I informed my dear and greatly missed wife of the events of that evening and was rewarded with a demonstration of lovemaking that satisfied the tension in my groin to which the view of young master Glasson and his colleagues had given rise. It was some days later that Elizabeth informed me that she had had to give comfort to one of the younger boys who, it appeared, had experienced some unwanted attention from one of the Prefects. Elizabeth, being delicate in such matters, left me with the impression that the "unwanted attention" meant something quite more serious than corporal punishment. I was obliged to investigate, but to this day would have preferred not to have been placed in this position. The consequences defied my imagination.
I recall that the Inquisition of the Middle Ages began with a decree and the lessons from that frightful period should not have been lost upon me as I went about the business of investigating Elizabeth's concerns about the abused boy. I visited the Matron to ascertain the identity of the boy but she could not shed any light upon the matter. Elizabeth did not know the boy's name (although she seemed to know most of them) and so I had little option but to turn sleuth. Like some character from a second-rate novel, I entered the various buildings in which the dormitories were located late at night and quietly went to each of the Prefect's rooms and listened at the doorway. This exercise proved quite unprofitable and very tiring and so I resolved to approach the matter in a more formal manner.
The following day, a Tuesday as I recalled, I asked the Head Prefect to arrange for all of the Prefects to meet me in the School Hall so that we might have a chat.
After lessons had been completed for the day, I donned my robe and strode purposefully to the Hall in which the twelve Prefects were waiting. Without any sense of malice towards them, I bade them sit and then advised them that I had been provided with certain knowledge regarding the abuse of one of the younger boys.
During the next few minutes we discussed who the boy might be and, without being able to identify the victim, the conversation was clearly going to make little progress. Therefore, I took the bull by the horns and asked the Prefects whether any of them were engaging in any form of _s_e_x_ual activity with any of the younger boys.
Now as I write I can recall the feeling of incredulity I felt during the next half hour or so as each of the Prefects admitted to having some form of activity but, they stressed, only with consenting students. One Prefect, West by name, even admitted that his chosen partner might have been discomforted by some over-vigorous activity three nights past.
I was appalled that the leaders of the School seemed to think that their activities were in any way defensible and advised them accordingly. Shocked, I asked Chambers, the Head Prefect, to accompany me to my Study so that I might consider what to do about this matter. I dismissed the other Prefects but commanded that they attend upon me in due course.
Chambers and I had a sherry in my Study and discussed the issue. To my utter surprise, it took quite an effort on my part to make Chambers aware of how appalled I was at the recent revelations and that, in the normal course of events, each of the boys would be birched and expelled. Chambers, a dark haired, tall and athletic lad, at least had the good manners to blush at my description of the debauchery in which he was partaking and to look fearful at my indication of the punishment which should be awarded.
We talked about the situation in a civilised, if tense, manner for quite some time. It was quite clearly impossible for me to expel all of the Prefects and equally impossible for me to ignore what had happened. I finally had to take the matter into my own hands and delivered to Chambers my decision. I then asked him to call the Prefects to a meeting after supper and not to advise them of my intentions. Pale and obviously distressed, Chambers left my Study to obey my instructions. I had a second sherry before leaving the building in search of the School Sergeant.
Sergeant Wilkins and I discussed the plan that I had in mind for disciplining the Prefects and agreed to attend upon me in the School gymnasium after supper, suitably equipped.
That evening was perhaps one of the longest that I can remember for time seemed to pass slowly and the hour for my appointment seemed to approach at a snail's pace.
Nonetheless, the time did come and the twelve Prefects met with me in my Study after supper. It was there that I issued my decree - that no boy might engage in any form of _s_e_x_ual activity with another - be it consensual or otherwise - and that each of them were to be punished with extreme severity for their crimes in lieu of being expelled. Twelve bleak faces looked at me as I directed that they proceed to the gymnasium by means of the back staircase (in order that their sorry procession might not be observed by any other boys).
I had chosen the gymnasium because of its location - well away from any classroom or dormitory - and the fact that it was housed in a stone building that contained the noise of rowdy youth at play with absolute resolution. The sounds within would not be heard even by a passer-by.
My resolve weakened momentarily as I approached the dark stone building but I quickly gathered myself, realising that I had no option but to see to the private chastisement of the young men. I entered to find an almost ethereal atmosphere - twelve young men standing in a group at one end of the hall and Sergeant Wilkins at the other beside a vaulting horse. To one side of the horse was a bucket in which stood a number of the heavy canes commonly used on senior boys.
I asked the boys whether they would prefer to accept a more conventional punishment - a birching and expulsion - but none accepted this final opportunity to avoid the agreed punishment. Hearing no reply, I then directed Chambers to lead the way. Slowly, he removed his shoes, trousers and underpants and meekly walked up to the horse. Planting his feet wide apart, Chambers then lent forward over the horse and stretched his arms along its length.
Sergeant Wilkins looked hesitant but determined as he removed one of the canes and swung it through the air to test its suppleness and then moved to the side of Chambers and measured the distance to the target. The other young men I recall watched in horror for although they had most probably been caned on a number of occasions, none of them had ever had two dozen strokes in a single session.
Chambers clenched his buttocks as best he could as the cane rested on his firm, prominent mounds and I could barely give the instruction for the beating to commence. I did so and for about five minutes Chambers endured the most ferocious caning of his young life. His piteous cries almost brought me to the point of ordering a cessation to the punishment but Sergeant Wilkins was so well practiced at this art that there was very little bleeding and I remained silent.
Twenty four strokes of the cane is more than any young man should bear but bear them Chambers did. When the final stroke was delivered Sergeant Wilkins moved away and left the sobbing Chambers drapes over the horse. Chambers' backside bore deep crimson weals from top to bottom and only one or two spots where blood had been drawn. He was in agony as he raised himself from the horse and walked gingerly to his clothes and restored his dress. I noticed that he could not bear to even touch his buttocks, such was the evident pain and I felt sympathy for the lad as he stood weeping, his backside obviously throbbing.
The other Prefects followed suit.
Tait, a short, thin, lad asked to be held down for he feared he would not be able to withstand the painful punishment. Two of the other young men obliged and it was quickly evident that Tait had chosen correctly for I can recall him wriggling and squirming from about the fifth stroke on and, to this day, can see the strain on the faces of the two lads holding him as they struggled to keep him in place.
Of the other Prefects, only Carruthers comes to mind. He was a relatively short lad, with wavy chestnut hair and aquiline features. He had the firmest buttocks I can recall seeing - round, prominent and seemingly composed of pure muscle. He made no noise whatever for the first dozen strokes and kept his buttocks firmly clenched and the cane seemed to make no impression other than to create a series of vivid weals across the naked white flesh. As the punishment proceeded, Carruthers started to give evidence of his discomfort and Sergeant Wilkins made every effort to ensure that the lad was crying by the time the punishment was completed.
For well over an hour the gymnasium echoed to the sound of the cane whistling through the air, the 'crack' as it made contact and the sobs and cries of the offenders.
By the time the punishments were completed, twelve young men had been reduced to tears, their backsides burning from their well-earned chastisement.
I left the lads to console each other and to restore their equilibrium before they returned to their rooms.
The following day I saw several of the Prefects trying to go about their duties with a minimum of exertion and could well imagine the discomfort they must have been feeling and I noticed a strange eeriness about the School throughout the days that followed.
I met up with Chambers and his colleagues for afternoon tea the following Sunday and, after Elizabeth had departed, enquired as to their well being. Each assured me that he was as well as could be expected and each gave me an assurance that he had dispensed with the favours of the younger boy that had brought about such a lamentable and painful experience.
In the weeks that followed, I found that there was an increased number of boys being sent to me for remedial attention and heard stories in the corridors about an apparent reign of terror being visited upon the boys by the Prefects.
The charming and delectable Glasson junior was one of those boys who visited my Study during that period. Being warned of the consequences, he was clearly reconciled with his fate as he entered my Study and he almost started to remove his trousers before I could even command him to do so. I recall watching him as he bent over to remove his underwear and my horror at the lacerations upon his noble posterior. The lad had obviously been caned quite recently and was in no fit state to take additional punishment. I dismissed him without comment other than to require that he visit Matron to have his backside attended to. A tear stained his cheek as he departed - I believe caused by his appreciation of my humanity.
That same day I visited with Matron to see if she had been able to give attention to Glasson junior only to be told that she was receiving an unusually large number of visitors, each displaying the results of severe thrashings.
I knew that I had been the cause of this situation but had expected the Prefects to be more responsible than to vent their anger upon their fellow students. I summoned Chambers immediately.
Chambers entered my Study with a determined look in his eye and with no other visual sign of his emotions. Now, looking across at the School, I can still remember that this was a defining in my stewardship and a test of wills which I had to win.
I asked Chambers for an explanation as to why so many boys were being beaten and why so many were being sent to my Study. I explained that this seemed to indicate to me that the system of self-government was failing and that I would have to intervene, albeit with the greatest of reluctance.
Chambers defence was predictable: that the Prefects were simply obeying the letter of the laws that governed the School. He looked at me defying me to take any action and his confident attitude was quickly shattered as I informed him that, for the remainder of the year, all punishments would require the authority of a Master or myself and that such authority should be in a written form. Chambers protested at my dictum but knew that he had been defeated and he departed my company a much-diminished fellow.
For the following weeks there was a quiet calm over the School. Punishments were recorded and authorised and the Prefects restrained themselves largely, I suspect, because they had vented their spleens during their short-lived reign of terror.
It was perhaps a month later that young Glasson Junior knocked upon my door and entered carrying a note from one of his Masters. Even today, I can still recall the shiver of anticipation that ran down my spine as I read the note that proclaimed that the lad had been found the previous day by the Master in question somewhat inebriated.
Upon questioning, it transpired that the lad had been celebrating his fifteenth birthday and had over-indulged in cheap sherry. Now it is my view that young men might be offered a glass of sherry when they reach a suitable age but to indulge oneself at fifteen is totally unacceptable.
I congratulated the lad upon his birthday and then advised him that it would be one that he would remember for the lesson he was about to learn about the evils of excess. He acknowledged the appropriateness of his forthcoming chastisement and promptly removed his coat and stood before me.
I have seen fewer sights any more fairer to the eye than the boy, standing with his fair hair hanging gently across his brow, his chest showing the unmistakable benefits of exercise and his backside tightly hugged by his striped trousers. I could see why there was any number of rumours about concerning the lust that many a boy felt for this handsome youth.
It had been some time since I had last punished the boy and I was inclined to be lenient. However, since he had already been punished that term, it was obligatory that he should remove his trousers and underpants before receiving the appropriate punishment. I commanded him to do so and, while he prepared himself, I went to the cupboard and retrieved a moderately heavy strap with which to provide him with an appropriate lesson. While a caning would have been an appropriate punishment, I considered that the strap would be equally meritorious, and the lesser punishment an appropriate present for his recent birthday.
The lad had taken hold of my desk by the time I had selected the strap I intended to use and I was relieved to see his two fleshy round globes unmarked, unlike his previous visit. As I took up my position, I informed the lad that I had not forgotten the fact that he had been let off without any punishment on his previous visit and that I should have to rectify that situation.
Glasson junior's buttocks bounced rather appealingly as the strap connected and the white flesh turned a nice pink with the first few strokes. The five remaining strokes caused the tender flesh to turn a deeper shade of red and I recall being satisfied with the efficacy of his chastisement when I found that he had spent himself during the course of the beating. When he arose, he clutched his fiery buttocks and rubbed them excessively, perhaps to try to draw my attentions from the evidence of his ejaculation. To ensure that he did not succeed with this ruse, I politely asked him to take his handkerchief and clean the mess from my oak desk front. I am still not sure as to whether his face was more red than his backside as he stooped to oblige.