Such was Archie Pennybet, whom Mrs. Pennybet considered a remarkably fine boy, and the son of a remarkably fine woman.  In this battle of wits he undoubtedly won.  And it is a fact that throughout life he made a point of winning, as all shall see, who read Rupert Ray’s story.

He was a mischievous, tumbling scamp, I suppose; but what are we to say?  All young animals gambol, and are saucy.  Only this morning I was watching a lamb butt its mother in the ribs, and roll in the grass, and dirty its wool—­the graceless young rascal!

Sec.3

But come, we are keeping Edgar Gray Doe waiting.

If you have ever steamed up the Estuary of the Fal, that stately Cornish river, and gazed with rapture at the lofty and thick-wooded hills, through which the wide stream runs, you have probably seen on the eastern bank the splendid mansion of Graysroof.  You have admired its doric facade and the deep, green groves that embrace it on every side.  Perhaps it has been pointed out to you as the home of Sir Peter Gray, the once-famous Surrey bowler, and the parent of a whole herd of young cricketing Grays.

It was in this palatial dwelling that little Edgar Gray Doe awoke to a consciousness of himself, and of many other remarkable things; such things as the broad, silver mouth of the Fal; the green slopes, on which his house stood; the rather fearsome woods that surrounded it; and, above all, the very obvious fact that he was not as other boys.  For instance, his cricketing cousins, these Gray boys, were sons with a visible mother and father, and, in being so, appeared to conform to a normal condition, while he was a nephew with an uncle and aunt.  Again these fellows were blue-eyed and drab, and, as such, were decent and reasonable, while he was brown-eyed and preposterously fair-haired.  To be sure, it was only his oval face that saved him from the horrible indignity of being called “Snowball.”

One morning of that perfect summer, which was the sixth of Rupert Ray, and the eighth of Archie Pennybet, Edgar Gray Doe felt some elation at the prospect of a visit from a very imposing friend.  This person was staying down the stream at Falmouth; and he and his mother had been invited by Lady Gray to spend the day at Graysroof.  His name was Archie Pennybet.  And the power of his personality lay in these remarkable qualities:  first, he enjoyed the distinction of being two years older than Master Doe; secondly, he had a genius for games that thrilled, because they were clearly sin; and thirdly, his hair was dark and glossy, so he could legitimately twit other people with being albinos.

And to-day this exciting creature would have to devote himself entirely to Edgar Doe, as the Gray boys were safely billeted in public and preparatory schools, and there was thus no sickening possibility of his chasing after them, or going on to their side against Edgar.