Part 12 (1/2)

William straightened himself and looked from the bomb to Mr Leicester . . . from Mr Leicester to the bomb . . .

'Come back!' said Mr Leicester again. His voice was little more than a whisper, but it held even more fury than when it had been a shout.

'COME BACK!' MR LEICESTER SHOUTED HOa.r.s.eLY. 'COME BACK! YOU YOU YOU-' WORDS FAILED HIM.

William wiped his hands down his trousers.

'I'm all right,' he said carelessly. 'I'll fetch my tray thing if it starts explodin' . . . But, I say it's a jolly funny bomb. Come down an' have a look at it.'

Mr Leicester's eyes, bulging and bloodshot with emotion, went from William to the bomb . . . and remained fixed on it. William had cleared all the earth and debris away from it, and it lay there large, round, of a greyish hue . . .

Suddenly William gave a shout.

'Gos.h.!.+ I know what it is,' he said.

In the same moment Mr Leicester knew what it was, too.

It was the stone ball from the top of one of the brick piers that had formed the entrance gates of the Hall.

Pale now, but with his eyes still bulging, Mr Leicester dived under the barrier and came down to join William in the crater. He stared at the bomb, stroked it, prodded it . . . His face was a mask of incredulous horror.

'It is, isn't it?' said William.

Slowly Mr Leicester turned to him. With an almost superhuman effort he had recovered something of his self-possession, something even of his normal manner. He looked shaken but master of himself.

'No need to er go about talking of this, my boy,' he said. 'No need to mention it at all. It would, in fact, be very wrong to go about upsetting people's morale by er spreading rumours. There are very severe penalties for spreading rumours. I hope that you will remember that.'

William looked at him in silence for a few moments. He was an intelligent boy and knew all about the process of face-saving. He was quite willing to help Mr Leicester save his face, but he didn't see why he should do it for nothing.

'Then Joan an' her mother can go home tomorrow?' he said.

'Certainly,' said Mr Leicester graciously.

His eyes kept returning, as if drawn against his will, to the round smooth object at his feet.

'An' you'll come an' give your cinema show at her party, won't you?' said William with elaborate carelessness.

Mr Leicester fixed a stern eye on him.

'You know quite well that I am not giving any such entertainments during the war,' he said.

William gazed dreamily into the distance.

'I thought that if we had the cinema at the party,' he said dreamily, 'it'd be easier for me not to spread rumours.'

Mr Leicester gulped and swallowed. He looked long and hard at William. William continued to gaze dreamily into the distance. There was a silence . . . then Mr Leicester yielded to the inevitable.

'Well, well, my boy,' he said with a fairly good imitation of his pre-war geniality. 'I er like to see young people enjoying themselves. If my duties permit, I will make an exception to my rule for this one occasion.'

'An' if they don't,' said William suavely, 'we'll come an' fetch it, shall we? Joan's mother can manage it all right.'

Again Mr Leicester gulped and swallowed. Again he yielded to the inevitable.

'Just this once, then, my boy,' he said graciously. 'Just this once. It must never happen again, of course. And I will take for granted that you will not er spread rumours.'

'No,' promised William. 'I won't spread rumours.'

William had barely reached Miss Milton's house next morning when Mr Leicester appeared, complete with all his District Warden's regalia. He looked stern and grim and aloof, as befitted one who has an important part to play in his country's destiny.

'I have come to inform you, Mrs Parfitt,' he said portentously, 'that the unexploded bomb has been er disposed of, and that you are at liberty to return to your home at your convenience.'

He avoided William's eye as he spoke.

'Oh how lovely!' said Joan. 'Just in time for the party! It is in time for the party, isn't it, Mummy?'

'Yes, dear,' said Mrs Parfitt joyfully. 'It only gives us a day, but we can manage a grand party in a day.'

Mrs Parfitt would have liked to give a dozen parties to celebrate her release from Miss Milton. Only that morning Miss Milton had reproved her for drawing her bedroom curtains an inch further back on one side than on the other and had asked her to see that Joan did not put her hand on the bal.u.s.ter rail going up and down stairs, as she had found several finger marks on it.

'I HAVE COME TO INFORM YOU, MRS PARFITT,' HE SAID PORTENTOUSLY, 'THAT THE UNEXPLODED BOMB HAS BEEN ER DISPOSED OF.'

'Ah, yes, the party,' said Mr Leicester with an expansive but somewhat mirthless smile. 'This young man said that you wanted me to bring my kinematograph to it.'

'Oh please, Mr Leicester!' said Joan, clasping her hands and looking up at him beseechingly. 'Oh please!'

Mr Leicester gave a good imitation of a strong man melted by a child's pleading.

'Well, well,' he said at last. 'Well, well, well . . . I don't know . . .'

'Oh, please!' said Joan again.

'Well,' said Mr Leicester. 'Perhaps . . . just this once . . . Mind, I'll never do it for you again and I'll never do it for anyone else at all till after the war.'

'That is kind of you, Mr Leicester,' said Mrs Parfitt.

Joan was dancing about with joy.

'Oh, won't it be lovely!' she said. 'Oh, thank you, Mr Leicester.'

'Isn't it kind of him, William?' said Mrs Parfitt.

'Yes,' agreed William. 'Jolly kind.'