d pass over his face, like a dark ripple on the clear
surface of a lake.

"Tell me, Monty," he said one evening, "all about what happened after I
left Roslyn."

"Gladly, Eric; now that your name is cleared, there is--"

"My name cleared!" said Eric, leaning forward eagerly. "Did you say
that?"

"Yes, Eric. Didn't you know, then, that the thief had been discovered?"

"No," he murmured faintly, leaning back; "O thank God, thank God! Do
tell me all about it, Monty."

"Well, Eric, I will tell you all from the beginning. You may guess how
utterly astonished we were in the morning, when we heard that you had
run away. Wildney here was the first to discover it, for he went early
to your bed-room----"

"Dear little Sunbeam," interrupted Eric, resting his hand against
Wildney's cheek; but Wildney shook his fist at him when he heard the
forbidden name.

"He found the door locked," continued Montagu, "and called to you, but
there came no answer; this made us suspect the truth, and we were
certain, of it when some one caught sight of the pendent sheet. The
masters soon heard the report, and sent Carter to make inquiries, but
they did not succeed in discovering anything definite about you. Then,
of course, everybody assumed as a certainty that you were guilty, and I
fear that my bare assertion on the other side had little weight."

Eric's eyes glistened as he drank in his friend's story.

"But, about a fortnight after, _more_ money and several other articles
disappeared from the studies, and all suspicion as to the perpetrator
was baffled; only now the boys began to admit that, after all, they had
been premature in condemning you. It was a miserable time; for every one
was full of distrust, and the more nervous boys were always afraid lest
any one should on some slight grounds suspect _them. Still_, things kept
disappearing.

"We found out at length that the time when the robberies were effected
must be between twelve and one, and it was secretly agreed that some one
should be concealed in the studies for a day or two during those hours.
Carter undertook the office, and was ensconced in one of the big
cupboards in a study which had not yet been touched. On the third day he
heard some one stealthily mount the stairs. The fellows were more
careful now, and used to keep their doors shut, but the person was
provided with keys, and opened the study in which Carter was. He moved
about for a little time--Carter watching him t