The examination in no way altered the tone of public opinion. The general opinion was that Ned had followed his stepfather to the mill, intending to attack him, that he had stumbled onto the coil of rope, and the idea occurred to him of tying it across the road and upsetting the gig on its return. Charlie's evidence as to the savage assault upon his brother had created a stronger feeling of sympathy than had before prevailed, and had the line of defence been, that, smarting under his injuries, Ned had suddenly determined to injure his stepfather by upsetting the gig, but without any idea of killing him, the general opinion would have been that under such provocation as Ned had received a lengthened term of imprisonment would have been an ample punishment. More than one, indeed, were heard to say, 'Well, if I were on the jury, my verdict would be, Served him right.' Still, although there was greater sympathy than before with Ned, there were few, indeed, who doubted his guilt.
After Ned was removed from court he was taken back by the chief constable to his house, and ten minutes later he was summoned into the parlour, where he found Charlie and Lucy waiting him. Lucy, who was now
ten years old, sprang forward to meet him; he lifted her, and for a while she lay with her head on his shoulder and her arms round his neck, sobbing bitterly, while Charlie cluno- to his brother's disengaged hand.
'Don't cry, Lucy, don't cry, little woman; it will all come right in the end;' but Lucy's tears were not to be staunched. Ned sat down, and after a time soothed her into stillness, but she still lay nestled up in his arms.
'It was dreadful, Ned,' Charlie said, 'having to go into court as a witness against you. I had thought of running away, but did not know where to go to, and then Mr. Porson had a talk with me and told me that it was of the greatest importance that I should tell everything exactly word for word, just as it happened. He said every one knew there had been a quarrel, and that if I did not tell everything it would seem as if I was keeping something back in order to screen you, and that would do you a great deal of harm, and that, as really you were not to blame in the quarrel, my evidence would be in your favour rather than against you. He says he knew that you would wish me to tell exactly what took place.'
' Certainly, Charlie; there is nothing I could want hid. I was wrong to speak of him as Foxey, and to let fly as I did about him; but there was nothing intended to offend him in that, because, of course, I had no idea that he could hear me. The only thing I have to blame myself very much for is for getting into a wild passion. I don't think any one would say I did wrong in going out of the house after being knocked about so; but if I had not got into a
passion, and had gone straight to Bill's, or to Abijah, or to Mr. Porson, which would have been best of all, to have stopped the night, all this would not have come upon me; but I let myself get into a blind passion and stopped in it for hours, and I am being punished for it.'
' It was natural that you should get in a passion,' Charlie said stoutly. ' I think any one would have got in a passion.'
' I don't think you would, Charlie,' Ned said, smiling.
'No,' Charlie replied; 'but then you see that is not my way. I should have cried all night; but then I am not a great, strong fellow like you, and it would not be so hard to be knocked about.'
' It's no use making excuses, Charlie. I know I ought not to have given way to my temper like that. Now, Lucy dear, as you are feeling better, you must sit up and talk to me. How is mother?'
' Mother is in bed,' Lucy said. ' She's always in bed now; the house is dreadful, Ned, without you, and they say you are not to come back yet,' and the tears came very near to overflowing again.
' Ah! well, I hope I shall be back before long, Lucy.'
' I hope so,' Lucy said; ' but you know you will soon be going away again to be a soldier.'
'I shall not go away again now, Lucy,' Ned said quietly. ' When I come back it will be for good.'
'Oh! that will be nice,' Lucy said joyously, 'just as it used to be, with no one to be cross and scold about everything.'
' Hush! little woman, don't talk about that. He had his faults, dear, as we all have, but he had a great deal to worry him, and perhaps we did not make allowances enough for him, and I do think he was really fond of you, Lucy, and when people are dead we should never speak ill of them.'
' I don't want to,' Lucy said, ' and I didn't want him to be fond of me when he wasn't fond of you and Charlie or mother. It seems to me he wasn't fond of mother, and yet she does nothing but cry; I can't make that out, can you?'
Ned did not answer; his mother's infatuation for Mr. Mulready had always been a puzzle to him, and he could at present think of no reply which would be satisfactory to Lucy.
A constable now came in and said that there were other visitors waiting to see Ned. He then withdrew, leaving the lad to say good-bye to his brother and sister alone. Ned kept up a brave countenance, and strove to make the parting as easy as possible for the others, but both were crying bitterly as they went out.
Ned's next visitors were Dr. Green and Mr. Porson.
'We have only a minute or two, my boy,' Mr. Porson said, ' for the gig is at the door. The chief constable is going to drive you to York himself. You will go halfway and sleep on the road to-night. It is very good of him, as in that way no one will suspect that you are any but a pair of ordinary travellers. Keep up your spirits, my boy. We have sent to London for a detective from
Bow Street to try and ferret out something of this mysterious business; and even if we do not succeed, I have every faith that it will come right in the end. And now good-bye, my boy, I shall see you in a fortnight, for of course I shall come over to York to the trial to give evidence as to character.'
' And so shall I, Ned, my patients must get on without me for a day or two,' the doctor said. ' Mr. Wakefield is waiting to see you. He has something to tell you which may help to cheer you. He says it is of no legal value, but it seems to me important.'
CHAPTER XV.
NOT GUILTY.
S soon as Mr. Porson and the doctor had left him, Mr. Wakefield appeared.
' Well, Sankey, I hope you are not downcast at the magistrates' decision. It was a certainty that they would have to commit you, as we could not prove a satisfactory alibi. Never mind, I don't think any jury will find against you on the evidence they have got, especially in the face of those threatening-letters and the fact that several men in Mulready's position have been murdered by the Luddites.'
' It won't be much consolation to me, sir, to be acquitted if it can't be proved to the satisfaction of everyone that I am innocent.'
'Tut, tut! my boy; the first thing to do is to get you out of the hands of the law. After that we shall have time to look about us and see if we can lay our hands on the right man. A curious thing has happened to-day while I was in court. A little boy left a letter for me at my office here; it is an ill-written scrawl, as you see, but certainly important.'
Ned took the paper, on which was written in a scrawling hand:
' Sir, Maister Sankey be innocent of the murder of Foxey. I doan't want to put my neck in a noose, but if so be as they finds him guilty in coort and be a-going to hang him, I shall come forward and say as how I did it. I bean't agoing to let him be hung for this job. A loife for a loife, saes oi; so tell him to keep up his heart.'
There was no signature to the paper.
Ned looked up with delight in his face.
'But won't the letter clear me, Mr. Wakefield? It shows that it was not me, but someone else who did it.'
' No, Sankey, pray do not cherish any false hopes on that ground. The letter is valueless in a legal way. To you and to your friends it may be a satisfaction; but it can have no effect on the court. There is nothing to prove that it is genuine. It may have been written by any friend of yours with a view of obtaining your acquittal. Of course we shall put it in at the trial, but it cannot be accepted as legal evidence in any way. Still a thing of that sort may have an effect upon some of the jury.'
Ned looked again at the letter, and a shade came over his face now that he looked at it carefully. He recognized in a moment Bill's handwriting. He had himself instructed him by setting him copies at the time he was laid up with the broken leg, and Bill had stuck to it so far that he was able to read and write in a rough way.
Ned's first impulse was to tell Mr. Wakefield who had written the note, but he thought that it might get Bill into a scrape. It was evidently written by his friend, solely to create an impression in his favour, and he wondered that such an idea should have entered Bill's head, which was by no means an imaginative one. As to the young
