t made me horrid sick. 'Pon my sacred Sam, though,
it's enough to drive a man to drink, havin' an animal like Hoof for
house-master."

"If we attended the matches an' yelled, 'Well hit, sir,' an' stood on
one leg an' grinned every time Heffy said, 'So ho, my sons. Is it thus?'
an' said, 'Yes, sir,' an' 'No, sir,' an' 'O, sir,' an' 'Please, sir,'
like a lot o' filthy fa-ags, Heffy 'ud think no end of us," said McTurk
with a sneer.

"Too late to begin that."

"It's all right. The Hefflelinga means well. _But_ he is an ass. _And_
we show him that we think he's an ass. An' _so_ Heffy don't love us.
'Told me last night after prayers that he was _in loco parentis_,"
Beetle grunted.

"The deuce he did!" cried Stalky. "That means he's maturin' something
unusual dam' mean. Last time he told me that he gave me three hundred
lines for dancin' the cachuca in Number Ten dormitory. _Loco parentis_,
by gum! But what's the odds as long as you're 'appy? _We're_ all right."

They were, and their very rightness puzzled Prout, King, and the
Sergeant. Boys with bad consciences show it. They slink out past the
Fives Court in haste, and smile nervously when questioned. They return,
disordered, in bare time to save a call-over. They nod and wink and
giggle one to the other, scattering at the approach of a master. But
Stalky and his allies had long out-lived these manifestations of youth.
They strolled forth unconcernedly, and returned in excellent shape after
a light refreshment of strawberries and cream at the Lodge.

The Lodge-keeper had been promoted to keeper, _vice_ the murderous
fisherman, and his wife made much of the boys. The man, too, gave them
a squirrel, which they presented to the Natural History Society; thereby
checkmating little Hartopp, who wished to know what they were doing for
Science. Foxy faithfully worked some deep Devon lanes behind a lonely
cross-roads inn; and it was curious that Prout and King, members of
Common-room seldom friendly, walked together in the same direction--that
is to say, northeast.

Now, the Pleasant Isle of Aves lay due southwest. "They're
deep--day-vilish deep," said Stalky. "Why are they drawin' those
covers?"

"Me," said Beetle sweetly. "I asked Foxy if he had ever tasted the beer
there. That was enough for Foxy, and it cheered him up a little. He and
Heffy were sniffin' round our old hut so long I thought they'd like a
change."

"Well, it can't last forever," said Stalky. "Heffy's ba