by G. A. Henty
CHAPTER XXII.
CLEARED AT LAST.
THE following day, after lunch, Captain Bayley and Frank drove round toWestminster. Football was going on in Dean's Yard, and Frank recognisedamong the players many faces that he knew. It seemed strange to him tothink that while he had gone through so much, and had grown from a boyinto a man, that they had changed so little, and had been working awayregularly at the old round of Euripides and Homer, Terence and Virgil.The carriage stopped at the entrance to Dean's Yard, and, alighting,they walked across to Mr. Richards'.
Captain Bayley had written a line to the master, asking him if possibleto remain at home, as he wished particularly to see him, and he andFrank were ushered straight into the master's study. He shook hands withCaptain Bayley, whose acquaintance he had made while Frank had boardedwith him, and then looked at Frank; for a minute he did not recognisehim, then he exclaimed in surprise, "Frank Norris!"
"Yes, it's I, sir," Frank said; "I don't ask you to take my hand, foryou believe me guilty of the crime of which I was accused here. I canonly say now, as I said then, that I am innocent. I know now that I wasa fool to run away instead of facing it out, but I was desperate,because every one thought me guilty."
"Your schoolfellows did not, Norris," Mr. Richards said. "I don't thinkthat I did, even at first; a few hours afterwards I almost knew you wereinnocent, and had you not run away I could have gone far to prove it."
Frank gave an exclamation of joy, and Captain Bayley exclaimedindignantly--
"Then why did you not prove it, sir? Why did you allow my nephew toremain with the foul disgrace on his name?"
"I did not act without consideration," Mr. Richards said calmly. "Norrishad gone, and I resolved if he returned again to say what I had learned;but my proofs were not absolute. We had made, it seemed to me, aterrible mistake, and I did not wish to cause ruin to another boy unlessit was absolutely necessary to do so to clear Norris. Now that he hasreturned I can no longer hesitate; but before I begin I must ask youboth whether your suspicions have fallen on any one else?"
"It is not suspicion, sir, it is certainty," Captain Bayley said; "wehave no doubt whatever that the whole thing was the work of Frank'srascally cousin, Fred Barkley. He was, you know, a sort of rival ofFrank for my favour, and he had reason to believe that I had determinedthat Frank should inherit the larger portion of my property; thus he hada motive for bringing disgrace on him. It was just as probable that heshould have stolen the money and sent it to Frank as that Frank shouldhave stolen it himself; so far it seemed to me that it might lie betweeneither of them.
"What has settled the case in my mind is that I have learned that Fredwas intrusted with a letter by Frank to me, declaring his innocence,which, as you know, I never doubted until Frank left without writing tome. That letter I never received, and I believe that it was suppressed.In the second place it was Fred who persuaded his cousin to take thatruinous step of running away, and pressed upon him money to enable himto do so, although he had refused to lend him a halfpenny when Frankrequired it to pay that broken-nosed tailor to hold his tongue."
"Very well," Mr. Richards said, "then I can speak freely; my silence wascaused to some considerable extent by regard for your feelings. You hadlost one nephew, who had gone away with a cloud of disgrace surroundinghim--for aught I could tell, Norris, in his despair, might havecommitted suicide, or he might have so cut himself off from you that youmight never have heard from him again--thus, then, I felt that it wouldbe cruel indeed to prove that your other nephew was a villain, unless byso doing I could restore Norris to you. So, after much thought anddeliberation, I determined to hold my tongue until I heard that Norrishad either returned or had been heard of.
"On the morning when it was discovered that Frank had fled, I called upone by one the whole of the boys in the house. Even after his flight Icould not believe that Norris had done this thing, it was so absolutelycontrary to all that I knew of his disposition, and I determined to siftthe matter to the bottom. From the elder boys I learned nothing,although I questioned them most closely as to everything that had takenplace in the house during the past week. I was not disappointed, for Ihad hardly expected to learn much from them.
"It was from the four boys who were the fags of the four who had been inFrank's secret that I hoped to learn something, and I was not mistaken.From the three in the house I learned nothing; but when I came toPearson, who was Barkley's junior and fag, I met with even more successthan I had expected. At first, of course, the boy did not like to sayanything; but I told him that unless he answered my questions freely Ishould have him up before Doctor Litter, and he then told me all he knewabout it.
"The more willingly, for, like most other boys in the School, he wasfond of Norris, while Barkley was by no means a kind master. He saidthat twice Barkley had got into a rage with him about things whichdidn't seem of any importance. The first occasion was a week previous.He had gone into Barkley's study to ask him to explain some difficultyin his Caesar; the door was not fastened, and as he had been working withhis shoes off, Barkley did not hear him till he was close to the table.The boy noticed that he had a sheet of writing-paper before him, onwhich he was writing, not in his usual hand, but in printed characters.He would have thought nothing of it had not Barkley, on looking up andseeing him standing there, jumped up in a sudden rage and boxed his earsfuriously, calling him a prying little sneak. The boy could not fix thisto a day, but it was certainly just about the time when this letter wasposted to you.
"The other affair had happened the day previously. He had gone intoBarkley's room with his books on coming down from school at twelveo'clock, and seeing on his table a letter stamped and ready for thepost, he supposed that as usual he was to post it, and was runningdownstairs with it in his hand when he met Barkley coming up. 'What haveyou got there?' he asked. 'I am taking your letter to the post,' hesaid; whereupon Barkley flew into another rage, called him an officiouslittle beast, gave him a box in the ear, and took the letter from him. Iasked the boy if he noticed to whom the letter was directed. He said hehad, and that it was to you. Knowing nothing about the suppression of aletter of Norris's, and thinking that perhaps Barkley had written to hisuncle about the matter, and had then changed his mind about posting it,this second affair did not strike me as having any importance whatever.The first matter, however, seemed important, for that just at the timewhen a letter was sent to Norris written in printing characters Barkleyshould have been seen writing a letter of that sort, struck me as mostremarkable; and although I did not know exactly how the two lads stoodin reference to yourself, it struck me at once that it was at leastpossible that we had been wrong, and that it was Barkley after all whotook the note.
"Had I suspected for an instant that he had done it to bring disgraceupon his cousin, I should at once have communicated with Dr. Litter, andhave probed the affair from the bottom; but I thought that he had takenthe note with the intention of helping his cousin out of his difficulty,and that when the note was traced, and the matter became public, he hadin a base and cowardly manner allowed Frank to bear the blame. Thiswould have been bad enough in all conscience, although comparativelyvenial to his deliberate attempt to bring disgrace upon Norris.
"However, the matter seemed bad enough to me as it stood; but, as Isaid, I shrunk from causing the ruin of another young fellow unless itwas necessary to clear Norris. I hesitated for a long time whether,knowing as much as I did, I ought not to take some steps in the matter;but for the reasons I have told you I determined to wait, hoping thatyou would soon have Norris back again, and knowing that I should hear ofhis return from some of the boys who were his special friends. Barkleymust have seen from my manner that there was something wrong between himand me; but he never asked me the reason for the change in my manner tohim, and completely ignored my coolness. It was a relief to me when thetime came for his going up to the University, for I then felt that someof the responsibility was off my shoulders, and that I was no longershirking my duty to expos
e him.
"That is all, Captain Bayley; but I think that this, with what you havetold me, is quite sufficient to bring the guilt home to the true party,and to completely clear Norris."
"Quite sufficient," Captain Bayley said, "and I am thankful indeed thatyou obtained the one missing link of evidence necessary to prove Frank'sinnocence. I am greatly obliged to you, Mr. Richards, for the kind andthoughtful manner in which you acted, which was indeed in every way forthe best; for had I at the time been made aware that Fred was theculprit, I should have gone half out of my mind at the injustice we haddone Frank, and at not knowing where to find him or how to communicatewith him. And now what is to be done next? I do not want this unhappylad to be punished, but at the same time it is absolutely necessary thatFrank's innocence shall be publicly proclaimed. Fred will no doubtbrazen it out."
There was silence for a minute or two, and then Mr. Richards said.
"If you like, Captain Bayley, I will take the matter in hand. I willwrite to Barkley and tell him that Norris has now come home, and that Imust therefore take up the matter at the point at which I dropped it. Iwill recapitulate to him the reasons that there are for supposing thathe stole the money,--first, his interest in Frank's disgrace; secondly,the fact that he was seen writing a letter in printed characters on theday on which the note was sent to Norris; thirdly, his suppression ofthe letter to yourself; fourthly, the part he took in persuading Norristo run away; lastly, the hints which you say he gave you that Norris hadconfessed his guilt.
"I shall tell him I have had this interview with you; that you arethoroughly convinced of his guilt and of Norris's innocence; and thatwhile you are determined that Norris shall be vindicated, you aredesirous that his act of treacherous villainy shall not be made public;if, then, he will write a confession, saying that he took it, thisconfession shall not be made public.
"I shall of course show it to the Doctor, and explain the wholecircumstances to him, and ask him to make a public statement in schoolto the boys, to the effect that it has been found out that Norris wasnot guilty of the act of which two years ago he was charged, and thatthe real thief has been discovered, but that as he is no longer atschool it is unnecessary now to mention his name, and that, moreover, hehas been heavily punished for the crime--which indeed is the case--byhis loss of your favour and of the fortune which he looked to obtainunder your will.
"I shall tell Barkley that if he refuses to confess it will benecessary, in order to clear Norris, that the affair should beinvestigated in a Public Court, and that Dr. Litter will at once applyfor a warrant for his apprehension on the charge of theft, and that thewhole matter will then be gone into in a Police Court. I cannot doubtbut that he will accept the first alternative, for the second will beruin to him."
Captain Bayley cordially assented. Three days later Frank received aletter from Dr. Litter asking him to call upon him.
"I am truly sorry, Norris," the head-master said, as he entered, "forthe injustice I did you; truly and heartily sorry. The affair caused meintense pain at the time; it has been on my mind ever since. Over andover again something has told me that you were innocent; and yet,thinking the case over again, my reason has always convinced me for thetime of your guilt, for I could see no other possible solution of themystery. I am glad indeed to find that I was mistaken, and that you werea victim of a piece of what I can only term villainy. The affair will bea lesson to me for my life, and henceforth I will never allowappearances, however apparently conclusive, to weigh against a uniformlyexcellent character. I trust that you will forgive my terrible error."
"I don't see that you could have acted otherwise, sir," Frank said, "foreven at the time, although I knew that I was innocent, I perceived thatthe proofs against me were so overwhelmingly strong that my guilt mustappear a certainty to every one. I am happy indeed that I am cleared atlast; and, after all, it has done me no harm. I have, of course, lostthe University education which I looked forward to; but I think, afterall, that the three years I have spent in America have in many ways doneme more good than the University could have done."
"Very likely, Norris," the doctor said; "they have in every sense of theword made a man of you, and a very fine man too, and I sincerely trustthat no further cloud will ever fall upon your career. And now I wantyou to come up School with me, for I must publicly make amends for myerror, and set you right before the School."
As Frank followed Dr. Litter into the great schoolroom he feltinfinitely more nervous than he had done in any of the dangers he hadpassed through in his journey across the plains. When the head-masterwas seen to enter the School accompanied by a gentleman, a silence ofsurprise fell upon the boys, for such an event was altogetherunprecedented there. As in the stranger, who stood nearly as tall andfar broader than the doctor, many of the boys in the upper formsrecognised Frank Norris, a buzz ran round the School, followed again bythe silence of excited expectation. Dr. Litter walked to his table atthe further end of the School and then turned.
"You will all stand up," he said. "Boys," he went on, "all of you in theFifth Form, and those above it, and some of you in the under forms, willrecognise in the gentleman who stands beside me your former schoolfellowNorris; those who do will be aware of the circumstances under which heleft, and will be aware that I charged him with stealing a note of thevalue of ten pounds from my desk. I am happy to say that it has beenproved that charge was entirely false."
A sudden burst of enthusiastic cheering broke from the upper forms.Norris's innocence had been a matter of faith among his schoolfellows,and even his running away had not sufficed to shake their trust in him.They stood upon the forms and cheered until they were hoarse. At last awave of the doctor's hand restored silence, and he went on.
"I wish now, before you all, boys, to express my deep regret to Norris,and to apologise to him most heartily for the accusation which I made. Ihave now in my hand the confession of the real culprit. I shall notmention his name; he has long since ceased to be among you, and I maysay that he has been punished severely, though to my mind mostinsufficiently, for his crime, and as Norris is desirous that the mattershall be dropped, the least I can do is to give in to his wishes. Andnow, as I think that after this you will scarcely do any useful workthis afternoon, you may as well go down at once."
A fresh roar of cheering broke out, and then the boys who had been atschool with Frank jumped from their forms and crowded round him, eachstriving to grasp his hand, and all shouting words of welcome andcongratulation.
It was some time before Frank could reply to these greetings, so shakenwas he by the scene. On emerging from the schoolroom his old house-matesurged him to go up to Richards', and the Sixth were invited to accompanyhim. Although contrary to the usual rules, an unlimited supply ofshandy-gaff was sent for, and for an hour Frank sat and chatted withhis old schoolfellows, and to their great admiration gave them anoutline of his adventures on the Mississippi, his journey across theplains, and as a gold-digger in California; then with a glad heart, anda feeling that he was at last cleared of the cloud which had so longhung over him, Frank returned to Eaton Square.
His path in life never afterwards crossed that of his cousin. Thelatter, after passing through the University with credit, entered theBar. Somehow he was not successful there. That he was clever allallowed, but a cloud seemed to hang over him. The tale of Frank'sreinstallation had gone up from Westminster to the University; his oldschoolfellows there had talked the matter over, and although nothing wasknown for certain, somehow the belief that Barkley was the culpritspread among them.
He had never been popular, and now his old schoolfellows gradually drewaloof from him. Nothing was ever openly said. The thing was talked of inwhispers, but even whispers, sometimes, are heard; and during his lastyear at the University Fred Barkley stood alone among his fellows. Thewhispers found their echo in town, and Fred Barkley found that a cloudrested on him which all his efforts were unable to dissipate. After someyears of useless attempts to make his way, he was glad to acc
ept theoffer of a petty judgeship in India, and there, ten years later, hedied, stabbed to the heart by a Mahomedan dacoit whom he had sentencedto a term of imprisonment.
A year after his return from America Frank married Alice. Turk, for sometime after his arrival in England, had steadily declined all advanceswhich she made to him, perceiving clearly in his heart that she was arival in his master's affection. He had at last, however, the goodsense to accept the situation; but to the end of his life, which was along one, he never accorded her more than toleration, keeping all theaffection of his great heart for his master, although in his old yearshe took to his master's children, and endured patiently, if notcordially, the affection which they bestowed upon him.
Frank sits in Parliament at present, as member for the county in whichthe broad estates which came to him with his wife are situated. It wasrather a disappointment to her that he did not distinguish himselfgreatly in Parliament, but he was fonder of the country life of anEnglish gentleman than of the squabbles at Westminster. He can always bedepended upon to vote with his party, and he occasionally makes vigorousand indignant attacks against any policy which he believes to belowering the prestige and position of his country; but, except uponoccasions when subjects of national interest are being discussed, he isseldom to be found in the house, and his wife is now well content withhis reputation as one of the best masters of fox-hounds, one of the bestlandlords, and one of the most popular country gentlemen in England.
Captain Bayley died but ten years ago, at a great age, and his grandson,long since able to dispense with his crutches, is one of the mostprominent members in the House of Commons. He could, had he chosen, havelong since had a place in the Ministry, but he declined, as it wouldhave taken too much of his time from the favourite subject whichoccupies the chief part of his thoughts and life, namely the effort toameliorate the condition of the poorer classes in the great towns.
Evan Holl is a distinguished engineer. The business of John Holl, DustContractor, is still carried on under that name by the children of Johnand Sarah, who died within a few days of each other, some twenty yearssince, full of happiness and contentment.
"More suitable books, especially for boys, it would be impossible to imagine. Whether of adventure, school life, or domestic interest, every story is alike marked with those wholesome and robust characteristics which form so valuable a feature in juvenile literature."--_Christmas Bookseller_.
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