m
playing at fives as I passed the court. At least two were playing, and
the third, who had hurt his foot, was looking on."

"Do you mean to say, for it is necessary to be accurate, that you
recognised every boy in the house except these three in the football
field yourself?"

"Not exactly, sir; but we have been talking the matter over, and those
whom I did see can answer for all the rest."

"And who were the three boys in the Fives Court?"

"I was the looker-on, sir," said Gould, stepping forward.

"And when did you leave?"

"When the others left off play, sir. We all returned together at tea-
time."

"That is right, sir," said Smith and Simmonds. "We were the two playing
at fives, and Gould went and returned with us." (Of course it is not
meant that they said all this together, in chorus, as people do in a
play; but they both stood forward, and Smith was the spokesman.)

"And now, Crawley," resumed the doctor, "are you sure that the money was
not taken _after_ your return. You left your room again, perhaps,
before the meeting?"

"Yes, I did for a short time, sir; but then I had the keys in my pocket;
and the box was fairly unlocked. There are no marks of violence; and
it's a Brahma, so, whoever did it, must have had the right key."

"I am very glad that all the boys in my house seem able to prove so
clear an _alibi_," said the doctor. "That will do."

When they had all dispersed Dr Jolliffe made inquiries amongst the
servants. The fat cook indignantly demanded that her boxes should be
searched; but one coin of the realm is so like another that there did
not appear to be much object in that, beyond the pleasure of inspecting
a very smart bonnet in reserve for Easter, and other articles of
apparel. The maids who waited on the boys were very much cut up about
it. They never went near the rooms after they had once cleaned them up
in the morning till supper-time, when they turned down the beds (which
were set on end, and shut up to look like cupboards during the day), and
filled the jugs and cans with fresh water, etcetera. But it was
impossible for them to prove their absence during those two hours--from
three to five--so clearly as the boys could, though they could testify
to one another's not having been away for many minutes at a time. It
was extremely unpleasant for them, and for the butler and another man-
servant in a less degree also, for, though they had no business to go
into the boys' p