‘In a scratch game between his form and another. He was carting all over the shop. Made thirty something.’
‘We’ll have both of them in, then. Plenty of room. This is the team so far. Wilson, Gregson, Lee, Adams, and Burgess, with Marriott, Reece, and Gethryn. Jolly hot stuff it is, too, by Jove. We’ll simply walk that tankard. Now, for the last places. I vote we each select a man, and nobody’s allowed to appeal against the other’s decision. I lead off with Crowinshaw. Good name, Crowinshaw. Look well on a score sheet.’
‘Heave us the list,’ said Marriott. ‘Thanks. My dear sir, there’s only one man in the running at all, which his name’s Chamberlain. Shove down Joseph, and don’t let me hear anyone breathe a word against him. Come on, Reece, let’s have your man. I bet Reece selects some weird rotter.’
Reece pondered.
‘Carstairs,’ he said.
‘Oh, my very dear sir! Carstairs!’
‘All criticism barred,’ said the Bishop.
‘Sorry. By the way, what House are we drawn against in the first round?’
‘Webster’s.’
‘Ripping. We can smash Webster’s. They’ve got nobody. It’ll be rather a good thing having an easy time in our first game. We shall be able to get some idea about the team’s play. I shouldn’t think we could possibly get beaten by Webster’s.’
There was a knock at the door. Wilson came in with a request that he might fetch a book that he had left in the study.
‘Oh, Wilson, just the man I wanted to see,’ said the Bishop. ‘Wilson, you’re playing against Webster’s next week.’
‘By Jove,’ said Wilson, ‘am I really?’
He had spent days in working out on little slips of paper during school his exact chances of getting a place in the House team. Recently, however, he had almost ceased to hope. He had reckoned on at least eight of the senior study being chosen before him.
‘Yes,’ said the Bishop, ‘you must buck up. Practise fielding every minute of your spare time. Anybody’ll hit you up catches if you ask them.’
‘Right,’ said Wilson, ‘I will.’
‘All right, then. Go, and tell Lee that I want to see him.’
‘Lee,’ said the Bishop, when that worthy appeared, ‘I wanted to see you, to tell you you’re playing for the House against Webster’s. Thought you might like to know.’
‘By Jove,’ said Lee, ‘am I really?’
‘Yes. Buck up with your fielding.’
‘Right,’ said Lee.
‘That’s all. If you’re going downstairs, you might tell Adams to come up.’
For a quarter of an hour the Bishop interviewed the junior members of his team, and impressed on each of them the absolute necessity of bucking up with his fielding. And each of them protested that the matter should receive his best consideration.
‘Well, they’re keen enough anyway,’ said Marriott, as the door closed behind Carstairs, the last of the new recruits, ‘and that’s the great thing. Hullo, who’s that? I thought you had worked through the lot. Come in!’
A small form appeared in the doorway, carrying in its right hand a neatly-folded note.
‘Monk told me to give you this, Gethryn.’
‘Half a second,’ said the Bishop, as the youth made for the door. ‘There may be an answer.’
‘Monk said there wouldn’t be one.’
‘Oh. No, it’s all right. There isn’t an answer.’
The door closed. The Bishop laughed, and threw the note over to Reece.
‘Recognize it?’
Reece examined the paper.
‘It’s a fair copy. The one Monk showed me was rather smudged. I suppose they thought you might be hurt if you got an inky round-robin. Considerate chap, Monk.’
‘Let’s have a look,’ said Marriott. ‘By Jove. I say, listen to this bit. Like Macaulay, isn’t it?’
He read extracts from the ultimatum.
‘Let’s have it,’ said Gethryn, stretching out a hand.
‘Not much. I’m going to keep it, and have it framed.’
‘All right. I’m going down now to put up the list.’
When he had returned to the study, Monk and Danvers came quietly downstairs to look at the notice-board. It was dark in the passage, and Monk had to strike a light before he could see to read.
‘By George,’ he said, as the match flared up, ‘Reece was right. He has.’
