“Think so?” said Mr. Parsons.  “Look at his jaws.  They could break Jerry’s back with one snap.”

“Could he, Daddy?”

They were at tea on the lawn, and Boris had gone to sleep under Mr. Parsons’ legs with his long muzzle on his forepaws.

“He could,” said Anthony, “if he caught him.”

“But he couldn’t catch him.  Jerry’d be up a tree before Boris could look at him.”

“If you want Jerry to shin up trees you must keep his weight down.”

Nicky laughed.  He knew that Boris could never catch Jerry.  His father was only ragging him.

* * * * *

Nicky was in the schoolroom, bowed over his desk.  He was doing an imposition, the second aorist of the abominable verb [Greek:  erchomai], written out five and twenty times. (Luckily he could do the last fifteen times from memory.)

Nicky had been arguing with Mr. Parsons.  Mr. Parsons had said that the second aorist of [Greek:  erchomai] was not [Greek:  erchon].

Nicky had said, “I can’t help it.  If it’s not [Greek:  erchon] it ought to be.”

Mr. Parsons had replied:  “The verb [Greek:  erchomai] is irregular.”  And Nicky had retorted, in effect, that no verb had any business to be as irregular as all that.  Mr. Parsons had then suggested that Nicky might know more about the business of irregular verbs if he wrote out the second aorist of [Greek:  erchomai] five and twenty times after tea.  As it was a particularly fine afternoon, an imposition was, Nicky admitted, a score for Mr. Parsons and a jolly good sell for him.

Mr. Parsons had not allowed him to have Jerry on his knee, or even in the room; and this, Nicky owned further, was but just.  It wouldn’t have been nearly so good a punishment if he had had Jerry with him.

Nicky, bowed over his desk, struggled for the perfect legibility which Mr. Parsons had insisted on, as otherwise the imposition would do him more harm than good.  He was in for it, and the thing must be done honourably if it was done at all.  He had only looked out of the windows twice to make sure that Boris was asleep under Mr. Parsons’ legs.  And once he had left the room to see where Jerry was.  He had found him in the kitchen garden, sitting on a bed of fresh-grown mustard and cress, ruining it.  He sat like a lamb, his forepaws crossed, his head tilted slightly backwards.  His yellow eyes gazed at Nicky with a sweet and mournful innocence.

Nicky did not hear the voices in the garden.

“I’m awfully sorry, sir,” Mr. Parsons was saying.  “I can’t think how it could have happened.”  Mr. Parsons’ voice was thick and his face was very red.  “I could have sworn the door was shut.”

“Johnnie opened it,” said Anthony.  He seemed to have caught, suddenly, one of his bad colds and to be giving it to Mr. Parsons.  They were both in their shirtsleeves, and Anthony carried something in his arms which he had covered with his coat.