“What do you want me for?” he demanded, with an attempt at bluster.
“What do you mean by not coming when we sent for you, when you know perfectly well what you are wanted for?”
“What am I wanted for?” asked Munger, glancing nervously round.
“You know well enough, Munger.”
“How do I know, till you tell me?” snarled the boy.
“If he doesn’t know,” said Barnworth to Ainger, significantly, “we must do as we proposed. I’ll go and get my papers and be ready for you in a minute.”
This meaningless speech had a remarkable effect on Munger. He stared first at one prefect, then at the other; and when Barnworth rose as if to leave the room, he said,—
“Wait—don’t do that. What is it you want to ask?”
“You know that as well as we do. Are you going to say what you know, or not?”
“I don’t know how you got to know anything about it,” began Munger; “it’s a plot against me, and—”