CHAPTER IV.
THE SUPPER CLUB.
As this story is to be a history of the Triple Alliance, and not of TheBirches, it will be necessary to pass over many things which happenedat the preparatory school, in order that full justice may be done to theimportant parts played by our three friends in an epoch of strange andstirring events at Ronleigh College.
Diggory, by the daring exploit described in the previous chapter, wonall hearts; and instead of being looked upon as a new boy, was regardedquite as an old and trusty comrade. Acton displayed marked favourtowards the Triple Alliance, and was even more friendly with Diggory andJack Vance than with his room and class mates, Shaw and Morris.
The Philistines seemed, for the time being, paralyzed by the humiliationof their mud bath, and for many months there was a complete cessationfrom hostilities.
It was perhaps only natural that in time of peace a brave knight likeActon should turn his thoughts from war to love-making, and therefore Ishall make no excuse for relating a little experience of his whichmust be introduced as a prelude to the account of the formation of thefamous supper club.
At the very commencement of the summer term it was plain to everybodythat something was wrong with the dux; he seemed to take no interest inthe doings of his companions in the playground, and only once rousedhimself sufficiently to bang Cross with a leg-guard for bowling awfulwides at cricket.
At length, one afternoon, Diggory and Jack Vance on entering the shedfound him sitting on the carpenter's bench, with his chin resting in hishand, and a most ferocious expression on his face.
"Hullo! what's up?"
Acton stared blankly at the new-comers until the question had beenrepeated; then he sat up and straightened his back with the air of onewho has made a great resolve.
"I don't mind telling you two," he said. "You know I've said before thatI meant some day to propose to Miss Eleanor. Well," he added, stabbingthe bench with the gimlet, "I'm going to do it."
"I've saved five and ninepence," continued the speaker, "to buy a ringwith, but I can't make up my mind whether I'd better speak or write toher. What do you think?"
"I should say," answered Diggory, after a moment's thought, "that thebest thing would be to toss up for it."
"All right; have you got a coin?"
"No, but I think I've got a brass button. Yes, here it is. Now, then,front you speak, and back you write. There you are--it's a letter!"
"Well, now," said Acton, getting off the bench and sticking his handsdeep in his trousers pockets, "what had I better say? I shall befifteen in August; I thought I'd tell her my age, and say I didn't mindwaiting."
"I believe it's the girl who always says that," answered Jack Vance,kicking a bit of wood into a corner.
"Then, again, I don't know how to begin. Would you say 'Dear MissEleanor,' or 'Dear Miss Welsby'? I think 'Dear Eleanor' sounds rathercheeky."
"I'll tell you what I should do," answered Diggory, who seemed to have agreat idea of letting the fates decide these matters: "I should write'em all three on slips of paper and then draw one."
"Well, I'm going to write the letter in 'prep' this evening, and let herhave it to-morrow. Did you notice I gave her a flower this morning, andshe stuck it in her dress?"
"Yes; but fellows are often doing that," answered Jack Vance, "and shealways wears them, either in her dress or stuck up somehow under herbrooch."
"Oh, but this was a white rose, and a white rose means something, thoughI don't know what. At all events, she'll have the letter to-morrow, andI'll tell you fellows when I give it her, only of course you mustn'tbreathe a word to any one else."
"All right: we won't," answered Diggory, "except to old Mugford, becausehe's one of the Alliance, and we've sworn not to have any secrets fromeach other, and he won't split."
That evening the Triple Alliance lay awake until a late hour discussingthe situation. Mugford's opening comment was certainly worthrecording,--
"I hope she'll accept him."
"Why?"
"Why, because if she does, I should think old Welsby'll give us ahalf-holiday."
It was evident at breakfast, to those who were in the know, that Actonwas prepared for the venture. He was wearing a clean collar and newnecktie, and ate only four pieces of bread and butter, besides hisbacon.
"He's shown me the letter," whispered Diggory to Jack Vance; "only Ipromised I wouldn't say what was in it, but it ends up with a piece ofpoetry as long as this table!"
After morning school was the time agreed upon for the dux to cast thedie which was to decide his future; and as soon as the classes weredismissed, Jack Vance and Diggory met him by appointment in one cornerof the garden.
"I've done it," he said, looking awfully solemn. "She was in the hall,and I gave it to her as I came out. I say, how many _t's_ are there in'attachment'?"
Jack Vance thought one, Diggory said two; and the company then relapsedinto silence, and stood with gloomy looks upon their faces, as thoughthey were waiting to take part in a funeral procession.
At length a voice from the house was heard calling, "Fred--Fred Acton!"The dux turned a trifle pale, but pulling himself together, marched offwith a firm step to learn his fate.
"She called him Fred," murmured Diggory; "that sounds hopeful."
"Oh, that's nothing," answered Jack Vance; "Miss Eleanor always callsfellows by their Christian names. There's one thing," he added, after afew moments' thought--"if she'd cut up rough over the letter, she mighthave called him Mr. Acton. Hullo, here he comes!" As he spoke Actonemerged from the house, and came down the path towards them; his strawhat was tilted forward over his eyes, and his cheeks were glowing likethe red glass of a dark-room lamp. He sauntered along, kicking up thegravel with the toe of his boot.
"Well, what happened?" inquired Jack Vance.
No answer.
"What's the matter ?" cried Diggory; "what did she say?"
"Why, this!" answered the other, in a voice trembling with suppressedemotion: "she said I was a silly boy, and--and--_gave me a lump ofcake!_"
If any one else had done it, the probability is Acton would have slainthem on the spot. Diggory opened his eyes and mouth wide, and thenexploded with laughter. "Oh my!" he gasped, "I shall die, I know Ishall! Ha, ha, ha!"
Acton eyed him for a moment with a look of indignant astonishment; thenhe began to smile, Jack Vance commenced to chuckle, and very soon allthree were laughing in concert.
"Well, I think it's rather unfeeling of you fellows," said the rejectedsuitor; "I can tell you I'm jolly cut up about it."
"I'm awfully sorry," answered Diggory, "but I couldn't help laughing.Cheer up; why, think, you won't have to get the ring now, so you can dowhat you like with that five and ninepence you saved. Why, it's worthbeing refused to have five and ninepence to spend in grub!"
"Ah, Diggy !" said the other, shaking his head in a mournful manner,"wait till you're as old as I am: when you're close on fifteen you'llthink differently about love and all that sort of thing."
As has already been hinted, it was the failure of this attempt on thepart of the dux to win the heart and hand of Miss Eleanor thatindirectly brought about the formation of the famous supper club.About a week after the events happened which have just been described,Acton invited the Triple Alliance to meet the "House of Lords" in thework-shed, to discuss an important scheme which he said had been in hismind for some days past; and the door having been locked to excludeoutsiders, he commenced to unfold his project as follows:--
"I've been thinking that during the summer term, and while the weather'swarm, our two rooms might form a supper club. We'd hold it, say, once aweek, when pocket-money is given out, and have a feed together; one timein your room, and the next in ours, after every one's gone to bed.You know I saved some money at the beginning of the term to buy anengagement ring with; but I don't want it now, so I'm going to spend thetin in grub, and if you like I'll stand the first feed."
There was a murmur ex
pressive of approbation at this generous offer,mingled with sympathy for the unhappy circumstance which gave rise toit, and which was now an open secret.
"Oh," said Shaw, "that's a grand idea! I know my brother Bob, who's ata big school at Lingmouth, told me that he and some other chaps formed asupper club and held it in his study. It's by the sea, and they used togo out and catch shrimps; and they only had one old coffee-pot, thatthey used to boil over the gas; so they cooked the shrimps in it first,and made the coffee after. One night they only had time to heat it uponce, and so they boiled the shrimps in the coffee; and Bob says theydidn't taste half bad, and that they always used to do it after, to savetime."
"Well, I propose that we have one," cried Morris.
The resolution was carried unanimously. Acton was elected president,and by way of recognizing the mutual interest of the Triple Alliance,Jack Vance was appointed to act as secretary, and it was decided to holdthe first banquet on the following night.
"We can buy the grub to-morrow," said Acton; "but there's one thing weought to fetch to-day, and that is, I thought we might have, say, sixbottles of ginger-beer. Then each man must take his own up to bed withhim this evening, and hide it away in his box or in one of his drawers."
This was accordingly done, and, as it happened, was the cause of theonly disaster which attended the formation of the club. For the firstweek in June the weather was unusually hot: a candle left all dayin the "Main-top" was found drooping out of the perpendicular, and whenthe Triple Alliance retired to rest their bedroom felt like an oven.They were just dozing off to sleep, when all three were suddenlystartled by a muffled bang somewhere close to them. In an instant theywere sitting up in bed, rubbing their eyes with one hand and graspingtheir pillows with the other.
"Look out, they're coming!" whispered Jack Vance; "wasn't that somethinghit the door?"
"It sounded as if something fell on the floor," answered Diggory."I wonder if anything's rolled off either of the washstands."
Jack Vance reconnoitred the passage, while Diggory and Mugford examinedthe room; but nothing could be found to account for the disturbance.
"It must have been the fellows in the 'Main-top.' I expect they droppeda book or upset a chair. Don't let's bother about it any more."
The following morning, however, the mystery was explained. The boyswere hastily putting on their clothes, when Mugford, who had just thrownaside a dirty collar, gave vent to an exclamation of dismay, whichattracted the attention of his two companions.
"Hullo! what's up?"
"Why, look here! If this beastly bottle of ginger-beer hasn't gone andburst in the middle of my box!"
The first meeting of the supper club was a great success. How everActon and his noble friends had managed to smuggle upstairs, under theirjackets, a pork-pie, a plum-cake, a bag of tarts, and a pound ofbiscuits, was a feat which, as Jack Vance remarked, "beat conjuring."
Shortly after midnight the Triple Alliance wended their way to the"House of Lords," where they found the three other members quite readyto commence operations. The good things were spread out on the top of achest of drawers, and the company ranged themselves round on theavailable chairs and two adjacent beds, and commenced to enjoy therepast.
"Ah, well," sighed Acton, with his mouth full of pork-pie, "I'm ratherglad for some things that I didn't get engaged. It must be rather abore having to spend all your money in rings and that sort of thing,instead of in grub; though I really think I'd have given up grub forMiss Eleanor."
"I wonder," said Morris, who was of a more prosaic disposition, "how itis that it's always much jollier having a feed when you ought not tothan at the proper time. For instance, eating this pork-pie at a table,with knife and fork and a plate, wouldn't be a quarter the fun it ishaving it like we're doing now--cutting it with a razor out of Acton'sdressing-case, and knowing that if we were cobbed we should get into ajolly row."
"Talking about rows over feeds," said Acton, "my brother John is atRonleigh College, and I remember, soon after he went there, he said theyhad a great spree in his dormitory. One of the chaps had had a hampersent him, and they smuggled the grub upstairs; and when they thought thecoast was clear, they spread a sheet on the floor, and laid out the grubas if it were on a table-cloth. The fellow who was standing treat wasrather a swell in his way, and among other things he'd got his jam putout in a flat glass dish. It was a fine feed, and they'd just begun,when they heard some one coming. They'd only just got time to turn outthe gas and jump into bed before the door opened, and in came one of themasters called Weston. Well, of course, they all pretended to beasleep. But the master had heard them scrambling about, and he walkedin the dark up the aisle between the beds, saying, 'Who's been out ofbed here?' Then all of a sudden he stuck his foot into the glassjam-dish, and it slid along the floor, and down he came bang in themiddle of all the spread. John said that when the gas was lit theycouldn't help laughing at old Weston: he'd rammed one elbow into a boxof sardines, and there was a cheese-cake stuck in the middle of hisback. But oh, there was a row, I can tell you!"
This yarn produced others, and the time passed pleasantly enough, untilfull justice had been done to the provisions, and hardly a crumbremained.
"Phew! isn't it hot?" said Diggory; "let's open the window a bit.The moon must be full," he continued, as he raised the sash; "it'snearly as light as day. I can see all down the garden, and--hullo!quick, put the candle out!"
Every one started to his feet, and the light was extinguished in amoment.
"What is it--what's the matter?" they all asked. "There's some one inthe playground," whispered Diggory, as the others crowded round him."You see the door at the bottom of the garden; well, just when I spokesome one opened it and looked up at the house, and then shut it again.It must have been Blake, and he's seen our light."
"It can't be Blake," answered Acton; "he's gone to Fenley to play in acricket match, and isn't coming back till to-morrow morning. Old Welsbywent to bed hours ago; and, besides, what should either of them want tobe doing down there at this time of night? You must have been dreaming,Diggy."
"No, I wasn't; I saw it distinctly. It must be old Blake. He's comehome sooner than he expected, and I shouldn't wonder if he's goinground by the road to take us by surprise."
"He can't do that," answered Acton, "because I've got the key of theshed, and the door-key's hung up inside."
Acton remained watching at the window while the others hastily clearedaway all traces of the feast; the Triple Alliance retired to their ownroom, and nothing further was heard or seen of the mysterious visitor.
The next morning it was discovered that Mr. Blake had not returned fromFenley, and the five other members of the supper club were inclined toregard Diggory's vision of the midnight intruder as a sort of wakingnightmare, resulting from an overdose of cake and pork-pie. Two dayslater Cross came into the schoolroom in a great state of excitement.
"Look here, you fellows," he exclaimed: "some one keeps taking away mythings out of the shed, and not putting them back. Last week I missed asaw and two chisels, and now that brace and nearly all the bits aregone. It's a jolly shame!"
Carpentering was Cross's great hobby, and his collection of tools was anexceptionally good one, both as regards quantity and quality. Everyone, however, denied having touched the things mentioned. A generalsearch was made; but the missing articles could not be found, and atlength the matter was reported to Mr. Welsby.
The latter was evidently greatly displeased on hearing the facts of thecase. As soon as dinner was over he called the school together, andafter standing for some moments in silence, frowning at the book hecarried in his hand, said briefly,--
"With regard to these tools, there is a word which has never been usedbefore in connection with any pupil at The Birches, and which I hope Imay never have occasion to use again. I can hardly think it possiblethat we have a _thief_ in the house. I am rather inclined to imaginethat some one has removed the things and hidden t
hem away in joke; ifso, let me tell him that the joke has been allowed to go too far, andthat, unless they are returned at once, a shadow of doubt will be castupon the honour and integrity of all here present. It is impossible forsuch large articles as a saw and a brace to be mislaid or lost on suchsmall premises as these, and I trust that before this evening you willreport to me that the things have been found. I have purposely allowedthe key of the shed to remain in your own possession, feeling certainthat your behaviour as regards each other's property would be inaccordance with the treatment which one gentleman expects to receivefrom another. You may go."
There was little in the nature of a scolding in this address, and yetsomething in it caused every one to leave the room in a state of greatexcitement. Acton and Jack Vance especially fairly boiled with wrath.
"What old Welsby says is quite right," remarked the latter; "and untilthose things are found, we may all be looked upon as thieves."
The search, however, proved fruitless; and, what was worse, in turningover the contents of the shed, Acton discovered that a bull's-eyelantern belonging to himself had disappeared from the shelf on which itusually stood; while Mugford declared that a box of compasses, which hehad brought down a few days before to draw a pattern on a piece ofboard, was also missing.
Directly after tea Acton button-holed Diggory, and taking him asidesaid, "Look here, I'm in an awful rage about these thing's beingprigged, because, of course, I've got the key of the shed; and didn'tyou hear what old Welsby said about it? It looks uncommonly as if Iwere the thief. You remember what you said the other night when we hadthat feed, about seeing that man? D'you think there _is_ any one whocomes here at night and steals things?"
"Well, I'm certain I saw some one in the playground when I told you.It was a man; but whether he comes regularly and goes into the shed Idon't know, but I think we ought to be able to find out."
"How?"
"Oh, some way or other; I'll tell you to-morrow." That night, longafter the rest of the house were asleep, the Triple Alliance lay awakeengaged in earnest conversation; and in the morning, as the boys wereassembling for breakfast, Diggory touched Acton on the shoulder andwhispered,--
"I say, we've thought of a plan to find out if any one goes into theshed at night."
"Who's 'we'?"
"Why, the Triple Alliance; we thought it out between us. Sneak out ofthe house directly after evening 'prep,' and meet me in the playground,and I'll show you what it is."
At the time appointed Acton ran down the path, and found Diggory waitingfor him by the shed.
"Look," said the latter, "I've cut a little tiny slit with my knife ineach door-post, about three feet from the ground, and I'm going tostretch this piece of black cotton between them. No one will see it,and if they go through the door, the thread will simply draw out of oneof the slits without their noticing it, and we shall see that it's beendisturbed. Jack Vance says that when he's been out shooting with hisguv'nor he's seen the keeper put them across the paths in a wood to findout if poachers have been up them. Now unlock the door, and let's goinside."
In front of the bench, where the ground had been much trodden, there wasa great deal of loose dust. Diggory went down on his hands and knees,and producing an old clothes-brush from his pocket, swept about a squareyard of the ground until the dust lay in a perfectly smooth surface.
"There," he said, rising to his feet again; "we'll do this the lastthing every night, and any morning if we find the cotton gone we mustlook here for footprints, and then we ought to be able to tell if it'sa man or a boy."
"Don't you think we ought to tell Blake about that man you saw?" askedActon, as they walked back to the schoolroom.
"Well, I don't see how we can," answered Diggory. "The first thinghe'll ask will be,' Who saw him?' I shall say, 'I did;' and then he'llwant to know how I saw the playground door from my bedroom window, whichlooks out on the road; and then the fat'll be in the fire, and it'll allcome out about that supper."
Regularly every evening, as soon as supper was over, the two boys stoledown into the playground to set their trap; but when morning came therewas no sign of the shed having been entered. This went on for nearly amonth, but still no result.
"I don't think it's any good bothering about it any more," said Acton;"the thief doesn't mean to come again."
"Well, we'll set it to-night," answered Diggory, "and that shall be thelast time."
The following morning Acton was sauntering towards the playground, whenDiggory came running up the path in a state of great excitement."I say, the cotton's gone!"
Acton rushed down, unlocked the door of the shed, and went inside.
"Hullo!" he exclaimed, as Diggory followed; "_it is_ some man. Look atthese footprints, and hobnailed boots into the bargain!"