“I don’t know how it is,” continued Mercer thoughtfully, “but it seems to me as if people like to cheat schoolboys. We never did two shillings worth of damage to those fishing lines—and I’ve got a horrible thought, Burr!”
“What is it?” I said.
“Why, it’s all that time since we gave old Lom the money, and for the first week he was always winking and laying his finger up against the side of his nose every time he saw us, and now we can’t ever see him at all.”
“Oh!” I ejaculated. “No. Impossible! He’s an old soldier, and he couldn’t cheat us like that.”
“Well, if he has, I’ll tell the Doctor, and have him punished.”
“You couldn’t tell,” I said dolefully.
“No, I forgot that. Well, let’s go and see if he’s at home now. Why, he hasn’t done any drilling this week! Why’s that?”
I shook my head, feeling horrified at the idea of such a fine-looking, frank old soldier being guilty of a piece of trickery, and I said so, but declared that I would not believe it.
“I don’t want to, but people do cheat us. Even Polly Hopley charges us double for lots of the things we have.”
By this time we had reached the lodge, but the door was shut, and Mercer looked at me very gloomily.