"I suppose this dastardly impertinence has been perpetrated by some boy
out of a spirit of revenge. I am perfectly amazed at the audacity and
meanness of the attempt, and it may be very difficult to discover the
author of it. But, depend upon it, discover him _we will_ at whatever
cost. Whoever the offender may be, and he must be listening to me at
this moment, let him be assured that he shall _not_ be unpunished. His
guilty secret shall be torn from him. His punishment can only be
mitigated by his instantly yielding himself up."
No one stirred, but during the latter part of this address Eric was so
uneasy, and his cheek burned with such hot crimson, that several eyes
were upon him, and the suspicions of more than one boy were awakened.
"Very well," said the head-master, "the guilty boy is not inclined to
confess. Mark, then; if his name has not been given up to me by to-day
week, every indulgence to the school will be forfeited, the next whole
holiday stopped, and the coming cricket-match prohibited."
"The handwriting may be some clue," suggested Mr Ready. "Would you
have any objection to my examining the note-books of the Shell?"
"None at all. The Shell boys are to show their books to Mr Ready
immediately."
The head-boy of the Shell collected the books, and took them to the
desk; the three masters glanced casually at about a dozen, and suddenly
stopped at one. Eric's heart beat loud, as he saw Mr Rose point
towards him.
"We have discovered a handwriting which remarkably resembles that on the
board. I give the offender one more chance of substituting confession
for detection."
No one stirred; but Montagu felt that his friend was trembling
violently.
"Eric Williams, stand out in the room!"
Blushing scarlet, and deeply agitated, the boy obeyed.
"The writing on the notice is exactly like yours. Do you know anything
of this shameful proceeding?"
"Nothing, sir," he murmured in a low tone.
"Nothing whatever?"
"Nothing whatever, sir."
Dr Rowlands's look searched him through and through, and seemed to burn
into his heart. He did not meet it, but hung his head. The Doctor felt
certain from his manner that he was guilty. He chained him to the spot
with his glance for a minute or two, and then said slowly, and with a
deep sigh--
"Very well; I _hope_ you have spoken the truth, but whether you have or
no, we shall soon discover. The school, and especially the upper boys,
will remember what I have said. I shall now tear down the insulting
notice, and put it into your hands, Avonley, as head of the school, that
you may make further inquiries." He left the room, and the boys resumed
their usual avocation till twelve o'clock. But poor Eric could hardly
get through his ordinary pursuits; he felt sick and giddy, until
everybody noticed his strange embarrassed manner and random answers.
No sooner had twelve o'clock struck than the whole school broke up into
knots of buzzing and eager talkers.
"I wonder who did it," said a dozen voices at once. "The writing was
undoubtedly Williams's," suggested some.
"And did you notice how red and pale he got when the Doctor spoke to
him, and how he hung his head?"
"Yes; and one knows how he hates Gordon."
"Ay; by the bye, Gordon set him a Georgic only on Thursday, and he has
been swearing at him ever since."
"I noticed that he stayed in after all the rest last night," said Barker
pointedly.
"Did he? By Jove, that looks bad."
"Has any one charged him with it?" asked Duncan.
"Yes," answered one of the group; "but he's as proud about it as
Lucifer, and is furious if you mention it to him. He says we ought to
know him better than to think him capable of such a thing."
"And quite right, too," said Duncan. "If he did it, he's done something
totally unlike what one would have believed possible of him."
The various items of evidence were put together, and certainly they
seemed to prove a strong case against Eric. In addition to the
probabilities already mentioned, it was found that the ink used was of a
violet colour, and a peculiar kind, which Eric was known to patronise;
and not only so, but the wafers with which the paper had been attached
to the board were yellow, and exactly of the same size with some which
Eric was said to possess. How the latter facts had been discovered,
nobody exactly knew, but they began to be very generally whispered
throughout the school.
In short, the almost universal conviction among the boys proclaimed that
he was guilty, and many urged him to confess it at once, and save the
school from the threatened punishment. But he listened to such
suggestions with the most passionate indignation.
"What!" he said angrily, "tell a wilful lie to blacken my own innocent
character? Never!"
The consequence was, they all begun to shun him. Eric was put into
Coventry. Very few boys in the school still clung to him, and
maintained his innocence in spite of appearances, but they were the boys
whom he had most loved and valued, and they were most vigorous in his
defence. They were Russell, Montagu, Duncan, Owen, and little Wright.
On the evening of the Saturday, Upton had sought out Eric, and said, in
a very serious tone, "This is a bad business, Williams. I cannot forget
how you have been abusing Gordon lately, and though I won't believe you
guilty, yet you ought to explain."
"What? even _you_, then, suspect me?" said Eric, bursting into proud and
angry tears. "Very well. I shan't condescend to _deny_ it. I won't
speak to you again till you have repented of mistrusting me," and he
resolutely rejected all further overtures on Upton's part.
He was alone in his misery. Some one, he perceived, had plotted to
destroy his character, and he saw too clearly how many causes of
suspicion told against him. But it was very bitter to think that the
whole school could so readily suppose that he would do a thing which
from his soul he abhorred. "No," he thought; "bad I may be, but I
_could_ not have done such a base and cowardly trick."
Never in his life had he been so wretched. He wandered alone to the
rocks, and watched the waves dashing against them with the rising tide.
The tumult of the weather seemed to relieve and console the tumult of
his heart. He drank in strength and defiance from the roar of the
waters, and climbed to their very edge along the rocks, where every
fresh rush of the waves enveloped him in white swirls of cold salt
spray. The look of the green, rough, hungry sea harmonised with his
feelings, and he sat down and stared into it, to find relief from the
torment of his thoughts.
At last, with a deep sigh, he turned away to go back and meet the crowd
of suspicious and unkindly companions, and brood alone over his sorrow
in the midst of them. He had not gone many steps when he caught sight
of Russell in the distance. His first impulse was to run away and
escape; but Russell determined to stop him, and when he came up, said,
"Dear Eric, I have sought you out on purpose to tell you that I don't
suspect you, and have never done so for a moment. I know you too well,
my boy, and be sure that _I_ will always stick to you, even if the whole
school cut you."
"Oh, Edwin, I am _so_ wretched. I needn't tell you that I am quite
innocent of this. What have I done to be so suspected? Why, even your
cousin Upton won't believe me."
"But he does, Eric," said Russell; "he told me so just now, and several
others said the same thing."
A transient gleam passed over Eric's face.
"Oh, I do so long for home again," he said. "I hate this place. Except
you, I have no friend."
"Don't say so, Eric. This cloud will soon blow over. Depend upon it,
as the Doctor said, we shall discover the offender yet, and the fellows
will soon make you reparation for their false suspicions. And you
_have_ one friend, Eric," he continued, pointing reverently upwards.
Eric was overcome; he sat down on the grass, while intense pride and the
consciousness of innocence struggled with the burning sense of painful
injustice. Russell sat silent and pitying beside him, till at last
Eric, with sudden energy, sprang to his feet, and said, "Now, Edwin!
I've been conquering my cowardice, thanks to you, so come along home.
After all, the fellows are in the wrong, not I," and so saying he took
Russell's arm, and walked across the playground with almost a haughty
look.
When they got home, Eric found three notes in his drawer. One was from
Mr Gordon, and ran thus--
"I have little doubt, Williams, that you have done this act. Believe
me, I feel no anger, only pity for you. Come to me and confess, and I
promise, by every means in my power, to befriend and save you."
This note he read, and then, stamping on the floor, tore it up furiously
into twenty pieces, which he scattered about the room.