A Great Emergency and Other Tales

even if she were in the right, that had nothing to do with it, for girls

she would have agreed with him, and done what he wanted. He often told me that the gentlemen of our family had always been court

ich they are). And we found two of her books with her name written in, and she had put "Henry," and Rupert wrote Etta after it, and "Monkey" after that. So she tore the leaves out. Her hair was always coming out of curl. It was

the town, and I was the innkeeper, with Henrietta's pillow to make me fat, and one of Nurse's clean aprons. Then he was to ask to spend a night in the old Castle, and Henrietta made that the real Castle, which was about nine miles off, and which belonged to our cousin, though he never spoke to us. And a

y bravest, and his name was Rupert. He was rather vexed, too, when she rode the pony bare-backed which had kicked him off. But I think the pony w

e school matches. He said I might take my choice, and play either with girls or boys, but not with both. But I thought it would be very mean to leave Henrietta in the lurch. So I told her I would stick by her, as Rupert had not actually forbidden me. He had given me my choice, and he always kept his word. But she would not let me.

but it was not so expensive as big public schools are, and I believe this was w

boys were so very dirty, and had such horrid habits out of school, that when Rupert was thirteen, and I was ten, he called a counci

ing, bad language, and what the code called "conduct unbecoming schoolfellows and gentlemen." There were a lot of rules in it, too, about cle

family-dearer than anything that could be gained or lost, very much dearer than mere life. The motto of our arms came from an ancestor who lost

Henrietta sneezed when he kissed her, which made her very angry. He put Rupert and me in front of him, to see which of us was most like my father, and I can recall the big

he same; for in the one and twenty years he kept a public-house, he never put so much as a pinch of salt into the beer, nor even a gill of water, unless it was in the evening at fair-time, when the only way to keep the men from fighting was to give them their liquor so that it could not do them much harm." I was very much offended by the comparison of

was why he had the word Honourable before his name, as men in old times used to be called "the Good" or "the

rds. But I think it cured me of bragging, which is a mean ungentlemanly habit, and of

h a mock ceremony and politeness which unfortunately took me in, "If I

ed by boys who had been to the London theatres to surpass the best professional comic actors when he chose to put forth his powers. I did not know this then. I thought him a little formal, but particularly courteous in his m

d the conversation in a sadder tone than the subject seemed to require,

forth for the edification of our nursemaids. I had not proceeded far, when my new friend said, "Won't you walk in and take a seat?" It was recreation time, and the other boys were all out in the playground. I had no special friend as yet; Rupert had stuck to me a

e dusty sunshine streaming in, the white-faced clock on the wall opposite, over which the hands moved with almost incre

d I-tracing some surprise that I should have secured so old and so fine-mannered a boy for a friend-held up my head, an

y, with an open face, blue eyes, and closely curling fair hair, burst in. On seeing us he exclaimed, "Hulloh!" and then

afford him the keenest satisfaction to hear an authentic account of such a man as your esteemed father, whose ch

seated himself on the locker on the other side of me and begged (with l

an to look at the clock, which quickened my pace from my remoter ancestors to what the colonel of the regiment in which my father was an ensign had said of him. I complete

cipitately from the school-room. For one brief instant I fancied I heard him choking with laughter, but when I turned to Weston he got up too, wit

I was left alone in the school-room, into

ellow?" said Rupert kindly; "I

s my proud repl

ad a most pestilent trick of perpetually playing mo

; "it's Weston and Johnson. We

pe to goodness, Charlie, you'

I, and tossing my head

meanour. Secure on the level of a higher friendship, I was mean eno

e upper boys. I was exultingly happy. Not a qualm disturbed the waking dreams in which (after I was in bed) I retold my family tale at even g

eer, the very one who lived at the Castle. The Castle was a show place, and I knew that many of my schoolfellows were glad enough to take their friends and go themselves to be shown by the housekeeper the pictures of my ancestors. On thi

e that I could have failed to see that Weston and Johnson were making fun of me; a

g severities. However, in his anxiety to make me modest and circumspect, I think he rather over-painted the picture, and when I got through the first day without being bullied, and made such creditable friends on the second, I began to think that Rupert's

no fears. My self-satisfaction was not undone till playtime. Then not a boy dispersed to games. They all gathered round West

racy of his imitations. From the head-master to the idiot who blew the organ bellows in church, every inhabitant of the place who was gifted with any recognizable peculiarity was personated at one time or another by the wit of our school. The favourite imitation of all was supposed to be one of the Dialogues of Plato, "omitted by some strange over-sight in, the edition which graces the librar

y chronicle was to supply Weston

d composed overnight, and which he now recited with a mock heroic air and voice, which made every point tell, and kept the boys in convulsions of laughter. Not a s

her to keep my ears strained to catch the first sound of anything dreadful, or to pull the blankets over my head and run the risk of missing

my first and strongest feeling was a sense of relief that Rupert was not at school, and that I could bear the fruits of my own folly on my own shoulders. To be spared his hectoring and l

between the vanity of bragging of one's self and the vanity of bragging of one's relations. Also that it is not dignified or discreet to take new acquaintance into your entire confidence and that even if one is blessed with friends of such q

am glad to know that I would not have run away even if I could. My resolution grew stubborner with every peal of laugh

begged him to promise that he would not take up my quarrel in any way, but leave me to fight it out for myself, which he did. When he came back I think he regretted his promise. Happily he

int, and kept my temper. I must say that Henrie

u've not done anything really wrong or dishon

for Rupert was angry with me, and the holding

ow with a pasty face, who was always creeping after me, and asking me to tell him about my father. "John

as not a very great deal bigger; and if there is any truth in the stories I have

Johnson Minor with my eye. At last I got Henr

ig for us, and stuffed cotton wool in to make them like boxing-gloves, as we used to stuff out the buff-coloured waistcoat when we acted old gentlemen in it. But it did not do much good; for I did not like to hu

d way and began asking me about my father, quite gravely, like a sort of poor imitation of Weston. So I turned round and said, "Whatever my

my nose. I never felt such pain in my life, but it was the only pain I felt on the occasion; afterwards I was much too much

I would cling to Johnson as long as I was able, and hit him whenever I got a chance. I did not quite know when he was hi

ving gloves, with strict and constant reference to the woodcuts in a sixpenny Boxer's Guide) before I got slightly stunned, I do not know; when I came

ands with Johnson. I never felt

pearance of sincerity which puzzled me at the time, and which I did not understand till afterwards-and I apologized for

t to me too, which

hat Johnson got the best of it; but judging from his appearance as we washed ourselves at the school pump,