St. Winifred's; or, The World of School

by F. W. Farrar

  CHAPTER FOUR.

  FRIENDS AND FOES.

  "He who hath a thousand friends hath not one friend to spare, And he who hath one enemy shall meet him everywhere."

  Already Walter had got someone to talk to, someone he knew; for in spiteof Kenrick's repudiation of Henderson's jest, he felt already that hehad discovered a boy with whom he should soon be friends. It doesn'tmatter how he had discovered it; it was by animal magnetism; it was bysome look in Kenrick's eyes; it was his light-heartedness; it was by themingled fire and refinement of his face which spoke of a wilful andimpetuous, yet also of a generous and noble nature. Already he felt asense of ease and pleasure in the certainty that Kenrick--evidently nocipher among his schoolfellows--was inclined to like him, and to showhim the ways of the school.

  They went into a large hall, where the four hundred had their meals.They sat at a number of tables arranged breadth-wise across the hall;twenty or thirty sat at each table, and either a master or a monitor (asthe sixteen upper boys were called) took his place at the head of it.

  "Now, mind you don't begin to smoke," said Henderson, as Walter went in,and found most of the boys already seated.

  "Smoke?" said Walter, taking it for a bit of good advice; "do fellowssmoke in Hall? I never have smoked."

  "Why, you're smoking now," said Henderson, as Walter, entering among thecrowd of strange faces and meeting so many pairs of eyes, began to blusha little.

  "Don't teaze him, Flip," said Kenrick. "Smoking is the name fellowsgive to blushing, Evson; and if they see you given to blushing, they'llstare at you for the fun of seeing the colour mount up in your cheeks."

  Accordingly, as he sat down, he saw that numerous eyes were turned uponhim and upon Tracy, who happened to sit at the same table. Tracy,unaccustomed to such very narrow scrutiny, blushed all over; and, as hein vain looked up and down, this way and that, his cheeks grew hotterand hotter, and he moved about in the most uneasy way, to the greatamusement of his many tormentors, until at last his eyes subsidedfinally into his teacup, from which he did not again venture to raisethem until tea was over. But Walter was at once up to the trick, andfelt thoroughly obliged to Henderson and Kenrick for telling him of it.So he waited till he saw that a good dozen fellows were all intentlystaring at him; and then, looking up very simply and naturally, he metthe gaze of two or three of them steadily in succession, and stared themout of countenance with a quiet smile. This turned the laugh againstthem; and he heard the remark that he was "up to snuff, and no mistake."No one ever tried to make Walter smoke again, but for some time it usedto be a regular joke to pass round word at tea-time, "Let's make Tracysmoke," and as Tracy always _did_ smoke till he got thoroughly used toit, he was generally glad when tea-time was over.

  In spite of Henderson, who poked fun at them all tea-time (till he sawthat he really embarrassed them, and then he desisted), Kenrick sat byWalter, and took him more or less under his protection; for an "old boy"can always patronise a newcomer at first, even if they are of the sameage.

  From Kenrick Walter learnt, rather to his dismay, that he really wouldhave no place to sit in except the big schoolroom, which he would sharewith some fifty others, and that he would be placed in a dormitory withat least five or six besides himself.

  "Have you been examined yet?" asked Kenrick.

  "No; but Dr Lane asked me what books I had read, and he told me that Iwas to go and take my chance in Mr Paton's form. What form is that?"

  "It's what we call the Virgil form. Have you ever read Virgil?"

  "No; at least only a few easy bits."

  "I wish you joy, then."

  "Why? what sort of a fellow is Mr Paton?"

  "Mr Paton? he's not a man at all; he's a machine; he's the wheel of amill; he's a cast-iron automaton; he's--"

  "The abomination of desolation spoken of by Daniel the prophet,"observed Henderson, who had caught a fragment of the conversation. "I'min his form, too, worse luck!"

  "Hush! shut up, Henderson, and don't be profane," said Kenrick. "Well,Evson, you'll soon find out what Paton's like; anything but `a patten ofbright gold' at any rate."

  "Oh! oh! turn him out for his bad pun," said Henderson, hitting him witha pellet of bread, for which offence he immediately received "fiftylines" from the master at the other end of the table.

  "Don't abuse Paton," said a boy named Daubeny, which name Henderson hadlong ago contracted into Dubbs. "I always found him a capital master tobe under, and really very kind."

  "Oh, _you_--yes," answered Kenrick; "if we were all gifted with yourmouselike stillness in school, my dear old Dubbs--"

  "And your metallic capacity of grind, my dear old Dubbs," addedHenderson.

  "And your ostrich-like digestion of crabbed rules, my dear old Dubbs;why, then," said Kenrick, "we should all be boys after Paton's heart."

  "Or Paton's pattern," suggested Henderson; so it was now Kenrick's turnto shudder at a miserable attempt at a pun, and return Henderson'smissile, whereupon he got a _hundred_ lines, which made him pull a verylong face.

  "Who's to be your tutor, Evson?" he asked after this interlude.

  "I suppose you're going to pick him to pieces, now," said Daubeny,smiling; "don't you believe half they say of him, Evson."

  "Oh, if you're sharp, and successful, and polite, and gentlemanly, andjolly, and all that sort of thing, he'll like you very much, and beexceedingly kind to you; but if you are lazy, or mischievous, or stupid,or at all a pickle, he'll ignore you, snub you, won't speak to you. Iwish you'd been in the same pupil-room with me."

  "Depends on who he is, O virtuous Dubbs," said Henderson. "His endshall be `pieces,' as _Punch_ says, if he deserves it."

  "He told me I was to be Mr Robertson's pupil," said Walter. "Hum-m!"observed Kenrick. "Why, what sort of a person is he?"

  "Some of his pups detest him, others adore him."

  "Why?"

  "Who's your tutor, then?"

  "Percival; there, the master who is chatting and laughing with thosemonitors. He's a regular brick. _Plinthos estin_ as we say in Greek,"said Kenrick. "Halloa! tea's over."

  "And you've been chattering so much that the new fellow's had none,"said Henderson, as a bell rang and one of the monitors read a shortLatin grace.

  The boys streamed out, and Kenrick helped his new friend to unpack hisbooks and other treasures, and put them in his desk, for which theyordered a new lock. The rest of the evening was occupied with "EveningWork," a time during which all the boys below a certain form sat in theschoolroom, and prepared their lessons for the next day, while a masteroccupied the desk to superintend and keep order. As other boys who werein the same form with himself were doing no work, Walter did not supposethat any work would be expected of him the next morning, and hetherefore occupied his time in writing a long letter home. When thiswas over he began talking to Henderson, of whom he had a thousandquestions to ask, and whose chief amusement seemed to consist inchaffing everybody, and whom, nevertheless, everybody seemed to regardas a friend. At nine a bell rang, the whole school went to chapel,where a short evening service was held, and then all but the higherforms, and the boys who had separate rooms, went to bed. As Walter laydown to sleep, he felt at least a century older than he had done thatmorning. Everything was marvellously new to him, but on the whole hewas inclined to take a bright view of things. Two of the things whichhad happened to him gave him special delight: the sight of the sea, andthe happy dawn--for as such he regarded it--of a genuine, hearty, boyishfriendship, both with Henderson and Kenrick. When the gas was turnedoff, tired out with his journey and his excitement, he quickly fellasleep.

  And, falling asleep, he at once passed into the land of dreams. He wasout on the sea with Kenrick and Henderson in a row-boat, and all threeof them were fishing. First there was a pull at Henderson's line, and,tugging it up, he caught not a fish, but Jones, who, after a fewflounderings, lay down in the fish-basket. As this did not in the leastsurprise any of them, and excited no remark whatever,
they set to workagain, and Kenrick had a bite this time, which proved to be HowardTracy, whom they laid quietly in the bottom of the boat, Jonesassisting. The third time Walter himself had a tug, and was in the actof hauling up Dubbs, when he became conscious that the boat was rockingvery violently, and he felt rather surprised that he was not seasick.This seemed to give a new current to his thoughts, for all of a suddenhe was out riding with someone, and his horse began to rear in the mostuncomfortable manner, right on his hind legs. He kept his seatmanfully--but no! that last rear was too much, and, suddenly waking, hewas at once aware that his bed was rising and falling in a series ofheavy shakes and bumps, whereby he was nearly flung off the mattress.He instantly guessed the cause, for indeed, Kenrick had given him a hintof such a possibility. He knew that someone, wishing to frighten him,had got under the bed, and was heaving it up and down with his back.All that he had noticed when he undressed was, that there were severalbig fellows in the dormitory, and he knew that the room had rather a badreputation for disorder and bullying.

  Being a strong little fellow, brave as a lion, and very active, Walterwas afraid of no one; so springing up during a momentary cessation ofthe mysterious upheavals, he instantly made a dash under the bed, andseized someone by the leg. The leg kicked violently, and as a leg is aparticularly strong limb, it succeeded in disengaging itself fromWalter's hands, not, however, till it had left a slipper as a trophy;and with this slipper Walter pursued a dim white figure, which he couldjust see scuttling away through the darkness to the other side of theroom. This figure he overtook just in time to give it some resoundingsmacks with the sole of the slipper; when the figure clutched acounterpane off the nearest bed, flung it over Walter, and made good anescape, while Walter was entangled, Agamemnon-like, in the voluminousfolds. Walter, however, still kept possession of the slipper, and wasdetermined next morning to discover the owner. He knew that it wasprobably some bigger fellow who had been playing this game, and hiscommon sense told him that it was best to take it good-humouredly as ajoke, and yet at the same time to make it as little pleasant as possiblefor the perpetrator, even if he got thrashed himself. A bully or ajoker of practical jokes is not likely to do things which cause himselfa certain amount of discomfort, even if he succeeds in causing a stillgreater amount to someone else.

  Walter cared very little for this adventure. It certainly annoyed him alittle, and it showed him that some of the others in his dormitory mustbe more or less brutes, if they could find it amusing to break the sleepand play on the fears of a new boy the very night of his arrival amongthem. But he thought no more about it, and was quite determined that itshould not happen often.

  Far different was the case with poor little Arthur Eden, another newboy, who, as Walter had observed, occupied the bed next to him. He hadbeen roused from his first sweet sleep in the same way, about the sametime as Walter. But no one had prepared him for this annoyance, and ashe was a very timid child, it filled him with terror; he was even soterrified that he did not know what it was. He lay quite still, notdaring to speak, or make a sound, only clinging to his mattress withboth hands in an agony of dread. He was already worn and bewilderedwith the events of the day. He had fallen amongst the Philistines; atthe very moment of his arrival he had got into bad hands, the hands ofboys who made sport of his weakness, corrupted his feelings, andlacerated his heart. He was very young--a mere child of twelve--and inthe innocence of his simplicity he had unreservedly answered all theirquestions, and prattled to them about his home, about his twin sister,about nearly all his cherished secrets. In that short space of time hehad afforded materials enough for the coarse jeers of the brutal, andthe poignant ridicule of the cruel for many a long day. Something ofthis derision had begun already, and he had found no secret place tohide his tears. That they would call him a milksop, a molly-coddle, andall kinds of horrid names, he knew, and he had tried manfully to bear-upunder persecution. It was not until after many hot and silent drops hadrelieved the fever of his overwrought brain, that sleep had come to him,and now it was broken thus.

  O parents and guardians--anxious, yet unwise class--why, tell me why,knowing all that you must know, do you send such children as this toschool? Eden's mother, indeed, had opposed the step, but his guardian(for the boy's father was dead), seeing that he was being spoilt athome, and that he was naturally a shrinking and timid lad, had urgedthat he should be sent to Saint Winifred's, with some vague notion ofmaking a man of him. He might as well have thrown a piece of Brusselslace into the fire with the intention of changing it into openiron-work. The proper place for little Eden would have been somecountry parsonage, where care and kindliness might have gradually helpedhim, as he grew older, to acquire the faculties which he had not;whereas, in this case, a public school only impaired for a time in thattender frame the bright yet delicate qualities which he had.

  The big, clumsy ne'er-do-well of a boy, Cradock by name, who was chokingwith secret laughter as he tilted little Eden's bed--leaving a pause offrightful suspense now and then to let him recover breath and realisehis situation--was as raw and ill-trained a fellow as you like, but hehad nothing in him wilfully or diabolically wicked. If he had beensimilarly treated he would have broken into a great guffaw, and emptiedhis water-jug over the intruder; and yet if he could have seen the newboy at that moment, he would have seen that pretty little face--onlymeant as yet for the smiles of childhood--white with an almost idioticterror, and he would have caught a staring and meaningless look in theglassy eyes which were naturally so bright and blue. But he really didnot know--being merely an overgrown stupid fellow--the mischief he wasdoing, and the absolute horrible torment that his jest (?) wasinflicting.

  Finding that his joltings produced no apparent effect, and thinking thatEden might, by some strange somnolence peculiar to new boys, sleepthrough it all, he tilted the bed a little too high, and then indeed awild shriek rang through the room as the mattress and clothes tumbledright over at the foot of the bed, and flung the child violently on thefloor. Fortunately the heap of bed-clothes prevented him from beingmuch hurt, and Cradock had just time to pick him up and huddle him intobed again, and jump back into his own bed, when the lamp of one of themasters, who had been attracted by Eden's cry, appeared through thedoor. The master, finding all quiet, and having come from a distantroom, supposed that his ears had deceived him, or that the cry was someaccidental noise outside the building. He merely walked round the room,and seeing Eden's bed-clothes rather tumbled, kindly helped thetrembling child to replace them in a more comfortable order, and leftthe room.

  "I say, that's quite enough for one night," said the voice of one of theboys, when the master had disappeared. "You new fellows can go tosleep. Nobody'll touch you again to-night." The speaker was Franklin,rather a scapegrace in some respects, but a boy of no unkindly nature.

  The light and the noise had revealed to Walter something of what musthave taken place. In his own case, he cared very little for theassurance that he would not be molested again that night, feeling quitesure that he could hold his own against anyone, and that his formerenemy, at any rate, would not be likely to assault him again. But hewas very, very glad for poor little Eden's sake, having caught amomentary glimpse of his scared and pitiable look.

  Walter could not sleep for a long time, not till long after he heardfrom the regular breathings of the others that they were all in deepslumber. For there were sounds which came from Eden's bed whichdisturbed his heart with pity. His feelings bled for the poor littlefellow, so young and fresh from home, a newcomer like himself, butevidently so little accustomed to this roughness and so little able toprotect his own interests. For a long time into the night he heard thepoor child crying and sobbing to himself, though he was clearly tryingto stifle the sound. At last Walter could stand it no longer, andfeeling sure that the rest were sound asleep, he whispered in hiskindest tone, for he didn't know his neighbour's name--

  "I say, you little new fellow."

  The sound of
sobbing was hushed for a moment, but the boy seemed afraidto answer; so Walter said again--"Are you awake?"

  "Yes," said a weak, childish voice.

  "Don't be afraid; I'm a new fellow, too. Tell me your name."

  "Eden," he whispered tremulously, though reassured by the kindly tone ofvoice. "Hush! hush! you'll awake someone."

  "No, I won't," said Walter. "Here, I'll come and speak to you;" andstepping noiselessly out of bed, he whispered in Eden's ear, "Nevermind, my poor little fellow; don't be frightened; the boy didn't mean tohurt you; he was only shoving your bed up and down for a joke. Someonedid the same to me, so I jumped up and licked him with a slipper."

  "But I got so frightened. Oh, do you think they'll do it againto-night?"

  "No, certainly, not again to-night," said Walter; "they're all asleep;and if anyone does it again another night, you must just slip out of bedand not mind it. It doesn't hurt."

  "Thank you," whispered Eden; "you're very kind, and nobody else has beenkind to me here. Will you tell me _your_ name?"

  "My name's Walter Evson. Do you know, your voice and look remind me ofmy little brother. There," he said, tucking him up in bed, "nowgood-night, and go to sleep."

  The little fellow pressed Walter's hand hard, said good-night, and soonforgot his misery in a sleep of pure weariness. I do not think that hewould have slept at all that night, but for the comforting sense that hehad found, to lean upon, a stronger nature and a stronger character thanhis own. Walter heard him breathing peacefully, and then he too fellasleep, and neither woke nor dreamt (that he was aware of), untilhalf-past seven the next morning, when a servant roused the boys byringing a large hand-bell in their ears.