CHAPTER TWENTY FIVE.
I thought of my little plan that night when I went to bed, and I had itin my mind when I woke next morning, and laughed over it merrily as Idressed.
It was the merest trifle, but it amused me; and I have often thoughtsince of what big things grow sometimes out of the merest trifles.School-days are often so monotonous that boys jump at little things fortheir entertainment, and as there was some good-humoured mischief inthis which would do no one any harm, only create a laugh, in which TomMercer would no doubt join after he had got over the first feeling ofvexation, I had no hesitation about putting it in force.
I had to wait for my opportunity, and it came that afternoon, when mostof the boys were together cricketing and playing rounders. I glancedround the field, and then slipped away unobserved, made my way round bythe back, and crossed the open space toward the yard.
It was absolutely necessary for me to meet no one, so as to avoidsuspicion when Mercer found out what had been done, and I intended, assoon as I had executed my little plan, to slip back by the same way intothe play-field, so as to be able to prove where I was on that afternoon.
But, as a matter of course, just because I did not wish to meet any one,I must meet the cook just returning from the kitchen garden with abundle of thyme in her hand.
Everybody spoke of Cook as being disagreeable and ready to snap andsnarl if she were asked for anything extra because a boy was sick; butthey say, "Speak well of the bridge that carries you well over," and Ialways found her the most kindly of women; and she nodded and smiled.
"What boys you and Master Mercer are!" she said. "Why, you are alwaysgoing and moping up in that loft instead of being in the fields atplay."
She went on toward the house, and I stood hesitating about carrying outmy plan.
"She knows I've come," I said, "and if there is a row, and questionsasked, she may say that she saw me."
"Nonsense! she'll never hear about it," I said, and, running into thedark stable, I stopped short, for I fancied there was a sound overhead;but I heard no more, and, thinking it was fancy, I ran to the steps,climbed up, and was crossing the floor when I heard a faint rustling ina heap of straw at the far end, in the darkest corner of the loft.
"Rats," I said to myself, as I went on to the place where the big binstood under a little window, passed it, and reached up to take the keyfrom the beam upon which it was always laid, the simplicity of thehiding-place making it all the more secure.
To my utter astonishment, the key was not there, but a second glanceshowed me that it was in the padlock.
"Been up here and forgot to lock it," I said to myself. "All the betterfor me. Some one else may have been up, and done it through his leavingthe key there."
I laughed to myself as I took the padlock out and threw open the bin,with the intention of having what I called a game.
This was to consist in my arranging the various stuffed creatures in ascomical a way as I could; and my first thought was to take the rabbit,alter its position a little, and lay it upon an extemporised bed, withthe doctor--the owl--holding one paw to feel its pulse, while all theother creatures looked on.
"What shall be the matter with him?" I thought. Then directly--"Iknow: all his stuffing come out."
I seized the owl, and found that I could easily twist the wire down itsleg, so that the claw would appear to be grasping the rabbit's wrist,while the sage-looking bird stood on one leg; and, satisfied in this, Iwas about to arrange the jay and other birds, but thought I would do therabbit first, and, taking it up, I thrust my hand in the orifice made inthe skin when taking it off, and pulled out a good piece of tow, meaningto leave it hanging down. Then I thrust my hand in again, and drew itout in astonishment, for I had taken hold of something hard and flat andround. What it was I could not see; it was too much surrounded by thetow. Then I laughed.
"Why, it's a big leaden nicker!" I said to myself. "Why did he putthat in? I know. There are holes in it to fix wire to, and--" I turnedcold and queer the next instant, as I divided the soft tow, and stoodstaring down, with the light from the little window falling full uponthat which I held in my hand. Then I felt puzzled and confused; but thenext minute I uttered quite a sob, for light flashed into my brain:memories of what I had so often heard my chosen companion say, the envyhe had displayed, and the way in which all at once Burr major's watchhad disappeared from his jacket in the cricket-field,--all came backwith a force that seemed to cause a singing noise in my ears, for herebefore me was the end of it all,--the explanation of the disappearanceof the watch, which was now lying in my hand, with the hands closetogether and pointing to twelve. At last uttering a sound that wasalmost a groan, I muttered,--
"Oh, Tom, Tom, how could you do such a thing as this?"
The feeling of confusion came back like a thick mist floating over me,and I turned the watch over in my hand two or three times, asking myselfwhat I should do.
Should I take it to Burr major, and say I had picked it up? Should I goand confide in Mr Hasnip? Should I go straight to Tom Mercer andaccuse him of taking it?
No, no, no: I felt that I could do none of these things, and in adreary, slow, helpless way, I thrust the watch back in amongst the tow,rammed more in after it, and then stood, after laying the rabbit down,asking myself what I should do next, while a poignant sense of miseryand wretchedness seemed to make my position unbearable.
It all came back now: how, ever since Burr major had that watch, Mercerhad been envious, and longed for it. Scarcely a day had passed that hehad not said something about his longings; and now here it was plainlyenough before me: he had gone on coveting that wretched toy till thedesire had been too strong for him, and it had ended in my manly,quaint, good-tempered school-fellow descending to become a contemptiblepickpocket and thief.
The blood flushed up into my cheeks and made them burn, while my fistsclenched hard, and I thought to myself that I had learned boxing forsome purpose.
"I can't go and tell tales of him," I said. "I can't betray him, for itwould disgrace him for ever. He would be expelled from the school, and,shamefaced and miserable, go home to his father and mother, who would benearly broken-hearted. No. I can't tell."
Then I felt that, painful as it would be to confess all, and speakagainst the boy I had grown to care for as if he had been my brother, Iought to go straight to the Doctor and tell him. It was my duty, and itmight act beneficially for Tom Mercer. The severe punishment might besuch a lesson to him that it would check what otherwise might prove tobe a downward course. If I were silent, he might do such a thing again,as this had been so easy; and get worse and worse. I must--I ought totell, I said to myself; and then, as I dropped on my knees by the oldbin, and rested my head on the edge, the hot tears came to my eyes, andmy misery seemed greater than I could bear, for I felt it as bitterly asif I myself had been led into this disgraceful crime.
I rose again with a clearer view of what I should do under thecircumstances, for I had been having a terrible fight with bewilderingthoughts; now thinking I would lock up the bin and go away as if I hadnot found the watch, and do nothing but separate myself from myschool-fellow, now going in the opposite direction, in which I feltquite determined.
"That's it," I said to myself. "I shall break with Tom Mercer for ever,but I'll tell him why. We've learned to box for something, and perhapshe'll be best man. No, he won't. I shall have right on my side, and ashe is guilty he will feel cowardly. I will thrash him till he canhardly crawl, and then, when he is weak and miserable, I'll tell him allI have found out, and make him go and put the watch back where Eely canfind it, and then it will never be known who took it, and Mercer willnot be expelled in disgrace as a common thief. Why, it would break hismother's heart!"
"Yes, that will be the way," I thought, feeling clearer and morerelieved now. "It shall be a secret, but I will punish him as severelyas I can, and though we shall never be friends again, I'll try hard tocheck him from going downward like that, and
though he will hate me forwhat I have done, he will thank me some day when he has grown up to be aman."
I closed the lid of the bin and thrust the top of the padlock throughthe staple and locked it; withdrew the key, and had raised my handmechanically to put it in its old hiding-place on the beam, but Ialtered my mind.
"No," I thought; "I'll bring him up here, and give him the key then, andmake him open the bin and take out the watch before I thrash him. Itshall be a lesson for him from beginning to end. He must have someshame in him, and I want him to feel it, so that he can never forget itagain."
I thrust the key into my pocket and went down into the yard. It was aglorious sunny afternoon when I went up into the loft, and the weatherhad not changed; but everything seemed to be overclouded and wretchednow, as I started off for the play-field, determined to waste no time,but take the culprit to task at once.
I looked about, and could see Burr major, but Mercer was not there, andI crossed to where I could see little Wilson, and asked if he had seenhim.
"Senna!" he cried; "yes, I saw him a little while ago. Perhaps he's bythe gardens, digging up grubs and things to make physic."
I could not smile then, but went to the gardens. He was not there, and,thinking he might have gone up to our room, I went into the house, andup to the dormitories; but my journey was vain, and I went down again,and once more sought the field, to look all over at the little partiesplaying cricket, dotted here and there, but no Mercer. To my greatsurprise, though, I saw Dicksee talking earnestly to Burr major.
"They've made it up," I thought, and it seemed to me very contemptibleand small of Burr major to take up again with a boy who had behaved sodespicably to him.
I passed pretty near them as I went on across the field, and they bothlooked at me rather curiously--in a way, in fact, which made me thinkthat they were plotting something against me. Perhaps a fresh fight.
"Well, I don't mind now," I said to myself. "Nothing seems of anyconsequence but Tom Mercer's act. Where can he be?"
I had another look round, and then saw that Burr major, Hodson, andDicksee had gone up to the house together, and directly after theydisappeared, while I went on again, asking after Mercer, to find thatevery one nearly had seen him only a little while before, but they couldnot tell me where he was gone.
I kept on looking about, though I half suspected that he must have goneoff on some little expedition of his own, as it was half holiday; and,at the end of another half-hour, I was about to stand near the gate, towatch for his return, when I caught sight of him, apparently coming fromthe direction of the yard, as if he had been to the loft.
"Oh, here you are then!" he cried, as, after catching sight of me, heran to meet me, and began vehemently. "I've been hunting everywhere foryou."
"I have been hunting everywhere for you," I said coldly.
"Have you? Well, look here, Frank, I was up in the loft last night, andI forgot to lock up the bin."
It was just as I thought.
"I forgot it once or twice before, thinking about something else; andnow some one has been and locked it up, and taken the key away."
"Indeed?" I said coldly.
"Yes. Don't look at a fellow that way. I didn't say you'd taken it,because, of course, if you had, you would have put it up on the beam. Isay, who could it have been?"
"Ah! who could it have been?" I said.
"What's the matter with you? How queer you are! I tell you, I don'tthink it was you, but old fatty Dicksee; I've seen him sneaking aboutthe yard a good deal lately, watching me, and he must have found outwhere we kept the key, and he has nailed it for some lark, or to teaseme. Yes, that's it. You see if, next time we go, we don't find a deaddog, or a dead cat, or something nasty, tucked in the bin. Some of 'emserved me that way before, when Bob Hopley's old donkey died, and theyput in its head. What shall we do?"
"Nothing," I said. "I have the key."
"You have? Oh, I am glad!"
"I went up and found the key there, so I locked it and put it in mypocket."
"Why didn't you put it in the old place, and not give me all thisfright?"
"You know," I said solemnly.
"I--er--er--know--er--er--" he drawled tragically. "Dear me, how grandwe are!" he added, with a forced laugh. "No, I don't know."
"Then come up there with me, and I'll show you," I said fiercely.
"Oh, sir--no, sir--please, sir--don't, sir--I, sir--Oh, sir--I won't doso any more, sir. Don't take me up there, sir, and punch my head, sir."
"Don't play the fool, but come along with me."
"Why, Frank, old chap, you aren't serious, are you? What's the matter?"
"Come up into the loft and see," I replied, as sternly as I could, butfeeling so miserable that I could hardly keep my voice from quivering.
"Oh, all right! I'm ready," he said rather stiffly now. "I've donenothing to offend you that I know of. Come on."
We moved toward the yard, but before we reached the gateway, withoutspeaking now, our names were shouted, and, stopping and looking round, Isaw Mr Hasnip and Mr Rebble coming after us, the former beckoning.
We turned and walked toward him, with a cold sensation of dread runningthrough me; for what I knew made me shiver with dread, lest the realcause of the disappearance of the watch should have been discovered; andI remembered now about my headache on the cricket match day, and howMercer had hung about near me, going and coming between me and the tent.
The next moment we were facing the two masters, and Mr Rebble spoke,looking at me very severely.
"Burr junior," he said, "the Doctor wishes to see you in his roomdirectly."
I felt as if I had turned white, and I saw Mr Hasnip looking at me in ahorrified way, as Mr Rebble continued:
"And, Mercer, you are to come as well."
"Poor Tom!" I thought, as my hot anger against him died away. "It isall found out. What will we do? I shall have to tell the whole truth."
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