About a week before he went back to school his father again sent forhim into the dining-room, and told him that he should restore himhis watch, but that he should deduct the sum he had paid for it--forhe had thought it better to pay a few shillings rather than disputethe ownership of the watch, seeing that Ernest had undoubtedly givenit to Ellen--from his pocket money, in payments which should extendover two half years. He would therefore have to go back toRoughborough this half year with only five shillings' pocket money.If he wanted more he must earn more merit money.
Ernest was not so careful about money as a pattern boy should be.He did not say to himself, "Now I have got a sovereign which mustlast me fifteen weeks, therefore I may spend exactly one shillingand fourpence in each week"--and spend exactly one and fourpence ineach week accordingly. He ran through his money at about the samerate as other boys did, being pretty well cleaned out a few daysafter he had got back to school. When he had no more money, he gota little into debt, and when as far in debt as he could see his wayto repaying, he went without luxuries. Immediately he got any moneyhe would pay his debts; if there was any over he would spend it; ifthere was not--and there seldom was--he would begin to go on tickagain.
His finance was always based upon the supposition that he should goback to school with 1 pounds in his pocket--of which he owed say amatter of fifteen shillings. There would be five shillings forsundry school subscriptions--but when these were paid the weeklyallowance of sixpence given to each boy in hall, his merit money(which this half he was resolved should come to a good sum) andrenewed credit, would carry him through the half.
The sudden failure of 15/- was disastrous to my hero's scheme offinance. His face betrayed his emotions so clearly that Theobaldsaid he was determined "to learn the truth at once, and this timewithout days and days of falsehood" before he reached it. Themelancholy fact was not long in coming out, namely, that thewretched Ernest added debt to the vices of idleness, falsehood andpossibly--for it was not impossible--immorality.
How had he come to get into debt? Did the other boys do so? Ernestreluctantly admitted that they did.
With what shops did they get into debt?
This was asking too much, Ernest said he didn't know!
"Oh, Ernest, Ernest," exclaimed his mother, who was in the room, "donot so soon a second time presume upon the forbearance of thetenderest-hearted father in the world. Give time for one stab toheal before you wound him with another."
This was all very fine, but what was Ernest to do? How could he getthe school shopkeepers into trouble by owning that they let some ofthe boys go on tick with them? There was Mrs Cross, a good oldsoul, who used to sell hot rolls and butter for breakfast, or eggsand toast, or it might be the quarter of a fowl with bread sauce andmashed potatoes for which she would charge 6d. If she made afarthing out of the sixpence it was as much as she did. When theboys would come trooping into her shop after "the hounds" how oftenhad not Ernest heard her say to her servant girls, "Now then, youwanches, git some cheers." All the boys were fond of her, and washe, Ernest, to tell tales about her? It was horrible.
"Now look here, Ernest," said his father with his blackest scowl, "Iam going to put a stop to this nonsense once for all. Either takeme fully into your confidence, as a son should take a father, andtrust me to deal with this matter as a clergyman and a man of theworld--or understand distinctly that I shall take the whole story toDr Skinner, who, I imagine, will take much sterner measures than Ishould."
"Oh, Ernest, Ernest," sobbed Christina, "be wise in time, and trustthose who have already shown you that they know but too well how tobe forbearing."
No genuine hero of romance should have hesitated for a moment.Nothing should have cajoled or frightened him into telling tales outof school. Ernest thought of his ideal boys: they, he well knew,would have let their tongues be cut out of them before informationcould have been wrung from any word of theirs. But Ernest was notan ideal boy, and he was not strong enough for his surroundings; Idoubt how far any boy could withstand the moral pressure which wasbrought to bear upon him; at any rate he could not do so, and aftera little more writhing he yielded himself a passive prey to theenemy. He consoled himself with the reflection that his papa hadnot played the confidence trick on him quite as often as his mammahad, and that probably it was better he should tell his father, thanthat his father should insist on Dr Skinner's making an inquiry.His papa's conscience "jabbered" a good deal, but not as much as hismamma's. The little fool forgot that he had not given his father asmany chances of betraying him as he had given to Christina.
Then it all came out. He owed this at Mrs Cross's, and this to MrsJones, and this at the "Swan and Bottle" public house, to saynothing of another shilling or sixpence or two in other quarters.Nevertheless, Theobald and Christina were not satiated, but ratherthe more they discovered the greater grew their appetite fordiscovery; it was their obvious duty to find out everything, forthough they might rescue their own darling from this hotbed ofiniquity without getting to know more than they knew at present,were there not other papas and mammas with darlings whom also theywere bound to rescue if it were yet possible? What boys, then, owedmoney to these harpies as well as Ernest?
Here, again, there was a feeble show of resistance, but thethumbscrews were instantly applied, and Ernest, demoralised as healready was, recanted and submitted himself to the powers that were.He told only a little less than he knew or thought he knew. He wasexamined, re-examined, cross-examined, sent to the retirement of hisown bedroom and cross-examined again; the smoking in Mrs Jones'kitchen all came out; which boys smoked and which did not; whichboys owed money and, roughly, how much and where; which boys sworeand used bad language. Theobald was resolved that this time Ernestshould, as he called it, take him into his confidence withoutreserve, so the school list which went with Dr Skinner's half-yearlybills was brought out, and the most secret character of each boy wasgone through seriatim by Mr and Mrs Pontifex, so far as it was inErnest's power to give information concerning it, and yet Theobaldhad on the preceding Sunday preached a less feeble sermon than hecommonly preached, upon the horrors of the Inquisition. No matterhow awful was the depravity revealed to them, the pair neverflinched, but probed and probed, till they were on the point ofreaching subjects more delicate than they had yet touched upon.Here Ernest's unconscious self took the matter up and made aresistance to which his conscious self was unequal, by tumbling himoff his chair in a fit of fainting.
Dr Martin was sent for and pronounced the boy to be seriouslyunwell; at the same time he prescribed absolute rest and absencefrom nervous excitement. So the anxious parents were unwillinglycompelled to be content with what they had got already--beingfrightened into leading him a quiet life for the short remainder ofthe holidays. They were not idle, but Satan can find as muchmischief for busy hands as for idle ones, so he sent a little job inthe direction of Battersby which Theobald and Christina undertookimmediately. It would be a pity, they reasoned, that Ernest shouldleave Roughborough, now that he had been there three years; it wouldbe difficult to find another school for him, and to explain why hehad left Roughborough. Besides, Dr Skinner and Theobald weresupposed to be old friends, and it would be unpleasant to offendhim; these were all valid reasons for not removing the boy. Theproper thing to do, then, would be to warn Dr Skinner confidentiallyof the state of his school, and to furnish him with a school listannotated with the remarks extracted from Ernest, which should beappended to the name of each boy.
Theobald was the perfection of neatness; while his son was illupstairs, he copied out the school list so that he could throw hiscomments into a tabular form, which assumed the following shape--only that of course I have changed the names. One cross in eachsquare was to indicate occasional offence; two stood for frequent,and three for habitual delinquency.
Smoking Drinking beer Swearing Notes at the "Swan and Obscene and Bottle." Language.Smith O O XX Will smoke next halfBrown XXX O XJones X XX XXXRobinson XX XX X
And thus through the whole school.
Of course, in justice to Ernest, Dr Skinner would be bound over tosecrecy before a word was said to him, but, Ernest being thusprotected, he could not be furnished with the facts too completely.