THE BANNER-BEARER IN TROUBLE.
Shall Jesus bear the cross alone,
And all the world go free?
No! There's a cross for every one,
And there's a cross for me.
ERE Ronald again entered the study, another boy had been there, one who went of his own accord. A rumour had arisen in the school-room that Ronald Macintosh was the boy accused of having been seen fishing in the river, and of having denied the fact. True, the report was not believed by all; but, at the first flash of it, Sir James Dudley had left the school-room, and sought the much-dreaded study of the headmaster. He entered the room, however, unabashed, his head erect, the brown eyes sparkling with indignation.
"Dr. Bowles," he said, "I have come to tell you that you are wrong. Ronald Macintosh never broke a rule of yours; and he never, no never, told a lie. I don't know who did; but I do know he did not. Why, I believe he'd sooner die than say what was not true. You don't know, sir, how good and kind he is, nor all he has done for us little fellows; and—and he loves God, sir, just as my own mother does, and has been trying all he can to make me a true Christian boy also; and I will say, sir, you are wrong in thinking it was him, even if you beat me for saying so."
The brave little heart was giving way when the doctor spoke. "No, Dudley, I will certainly never beat any boy for defending a friend in whom he believes. It grieves me, as much as it does you, to think evil of Ronald. It grieves me more, far more than a little boy like you can understand, for I also thought highly of him; but this much I will tell you, the proof of his guilt cannot be put aside: his fishing rod was found, at least a part of it with his name on it, close by the spot where Mr. Lawson's man saw the boy fishing, and found a trout left behind when the fisher saw him coming and took flight. Had the evidence not been so strong, I would have refused to believe it could have been Ronald Macintosh."
The brown eyes fell, but only for one moment. Again they were raised with a look full of confidence to the master's face.
"But, Dr. Bowles, I saw Ronald when he left the play-ground, and he had no fishing rod in his hand; and he was only an hour away, and he could not have had time to be down by the river and catch a trout there, and be back so soon. No, sir, depend on it, Ronald is not the boy who broke the rule of the school."
Dr. Bowles smiled. "Well, Dudley," he said, "he has at least a brave defender in you, and rest assured I will sift the matter fully, ere the sentence of punishment is pronounced. As to the fact of his having no fishing rod in his hand when he left the school, that carries little weight with it; for I believe he had an accomplice, who probably was out of the bounds ere Ronald left, and who, no doubt, had the rod in his possession. The man declares he saw two boys run away; although he believes only one, and that the biggest of the two, was fishing. It's a sad story altogether. Now go, Dudley, and leave me."
Just then the door opened, and Macintosh entered; and little Dudley, at a sign from the master, left them alone. The anger had passed from the lad's spirit, and he was calm now, as he asked Dr. Bowles to forgive him for the hasty words he had spoken, and for any disrespect he had shown to him. The pardon was granted, as far as that offence went; but the tone in which it was accorded was cold and hard.
"And now, sir," said the master after a pause, "I repeat the accusation already made, of the truth of which I believe I hold the evidence beside me, that you broke the law of the school on Saturday last by fishing in the river for trout, knowing that a severe penalty would be inflicted on any boy so doing; and more, that after having done so, you kept a cowardly silence, when the request was made that the boy or boys (for it is believed you had an accomplice) should stand up and confess the deed. And, still further, to the sin of disobedience you added the greater one of falsehood, by solemnly denying the committal of the deed when the question was separately put to you. Now, sir, what have you to answer to these accusations?"