The Cock-House at Fellsgarth Part 22

"Humph!" grunted Percy--"rather civil--I hear he gives rather good grub.

I vote we go."

"May as well. It gets us off preparation too," said Cash.

"Who said _you_ were in it?" replied Percy. "Catch me taking you unless you behave. I've a good mind to take Clapperton and Brinkman and Dangle and Fullerton."

This threat reduced the clan to obedience at once, and Percy sat down presently, and wrote in his most admired style--

"Wheatfield major," (the "major" was heavily underlined) "is much obliged to Mr Stratton for his invitation to him to tea in his room, and he will be glad to bring the following of his friends, if he has no objection, with him; viz. Lickford, Ramshaw, Cash, and Cottle. With kind regards from P.W.;" and sent the note over by the hand of the youngest of the Modern juniors.

This diversion served for a time to heal the mental ravages of the morning, and to occupy the attention of the company most of the afternoon.

"Case of Sunday-go-to-meeting, isn't it?" said lickford.

"Rather. Mind you tog up well, you chaps; I'm not going to take four louts out to tea with me, I promise you."

Whereupon ensued great searchings of hearts and wardrobes, to see what could be done in the way of appropriate decoration. The invitation came at an awkward time, for it was Friday afternoon, and Mrs Wisdom rarely sent home the was.h.i.+ng before Sat.u.r.day. Consequently it was a work of some difficulty to muster five clean collars among the party, still less as many s.h.i.+rt-fronts.

Lickford spent at least an hour over his last Sunday's s.h.i.+rt with ink- eraser, trying to get it to look tidy; while Cottle, more ingenious, neatly gummed pieces of white paper over the dirty spots on his.

A great discussion took place as to chokers. Percy, who had one, threatened to leave behind any one not similarly adorned. It was only by adroit cajolery, and persuading him that he, as personal conductor of the party, had a right to be sweller than the rest, that he could be induced to waive the point.

The same argument had to be urged with regard to boots, as none of the others had patent leathers, which Percy insisted was the first thing any one looked to see if you had on at a party. It was urged that as most of the time would be spent with the feet under the table, this, though sound in law, was not in the present case of such vital importance in equity. Objection waived once more.

Finally, when all was ready, Percy held a full-dress parade of his forces, and looked each of them up and down as minutely and critically as an officer of the Guards inspecting his company. He objected to Cash wearing white gloves, as he had none himself, and he nearly cas.h.i.+ered Cottle for having a coloured handkerchief, because he himself had a brand-new white one. At length, however, all these little details were arranged, and as the school clock began to chime the hour the order to march was given, and the company proceeded at the double to Mr Stratton's house.

Mr Stratton was more or less of a favourite with both sides at Fellsgarth. He had a small house, in which were representatives of both factions, but most of them of the quieter sort, who, being obliged to live together under one roof, did not see so much to quarrel about out of doors. Mr Stratton, too, took the juniors' divisions of each school, and so kept fairly well in touch with both. Add to this, that he was a good all round athlete, that he had a serene and cheerful temper, and, what is of scarcely less importance, a charming young wife, and you have several very good reasons why he was one of the most popular masters at Fellsgarth. The juniors, on the whole, appreciated him. When he was down on them they forgave him on account of his youth, and when he complained that he could not get them to understand his precepts, they asked one another whose fault was that. Occasionally he condoned all his offences by an act of hospitality, and for once in a way betrayed that he recognised the merits of a select few of his pupils by asking them to tea.

This was evidently the ease now, and as our five young Moderns trotted across the Green, they wished their enemies in Wakefield's could only have looked out and witnessed their triumph.

Little they dreamed that at that moment Wally, Ashby, D'Arcy, and Fisher minor, resplendent in s.h.i.+rts and collars fresh from the wash, with their eight hands encased in white kid and their eight feet in patent leather, were standing about in Mr Stratton's drawing-room, wondering who on earth it was whose non-arrival was preventing the ringing of the tea- bell.

When presently Percy and his party were ushered in, and discovered who were their fellow-guests, it did some credit to their breeding that they remembered to go up and shake hands with Mr and Mrs Stratton, and did not immediately fly at the enemy's throat. The enemy, however, were equally taken aback, and were fully ent.i.tled to half the credit for the self-control with which the discovery was received.

"There's no need to introduce you to one another, I'm sure," said Mr Stratton. "By the way, Wheatfield--you I mean," pointing to Percy, "I must apologise for calling you minor. It was very kind of you to put me right."

Wally glared up at this, and would have liked to put the matter right there and then, but Mrs Stratton said--

"It isn't fair to number twins at all, is it?"

"Unless," suggested D'Arcy, blus.h.i.+ng to find himself talking, "unless you reckon them half each."

This only mended matters to the extent of raising a laugh at the expense of the twins, who felt mutually uncomfortable.

The tea-bell, however, relieved the tension, "Come," said the hostess.

"You must take one another in. No, that won't do, all Mr Wakefield's boys together. Two of you come this side--that's right; and Cottle and Ramshaw, you go over there. Now, you're beautifully sorted. Edward, dear, you mustn't talk till you've handed round the tea-cake to our guests. Lickford, do you take cream and sugar? And you too, twins? Oh really, dear, you don't call those slices, do you? Do let Ashby cut up the cake; I'm sure he knows better than you what a slice is; don't you, Ashby?"

Apparently Ashby did; and the party, thus genially thrown together and set to work, soon began, to experience the balmy influences of a convivial high tea.

Very little was spoken at first except by Mr Stratton, who gave a brief account of a University cricket match in which he had once played--a narrative which served as a most soothing refrain to the silent exercise in which his listeners were engaged. Presently a few questions were put in by the boys, followed by a few observations which gradually, by the adroit piloting of the host, loyally backed up by his wife, developed into a discussion on the use and abuse of "third man up" in modern cricket. After this knotty point was disposed of the talk grew more general, and Wally became aware that his brother was handing him the apricot jam.

The act, simple in itself, meant a great deal to Wally. He liked apricot jam, and had not been able to get at it all the evening. As he now helped himself he admitted to himself that Percy was not quite such a lout as he had occasionally thought him.

"Thanks awfully, Percy. Did you like that toffee I gave you the other day?"

"Rather. It was spiffing," said Percy. "I say, I don't mind writing home this week if you like."

"Oh, don't you grind; I will."

"Really I don't mind."

"No more do I. I say, can you reach the b.u.t.ter?"

"Rather. Better rinse this dish up here between us. There's another down there."

Similar scenes of reconciliation were taking place elsewhere. Cottle was asking Ashby his riddle; D'Arcy was laying down the law in the admiring hearing of Ramshaw and Lickford as to the cooking of sprats on the shovel; while Fisher minor was telling the sympathetic Mrs Stratton all about the people at home. Mr Stratton was wise enough not to disturb this state of affairs by talk of his own. When, however, the meal began to flag, and his guests one by one abandoned the attack, he proposed an adjournment to the drawing-room.

"I want the advice of you youngsters," said he presently, "about something I dare say you all know something about. I mean the old School shop."

The party looked guilty. Didn't they know the tuck-shop?

"It seems to me," said Mr Stratton, "it's rather in a bad way just now; don't you think so? Robert hasn't time to look after it, and wants to give it up. He says it doesn't pay; and really some of his things aren't particularly nice. I went and had a jam tart there this morning.

It was like shoe-leather; and the jam was almost invisible."

Wally laughed. He knew those tarts well.

"I think it would be a pity if it was given up; don't you? We all want a little grub now and then; besides, it's an old School inst.i.tution."

"Robert charges three-halfpence a-piece for those tarts," said D'Arcy.

"Yes--think of that. I've no doubt you could get them for half the price at Penchurch. What I was thinking was, why shouldn't some of us carry on the shop ourselves?"

The boys opened their eyes. The idea of carrying on a tuck-shop on their own account opened a vista of such endless possibilities, that they were quite startled.

"It ought to be easy enough if we manage properly," said Mr Stratton.

"Suppose, now, we who are here were to form a committee and decide to run the shop, how should we begin?"

"It depends on what Robert left behind," said Percy.

"Oh, we wouldn't take over any of his stuff. No, the first thing would be to reckon up how much we should want to start with, and either club together or get some one to advance it. How many tarts do you suppose are sold a day?"

"Hundreds," said Ashby.

"Well, according to Robert, about eighty. But say one hundred. That at a penny each would be about 8 s.h.i.+llings for tarts. Then the ginger- beer. Would twenty bottles do? That would be 3 s.h.i.+llings 4 pence, supposing they cost 2 pence each. That's 11 s.h.i.+llings 4 pence. What next? Apples? Suppose we put them down at 2 s.h.i.+llings 6 pence--13 s.h.i.+llings 10 pence. Sweets? Well, say 2 s.h.i.+llings 6 pence more--16 s.h.i.+llings 4 pence. Nuts 1 s.h.i.+lling--17 s.h.i.+llings 4 pence. It mounts up, you see. We ought at least to have 25 or 30 s.h.i.+llings to start with. Well, I happen to know somebody who would lend that amount to the shareholders for a little time if we should want it. Now suppose we've got our money. We ought to send to some of the best shops and market people in the town to see what we could get our things for. As it happens, Mrs Stratton when she was in Penchurch this morning did inquire, and this is her report. The tarts that we should sell for a penny we could get for three farthings each, so that on a hundred tarts we should make a profit of 2 s.h.i.+llings 1 penny. And the confectioner would send his cart up every day with fresh tarts of different kinds of jam, and take back yesterday's stale ones at half-price. That would be a great improvement, wouldn't it?"

"Rather," said everybody.

"Then the ginger-beer. Would you believe it, if we undertake to take not less than twelve bottles a day daring the half we can get them for a penny each, and might sell them for three-halfpence. That would make a great increase in the demand, I fancy, and every bottle we can sell, we make a dear halfpenny profit. The same with the sweets. You can get most sorts for 9 or 10 pence a pound, and if we sell at a penny an ounce, you see we get 7 or 8 pence profit. I should vote for only getting the best kind of sweets, and making rather less profit than that. At any rate, you see, if we are careful, we ought pretty soon to be able to pay back what we owe, and after providing for the expense of a person to mind the shop and do the selling, put by a little week by week, which will go to the School clubs or anything else the fellows decide. What do you think of the plan?"