"So we thought, sir; and I went to represent the facts to Trieve——"
"Well?"
"I'm not much of a peacemaker, I fear, sir. Trieve refused to listen to me. He insisted upon whopping Scaife for what he called disobedience and impudence. Upon my honour, sir, I tried, we all tried, to persuade Scaife to take his whopping quietly, but he seemed to go quite mad. He has a violent temper, sir——"
"Yes, yes."
"A very violent temper. He—he——"
"Frothed at the mouth," put in a bystander. "I particularly noticed that."
"Really, really——"
"Yes," said Lovell, nodding his head reflectively. "He frothed at the mouth, and then——"
"Grew quite black in the face," interpolated a third boy, who was determined that Lovell should not carry off all the honours.
"I should say—purple," amended Lovell. "And then he gave——"