The Pothunters | Page 5

to give than to receive. Allen
collapsed.
'... nine ... ten.'
The time-keeper closed his watch.
'Graham wins,' said the referee, 'look after that man there.'

[2]
THIEVES BREAK IN AND STEAL
It was always the custom for such Austinians as went up to represent
the School at the annual competition to stop the night in the town. It
was not, therefore, till just before breakfast on the following day that
Tony arrived back at his House. The boarding Houses at St Austin's
formed a fringe to the School grounds. The two largest were the School
House and Merevale's. Tony was at Merevale's. He was walking up
from the station with Welch, another member of Merevale's, who had
been up to Aldershot as a fencer, when, at the entrance to the School
grounds, he fell in with Robinson, his fag. Robinson was supposed by
many (including himself) to be a very warm man for the Junior Quarter,
which was a handicap race, especially as an injudicious Sports
Committee had given him ten yards' start on Simpson, whom he would
have backed himself to beat, even if the positions had been reversed.
Being a wise youth, however, and knowing that the best of runners may
fail through under-training, he had for the last week or so been going in
for a steady course of over-training, getting up in the small hours and
going for before-breakfast spins round the track on a glass of milk and
a piece of bread. Master R. Robinson was nothing if not thorough in
matters of this kind.

But today things of greater moment than the Sports occupied his mind.
He had news. He had great news. He was bursting with news, and he
hailed the approach of Tony and Welch with pleasure. With any other
leading light of the School he might have felt less at ease, but with
Tony it was different. When you have underdone a fellow's eggs and
overdone his toast and eaten the remainder for a term or two, you begin
to feel that mere social distinctions and differences of age no longer
form a barrier.
Besides, he had news which was absolutely fresh, news to which no
one could say pityingly: 'What! Have you only just heard _that_!'
'Hullo, Graham,' he said. 'Have you come back?' Tony admitted that he
had. 'Jolly good for getting the Middles.' (A telegram had, of course,
preceded Tony.) 'I say, Graham, do you know what's happened?
There'll be an awful row about it. Someone's been and broken into the
Pav.'
'Rot! How do you know?'
'There's a pane taken clean out. I booked it in a second as I was going
past to the track.'
'Which room?'
'First Fifteen. The window facing away from the Houses.'
'That's rum,' said Welch. 'Wonder what a burglar wanted in the First
room. Isn't even a hair-brush there generally.'
Robinson's eyes dilated with honest pride. This was good. This was
better than he had looked for. Not only were they unaware of the
burglary, but they had not even an idea as to the recent event which had
made the First room so fit a hunting-ground for the burgling industry.
There are few pleasures keener than the pleasure of telling somebody
something he didn't know before.
'Great Scott,' he remarked, 'haven't you heard? No, of course you went
up to Aldershot before they did it. By Jove.'
'Did what?'
'Why, they shunted all the Sports prizes from the Board Room to the
Pav. and shot 'em into the First room. I don't suppose there's one left
now. I should like to see the Old Man's face when he hears about it.
Good mind to go and tell him now, only he'd have a fit. Jolly exciting,
though, isn't it?'
'Well,' said Tony, 'of all the absolutely idiotic things to do! Fancy

putting--there must have been at least fifty pounds' worth of silver and
things. Fancy going and leaving all that overnight in the Pav!'
'Rotten!' agreed Welch. 'Wonder whose idea it was.'
'Look here, Robinson,' said Tony, 'you'd better buck up and change, or
you'll be late for brekker. Come on, Welch, we'll go and inspect the
scene of battle.'
Robinson trotted off, and Welch and Tony made their way to the
Pavilion. There, sure enough, was the window, or rather the absence of
window. A pane had been neatly removed, evidently in the orthodox
way by means of a diamond.
'May as well climb up and see if there's anything to be seen,' said
Welch.
'All right,' said Tony, 'give us a leg up. Right-ho. By Jove, I'm stiff.'
'See anything?'
'No. There's a cloth sort of thing covering what I suppose are the prizes.
I see how the chap, whoever he was, got in. You've only got to