Tell England | Page 6

of a remarkably fine woman. In this
battle of wits he undoubtedly won. And it is a fact that throughout life
he made a point of winning, as all shall see, who read Rupert Ray's
story.
He was a mischievous, tumbling scamp, I suppose; but what are we to
say? All young animals gambol, and are saucy. Only this morning I
was watching a lamb butt its mother in the ribs, and roll in the grass,
and dirty its wool--the graceless young rascal!
§3
But come, we are keeping Edgar Gray Doe waiting.
If you have ever steamed up the Estuary of the Fal, that stately Cornish
river, and gazed with rapture at the lofty and thick-wooded hills,
through which the wide stream runs, you have probably seen on the
eastern bank the splendid mansion of Graysroof. You have admired its
doric façade and the deep, green groves that embrace it on every side.
Perhaps it has been pointed out to you as the home of Sir Peter Gray,
the once-famous Surrey bowler, and the parent of a whole herd of
young cricketing Grays.
It was in this palatial dwelling that little Edgar Gray Doe awoke to a
consciousness of himself, and of many other remarkable things; such
things as the broad, silver mouth of the Fal; the green slopes, on which
his house stood; the rather fearsome woods that surrounded it; and,
above all, the very obvious fact that he was not as other boys. For
instance, his cricketing cousins, these Gray boys, were sons with a
visible mother and father, and, in being so, appeared to conform to a
normal condition, while he was a nephew with an uncle and aunt.
Again these fellows were blue-eyed and drab, and, as such, were decent
and reasonable, while he was brown-eyed and preposterously
fair-haired. To be sure, it was only his oval face that saved him from
the horrible indignity of being called "Snowball."

One morning of that perfect summer, which was the sixth of Rupert
Ray, and the eighth of Archie Pennybet, Edgar Gray Doe felt some
elation at the prospect of a visit from a very imposing friend. This
person was staying down the stream at Falmouth; and he and his
mother had been invited by Lady Gray to spend the day at Graysroof.
His name was Archie Pennybet. And the power of his personality lay in
these remarkable qualities: first, he enjoyed the distinction of being two
years older than Master Doe; secondly, he had a genius for games that
thrilled, because they were clearly sin; and thirdly, his hair was dark
and glossy, so he could legitimately twit other people with being
albinos.
And to-day this exciting creature would have to devote himself entirely
to Edgar Doe, as the Gray boys were safely billeted in public and
preparatory schools, and there was thus no sickening possibility of his
chasing after them, or going on to their side against Edgar.
Edgar Doe knew that Mrs. Pennybet and Archie were coming in a
row-boat from Falmouth, and it was a breathless moment when he saw
them stepping on to the Graysroof landing-stage, and Lady Gray
walking down the sloping lawn to meet them.
"Hallo, kid," shouted Archie. "Mother, there's Edgar!"
Rather startled by this sudden notoriety, Edgar approached the new
arrivals.
"Hallo, kid," repeated Master Pennybet; and then stopped, his supply of
greetings being exhausted.
"Hallo," answered Edgar, slowly and rather shyly, for he was two years
younger than anyone present.
"Welcome to the Fal," said Lady Gray to Mrs. Pennybet. "Archie, are
you going to give me a kiss?"
"No," announced Archie firmly. "I don't kiss mother's friends now."
Lady Gray concealed the fact that she thought her guest's little boy a
hateful child, and, having patted his head, sent him off with Edgar Doe
to play in the Day-nursery.
Of course the Master of the Ceremonies in the Day-nursery was Master
Pennybet. Master Doe was his devoted mate. The first game was a
disgusting one, called "Spits." It consisted in the two combatants facing
each other with open umbrellas, and endeavouring to register points by
the method suggested in the title of the game; the umbrella was a shield,

with which to intercept any good shooting. Luckily for their
self-respect in later years, this difficult game soon yielded place to an
original competition, known as "Fire and Water." You placed a
foot-bath under that portable gas-stove which was in the Day-nursery;
you lit all the trivets in the stove to represent a house on fire; and you
had a pail, ready to be filled from the bathroom, which, need we say,
was the fire-station. The rules provided that the winner was he who
could extinguish the conflagration raging in the foot-bath in the shortest
possible time, and with