CHAP. III.
Henry and George now stood very high in the estimation of the greatmajority of their school-fellows. They were caressed, honoured, andlooked upon as their first boys; while Greene and his friends weretreated with contempt and derision. They had no longer the power tocommand and overawe the rest, with a blow or a black look. Their powerhad ceased; but, unfortunately, the chastisement they had received,instead of convincing them of their error, had only roused their evildispositions; and they now anxiously looked for an opportunity toavenge the punishment they had received, through the interference ofHenry Wardour, against whom, in particular, they had an inveteratespite. Nor did they long wish in vain; for, in a very short time,another occurrence took place, of a far more serious nature, and whichhad nearly thrown Henry into a severe illness. It was nothing lessthan a suspicion of theft. His bed-fellow, whose name was Scott, whenhe arose one morning, discovered that his box had been broken open,and his purse, which had contained a new sovereign and two or threeshillings, had been emptied of its contents, and then replaced underhis Sunday clothes. Scott missed the money while looking for sometrifling article in his box; and having mentioned the thing, the boyscollected round him to hear his account of the matter. There were alsosome boys who came out of another room up stairs, and among them Greeneand Walker, who, having heard what Scott had to say, at once declared,that it was impossible for any one but the boy who slept in the sameroom, to have stolen the money.
George, who heard this direct charge against his friend Henry,instantly fired up, and, in his passion, flew upon Greene, who hadmade the charge, and struck him; when a scuffle ensued, the noise ofwhich brought out Dr. Harris, who, upon hearing an account of the lossfrom Scott, told him that he was very likely to have mislaid the moneysomewhere; and that he had no doubt but that, if he made search forit, he would soon find it. George, with whom he was extremely angryfor his rashness in striking Greene, was immediately ordered into theschool-room, and punished by having a long lesson given him to learn.Before he went, he turned round to Dr. Harris, and said that he wassorry for having struck Greene; but he should have been ashamed ofhimself, if he had stood quietly by, and heard his friend accused inhis absence, of so shameful a crime. "I am sure," he added, with hisusual vehemence, his face reddening, and his hand closely clenched,"that Henry is not guilty; and Greene ought to be ashamed of himself,for making such a charge against him."
Greene, who stood behind the other boys wiping his face, which was alittle bruised by the blow he had received, then said, "that he shouldnot be surprised if Master George himself had had something to do init; for he seemed very much offended by what he had said."
"You are a mean-spirited fellow," said George; "and----"
"Silence! silence, boys!" cried Dr. Harris. "How dare you make suchaccusations against each other! The money may have been mislaid, andwill, no doubt, be found. I desire that a strict search may be made:until that is done, let me not hear another word about it. I never hada thief in my school; and if I ever find a boy out in such practices,he shall meet with the severest punishment I can inflict."
Every eye was now anxiously looking out for Henry Wardour, who hadobtained leave of Mrs. Harris, to accompany her daughters, to gathersome flowers at the gardeners, and to go on another little errand ortwo. For so much was Henry beloved by this good lady, that she hadmade him her little messenger; and whenever she wanted to send anything into the town, he was sure to be the lad chosen so carry it. Dr.Harris was made acquainted with his absence this morning, but wishedfor his return, that he might question him as to this unpleasant affair.
The business, however, which Henry had been sent upon, detained himuntil after school had commenced; and, having hastened with hisbreakfast, and brushed his clothes, he immediately entered the school,when all eyes were directed towards him. Henry being a very bashfullad, could not bear this unusual stare; and fearing, at the same time,that Dr. Harris had been saying something about his long absence, heblushed deeply, as he hung his hat upon the peg and took his seat.
Walker, who sat at the further end of the same desk, seeing Henrysomewhat confused, cried out, loud enough for some of the boys to hearhim, "Look at him!" When George, who sat near, turned round, and said,"Well, what do you see?" "Why, guilt in his face," added Greene.
This conversation would probably have continued, had not Dr. Harris,who had hitherto been engaged at his desk, suddenly arose from hisseat, and walked down the school; when, observing Henry in his place,he, with a smile on his countenance, beckoned him to follow to hisdesk, which Henry immediately obeyed, though with a trembling step.
This was a moment of great interest. Every eye was attracted to thetop of the school; and a tear of joy stood in George's eye, as he sawDr. Harris affectionately take his friend by the hand, and whispersomething to him. It was at this moment too, that every boy in theschool took upon himself to translate the looks and actions of Henryand his master. They observed every change in Henry's countenance, withan anxiety equal to the love they bore him; for very few, if any of hisschool-fellows, for a moment thought him guilty of the charge broughtagainst him by Greene; although four or five of them, whose jealousyhad been roused by the general respect in which Henry was held, andwho still remembered their own disgrace by his interference, readilyseconded the accusation, in the hope that, by so doing, they wouldlessen the esteem which Mrs. Harris and her daughters appeared to havefor him. The _tyrants_, indeed, were noted as the enemies of Henry andGeorge; and this charge coming from, and being strenuously supported bythis party, led the rest of the boys to examine their probable motive.
During this long interview with Dr. Harris, Henry was alternatelydepressed and surprised. At one moment a tear would be seen tostart in his eye, and at another he seemed about to appeal to hisschool-fellows, when he was soothed by the kindness of his master, whotold him to calm his fears, and return to his seat for the morning,assuring him of his assistance to clear up the matter.
As Henry walked down the school, with a dejected countenance, his eyeinstinctively turned toward his friend George, who had been anxiouslyobserving him during the whole time his master had been conversing withhim. It seemed to George to say, "I am charged with a serious fault,and I shall stand in need of all the help you can afford me;" and acareless observer might, in a moment, have seen, by the friendly andbenignant smile upon George's face, that he would surely have it.
During the whole of the morning's school-hours, Henry found itimpossible to attend to his lessons. His mind was so absorbed in theapproaching examination, which his master had told him should takeplace directly after twelve o'clock, that his sums were all done wrong,and his copies badly written. Nor was he the only boy in the school whowas in this state of mind. His friend George felt for him, and appearedas anxious about it, as though he himself had been charged with thetheft. The last words of Mr. Wardour occurred to his thoughts: "Aboveall, be friends to one another;" and the impressive manner in which itwas said, was still fresh upon his memory. "Be friends to one another!"he exclaimed to himself: "ay, I will be _his_ friend, because I am surehe is mine; and because I am sure, also, that he is innocent of thissuspected robbery."
Little Ned too was restless all the morning, and longed for the time toarrive, when Henry would once more be enabled to put the _tyrants_ tothe blush. His little merry heart was, for once, depressed; but he hadstrong hopes that it would all end in the discomfiture of Greene andhis friends.
Doctor Harris had as yet refrained from stating the circumstance to hisfamily; but as the hour was near at hand when he determined to havea general search, he thought it best to make them acquainted with it,though with little hopes of gaining any information from them. WhenMrs. Harris heard the tale, she treated it with indifference, and saidthat she had no doubt but that the money would be forthcoming; for itwas her opinion, that some of the boys had taken it merely to teaseScott, whom she stated to be rather too fond of hoarding. The daughtersthought the same, and were quite unhappy to think
that their littlefavourite should be suspected. Juliana, indeed, was about to hasten tothe school-room, in the hope of affording him some consolation, but wasrequested by her papa to remain where she was.
At length the school broke up; and, by the command of Dr. Harris,search was made in every part, not merely amongst the boys, but alsoamongst the servants; but, unfortunately, without finding the newcoin. The boys were now all assembled with the family, and Dr. Harriscommenced his examination, by asking Scott when he last saw his money."Last Sunday morning, Sir," he replied; "and Henry was with me at thetime." This Henry corroborated, by saying it was true, and that he sawhim put it in his purse again; when Greene stepped forward and said,that he believed no person but Henry knew of Scott's possessing thisnew coin; and that he, therefore, was the only person that could havetaken it.
At this direct charge Henry stood for some time amazed; and thenbursting into a flood of tears, vehemently protested against the truthof his assertion, and dared him to the proof; when Walker, who stoodclose by Greene and Scott, said, "It is of no use for you to deny it,Master Wardour, as I know those that can prove they saw you take themoney." Henry was for a moment speechless; when George said it wasfalse, and demanded, with more than common earnestness, that he wouldbring forth his accusers, and let him meet them face to face.
This request was repeated by the rest of the boys, who feared theymight have said something, in an unguarded moment, which Walker hadconstrued into an assertion of Henry's guilt. Dr. Harris also requestedWalker to name the person who saw him take the money; when he replied,that he knew no more than what Greene had told him, who said he sawHenry steal it.
Mrs. Harris now stepped forward, and earnestly entreated Greene, incommon justice, if he had any proof that Henry took the money, orknew any thing of it, that he would instantly make it appear. At thisGreene was a good deal confused; and after first of all acknowledgingthat he had said so, he then as plainly said that he knew nothingabout it, but was _sure_ that nobody else could have taken the money.Mrs. Harris, who was a sincere lover of justice, possessing too agreat deal of discrimination, inveighed in very strong terms againstcharging a boy with theft, and casting aspersions upon his character,without any foundation whatever. "He has now been a considerable timein the school," she added, turning to her husband, "without ever havingcreated any suspicion of his honesty, or without doing the slightestact upon which to ground such a charge. Besides, I have frequentlytrusted him with money to fetch various articles for me, and he hasalways acted with the strictest honesty; and," raising her voice, "Iwill myself be bound for his innocence upon this occasion, for there isnot a more honest lad in the school; and it is my belief, that some ofthose who throw out hints of suspicion against Master Wardour, are muchmore likely, from their general character, to have robbed Scott than heis."
Greene now slunk behind the rest of the boys; and in consequence ofthis tone being taken by this excellent lady, Walker apologized forhaving accused Henry of so great a crime, and added, that he shouldnever again believe what Greene said.
"You may go, Master Henry," said Dr. Harris, in the kindest mannerpossible, "and I have no doubt that the thief will be found out; andthen those who have accused you will have cause to be ashamed ofthemselves."
George, little Ned, and a great number of his school-fellows, nowcrowded round Henry, congratulating him upon his victory, as theywere all anxious to see him fairly acquitted of the charge. Elizaand Juliana also joined the little throng, and, by their caresses,endeavoured to rally him into his usual good spirits, which theycontinued to do for some days after. As, however, no discovery wasmade about the money, he felt himself very uneasy, and could not butthink that many of the boys looked upon him as a thief; especiallyas insinuations were sometimes thrown out by the elder boys, whichmade him very miserable; and those who had first accused him, wouldfrequently ask, in his hearing, "Who stole Scott's money?"
The Friends; or, The Triumph of Innocence over False Charges Page 3