Authority.

"Not till he promises. If you turn me out, I'll come back after you're
gone."

"What is it you want him to promise?"

John had achieved his object.

"I want him to leave young Kinloch _alone_."

The two Sixth Form boys glanced at each other; at John; at the gross,
spotted face of Beaumont-Greene. Then the senior said coldly--

"I suppose you have no objection, Beaumont-Greene, to promise Verney or
any one else that you will leave young Kinloch alone?"

"I've never laid a finger on the kid," growled the big fellow; but he
looked pale and frightened.

"Then you promise--eh?"

"Yes."

"On your word of honour?"

"Yes."

That night John told Fluff with great glee how Beaumont-Greene had been
made to "sit up and howl."

[1] "Jambi"--Iambic verses.

CHAPTER VIII

VERNEY BOSCOBEL

"In honour of all who believe that life was made for friendship."

The immediate result of the incident described in the last chapter was
to strengthen the bond between John and Desmond. Desmond had the epic
from Fluff, from the Caterpillar, and finally from John himself.

"You bearded that poisonous beast in his den," exclaimed he; "you
plotted and planned for the scrimmage; you foresaw what would happen.
Well, you are a corker, Jonathan."

"You'd have thought of something much better."

"Not I," Desmond replied.

Scaife, however, made no remarks. Possibly, because Desmond made too
many, singing John's praises behind his back and to his face, in and
out of season. This, of course, was indiscreet, and led to hard words
and harder feelings. Beaumont-Greene realized that John had tarred and
feathered him. The fags, you may be sure, rubbed the tar in. If
Beaumont-Greene threatened to kick an impudent Fourth Form boy, that
youngster would bid him be careful.

"If you don't behave yourself," he would say, "I shall have to send
Verney to your room."

Lovell senior remarked that Beaumont-Greene was a "swine," but that
Verney had put on "lift" and must be snubbed. What? A boy who had not
been two years in the school _dared_ to take the law into his own
hands! The matter ought to have been laid before the Head of the House.

Accordingly, John found himself, much to his dismay, unpopular with the
Olympians. The last month of this term was, in some ways, the most
disagreeable he had yet spent at Harrow.

But the gain of Desmond's friendship far outweighed the loss of
popularity. John tingled