Jennings and His Friends

more interesting things. But now with Mr Wilkins in the next room...

Not that Jennings didn't like to learn music. He was even interested in music lessons. which he had with Mr Hind twice a week. But with Mr Wilkins in the next room... For the next two weeks Jennings tried to play the piano without stopping. At the end of this time during his Thursday morning piano lesson with Mr Hind Jennings was playing again and again Beethoven's Minuet in G.

'No, no, no, Jennings!' Mr Hind put his hand on his pupil's arm. 'You always make the same mistake when you come to this place.'

'Yes, I know, sir,' said Jennings. 'Shall 1 play it again?'

'No, please, don't. I think, Jennings, you don't practise properly.'

'Oh, but I do, sir, really, sir,' said Jennings. 'You have to practise properly when Mr Wilkins is in the next room. He always knocks on the wall if I stop to blow my nose.'

'I'm very happy to hear it,' said Mr Hind. 'All right, Jennings, try this again.'

This time he played the piece without any wrong notes.

'Well, sir! I played it without a mistake this time. Soon I'll play it really well, won't I, sir?'

'Hm!' Mr Hind thought for a moment. 'Do you want to hear the Minuet in G played properly?'

'But I played it properly last time, sir,' Jennings said in surprise.

'That's what you think!' Mr Hind got up from his chair and went to the record-player which was standing in one corner of the room. 'I've got a record of that minuet; a very famous pianist plays it on this record. Do you want to hear it?'

'Yes, of course, sir.'

Jennings jumped from the piano stool and hurried to help Mr Hind. He switched on the record-player and opened the lid while Mr Hind was looking for the record. Then they sat down and listened to the music.

'He is playing well,' Jennings thought when he was listening to the record. 'Of course some music sounds better on a good record-player than on the old music room piano. And I think that pianist had more time to practise it. But really he is playing it very well.'

'He hasn't made any mistakes!' exclaimed Jennings when the record stopped. 'I wish I could play the piano like that, sir!'

'Yes, certainly,' Mr Hind answered when he closed the lid of the record-player. . 'And I only hope that it was very useful for you • to listen to this record.'

'Oh, yes, sir, it was,' It was only later that Jennings understood how really useful this record was to him.

Chapter Thirty-One Jennings skates on roller-skates

When Mr Carter went out of Form 5 classroom at the beginning of morning break he saw Jennings who was running along the corridor.

'Jennings, as usual!' Mr Carter said and asked him to stop. 'How many times have I told you not to run in the corridor?'

'I'm sorry, sir,' said Jennings. 'You see, I'm in a hurry. Venables has given me his roller-skates for the whole break.'

'I see.'

'May I go, sir?'

'Yes, you may. But, please, don't run.'

'Thank you, sir,' said Jennings and hurried to the school yard. In the school yard he saw Venables waiting for him with a roller-skate in each hand.

'I'll screw them up for you, and then I'll leave you,' said Venables and took the key from his pocket. 'You see, Temple has just got a parcel and I want to be there when he opens it. Maybe there are some sweets in it.'

Venables quickly screwed up the skates, put the key into his pocket and ran to help Temple to open the parcel.

A moment later Darbishire came into the school yard and saw his friend's wobbling legs.

'Well, it's only the second time that I've tried these skates,' said Jennings. ''Walk with me a little, and I'll be all right.'

'I knew you were not a good skater, Jen,' said Darbishire.

'But these skates are different from the skates that I learned on.'

'All right, Jen. Take me by the arm.'

Jennings took Darbishire by the arm and they made two laps round the school yard, after which Jennings began to skate without his friend's help.

He was finishing his twentieth lap when the bell rang for the end of break. At once all the boys ran to school, and when Jennings ran up to Darbishire, who was waiting for him, there was nobody else in the school yard.

'Take the skates off, Jen, quick!' said Darbishire. 'Old Wilkie is taking us for Geography next lesson, and you know. what there will be if we are late.'

, 'All right, I'll be ready in a minute. But I can't take them off without the key.'

'Well, use the key, be quick!'

'But I haven't got the key. Venables has got it. He screwed the skates for me.' Jennings looked round the empty yard. 'Where has he gone, I wonder!'

'Who, Venables? He's gone into class, I'm sure. I don't think he is going to be late for Old Wilkie's lesson.'

'Yes, but... but how does he think I'm going to take off these skates if I haven't I got the key!'

'You'll have to take them off without the ''key,' said Darbishire.

Jennings tried to do it, but nothing came out of it.

'I shall never take them off without the key,' said Jennings. 'Darbi, run to school and see if you can find Venables.'

'But there isn't time!' exclaimed Darbishire. 'The bell rang hours ago. Old Wilkie may be on his way to the classroom now.'

The lesson usually began five minutes after the bell, but a teacher very often came to his classroom early and expected to find his form ready for the lesson.

Jennings looked at his feet again. The only thing he could do was to take off his shoes and skates at the same time. He took off one shoe. There was a large hole in his sock.

'Look at it, Darbi,' said Jennings and pointed to the hole. 'I'm sure there wasn't a hole this morning.'

'Never mind! Take off the other shoe, quick!'

'Yes, of course.'

Jennings quickly pulled the lace in the other shoe, but this time he tied it into a tight knot.

'Now look what's happened,' Jennings said. 'That's what comes when you do something in a hurry: you pull the wrong lace or the wrong end of the right lace.'

'Don't talk, Jen. Do something,' said Darbishire.

Jennings spent another minute over his shoe and said that he could not do anything.

'I think I've pulled the knot tighter,' he said.

The boys could not cut it because neither of them had a penknife in his pocket. They tried to break the lace but could not do it either: the lace was very strong.

'You'll have to leave it till you come into class and find Venables.'

'But I can't go and find Venables!' he cried. 'I can't go into class in one sock and one roller-skate.'

'You can, if you come now, before Old Wilkie comes.'

'But he may be there already.'

'Yes, I know, but - well, he sometimes gives us some minutes after the bell. If we go now there is still a chance that we'll be there before he comes, but if you are going to talk about it and...'

'Come on then, quick,' Jennings agreed. 'You carry this other skate and go ahead and see that there is nobody in the corridor.'

So with a sock on one foot and a roller-skate on the other Jennings crossed the school yard. When they came