The Pothunters | Page 6

break
the window, draw a couple of bolts, and there you are. Shall I go in and
investigate?'
'Better not. It's rather the thing, I fancy, in these sorts of cases, to leave
everything just as it is.'
'Rum business,' said Tony, as he rejoined Welch on terra firma.
'Wonder if they'll catch the chap. We'd better be getting back to the
House now. It struck the quarter years ago.'
When Tony, some twenty minutes later, shook off the admiring crowd
who wanted a full description of yesterday's proceedings, and reached
his study, he found there James Thomson, brother to Allen Thomson,
as the playbills say. Jim was looking worried. Tony had noticed it
during breakfast, and had wondered at the cause. He was soon
enlightened.
'Hullo, Jim,' said he. 'What's up with you this morning? Feeling
chippy?'
'No. No, I'm all right. I'm in a beastly hole though. I wanted to talk to
you about it.'
'Weigh in, then. We've got plenty of time before school.'
'It's about this Aldershot business. How on earth did you manage to lick
Allen like that? I thought he was a cert.'
'Yes, so did I. The 'ole thing there, as Dawkins 'ud say, was, I knocked

him out. It's the sort of thing that's always happening. I wasn't in it at all
except during the second round, when I gave him beans rather in one of
the corners. My aunt, it was warm while it lasted. First round, I didn't
hit him once. He was better than I thought he'd be, and I knew from
experience he was pretty good.'
'Yes, you look a bit bashed.'
'Yes. Feel it too. But what's the row with you?'
'Just this. I had a couple of quid on Allen, and the rotter goes and gets
licked.'
'Good Lord. Whom did you bet with?'
'With Allen himself.'
'Mean to say Allen was crock enough to bet against himself? He must
have known he was miles better than anyone else in. He's got three
medals there already.'
'No, you see his bet with me was only a hedge. He'd got five to four or
something in quids on with a chap in his House at Rugby on himself.
He wanted a hedge because he wasn't sure about his ankle being all
right. You know he hurt it. So I gave him four to one in half-sovereigns.
I thought he was a cert, with apologies to you.'
'Don't mention it. So he was a cert. It was only the merest fluke I
managed to out him when I did. If he'd hung on to the end, he'd have
won easy. He'd been scoring points all through.'
'I know. So The Sportsman says. Just like my luck.'
'I can't see what you want to bet at all for. You're bound to come a
mucker sooner or later. Can't you raise the two quid?'
'I'm broke except for half a crown.'
'I'd lend it to you like a shot if I had it, of course. But you don't find me
with two quid to my name at the end of term. Won't Allen wait?'
'He would if it was only him. But this other chap wants his oof badly
for something and he's leaving and going abroad or something at the
end of term. Anyhow, I know he's keen on getting it. Allen told me.'
Tony pondered for a moment. 'Look here,' he said at last, 'can't you ask
your pater? He usually heaves his money about pretty readily, doesn't
he?'
'Well, you see, he wouldn't send me two quid off the reel without
wanting to know all about it, and why I couldn't get on to the holidays
with five bob, and I'd either have to fake up a lot of lies, which I'm not

going to do--'
'Of course not.'
'Or else I must tell him I've been betting.'
'Well, he bets himself, doesn't he?'
'That's just where the whole business slips up,' replied Jim, prodding
the table with a pen in a misanthropic manner. 'Betting's the one thing
he's absolutely down on. He got done rather badly once a few years ago.
Believe he betted on Orme that year he got poisoned. Anyhow he's
always sworn to lynch us if we made fools of ourselves that way. So if
I asked him, I'd not only get beans myself, besides not getting any
money out of him, but Allen would get scalped too, which he wouldn't
see at all.'
'Yes, it's no good doing that. Haven't you any other source of revenue?'
'Yes, there's just one chance. If that doesn't come off, I'm done. My
pater said he'd give me a quid for every race I won at the sports. I got
the half yesterday all right when you were