“Good old Prendy!” said Grimes. “Nothing like a change of clothes to bring out latent pep. I felt like that my first week in khaki. Well, so long. Me for Mrs. Roberts. Why don’t you come too, Prendy?”
“D’you know,” said Mr. Prendergast, “I think I will.”
Paul watched them disappear down the drive in amazement. Then he went off to find the Doctor.
“Frankly,” said the Doctor, “I am at a loss to understand my own emotions. I can think of no entertainment that fills me with greater detestation than a display of competitive athletics, none—except possibly folk dancing. If there are two women in the world whose company I abominate—and there are very many more than two—they are Mrs. Beste-Chetwynde and Lady Circumference. I have, moreover, had an extremely difficult encounter with my butler, who—will you believe it?—waited at luncheon in a mustard-coloured suit of plus-fours and a diamond tiepin, and when I reprimanded him, attempted to tell me some ridiculous story about his being the proprietor of a circus or swimming-bath or some such concern. And yet,” said the Doctor, “I am filled with a wholly delightful exhilaration. I can’t understand it. It is not as though this was the first occasion of the kind. During the fourteen years that I have been at Llanabba there have been six sports days and two concerts, all of them, in one way or another, utterly disastrous. Once Lady Bunyan was taken ill; another time it was the matter of the press photographers and the obstacle race; another time some quite unimportant parents brought a dog with them which bit two of the boys very severely and one of the masters, who swore terribly in front of everyone. I could hardly blame him, but of course he had to go. Then there was the concert when the boys refused to sing ‘God Save the King’ because of the pudding they had had for luncheon. One way and another, I have been consistently unfortunate in my efforts at festivity. And yet I look forward to each new fiasco with the utmost relish. Perhaps, Pennyfeather, you will bring luck to Llanabba; in fact, I feel confident you have already done so. Look at the sun!”
Picking their way carefully among the dry patches in the waterlogged drive, they reached the playing-fields. Here the haphazard organization of the last twenty-four hours seemed to have been fairly successful. A large marquee was already in position, and Philbrick—still in plus-fours—and three gardeners were at work putting up a smaller tent.
“That’s for the Llanabba Silver Band,” said the Doctor. “Philbrick, I required you to take off those loathsome garments.”
“They were new when I bought them,” said Philbrick, “and they cost eight pounds fifteen. Anyhow, I can’t do two things at once, can I? If I go back to change, who’s going to manage all this, I’d like to know?”
“All right! Finish what you are doing first. Let us just review the arrangements. The marquee is for the visitors’ tea. That is Diana’s province. I expect we shall find her at work.”
Sure enough, there was Dingy helping two servants to arrange plates of highly coloured cakes down a trestle-table. Two other servants in the background were cutting sandwiches. Dingy, too, was obviously enjoying herself.
“Jane, Emily, remember that that butter has to do for three loaves. Spread it thoroughly, but don’t waste it, and cut the crusts as thin as possible. Father, will you see to it that the boys who come in with their parents come in alone? You remember last time how Briggs brought in four boys with him, and they ate all the jam sandwiches before Colonel Loder had had any. Mr. Pennyfeather, the champagne-cup is not for the masters. In fact, I expect you will find yourselves too much occupied helping the visitors to have any tea until they have left the tent. You had better tell Captain Grimes that, too. I am sure Mr. Prendergast would not think of pushing himself forward.”
Outside the marquee were assembled several seats and tubs of palms and flowering shrubs. “All this must be set in order,” said the Doctor; “our guests may arrive in less than an hour.” He passed on. “The cars shall turn aside from the drive here and come right into the ground. It will give a pleasant background to the photographs, and, Pennyfeather, if you would with tact direct the photographer so that more prominence was given to Mrs. Beste-Chetwynde’s Hispano Suiza than to Lady Circumference’s little motorcar, I think it would be all to the good. All these things count, you know.”
“Nothing seems to have been done about marking out the ground,” said Paul.
“No,” said the Doctor, turning his attention to the field for the first time, “nothing. Well, you must do the best you can. They can’t do everything.”
“I wonder if any hurdles have come?”
“They were ordered,” said the Doctor. “I am certain of it. Philbrick, have any hurdles come?”
“Yes,” said Philbrick with a low chuckle.
“Why, pray, do you laugh at the mention of hurdles?”
“Just you look at them!” said Philbrick. “They’re behind the teahouse there.”
Paul and the Doctor went to look and found a pile of spiked iron railings in sections heaped up at the back of the marquee. They were each about five feet high and were painted green with gilt spikes.
“It seems to me that they have sent the wrong sort,” said the Doctor.
“Yes.”
“Well, we must do the best we can. What other things ought there to be?”
“Weight, hammer, javelin, long-jump pit, high-jump posts, low hurdles, eggs, spoons and greasy pole,” said Philbrick.
“Previously competed for,” said the Doctor imperturbably. “What else?”
“Somewhere to run,” suggested Paul.
“Why, God bless my soul, they’ve got the whole park! How did you manage yesterday for the heats?”
“We judged the distance by eye.”
“Then that is what we shall have to do today. Really, my dear Pennyfeather, it is quite unlike you to fabricate difficulties in this way. I am afraid you are getting unnerved. Let them
