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The Writings in Prose and Verse of Rudyard Kipling (18); Stalky
The Writings in Prose and Verse of Rudyard Kipling Stalky - 18 Author:Rudyard Kipling Volume: 18 General Books publication date: 2009 Original publication date: 1916 Original Publisher: C. Scribner's sons Subjects: Fiction / Classics Fiction / Literary History / General Literary Criticism / European / English, Irish, Scottish, Welsh Notes: This is a black and white OCR reprint of the original. It has no illustration... more »s and there may be typos or missing text. When you buy the General Books edition of this book you get free trial access to Million-Books.com where you can select from more than a million books for free. Excerpt: A LITTLE PREP. THE Easter term was but a month old when Stettson major, a day-boy, contracted diphtheria, and the Head was very angry. He decreed a new and narrower set of bounds -- the infection had been traced to an outlying farm-house -- urged the prefects severely to lick all trespassers, and promised extra attentions from his own hand. There were no words bad enough for Stettson major, quarantined at his mother's house, who had lowered the school-average of health. This he said in the gymnasium after prayers. Then he wrote some two hundred letters to as many anxious parents and guardians, and bade the school carry on. The trouble did not spread, but, one night, a dog-cart drove to the Head's door, and in the morning the Head had gone, leaving all things in charge of Mr. King, senior house-master. The Head often ran up to town, where the school devoutly believed he bribed officials for early proofs of the Army Examination papers; but this absence was unusually prolonged. " Downy old bird!" said Stalky to the allies, one wet afternoon, in the study. " He must have gone on a bend an' been locked up, under a false name." " What for ? " Beetle entered joyously into the libel. "Forty shillin's or a month for hackin' the chucker-out of the Pavvy on the shins. Bates always has a spree when he goes to town. Wish he was back, though. I'm about sick o' King's ' whips an' scorpions ' an' lectures on public-school spirit -- ya...« less