Follow My leader Part 65

The event was nothing else but the arrival in port of the collier brig, _Hail! Columbia_ with a cargo of coals from the Tyne, and _mirabile dictu_! with the _Martha_ lying comfortably, bottom upwards, safe and sound, on her deck.

The collier, according to the account of the skipper, had been running across the head of the bay on the 5th of June last, in half a cap of wind from the sh.o.r.e, when it sighted the _Martha_ drifting empty out to sea. Having sent one of his men after her to capture her, and being convinced by the absence of oars or tackle that she must have drifted from her moorings empty, he took her on board; and, as he was bound to deliver his cargo by a certain day, and the wind being against his putting into Templeton, he stowed his prize comfortably away amidships, where she had been ever since, awaiting his next call at Templeton.

With the free-and-easy business ways of his craft, he had neglected to send any letter or message announcing the safety of the _Martha_ to her afflicted friends; and having been detained in this place and that by stress of weather or business, he had now, after more than three months'

absence, his first opportunity of restoring the lost property to its rightful owner.

If the simple fishermen of Templeton had been inclined to believe in miracles, the strange reappearance of the missing _Martha_ at this particular time must have savoured of something of the sort. But being matter-of-fact folk, they contented themselves with lounging round the boat as she lay once more on the beach, staring at her, and wondering between their whiffs what the solicitors and judges would say now.

The skipper of the _Hail! Columbia_ had neither the time nor the patience to discover who just now was the lawful owner of the boat.

Some said Tom White; some said Tom White's partners; some said the p.a.w.nbroker.

The master disposed the problem off his mind very simply by setting down the _Martha_ on the beach, and letting those who chose to claim her settle their squabble among themselves.

The news of the return of the prodigal was not long in spreading; and by the time the Templeton boys came down for their afternoon bathe it was common property.

Our heroes heard it in the water, from Raggles, and immediately landed and dressed. They scarcely exchanged a word till they stood at the side of the _Martha_, where she lay in almost the same spot where two of them had seen her three-and-a-half months ago. Then d.i.c.k said:--

"Think of her turning up at last!"

"I half guessed she would," said Georgie, "though I never expected it.

I say, this settles our row, doesn't it?"

"Pretty well. But of course Tom White may catch it for p.a.w.ning the boat. He collared the money, you know."

"Ah, but that's not got much to do with us," said Heathcote.

"Well," said d.i.c.k, "we ought to back him right up, while we are at it.

Besides, you know, we may still get into a row for letting her go, though she _has_ turned up."

Altogether the "Firm" were not very sure how far their position was improved by the recovery of the _Martha_. If Pledge, or any one, chose to tell tales, or if they themselves, in order to extricate Tom White, had to tell tales of themselves, all might yet go wrong. The one good thing, they decided, was that Mr Richardson, when he came to-morrow, would be saved the expense of buying at least one new boat for somebody.

Our heroes, as in duty bound, were at the station to meet the 3:5 train, and give the worthy paterfamilias a reception.

"Hullo, father," cried d.i.c.k, as if he had only parted with his parent five minutes ago, "they've found her, I say. Do you see that two-masted collier in the harbour? She picked her up, the day after we slipped her. Isn't it jolly?"

Mr Richardson certainly looked surprised, and a trifle relieved; but the matter did not yet occur to him in a "jolly" light.

"It's a good thing she has come back," said he; "and now, as I have a great deal to do, I'll say good-bye for the present. I have sent a note to Doctor Winter, to ask him to let you breakfast with me at the 'George,' in the morning."

"Thanks, awfully, sir," said Coote, beaming all over.

Mr Richardson laughed.

"I'm afraid I only mentioned Basil in my note," said he, "but I daresay we shall be able to have a meal together later in the day. Good-bye."

"Rather cool cheek of you, Coote," said d.i.c.k, as the "Firm" returned to the school, "cadging my father that way for breakfast."

"Very sorry," said Coote, humbly. "I thought we were all in it, that's all."

The evening pa.s.sed anxiously for the boys, and no less so for poor Mr Richardson, who was buffeted about from pillar to post, from lawyer to lawyer, from boatman to p.a.w.nbroker, in his honest efforts to extricate his son from his sc.r.a.pe.

The recovery of the _Martha_, he found, made very little improvement in his prospects. For now she had come back, everybody seemed to be calculating the amount of money she would have brought in had she remained at Templeton during the busy season. This loss was estimated at several times the value of the boat, and the high-principled prosecutors would hear no suggestion of withdrawing the case until each one of them--partners, p.a.w.nbroker, and all--had been refunded the entire sum.

Then, when that was done, the lawyers pulled their bills out of their desks, and hinted that some one would have to settle them; and as neither the partners, nor the p.a.w.nbroker, nor Tom White, saw their way to doing so, Mr Richardson had to draw his own inferences and settle them himself. Then, when all seemed settled, the police recollected that they had had considerable trouble in looking after the case. They had made several journeys, and spent several hours on the beach looking out for the supposed thief. They had also had charge of Tom White for a fortnight; and what with postages, telegrams, and office fees, they were decidedly out of pocket over the whole business.

The long-suffering father put them in pocket, and after subscribing to several local charities, and consoling the reporters of the _Templeton Observer_ and other such outsiders, he retired, jaded, but comforted, to the "George," feeling that if his mission had been successful, it had cost him an amount of generosity which he could hardly have believed was in him.

When d.i.c.k, "with shining morning face," presented himself next morning for breakfast, he little imagined how much of his father's money was at that moment scattered about in Templeton.

"Huzza! father," said he, when his parent presented himself in the coffee-room. "Such a game! Cresswell says he'll give us his study this evening, so our 'Firm's' going to give you a spread. Coote and Georgie are out ordering the tucker now--kidneys and tea-cake. I asked Winter when I went for my _exeat_ if we might have you, and he said, 'Yes; he'd be very glad.' Mind you come. It'll be a stunning spread, and Georgie and Coote are sure to pick out good things. I wish mother could come too."

In the face of this hospitable outburst, Mr Richardson could hardly expatiate on the cost and anxiety of his mission to Templeton. A calmer moment must do for that. Meanwhile he delighted his son's heart by accepting his invitation on the spot.

He allowed d.i.c.k and his two friends, if it fitted in with school rules, to be present in the Court to hear the end of Tom White's case--a permission they were not slow to avail themselves of, although this time they occupied a modest seat at the back, and attempted no public manifestations of encouragement to the prisoner in court.

The case ended very simply. When it was called on, and Tom, as friendly as ever, was ushered into the box, no one appeared to accuse him, and the magistrates, rightly concluding this to mean that the prosecution had retired, dismissed the case accordingly.

Tom said, "Thank'ee, sir," and looked quite bewildered on being told he might walk out of court a free man.

Our heroes, who had already got outside before he reached the door, deemed it their duty to complete their efforts in his favour by congratulating him on his escape.

"Jolly glad we are, Tom White," said d.i.c.k, as the worthy mariner came towards them. "It was hard lines for you, and it wasn't all your fault.

It's my father got you off, you know."

"Thank'ee, young gentleman. It's very hard on a hard-working mariner not to have his living. If you could spare a trifle and tell the gentlemen, I'd thank you kindly."

"We haven't got any tin to spare now," said d.i.c.k, who knew that the resources of the "Firm" had been well-nigh exhausted in preparation for the spread in Cresswell's study that evening; "but we won't forget.

Good-bye, old man. Jolly glad you've got out at last!"

CHAPTER TWENTY EIGHT.

HOW NEMESIS MAKES HER FINAL CALL.

Our heroes, as they returned arm-in-arm from the trial of Tom White, were conscious that in proportion as the troubles behind them diminished, those ahead loomed out big and ominous.

They had escaped transportation; at least, so they told one another; and although, when all was said and done, they had not done much towards righting Tom White or recovering the _Martha_ still, somehow, Nemesis had been "choked off" in that direction.

But when they turned their faces from what lay behind to the immediate future, their hearts failed them. They had staked high for the "Sociables." Their run with the Harriers had been no trifle: and far more important was the general attention it had drawn to themselves, and to their efforts to get into, the select company. Their candidature was a master of public notoriety, and if Pledge should at the last moment carry out his threat, their fall would be sad in proportion.

When they reached Templeton they found the place in a ferment. Fellows were going about with pencils and paper, making up their lists.

"I say," said Pauncefote, waylaying our heroes as they entered the Den; "vote for us, I say. I'll vote for you."

"Oh, ah!" said d.i.c.k; "that means we give you three votes, and you only give us one. See any green? You get a couple of other chaps to stick us down, and then we'll do it."

Pauncefote, rather bewildered by this way of putting the matter, went off immediately, and canva.s.sed actively among his particular friends on behalf of the "Firm;" which was very kind of him, as several fellows told him.