back to page 2 Harry Campbell 3
In the morning Harry was told to go and report to the headmaster. When he got to the headmaster's study he found that he had not yet arrived so he had to wait outside He stood there worrying, wondering what ever would happen.
After a few minutes the headmaster arrived and told Harry to go inside. "Well, What do you have to say for yourself ?" he asked. "Sir, I was not cheating and it was not my book," he said.
"Mr Pritchard saw you looking at Egerton's paper and the book had your name on it." said the headmaster in a very angry voice. "Surely you cannot say that you were not looking at Egerton's work. Mr Pritchard says he saw you." "You are simply telling lies!"
"I looked towards Egerton when I saw him.... " Harry stopped. He would not have said this if he had not become very upset and angry.
At that school every boy believed that you should never say anything that would get anyone
else into trouble.
"When you saw Egerton doing ........ What?" thundered the headmaster. Harry could not stop now. "He was reading out of that book. He must have slipped it onto my desk later," he cried.
"Well, we had better send for Egerton and hear what he has to say," said Dr Palmer. When Egerton arrived he denied reading the book during the exam and said that the book was not his.
"Sir, Campbell was sitting on my left and Evans on my right. "Why not ask Evans if he saw me copying.?"
Now when Egerton was copying he was leaning a little towards Harry and away from Evans so Evans could not see what he was doing. "I did not see Egerton reading the book," said Evans. He was being completely truthful. He did not remember the way Egerton was sitting and that it had been impossible to see What Egerton was doing.
Dr Palmer was now sure that Harry had done wrong and gave him six strokes of the cane. Harry went out of his study in tears. He was very sore but he was not a cry baby. The thing that really upset him was that both Mr Pritchard and Dr Palmer believed that he was a cheat and this was all because of Egerton's lies.
It was winter time and snow was lying on the ground. When Harry went out at break time the other boys shouted, "Cheat! Cheat!" and pelted him with snow balls. One of these balls seemed to hit him particularly hard and his face began to bleed. There was a small stone inside the snowball and it had been thrown by Egerton. It was not a bad cut but in those days elastoplast had not been invented and when he went to see the school nurse she put on a large bandage which covered half of his face.
When Harry went to bed in the dormitory the other boys still mocked him. "I see that you dare not show your face," said Egerton, "Only half of it."
Harry had had enough. He was actually very good at wrestling but the other boys did not know this because he had never used his wrestling skill to hurt or bully anyone. He went up to Egerton and grabbed him.
Egerton tried to fight back but Harry got him in a strong wrestling hold and tightened it until Egerton screamed. "Now tell everyone what really happened," said Harry.
"All right. I will tell the truth but please let me go. You are killing me."
Just as he said this, Mr Pritchard walked into
the dormitory. "What is going on here?" he asked. Neither Harry nor Egerton said anything.
"Well I will deal with this in the morning," he said. He wondered what he should do because it seemed that Egerton was just about to say that he had been telling lies. Somehow he would have to find out what really happened.
Harry did not know this and felt that he was in trouble again. This was too much. He decided to run away from school that night.
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