Alas! how easily things go wrong!
And there follows a mist and a weeping rain,
And life is _never_ the same again!
George Macdonald, _Phantastes_.
Eden felt an immeasurable delight when Walter was allowed to come back
to the dormitory, and now he thought himself happy in a perfect security
from further torment.
But the two tyrants had other views. Harpour, at once passionate and
dogged, was not likely to forget that he had been thwarted and defied;
and if he had been so inclined, Jones would have not allowed him to do
so, but kept egging him on to show his contempt for the younger and
weaker boys who had tried to check his bullying propensities. On the
last occasion when he had ordered Eden to go to Dan's, Eden had taken
Walter's advice, and firmly refused to go. Harpour did not think it
safe to compel him, but he threw out some significant threats, which
filled the little boy with vague alarm and weighed heavily on his
spirits. He did not tell any one of these threats, hoping that they
would end in nothing, and, in case of any emergency, trusting implicitly
on Walter for a generous and efficient protection.
But the threats did _not_ end in nothing.
One night, after the others had fallen asleep, Eden, feeling quite free
from all anxiety, was sleeping more soundly and sweetly than he had done
for a fortnight, when a blaze of light, flashing suddenly upon his eyes,
made him start up in his bed. Harpour and Jones were taking this
opportunity to fulfil their threat of frightening him. At the foot of
his bed stood a figure in white, with a hideous, deformed head, blotched
with scarlet; bending over him was another white figure, with an
enormous black face, holding over its head a shining hand.
In an instant the boy fell back, pale as death, uttering a shriek so
shrill and terrible, so full of wildness and horror, that every other
boy in the dormitory sprang up, alarmed and wide awake.
Walter and Henderson leaped out of bed immediately; and to Walter, who
was unprepared, the start of surprise at what he saw was so sudden, that
for a moment he stood absolutely paralysed and bewildered, because the
shock on the nerves had preceded the recognition, though by an
infinitesimally short time. But Henderson, who knew how Jones and
Harpour had been going on, and what their threats had been, instantly,
and before the abrupt and unusual spectacle had power to unnerve him,
saw the true state of the case, and, springing out upon the figure which
stood at the end of Eden's bed, tore the mask away, stripped off the
sheet, and displayed Jones's face before he had time to hide it,
administering, as he did so, a hearty blow on Jones's chest, which made
that hero stagger several paces back.
Although Walter saw almost at once the trick that was being played with
masks, sheets, and phosphorus, yet the sudden shock upon his nerves not
being _absolutely co-instantaneous_ with the discovery, produced on him
the effect of utter dizziness and horror. Henderson's prompt and
vigorous onslaught aroused him to a sense of the position, and with a
fierce expression of disgust and anger, he bounded upon Harpour, who,
being thus suddenly attacked, dropped upon the floor the dark lantern
which he held, and hastily retreated, flinging the sheet over Walter's
head.
Walter had barely disentangled himself from the folds of the sheet, when
an exclamation from Henderson attracted the notice of all the boys in
the room, and brought them flocking round Eden's bed. Henderson had
picked up the dark lantern, and was kneeling with it over the
unconscious boy, whose face was so ashy white, and who, after several
sharp screams, had sunk into so deep a swoon, that Henderson, unused to
such sights, naturally exclaimed--
"Good God! you've killed him."
"Killed him?" repeated the others, standing aghast.
"Pooh! he's only fainted, you little fools," said Jones, who hurried up
to look in Eden's face. "Here, we'll soon bring him too; Harpour, just
get us some water."
"You shan't touch him, you shan't come near him," said Walter furiously;
"stand back, you hateful bullies. Henderson and I will attend to him;
and, depend upon it, you shall give account for this soon. What! you
_will_ come?" he continued, shaking Jones's arm violently, and then
flinging him back as easily as though he had been a child; "if either
you or Harpour come near the bed I'll fetch Robertson instantly. Eden
would go off again in a swoon, if he saw such brutes as you when he
recovered."
In such a mood Walter was not to be resisted. The two plotters, picking
up their masks, retired somewhat crestfallen, and sat down on their
beds, while the rest, with the utmost tenderness, adopted every means
they knew to recall Eden's fluttered and agitated senses.
But his swoon was deeper than they could manage, and, growing too
violently alarmed to trust themselves any longer, Henderson and Walker
proposed to carry him to the sickroom, and put him at once under the
care of Dr Keith. It was in vain that Jones and Harpour entreated,
threatened, implored them to delay a little longer, lest by taking Eden
to the sickroom, their doings should be discovered. Wholly disregarding
all they said, the two boys uplifted their still fainting friend, and
when Harpour attempted to interfere between them and the door, Cradock
and Franklin, now _thoroughly_ sickened by their proceedings, pulled him
aside and let them pass.
Dr Keith instantly administered to Eden a restorative, and after
receiving from Walter a hurried explanation of the circumstances, gently
told the boys that they would be only in the way there, that Eden was
evidently in a critical position, and that they had better return at
once to their dormitories.
Walter and Henderson, when they returned, were assailed by the others
with eager inquiries, to which they could only give gloomy and uncertain
answers. They would not vouchsafe to take the slightest notice of Jones
or Harpour, but met all their remarks with resolute silence. But before
he went to sleep, Walter said, "I may as well let you fellows know that
I intend to report you to Somers to-morrow."
"Then you'll be a damned sneak," observed Harpour.
"It is not sneaking to prevent brutal bullying like yours, by giving
others the chance of stopping it, and preventing little chaps like poor
Eden, whom you've nearly frightened to death, from being so shamefully
treated. Anyhow, sneaking, or not, I'll do it."
"If you do tell Somers, look out for yourself--that's all."
"I'm not afraid," was the brief retort.
Harpour knew that he meant what he said, and, being now desperate, he
got up half an hour earlier next morning to try and extort from him, by
main force, a promise to hold his tongue about the affair of the night
before. If he had at all understood Walter's character, he might have
saved himself this very superfluous trouble.
Walter was awakened by a shake from Harpour, who, with Jones, was
standing by his head. He saw what was coming, for Harpour, who had a
pair of braces tightly knotted in his hand, briefly opened the
proceedings by saying, "Are you going to sneak about me, or not?"
"To sneak--no; to tell the head of the school--yes."
"Then, by Jove, you shall have something worth telling; I'll take my
revenge out of you beforehand. I shall be sent away--think of that."
"So much the better. One bully the less."
"Oh, that's your tune? Take that." The buckle of the brace descended
sharply on Walter's back, drawing blood; the next instant he had wrested
it out of Harpour's hand, and returned the blow.
The scuffle had awakened the rest. Walter jumped out of bed, and was
hurrying on his trousers and slippers, when Harpour knocked him down.
"Fair play, Harpour," said Henderson and Franklin, angrily seizing
Harpour's arms; "you're surely not going to fight him, Walter?"
"Yes; see fair play, you fellows; Cradock, you will, won't you? Fair
play is all I want. Flip, you see that Jones tries no mean dodge. Now,
Harpour, are you ready? Then take that."
Walter hit him a steady blow in the face, and the fight between these
unequally-matched combatants--a boy not fifteen against a much stronger
boy of seventeen--began. The result could not be dubious. Walter
fought with indomitable pluck; it was splendid to see the sturdiness
with which he bore up under the blows of Harpour's strong fist, which he
could only return at intervals. He was tremendously punished, while
Harpour was barely touched, except by one well-directed blow which
flashed the fire out of his eyes. At last he dealt Walter a heavy blow
full on the forehead; the boy reeled, caught hold of the wash-hand stand
to stay his fall and dragged it after him on the floor with a thundering
crash, dashing the jug and basin all to shivers.
The smash brought in Mr Robertson, whose rooms were nearest to Number
10. He opened his eyes in amazement as he came in. On one of the beds
lay the two masks and dark lantern which had been used to frighten Eden;
on the floor, supported by Franklin and Henderson, sat poor Walter, his
nose streaming with blood, and his face horribly bruised and disfigured;
Harpour sheepishly surveyed his handiwork; and Jones, on the first
alarm, had rushed back to bed, covered himself with blankets, and lay to
all appearance fast asleep.
"Evson! what's all this?" asked the master in astonishment.
Walter, sick and giddy, was in no condition to answer; but the position
of affairs was tolerably obvious.
"Is this _your_ doing?" asked Mr Robertson of Harpour, very sternly,
pointing to Walter.
"He hit me first."
"Liar," said Henderson, glaring up at him.
"Hush, sir; no such language in my presence," said Mr Robertson.
"Cradock, do you mean to say that a big fellow like you could stand by,
and see Harpour thus cruelly misuse a boy not nearly his size."
"It was a fight, sir."
"Fight!" said Mr Robertson; "look at those two boys, and don't talk
nonsense to me."
"I oughtn't to have let them fight, I know," said Cradock; "and I wish,
sir, you'd put Harpour and Jones into another room, they're always
bullying Eden, and it was for him that Evson fought."
"Harpour," said Mr Robertson, "you are absolutely despicable; a viler
figure than you present at this moment could not be conceived. I shall
move you to another dormitory, where some monitor can restrain your
brutality; and, meanwhile, I confine you to gates for a month, and you
will bring me up one hundred lines every day till further notice."
He was leaving the room, but catching sight of Walter, he returned, and
said kindly, "Evson, my poor boy, I'm afraid you're sadly hurt; I'm
truly sorry for you; you seem to have been behaving in a very noble way,
and I honour you. Henderson, I think you'd better go with him to Dr
Keith," he continued; for Walter, though he heard what was said, was too
much hurt and shaken to speak a word.
"Come, Walter," said Henderson, gently helping him to rise; "I hope
you're not very much hurt, old fellow. That brute Harpour won't trouble
you again, anyhow; nor his parasite Jones. Lean on my arm. Franklin,
you come and give Walter your arm, too."
They helped him to the sickroom, for he could barely trail his legs
after him. Dr Keith laid him down quietly on a sofa, put some arnica
to the bruises on his face, and told him to lie still and go quietly to
sleep. "He is not very much hurt," he said, in answer to the inquiries
of the boys; "but the fall he has had is quite sufficiently serious in
its consequences to render absolute rest necessary to him for some days.
You may come and see him sometimes."
"And now, you fellow, Harpour," said Henderson, re-entering the
dormitory; "as you've knocked up Evson, and half killed Eden, _I'll_
tell Somers. Do you hear? and I hope he'll thrash you till you can't
stand."
"He daren't; Robertson's punished me already."
"He dare, and will; you won't get off so lightly as all that."
"You're a set of sneaks; and I'll be even with you yet," growled
Harpour, too much cowed to resent Henderson's defiance.
Henderson laughed scornfully; and Cradock said, "And _I'll_ tell the
whole school what bullies you've been, Harpour and Jones."
"And _I_," said Franklin; "I don't envy you two."
"The school doesn't consist altogether of such softs as your lot,
luckily," answered Harpour.
"Softs or not, we've put a spoke in _your_ wheel for the present,"
answered Franklin. "I congratulate you on the rich black eye which one
of the softs, half your size, has given you."
"They're not worth snarling with, Franklin," said Henderson; "we shall
be rid of him and Jones from Number 10 henceforth; that's one blessing."