第28章

“Isay，Green，“Snooksbeganonenight，“isn’tthatnewboy，Harrison，yourfag？“ “Yes；why？“ “Oh，Iknowsomethingofhimathome，andshouldliketoexcusehim。Willyouswop？“ “Whowillyougiveme？“ “Well，let’ssee。There’sWillis，Johnson。No，thatwon’tdo。 Yes，Ihaveit。There’syoungEast；I’llgiveyouhim。“ “Don’tyouwishyoumaygetit？“repliedGreen。“I’llgiveyoutwoforWillis，ifyoulike。“ “Who，then？“askedSnooks。“HallandBrown。“ “Wouldn’thave’ematagift。“ “BetterthanEast，though；fortheyain’tquitesosharp，“saidGreen，gettingupandleaninghisbackagainstthemantelpiece。 Hewasn’tabadfellow，andcouldn’thelpnotbeingabletoputdowntheunrulyfifthform。Hiseyetwinkledashewenton，“DidIevertellyouhowtheyoungvagabondsoldmelasthalf？“ “No；how？“ “Well，heneverhalfcleanedmystudyout——onlyjuststuckthecandlesticksinthecupboard，andsweptthecrumbsontothefloor。SoatlastIwasmortalangry，andhadhimup，andmadehimgothroughthewholeperformanceundermyeyes。Thedusttheyoungscampmadenearlychokedme，andshowedthathehadn’tsweptthecarpetbefore。Well，whenitwasallfinished，’Now，younggentleman，’saysI，’mind，Iexpectthistobedoneeverymorning——floorswept，table-clothtakenoffandshaken，andeverythingdusted。’’Verywell，’gruntshe。Notabitofitthough。Iwasquitesure，inadayortwo，thathenevertookthetable-clothoffeven。SoIlaidatrapforhim。Itoreupsomepaper，andputhalfadozenbitsonmytableonenight，andtheclothoverthemasusual。NextmorningafterbreakfastupI came，pulledoffthecloth，and，sureenough，therewasthepaper，whichfluttereddownontothefloor。Iwasinatoweringrage。’I’vegotyounow，’thoughtI，andsentforhim，whileIgotoutmycane。Uphecameascoolasyouplease，withhishandsinhispockets。’Didn’tItellyoutoshakemytable- clotheverymorning？’roaredI。’Yes，’sayshe。’Didyoudoitthismorning？’’Yes。’’Youyoungliar！Iputthesepiecesofpaperonthetablelastnight，andifyou’dtakenthetable- clothoffyou’dhaveseenthem，soI’mgoingtogiveyouagoodlicking。’Thenmyyoungstertakesonehandoutofhispocket，andjuststoopsdownandpicksuptwoofthebitsofpaper，andholdsthemouttome。Therewaswrittenoneach，ingreatroundtext，’HarryEast，hismark。’Theyoungroguehadfoundmytrapout，takenawaymypaper，andputsomeofhisthere，everybitear-marked。I’dagreatmindtolickhimforhisimpudence； but，afterall，onehasnorighttobelayingtraps，soI didn’t。OfcourseIwasathismercytilltheendofthehalf，andinhisweeksmystudywassofrowzyIcouldn’tsitinit。“ “Theyspoilone’sthingsso，too，“chimedinathirdboy。“HallandBrownwerenight-fagslastweek。Icalled’fag，’andgavethemmycandlestickstoclean。Awaytheywent，anddidn’tappearagain。Whenthey’dhadtimeenoughtocleanthemthreetimesover，Iwentouttolookafterthem。Theyweren’tinthepassagessodownIwentintothehall，whereIheardmusic；andthereIfoundthemsittingonthetable，listeningtoJohnson，whowasplayingtheflute，andmycandlesticksstuckbetweenthebarswellintothefire，red-hot，cleanspoiled。They’veneverstoodstraightsince，andImustgetsomemore。However，Igavethemagoodlicking；that’sonecomfort。“ Suchwerethesortofscrapestheywerealwaysgettinginto；andso，partlybytheirownfaults，partlyfromcircumstances，partlyfromthefaultsofothers，theyfoundthemselvesoutlaws，ticket-of-leavemen，orwhatyouwillinthatline——inshort，dangerousparties——andlivedthesortofhand-to-mouth，wild，recklesslifewhichsuchpartiesgenerallyhavetoputupwith。 NeverthelesstheyneverquitelostfavourwithyoungBrooke，whowasnowthecockofthehouse，andjustgettingintothesixth； andDiggsstucktothemlikeaman，andgavethemstoreofgoodadvice，bywhichtheyneverintheleastprofited。 Andevenafterthehousemended，andlawandorderhadbeenrestored，whichsoonhappenedafteryoungBrookeandDiggsgotintothesixth，theycouldn’teasilyoratoncereturnintothepathsofsteadiness，andmanyoftheold，wild，out-of-boundshabitsstucktothemasfirmlyasever。Whiletheyhadbeenquitelittleboys，thescrapestheygotintointheSchoolhadn’tmuchmatteredtoanyone；butnowtheywereintheupperschool，allwrong-doersfromwhichweresentupstraighttotheDoctoratonce。Sotheybegantocomeunderhisnotice；andastheywereasortofleadersinasmallwayamongsttheirowncontemporaries，hiseye，whichwaseverywhere，wasuponthem。 Itwasatoss-upwhethertheyturnedoutwellorill，andsotheywerejusttheboyswhocausedmostanxietytosuchamaster。YouhavebeentoldofthefirstoccasiononwhichtheyweresentuptotheDoctor，andtheremembranceofitwassopleasantthattheyhadmuchlessfearofhimthanmostboysoftheirstandinghad。“It’sallhislook，“TomusedtosaytoEast，“thatfrightensfellows。Don’tyouremember，heneversaidanythingtousmyfirsthalf-yearforbeinganhourlateforlocking-up？“ ThenexttimethatTomcamebeforehim，however，theinterviewwasofaverydifferentkind。Ithappenedjustaboutthetimeatwhichwehavenowarrived，andwasthefirstofaseriesofscrapesintowhichourheromanagednowtotumble。 TheriverAvonatRugbyisaslowandnotveryclearstream，inwhichchub，dace，roach，andothercoarsefishare(orwere) plentifulenough，togetherwithafairsprinklingofsmalljack，butnofishworthsixpenceeitherforsportorfood。Itis，however，acapitalriverforbathing，asithasmanynicesmallpoolsandseveralgoodreachesforswimming，allwithinaboutamileofoneanother，andataneasytwentyminutes’walkfromtheschool。Thismileofwaterisrented，orusedtoberented，forbathingpurposesbythetrusteesoftheSchool，fortheboys。ThefootpathtoBrownsovercrossestheriverby“thePlanks，“acuriousoldsingle-plankbridgerunningforfiftyorsixtyyardsintotheflatmeadowsoneachsideoftheriver—— forinthewintertherearefrequentfloods。AbovethePlankswerethebathing-placesforthesmallerboys——Sleath’s，thefirstbathing-place，whereallnewboyshadtobegin，untiltheyhadprovedtothebathingmen(threesteadyindividuals，whowerepaidtoattenddailythroughthesummertopreventaccidents)thattheycouldswimprettydecently，whentheywereallowedtogoontoAnstey’s，aboutonehundredandfiftyyardsbelow。Heretherewasaholeaboutsixfeetdeepandtwelvefeetacross，overwhichthepuffingurchinsstruggledtotheoppositeside，andthoughtnosmallbeerofthemselvesforhavingbeenoutoftheirdepths。BelowthePlankscamelargeranddeeperholes，thefirstofwhichwasWratislaw’s，andthelastSwift’s，afamoushole，tenortwelvefeetdeepinparts，andthirtyyardsacross，fromwhichtherewasafineswimmingreachrightdowntothemill。Swift’swasreservedforthesixthandfifthforms，andhadaspringboardandtwosetsofsteps:theothershadonesetofstepseach，andwereusedindifferentlybyallthelowerboys，thougheachhouseaddicteditselfmoretooneholethantoanother。TheSchool-houseatthistimeaffectedWratislaw’shole，andTomandEast，whohadlearnttoswimlikefishes，weretobefoundthereasregularastheclockthroughthesummer，alwaystwice，andoftenthreetimesaday。 Nowtheboyseitherhad，orfanciedtheyhad，arightalsotofishattheirpleasureoverthewholeofthispartoftheriver，andwouldnotunderstandthattheright(ifany)onlyextendedtotheRugbyside。Asill-luckwouldhaveit，thegentlemanwhoownedtheoppositebank，afterallowingitforsometimewithoutinterference，hadorderedhiskeepersnottolettheboysfishonhisside——theconsequenceofwhichhadbeenthattherehadbeenfirstwranglingsandthenfightsbetweenthekeepersandboys；andsokeenhadthequarrelbecomethatthelandlordandhiskeepers，afteraduckinghadbeeninflictedononeofthelatter，andafiercefightensuedthereon，hadbeenuptothegreatschoolatcalling-overtoidentifythedelinquents，anditwasalltheDoctorhimselfandfiveorsixmasterscoulddotokeepthepeace。Notevenhisauthoritycouldpreventthehissing；andsostrongwasthefeelingthatthefourprepostorsoftheweekwalkeduptheschoolwiththeircanes，shouting“S- s-s-s-i-lenc-c-c-c-e“atthetopoftheirvoices。However，thechiefoffendersforthetimewerefloggedandkeptinbounds； butthevictoriouspartyhadbroughtanicehornet’snestabouttheirears。ThelandlordwashissedattheSchool-gatesasherodepast，andwhenhechargedhishorseatthemobofboys，andtriedtothrashthemwithhiswhip，wasdrivenbackbycricket- batsandwickets，andpursuedwithpebblesandfivesballs； whilethewretchedkeepers’liveswereaburdentothem，fromhavingtowatchthewaterssoclosely。 TheSchool-houseboysofTom’sstanding，oneandall，asaprotestagainstthistyrannyandcuttingshortoftheirlawfulamusements，tooktofishinginallways，andespeciallybymeansofnight-lines。Thelittletacklemakeratthebottomofthetownwouldsoonhavemadehisfortunehadtheragelasted，andseveralofthebarbersbegantolayinfishing-tackle。Theboyshadthisgreatadvantageovertheirenemies，thattheyspentalargeportionofthedayinnature’sgarbbytheriver-side，andso，whentiredofswimming，wouldgetoutontheothersideandfish，orsetnight-lines，tillthekeepershoveinsight，andthenplungeinandswimbackandmixwiththeotherbathers，andthekeepersweretoowisetofollowacrossthestream。 Whilethingswereinthisstate，onedayTomandthreeorfourotherswerebathingatWratislaw’s，andhad，asamatterofcourse，beentakingupandre-settingnight-lines。Theyhadallleftthewater，andweresittingorstandingaboutattheirtoilets，inallcostumes，fromashirtupwards，whentheywereawareofamaninavelveteenshooting-coatapproachingfromtheotherside。Hewasanewkeeper，sotheydidn’trecognizeornoticehim，tillhepulleduprightopposite，andbegan: