"Poor, dear d.i.c.k!" said the lady with a sigh; "I am sure he never intended to do us any harm."
"I never thought he did. No one who knew d.i.c.k would think that of him; but the misery came to us all the same, and d.i.c.k was responsible for it."
This allusion to her brother brought the tears to Mrs. Morrison"s eyes. He had been such a bright, winning lad. When he was the age of Leonard he had only one fault that she would admit, even now, and that was that he was too easily led. He could not say "No," though not to say it and abide by it under the circ.u.mstances was wrong. This ended at last in what was little less than a crime, for which they had to pay the penalty in a long struggle against adverse circ.u.mstances, and eventually to leave Liverpool, and return to Mr. Morrison"s native town and begin the world afresh.
This ending to what might have been a bright and honourable career for her brother, and a no less prosperous one for her husband, was a very bitter trial to the lady; and though Dr. Morrison"s practice was now steadily increasing, anything that rendered him less popular might bring back the old trouble she feared.
In thinking thus she, of course, exaggerated the circ.u.mstances in every way, for, in point of fact, not even Mrs. Howard knew that it was through the doctor"s influence that Horace was sent to the same school with his own son; and as the name of Morrison was not mentioned by Horace, she did not know that he was there for some time. Her son was industrious and fond of scientific study, and had fairly won the scholarship, she was a.s.sured by the schoolmaster. He was very proud to add that Horace was the first scholarship boy who had been sent by the County Council to Torrington"s. But that her doctor had had anything to do with the selection of a school for Horace she knew nothing.
She heard afterwards that it was the best school in the county; but she thought more of whether Horace would be able to do the lessons required of him, without overworking himself, and also whether she would be able to keep him suitably clothed, so that he did not look particular among the other lads.
The school was nearly two miles from their home, so that he would wear out his boots very fast, she reflected, when considering ways and means. There was a small allowance made for this, after the school fees were paid out of the scholarship money, and it was the consideration of this that made Horace resume wearing the old jacket, when his mother wished him to keep on with his best one, which he had worn for the first week or two.
In fact, he had worn the best jacket until he was so mysteriously sent to Coventry, and though he carefully kept this fact to himself, it was the underlying meaning of what he told her when he said it would make no difference to him at school whether he wore a new or an old jacket.
Of the bitterness underlying the words that were said, that she should not spend too much on his clothes, she knew nothing. Indeed, after the first week or two Horace was very reticent about what pa.s.sed at school, rarely mentioned a schoolfellow by name, and seemed absorbed in his lessons all the evening. He talked sometimes to Fred about his mysterious idea, which she knew was connected with chemistry; but beyond this she knew very little of her boy"s life at this time.
Sometimes he looked worried as he sat poring over his books, as though they were a little beyond his power, she thought; and then she would say, "Now, Horace, if you are getting tired, give it up. You know going to this school is quite an experiment for you, and if you fail to keep up with the rest it will be no disgrace to own it. You have been looking pale the last day or two."
"I feel quite well, mother; and as to keeping up with the rest, well, you should see the young giant who is always at the bottom of the cla.s.s." And Horace laughed as he mentally recalled the perpetually yawning figure of Curtis, with his back propped against the wall. "I believe he would go to sleep outright if it wasn"t for the master saying, "Now, Curtis, keep your ears and eyes open!""
"Poor fellow! perhaps he does not feel able to do the work," said Mrs.
Howard pityingly.
"Well, he doesn"t let lessons trouble him much. He and "the c.o.c.k of the walk," that"s another big chap who doesn"t care much about books, they take it pretty easy, except when they get an "impot," and that takes all their dinner time."
"And what do you do at dinner time?" asked his brother at this point.
"Eat my dinner, to be sure," answered Horace.
"Well, you don"t look much the better for it. Mother, I"m going to be paid an extra shilling a week, and I vote it goes in dinners for the boy with an idea," said Fred.
"No! No! I can do very well, and I enjoy my dinner hours now, for I often go up to the "lab.," and have a nice time to myself. Mr. Skeats told me I might go, if I did not take any of the other boys with me.
You see, some of them might get up to larks, and----"
"Why don"t you get up to larks?" interrupted his brother.
Horace laughed, "Oh, you know that isn"t much in my way, and there"s room for everybody in a big school like Torrington"s."
"I wish the youngster did not look so serious," said Fred, after his brother had gone to bed that night.
"He always was quiet," remarked his mother.
"Quiet, yes; but now he looks up from his book sometimes, as though he had a world of care upon his mind."
"Perhaps he is thinking over his "idea." You know he could talk of nothing else for a day or two," said Mrs. Howard.
"Well, he doesn"t talk much now, at any rate, and I am wondering whether he is quite happy at that school."
"But surely he would tell us if he was not. I have asked him again and again. I think he would tell us if there was anything wrong."
"Now, mother, don"t vex yourself, or I shall be sorry I have spoken.
Just let that extra shilling a week I am to have go for the youngster"s mid-day meal. Get him something better than bread and b.u.t.ter to take with him--sandwiches or a little meat-pie. They say people who work with their brains want as much to eat as those who work with their hands, and I am sure two slices of bread and b.u.t.ter wouldn"t satisfy me at twelve o"clock."
CHAPTER V.
THE CHAMPION.
"Mother, I think I shall be obliged to wear that other jacket to go to school," said Horace one evening as he ate his dinner.
He had come home from school looking almost radiant, and his mother had heard incidentally that one of the other boys had walked most of the way with him.
"But I thought you said no one lived this way?" said Mrs. Howard.
"Oh, I think Warren came out of his way a bit that we might finish our talk! He likes history awfully, and so do I a bit, and we got talking about those old battles, and almost forgot the time. Now, mother, don"t you think I had better take my best jacket for school? The sleeves of this are getting so short."
His mother laughed.
"Why, I told you the same thing a month ago," she said, "but you insisted that it did not matter!"
"Well, you know, I don"t want to cost you more than I am obliged for clothes, and I thought I might wear the old jacket a bit longer, as I should wear out so many boots; but now----" And there Horace stopped, lest he should say something that might betray how his schoolfellows had treated him lately.
"You must be careful to wear the linen ap.r.o.n and sleeves while you do your chemistry work," remarked his mother, "for you are beginning to make the old one a variegated colour."
"All right, I"ll be careful; but I thought Warren looked at my hands poking too far through the sleeves of that old one, and Warren is a nice fellow; I should not like to hurt his feelings," said Horace.
"Ah! you find that some lads are more particular about their clothes than you are. Yes, wear the best jacket by all means, and I have no doubt I shall be able to buy you a new one when you want it."
So the matter was settled, and the next morning he met his new friend as they had arranged, and the two boys had a pleasant chat on all sorts of subjects as they walked along the road. Just before the school was reached, and when they came within sight of other groups of boys, Horace stopped short, and said--
"Now you had better go on; it don"t matter if I am late, I have plenty of time in the dinner hour to do the imposition."
"What do you mean--what do you take me for?" said Warren, thrusting his arm through his companion"s.
"Well, you know the school have sent me to Coventry lately; and if you know what for, it"s more than I do, so that it isn"t likely to alter its opinion in a hurry," said Horace.
"Oh, the school be bothered!" said Warren. "Of course a fellow has to do the same as the rest when he is at school, but "the c.o.c.k of the walk" is going a bit too far this time, and I mean to let the whole lot see that I won"t follow the lead, when I don"t think it"s fair and square. If they had any good reason for sending you to Coventry, I"d see you hanged before I"d try to take your part; but I like fair play, and it is not a fair game they are playing against you now."
"But suppose they send you to Coventry as well?" said Horace.
"Oh, they will, you bet. Taylor and Curtis and that crowd are sure to do it, and I dare say they will rage like a bull in a china shop. Come on here. They see we are going in arm-in-arm."
A storm of hisses greeted their appearance at the school gate, and Horace changed colour and his arm shook; but Warren gripped him the tighter, so that he could not get away.
"Is it worth while sticking to me if the rest don"t like it?"
whispered Horace.