a five-pound note!
there it lay, face upwards; and for a moment there was silence in the dormitory. every eye was turned upon the boy, who stood staring at that accusing piece of paper, as if turned to stone. if ever any one looked guilty, ralph rexworth did at that moment. it was so unexpected, so inexplicable—and worst of all, though not a word was spoken, he seemed to feel what his companions thought, to know that they looked upon him as a liar and a thief.
as for warren, he stood with open mouth and staring eyes, as if he could not believe his senses. so this was why ralph had been so anxious about finding his pocket-book! but when elgert, who had also come into the room, took in the scene and muttered scornfully something about "like father like son," warren turned on him savagely, with a contemptuous—
"shut up, you cad! you, at any rate, should be the last one to speak, seeing that he saved your life on saturday." and at that sharp reproof elgert shrank away, abashed for once.
[pg 151]
then warren stooped and picked up the note, for it still lay there, and every one seemed too bewildered to move—and he held it out to ralph.
"rexworth," he said, in low, grave tones, "this was in your pocket-book. it don't want much talking about, you can see what it looks like against you. but i want to say, and i feel that i must say it, i cannot believe that a chap like you can really be guilty of such a horribly mean thing. you and i have been good chums, and if any one had asked me my opinion, i should have said that there was no chap in the school i could more honour and trust. but this thing has got to be explained, and i must do my duty as a monitor, even if it gets my best chum into trouble. i must tell the head of this. if i did not, some one else would, and it is my duty to do it."
"you don't think that i stole it," faltered ralph. it seemed so horrible that it unnerved him, and made him lose his firm resolution for the moment. it would be only for a little while: presently the old grit would come back, and he would be firm enough. but the greatest may flinch for the moment—recoiling from the horror of the accusation or suspicion—and others may put down their agitation to a wrong cause, think it the evidence of a guilty conscience, and condemn them untried.
"you don't think that i stole it?" he faltered, as if pleading that warren would not think so poorly as that of him. but the monitor replied gravely:
[pg 152]
"i don't think anything about it, rexworth. i don't want to think, for if i did, i should think wrong, perhaps. i can only act on the thing as i know it. you lost your pocket-book, you said. you were in a terrible mess over the loss. you, yourself, said to me that you hoped no one would look inside it if they picked it up; and i, with my own eyes, saw this note fall out of it just now, the note i suppose mr. delermain lost, and which you declared that you had not seen. i must tell the head. i only wish that it were not part of my work to have to do so."
then the old resolution came back. ralph's self had not deserted him, and he spoke, quietly and calmly, so that all the dormitory could hear his troubled tones.
"thank you, warren. i value your friendship, which makes doing your duty so hard a thing for you, and i quite understand that you cannot give me that friendship now, while this thing is over me. i know it looks very bad against me. i have some enemy here, and that enemy has been just a little too clever for me."
just as he spoke his eyes caught sight of charlton, standing looking so white and scared, and the thought came: had he done this? he seemed to avoid his gaze. ralph paused only a moment, and then went on—
"there is one thing, however, that i can do to prove that i value your friendship, and that is take the task of speaking from you. if you choose to wait until after prayers, i will tell the head myself, in open school, and you can all hear me do it."
[pg 153]
warren hesitated for a moment. he hated to have to do the task, and if ralph would tell himself, it would do just as well.
"very well," he said, "if you will do that, i have no objection; and, look here, you fellows," he added, turning to the others, "do, for mercy's sake, keep this to yourselves, all of you; or it will be all over the school, and it is not a nice thing to have connected with our form. we may have been a bit wild, but we have never had a thing like this before, and i would have done anything rather than have had it now."
he turned away as he spoke, and the others followed slowly, leaving ralph there alone—alone with his pocket-book, and the note which had come from it.
no, not quite alone, for charlton still stood there regarding him with the same half-frightened, half sorrowful look; and at last ralph, becoming aware of his presence, turned and looked at him.
"well," he said, "what do you want? why don't you clear off, like the rest have done?"
the boy backed away from him, as if almost frightened.
"and it was you, all the time," he said, in low tones. "you, whom i thought so noble and good! you took it, and then you dared to ask me if i had taken it, to hint that it was me. oh, ralph rexworth, i did not think that there was any one as mean as you."
[pg 154]
ralph regarded him gravely for a little while, and then he said—
"and suppose that i still think that you took it, charlton? suppose that i ask you whether you put this note in my pocket-book?—for some one put it there, that is quite certain. is this done in spite, because of what i said to you on friday?"
then charlton started forward, as if beside himself with anger.
"how dare you, ralph rexworth—how dare you! is that the way in which you are going to try and get out of it? try and put it on to my shoulders! ralph rexworth, i stayed here when the others went because i was going to offer you something—going to offer to take the blame and seem to be the thing which you accuse me of being. the boys all look upon me as a thief's son, and it would not make much difference if i were turned out. i was going to offer to say that i had done this, and put it into your book. going to do it because you were kind to me, and, even after what you said, you tried to make friends again. i would have done it, rexworth, but i will not now. if you can be as mean as that, i will not do it."
"hold on a bit, charlton," answered ralph. "if you had any idea of that sort, i thank you for your kindness. but you don't suppose that i would be a party to a thing of that kind, do you? let you tell a lie and get the blame, that i might escape trouble![pg 155] not me! if you have done it, own up or hold your tongue, as you like. but if you have not done it, you shan't say that you have, and that is all about it." and he added, as charlton turned away—
"if i have wronged you with my suspicions, i am sorry. i know how easy it is to be wrongly judged."
"and you will find how hard it is to bear," the other boy said, and then he, too, turned away, leaving ralph considerably perplexed. had charlton taken the note and placed it in his pocket-book? after all, ralph hardly thought so, it was not like him to do that, and yet—yet some one must have done this wicked thing, some one who wanted to get him into trouble!
but there was no more time to spare, the bell for prayers was ringing, and he went down to his place.
in spite of warren's pleading, it was evident that the story had leaked out; for, as ralph appeared, there was a considerable amount of subdued hissing and groaning, which made the masters look up in surprise, and the monitors to call silence in angry tones.
then the head appeared, and prayers were read. poor ralph! it was harder than ever to attend to worship now. he felt nervous at the ordeal before him, and yet he felt also that to seem nervous was to seem guilty—and he was innocent! that thought calmed him. the service was over, the head was just going to dismiss the school when ralph rose in his seat, and said in clear tones—
[pg 156]
"please, sir, may i say something in open school? it is something of importance, something connected with the banknote which mr. delermain lost."
the words created quite a sensation amongst those who were ignorant of what had transpired, and the doctor answered—
"would it not be better to speak with myself first, rexworth? then i can decide whether what you have to communicate should be made public."
"i would rather speak here, sir. in fact, i have promised to do so. it only concerns myself, please, sir."
"then you may speak. be brief and plain, and let us hear what you have to say."
so ralph spoke, turning half to the head, half to the school; and describing how he had thought that he took his pocket-book with him and how he had found it in his other coat, when he got back that morning; and how, also, the five-pound note had been seen to tumble from it, when it fell on the floor.
"i know, sir," he said, in conclusion, "that the thing looks as bad as bad can be, and that if every one here believes me to be a thief, it is only natural; but i can only say, sir, what i have said from the beginning. i am quite innocent. i never saw that banknote from the time when mr. delermain laid it on his desk until this morning, when it fell from my pocket-book and warren picked it up."
the doctor listened in silence, his keen eyes fixed[pg 157] upon the face of the lad before him; and dr. beverly felt perfectly certain that ralph rexworth was speaking the truth.
and yet, if that were so, it meant not only that some other boy was a thief, but also that a boy must be deliberately trying to get rexworth wrongly accused; and that seemed a very dreadful thing in the eyes of the noble, upright master of marlthorpe.
"you say you were under the impression that you took your pocket-book home with you, rexworth?" he said, when the boy had concluded; and ralph replied—
"yes, sir. i can say yes to that, though i suppose that i must be mistaken, seeing that i found it safely in my coat-pocket when i went to the dormitory the first thing this morning."
a low murmur went round the school. some of the boys were evidently convinced that ralph was guilty, and that he was only striving to screen himself, and their youthful hearts rebelled against such behaviour.
"hiss, hiss!" "thief, thief!" ran round, and ralph started as though he had been struck by a whip.
the doctor struck his bell sharply, and silence followed. the offenders looked somewhat dismayed at their own audacity.
"silence, there!" he cried. "is it the custom to call a man guilty before even the whole evidence is heard? what rexworth says is very true. the facts do seem[pg 158] to unite to condemn him, and yet it is possible that those facts are unworthy of credence."
"whatever does the head favour that fellow for?" muttered elgert, to one of his own friends. but he received a look of disgust and an impatient—
"oh, shut up! didn't he pull you out of the river?" that was the second time that morning horace elgert had been so rebuked.
"this," the head continued, "demands the most careful, searching investigation. if rexworth is guilty, i shall be the last to screen him; if he is innocent, it is but my duty to strive to establish that innocence. if any boy has been wicked enough to deliberately do this for the very purpose of getting this lad into trouble, i most earnestly entreat that boy to think of what he has done, and to confess his fault before this goes farther, and——"
the head paused and looked round, the door was opened, and lord elgert had entered, just in time to overhear his last words.
