mother's hand stealing
into his, as it had so often stolen into it in the village church in
days gone by, when the good vicar read the Litany, and prayed for
deliverance from "lightning and tempest, from plague, pestilence, and
famine; from battle and murder, and from sudden death." The man who had
brought about "the sudden death" of his father, had ended his with
tragic swiftness, and now stood before the Judge of all. The time for
the last great trial had come for Israel Zuker.

"Before Him--before the Judge of all men," said Mr. Weevil, at length
breaking the silence, "I hope to justify myself for what I have done, as
well as for what I have left undone, but in the meantime I shall never
forget the part that you have played, Percival. It is true, profoundly
true, that no good deed is ever lost. Your kindness to Hibbert will ever
be a sacred memory to me. Good-night, Percival, and God bless you."

"Good-night sir."

And Paul, with his heart very full, turned from the room.

When Paul went out, Mr. Weevil did not retire to rest. He was one of
those men who require very little sleep. He unlocked a drawer in his
desk, and took from it several loose sheets of paper, with entries on
them. These he regarded closely for a moment or two, then leaned
reflectively back in his chair, with eyes closed. Then he looked at the
pages again, together with some memoranda jotted on a separate sheet of
paper. His scrutiny ended, he put them back into the drawer, and locked
them up again.

Having done this, he took up a sheet of foolscap, on which was written,
in the form of a petition, the resolution of the Fifth calling upon Mr.
Weevil to expel Percival from Garside. To this petition were attached
the names of the mover and seconder of the resolution--Stanley Moncrief
and Parfitt--followed by the names of the other boys in the Form, with
the exception of Waterman.

Mr. Weevil had not yet answered this unusual petition, so he took up a
pen and paper and wrote:

"Mr. Weevil's compliments, and he will be pleased to meet the Fifth, and
go into their petition to-morrow. As so delicate a matter cannot be
discussed before the whole school, the form will return to the
class-room, where the master will come to them at the end of the day's
work. One last proviso, as it is the conduct of Percival which has been
impugned, it will, of course, be necessary for him to be present at the
inquiry, so that he may be heard in his own defence."