The most massive minds are apt to forget things at times. The mostadroit plotters make their little mistakes. Psmith was no exception tothe rule. He made the mistake of not telling Mike of the afternoon'shappenings.

　　It was not altogether forgetfulness. Psmith was one of those peoplewho like to carry through their operations entirely by themselves.

　　Where there is only one in a secret the secret is more liable toremain unrevealed. There was nothing, he thought, to be gained fromtelling Mike. He forgot what the consequences might be if he did not.

　　So Psmith kept his own counsel, with the result that Mike went over toschool on the Monday morning in pumps.

　　Edmund, summoned from the hinterland of the house to give his opinionwhy only one of Mike's boots was to be found, had no views on thesubject. He seemed to look on it as one of those things which nofellow can understand.

　　"'Ere's one of 'em, Mr. Jackson," he said, as if he hoped that Mikemight be satisfied with a compromise.

　　"One? What's the good of that, Edmund, you chump? I can't go over toschool in one boot."Edmund turned this over in his mind, and then said, "No, sir," as muchas to say, "I may have lost a boot, but, thank goodness, I can stillunderstand sound reasoning.""Well, what am I to do? Where is the other boot?""Don't know, Mr. Jackson," replied Edmund to both questions.

　　"Well, I mean--Oh, dash it, there's the bell."And Mike sprinted off in the pumps he stood in.

　　It is only a deviation from those ordinary rules of school life, whichone observes naturally and without thinking, that enables one torealise how strong public-school prejudices really are. At a school,for instance, where the regulations say that coats only of blackor dark blue are to be worn, a boy who appears one day in even themost respectable and unostentatious brown finds himself looked onwith a mixture of awe and repulsion, which would be excessive if hehad sand-bagged the headmaster. So in the case of boots. School rulesdecree that a boy shall go to his form-room in boots, There is no realreason why, if the day is fine, he should not wear shoes, should heprefer them. But, if he does, the thing creates a perfect sensation.

　　Boys say, "Great Scott, what _have_ you got on?" Masters say,"Jones, _what_ are you wearing on your feet?" In the few minuteswhich elapse between the assembling of the form for call-over and thearrival of the form-master, some wag is sure either to stamp on theshoes, accompanying the act with some satirical remark, or else topull one of them off, and inaugurate an impromptu game of footballwith it. There was once a boy who went to school one morning inelastic-sided boots....

　　Mike had always been coldly distant in his relations to the rest ofhis form, looking on them, with a few exceptions, as worms; and theform, since his innings against Downing's on the Friday, had r............