The sidesmen did not say much, but they managed, with what they did say, to convey the impression that they thought as the churchwardens thought.
"You see," exclaimed the triumphant Mr. Luxmare, "that here we are unanimous, and I give you my word that our unanimity is but typical of the unanimous feeling which pervades the entire parish."
"Has anybody else anything which he would wish to say?"
The vicar asked the question in the same curiously quiet tone of voice.
Mr. Ingledew stood up.
"Yes, vicar, I have something which I should rather like to say. I am not pretending to have, in this matter, any _locus standi_. Nor do I intend to a.s.sail Mr. Plumber on the lines which Mr. Luxmare has followed. To me it seems to be a matter of comparative indifference to which journal a man, be he cleric or layman, may choose to send his contributions. Journals nowadays are very much of a muchness, their badness is merely a question of degree. There is, however, one point on which I should like to be enlightened by Mr. Plumber. I am told that he is the author of some verses which were published in the issue of _Skittles_, dated July 11th, and ent.i.tled "The Lingering Lover." Is that so, Mr. Plumber?"
As Mr. Ingledew asked his question, the curate, for the first time, showed signs of obvious uneasiness.
"That is so," he said.
Mr. Ingledew smiled. His smile did not seem to add to the curate"s comfort.
"I do not intend to criticise those verses. Probably Mr. Plumber will admit that by no standard of criticism can they be adjudged first rate.
But, in this connection, I would make one remark--and here I think you will agree with me, vicar--that even a clergyman should be decently honest."
"Pray," asked the vicar, who possibly had noticed Mr. Plumber"s uneasiness, and had, thereupon, become uneasy himself, "what has honesty to do with the matter?"
"A good deal, as I am about to show. Mr. Luxmare asked Mr. Plumber if he intended to continue to contribute to _Skittles_. Mr. Plumber declined to answer that question. I could have answered it; and now do.
No more of Mr. Plumber"s contributions will appear in _Skittles_."
The curate started--indeed, everybody started--vicar, churchwardens, sidesmen and all.
"What do you mean?" stammered Mr. Plumber.
"I base my statement on a letter which I have this morning received from the editor of _Skittles_. In it that great man informs me that he will take care that no more of Mr. Plumber"s contributions appear in the paper which he edits."
Mr. Plumber went white to the lips.
"What do you mean?" he repeated.
Mr. Ingledew looked the curate full in the face. As Mr. Plumber met his glance, he cowered as if Mr. Ingledew"s words had been so many blows with a stick.
"Can you not guess my meaning, Mr. Plumber? Were you not aware that there are such things as literary detectives? In future, I would advise you to remember that there are. Directly I saw those verses I knew that you had stolen them. I happened to have the original in my possession.
I sent that original to the editor of _Skittles_. The letter to which I have referred is his response. The verses which you sent to him as yours are no more yours than my watch is. Are you disposed contradict me, Mr. Plumber?"
The curate was silent--with a silence which was eloquent.
"Mr. Plumber has given a sufficient answer," said Mr. Ingledew, as the curate continued speechless. He turned to the vicar. "This is not one of those cases of remote plagiarism which abound: it is a case of clear theft, which are not so frequent. Mr. Plumber sent to this paper what was, to all intents and purposes, a copy of another man"s work. He claimed it as his own. He received payment for it as if it had been his own. If he chooses, the editor of _Skittles_ can inst.i.tute against him a criminal prosecution. If he does, Mr. Plumber will certainly be sentenced to a turn of imprisonment. As an example of impudent pilfering the affair is instructive. Perhaps, vicar, you would like to study it. Here are what Mr. Plumber calls his verses, and here are the verses from which his verses are stolen. As you will perceive, from a literary point of view, Mr. Plumber has merely perpetrated a new edition of another man"s crime. Which is the worse, the original or the copy, is more than I can say. Here are the verses as they appeared in the peculiarly named paper of which you have, perhaps, already heard too much, and which, while it professes to be humorous, at least succeeds in being vulgar."
Mr. Ingledew handed Mr. Harding what was evidently a marked copy of the paper which, no doubt, has its attractions for those who like that kind of thing. Mr. Plumber remained silent. He leant on his stick. His eyes were fixed on the floor. The vicar seemed almost afraid to glance in his direction.
"And this," continued the softly speaking gentleman, who in spite of his carefully modulated tones, seemed destined to work the curate more havoc than the noisy parish mouthpiece, "is the publication in which the verses originally appeared. As you will see, it is a copy of a once-talked-of University magazine which is long since dead and done for.
Possibly Mr. Plumber relied upon that fact to shield him from exposure."
The vicar received the second paper with an air of what was unmistakably amazement. He stared at it as if in doubt that he was not being tricked by his eyes, or his spectacles, or something.
"What--what"s this?" he said.
Mr. Ingledew explained,
"It is a copy of _Cam-Isis_; a magazine which was edited and written by a body of Camford undergraduates some forty years ago."
The more the vicar stared at the paper, the more his amazement seemed to grow. He was beginning to turn quite red.
"Good gracious!" he exclaimed.
"The original of Mr. Plumber"s verses you will find on the page which I have marked. They are quite equal to their t.i.tle, "The La.s.s and the Lout.""
The Vicar"s hand which held the paper dropped to his side. He looked up at the ceiling seemingly in a state of mind approaching stupefaction.
As if unaware, words came from his lips.
"It"s a judgment."
Mr. Ingledew rubbed his chin. He seemed to be pleased.
"It certainly is a judgment, and one for which, I am afraid, Mr.
Plumber was not prepared. But I flatter myself that no man, if the thing comes within my cognisance, is able to print another man"s works as his own without my being able to detect and convict him of his guilt. I have not been on the look out for plagiarists all my life for nothing."
The vicar"s glance came down. He seemed all at once to become conscious of his surroundings. He looked about him with a startled air, as if he had been roused from a trance. He seemed quite curiously agitated. The words which he uttered were spoken a little wildly, as if he himself was not quite certain what it was that he was saying.
"I have to thank you for all that you have said, gentlemen, and I can only a.s.sure you that the remarks which you have made demand, and shall receive, my most serious consideration. With regard to the papers"--he glanced at the two papers which he still was holding--"with regard to these papers, with your permission, Mr. Ingledew, I will retain them for the present. They shall be returned to you later." The owner of the papers nodded a.s.sent. "And now that all has been said which there is to say, I have to ask you, gentlemen, to leave me, and--and I wish you all good-day."
The vicar himself opened the study door. He seemed almost to be hustling his visitors out of the room, his anxiety to be rid of them was so wholly undisguised. It is possible that both Mr. Luxmare and Mr.
Ingledew would have liked to have made a few concluding observations, but neither of them was given a shred of opportunity. When, however, Mr. Plumber made a movement as if to go, Mr. Harding motioned to him with his hand to stay. And the vicar and the curate were left alone.
A stranger would have found it difficult to decide which of the two seemed the more shame-faced. The curate still stood where he had been standing all through, leaning on his stick, with his eyes on the ground; while the vicar, with his grasp still on the handle of the door, stood with his face turned towards the wall. It was with an apparent effort that, moving towards his writing table, placing Mr.
Ingledew"s two papers in front of him, ho seated himself in his accustomed chair. Taking off his spectacles, with his hands he gently rubbed his eyes as if they were tired.
"Dear, dear!" he muttered, as if to himself. He sighed. He added, still more to himself, "The Lord"s ways are past our finding out." Then he addressed himself to the curate.
"Mr. Plumber!" Although the vicar spoke so softly, his hearer seemed to shrink away from him. "I have a confession which I must make to you."
The curate looked up furtively, as if in fear.
"When I was a young man I did many things of which I have since had good reason to be ashamed. Among the things, I used to write what Mr.
Ingledew would say correctly enough it would be flattering to call nonsense. I regret to have to tell you that I wrote those verses to which Mr. Ingledew has just called our attention in that dead and gone Camford magazine."
The curate stood up almost straight.
"Sir!--Mr. Harding!"
"I did. To my shame, I own it. I had nearly forgotten them. I had not seen a copy for years and years. I had hoped that there was none in existence. But it seems that that which a man does, which he would rather have left undone, is sure to rise, and confront him, we will trust, by the grace of G.o.d, not in eternity, but certainly in time."
Mr. Plumber was trembling. The vicar continued, in a voice, and with a manner, the exquisite delicacy of which was indescribable.