Evening star., 1938-12-12

vately. The doctor suggested Rud bs
sent to proper, conservative school.
BY H. G. WELLS.
CHAPTER II.
Youthful Reverie.
Under the influence of old DR..
Carstall, the future world dictator
went to Hooplady House instead of
having his subconsciousness explored,
cleaned up and made over in a
suitable establishment on soundly
psychoanalytical lines.
Probably the results would have
been very similar. Hooplady House,
as an educational institution, never
gave a thought to character and
the finer shades of conduct-eXcept
on speech days. Then the head
master said the boys were house
hold of young English gentlemen
and the parents and projects heard
him with quiet self-approval.
BY way of teaching, the school
devoted itself to satisfying the re-
quirements Of various respectable
examining bodies and unless your
tainment of that objective, the
school, as an organization, did not
concern itself about what was hap
pening to you inside or outside or
between the hours devoted to that
purpose.
Most of the boys were day-boys,
and by ordinary standards the tone
was good. Filth was furtive and
such vice as occurred was inquisitive
elementary, infrequent and obscure.
The head boy was a son of DR..
Carstall, a taciturn, fair, good
looking boy who seemed to do every
thing he did well and with a mini
mum of effort. He won sort of
qualified worship from Rud,
quite at the beginning of their ac-
quaintance.
Splendor About Such Authority.
Rud was engaged in an all-in
scrap with boy who had called
him "The Stink" He had been
jabbing at his adversary with a
penholder with a broken nib. But
the fellow had got him by the wrist
now. Only his left fist was free
and he was getting the worst of the
punching.
Carstal appeared, tall and calm
standing over them. Don't fight
with things like that, Whitlow. We
don't do it here"
Hes bigger than me-"
"Kick his shins If you must,
juniors privilege, but don't use a
filthy thing like that. Might poison
his blood. Or jab his eye. What's
the trouble?"
Explanation.
well, I say he's not to be called
that. Nicknames ought to be toler-
able. And Russell, you tease some
one your own size. Get out OF It.,
both Of you"
There was splendor, Rud
thought, about such authority. Get
out of it, both of you," he whispered
to himself presently and wondered
how long it would be before he was
head of the school. He'd make 'em
get out of it all right. But it seemed
hard to him that he wasn't to use
pen-nibs or scissors in warfare.
Very hard. He was the sort of
scrapper who would have invented
knuckle-dusters If they hadn't al
ready been invented.
On the whole he was less aggres-
sive during his junior days at school
than at home. He was not much of
a success at games and he was held
to all sorts of rules and customs he
had been accustomed to disregard at
home with his brothers. He learnt
quite early the inadvisability of
moving down the wicket with his
little bat when he got out at cricket
or Of quitting the game ostentatious-
ly and vindictively directly after he
had had his innings, and he grasped
the necessity of having the football
somewhere near at least when he
desired to hack another player. He
ceased to baWl and threaten loudly
when annoyed, but on the other
hand he acquired complete set of
the recognized English bad words,
and he muttered them ferociously
whenever exasperated.
Active, Insensitive Intelligence.
He speedily displayed an active,
insensitive intelligence beyond his
Be- years. His memory was exception
ally good, his reception uncritical.
He read voraciously. His imagina-
tion was fired particularly by the
history of wars, conquests and cam
paigns. Then forthwith he became
Caesar, Alexander, Napoleon or
Genghis Kahn, whichever Rud it
happened to be. He conquered Amer
lea with all Washington Irving
Conquistadors and subjugated Ire
land with the sword of Cromwell.
He was Give; he was Gustavus
Adolphus. Fiction, generally speak
ing, he did not like; there were too
many of those incalculable girls in
it. He had no use for Fenimore
Cooper and the noble Indian, and
books about big-game hunting mere
ly strengthened his innate distrust
and dislike of animals. If ever he
had to hunt tigers, he decided, he
would do it with explosive bullets
from machan, good, high, strong
machan. When he saw the elephants
and gorillas in the geological gar
dens he thrilled with hostility and
dreamt afterward about fighting
them with machine guns and CATCH
ing them in the most horribly spiky
pitfalls. And when in his dream
they just came closer and closer to
him, bleeding, blinded, but per-
sistently undying and intent upon
him, he screamed and woke up in a
frenzy of fear and hate.
Savages, barbarians, natives" he
moved down." he had no other
use for them.
Since he was day boy and not