Burr Junior

by George Manville Fenn

  CHAPTER FOURTEEN.

  Those were terrible moments, and I remember wishing that it wouldsuddenly turn into darkest night, as we two lads stood there, shrinkingfrom the eyes of those four men, at whom I glanced in turn, and they allimpressed me differently. The general's mouth was pursed up, and hiswalking cane, which, I perfectly recollect was a thick malacca with anivory head, shook in his hand as if he was eager to lay it across ourbacks. Bob Hopley stood with his arms crossed over his gun, looking, asI thought, hurt, pained, and as if we had committed a most terriblecrime. But there was no pain or trouble, as it seemed to me, in eitherMr Rebble's or Mr Hasnip's face. It struck me that they were on thewhole pleased and satisfied in having found us out in a deed that wouldgive them an opportunity to punish us with heavy impositions.

  All these thoughts had passed rapidly through my mind as I stood waitingto hear Mr Rebble's response to the General's question.

  "I will take charge of the boys, sir," he said importantly; "and I shalllay the matter at once before the notice of Doctor Browne."

  "Hang Doctor Browne!" said the General fiercely. "I want to know whathe meant by bringing his confounded school and setting it up close undermy nose. What did he mean? Eh?"

  "I am Doctor Browne's assistant master, Sir Hawkhurst," replied MrRebble, with dignity, "and I cannot answer for his reasons."

  "Humph! You can't, eh? You there in the dark barnacles," cried theGeneral, turning upon Mr Hasnip, "what have you to say?"

  "That the boys must be severely punished, sir," said Mr Hasnip, wholooked quite startled.

  "Punished! I should think so indeed. If I were not a magistrate, I'dgive the wretched young poachers a severe trouncing. How dare you,eh?--how dare you, I say, come trespassing on my grounds and poaching myrabbits?"

  The only answer that I could find was, "I'm very sorry, sir. I did notthink; and I'll never do so any more;" but it seemed so ridiculous as Ithought it, that I held my tongue.

  "Pretty scoundrels, 'pon my word!" cried the General. "Gentlemen'ssons, eh? nice gentlemen's sons. They've both got poacher written intheir face, and I can see what the end will be--transportation, or hungfor killing a keeper. That's it, eh, Hopley?"

  "Well, sir," said Bob, giving us each a pitying look, "I wouldn't goquite so far as that."

  "No, because you are an easy-going fool. You let people rob me rightand left, and you'd stand still and let the young scoundrels shoot you.There, take them away, the pair of them. You two, I mean--youpedagogues. I'll come and see the Doctor myself to-morrow morning, andI'll have those two fellows flogged--soundly flogged. Do you hear, youboys?--flogged. How many rabbits have you got?"

  "Only this one, sir," I said.

  "What? You dare to tell me only one?"

  "There was another, only Magglin put it in his pocket."

  "Got a dozen hid somewhere," cried the General. "Where have you hidthem, you dog? Stuffed in some burrow, I suppose. Where are they,sir?"

  "I told you," I said sharply, for his doubt of my word made me feel hotand angry. "We only caught those two. I shouldn't tell you a lie,sir."

  "Humph! Oh!" cried the old gentleman, looking at me searchingly, "youwouldn't tell a lie about it, wouldn't you?"

  "Of course not," I replied; "and we did not mean any harm, sir. Wethought it would be good fun to come and catch some rabbits."

  "Oh, you did? Then I suppose it would be good fun to bring guns andcome and shoot my pheasants. Perhaps you'd like to do that, eh?"

  "I should," said Mercer innocently.

  "What!" roared the old gentleman. "Here, you two, take 'em both intoscholastic custody, and tell Dr Browne I'm coming in the morning to puta stop to this sort of thing once and for all. Hopley, where's thatferret?"

  "Pocket, Sir Hawkus," said the keeper bluntly.

  "`_In--my--pocket_,' sir!" cried the old gentleman angrily. "I pay youwages, sir, as my servant, and I've a right to proper answers. Let'ssee the ferret."

  The keeper took it out of the big pocket inside his velveteen jacket,and held it up, twisting and writhing to get free and down into one ofthe rabbit-holes.

  "Throw it down and shoot it," said the General.

  "No, sir, please don't do that!" cried Mercer excitedly, "It's such agood ferret--please don't kill the poor thing!"

  The General looked at him sharply.

  "Not kill it?"

  "No, sir. Please let it go."

  "To live on my rabbits, eh? There, put it in your pocket. And now, yoube off with you, and if I don't have your skins well loosened to-morrow,I'll--You'll see."

  He marched off in one direction, while our guard took us in the other,talking at us all the time.

  "Disgraceful!" Mr Rebble said. "The Doctor will be nearlyheart-broken about such a stigma upon his establishment. I don't knowwhat he'll say."

  "They will be expelled, I presume," said Mr Hasnip softly. "It is verysad to see such wickedness in those so young."

  "I'm afraid so," replied Mr Rebble; and they kept up a cheerfulconversation of this kind till we reached the school, where we were atonce ordered up to our dormitory, and dropped down upon the sides of ourbeds to sit looking at each other.

  "I say, you've done it now," said Mercer at last; "and I did think wewere going to have such fun."

  "Fun!" I said; "it's dreadful!"

  "It was capital fun till they all came and spoiled it for us. Iwouldn't care about being expelled--at least not so much, only my fatherwill be so disappointed."

  This made me think of my mother, and of what my uncle would say if Iwere dismissed from the school in disgrace; and I shivered, for this wasthe most terrible part of all.

  "I tell you what," said Mercer, "we're in for it, and no mistake; and wedidn't do it to steal. We only wanted a bit of sport and some rabbitsto stuff. Let's tell the doctor we're very sorry, and ask him to flogus. It would be too bad to expel us in disgrace. What do you say?"

  "They may flog me," I said sadly; "but I couldn't go home again indisgrace like that."

  "Of course not; and it's too bad to call it poaching. I'm sorry wewent, though, now."

  "Yes," I said, "I'm sorry enough;" and we sat there, miserable enough,waiting till the other boys came up, and it was time to go to bed.

  We had not begun to undress, when the door was opened, and three headswere thrust in, and to our disgust, as we looked up, we saw that theybelonged to our three principal tormentors, who began at us in a jeeringway.

  "Hallo, poachers!" said Burr major; "where are the rabbits?"

  "I say," cried Hodson, "you fellows are going to be expelled. Leave usthe stuffed guys, Senna."

  "He won't," cried Dicksee; "he'll want the skins to make a jacket--abeggar!"

  "You're a set of miserable cowards," I said indignantly, "or youwouldn't come and jump upon us now we are down."

  "You give me any of your cheek, Burr junior, and I'll make you smellfist for your supper."

  "Pst! Some one coming!" whispered Hodson, and the three scuffled away,for there were footsteps on the stairs, and directly after Mr Rebbleappeared.

  "Mercer, Burr junior," he said harshly, "Doctor Browne requests that youwill not come down till he sends for you in the morning. As for you,young gentlemen, you will take no notice of the door being fastened; Ishall be up here in time to let you out. Good-night."

  He went out, and closed and locked the door, and we heard him take outthe key and go down the stairs.

  "Well, that's a rum one!" cried Mercer. "I say, Burr, old Rebble madean Irish bull, or something like it. How can we go down if the door'slocked?"

  "It's because they're afraid we shall run away," I said bitterly. "Theyneedn't have thought that."

  And somehow that first part of our punishment seemed to be the mostbitter of all. It kept me awake for hours, growing more and morelow-spirited; and, to make me worse, as I lay there listening to theloud breathing of the boys, Mercer having gone off like the rest, as ifnothing was the m
atter, I could hear an owl come sailing about theplace, now close at hand, and now right away in the distance, evidentlyin Sir Hawkhurst's old park, where, no doubt, it had a home in one ofthe great hollow beeches. Every now and then it uttered its mournful_hoi, hoi, hoi, hoi_! sounding exactly like some one calling for help,and at times so real that I was ready to awaken Mercer and ask him if hethought it was a bird; but just as I had determined to do so, he spokehalf drowsily from his pillow.

  "Hear the old owl," he said. "That's the one I told you about the othernight. It isn't the same kind as we saw in old Dawson's oast-house.They screech. Get out, you old mouser! I want to sleep."

  The owl kept on with its hooting; but Mercer had what he wanted, for hedropped asleep directly, and I must have followed his exampleimmediately after, for the next thing I remember is feeling somethingwarm on my face, which produced an intense desire to sneeze--so itseemed, till I opened my eyes, to find that the blind had been drawn,and Mercer was tickling my nose with the end of a piece of top stringtwisted up fine.

  "Be quiet. Don't!" I cried angrily, as I sat up. "Hallo! where arethe other fellows?"

  "Dressed and gone down ever so long ago. Didn't you hear the bell?"

  "No; I've been very sound asleep," I said, beginning to dress hurriedly."Shall we be late? Oh!"

  "What's the matter?"

  "I'd forgotten," I said; for the whole trouble of the previous eveninghad now come back with a rush.

  "Good job, too," said Mercer. "That's why I didn't wake you. Wish Iwas asleep now, and could forget all about it. I say, it ain't nice, isit?"

  I shook my head mournfully.

  "It's always the way," continued my companion, "one never does have abit of fun without being upset after it somehow. We went fishing, andnearly got drowned; I bought the ferret, and we lost it; we went in forlessons in boxing, and I never grumbled much, but oh, how sore and stiffand bruised I've often been afterwards. And now, when we go for just anhour to try the ferret, we get caught like this. There's no real fun inlife without trouble afterwards."

  "One always feels so before breakfast," I said, as dolefully as Mercernow, and I hurriedly finished dressing. Then we went to the window, andstood looking out, and thinking how beautiful everything appeared in themorning sunshine.

  "I say, Tom," I said at last, "don't you wish you were down-stairsfinishing your lessons, ready for after breakfast?"

  "Ah, that I do!" he cried; "and I never felt so before."

  "That's through being locked up like in prison," I said philosophically.

  "Yes, it's horrid. I say, the old Doctor won't expel us, will he?"

  "I hope not," I said.

  "But he will old Magglin. You see if he don't."

  "Well, I'm not sorry for him," I said; "he has behaved like a sneak."

  "Yes; trying to put it all on to us."

  We relapsed into silence for some time. We had opened the window, andwere looking out at the mists floating away over the woods, and thedistant sea shining like frosted silver.

  "Oh, I do wish it was a wet, cloudy morning!" I said at last.

  "Why?"

  "Because everything looks so beautiful, and makes you long to be out ofdoors."

  We relapsed into silence again, with our punishment growing more painfulevery moment, till our thoughts were chased away by the ringing of thebreakfast-bell.

  "Ah, at last!" cried Mercer, and he turned to listen for footsteps.

  "I say," he cried crossly, "ain't they going to let us go down tobreakfast?"

  "No; we're prisoners," I said bitterly.

  "Yes; but they don't starve prisoners to death," cried Mercer; "and Iwant something to eat."

  In spite of my misery, I too felt very hungry, for we had gone through agreat deal since our evening meal on the previous day, and I wasstanding watching my companion as he marched up and down the bedroomlike an animal in a cage, when we heard steps on the stairs.

  "Here's breakfast," cried Mercer joyfully, but his face changed as thedoor was opened, and Mr Rebble appeared, followed by one of the maidsbearing a tray, which she set down on a little table and went away,leaving Mr Rebble looking at us grimly, but with the suggestion of asneering laugh at the corners of his cleanly-shaven lips.

  We both glanced at the tray, which bore a jug and two mugs and a platewith a couple of big hunches of bread. Then Mercer looked up halfreproachfully at Mr Rebble, who was moving toward the door.

  "They've forgotten the butter, sir," he said.

  "No, my boy, no," replied the usher; "butter is a luxury reserved forthe good. The Doctor will send for you both by and by."

  He went out and locked the door, while we stood listening till the stepshad died away.

  "It's a jolly shame!" cried Mercer. "I'm not going to stop here and eatdry bread."

  "Never mind," I said; "I don't mind for once;" and, taking one of thepieces of bread, I lifted the jug to fill a mug, but set it down againwithout pouring any out.

  "What's the matter?"

  "Look," I said.

  Mercer darted to the table, looked into the jug, poured out a little ofits contents, and set the vessel down, speechless for the moment withrage.

  "Water!" he cried at last, and dashing to the table again, he ran withit to the window, and threw both jug and contents flying out into theshrubbery below.

  "Oh!" he ejaculated, directly after; "I didn't know you were there."

  I ran to the window now, and looked down to see the cook's red facegazing up at us.

  "Eh? what say?" said Mercer, leaning out.

  "Hush! be quiet. All at breakfast. Got any string?"

  "Yes. Oh, I know," cried Mercer joyfully, and he ran to his box andfrom the bottom dragged out a stick of kite string, whose end he rapidlylowered down to where cook stood, holding something under her apron.

  This proved to be a little basket with a cross handle when she whiskedher apron off, and, quickly tying the end of the string to it, she stoodwatching till the basket had reached our hands, and then hurried awayround the end of the house.

  "Oh, isn't she a good one!" cried Mercer, tearing open the lid, aftersnapping the string and pitching the ball quickly into the box. "Lookhere; four eggs, bread and butter--lots, and a bottle of milk--no," hecontinued, taking out the cork and smelling, "it's coffee. Hooray!"

  "What's that in the bit of curl paper?" and I pointed to somethingtwisted up.

  "Salt," cried Mercer, "for the eggs. Come on, eat as fast as you can."

  I took a piece of bread and butter, and he another, eating away as hepoured out two mugfuls of what proved to be delicious coffee.

  "Who says we haven't got any friends?" cried Mercer, with his mouthfull. "What lots of butter. 'Tis good. I say, wonder what old Rebblewould say if he knew! Have an egg."

  "No spoons."

  "Bet a penny they're hard ones."

  So it proved, and we cracked them well all over, peeled off the shells,which for secrecy we thrust into our pockets, and then, dipping the eggsinto the salt, we soon finished one each, with the correspondingproportion of bread and butter. Then the other two followed, the lastslice of bread and butter disappeared, and the wine-bottle was drained.It was an abundant supply, but at our age the time consumed over themeal was not lengthy, and we then busied ourselves in rinsing out thebottle, which was hidden in my box, after being carefully wiped on atowel, the basket was placed in Mercer's, and as soon as the last signof our banquet had disappeared, we looked at the two hunches of bread,of which mine alone had been tasted, and burst into a laugh.

  "I don't want any--do you?" said Mercer, and I shook my head. "Oh, I dofeel so much better! I can take the Doctor's licking now, and hope itwill come soon."

  "I don't," I said.

  "Why not? It's like nasty physic. Of course you don't like it, but thesooner you've swallowed it down, the sooner it's gone, and you haven'tgot to think any more about it. That's what I feel about my licking."

  "Hist! here's
some one coming."

  Mercer turned sharply round and listened.

  "Old Reb," he whispered, and we went and stood together near the windowas the steps came nearer; the key was turned, and Mr Rebble appeared,glanced at the tray with its almost untouched bread, and then smiledmaliciously.

  "Ho, ho! Proud stomached, eh? Oh, very well, only I warn you both youget nothing more to eat until that bread is finished. Now, then, younggentlemen, this way please."

  He held the door open, and then led us into a small room at the end ofthe passage used for spare boxes and lumber. Here we were locked in andleft, and as soon as we were alone Mercer burst into a fit of laughter.

  "Oh, what a game!" he panted, wiping the tears from his eyes. "I say,though, he never missed the water-jug. What's the matter?"

  "Matter!" I cried; "it's a shame to lock us up here like two prisonersin this old lumber-room."

  "Oh, never mind! it's only old Reb's nasty petty way. I don't believethe Doctor knows. He isn't petty; he scolds you and canes you if you'vedone anything he don't like, but as soon as you've had your punishment,it's all over, and he forgets what's past. I say!"

  "Well?"

  "He will not expel us; I'm not afraid of that."

  In about half an hour, we heard Mr Rebble's steps again.

  "Now then, the physic's ready," whispered Mercer. "Don't you cry out.It hurts a good deal, and the Doctor hits precious hard, but the painsoon goes off, and it will only please old Rebble if you seem to mind."

  Just then the door was opened, and our gaoler appeared again.

  "This way," he said shortly, and we went out into the passage once more,while my heart began to flutter, and I wondered whether I could bear acaning without showing that I suffered, and, to be frank, I very muchdoubted my power in what would be to me quite a new experience. I setmy teeth though, and mentally vowed I would try and bear it manfully.

  It was all waste energy, for Mr Rebble threw open the door of ourdormitory again, drew back for us to enter, and said, with a nastymalicious laugh, as if he enjoyed punishing us,--

  "Not a morsel of anything till that bread is eaten."

  Then the door was closed, sharply locked, the key withdrawn, and hissteps died away.

  "What a take in!" grumbled Mercer, as we looked round the neat, cleanbedroom, and realised that we had only been locked up in the other placewhile the maids came to make the beds. "I was all screwed up tight, andwould have taken my caning without so much as a squeak. Couldn't you?"

  "I don't know," I said, "but I felt ready to go on with it, and now Isuppose we shall have to wait."

  To our great disgust, we did have to wait hour after hour. We heard thefellows go out from school, and their voices came ringing through theclear summer air, and then we heard them come in to dinner; but we werenot called down, nothing was sent up to us, and, though we kept watch atthe window looking down into the shrubbery, there was no sign of thecook, and the kite string remained unused.

  "But she's sure to come some time," said Mercer. "She won't let old Rebstarve us. Hi! look there. Old Lomax. There he goes."

  Sure enough, the old sergeant marched down the road, and we watched tillhe was out of sight, but he did not see us.

  "I wonder what he thought when we did not go for our lesson thismorning," I said.

  "Oh, he had heard of it, safe," cried Mercer. "Hark, there they go outfrom dinner. I say, I'm getting tired of this. They must have us downsoon."

  But quite an hour passed away, and we stood sadly looking out at thebeautiful view, which never looked more attractive, and we were tryingto make out where the hammer pond lay among the trees, when I suddenlynipped Mercer's arm, and we began to watch a light cart, driven by agrey-haired gentleman, with a groom in livery with a cockade in his hatseated by his side, and a big dark fellow in velveteen behind.

  "Is he coming here?" whispered Mercer, as we drew back from the window.

  We knew he must be, and, peering from behind the white window-curtains,we saw the great fiery-looking roan horse turn at a rapid trot throughthe open gates, then the wheels of the light, cart seemed to be pulledup at the front entrance, where we saw the groom spring down, and heardthe jangle of the big front door bell.

  Then we sat down on our chairs by the heads of our beds and waited, andnot long, for we soon heard steps on the stairs.

  "It's coming now," said Mercer, drawing a long breath.

  "Yes, it's coming now," I echoed softly, as a curious sensation of dreadran through me, and directly after the door was unlocked, and Mr Rebbleappeared.

  "Now, young gentlemen," he said, with a perfectly satisfied air, "theDoctor will see you both in his room."