CHAPTER TWENTY SIX.
Everything seemed to me as if we were in a dream, and I grew more andmore troubled as we were marched in separately to the Doctor's library,where to my astonishment I found Burr major and Dicksee standing, whilethe Doctor sat back in his big chair, with one hand over his eyes.
I glanced once at Mercer, but he did not meet my eyes, and we took ourplaces as pointed out by Mr Rebble, who then stood waiting, and at lastcoughed softly.
"Yes, Mr Rebble," said the Doctor huskily, as he dropped his hand, andI saw that there was a look of pain on his plump face that I had notseen before. "Yes, Mr Rebble, I see. I was trying to arrange mythoughts, so as to meet this painful case calmly. Pray sit down, MrRebble--Mr Hasnip."
The two ushers took chairs, and we boys alone remained standing, whilethe Doctor cleared his throat, and spoke in a way which drew me towardhim as I had never felt drawn before, since, boy-like, I had been rathertoo apt to look upon my instructor as one of the enemies of my life.
"Gentlemen," he said, "I look upon what I have learned as a catastropheto my school, a trouble more painful than I can express, but, for allour sakes, I hope that the dark cloud will prove to be a mist of error,which by calm investigation we shall be able to disperse, for, be itunderstood, I make no accusation."
Mr Rebble and Mr Hasnip both coughed, the Doctor sighed, glanced atme, and then went on.
"Burr major, you have already told me that you had a presentation silverwatch from your father."
I had been hoping that I was in error, and that we were called in forreproof about some trivial matter, but now my spirits sank.
"Yes, sir."
"And that, on the day of the cricket match, you left that watch in yourvest on the form at the back of the cricket tent?"
"Yes, sir."
"That, when you returned to the tent, and resumed your garments, youafterwards found the watch gone?"
"Yes, sir."
"That every search was made, and that, though, as you say, you hadsuspicions, about which we will talk by and by, that watch was neverfound?"
"Yes, sir."
I glanced at Mercer, but he was staring hard at Burr major.
"Now, Dicksee," said the Doctor, "have the goodness to repeat what youtold me a short time back."
"Yes, sir," said Dicksee eagerly. "I went up into the big loft over thestable this afternoon, to see if I could find some nice stout pieces ofstraw in one of the old trusses to make jackstraws with, when I heardsomebody coming."
I started as I remembered fancying I heard some one in the loft.
"Yes; go on."
"I looked out of the window, and saw it was Burr junior, so I went andhid myself in the straw."
The rustling I thought was rats.
"Why?" said the Doctor sharply.
"Because Burr junior and Mercer are so jealous about any other boy goingup there, and they would have knocked me about, as you know, sir, theydid once before, for being up there."
"It isn't true!" I cried.
"Silence, sir," said the Doctor. "You shall be heard afterwards. Goon, Dicksee."
"Yes, sir, please, sir. So I hid under the straw, and then I saw Burrjunior come up into the loft, and look round, and out of the window, andeverywhere but in the straw."
"State what you saw simply, sir," said the Doctor sternly; "andrecollect that you do not stand upon a very good pedestal, for you wereplaying one of the meanest parts a human being can take, that of a spy."
"Hear! hear!" said the two masters together.
"Please, sir, I was afraid," pleaded Dicksee.
"Go on," said the Doctor.
"And I saw Burr junior open the big bin where he and Mercer keep theirrubbish."
"It may not be rubbish to them," said the Doctor, "Go on, sir."
"And after fiddling about a bit, and looking round to see if he waswatched, Burr junior took up a stuffed rabbit, put his hand inside, andpulled out some tow, and then he opened that, and took out Burr major'ssilver watch."
"How do you know it was?" said the Doctor sharply.
"Because we saw it such lots of times, sir, and I knew it againdirectly."
"It might have been any watch," said the Doctor. "Go on."
"Yes, sir. And he looked at it, and played with it ever so long, andthen wrapped it up in tow again, and stuffed it inside the rabbit, andthen locked up the bin, put the key in his pocket, and went down."
"And you?"
"I waited till he had gone, sir, and then I ran and told Burr major,sir."
"That will do. Now, Burr major, add what you told me this afternoon;but bear in mind, sir, that it is your duty to be very careful, for thisis a charge of theft--of a crime sufficient almost to ruin aschool-fellow's career."
Burr major spoke out quickly and eagerly, while I stood with my headdown, feeling as if I were being involved in a tangle, out of which itseemed impossible to extricate myself.
"On the day I lost my watch, sir, Burr junior and Mercer were a gooddeal about near the tent. Burr junior would not play, because he saidhe had a bad headache, and Tom Mercer wouldn't play either."
"Well, sir?"
"I am very sorry to say it, sir," continued Burr major hesitatingly."It's a very painful charge to make, and I never said anything beforeto-day, but I always suspected Burr junior of taking the watch."
"Oh!" I ejaculated indignantly, as I faced round, but he did not meetmy eye.
"And, pray, why?" said the Doctor.
"Because, please, sir, he seemed to be hanging about so near the tent."
I began to feel more confused, especially as the Doctor said then,--
"Then now we will adjourn--to the loft." I made a gesture as if tospeak, but the Doctor raised his hand.
"After a while, Burr," he said, "after a while. Your turn will come."
I felt in a whirl of emotion, for I was half stunned at the turn mattershad taken, and I tried again to catch Mercer's eye, but he did not evenglance at me, but stood opening and shutting his hands as he glared atDicksee, who looked horribly alarmed, and as if he would like to runaway.
The Doctor signed to us to go, and we were taken through the house andservants' offices, so as not to attract the attention of the boys,reaching the yard at last, and entering the stable.
My ears seemed to have bells ringing in them as we stood there, and Iheard the Doctor say,--
"Rather an awkward place for me to get up, Mr Rebble; but I suppose Imust try."
He made the effort after we had all gone before, and reached the top noworse off than by the addition of a little dust upon his glossy blackcoat. Then, clearing his voice, as we all stood near the bin, in muchthe same positions as in the library, he began,--
"Ah, that is the straw, I suppose. Burr junior and Mercer have usedthis place a good deal, I believe, as a kind of atelier or workshop?"
"Yes, sir," said Burr major promptly.
"Then that is the bin, is it, Dicksee?"
"Yes, sir."
"And you say you saw Burr junior lock it up. Have you the key, Burr?"
I stood gazing at him wildly without answering, and then I glanced atMercer, who met my eye with a look of terror and misery that was piteousto see. For now it was all to come out, and the theft would be broughthome to him, for the poor lad to be expelled in disgrace and go homedespairingly to those who loved him, and all because he could notrestrain that horrible feeling of covetousness.
"I said, `Have you the key, Burr junior?'" continued the Doctor moresternly, and I shuddered as the thought struck me now that I wasbecoming mixed up with the trouble, that they would not believe me if Itold the truth--that truth which would be so difficult to tell forMercer's sake.
"Burr junior," cried the Doctor very sharply now, "have you the key ofthat padlock?"
"Yes; sir," I faltered, giving quite a start now, as his words roused meas from a dream, and I felt horrified as I fully saw how guilty all thismade me appear.
"Take the key, Mr Rebb
le, if you please," continued the Doctor, lookingmore and more pained, as I withdrew the rusty little instrument from mypocket. "Open the bin, please, and see if Dicksee's statement is madeout."
Mr Hasnip was, I found, looking at me, and I felt a choking sensationas he shook his head at me sadly.
Then I glanced at Mercer, and found he was looking at me in a horrifiedway, and I let my eyes drop as I said to myself,--
"Poor fellow! I shall not have to speak; he'll confess it all. I wishI could save him."
And all the while the usher was unlocking the padlock, taking it fromthe staple, and throwing open the great lid back against the whitewashedwall, every click and grate of the iron and the creak of the old hingessounding clear and loud amidst the painful silence.
"Will you come and look, sir?" said Mr Rebble.
"No," said the Doctor sternly. "Is there a rabbit-skin there, as thisboy described?"
"Yes, sir."
"Take it out."
Mr Rebble obeyed, and once more I met Mercer's eyes gazing at mewildly, and, as I interpreted the look, imploring me not to speak.
The miserable stuffed distortion was brought out, and I felt halfdisposed to laugh at it, as I thought of my school-fellow's queer ideasfor a group in natural history. But that was only a flying thought,succeeded by a mental pang that was most keen, as the rabbit was laid onthe floor, and, acting on the Doctor's instructions, Mr Rebble wentdown on one knee, held the stuffed animal with one hand, and began todraw out the tow with the other.
A great patch came out, and Mr Rebble pressed it together and thenopened it out, and I fancied I heard the Doctor sigh with satisfactionat nothing being found.
"It's further in, sir," cried Dicksee eagerly.
"Ah! you seem to know a great deal about it, Dicksee," said the Doctor.
"Yes, sir; I saw him put it in."
Mr Rebble thrust in his hand again, and my spirits sank lower as hedrew out another tuft of tow, compressed it, and then, frowning heavily,began to tear it open.
"There is nothing there, then, Mr Rebble?" cried the Doctor eagerly.
"I am sorry to say, sir, there is," said the usher, as he laid open thetow till it was like a nest, with the little silver watch lyingglistening in the middle; and the Doctor drew a long breath, hisforehead now full of deeply-cut lines.
"Burr major," said the Doctor huskily. "Have the goodness to look atthat watch. Is it yours?"
My school-fellow stepped to the Doctor's side and looked.
"Yes, sir," he said eagerly. "That's the watch I lost."
"How do you know, sir?"
"My father had my initials cut in the little round spot on the case,sir. There they are."
The Doctor took the watch, glanced at the letters, and laid it down.
"Yes," he said sadly, "that is quite right.--Mercer!" Tom started as ifhe had received a blow, and looked wildly from one to the other.
"Come here."
"Oh, poor, poor Tom!" I sighed to myself, and I looked at himpityingly, while he glanced at me.
"Hah!" ejaculated the Doctor; "there seems to be some understandingbetween you. Now, sir, that bin has been used by you for some time, hasit not, for your collection?"
"Yes, sir," faltered Mercer.
"You and Burr junior have, I noticed, always been companions."
"Yes, sir."
"He joined you in collecting natural history objects?"
"Yes, sir; a little."
"Could he obtain access to that bin when he wished? Had he a key?"
"He could always get the key, sir, when he liked." The Doctor sighed,and there was silence once more, while I glanced at Mercer wildly, andif he could have read my eyes, he would have known that they said,"Speak out now. Confess, and ask the Doctor to forgive you for givingway to this terrible piece of covetousness."
"Now," said the Doctor, and we both started at the firm, sonorous tones,"speak out frankly, sir. This is no time for trying to conceal thetruth so as to screen your friend, for I tell you that it would be anunkind act, and you would be injuring his future by such a mistakenpolicy. Tell me, did you know that the watch was hidden there?"
Mercer was silent.
"Speak, sir," cried the Doctor. "I insist!"
"No, sir," faltered Mercer, after another appealing look at me; and inmy agony, as I heard his words, I started forward.
"Burr junior!" roared the Doctor; and I stopped as if fascinated.
"Now, Mercer," he continued, "tell me. Did you know that yourschool-fellow had that watch in his possession?"
"Oh no, sir!" cried Mercer eagerly. "I'm sure he hadn't."
"Humph!" ejaculated the Doctor. "That will do.--I wish, gentlemen," hecontinued, turning to the two masters, "to make this painful business asshort as possible."
I turned to him quickly, and as I met his eyes, I thought at first thathe was looking at me sadly and pityingly, but his face was very sternnext moment.
"You are sure, Thomas Mercer," he said, "that you did not know the watchwas in that bin--hidden away?"
Tom looked at me again wildly, and then, with his brow all wrinkled up,he said in a hopeless tone full of sadness,--
"No, sir--no, sir; I didn't know it was there."
My hands clenched, and a burst of rage made me turn giddy for themoment. For I felt as if I could have dashed at him, dragged him to hisknees, and made him speak the truth.
But that passed off as quickly as it came, and a feeling of pity camefor the boy who, in his horror of detection, had felt himself bound tosave himself at another's expense, and I found myself wondering whetherunder the circumstances I should not have done the same.
These thoughts darted through my mind like lightning, and so did thosewhich followed.
"I want to save him," I said to myself, in the midst of the painfulsilence during which the Doctor stood thinking and softly wiping hisforehead and then the palms of his hands upon his white pockethandkerchief; "but I can't take the credit of it all. It is toohorrible. But if I tell all I know, he will be expelled, and it willruin him. Oh, why don't he confess?--why don't he confess?"
It was as if the Doctor had heard these last words as I thought them,for he said now in a deep, grave voice, as he turned to me, just as Iwas feeling that it would be too cruel to denounce my companion,--
"This is a sad--a painful affair, Burr junior. I wanted to disbelievein your guilt, I wanted to feel that there was no young gentleman in myestablishment who could stoop to such a piece of base pilfering; but thetruth is so circumstantially brought home through the despicablemeanness of a boy of whose actions I feel the utmost abhorrence, that Iam bound to say to you that there is nothing left but for you to ownfrankly that you have been led into temptation--to say that you bitterlyrepent of what you have done, and throw yourself upon my mercy. Do thisat once, boy, for the sake of those at home who love you."
I felt my face twitch at these words and the picture they evoked, andthen, numbed as it were, I stood listening, slightly buoyed up by thefeeling that Mercer would speak directly and clear me.
"You were entrusted to my care, Burr junior," continued the Doctor, "asa youth who was in future to enter upon one of the most honourable ofcareers, that of a soldier; but now that you have disgraced yourselflike this--"
"No, no, sir!" I cried. "Don't--pray don't think I took the wretchedwatch!"
There was so much passionate agony in my voice that the Doctor pausedfor a few moments, before, in the midst of the solemn silence whichensued, he said coldly,--
"Do you deny that you took the watch?"
"Yes, yes. Indeed, indeed I did not take it, sir!" The Doctor sighed.
"Do you deny that you were seen by Dicksee this morning with the watchin your hands?"
"No, sir; that is true," I said, with a look at Mercer, who hung downhis head.
"Then I am bound by the statements that have been made, painful as it isto me, to consider that in a moment of weak impulse you did this basething. If
I am wrong, Heaven forgive me, for _humanum est errare_. Thetruth, however, seems too clear."
"I--I found it there," I panted.
The Doctor shook his head.
"It is like charging your school-fellow with stealing the watch. Do youdo this?"
I was silent.
"Mr Rebble," said the Doctor, "you came here as a gentleman to aid mein the training of these youths. Can you do anything to help me here?"
"I--I," said Mr Rebble huskily, "would gladly do so, sir, if I could.I wouldn't trust Dicksee's word in anything. He is as pitiful andcontemptible a boy as ever came under my charge, but I am afraid he hasspoken the truth here."
"I fear so," said the Doctor. "Mr Hasnip, you have--been but a shorttime among us, still you have learned the disposition of the pupils.Can you help me--help us?--for it is terrible to me to have to passjudgment in such a case."
"Doctor Browne," cried Mr Hasnip warmly, and I saw the tears start tohis eyes, "I would give anything to be able to say it is all a mistake."
"But you feel that you can not?"
Mr Hasnip shook his head, and turned away to hide the working of hisface, while I stood wondering at the feeling he displayed.
There was again a painful silence, and I stood there, shrinking, butwith a hot feeling of anger swelling within me, waiting for Tom Mercerto speak out and save me from disgrace. And with this hot tide ofbitterness and rage that I should be so doubted and suspected, came afeeling of obstinacy that was maddening, while something within meseemed to say, "They would not believe you if you spoke."
"No," said the Doctor at last, "I am afraid that you cannot; and I nowaddress myself to you, Burr junior. Do you confess that you areguilty?"
"No, sir," I cried angrily, "I am not!" and again there was silence.
"I think I will give you time for reflection," said the Doctor. "MrRebble, I place Burr junior in your charge. Of course he must besecluded. I, too, want time for reflection before sending word to theunhappy lad's friends--a most painful task--a most painful task."
He walked slowly toward the steps, and a fresh feeling of excitementsurged up within me. I wanted to speak now--to say something in my owndefence, as I thought of the Doctor's letter going to my mother, and ofher agony, then of my uncle learning this, and coming over. It seemedtoo terrible, and I tried to call the Doctor back, but no words wouldcome. I saw him descend slowly, and Mr Hasnip sign to the boys tofollow, after which, giving me a sad look, he too descended, leaving mealone with Mr Rebble, whose first words were so stern and harsh that Icould not turn to him and confide and ask his sympathy and help.
"This way, sir," he said sharply, and without a word I followed him downand across the stable-yard, passing cook at the door ready to give me apitying glance for being in disgrace.
Then, as if it was all a dream, I was led into the house, and up-stairsto a small room containing only one bed--a room whose window looked outaway toward the General's estates.
The door was closed behind me without a word, and as I stood there Iheard it locked and the key withdrawn, followed by Mr Rebble'sfootsteps along the passage, and then I threw myself down on the bed ina passion of rage against Mercer.
"You coward!" I cried, and as I ground my teeth I indulged in a wishthat I could have him there.
"Oh!" I cried, "only for half an hour, and then--" I did not finish mysentence, but bounded off the bed to stand up there alone, unconsciouslyenough in the position Lomax had taught me, and with my left hand raisedto strike.
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