Anonymous - The Secret Chronicles of Henry Dashwood, Vol. 1

'Certainly, no-one has the right to interfere with a fourteen-year-old kid like Harding, not even a well-intentioned lady like Lizzie Dickerson. I think we should have a quiet word with Harding and tell him to inform the headmaster if Bunny Hare attempts to interfere with him again.' 'Very well, Henry, if you insist then I'll go along with what you say,' said George. 'But I still think we should report the matter to Dr Muttley ourselves. After all, Harding didn't seem to need much persuasion to let Bunny toss him off. How do we know if Bunny has pressured other boys who might not be so compliant?'

This was a good point which forced me to reconsider my position.

'Yes, that's true and I must say that I hadn't thought about that,' I confessed. 'Yet, I still wonder whether making a meal out of this incident might not do more harm than good. In all probability, left to his own devices, Harding will forget about this business, especially when it's time for someone like Lizzie to instruct him in the joys of fucking a woman. 'However, perhaps you are right and we should warn Bunny to pick on a playmate of his own size,' I commented.

George nodded and said: 'Yes, I really do believe we should speak to him about curbing his proclivities, on pain of being reported to Dr Muttley. I know you're a tolerant chap, Henry, who likes to live and let live, but Bunny's behaviour is beyond the pale. If he had been having it away with say, Mr. Hutchinson or Smeeth the groundsman…'

The very idea of these gentlemen being involved in such activities made us both burst into laughter and we agreed not to mention the matter to anyone-not even Johnny Bridges-and that we would speak to our sports master after supper.

Tuesday, November 13th, 1895 (During Prep) Last night was so hectic that I did not have time to record all that happened until this evening. What luck that Mr. Hutchinson has gone down with a heavy cold and has not set us any homework. I can use the hour set aside for 'prep' to finish writing up my diary whilst my pals play Ludo with Mabb and Osbourne in the next study.

During supper last night, George and I worked out what we would say to Bunny Hare when we went round to his quarters after the meal.

Neither of us was looking forward to this encounter, but in the end it did not turn out as badly as we had feared. When we knocked on his door he ushered us in and immediately invited us to sit down. Then he sat down himself, and with his elbows on the table and holding his head in his hands, he said quietly: 'Boys, I know why you have come to see me. Unless I am greatly mistaken, you are aware that I committed a senseless, foolish and criminal act this evening in the gymnasium. I deserve no mercy, but for the sake of my parents, I still beg you not to make public what you saw. Be assured, though, I am about to write my letter of resignation to Dr Muttley. I looked across at George who cleared his throat and slowly replied: 'Perhaps that would be best sir, but I want you to know that Dashwood and myself had no intention of telling anyone about what happened between you and Harding except perhaps the headmaster, and if you are leaving us, I don't see why we need to say anything to him.' 'Indeed not,' I said quietly.

Trying not to sound too pompous, I added: 'And it gives me no joy to see you leave. I'm sure that most other chaps in the school will agree that you have been a superb sports master. But, if you really are a follower of this lifestyle, perhaps it would be best if you followed some other career?' 'You may be right Dashwood,' he said unhappily. 'Yet I am far from being a fully-fledged homosexual. If only there were opportunities here to enjoy sex with suitable young females, I would be the first to take them. But the sad fact is that I have never sampled such joys.' 'Good heavens, sir. Have you never fucked a – I mean, never had intercourse?' George blurted out.

Poor Bunny Hare shook his head and said: 'No, I have never had the chance to do so. You see, Nugent-Bull, I was brought up in a very stern environment. No mention was ever made of sexual matters and my mother would never even use such harmless words as trousers – she would call them “unmentionables”. Even the legs of our piano were covered for the so-called sake of decency. At the age of thirteen I was sent to an equally strict school where, in the dormitories, a senior boy introduced me to the joys of masturbation. 'When I reached Oxford I thought at last I would be able to meet some girls, but the Dean of my college was almost as puritanical as my father and I never managed to progress further than a quick kiss or two under the mistletoe with one of the servant girls at Christmas. Since then my only outlet has been onanism'. This was a term neither George nor I had heard of before and George repeated blankly: 'Onanism, sir, what's that?' Bunny gave a ghost of a smile as he explained: 'What is vulgarly known as pulling your pud. Anyway, I have tried to sublimate my sexual desires, but the sight of naked boys playing with themselves in the showers after a game of football brings back memories of the games of mutual masturbation I indulged in at school.

'Somehow, Harding divined my interest when I came across him and four other boys fondling each other's cocks and threatened to report them to their form master. He came round to the gymnasium tonight and complained about twisting his ankle and then, when I was going to manipulate it for him, he said he would prefer me – and I quote verbatim “to massage my cock, for we would both enjoy that more.”

He heaved a deep sight and concluded: 'That is about the long and short of it, my boys. I must thank you both for listening to me, I have never told anyone about all this before and I must say that I'm damned glad to have got it off my chest.' Whilst he was speaking, an idea was slowly forming in my brain. Dr Muttley had taught us that ancient Greek philosophers such as Plato and Aristotle held that punishment brought wisdom. However, when I mentioned this to my father, he shook his head and disagreed. He said that after visiting inmates in Gloucester gaol, he opined to the belief that the punishment meted out was often more brutal than the crime. His words echoed in my mind as I thought to myself that little good would come of Bunny Hare simply resigning and taking up a post at another school. Far better, surely, to find a cure for (again to quote my father) the maladjustment which has led him to offend in the first place. So, I held up my hand and said: 'Sir, before you give the headmaster your letter of resignation, would you permit Nugent-Bull and myself to tell one member of the staff of your affliction? I believe that she can help you. Even if you still feel it would be best to leave the Albion Academy, after her treatment, I'm sure you will never again feel tempted to indulge in shirt-lifting activities with little cock-teasers like Gordon Harding.' The sports master was nonplussed by my request and he stuttered: 'She could help me, you say? Who is it you have in mind, Dashwood?' 'I would rather not say at this stage, sir,' I replied slowly. 'For, in the unlikely event that I am mistaken and she feels she cannot be of assistance in this matter, it might cause her great embarrassment if her identity was made known to you.' By now George had cottoned on to my train of thought and urged Bunny to comply with my request. 'I know what Dashwood has in mind, sir and I give you my word of honour that there is no way that the lady in question would reveal a word of anything told to her in confidence,' he said. I followed up these words by adding: 'In all honesty, sir, you have everything to gain and nothing to lose.' Bunny lifted his head from his hands and looked me straight in the eye. 'Well, I dare say that's true enough-but tell me, Dashwood, why are you taking so much trouble about all this? Wouldn't it be easier all round if I simply resigned and left at the end of term? How do I know that you boys can be relied upon to keep your silence?' 'Of course we can, sir, you have our word, but I do urge you to place your fate in this lady's hands,' I said stoutly.