The Hill | Page 6

As a room it was disappointing at first sight, almost commonplace. But in it, John soon found out, everything for weal or woe which concerned the Manor had taken place or had been discussed. There were two fireplaces and two large doors. The boys passed through one door; upon the threshold of the other stood the butler, holding a silver salver, with a sheet of paper on it.
"What cheek!" murmured Scaife.
"Eh?" said John.
"Dirty Dick isn't here. Just like him, the slacker! And when he does come over on our side of the House, he slimes about in carpet slippers--the beast!"
Lawrence entered as Scaife spoke. John saw that his strongly-marked eyebrows went up, when he perceived the butler. He approached, and took the sheet of paper. The butler said impressively--
"Mr. Rutford is busy. Will you call over, sir?"
At any rate, the butler, Dumbleton, was worthy of the best traditions of the Manor. He had a shrewd, clean-shaven face, and the deportment of an archbishop. The Head of the House took the paper, and began to call over the names. Each boy, as his name was called, said, "Here," or, if he wished to be funny, "Here, sir!"
"Verney?"
The name rang out crisply.
"Here, sir," said John.
The Head of the House eyed him sharply.
"Kinloch?"
No answer.
"Kinloch?"
Scaife answered dryly: "Kinloch's portmanteau has come." Then Dumbleton said in his smooth, bland voice, "His lordship is in the drawing-room with Mr. Rutford."
The boys exchanged knowing glances. Scaife looked contemptuous. The next moment the last name had been called, and the boys scurried into the passages. Lawrence was the first to leave the hall. Impulsively, John rushed up to him.
"I didn't mean to be funny, I didn't really," he panted.
"Quite right. It doesn't pay," Lawrence smiled grimly, "for new boys to be funny. I saw you didn't mean it."
Lawrence spoke in a loud voice. John realized that he had so spoken purposely, trying to wipe out a new boy's first blunder.
"Thanks awfully," said John.
He reached his room to find three other boys busily engaged in abusing their house-master. They took no notice of John, who leaned against the wall.
"His lordship is in the drawing-room with Mr. Rutford."
A freckle-faced, red-headed youth, with a big elastic mouth had imitated Dumbleton admirably.
"What a snob Dick is!" drawled a very tall, very thin, aristocratic-looking boy.
"And fool," added Scaife. "This sort of thing makes him loathed."
"It is a sell his being here."
All three fell to talking. The question still festering in John's mind was answered within a minute. The "brute" was Rutford. Towards the end of the previous term gossip had it that the master of the Manor had been offered an appointment elsewhere. Whereat the worthier spirits in the ancient house rejoiced. Now the joy was turned into wailing and gnashing of teeth.
"Is he a beast to us?" said John.
The freckle-faced boy answered affably, "That depends. His Imperial Highness"--he kicked the new portmanteau hard--"will not find Mr. Richard Rutford a beast. Far from it. And he's civil to the Demon, because his papa is a man of many shekels. But to mere outsiders, like myself, a beast of beasts; ay, the very king of beasts, is--Dirty Dick."
And then--oh, horrors!--the door of No. 15 opened, and Rutford appeared, followed by a seemingly young and very fashionably dressed lady. The boys jumped to their feet. All, except Scaife, looked preternaturally solemn. The house-master nodded carelessly.
"This is Scaife, Duchess," he said in his thick, rasping tones. "Scaife and Verney, let me present you to the Duchess of Trent."
He mouthed the illustrious name, as if it were a large and ripe greengage.
The duchess advanced, smiling graciously. "These"--Rutford named the other boys--"are Egerton, Lovell, and--er--Duff."
Scaife, alone of those present, appreciated the order in which his schoolfellows had been named. Egerton--known as the Caterpillar--was the son of a Guardsman; Lovell's father was a judge; Duff's father an obscure parson.
The duchess shook hands with each boy. "Your father and I are old friends," she said to Egerton; "and I have had the pleasure of meeting your uncle," she smiled at John.
Duff looked unhappy and ill at ease, because it was almost certain that his last sentence had been overheard by the house-master. The duchess asked a few questions and then took her leave. She and her son were dining with the Head Master. Rutford accompanied her.
"Did the blighter hear?" said Duff.
"How could he help it with his enormous asses' ears?" said the tall thin Egerton.
Duff, an optimist, like all red-headed, freckled boys, appealed to the others, each in turn. The verdict was unanimous.
"He hates me like poison," said Duff. "I shall catch it hot. What an unlucky beggar I am!"
"Pooh!" said Scaife. "He knows jolly well that the whole school calls him Dirty Dick."
But whatever hopes Duff may have entertained of his house-master's deafness were speedily laid in the dust.