Well, young Smythe was told about the mystery of the rhododendron bed, and seemed more interested than frightened.
"Hasn't anybody ever seen the thing?" he asked.
"No," answered Steggles, who was there. "The sound it makes is so frightful that chaps generally run for their lives, and never wait to see it."
Smythe was very keen about it.
"I wish my father would come up and hear it," he said.
"The point is," explained Freckles, "that each kid must go past alone. It only growls for kids, and doesn't growl for grown-up people. It is a test of bravery. There are chaps here still who have never been brave enough to pass after the first growl. They were chaps who turned out quite brave in every other way, too."
"What have I to do?" asked Smythe.
"You've got to walk out on an appointed night, after evening school, and go round the rhododendron bed twice, no matter what happens. It is a winter beast, and is never heard in the summer. So it is a winter test. You've just come in time for it," explained Fowle, who was also there.
Smythe had been at Merivale about a fortnight when he was asked to undergo the great kid test.
He thought a bit after this speech from Fowle. Then he asked a question.