Burr Junior Part 62

"Rare stuff kettle broth, sir," he said. "Don't give you no headaches; do it, Polly?"

"No, father."

"She don't make it strong enough for that, Mr Burr, sir," he continued, giving me a wink.

"Quite as strong as is good for you, father."

"Right, my la.s.s," said Bob, helping himself to some more cream, "and not so strong as is good for you."

I rose to go soon after, and the keeper joined with his daughter in absolutely refusing to let me pay for my meal.

"Glad to have seen you, sir; and now mind that as soon as ever your young friend Mas' Mercer--Mas' Bri'sh Museum, as I call him--is ready, and you can get a day, I'll take you to our stock pond, where the carps and tenches are so thick, they're asking to be caught. You shall have a day."

"Good-bye, Polly," I said, shaking hands. "You've quite cured my head."

"I am so glad, sir!" she cried; and I went back to the school, Bob seeing me part of the way, and saying to me confidentially as we walked,--

"You see me leathering that poaching vagabond Magglin, sir. It's like this. The reason for it was--No, sir. Good-night. You're too young to talk about that sort o' thing. Don't forget about the fish."

He hurried away without another word, while I went on, and found Tom Mercer looking for me, and eager to hear where I had been.

"What a shame!" he cried. "The high tea was very jolly, but I missed you. I wish I'd gone too. I say, we were licked, but it was a splendid match after all. Hallo! here's Hodson. The chaps all went off on their 'bus cheering and--Hooray, Hodson! what a day!"

"Yes; but I say," said the lad, "Burr major's lost his watch."

"His watch!" cried Mercer, giving quite a jump. "Oh!"

"Yes; he left it in his waistcoat in the tent when he stripped for his innings, and when he felt for it some time after, it was gone."

"Then he didn't miss it directly?" I said.

"No, not till a little while ago. A lot of the fellows are up in the field searching for it. Haven't either of you seen it, have you?"

"No," I said, and Mercer shook his head.

"Come on and help look for it," cried Hodson; and we went up to the field, where the tent was still standing, it being understood that the men were to come and take it down in the morning.

"Lucky they were not here," I said, "or some of them might have been suspected of taking it."

"Yes, it would be ugly for them," a.s.sented Hodson. "You see, n.o.body but our boys and the Hastings chaps went into the tent, except the servants to lay the tables, and of course they wouldn't have taken it."

"But they may have found it," I said. "He is sure to have dropped it somewhere in the gra.s.s."

"Of course," cried Mercer; "and some one has put his foot on it and smashed the gla.s.s."

"Get out, Senna! you always make the worst of every thing," cried Hodson merrily; and soon after, we reached the field, where the boys were spread about, looking in all kinds of possible and impossible places-- impossible because Burr major had never been near them after he had put on his things.

"Are you sure that you brought your watch out in the field," said Mr Hasnip, who was one of the group standing by Burr major.

"Oh yes, sir, certain."

"But it does not do to be too certain, my lad. Have you been up in your bedroom, and looked there?"

"No, sir, because I was so sure I brought it out."

"Why were you so sure?"

"Because--because I thought I would wear it, as we had strangers coming."

"Never mind, you may have altered your mind. Go and look. You see we have thoroughly searched every place where you could have been."

"I'll go and look, sir," said Burr major, "but it's of no use."

He went off toward the schoolhouse, and Mr Rebble then coming up, the two masters began to talk about the missing watch.

"It is so awkward," said Mr Rebble. "We can't write and ask the party if either of them took a watch by mistake. Stop! I have it."

"The watch?" cried Mr Hasnip eagerly.

"No. Wait till he comes back, and I think I can explain it all."

We had not long to wait before Burr major came back to us.

"No, sir," he said. "I've looked everywhere; it isn't in my room."

"Then I think I can help you," said Mr Rebble. "What jacket and vest are those you have on?"

"My third best, sir."

"Are you sure?"

"Yes, sir," said Burr major wonderingly.

"Look at them," continued Mr Rebble. "Are they really your own things, and not the clothes of one of our visitors taken by mistake, and he has taken yours."

Burr major slipped off his jacket and held it up in the dusk to point out a label inside the collar, where, worked in blue silk upon white satin, was the name of the maker, his own father.

"Yes, that's yours," said Mr Rebble in a disappointed tone. "I thought that the mistake might have been made. But the vest--are you sure of that?"

"Oh yes," said Burr major, who then looked inside the collar and found the same maker's name.

"I thought that, sir," said Burr major; "but I could feel that they were my things as soon as I put them on. I say, has any fellow taken my watch for a game?"

There was silence at first, then a murmur of, "No, no, no;" and, as it was getting too dark now to resume the search, we all trooped back to the schoolroom to sit and talk over the one event which had spoiled what would otherwise have been a most enjoyable day, for, as Tom Mercer said when we went up to bed,--

"It's nicer for those Hastings chaps to have won. They've gone back jollier. By and by we shall be going over to play them, and then we shall be in the eleven, and must win."

A pause.