Tales of St. Austin's

I obser

tever you like,' sai

nty-

rules

ppeared on the official cheek. The referee, who had been

nd without bouncing

rules say.' And he blew his whistle with an air of finality. The secret

And he arranged the fixture. It then transpired that Old Crockford was a village, and, from the appearance of the team on the day of battle, the Old Crockfordians seemed to be composed exclusively of the riff-raff of same. They wore green shirts with a bright yellow leopard over the heart, and C.F.C. woven in large letters about the chest. One or two of the outsides played in caps, and the team to a man criticized the referee's decisions wi

ll out to their centres in a way which made Merevale, who looked after the football of the School, feel that life was worth living. And when once it was out, things happened rapidly. MacArthur, the captain of the team, with Thomson as his fellow-centre, and Welch and Bannister on

ds often pay. He dodged a furious sportsman in green and yellow, and went away down the touch-line. He was almost through when he stumbled. He recovered himself, but too late. Before he could pass, som

d-there is always a doctor in

ad?' asked

smashed. Nothing dangerous, of course. Be all right in a month or

g to blow the whistl

ied off, and the referee ble

rthur, 'who the deuce am I to

I believe. But, I say, did you ever see su

asts are visitors, if you come to think of it. I'd like to wring

man with the beard. I'll get

ol. He accepted the commission cheerfully, a

at had happened. After a time he began to grow thoughtful, and when there was a line-out went and stood among the three-quarters. In this way much of Charteris's righteous retribution miscarried, but once or twice he had the pleasure

' he said, apropos o

een nice for you,

u w

time you're pa

eard the las

low,' said Charteris che

Welch and MacArthur, and walked back with them to

MacArthur. 'Where have

us

ght to scratch this match next year. Te

, we tackle pretty hard ourselves. I know I always try and go my hardest. If the

en a decent tackle and a bally scrag like the one that doubled T

ave been fairly riled. You can't expect a man to be in an a

cellent persons who always try, when po

d by Prescott? It's a liberal education. Now, there you are, you see. Take Prescott. He's never crocked a man seriously in his life. I don't count being winded. That's absolutely an accident. Well, there you are, then. Prescott weighs thirteen-ten, and he's all muscle, and he goes like a battering-ram. You'll own that. He goes as hard as he jolly well kno

rthur, 'I suppos

rteris. 'I wish I'

ch, 'you were talking

as he

ris la

aid I hadn't heard the last o

did yo

be sure and look in any time he was passing

if he mean

with the Old Man or some other competent bodyguard. "'Orrible outrage, shocki

strenuously

y, 'I'm not rotting. You see, the man lives in St

s anything of the rules, he'll know that Stapleton's out of b

xpeditions to Stapleton. You know you wouldn't go there once a month if it wasn't o

four hundred already in stock. Besides, things would be so slow if you always kept in bounds. I always feel like a cross between Dick Turpin an

ol,' said Welch, ru

xactly why he was worried, but he undoubtedly was. Welch had a very grave and serious mind. He shared a study with Charteris-for Charteris, though not yet a School-prefect, was part owner of a study-and close observation had convinced him that the latter

e point of all your lunacy is. I don't know if you're aw

e person. Beneath my ban that mystic man shall suffer, coute que coute, Matilda. He sat upon me-publicl

ibable suavity, when a member of one of the opposing teams, in effecting a G. O. Smithian dribble, cannoned into him. To preserve his balance-this will probably seem a very thin line of defence, but 'I state but the facts'-he grabbed at the disciple of Smith amidst applause, and at that precise moment a new actor appeared on the scene-the Headmaster. Now, of all the things that lay in his province, the Headmaster most disliked to see a senior 'ragging' with a junior. He had a great idea of the dignity of the senior school, and did all that in him lay to see that it was kept up. The greater number of the juniors with whom the senior was found ragging, the more heinous the offence. Circumstantial evidence was dead against Charteris. To all outward appearances he was one of the players in the impromptu football match. The soft and fascinating beams of the simper, to quote Mr Jabberjee once more, had not yet faded from the act. A well-chosen word or two from the Headmagisterial lips put a premature end to the football match, and Charteris was proceeding on his way when the Headmaster called him. He stopped. The Headmaster was angry. So angry, indeed, that he did what in a more lucid interval he would not have done. He hauled a senior over the coals in the hearing of a number of juniors, one of whom (unidentified) giggled loudly. As Charteris had on previous occasions obs

udge against th

diot, really,

d the finer feelings. He can't see that I am doing this simply for the Old Man's good. Spare the rod, spile

ent into his study. 'Buck up. I'll

on with Welch t

ace his boots, 'rotting apart, you really are a m

id Charteris, 'I'm all righ