登陆注册
35293100000045

第45章 A LITTLE PREP.(5)

"Shut your fat mouth," said Stalky, dancing with impatience. "Leave it to your Uncle Stalky, and he'll have the Head on toast. If you say a word, Beetle, till I give you leave, I swear I'll slay you. _Habeo_Capitem_crinibus_minimis._ I've got him by the short hairs! Now look as if nothing had happened."There was no need of guile. The school was too busy cheering the drawn match. It hung round the lavatories regardless of muddy boots while the team washed. It cheered Crandall minor whenever it caught sight of him, and it cheered more wildly than ever after prayers, because the Old Boys in evening dress, openly twirling their mustaches, attended, and instead of standing with the masters, ranged themselves along the wall immediately before the prefects; and the Head called them over, too--majors, minors, and tertiuses, after their old names.

"Yes, it's all very fine," he said to his guests after dinner, "but the boys are getting a little out of hand. There will be trouble and sorrow later, I'm afraid.

You'd better turn in early, Crandall. The dormitory will be sitting up for you. Idon't know to what dizzy heights you may climb in your profession, but I do know you'll never get such absolute adoration as you're getting now.""Confound the adoration. I want to finish my cigar, sir.""It's all pure gold. Go where glory waits, Crandall--minor."The setting of that apotheosis was a ten-bed attic dormitory, communicating through doorless openings with three others. The gas flickered over the raw pine washstands.

There was an incessant whistling of drafts, and outside the naked windows the sea beat on the Pebbleridge.

"Same old bed--same old mattress, I believe," said Crandall, yawning. "Same old everything. Oh, but I'm lame! I'd no notion you chaps could play like this." He caressed a battered shin. "You've given us all something to remember you by."It needed a few minutes to put them at their ease; and, in some way they could not understand, they were more easy when Crandall turned round and said his prayers--a ceremony he had neglected for some years.

"Oh, I _am_ sorry. I've forgotten to put out the gas.""Please don't bother," said the prefect of the dormitory. "Worthington does that."A nightgowned twelve-year-old, who had been waiting to show off, leaped from his bed to the bracket and back again, by way of a washstand.

"How d'you manage when he's asleep?" said Crandall, chuckling.

"Shove a cold cleek down his neck."

"It was a wet sponge when I was junior in the dormitory... Hullo! What's happening?"The darkness had filled with whispers, the sound of trailing rugs, bare feet on bare boards, protests, giggles, and threats such as:

"Be quiet, you ass!... Squattez-vous on the floor, then!... I swear you aren't going to sit on _my_ bed!... Mind the tooth-glass," etc.

Sta--Corkran said," the prefect began, his tone showing his sense of Stalky's insolence, "that perhaps you'd tell us about that business with Duncan's body.""Yes--yes--yes," ran the keen whispers. "Tell us""There's nothing to tell. What on earth are you chaps hoppin' about in the cold for?""Never mind us," said the voices. "Tell about Fat-Sow."So Crandall turned on his pillow and spoke to the generation he could not see.

"Well, about three months ago he was commanding a treasure-guard--a cart full of rupees to pay troops with--five thousand rupees in silver. He was comin' to a place called Fort Pearson, near Kalabagh.""I was born there," squeaked a small fag. "It was called after my uncle.""Shut up--you and your uncle! Never mind him, Crandall.""Well, ne'er mind. The Afridis found out that this treasure was on the move, and they ambushed the whole show a couple of miles before he got to the fort, and cut up the escort. Duncan was wounded, and the escort hooked it. There weren't more than twenty Sepoys all told, and there were any amount of Afridis. As things turned out, I was in charge at Fort Pearson. Fact was, I'd heard the firing and was just going to see about it, when Duncan's men came up. So we all turned back together. They told me something about an officer, but I couldn't get the hang of things till I saw a chap under the wheels of the cart out in the open, propped up on one arm, blazing away with a revolver. You see, the escort had abandoned the cart, and the Afridis--they're an awfully suspicious gang --thought the retreat was a trap--sort of draw, you know--and the cart was the bait. So they had left poor old Duncan alone. 'Minute they spotted how few we were, it was a race across the flat who should reach old Duncan first. We ran, and they ran, and we won, and after a little hackin' about they pulled off. I never knew it was one of us till I was right on top of him. There are heaps of Duncans in the service, and of course the name didn't remind me. He wasn't changed at all hardly. He'd been shot through the lungs, poor old man, and he was pretty thirsty. I gave him a drink and sat down beside him, and--funny thing, too--he said, 'Hullo, Toffee!' and I said, 'Hullo, Fat-Sow! hope you aren't hurt,' or something of the kind. But he died in a minute or two--never lifted his head off my knees... I say, you chaps out there will get your death of cold. Better go to bed.""All right. In a minute. But your cuts--your cuts. How did you get wounded?""That was when we were taking the body back to the Fort. They came on again, and there was a bit of a scrimmage.""Did you kill any one?"

"Yes. Shouldn't wonder. Good-night."

"Good-night. Thank you, Crandall. Thanks awf'ly, Crandall. Good-night."The unseen crowds withdrew. His own dormitory rustled into bed and lay silent for a while.

"I say, Crandall"--Stalky's voice was tuned to a wholly foreign reverence.

"Well, what?"

同类推荐
  • Driven From Home

    Driven From Home

    本书为公版书,为不受著作权法限制的作家、艺术家及其它人士发布的作品,供广大读者阅读交流。
  • 王文端公集

    王文端公集

    本书为公版书,为不受著作权法限制的作家、艺术家及其它人士发布的作品,供广大读者阅读交流。
  • Poems1

    Poems1

    本书为公版书,为不受著作权法限制的作家、艺术家及其它人士发布的作品,供广大读者阅读交流。
  • The Silent Bullet

    The Silent Bullet

    本书为公版书,为不受著作权法限制的作家、艺术家及其它人士发布的作品,供广大读者阅读交流。
  • 玉清内书

    玉清内书

    本书为公版书,为不受著作权法限制的作家、艺术家及其它人士发布的作品,供广大读者阅读交流。
热门推荐
  • 天行

    天行

    号称“北辰骑神”的天才玩家以自创的“牧马冲锋流”战术击败了国服第一弓手北冥雪,被誉为天纵战榜第一骑士的他,却受到小人排挤,最终离开了效力已久的银狐俱乐部。是沉沦,还是再次崛起?恰逢其时,月恒集团第四款游戏“天行”正式上线,虚拟世界再起风云!
  • 梦的行程

    梦的行程

    主要写了谭馨儿为首的在一个家庭中叛逆成长的故事,最终学业有成
  • 木叶黄色恶魔

    木叶黄色恶魔

    穿越到火影世界,成为漩涡鸣人。本以为可以凭借熟知剧情逍遥自在,谁知道无意间被暗算,身死。所幸被死神救了回来,却沦落为每天要为自己还命的窘境。一个偏离了原来轨迹的火影世界正在诞生。
  • 天行

    天行

    号称“北辰骑神”的天才玩家以自创的“牧马冲锋流”战术击败了国服第一弓手北冥雪,被誉为天纵战榜第一骑士的他,却受到小人排挤,最终离开了效力已久的银狐俱乐部。是沉沦,还是再次崛起?恰逢其时,月恒集团第四款游戏“天行”正式上线,虚拟世界再起风云!
  • 极道狂人

    极道狂人

    在这个武力至上的世界,低调也不是一种正确的选择!不管你表现得再怎么卑微,也可能会被无意碾压,强者舒畅,实力为王!永恒不变的道理!姜山:开始我只是想好好活着而已,处处小心翼翼,后来发现就是在再怎么小心卑微,同阶层都会想着踩你上位,而企图反抗,强者更是随意都能把你碾压,如果想要活得更好,那么唯有变得更强!(已有百万字完本小说,请大家放心阅读!)
  • 侠骨风华

    侠骨风华

    ??江湖上曾经出现过这样的孪生兄弟。他们名字叫阮来沅和阮来源,在邻村寨每年一度的武术友谊赛时,哥哥武威潇洒、一身正气,弟弟争强好胜、心狠手辣……于是演出了一场江湖上黎、阮两家情仇的好戏。
  • 我的23岁美女师娘

    我的23岁美女师娘

    古武传人叶城遵循师命踏入都市,各色美女纷至沓来。石女师娘,清纯校花,靓丽主播,傲娇老师,可爱护士,霸气警花……是龙终究会飞上天,是龙,就要嚣张无限……
  • 末日重生之黑暗时代

    末日重生之黑暗时代

    末世狂欢,重生而看透世间万物,带着往昔的故事穿越今朝,重走当年的路
  • 讲笑话的人
  • 世界边疆

    世界边疆

    世界边疆——位于遥远星河之外,大多数人类幻想中的生物都居住于此。他们在这里生活,显得生机勃勃;他们在这里发展,且全都达到了极高水平。宇宙全域观测,无限增长的单体能力,不同群体间的和谐沟通......周长一行人失落于此,在向导的帮助下开始旅行。他们将途经草原,荒野,途经钢铁铸就的大地,拥有生命的星球......探索,享受,遭遇,调查,在这广阔无边的大地上,谱写独属于文明的故事。