Held Fast For England | Page 3

an uproar.
"What is it, Mr. Purfleet--what is the matter, sir?" and several of the boys sprang from their beds, and ran towards him; the only exceptions to the general excitement being the four or five who were in the secret. These lay shaking with suppressed laughter, with the bedclothes or the corner of a pillow thrust into their mouths, to prevent them from breaking out into screams of delight.
"What is it, sir?"
It was some time before the usher could recover himself sufficiently to explain.
"There is a snake in my bed," he said.
"A snake!" the boys repeated, in astonishment, several of the more timid at once making off to their beds.
"Certainly, a snake," Mr. Purfleet panted. "I put my legs down, and they came against something cold, and it began to twist about. In a moment, if I had not leapt out, I should no doubt have received a fatal wound."
"Where did it come from?"
"What is to be done?"
And a variety of other questions burst from the boys.
"I will run down and get three or four hockey sticks, Mr. Purfleet," one of the elder boys said.
"That will be the best plan, Mason. Quick, quick! There, do you see it moving, under the clothes?"
There was certainly something wriggling, so there was a general movement back from the bed.
"We had better hold the clothes down, Mr. Purfleet," Bob Repton said, pushing himself forward. "If it were to crawl out at the top, and get on to the floor, it might bite a dozen of us. I will hold the clothes down tight, on one side, if someone will hold them on the other."
One of the other boys came forward, and the clothes were stretched tightly across the bed, by the pillow. In a minute or two, Mason ran up with four hockey sticks.
"Now, you must be careful," Mr. Purfleet said, "because if it should get out, the consequences might be terrible. Now, then, four of you take the sticks, and all hit together, as hard as you can--now."
The sticks descended together. There was a violent writhing and contortion beneath the clothes, but the blows rained down fast and, in a very short time, all movement ceased.
"It must be dead, now," Bob Repton said. "I think we can look at it now, sir."
"Well, draw the clothes down very gently; boys, and be ready to strike again, if you see the least movement."
The clothes were drawn down, till the creature was visible.
"It must be a cobra," the usher said, looking at it from a distance. "It is thick and short. It must have escaped from somewhere. Be very careful, all of you."
Mason approached cautiously, to get a nearer view; and then exclaimed:
"Why, sir, it is an eel!"
There was a moment's silence, and then a perfect yell of laughter from the boys. For a moment the usher was dumbfounded, then he rallied.
"You will all go to your beds, at once," he said. "I shall report the matter to Mr. Tulloch, in the morning."
The boys retired, laughing, to their beds; but above the din the usher heard the words, in a muffled voice:
"A man should always be calm, in sudden danger."
Another voice, equally disguised, said:
"Yes, he should first ask himself 'What is this?' then 'What had best be done, under the circumstances?'"
A third voice then took it up:
"It follows that a man of courage will deal coolly with the danger."
Then there was a chorus of half a dozen voices:
"I should despise myself, if I were to act otherwise."
"Silence!" the usher shouted, rushing down the line between the beds. "I will thrash the first boy who speaks."
As Mr. Purfleet had one of the hockey sticks in his hand, the threat was sufficient to ensure silence.
To the relief of the two or three boys engaged in the affair, Mr. Purfleet made no report in the morning. Mr. Tulloch by no means spared the cane, but he always inquired before he flogged and, as the usher felt sure that the snake story would be brought forward, by way of excuse for the trick played upon him, he thought it better to drop it; making a mental note, however, that he would get even with Bob Repton, another time--for he made sure that he was at the bottom of the matter, especially as he had been one of those who had listened to the snake story.
Mr. Purfleet was held in but light respect by the boys. He was a pale young man, and looked as if he had been poorly fed, as a boy. He took the junior classes, and the belief was that he knew nothing of Latin.
Moffat, who took the upper classes, was much more severe, and sent up many more boys to be caned than did the junior usher; but the boys did not dislike him. Caning they