“Who has broken open my desk?”
No answer.
He looked very grave, but said nothing, looking for his imposition-book.
“Where is my imposition-book?”
No answer.
“And where is my—?”
Mr Paton stopped, and looked with the greatest eagerness over every corner of the desk.
“Where is the manuscript I left here with my imposition-book?” he said in a tone of the most painful anxiety.
“I do hope and trust,” he said, turning pale, “that none of you have been wicked enough to injure it,” and here his voice faltered. “When I tell you that it was of the utmost value, I am sure that if any of you have concealed or taken it, you will give it back at once.”
There was deep silence.