CHAPTER 6

There had followed then a time of such happiness that Chips,

remembering it long afterwards, hardly believed it could ever have happened
before or since in the world. For his marriage was a triumphant success
Katherine conquered Brookfield as she had conquered Chips; she was
immensely popular with boys and masters alike. Even the wives of the masters,
tempted at first to be jealous of someone so young and lovely, could not long
resist her charms.
But most remarkable of all was the change she made in Clnps Till his
marriage he had been a dry and rather neutral sort of person, liked and thought
well of by Brookfield in general, but not of the stuff that makes for great
popularity or that stirs great affection He had been at Brookfield for over a
quarter of a century, long enough to have established himself as a decent fellow
and a hard worker; but just too long for anyone to believe him capable of ever
being much more. He had, in fact, already begun to sink into that creeping dry
rot of pedagogy that 1s the worst and ultimate pitfall for the profession gming
the same lessons year after year had formed a groove into which the other
affairs of his life adjusted themselves with insidious ease He worked well, he
was conscientious, he was a fixture that gave service, satisfaction, confidence,
everything except inspiration
And then came this astomshing girl-wife whom nobody nad expected——
least of all Chips himself She made him, to all appearances a new man, though
most of the newness was really a warming to life of things that were oud,
imprisoned, and unguessed. His eyes gained sparkle, his mind, which was
adequately if not brilliantly equipped, began to move more adventurously The
one thing he had always had, a sense of humour, blossomed into a sudden
mchness to which his years lent maturity. He began to feel a greater strength,
his discipline improved to a pomt at which it could become, mm « sense, less
rigid; he became more popular, When he had first come to Brookfield he had
aimed to be loved, honoured and obeyed — but obeyed, at any rate Obedience
he had secured, and honour had been granted him, but onl, now came love, the
sudden love of boys for a man who was kind without being soft, who understood
them well enough, but not too much, and whose private happiness linked him
with their own He began to make Ittle jokes, the sort that school boys like ~
mnemonics and puns that raised laughs and at the saie lime imprinted
something in the mind There was one that never failed to please though 1t was
only a sample of many others Whenever his Roman Histor, forms came to deal
with the Lex Canuleia, the law that permitted patnicians to marry plebeians,
Chips used to add: “So that, you see, 1f Miss Plebs wanted Mr Patrician to marry
her, and he said he couldn’t, she probably replied “Oh, ves you can, you har!”
Roars of laughter.
13
 And Kathie broadened his views and opinions, also, giving him an
outlook far beyond the roofs and turrets of Brookfield, so that he saw his
country as something deep and gracious to which Brookfield was but one of
many feeding streams She had a cleverer brain than his, and he could not
confute her ideas even 1f and when he disagreed with them; he remained, for
instance, a Conservative m politics, despite all her radical socialist talk But even
where he did not accept, he absorbed; her young idealism worked upon his
maturity to produce an amalgam- very gentle and wise.
Sometimes she persuaded him completely. Brookfield, for example, ran a
mission in East London, to which hoys and parents contributed generously with
money but rarely with personal contact It was Katherine who suggested that a
team from the mission should come up to Brookfield and play one of the
School's elevens at Soccer The idea was so revolutionary that fram anyone but
Katherine it could not have survived tts first frosty reception To introduce a
group of slum boys to the serene environment of better class youngsters seemed
at first a wanton stirring of all kinds of things that had better be left untouched.
The whole staff was against it, and the School, rf 1ts opimon could have been
taken, was probably against it too. Everyone was certain that the East End lads
would be hooligans, or else that they would be made to feel uncomfortable,
anyhow, there would be “incidenis,” and everyone would be confused and upset
Yet Katherine persisted
“Chips,” she said, “they're wrong, you knew, and I'm mght. I'm looking
ahead to the future, they and you are looking back to the past England isn't
always going to be divided into officers and other ranks. And those popular boys
are Just as important 10 Engiand as Brookfield 1, You've got to have them here,
Chips You can't satisfy your conscience by writing a cheque for a few guineas
and keeping them at arm's length. Besides, they're proud of Brookfield — just as
you are. Years hence, may be, boys of that sort will be coming here — a few of
them, at any rate. Why not? Why ever not? Chips, dear, remember this is
eighteen ninety seven — not sixty seven, when you were up at Cambridge. You
got your ideas wel] stuck in those days, and good ideas they were too, a lot of
them. But a few — just a few, Chips - want unsticking. .. .”
Rather to her surprise he gave way and suddenly became a keen advocate
of the propesal, and the volte-face was so complete that the authomties were
taken unaware and found themselves consenting to the dangerous expermment.
The boys from Poplar armved at Brookfield one Saturday afternoon, played
Soccer with the School's second team, were honourably defeated by seven goals
to five, and later had high tea with the School team in the Dining Hall They
then met the Head and were shown over the School, and Chips saw them off at
the railway station in the evening. Everything had passed without the slightest
hitch of any kind, and it was clear that the visitors were taking away with them
as fine an impression as they had left behind

14
 They took back with them also the memory of a charming woman who
had met them and talked to them; for once, years later, during the War, a
private stationed at a big military camp near Brookfield called on Chips and said
he had been one of that first visiting team. Chips gave him tea and chatted wath
him, till at length, shaking hands, the man said “And’ ow’s the missus, sir? I
remember ‘er very well ”
“Do you?” Chops answered eagerly. ‘Do you remember her?”
“Rather. I should think anyone
would *
And Chips rephed: “They don’t, you
know, At least, not here. Boys come and go,
new faces all the time, memores don’t last,
even masters don’t stay for ever. Since last
year ~ when old Gnbble retired — he's — um
— the School butler — there hasn't been
anyone here who ever saw my wife. She died,
you know, less than a year after your visit. In
ninety-e1ght.”
“I'm real sorry to ‘ear that, sir There's
two or three o’ my pals, anyhow, who
remember ‘er clear as anything, though we
did only see ‘er that wurst Yes, we
remember ‘er all mght,”
“I'm very glad..,. That was a grand day
we adi had — and a fine game, too.”
“One o’ the best days that I ever ‘ad in me life Wish it was then and not
nah, straight, I do. I'm off to Frawnce to-morrer.”
A month or so later Chips heard that he had been killed at Pssschendaele.

15