Character guide

Jim Thomson

major

Also known as Jim, James Thomson, the genial James, Dear Jim, James

A House prefect with a talent for illicit errands, Jim vanishes into a quarry and becomes the mystery everyone at St. Austin's is hunting.

Tony Graham

major

Also known as Graham

Jim's loyal study-mate and a middling boxer with inexhaustible pluck, Tony tears up forbidden notes and joins the night search for his missing friend.

Barrett

major

Also known as Mr. Barry Pain

A curious schoolboy who pokes into the Pavilion burglary and finds his questions answered with silence, teaching him that curiosity can be a fraud.

Allen Thomson

major

Also known as Allen, Thomson, young Thomson, the amiable Allen, J. Thomson, Mr. Thomson

Jim's brother and a Rugby boxing champion, Allen's casual request for two pounds becomes the suspicious evidence that nearly sinks Jim.

Welch

supporting

Also known as the unconscious Welch, Master J. G. Welch

The last person to see Jim before he vanished, Welch is hauled from sleep to account for a ploughed field and a missing schoolmate.

Charteris

supporting

Also known as Mr. Charteris

Editor of the unofficial school magazine The Glow Worm, Charteris turns a monthly tea into a banjo-accompanied tribunal of gossip and verse.

Mr. Thompson

supporting

Also known as Thompson

As Sixth Form Master, Thompson presides over examinations and prizes with a watchfulness that unnerves even the innocent. When Tony Graham receives a note in his class, Thompson's gentle command to tear it up unread shows a man who trusts rules more than explanations. His suspicion falls naturally on boys like Jim, tightening the net around the Pavilion burglary before anyone knows what really happened.

Vaughan

supporting

Vaughan moves through St. Austin's with the comfortable assurance of a boy who cares more about the cross-country race than about mysteries. He shares Dallas's relief when the unpopular Plunkett is sent down, joking that Plunkett senior is a philanthropist for withdrawing his son. His cheerful indifference to the burglary's darker implications makes him a useful gauge of how the school's ordinary life keeps rolling on.

Plunkett

supporting

Also known as that rotter Plunkett, Mr. Plunkett

Plunkett, nicknamed the Mutual Friend with heavy irony, has worn out his welcome at St. Austin's long before the Head summons him. The interview that ends with his withdrawal is a relief to Dallas and Vaughan, who make no secret of their pleasure. His exit matters because it shows the Head's judgment has already been shaken once, making him dangerously unsure when the burglary evidence points at Jim.

Dallas

supporting

Also known as Ward, Dallas of Ward

Dallas belongs to that cheerful stratum of school life where sport, gossip, and House loyalty matter more than intrigue. He brings Vaughan the news of Plunkett's expulsion and trades talk of the mile and the cross-country with the casual fluency of a boy at home in his world. His easy sociability makes him a natural conduit for the novel's early information, carrying tidings between Houses without ever meaning to.

Merevale

supporting

Also known as Mr. Merevale

Merevale runs his House with the unshowy competence of a man who has seen many crises and expects more. When Thomson fails to return, he brings the Head not panic but a tidy inventory of sightings: Harrison near Stapleton, Mace cycling toward Badgwick, Welch exhausted after the long race. His suggestion to question Welch shows a mind that trusts evidence over alarm, and his steady presence steadies the Head as the mystery deepens.

Sir Alfred Venner

supporting

Also known as Milord Sir Alfred Venner, Milord Sir Venner, old Venner, Venner, Alfred

Sir Alfred Venner is the kind of country baronet who believes a man's first duty is to be a sportsman, and he takes the theft of his prize cups as a personal affront to that creed. His insistence on redress forces the Head's hand and raises the stakes of the Pavilion burglary from schoolboy mischief to something that could ruin a boy's future. Offstage for much of the early action, his shadow falls across every decision the Head makes about Jim.

Reade

supporting

Reade belongs to the Aldershot crowd of public-school boxers, the sort who reads The Sportsman for weights and sizes before ever lacing a glove. He swaps easy talk with Tony Graham about ankles, training, and the draw, treating the tournament as both lark and serious test. His presence grounds the early chapters in the ordinary texture of school sport, where friendship and rivalry sit comfortably side by side.

The Head

supporting

Also known as the Headmaster, The Headmaster, the Old Man, The Old Man

The Head presides over the school with the usual gravitas, but the theft of the cups stirs something more personal in him: a detective's itch he cannot quite scratch. He slips down to the Pavilion during a Sixth-form examination, trades theories with Inspector Roberts, and is visibly deflated when his neat deductions about a diamond and a professional hand are picked apart. His suspicion of Thomson and his relief at the boy's innocence show a man caught between duty and the wish to be right.

The Babe

minor

Also known as Babe

A schoolboy, younger and often teased.

Grey

minor

Also known as K. St. H. Grey

A schoolboy and participant in the sports.

Inspector Roberts

supporting

Also known as Roberts, Mr. Roberts

Roberts arrives at St. Austin's to investigate the stolen cups and immediately unsettles the Head's tidy theories, pointing out the ragged pane, the chisel, the tell-tale lack of professional polish. He is unhurried, fond of illustrative digressions about evidence and alibis, and quietly confident that the culprit is a local amateur rather than a practised burglar. His patient method matters because it turns the case away from the obvious suspect and toward the truth.

Biffen

minor

A schoolboy involved in the sports.

Robinson

minor

Also known as Master R. Robinson, Master Reginald Robinson, Master Robinson

A schoolboy, possibly a younger student.

Morrison

minor

A schoolboy and friend of the main characters.

Parker

minor

A schoolboy, possibly a prefect.

J. Robinson

minor

A schoolboy, possibly a relative of Robinson.

Mrs. MacArthur

minor

Also known as MacArthur

A local woman, possibly a landlady.

Jackson

minor

Also known as Good old Jackson

A schoolboy and friend of the main characters.

Ward

minor

Also known as Mr. Ward

A master or school official.

Mr. Perceval

minor

A master at the school.

Stokes

minor

Also known as Mr. Stokes

A school employee or local tradesman.

Galloway

minor

A schoolboy mentioned in passing.

Adamson

minor

A schoolboy mentioned in passing.

Jack

minor

Also known as Jack.тАЭ Jack

A schoolboy, possibly a nickname.

Old Austinian

minor

Also known as Old Austinian number one, Old Austinian number three

A schoolboy, possibly a nickname for a senior.

The Mutual

minor

Also known as the dear Mutual

A school society or club.

Swift

minor

A schoolboy mentioned in passing.

Fred

minor

Also known as Willie, Alf

A schoolboy, possibly a nickname.

Philpott

minor

Also known as Mr. Philpott

A master at the school.

Jones

minor

Also known as St. Jones Brown

A schoolboy mentioned in passing.

Mr. MacArthur

minor

A local man, possibly husband of Mrs. MacArthur.

Mr. Graham

minor

A master or parent of Tony Graham.

Daintree

minor

A schoolboy mentioned in passing.

Simpson

minor

Also known as Simpson major

A schoolboy mentioned in passing.

William

minor

A servant or school employee.

Henry

minor

Also known as little Henry

A young boy, possibly a relative of a character.

Morton-Smith

minor

A schoolboy mentioned in passing.

Prater

minor

A schoolboy mentioned in passing.

Perkins

minor

A schoolboy mentioned in passing.

W. P. Ross

minor

Also known as Mr. W. P. Ross

A schoolboy mentioned in passing.

Cairns

minor

A schoolboy mentioned in passing.

Ainsworth

minor

A schoolboy mentioned in passing.