it to-morrow in the Yard, at nine Bill, when everybody
is looking on. You can dodge into the crowd; but if I were you I'd kick
him at the very moment he gets into line, and then he can't pursue. And
if he does pursue--which I'll bet you a bob he don't, he'll have to
tackle you and me."

"I'll do it," said John.

Next day, a whole holiday, at nine Bill, both Caesar and John were
standing close to the window of Custos' den, waiting for Lubber Sprott
to appear. While waiting, an incident occurred which must be duly
chronicled inasmuch as it has direct bearing upon this story. Only the
week before Rutford had come up to the Yard late for Bill, he being the
master whose turn it was to call over. Such tardiness, which happens
seldom, is reckoned as an unpardonable sin by Harrow boys. Briefly it
means that six hundred suffer from the unpunctuality of one. Therefore,
when Rutford appeared, slightly flushed of countenance and visibly
annoyed, the School emphasized their displeasure by derisive cheers.
Rutford, ever tactless where boys were concerned, was unwise enough to
make a speech from the steps condemning, in his usual bombastic style, a
demonstration which he ought to have known he was quite powerless to
punish or to prevent. When he had finished, the School cheered more
derisively than before. After Bill, he left the Yard, purple with rage
and humiliation.

Upon this particular morning, one of the younger masters, Basil Warde,
was calling Bill. The School knew little of Warde, save that he was an
Old Harrovian in charge of a Small House, and that his form reported
him--_queer_. He had instituted a queer system of punishments, he made
queer remarks, he looked queer: in fine, he was generally regarded as a
radical, and therefore a person to be watched with suspicion by boys
who, as a body, are intensely conservative. He was of a clear red
complexion with lapis-lazuli blue eyes, that peculiar blue which is the
colour of the sea on a bright, stormy day. The Upper School knew that,
as a member of the Alpine Club, Warde had conquered half a dozen
hitherto unconquerable peaks.

Into the Yard and into this book Warde comes late. As he hurried to his
place, the School greeted him as they had greeted Rutford only the week
before. If anything, the demonstration was slightly more hostile. That
Bill should be delayed twice within ten days was unheard-of and
outrageous. When the hoots and cheers subsided, Warde held up his hand.