"i say, you two chaps, what are you going to do this afternoon?"
the question was asked by tom warren, as ralph and charlton stood at the entrance to the playground.
another week had passed, and it had been a delightful one for both ralph and his chum, now that they were friends again. for these two, so different in natures, liked each other very much; and now that the trouble was gone, they were drawn still closer together. of course they were. had not ralph proved what a staunch good fellow he could be? and had not charlton shown that he was not only innocent of stealing that note, but that he was a loyal, true son, doing what he could to help his unfortunate father?
it was good to see how the boys had come round and how they regarded ralph as a comrade to be proud of; though elgert and dobson and the set whom they led, glowered and sneered, and said unkind things that hurt no one, and were treated with contempt.
and saturday had come, and the boys were preparing to set out for their homes, and ralph had a bundle[pg 205] of books under his arm, for he meant to have another quiet read that evening. the newlet would want a lot of working for, and, since he had entered, he meant to do all he could to win success.
"what are you going to do?" said warren; and the pair confessed that they had made no particular plans.
"i cannot spare very much time, anyway," said ralph. "i want to put in a few hours' work to-night."
"you will go and make yourself silly if you do too much," answered tom warren. "all work and no play makes jack a dull boy, you know. will you both meet me after you have had lunch—say about one o'clock—and we will go for a ramble?"
"where?" asked charlton. "anywhere in particular?"
"i will tell you a nice walk. let us go over the moor, and past great stow, out to crab tree hill. it is jolly out there; and there are some lovely butterflies in the chalk there."
"butterflies in chalk?" said ralph, raising his brows in wonder; and warren laughed.
"you kite! i mean that it is chalk country all round there, and the butterflies keep to it—fritillaries and skippers and browns; and we can find some grass snakes there."
"don't like snakes," said ralph decisively, thinking of the terrible species which he had known in his[pg 206] younger days—snakes whose bite means certain death. "well, i don't mind coming. will you go, fred?" and he turned to charlton, who nodded his assent.
"that is all right, then," answered warren. "i will be over for you just after one, and we can pick up charlton on our way and—— hallo! what is the row?"
the three lads turned. a scrimmage of some kind was evidently in progress at the other side of the playground, for there came some hoots and groans, and, mingling with the noise, a shrill cry of pain.
"you great coward, let go my arm!"
"dobson and co.," muttered warren; and the three darted across to the scene of the trouble; and there they found tinkle and green, standing defiant and somewhat tearful, confronted by dobson, elgert and some of their cronies, while a scattered crowd of angry juniors kept in the safe background, hurling taunting jeers at the bigger boys.
"i will half kill you, you cheeky little beggar!" they heard dobson say to tinkle. he had got hold of his arm, and, according to his favourite fashion, was twisting it painfully. "i will teach you to cheek me! i suppose it is that beggar rexworth who has taught you to do it."
but then dobson stopped. he had thought that ralph was gone; and even as he spoke, he caught sight of him. it certainly was very awkward for dobson, and before he knew what to say next, ralph[pg 207] had quietly but firmly removed tinkle from his grasp.
"you suppose wrong, dobson," he said calmly. "i should not encourage any junior to cheek a senior; but i won't see a junior bullied, and you will please let that youngster go."
"i didn't cheek him!" cried tinkle—"leastways, not until he kicked me. i was standing here talking to jimmy green, when he and elgert came up; and elgert shied a stone at green's head, and dobson kicked me—the great coward! let him stand up fair, and i will fight him myself."
"oh, no, you won't, sonny!" laughed tom warren. "you will clear off, and get home at once. no fight if you please."
"it seems to me," sneered elgert, "that this school is to be run by rexworth and co. you look here, warren. it is out of school hours; and if you think that we are all going to stand being ruled by you especially when you are under the thumb of such a fellow as that—well, all i have to say is that you are jolly well mistaken."
"i mean to say," was warren's calm reply, "that there is not going to be any fighting here; and i mean to say that we have the head's own orders to stop any more bullying of juniors. there has been a great deal too much of it in the past."
"and if we don't obey, you will run sneaking to the head?"
"oh, no, i won't," came the answer. "i will give[pg 208] you a jolly good licking myself. if it has got to come, let us get it over. here are i and rexworth—charlton don't count. if you want to see which side is the best, just you——"
"just you all clear off; and you, warren, don't make an ass of yourself," said a pleasant voice; and kesterway, the head monitor of the school, appeared upon the scene. "off you go, now! and you look here, elgert. you may be an honourable, and a lord's son, but that is no reason why you should behave like a prig. you keep a civil tongue in your head, or you may get into trouble."
elgert and his companions turned away, for it did not do to defy the authority of kesterway; but he muttered as he went—
"only wait a little while. i will get some of my own back. if i don't make ralph rexworth suffer for it, i will know the reason why."
but two youthful individuals, as they also walked away—tinkle and green to wit—discussed darkly the chances of getting equal with dobson and elgert.
"i vote we tell about that note," said tinkle; but green shook his head.
"what is the good? suppose they denied it, how could we prove it? you bet, there would be no chance of old brown owning up. and besides, wouldn't it be telling that we had broken bounds? no; we had best wait a while, tinkle, and presently the chance will come."
[pg 209]
"s'pose we sent 'em a what-you-call-it letter?"
"what is that?" demanded green; and tinkle answered lucidly—
"you know. one of them sort that don't come from nowhere, and is writ by nobody."
"annie nonimus," was green's suggestion; and tinkle nodded.
"yes, that's him. we might do that; and write on it, 'who stole the five-pound note?' or 'what price brown's cake shop?' or something."
"we'd best do nothing of the kind," was green's crushing answer. "that wouldn't do no good, and it would make 'em think that something was known. no, tinkle; you leave 'em alone; and presently they will make a slip, and then we can have 'em."
"i'd like to help rexworth, though," murmured tinkle.
"but he don't want no help now. he's cleared about the note. no one thinks that he took it, not for a moment. it wouldn't help rexworth. the thing is dropped, and we'd best leave it alone for the time."
meanwhile, ralph and his friends took their way homeward, ignorant alike of the threats of their foes or the good wishes of the juniors; and after lunch was over, warren in accordance with his promise, called for ralph.
"hallo! got a new gardener here?" he remarked, as he caught sight of an old man who was sweeping[pg 210] the path; and ralph thought how little warren guessed who that man really was.
they set off in high spirits, and after calling for charlton, they started upon their long ramble. they rattled on at a good pace, and got away to the hills, and then—it was most provoking—great dark clouds had been rolling up, and suddenly, with a roar of thunder and a blaze of lightning, the storm burst, and it rained—gracious, how it did rain!
it is not pleasant to be caught in a violent shower at the best of times, but to be caught when you are away from all shelter is decidedly unpleasant.
"wherever can we shelter?" cried charlton in dismay, as the three bolted along, with heads bent down and collars turned up. "this is cheerful!"
"i say," suddenly suggested warren, "there is a thick preserve over by the road; i noticed it as we came along. of course, it will be trespassing and we might get into trouble, but i suggest making for it. we can get some sort of shelter under the trees, and we may stumble upon a shooting hut or a keeper's cottage, and if we explain why we have come, they surely will not mind."
"cannot help it if they do," said ralph desperately. "we cannot go on in this, and it's five miles into stow, if it's a yard. show us the way warren, and be quick about it."
with a whoop and a yell, off scudded warren, the other two close in his rear, while the thunder growled[pg 211] and grumbled and the lightning flickered, and the sky grew so black that things promised to get worse instead of better.
they struck the path for which warren was making; and there, sure enough, a little farther along, divided from the road by a meadow and a stout gate, the tall trees of a dark covert waved to and fro. it might not mean much shelter, but it would mean some, and with a scramble they were over that gate.
"this is better," panted warren. "it is some sort of a screen. i am jolly well drenched!"
"i wish that i could get a cup of warm cocoa or tea," shivered charlton. "i got hot running, and now it strikes horribly cold."
"let's push on a bit," suggested ralph. "we are trespassing, and we may as well be hanged for a sheep as for a lamb. perhaps we shall find shelter somewhere. come on, you two, and keep to these open paths. if you get right into that undergrowth, you may do some damage—disturb some nests, or something."
"right you are, ralph. i don't think it is much good, though; there seems no sign of life here."
"i will soon see if there is." ralph paused as he spoke. he put his hand to his mouth and gave a ringing call—one he had learnt from the indians on the plains. "if any one is about, they will hear that; and, at any rate, they cannot say that we are trying to hide from——"
he stopped and started back, turning as white as[pg 212] death; for from somewhere, ringing through the silences of that preserve, there came a sound, muffled, but clear. it was ralph's call repeated!
what wonder that he trembled. what wonder that he looked so white. there was but one other person whom he knew who would answer that call in that way; and that one person was his own father!
