"Then I should say he's telling a lie, sir," blurted out Vincent. "If he wasn't up to mischief, then why doesn't he say what he was doing on our premises?"
"Well, that's just what Mr. Morgan has been trying to find out. He has promised to bring Southby over here. We shall both question him; and, if he still refuses to give an explanation, he must go before the headmaster. Of course the matter will be thoroughly sifted; but I must say I don't believe that Southby, or indeed any other boy, took the cup from my study."
There was a moment's silence. To a man, the bystanders were inclined to believe that the Morganites were answerable for what had happened.
"Look here, Buckle," said Mr. Conway suddenly. "Are you sure that the cup was in the case when you brought it away from the field? You see," continued the speaker, lifting the oak box from the floor at his side, "the case itself is heavy, so, even if it had been empty, you might not have noticed the difference in the weight."
"But I saw Herbert put the cup in myself, sir," was the answer. "Then he locked the box and gave it straight into my hands. Besides, if the cup had been left lying about anywhere, some one would have seen it, and we should have heard about it before now."
This reply seemed reasonable enough, and so the conference ended, Mr. Conway promising to renew it after he had had another interview with Mr. Morgan.
As might have been expected, a report of the conversation which had taken place in the house-master's study soon spread like wildfire, the story receiving numerous sensational additions as it passed from mouth to mouth, until, especially among the junior boys, it was openly declared that Morgan's had organized a raid upon the rival house, and carried off the cup. It was not likely that any community would allow itself to be publicly charged with theft without some show of resentment, and the unfriendly feeling with which Morgan's already regarded the rival house now found vent in a blaze of indignation.
"Dirty sneaks!" cried one young gentleman. "They swindle us out of the cup; and now, when they've got it and lost it, they want to make out that we're nothing better than a gang of robbers. Wait till we play 'em at football next term, and we'll show 'em the stuff we're made off!"
So high did feeling run that it was dangerous for wearers of the black and red and the green and orange caps to approach within striking distance of one another; indeed, if it had not been for the prompt intervention of a stalwart prefect, two hot-headed youngsters would have done battle just before dinner on one of the fives courts.
It was a lovely, hot, summer afternoon, and practice at the various house nets was in progress.