There are some headmasters who feel that all behaviour they witness should be decorous. If you are a pupil at a school governed by such a headmaster it is important that you do not act in an indecorous manner at a time or place where he may witness your behaviour. If such a headmaster turns up at a time or place where he could not reasonably have been expected to turn up you are perhaps a little unfortunate if at that moment you are acting in an indecorous manner.

Welby was unfortunate.

It is possible that if Mr Entwhistle, a headmaster who felt that all behaviour he witnessed should be decorous, had caught Welby, even though shirtless, jumping up and down on his bed he would have considered the behaviour indecorous, but only sufficiently so to merit a reprimand. It is also possible that if Mr Entwhistle had caught Welby wearing his pants outside his trousers he would have come to the same conclusion. As it was, he found Welby doing both of these things simultaneously. Whilst that would not have guaranteed that Mr Entwhistle would have found the behaviour sufficiently indecorous to merit more than a reprimand, that it was accompanied by Welby chanting in a loud voice “I'm from the planet Krypton!” was sufficient to take the incident from a greyish area to a black one that positively required stern disciplinary measures.

When Welby became aware that his performance in the dorm was being witnessed by Mr Entwhistle he naturally stopped chanting “I'm Superman!” and jumping up and down on his bed. He also had an intuitive feeling that wearing his pants outside his trousers was unlikely to find favour with Mr Entwhistle. Welby was about to take off his pants when Mr Entwhistle commanded him to step off the bed.

Once off the bed Welby felt that he should perhaps not make any move to take off his pants until commanded to do so by Mr Entwhistle. Mr Entwhistle issued no such command. Instead he announced that Welby should accompany him to his study where he would deal with him appropriately. No one in the dorm, and certainly not Welby, had any doubt that being dealt with appropriately would involve something rather more than causing Welby slight inconvenience.

As Mr Entwhistle and Welby proceeded to Mr Entwhistle's study, Welby was acutely aware that his pants were outside his trousers – no doubt because it was the first time he had ever proceeded anywhere with his pants outside his trousers. As he neared Mr Entwhistle's study however his thoughts turned to how Mr Entwhistle would deal with him appropriately. He had heard about Mr Entwhistle's strap, but had never felt it.

Mr Entwhistle was also acutely aware that Welby had his pants outside his trousers. Whilst Mr Entwhistle was a headmaster who felt that all behaviour he witnessed should be decorous, he was not without a sense of humour. He said to himself that Welby really looked quite ridiculous. Since Welby was in front of him he permitted himself a smile. He decided that he would not apply his strap too vigorously.

Welby though feared that the application of the strap, however vigorous, was not something he ought to be looking forward to. Accordingly he did not look forward to it.

Once they were both in Mr Entwhistle's study Mr Entwhistle declared, hoping there was no trace of amusement in his tone, “It's the strap for you young man.”

The announcement did not surprise Welby at all. In his experience it was unknown for Mr Entwhistle to announce he would deal with a boy and conduct the boy to his study and for the boy to leave the study without having had the strap. As far as Welby was concerned, when Mr Entwhistle said “deal with” he as good as said “strap”.

Mr Entwhistle opened a drawer in his desk and took out his strap. When he saw the strap Welby fancied it less than he had before he saw it. It was not so much that it looked fearsome, but that it looked nettlesome. Its three narrow thongs gave it a bristly sort of look that promised both bite and sting.

Mr Entwhistle was, according to custom, about to ask Welby to take down his trousers, when he checked himself just in time. “Take down your pants.”

Rather more self-consciously than he would if he had taken his trousers down first, Welby inched his pants down negotiating them over his short trousers.

“Take your trousers down.”

Rather less self-consciously that he would if his trousers had been his pants and perhaps because his pants were already down, Welby took his trousers down.

Mr Entwhistle, still trying hard not to look amused, mused that it was the first time a boy had stood before him bare-bottomed immediately after taking his trousers down but without taking his pants down at the same time or after, but nevertheless with his pants down. It was also, coincidentally, the first time he had had a boy with no shirt on in his study. Even though in many cases a boy's bottom was not strictly completely bare when he had taken his trousers and pants down because it was covered in whole or part by his shirt, not even the most sophistical of sophists could have argued, Welby having no vest on, that Welby's bottom was not bare.

Mr Entwhistle fetched from the corner the lab stool he reserved for boys to bend over to have their bottoms strapped. It was topped with a cushion, not so much for the boy's comfort, but to ensure that the boy's bottom was at the correct strapping height. Mr Entwhistle placed the stool in front of Welby and made a small semi-circle with his finger. Welby bent over the stool.

Mr Entwhistle surveyed the ensemble of boy and stool and could not resist another smile. It was the first time a boy had bent over the stool with his pants round his ankles and his trousers resting on his pants. Mr Entwhistle let the strap dangle. As soon as the strap dangled it knew it was in business.

It has already been mentioned that Welby was unfortunate. He was in fact doubly unfortunate. He had just the sort of bottom that Mr Entwhistle's strap liked. That took the matter completely out of Mr Entwhistle's hands as when his strap saw a bottom it liked it was in control. So whilst Mr Entwhistle had decided that he would not apply his strap too vigorously, the strap itself had other ideas.

It had been Mr Entwhistle's intention to draw the strap back a couple of feet and whisk it moderately onto Welby's bottom. Instead it went back perhaps three feet and came in at a very brisk pace. What is more, Mr Entwhistle had aimed the strap right at the centre of Welby's bottom, but it somehow cracked down on the tenderer part lower down. This surprised Mr Entwhistle, but not as much as it surprised Welby. The tentacles of the strap had more than lived up to their promise of sting and bite. If while bent over the stool waiting for the strap to come into contact with his bare bottom Welby had regretted his Superman act he now regretted it deeply.

Despite Mr Entwhistle's determined efforts the strap insisted on meeting Welby's bottom almost exactly where it had for the first stroke. What it lacked in surprise it made up for in extra sting. Welby was beginning to feel he was well on the way to a well-strapped bottom.

Mr Entwhistle approached from a different angle and was gratified that the strap landed right in the middle of Welby's bottom spreading its thongs wide. The gratification felt by Mr Entwhistle was not shared by Welby in the slightest degree.

Mr Entwhistle changed sides. He always did that halfway through. He thought it only fair that both sides of a boy's bottom should have full enjoyment of the business end of his strap. “Enjoyment” was not a word that occurred to Welby when the tips of the leather thongs stung his left bottom cheek rather than his right bottom cheek.

The strap resisted a little, but allowed Mr Entwhistle to apply the strap firmly across the middle of Welby's bottom. That left Welby in no doubt that his bottom, if not thoroughly well-strapped, was not far off from being thoroughly well-strapped.

For the last stroke the strap insisted on full control. It nudged Mr Entwhistle's arm back a little and altered the angle of approach so that it zipped down with it thongs flaring across Welby's sit-on spot. Welby was now quite certain that his bottom was thoroughly, utterly and completely well-strapped. The strap was keen to make sure, but it was tiring and Mr Entwhistle had no trouble laying it down on his desk.

“You may stand up,” said Mr Entwhistle.

Welby stood up slowly and cupped his hotly leathered bottom in his hands.

Mr Entwhistle was, according to custom, about to ask Welby to pull up his trousers and pants, when he checked himself just in time. “I think you'd better take your trousers and pants off and put them back on in the right order.”

Welby disentangled his pants from his trousers and hooked them off. Holding his pants he stepped out of his trousers. Welby stood for a moment in nothing but his socks before he slipped his pants on, easing them up cautiously when they neared his bottom. He then pulled his trousers on.

“No more Superman stunts, please.”

“No, sir,” replied Welby who had already decided the point.

“Back to your dorm then.”

As Welby left Mr Entwhistle mused that it was the first time a boy with a well-strapped bottom had left his study without tucking his shirt in.

Back in the dorm, Welby was soon to be found standing on his bed again. This time though his trousers and pants (the latter inside the former) were down round his ankles as the fiery stripes left by the strap were admired.