Dead silence. The boys for the most part looked straight before them with heightened colour, and watched the slow progress of the minute-hand of the clock.

"I repeat the question now," said the doctor, when the allotted time had run--"Was any boy here concerned in the outrage on Mr Bickers? or does any boy know who was? If so, let him stand up."

The silence which followed was broken to some by the thumping of their own hearts. But no one rose; and a sense of relief came to all but Railsford, who felt his spirits sink as the prospect of a near end to his trouble receded.

"Every boy here," said the doctor, slowly, "denies all knowledge of the affair?"

Silence gave consent.

"Then," continued the head-master, more severely, putting up his eyegla.s.s, and handing the list to Ainger, "I shall put the question to each boy separately. Call over the list, and let each boy come up and answer."

Ainger began by calling out his own name, and forthwith walked up to the master's desk.

"Do you know anything whatever of this affair?" asked the doctor, looking him full in the face.

"No, sir," said Ainger, returning the look, after his fashion, half defiantly.

The next name was called, and its owner marched up to the desk and uttered his denial. Railsford, as he stood scanning keenly the face of each boy in turn, felt that he was watching the action of some strange machine. First Ainger's clear voice. Then the short "Adsum," and the footsteps up to the desk. Then the doctor's stern question. Then the quick look-up and the half-defiant "No, sir," (for they all caught up the captain's tone). And, finally, the retreating footsteps, and the silence preceding the next name.

There was no sign of faltering; and, wherever the secret lurked, Railsford saw little chance of it leaking out. A few boys, indeed, as was natural, gave their replies after their own fashion. Barnworth looked bored, and answered as though the whole performance was a waste of time. Arthur Herapath was particularly knowing in his tone, and accompanied his disclaimer with an embarra.s.sing half-wink at his future kinsman. Felgate said "No" without the "sir," and swaggered back to his place with an ostentatious indifference which did not go unnoted. The baronet, who was nothing if not original, said nothing, but shook his head.

"Reply to the question, sir!" thundered the doctor, ominously.

Whereat Sir Digby, losing his head, said, "No, thank you, sir," and retired, amid some confusion.

Simson, when interrogated, mildly added to his "No, sir" the explanatory sentence, "except finding him there when I went for my boots"; and Munger, the cad, added to his answer, "but I'll try to find out," with a leer and an oily smile, which Ainger felt strongly tempted to acknowledge by a kick as he pa.s.sed back to his place. Stafford, painfully aware that he was one of the "mentioned" ones, looked horribly confused and red as he answered to his name, and satisfied several of the inexpert ones present that it was hardly necessary to look further for one of the culprits.

So the call-over pa.s.sed, and when once more Ainger handed in the list Railsford seemed further than ever from seeing light through the cloud which enveloped it. The doctor's brow darkened as he took once more his gla.s.s from his eye.

"This is very serious," said he, slowly. "When I came here it was with the painful feeling that the house contained boys so cowardly and unprincipled as to waylay a defenceless man in the dark, and to treat him as Mr Bickers has been treated. But it is tenfold worse to believe that it contains boys cowardly enough to involve the whole house in their own disgrace and punishment. (Sensation.) I will not mince matters. Your house is deeply disgraced, and cannot pretend to rank any longer with the other houses, who at least have a good name, until you have yourselves made this matter right. It rests with you to retrieve your credit. Meanwhile--"

Everybody took a long breath. The occasion was as when the judge puts on the black cap before pa.s.sing sentence of death.

"Meanwhile the house will cease to dine in Hall, but will dine in this room at one o'clock daily; and on Sat.u.r.days, instead of taking the half- holiday in the afternoon, you will take it in the morning, and a.s.semble for school at twelve o'clock. I still trust that there may be sufficient self-respect among you to make this change only of slight duration; or that," and here the doctor's tone grew bitter, and his mouth gathered sarcastically--"at least self-interest may come to your a.s.sistance, and make it possible to return to the old order."

And he stalked from the room.

"Let us off easy, eh?" said the baronet.

"Easy?" fumed Arthur; "he might as well have given us a bit of rope a- piece and told us to go and hang ourselves! Look at Ainger; do you suppose _he_ thinks we've been let off easy?"

The captain's face left no doubt on that question.

CHAPTER NINE.

AINGER HAS A CRUMPET FOR TEA, AND SMEDLEY SINGS A SONG.

Railsford for a brief moment had shared the opinion of his distinguished pupil, that the doctor had let the house off easily. But two minutes'

reflection sufficed to undeceive him. The house was to dine daily at one o'clock in Railsford's. That meant that they were to be cut off from all a.s.sociation with the rest of the school out of school hours, and that just when all the rest turned out into the playing-fields they were to sit down at their disgraced board. The half-holiday regulation was still worse. For that meant nothing short of the compulsory retirement of his boys from all the clubs, and, as far as athletics went, their total exclusion from every match or contest open to the whole school.

The house was slower at taking in the situation of affairs than the master. With the exception of Ainger, on whom the full significance of the doctor's sentence had flashed from the first, there was a general feeling of surprise that so big a "row" should be followed by so insignificant a retribution.

"Who cares what time we have dinner," said Munger to some of his admirers, "as long as we get it after all? Now if old Punch (this was an irreverent corruption of the head-master's name current in certain sets at Grandcourt)--if old Punch had stopped our grub one day a week--"

"Besides," broke in another, "we'll get things hotter than when we dined in hall."

"A precious sight hotter," said Arthur, wrathfully. "What are we to do at beagle-time to-morrow? Just when the hounds start we've got to turn in to dinner. Bah!"

This was the first practical ill.u.s.tration of the inconvenience of the new _regime_, and it instantly suggested others.

"We'll be stumped," said Tilbury, "if this goes on after cricket starts--it'll be all up with any of us getting into one of the School matches."

"I suppose," said Ranger of the Fifth, "this will knock all of us out of the sports, too?"

Fellows looked blank at the suggestion. Yet a moment's reflection showed that Ranger was right. One o'clock was the daily training hour in the playing-fields, and Sat.u.r.day afternoon four weeks hence was the date fixed for the School sports.

It took some days for Railsford's house to accommodate itself to the new order of things imposed upon it. Indeed, it took twenty-four hours for Grandcourt generally to comprehend the calamity which had befallen the disgraced house. When one o'clock arrived on the first afternoon, and neither Ainger, Wake, Wignet, Tilbury, Herapath, nor the other familiar frequenters of the playing-field, put in an appearance, speculation began to pa.s.s about as to the cause of their absence. Some of Bickers's boys knew there had been a "howling shine" about something. But it was not till Smedley, impatient to settle some question relating to the sports, sent his f.a.g to fetch Ainger that it became generally known what had happened. The f.a.g returned with an important face.

"Such a go!" said he, in reply to his chief's inquiry; "there's a feast going on at Railsford's! Smelt fine! I saw them through the door, but couldn't go in, because Railsford was there. Ainger and all the lot were tucking in. The beef was just going in, so they've only just started."

"Jolly shame!" said someone who overheard this announcement; "we never get feasts in our house! I suppose Railsford thinks he'll get his chaps in a good-humour by it. It's not fair unless everybody does it."

"It'll be hall-time before they've done. We'd better not wait," said one of the Sixth. "I wonder what it all means?"

"I heard Ponsford had been down rowing them about something this morning--something some of them had been doing to Bickers, I believe."

"Very likely; Bickers looked as green as a toad this morning, didn't he, Brans...o...b..?"

"He did look fishy," said Brans...o...b.., shortly, "but I say, Smedley, hadn't we better measure off without Ainger, and get him to see if he approves afterwards?"

So the work went on without the representatives of Railsford's house, and the bell rang for school-dinner before any of the missing ones had put in an appearance.

The mystery was heightened when in Hall the fifty seats usually occupied by Railsford's boys stood empty; and no inquiry was made from the masters' table as to the cause of the defection. It was noticed that Mr Railsford himself was not present, and that Mr Bickers still looked upset and out of sorts.

"Have you any idea what the row is?" said Smedley to Brans...o...b.. as the company stood round the tables, waiting for the doctor.

"How should I know? You'd better go and ask up there."

Smedley did. As the doctor entered, he marched up to meet him, and said,--

"None of Mr Railsford's house are here yet, sir."

"Quite right. Call silence for grace and begin," said the doctor, slowly.

For the rest of the day Railsford's seemed to be playing hide and seek with the rest of the school, and it was not till late in the evening that the mystery was cleared up.

"Come and let's see what it's all about," said Smedley to Brans...o...b...