CHAPTER XXVII
DICK'S GREAT PLAN
No one was more delighted to hear of Chippy's clever work in connection with the robbery than his fellow patrol-leader, Dick Elliott. Part of Dick's delight, if the truth must be told, was on his own account. 'Now,' he said to himself, 'if I can only get permission to go myself, I ought to be sure of Chippy as my companion for the week.'
What did this mean? It meant that Dick was turning over in his mind a splendid plan which he had formed for Whitsun week, if only he could gain permission to carry it out.
He was burning to go a real scouting journey—a journey upon which he would be cast upon his own resources, sleeping under the sky, or in a hay-loft or barn, and marching through the country, patrol staff in hand, taking what might come. He thought it would be splendid if he could set out on such a tramp with Chippy for a companion; and surely, after Chippy's splendid bit of work for the firm, it would be easy to beg for a week's holiday for him.
The Grammar School was always closed in Whit-week for local reasons. The fine old building stood at one side of the wide market-place, and this place was the scene of a great annual fair—a fair as old as the town itself, and possibly older. In former days, when manners were ruder and rougher, the school had not been closed during Whitsun Fair, and traditions still existed among the schoolboys of wild pranks played by their predecessors among the booths and stalls. In this way enmity arose between the boys and the fair-folk—an ill-feeling which had more than once given rise to pitched battles and serious rioting, as the town records went to prove. So towards the close of the eighteenth century the practice arose of closing the school during the fair, and forbidding the boys to frequent the market-place. During the hundred years and more that had passed since then the fair had fallen off very much, but the Whit-week holiday was still given at the school.
Dick's first move in the matter was to go to his uncle and lay the whole affair before him, including his hopes of having Chippy as a companion.
'I don't see that you could come to much harm in a few days,' said his uncle, when Dick had finished. 'I suppose you want me to back you up with your father and mother.'
'That's just it, uncle,' cried Dick; 'if you'll only do that, I shall be awfully glad.'
'Well, go ahead,' said his uncle; 'I'll do what I can for you.'
Even with his uncle's help Dick had some difficulty in gaining his parents' consent. At last his father was struck with a brilliant idea, which he thought would settle the affair very neatly. 'We'll let him go, as he's so keen on it,' said Mr. Elliott to his wife; 'but we'll soon have him back. I've thought of a plan.' And he explained it.
That evening Dick was in the schoolroom busy with his lessons for the next day, when he was summoned to the study, where his father was sitting by the fire with the evening paper.
'Well, Dick,' said Mr. Elliott, 'about that scouting idea of yours, now.'
'Oh, father,' burst out Dick, 'I can go, can't I? And Chippy as well? I'm sure you ought to be willing to spare him for a week.'
'Perhaps, perhaps,' laughed Mr. Elliott; 'but wait a little. I'm going to put a plan before you, to take it or leave it. Here it is: You shall start Whit-Monday morning, and I'll give you a couple of half-sovereigns. One will be for the expenses of yourself and your companion——'
'Hooray! Chippy's coming!' yelled Dick.
'Your companion on the road,' went on Mr. Elliott; 'and you must give me your word as a scout that you will not go outside that ten shillings for any expense whatsoever. The other half-sovereign is for your rail-fare home as soon as you are on your beam-ends—and that will be pretty soon, I shouldn't wonder. It will cover you up to sixty miles third-class, and you're not likely to get outside that radius on your feet.'
'And we can stay out till the ten shillings is gone, father?' cried Dick.
'Up till Saturday night,' returned Mr. Elliott. 'You must be home again before Sunday.' He chuckled as he said this, for he did not suppose for an instant that the scouts' trip would last more than a day or two. 'They'll soon run through a trifling sum like ten shillings,' he had said to his wife, 'and then, in honour bound, they must return.'
Dick gave his word joyfully, and returned to the schoolroom to gloat over the happy time ahead, when a pair of brother scouts would march out upon the world in search of adventure. The next day he sought out Chippy, and imparted the glorious news. The Raven's eyes glittered again at the thought of such a splendid time, and he entered into the romance of the thing with a zest even deeper than Dick's own; for Chippy's life had known little change and little real pleasure until the boy scouts' movement had claimed him for its own.
'We'll camp same as in the books,' cried Chippy, his voice huskier than ever in his excitement; 'an' we'll practise them dodges o' cookin' the grub, so as we'll eat on the cheap. Ten bob! Why, ten bob! We'll goo fur on ten bob!'
'And it will be all right about your wages for the week, Chippy,' said Dick; 'I've settled about that with Uncle Jim. He laughed, and said he rather fancied the firm wouldn't grumble at that.'
Chippy smiled and nodded, and then the boys plunged into eager discussion of things they must do and master in order to be ready for this noble trip.