still? Have they moved in. Yet, yes,
• 5:31:49
  Speaker 1: said Ethel. They've taken it furnished for two months. I think,
• 5:31:54
  Speaker 1: Oh my goodness. Just look at William's hands. William put
• 5:31:58
  Speaker 1: his hands under the table and glared at her. Go
• 5:32:02
  Speaker 1: and wash your hands, dear, said missus Brown patiently. For
• 5:32:07
  Speaker 1: eleven years she had filled the trying position of William's mother.
• 5:32:13
  Speaker 1: It had taught her patience. William rose reluctantly. They're not dirty,
• 5:32:19
  Speaker 1: he said, in a tone of righteous indignation. Well, anyway,
• 5:32:24
  Speaker 1: they've been dirtier other times, and you've said nothing. I
• 5:32:28
  Speaker 1: can't be always washing them, can I. Some sorts of
• 5:32:32
  Speaker 1: hands get dirty quicker than others, and if you keep
• 5:32:35
  Speaker 1: on washing, it only makes them worse. And Ethel groaned,
• 5:32:40
  Speaker 1: and William's father lowered his paper. William withdrew quickly, but
• 5:32:45
  Speaker 1: with an air of dignity. And just look at his boots,
• 5:32:49
  Speaker 1: said Ethel, as he went, simply caked. And his stockings
• 5:32:54
  Speaker 1: are soaking wet. You can see from here he's been
• 5:32:58
  Speaker 1: right in the pond, by the look of him. And
• 5:33:01
  Speaker 1: William heard no more. There were moments when he actively
• 5:33:05
  Speaker 1: disliked Ethel. He returned a few minutes later, shining with cleanliness,
• 5:33:11
  Speaker 1: his hair brushed back fiercely off his face. His nails,
• 5:33:17
  Speaker 1: murmured Ethel. As he sat down, well, said Missus Brown,
• 5:33:21
  Speaker 1: go on telling us about the new people. William, do
• 5:33:25
  Speaker 1: hold your knife properly, dear, yes, Ethel. William finished his
• 5:33:31
  Speaker 1: meal in silence, then brought forth his momentous announcement. I've
• 5:33:36
  Speaker 1: got her dog, he said, with an air of importance.
• 5:33:40
  Speaker 1: What sort of a dog? And who gave it to you?
• 5:33:43
  Speaker 1: Said Robert and Ethel simultaneously. No one gave it me,
• 5:33:48
  Speaker 1: he said, I just got it. It began following me
• 5:33:51
  Speaker 1: this mornin, and I couldn't get rid of it. It
• 5:33:54
  Speaker 1: wouldn't go anyway. It followed me all round the village,
• 5:33:59
  Speaker 1: and it came home with me. I couldn't get rid
• 5:34:01
  Speaker 1: of it anyhow. Where is it now, said Missus Brown anxiously.
• 5:34:07
  Speaker 1: In the back garden, mister Brown folded up his paper,
• 5:34:12
  Speaker 1: digging up my flower beds, I suppose, he said, with
• 5:34:16
  Speaker 1: despairing resignation. He's tied up all right, William reassured him.
• 5:34:21
  Speaker 1: I tied him to the tree in the middle of
• 5:34:23
  Speaker 1: the rose bed. The rose bed groaned his father, Good Lord,
• 5:34:31
  Speaker 1: has he had anything to eat? Demanded Robert sternly. Yes,
• 5:34:36
  Speaker 1: said William, avoiding his mother's eye. I found a few
• 5:34:39
  Speaker 1: bits of old things for him in the larder. William's
• 5:34:43
  Speaker 1: father took out his watch and rose from the table.
• 5:34:47
  Speaker 1: Well you'd better take it to the police station this afternoon,
• 5:34:50
  Speaker 1: he said shortly the police station, repeated William hoarsely. It's
• 5:34:56
  Speaker 1: not a lost dog. It it just doesn't belong to
• 5:35:00
  Speaker 1: any one, at least it didn't poor thing feelingly it
• 5:35:06
  Speaker 1: It doesn't want much to make it happy. It can
• 5:35:09
  Speaker 1: sleep in my room and just eat scraps. Mister Brown
• 5:35:14
  Speaker 1: went out without answering. You'll have to take it, you know, William,
• 5:35:19
  Speaker 1: said missus Brown, So be quick. You know where the
• 5:35:22
  Speaker 1: police station is, don't you. Shall I come with you? No,
• 5:35:26
  Speaker 1: thank you, said William hastily. A few minutes later he
• 5:35:31
  Speaker 1: was walking down to the police station, followed by the
• 5:35:34
  Speaker 1: still eager Jumble, who trotted along unconscious of his doom.
• 5:35:40
  Speaker 1: Upon William's face was a set, stern expression, which cleared
• 5:35:45
  Speaker 1: slightly as he neared the police station. He stood at
• 5:35:49
  Speaker 1: the gate and looked at Jumble. Jumble placed his front
• 5:35:52
  Speaker 1: paws ready for a game, and wagged his tail well
• 5:35:57
  Speaker 1: said William, here you are, here's the police station. Jumble
• 5:36:02
  Speaker 1: gave a shrill bark. Hurry up with that stick or
• 5:36:05
  Speaker 1: that race, whichever you like, he seemed to say. Well,
• 5:36:11
  Speaker 1: go in, said William, nodding his head in the direction
• 5:36:14
  Speaker 1: of the door. Jumble began to worry a big stone
• 5:36:18
  Speaker 1: in the road. He rolled it along with his paws,
• 5:36:22
  Speaker 1: then ran after it with fierce growls. Well, it's the
• 5:36:26
  Speaker 1: police station, said William, Go in if you want. With that,
• 5:36:31
  Speaker 1: he turned on his heel and walked home without one
• 5:36:35
  Speaker 1: backward glance. But he walked slowly, with many encouraging hey
• 5:36:41
  Speaker 1: jumbles and many short, commanding whistles, and Jumble trotted happily
• 5:36:48
  Speaker 1: at his heels. There was no one in the garden,
• 5:36:52
  Speaker 1: there was no one in the hall. There was no
• 5:36:55
  Speaker 1: one on the stairs. Fate, for once was on William's side.
• 5:37:00
  Speaker 1: William appeared at the tea table, well washed and brushed,
• 5:37:05
  Speaker 1: wearing that air of ostentatious virtue that those who knew
• 5:37:10
  Speaker 1: him best connected with his most daring coos. Did you
• 5:37:14
  Speaker 1: take that dog to the police station, William, said William's father.
• 5:37:19
  Speaker 1: William coughed, yes, father, he said meekly, with his eyes
• 5:37:24
  Speaker 1: upon his plate, and what did they say about it? Nothing? Father,
• 5:37:31
  Speaker 1: I suppose I'd better spend the evening replanting those rose trees,
• 5:37:35
  Speaker 1: went on his father bitterly, and William gave him a
• 5:37:39
  Speaker 1: whole steak and kidney pie. Murmured missus Brown cook, will
• 5:37:43
  Speaker 1: have to make another for tomorrow. William coughed again, politely,
• 5:37:48
  Speaker 1: but did not raise his eyes from his plate. What
• 5:37:52
  Speaker 1: is that noise, said Ethel Listen. They sat listening intently.
• 5:37:59
  Speaker 1: There was a dull, rating sound, as of the scratching
• 5:38:02
  Speaker 1: of wood. It's upstairs, said Robert, with the air of
• 5:38:06
  Speaker 1: a Sherlock. Holmes. Then came a shrill, impatient bark. It's
• 5:38:12
  Speaker 1: a dog, said the four of them simultaneously. It's William's dog.
• 5:38:18
  Speaker 1: They all turned horrified eyes upon William, who colored slightly
• 5:38:23
  Speaker 1: but continued to eat a piece of cake with an
• 5:38:26
  Speaker 1: unconvincing air of abstraction. I thought you said you'd taken
• 5:38:31
  Speaker 1: that dog to the police station, William, said mister Brown, sternly.
• 5:38:37
  Speaker 1: I did, said William, with decision. I did take it
• 5:38:40
  Speaker 1: to the police station, and I came home. I suppose
• 5:38:44
  Speaker 1: it must have got out and come home and gone
• 5:38:46
  Speaker 1: up into my bedroom. Where did you leave it in
• 5:38:51
  Speaker 1: the police station? No, at it just at the gate.
• 5:38:57
  Speaker 1: Mister Brown rose with an air of weariness Robert. He said,
• 5:39:03
  Speaker 1: will you please see that that animal goes to the
• 5:39:06
  Speaker 1: police station this evening, Yes, father, said Robert, with a
• 5:39:11
  Speaker 1: vindictive glare at William. William followed him upstairs. Beastly, nuisance,
• 5:39:18
  Speaker 1: muttered Robert. Jumble, who was chewing William's door, greeted them ecstatically. Look,
• 5:39:26
  Speaker 1: said William, bitterly. Look at how it knows one nice
• 5:39:31
  Speaker 1: thing to send a dog that knows one like that
• 5:39:33
  Speaker 1: to the police station. Mean sort of trick, Robert surveyed it, coldly, rotten,
• 5:39:40
  Speaker 1: little mongrel, he said, from the heights of superior knowledge. Mongrel,
• 5:39:46
  Speaker 1: said William indignantly. There just isn't no mongrel about him.
• 5:39:50
  Speaker 1: Look at him, and he can learn tricks as easy
• 5:39:54
  Speaker 1: as easy. Look at him, Sit up and beg I
• 5:39:58
  Speaker 1: only taught him this afternoon. He took a biscuit out
• 5:40:02
  Speaker 1: of his pocket and held it up. Jumble rose unsteadily
• 5:40:07
  Speaker 1: on to his hind legs and tumbled over backwards. He
• 5:40:11
  Speaker 1: wagged his tail and grinned intensely. Amused Robert's expression of superiority, relaxed.
• 5:40:18
  Speaker 1: Do it again, he said, not so far back here
• 5:40:23
  Speaker 1: give it me. Come on, come on, old Chap. That's
• 5:40:27
  Speaker 1: it now stay there, stay there, good dog got any more.
• 5:40:34
  Speaker 1: Let's try him again. During the next twenty minutes, they
• 5:40:38
  Speaker 1: taught him to sit up, and almost taught him trust
• 5:40:42
  Speaker 1: and paid for. There was certainly a charm about Jumble.
• 5:40:47
  Speaker 1: Even Robert felt it. Then Ethel's voice came up the stairs. Robert,
• 5:40:53
  Speaker 1: Sidney Bellew's come for you. Blow the wretched dog, said
• 5:40:58
  Speaker 1: the fickle Robert, rising read and disheveled from stooping over Jumble.
• 5:41:03
  Speaker 1: We were going to rock to Fairfield's and the beastly
• 5:41:06
  Speaker 1: police stations right out of our way. I'll take it,
• 5:41:10
  Speaker 1: Robert said William kindly. I will really. Robert eyed him suspiciously. Yes,
• 5:41:18
  Speaker 1: you took it this afternoon, didn't you. I will honest
• 5:41:23
  Speaker 1: to night. Robert. Well, I couldn't, could I? After all
• 5:41:28
  Speaker 1: this I don't know, said Robert darkly. No one ever
• 5:41:33
  Speaker 1: knows what you are going to do. Sydney's voice came up.
• 5:41:38
  Speaker 1: Hurry up, old Chap. We shall never have time to
• 5:41:41
  Speaker 1: do it before dark. If you aren't quick, I'll take him, honest,
• 5:41:45
  Speaker 1: Robert Robert hesitated and was lost. Well, he said, you
• 5:41:52
  Speaker 1: just mind you do, that's all, or I'll jolly well
• 5:41:55
  Speaker 1: hear about it. I'll see you do too. So William
• 5:42:00
  Speaker 1: started off once more towards the police station, with Jumble
• 5:42:04
  Speaker 1: still blissfully happy at his yeels. William walked slowly, eyes
• 5:42:09
  Speaker 1: fixed on the ground, brows knit in deep thought. It
• 5:42:13
  Speaker 1: was very rarely that William admitted himself beaten, Hello, William.
• 5:42:19
  Speaker 1: William looked up. Ginger stood before him, holding his bow
• 5:42:23
  Speaker 1: and arrows ostentatiously. You've had your bow and arrow took
• 5:42:27
  Speaker 1: off you, he jeered. William fixed his eye moodily upon
• 5:42:32
  Speaker 1: him for a minute, then very gradually his eye brightened
• 5:42:35
  Speaker 1: and his face cleared. William had an idea. If I
• 5:42:41
  Speaker 1: give you a dog half time, he said, slowly, will
• 5:42:45
  Speaker 1: you give me your bow and arrows half time? Where's
• 5:42:49
  Speaker 1: your dog? Said Ginger suspiciously. William did not turn his head.
• 5:42:55
  Speaker 1: There's one behind me, isn't there? He said anxiously, Hey, Jumble,
• 5:43:00
  Speaker 1: Oh yes, he's just come out of the ditch. Well,
• 5:43:03
  Speaker 1: continued William. I'm taking him to the police station and
• 5:43:07
  Speaker 1: I'm just going on and he's following me, and if
• 5:43:09
  Speaker 1: you take him off me. I won't see you cause
• 5:43:12
  Speaker 1: I won't turn round. And just take hold of his collar,
• 5:43:15
  Speaker 1: and he's called Jumble, and take him up to the
• 5:43:17
  Speaker 1: old barn, and we'll keep him there and join at
• 5:43:20
  Speaker 1: him and feed him days and days about. And you
• 5:43:23
  Speaker 1: can let me practice on your bow and arrow. That's fair,
• 5:43:26
  Speaker 1: isn't it, Ginger considered thoughtfully? All right, he said laconically.
• 5:43:33
  Speaker 1: William walked on to the police station without turning round. Well,
• 5:43:38
  Speaker 1: whispered Robert sternly. That evening I took him, Robert least.
• 5:43:43
  Speaker 1: I started off with him, but when i'd got there,
• 5:43:46
  Speaker 1: he'd gone. I looked round and he'd just gone. I
• 5:43:51
  Speaker 1: couldn't see him anywhere, so I came home. Well, if
• 5:43:56
  Speaker 1: he comes to this house again, said Robert, I'll ring
• 5:44:00
  Speaker 1: his neck. So just you look out. Two days later,
• 5:44:04
  Speaker 1: William sat in the barn on an upturned box, chin
• 5:44:08
  Speaker 1: in hands, gazing down at Jumble. A paper bag containing
• 5:44:13
  Speaker 1: Jumble's ration for the day lay beside him. It was
• 5:44:16
  Speaker 1: his day of ownership. The collecting of Jumble's scraps was
• 5:44:21
  Speaker 1: a matter of infinite care and trouble. They consisted in
• 5:44:26
  Speaker 1: a piece of bread that William had managed to slip
• 5:44:29
  Speaker 1: into his pocket during breakfast, a piece of meat he
• 5:44:32
  Speaker 1: had managed to slip into his pocket during dinner, a
• 5:44:36
  Speaker 1: jam puff stolen from the larder, and a bone removed
• 5:44:40
  Speaker 1: from the dustbin. Ginger roamed the fields with his bow
• 5:44:44
  Speaker 1: and arrow while William reveled in the ownership of Jumble. Tomorrow,
• 5:44:50
  Speaker 1: William would roam the fields with bow and arrow, and
• 5:44:52
  Speaker 1: Ginger would assume ownership of Jumble. William had spent the
• 5:44:58
  Speaker 1: morning teaching Jumble several implicated tricks and adoring him more
• 5:45:03
  Speaker 1: and more completely each moment. He grudged him bitterly to Ginger,
• 5:45:08
  Speaker 1: but the charm of the bow and arrow was strong.
• 5:45:12
  Speaker 1: He wished to terminate the partnership, to resign Ginger's bow
• 5:45:16
  Speaker 1: and arrow, and take the irresistible Jumble wholly to himself.
• 5:45:22
  Speaker 1: He thought of the bow and arrow in the library cupboard.
• 5:45:25
  Speaker 1: He thought, planned, plotted, but could find no way out.
• 5:45:30
  Speaker 1: He did not see a man come to the door
• 5:45:32
  Speaker 1: of the barn and stand there, leaning against the doorpost
• 5:45:36
  Speaker 1: watching him. He was a tall man with a thin,
• 5:45:40
  Speaker 1: lean face and a loose fitting tweed suit. As his
• 5:45:44
  Speaker 1: eyes lit upon William and Jumble, they narrowed suddenly, and
• 5:45:49
  Speaker 1: his mobile lips curved into a slight, unconscious smile. Jumble
• 5:45:55
  Speaker 1: saw him first and went towards him, wagging his tail.
• 5:45:59
  Speaker 1: William looked up and scowled ungraciously. The stranger raised his hat.
• 5:46:06
  Speaker 1: Good afternoon, he said, politely. Do you remember what you
• 5:46:10
  Speaker 1: were thinking about? Just then? William looked at him with
• 5:46:14
  Speaker 1: a certain interest, Speculating upon his probable insanity, he imagined
• 5:46:20
  Speaker 1: lunatics were amusing people. Yes, well, if you'll think of
• 5:46:26
  Speaker 1: it again and look just like that, I'll give you
• 5:46:30
  Speaker 1: anything you like. It's a rash promise, but I will
• 5:46:36
  Speaker 1: William promptly complied. He quite forgot the presence of the
• 5:46:40
  Speaker 1: strange man, who took a little block out of his
• 5:46:43
  Speaker 1: pocket and began to sketch William's inscrutable, brooding face. Daddy,
• 5:46:50
  Speaker 1: the man sighed and put away his block. You'll do
• 5:46:54
  Speaker 1: it again for me one day, won't you, And I'll
• 5:46:56
  Speaker 1: keep my promise. Hello. A little girl appeared now at
• 5:47:02
  Speaker 1: the barn door. Dainty, dark eyed, and exquisitely dressed. She
• 5:47:08
  Speaker 1: threw a lightning flash at the occupants of the barn. Daddy,
• 5:47:13
  Speaker 1: she screamed, it's Jumble. It is Jumble. Oh you horrid
• 5:47:18
  Speaker 1: dog stealing boy. Jumble ran to her with shrill barks
• 5:47:23
  Speaker 1: of welcome, then ran back to William to reassure him
• 5:47:27
  Speaker 1: of his undying loyalty. It is Jumble, said the man.
• 5:47:32
  Speaker 1: He's called Jumble, he explained to William, because he is
• 5:47:36
  Speaker 1: a Jumble. He's all sorts of a dog. You know.
• 5:47:40
  Speaker 1: This is Nennette, my daughter, and my name is Jarrold,
• 5:47:44
  Speaker 1: and I've taken Lavender Cottage for two months. We're roving vagabonds.
• 5:47:49
  Speaker 1: We never stay anywhere longer than two months, so now
• 5:47:53
  Speaker 1: you know all about us. Jumble seems to have adopted you. Nennette,
• 5:47:58
  Speaker 1: my dear, you are completely ousted from Jumble's heart. This
• 5:48:02
  Speaker 1: gentleman reigned supreme. I didn't steal him, said William, indignantly.
• 5:48:08
  Speaker 1: He just came. He began following me. I didn't want
• 5:48:12
  Speaker 1: him to, not just at first, anyway, not much anyway.
• 5:48:18
  Speaker 1: I suppose a dreadful fear came to his heart. I
• 5:48:23
  Speaker 1: suppose you want him back. You can keep him for
• 5:48:27
  Speaker 1: a bit if you want him, can't he Daddy, Daddy's
• 5:48:31
  Speaker 1: going to buy me a pom, a dear little white palm.
• 5:48:35
  Speaker 1: When we lost Jumble. I thought I'd rather have a palm.
• 5:48:39
  Speaker 1: Jumble's so rough, and he's not really a good dog.
• 5:48:44
  Speaker 1: I mean he's no pedigree. Then can I keep him
• 5:48:49
  Speaker 1: just for a bit, said William, his voice husky with eagerness.
• 5:48:54
  Speaker 1: Oh yes, I'd much rather have a quieter sort of
• 5:48:57
  Speaker 1: a dog. Would you like to come and see our
• 5:49:00
  Speaker 1: It's just over here. William, slightly bewildered but greatly relieved,
• 5:49:06
  Speaker 1: set off with her. Mister Jarrow followed slowly behind. It
• 5:49:11
  Speaker 1: appeared that Miss Nnette Jarrow was rather a wonderful person.
• 5:49:16
  Speaker 1: She was eleven years old. She had visited every capital
• 5:49:19
  Speaker 1: in Europe, seen the best art and heard the best
• 5:49:23
  Speaker 1: music in each. She had been to every play then
• 5:49:26
  Speaker 1: on in London. She knew all the newest dances. Do
• 5:49:31
  Speaker 1: you like Paris? She asked William as they went towards
• 5:49:34
  Speaker 1: Lavender Cottage. Never been there, said William, stolidly, glancing round
• 5:49:39
  Speaker 1: surreptitiously to see that Jumble was following. She shook her
• 5:49:44
  Speaker 1: dark curly head from side to side. A little trick
• 5:49:47
  Speaker 1: she had you, funny boy may Voo Piles franseais Nespa.
• 5:49:54
  Speaker 1: William disdained to answer. He whistled to Jumble, who was
• 5:49:59
  Speaker 1: chasing anim imaginary rabbit in a ditch. Can you jazz?
• 5:50:05
  Speaker 1: She asked, I don't know, he said guardedly. I've not tried.
• 5:50:10
  Speaker 1: I expect I could. She took a few flying, graceful
• 5:50:14
  Speaker 1: steps with slim, black silk encased legs. That's it, I'll
• 5:50:21
  Speaker 1: teach you at home. We'll dance it to a gramophone.
• 5:50:25
  Speaker 1: William walked on in silence. She stopped suddenly under a
• 5:50:30
  Speaker 1: tree and held up her little, vivacious, piquant face to him.
• 5:50:35
  Speaker 1: You can kiss me if you like, she said. William
• 5:50:38
  Speaker 1: looked at her dispassionately. I don't want to, thanks, he
• 5:50:43
  Speaker 1: said politely. Oh you are a funny boy, she said,
• 5:50:47
  Speaker 1: with a ripple of laughter. And you look so rough
• 5:50:51
  Speaker 1: and untidy. You're rather like Jumble. Do you like Jumble? Yes,
• 5:50:57
  Speaker 1: said William. His voice had a sudden quaver in it.
• 5:51:01
  Speaker 1: His ownership of Jumble was a thing of the past.
• 5:51:05
  Speaker 1: You can have him for always and always, she said suddenly.
• 5:51:10
  Speaker 1: Now kiss me. He kissed her cheek awkwardly, with the
• 5:51:14
  Speaker 1: air of one determined to do his duty, but with
• 5:51:17
  Speaker 1: a great glad relief at his heart. I'd love to
• 5:51:22
  Speaker 1: see you dance, she laughed, you would look funny. She
• 5:51:27
  Speaker 1: took a few more fairy steps. You've seen Pavlova, haven't you, Tono?
• 5:51:33
  Speaker 1: You must know. I mustn't, said William irritably. I might
• 5:51:38
  Speaker 1: have seen him and not known it was him, mightn't I?
• 5:51:41
  Speaker 1: She raced back to her father with another ripple of laughter.
• 5:51:45
  Speaker 1: He's such a funny boy, daddy. And he can't jazz,
• 5:51:49
  Speaker 1: and he's never seen Pavlova, and he can't talk French.
• 5:51:54
  Speaker 1: And I've given him jumble and he didn't want to
• 5:51:56
  Speaker 1: kiss me. Mister Jarrod fixed William with a dryly quizzical smile. Beware,
• 5:52:03
  Speaker 1: young man, he said. She'll try to educate you. I
• 5:52:06
  Speaker 1: know her. I warn you. As they got to the
• 5:52:10
  Speaker 1: door of Lavender Cottage, he turned to William. Now just
• 5:52:14
  Speaker 1: sit and think for a minute. I'll keep my promise.
• 5:52:19
  Speaker 1: I do like you, said Nennette graciously, as he took
• 5:52:22
  Speaker 1: his departure. You must come again. I'll teach you heaps
• 5:52:27
  Speaker 1: of things. I think i'd like to marry you when
• 5:52:29
  Speaker 1: we grow up. You are so RESTful. William came home
• 5:52:35
  Speaker 1: the next afternoon to find mister Jarrow in the arm
• 5:52:39
  Speaker 1: chair in the library, talking to his father. I was
• 5:52:43
  Speaker 1: just dry for a subject, he was saying, at my
• 5:52:46
  Speaker 1: wits end, and when I saw them there, I had
• 5:52:49
  Speaker 1: a heaven sent inspiration. Ah. Here he is. Nennette wants
• 5:52:54
  Speaker 1: you to come to tea tomorrow, William. Nennette's given him jumble.
• 5:52:59
  Speaker 1: Do you mind turning to mister Brown. Mister Brown swallowed hard.
• 5:53:05
  Speaker 1: I'm trying not to, he said. He kept us all
• 5:53:09
  Speaker 1: awake last night, but I suppose we'll get used to it.
• 5:53:13
  Speaker 1: And I made him a rash promise, went on, mister Jarrow,
• 5:53:18
  Speaker 1: and I'm jolly well going to keep it if it's
• 5:53:20
  Speaker 1: humanly possible. William, what would you like best in all
• 5:53:24
  Speaker 1: the world. William fixed his eyes unflinchingly upon his father.
• 5:53:30
  Speaker 1: I'd like my bow and arrows back out of that cupboard,
• 5:53:34
  Speaker 1: he said firmly. Mister Jarrow looked at William's father beseechingly.
• 5:53:40
  Speaker 1: Don't let me down, he implored. I'll pay for all
• 5:53:43
  Speaker 1: the damage. Slowly, and with a deep sigh, mister Brown
• 5:53:49
  Speaker 1: drew a bunch of keys from his pocket. It means
• 5:53:53
  Speaker 1: that we all go once more in hourly peril of
• 5:53:56
  Speaker 1: our lives, he said, resignedly. After tea William set off
• 5:54:02
  Speaker 1: again down the road. The setting sun had turned the
• 5:54:05
  Speaker 1: sky to gold. There was a gold haze over all
• 5:54:09
  Speaker 1: the countryside. The clear bird songs filled all the air,
• 5:54:13
  Speaker 1: and the hedgerows were bursting into summer. And through it
• 5:54:17
  Speaker 1: all march to William with a slight swagger, his bow
• 5:54:21
  Speaker 1: under one arm, his arrows under the other, while at
• 5:54:25
  Speaker 1: his heels trotted jumble, eager, playful, adoring a mongrel, unashamed,
• 5:54:32
  Speaker 1: all sorts of a dog, And at William's heart was
• 5:54:36
  Speaker 1: a proud, radiant happiness. There was a picture at that
• 5:54:41
  Speaker 1: year's Academy that attracted a good deal of attention. It
• 5:54:45
  Speaker 1: was of a boy sitting on an upturned box in
• 5:54:48
  Speaker 1: a barn, his elbows on his knees, his chin in
• 5:54:52
  Speaker 1: his hands. He was gazing down at a mongrel dog,
• 5:54:56
  Speaker 1: and in his freckled face was the solemnity and unconscious
• 5:55:01
  Speaker 1: eager wistfulness that is the mark of youth. His untidy,
• 5:55:06
  Speaker 1: unbrushed hair stood up round his face. The mongrel was
• 5:55:10
  Speaker 1: looking up, quivering, expectant, trusting, adoring, some reflection of the
• 5:55:17
  Speaker 1: boy's eager wistfulness showing in the eyes and cocked ears.
• 5:55:22
  Speaker 1: It was called friendship Missus Brown went up to see it.
• 5:55:28
  Speaker 1: She said it wasn't really a very good likeness of William,
• 5:55:31
  Speaker 1: and she wished they'd make him look a little tidier.
• 5:55:38
  Speaker 1: End of chapter twelve. End of Just William by Rickmel
• 5:55:44
  Speaker 1: Crompton