"
They found that the others had arrived, and were unpacking the
luncheon. Maud greeted Howard with a shy expectancy; but the sight
of her, slender and fresh in her rough walking-dress, renewed his
strange pangs. What did he want of her, he asked himself; what was
this mysterious and unmanning sense, that made him conscious of
every movement and every word of the girl? Why could he not meet
her in a cheerful, friendly, simple way, and make the most of her
enchanting company?
Mr. Sandys was in great spirits, revelling in arrangements and
directions. But the wind was taken out of his sails by the two
young men, who were engaged in enacting a bewildering kind of
drama, a saga, of which the venerable Mr. Redmayne appeared to be
the hero. Guthrie, who was in almost overpowering spirits, took the
part of Mr. Redmayne, whom he imitated with amazing fidelity. He
had become, it seemed, a man of low and degrading tastes--'Erb
Redmayne, he was called, or old 'Erb, whose role was to lead the
other authorities of the college into all kinds of disreputable
haunts, to prompt them to absurd misdeeds, to take advantage of
their ingenuousness, to make scapegoats of them, and to adroitly
evade justice himself.
On this occasion 'Erb Redmayne seemed to have inveigled the Master,
whose part was taken by Jack, to a race-meeting, to be introducing
him to the Most unsatisfactory company, to force him to put money
on certain horses, to evade the payment of debts incurred, to be
detected in the act of absconding, and to leave the unfortunate
Master to bear the brunt of public indignation.
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