Jeffrys’s rusty black gown. In a minute it would reach his shoulder and then crawl onto his neck. He had a scrawny neck, like a chicken’s, and it was dirty too. His white collar always had a dark ring around it. Jake dreamily watched the ant’s progress, wondering what the schoolmaster would do when it touched his skin. Perhaps he wouldn’t notice and it would crawl down inside his shirt and bite him. Jake grinned to himself, hugging this pleasurable thought. Perhaps it was a poisonous ant and the bite would swell up and Mr. Jeffrys would have a fever and have to go to bed. Perhaps it would be so bad, he’d decide to leave Burley Manor and go back where he came from. A fly buzzed against the windowpane, and Mr. Jeffrys’s chalk squeaked on the blackboard. Jake frowned at the long series of numbers appearing beneath the chalk. In a minute Mr. Jeffrys would tell him to come up and work the sum out for himself and he wouldn’t be able to do it because he didn’t understand long division.
