“You always manage house affairs much better than I could, Frank,” he said.
“Don’t know about that, sir. But this affects more than the house.”
Mr. Adams lit his pipe. He rather wanted to play golf, but Maddox seldom bothered him with problems, and it might be well to listen.
“Fire ahead, then,” he said.
“Well, sir, I had to lick David a couple of days ago for having cribs,” began Maddox.
“Why isn’t the little beast higher in his form then?” remarked Adams.
“I was coming to that. I learned from—well, from another fellow—that everybody cribs in Remove A, that it’s absolutely the regular thing, which is rotten. Also I learned that David cribs only about enough to avoid impots, whereas other fellows crib their way to the top of the class. It isn’t fair, sir.”
Adams decided to go into this.
“Shut the door, Frank,” he said. “Of course, all you say is confidential, unless you give me leave to mention it. Go on!”
“Well, sir, it’s really all old—it’s Mr. Tovey’s fault,” said Maddox. “You see, he’s so jolly blind, that fellows practically must crib.”