The counsellors rose as he passed down their midst, and seeing how pleasantly he smiled they slowly answered, and one by one they smiled back at him as he went upon his errand.
The moment he had really gone they turned as one man to Rouse.
“But why is it?” they demanded. “What’s gone wrong? He’s only just come here. How on earth does he know who’s the best captain?”
Rouse shrugged his shoulders.
“It’s that idiotic little fat boy,” said Terence. “He’s the cause of all the trouble. He went and laid evidence against Rouse as a bully and the Head believes him, and then he came over to see how Rouse behaved in his natural haunts and Rouse was singing a part-song with the house porter. He smote the Head with the leg of a table, too—just to emphasise the fact.”
“What fat boy?” demanded Pointon. “Why haven’t they got hold of the fat boy then? Why don’t they bump him? Let’s go and fetch the fat boy and make him go to the Head and withdraw what he said.”
“It’s no use,” said Terence. “Toby went and tackled him himself and asked him whether he knew what he’d done. And eventually he said that he’d go to the Head and try to make it all right. So he did, the fool; and when the Head saw Toby again he said the little hero had been to him and asked that Rouse should not be punished in any way, because he was afraid that if he were fellows would blame him and call him a sneak. So the Head said it was clear that somebody had been getting at him, and demanded that Toby should find out who it was and bring him up before him. Toby said that the only chap who’d got at him was he himself, and explained the true story of what had happened; and he also said that another new kid called Carr was a witness, and that I was too. But the Head wouldn’t believe it. He said there was too much hanky-panky going on. He said that at Wilton he had the reputation of being an infallible judge of character and that he knew as well as he knew his own name that Rouse had been bullying the kid. As a matter of fact that was only one point. He was looking at the new-comers’ footer, and he says Rouse made a dead set for the same boy ... and then, of course, he came across to the house to see what Rouse did when he thought nobody was looking, and that’s how he found him.”
He made an expressive gesture and was silent.
“Look here,” said Pointon, “be more explanatory. What was the bullying? What have witnesses got to do with it?”
Terence explained.