Ralph 1

It was interesting to listen to the guard's story about the Vulture's family, drink wine with him, and it was damn bad to learn about the Godmother's plans The Old Man handed him a saucer. As Ralph dripped wax onto the saucer, he was amazed at how difficult it was to keep dripping in the same spot. Having splattered half the table, he handed the saucer back to the Old Man, handed him a lit candle, and said it was time for him to go.

The old man was almost asleep and was not very upset.

"Is it really time? Then take another candle. And anyway, I have to see you out. Lock the door behind you and all that. I have the keys. I'm the guard here, in case you forgot!"

Ralph assured the Old Man that he had not forgotten it under any circumstances. They emerged into the corridor, locked in a grappling grip and swaying. Ralph held the former director under his arms, while the director waved a candle, burying himself and Ralph in the burning wax, and mused that the best revenge was to sit at the bottom of the river and wait for the enemy's corpse to float past. "At the bottom, really? " Ralph asked doubtfully. "Like seaweed?"

"Exactly, " the Old Man confirmed. "The Chinese don't waste their time on idle talk. Didn't I say this is typical Chinese revenge?"

Near the door, Ralph took the candle from the Old Man and tried to light a second one, but the Old Man's agitated breathing, hanging around his neck, extinguished it each time, and eventually extinguished both. Ralph decided this was for the best. He didn't want to leave the Old Man alone with a burning candle. Having somehow dragged him to the guard post, he shone his lighter on the duplicate keys to the front door on the wall panel. He settled the old man in a sagging chair in the corner, where he immediately began snoring, and set off on his return journey.

He lit the candle on the landing after locking the door behind him. Descending the stairs—slowly, to maintain his balance and keep the candle from going out—Ralph felt like the hero of a Gothic novel.

Black Ralph, or R First, is a teacher. He understands the students better than any other teacher and is therefore not afraid of being stabbed to death at night. He returned to the House before graduation.

He tried his best to understand his charges and their fear of release, and therefore, he did everything he could to ensure his children were treated fairly, according to the House's laws. Vulture served as his liaison and informant, the one who kept him abreast of the latest news when the caregiver returned to the House. He also told him about Pompey's murder, Lord's removal from the fourth house, and Wolf's death. It was Moose's death that compelled Ralph to listen to the children before their release into the outside world that so frightened them, and he thought about this very thing a great deal on his return to the House. It seemed to him that the House was waiting for him, because he saw the letters of his name on the walls everywhere, greeting him. Ralph is respected by his charges, and they respect him even more when he brought Lord back to the House, having dragged him out of who knows where after he received a third warning in his medical file.