AN INTERESTING INTERVIEW
For the rest of the afternoon Jim had a wretched time. To be beaten
after such a race by a foot, and to be beaten by a foot when victory
would have cut the Gordian knot of his difficulties once and for all,
was enough to embitter anybody's existence. He found it hard to accept
the well-meant condolences of casual acquaintances, and still harder to
do the right thing and congratulate Drake on his victory, a refinement
of self-torture which is by custom expected of the vanquished in every
branch of work or sport. But he managed it somehow, and he also managed
to appear reasonably gratified when he went up to take his prize for
the half-mile. Tony and the others, who knew what his defeat meant to
him, kept out of his way, for which he was grateful. After lock-up,
however, it was a different matter, but by that time he was more ready
for society. Even now there might be some way out of the difficulty. He
asked Tony's advice on the subject. Tony was perplexed. The situation
was beyond his grip.
'I don't see what you can do, Jim,' he said, 'unless the Rugby chap'll
be satisfied with a pound on account. It's a beastly business. Do you
think your pater will give you your money all the same as it was such a
close finish?'
Jim thought not. In fact, he was certain that he would not, and Tony
relapsed into silence as he tried to bring another idea to the surface.
He had not succeeded when Charteris came in.
'Jim,' he said 'you have my sympathy. It was an awfully near thing. But
I've got something more solid than sympathy. I will take a seat.'
'Don't rag, Charteris,' said Tony. 'It's much too serious.'
'Who's ragging, you rotter? I say I have something more solid than
sympathy, and instead of giving me an opening, as a decent individual
would, by saying, "What?" you accuse me of ragging. James, my son, if
you will postpone your suicide for two minutes, I will a tale unfold. I
have an idea.'
'Well?'
'That's more like it. Now you _are_ talking. We will start at the
beginning. First, you want a pound. So do I. Secondly, you want it
before next Tuesday. Thirdly, you haven't it on you. How, therefore,
are you to get it? As the song hath it, you don't know, they don't
know, but--now we come to the point--I _do_ know.'
'Yes?' said Jim and Tony together.
'It is a luminous idea. Why shouldn't we publish a special number of
_The Glow Worm_ before the end of term?'
Jim was silent at the brilliance of the scheme. Then doubts began to
harass him.
'Is there time?'
'Time? Yards of it. This is Saturday. We start tonight, and keep at it
all night, if necessary. We ought to manage it easily before tomorrow
morning. On Sunday we jellygraph it--it'll have to be a jellygraphed
number this time. On Monday and Tuesday we sell it, and there you are.'
'How are you going to sell it? In the ordinary way at the shop?'
'Yes, I've arranged all that. All we've got to do is to write the
thing. As the penalty for your sins you shall take on most of it. I'll
do the editorial, Welch is pegging away at the Sports account now, and
I waylaid Jackson just before lock-up, and induced him by awful threats
to knock off some verses. So we're practically published already.'
'It's grand,' said Jim. 'And it's awfully decent of you chaps to fag
yourselves like this for me. I'll start on something now.'
'But can you raise a sovereign on one number?' asked Tony.
'Either that, or I've arranged with the shop to give us a quid down,
and take all profits on this and the next number. They're as keen as
anything on the taking-all-profits idea, but I've kept that back to be
used only in case of necessity. But the point is that Jim gets his
sovereign in any case. I must be off to my editorial. So long,' and he
went.
'Grand man, Charteris,' said Tony, as he leant back in his chair in
search of a subject. 'You'd better weigh in with an account of the
burglary. It's a pity you can't give the realistic description you gave
us. It would sell like anything.'
'Wouldn't do to risk it.'
At that moment the door swung violently open, with Merevale holding on
to the handle, and following it in its course. Merevale very rarely
knocked at a study door, a peculiarity of his which went far towards
shattering the nervous systems of the various inmates, who never knew
when it was safe to stop work and read fiction.
'Ah, Thomson,' he said, 'I was looking for you. The Headmaster wants to
see you over at his House, if you are feeling well enough after your
exertions. _Very_ close thing, that mile. I don't know when I have seen
a better-run race on the College grounds. I suppose you are feeling
pretty tired, eh?'
'I am rather, sir, but I had better see the Head. Will he be in his
study, sir?'
'Yes, I think so.'
Jim took his cap and went off, while Merevale settled down to spend the
evening in Tony's study, as he often did when the term's work was over,
and it was no longer necessary to keep up the pretence of preparation.
Parker, the Head's butler, conducted Jim into the presence.
'Sit down, Thomson,' said the Head.
Jim took a seat, and he had just time to notice that his namesake, Mr
Thompson, was also present, and that, in spite of the fact that his tie
had crept up to the top of his collar, he was looking quite
unnecessarily satisfied with himself, when he became aware that the
Head was speaking to him.
'I hope you are not feeling any bad effects from your race, Thomson?'
Jim was half inclined to say that his effects were _nil,_ but he
felt that the quip was too subtle, and would be lost on his present
audience, so he merely said that he was not. There was a rather awkward
silence for a minute. Then the Head coughed, and said:
'Thomson.'
'Yes, sir.'
'I think it would be fairest to you to come to the point at once, and
to tell you the reason why I wished to see you.'
Jim ran over the sins which shot up in his mind like rockets as he
heard these ominous words, and he knew that this must be the matter of
the Pavilion. He was, therefore, in a measure prepared for the Head's
next words.
'Thomson.'
'Yessir.'
'A very serious charge has been brought against you. You are accused of
nothing less than this unfortunate burglary of the prizes for the
Sports.'
'Yes, sir. Is my accuser Mr Thompson?'
The Headmaster hesitated for a moment, and Mr Thompson spoke. 'That is
so,' he said.
'Yes,' said the Head, 'the accusation is brought by Mr Thompson.'
'Yes, sir,' said Jim again, and this time the observation was intended
to convey the meaning, 'My dear, good sir, when you've known him as
long as I have, you won't mind what Mr Thompson says or does. It's a
kind of way he's got, and if he's not under treatment for it, he ought
to be.'
'I should like to hear from your own lips that the charge is
groundless.'
'Anything to oblige,' thought Jim. Then aloud, 'Yes, sir.'
'You say it is groundless?' This from Mr Thompson.
'Yes, sir.'
'I must warn you, Thomson, that the evidence against you is very strong
indeed,' said the Head. 'Without suggesting that you are guilty of this
thing, I think I ought to tell you that if you have any confession to
make, it will be greatly, very greatly, to your own advantage to make
it at once.'
'And give myself away, free, gratis and for nothing,' thought Jim. 'Not
for me, thank you.'
'Might I hear Mr Thompson's evidence, sir?' he asked.
'Certainly, Thomson.' He effected a movement in Mr Thompson's
direction, midway between a bow and a nod.
Mr Thompson coughed. Jim coughed, too, in the same key. This put Mr
Thompson out, and he had to cough again.
'In the first place,' he began, 'it has been conclusively proved that
the burglary was the work of an unskilful hand.'
'That certainly seems to point to me as the author,' said Jim
flippantly.
'Silence, Thomson,' said the Head, and counsel for the prosecution
resumed.
'In the second place, it has been proved that you were at the time of
the burglary in great need of money.'
This woke Jim up. It destroyed that feeling of coolness with which he
had started the interview. Awful thoughts flashed across his mind. Had
he been seen at the time of his burglarious entry? At any rate, how did
Mr Thompson come to know of his pecuniary troubles?
'Did you say it had been proved, sir?'
'Yes.'
'How, sir?'
He felt the question was a mistake as he was uttering it. Your really
injured innocent would have called all the elements to witness that he
was a millionaire. But it was too late to try that now. And, besides,
he really did want to know how Mr Thompson had got to hear of this
skeleton in his cupboard.
The Headmaster interrupted hurriedly. 'It is a very unfortunate affair
altogether, and this is quite the most unfortunate part. A letter came
to the College addressed to J. Thomson, and Mr Thompson opened and read
it inadvertently. Quite inadvertently.'
'Yes, sir,' said Jim, in a tone which implied, 'I am no George
Washington myself, but when you say he read it inadvertently, well--'
'This letter was signed "Allen"--'
'My brother, sir.'
'Exactly. And it asked for two pounds. Evidently in payment of a debt,
and the tone of the letter certainly seemed to show that you were not
then in possession of the money.'
'Could I have the letter, sir?' Then with respectful venom to Mr
Thompson: 'If you have finished with it.' The letter was handed over,
and pocketed, and Jim braced his moral pecker up for the next round of
the contest.
'I take it, then, Thomson,' resumed the Head, 'that you owe your
brother this money?'
'Yes, sir.'
'Two pounds is a great deal of money for one boy to lend another.'
'It was not lent, sir. It was a bet.'
'A bet!' in a nasty tone from the Head.
'A bet!' in a sepulchral echo from Mr Thompson.
There was a long pause.
'At any other time,' said the Head, 'I should feel it my duty to take
serious notice of this, but beside this other matter with which you are
charged, it becomes trivial. I can only repeat that the circumstances
are exceedingly suspicious, and I think it would be in your interests
to tell us all you know without further delay.'
'You take it for granted I am guilty, sir,' began Jim hotly.
'I say that the circumstances seems to point to it. In the first place,
you were in need of money. You admit that?'
'Yes, sir.'
'In the second place,' said the Head slowly, 'in the second place, I am
told that you were nowhere to be found in the House at half-past eight
on the night of the burglary, when you ought certainly to have been in
your study at your work.'
Bombshell number two, and a worse one than the first. For the moment
Jim's head swam. If he had been asked just then in so many words where
he had been at that time, it is likely that he would have admitted
everything. By some miracle the Head did not press his point.
'You may go now, Thomson,' he said. 'I should like to see you after
morning school on Monday. Good-night.'
'Good-night, sir,' said Jim, and went without another word. Coming so
soon after the exertion and strain of the mile, this shock made him
feel sick and dizzy.
When he had gone, the Head turned to Mr Thompson with a worried look on
his face. 'I feel as certain as I do of anything,' he said
thoughtfully, 'that that boy is telling the truth. If he had been
guilty, he would not have behaved like that. I feel sure of it.'
Mr Thompson looked equally thoughtful. 'The circumstances are certainly
very suspicious,' he said, echoing the Head's own words. 'I wish I
could think he was innocent, but I am bound to say I do not. I regard
the evidence as conclusive.'
'Circumstantial evidence is proverbially uncertain, Mr Thompson. That
is principally the reason why I was so bent on making him confess if he
had anything to confess. I can't expel a boy and ruin his whole career
on mere suspicion. The matter must be proved, doubly proved, and even
then I should feel uneasy until he owned himself guilty. It is a most
unpleasant affair, a terrible affair.'
'Most,' agreed Mr Thompson.
And exactly the same thing was occurring at that moment to Jim, as he
sat on his bed in his dormitory, and pondered hopelessly on this new
complication that had presented itself so unexpectedly. He was getting
very near to the end of his tether, was J. Thomson of Merevale's. It
seemed to him, indeed, that he had reached it already. Possibly if he
had had a clearer conscience and a larger experience, he might have
recognised that the evidence which Mr Thompson had described as
conclusive, was in reality not strong enough to hang a cat on.
Unfortunately, he did not enjoy those advantages.