From his own window he took one final peep on to the football ground. There at last he had seen a solitary youth, Harley’s Cinderella, walking with downcast mien aimlessly across his front. It was his son.
In the five minutes that had elapsed since that moment he had endeavoured to reason things out, but it had been like groping one’s way in the dark through some strange underworld. He was utterly bewildered, and he was conscious of fast-growing anger. He eyed his son for a little while petulantly, and at last he spoke.
“There is nobody anywhere about the school,” said he indignantly. “The place is deserted. Can you offer any explanation?”
Roe did not hesitate. He was, in point of fact, glad to get it off his chest. Besides the news was sensational and there is always a certain gratification in breaking news of a kind that makes a man jump out of his slippers.
He spoke incisively.
“Yes,” said he, “I think I can tell you what’s happened. The First Fifteen have gone to Rainhurst to play the match of the season, and every fellow in the school who could has gone over to see the game.”
The effect of this news exceeded all expectation.
For one moment his father merely looked dazed. But as he began to recover Roe slowly backed towards the wall. Then he found himself staring helplessly towards his father’s table, absolutely fascinated by the fixed glare of his wide eyes shining with concentrated anger from behind their spectacles, just as a rabbit is frozen still by the cold eyes of a snake. His father did not speak. He just subsided slowly into his chair and his eyes never left his son’s unhappy countenance. He was looking him through and through, and Roe could see that he was at the same time turning it all over in his mind and looking at this outburst by a fettered school from every possible angle. Nothing was going to escape consideration. The probability was that he was no more vexed at the open lawlessness of such a match than at the astounding fact that the officially appointed captain of football at the school had been left out of the team by those who had selected it. He was very clearly taken aback.
At last his lips jerked open and he spoke, but no muscle of his body moved, and his eyes never for one instant shifted from their close examination of his son. His voice was ominously hard and dry. He said:
“If you knew that this was going to happen why did you not mention it in time for me to stop it?”