Knowlton, 'I should
like to hear just why you did run away?'

'When they thought you were dead,' I answered, 'and that my school bill
would not be paid, and I should be left on their hands, they began to
treat me as if I were a servant. I did not believe I should ever see you
again; I knew I wasn't wanted there; I--I couldn't stand it, and I ran
away.'

'Well,' continued Captain Knowlton, 'Mr. Turton didn't seem to know
exactly what to say for himself. He explained, however, that he had paid
Mr. Windlesham a long price for the goodwill of the school, and that he
reckoned you as one of the most profitable pupils. He could ill afford
the loss of your account, to say nothing of your being left on his hands
to lodge and feed. Yet he assured me he had no intention to turn you
out, although he saw no harm, in all the circumstances, in making you
useful.'

'Still,' I exclaimed, 'he need not have made me black Augustus's boots.'

'That,' said Mr. Westlake, 'was evidently the last straw.'

I noticed that Jacintha watched Captain Knowlton's face with some
anxiety, thinking, perhaps, that he would show signs of displeasure at
my flight.

'Mr. Turton admits,' he continued, 'that since you had taken the law
into your own hands, he made no effort to overtake you until the arrival
of my telegram. Then, imagining you had turned towards London, he took
the train to various towns on the way, and no doubt did his utmost to
find you.'

'Oh!' cried Jacintha, abruptly.

'Well,' asked Mr. Westlake, 'what is it?'

'If I had told Mr. Turton where Everard was hiding,' she said, 'he would
have explained that Captain Knowlton was alive, and everything would
have been all right!'

'All's well that ends well!' remarked Captain Knowlton.

'Everard did not think it would end well the day before yesterday,'
cried Jacintha.

'The night is often the darkest just before dawn,' said her mother; but
for my own part I kept silent, for, looking back only a few days, and
recollecting what had been the outlook, I felt afraid of making an idiot
of myself if I ventured to open my lips.

'I gave Mr. Turton a cheque,' said Captain Knowlton, 'and I am afraid I
lost my temper. I saw the real state of affairs, and reckoned him up so
candidly that we did not part very good friends.'

'You certainly made an impression on him,' cried Mr. Westlake. 'He began
a long rigmarole when I explained my business this morning, but the main
point of it was that yo