On looking back at my schooldays, which I did in "My Two Canings", I described my first two direct experiences but I met the cane several times since those events. After a caning, part of which I had as good as asked for from Mr Horne, the deputy headmaster, I succeeded in getting through the fourth form with no further encounters. However, unlike most boys, I seemed to be in more trouble as I grew older and my time in the fifth form helped to display the difference even though we had to wait until the summer term.
I suppose it started in a Games lesson. We had gone out to play cricket. Half way through the period, it started pissing down with rain. We took the stumps up and went in. Whatever disadvantages cricket might have, and it can be fairly boring, at least there is a tradition that rain stops play. It's not like football where you stay out and get cold, wet, muddy and bloody miserable.
We went in, showered and changed. Then, as usually happened on these occasions, we started talking. With me were Lynch and Brooke. Brooke had been in the same set as Lynch but, after a caning from Mr Horne, the deputy head, he had joined us. Lynch had carried on in his old way, often being a bully and sometimes thoroughly unpleasant. He had never forgiven us for the fact that Brooke had deserted him and in school, even a day school, we were pushed fairly close together and couldn't avoid each other. He often reverted to that old theme of his loss of a close friend. It was Brooke's fault that it happened on this occasion.
"Lynch, can't you leave the little kids alone?"
"What do you mean? You used to enjoy it. It wasn't until you got in with those creeps and got scared of having your arse whacked."
I said, "It wasn't that. Ok, he got the whack, but it gave him the chance to think about what he was doing. He listened to Mr Horne. I bet he tried to talk to you as well, but you're too thick to understand what he was talking about."
Lynch replied, "What do you know about it, Johnson, you snotty nosed creep? You'd pass the brown ring test if ever anybody would. You've got your nose up the arses of most of the masters. If you ever had your arse whacked, I'd like to be there to hear the screaming. You'd never take it. You goody goodies are all the same."
Brooke said, "That's all you know. He doesn't know that I know, but Johnson had the whack from Horne the same night that we did. I've never told anybody about the way you took it but I could hear outside. You were almost screaming and you must have stood up and stopped him and you were pleading for him to stop after three. I could hear it all."
Lynch said, "Well, it bloody hurt. I bet that creep didn't get six, like I did."
"He did. At least, he got six but he didn't take them like you did. He took them like a real man."
"I don't believe you. What's he going to be doing to get six. His bloody halo never slips enough for him to earn any."
I hadn't wanted the fact that I'd been caned to come out at all but it had and so I had to make the best of it.
I said, "I'll tell you what it was for. It was for skipping Divinity and it was six because it was a repeated offence. I'd done it before. I'll tell you this as well. I was glad that it was Horne who caught me and not the flipping Head."
Lynch said, "You must be bloody joking. The head hardly ever uses the cane and he doesn't do it as hard either."
I replied, "I know. The head got me as well last year. It wasn't fair. That's part of the difference between him and Horne. He got the idea in his tiny brain that I'd been in town and not had my cap on during the dinner hour. I hadn't. I was in school dinners and then on the field but he wouldn't listen. He just caned me."
Brooke said, "I didn't know that he'd had you, but it fits."
I asked, "What do you mean?"
"I've been thinking about some of the people I've heard about that he has got. Ok, it's not all that often but when it does happen, it's never for anything that really deserves the whack unless it's so bad that he can't get out of it. Take our form. He's hardly got anybody and when he does, it's people like you, Johnson. He just whacks somebody who'll take it without arguing too much and then he can tell the people who moan about him not caning people that he does."
I said, "It's just stupid. I mean, he didn't really hurt me. Not like Mr Horne did, but I felt better after Mr Horne caned me and I just felt sick and angry after the head had had a go."
Brooke said, "Actually, I think that the head's just a bully. He daren't go for the real trouble makers."
A voice from behind them said, "There are some things it's better not to say, even if you think they might be true, Brooke."
They turned round and saw Mr Hunt, the Games master behind them.
Brooke said, "I'm sorry, sir. I didn't see you there."
"Which is part of why it's better not to say some things. If what you are suggesting is true, then the headmaster would find it embarrassing and painful to hear it from a boy, even if he is coming to the end of the fifth form.
Just then the bell went. The group was dismissed but Mr Hunt asked me to stay behind.
When the others were clear he said, "I was listening to your conversation. You said that you felt better after Mr Horne had caned you. Did you mean that?"
Surprised, I replied, "Yes, sir. Actually, straight after he'd caned me, I told him that I wish he were our headmaster. I probably shouldn't have done because it wasn't really polite to the actual headmaster, but for me, Mr Horne's miles better. He's fair and he tries to make sure that you know he's fair and he tries to help you to understand why you were wrong as well. I felt better after that whacking. It wasn't that it was over. I just felt better and cleaner."
Mr Hunt said, "In that case, it looks as though we've got a bit of a problem, doesn't it?"
I asked, "What do you mean, sir?"
"If I were to tell you that you were seen in a small shop on the way to town with Brooke, and that one of you bought some chocolate, thus distracting the shopkeeper while the other one helped himself without paying, what would you say?"
I gulped. I thought quickly and I said, "I think I'd say three things, sir."
"And what are they?"
"That I'm glad I've been caught and that Brooke didn't know I was doing it. He wasn't buying things to cover up for me. It was just me. That's two things and as well as that, sir, I'm grateful that you didn't keep Brooke as well. I'd prefer nobody else to know. Can we keep it quiet, sir, please?"
I thought again and added, "I half wish the Headmaster was away, sir. I deserve a real caning for it. The only problem would be that Mr Horne would know what I've done and I'd hate him to know something like this about me. Come to that, I don't like you knowing either but you know now. Anyway, I can't have a caning from Mr Horne. The headmaster isn't away."
Mr Hunt asked, "How long have you been doing this?"
"This is the first time, sir. Honestly. I haven't even eaten the chocolate. I'll take it back and apologise on the way home."
Mr Hunt said, "Good. Now, I'll give you the same choice I've given to some other boys I thought I could trust and I've never been let down. I know about this unofficially. You were seen by an Old Boy who heard your names and he told me. That means you can choose between the official route which would mean my telling the headmaster."
"Not that, sir, please. I haven't got a Dad at home and I'll feel dreadful if my Mum knows that I've done it. He's bound to write to her, whatever else he does. What's the alternative?"
"I'm afraid your mother does know. I had to ask her before we could consider an alternative. Mr Horne has had to know as well, but off the record, so far. I haven't got a cane but I have got a tawse. We can clear it unofficially. Technically, I haven't got school authority, but I have permission from your mother to deal with it in school on her behalf. Now, if you ask me to, I'll give you a real leathering. It'll be a serious one, mind. It'll leave your seat very red but there won't be the distinct marks that a cane leaves and so, if you don't wave it around too much, other boys won't realise what's happened."
"It's obvious that I've got to be punished, sir. I'll feel more punished like that than a detention or even a caning from the headmaster. I'll go for that, sir, please. I think you'll do it properly, sir, and you can hardly feel the headmaster caning."
We had been in the gym changing room for this conversation. Mr Hunt said, "It's a bit public in here and it would be in the gym as well. We'll go into my office."
I had never been in the Games Master's office. It was larger than I expected, as it also acted as one of the storerooms and provided changing accommodation and a shower for him. He closed the door and I said, "Shall I take my trousers off, sir?"
"Yes, please. I'm afraid it'll be your pants as well. With something like a strap, a layer of clothing gives too much protection."
As I undressed he removed some of the clutter from his desk. He moved a low chair alongside the desk, with its seat facing outward.
"Kneel on that chair and lean forward over the desk. Then stay in place."
I was committed and I knew I was. Mr Hunt stood alongside me and I looked round. The tawse was a long piece of heavy leather, and it split into three at the end. I was aware that it was being taken back and I braced myself. Suddenly, it happened.
Spplatt!
The heavy leather strap was driven into my seat and the pain flooded through my whole body. I could not prevent a gasp but I knew that I deserved it and all I could do now was to endure it.
Spplatt!
A second, equally powerful blow fell. Unlike the cane, this covered the whole of my bottom and it felt as though it was already on fire.
Spplatt!
Spplatt!
The third and fourth blows were driven across my very tender bottom and all I could do was lie there and let it happen.
Spplatt!
I had endured two more. I lay there with mixed feelings. Half of me was praying for this torment to end. The other half knew that I deserved more than I had had and wanted it to continue. It was the second approach which came out on top.
Spplatt!
Spplatt!
That was eight. How many more would the Games master regard as right?
Spplatt!
That was nine. I knew that my seat must now be bright red. Each stroke hurt more than its predecessor because it fell on what felt like raw flesh, made worse by each swipe.
Then I heard Mr Hunt say, "That's enough. You can get up, now."
I eased myself up and got off the chair, hands on my blazing seat and standing with my back to the master to hide my throbbing erection.
I said, "Phew! That hurt!"
"Believe it or not, that was the idea."
I forced a grin and said, "I know, sir. Actually, I thought it would be more. I don't know how high they do go, but it must have been more than six for stealing like that. It's really serious. Then I'm getting away with it not going on my records."
"Do you want any more?"
I said, "Not really, sir. My bum's dead sore as it is but I'd have thought it was fair if it had been twice that many."
"I'm glad you feel like that. It means that we needed to do it to clear the account, not to drive in that it was wrong. You can get dressed and stop worrying, Johnson. There's to be no more."
I got into my pants and trousers and completed my dressing.
I said, "Thank you for being so decent and understanding about it all, sir. It might sound silly but I really am grateful. After I've got that chocolate back and apologised, I'll be able to feel that I can put it all behind me. I don't know if you can understand, sir, but I wouldn't have felt right after the headmaster had dealt with it. He just knocks you down and leaves you low. Somehow, you were talking with me as though I mattered."
He asked, "Did you say that you haven't got a father at home?"
"Yes, sir. He was a pilot in the RAF and he was shot down in a raid over Germany."
"How do you manage for discipline at home?"
"Ok, sir, I think. Mum and I get on and she just tells me if I step out of line. I have to be extra careful now. Until I was about twelve, she would have spanked me if I'd done something wrong but she says she won't do that now."
Mr Hunt said, "What would happen if you did something seriously wrong?"
"I don't know, sir. I'd feel dreadful about it. I know that. I wouldn't want her to know, either but it'll probably be like today and she'd have to know. She's really been great and she's given me everything. When I let her, down, I really feel awful."
"It sounds as though you're very fortunate. You've got a remarkable woman as a mother."
"I know, sir."
"You're old enough to be able to make up your own mind about things. I'll make two offers to you. You can accept either, both or neither. It's a completely free choice for you. If you want to talk to a man instead of a lady, and there are some things that we can't talk with women about, then feel free to arrange to see me. If you tell me that it's like that, we forget about my being a master. As well as that, if you find that you have done something so wrong that you feel you deserve a good belting for it, then you can come and ask me, and we can discuss whether you are right and, if you are, we can deal with it as we did this afternoon."
I replied, "That'll be really great, sir. Both of them. Is it all right if I tell Mum?"
"I was going to ask you to allow me to, and to tell Mr Horne. You get wrong people, even in education. I have done this for other boys in your position but I always insist on parent or parents knowing and also Mr Horne. If anyone suggests that you do it, just between you and him, then let us know straight away. Some of them were younger when I discovered that I could help. I always insist that it is seen to be above board, but completely private. That does mean that Mr Horne knows and that the relevant parents are told. Just between ourselves, I agree with you about the headmaster as well. He's about as much use as a pork chop at a Jewish wedding feast."
"Thank you, sir."
Soon afterwards I was on my way home, staggered not only by Mr Hunt's offer, but also by the way he had trusted me. It was incredible that he had said that about the headmaster to a pupil. When I went to bed that night, my bum was still red raw and there were purple stripes as well. I had another hard just remembering it all, but by myself in bed, I could do something about it.
After that, I stayed out of trouble for months. We finished our time in the fifth form and I got a decent set of exam results. I went back into the sixth form and settled down to work. The autumn term went almost to the end and I was in no trouble. Lynch had surprised us by doing well in his exams and coming back as well. He had also surprised us by changing. He suddenly grew up, mentally. It was as though he was now too big to be bullying and swaggering. The three of us, Lynch, Brooke and me went round a lot together.
There had been an unofficial tradition on the last day of term before Christmas, for sixth formers to smuggle some drink into school and consume it during the dinner hour. We three were happy to join in with it. Unfortunately, for us, it went wrong. As we came into school, we walked straight into Mr Horne. He took us straight to the headmaster's study, not to hand us over, but because the headmaster was away.
As we stood facing him and he sat at the desk, he said, "Well, gentlemen. I brought you here to save the embarrassment for you of public disgrace. Now, open that case, please."
We had taken my brief cases out to smuggle the stuff back into the building. I opened it, displaying a grand total of three bottles of beer.
Mr Horne took them and said, "I'll give you credit for keeping it down to a sensible level, but we still have the fact that you were buying alcohol under age, which is against the law, you did it in school uniform, which brings disgrace on us and then you smuggled it into school."
Brooke said, "It's a fair cop, sir. There's just one thing. It was all of us in it. Johnson was carrying it but we're in it together."
Mr Horne said, "I've got no choice for this _d_a_m_n_fool trick. I'll have to cane you. Have you got a lesson first period this afternoon?"
I replied, "No, sir. We've all got private study."
"Were you planning to use that time for work which you need today, either for a lesson, or handing in?"
"No, sir."
"The caning will be bad enough for you. I don't want you humiliated by juniors seeing you coming for it. Report to me in gym kit as soon as the school has settled down for lessons after the dinner hour."
Brooke said, "Yes, sir."
I said, "Yes sir, and thank you for being so understanding."
To our surprise, Lynch said, "Like hell! We didn't buy it illegally. I got it from home. You aren't wrapping a cane round my arse! Not again. You've done it for the last time."
Mr Horne said, "That choice is yours, Lynch. You either report for that caning or you collect your belongings and get off the premises. If you do, I'll be writing home to tell your parents that you've been suspended and will be reported to the Governors. I have little doubt that they will convert that suspension into expulsion. Don't be hasty. Consider the consequences. Now, go."
We went out and Brooke said, "Don't be a fool, Lynch. It's obvious that it's the whack for that."
I said, "And he's being really decent about it. If we're careful, nobody'll see us going and we'll be the only ones who know that we've been caned or even that we were caught."
Our words had no effect. Soon after the bell, as Brooke and I went to change, Lynch walked out of school. Only a few minutes later, we were standing in front of Mr Horne wearing our gym kit and dreading what was to come.
Mr Horne said, "Are you both satisfied that I am being fair?"
I said, "Better than fair, sir. I heard that two boys were expelled last year for the same thing."
He replied, "Not exactly the same thing. They were both completely, helplessly drunk. If the drink had been acquired legitimately, as Lynch tells me it was, then the only offence was bringing it onto the premises. You wouldn't have been drunk if you had consumed it and you were prevented from doing that in any case."
We had discussed what we would say when we reached the study and I replied, on behalf of us both, "There's something we ought to say, sir, but it's a bit difficult."
"Well?"
"Can I ask that you'll forget this if Lynch does come to see you, sir?"
"I imagine that I already know. In view of his threatened walk out, I've already spoken on the phone to his mother. She not only tells me that you didn't call there this dinner hour but also that the family is strictly teetotal and they don't have any alcohol in the house. I'm pleased that you came clean. As you did, I can be sure that you are both retaining your integrity. Now, we'd better get it over. One of you wait outside, please."
We had tossed up to see who would get it over first and I had lost. I went out, closing the door. I stood near the door, back to the wall, and grateful that I was wearing my jockstrap. Even now, years later, I can still remember the urgent throbbing of an over excited symbol of my fast developing masculinity. It was to get worse. Through the door I heard the first crack of the cane.
Coincidentally with it, I felt a thrilling tightening of my anus and a surge of excitement inside my jockstrap. I was actually already remembering whether I would get through it all without coming into my jockstrap.
In spite of all that, I was also dreading what was to come. I might be sixteen, but I was only protected by thin gym shorts and I knew that Mr Horne would drive the cane in well. In the meantime, I could be grateful that he had allowed us to avoid the school in general knowing of our fall from grace by doing it during the lesson and, strangely, I was also grateful that it was Mr Horne. This was serious enough for it to be at least possible that the headmaster would have caned us. There was no way of knowing. Even if he had, I wouldn't have felt properly punished if it had been his pathetic performance. Now, all I could do was count how many Brooke had. We were in it together. It was almost certain that we would get the same.
The sound of another crack of the cane came through the door and I heard a slight gasp following it. That was two. Inexorably, the numbers rose. Three, four, five, six. Lower down in the school, six had been assumed to be the limit. I had never heard of anyone getting more. I had no idea what happened for sixth formers. I had never heard of one being caned. The answer was given in the sound of a further stroke. That was seven. The eighth followed and so did the ninth. Mercifully, there were no more. I knew my fate. Nine of the very best that Mr Horne could deliver.
Soon after, the study door opened. Brooke came out, turned round and said, "Thank you for being so considerate, sir."
He continued to leave, gave me a rueful smile and rubbed his backside. "See you in the changing rooms."
I went in and closed the door.
Mr Horne said, "You realise that it's got to be serious. It would be a struggle to remain in place at an armchair and our aim is to punish, not humiliate. I have been talking with Mr Hunt and he has suggested the position they used in his school and I have now adopted it.
I could see a chair standing with its back against the headmaster's desk. Over the top of the chair and resting onto the desk was a cushion. I knew where I should go but I had forgotten that Mr Hunt had told me that he would be telling Mr Horne that he had seen me. I was reminded when Mr Horne said, "You'll know where to go, won't you?"
I crossed the room to the chair, knelt on it and found that, with the cushion, I was held well in position for the caning which was to come. I reached forward and held onto the edge of the desk. I could picture my rump sticking up, with my gym shorts tight around it. I could imagine the cane being aimed, and then being taken back. I clamped my jaws together and closed my eyes. Then it happened.
Ccracckk!
The cane was driven into my seat with tremendous power. I felt myself taken over by the surge of pain spreading out from what must have been a deep dent that cane drove into my seat, tight though it was. I think every muscle in my body went taut as the pain took over. I gripped more tightly to hold myself down and forced my jaws together. I knew that my head snapped up.
There followed a long pause. Mr Horne was allowing me to recover. It was the pain of the caning that was the punishment and I knew that he knew that I understood that. He was not aiming to humiliate me by having me break. I did not time the pause. I had other things on my mind. At exactly the right time, Mr Horne struck again. I had calmed down and was as ready as I was ever likely to be.
Ccracckk!
Once again, that searing pain overwhelmed my other senses. Now it was coupled with another sensation. I was feeling cleaner. I don't know how to explain it. It had been a joke when we had gone to get the drink and I wouldn't have felt guilty if we hadn't been caught. Once we had been, I felt guilty, low and dirty. This was not only punishment. It was a cleansing operation as well. I knew it was almost time for the third and braced myself again.
Ccracckk!
That was the third. Six more to go. Another pause and then the fourth.
Ccracckk!
Ccracckk!
I had now had six. I knew that my rump would be covered by deep weals but I also knew that I had deserved them. I was two thirds of the way through. By now, the agony was increasing for every cut landed on tender flesh.
Ccracckk!
I almost cried out and then realised that I had managed to get this far without allowing even a gasp past my lips.
Ccracckk!
Only one to go. I tightened my grip, clamped my jaw and waited. Once again, Mr Horne allowed me a full time to recover and prepare myself. Then I heard the slight sound and the cane sped through the air. This was the last and it was the climax. Mr Horne had won the unofficial competition between us. I could not prevent the gasp. Looking back, I realise that he had done exactly as he had done on the previous occasion he had caned me. He drove that cane into the sensitive region, just where bottom becomes leg. This time it was covered by the thin material of my gym shorts but that was little help.
I stayed there, assuming and hoping that it was over until I heard him say, "That's it, Johnson. You can get up."
I stood, held my raging seat and turned to him.
"Thank you, sir. There's just one thing. Are you going to write to Mum about it?"
"No. We can regard the incident as closed. It's up to you whether she finds out. You can go now. You'll have time to get changed before the bell for assembly."
I went towards the door, turned and said, "Thank you for being so considerate about it all, sir."
Regardless of the need to change before assembly, my first priority was a call in the toilet. There I gently eased my shorts over my well stripes backside and allowed my throbbing masculine pride to escape from the confines of my jockstrap. It was with enormous relief that I was able to bring it to the climax it had been calling out for even while Brooke had been getting his medicine.
The assembly Mr Horne had mentioned was a special one. Every term ended with one. During his comments the deputy headmaster glanced at Brooke and myself and I thought I saw him almost wink when he said that he was pleased that, for the first time for several terms, we had actually got to the end of a term without anyone needing to be punished for drinking in school. He was right, of course. We hadn't been punished for drinking. We had been caught before we could do it and the other smugglers had been more careful and made certain that they weren't caught.
As for Lynch, he had his whacking as well but you can read about that in the account, "Instead of Expulsion".