r reported all he had to say, which
was not much. There an anxious night was spent by the masters and the
one or two boys who were in their confidence in the matter.

The half hope that Loman might return of his own accord before night was
quickly dispelled. Bed-time came, and no signs of him. Later his
father arrived, anxious and excited, and was closeted for some time with
the Doctor.

Meanwhile everything that could be done at that time of night was done.
The Maltby newspapers were communicated with, and the police.
Unpleasant as it was, the masters decided the right thing to do was to
make the matter known at once, and not damage the chance of the boy's
discovery by any attempt to keep his disappearance quiet.

At dawn next day an organised search was begun, and inquiries were
started in every direction. Mr Cripps, among others, once more
received the honour of a visit, this time from Mr Loman himself, who,
greatly to the astonishment of the worthy landlord, called for his son's
promissory note, which, being produced, he paid without a word. Cripps
was fairly taken aback by this unexpected piece of business, and even a
trifle disconcerted. It never suited him to be quite square with
anybody, and now that Mr Loman had paid every farthing that could be
claimed against his son, he did not like the look of Mr Loman at all,
and he liked it less before the interview ended. For Mr Loman (who, by
the way, was a barrister by profession) put his man that morning through
a cross-examination which it wanted all his wits to get over creditably.
As it was, he was once or twice driven completely into a corner, and
had to acknowledge, for the sake of telling one lie, that the last
twenty statements he had made had been lies too. Still Mr Loman kept
at him. Now he wanted to know exactly how often his son had visited the
Cockchafer? When he was there last? When the time before that? What
he had done during his visits? Had he played cards? With whom? With
Cripps? Had he lost? Had Cripps won? Had Cripps gone on letting him
run up a score and lose money, even though he got no payment? Why had
Cripps done so? Where had he expected to get payment from in the end?

Altogether it was hot quarters for Cripps that morning, and once or
twice he struck completely, and putting himself on his dignity, declared
"he wasn't a-going to be questioned and brow-beated as if he was a
common pickpocket!" which objection Mr Loman qui