With the benefit of hindsight, my actions with respect to the birching and expulsion of young Mr Gault appear to me ill-judged although there was no way of knowing at the time that he was caught in a nasty accommodation with his creditors. I found out the following term as to what had been behind his many visits to my Study and kept a sharp eye out for his creditors. I briefed the new Prefects as to my requirements and was eventually rewarded with an opportunity to visit upon some of them the discomfort that Gault had so readily absorbed on their behalf the previous year.
Perhaps I might be criticised for having entertained the thought of retribution but my dealings with the culprits in reality took on a subtle form rather than any degree of physical exertion. I discussed my concerns with my wife and we reached an accommodation of my using psychological rather than physical means of balancing the ledger, which, at the time, stood quite firmly in young Gault's favour.
One of these lads, Rex Haddon by name, was sent to me at the insistence of our most senior Mathematics Master who found the lad to be incorrigible and inattentive. I was not expecting anyone to be waiting outside my Study that late morning and was taken aback by the sight of the tall teen with his striking silhouette in the shadows of the corridor. He handed me a card from his Mathematics Master upon which was inscribed a message of frustration at the lad's unwillingness to attend to his studies and his continual disruption of the class.
Now that I had been presented with the opportunity I had to restrain myself and remember my covenant with my dear wife, for my instinct was to take the lad and thrash him severely. Rather, I commanded him to enter my Study and followed him in as he tried to rub his buttocks in some sort of ritual prelude to punishment. I took pleasure in this gesture although I could never fathom why boys undertook this action. Most assuredly, the rubbing of one's buttocks must be a nervous anticipation of the pain to come while the reality is that rubbing would only serve to draw blood to the nether regions. This would seem contrary to any desire to avoid pain. Nonetheless, almost every boy took this unusual action - even those who had experiences of taking a caning after a meaningful dialogue with the strap. The latter draws blood to the target area and the cane then finds a more highly sensitised target when it is allowed to fulfil its duty.
But I digress.
Young Haddon stood in the centre of the room as I removed my gown and coat and took my place at my desk. My partial disrobing gave me ample opportunity to assess the lad's build and his posterior and thus to judge what instrument might be effective in imparting the desired message. His highly pronounced buttocks, firm and full, invited a degree of correction which one could not in all conscience apply to a lad with a scrawny physique and a flat rear end. Fortuitously, we fed our boys well and gave them plentiful exercise and the very vast majority were well equipped for the forms of discipline that their actions warranted. Haddon was no exception.
I recall sitting and contemplating the note that had been presented to me, and the lad's discomfort and fidgeting as the silence hung heavily between us. I considered his misdeed most seriously of course but my mind was more concerned as to how to restore some equity for the manner in which he had participated in a negotiation that eventually caused the downfall of master Gault. Warning him to stop fidgeting (which, after all was a natural nervous action) I advised him that I would not administer justice at the time but would prefer to confer with his Masters before deciding upon the severity of his punishment. I advised him to return to his classes and to await my summons at a future time. I think the lad was about to beseech me to get his punishment dispensed with immediately but my curt dismissal made it clear that such an entreaty would find no sympathy. He turned and departed as my eyes again assessed his firm body as if to confirm my assessment of his ability to render unto Caesar a suitable recompense for his actions.
During the days that followed this meeting, I conferred with the lad's Masters and found him generally wanting in the areas of self-discipline, attentiveness and basic courtesy. I also found out that there was abroad in the School community a sense of unfinished business, which was making the lad increasingly edgy and unsettled.
The boy compounded the problem he was facing by his own actions, as I found out when I had the Prefects to tea after Church on Sunday. As usual, I canvassed the senior boys' views on how the government of the School was proceeding under their administration. As was the norm, each Prefect advised in general terms about his need to use his cane to maintain standards and there was mention of some of the more unruly boys who might be headed in my direction because of their continued poor performance or disobedience. Generally the Prefects preferred to use my availability only as a threat for these almost grown young men could administer quite severe chastisement. On occasion however, they despaired of their ability to get through to a boy with their canes given the strict limits placed upon the number of strokes they might deliver and referred the culprit to me for a more severe lesson.
It was during this cheerful discussion that one of the Prefects mentioned that he had had occasion to beat young master Haddon and I then decided that the time had arrived to have the miscreant face judgement.
The following morning I sent word to master Haddon during the second period of the day that I required the pleasure of his company in my Study at the end of the day. The message was delivered in a quite public manner so that the lad might be most anxious as the day would surely move at an appallingly slow pace as the clock edged towards the appointed hour.
Half past three of an afternoon is a pleasant time for the administration of necessary justice for the business of the day has largely been completed and the offender would most usually be relishing in the time set aside for relaxation and games before tea. A lad who is called to account at this time therefore is required to take his departure from his friends and to tread an unfamiliar path to the place of judgement.
Haddon knocked tentatively on my Study door and I paused for a moment before bidding him enter. He approached my desk and stood nervously before me as I assessed his demeanour. I beheld a contrite and anxious young man and almost gave him the benefit of my sympathy for his light but my good sense overrode my instinct for compassion and I quietly informed him that he would be punished with appropriate severity. As I arose to seek out the implements for his chastisement, I directed him to remove his coat, trousers and underwear in readiness for his payment of his dues.
I selected both a strap and a cane and laid them to one side as Haddon prepared himself. As his underwear was removed I recall noticing with a degree of curiosity that he was surprisingly erect - as is the anticipation of this moment had aroused in him some degree of excitement. By comparison with many of the young men whom I saw in this condition, I must observe for the record that young Haddon was more developed than most and thus would require a modicum of caution on my part lest his prospects for fatherhood be damaged by some miscalculation on my part.
Haddon assumed the required position and I mine.
I took the strap and watched as Haddon's nervous buttocks clenched and unclenched and I noticed the thin lines that evidenced the Prefect's handiwork of the previous week. I timed the first stroke to perfection, catching him at the moment when his cheeks were most relaxed. Looking back, my timing was impeccable for each of the six strokes I delivered and his tough meaty cheeks showed the efficacy of my attention.
I bade young Haddon to stand and wait for a few minutes until I considered it appropriate to complete his punishment. His shirtfront gave his obvious excited state a modicum of cover although I was sure that the unmistakable evidence of his condition acutely embarrassed him.
I spent several minutes admonishing Haddon for his attitude and recalcitrance before requesting that he bend once more to receive the balance of his punishment.
The cane, administered to buttocks that have been warmed by the strap, is most efficacious and Haddon gave full voice to the fact as the first stroke cut across his nether cheeks. His wail of protest was, I believe, as much one of surprise as it was of genuine agony for he was well padded and muscular. The subsequent five strokes elicited increasingly agonised wails from the lad, which was clearly my intention.
I paused for a moment before adjusting my stance and then delivered a seventh stroke diagonally across the previous six and then moved to his other side to deliver the eighth, which completed the symmetry. The last two strokes brought the lad to tears and an orgasm that was fortunately contained by the front of his shirt. Sobbing and obviously distraught, he restored his clothes and promised me that there would be a marked improvement in his behaviour. We shook hands upon this deal and he departed, clearly wiser for the experience.
Time alters perspectives but I am sure that it was in the same term that Glasson minor first offered me an opportunity to examine his perfect beauty at close quarters. I recall him entering my Study with his blond hair shimmering in the light and the reluctance with which he admitted to having been off School property without just cause. I remember that his absence had been noted although the reason had not been divined at that time.
It would be untruthful to say that I did not enjoy the spectacle of this lad with his perfect features and beautifully proportioned body standing before me, and it would be equally untruthful to say that the opportunity to apply some firm disciple to his firm round buttocks did not stir some emotions within me. I defy any person to be unmoved when presented with such a sight and such an opportunity.
Being a first offence, young Glasson anticipated, quite correctly, that he should not be required to do more than present his buttocks for six strokes with the strap and he took each one of them with an admirable degree of composure. He left my Study with me only a second or two behind him, for I had other duties to which I had to attend, and I left to find him using both hands to rub away the pain which resided in his posterior. I moved in the opposite direction so as to avoid causing him embarrassment, content in the knowledge that the lesson had been effective.
The appointment that caused me to leave my Study was in the Coach House with one of the local farmers who had a grievance, which he wished to air. I attended upon this gentleman and was astonished to find that he had come to the School to report the theft of apples from his orchard by several of the boys. I sought assurances from this pillar of the community that it was my boys who were the culprits and that he could, if require, identify those involved. Knowing the ways of our disciplinary methods, he accepted my assurances that those involved would be dealt with appropriately and apologised for the inconvenience he had caused me. I thanked him for his diligence in advising me of the matter and indicated that he should not hesitate to advise me if there were a repetition of this outrageous behaviour.
That evening, as the boys finished their ample meals in the dining room, I arose from my seat at the head table and commanded their silence. I then advised them of my knowledge of this robbery, informed them that the guilty had been identified and requested that those responsible rise and identify themselves. Five boys stood reluctantly, amongst them Glasson minor. I then knew the purpose for which he had absented himself from the School grounds and pondered the dilemma that confronted me for he had been punished already for a part of his crime. I directed the offenders to go immediately and await my return to my Study. Young Glasson looked particularly forlorn as he joined his fellow student in the embarrassing parade from the room towards their predictable destiny.
After dinner I repaired to the Masters' Common Room for a glass of port knowing full well that five young men were in the process of suffering the taunts of their fellow students. I knew what unkind remarks would be made as the boys files out of the dining room and that the references to their soon to be uncomfortable backsides would only heighten the lads' anxiety.
A port and coffee set me in a comfortable frame of mind as I made my way along the corridors to where five apprehensive students stood. I bade them enter my Study and proceeded to lecture them upon the disgrace that they had brought upon the School. Quietly but firmly, I advised them that they would each be soundly beaten. Glasson minor looked particularly uncomfortable so I assured him that, since he had already been punished for being away from the School ground without permission, his punishment would be ameliorated accordingly.
Each of the boys was much the same age and thus their punishments were aligned. I had them line up against the wall at the entrance to my Study and proceeded to remove the strap from the cupboard. I then proceeded to give each of the four lads other than Glasson minor six strokes.
That part of the punishment completed, I then required each of them to remove their trousers and underpants as I took a cane from the cupboard. Leaning against the edge of my desk I watched as the five lads slowly removed their shoes, trousers and underwear and then returned to the line. I must say that of the five, young Glasson displayed the most attractive posterior although a few others were commendable for their firmness and pronounced form.
Having just strapped four of the lads, it seemed only proper that young Glasson should be the first to receive the caress of the cane and I directed the lad to the required position. Having had some hours to recover from the strap, I informed the lad that he would receive nine strokes of the cane whilst his partners, with their freshly strapped bottoms would receive only eight. While a dozen strokes might reasonably have been expected, I considered some lenience might be justified given the relative young age of the boys.
Glasson's buttocks absorbed the first four or five strokes without eliciting more than a feint whimper from the lad but as the number increased the boy began to whimper and teras rolled down his cheeks. While not drawing blood, my unfortunate duty left the lad's backside neatly but agonisingly striped with nine distinct and parallel lines. Glasson minor returned to the line with a slightly bow-legged movement that gave eloquent testimony to the effectiveness of his chastisement. Undoubtedly my expertise would be admired in his dormitory when the other lads had received their due and they were able to leave the place of execution.
I cannot recall other than one of the four remaining boys who received the cane that evening but young Fuller does stay etched in my memory. He was a handsome lad, not pretty like young Glasson, but handsome nonetheless. He stays in my memory because of the surprising way in which he offered his posterior to the cane. When he bent over to grasp the edge of my desk, the lowered his spine apparently in order that the cane might find a more prominent target. This action seemed to signal a sense of pleasure at the prospect of a beating and, despite his cries of anguish during the receipt of his allotted eight strokes, the lad sported an admirable erection as he stood and returned to his position. I knew that young Fuller would be eager to relieve his excitement as soon as possible and thus quickly dismissed the five lads with a warning to stay out of trouble for the remainder of the Term. Dire consequences were foreshadowed should any of them appeared before me in the near future.