CHAPTER XXXVIII
"FORGIVE, AND YE SHALL BE FORGIVEN"
The two boys looked at each other blankly. How were they to act? Whatwas to be done? If they refused to obey the summons from the "MysticBrethren," they knew not what would be the penalty. The more they lookedat the letters, with their grotesque design, the more imposing theyseemed.
"What's to be done, Freddy?" asked Harry, when they were outside theshop.
"We shall have to go, I suppose!" answered Plunger despondently. "We'vegiven ourselves away, you see. We're one of them--one of the wretchedBeetles. We've taken the vow of allegiance. They've got us in a tightcorner."
"What's the 'realms of Creepy-crawly, Shivery-shaky' I wonder?" askedHarry, in an equally dejected tone.
"Some ditch with plenty of toads and slime about it, I expect. Youneedn't be anxious. We'll know soon enough!" groaned Plunger. "I wish togoodness you'd been anywhere before you let me in for this mess! Why didthey ever let you loose from Gaffer Quelch's?"
"Oh, shut up, Plunger! You're tiring! After all, you wouldn't make sucha bad Beetle. You can crawl a lot better than you can punt, and----Oh,oh!"
Plunger had caught him by the ear and given it a vigorous pull. Harryreturned it by kicking Plunger on the shins. Having thus equalisedmatters, they became once more on friendly terms.
"Look here, Harry, we're both in the same boat. Supposing we don't go?"
"Then what'll happen?"
"I don't know. We shall have to chance that. They can't eat us."
"Oh, but I'm not afraid! It's not that; but--but I don't somehow likebreaking my word."
"Neither do I. It's jolly awkward; yet, come to think of it, I don't seewhy we shouldn't."
"We promised to be true to the cause."
"Yes; but the promise was got from us by force, and that isn't binding.I've heard my pater say so."
"Oh, he's in the glue line, and ought to know what's binding! Stop it,Plunger!"--as Plunger seized him once more by the ear. "That's the worstof you. You don't know a compliment when you hear one. Don't I wish mypater was in the glue line! It's fine stuff. Made out of horses' hoofs,isn't it? Well, go on. Not binding, you said. How do you make that out?"
"Haven't I said, stupid--because it was got from us by force? But don'ttake my word for it. Let's ask your cousin. Will that satisfy you?"
Harry at once consented. He still had the highest admiration for hiscousin, notwithstanding the fact that he had been defeated by a Beetle.They returned to the school, where they were not long in findingStanley, who had just been joined by Newall.
"We want to talk with you alone, if--if you wouldn't mind, Stan," saidHarry.
"You don't think that I'm going to clear out for any of you Lower Formcubs, do you?" sneered Newall.
"Oh, you can speak before Newall as you would before me, Harry! Come,fire away!"
Harry still hesitated. He could not forget how Newall had served himwhen he first came there, but while he was hesitating Plunger began:
"This is what we want to know. Supposing any fellows in this school--wewon't mention names--happened to be captured by the enemy, and supposingthe enemy forced them into a--a----"
"Secret society," put in Harry, as Plunger came to a standstill.
"Yes, secret society. A kind of brotherhood--vendetta, with masks andknives and forks--daggers, I mean--and that sort of thing----"
"Now, look here, Master Plunger, stop plunging! Drop it, and come to thepoint!" said Stanley firmly. "What do you want to know? Come, Harry;you're not so gassy. Perhaps we can get some sense out of you."
Harry explained as well as he was able what they wanted to know. Stanleyat once decided that a promise given under such circumstances was notbinding, and his opinion was, of course, backed up by Newall, who waseager to know what this mystery could mean. Thus assured, Plunger andHarry told them all that had happened on the afternoon they had beencaptured by the "Mystic Brethren." As may be imagined, Stanley andNewall were greatly excited by the story--especially that portion of itreferring to Paul.
"Now are you satisfied?" cried Newall triumphantly. "Didn't I always saywhat Percival was? He's not only a cur, but a traitor!"
And Stanley, who in days gone by would have fiercely resented theslightest reflection on Paul, allowed the words to go unchallenged.
"You're quite certain that it was Percival you saw?" he at length asked.
"Am I certain that I see you?" answered Plunger. "Besides, Harry sawhim, too. Both of us couldn't be mistaken."
"There wasn't much mistake, Stan. I wish there had been. That makes thesecond time I've seen them together."
"If you don't believe us, you'd better put to him the question straight.Send for him now, and put him face to face with us. See if he'll deny itthen!"
"I think you're right, Plunger. We'll send for Percival, and see what hehas to say. You go and fetch him, Harry. You'll find him somewhere aboutthe grounds.
"One moment. Don't be in a hurry. We've got an artful young gentleman todeal with, and if we want to find things out, and pay back the Bedes intheir own coin, we shall have to be artful as well. We mustn't show ourhand too soon."
"I don't quite understand."
"No; but I'll make all clear in a word or two. If we call in Percival,we shall not get much from him. It isn't likely he'll give himself away.He'll say that Plunger was mistaken; that it wasn't him, but somebodyelse who was talking to the fellow up at Bedes. What we've got to do isto meet craft with craft, and go one better than Percival at his owngame."
"Hear, hear!" cried Plunger. "But how are you going to do it? Strikes meyou'll have to get up very early in the morning to score off Percival."
"We sha'n't score if you keep that noisy tongue of yours wagging, Mr.Plunger. All you've got to do is to keep quiet till to-morrow evening,and then you can let it wag again as much as you please. My scheme isthis: We've first got to make good your word about the flag. If we canget it from that shed in which you say it is, we can prove that youhaven't been dreaming. With the flag in our possession, we'll call ameeting of the principal fellows from each Form down to the Third. Youand Moncrief minor can tell the story. Percival can then say what hepleases. We can produce the flag to prove our case--and--there you are!Percival will be kicked out of Garside!"
Stanley did not speak. The chasm between him and Percival had gone onwidening instead of narrowing, but it was no pleasure to him to hearthose words. Percival kicked from Garside! Then Garside would no longerbe Garside to him. Harry, too, was silent. He did not know why, but hebegan to think they were not doing the right thing by Percival. Theywere trying to trap him, and the one setting that trap was the one whohated him.
"A jolly good idea, Newall!" exclaimed Plunger enthusiastically."Smart--real smart! But how are you going to work it? How are you goingto get the flag?"
"To-morrow's Wednesday; so we've got the whole of the afternoon beforeus. You're supposed to meet the Beetles at half-past three, aren't you?"
"Yes; half-past three sharp."
"Well, we'll be beforehand--half an hour, say. That will give us plentyof time to get possession of the flag, and away with it before yourbrethren of the Mystic Circle put in an appearance."
"You--you won't want me?" asked Plunger anxiously. He had a keenrecollection of what had happened at the shed the last time he wasthere.
"Of course we shall. You'll have to take us to the shed and show uswhat's inside it."
Plunger did not like this suggestion. Why couldn't Newall have selectedMoncrief minor? But he could not very well raise any objection. So,making a virtue of necessity, he raised his eyebrows to their fullestextent, and said he should be "delighted."
Then came the question as to who should go with Plunger. It was notadvisable to take too many, for fear of the risk of discovery. So Newalldecided that only three should accompany Plunger--Stanley, Parfitt, andhimself. Stanley would gladly have given way to anybody else, but Newallinsisted that he should be one of the party. He seemed determi
ned toleave no stone unturned to blacken Paul in the eyes of his one-timefriend.
Stanley crept away as soon as he could to the solitude of his dormitory.
He was very wretched. He felt as though he were acting a mean part. Itmight be true that Paul was not the friend to him that he had at onetime been--that he had gone over to the Bedes, and acted a mean part;but that was no reason why he should act a mean part, too. Two blacksdid not make a white. "Percival will be kicked out of Garside!" Newall'swords kept repeating themselves in his brain. He could not forget them.Percival would be kicked out of Garside, and he would be one of thosewho had helped to kick him out.
No, no; whatever wrong Paul had done him, he could not do that. But howcould he prevent it? How could he put him on his guard? He thought for along time; then he got a half-sheet of notepaper, and wrote on it in adisguised hand:
"Beware! Steer clear of Bedes. Plot on foot to turn you from Garside."
The next difficulty to get over was--how to get that note to Paulwithout rousing suspicion. It must be read by him, and him alone. He wasa long time before he could think of any means of accomplishing thispurpose; then he remembered that Paul was in the habit of reading a fewverses every night before going to rest from a Bible given to him by hismother. He went to Paul's dormitory--the dormitory in which he had onceslept, and to which he had often longed to get back.
Glancing cautiously in, he found that it was empty. He crept softly toPaul's locker, and drew out his Bible. There was a bookmark in it. Heopened it at the bookmark. The first words that met his eyes were:
"Judge not, and ye shall not ye judged; condemn not, and ye shall not becondemned; forgive, and ye shall be forgiven.... With the same measurethat ye mete, withal it shall be measured to you again."
Forgive, and ye shall be forgiven! The words seemed in a mist beforeStanley's eyes. Pshaw! What had he to do with forgiveness?
His eyes went again to the Bible:
"With the same measure that ye mete, withal it shall be measured to youagain."
He read the words thrice, then placed the note inside the Bible andclosed it.
"He's sure to see it, I should think, and won't suspect who put itthere," he told himself, as he stepped softly to the corridor.
Scarcely had he reached it when he heard a footstep coming along it.
Looking in the direction whence it came, he saw that it was he of whomhe had been thinking--Paul Percival!