"You really mustn"t ask me, boys; it"s sufficient that I have to go, and I don"t think you two will believe it is because I have done anything wrong."
"Rather not," said Arthur warmly. "But, I say, Marky, just tell us this--it wasn"t us got you into the row, was it? It was awfully low of me to let it out to Felgate; but we bowled him out in time, just when he was going to send those things to Bickers. Did you see the nice trick we played him? He won"t be able to do it again, for we burned the things. Such a flare-up! It isn"t our fault you"re going, is it?"
"No, not a bit," said Railsford. "Now you had better go."
They went and proclaimed their master"s wrongs through the length and breadth of the house. The Sh.e.l.l took up the matter specially, and convened an informal meeting to consult as to what was to be done.
"Let"s send him a round robin, and ask him not to go," suggested Maple.
"Let"s get our governors to write to the doctor," said another.
"Let"s all leave if he does; that"s bound to make him stay," said a third.
Arthur, however, had a more practical proposal.
"What we"d better do is to get up a whacking pet.i.tion to Pony," said he.
"We"ve got a right to do it; and if all the fellows will sign it, he can"t well let him go."
The question arose, Who was to write the pet.i.tion? And after some discussion it was resolved to call the amiable Stafford into their councils. He at once suggested that if the pet.i.tion was to be of any weight it should come from the entire house, with the captain"s name at the head of the list; and a deputation was told off forthwith to wait upon Ainger.
He was not very encouraging, but said there would be no harm in trying, and undertook to draw up the pet.i.tion and sign his name first underneath.
The pet.i.tion was short and business-like:
"To Dr Ponsford. Sir,--We, the boys of Mr Railsford"s house, have heard with great sorrow that he is to leave Grandcourt. We consider he has done more for our house than any other master, and feel it would be the greatest loss to all of us if he were to go. He does not know we are sending this. We hope it will have your favourable consideration, and make it possible for him to stay among us."
In two days this doc.u.ment received the signature of every boy in the house except Felgate and Munger, who contrived to evade it. Ainger took no trouble to press them for their signatures, and indeed stated, not in a whisper, that the pet.i.tion would carry more weight without these two particular names than with them. Whereat Felgate and Munger felt rather sorry they had not signed.
A deputation was then appointed, consisting of the head boy in each form represented in the house, to convey the pet.i.tion to the doctor. Arthur, not being the head Sh.e.l.l boy in the house, felt very sore to be left out, and prophesied all sorts of failure to the undertaking in consequence.
However, he was consoled vastly by a fight with Tilbury that same afternoon. Tilbury, though a signatory to the pet.i.tion, was unlucky enough to brag, in the hearing of his comrade, that one reason he had signed it was because he believed Railsford had had something to do with the paying-out of Mr Bickers last term, and was a friend to the house in consequence. Whereupon Arthur, crimson in the face, requested him to step outside and receive the biggest hiding he had ever had in his life.
Tilbury obeyed, and although the combat was not quite so decided as Arthur had boasted, it disposed of the libel which had originated it, and made it clear to the house that those who knew best, at any rate, were now as firmly resolved to defend their master"s innocence as last term they had been to glory in his guilt.
The doctor received the deputation politely, and allowed Ainger to read the pet.i.tion and list of names without interruption.
When the ceremony was over, he said, quietly--
"The only fault I have to find with you is that you have presented your pet.i.tion to me instead of to Mr Railsford. It is perfectly open for Mr Railsford to with draw his resignation. In that case it would fall to me to settle the question of his remaining here; and that would be the time for you to present your pet.i.tion."
This was not very consoling; and the doctor"s manner discouraged any further explanation.
Ainger therefore left the pet.i.tion lying on the table, and withdrew his men to report the doubtful success of their mission to their comrades.
The week wore on, and in two days Railsford"s short reprieve would be up.
He had already begun to get together some of his things preparatory to packing up, and had written out a careful paper of memoranda for the use of his successor. He had allowed the work of the house to be as little as possible disturbed by the coming event, and had even hurt monsieur"s feelings by the peremptory manner in which he discouraged any representation being made by the masters with a view to avert his departure.
He had of course sent a plain, unvarnished account of his position to his "special correspondent," which happily reached her at the same time as a highly-coloured and decidedly alarming communication on the same subject from Miss Daisy"s brother.
He received an answer full of courage, which helped him greatly. Yet as the day drew near he felt himself clinging desperately to his post, and hoping against hope, even at the eleventh hour, to see some daylight through his great difficulty.
Had he known that on that very last day but one Mr Bickers had received by the post a certain letter, he might have felt tempted to delay till to-morrow the final strapping-up of his portmanteau.
For Mr Bickers"s letter was from Brans...o...b..; and was as follows:--
"Sir,--I have been expecting to return to Grandcourt all this term, but I am sorry to say I have been ill again, and the doctor says I shall have to go abroad for some months. Before I go, I feel I must make a confession which will surprise you as much to read as it pains me to write it. I was the ringleader in the attack upon you last term at the door of Mr Railsford"s house. I was very angry at the time at having been punished by you before all my house. But I am very sorry now for what happened, and hope you will in time forgive me. I know what trouble my conduct has caused, not only to you, but to Mr Railsford, whose house has been unjustly punished for what was my offence. There were three of us in it. One was another boy of your house, and the other was in Mr Railsford"s house, only all he did was to show us the cupboard in which we put you. I should be glad to think, before I go away, that things are put right at Grandcourt by this confession.
Please forgive me for my revengeful act, and, believe me, sir, yours truly,--
"S. Brans...o...b...
"P.S.--Please show this letter to Dr Ponsford and Mr Railsford."
This startling letter Mr Bickers read over several times, with great amazement and no less vexation. He was angry, not at the injury which had been done to himself, but because this letter had come just when it did.
To-morrow, in all probability, his enemy would have left Grandcourt, and then it would be less matter. For even if the truth were then made known, Railsford"s offence in shielding the evil-doer would remain the same. But now this letter might spoil everything. It would, at any rate, postpone Railsford"s departure, and might give him an opportunity of reinstating himself for good at Grandcourt.
Mr Bickers was in a quandary. He was by nature a vindictive, jealous, and fussy man, with a low opinion of everybody, and an extreme obstinacy in his own opinion. But he was not naturally a dishonest man. It was only when his other pa.s.sions rushed out strongly in one direction, and his integrity stood on the other side, that his honour suffered shipwreck and went by the board.
It did so now, for Mr Bickers, having thought over the situation, deliberately put the letter into his pocket, and went about his usual avocations as if nothing had happened.
Any amount of excuses rushed in to his a.s.sistance. After all, there had been three culprits, and one of them belonged to the accused house.
Railsford, no doubt, was shielding his own boy, and Brans...o...b.."s confession affected in no way his offence or the penalty attached to it.
On the whole, there was nothing to make Mr Bickers uncomfortable, and it was observed in the masters" hall that evening that he made himself quite agreeable, and even nodded in a half-friendly way to Railsford on the occasion of his last appearance at school-dinner.
After the Master of the Sh.e.l.l had retired to his house the doctor asked his other lieutenants to remain a few moments, as he had a statement to make to them.
Every one knew what that statement was to be.
"It is only right that I should inform you," said Dr Ponsford, "that I have considered it my duty to accept Mr Railsford"s resignation, and that he leaves Grandcourt to-morrow. I confess that I do this with great pain and regret, for I have the highest opinion of Mr Railsford"s abilities and character. But discipline must be maintained in a school like ours. I have no doubt that in acting as he has done Mr Railsford considers that he is acting honourably. I do not wish to impugn his motives, mistaken as I suppose them. But the fact remains that he virtually admits his knowledge of the offender last term, and at the same time refuses to give him up to justice. Under those circ.u.mstances I had no choice but to accept his resignation."
For a moment Brans...o...b.."s letter burned uncomfortably in Mr Bickers"s pocket while the doctor was speaking. But it cooled again, and when Mr Grover said,--
"I am sure, sir, you will not misunderstand me when I say that your statement has caused some of us the deepest pain," he felt himself able to join in the universal "Hear, hear," with quiet fervour.
"We fully recognise," continued Mr Grover, "that under the circ.u.mstances you had only this one course left open to you. At the same time, we who know and esteem our colleague, feel that his removal will be a distinct loss to Grandcourt, and would like to add our own opinion to yours, that in the course he has considered it right to take, he has been actuated by conscientious and honourable motives."
Mr Bickers having said, "Hear, hear" once, did not feel called upon to repeat it at the end of this short speech, and was, indeed, rather glad to hurry back to his own house.
He had an idea that this time to-morrow he should feel considerably more comfortable.
CHAPTER TWENTY SEVEN.
CLEARING UP, AND CLEARING OUT.
Railsford"s farewell evening in his house was not destined to be a peaceful one.