Then there was a tap and Wrench appeared. "Come in, my man," said the
Colonel, "and close the door."
Wrench started, turned pale and then red, as he looked sharply at his
master, who sat perfectly still and avoided his gaze.
"Come a step nearer, my man," said the Colonel. Wrench gazed at him
defiantly, shook himself, jerked up his head, looked hard at the two
boys, who were watching him, tightening his lips the while, and then,
after taking two steps instead of one, stood facing the Colonel, as much
as to say: "Now, ask me as many questions as you like."
"Your master has deputed me, my man, to carry on this investigation, and
I should be obliged by your replying in a straightforward, manly way.
You are not before a magistrate, and hence are not sworn. Doctor Bewley
gives you an admirable character for honesty and straightforward
conduct, and if I ask you questions that sound unpleasant in your ears,
don't run away with the idea that it is because you are suspected."
Wrench's manner changed a little, for the references to his uprightness
and rectitude sounded pleasant in his ears.
"I give you credit," continued the Colonel, "for being as desirous as
these gentlemen here and I am to find out the culprit."
"Yes, sir; certainly, sir, and Mr Singh and Mr Severn, sir, will tell
you that I have been as much cut up about it as if the blessed--I beg
your pardon, gentlemen--as if the belt had been my own."
"Exactly," said the Colonel. "Now then, it seems that the time when the
belt was lost cannot be exactly pointed out, since it may have been
taken at one of the times when Mr Singh's travelling-case was left
unlocked."
"Oh, sir, but nobody ever goes up into his room except the maids and
Mrs Hamton and me; and, bless your heart, sir, the Doctor will tell you
that he wouldn't doubt any of us to save his life."
"Hah!" said the Colonel. "A good character, my man, is a fine thing.
Now, what about strangers--people from the town--peddlers, or hawkers,
or people with books to be subscribed for? You have such people come, I
suppose, to the house?"
"Lots of them, sir; but they never come any farther than the door,"
cried Wrench, laughing. "You see, sir, Mr Singh's dormitory is on the
first floor of the new building, over the little lecture-hall. Nobody
ever went there."
"Could any strangers come up through the grounds and get into the
passage or corridor after dusk?"
"No, sir; not without coming through the house. I have laid awake lots
of times, sir, trying to put that and that together; but it's all been
like a maze, sir--a sort of maze, sir, made like with no way in and no
way out."
"Humph!" said the Colonel, looking at the man searchingly. "I have
heard of cases where people have come to a house and asked the servants
if somebody was at home when the speaker knew that he was out, and then
made an excuse to be shown into a room to write a letter to the
gentleman, say the Doctor, whom he wanted to see; Did such a thing
happen in your recollection? No, no; don't hurry. Tax your memory.--
Ah!--What is it?"
"I've got it, sir!" cried Wrench excitedly.
"Oh!" said the Colonel quietly. "Well, what did happen?"
"To be sure, somebody did come just as you said, sir, as you asked me
that question, once. But it hasn't got anything to do with the stealing
of that belt."
"Perhaps not," said the Colonel; "but let us hear. You say somebody did
once come and ask for the Doctor when he was out?"
"Begging your pardon, sir, no, sir. It wasn't to see the Doctor, sir.
It was on the day when everybody was out, gone to the Strongley
cricket-match, and there was nobody at home but the maids and me, for
Mrs Hamton our housekeeper, sir, had leave from the Doctor to go and
see a friend who was ill."
"Well," said the Colonel sharply, "what is it, Glyn?" For the boy had
jumped up excitedly.
"That was the day, father, when Singh left the keys in the lock of his
box."
"Exactly," said the Colonel. "Sit down, my boy.--Well, my man, whom did
this stranger ask to see?"
"Please, sir, it wasn't a stranger; it was a gentleman the Doctor knew,
and who came here to dinner once, and he asked for Mr Morris."
"Oh!" cried Morris, springing up. "Impossible!"
"Mr Morris, I must ask you to be silent," said the Colonel sternly.
"But--"
"I will hear anything you have to say, sir, when I have finished with
this witness," said the Colonel firmly.--"Go on, my man. Who was this
gentleman?"
"Pro--Professor Barlow, sir. No, sir; Professor Barclay, sir. And he
said he was very much disappointed, as he had come down expressly from
London to see Mr Morris. He said he couldn't stop, but he would write
a letter if I would give him pens, ink, and paper."
"Go on," said the Colonel, as the hearers bent forward with eager
interest. "Did you supply him with pens, ink, and paper?"
"Yes, sir. You see, he wasn't a stranger, but a friend of master's."
"And you took him to my study?" said the Doctor almost fiercely.
"I beg your pardon, Doctor," said the Colonel stiffly.
"I beg yours, Colonel Severn, for the interruption."
"Now then, my man," continued the Colonel; "you took this visitor, this
Professor Barclay--"
There was a low, indignant murmur here, and the Colonel looked round
sharply.
"You took this Professor Barclay into your master's study, I understand,
and gave him pens, ink, and paper, and left him to write the letter?"
"No, sir, that I didn't," said Wrench, grinning with triumph. "I have
been a servant too many years, sir, to go and do a thing like that.
What, take him into master's room, where he keeps his cash-box and
cheque-book in the little iron safe in the closet! And there's the
presentation clock on the chimney-piece, and his old gold watch that he
never wears in the table-drawer! No, sir. That gentleman was master's
friend to some extent; but he was a stranger to me, and if he'd been a
royal duke I shouldn't have done it."
"Then, what did you do?" said the Colonel.
"Took him into the theaytre lecture-room, sir, where there's little
tables, and the young gentlemen writes out their exercises. That's what
I did, sir," said Wrench triumphantly; and he looked hard at his master,
who sat shaking his head at him solemnly.--"What! Wasn't that right,
sir?" cried Wrench.
"Oh Wrench, Wrench, Wrench!" said the Doctor. "And you left him there,
with the staircase close at hand leading right up to the corridor and
the young gentlemen's dormitories?"
Wrench's jaw dropped, and one hand went slowly up to the back of his
head and began to scratch.
"Well," continued the Colonel; "and how long did this gentleman stay?"
"I don't know, sir. Not half an hour--I'd swear to that. I gave him
long enough to write a letter, and then I come back to see if he was
ready to go."
"Let me protest," cried Morris indignantly. "No such letter was written
for or delivered to me; that I declare."
"Pray be calm, sir," said the Colonel judicially. "You can ask this man
any questions when I have done with him.--Now, my man, go on. Did you
find this gentleman where you left him?"
"Yes, sir."
"And he gave you a letter to deliver to Mr Morris?"
"No, sir," cried Wrench sharply. "I'd forgotten all about it till you
began arxing me questions like this. When I come in he got up in a
disappointed sort of way and began tearing up the letter he had written
quite small, and throwing it into the waste-paper basket. `It's no use,
my lad,' he said. `I can't say in a letter one-hundredth part'--I ain't
sure, sir, he didn't say a thousandth-part--`of what I want to tell Mr
Morris. I'll stay in the town to-night, and come and see Mr Morris in
the morning.'"
"And did he come and see Mr Morris in the morning?"
Morris half-rose in his chair, but sat down again.
"No, sir; and I haven't seen him from that day to this, though I had
often seen them together before."
"That will do, my man," said the Colonel quietly.--"Now, Mr Morris; you
wish to ask this man some questions?"
"Yes, sir," cried Morris springing up.--"Now, Wrench, did you ever tell
me that Professor Barclay called when I was absent?"
"No, sir. I suppose it was the cricket-match put it all out of my
head."
"Bah!" cried Morris.
"And then, you see, sir, I have so many things to think of about my work
and the young gentlemen that I haven't got room to remember everything;
and I always have to tick things off."
"Tick things off? What do you mean by that?" cried Morris.
"Well, sir, there's things to do and there's things that's done; things
I have got to remember, and things I haven't. The Professor said that
he'd come and see you, so that was his job and not mine; and if you'll
believe me, gentlemen all, I never remembered about his coming until
Colonel Severn here asked me about any one coming and wanting to write a
letter."
"I believe you," said the Colonel quietly, as if speaking to himself;
but it was sufficiently loud for Morris to hear, and he turned upon the
speaker fiercely.
"I protest, sir," he cried indignantly, "partly against my name being
dragged into this despicable theft, and partly on behalf of my friend
Professor Barclay, a scholar, a gentleman, and a professor of Sanskrit
and other Eastern languages; a gentleman, sir, though a poor and needy
gentleman upon whom the world had frowned, but whom I considered it an
honour and a privilege to know, as I should any gentleman whom I was
introduced to by my revered principal the Doctor. I cannot sit still
and hear such a man even suspected of being dishonest; and I beg you,
sir, and the Doctor will go on with this investigation so as to prove to
the world that Professor Barclay was a gentleman indeed."