“Plenty that you’ve not had the pluck to do yourself.”
“I dare you to repeat it, you liar!”
“You shall do your own in future, I know that.”
“Dangle, hold your tongue, you cad!”
“I shall do nothing of the kind, you snob!”
Whereupon ensued the most wonderful spectacle of the half, a fight between Clapperton and Dangle. It was nearly dark, and no one was about, and history does not record how it ended. But in Hall that night both appeared with visages suspiciously marred, and it was noted by many an observant eye that diplomatic relations between the two were suspended.
But while old friends had thus been falling out on Rollitt’s account, old enemies had on the same grounds been making it up.
The juniors having recovered of their colds, and finding themselves once more in the full possession of their appetite, their liberty, and their spirits, celebrated their convalescence by a general mêlée in Percy’s room, under the specious pretext of a committee meeting of the shop-directors. This business function being satisfactorily concluded, they turned their attention to the condition of things in general.
That Fellsgarth should have got itself into a regular mess during their enforced retirement caused them no surprise. What else could any one expect?
But that any one should dare to suspect and make things hot for a fellow without consulting them, caused them both pain and astonishment. It quite slipped their memories that not long since some of them had been glad enough to listen to disparaging talk about the School hermit. That was a detail. On the whole they had stuck to him, and they meant to stick to him now!