Chapter Nine.
Frank has a Bad Night.
“I wish I had a better head,” sighed Frank, as he lay in bed that night; “it seems to get thicker and thicker, and as if every time I tried to think out what is the best thing to do it got everything in a knot.”
He turned over, and lay hot and uncomfortable for a few minutes, and then perhaps for the hundredth time he turned over again, found his pillow comfortless, and jumped up into a sitting position, to punch and bang it about for some minutes, before returning it to its place, lying down, and finding it as bad as ever.
“It’s of no use,” he groaned; “I shall never get a wink of sleep to-night. I wish I could get up and dress, and go for a walk out there in the cool by the side of the water; but as soon as I got outside I should be challenged by the guard. I don’t know the password, and I should be arrested and marched off to the guardroom. Even if I could get down there by the canal, I should feel no better, for I should be thinking of nothing else but feeding the ducks.”
This thought made him twist and writhe in the bed to such an extent that the clothes refused to submit to the rough treatment, and glided off to seek peace and quietness upon the floor. The pleasant coolness was gratifying for a few minutes; but the boy’s love of order put an end to his lying uncovered, and he sprang out of bed, dragged the truant clothing back, remade his bed extremely badly, and once more lay down.
The occupation relieved him for a while, and he began to hope that he would go to sleep; but the very fact of his endeavouring to lose consciousness made him more wakeful, and he lay with wide-open eyes, going over the events of the evening, till he got into a passion with Andrew Forbes, with Mr George Selby, and most of all with himself.
“How could I be such an idiot as to go? I ought to have known better. I might have been sure, after what I had seen, that there was something wrong. But then,” he groaned, “I did fancy something was wrong, and I went to try and keep Drew out of mischief. Oh, what an unlucky fellow I am!
“It’s of no use,” was his next thought. “I shall never do any good here, only keep on getting into trouble. Why, if this were to be known, it would bring disgrace on my father and mother, and they would have to leave court—father would perhaps lose his commission.”