You shall flog a stream before breakfast and after dinner,
if you like."
"I should be very proud," I was beginning, as the mere prelude to
resolute excuses; but the eye of Raffles opened wide upon me; and
I hesitated weakly, to be duly lost.
"Then that's settled," said Lord Amersteth, with the slightest
suspicion of grimness. "It's to be a little week, you know, when
my son comes of age. We play the Free Foresters, the Dorsetshire
Gentlemen, and probably some local lot as well. But Mr. Raffles
will tell you all about it, and Crowley shall write. Another
wicket! By Jove, they're all out! Then I rely on you both."
And, with a little nod, Lord Amersteth rose and sidled to the
gangway.
Raffles rose also, but I caught the sleeve of his blazer.
"What are you thinking of?" I whispered savagely. "I was nowhere
near the eleven. I'm no sort of cricketer. I shall have to get
out of this!"
"Not you," he whispered back. "You needn't play, but come you
must. If you wait for me after half-past six I'll tell you why."
But I could guess the reason; and I am ashamed to say that it
revolted me much less than did the notion of making a public fool
of myself on a cricket-field. My gorge rose at this as it no
longer rose at crime, and it was in no tranquil humor that I
strolled about the ground while Raffles disappeared in the
pavilion.
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