once every term the cricket and football committees assembled to transact business. they learned what funds were in hand, what subscriptions had been paid and what were in arrear, also the expenditure for balls, nets, goals, stumps, rolling the ground, and all other items. after which, rules were discussed, and arrangements for future matches made. it was part of the principle of the school that the boys should manage all these things for themselves, as it was considered that to learn practically how to set such matters going and keep them in order was quite as educational as to acquire the right use of the subjunctive. all that the authorities had to do with the arrangement was that when the day and hour for a committee meeting was fixed, the master in whose house the secretary was, gave leave for his pupil-room to be used for the occasion; and it was also customary to ask one of them to audit the accounts. these assemblages were of a twofold character: during the first part, when the accounts were read out, and what had been done gone over, any boy who liked might attend and ask questions. but when arrangements for the future were discussed, the room was cleared of all but the committee. experience had brought that about; for when outsiders had been allowed to remain, the number and variety of absurd and futile suggestions which were made, prevented any conclusion being come to at all.
since crawley was the secretary and treasurer of both the cricket and football clubs there was only one general meeting, at which the accounts of both were taken together, instead of two in the term, as when those offices were vested in different individuals. crawley had found these burdens rather onerous this term; with that stiff examination looming nearer and nearer every month he began to feel serious, for he had set his heart upon getting into the artillery if he could, and he was going at his subjects in downright earnest, with no shirking or trifling when the humour was not on him. so that the time it took him to prepare these accounts, and still worse, to collect the subscriptions, he did rather grudge. but he never dreamed of resigning on that account; he had undertaken these duties, and would go on with them without grumbling. perhaps he had the feeling which energetic folk who are accustomed to other people leaning on them are naturally apt to acquire, that things would get into a muddle without him. however he had got in the subscriptions, docketed his papers, and prepared everything for the meeting that evening, and the last finishing stroke being put, he locked all up in the japanned box which he kept in his room, with “weston cricket club” neatly painted on it in white letters, changed his clothes for flannels, and ran out to the football field.
he had not been gone a quarter of an hour before saurin and edwards approached the house on their visit to gould, who was also an inmate of dr jolliffe’s. they had chosen that time in order to find him alone, for he had had a slight sprain of the ankle—not enough to lay him up altogether, but sufficient to prevent his playing at football; and as he was rather glad than otherwise of an excuse to sit in with a novel, the chances were that he was now so occupied. it was a fine march day, with a bright sun and a cold east wind—not high enough to be unpleasant though, unless you dawdled about. when they came to the side-door which led to the boys’ part of the house, which was a separate block of buildings from the doctor’s residence, though joined to and communicating with it, saurin stopped and said: “i think perhaps you had better wait here for me; i shall get on better with him alone.”
“all right!” replied edwards with a feeling of relief, for he dreaded the interview with gould beyond measure. it is nervous work to ask anyone to lend you money, unless you are quite hardened. saurin felt that too; it was a bitter pill for his pride to swallow, with the prospect on one side of a refusal and on the other of being subjected to insolent airs of superiority, for gould was not the fellow to grant a favour graciously. but he had a stronger will than edwards, and the situation made extreme measures necessary.
he entered the passage alone, then, and mounted the staircase, not meeting anyone. dead stillness pervaded the house except for the trills of a canary at the far end of the second landing. crawley’s door was open as he passed, and he saw his clothes strewn about over a couple of chairs and the japanned box standing in a corner by his bureau. saurin passed on, the song of the canary growing louder as he advanced, and knocked at gould’s door; there was no response. “gould!” he cried, “gould! are you in?” as there was still no answer he turned the handle and looked in; there was the canary hanging in the window, through which the sun poured, and his shrill notes went through his head; but no gould. “plague take it!” muttered saurin; “it is all to do now another time, and i cannot get this suspense over. i wonder where the fellow has gone to!”
he closed the door again and retraced his steps slowly. when he repassed crawley’s room he stopped and listened. not a sound except the bird’s song. his heart beat so quickly that it was like to choke him, and he grew quite giddy. “crawley!” he said in an unsteady voice, for though he saw the room was empty he had an insane fancy that he might be there, invisible, or that this mist before his eyes might prevent his seeing him. then he mastered his apprehensions with an effort, and stepped into the room. going to a chair, he felt the coat which hung over the back; there were keys in the pocket. then he listened again; not a sound, for the singing of the canary had stopped. ten minutes later saurin went down-stairs quietly, stealthily. he found edwards waiting for him outside, took him by the arm, and led him away.
“have you seen anyone?” he asked eagerly, but in a voice which he could not keep from trembling.
“not a soul,” replied edwards.
“then, come a long to my tutor’s—quick! get your flannels on; and we will go into the football field. we are late, but can get in on one side or another.”
“but, have you succeeded? will gould lend the money?”
“no, he won’t; and i would not have fellows know i asked him for worlds; so i am glad no one saw us.”
saurin was as white as a sheet, he trembled all over, and there was a look in his eyes as of a hunted animal. that one in whose courage, presence of mind, and resources he trusted so entirely should be affected to such a degree as this, appalled poor edwards; what a black gulf, indeed, must yawn before them!
“is there no chance at all, then?” he asked in piteous accents.
“yes, it will be all right; i—i have thought of something else,” stammered saurin. “don’t mind me—i’m knocked over by asking a favour and being refused; that’s all. i shall be all right directly. only swear you will never say a word to anyone about it. i tell you i have thought of a way to silence that villain slam, and i will go and see him the first chance. it will be all right if you only hold your tongue. and now look sharp and let us change and go and play football; there’s lots of time.”
they had reached their own rooms by this, and edwards did what saurin told him, wondering, but partly reassured; and in a few minutes they were on their way to the football field, where they were hailed by their own house and paired off on different sides.
saurin had sulkily retired from all the school sports for some time, and the boys wondered at the energy with which he now rushed into the game. the fact was he felt the necessity for violent exertion to escape reflection and drown thought in fatigue. he could not do it, but he succeeded in regaining the mastery over his nerves, his looks, his speech. as for edwards, he played more listlessly than usual; and the thought occurred to several that afternoon that if saurin would only take up regular practice again he would be a greater source of strength to the house team than edwards. and they wanted to be as strong as possible, for the match with the doctor’s house was approaching, and they feared that they were a little overmatched.
that evening a good many boys were assembled in dr jolliffe’s pupil-room to hear the reports concerning the cricket and football clubs, which were really one, as the same subscribers belonged to both, and it was only for clearness and to avoid confusion of accounts that they were treated separately; besides that, one boy could not always be found to undertake, like crawley, the management of both. there were the committees, and besides them a sprinkling of the curious, who did not care to listen to the debit and credit accounts, but had the anglo-saxon instinct for attending public meetings of any kind, so that the room, though not half full, contained a respectable audience, when crawley with his japanned box in his hand entered, and went to the place reserved for him at the head of the table.
“i have not a long story to tell you,” he said, producing his keys and inserting one in the lock of the box. “fellows have paid up pretty well, and we are rather in funds. the principal expense has been a new roller which we were obliged to have, the old one being quite worn out, and besides, as many of you have often observed, not heavy enough. indeed the committee have been blamed rather severely by enthusiastic cricketers on this score, as if they had taken weight out of the roller, or could put extra weight into it; and i have sometimes thought that if the critics would have sat on the roller instead of on us, it would have been more effective.” laughter; for a little joke goes a long way on these solemn occasions. “mr rabbits has kindly audited our accounts, which are satisfactory, i believe; here they are, if any one likes to look at them. we do not owe anything, and there are two pounds in hand for the football, and seven pounds twelve shillings for the cricket accounts, which i have here. hulloa! what is this?” and crawley changed countenance as he opened a portmonnaie which he took out of the box, and drew from it a five-pound note. “i have been robbed!” he cried. “there were four half-sovereigns, two sovereigns, and twelve shillings in silver, besides this bank-note in the purse this morning, and now there is only the five-pound note here!”
the consternation caused by this announcement was so great that for quite a quarter of a minute there was a dead silence, and then ejaculations, suggestions, questions, began to pour.
“perhaps it is loose in the box,” said some one, and the papers were immediately all taken out, and the box turned upside down to prove the futility of that perhaps.
“well, never mind; of course i am responsible,” said crawley presently, recovering himself. “i was taken by surprise, or i should not have made all this fuss. the money will not be wanted till the cricketing season begins next term, and i can make it good by then.”
outsiders then took their departure, leaving the committee to any deliberations that might remain, and carrying the news of the robbery far and wide, so that it became the principal topic of conversation throughout the school that evening. of course it lost nothing in the telling, and some received the information that crawley’s room had been regularly cleared out that day, all his books, clothes, and pictures taken, besides five pounds of his own and twenty of the public money.
the committee had not much business to transact. the day for the match at football between dr jolliffe’s and mr cookson’s houses was settled, a suggestion that some new turf should be laid down on a part of the cricket-field where the grass had been worn past recovery was agreed to, and the members who did not board at dr jolliffe’s were back at their own houses before “all in.”
but the excitement about the loss of this money was naturally greater in the house where it had taken place than anywhere else, and as the boys talked about it at supper the servants heard of it. it was evident that though no accusation might be made, suspicion would be very likely to fall upon them, and as they were anxious to have the matter sifted, the butler was deputed to report the whole affair to the doctor. so when prayers were over dr jolliffe told all present to remain where they were, and then calling up crawley, he asked him whether the account he had heard was correct.
“i did not mean to report it, sir,” said crawley, “but it is true that four pounds in gold and twelve shillings in silver were taken from the tin box belonging to the cricket and football club this afternoon.”
“when did you last see this money?”
“at about a quarter to three, sir. as it was a half-holiday i thought i would get all my papers ready against the cricket and football meeting this evening. i set to work at that at a little after two; it did not take me very long, as they were all ready before, and only wanted arranging, and a little memorandum written out of what i wanted to say, for fear i should forget anything. when i had done i counted out the money in hand, and put it in a purse which i have always used for the subscriptions; there was the sum i have mentioned and a five-pound note. i put the purse back in the box, locked it, placed the keys in my coat-pocket, changed my clothes, and went out to play at football. i heard the clock strike three just after i had begun to play.”
“and when did you miss the money.”
“at the meeting, when i opened the box.”
“you had not done so again till then after locking it up, when you went out?”
“no, sir.”
“you are sure?”
“positive, sir.”
“and the five-pound note was not taken?”
“no, sir; that was left.”
“was it in the same compartment of the purse as the gold and silver?”
“no, sir; but it could be seen if the purse was opened, and why it was not taken too i cannot imagine.”
“that is not so difficult of explanation. but now i must ask you a painful question; but it is your bounden duty to answer it without reserve. have you any suspicions as to who may have taken it?”
“none whatever, sir. i am almost certain that there was not a boy in the house. i was the last to remain in. indeed i found all but three in the football field, and i know where they were, for i saw them playing at fives as i passed the court. at least two were playing, and the third, who had hurt his foot, was looking on.”
“do you mean to say, for it is necessary to be accurate, that you recognised every boy in the house except these three in the football field yourself?”
“not exactly, sir; but we have been talking the matter over, and those whom i did see can answer for all the rest.”
“and who were the three boys in the fives court?”
“i was the looker-on, sir,” said gould, stepping forward.
“and when did you leave?”
“when the others left off play, sir. we all returned together at tea-time.”
“that is right, sir,” said smith and simmonds. “we were the two playing at fives, and gould went and returned with us.” (of course it is not meant that they said all this together, in chorus, as people do in a play; but they both stood forward, and smith was the spokesman.)
“and now, crawley,” resumed the doctor, “are you sure that the money was not taken after your return. you left your room again, perhaps, before the meeting?”
“yes, i did for a short time, sir; but then i had the keys in my pocket; and the box was fairly unlocked. there are no marks of violence; and it’s a brahma, so, whoever did it, must have had the right key.”
“i am very glad that all the boys in my house seem able to prove so clear an alibi,” said the doctor. “that will do.”
when they had all dispersed dr jolliffe made inquiries amongst the servants. the fat cook indignantly demanded that her boxes should be searched; but one coin of the realm is so like another that there did not appear to be much object in that, beyond the pleasure of inspecting a very smart bonnet in reserve for easter, and other articles of apparel. the maids who waited on the boys were very much cut up about it. they never went near the rooms after they had once cleaned them up in the morning till supper-time, when they turned down the beds (which were set on end and shut up to look like cupboards during the day), and filled the jugs and cans with fresh water, etcetera. but it was impossible for them to prove their absence during those two hours—from three to five—so clearly as the boys could, though they could testify to one another’s not having been away for many minutes at a time. it was extremely unpleasant for them, and for the butler and another man-servant in a less degree also, for, though they had no business to go into the boys’ part of the house, it was possible that they might have gone there without having any business.
but there was no reason to conclude that anyone residing in the house at all was the guilty party; any person could walk in from the street at any hour. itinerants often passed through the place with mice, squirrels, and other things, which they tried to sell to the boys, and one of these might have slipped up-stairs. but, no; a man like that would not have known that there was likely to be money in that particular box; it certainly looked more like the action of someone who had good information.
such were the speculations and reasonings which were rife in weston for the next few days; and then the topic began to grow stale, for no one had been seen hanging about the house that afternoon, and there was no satisfactory peg upon which to hang conjecture. one hard fact remained; poor crawley was answerable for four pounds twelve shillings which had been stolen from him, and this came at a time when he was particularly anxious to spend as little money as possible. he did not make much fuss about it, and only to buller, his friendship with whom grew stronger the more they knew of one another, did he speak his mind.
“my poor mother!” he said during a sunday walk the day after the robbery; “i shall have to ask her for the money, and it is precious hard upon her. i have been abominably extravagant, and she is not rich, and there are a lot of us. i owe a good bit to tiffin, and to my london tailor too, but he will wait any time. tiffin duns me, hang him! though why he should be devoted to capital punishment for asking for his due i don’t know either. i should not have had such a lot of patties, fruit, ices, and stuff. he will have to be paid at latest when i leave; and at that time, if i get into woolwich, there will be my outfit. and then i must needs buy a gun and a license for just three days’ shooting with gould last christmas; and tipping the groom and keeper was a heavy item besides. one of my sisters is delicate, and can’t walk far; and they could keep a pony-carriage if it wasn’t for me. and now, here is another flyer i must rob my mother of just because i left my keys in my coat when i changed my dress—sheer carelessness!”
“never mind; you will get into woolwich next examination, and then you will soon get a commission, and draw pay, and not want so much from your mother.”
“yes, i think of that, and it is some consolation; but still it is in the future, don’t you see, and i must ask her for this stolen money at once. by jove! i wish i had come back unexpectedly for something, and caught the fellow taking it! i wonder who on earth it can be!”
“i have no idea. not polly the maid, i’ll take my davey; i have so often left money and things about, and never lost a halfpenny.”
that same sunday saurin and edwards were standing with two or three others in the quadrangle, when gould limped by.
“how is your ankle getting on, gould?” one of the group called out.
“better, thanks,” he replied, joining them. “i say, if it had kept me in yesterday afternoon crawley might have thought i took the money! what a joke, eh? fancy my wanting a paltry four pounds odd.”
“you were not in?” cried edwards; and he could have bitten his tongue out immediately afterwards.
but the surprise was too great for his prudence. he and saurin had gone to their own tutor’s house before repairing to the football field, you may remember, and that route did not pass the fives court. so that it was the first intimation edwards had that saurin lied when he said he had asked gould for a loan, and been refused.
“no,” said gould, looking at him in surprise; “what made you think i was?”
“only your sprain,” said edwards, recovering himself. “some fellows were saying that if you were in, the thief must have trod very lightly for you not to have heard him, as your room is so near. but as you were out, and all the other fellows too, he had the coast clear, you know.”
“what is your idea about the whole thing, saurin?” asked gould; “you are a sharp chap.”
“oh, i don’t know,” said saurin. “i should not be very much surprised if the money turned up, and there proved to have been no robbery at all.”
“what on earth do you mean?”
“the chances are i am wrong, no doubt, but it is possible. crawley is a very careless fellow, you know, about money matters.”
“but how could he have made a mistake, when he counted out the money such a short time before?” asked one of the group. “i was present at the meeting, and you should have seen his surprise when he took up the purse.”
“oh, i dare say it is all as you think,” said saurin. “i only know that if i had charge of money i should always be in a muddle. i never know anything about my own, and it is little enough to calculate; if i had to keep it separate from that of other people i should always be bothered between the two. but no doubt crawley is better at business than i am.”
“i say; he is awfully poor, crawley is, and tries to make a show as if he were rich,” said gould. “i know he has been dunned by old tiffin lately, and it is quite possible he may have paid him out of the club money and got confused, eh? of course, what i say is strictly between ourselves.”
