"Yes, sir." The boy beckoned to Ralph. "Please come with me," he said, in troubled tones, as if he doubted whether Ralph would care about sharing the study with him.
"Have we got to be chums?" asked Ralph; and the other boy nodded.
"Yes. That is what we call it. It means sharing studies; but you need not speak to me if you don't want to, and I will not be in the study much. I am not as it is, for they are always disturbing me and spoiling my things."
"They! Who?" demanded Ralph; and the lad answered—
"The other chaps and the Fifths. Dobson, in ours, and Elgert of the Fifth, are the worst. They go in and spoil my things."
"They have no business to, of course?"
"Go in? No, of course not—only the two who chum have any right in it. Here we are, and—there, they are in now!"—as a scuffling and burst of laughter came from the inside of the study before which the boy had halted. "Oh, what are they doing! Will you stop until they have gone?"
"Not I," answered Ralph grimly. "That study is mine as well as yours, and I mean to see that we have it to ourselves, Charlton. Come on, and we will see what is up." And saying this, Ralph threw open the door and walked into the little room, followed by his companion.
A burst of laughter greeted Ralph's ears as he opened the study door, and some one said:
"Look sharp. Here he comes! Hurry up there, Elgert!"
But the laughter died away somewhat awkwardly when the boys saw that Charlton was not alone, and one or two of the boys came up to Ralph.
"Hallo, you new fellow! They surely haven't put you to chum with Charlton, have they? What a shame! I should kick against it. Some one else must make room for you."
Such were the remarks of those who had taken a fancy to Ralph, but he paid no heed to it all. He just calmly gazed round, as if counting the number of boys there and taking their measure; and then he quite as calmly shut the door, locked it, and put the key in his pocket. Those present looked in surprise for a moment—some laughed, and one, a tall, handsome boy, came haughtily up to him.
"What do you mean by that?" he demanded. "How dare you lock that door?"
Ralph regarded him with the utmost coolness. No one had told him who the boy was, and yet he seemed to know—he felt sure that this was none other than Horace Elgert himself.
"Wait a bit," he said calmly. "So far as I understand, this study belongs to Charlton and myself. We have a perfect right to lock the door."
"But not to lock us in," retorted Elgert. "Open it at once, and think yourself lucky that you don't get a licking for your impudence!"
"Steady!" was Ralph's answer. "It seems to me that if you had not been where you have no right to be, you would not have got locked in; and now that you are here, you must wait my pleasure as to going out."
This was beginning school life with a vengeance, but Ralph believed in settling things once and for all, and his indignation was hot as he saw what these half dozen lads had been doing.
But Horace Elgert was not a boy to be spoken to like that, and he came striding up to Ralph to take the key by force.
"I will soon settle you," he began, and he aimed a blow at this impertinent new boy's head, only somehow the blow did not get there. Ralph adroitly stepped aside, and the Honourable Horace Elgert stumbled to the ground violently.
"A fight! A fight!" cried the rest; but Ralph smiled and shook his head.
"Oh, no, my friends. I have something better to do, and this is not the place for fighting."
They were staggered. They could not understand this coolness and, moreover, they had all heard about Ralph having tackled the bull, and the story had grown somewhat. They stood considerably in awe of this boy from the Western plains, and they began to wish that they were anywhere else than in his study.
Horace Elgert got up, his face white with passion but he made no more attempts to take the key from Ralph.
"You are right," he said, in suppressed tones; "this is not the place to fight. Open the door, and we will soon settle things."
"Presently," was all the answer he got. "Now, then, let us see what you have been up to."
He glanced round at the books tumbled on the floor, at a desk upset, at an ink-bottle on its side, and then turned to his chum.
But Charlton was standing, looking very white, and staring at a picture on the wall—the picture of a lady, and beneath it some one had written—
"This is Charlton's mammy. But where is his daddy? Puzzle—Find daddy, and tell the police."
Ralph felt his nerves tingle. He felt sure that Elgert had done that, and he remembered the words of Lord Elgert respecting his own father.
"Who did that?" he said, and no one answered. He went up to Elgert. "Did you do it?"
"Well, if I did, what is it to do with you? Mind your own business!"
"Take that scrawl down. Quick, or I shall lose my temper, and then I fancy some one will get hurt! Down with it! That is right"—as the other, considerably startled, pulled the writing down. "Give it to me."
It was remarkable how the daring of the one lad held the half dozen in check. Elgert handed him the paper, and Ralph tore it up and threw the fragments into his face.
"Now then, you have upset this room. Just put it straight again, and look sharp about it!" he said. "And please to understand that Charlton and I are chums, and mean to stick together. Oh, and I want a word with you"—and he walked up to Dobson, who turned a trifle more pasty-looking than before. "Do you know what these are?"
Ralph produced two wads of chewed blotting-paper from his pocket as he spoke, and Dobson blustered—
"You keep to your chum, since you are so thick with him. I don't want anything to do with you. I say, you chaps, are you going to let him crow over you like this? Rush him!"
"Good advice; only, why don't you do the rushing first?" said Ralph. "I asked you if you recognized these. If you don't, I will tell you what they are—they are pieces of blotting-paper, which you chewed and then threw at me. They came out of your mouth,and they are going back there again—when I have mopped up this ink which you have spilt." Ralph suited the action to the word, and presented the two unpalatable-looking objects to Dobson, who was at once a coward and a bully. "Now, then, open your mouth!"
"I won't! Who do you think that you are? I—— Oh!"
For Ralph did not argue. He grabbed hold of Dobson, and with a quick jerk sent him backwards across the little study table.
"Oh, oh! You are breaking my back!" howled the bully.
"Open your mouth!"
"I won't! Oh, help me, you fellows—he will break my back! Oh! Ugh! Ow! I am choking!" For, just as he opened his mouth to yell, Ralph had pushed both those pieces of blotting-paper in.
"Now, then, take them," he said. "Quick, or it will be the worse for you!"
Dobson, with many queer grimaces, had to comply—it was the most unsavoury morsel which he had tasted for many a day.
Dobson had to comply
"Dobson, with many queer grimaces, had to comply." p. 49
"Now! Ah, I see that you have straightened things!" Ralph went on. "Now you chaps can go, and the next time you want to come into our study take my advice and ask leave, or there will be more trouble. Clear out!"
And he unlocked the door and flung it open.
And out those half dozen boys went, looking considerably crestfallen and stupid, and knowing also that they were cowards—they were all frightened by Ralph, so greatly does one of dauntless bearing affect a number.
But one boy turned, and that one was Horace Elgert, and he came back and gave Ralph look for look.
"Look here, you new fellow!" he said, "you have been very clever, but you have done a bad day's work for yourself. You have made one enemy at least. As for that insult which you offered me, you will have to fight me for it; and as for you, you miserable cub"—and he turned towards Charlton, who cowered back before his raised fist—"as for you, I will——"
"Hold hard—you will do nothing!" answered Ralph, with the utmost good humour. "You are talking tall, that is all about it. Now, take my advice, and go; and when you are calmer, you will see things differently. And then, as to fighting—well, I shall not run away in the meantime. Clear!"
And with that he shut the door and locked it behind his discomfited foes. Then, seating himself, he looked at the bewildered Charlton, and laughed again as he saw the look of admiration in his face.
"There, I think that has taught them a lesson! We shall not have them upset our study again," he said. "One must maintain one's rights, and we mayas well begin as we mean to go on. So this is our study, is it?"
"Yes, if you will share it with me," the other boy said. And Ralph answered—
"Share it? Of course I shall share it with you! Did not you hear Mr. Delermain say that we were to share it?"
"But most fellows don't like me, because—because——"
"Never mind why," interrupted Ralph, anxious to spare the boy's feelings. "I heard something about your father being gone; well, my father is gone, you know"—and Ralph's voice shook a little—"and so we two ought to be chums, and help each other. Then, I suppose that you know more than I do; for, except at roping a steer or rounding up a herd of cattle, I am afraid that I am not of much use. You will be able to help me on no end."
"What! I help you?" gasped Charlton. "How can I do that?"
"You know Greek and Latin, and goodness knows how much more, that I am only just at the beginning of, and you will be able to give me a hand with it. I want to get on and pick up things as quickly as I can."
"I might help you that way, if you would let me," the boy said doubtfully. And Ralph laughed.
"What a chap you are! Have I not told you that I shall be downright thankful: and there you keepon about if I will let you. Come, shake hands upon it! Charlton, we two are chums, and we are going to stick together and help each other. Is that so?"
"Yes, if you will. I shall be so glad to have a chum, because it has been rather lonely sometimes; and then, you see, I am not very strong, and I am not brave like you, and the fellows know it, and they try to play all sorts of tricks upon me. Do you really mean to be my chum, Rexworth?"
"Really and truly! Now, let us go down, and then you can show me what the place is like," was Ralph's answer. And the two, descending to the playground were met by Warren, who stopped and looked from Ralph to Charlton, and then asked—
"I say, Rexworth, what have you been up to so soon? There is Dobson declaring that he will do all manner of things to you. You seem to have been having some fun already."
So Ralph explained what had happened, and the monitor laughed until the tears ran down his cheeks.
"Well, all I can say is that you are a cool hand," was his comment, "and I am not sorry that you have taught Dobson a lesson. You have not much to fear from him, but you will find that Elgert, for all he is an Honourable, has precious little honour about him. He will pay you back if he gets the chance, be sure of that. However," he went on, "I am glad that youtwo are chums, for I think you will like each other; but there is the bell for tea. Come on, or we shall be late."
The rest of that day passed without further incident and at last the boys—evening preparation and supper over—went trooping to their dormitories, there to laugh and chat as they undressed; and many glances were bestowed upon Ralph. His exploit of that afternoon had been spoken of, and there was no attempt to play any jokes upon one who was prepared to take his own part so vigorously.
But presently the laughing suddenly stopped, and something like a hush of surprise succeeded the noise. Warren seated on the edge of his bed, looked round to see what had happened—he thought that one of the masters had come in unexpectedly; but he saw his companions standing glancing across towards the spot where Ralph's bed was, and he, following their gaze, saw that the boy who was ready to face half a dozen of his companions, was down on his knees, his head bent upon his hands in prayer.
Warren felt a thrill of shame. He was a real good lad at heart, but somehow he did not do that—none of them did—they thought that public prayers were enough; and yet he had promised his mother that each night he would kneel alone in prayer.
Some of the boys were tittering, some looked grave. Warren suddenly found himself resolved. "If a thing should be done, do it at once," was his motto. He gaveone hasty glance round, half ashamed, half defiant, and then, in the sight of all his companions, the Fourth Form monitor also knelt down by his bed, following the brave example set by Ralph Rexworth.
It was quite a common thing for new boys at Marlthorpe College to be made the victims of practical jokes during their first night in the school; but such was the impression which Ralph Rexworth had made, that no tricks were attempted with him. A boy who could take his own part so vigorously was not the sort that it was safe to take liberties with.
Nor was that the only reason. With Dobson and his friends it was quite sufficient, but with the better boys, that quiet kneeling down to pray had not been without effect. Some of them recognized that to do that might require more courage than to deal as he had done with those who had invaded his study—a moral courage, far greater and better than a physical; and they realized that a boy who possessed that courage was not a fit subject for stupid jokes.
So Ralph slept peacefully until the morning, when, used to early rising all his life, he opened his eyes before any of the other boys were awake.
At first he felt puzzled with his surroundings, but he soon remembered; and propping himself upon hiselbow he lay watching the faces of the others, wondering what sort of lads they would prove to be, and how he should get on with them, and whether he would be able to master the lessons which they were engaged upon.
Then he looked at Charlton, and thought how sad he looked, even in his sleep; and he noted how often he sighed. Perhaps he was dreaming of his father.
That sent him thinking of his own father, and the mystery of his fate; and he pondered whether it would ever be possible for him—a lonely boy in this strange land—to find out the truth concerning his parent's disappearance. But he was not altogether alone; it was wrong to think of himself in that light. God had given him a friend in Mr. St. Clive, and another in Mrs. St. Clive, and yet a third—a very nice, lovable third—in Irene! Ralph, who had never had anything to do with girls, thought Irene the sweetest, dearest little friend that it would be possible to find.
A bell rang, and his companions stretched and yawned and opened their eyes; and though some grunted and turned over again, determined to have every minute they could, several jumped up at once, and hastily pulling on their clothes began sluicing and splashing in good, honest, cold water.
"Hallo! Awake? Slept well?" queried Warren seeing that Ralph was preparing to follow the example of these last boys. "Any one try any games with you in the night?" And he came and sat down on Ralph'sbed, and grinned when the new boy answered that he had not been disturbed.
"I suppose they thought better of it. That is your basin!" he added, pointing to one washstand. "Mind that they don't take all the water, or you will either have to sneak another fellow's, or go and get some more for yourself. Look sharp, and then we will go and have a turn with the bells, and a spin afterwards, I like to get all I can before breakfast; it seems to set a fellow up for the day."
Ralph nodded, and began vigorously sluicing and polishing; and the boys, too busy about their own business, paid no attention to him. He was quite capable of looking after himself, in their opinion. At last, all ready to accompany the monitor, he quietly repeated his action of the previous night—he knelt down in prayer.
That staggered even Warren. As a whole, the boys were good lads, but even those who had been accustomed to evening prayers in their homes did not seem to think that morning prayers were quite as important. They wanted to scramble off to play as quickly as possible. The Head always read prayers in school, and that was enough; and here was this new fellow wasting precious time in this way!
A few sneered and giggled; some shrugged their shoulders, and ran off; some looked grave; and Warren sat nursing his foot, and pondering; while Charlton turned red.
But they made no remarks; and when Ralph rose from his knees, the three went out together. Warren was turning over a decidedly new leaf. If he had not annoyed Charlton before, he had left him pretty much alone, and now he was admitting him to his company. Well, Charlton was Rexworth's chum, and if he wanted Rexworth he must have the chum as well.
Charlton hardly expected the monitor to be friendly to him, but he waited for his chum, and Warren waited, too.
"Let us get down and have a try at the bells," suggested the monitor, leading the way. And Ralph inquired innocently—
"Ringing bells, do you mean?"
Whereat Warren stared, and felt just a little less respect for the new boy. What sort of a fellow could he be if he didn't know what dumb-bells were?
"Ringing bells?" he repeated. "No; dumb-bells—exercises, you know! Come on, I will show you."
"I never saw bells like those," was Ralph's comment, when a pair was produced. "How do you use them?"
Warren went through a set of exercises, and then handed them to Ralph, who laughed, and said—
"Why, they don't weigh anything! I don't see much exercise in this!"
"They are six-pounders," was the answer; "quite as heavy as you will want. Now try this exercise—do it a dozen times."
Warren showed Ralph the right way, and off he went;Charlton, who had also got a pair of bells, doing the same. And, to Ralph Rexworth's surprise, he found that those weights at which he had laughed soon made him feel tired, and that Charlton could keep on longer than he could. He could not understand that.
"I don't see why it should be," he said.
And a voice replied—
"Because you are exercising muscles which you have not tried much before, my lad." And he turned, to see Mr. Delermain watching him.
"Try again," said the master. "Only once; this sort of thing must be done gradually. Go slow, and take time."
Ralph obeyed: but dumb-bells certainly made his arms ache. And then Warren suggested Indian clubs.
"Indian clubs," repeated Ralph, "and what are they? I never saw the Indians use clubs. They have knives and hatchets, and spears and bows, and some of them use guns, too, and shoot wonderfully well; but I never saw them use clubs."
Now that speech caused a smile, but it was a very respectful smile; for here was a boy who had actually seen real Indians. That was something, even if he did not know what Indian clubs were!
However, the clubs were produced, and Ralph was shown how to swing them. And, as a natural result of his first attempt, he hit his head a smart crack, evoking a burst of laughter thereby.
"Slow and steady," he answered; "I shall get it in time. I don't understand these things; but if you get me a coil of rope, I will show you one or two little things that I do not think any of you can do."
"A coil of rope—that is easily supplied," said Mr. Delermain; and when it was brought, he said: "Now, Rexworth, let us see what you can do." And all the boys stood round while Ralph took the rope and made a running noose at one end.
"Give me plenty of room," he said, and he commenced to whirl the noose round and round his head, letting the rope run out as he did so; until at last he held the very end in his hand, and the rest was twirling round and round him in a perfect circle.
"One of you try to do that," he said.
And try they did, in vain. They could not even get it to go in a circle, and it made their arms ache dreadfully.
Then he made the circle spin round him on its edge just as if that rope was a hoop; and afterwards he actually jumped through it as it was going, explaining that the cowboys on the ranches frequently indulged in such tricks as these, and were experts at it—far more so than the Indians themselves.
Then nothing would do but that he must show them how a lasso was thrown. And though several, including the master, essayed to try, not one of them was able to send the noose over Ralph's shoulders, thoughhe caught them, one after the other, without the slightest trouble.
"It is what one is used to," he said laughing. "I have not had much to do with bells and clubs—nothing to do with them, indeed—but I have played with a rope all my life."
Dobson had come in with his friends, and he stood and glared. Elgert came in, and looked angry. This new boy was evidently on the way to become a favourite in the school, and, unless something was done, he might rival them. Though just then they did not speak to each other about it, both Dobson and Elgert arrived at the same conclusion—namely, that something should be done, and that Ralph Rexworth should be humbled and disgraced.
Then Warren suggested a spin, and of course Charlton went, and two or three other boys—who found Ralph very good company—had to come too; and since they did come, they could not ignore the boy they had all neglected in the past. Poor Charlton, he could hardly understand it, it almost frightened him!
It was delightful out in the fields, in the fresh morning, with the dew still sparkling on the leaves, and with the air full of the songs of the wild birds. There is a charm and sweetness and delight about the early morning which they who are late risers have no idea of. It sets the nerves tingling and the blood dancing, and makes one feel as if he were walking on air, and not on solid earth.
Away they went across the playing field, and out on the common, on towards Great Stow; arms well back, shoulders square, bodies gently sloped, going with good, long, swinging strides.
Ralph was in his element now, for running, equally with rope work, was an accomplishment practised by all those amongst whom he had lived. A very necessary accomplishment, seeing that the ability to run swiftly, and to keep up without fagging, might mean all the difference between life and death in a land where the natives were quarrelsome and quite ready to go upon the warpath upon the least provocation.
Some of the boys outstripped him at the first go off, but he kept on running low, swinging well from the hips, and those who had gone with a spurt at first soon found that he could, to use Warren's expression, "run circles round them, and then beat them hollow."
But presently Ralph slackened his speed, for he had noticed that Charlton was fagged, and he—having pledged himself to be the boy's chum—was not going to desert him. The rest were by no means sorry to stop; for though their pride would not allow them to give in, they had all had nearly enough of it. And panting, laughing, happy in all their youthful strength and spirits, they pulled up and wiped the perspiration from their foreheads.
"Let us go over to Tibb's Farm, and get a drink of milk; and then we must be getting back, or weshall get slated and be late for breakfast, and that won't do," directed Warren, and the others agreed.
The farm was but a short distance away, and it was evident that this visit was nothing out of the ordinary; for the farmer's wife smiled, and produced tumblers of milk and wedges of cake, and charged the boys a penny each—which certainly was not exorbitant.
And the way they got rid of that cake! And they were going home to breakfast!—ay, and would be able to eat it, too, cake notwithstanding! So much results from getting up early!
Perhaps it was because of his exhibition with the rope—perhaps it was the run; but as Ralph sat there his thoughts went back to his trouble.
How often had he been out in the early morning on the hot plains alone with his father! And how once when the grass caught fire, they had to run for dear life and take shelter in the creek until the fiery sea had swept by! And now, now, where—oh, where—was that father? It would come back, try to be as brave as he would. It would come back, and his heart would suddenly fill with pain, and cry out for that lost father.
"Time's up!" sang out Warren, stuffing the last of his cake into his mouth. "Now, you fellows, come on!"
Off they went with a whoop and hallo! Perhaps not quite so fast now, for cake and milk interfere somewhat with scudding. And Ralph, now with hischum and Warren, suddenly stopped, staring hard on the ground.
His companions could see nothing, and looked at him in surprise. Their eyes had never been trained to read the surface of the earth. But Ralph had suddenly lighted upon a freshly made trail. A trap had gone along here—a light trap, like that which had left those other traces in Stow Wood; and this trap, like that again, had been drawn by a horse lame in its left forefoot!
"What's the matter, Rexworth?"
So queried Warren. Ralph was standing anxiously looking around. He was perplexed, and did not know what he ought to do. These marks might afford him a clue to the mystery of his father's disappearance; and yet the chance seemed but slight, there were more horses than one going lame in one leg. If he stopped he would be late for school, and he did not want to get into disgrace.
He could not explain to his companions, for he saw that if he was ever to succeed he must keep his secrets to himself. A casual word, heedlessly dropped, that he was looking for a lame horse which drew a light trap might be enough to make the owner of horse and trap very careful that he should not be traced.
"It was nothing," he said slowly. "I was thinking."
"Then don't stop to think now," was the advice he received. "We have been a little too far. You scudded along so, and we tried to beat you. We cannot waste any more time. Come on."
He went on with his friends. He felt that it wasright to do so. Moreover, the man with the horse and trap must be in the locality still, and if he was not scared off, those tracks would be made again, perhaps even more clearly, and Ralph might then have better opportunity of following them. It was the right thing to go back to the school now.
"I say," suddenly queried Warren, as they hurried on. "Has Elgert said anything more to you?"
"No; I have not seen him, except just as we were coming out, when he came into the gymnasium."
"Well, he is bound to do so, after what happened yesterday. I do not see how he can help it, or how you can avoid it. You will have to fight him, Rexworth."
"I am sorry to hear you say that, for I don't want to be fighting if I can help it, and I would far rather be friends with——" He paused. He was going to say "friends with him." But that was not true. He felt that, apart from anything which had happened yesterday, he could not be friends with the son of a man who had said that his father was a thief.
"I don't want to fight him," he said slowly; and Warren nodded.
"I know; but if he challenges you, what then?"
Ralph looked grave. No boy likes to be thought a coward; but still he did not want to fight.
"If I can get out of it I shall," he said: and the monitor looked just a trifle disappointed, while one or two of the boys laughed.
"It is not that I am afraid of him," Ralph said hastily. "It is that I don't want to begin fighting, if I can avoid it."
"For goodness' sake, then, keep out of his way, and don't let him get to know that, for if Elgert thinks that he can do it without the chance of a row following, he is bound to challenge you. He is bound to, anyhow, so far as I can see, and it won't be nice for a fellow in the Fourth to refuse a challenge from the Fifth. If it was one of the youngsters in the Third, it would be different. No one would say that we were frightened to fight them; but in the Fifth they are bound to say that it was fear, and—— Hurry up, you chaps, there is the bell going!"
A scamper, fast as they could go, and they trooped in to breakfast, so hungry, spite of cake and milk, that not even the troubled question of the probable challenge could disturb their appetites. Only Warren looked across to where Horace Elgert sat, and he muttered to himself—
"I wish that we hadn't talked of it before the others. If one of them lets out that Rexworth will not fight, Elgert is sure to make no end of it. I understand why Rexworth don't like it, and it is all right, but still—oh, he will have to fight, like it or not, and that is all about it."
Morning lessons occupied their thoughts after breakfast, and Ralph found himself quite eager tomaster the things which, while they were hard to him, seemed easy to his companions. He had already determined that he would excel with dumb-bells and Indian clubs, and now it was just the same with lessons. He hated to be beaten, and he was not going to be beaten.
And already he reaped the reward of having put in a couple of hours' study the evening before, with Charlton to lend him a hand. He was praised by Mr. Delermain, and rose rapidly from the bottom of the class towards the top, and, thanks to his firmness the day before, he had no more of the unpleasantness with Dobson, who remained persistently at the very bottom of the class.
Slow and steady, he found the best way, doing each thing thoroughly, and thinking only of one thing at a time; and that is always the best way, not only to learn, but to do everything in life.
He was quite surprised when the bell rang—the morning seemed to have slipped away, and he put his books away and went, Charlton with him, into the playground.
"I don't know how I should have got on if you had not helped me last night, and I am very much obliged to you," he said. And the other boy smiled. It was very nice to hear any one say that he had been of use to them.
The pair sauntered across the playground, and presently they saw that Horace Elgert and some ofhis chums were coming towards them, and Ralph stopped, a strange, firm look on his face, and awaited his approach.
Up the others came, and Elgert, hands in pockets, addressed him—
"I want a word with you. You know what we have got to do. You cheeked me last night, and you have got either to thrash me or be thrashed."
Elgert spoke very confidently, for, as Warren had feared, he had heard that it was unlikely that Ralph would fight him.
"It is this, then," replied Ralph quietly. "You mean that we have got to fight?"
Elgert looked round and laughed. A whole lot of the boys had come up, seeing them standing there, and knowing what they would be talking about.
"Hear him!" he said. "How innocent! He cheeks me last night, and then asks if I mean we have got to fight! Yes, I do mean it! After afternoon school, the other side of the playing-field; and make up your mind for a thrashing!"
"I have not the slightest wish to fight you. I was going to say that I had not any intention of fighting you," said Ralph.
And some of the boys groaned, and muttered "Coward!"
"I don't care whether you have wish or intention," replied Elgert, in truculent tones. "I have bothwish and intention of thrashing you, and so you have got to put up with it, and afterwards beg my pardon. Do you hear that?"
"I hear," was the quiet reply.
And Ralph's eyes sparkled slightly.
"Very well. This afternoon, the other side of the playing-field; and you mind that you are there, for it will be worse for you if I have to come and find you! That is all."
And round swung Elgert on his heel and walked off, leaving Ralph standing unmoved by his angry, insulting tones.
But if Ralph was unmoved, his companions in the Fourth were not, and Warren said, almost entreatingly, as he caught hold of Ralph's arm—
"Look here, Rexworth, you must fight him after that! It is no good talking, you must fight him!"
A statement which was received with approval by all the others there.
"Well," said Ralph, "if I must, I must. I don't want to, though."
"But for the honour of the class you must, or we shall never hear the last of it from them. You will meet him where he said?"
"Not I!" laughed Ralph. "If I must fight, I must; but I am not going to be ordered about by him; and I am not going to do anything which makes it look as though I were a party to the fight. If he wants me, he must come and find me, as hethreatened to do. There, we will say no more about it now."
"He will do it all right," reflected Warren. "Elgert will find that he has gone a trifle too far."
The afternoon passed away in study, and whatever any of the others may have felt of anxiety or interest in the likelihood of the fight, certainly Ralph did not let it trouble him. He was engaged with some sums which worried him a trifle, and when once one of his neighbours whispered to him in reference to the combat, Ralph glared at him, and requested him to be quiet in a manner which there was no gainsaying. One thing at a time with Ralph.
But when the work of the day was finally over, he strolled calmly into the playground, calling to Charlton to accompany him. Charlton, who looked so terribly anxious, realized that Ralph must fight, and yet dreaded the issue, for Elgert was no mean foe. Charlton, who, in self-reproach, thought that it was all his fault—that it was only because Ralph had stood up for him concerning the study.
"I say, Charlton, I want you just to show me how to get on with cricket," Ralph said. "Every one seems to play; but I cannot make anything out of it, except that you have to hit the ball, and run if you can."
Charlton beamed; this was a delightful experience for him, and he at once led the way to the playroom, and secured one of the school sets.
"Come in!" he said. "I will soon explain the rulesto you, and you can try batting. I will bowl for you as long as you like."
Perhaps Ralph was conscious that he was being covertly observed by many anxious eyes; but he gave no sign, nor did he move a hairsbreadth when presently he saw Horace Elgert coming in his direction, a curious and somewhat eager crowd at his heels.
"Go on, Charlton, don't stop," he said very quietly, for his chum had stopped, and was fingering the ball nervously. "Fire away!"
The lad would have obeyed, but Elgert had arrived, and he gripped the weaker lad's arm and twisted the ball out of his hand.
"You clear off!" he said. "We don't want one of your sort here."
But Ralph remarked quietly—so very quietly: "Charlton, you stay where you are."
"Be off!" again said Elgert; and raised his hand, to find that not Charlton but Ralph was before him, and to hear that quiet voice say again—
"Charlton, if you budge an inch, I'll thrash you myself. Neither you nor I can be ordered about, unless the fellow who does the ordering is able to enforce his demands."
Elgert paused then. He was not a coward, but there was something very disconcerting in this quiet bearing, especially when he called to mind the fact that Ralph had not been frightened the evening before.He had determined to fight, and then he had heard that Ralph was afraid, and he had acted upon that information; and now Ralph was not afraid, not in the least. And indeed, instead of being afraid, he was asking, still quietly—
"Now, Horace Elgert, I am tired of this rubbish. What do you mean by it?"
"Didn't I tell you to come and meet me the other side of the playground?"
"Yes. And I decline to do anything of the sort. When people want me, they generally come to me, not order me to go to them."
"Well, I have come: and now I am going to thrash you!"
"I see. Start right away; don't wait for me!"
Some of the Fourths laughed. This was quite unexpected. Elgert was manifestly disappointed, but he turned red.
"We don't generally fight here," he said. "Will you come over?"
"No, I will not. I will not budge an inch. I don't want to fight; but if you start it, it must be here. And if you don't stand aside and let us go on with our game there will be trouble!"
"You fellows can laugh!" suddenly blazed Elgert, turning towards the grinning Fourths. "A nice thing to laugh at! He has got the proper chum—that's one thing! We all know about Charlton,and why no one will chum with him; and this chap is not much better. I saw my pater at dinner-time, and a fine way he was in when I told him of the new boy we had.
"You know the yarn he told about his father disappearing? Where has he gone to? People don't disappear in England, unless they want to! My pater says that a burglar broke into our house, and that he fired at him and hit him; and he says, from the description, that the burglar must have been the man that came to Stow Ormond with this chap, and passed as his father, and——"
"Stop!" said Ralph, very quietly still, but with an ominous expression of face.
But Elgert laughed contemptuously.
"Why, I don't know that I would soil my hands fighting with the son, or the associate, of a thief!" he said.
And then, suddenly forgetting everything in the feeling of hot indignation which overwhelmed him, Ralph Rexworth raised his hand, and in a moment his taunting enemy lay prostrate on the ground.
"Hurrah!"
"Bravo, Rexworth!"
"Now, you Fifths, does your man want to fight?"
Such were the gleeful shouts of the Fourth when they beheld Horace Elgert on the ground. And the Fifths, alarmed for the honour of their class, rushed to pick up their fallen champion, saying—
"Don't make such a row! Of course he will fight. Get over to the other side, where we shall not be seen, and we will come!"
But Ralph would not listen to any such arguments. He stood there, looking down at his fallen foe, and he said shortly—
"You fellows will please to mind your own business! I am going nowhere to fight until this chap has apologized, then, if a fight is wanted, we will move!"
"But you cannot fight here! The Head will see us!" cried a score of voices.
"I cannot help that! This fellow has told a lie about my father, and he has got to unsay it, or take the consequences! I suppose that he thinks I wasafraid because I tried to avoid a fight the very first day of being at school. Well, I am not afraid! If he had only talked about me I might have taken no notice, but when he comes to speaking as he has done he is going too far, and he has got to take back his words now, or finish it here!"
Meanwhile, Elgert had struggled to his feet, and he looked dazed from the effects of the blow, while his face was already growing swollen and discoloured.
"Stand aside!" he said hoarsely. "I will fight him here! If the Head himself were looking on, I would fight him!"
"You are a pair of fools!" muttered a Fifth-Form monitor. "We shall be spotted, for a certainty, and all of us get carpeted for this! Go calmly, you silly fellow, or he will smash you!" and he broke off in his complaint to give this last advice to Elgert, who had rushed at his opponent, mad with pain and anger, and had gone down for the second time!
"Look out! I knew how it would be! Here comes the Head!" shouted one boy; and a hurried rush took place, leaving the two boys and Warren and Charlton alone when the master reached the spot.
"Elgert! Rexworth!" he exclaimed in tones of displeasure. "What does this mean? You, too, Warren! You, a monitor of the Fourth, and encouraging a new boy in fighting! I am displeased, indeed!"
"It is my fault, in one way, sir," replied Ralph,without waiting for the others to speak. "Elgert said something concerning my father which angered me, and I struck him. He wanted me to come across the playground and fight where we would not be seen, but I was angry, and would not do so."
Something like a smile played across the grave face for a moment as the Head heard this speech.
"You boys seem to think that if I do not see you fight no offence is committed. You do not recognize the fact that fighting in itself is poor, and low, and degrading. I know that boys settle their quarrels in this manner, but I decry it. Now, the fact of fighting here is a double offence, for you are within sight of my study window. I am sorry that it has happened, but I will overlook it on condition that you and Elgert shake hands."
"I cannot do that, sir," was Ralph's respectful answer; and Elgert on his part, said:
"I will not do it!"
"Boys, boys! 'Cannot,' and 'will not!' Neither expression is seemly! You will go to your respective studies and remain there until you are in better minds!"
"It is not that I am angry, sir," Ralph said, very respectfully. "This boy has said that my father is a common thief!" Ralph's voice shook just a little as the words came. "He says that his disappearance is due to that! You must see, sir, that I cannot shake hands with him after that!"
"Elgert, what have you to say to this?" demanded the Head sternly; and Elgert stammered—
"I didn't exactly say that, sir."
"Yes, you did!" blurted Warren. "He did say it, sir, and he has been trying to get up this fight! It is no use denying it. It began because Rexworth turned him and some more out of the study he shares with Charlton. They say enough unkind things about him," he added. "There was a bit of a bother, and Elgert got knocked over, and he challenged Rexworth to fight him after school to-day. Rexworth, would not do it, and he said that if a fight was forced upon him it should be wherever he chanced to be at that moment. Elgert came here and began sneering and saying unkind things, and then Rexworth struck him, and that is all the truth. I know that I ought to have tried to stop it, but we and the Fifth don't get on well, and so—and so——"
"Because of class rivalry you allowed your companion to fight. It is not right, Warren! Monitors should try to enforce the rules, not to break them. Elgert, you will do me two hundred lines, and be good enough to remember that if I consider any boy fit to become a scholar here it is not for you to make such statements as you appear to have done."
"I only said what my father told me!" sulkily answered Elgert; and the Head frowned.
"What you and your father may say in private is no concern of mine, Elgert," he replied coldly;"what you repeat in public here is another matter, with which I have to do! Do your imposition and bring it to me before class to-morrow, and mind that I have no more of this. You other lads, I will overlook this in your case this time, seeing that it appears that violent provocation was given; but, mind, there must be no more fighting in the playground boundaries! See that I am obeyed!" And the Head turned away.
"Don't think that we have finished yet!" said Horace Elgert, looking darkly at Ralph. "I will have my revenge for this, as sure as you are standing there!" and, with that he went.
And the three Fourth-Form boys went indoors; while the rest of the lads, who had scattered, came back eagerly discussing what punishment the offenders would receive.
And the general verdict was, "It served Elgert right, and that he had no business to have spoken as he had done!"
"But suppose it is right?" queried one lad. "You know, there is something queer about it!"
"Something very queer," said another; "but that story is all nonsense! My dad knows Mr. St. Clive very well, and he told him all the story and how there was plenty of money in Mr. Rexworth's possession. Besides, any one with eyes can see that Rexworth is a gentleman, even if he has some strange ways through living abroad. Elgert is too fond of thinking he isall the world and every one else dirt beneath his feet. It serves him jolly well right!"
"Well, there is one thing," admitted a third boy, "that fellow Rexworth may be queer in some ways, but he is no fool when it comes to a scrimmage, and he knows how to defend himself! I don't think any of us are likely to try for a row with him after what we have seen!"
Meanwhile, Ralph, ignorant of the criticisms which were being made in his favour, had gone to his own study. He felt sorry for what had occurred, and the cruel words which had been spoken had gone like arrows to his heart and brought back all his trouble. He felt like running away to Mrs. St. Clive and getting her to comfort him.
And then Charlton came in, very gently, as if half afraid to intrude his presence upon his chum. He came and bent over Ralph's chair, putting one hand on his shoulder, and whispered—
"Ralph, I am so sorry! Don't you worry about it!"
Ralph looked up, and a brave smile came to his lips.
"Hallo! Is it you, Charlton?" he said. "No, I won't worry about it; but I am sorry that I have commenced my school life so badly. There, we won't think of it any more! If you are not busy, you might just lend me a hand with to-morrow's exercises. If it were speaking French or Spanish, I should be allright, but I don't seem to understand Latin in the slightest."
"Let us go through it," replied Charlton eagerly. "I shall be glad to do it."
So troubles were forgotten, and the chums bent over the table and soon became absorbed in their task. Learning lessons is not anything like so bad when you put your heart into it.
So the evening passed, and bed-time came; and once more Ralph knelt down to offer up his evening prayers. And not only Warren and Charlton, but some other boys followed his example now, for his action had reproached them and made them think soberly of things which they had been careless about all too long.
But Ralph was not easy in his mind. Somehow, he felt that he had no kindly thought for Elgert—and he had been praying to be forgiven, as he forgave his enemies! That was a very troublesome thought, and it was still in his mind when he fell asleep.
* * * * *
What was that noise?
Ralph Rexworth sat up in bed, and listened. Accustomed to wake at the slightest noise that might betoken danger, and to wake with all his senses about him, he had been disturbed by a strange, scraping sound, the cause of which he could not think of.
Only one dim point of light burnt in the dormitory, and all was still there save for the breathing of thesleepers. It was no sound of that sort which had awakened him.
There it was again—outside! He remembered having heard a sound like that once before—when the Indians had risen and come to attack the ranch. He had laid and listened to them as they crawled over the tops of the sheds, and the sound was like that! It was from outside! He rose, and creeping to the window, he lifted one corner of the blind, and peeped out.
Nothing there—stay, that was wrong! Surely that was a ladder propped against the wall? What was a ladder doing there, for there was none there the evening before! And the window there was open! Some one must have got in at that window!
Was it one of the boys who had been up to mischief, or, it seemed absurd, was some thief breaking in? Thieves did not, as a rule, break into schools!
He was half inclined to raise an alarm. But the thought came, that if this was some midnight escapade on the part of some of the boys, to do that might be to get them into disgrace—to make more enemies, and to interfere in what did not concern him.
That was a window just outside the Fifth-Form dormitory, too! Elgert might be in it, and he did not want to be the means of getting him into any more trouble.
But suppose that it was a thief? Ralph crept to the door and opened it noiselessly. He peered down the corridor, but nothing was to be seen or heard.
Stop! Surely he did hear a faint sound—a very faint sound! He felt that he must go and see; a strange, uneasy feeling had possessed him; a strange presentiment that all was not right.
He crept down the passage, and turned towards the Fifth-Form dormitory, and a breath of cold air met him. The window was open, and the top of a ladder could be seen—and the door of the dormitory was open also!
With cautious, stealthy steps he crept on, pausing once when the boards creaked beneath his weight. There was something eerie in being here alone at midnight; it was worse than being out alone on the plains.
He reached the door, and peered into the dormitory with its long row of sleeping boys there. There was nothing here in the shape of a lark going on. All was still and silent.
There was his enemy lying asleep, his handsome face just catching a glimmer of moonlight which found its way through the blind; and as Ralph looked he saw a strange apparition—a man slowly appeared, rising at the side of the bed! A man with pillow in his hands, which he was about to press down upon that sleeping boy! A man going to murder Horace Elgert!
Like a flash the truth burst upon the watching boy, and, with a loud cry, he threw the door wide open and rushed into the dormitory.
"Thieves!"
"Fire!"
"Help! Help!"
The whole house was aroused. The cries of confusion and alarm coming from the Fifth Form dormitory were repeated by others who, entirely ignorant as to what was the matter, and aroused from slumber by the noise, tumbled from their beds and rushed out wildly, under the impression that nothing less than the house being ablaze could account for the cry.
The doctor and masters came hurrying to the spot; and while the Head ran to the Fifth Form room, the master got the other boys into something like order, ready to be marched quietly downstairs if the alarm of fire should prove to be well founded.
The first thing that the doctor noted was the open window and the ladder, and the next, that a confused babel of sound was going on in the Fifth's room; and as he strode to the door he was met, full tilt, by a boy with torn clothes, apparently seeking to free himself from the grasp of half a dozen Fifth Form boys.To his bewilderment, the Head saw that this boy was his new scholar, Ralph Rexworth.
His strong hand gripped the boy's arm, and his voice thundered out a command for silence, which the boys obeyed all save Ralph, who cried—
"If you do not follow him at once, he will be off, sir! These fellows stopped me, and he has got a good start!"
"He! Who?" cried the Head. And the boy replied—
"The man who was in the Fifth, sir. He knocked me down, and bolted; and then the boys woke, and got me, and would not let me go!"
"You have been dreaming, boy. Silence, all! Kesterway, you are head monitor. Explain to me! All boys from other Forms back to their rooms; there is no cause for any alarm. At once, please! Now, Kesterway!"
"I can tell you nothing, sir. I heard a noise, and woke; and there was Elgert, and one or two others holding a boy who kicked and struggled; and just as I jumped out of bed and ran round, he broke away and rushed for the door."
"It was Rexworth, sir!" cried one boy. "He was in our room trying to play some trick upon Elgert. They have been having a row, sir."
"Will you have the goodness to hold your tongue, sir!" exclaimed the master, a trifle irritably; and the boy subsided at once.
"Elgert, what have you to say? Did this boy attempt to play any tricks on you?"
"Yes, sir! I was asleep and I was aroused by a violent cry and a blow, and some one was struggling on my bed, as if he had jumped on and was trying to hold me down; I gripped hold of him, and found it was Rexworth. The other fellows woke, and began crying out; and then, when they found who it was that had made the row, they got angry and went for him!"
"That will do. Now you, sir, what have you to say? Speak up, and tell the truth! Why have you disturbed the whole household in this disgraceful manner?"
So the doctor asked, and terribly angry did he look; but very different was his expression when he had heard Ralph's story. It sounded incredible that any one should attempt to enter the school for the deliberate purpose of injuring any boy; and he would have put the story down as a fabrication, but there was the plain evidence in the shape of the open window and the ladder.
If Ralph had invented it, he must have managed to leave the house, drag the ladder across the playground, raise it to the window, and then go back and open that window; and that also seemed absolutely impossible.
"I saw the man, sir!" the lad said; "he was creeping on his hands and knees, and when he got to Elgert'sbed he got up, and he had a pillow. He was going to smother Elgert. He dropped the pillow when I shouted and ran in. It is by the bed now. I tried to clutch him, sir, but he was too strong. He struck me, and knocked me over on top of Elgert, and then they held me and actually let him escape. He darted away like a flash, sir; and I expect that he is far enough away by now!"
Bewilderment, incredulity, wonder, all were depicted upon the faces of those who listened; but Elgert actually laughed in the Head's presence, and asked how any one could be expected to believe such a story.
"Who is there who would want to harm me, sir?" he said. "Why, it is really absurd to think of such a thing! I have had a row with this boy, as you know, and I suppose that he wanted to play a trick on me, and quite forgot the row that would be made."
"Be good enough to keep your remarks to yourself, until I ask for your opinion, Elgert!" said the Head sternly. "Now, all you boys, back to bed! In the morning I will go into the matter properly. To bed at once!"
It was all very well to say "to bed," but "to sleep" was quite another matter. Sleep seemed banished from most eyes; and in the Fourth, Ralph was plied with question after question, until at last he positively refused to talk any more.
Truth to tell, Ralph was somewhat disgusted. Hehad done more than most boys would have risked; and had it not been for him, Elgert would have been murdered, and this was the best thanks he received!
And yet, as he thought of it, it seemed quite natural to him. After all, it was a very mysterious business; and if people did not believe it, it was not to be wondered at. He would wait patiently until the morning; and then, if the doctor did not believe him, it would not be his fault.
And when morning came, and breakfast was over, the Head sent for Ralph, and again listened to his story, and questioned him closely; and he felt convinced that the boy was indeed speaking the truth.
That only perplexed him the more; a foolish joke would be understandable, but a deliberate attempt to harm one of the boys under his charge was a thing which he could not by any means comprehend.
He went into the playground and surveyed the ladder; it had been left just where it was. He went to the boundary wall and examined that, and there was a stain of blood—some one, in hastily getting over, must have cut his hand upon the broken glass with which it was finished off. He felt, beyond question, that Ralph's tale was true. Some one had been there, but who that some one was, was a mystery indeed.
But the doctor was a just man, and as he had thrown some doubt upon Ralph's story, he summoned the entire school, and told them he was quite satisfiedthat what Ralph had said happened was absolutely true.
"Mysterious as it is, I feel satisfied that one of our number has been in dreadful peril, while he was innocently sleeping; and it is to the goodness of God that he owes his preservation. God, Who made Ralph Rexworth wake up and look from the window and then go to the help of Elgert! And I trust," he added gently, "that this circumstance may make the two chief actors in this incident better friends! I am sorry to know that they are not very friendly, but I hope that they will be so in the future!"
So the affair ended—so far as public investigation went, though it was talked over again and again by the boys. The Head communicated with the police, and a detective came down; and however much he may have been bewildered and ready to put it down to the tricks of schoolboys, yet after he had seen the ladder and the bloodmark, and heard Ralph tell his story, he also had to admit that the boy was undoubtedly telling the truth, and that the school had been entered in the manner described.
But Ralph worried over it. The very mystery surrounding it brought back the mystery of his father's disappearance. He pondered all day over it, until he felt weary and angry with himself; and he hailed the close of school with delight, suggesting to his chum and Warren that they should go for a good long walk, a proposal with which they immediately agreed.
"Now, look here," said Ralph, when the trio had started, "there is only one thing; for mercy's sake don't talk about that business of last night! I am fairly tired of it, and I want to forget it if I can!"
"All right, old chap," answered Warren, with a laugh; "let us go into the woods and see if we can find anything worth taking in the way of specimens. I got two lovely orange-tips there the other day, and some silly fellow went and knocked over my setting-board, and spoilt them both!"
"The woods be it," answered Ralph readily.
And so they sought the green, cool, shady glades, where the wild birds were so tame, and where such splendid butterflies and dragon flies were to be captured.
They wandered hither and thither, enjoying the quiet sylvan beauty; and presently, stretched on the grass, they spoke of the difference of this scene to that which Ralph had known in his younger days; and Warren lay flat on his back, and asked question after question concerning the wild people of the great Texan plains.
"I didn't know that there were any Indians left," the monitor confessed; and Ralph laughed.
"Plenty of them; and then there are the Gauchos—they are of Spanish descent, and they are for ever fighting with the Indians. It is very different living out there; and, even in the towns, men seldom go about unarmed."
"Pleasant," was Warren's remark. "I think that I will stop where I am; even if we do get midnight visitors now and again."
"I say, that subject is forbidden," laughed Ralph.
And then he was silent so long that, presently, Warren asked him what he was thinking of, and Ralph sighed.
"Something that is hardly ever out of my thoughts," he answered gravely. "Speaking of my old home brought it back——"
"Your father?" queried Warren; and Ralph nodded.
"It must be precious hard for you," the monitor said. "I think that if I were in your place I should go silly."
"No, you would do what I do, old fellow; just pray to God to bring things right. I felt bad at first, and it was Mrs. St. Clive who taught me to be brave."
"I like her," remarked Warren, with a nod. "She is awfully nice, Ralph. I wonder if ever you will hear anything about your father?"
"Yes," came the confident answer. "I feel sure that I shall; and sometimes, Warren, it may seem strange, but it comes to me that he is not dead, and that he will come back!"
"But if he were not dead he would not have gone off and left you all alone like this," objected Warren. "I should not think that."
"He may not be able to help it. There, we won'ttalk of it; only I cannot help thinking like that sometimes. Where is Charlton?"
The question brought the fact out that they were alone; their companion had gone off and left them there while they were talking.
"Now, where has that silly chap got to?" queried Warren, sitting up.
"Gone after a butterfly, perhaps. He will soon be back."
"But it is time that we began to move. He is such a silly fellow that he is as like as not to go and lose himself. Hallo! Charlton! Charlton! Coo-ee! Charlton!"
They paused and waited, but no reply came; and Warren got up, a trifle cross.
"Of all the silly kites!" he said. "What trouble has he got into now? Charlton, I say, where are you?"
"Better let us go and have a look for him," said Ralph; and the two started, Warren grumbling all the way, until in response to their shouts, they heard an answering call, and saw their companion appear.
"Well, you stupid!" began Warren; but Ralph checked him, for the other boy looked scared and pale.
"Why, what is the matter?" he asked. "You look as if you had been scared. Has any one frightened you?"
"I! Any one frightened me? Oh, no!" answered Charlton quickly. "How silly! Who could be withme? I got lost—and lost my head! I felt a little afraid, until I heard you call."
"We have been shouting for the last half hour!" grumbled Warren. "Come along! We shall be late for tea!"
But Ralph said nothing. He was puzzled. The spot where they stood was damp and clayey; and on the soft ground were the imprints of two pairs of feet, going towards the bushes from which Charlton had emerged. Of those footprints, one set was a boy's, and evidently made by his chum; the other set was a man's.