CHAPTER V. THE FIRST VACATION
The end of school was approaching with quick steps, and as I heard all around me speaking with joyful anticipation of how they would spend their holiday weeks, a spirit of gloom, which I could not shake off, would settle on me.
Jimmy had written to Lord Harry Marmot, as he said he would do, but only to learn that his uncle was away in the East and would not return for some months. This disappointment was a severe one to me as I had settled my hopes on this visit, which Jimmy had painted in forecast in such glowing colors, and now I saw nothing before me but a wretched vegetation of some seven or eight weeks at home, which would be all the more repelling in its somber dullness, after my taste of the living found of life at school.
Rutherford, de Beaupre, Jimmy and all were in a better state than I was, and the more I strove to overcome my despondency, the greater it become.
Though I tried to conceal my feelings, the dimmed brightness of my temperament could not but be apparent and my companions did their best to console me. Bob extracted a confession from me, of course, about the cause, and undertook to try and get me invited to his house, but he was not going home for the first part of his vacation as his family was in Scotland, so even in this direction I could not look for immediate relief.
At last the fatal day came when I had to bid goodbye to my comrades, and I do not mind confessing that my eyes were rather watery as I found myself alone in the railway carriage on my way home.
The word had no affectionate associations for me, and called up no pleasurable feelings, as I reflected upon it. There would be no smiles to welcome me, and I might have been going into a weary exile rather than to my father's house, for all the joy I experienced at the prospect.
A servant awaited me at the station, but his was a new face and I only recognized him by his livery, so that even my first impression was not calculated to dispel in any way the dismal forebodings of my mind.
As I expected, my father's manner towards me displayed no change. Beyond a few curt words, he never spoke to me, and after the dinner hour, he retired to his library and left me to myself.
The housekeeper, Mrs. Dennison, however was more kind, and made me tell her of my doings since I was away. I spent the remainder of the evening in her sitting room, glad of someone to talk to, and she told me that Mr. Percival had written a letter to my father praising me very highly and stating how pleased he was in every way with my progress.
Mrs. Dennison was, of course, perfectly well aware of how my father regarded me, but she had far too much tact to touch upon this subject. She only wished to make things more comfortable for me, as far as she was able, and I shall ere remember her gratefully for this.
The first few days of the vacation passed in abject misery, but then my natural buoyancy of character began to assert itself, and I took more interest in my surroundings, visiting all the well known haunts of my childish days, swimming and rowing on the lake, or going for long rides.
It is due to my father's memory to say that he imposed no restrictions on me, and allowed all my wants to be provided for, although he held aloof altogether from my society.
The smart little bay cob, Crusoe, which Jenkins, the head coachman, had got leave to get for me twelve months before, was still in the stable looking sleek and well groomed, and I passed many hours on his back, cantering over the level grasslands of the park, or trotting down the leafy lanes accompanied by Saunders, my special favorite among the grooms.
I was very popular with the servants, the whole of whom inwardly sympathized with me, and blamed my father greatly for his unnatural disposition toward me.
I received several letters from Rutherford and though I was glad to hear from him and to know that he was enjoying himself so much at the place in Perthshire where they were said to be staying, the perusal only made me feel the more dissatisfied with my own lot.
The Duke and de Beaupre also wrote to me in the friendliest way possible, and I warmed to them more than ever for their kind remembrance, but all the time I was unhappy in my desolateness, and the days dragged on with leaden feet.
I think I should have sunk into the worst state of utter dejection but for one or two incidents which served to enliven me a little, and afforded food for interest.
One day as I was rambling aimlessly about the house, seeking something to occupy myself with, I turned my steps towards the domestics' quarters, which was the only part of the place where any signs of life were apparent. As I neared the servant's hall, I heard the sound of a scuffle followed by laughter.
Curious to know what was taking place, I walked noiselessly to the door, which was ajar, and through the crack on the hinge side, I could see plainly into the interior. The sight which met my eyes was one which I had scarcely looked for, but it was sufficiently interesting to make me remain, watching it.
Two of the housemaids had got hold of Joe, the boy who helped doing the light work below stairs. As I looked in on the group, I saw the two maids pick up Joe and lay him on the long table in the middle of the room. He struggled to get away, but they were too strong for him, and held him down in spite of his resistance. With a great deal of giggling, they opened his breeches and laid bare his cock.
Walter, the under-footman, was also present, looking on with much amusement. He laughed as the maids unbuttoned Joe's trousers, and telling them to wait a moment, he went to a shelf and fetched a pot of blacking. Dipping a little brush in this, he swabbed it all over Joe's member, while the two girls shrieked with merriment as they kept him fast during the time that this was being done.
They released him the next minute and he sat up and regarded his soiled cock with a rueful face, casting reproving looks at his late assailants, who only replied with broad grins.
I did not wait to see any more, but the following day I saw Joe as he was walking down the Elm Avenue which led to the lodge gates, and I smilingly told him what I had seen.
He colored up and seemed to be nervous, and soon he got communicative.
“Those girls, Nellie and Alice, are always up to something,” he said, “but I believe Alice is the worst. They won't let me alone and are always at some game. They do it all the time, as they are too fond of it, but I hate being pulled about by a lot of girls.
It's nothing to have your cock taken out. I couldn't count all the times that I have had it done to me. The boys at Warburton used to think nothing of it. When we were playing in the fields, someone would say 'lets cock him' and they would drag you down and have it out before you could do anything. Lots of times when I was going home, chaps pulled down and 'cocked' and sometimes by girls, for they are just as bad as the boys.
“There was a little path between two big walls, and we used to call this 'cocking lane' because it was a place for it. When we came out of school, two or three big chaps used to wait for us. They would take us one by one and pull out our cocks and spit on them. But later on we used to take another way to avoid them.
“Alice comes from Warburton, and one night I was coming down this lane and came across her talking to two chaps. She was a saucy girl and she caught me and said something as I went by. I pulled myself away and began to run. She shouted to the fellows with her to catch me, and they came after me and brought me back.
“'Lets pull his breeches down,' she said.
“'There you are, Alice,' one of them said, 'he is safe enough now. We'll see that he doesn't kick.'
“With that, the hussy clapped her hands, laughing, and took my trousers right down, unbuttoning my jacket as well.