Noble society! Organised dishonour held together in bonds of honour! If boys were only to cast round what is right the same shield of honour which they so often cast round what is wrong, what a world this would be!
When Heathcote and Dick met that evening in the dormitory, they had something more important to talk about or to be silent about than the select “Sociables.”
“Look here, old man,” said Dick, thrusting a piece of newspaper into his friend’s hand. “They wrapped up the notepaper I got in town to-day in this. It’s a bit of last week’s Templeton Observer.”
Heathcote looked at the paragraph his friend pointed to, and read:—
The mysterious disappearance of a boat.—Up to the present no news has been heard of the Martha of Templeton, which is supposed to have been stolen from its moorings on the night of the 24th ult. The police, however, profess to have a clue to the perpetrators of the robbery. It is stated that late on the evening in question a lad, without shoes or stockings, was seen on the strand in the neighbourhood of the boat, and as the lad has been lost sight of since, it is supposed he may be concerned. At present the police are unable to give a description of the suspected lad, but vigilant enquiries are being prosecuted, and it is hoped that before long the mystery may be solved and the culprit brought to justice.
Chapter Fifteen.
In which our heroes do not distinguish themselves.
One result of the alarming paragraph in the Templeton Observer was, that Dick and Heathcote for the remainder of the term became models of virtue as far as going out of school bounds was concerned.