“I cannot bear to see a sulky boy,” said Mr. Merry, throwing a disgusted glance at Johnson.
“Will you have tea or coffee, dear?” said Mrs. Merry.
“Oh, either, either; anything will do for me.”
“I always arrange for you to have your choice, dear.”
“Yes, Mother; yes. You take good care of me. You spend your life taking care of people, I am afraid.” Mr. Merry looked round on the boys with an air of rebuking ingratitude.
“Yes, I have done a good deal of taking care in my time. I think I have done very little else.”
“Well, Mrs. Merry, we must begin to take care of you,” said Miss Basden, putting the toast rack near to Mrs. Merry.
“How did you sleep, Miss Basden?” said Mr. Merry, in an extremely interested manner.
“Mrs. Merry,” Miss Basden said, in a rather high monotone, “the boys are saying that the marmalade is watery. I am telling them that no water is used in marmalade, that marmalade does not contain water; so I do not see how it can be.”
“I do not see how it can be, either; but of course I wish to be told if anything is not as nice as it can be. Let me taste the marmalade.”
Miss Basden offered a spoon from the pot.
“It seems to me that it is very nice. Perhaps I am not a judge of marmalade. I do not care to eat it on bread with butter myself. One or the other is enough for me. But it seems to me to be very nice.”
“Mother, don’t water the boys’ preserves,” said Mr. Merry, nodding his head up and down. “Don’t try to make things go further than they will go, you know. The game isn’t worth the candle.”
“I do not understand you, dear. There is never any extra water in preserves. They would not keep if they had water in them. There would not be any object in it. It would be less economical, not more.”
“Oh, well, Mother, I don’t know anything about the kitchen business and that. But if the marmalade is not right, let us have it right another time. That is all I mean.”
“I do not think you know what you mean, dear.”
“No, Mother, no; very likely I don’t.”
“The housekeeping is not your province, Mr. Merry,” said Miss Basden. “You will have us coming and telling you how to teach Latin, if you are not careful.”
“Ah, Miss Basden, ah, you saucy lady! Not such a babel down at that part of the room! Not such a babel. Do you hear me? Be quiet, or go away, and leave the room to civilized people.” Mr. Merry looked fiercely towards the other end of the table, which certainly tended to be the noisier.
“Mr. Burgess is not going to allow us much of his company at breakfast this morning,” said Miss Basden.
“I wonder if Fanny called him,” said Mrs. Merry.
“Yes, she called him,” said Miss Basden.
“Ah! he’s fond of the sheets, is Mr. Burgess. He is fond of the sheets,” said Mr. Merry; while the boys found this talk of the under-master a cause for nudges and smiles.
“I never can understand how people can lie in bed in daylight,” said Miss Basden.
“Now it would do you good to do a little more of it, Miss Basden,” said Mr. Merry. “You do too much of the other thing, as I always tell you. It would do you good to do a little more of it.”
“Oh, that sort of advice does not have much effect on me, Mr. Merry,” said Miss Basden, again cutting bread.
“You give poor Miss Basden a great deal of work to do,” said Mr. Merry, looking down the rows of boys with vague disapproval.
“You must make haste, all of you. Mr. Herrick will be here to read prayers in a minute,” said Mrs. Merry.
“Mother, ought not Mr. Burgess’ bacon to be kept hot?” said Mr. Merry, his voice conveying criticism of Mr. Burgess, and the need of diplomacy with him.
“We do not usually expect people to come down when breakfast is over,” said Mrs. Merry. “The bacon was hot when it was brought in.”
“Fanny,” said Mr. Merry, in a tone of apology to the maid who was waiting, “just put Mr. Burgess’ bacon down in the fender, will you? Thank you, Fanny, very much.”
“I do not like more bread cut than will be eaten,” said Mrs. Merry.
“Mrs. Merry, several boys asked for some more only a minute ago,” said Miss Basden.
“If you asked for it, eat it,” said Mr. Merry. “If you asked for it, eat it. Do not give the trouble of cutting it, and then cause more disturbance by refusing it. If you have eaten all the rest, you can easily manage a little more.”
As the chairs were pushed from the table, Mr. Herrick entered. He was the actual owner of the school, Mr. Merry being his partner. He was a short, impressive old man with a solid neck and head, heavy grey hair, and features with a touch of the Jew. He was a writer, and kept his time for his own, and read prayers to the school by way of acting as its head. He had placed his school in the old university town, to be near the college where he had spent his youth. Mr. Merry stood out in the room, half bowing towards him.
“Good morning, Mr. Herrick, good morning. It is a frosty day. That is why we are a little late. Frost makes good appetites; that is one good thing that it does. We were just going to get up from the table, when there was a demand for more bread and butter. By no means the first demand, eh, boys?”
The boys signified amongst themselves their sense of the doubleness of Mr. Merry’s nature. Mr. Herrick half bowed in his turn to Mr. Merry, quite bowed to Mrs. Merry, and again to Miss Basden; nodded to the
