h, with a big elastic mouth had imitated
Dumbleton admirably.

"What a snob Dick is!" drawled a very tall, very thin,
aristocratic-looking boy.

"And a fool," added Scaife. "This sort of thing makes him loathed."

"It _is_ a sell his being here."

All three fell to talking. The question still festering in John's mind
was answered within a minute. The "brute" was Rutford. Towards the end
of the previous term gossip had it that the master of the Manor had been
offered an appointment elsewhere. Whereat the worthier spirits in the
ancient house rejoiced. Now the joy was turned into wailing and gnashing
of teeth.

"Is he a beast to _us_?" said John.

The freckle-faced boy answered affably, "That depends. His Imperial
Highness"--he kicked the new portmanteau hard--"will not find Mr.
Richard Rutford a beast. Far from it. And he's civil to the Demon,
because his papa is a man of many shekels. But to mere outsiders, like
myself, a beast of beasts; ay, the very king of beasts, is--Dirty Dick."

And then--oh, horrors!--the door of No. 15 opened, and Rutford appeared,
followed by a seemingly young and very fashionably dressed lady. The
boys jumped to their feet. All, except Scaife, looked preternaturally
solemn. The house-master nodded carelessly.

"This is Scaife, Duchess," he said in his thick, rasping tones. "Scaife
and Verney, let me present you to the Duchess of Trent."

He mouthed the illustrious name, as if it were a large and ripe
greengage.

The duchess advanced, smiling graciously. "These"--Rutford named the
other boys--"are Egerton, Lovell, and--er--Duff."

Scaife, alone of those present, appreciated the order in which his
schoolfellows had been named. Egerton--known as the Caterpillar--was the
son of a Guardsman; Lovell's father was a judge; Duff's father an
obscure parson.

The duchess shook hands with each boy. "Your father and I are old
friends," she said to Egerton; "and I have had the pleasure of meeting
your uncle," she smiled at John.

Duff looked unhappy and ill at ease, because it was almost certain that
his last sentence had been overheard by the house-master. The duchess
asked a few questions and then took her leave. She and her son were
dining with the Head Master. Rutford accompanied her.

"Did the blighter hear?" said Duff.

"How could he help it with his enormous asses' ears?" said the tall,
thin Egerton.

Duff, an optimist, like all red-headed, freckled boys, appealed to the
others,