e School House contingent.
Everyone had grown tired of the Buller's domination. They had been
successful too long. For two years they had not lost a single house
match. The Thirds had been their first reverse; but even then they had
triumphed over all their outhouse opponents. This was the first
occasion, since Gordon had been at Fernhurst, that the Buller's colours
had been lowered by an outhouse side. It signified the breaking up of
their rule. Gordon shouted like the Vengeance following the tumbrils. He
roared loudly under "the Bull's" nose, stamped off the field to tea,
without a thought of the effect that his demonstration might have had
upon "the Bull" himself.

As it happened, to "the Bull" the incident meant a lot.

"What is the reason of it?" he said to Felston that evening. "How have I
made these School House men, and especially Caruthers, hate me? They
seem to delight in the defeat of my house. Of course, I can understand
their wanting their house to beat mine, but why should they worry so
much about Claremont's doing so? I can't understand it; and Caruthers
will be leading the school scrum in two years. We must not have bad
feeling between the houses. Honest rivalry is all right; but there seems
so much spite about it all nowadays. It was not so when I was a boy, and
it wasn't so three years ago. I don't understand."

A climax was reached in the Two Cock, a match rendered famous in
Fernhurst history by the amazing refereeing of a new master named
Princeford, who had come as a stop-gap for one term. The match was
played in the mud and slush, and was entirely devoid of incident. The
play rolled from one end of the ground to the other. Archie performed
prodigies of valour; Gordon did some brilliant things; Collins was quite
fierce; but good football was impossible under the circumstances. Early
in the first half, amid tremendous cheering, Lovelace scored a fine try,
by the touch-line. There was no doubt about it. The school lined up
behind the posts. But Princeford would have none of it. He came up,
fussing and important:

"No try, there. Knock on. Scrum!"

A gasp went up from both sides. Was the man blind?

"What is the fool talking about?" thundered Gordon.

Princeford was round in a second: "Who said that?"

Gordon stepped forward.

"Ah, I shall remember you."

The game continued; the outhouses amazed at such luck; the School House
sullen and indignant. The play developed into a series of forward