This polite epistle, it may be mentioned, was a revised version of theone which Drummond originally wrote in reply to Sheen's request. Hisfirst impulse had been to answer in the four brief words, "Don't be afool"; for Sheen's letter had struck him as nothing more than acontemptible piece of posing, and he had all the hatred for poses whichis a characteristic of the plain and straightforward type of mind. Itseemed to him that Sheen, as he expressed it to himself, was trying to"do the boy hero". In the school library, which had been stocked duringthe dark ages, when that type of story was popular, there were numerousschool stories in which the hero retrieved a rocky reputation bythrashing the bully, displaying in the encounter an intuitive butoverwhelming skill with his fists. Drummond could not help feeling thatSheen must have been reading one of these stories. It was all very fineand noble of him to want to show that he was No Coward After All, likeLeo Cholmondeley or whatever his beastly name was, in _The Lads ofSt. Ethelberta's_ or some such piffling book; but, thought Drummondin his cold, practical way, what about the house? If Sheen thought thatSeymour's was going to chuck away all chance of winning one of theinter-house events, simply in order to give him an opportunity of doingthe Young Hero, the sooner he got rid of that sort of idea, the better.
If he wanted to do the Leo Cholmondeley business, let him go and chucka kid into the river, and jump in and save him. But he wasn't going tohave the house let in for twenty Sheens.
Such were the meditations of Drummond when the infirmary attendantbrought Sheen's letter to him; and he seized pencil and paper andwrote, "Don't be a fool". But pity succeeded contempt, and he tore upthe writing. After all, however much he had deserved it, the man hadhad a bad time. It was no use jumping on him. And at one time they hadbeen pals. Might as well do the thing politely.
All of which reflections would have been prevented had Sheen thought ofmentioning the simple fact that it was Joe Bevan who had given him thelessons to which he referred in his letter. But he had decided not todo so, wishing to avoid long explanations. And there was, he felt, achance that the letter might come into other hands than those ofDrummond. So he had preserved silence on that point, thereby wreckinghis entire scheme.
It struck him that he might go to Linton, explain his position, and askhim to withdraw in his favour, but there were difficulties in the wayof that course. There is a great deal of red tape about the athleticarrangements of a house at a public school. When once an order has goneforth, it is difficult to get it repealed. Linton had been chosen torepresent the house in the Light-Weights, and he would carry outorders. Only illness would prevent him appearing in the ring.
Sheen made up his mind not to try to take his place, and went throughthe days a victim to gloom, which was caused by other things besideshis disappointment respecting the boxing competition. The Gotfordexamination was over now, and he was not satisfied with hisperformance. Though he did not know it, his dissatisfaction was dueprincipally to the fact that, owing to his isolation, he had beenunable to compare notes after the examinations with the others. Doingan examination without comparing notes subsequently with one's rivals,is like playing golf against a bogey. The imaginary rival against whomone pits oneself never makes a mistake. Our own "howlers" stand out inall their horrid nakedness; but we do not realise that our rivals haveprobably made others far worse. In this way Sheen plumbed the depths ofdepression. The Gotford was a purely Classical examination, with theexception of one paper, a General Knowledge paper; and it was in thisthat Sheen fancied he had failed so miserably. His Greek and Latinverse were always good; his prose, he felt, was not altogether beyondthe pale; but in the General Knowledge paper he had come down heavily.
As a matter of fact, if he had only known, the paper was anexceptionally hard one, and there was not a single candidate for thescholarship who felt satisfied with his treatment of it. It was toquestions ten, eleven, and thirteen of this paper that Cardew, of theSchool House, who had entered for the scholarship for the sole reasonthat competitors got excused two clear days of ordinary school-work,wrote the following answer:
See "Encylopaedia Britannica," _Times_ edition.
If they really wanted to know, he said subsequently, that was theauthority to go to. He himself would probably misinform themaltogether.
In addition to the Gotford and the House Boxing, the House Fives nowcame on, and the authorities of Seymour's were in no small perplexity.
They met together in Rigby's study to discuss the matter. Theirdifficulty was this. There was only one inmate of Seymour's who had achance of carrying off the House Fives Cup. And that was Sheen. Thehouse was asking itself what was to be done about it.
"You see," said Rigby, "you can look at it in two ways, whichever youlike. We ought certainly to send in our best man for the pot, whateversort of chap he is. But then, come to think of it, Sheen can't verywell be said to belong to the house at all. When a man's been cut deadduring the whole term, he can't be looked on as one of the house verywell. See what I mean?""Of course he can't," said Mill, who was second in command atSeymour's. Mill's attitude towards his fellow men was one of incessanthostility. He seemed to bear a grudge against the entire race.
Rigby resumed. He was a pacific person, and hated anything resemblingrows in the house. He had been sorry for............