William The Outlaw Read Free Page A

top!’ said William and they scrambled once more to the hilltop.
    The procession led by the headmaster was approaching.
    ‘Lie down under the bushes,’ hissed William, ‘so’s they won’t see you. An’ watch what they do.’
    Breathless with apprehension the Outlaws crouched under the bushes and watched. They could see the procession come up the road – nearer, nearer. Then – the headmaster paused under
the signpost. The Outlaws held their breath. Did he know the lie of the land or would he be deceived? Evidently he didn’t know the lie of the land.
    ‘Here we are,’ he called out. ‘Here’s the signpost – Ringers’ Hill – up there.’
    Slowly the procession passed on up the other hillside.
    The Outlaws climbed out of their bushes. They still looked rather pale. ‘That was a jolly narrow shave,’ said Ginger.
    ‘What we’d better do now,’ said William grimly, ‘is to look for a proper hidin’ place case they find out an’ come back.’
    So intent had they been on looking down at the side of the hill where the dread procession was wending its way that they had not noticed an enormous man with bushy eyebrows and
a generally ferocious aspect who was climbing up the hill from the other side. They did not in fact notice him until he had come up behind them and his gruff voice boomed:
    ‘Well, is this all there is of you?’
    The Outlaws turned round with a start.
    There was a tense silence.
    The Outlaws, having, as they thought, narrowly saved themselves from destruction on one side of the hill, were quite unprepared for this attack from the other. It unnerved them. It paralysed
them. They had no reserve of ingenuity and aplomb with which to meet it.

    BREATHLESS WITH APPREHENSION THE OUTLAWS CROUCHED UNDER THE BUSHES AND WATCHED. THEY COULD SEE THE PROCESSION COME UP THE ROAD – NEARER, NEARER.
    William gulped and blinked and said, ‘Yes.’
    ‘ All? ’ boomed the ferocious man, ‘well, all I can say is that it’s hardly worth my while to come all this way for you. I’d understood that it was quite a
different sort of affair altogether. Do you mean to say that there are only four of you?’

    THEN – THE HEADMASTER PAUSED UNDER THE SIGNPOST. ‘HERE WE ARE,’ HE CALLED OUT. ‘HERE’S THE SIGNPOST – RINGERS’ HILL – UP
THERE.’
    William felt that he had done all that could be expected of him and nudged Ginger.
    ‘Er – yes,’ quaked Ginger.
    ‘Only four of you,’ said the ferocious man ferociously, ‘and how old?’
    Douglas and Henry had slunk behind William and Ginger. Ginger nudged William to intimate that it was his turn.
    William swallowed and said feebly, ‘Eleven – eleven and nearly three-quarters.’
    ‘Pish!’ said the man in a tone of fierce disgust. ‘Eleven! As I say I’d never have agreed to come if I’d known it was this sort of an affair. I naturally imagined
– however, now I’m here – and it’s late to start with –’ He looked at them and seemed to relent somewhat, ‘I gathered that you know a fair amount about the
subject and you must be keen. I suppose one should be thankful for four keen students even though they seem so very – however,’ his irritability seemed to get the better of him again,
‘let’s get to business. We’ll start over here . . . quickly please,’ he snapped, ‘or we’ll never get through this afternoon—’
    Dazedly, as if in a dream, the Outlaws went to where he pointed. They didn’t know what else to do. The situation seemed to have got entirely out of hand. It seemed best to follow the line
of least resistance and to give themselves away as little as possible. They stood in a dejected group in front of the ferocious man and the ferocious man began to talk. He talked about such things
as strata and igneous rock and neolithic and eolithic and palaeolithic and stratigraphical and Pithecanthropus erectus and other things of which the Outlaws had never heard before and hoped never
to hear again. He asked