"Poor old Peter's mater is not too well off."
He confided to his father the tragic story of a pair of torn trousers, the only decent pair of trousers that Summervell possessed that term.
"I passed him on one of my pairs, pater."
"All right. I'll write and tell Thompson's to send you another pair."
Christopher had every right to think of his father as the most understanding and generous of men.
Christopher had been a year and a half at St. Benedict's when his father received a letter from Mr. Phelps the games master. The envelope was marked "Confidential."
"My dear Mr. Sorrell,—It seems a beastly sort of thing to write about, but some of the boys here have found out that you are head-porter at an hotel.
"Apparently half a dozen of them have been ragging your boy about it ever since the opening of the term. How I found out was through surprising a fight going on one night in my house-dormitory. As a matter of fact your boy got the best of it.
"There are times, my dear sir, when I loathe being a master,—and sometimes I loathe boys. Not all of them. Personally, I think Christopher had played St. George to the Dragon,—but the 'Head' has heard about it.
"I thought that the only decent thing I could do was to write and warn you. We have had a solemn conference, and a lot of palaver,—the 'Tradition of the School' you know, and all that. I tried to point out that the 'tone' of the school was not suffering,—but I got sat upon.
"I hope you will understand"
Mr. Lowndes' letter arrived a day later. It was ingenious and patronizing. It flowed from a higher level to what must be presumed to be a lower one.
"My dear Mr. Sorrell,—This is one of the most painful letters that I have ever had to write—etc.
"I think for the boy's sake you should remove him. Boys are sensitive creatures, my dear sir,—and when a sensitive boy is made to feel himself to be in a false position"
Sorrell wrote off at once both to Christopher and to Mr. Lowndes. Nor was there any anger in his letter to the "Head." He was wondering how deeply Christopher had been hurt, and he felt that the fault was his.
