The Greatest Works of P. G. Wodehouse. P. G. Wodehouse
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dragged up another chair for his feet and picked up his novel.
He had not been reading long when there was a footstep in the passage, and Mr. Downing appeared.
The possibility, in fact the probability, of Psmith having substituted another boot for the one with the incriminating splash of paint on it had occurred to him almost immediately on leaving the headmaster’s garden.; Psmith and Mike, he reflected, were friends.; Psmith’s impulse would be to do all that lay in his power to shield Mike.; Feeling aggrieved with himself that he had not thought of this before, he, too, hurried over to Outwood’s.
Mr. Downing was brisk and peremptory.
“I wish to look at these boots again,” he said.; Psmith, with a sigh, laid down his novel, and rose to assist him.
“Sit down, Smith,” said the housemaster.; “I can manage without your help.”
Psmith sat down again, carefully tucking up the knees of his trousers, and watched him with silent interest through his eyeglass.
The scrutiny irritated Mr. Downing.
“Put that thing away, Smith,” he said.
“That thing, sir?”
“Yes, that ridiculous glass.; Put it away.”
“Why, sir?”
“Why!; Because I tell you to do so.”
“I guessed that that was the reason, sir,” sighed Psmith replacing the eyeglass in his waistcoat pocket.; He rested his elbows on his knees, and his chin on his hands, and resumed his contemplative inspection of the boot-expert, who, after fidgeting for a few moments, lodged another complaint.
“Don’t sit there staring at me, Smith.”
“I was interested in what you were doing, sir.”
“Never mind.; Don’t stare at me in that idiotic way.”
“May I read, sir?” asked Psmith, patiently.
“Yes, read if you like.”
“Thank you, sir.”
Psmith took up his book again, and Mr. Downing, now thoroughly irritated, pursued his investigations in the boot-basket.
He went through it twice, but each time without success.; After the second search, he stood up, and looked wildly round the room.; He was as certain as he could be of anything that the missing piece of evidence was somewhere in the study.; It was no use asking Psmith point-blank where it was, for Psmith’s ability to parry dangerous questions with evasive answers was quite out of the common.
His eye roamed about the room.; There was very little cover there, even for so small a fugitive as a number nine boot.; The floor could be acquitted, on sight, of harbouring the quarry.
Then he caught sight of the cupboard, and something seemed to tell him that there was the place to look.
“Smith!” he said.
Psmith had been reading placidly all the while.
“Yes, sir?”
“What is in this cupboard?”
“That cupboard, sir?”
“Yes.; This cupboard.”; Mr. Downing rapped the door irritably.
“Just a few odd trifles, sir.; We do not often use it.; A ball of string, perhaps.; Possibly an old note-book.; Nothing of value or interest.”
“Open it.”
“I think you will find that it is locked, sir.”
“Unlock it.”
“But where is the key, sir?”
“Have you not got the key?”
“If the key is not in the lock, sir, you may depend upon it that it will take a long search to find it.”
“Where did you see it last?”
“It was in the lock yesterday morning.; Jackson might have taken it.”
“Where is Jackson?”
“Out in the field somewhere, sir.”
Mr. Downing thought for a moment.
“I don’t believe a word of it,” he said shortly.; “I have my reasons for thinking that you are deliberately keeping the contents of that cupboard from me.; I shall break open the door.”
Psmith got up.
“I’m afraid you mustn’t do that, sir.”
Mr. Downing stared, amazed.
“Are you aware whom you are talking to, Smith?” he inquired acidly.
“Yes, sir.; And I know it’s not Mr. Outwood, to whom that cupboard happens to belong.; If you wish to break it open, you must get his permission.; He is the sole lessee and proprietor of that cupboard.; I am only the acting manager.”
Mr. Downing paused.; He also reflected.; Mr. Outwood in the general rule did not count much in the scheme of things, but possibly there were limits to the treating of him as if he did not exist.; To enter his house without his permission and search it to a certain extent was all very well.; But when it came to breaking up his furniture, perhaps——!
On the other hand, there was the maddening thought that if he left the study in search of Mr. Outwood, in order to obtain his sanction for the house-breaking work which he proposed to carry through, Smith would be alone in the room.; And he knew that, if Smith were left alone in the room, he would instantly remove the boot to some other hiding-place.; He thoroughly disbelieved the story of the lost key.; He was perfectly convinced that the missing boot was in the cupboard.
He stood chewing these thoughts for awhile, Psmith in the meantime standing in a graceful attitude in front of the cupboard, staring into vacancy.
Then he was seized with a happy idea.; Why should he leave the room at all?; If he sent Smith, then he himself could wait and make certain that the cupboard was not tampered with.
“Smith,” he said, “go and find Mr. Outwood, and ask him to be good enough to come here for a moment.”
CHAPTER LI
MAINLY ABOUT BOOTS
“Be quick, Smith,” he said, as the latter stood looking at him without making any movement in the direction of the door.
“Quick, sir?” said Psmith meditatively, as if he had been asked a conundrum.
“Go and find Mr. Outwood at once.”
Psmith still made no move.
“Do you intend to disobey me, Smith?” Mr. Downing’s voice was steely.
“Yes, sir.”
“What!”
“Yes, sir.”
There was one of those you-could-have-heard-a-pin-drop silences.; Psmith was staring reflectively at the ceiling.; Mr. Downing was looking as if at any moment he might say, “Thwarted to me face, ha, ha!; And by a very stripling!”
It was Psmith, however, who resumed the conversation.; His manner was almost too respectful; which made it all the more a pity that what he said did not keep up the standard of docility.
“I take my stand,” he said, “on a technical point.; I say to myself, ’Mr. Downing is a man I admire as a human being and respect as a master.; In——’”
“This impertinence is doing you no good, Smith.”
Psmith waved a hand deprecatingly.