"You thought I took it and hid it?"

"Yes, Tom."

"Oh, I say, Frank, when it was all at the worst, and you were locked up, I never thought a word against you; but--" He paused for a moment, and then, forgetting that we were not alone, he rushed at me and caught my hands.

"Then you forgive me?" I said.

"Why, of course," he cried. "Oh, Frank, I am glad!"

The Doctor coughed loudly, and our action seemed to have given the gentlemen present colds. Then the Doctor signed to his wife, whispered to her, and she left the room with Cook and Polly Hopley. Next he signed to Mr Rebble and Mr Hasnip, who both came and shook hands with me, bowed to the General and my uncle, and they too left the room, with Burr major and d.i.c.ksee.

"Mercer," said the Doctor then.

"No, no," cried the General; "let him stop. Come here, sir: over here."

The General spoke in so severe a voice, and frowned so much, that Mercer looked at him shrinkingly, and the harder as the old man brought his hand down heavily upon his shoulder--Tom's face seeming to say, "What have I done now?"

"So, sir, you have been longing for a watch all this time, have you, eh?"

"Yes, Sir Hawkhurst," said Tom slowly. Then, with animation, "But I did always try very hard not to want one."

"Then you shall have one, as good a one as money can buy."

Mercer's face was a picture of astonishment, changing to doubt and then to delight as he fully realised that the General meant it.

"Do you hear, Frank? Oh, I say!" Then, catching the old man's hand in both of his; he cried, "May I have a hunter?"

"You shall, my boy. And Frank Burr, you shall have one too."

"No," said my uncle, "that's my present. Frank, my lad, we've all been wrong; but I can't apologise, for you led us astray."

"Oh, that's enough, Seaborough," cried the General. "The boys don't want to hear another word. Eh?--you were going to speak, Doctor."

"Only a few words, sir. Colonel Seaborough, Mrs Burr, I cannot tell you how grieved I am for this painful episode--believe me."

My mother went to the Doctor and placed her hand in his.

"Pray say no more," she said gently.

"I will not, my dear madam, for your looks tell me that I am forgiven for my share of the mental agony I have caused you.--Of course, you will take your son away and place him in another school?"

"Eh? What for?" said the General sharply. "You don't want him to go, do you, stuffy boy?"

"Oh no, sir," cried Mercer.

"Do you want to go, Frank?"

"No, sir," I said eagerly; "I should like to stay."

"Of course," cried the General. "He's to stop, eh, Seaborough?"

"I should regret it, if he left," said my uncle.

"To be sure you would, and I should miss him. Don't expel him, Doctor."

"I? I should only be too glad if he stays."

"Then that's all right," said the General. "Ah, here is Mrs Brown."

He crossed to place a chair for her, and then stood looking from one to the other.

"Yes," he said, "that's it. Ladies, will you honour a solitary old man with your company to dinner at my place this evening? Doctor, will you bring your wife? Seaborough and Mrs Burr, pray come over with me now, and, if the Doctor does not mind, I should like to take these two boys back with us."

Consent was given directly, and the rest of that day was spent in a manner which made me pretty well forget the troubles which had gone before.

CHAPTER THIRTY ONE.

The General pressed so hard that my mother and my uncle remained at his place for a couple of days longer, driving over in the General's carriage on the third day to say good-bye to me before returning home, and, to Mercer's great delight, a packet was placed in his hand after he had been fetched, with strict orders not to look at it till the carriage had gone. I already had one in my pocket, and in addition a smaller one that I was charged to deliver elsewhere.

Then the farewell was said, and, as soon as the carriage was out of sight, I looked at Mercer, he at me, and with a unity of purpose that was not surprising, we rushed off to the yard and up the rough steps to the loft, where we laid our packets down, and hesitated to cut the strings.

Again we looked at each other, and Mercer at last said huskily,--

"Hadn't we better open 'em? I _am_ hungry, but they're rather small and square for cakes."

"Get out!" I said. "Cakes indeed! Here, let's see."

"Whose shall we open first?" whispered Mercer.

"Yours."

"No, yours."

"Both together then."

"Right. Draw knives--Open knives--Cut!"

The strings were divided to the moment, and then the sealing-wax which fastened the brown paper further was broken, and two white paper packets were revealed, also carefully sealed up. This wax was broken in turn, and with trembling hands we removed the white paper, to find within something hard and square wrapped in a quant.i.ty of tissue paper.

We paused again, feeling breathless with excitement, and looked at each other.

"Ready?" I said, and we tore off the tissue till a couple of little morocco cases were revealed, and again we paused before unhooking the fastenings, and opening little lids lined with white satin, while below, in crimson velvet, tightly-fitting beds, lay a couple of bright silver watches.

Oh, the delight of that first watch! It fixed itself so in my memory that I shall never forget it. The bright, dazzling look of the engine turning, showing different lights and seeming to be in motion as the position of the watch is changed; the round spot in the ring where the spring was pressed for the case to fly open and show the face with its Roman numerals; and then the ticking--that peculiar metallic sound like nothing else. Words will not describe the satisfaction we boys felt as we stood examining our presents.

"Why, they're both exactly alike," said Mercer at last. "I say, take care, or we shall get 'em mixed."