Mike

He took up his position in the shadow of a fir-tree with his back to the house.  From here he could see the long garden.  He was fond of his garden, and spent what few moments he could spare from work and games pottering about it.  He had his views as to what the ideal garden should be, and he hoped in time to tinker his own three acres up to the desired standard.  At present there remained much to be done.  Why not, for instance, take away those laurels at the end of the lawn, and have a flower-bed there instead?  Laurels lasted all the year round, true, whereas flowers died and left an empty brown bed in the winter, but then laurels were nothing much to look at at any time, and a garden always had a beastly appearance in winter, whatever you did to it.  Much better have flowers, and get a decent show for one’s money in summer at any rate.

The problem of the bed at the end of the lawn occupied his complete attention for more than a quarter of an hour, at the end of which period he discovered that his pipe had gone out.

He was just feeling for his matches to relight it when Wyatt dropped with a slight thud into his favourite herbaceous border.

The surprise, and the agony of feeling that large boots were trampling among his treasures kept him transfixed for just the length of time necessary for Wyatt to cross the garden and climb the opposite wall.  As he dropped into the lane, Mr. Appleby recovered himself sufficiently to emit a sort of strangled croak, but the sound was too slight to reach Wyatt.  That reveller was walking down the Wrykyn road before Mr. Appleby had left his chair.

It is an interesting point that it was the gardener rather than the schoolmaster in Mr. Appleby that first awoke to action.  It was not the idea of a boy breaking out of his house at night that occurred to him first as particularly heinous; it was the fact that the boy had broken out via his herbaceous border.  In four strides he was on the scene of the outrage, examining, on hands and knees, with the aid of the moonlight, the extent of the damage done.

As far as he could see, it was not serious.  By a happy accident Wyatt’s boots had gone home to right and left of precious plants but not on them.  With a sigh of relief Mr. Appleby smoothed over the cavities, and rose to his feet.

At this point it began to strike him that the episode affected him as a schoolmaster also.

In that startled moment when Wyatt had suddenly crossed his line of vision, he had recognised him.  The moon had shone full on his face as he left the flowerbed.  There was no doubt in his mind as to the identity of the intruder.

He paused, wondering how he should act.  It was not an easy question.  There was nothing of the spy about Mr. Appleby.  He went his way openly, liked and respected by boys and masters.  He always played the game.  The difficulty here was to say exactly what the game was.  Sentiment, of course, bade him forget the episode, treat it as if it had never happened.  That was the simple way out of the difficulty.  There was nothing unsporting about Mr. Appleby.  He knew that there were times when a master might, without blame, close his eyes or look the other way.  If he had met Wyatt out of bounds in the day-time, and it had been possible to convey the impression that he had not seen him, he would have done so.  To be out of bounds is not a particularly deadly sin.  A master must check it if it occurs too frequently, but he may use his discretion.

Breaking out at night, however, was a different thing altogether.  It was on another plane.  There are times when a master must waive sentiment, and remember that he is in a position of trust, and owes a duty directly to his headmaster, and indirectly, through the headmaster, to the parents.  He receives a salary for doing this duty, and, if he feels that sentiment is too strong for him, he should resign in favour of some one of tougher fibre.

This was the conclusion to which Mr. Appleby came over his relighted pipe.  He could not let the matter rest where it was.

In ordinary circumstances it would have been his duty to report the affair to the headmaster but in the present case he thought that a slightly different course might be pursued.  He would lay the whole thing before Mr. Wain, and leave him to deal with it as he thought best.  It was one of the few cases where it was possible for an assistant master to fulfil his duty to a parent directly, instead of through the agency of the headmaster.

Knocking out the ashes of his pipe against a tree, he folded his deck-chair and went into the house.  The examination papers were spread invitingly on the table, but they would have to wait.  He turned down his lamp, and walked round to Wain’s.