"I--I thought it--I suppose I was wrong."
"I think so," said the doctor frigidly. "Thank you, boys, I needn't
keep you longer at present."
"You idiot!" said Clapperton, as he and the discomfited Dangle walked
back to Forder's. "You've made a precious mess of it, and made the
whole house ridiculous. Why couldn't you let it alone? You've mulled
everything you've put your finger into this term."
"Look here, Clapperton," said Dangle, in a white heat, "I've stood a lot
from you this term--a jolly lot. I've done your dirty work, and--"
"What do you mean? What dirty work have I asked you to do?"
"Plenty that you've not had the pluck to do yourself."
"I dare you to repeat it, you liar!"
"You shall do your own in future, I know that."
"Dangle, hold your tongue, you cad!"
"I shall do nothing of the kind, you snob!"
Whereupon ensued the most wonderful spectacle of the half, a fight
between Clapperton and Dangle. It was nearly dark, and no one was
about, and history does not record how it ended. But in Hall that night
both appeared with visages suspiciously marred, and it was noted by many
an observant eye that diplomatic relations between the two were
suspended.
But while old friends had thus been falling out on Rollitt's account,
old enemies had on the same grounds been making it up.
The juniors having recovered of their colds, and finding themselves once
more in the full possession of their appetite, their liberty, and their
spirits, celebrated their convalescence by a general _melee_ in Percy's
room, under the specious pretext of a committee meeting of the shop-
directors. This business function being satisfactorily concluded, they
turned their attention to the condition of things in general.
That Fellsgarth should have got itself into a regular mess during their
enforced retirement caused them no surprise. What else could any one
expect?
But that any one should dare to suspect and make things hot for a fellow
without consulting _them_, caused them both pain and astonishment. It
quite slipped their memories that not long since some of them had been
glad enough to listen to disparaging talk about the School hermit. That
was a detail. On the whole they had stuck to him, and they meant to
stick to him now!
Many things were in his favour. He had won a goal for the School. He
had dispensed with his right to a fag, and had let the juniors of all
grades generally alone. He was on nodding terms with Fisher minor, one
of their lot. He had come up Hawk's Pike at much personal inconvenience
to look for them. And he had been a customer to the extent of six
Abernethys at the School shop.
For all these reasons (which were quite apart from party considerations)
it was decided _nem. con_. that Rollitt was a "good old sort" and must
be stuck by.
Whereupon the nine of them sallied out arm in arm across the Green, on
the look-out for some one who might hold a contrary opinion.
After some search they found a Modern middle-boy, who, catching sight of
Fisher minor, shouted, "How now! Who nobbled the Club money?" which
made Fisher minor suddenly detach himself from his company, and
shouting, "That's him!" start in pursuit. What a bull-dog it was
getting, to be sure!
The whole party joined in the hue-and-cry, and might have run the
fugitive down, had not the head-master stalked across the Green at that
moment on his way to Mr Wakefield's.
At sight of him they pulled up short, looked unutterably amiable, doffed
their caps, and made as though they were merely out to take the air on
this beautiful November afternoon.
To Fisher minor the interruption was a sad one. That fellow was the
borrower of his half-crown; for weeks he had lost sight of him. Now,
suddenly, chance had seemed to bring both man and money within reach,
when, alas! the Harpy swooped down and took off the prize from under his
very nose.
The doctor having passed, they continued their search for any one who
had a bad word to say for Rollitt.
But as it was nearly dark, and rain was falling, the craven maligners
kept indoors, and would not be caught.
So the juniors relieved themselves by giving three cheers for Rollitt
under every window round the Green, and then fell to abusing Fisher
minor because his brother, Fisher major, had lost the money which
Rollitt was said to have stolen.
"There's no doubt that kid's at the bottom of it," said Percy. "First
of all, he's a Classic cad."
Here the speaker was obliged to pause, on a friendly admonition from the
boot of his brother Wally.
"He's a Classic kid," continued he.
"You said cad."
"I said cad? do you hear that, you chaps? Thinks I don't know how to
spell."
"You said he was a Classic cad."
"There you are; you've said it now. Kick him, you chaps. How dare he
say he's a Classic cad?" said Percy.
This verbal squabble being settled at last, Percy proceeded to explain
Fisher minor's position.
"If he hadn't come to Fellsgarth, Rollitt would have been smashed to
bits over the falls. And if Rollitt had been smashed to bits--"
"He couldn't have bought six Abernethys at the shop," suggested D'Arcy.
"Right you are! And what's more, he couldn't have eaten them if he had,
and he couldn't have run away. There you are, I said this kid was at
the bottom of it."
"But who'd have collared the money in that case?" asked Ashby.
Percy reflected. This was a decided point.
"Well, you see," said he, "it's this way. If young Fisher minor hadn't
been born, he wouldn't have had a governor and a mater, and if he hadn't
had a governor and a mater, no more would Fisher major. And if Fisher
major hadn't had a governor and a mater he'd never have been elected
treasurer, and if he'd not been elected treasurer he wouldn't have lost
the money. So you see the young un's at the bottom of it again."
"I know a shorter way than that," said D'Arcy. "If young Fisher minor
hadn't fetched Rollitt up to vote that day, Fisher major wouldn't have
been elected, and then he couldn't have lost the money."
"Isn't that what I said?" said Percy, indignant to be thus summarily
paraphrased.
"Are you going to lick me for being born?" inquired Fisher minor.
"Good mind to. It's all your fault good old Rollitt's gone."
"Those six Abernethys won't last him long," suggested Cash.
"No. We must keep a stock of them now, and call them `Rollitt's
particular.' I fancy they might fetch three-halfpence each."
"I say," said Wally, "I vote we find Rollitt. He's not a bad sort, you
know."
"All very well," said Percy, "if one only knew where to look."
"It's my notion he's either gone home or to the top of Hawk's Pike. I
don't well see where else he could be."
"London?" suggested Cottle.
"Not got the money."
"Walked there?"
"Not got the boots."
"He can't be hanging about near here. Everybody knows him. No; you bet
he's gone to the top of Hawk's Pike, and he's going to stay there till
the clouds roll by."
This brought up a painful reminiscence. None of the party, except
Wally, exactly favoured the idea of another attempt on the great
mountain.
"Tell you what," said Percy, "those biscuits will last him over to-
night. We'll see if there's any news of him in the morning, and if not
we'll organise an expedition to find him. I say, let's go and have
another shop committee somewhere."
"Where?"
"Suppose we have it in Rollitt's study. He was a jolly good sort, you
know. It would please him."
The logic of this proposition did not detain the meeting.
They decided to go in the usual way. That is, the four Classic boys
boldly marched into their house together, and the five Moderns dropped
in one by one artlessly and quite by accident.
As Fisher minor passed his brother's door he thought he would just look
in. At the same moment the house matron, with a very important face,
was bounding into the room.
"Master Fisher," said she, "Mrs Wisdom's just sent back that flannel
shirt of yours."
"Oh! At last. She's only had it six weeks. About long enough," said
Fisher major. "I'd given it up for lost."
"It got left at the bottom of the bag, and she never noticed it till
last night. And what do you think, Master Fisher! there was _this_ in
the breast pocket." And she handed him a little brown paper parcel.
Fisher major snatched at it with an ejaculation more like horror than
anything else, and tore the paper open.
Four sovereigns and some silver dropped on to the table.
"Why," gasped he, "that's it! I remember now. I got it on the field
just before the Rendlesham match, and stuck it in that pocket, and it
went clean out of my head. Oh, my word, what _have_ I done? What an
awful mess I've made!"
Not even Fisher minor stayed to dispute this statement, but hurried off
with the great news to the shop committee next door.