Bunter the Caravanner - Friardale

'Not at all, sir! An honour and a pleasure!' said Mr. Jervis.
'I'll shove it in the van, then,' said Bunter.
'Pray leave it to me, sir.'
Billy Bunter was quite satisfied to leave it to him. Mr. Jervis
lifted the bike into the van, and Bunter followed it in. He sat
down again in the same folding-chair that he had sat in to
devour Harry Wharton's cake the day before. The sleek man
returned to the horse's head, and the caravan rolled on up the
Redclyffe road.
'Oh, crumbs!' murmured Billy Bunter. Astonished as he was by
this unexpected turn of events, he was feeling very braced. His
luck had been out - now, clearly, it was in again!
The red caravan rolled on at a leisurely pace for about a mile.
Then Mr. Jervis led it through a gateway into a pleasant little
meadow. Perhaps he had already booked that meadow as a campingground:
at all events, he was evidently going to camp there. The
van came to a halt: the horse was let loose to graze: then Mr.
Jervis lifted the bike out, and the fat Owl followed it out.
'I say, think it will take you long to mend that puncture?'
asked Bunter. His fat thoughts were still on the feed at the
Arcade.
Mr. Jervis surveyed the ruined tyre.
'Hem! Probably some little time, sir,' he answered. 'Perhaps you
might care for a little light refreshment while I deal with it.'
There was no 'perhaps' about that! Billy Bunter always cared for
a little refreshment, light or otherwise.
'Yes, rather,' said Bunter, promptly.
'Pray sit down, sir, and I will lose no time,' said Mr. Jervis.
Billy Bunter, very willingly, sat down in a camp chair.
Mr. Jervis was busy in the van for a few minutes. Then he set up
a folding-table in the grass before Bunter's chair, and placed a
tray on it. Apparently the food-locker in the van was well
supplied, for it was quite an attractive spot of light
refreshment that was spread under Bunter's eyes and spectacles.
The fat Owl beamed on it. There was, unluckily, no cake: perhaps
Mr. Jervis did not personally care for cake. But there was ham,
there were hard-boiled eggs, tomatoes, jam, varieties of
biscuits, and quite a number of other good things. Billy Bunter
ceased to care very much whether he joined up for that spread at
the Arcade or not. Wedging in at a schoolboy spread was as
moonlight unto sunlight, as water unto wine, compared with the
lavish hospitality of the caravanner.
Billy Bunter grinned happily over the well-spread table: while
Mr. Jervis up-ended the bicycle and set to work on it. From time
to time Bunter blinked at him, wondering.
The day before, he had had the very worst impression of Mr.
Jervis: but that was gone now. Mr. Jervis now seemed to him an
extremely pleasant person. But it was all very surprising - very
surprising indeed, and the fat Owl could not help wondering.
However, it was all very pleasant, and, surprising as it was,
Billy Bunter was not the fellow to reflect very deeply on