The Little Nugget

already done so frompersonal observation. The world is divided into dreamers and menof action. From what little I had seen of him I placed BuckMacGinnis in the latter c

frontal that my chief emotionwas a sort of paralysed amazement. It seemed incredible that suchpeculia

th a definite quantity of devilry; and this, if he is tosleep the sound sleep of health, he has got to work off somehowbefore bedtime. That is why the summer term is the one a masterlongs for, when the

ils running risks of catching cold, and just then MrAbney was especially definite on the subject. The Saturnalia whichhad followed Mr MacGinnis' nocturnal visit to the school had hadthe effect of giving violent colds to three lords, a baronet, andthe younger son

nga mob of small boys, none of whom had had any chance of working

erwhelmed, I should fancy he faredbadly. His classroom was on the opposite side of the hall from

into comparative quiet over their eveningpreparation, when from outside the fron

nsideration, that a motoring party had come, as they didsometimes--Sanstead House standing some miles from anywhere in themiddle of an intricate system of by-roads--to inquire the way toPortsm

lease, sir, there'

now there's a motor outsi

Sir, have you ever

me help drive our mo

o do you t

mitating the engine): '

or. I heard White'sfootsteps crossing the hall, then the click of the latch, andthen--a sound that I could not define. The closed door of theclassroom deadened it, but for

found fresh material in the s

hat was t

u hear th

ou think's h

I shouted. '

oor flew open, and on thethreshold stood a

strip of white linen,with holes for the eyes

usly upon theclassroom. Out of the corner of my eye, as I turned to face ourvisitor, I could see small boys goggling rapturously at thismiraculous realization of all the dreams induced by juvenileadventure fiction. As far as I could ascertain,

eighbourhood did not make the thing any the less incredible. Ihad looked on my affair with Buck as a thing of the open air andthe darkness. I had figured him lying in wait in lonely r

imple, even the obviou

Sanstead House stoodabsolutely alone. Ther

the middle of the Bad L

ena Napoleon. Where the owner of an ordinary country-house raided bymasked men can raise the countryside in pursuit, a schoolmastermust do precisely the opposite. From his point of view, the fewerpeople that know of the affair the better. Parents are a jumpyrace. A man may be the ideal schoolmaster, yet will a connectionwith melodrama damn him in the eyes of parents. They

no raising ofthe countryside in his case. On the contrary, I could see Mr Abneybecoming one of the busiest persons on record in his endeavour tohush the thing up and prevent it g

up, sport

ce of Buck MacGinnis

h of dese is

ned his head

youse kids i

eyond speech. The

rd is not h

n blood. He did not believe me. Without moving his head hegave a long whi

room,' observed the newc

nd question. I could have r

th the pistol, indicating me, 'sa

d Buck. 'Howdy, Sam? P

d floor, too, dis time

a marked effect

ancing a step nearer, he waved hisdisengaged fist truculently. In my role of Sam I had pla

pposed the motion. I th

it,' he sa

ion took the form of lowering thef

resumed the con

said, 'come across!

am,' I said. 'May I

the top of your da

t my desire.

nnis again, 'we ain't got time tobu

quired. It was useless to kee

evening he is generally

t dough-faced dub in

have described

bin rubberin.' Aw, quit ye

t where he is at the prese

he man with the pistol; amost unlovable per

, you!' said

esed it once mo

d Mr MacGinnis. 'Youcan't fool me. I'm com' t'ro

' I said. 'Don't

u're comin

h it. I shall

wedBuck, with a sudden lapse into ferocity. 'Spiel like a regul

anded the pistol-bearerpathetically. 'Wha

estion in poor tas

ing pistol fromhim. 'Now den, Sam, are youse goin

anything you wished, Mr

aid Buck disgustedly.

'ud have had more sense,Sam, dan to play di

my shoulders caused

I'm going to put my hands

a hole in y

please. But I

ther man, 'feel around to s

of my pockets. He grunted morosely the while. Isuppose, at this close

no gun,' he an

put 'em down,'

nks,'

re and look after dese

f leading, Buckin my immediate rear administering occ

he moved, as if straining against hisbonds, and I was conscious of a feeling of relief. That sound thathad reached me in the classroom, that thud of a falling body, hadbecome, in the light of what had happened later, ver

ang seemedto have been turned out on a pattern. Externally, they might allhave been twins. This man, to give him a sem

towards theclassroom. 'I've locked dem in. What's do

explained Mr MacGinnis. 'De kida

anguor disappeared

Here, let me beat

which prevailed, as concerned myself, amongthe members of Mr MacGinnis's gang. Men,

wanted to

aten off me. Though feeling no friendliertowards me than did his assistants, he declined to allow sentimentto interfere with business. He concent

d-moustached man sankback against the wall again with an air of dejection, sucking hiscigar now like one who

the dormitories were thethree boys who had been stricken down with colds on the occasionof Mr MacGinnis's

d with something of thefeelings of a dru

on,' sa

one of

yourse

' I urged. 'We're

,' he said austere

in the dormitories. The only other room was Mr Abney's; and,as we came

his depths. He 'pointed' a

n dere?' h

tter not disturb him

nstruction on my solic

ner becam

door, you,

ve him a na

an! Op

will ever find me disobliging. I opened the door--knocking first,as

staring at theceiling, and our entrance did

hief. Muffled sounds, as of distant explosions ofdynamite, together wit

strode past me, and, havingprodded with the pistol that part of the bedclothes beneath whicha roug

the-box. One might almost say tha

man who, from boyhood up, had led a quietand regular life. Things like Buck had appe

entitious extras as masks and pistols, Buck was no beauty. Withthat hid

. His hair, disturbed by contact with the pillow,gave the impression of standin

Youse ain't in a dime museu

I have flattered him. In reality, his mode ofspeech suggested that he had something large and unwieldypermanently stuck in his mouth; and it was

isfaction tooneself. Buck stood by the bedside in mo

idea ofaction occurred to me. Until this moment, I suppose, thestrangeness and unexpectedness of these happenings had numbed mybrain. To precede Buck meekly upstairs and to wait with equa

think;and, my mind making up for its previous inaction by wor

tance with the geography of SansteadHouse and Buck's ignorance of it. Let me but get an ade

oleave me between the door and himself. I supposed he relied too

on the switch of the electriclig

and swung it into thespace between us. Then

t a goal in view. My o

prospect of a bruise or two. I had not failed to realize that myposition was one of extreme peril. When Buck, concluding the tourof the house, found that the Little Nugget was not there--as I hadreason to know that he would--there was no room for doubt that hewould withdraw the protection which he had extended to m

afew seconds, and I calculated that it would take Buck just those

rpeted landing. From the hall below came answering shouts,but with an interrogatory note in them. The assistants werewilling, but puzzled. Th

ehind me, before they couldarrive at an

d. A panel splintered beneath akick

dme, the sheer, blind fear which destroys the reason. It swept ov

ingoutside myself, looking on at myself, watching myself heave

I

wances for the effect of hurryand excitement on the human mind. He is cool and detached. He sees

t to be a reasoning creature. In the end,indeed, it was no presence of mind but pure good luck which savedme. Just as the door, which had held out galla

tinto the room, bearing particles of snow. I scrambled on to thewin

p. There was a deafening explosioninside the room, and simultaneously something seared my shou

andscratched and, incidentally, in a worse temper than ever in mylife before. The idea of flight, which had obsessed me a momentbefore, to the exclusion of all other mundane affairs, hadvanished absolutely. I was full of fight, I might say overflowingw

was conscious only ofa feeling of regret tha

happen. It was not long before I was made aware ofwhat this something was. From the direction of the front door camethe sound of one runnin

that I should be seen. I wasstanding

t in front of me. A s

'tja s

on whoseback I was shortly about to spring, and whose neck I proposed,under Providence, to twist into the shape of a cor

eless bad luck for himto be standing just there at just that moment. The reactions aftermy panic, added to the pain of my shoulder, the scratches on myface, and the general misery of being wet and cold, had given me areckless fury an

n his reply, as 'Naw,

on the football field. My leapcombined the outstanding qualities of both. I connected with MrMacGin

old Roman saying, _'

minary. There were anumber of things which I had wished to do to him, once upset. Butit was not to be. Even as I reached for his throat I perceived thatthe light of the wind

n end. I was loath to part from Mr MacGinnis just when I wasbegi

like some Homericgod swooping from a cloud, and I

y of the darkness just asthe reinforcement touched earth. This time I did not wait. Myhunger for fight had

lling the night with the soft purring of its engines. I wasinterested to see what would be the enemy's next move. It wasimprobable th

obile's lamps. There were fourof them. Three were walking, the fourth, cursing with the vigourand brea

had been sitting woodenly in

him?' he

oodily. 'De Nugget ain'tdere, an' we was ch

id to Buck

ere he layrepeating himself, and two of them climbed i

g's broke,'

said the

of applause, could havefelt a keener thril

a kidnapper'sleg, but I did not think so then. It w

said the man i

thincreasing speed down the drive. Its drone grew fainter, andcea

last. He appeared to have made noheadway with the cords on his wrists and ankles. I came to hishelp

ve gone,

nod

hit you with

odded

s leg,' I said,

y flyingtackle, the gloom was swept from his face by a joyful smile. Buck'sinjury may have given its recipient pain, but

I guess weshan't hear from _him_ for a week or two. T

der at his emotion. Whoever had wielded the sand-bag had donehis wor

om Glossop's classroom, and was caused by the beating ofhands on the door-panels. I remembered that the red-moustached manhad locked

classroom when I saw Audrey on

ght,' I said.

it? What di

s and some friends. They cameafter O

s he? Wher

which now disgorged its occupants, headed by mycolleague, in a turbulent stream. At the same moment my ownclassroom began to emp

my side, semaph

' he bellowed in my e

methingwhich was drowned in the uproar. I drew her towards th

e you sayin

isn't

'W

e? He is not in his room.

, springing from stair to sta

phone for the p

utes ago. They aresending some men at once.

n. I thought he wa

ook my

o kidnap him, Mr Gl

posterous. My nerves will not standthese repeated outrages. We must have police protection.

amed agitatedly behi

by comparison. There was no doubt that Buck's visit hadupset the smoo

er than subsided. Abelated sense of profes

do our best, in ourrespective styles, t

uck's visit had chanced to fall within a shorttime of that set apart for the boys' tea, and that the kitchen hadlain outside the sphere of our visitors' operations. As in manyEnglish country houses, the kitchen at Sanstead House was at theend of a long corridor, shut off by doors through which evenpistol-shots penetrated but faintl

discovered. Theshouting ceased on the instant. The general feeling seemed to bethat inquiries could be postpo

d, and I was about tofollow, when there

ending inquiry I was by way of being a star witness. If any oneh

t a glimpse of blue uniforms, an

self in the shape of a stout inspector and a long,lean constable. I thought, as I came to meet them, that they werefortunate to have arrived late.

le butler once mo

aid, andremoved himself from the scene. There never was a ma

at me sharply. The co

said the

and Johnson. I do not know why,exc

d for us,' said

We

What--got your notebo

e from the middle distanc

half past fi

moistened

five an automobile dro

ve masked men w

s healthycolour deepened, and his eyes grew round. John

men?' ec

n't go tothe circus? They rang the front-door bell; when

eld up a

Wai

wa

o is

e but

is statement. Fe

rotted off

Bones became friendl

start as ever I heard

. It beats cock-fighting. What in the world do yousuppose men with masks an

e idea. I hastened to

n, who is a pupil at the school. You have heardof Mr Ford? He is an American million

ks of the cords on hiswrists, and was dismissed. I suggested that further conversationhad better take place in

ileand led to a fresh spasm of activity on the part of Johnson's

eyhole and there came from within thesound of moving furniture. His one brief interview with Buck hadevidently caused my employer to ensure against

said a voi

was still disordered. The furniture of theroom was in great confusion, and a poker on

e said. 'Bister Burds, what isthe expl

colleague that, so far from wanting a hueand cry raised over the countryside and col

to the neighbourhood, and theireager eyes could see glory within easy reach. Mention of a coldsnack and a drop of beer, however, to be found in the kitchen

ssop whirled into the room in a

en Ford is nowhe

he information with

. Heturned to me. 'Bister Burds, I understood you to--ah--say

nly did. I wat

Glossop, 'and thereare no signs of him. And n

aving survived an earthquake, ishit by an automobile. He had partly adjusted his mind to the quietcontemplation of Mr MacGinnis and friends when he was called up

rd caddot be fou'd

run away togethe

sat up, g

ver happened id the sc

systebaticallyedcouraged a spirit of cheerful codtedment. I caddot seriouslycredit the fact that Augustus Beckfo

Ford,' said Glossop,'who,' he added moros

uage. Probably thetheory struck him as eminently s

e that we take ibbediate steps. They busthave gone to Londod. Bister Burds,

n dutyreally summoned that champion popper-up-to-London

aid. 'I'll go and

charge of the school. Perhaps youh

n the hall wh

you know anything abo

n his more conversationalmanner. I thoug

rd cannot be found. Mr Abneythinks

seemed to me. There wassomething distinctly o

must look

in in an hour. You wil

at, while I go and pack my b

said White

er my arduous weeks at Sanstead, was in the nature of anunexpected treat. My tastes are metropolitan, and the vision of anhour at a m

he hall, carrying my b

ent to London,

told me. Peter,

why I'm be

s everythi

ount. I declinedto believe that anybody could care what happened to the LittleNugget purely for that amiable

tand,' I said. 'W

re was always a danger of attempts being madeto kidnap him, even though he was brought

er forgives failures. It will mean going back to the old workagain--the dressmaking, or the waiting, or whatever I can manageto

You must. You wi

ed everything. Ihad given Ogden Ford the money that had taken him to London. Andsoon, unless I could reach London