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all.’
    ‘But you can’t say that he wasn’t a thief by nature ever since he became of an age to think for himself?’ asked counsel.
    ‘I can only say,’ said the Major-General, ‘that until these last holidays, we always found him a decent boy. Of course he wasn’t perfect, nobody wanted him to be. But he wasn’t a boy any father need be ashamed of.’
    ‘If what Mr Chilton says is right,’ I said, ‘it won’t be necessary for you to be ashamed of him now.’
    ‘If what Mr Chilton said is right, your honour,’ said the Major-General, ‘we should all be put in lunatic asylums and the inmates should be let out to play about with Mr Chilton and his boys. And run the country too, I suppose,’ he added.
    ‘Well,’ I said, ‘some people think that they are doing that already.’
    By that time it was 4.15 and I said that I would adjourn the case until the following morning for the speeches of counsel, and for my judgment.
    ‘But perhaps it may help you,’ I added, ‘if I tell you what I am thinking provisionally at the moment. The General let his son go to this pretty odd school willingly enough in the first instance, and allowed him to stay there six whole terms. He now says that he doesn’t like the results. It’s true that the way in which this school is carried on is, to say the least, unusual. But, as far as I can see, the General took a risk of that. Whether or not the method is a good one, whether or not Mr Chilton is right in the views which he has expressed, I think it may be very difficult for a man in the position of the defendant, Major-General Brooke, two years after he sent his son to the school, to say that he’s not satisfied with the result, and to refuse to give the proper notice. However, as I said, I will hear the argument in full in the morning.’
    In those words I gave a pretty clear indication to counsel that I was in all probability going to decide in favour of Mr Chilton. And it therefore came as a very considerable surprise to me when the next morning arrived, the case was called on and counsel for Mr Chilton got up and said: ‘I’m happy to tell your honour that you will no longer be troubled with this case. The parties have come to terms.’
    Those terms were that the action was withdrawn and Mr Chilton agreed to pay the whole of the Major-General’s costs. I was very much surprised. Both counsel were experienced and able men, and they must have told their clients that the strong probability was that Mr Chilton was going to win. Why then did he completely throw in his hand? Why did he start the action if he was going to do that in the end? I simply did not understand it. But what I did not know then and only learned afterwards was what happened after the court had adjourned.
    David Brooke, who had taken no part in the proceedings, had nevertheless been in court the whole time. And, as Mr Chilton was walking home, he came up to him.
    ‘Hello, you scallywag,’ said Mr Chilton.
    ‘Hello, sir,’ said David. ‘Nice to see you.’
    ‘Nice to see you, David,’ said Mr Chilton.
    ‘I’m afraid,’ said David, ‘you may not feel so friendlily disposed towards me in a few minutes.’
    ‘Well, if you want the truth,’ said Mr Chilton, ‘I’ve never felt friendlily disposed towards you. I took you on for money, and had to make the best of it. I’ve done my duty, and now your father’s got to do his and pay me.’
    ‘I think not, Mr Chilton,’ said David.
    ‘Were you in court, David?’
    ‘The whole time.’
    ‘Well, I don’t suppose you’re used to courts, or understand what judges say,’ said Mr Chilton, ‘but I can assure you that the judge indicated in what he said before he left the court that he was going to come down fairly and squarely on my side and make your father pay.’
    ‘I understood that perfectly, Mr Chilton,’ said David. ‘That’s why I’m here. Because my father isn’t going to pay.’
    ‘Well, that’s a matter for your father,’ said