n't care," said the Duffer. "Let's go and have some food at the
Creameries."

* * * * *

Looking back afterwards, John often wondered whether, unconsciously,
the Duffer had sown a grain of mustard-seed destined to grow into a
large tree. Or, had the intuition that Scaife was other than what he
seemed furnished the fertile soil into which the seed fell? In any case,
from the end of this first week began to increase the suspicion, which
eventually became conviction, that the Demon, keen at games, popular in
his house, clever at work--clever, indeed! inasmuch as he never achieved
more or less than was necessary--generous with his money, handsome and
well-mannered, blessed, in fine, with so many gifts of the gods, yet
lacked a soul.

This, of course, is putting into words the vague speculations and
reasonings of a boy not yet fourteen. If an Olympian--one of the
masters, for instance, or the Head of the House--had said, "Verney, has
the Demon a soul?" John would have answered promptly, "Ra--ther! He's
been awfully decent to Fluff and me. We'd have had a hot time if it
hadn't been for him," and so forth.... And, indeed, to doubt Scaife's
sincerity and goodness seemed at times gross disloyalty, because he
stood, firm as a rock, between the two urchins in his room and the
turbulent crowd outside. This defence of the weak, this guarding of
green fruit from the maw of Lower School boys, afforded Scaife an
opportunity of exercising power. He had the instincts of the potter,
inherited, no doubt; and he moulded the clay ready to his hand with the
delight of a master-workman. Nobody else knew what the man of millions
had said to his boy when he despatched him to Harrow; but the Demon
remembered every word. He had reason to respect and fear his sire.

"I'm sending you to Harrow to study, not books nor games, but boys, who
will be men when you are a man. And, above all, study their weaknesses.
Look for the flaws. Teach yourself to recognize at a glance the liar,
the humbug, the fool, the egotist, and the mule. Make friends with as
many as are likely to help you in after life, and don't forget that one
enemy may inflict a greater injury than twenty friends can repair.
Spend money freely; dress well; swim with the tide, not against it."

A year at Harrow confirmed Scaife's confidence in his father's worldly
wisdom. Big for his age, strong, with his grandsire's muscles, tough as
hickory, he had become