do not know
the--name--of--the--fourth_."

The Head Master waited to let each deliberate word soak in. Perhaps he
had calculated the effect of his voice upon a boy of sensibility and
imagination. That Scaife, his friend, should suffer the indignity of a
swishing, and that he should escape scot-free, seemed to Caesar Desmond
not a bit of rare good fortune--as it appeared to the others--but an
incredible miscarriage of justice. To submit tamely to such a burden
was unthinkable. He sprang to his feet, ardent, impetuous, afire with
the spirit which makes men accept death rather than dishonour; and
then, in a voice that rang through the room, thrilling the coldest and
most callous heart, he exclaimed--

"I was the fourth."

A curious sound escaped from the audience--a gasp of surprise, of
admiration, and of dismay, at least, so the Head Master interpreted it.
And looking at the faces about him, he read approval or disapproval,
according as each boy betrayed the feeling in his heart.

"You, Desmond?"

"Yes, sir."

The Caterpillar rose slowly. He was cool enough now.

"I was the fifth."

But Lovell's two particular friends sat tight, as they put it. Let us
not blame them.

"You, Egerton?"

"Yes, sir."

For a moment the Head Master hesitated. Into his mind there flashed
the image of two notable figures--the fathers whom he had entreated to
send sons to the Manor. If--if by so doing he had compassed the boys'
ruin, could he ever have forgiven himself? But now, the boys
themselves had justified his action; they had proved worthy of their
breeding and the traditions of the Hill.

"Come here," he said.

When they stood opposite to him, he continued--

"You give yourselves up to receive the punishment I am about to inflict
upon Scaife?"

The boys did not answer, save with their eyes. The silence in the
great room was so profound that John made sure that the beating of his
heart must be heard by everybody.

"I shall not punish you. This voluntary confession has done much to
redeem your fault. Meet me in my study at nine this evening, and I
will talk to you. When I came here I hardly hoped to find saints, but
I did expect to find--gentlemen. And I have not been disappointed."
He addressed the others. "You will return to your boarding-houses, and
quietly, if you please."

The immediate and most noticeable effect of Lovell's expulsion was the
loss of the next House match. Damer's defeated the