Boarding schools -- England -- Juvenile fiction; Boys -- Conduct of life -- Juvenile fiction; Schools -- Juvenile fiction
"Ho, ho! Hope you've brought your lunch. You'll be kept here a day or
two, if you're going to wait for that!"
When Yorke and the other prefects arrived on the scene there were, of
course, loud cheers; but as the opposition was not there to make any
counter-demonstration, it was not quite as noisy as on former occasions.
Percy did, indeed, attempt to get up a little opposition at this stage
by calling for "three cheers for the Moderns"; but as he was left to
give them by himself--even his own adherents declining to be drawn into
cheers for Clapperton--the display fell rather flat.
The captain's speech was short and to the point. Of course they knew
why the meeting was called. There had been mutiny at Fellsgarth.
Fellows had deliberately set themselves against his authority as
captain, which was a minor thing, and against the success of Fellsgarth
in sports, which was a low and shabby thing. (Cheers.) He wasn't going
to mention names; but he meant to say this, that they had much better
dissolve the club right away--(No, no)--than not all pull together.
Last Saturday, as every one knew, they had been left utterly in the
lurch; and but for good luck, and the good play of some of the fifteen--
amongst whom, he was glad to say, was one fellow who had had the pluck
to act on his own judgment of what was due to the School--(loud and
prolonged cheers, in the midst of which Corder perked up, and looked
pleased)--they had held their own with a very scratch team. They
couldn't expect to do as much again--(Why not?)--and it _was not_ fair
to the School to play matches without all their best men in the team.
The proposal he had to make was that unless the fellows now standing out
chose to return to their allegiance to the School within a week, all
future matches for the term should be scratched, and the club dissolved.
The captain's proposal caused considerable consternation. Ridgway rose,
and said he considered the motion dealt far too leniently with the
mutineers. He would say, drum them out of the club, and reorganise
without them.
Denton asked if it would not be more honest and straightforward to
summon them to the next match, and if they didn't turn up give them the
thrashing they deserved?
Fisher major said he supported the captain's proposal. It was nonsense
their playing with scratch teams, and letting it be supposed that was
the best the School could do. Some of the fellows on strike were no
doubt good players, and that made it all the more discreditable of them
to try to damage the School record by crippling the team. They no doubt
hoped that they would be begged to rejoin on their--own terms. Rather
than that, he was in favour of disbanding the club, and letting the
fellows devote their energy to running and jumping, and other sports,
where each fellow could distinguish himself independently of what any
others chose to do. (Hear, hear.)
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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