Dr. Jolliffe's Boys Part 18

"You are sure?"

"Positive, sir."

"And the five-pound note was not taken?"

"No, sir; that was left."

"Was it in the same compartment of the purse as the gold and silver?"

"No, sir; but it could be seen if the purse was opened, and why it was not taken too I cannot imagine."

"That is not so difficult of explanation. But now I must ask you a painful question; but it is your bounden duty to answer it without reserve. Have you any suspicions as to who may have taken it?"

"None whatever, sir. I am almost certain that there was not a boy in the house. I was the last to remain in. Indeed I found all but three in the football field, and I know where they were, for I saw them playing at fives as I pa.s.sed the court. At least two were playing, and the third, who had hurt his foot, was looking on."

"Do you mean to say, for it is necessary to be accurate, that you recognised every boy in the house except these three in the football field yourself?"

"Not exactly, sir; but we have been talking the matter over, and those whom I did see can answer for all the rest."

"And who were the three boys in the Fives Court?"

"I was the looker-on, sir," said Gould, stepping forward.

"And when did you leave?"

"When the others left off play, sir. We all returned together at tea- time."

"That is right, sir," said Smith and Simmonds. "We were the two playing at fives, and Gould went and returned with us." (Of course it is not meant that they said all this together, in chorus, as people do in a play; but they both stood forward, and Smith was the spokesman.)

"And now, Crawley," resumed the doctor, "are you sure that the money was not taken _after_ your return. You left your room again, perhaps, before the meeting?"

"Yes, I did for a short time, sir; but then I had the keys in my pocket; and the box was fairly unlocked. There are no marks of violence; and it's a Brahma, so, whoever did it, must have had the right key."

"I am very glad that all the boys in my house seem able to prove so clear an _alibi_," said the doctor. "That will do."

When they had all dispersed Dr Jolliffe made inquiries amongst the servants. The fat cook indignantly demanded that her boxes should be searched; but one coin of the realm is so like another that there did not appear to be much object in that, beyond the pleasure of inspecting a very smart bonnet in reserve for Easter, and other articles of apparel. The maids who waited on the boys were very much cut up about it. They never went near the rooms after they had once cleaned them up in the morning till supper-time, when they turned down the beds (which were set on end, and shut up to look like cupboards during the day), and filled the jugs and cans with fresh water, etcetera. But it was impossible for them to prove their absence during those two hours--from three to five--so clearly as the boys could, though they could testify to one another's not having been away for many minutes at a time. It was extremely unpleasant for them, and for the butler and another man- servant in a less degree also, for, though they had no business to go into the boys' part of the house, it was possible that they might have gone there without having any business.

But there was no reason to conclude that anyone residing in the house at all was the guilty party; any person could walk in from the street at any hour. Itinerants often pa.s.sed through the place with mice, squirrels, and other things, which they tried to sell to the boys, and one of these might have slipped up-stairs. But, no; a man like that would not have known that there was likely to be money in that particular box; it certainly looked more like the action of someone who had good information.

Such were the speculations and reasonings which were rife in Weston for the next few days; and then the topic began to grow stale, for no one had been seen hanging about the house that afternoon, and there was no satisfactory peg upon which to hang conjecture. One hard fact remained; poor Crawley was answerable for four pounds twelve s.h.i.+llings which had been stolen from him, and this came at a time when he was particularly anxious to spend as little money as possible. He did not make much fuss about it, and only to Buller, his friends.h.i.+p with whom grew stronger the more they knew of one another, did he speak his mind.

"My poor mother!" he said during a Sunday walk the day after the robbery; "I shall have to ask her for the money, and it is precious hard upon her. I have been abominably extravagant, and she is not rich, and there are a lot of us. I owe a good bit to Tiffin, and to my London tailor too, but he will wait any time. Tiffin duns me, hang him! though why he should be devoted to capital punishment for asking for his due I don't know either. I should not have had such a lot of patties, fruit, ices, and stuff. He will have to be paid at latest when I leave; and at that time, if I get into Woolwich, there will be my outfit. And then I must needs buy a gun and a license for just three days' shooting with Gould last Christmas; and tipping the groom and keeper was a heavy item besides. One of my sisters is delicate, and can't walk far; and they could keep a pony-carriage if it wasn't for me. And now, here is another flyer I must rob my mother of, just because I left my keys in my coat when I changed my dress--sheer carelessness!"

"Never mind; you will get into Woolwich next examination, and then you will soon get a commission, and draw pay, and not want so much from your mother."

"Yes, I think of that, and it is some consolation; but still it is in the future, don't you see, and I must ask her for this stolen money at once. By Jove! I wish I had come back unexpectedly for something, and caught the fellow taking it! I wonder who on earth it can be!"

"I have no idea. Not Polly the maid, I'll take my Davey; I have so often left money and things about, and never lost a halfpenny."

That same Sunday Saurin and Edwards were standing with two or three others in the quadrangle, when Gould limped by.

"How is your ankle getting on, Gould?" one of the group called out.

"Better, thanks," he replied, joining them. "I say, if it had kept me in yesterday afternoon Crawley might have thought I took the money!

What a joke, eh? Fancy my wanting a paltry four pounds odd."

"You were not in?" cried Edwards; and he could have bitten his tongue out immediately afterwards.

But the surprise was too great for his prudence. He and Saurin had gone to their own tutor's house before repairing to the football field, you may remember, and that route did not pa.s.s the Fives Court. So that it was the first intimation Edwards had that Saurin lied when he said he had asked Gould for a loan, and been refused.

"No," said Gould, looking at him in surprise; "what made you think I was?"

"Only your sprain," said Edwards, recovering himself. "Some fellows were saying that if you were in, the thief must have trod very lightly for you not to have heard him, as your room is so near. But as you were out, and all the other fellows too, he had the coast clear, you know."

"What is your idea about the whole thing, Saurin?" asked Gould; "you are a sharp chap."

"Oh, I don't know," said Saurin. "I should not be very much surprised if the money turned up, and there proved to have been no robbery at all."

"What on earth do you mean?"

"The chances are I am wrong, no doubt, but it is possible. Crawley is a very careless fellow, you know, about money matters."

"But how could he have made a mistake, when he counted out the money such a short time before?" asked one of the group. "I was present at the meeting, and you should have seen his surprise when he took up the purse."

"Oh, I dare say it is all as you think," said Saurin. "I only know that if I had charge of money I should always be in a muddle. I never know anything about my own, and it is little enough to calculate; if I had to keep it separate from that of other people I should always be bothered between the two. But no doubt Crawley is better at business than I am."

"I say; he is awfully poor, Crawley is, and tries to make a show as if he were rich," said Gould. "I know he has been dunned by old Tiffin lately, and it is quite possible he may have paid him out of the club money and got confused, eh? Of course, what I say is strictly between ourselves."

CHAPTER SIXTEEN.

AN ACCIDENT.

"It is no business of mine," said Saurin, turning on his heel. "But if any fellow likes to get up a subscription to make good Crawley's loss, real or imaginary, I'll subscribe." And he sauntered off, whistling carelessly.

Edwards had already detached himself from the group, feeling that he must be alone to think upon the tremendous and horrible revelation which had just dawned upon his mind. As Saurin pa.s.sed him he hissed in his ear the one word "Fool!" And there was such an evil look of mingled rage and fear on his face as the human countenance is seldom deformed by.

But Edwards met it without quailing, and there was nothing but aversion in the glance he gave him back. The scales had fallen from his eyes, and his infatuation was dissipated. Never again was he to listen greedily to Saurin's words, and think them wiser than any others. Never more would he admire and applaud him; build castles in the air, forming wild projects for the future, in his company, or a.s.sociate willingly with him. They exchanged no other word, and Saurin went his way, strolling in a leisurely manner till he was out of sight; and then quickening his pace he took the direction of Slam's yard. At the rate he was walking he soon got there, and going round to the well-known back-door, he knocked. It was not long before he saw an eye reconnoitring him through a crack.

"Come, do not keep me waiting here all day while you are squinting through that hole!" he cried with a savage oath. "Let me in."

Josiah Slam said apologetically that he wanted to make sure who it was, and admitted him.

"Have you got the money, master?" he asked.

"I have got four pounds, and that is all we can raise. It is as much as we have had in cash, and if you will give up that memorandum for it I will pay it you."