The Way of All Flesh
Theobald was the perfection of neatness; while his son was ill upstairs, he copied out the school list so that he could throw his comments into a tabular form, which assumed the following shape—only that of course I have changed the names. One cross in each square was to indicate occasional offence; two stood for frequent, and three for habitual delinquency.
| Smoking. | Drinking beer at the "Swan and Bottle." |
Swearing and Obscene Language. |
Notes. | |
| Smith | ο | ο | x x | Will smoke next half. |
| Brown | x x x | ο | x | |
| Jones | x | x x | x x x | |
| Robinson | x x | x | x | |
And thus through the whole school.
Of course, in justice to Ernest, Dr Skinner would be bound over to secrecy before a word was said to him, but, Ernest being thus protected, he could not be furnished with the facts too completely.
CHAPTER XLIII
So important did Theobald consider this matter that he made a special journey to Roughborough before the half year began. It was a relief to have him out of the house,
191
