Boys guilty of serious misdemeanors or recidivism were sent to the Beak for a swishing. The Headmaster, Mr Henry Cloak, was a huge, humorless, sour-faced man, who not only looked like a judge with his white, curly hair and black academic gown but also actually took pride in taking his time in deciding on an appropriate punishment for each boy’s “crime”. “Let the punishment fit the crime” was his motto and thus he was nicknamed the Beak. “Being up before the beak” was cockney slang for appearing before a magistrate or judge. Possibly his nickname also reflected his appearance. He had a massive, bent, beak-like proboscis and from a distance his profile was not unlike that of a vulture.
The Headmaster’s Study1
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