Danny, the Champion of the World

Just as William is about to start the bedtime story, Danny remembers the sleeping pills that Doc Spencer left for his father—maybe they could feed them to the pheasants. Initially, William dismisses the idea until Danny reminds him that pheasants love raisins, and they could lace raisins with the powder from the sleeping capsules. As the idea begins to take hold William exclaims, “Oh, my darling boy […] Oh, my sainted aunt! I do believe you’ve got it” (96). Danny and his father count the sleeping pills and find there are enough for two hundred raisins if they divide each capsule into four raisins. The plan is to soak the raisins to make them swell, then slit them open and pour in some powder before sewing them back up. They will then scatter the loaded raisins around the feeding ground at sunset then leave and come back after dark when the birds will be roosting up in the trees. If all goes to plan, the sleeping pills will start to work, and the pheasants will drop out of the trees “like apples.”

Danny is bouncing on his bed in excitement, and William’s eyes are sparkling. Danny begs his father to let him join him this time to which William replies, “But, my dear boy, of course you can come with me! It’s your idea! You must be there to see it happen!” (97). They decide to call this method “The Sleeping Beauty” (99) and agree that this will “revolutionize poaching.” The shooting party is in three days, so William and Danny make a timetable: The next day (Thursday) William will get the raisins and soak them overnight; Friday, Danny will stay home from school “sick” to help William fill and sew the raisins before going to Hazell’s Wood in the evening to scatter them. William and Danny go to bed that night with their heads spinning.

Danny picks two apples from the tree behind their caravan and gives one to his father. They walk to school eating the apples, chatting, and double checking their plan. Danny loves their walk to school. Every day his father tells him something new about the trees, birds, wildflowers, and grasses, educating Danny about nature and stopping to explore a nest or watch a weasel. Danny thinks his father “could have become a great naturalist if only he had had a good schooling” (102).

William knows and loves everything about the countryside, and he talks about it in such a fun and engaging way that Danny thinks his father should share his knowledge with the whole school. Danny daydreams about the boring text carved into a large stone outside his school being transformed into a space where his father could write an interesting new fact every day in chalk, such as “did you know that the little yellow Clover butterfly often carries his wife around on his back?” (105). Danny likes his school and most of the teachers.

However, Captain Lancaster, who fought in World War II and still insists on being called Captain, is a “horrid man” (108) who catches Danny giving his friend Sidney the answer to a question. Captain Lancaster calls Danny and Sidney up to the front of the class and tells them to hold out their hands. He takes a cane and hits them hard across their open palms. Danny has never felt such pain, and both boys are left with long red welts across their palms. That evening William sees Danny’s hand, so Danny reluctantly tells him everything. William’s face goes white, and he whispers “‘I’ll kill him! […] I swear I’ll kill him’” (117). William gets his jacket, ready to go to Captain Lancaster’s house to “beat the daylights out of him” (117), but Danny begs him not to. Danny reminds his father that he must have gone through the same thing without wanting his father getting involved. This mature reasoning calms William down, and the two of them get back to soaking the raisins. Soon, they are both so brimming with excitement about the “Sleeping Beauty” plan that Danny’s hand is forgotten. Neither William nor Danny can sleep, so William makes them each a salmon sandwich for a “midnight feast” (119), and they talk over the plan again.