The Reformation of Study Sixteen

ÒThey get out of that with their beastly doctorÕs certificates,Ó said Trevor. ÒThatÕs the worst of this place. Any slacker who wants to shirk games goes to some rotten doctor in the holidays, swears heÕs got a weak heart or something, and you canÕt get at him. You have to sit and look on while he lounges about doing nothing, when he might be playing for the house. I bet Bellwood and Davies would both make good enough forwards if one could only get them on to the field. TheyÕre heavy enough.Ó

ÒI donÕt wonder, considering the amount they eat and the little exercise they take. I should say there was about twice as much of Bellwood as there ought to be. And heÕs the sort of chap you donÕt want more of thanÕs absolutely necessary.Ó

Study sixteen was under discussion, not for the first time. Bellwood and Davies, its joint occupants, had been a thorn in TrevorÕs side ever since he had become captain of football. It was bad enough that two such loafers should belong to the school. That they should be in his own house was almost more than he could bear.

It was his aim to make DonaldsonÕs the keenest and most efficient house at Wrykyn, and in this he had succeeded to a great extent. They had won the cricket cup, and were favourites for the football cup. Everyone in DonaldsonÕs was keen except Bellwood and Davies. They, sheltered behind doctorÕs certificates, took life in their own slack way, and refused to exhibit any interest whatever in the doings of the house.

ÒItÕs a rummy thing about that study,Ó said Clowes, ÒitÕs always been like that. I believe anybody whoÕs a slacker or a bad lot goes there naturally; wouldnÕt be happy anywhere else. Do you remember, when we first came to the house, Blencoe and Jones had it? They got sacked at the end of my first term. After that it was Grant and Pollock. They didnÕt get sacked, but they ought to have been. Now itÕs these two. LetÕs hope theyÕll keep up the tradition and get turfed out at their earliest convenience!Ó

ÒIt makes me so sick,Ó said Trevor poking the fire viciously, Òto think of two heavy chaps like that being wasted. They might make all the difference to the House second. We want weight in the scrum.Ó

In addition to the inter-house challenge cup there was a cup to be competed for by the second fifteens of the houses. DonaldsonÕs had a good chance of this, but were handicapped by a small pack of forwards. SeymourÕs, their only remaining rival, were big and weighty. Clowes got up and stretched himself.

ÒWell,Ó he said, ÒI donÕt think youÕll get much help from Bellwood and pard. They remind me of the man who slept well and ate well but who, when he saw a job of work, was all of a tremble. They wonÕt do a stroke if they can help it, and I donÕt see how you can get them in the teeth of their certificates. Well, I must go and work. I like to do a Greek book unseen if possible, but the Agamemnon is too tricky. I shall have to prepare it. By the way, have you got a copy to spare? I left mine over at school.Ó