the entrance of lord elgert interrupted the serious business being carried on; and somewhat impatient, even if curious, glances were directed towards him as he walked up to dr. beverly.
"i evidently come at an inopportune moment," the nobleman said, as he surveyed the scene before him; "and yet, perhaps, it is a fortunate interruption, if this lad is in trouble, as he seems to be"—and he nodded towards ralph, who met his gaze with some coldness. "if my interruption is untimely i will withdraw." and he looked round inquiringly.
"we certainly are in the midst of a painful inquiry," replied the headmaster gravely. "i do not suppose that your visit is connected with it in any way."
"my visit is wholly and solely to thank ralph rexworth and tom warren for their bravery in rescuing my son last saturday," was the reply.
and these words also caused something of a sensation, for, to the school at large the adventure at the river side was still unknown.
the head himself had evidently not heard of it,[pg 160] for he looked surprised, and lord elgert continued—
"the two boys risked their lives to save that of my son, and i cannot be slow in coming to express my thanks and admiration. if rexworth is in any trouble, i sincerely trust that any influence which i may have will be allowed to weigh in his favour."
"perhaps we had better finish the business in hand first," suggested the head. "it is connected with something of which i understand you have already been informed. a banknote which was missing some time ago has been recovered, and it was found in ralph rexworth's pocket-book."
"dear, dear," said lord elgert, in grieved tones; "i am truly sorry—very sorry. but the temptations to which youth are exposed are great. it may be possible to overlook this unhappy matter for once——"
"sir—sir," broke in ralph, indignantly appealing to dr. beverly, "i know that you have always been kind to me, and i ask you to protect me from lord elgert's insults, lest i may forget myself and say words which i ought not to say. i want no friendship nor influence of his. i am not guilty, and i will not accept anything which will make it appear that i am. as to saving his son, warren did as much as i did, and we could do no less for any one who was in danger, but i can honestly say that i wish that it had been any one else than horace elgert."
a very ugly look swept over the face of lord elgert, and he stepped back, remarking to dr. beverly—
[pg 161]
"in that case, there is no need for me to interrupt you any longer—at any rate, so far as this boy is concerned."
"now, attention!" said the head; and the school straightened up again. "we have heard what ralph rexworth has to say, and some of you are evidently quite certain that he is guilty—that he is a thief, and, worse, a liar also—and that in face of what we have just heard. a boy who risks his life to save that of another is surely not so poor spirited as this. to believe that he is, is to believe that utter contradictions can be reconcilable."
"please, sir," said one lad, rising in his place, "there is one thing which i should like to say."
"you may speak, sir," was the reply which he received; and the boy went on—
"rexworth says that he thought he took his pocket-book away with him on saturday. please, sir, so he did, for i saw him take it from his other coat. he laid it on his bed for a minute, and then looked at a likeness in it, and afterwards put it into his pocket. so that if it was found here this morning, some one must have picked it up and brought it back."
"that is most important, if it is true," said the head, while ralph felt a rush of relief, and turned grateful eyes upon the speaker.
"are you sure that he did put it into his pocket, and not either replace it in the coat from which he took it, or leave it lying on the bed?"
[pg 162]
"quite sure, sir," answered the lad confidently. "i saw him slip it into his pocket, and i wondered whose likeness it was that he carried about with him."
"it is my mother's, sir," said ralph in a low voice.
and the head nodded.
"then, if this be true, a most wicked and evil plot has indeed been attempted—one so bad that, when i discover those who invented it, they shall surely be expelled. i am glad to have this testimony, although it was almost needless, for i am already quite certain that ralph rexworth is innocent—or, i had better say, that the evidence against him is valueless.
"in the first place, this pocket-book"—and he held it up—"has certainly been dropped, for its side is still stained with mud, and there is the mark of a boot, where some one has stepped upon it. in the next place—and this in itself is sufficient—a little mistake has been made. is this note yours, rexworth?"
and he turned, holding the banknote to the astonished ralph.
"no, sir," the boy answered, not knowing what to make of this turn in affairs.
"have you not such a thing as a five-pound note?" he was next asked.
and again he replied in the negative.
"well," the head went on, "it certainly is not the one lost by mr. delermain. every banknote, as i suppose you know, has its own number, and this number is not that of the note lost, so that either[pg 163] some one has been kind enough to make rexworth a present of a five-pound note, or else they have, by oversight, or through ignorance, put a note into his pocket-book to make it appear that he is a thief, not considering that it is as easily distinguished from the one which is missing, as if it were for a different amount, and——"
the doctor paused once more, for ralph broke down. he had kept stiff enough so far; but now, as he heard that by no means could he be accused, and that some one must certainly have done this out of spite, his courage gave way, and he cried out—
"why should any one want to harm me so? i have done nothing to make any one wish me evil. i am almost a stranger in england, and yet people try to do such things as that! i cannot stay, sir. i must ask mr. st. clive to send me back. england is a wicked place, and strangers are treated wickedly."
"perhaps all england is not as bad as you think it, my lad," replied the head kindly, "though i confess that your experiences are enough to make you form such an opinion. but do not decide hastily. i think that out of all such trials you will emerge a conqueror, and i know that such wicked attempts as have been made against you must, sooner or later, recoil upon the heads of those who make them."
"i sympathize with the lad," said lord elgert, "and i take no offence at the way in which he spoke. you remember, rexworth, that if ever you want a[pg 164] friend you can come to me. i think your decision a wise one. this land is no place for you, and if you wish to return to your old home, i will myself provide all the money which is required. i want you to let me give you a gold watch—i have one for warren, also."
"i will take nothing from you," cried the boy, so that all could hear. "i do not trust you. for some reason you seem to hate me, and i believe that you are at the bottom of all my troubles."
"rexworth," said the head, in grave remonstrance; and the boy checked himself.
"i am sorry, sir. i ought not to have spoken like that," he said penitently; "but lord elgert knows how impossible it is to take any favours from him, after what he has said about my father. all i desire of him is that he will leave me alone to fight my own battle."
lord elgert shrugged his shoulders.
"if that is so, i cannot help it," he said. "if you change your mind and need a friend, you can come to me. now for master warren."
"please, sir," said warren rising, "i don't want anything for just doing my duty; and, anyhow, i could not take any present or reward without first asking my father's leave."
lord elgert bit his lip.
"it seems that i am to be deprived of the pleasure of giving any reward at all," he said. "in that case, i will intrude no longer, dr. beverly."
[pg 165]
and with a sense of discomfiture lord elgert departed, and the head again addressed the boys, enlarging upon the wickedness of what had been done, and once more pleading that the culprit, whoever he was, would act a man's part, own his wrong, and ask for mercy. alas! there was no response to his pleading, and after a short pause the head dismissed the school to its various classes.
but surely never before had marlthorpe had so much to talk of; and never before did the masters allow more talking. for the thing was so bad, and the lessons to be learned so grave, that each master felt as if it were almost his duty to bring the subject before the boys, even to encourage them to talk of it, if in so doing those lads could be taught that honesty and truth must prevail in the end, and that deceit and wrong-doing must fail.
but oh, what a good thing it was for ralph when mr. delermain shook hands with him.
"my dear boy," the master said, "none can rejoice more than i do that the clumsy attempt to fasten this theft on your shoulders has failed. had it not been shown to be such an attempt, i should still have felt confident that it was so, being sure that you would not have done this thing. still, it is well to have it proved to be but an attempt. now, take my advice, and banish it from your mind. do not even worry as to who did it, nor as to their motive. these things will manifest themselves in time, and until they do[pg 166] they are not worth troubling about, nor allowing to interfere with your work, and particularly with your chances for the newlet."
and warren came to him also, as frank and good-hearted as could be.
"i suppose that you feel as if you wanted to punch my head," he said; "but i had to do my duty, old fellow, even if it were an unpleasant one."
and to him ralph had answered—
"i should have thought precious little of you if you had not done it. of course, you could not have done anything different from what you did."
charlton said nothing—only he looked at ralph wistfully, and it seemed as if there was something of relief in his eyes. charlton was a puzzle to ralph. he could not understand the boy anyhow.
nor was warren the only one who came and spoke to ralph and expressed abhorrence for the attempt to brand him as a thief, and satisfaction that he was cleared from the accusation.
but that same day, in a quiet corner of the playground, horace elgert came across dobson, and, seizing him by the collar, he shook him savagely.
"you great blundering donkey," he said. "how did you come to do it? you have made a pretty mess of things."
"well," growled dobson, shaking himself free, "it is no good to kick up a row about it. no harm is done, only he has managed to get clear."
[pg 167]
"but how did you do it? i cannot think how it was."
"easy enough. i had five pounds that my aunt sent me. i am a favourite with her"—and dobson smiled complacently. "well, i had that in my pocket, and when you handed me over the other note, after i picked up his pocket-book, i must have put the wrong note in, that is all."
"but what did you do with the one i gave you?" demanded elgert quickly.
"changed it up in the town."
"changed it!" he gasped. "you idiot! don't you know that it can be traced by its number? i suppose that you wrote your name on the back?"
"of course i did," said dobson, looking very scared.
"yes, and that note will come back to you, perhaps brought by a constable. you have done a nice thing!"
"but i didn't steal it—you stole it!" cried dobson, in alarm. and elgert struck him a savage blow.
"so you would turn sneak, would you? well, there is no proof that i stole it. there is plenty of proof that you had it, changed it, and put your note into the pocket-book. you will suffer, and not me."
"what—what can we d-d-do?" gasped dobson, his knees knocking together. and elgert answered—
"we must go up into town to the place where you changed it. we must get that note back if we can, even if we have to give double for it. there is no telling what will happen, unless we get hold of it."
