Tom, putting aside a little outburst or two of passion,
had behaved admirably throughout the whole season of opprobrium; there
was no denying it. And Mr. Pye felt that he had done so.
"Will you do your duty as senior, Channing?" unnecessarily asked the
master.
"I will try, sir."
"Take your place, then."
Mr. Huntley was the first to shake his hand when he was in it. "I told
you to bear up bravely, my boy! I told you better days might be in
store. Continue to do your duty in single-hearted honesty, under God,
as I truly believe you are ever seeking to do it, and you may well
leave things in His hands. God bless you, Tom!"
Tom was a little overcome. But Mr. Bywater made a divertisement. He
seized the roll, with which it was no business of his to meddle, and
carried it to Mr. Pye. "The names have to be altered, sir." In return
for which Mr. Pye sternly motioned him to his seat, and Bywater
favoured the school with a few winks as he lazily obeyed.
"Who could possibly have suspected Roland Yorke!" exclaimed the master,
talking in an undertone with Mr. Huntley.
"Nay, if we are to compare merits, he was a far more likely subject for
suspicion than Arthur," was Mr. Huntley's reply.
"He was, taking them comparatively. What I meant to imply was, that one
could not have suspected that Roland, knowing himself guilty, would
suffer another to lie under the stigma. Roland has his good points--if
that may be said of one who helps himself to bank-notes," concluded the
master.
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