sorely.'
The bigger of the two boys looked at him speculatively, then quickly returned to his baiting of the smaller. 'Young people today are so dreadfully ill-mannered,' the woman continued, 'and since my dear husband requires to spend so much of his time in London, in his absence they are quite unbiddable. I am vexed to know just what to do in the matter of discipline.'
Nodding pleasantly, Renzi let the woman pass, and began his return by the other bank. He would not allow Kydd to discover his mood, and deliberately put aside thoughts of his friend's fate.
He had not gone more than a few yards when an idea formed, grew, and burst into expression. It was merely an idle thought, but it developed swiftly — and with what possibilities! His depression lifted instantly and he found it difficult to sleep that night.
Early in the morning Renzi mysteriously excused himself and vanished into town on undisclosed business. He was back at noon, and lost no time in finding Kydd. 'I'd be obliged to you, should you spare me the odd hour, Tom,' he said, with peculiar intensity.
They passed to the left of Holy Trinity church, up past the glebe cottages to the open fields beyond. Here, at Renzi's urging, they turned down the dusty lane to the slate-covered buildings at the end. 'Take a look, Tom.'
Cautiously picking their way over the rubbish in the small courtyard they entered the main structure. It was sturdily built of stone, but decay had allowed the roof timbers to give way and they lay in ruins inside. Nettles populated the rubble.
Kydd looked doubtfully at Renzi's wild expression, but held his tongue.
'There! You see in front of you the fruit of an enlightened intellect.'
Mystified, Kydd tried to make sense of Renzi's ramblings.
Renzi continued, 'Two disparate thoughts, leading inescapably to a fine conclusion — to a
Fearing for his friend's sanity, Kydd took Renzi's arm.
'No! You don't understand,' Renzi said, pulling away. His eyes shone. 'Here we have it. A solution — I have the school building, I have the schoolmaster, we want but resolve.'
The chance meeting with the woman and her children had given Renzi an idea. He had returned to the bookshop and approached the one-legged assistant and determined he was essentially free for other employment. Adding the other side of the equation, Renzi explained, 'Your revered father need fear no loss of visual precision as a schoolmaster, it is not needed, but the worthy citizens of Guildford need a school for their infants that accentuates discipline in these tumultuous times.'
He smiled happily. 'So we establish a school on naval lines - a captain assisted by a strict bo'sun and capable quartermaster. You see, your father will be the principal, your dear self as his assistant and your mother to provide for the infants. And we have a bo'sun with a wooden leg who shall rule all aboard with silver call and cane, showing neither fear nor favour to any.'
Touched by his friend's thoughtfulness and privately reserving judgement as to his suitability as a schoolmaster, Kydd suppressed a stab of excitement at the stability and hope that the plan promised. Affecting reluctance, he growled, 'An' the money? What kind o' plan is it without a pot o' money at the back of it?'
Renzi had plans for this, too. 'You will tell me that Guildford is a strange town, a wicked place that does not give a fair price for a desirable shop in the high street, and places wild value on a pile of stones high and dry away from passing trade.' He feigned dejection, and said, 'So I am undone, my plan is worthless. Let's return to the Red Lion and console ourselves in drink.'
Kydd felt a bursting elation, but determined not to show it. Instead he said grumpily, 'We had best first tell them where we have been wastin' our evening, then.'
'You will know that I've been in the trade since before I was breeched, Thomas, as was my father before me.' Kydd's father was obdurate. 'A Kydd does not abandon all this for the sake of some wild adventure, my son.'
Renzi interjected gently: 'Then what Thomas told me of his uncle in Canada, your brother, is a nonsense, then, Mr Kydd?' It served to bring some sense of proportion to the discussion, and they went to bed on the promise of a serious look at the plan in the morning.
The 'boatswain' attended at the inaugural meeting in the front room of the closed shop the next day. Despite his wooden leg, it was the glint in his eye and his iron-bound manner that inspired the group as nothing else did, and the day was carried.
Within the week, Kydd and Renzi were standing in the grounds of the Kydd schoolhouse.
''Cry havoc! And let slip the dogs of war!'' exclaimed Renzi, and fell upon the ruin, tugging masonry and wizened baulks of timber clear. It was hard work, and sweat streamed from them under the summer sun. Cecilia kept up a running supply of lemon shrub, Kydd's father remaining in the shop to complete outstanding orders.
First, the interior was cleared, and the walls set to rights. The next stage brought out the boatswain with his tackle. He took charge immediately, and with hard, seamanlike orders, perfectly understandable to a brace of foretopmen, had them 'swaying up the yards' and 'tailing onto the topping lift' until the roof beams were all safely in place.
The boatswain pressed some hands for the roof tiling, and before Kydd's amazed eyes, a trim little classroom appeared. A schoolmaster's study and other necessaries were next, and soon a central plinth in the tiny quadrangle was seen stepping a mast — complete with topmast and all the standing rigging proper to such an edifice.
The day came when the mayor was prevailed upon to open the schoolhouse. Three soldiers and a fife arrived from the Royal Surreys, and to the grave glee of the children of the town, they marched about then stood to attention in strict line in front of the mast.
Fine and earnest words were said, and then in this country town, far from the sea, the good folk were treated to the exotic spectacle of the boatswain in his best seagoing gear, solemnly piping a salute to the Union flag of Old England, as it was hauled slowly and impressively up the 'mizzen halliards'.
There was something suspiciously like a tear in Mrs . Kydd's eye as the guests - and prospective parents - inspected the neat buildings. And there was more than a little of the man-o'-war about the scrupulously clean rooms, the squared-off desks and Spartan appointments. The boatswain stumped about, fierce and strict, his silver
