It was Mrs. Merry’s birthday, and she knew that a present from the boys would be placed on the table at tea. It had been subscribed for by them in private consultation with Miss Basden, and chosen by that lady and Mrs. Merry in the town together.
By tea time Mrs. Merry had reached the state, which justified her yearly message, that she was prevented by a headache from appearing. The boys begged Miss Basden to approach her. Mr. Merry sat vaguely ill at ease, kept as it were in bands by the parcel at the head of the table.
Mrs. Merry sent word that she would try and come for a moment; and entered, flushed and unexpectant, and approached her place.
“Why, what is this? What can this be? Why, I do not understand this, boys.”
Miss Basden stepped forward and quickly cut the string, in the manner of one tying gunpowder to a friend at the stake.
“Oh, boys,” said Mrs. Merry. “Oh, boys! Oh, what is this? Oh, you should not spend your money on me. I had no expectation of anything like this. And the very thing that I needed! Some good fairy must have …”
Her voice failed.
“There, Mother, there, you’re not well,” said Mr. Merry. “You’re not well, as you told us, Mother. And so you get upset. We know how it is. It is just because you look after us all too well. We know how pleased you are. So you need not trouble to tell us any more. Come, have your tea, boys. Have your tea, and it is very kind of you all. What is that commotion in the hall above? Williams, just see what the commotion in the hall is. Thank you, Williams, very much.”
It was reported that a lady was in the hall, and that Mr. Herrick requested that Mr. Merry would join him.
“What a time to come to see a school! After keeping myself free from seven in the morning, I am not allowed to have a cup of tea in peace. People will be coming in the middle of the night next. If there’s a thing I can’t bear, it’s want of consideration.”
Mr. Merry hastened up the stairs, and at the top caused his face to undergo a change, preparatory to whatever final one might be expedient.
“Oh, this is Mr. Merry! What a shame to call him away from his boys! But I can only stay a moment, so I shall not keep him.”
“Now, what a thing to be saying of me!” said Mr. Merry, taking the stranger’s hand in both of his, with fond eyes. “What a thing to be saying of me! That I should think it a shame to be called away to you. Not but what I am fond of my boys. Yes, I am fond of my boys.”
“I saw such a dear little boy in the hall.”
“Ah, the little rascal! Little mischief that he is, always running about, when he ought to be at his books! Ah, well, they like a run from time to time. And he is not over strong, the little fellow. When he came to us, it went to my heart to see him. But my wife, she coddles him, you know. She coddles him, and he is a different boy.”
“Oh, how nice for an anxious mother to hear! Because we can’t expect Mr. Herrick to give his mind to all the little things a mother thinks of.”
“Oh, we won’t tell Mr. Herrick what we think of him,” said Mr. Merry, as his chief followed his custom of leaving him unhampered play for his gifts. “Perhaps he knows without our telling him. Sometimes I see him reading all about himself in the papers.”
“And about the general teaching of the school? Mr. Herrick does not do a great deal of the ordinary work, does he?” Mr. Merry reflected that Herrick had gone far in the minutes before his release. “But of course you have masters to help you?”
“Now, I tell you a thing,” said Mr. Merry, lifting his questioner’s hand up and down, a picture of Mr. Burgess before his eyes. “You have confidence in us. In me and my wife, and my good helpers; and above all, in your boy. And there is one of us you won’t be disappointed in. I can promise you that. And that is the last. And the first too, isn’t he? Bless him, yes. And now there is a thing I want to say. I am here to make the boys happy. Little fellows away from home need to be made happy, you know. A master who is known all over the world is an enormous thing for a boy. I wish I had had as much in my young days. But that is not quite all that is wanted. A mother knows that.”
On his way back through the hall Mr. Merry passed Mr. Herrick without a word. The quality of Mr. Merry’s that gained him his bread was never alluded to between them.
“Well, there is another one come and gone, Mother. Another ship in the night. One never knows if anything will come of it. And a third of what comes out of one more boy won’t overflow our coffers, will it?”
There was a titter from the boys.
“You get on with your tea,” said Mr. Merry. “And don’t be so humiliatingly deceived as to think that another one of you would be of any advantage to anyone. Because such an idea would be humiliating to you. I can tell you that.”
“I do not think I could do with another boy,” said Mrs. Merry, in a gentle, distinct tone.
“No, I should not like you to have anything more on you, Mrs. Merry,”
