Stalky & Co. by Rudyard Kipling (sad books to read txt) đ
But it was characteristic of the boy that he did not approach his allies till he had met and conferred with little Hartopp, President of the Natural History Society, an institution which Stalky held in contempt, Hartopp was more than surprised when the boy meekly, as he knew how, begged to propose himself, Beetle, and McTurk as candidates; confessed to a long-smothered interest in first-flowerings, early butterflies, and new arrivals, and volunteered, if Mr. Hartopp saw fit, to enter on the new life at once. Being a master, Hartopp was suspicious; but he was also an enthusiast, and his gentle little soul h
Read free book «Stalky & Co. by Rudyard Kipling (sad books to read txt) đ» - read online or download for free at americanlibrarybooks.com
- Author: Rudyard Kipling
- Performer: -
Read book online «Stalky & Co. by Rudyard Kipling (sad books to read txt) đ». Author - Rudyard Kipling
He plunged into his speech with a long-drawn, rasping âWell, boys,â that, though they were not conscious of it, set every young nerve ajar. He supposed they knewâhey?âwhat he had come down for? It was not often that he had an opportunity to talk to boys. He supposed that boys were very much the same kind of personsâsome people thought them rather funny personsâas they had been in his youth.
âThis man,â said McTurk, with conviction, âis the Gadarene Swine.â
But they must remember that they would not always be boys. They would grow up into men, because the boys of to-day made the men of to-morrow, and upon the men of to-morrow the fair fame of their glorious native land depended.
âIf this goes on, my beloved âearers, it will be my painful duty to rot this bargee.â Stalky drew a long breath through his nose.
âCanât do that,â said McTurk. âHe ainât charginâ anything for his Romeo.â
And so they ought to think of the duties and responsibilities of the life that was opening before them. Life was not allâhe enumerated a few games, and, that nothing might be lacking to the sweep and impact of his fall, added âmarbles.â âYes, life was not,â he said, âall marbles.â
There was one tense gaspâamong the juniors almost a shriekâof quivering horror, he was a heathenâan outcastâbeyond the extremest pale of tolerationâself-damned before all men. Stalky bowed his head in his hands. McTurk, with a bright and cheerful eye, drank in every word, and Beetle nodded solemn approval.
Some of them, doubtless, expected in a few years to have the honor of a commission from the Queen, and to wear a sword. Now, he himself had had some experience of these duties, as a Major in a volunteer regiment, and he was glad to learn that they had established a volunteer corps in their midst. The establishment of such an establishment conduced to a proper and healthy spirit, which, if fostered, would be of great benefit to the land they loved and were so proud to belong to. Some of those now present expected, he had no doubtâsome of them anxiously looked forward to leading their men against the bullets of Englandâs foes; to confronting the stricken field in all the pride of their youthful manhood.
Now the reserve of a boy is tenfold deeper than the reserve of a maid, she being made for one end only by blind Nature, but man for several. With a large and healthy hand, he tore down these veils, and trampled them under the well-intentioned feet of eloquence. In a raucous voice, he cried aloud little matters, like the hope of Honor and the dream of Glory, that boys do not discuss even with their most intimate equals, cheerfully assuming that, till he spoke, they had never considered these possibilities. He pointed them to shining goals, with fingers which smudged out all radiance on all horizons. He profaned the most secret places of their souls with outcries and gesticulations, he bade them consider the deeds of their ancestors in such a fashion that they were flushed to their tingling ears. Some of themâthe rending voice cut a frozen stillnessâmight have had relatives who perished in defence of their country. They thought, not a few of them, of an old sword in a passage, or above a breakfast-room table, seen and fingered by stealth since they could walk. He adjured them to emulate those illustrious examples; and they looked all ways in their extreme discomfort.
Their years forbade them even to shape their thoughts clearly to themselves. They felt savagely that they were being outraged by a fat man who considered marbles a game.
And so he worked towards his perorationâwhich, by the way, he used later with overwhelming success at a meeting of electorsâwhile they sat, flushed and uneasy, in sour disgust. After many, many words, he reached for the cloth-wrapped stick and thrust one hand in his bosom. Thisâthis was the concrete symbol of their landâworthy of all honor and reverence! Let no boy look on this flag who did not purpose to worthily add to its imperishable lustre. He shook it before themâa large calico Union Jack, staring in all three colors, and waited for the thunder of applause that should crown his effort.
They looked in silence. They had certainly seen the thing beforeâdown at the coastguard station, or through a telescope, half-mast high when a brig went ashore on Braunton Sands; above the roof of the Golf-club, and in Keyteâs window, where a certain kind of striped sweetmeat bore it in paper on each box. But the College never displayed it; it was no part of the scheme of their lives; the Head had never alluded to it; their fathers had not declared it unto them. It was a matter shut up, sacred and apart. What, in the name of everything caddish, was he driving at, who waved that horror before their eyes? Happy thought! Perhaps he was drunk.
The Head saved the situation by rising swiftly to propose a vote of thanks, and at his first motion, the school clapped furiously, from a sense of relief.
âAnd I am sure,â he concluded, the gaslight full on his face, âthat you will all join me in a very hearty vote of thanks to Mr. Raymond Martin for the most enjoyable address he has given us.â
To this day we shall never know the rights of the case. The Head vows that he did no such thing; or that, if he did, it must have been something in his eye; but those who were present are persuaded that he winked, once, openly and solemnly, after the word âenjoyable.â Mr. Raymond Martin got his applause full tale. As he said, âWithout vanity, I think my few words went to their hearts. I never knew boys could cheer like that.â
He left as the prayer-bell rang, and the boys lined up against the wall. The flag lay still unrolled on the desk, Foxy regarding it with pride, for he had been touched to the quick by Mr. Martinâs eloquence. The Head and the Common-room, standing back on the dais, could not see the glaring offence, but a prefect left the line, rolled it up swiftly, and as swiftly tossed it into a glove and foil locker.
Then, as though he had touched a spring, broke out the low murmur of content, changing to quick-volleyed hand-clapping.
They discussed the speech in the dormitories. There was not one dissentient voice. Mr. Raymond Martin, beyond question, was born in a gutter, and bred in a board-school, where they played marbles. He was further (I give the barest handful from great store) a Flopshus Cad, an Outrageous Stinker, a Jelly-bellied Flag-flapper (this was Stalkyâs contribution), and several other things which it is not seemly to put down.
The volunteer cadet-corps fell in next Monday, depressedly, with a face of shame. Even then, judicious silence might have turned the corner.
Said Foxy: âAfter a fine speech like what you âeard night before last, you ought to take âold of your drill with re-newed activity. I donât see how you can avoid cominâ out anâ marchinâ in the open now.â
âCanât we get out of it, then, Foxy?â Stalkyâs fine old silky tone should have warned him.
âNo, not with his giving the flag so generously. He told me before he left this morning that there was no objection to the corps usinâ it as their own. Itâs a handsome flag.â
Stalky returned his rifle to the rack in dead silence, and fell out. His example was followed by Hogan and Ansell. Perowne hesitated. âLook here, oughtnât weâ?â he began.
âIâll get it out of the locker in a minute,â said the Sergeant, his back turned. âThen we canââ
âCome on!â shouted Stalky. âWhat the devil are you waiting for? Dismiss! Break off.â
âWhyâwhat theâwhere theâ?â
The rattle of Sniders, slammed into the rack, drowned his voice, as boy after boy fell out.
âIâI donât know that I shanât have to report this to the Head,â he stammered.
âReport, then, and be damned to you,â cried Stalky, white to the lips, and ran out.
âRummy thing!â said Beetle to McTurk. âI was in the study, doinâ a simply lovely poem about the Jelly-Bellied Flag-Flapper, anâ Stalky came in, anâ I said âHullo!â anâ he cursed me like a bargee, and then he began to blub like anything. Shoved his head on the table and howled. Hadnât we better do something?â
McTurk was troubled. âPâraps heâs smashed himself up somehow.â
They found him, with very bright eyes, whistling between his teeth.
âDid I take you in, Beetle? I thought I would. Wasnât it a good draw? Didnât you think I was blubbinâ? Didnât I do it well? Oh, you fat old ass!â And he began to pull Beetleâs ears and checks, in the fashion that was called âmilking.â
âI knew you were blubbinâ,â Beetle replied, composedly. âWhy arenât you at drill?â
âDrill! What drill?â
âDonât try to be a clever fool. Drill in the Gym.â
ââCause there isnât any. The volunteer cadet-corps is broke upâdisbandedâdeadâputridâcorruptâstinkinâ. Anâ if you look at me like that, Beetle, Iâll slay you too⊠Oh, yes, anâ Iâm goinâ to be reported to the Head for swearinâ.â
THE LAST TERM.
It was within a few days of the holidays, the term-end examinations, and, more important still, the issue of the College paper which Beetle edited. He had been cajoled into that office by the blandishments of Stalky and McTurk and the extreme rigor of study law. Once installed, he discovered, as others have done before him, that his duty was to do the work while his friends criticized. Stalky christened it the âSwillingford Patriot,â in pious memory of Spongeâand McTurk compared the output unfavorably with Ruskin and De Quincey. Only the Head took an interest in the publication, and his methods were peculiar. He gave Beetle the run of his brown-bound, tobacco-scented library; prohibiting nothing, recommending nothing. There Beetle found a fat arm-chair, a silver inkstand, and unlimited pens and paper. There were scores and scores of ancient dramatists; there were Hakluyt, his voyages; French translations of Muscovite authors called Pushkin and Lermontoff; little tales of a heady and bewildering nature, interspersed with unusual songsâPeacock was that writerâs name; there was Borrowâs âLavengroâ; an odd theme, purporting to be a translation of something, called a âRubaâiyat,â which the Head said was a poem not yet come to its own; there were hundreds of volumes of verseâCrashaw; Dryden; Alexander Smith; L. E. L.; Lydia Sigourney; Fletcher and a purple island; Donne; Marloweâs âFaust â; andâthis made McTurk (to whom Beetle conveyed it) sheer drunk for three daysâOssian; âThe Earthly Paradiseâ; âAtalanta in Calydonâ; and Rossettiâto name only a few. Then the Head, drifting in under pretense of playing censor to the paper, would read here a verse and here another of these poets, opening up avenues. And, slow breathing, with half-shut eyes above his cigar, would he speak of great men living, and journals, long dead, founded in their riotous youth; of years when all the planets were little new-lit stars trying to find their places in the uncaring void, and he, the Head, knew them as young men
Comments (0)