Harold Armitage, Seventh Earl of Apsley, Squire of Cramdon near Glenhove, Barsetshire, was well content with his lot. Independantly >wealthy and with the secure, well-developed and impeccably managed >Cramdon Estates smiling in the warm June sunshine as if to confirm his and his family's privileged status, he looked out over the green meadows around the Manor House and thought with pleasure about Saturday's Meet, which would draw all the most attractive people in >the County to Cramdon for the day's sport and the night's Hunt >Celebration and which would, he confidently expected, offer some >exciting views, dashes across country and a kill or two.
He was, however, blissfully unaware of a plot that was being hatched under his own roof and which boded no good for his plans for the weekend.
Craig Armitage, Baron Derwent, the 11 year-old son and heir to Harold's Title and Estates, was, by nature, a rebel, a trait which had already landed him in a good deal of trouble during his short life. Passionate about his causes, his latest obsession was with >eradicating the, to him savage and brutal, 'sport' of hunting down >foxes on horseback. A very competent horseman himself, he had often, in still younger days, ridden to hounds, sometimes forsaking the 'nursery' group and thundering over hedges and fences on his handsome Welsh-Arab pony, >with a fearless abandon which often brought his parents' hearts to >their mouths, but which no amount of remonstrance, or even physical reproof, had ever curbed.
Then, without warning, all the enthusiasm had evaporated and the boy had become violently opposed to any form of hunting or other victim- isation of animals, even going to the lengths, on the occasion of the previous Meet at Cramdon, of parading up and down the whipping-in area, while stirrup cups were being drunk, with his best friend, 12 year old Bobby, the son of their Head Groom. He himself had been in some of Bobby's discarded and ragged clothes and barefoot, while Bobby had been clad in a set of Craig's immaculate Etons, to illustrate the depth and scope of their revulsion. They had then loudly denounced the forthconming event, to the tolerant amusement of the assembly, although to the Squire's annoyance, which >only his wife's intervention had prevented him from venting on two >young bottoms, thereby very cleverly denying the protesters their >moment of glorious martyrdom.
As that exhibition had thus produced no results, save for a stern dressing down from his Lordship that evening, the two boys had decided to take even firmer action on the next occasion, a resolve which had been strengthened, some ten days before the day of the Meet, by their stumbling on a well-concealed earth, which was guarded by a viciously spitting and snarling vixen and which proved to contain three small bundles of fur, in the form of her about three-week-old cubs.
The very thought of these four becoming prey, even accidently, to the pounding hooves and slavering jaws of horses and hounds during the forthcoming hunt, was more than the boys could bear and precipitated the action which they then took, but which was, by ANY >standards, quite inexcusable and unacceptable.
The boys' preparations were simple, thorough and very effective. Having won the confidence of mother and cubs with several offerings of >bits of meat purloined from the Manor's kitchen, the lads had little difficulty in helping themselves to enough urine-impregnated hay from >the floor of the earth to partially fill two old stockings, which, in >turn, formed pungent and easily handled lures. These they intended >to drag randomly all over the area outside the whipping-in yard, early >on the morning of the meet, hoping to create such a barrage of >conflicting scents that hounds would be too confused to set off in any >direction at all.
However, they made three mistakes, each one of which was serious and which, in combination, proved to be fatal. Firstly, they concealed their lures under the bed in Craig's own room; then, they laid their false scents on horseback, with the lures coming into frequent contact with their mounts' flanks and rumps and, finally, notwith- standing their intrusion on the previous meet, they did not even put >in a token appearance at this one, thereby focussing more attention on themselves, in absentia, than they would have done if again present, >but not, this time,'protesting'.
In the result, on the morning of the Hunt, anyone who happened to be abroad at about four o'clock, would have seen two ponies being ridden quietly and innocently[?] round and round and also across the lush meadows beyond the precincts of the Manor itself. In fact, they were not observed and were able to return their not even sweating horses to their stables in good time, but, to their later chagrin, having left the unmistakable prints of small, unshod hooves in the soft turf, to lead to the question as to why the two ponies should have been out and about at all, after the previous night's light, but soaking rains.
For the present, however, success smiled on the plotters, who had secreted themselves, unseen, in Craig's treehouse, high in the leafy branches of a huge oak, where they waited, in gleeful anticipation, for their plans to come to fruition.
And so it was that, after stirrup cups had been thrown back with a flourish, the red-coated hunt servants had released the magnificent Cramdon Pack of highly bred and trained Foxhounds and the Master had sounded a strident blast on his horn, the colourful group moved off - but not, however, very far. Almost as soon as they left the whipping-in area, the lead hounds began to show signs of distress, nosing frantically this way and that and literally running round in circles.
The whippers-in, on their well-trained horses, had done their best to give the pack some direction but, while the two boys were nearly falling out of their eyrie with barely repressed mirth, the Master eventually had to accept the inevitable and call the Meet off, to the great disappointment of the Hunt Followers, both ladies and gentlemen >and the distress of their host.
Within the hour, Cramdon Hall's grounds were deserted and the two boys subsequently made an innocent reappearance round about the middle >of the morning, feigning great surprise at the turn of events. How- ever, they had overlooked the fact that, because of the cancellation >of the meet, the four Hunt Servants, including Gerald Rowles, Bobby's father, did not feel themselves free to accept the, at those private Meets, usual and very substantial 'cap-money', which had already been contributed and whose forfeiture represented a serious financial loss >to each of them and which made them determined to get to the bottom of >the debacle.
With his own early days to remind him, Mr. Rowles was ever suspicious of young boys and especially of his own sons, when they were not in evidence. He was also well aware of Craig's current obsession and of his great influence on the slightly older Bobby and felt sure that there had to be some connection between the two, strangely >absent, lads and the recent non-event.
He and his assistent grooms had accordingly gone out of the grounds on foot and had, before long, seen the dozens of prints left by far smaller and unshod, hooves than those of any of the 16 and 17 hand >hunters which were to have been ridden to hounds that day. As the >only 14 handers on the estate were Craig's "Chieftain" and "Light- ning", the bay filly which had been Bobby's 12th birthday present from Craig, the finger of suspicion began to point inexorably towards the >two boys.
However, Gerald knew only too well that his Lordship, an eminently fair Justice of the Peace and County Magistrate, would require far more cogent proof than a few hoofprints before confronting the two youngsters with any charges at all and so the four men, waiting until >the confidently unsuspecting boys were out of the way, had put Captain, the Estate's Lead Hound, on a sturdy leash and had taken him to the stable-yard where he, as they had expected, had made a beeline for the door of Chieftain's stall and, when admitted, had virtually climbed up on the sleek chestnut's quarters, sniffing and whimpering his pleasure at having, at last, found the source of a 'real' scent.
The dog was then coaxed away from his chestnut friend and down to another stall, which housed the placidly drowsing Lightning, where the entire performance was repeated.
By then certain of their grounds, the men, still furious about the outcome of the boys' escapade, although, be it admitted, quite ompress- ed by the manner of its execution, had staked everything on a single >shot in the dark by seeking an audience with the Earl, telling him of their suspicions and of what they had uncovered thus far and asking him to allow them to take Captain into the Manor house itself, where they intended to turn him loose to follow whatever scent might be there, without there being any room for the suggestion that they could have 'rigged' it. His Lordship, being only too well aware of >the inherent honesty of these four and of the fact that none of them would ever do THOSE boys, in particular, any injustice, needed no persuasion and within minutes, a joyfully baying Captain was bounding up the main staircase to unwittingly betray Craig and, with him, >Bobby, by dashing into the former's typically untidy room and burrow- ing enthusiastically under his bed, in search of the non-existent fox.
In any event, the room, which had been kept closed, by then reeked of 'fox' to such an extent that it did not take the few wisps of smelly straw found on the floor to confirm everyones suspicions and to virtually condemn the two young rascals, so that all that remained was to confront them and to exact some appropriate penalty.
The five men accordingly decided to wait until after High Tea, by which time the boys would have separated for the evening, but the guests would not yet have started to assemble for the evening's party, >which was going ahead as planned, even though under something of a >cloud and for each of the two fathers then to appproach his own >offspring for whatever explanation he might have for the _d_a_m_n_ing >evidence to hand.
Both these interviews took place at about 6 o'clock and obviously came as a great shock to the two lads, who had thought that they had got away with everything. To their credit, neither of them attempt- ed to lie his way out of the situation, although each of them swore >blind that he, alone, was responsible for the entire disaster.
Recounting the episode later that night, his Lordship was overcome with gales of mirth every time he tried to describe the comical >expressions on the faces of the two 'sole culprits' when they were >brought together, were confronted with the evidence of their joint >involvment and were asked to reconsider their earlier versions of the >facts.
There being nothing for it and realising that they were both already in very serious trouble, the two confessed and were sent down to the servants' hall in the custody of Mr. Han_c_o_c_k_, the Head Butler, who had, over the years, had an ongoing hand in the fairly frequent disciplining of young Craig and his brothers, as it was the custom, in >those times, for 'the gentry' to leave the corporal correction of >their young to 'the Staff', as and when necessary. On this >occasion, too, he confidently expected to be required to deal out at >least one and possibly even two, sound thrashings before the night was >out.
In the Earl's study, though, matters were taking a rather different turn, as His Lordship, still very angry over the ruination of his >precious Hunt, was seeking some more condign form of penalty for the >two young rogues than merely a simple hiding, which was something which would be no novelty to either boy.
Having thought long and hard about this problem, his face suddenly cleared and he sent young Walter, the 10 year old bell boy, downstairs >to summon the two reprobates to attend on him and the other men.
Before long, the small gathering in the study was completed by the two, by then distinctly apprehensive, lads, who then had it pointed out to them, in words so pointed that they could be in no doubt about the acute displeasure of all five men in the room, that the fact that it HAD been a joint venture and a well-planned one at that, made it all the worse for its premeditation and, accordingly, deserving of especially severe punishment.
His Lordship then brushed aside Craig's attempted justification on grounds of the vixen's and her cubs' presence, by saying that he and his friends has just as much of an interest in the increase in the 'foxy' population as the boys did, if for different reasons and that, had they told him about the cubs, he would have arranged for the hunt to go on the opposite run, even though doing so could have limited the day's sport.
Both boys had paled slightly at that, but were very confused by his Lordship's then sitting back in his chair and, addressing himself to Rowles and the other three grooms, saying that it seemed as though the two boys required an introduction to another form of 'bloodsport' which, while cruel, did not involve horses, hounds or foxes and that he would esteem it a personal favour if the men would take them off somewhere and would give them a practical lesson on the subject.
The Head Groom, too, was uncertain of what his employer was driving at and his questioning, "My Lord....?" prompted a terse, but quite >explicit, explanation along these lines:
"Come, come, Mr. Rowles. The Saddle room is equipped with any number of riding crops and switches; in the silver urns in the >vestible, you will find a number of lengths of supple malacca and >other cane and, if ALL else should fail, there is a well-established >grove of Silver Birch trees at the lower end of the property. If >Lord Derwent and Master Bobby should show very little enthusiasm for riding those spirited ponies of theirs for a week or two, no eyebrows >would be raised and no questions asked, at the Manor House, or, I am >sure, at your own and it could then safely be said that you had got to >the bottom of the problem. Do I make myself clear, or must I spell >it out further?"
From the anticipatiory grins on the faces of the four men and the horrified looks on the boys', is was clear that everyone understood his Lordship's meaning perfectly and moments later the men had taken charge of the thoroughly deflated youngsters, who were, however, not frog-marched downstairs but were allowed the dignity of walking unrestrained to their own executions, on the strength of a joint promise not to attempt to resist or to abscond.
Once downstairs, however, the pair were locked in a lumber room, as much to keep them in suspense and to stop them from witnessing the preparations for their punishment, as to prevent them from trying to escape it.
Although it was obvious that the Earl expected the boys to be soundly thrashed for their escapade, all four men were well aware that they were dealing with mere mischievous children and that their >whippings, while telling and severe, should not do them any serious >harm. The advice of the worthy Mr. Han_c_o_c_k_ was thus sought and, in >response to his suggestion that the birch would be an appropriate >instrument of correction, not only because of its uniquely stinging >qualities but because it was always applied to naked hindquarters, a >great humiliation in itself, young Billy Tunbridge, the 16 year-old >apprentice gardener, who was on good terms with but very envious of, >both Craig and Bobby and thus had a malicious interest in their >getting their just deserts, was also called in. Not only did Billy >have considerable experience in fashioning the rods which Mr. Han_c_o_c_k_ >had then applied to his employer's sons' bare tails, but he had, on >many occasions also 'horsed' the younger boys for their floggings, so >he was well acquainted with the physical effects of a sound beating on naked young buttocks. It was thus he who made a further sugges- tion, which was enthusiastically adopted by the others but which was calculated, unbeknown to the four 'executioners', to increase both >boys' sufferings considerably, but without its being possible for them >to blame anyone in particular for that fact.
There was a slight hesitation when the three junior members of the quartet realised that they were on the point of actually thrashing the son of their Lord and Master, who would probably be both those things to them, himself, in due course.
Nevertheless, knowing that to show weakness at that point would be unforgiveable, Gerald Rowles assured the others that the boys would take their punishment in good part, as having been well-deserved, and >would bear no grudges, so, by the time young Billy returned with a >supply of freshly cut and bound birch rods and several lithe canes, >selected from the containers in the entrance hall, the others were >quite ready to do their 'duty' on the by then extremely anxious >delinquents' rumps.
These preparations took quite a while to complete and it was well >after 7 o'clock and the party in the Great Hall was beginning to assemble, before the two culprits, who had been made to change into their nightshirts [pre-pyjama days, those] in the meantime, were taken into the Servants' Hall for their appointments with justice.
There, to their disbelieving horror, they were told that each was to receive a dozen strokes of both the cane and the birch, that the entire whipping would be administered on their bare bottoms and that the less fuss they made about it, the less all the ladies and gentlemen upstairs would be aware of the fact that they were being flogged for >their morning's prank.
At that point, the boys were led to opposite sides of the heavy refectory table, which had been placed in the middle of the floor and whose edges had been padded with folded blankets, to avoid injury to >the angular young hips which would soon be bent over them. The boys, both being too short to get into the required position with their feet on the floor, were lifted bodily and placed facing each other across the flat, oaken surface and were told to take a firm grip on each others wrists as, if either should let go or move out of position, BOTH floggings would start all over again.
So, with bare feet dangling in space and buttocks drawn taut by their unsupported legs, the pair nervously awaited what both realised was going to be probably the soundest thrashing either had ever experienced.
It had been decided that as Bobby had never been birched, while Craig was well used to the bite of the rod at school, Bobby should be 'flogged' first, while Craig was being caned, and that the weapons >would be reversed after the first twelve cuts had been laid across >each bare tail.
Two of the men accordingly positioned themselves behind each of the bending boys, whose small, clenched backsides were then bared by the simple expedient of flipping up their night-shirts, all they were wearing and folding the soft cloth over their ribs, leaving them quite >naked from the waist down.
Subject to the boys' not becoming too distressed as their floggings progressed, it was intended that each man should inflict three cuts with both the cane and the birch, with Bobby's father leading the way >by caning Craig, while his assistant got Bobby's birching off to its noisy and painful start.
The implement initially in use on each side of the table was thus to be passed to the second of the men after the first three cuts had been laid on and after the next three the men were to change sides, >the implements staying where they were, so that, by the time each man had delivered his first six strokes, Craig would have had a caning of 12 strokes and Bobby a similar birching.
Making sure that both small, bare bottoms were conveniently and properly positioned for their forthcoming thrashings. Gerald Rowles >picked up one of the slender, by then brine-soaked, canes which young >Billy had selected from the collection in the Hall, swished it experi- mentally through the air and was delighted to see Craig's bare tail >brace so tightly before his eyes that the curving cleft between the >boy's cheeks became a thin, straight line separating the two pads of nervously clenched flesh. Notwithstanding their justifiable anger, all four men knew only too well that a bare-tail thrashing of 24 >strokes was a very severe punishment for any 11 or 12-year-old and >that some care would have to be taken not to cut the rwo small, naked >backsides to ribbons. There, too, Mr. Han_c_o_c_k_'s advice had been invaluable and each of the four wronged parties had been shown how put plenty of 'shoulder', but no 'body' into his strokes, to aim them 'into' rather than simply 'at' their naked targets and to allow his weapon >to 'dwell' on bare skin for a few seconds, but not to draw it through >the tender young flesh at each stroke, as, according to the Butler, >that sort of 'cut' produced the most painful and lasting impression on >a naked backside, but without doing it any of the serious skin and >tissue >damage which a 'follow-through' stroke could cause.
So, taking careful aim at a point just below the crest of Craig's bare buttocks, Mr. Rowles drew the cane well back and then brought it down with a loud, whistling hiss, to land squarely across both cheeks, but with no more force than was necessary to produce a chalk-white dent in rhe two creamy buttocks, which rapidly turned into a bright red double-edged welt as hot young blood rushed back into the >thin line of whipped flesh and Craig gasped at the always astonishing >agony caused by the first stroke of any thrashing slicing into his >bare tail.
Those sounds had not yet died away when the birch rod wielded by Rowles' senior assistant groom, Henry Purfleet, swished down and >landed with its characteristic, ragged and drawn-out 'THWIIIP', across >Bobby's small bare bum, covering the lower half of both cheeks with a >tracery of thin, bright red weals and making the boy, who was unprepar- ed for this novel sensation, gasp, yelp and writhe frantically as the >hot, blinding sting flowed through his naked tail and seemed to set >his entire midriff ablaze.
Having delivered one stroke apiece to the rigidly braced haunches, without bringing the world to an end, the two men set about their task with a will and had soon adorned the four formerly smooth and flawless buttocks with the red badges of chastisement with which naughty boys >over the ages have traditionally been decorated. No sooner had each >man lashed the bare young tail before him three times, than he passed >his weapon on to his second, whose efforts, landing, as they did on >already inflamed and smarting hindquarters, drew increasingly loud >yelps of protest from both bending boys, whose by then very painfully >stinging bottoms were feeling each additional cut acutely.
There was a slight pause after both men had delivered three strokes and had to move round the table to position themselves, now armed with their new implements, behind the other bare backside. Gerald Rowles, now looking down, for the first time, at his son's already soundly flogged tail, felt a twinge of pity for the lad who, he knew, had experienced far less and far less severe, corporal punishment in his young life than had Craig, as middle-class boys were not subject to nearly as much of that sort of discipline, either at home or at school, as were their 'betters'.
However, duty was duty and so that it could never be said that he had let Bobby off lightly, he swung the fresh birch rod which he had chosen, noisily round his head, savouring its balance, the ominous >rattle of its twigs and the fierce contraction which the sound pro- duced in the boy's waiting backside. The knowledge that he would not >even have to hit the lad very hard to cause his already tender and >blazing bottom to explode in white-hot agony, did certainly assist Mr. Rowles in laying his rod firmly and squarely across his son's bare, glowing cheeks and to dispel any feelings of guilt which he might otherwise have had over what he was doing to the boy.
As he raised the rod for the second last of his birch strokes, he saw, out of the corner of his eye, how one of the other grooms, Jim Haswell, had just applied a lithe cane, which bent into a semi-circle >as it swished through the air, to Craig's bare bum, round which it >curled and to which it seemed to cling, as he, too, received the >seventh stroke of the first part of his thrashing. However, both >boys seemed to be taking their hidings quite well and Rowles felt reasonably certain that the two soundly thrashed young scamps, while going off to bed with blazing and painfully smarting bottoms that >night, would be none the worse for their floggings within a day or two.
{THE REST OF THE PROBLEM WILL BE THRASHED OUT LATER !! }