You saw Bywater, a chapter or two back, fitting the broken pieces together in his bedroom. On the following morning—it was also the morning following the arrival of the important letter from Roland Yorke—Bywater detained Gerald Yorke when the boys tore down the schoolroom steps after early school.
“I say, Yorke, I said I’d give you a last chance, and now I am doing it,” he began. “If you’ll acknowledge the truth to me about that surplice affair, I’ll let it drop. I will, upon my honour. I’ll never say another word about it.”
Gerald flew into a rage. “Now look you here, Mr. Bywater,” was his angry retort. “You bother me again with that stale fish, and I’ll put you up for punishment. It’s—”
Gerald stopped. Tom Channing was passing close to them, and Mr. Gerald had never cared to be heard, when talking about the surplice. At that moment a group of boys, who were running out of the cloisters3, the opposite road to Tom Channing, turned round and hissed4 him, Tod Yorke adding some complimentary5 remark about “stolen notes.” As usual, it was a shaft6 launched at Arthur. Not as usual did Tom receive it. There was nothing of fierce defiance7 now in his demeanour; nothing of half-subdued rage. Tom halted; took off his trencher with a smile of suavity8 that might have adorned9 Hamish, and thanked them with as much courtesy as if it had been real, especially Tod. Gerald Yorke and Bywater looked on with surprise. They little dreamt of the great secret that Tom now carried within him. He could afford to be calm.
“Why, it’s four months, good, since that surplice was damaged,” resumed Gerald, in a tone of irritation10, to Bywater, as soon as they were alone again. “One would think it was of rare value, by your keeping up the ball in this way. Every now and then you break out afresh about that surplice. Was it made of gold?”
“It was made of Irish linen,” returned Bywater, who generally contrived11 to retain his coolness, whoever might grow heated. “I tell you that I have a fresh clue, Yorke; one I have been waiting for. I thought it would turn up some time. If you say you did it, by accident or how you like, I’ll let it drop. If you don’t, I’ll bring it before Pye after breakfast.”
“Bring it,” retorted Gerald.
“Mind you, I mean what I say. I shall bring the charge against you, and I have the proofs.”
“Bring it, I say!” fiercely repeated Gerald. “Who cares for your bringings? Mind your bones afterwards, that’s all!”
He pushed Bywater from him with a haughty12 gesture, and raced home to breakfast, hoping there would be something good to assuage13 his hunger.
But Bywater was not to be turned from his determination. Never a boy in the school less likely than he. He went home to his breakfast, and returned to school to have his name inscribed14 on the roll, and then went into college with the other nine choristers, and took his part in the service. And the bottle, I say, was burning a hole in his pocket. The Reverend William Yorke was chanting, and Arthur Channing sat at the organ. Would the Very Reverend the Dean of Helstonleigh, standing15 in his stall so serenely16 placid17, his cap resting on the cushion beside him, ever again intimate a doubt that Arthur was not worthy18 to take part in the service? But the dean did not know the news yet.
Back in the school-room, Bywater lost no time. He presented himself before the master, and entered upon his complaint, schoolboy fashion.
“Please, sir, I think I have found out who inked my surplice.”
The master had allowed the occurrence to slip partially19 from his memory. At any rate, it was some time since he had called it up. “Oh, indeed!” said he somewhat cynically20, to Bywater, after a pause given to revolving21 the circumstances. “Think you have found out the boy, do you?”
“Yes, sir; I am pretty sure of it. I think it was Gerald Yorke.”
“Gerald Yorke! One of the seniors!” repeated the master, casting a penetrating22 gaze upon Bywater.
The fact was, Mr. Pye, at the time of the occurrence, had been somewhat inclined to a secret belief that the real culprit was Bywater himself. Knowing that gentleman’s propensity23 to mischief24, knowing that the destruction of a few surplices, more or less, would be only fun to him, he had felt an unpleasant doubt upon the point. “Did you do it yourself?” he now plainly asked of Bywater.
Bywater for once was genuinely surprised. “I had no more to do with it, sir, than this desk had,” touching25 the master’s. “I should not have spent many an hour since, trying to ferret it out, if I had done it.”
“Well, what have you found out?”
“On the day it happened, sir, when we were discussing it in the cloisters, little Channing suddenly started up with a word that caused me to think he had seen something connected with it, in which Gerald Yorke was mixed up. But the boy recollected26 himself before he had said much, and I could get no more from him. Once afterwards I heard him tell Yorke that he had kept counsel about the inked surplice.”
“Is that all?” asked the master, while the whole school sat with tingling27 ears, for Bywater was not making his complaint in private.
“Not quite, sir. Please to look at this.”
Bywater had whipped the broken phial out of his pocket, and was handing the smaller piece towards the master. Mr. Pye looked at it curiously28.
“As I was turning over my surplice, sir, in the vestry, when I found it that day, I saw this bit of glass lying in the wet ink. I thought it belonged to a small ornamental29 phial, which Gerald Yorke used to keep, about that time, in his pocket, full of ink. But I couldn’t be sure. So I put the bit of glass into my pocket, thinking the phial would turn up some day, if it did belong to it. And so it has. You can put the piece into it, sir, and see whether it fits.”
Gerald Yorke left his place, and joined Bywater before the head master. He looked white and haughty. “Is it to be borne, sir, that he should tell these lies of me?”
“Are they lies?” returned Mr. Pye, who was fitting the piece into the bottle.
“I have told no lies yet,” said Bywater. “And I have not said for certain you did it. I say I think so.”
“You never found that bottle upon the surplice! I don’t believe it!” foamed30 Gerald.
“I found the little piece of glass. I put it into my trousers pocket, wet with ink as it was, and here are the stains of ink still,” added Bywater, turning out that receptacle for the benefit of Mr. Pye. “It was this same pair of trousers I had on that day.”
“Bywater,” said the master, “why did you not say, at the time, that you found the piece of glass?”
“Because, sir, the bit, by itself, would have told nothing. I thought I’d wait till the bottle itself turned up. Old Jenkins, the bedesman, found it a few days ago in the college burial-ground, pretty near to the college gates; just in the spot where it most likely would be, sir, if one came out of the college in a fright and dashed it over.”
“Does this belong to you, Yorke?” inquired the master, scrutinizing31 that gentleman’s countenance32, as he had previously33 scrutinized34 Bywater’s.
Gerald Yorke took the phial in his hand and examined it. He knew perfectly35 well that it was his, but he was asking himself whether the school, apart from Bywater, could contradict him, if he said it was not. He feared they might.
“I had a phial very much like this, sir,” turning it over and over in his hand, apparently36 for the purpose of a critical inspection37. “I am not sure that this is the same; I don’t think it is. I lost mine, sir: somebody stole it out of my pocket, I think.”
“When did you lose it?” demanded Mr. Pye.
“About the time that the surplice got inked, sir; a day or two before it.”
“Who is telling lies now?” cried bold Bywater. “He had the bottle that very day, sir, at his desk, here, in this schoolroom. The upper boys know he had it, and that he was using it. Channing”—turning round and catching38 Tom’s eye, the first he did catch—“you can bear witness that he was using it that morning.”
“Don’t call upon me,” replied Tom, stolidly39. “I decline to interfere40 with Mr. Yorke; for, or against him.”
“It is his bottle, and he had it that morning; and I say that I think he must have broken it over the surplice,” persisted Bywater, with as much noise as he dared display in the presence of the master. “Otherwise, how should a piece out of the bottle be lying on the surplice?”
The master came to the conclusion that the facts were tolerably conclusive41. He touched Yorke. “Speak the truth, boy,” he said, with a tone that seemed to imply he rather doubted Gerald’s strict adherence42 to truth at all times and seasons.
Gerald turned crusty. “I don’t know anything about it, sir. Won’t I pummel you for this!” he concluded, in an undertone, to Bywater.
“Besides that, sir,” went on Bywater, pushing Gerald aside with his elbow, as if he were nobody: “Charles Channing, I say, saw something that led him to suspect Gerald Yorke. I am certain he did. I think it likely that he saw him fling the bottle away, after doing the mischief. Yorke knows that I have given him more than one chance to get out of this. If he had only told me in confidence that it was he who did it, whether by accident or mischief, I’d have let it drop.”
“Yorke,” said the master, leaning his face forward and speaking in an undertone, “do you remember what I promised the boy who did this mischief? Not for the feat itself, but for braving me, when I ordered him to speak out, and he would not.”
Yorke grew angry and desperate. “Let it be proved against me, sir, if you please, before you punish. I don’t think even Bywater, rancorous as he is, can prove me guilty.”
At this moment, who should walk forward but Mr. Bill Simms, much to the astonishment43 of the head-master, and of the school in general. Since Mr. Simms’s confession44 to the master, touching the trick played on Charles Channing, he had not led the most agreeable of lives. Some of the boys treated him with silent contempt, some worried his life out of him, and all hated him. He could now enjoy a little bit of retaliation45 on one of them, at any rate.
“Please, sir, the day the surplice was inked, I saw Gerald Yorke come out of the college just before afternoon service, and chuck a broken ink-bottle over into the burial-ground.”
“You saw it!” exclaimed the master, while Gerald turned his livid face, his flashing eye on the young tell-tale.
“Yes, sir. I was in the cloisters, inside one of the niches46, and saw it. Charley Channing was in the cloisters, too, but he didn’t see me, and I don’t think Mr. Yorke saw either of us.”
“Why did you not tell me this at the time?”
Mr. Bill Simms stood on his heels and stood on his toes, and pulled his lanky47 straw-coloured hair, and rubbed his face, ere he spoke48. “I was afraid, sir. I knew Mr. Yorke would beat me.”
“Cur!” ejaculated Gerald, below his breath. The head-master turned his eyes upon him.
“Yorke, I—”
A commotion49 at the door, and Mr. Pye stopped. There burst in a lady with a wide extent of crinoline, but that was not the worst of the bustle50. Her cheeks were flushed, her hands lifted, her eyes wild; altogether she was in a state of the utmost excitement. Gerald stared with all his might, and the head-master rose to receive her as she sailed down upon him. It was Lady Augusta Yorke.
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1
feat
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| n.功绩；武艺，技艺；adj.灵巧的，漂亮的，合适的 | |
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2
accusation
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| n.控告，指责，谴责 | |
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3
cloisters
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| n.（学院、修道院、教堂等建筑的）走廊( cloister的名词复数 )；回廊；修道院的生活；隐居v.隐退，使与世隔绝( cloister的第三人称单数 ) | |
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4
hissed
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| 发嘶嘶声( hiss的过去式和过去分词 )； 发嘘声表示反对 | |
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5
complimentary
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| adj.赠送的，免费的，赞美的，恭维的 | |
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6
shaft
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| n.(工具的)柄，杆状物 | |
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7
defiance
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| n.挑战，挑衅，蔑视，违抗 | |
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8
suavity
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| n.温和；殷勤 | |
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9
adorned
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| [计]被修饰的 | |
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10
irritation
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| n.激怒，恼怒，生气 | |
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11
contrived
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| adj.不自然的，做作的；虚构的 | |
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12
haughty
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| adj.傲慢的，高傲的 | |
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13
assuage
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| v.缓和，减轻，镇定 | |
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14
inscribed
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| v.写，刻( inscribe的过去式和过去分词 )；内接 | |
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15
standing
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| n.持续，地位；adj.永久的，不动的，直立的，不流动的 | |
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16
serenely
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| adv.安详地，宁静地，平静地 | |
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17
placid
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| adj.安静的，平和的 | |
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worthy
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| adj.(of)值得的，配得上的；有价值的 | |
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partially
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| adv.部分地，从某些方面讲 | |
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20
cynically
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| adv.爱嘲笑地，冷笑地 | |
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21
revolving
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| adj.旋转的，轮转式的；循环的v.（使）旋转( revolve的现在分词 )；细想 | |
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22
penetrating
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| adj.（声音）响亮的，尖锐的adj.（气味）刺激的adj.（思想）敏锐的，有洞察力的 | |
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23
propensity
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| n.倾向；习性 | |
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24
mischief
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| n.损害，伤害，危害；恶作剧，捣蛋，胡闹 | |
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25
touching
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| adj.动人的，使人感伤的 | |
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26
recollected
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| adj.冷静的；镇定的；被回忆起的；沉思默想的v.记起，想起( recollect的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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27
tingling
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| v.有刺痛感( tingle的现在分词 ) | |
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28
curiously
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| adv.有求知欲地；好问地；奇特地 | |
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29
ornamental
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| adj.装饰的；作装饰用的；n.装饰品；观赏植物 | |
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30
foamed
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| 泡沫的 | |
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31
scrutinizing
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| v.仔细检查，详审( scrutinize的现在分词 ) | |
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32
countenance
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| n.脸色，面容；面部表情；vt.支持，赞同 | |
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33
previously
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| adv.以前，先前（地） | |
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34
scrutinized
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| v.仔细检查，详审( scrutinize的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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35
perfectly
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| adv.完美地，无可非议地，彻底地 | |
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36
apparently
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| adv.显然地；表面上，似乎 | |
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37
inspection
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| n.检查，审查，检阅 | |
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38
catching
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| adj.易传染的，有魅力的，迷人的，接住 | |
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39
stolidly
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| adv.迟钝地，神经麻木地 | |
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40
interfere
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| v.(in)干涉，干预；(with)妨碍，打扰 | |
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41
conclusive
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| adj.最后的，结论的；确凿的，消除怀疑的 | |
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42
adherence
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| n.信奉，依附，坚持，固着 | |
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43
astonishment
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| n.惊奇，惊异 | |
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44
confession
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| n.自白，供认，承认 | |
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45
retaliation
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| n.报复，反击 | |
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46
niches
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| 壁龛( niche的名词复数 )； 合适的位置[工作等]； （产品的）商机； 生态位（一个生物所占据的生境的最小单位） | |
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47
lanky
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| adj.瘦长的 | |
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48
spoke
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| n.（车轮的）辐条；轮辐；破坏某人的计划；阻挠某人的行动 v.讲，谈（speak的过去式）；说；演说；从某种观点来说 | |
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49
commotion
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| n.骚动，动乱 | |
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50
bustle
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| v.喧扰地忙乱，匆忙，奔忙；n.忙碌；喧闹 | |
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