"For what? The crime?" he demanded. "It was not a serious one, that I'll be bound."
"I was expelled for theft. When I left the school I was branded forever as a mean and despicable thief."
There was a strange tremor in Dudley's voice. Mr. Blunt was certain now that those were tears in the corner of the eyes. But still the lad faced him without a waver. He made his admission boldly, decidedly, with no attempt to lessen the significance of his words, and as he spoke, despite the tears in his eyes, and the tremor in his voice, Dudley Compton's head went higher, while there was a look on his face which spoke of pride, and of full consciousness of his own innocence.
CHAPTER II
A CONFIDENTIAL FRIEND
"A thief! Expelled from his school for theft, and sent out to South America to get him out of the way! Impossible! The boy is not lying. I swear he is honest, or ever after this I cease to believe that I am even the poorest judge of men."
Quite unconsciously Mr. Blunt uttered the words aloud, while he looked searchingly at Dudley. As for the latter, he had made his admission, he had told this new friend of his bluntly that he had just recently been expelled from his school for theft, and now he still regarded him without flinching, and in a manner which went far to persuade this tall man from the pampas that he was innocent. Mr. Blunt had not been meeting all manner of men during his life without encountering many rogues as well as honest men. The experience he had gained in various parts of the world was always proving serviceable, and now more than ever before perhaps. He prided himself on his judgment. That judgment told him without error that Dudley Compton was not a thief, despite the fact that the lad had just admitted that it was for theft that he had been expelled from his school. It was just like the kind-hearted fellow he was for the tall, raw-boned stranger at once to stretch out a huge brown paw and snatch hold of Dudley's hand.
"Tell me all about it," he said simply. "Tell me how it all occurred, and why you were selected as the culprit. Come, it may help you to talk. This matter has been weighing on your mind for some time and making you miserable. You will be happier and easier when you have given your confidences to me. Speak out, and do not fear that I shall not listen with sympathy."
He pressed Dudley's hand very gently, and looked away over the rail of the tossing ship. For his words, his sympathy, his openly expressed belief in his young friend had had their effect. Dudley Compton had for many a day now bravely borne the trouble which was on his mind, and had been there ever since the hour that he was expelled. His guardian, a busy man whose time was so occupied that he had little opportunity of going into outside matters, was possessed of very little sympathy. He was, in fact, not the best guardian for a lad, for he did not understand boys, and his mind was so wrapped up in business matters, so encompassed as it were by office affairs, that he could only look at outside questions superficially. He was disgusted that his charge should have been accused of thieving, and he thought it only natural that, when asked as to his guilt, Dudley should make the best of a bad matter and declare his innocence.
"Strange! Strange!" he had said, when their interview was over. "I have seen very little of the boy; too little in fact. But all have been fond of him and have given him a good character. I would not have thought him capable of such an act. But there——"