"what shall we do next, elgert?"
dobson whispered that question in his ear, as the two crouched in the shrubbery watching mrs. charlton and her husband.
"do! what a question! get away from here, and then go straight to the police and give them information. they won't mention our names, and the fellows at the school need never know that we have had any part in it. we have seen enough, so come on, and mind you don't let them either see or hear you. i would not have them alarmed for anything."
the two stole silently off, treading on tiptoe, walking with the greatest care, until once more they climbed over the gate, and stood safely in the roadway.
"thank goodness we are out of that without any trouble," said dobson; and elgert inquired, contemptuously, what danger he feared would come to them in the grounds.
"dogs," retorted dobson tersely. "we weren't to know that there were no dogs loose. i thought[pg 232] that i heard a rustling in the bushes once, as though one was pushing his way towards us, and it made me turn cold. well, now we are here, what next?"
"the police, at once. how dark it is getting, and was not that thunder?"
"yes, i reckon they are getting a smart storm not far from here. the police-station, is it?"
"of course. the man is here, we do not know how long he may remain, so we cannot waste time; and i am not going to let the possibility of getting caught in a shower prevent me from having my revenge on rexworth, and making things unpleasant for these stuck-up st. clives. i hate them! st. clive himself, because he backs this rexworth up; his wife, because she is so very goody-goody; and the girl, because she is a proud little minx, who turns up her nose at me, and——"
"ha, ha!" laughed dobson. "jealous because rexworth cut you out, that is it! well, i don't mind. come on, if you are coming. the police will be pleased enough to know; and if there is a reward, we may as well have it."
"you can take it, if you like," retorted elgert. "i don't want their money. all i want is to see the man taken again, and taken there to prove that the st. clives are in it."
they turned and hurried off; and then, very cautiously, from amidst the laurels, there arose a little scared and indignant face—a face surrounded[pg 233] by golden hair. irene st. clive had seen them and heard all that they had said!
she had seen them go into the shrubbery, and had wondered what tricks they were about to play. her first idea was that it was something to do with ralph, something to vex him; for she knew both the boys, and was aware that they were his enemies. so she had followed them, that she might see, and then warn ralph. and then it had flashed upon her! mrs. charlton was there with her husband; and the boys were spying upon her. oh, what mean, miserable boys to call themselves gentlemen, and do such things!
she heard what they said when they stood in the roadway, and then she turned and raced indoors to tell her father; even in her dismay, she was thoughtful enough not to go to her mother first, lest she should be needlessly alarmed. her father would know best what was to be done.
and her tidings filled mr. st. clive with concern. where could poor mr. charlton go? where else was there for him to hide?
he reproached himself now that he had not sent him away sooner. but mr. charlton had seemed to derive such comfort from being able to see his son and wife frequently, that mr. st. clive had allowed things to go on as they were, and now it might be too late!
yes, even with irene's warning, too late; for the man could not go out just as he was. mr. st. clive knew full well that every hiding-place would be[pg 234] searched—that escape would be almost impossible—and he shrank from being the bearer of such bad tidings to the husband and wife.
but it had to be done, the warning must be given, and given at once, and he rose, irene following him, and went into the grounds and towards the cottage. his own wife was there at the moment speaking with mrs. charlton.
and the dismay, the sorrow, that they exhibited when the tidings were told! the poor man must fly from here and be a wanderer again—hunted hither and thither, not knowing from hour to hour if he should be captured, not able even to get a message to his wife, or to hear how it fared with her and his son. it was very hard indeed.
"you have done all that one man could to help another, sir," he said to mr. st. clive, as he held his weeping wife in his arms. "i shall never, never forget your kindness, nor that of your good wife and dear little daughter. you will be a friend to my poor wife and my boy—i feel sure that you will be—and now i must change this disguise, and go. to go as the old gardener might be more dangerous than to go as the escaped prisoner."
"but where can you go? where can you hide for the time? if you could only find a place, the police might come to the conclusion that the boys had made a mistake, and abandon the search again, so giving you opportunity of getting out of england.[pg 235] so far as money can aid, you can count upon me, but money will be of no avail, if you cannot elude your pursuers, and——"
a hurrying of feet! oh, surely the police could not be there already! no; a well-known shrill whistle! ralph and his chums were coming, and ralph must be told.
now, warren knew nothing about charlton's father being there, and the two boys had allowed their chum to come in because there was no danger; he would only think that it was an old gardener at work.
but when they saw mr. st. clive and all the others in that little cottage, they stopped, and charlton faltered out—
"what is it? oh, what is it, father?" and so he gave away his secret to the monitor.
and they told them, and charlton stood very white, and clenched his fist.
"elgert again," he said. "oh, i hate him! i should like to kill him." but his father put his hand on his arm and said, almost sternly—
"my son, such words are not for the lips of a christian boy."
"well, sir, at any rate you can't blame fred for using them," broke in warren. "i know i should feel like it. they are a pair of cads, and deserve kicking."
"be quiet, tom," chimed in ralph. "never mind them. the thing is what can we do? where can[pg 236] mr. charlton go so that he can hide in safety for the time?"
"nowhere," said the man sadly. "there is no spot about here where i can be safe. i am afraid that i am losing heart," he added, "but it seems hopeless."
"never say, die, sir," cried warren. "i know a place, a jolly place, where you could hide for a month; yes, even if they knew you were there they would not be able to get you. you could dodge them, and dodge them, for ever so long——"
"the ruin!" cried ralph suddenly. "warren, you're a brick! the ruin, of course——"
"what ruin? where?" asked mr. st. clive, while the rest listened anxiously. "speak quickly, lads, for time is precious." and ralph explained their adventure of that afternoon, adding—
"of course, there are the dogs, but even if they scented him down he could shut them out; they couldn't get at him, and the very fact that the dogs were loose would hinder people from imagining that any one was hiding there. besides, i don't believe that any people know about it. i didn't until to-day, and i thought that i had pretty well explored the country round here."
"how am i to get to this place, boys?"
"by following us," said ralph. "yes, we will all three go, and skirmish out one ahead of the other, so that if danger is about we can give warning. never you fear, we will get there safe enough, if we have a[pg 237] little start. but you will want things, even at once; light—you must be careful to hide that from being seen—and food, and some rugs."
away hurried mrs. st. clive and her husband and hastily procured what they thought would be immediate necessities, while mr. charlton took off the disguise. his rest there had done him good. he was strong and well, not a bit like the wearied man who had at first come there. the boys divided the burdens between them; and then, with last hand shakes, and with a parting embrace between husband and wife, mr. charlton followed the three boys from the place where he had been so kindly treated.
"won't elgert and dobson be precious mad!" said warren. "it was fortunate for you, sir, that little irene heard them talking."
"it is fortunate for me that my boy has two such faithful friends as you and ralph here," answered mr. charlton. "i feel that heaven, knowing my innocence, has raised me up helpers all round."
"that is the way, sir," said ralph heartily. "go on thinking that and you won't lose heart, and presently the truth will come to light——"
"now then, ralph," cried warren, interrupting him. "send on ahead, and keep both your eyes open, get well on in front, and give the fourth's whistle if you see any one about."
they were now getting away from the road and on towards stow wood. they would have to go[pg 238] through that and then out across the common, leaving great stow on their right. it would have been shorter to have gone through great stow, but they did not dare that, there were too many people about.
away raced charlton, pushing into the wood, and then warren dived away to the right, and ralph led mr. charlton directly on.
but no warning whistle came. the storm was gathering up again, and no one who could avoid it was out of doors. they pushed through the wood and across the common, out to crab tree hill; and then they circled the preserves, and came to the place they sought; and, as ralph said, it looked as if they had been led to the spot that afternoon, in order that they might know where to bring mr. charlton.
and into the ruin they led the way with a lighted candle, and showed the man all the windings and secret ways that they had found out.
"i dare say that there are plenty more, for it is a strange old place," ralph said, "and you will be able to find them out for yourself."
"the only thing that i see, is you cannot make a fire here. at least, if you did, the smoke might be seen," added warren; and mr. charlton smiled.
"we can do without the fire, my kind young friend," he said. "i shall manage here very well. but now do you all go, for you are nearly wet through, and i fear that you may suffer some ill effects, and you all[pg 239] look tired to death, too. shake hands with me, and be off."
"we shall manage to let you know soon, sir, how things go," said ralph, "and we will bring more food and things. good-bye, sir, and keep up a good heart."
"good-bye, and good-bye and god bless you, my own dear son." and the father and son embraced.
then the three lads dashed away, making for home as fast as they could; and though warren wondered what his people would think of him for being so late, nothing could persuade him to refrain from going back to mr. st. clive's, just to see how things had gone.
