Galloway. Not but that I
thought some one else would have had that seniorship, you know!"
In Lady Augusta's present mood, had any one of her sons committed a
murder, she must have proclaimed it, though it had been to condemn him
to punishment. She had not come to shield Roland; and she did not care,
in her anger, how bad she made him out to be; or whether she did it in
Irish or English. The head-master could only look at her with
astonishment. He also believed her visit must have reference to the
matter in hand.
"It is true, Lady Augusta. But for the suspicion cast upon his brother,
Channing would not have lost the seniorship," said the master, ignoring
the hint touching himself.
"And all of ye"--turning round to face the wondering school--"have
been ready to fling ye're stones at Tom Channing, like the badly
brought up boys that ye are. _I_ have heard of it. And my two, Gerald
and Tod, the worst of ye at the game. You may look, Mr. Tod, but I'll
be after giving ye a jacketing for ye're pains. Let me tell ye all,
that it was not Tom Channing's brother took the bank-note; it was
_their_ brother--Gerald's and Tod's! It was my ill-doing boy, Roland,
who took it."
No one knew where to look. Some looked at her ladyship; some at the
head-master; some at the Reverend William Yorke, who stood pale and
haughty; some at Gerald and Tod; some at Tom Channing. Tom did not
appear to regard it as news: he seemed to have known it before: the
excessive astonishment painted upon every other face was absent from
his.
Pages:
696
697
698
699
700
701
702
703
704
705
706
707
708
709
710
711
712
713
714
715
716
717
718
719
720