MR. ST. CLIVE PROVES HIMSELF A TRUE FRIEND
"I believe that you are responsible for my father's disappearance."
So did Ralph Rexworth cry in his anger; and Lord Elgert started, and
his face grew dark with rage.
"You impudent young dog!" he shouted, raising his stick; and the blow
would have fallen, had not Mr. St. Clive stopped it with his arm.
"Lord Elgert," he said sternly; for he was shocked at the callous way
in which the charge had been made, "I cannot stand by and allow that.
You have made a very serious charge----"
"Nothing so serious as that young rascal has made. I am surprised
that you stand by and listen to it, St. Clive; but you always were
antagonistic to me! I assert what is fact. My place was broken into----"
"Did any one but yourself see this man?"
"An absurd question! Who was there to see him? By the time the alarm
was given he was gone. I shall have to tell the police of that
photograph; it will be wanted to help in tracing him. I expect this
story is all nonsense; and upon inquiry it will be found that the
farthest these two have travelled is from London. Most probably this
boy, who makes such unfounded charges, knew well the business which
brought his father here. The story of what happened in the woods is
really too romantic. If two people were there, the second was most
likely an accomplice; and they have gone off, leaving the boy here to
see what he can learn, or pick up. You are easily deceived, St. Clive."
And Lord Elgert turned upon his heel with a mocking laugh.
But ere he could go, Ralph stood in his path, regarding him with a
fixed stare.
"I do not know you," he said. "I never saw you before; but I can tell
friend from enemy, and you are an enemy. I am only a boy; but one day I
will bring your words back to you, and make you prove them."
"Out of my way, you young rascal!" came the answer, "or I will have you
in prison before long. St. Clive, I wish you joy of your young friend.
Take my advice, and keep a sharp eye on the silver, if you suffer him
to enter your house."
Ralph would have surely been provoked into some foolish action had not
Mr. St. Clive laid a gentle hand upon his shoulder, and led him back
into the inn; and then the boy quite broke down.
"Oh, sir! Oh, sir!" he cried. "To say such things about my dear
father--my dear, kind father! But he shall prove them," he added
fiercely. "I will make him prove them. I believe that he knows
something."
"Ralph," answered Mr. St. Clive quietly, "because Lord Elgert has been
both unkind and foolish, that is no reason why you should talk wildly.
To say that Lord Elgert has had anything to do with your father's
disappearance, seems to me to be the very height of folly. He is a rich
man, and one of our justices----"
"Where does he live, sir?" queried Ralph suddenly.
"At Castle Court, near Great Stow. Ah," he added, as he saw Ralph's
look, "I know what you are thinking--that it is in the direction
whither your father was going! But remember, that will be equally
applicable to Lord Elgert's story that your father was going there.
It is most likely that some one in a measure resembling your father,
did break into Castle Court--we have not the slightest reason for
discrediting Lord Elgert's statement--and in the confusion of the
struggle, he did not clearly distinguish his opponent, and so says that
he resembles this photograph. Mistaken identity is a common occurrence,
and----"
"You do not believe his story, sir? I could not bear to think that."
"I do not, Ralph. If I did so, I should still feel my debt of gratitude
to you; but I do not believe it. I am not so foolish as to mistake
between a gentleman and a thief; and though I have not seen your
father, I think that I can see him in you and your manner. Now be
brave, and do not trouble about what his lordship said. He was angry
because you spoke as you did; and though it was natural, your language
was not very polite." And Mr. St. Clive smiled slightly. "Now let us
talk sensibly. First, you cannot stay here by yourself; therefore,
disregarding the warning I have received, I invite you to be my guest
for the time, until we can see what is best to be done. What money have
you of your own?"
"Only a few shillings, but there is the purse, sir." And Ralph opened
the purse which they had picked up in Stow Wood. "Here are five
sovereigns, and two five-pound notes, sir."
"Then we had better pay the innkeeper and make a start. Simon"--as the
old fellow came in answer to the bell--"I am going to take this young
gentleman home with me. If his father should return, or if letters
arrive, you will let us know. Make out your bill. And, Simon, I suppose
that you did not recognize Mr. Rexworth at all?"
"Why, no, sir; I cannot say that I did! But he knew the place, sir;
and when I told the girl to show him up to No. 10, sir, he just went
straight up to it. He knew the _Horse and Wheel_, sir."
"Well, get your bill ready."
The old man went out. It was something of a relief to know that he
was going to be paid; for he had begun to have some doubts about the
matter.
So it came about that Ralph Rexworth was taken home by Mr. St. Clive;
and there he was received with kindness and warmth by that gentleman's
wife, while little Irene smiled shyly, and put out one dainty little
hand for him to take in his brown palm.
"I thank you very much," the little lass said. "I think that horrid
bull would have killed me if it had not been for you." And Mrs. St.
Clive shuddered as she listened; for her husband had told her how great
was the peril from which Irene had been rescued.
Leaving the two young people to make friends, Mr. St. Clive took his
wife aside and told her of the strange position in which their young
guest was placed.
"The boy does not seem to have a friend in the world," he said. "And he
is undoubtedly a gentleman, Kate. What is to be done? His father may
return; but I confess that it looks as if a tragedy had taken place. It
was wonderful how the lad pieced together traces which were invisible
to me. I fear that something bad has occurred. As to Lord Elgert's
idea, I do not put much faith in it. Elgert is too fond of thinking
evil of people--he is one of the most merciless men on the bench. What
shall we do, Kate?"
"Do?" replied his wife, with a fond smile. "Why, Hubert, you have
already determined what to do!"
Her husband laughed pleasantly.
"I confess that I have. Still, I like to have your desire run with my
own. You want this lad to stay here?"
"Yes, Hubert. If he is lonely and friendless, let us be his friends;
for had he not rescued her, our dear little daughter would have been
killed."
So husband and wife agreed; but when they went to Ralph they found that
he was not quite willing to accept the invitation.
"I know how kind it is of you," the boy said. "And it is true that
I have no friends, and nowhere to go; but I--I cannot live on your
charity. I want to earn my living somehow."
"That is good, Ralph," was the hearty reply of Mr. St. Clive; "but you
must be reasonable. There is such a thing as unreasonable pride. You
cannot earn your living in any calling as a gentleman, without you are
fitted for it. Your life on the plains, and life here, or in London,
would be very vastly different. If you had friends in Texas we might
send you back again----"
"No, no, sir!" cried Ralph, interrupting him. "I could not go back.
Here I must stay for two reasons. I must live to find out what has
become of my father, and I must clear his name from the accusation that
man made."
"Your first reason is good; your second I do not think that you need
worry over. Then you will stay? Well, then, you must certainly let the
wish of my wife and of Irene conquer your pride. I want to help you
all I can; and if presently it is better for you to go, I promise you
that I will not seek to detain you."
"Do stop, Ralph," added Irene, who, pet as she was, had stolen into
her father's study, and heard what was said. "I want you to stay; and
I want you to teach me how to throw a rope like that, though I should
never dare to throw it at a bull. Please stay."
And somehow Ralph looked down into that upturned little face, and he
could not say "no."
"It is very good of you, sir," he murmured, to Mr. St. Clive,
"especially after what Lord Elgert said----"
"My lad, do not be so sensitive concerning that."
"But I cannot help it, sir. He first called my father a thief; and
he--he--you know what he said about your silver?"
And Ralph turned very red.
Mr. St. Clive understood, and sympathized. He liked Ralph all the
better for being keenly sensitive about it.
"There, let it go, my dear boy. Now, once more, business. Have you any
luggage, save these two handbags?"
"In London, sir. Two great trunks. Father left them at the station.
Here are the papers for them." And the boy took a railway luggage
receipt from his pocket-book.
"This is important. We may find something to help us in those trunks,"
cried Mr. St. Clive. "Of course, I am not legally justified in touching
them, Ralph; but, under the circumstances, I think that I might do
so. We must have them here, and examine their contents. We may then
discover what brought your father to Stow Ormond; and that, in its
turn, might give us some clue as to what may have happened."
"I do not think there is much doubt as to what has happened," sighed
the boy. But Mr. St. Clive would not listen to that.
"Never look at the darkest side, lad. There is a kind Providence over
all, and we must never despair. Now, our very first task must be to
obtain your travelling trunks without delay."
Mr. St. Clive lost no time in putting this resolution into practice.
The trunks were got down from London, and opened; but, to their
disappointment, their contents revealed nothing which tended in any way
to throw a light upon the mystery--clothing, a few mementoes of their
Texan home, and--and in view of Ralph's future welfare this was most
important--banknotes and gold to the amount of £3,000!
"No need to feel yourself dependent upon any one now, Ralph," was the
remark of Mr. St. Clive, as they counted this money; "and no need to
give another thought to Lord Elgert's suspicions. People possessed of
so much money do not go breaking into houses, risking their liberty
for the sake of what they may be able to steal."
Now, though Irene St. Clive was delighted, and would have been quite
content for Ralph to have stayed as her companion, her father did
not look at matters in that way; and he had a serious talk with
Ralph, having first quietly questioned him in order to ascertain his
acquirements.
"You see, Ralph," he said, "what a man needs in England is quite
different from what he may need abroad. You can ride, shoot, and round
up cattle; but that is no good here. Your father has given you a
general education, so that you are not a dunce; but it is nothing like
what you will need as a gentleman here. Knowledge is power and your
desire to clear up the matter of your father's disappearance demands
that you should acquire all the power obtainable. My advice--I have
no right to insist, remember--but my advice is that you should spend
a couple of years at a first-class school--we have a splendid one
here--and if you work honestly during that time, with your intellect
you ought to have made a good headway. What do you say?"
The boy knit his brows. To one who had passed his days in a wild, free
life, such a prospect did not hold out many charms; but then Ralph was
fond of learning, and had sometimes sighed that he could not learn
more. Besides, his one object in life was to solve the matter of his
father's disappearance, and clear his name from any foul charge. In
his heart, Ralph had resolved ever to live under honour's flag. He
looked up, and answered frankly--
"I will be guided entirely by you, sir, unless my father comes back;
then, of course, I should do whatever he directed."
"My feeling is, that had your father elected to remain in England he
would certainly have sent you to school. Now, Ralph, I am going to be
frank with you. We have, as I have said, a splendid school near here;
but amongst its pupils is Horace Elgert. I fear that he takes after
his father somewhat; and if Lord Elgert has said anything, or does say
anything to him when he knows you are there, young Horace may try to
make it unpleasant for you. Do you understand?"
"Perfectly, sir," replied Ralph.
"And will you go there?"
Ralph looked Mr. St. Clive in the face, and he answered firmly:
"Yes, sir. The boy's being there is nothing to me. I will go."
"Good!" replied Mr. St. Clive, with a nod of appreciation. "We will go
over and see the Headmaster to-morrow."