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Mr Bickers having said, "Hear, hear" once, did not feel called upon to repeat it at the end of this short speech, and was, indeed, rather glad to hurry back to his own house. He had an idea that this time to-morrow he should feel considerably more comfortable. Railsford's farewell evening in his house was not destined to be a peaceful one.
"It really seems almost a providential arrangement," said Mrs Herapath. "I am sure it will be a great thing for Arthur," said Daisy. "It makes one believe there's some truth in the saying that every man has his niche waiting for him somewhere in life," moralised Mr Herapath. That evening a letter came from Arthur to Daisy. The boy, of course, knew nothing of Railsford's candidature.
True, there were among them a few noble spirits who never did a stroke of work unless under compulsion; but as a rule the Fifth- form fellows in Railsford's lay under the imputation of being studious, and took very little trouble to clear their characters. Only when the school sports came round, or the house matches, their detractors used to forgive them.
Besides, if they won all the athletic events and none of the scholastic, people would be sure to say any fools can excel in sports if they let all their books go by the board. Thus Railsford whipped up his house to their great effort, and the result was that to-day's prize list showed that nearly half the honours of the examinations had fallen to Railsford's boys.
Felgate had, as the reader may have judged, come to the conclusion that it was time to play his trump card against his enemy. Railsford's reporting of him to the doctor had been, to mix metaphors a little, the last straw which breaks the patient camel's back.
He was not very encouraging, but said there would be no harm in trying, and undertook to draw up the petition and sign his name first underneath. The petition was short and business-like: "To Dr Ponsford. Sir, We, the boys of Mr Railsford's house, have heard with great sorrow that he is to leave Grandcourt.
Surely, he represented, it was not to go out to all the school that Railsford's fellows could only work when they were in a bad temper? Glorious as it would have been to clear the prize list when they were isolated and sulky, it would be still more glorious to show that not less could they do it when they were in good cheer and shoulder to shoulder with the rest of the school.
For even if the truth were then made known, Railsford's offence in shielding the evil-doer would remain the same. But now this letter might spoil everything. It would, at any rate, postpone Railsford's departure, and might give him an opportunity of reinstating himself for good at Grandcourt. Mr Bickers was in a quandary.
So it happened on the present occasion. After You was far too ambitious a flight for the Comedians at Railsford's; they had far better have stuck to King Lear. In the first place, none of the characters seemed to understand what was expected of them.
"And where is the list of names?" Mills produced it, tremulously. Railsford's brows knit as he glanced down it. "Each of these boys gave you six stamps?" "Twenty-one sixpences, ten-and-six," said Dig, rehearsing his mental arithmetic. "Yes, sir. I really didn't mean to cheat, sir." "Yes, you did," yapped Dig, who now that he was to finger his winnings had perked up wonderfully.
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