'I know!' put in Mr. John Merrifield, laughing. 'Don't you remember him, Harry? We had the like in our time.'
'Well?' interrogated the Captain.
'Just after you left home,' said Christabel, as shortly and clearly as she could, 'the children agreed to save their allowance to buy a pig for Hannah Higgins. They showed great perseverance in their object; and by the third week they had about seven shillings in this jug, which, to my grief and shame, I let them keep in the glass cupboard, not locked, but one door bolted, the other buttoned. On Friday morning, the 11th, I know the cup was full of coppers and silver, for I took it down to add something to it. On the next Monday morning the money was gone, all but one farthing.'
'Can you guess who took it?'
'I should prefer saying nothing till you have examined the children and servants for yourself.'
'Right!' said the Captain. 'Very well.--I am sorry to treat you to a court-martial, John, but I must hold one after tea.'
Christabel pitied the children for having to speak before this formidable uncle; but there could be no help for it, since no other sitting-room was habitable, and there were torrents of rain out-of- doors.
There was just time to show the glass cupboard, and the shelf where Toby had stood, and to return to the dining-room, before the children began to stream in and make their greetings to their uncle, Susan with George in one hand, and her plate of bakings in the other. Very fancy bread indeed it was! as Uncle John said. The edge of Purday's hat had been quite baked off, and one of his arms was gone; he was black in the wrong places, and was altogether rather an uncomfortable-looking object. David's brood of rabbits were much more successful, though the ears of many had fallen off. Uncle John was very much diverted, and took his full share of admiring and tasting the various performances. On the whole, the meal went off much better than Christabel had feared it would. She had really broken the children of many of the habits with which they used to make themselves disagreeable; there was no putting of spoons into each other's cups, nor reaching out with buttery fingers; lips were wiped, and people sat still upon their chairs, even if they fidgeted and sighed; and there was only one slop made all tea-time, and that was by Johnnie, and not a very bad one. Indeed, it might be hoped that Mr. Merrifield did not see it, for he was talking to Sam about the change of footpath that Mr. Greville was making. There was indeed no fun, but it might be doubted whether Papa would have been in a mood for fun even had his brother not been there; and Miss Fosbrook was rather glad there was nothing to make the children forgetful of propriety.
As soon as Mary had carried off the tea-things and wiped the table, Uncle John put himself as much out of the way as he could behind the newspaper in the recess of the window; and Miss Fosbrook would have gone to the school-room, but Captain Merrifield begged her to stay.
'I hear,' he said, 'that a very unpleasant thing has taken place in my absence, and I wish to learn all that I can about it, that the guilty person may be brought to light, and the innocent cleared from any suspicion.'
The children looked at one another, wondering how he had heard, or whether Miss Fosbrook had told him; but this was soon answered by his calling out, 'David! come here, and tell me what you meant by this letter.'
David walked stoutly to his father's knee, nothing daunted, though his brothers muttered behind him, 'So he wrote!' 'Little sneak!' and 'He knew no better!' Not that it was wrong to lay the case before his father; but boys had usually rather suffer injustice than make an accusation.
'Why did you write this letter, David?' said his father.
'Because I want my pence for the pig.'
'Tell me how you lost them?'
'Bess took them!'
Elizabeth sprung up, crimson, and with tears in her eyes, and Sam and Susan were both bursting out into an angry 'No, no!' but their father made a sign to all to keep still; and they obeyed, though each of the elder ones took hold of a hand of their sister and squeezed it hard.
'Did you see her take them?' asked the Captain.
'No!'
'Then why do you say she did? I don't want to frighten you, David; I only want to hear why you think she did so.'
David was getting alarmed now, and his childish memory better retained the impression than what had produced it. He hung down his head, scraped one foot, and finding that he must answer, mumbled out at last, 'Nurse said it, and Hal.'
'Henry, come here. Did you accuse your sister to David?'
'No!' burst out Henry at once; but there was a rounding of everyone's mouth to cry out Oh! and he quickly added, in a hasty scared way, 'At least, when Davie came bothering me, I said he had better ask Betty, because she had been prying about, and meddling with the baby-house. I never meant that she had done it; but Davie is such a little jack- ass!'
'Did you see her meddle with the baby-house!'
'She said that herself,' muttered Henry.
'Yes, Papa,' said Elizabeth, starting forward, 'I did find the doors of the baby-house open, and shut them up, but I never touched anything in it! Sam and Susie know I would not, and that I would not tell a story now, though I once did, you know, Papa!'
Captain Merrifield still kept his grave set face, and only asked, 'When did you find the doors open?'
'On Friday, Papa--Friday week--St. Barnabas' Day--just after dinner.'
'Was no one with you?'
'No, Papa.'
'You came up-stairs first?'
'Yes; I wanted my pencil before--' and she stopped short.
'Before what?'
'Before Miss Fosbrook went in to speak to Hal,' said Elizabeth, getting red all over.
'Hal had been dining in the school-room,' said Miss Fosbrook, 'on account of a little bit of disobedience.'
Captain Merrifield looked keenly at Henry, who tried to return the look, but shuffled uncomfortably under it.
'Then Hal had been dining in the school-room? Was he there when you came in?'
'No.'
'Were the doors open when you were dining there, Henry?'
'N--no.'
'You are sure that you did not meddle with them?'
'I do not know why I should,' said Henry, hastily and confusedly. 'It is only the girls and the babies that have things there--and--and Miss Fosbrook herself had been at the cupboard in the morning; why shouldn't she have left it undone herself, and the doors got open?'
'No, no!' cried Susan; 'if they aren't fastened they always burst open directly; and we never could have been in the room half the morning without noticing them!'
'Then you are certain that they were closed when you went down to dinner?'
Everyone was positive that the great glass doors flying out must have made themselves observed in that room full of children, especially as Susan remembered that she had been making a desk of the sloping part under them.
'Does anyone remember how long it was between Hal's leaving the room and Bessie's coming up?'
'I don't know when he went out,' said all those who had been in the dining-room; but there spoke up a voice, quite proud of having something to tell among the others--'I saw Hal go out, and Bessie come up directly.'
'You, Johnnie! How was that?'
'Miss Fosbrook made me dine in the nursery, Papa, because Hal and I had been riding on the new iron gate, to see if the telegraph would come in while the others were at church; and then Hal ran away with the Grevilles, and I couldn't get down till Sam came and helped me; and so Miss Fosbrook made me dine in the nursery; and when I had done, I went and sat upon the top of the garret stairs, to watch when they came out from dinner, and ask if I might come down again.'
'And what did you see, Johnnie?'
'First, I saw a wasp,' said Johnnie.
