“Heathcote.—This is from a friend. You are in peril. Don’t believe anything Pledge tells you. Suspect everything he does. He will try to make a blackguard of you. You had much better break with him, refuse to fag for him and take the consequences, than become his friend. Be warned in time.—Junius.”
This extraordinary epistle, all printed in an unrecognisable hand, set Heathcote’s heart beating and his colour coming and going in a manner quite new to him. Who was this “Junius,” and what was this conspiracy to terrify him? “Suspect everything he does.” A pretty piece of advice, certainly, to anybody. For instance, what villainy could be concealed in his bowling for an hour at the wickets, or rescuing young Aspinall from his tormentors? “He will try to make a blackguard of you.” Supposing Junius was right, would it not be warning enough to fight shy of him when he began to try? Heathcote had reached this stage in his meditations when he heard Pledge approaching. He hurriedly crushed the letter away into his pocket, and returned to the bookcase.
“Hullo, young fellow,” said Pledge, entering. “Putting things straight? Thanks. What about your Latin verses? Not done, as usual, I suppose. Let’s have a look. I’ll do them for you, and you can fetch them in the morning. Good-night.”
Heathcote retired, utterly puzzled. He could believe a good deal that he was told, but it took hard persuasion to make him believe that a senior who could do his Latin verses for him could be his worst enemy.
Chapter Nine.
A Literary Ghost.
For two whole days Heathcote let “Junius’s” letter burn holes in his pocket, not knowing what to think of it, or what to do with it. For him to take Dick into his confidence was, however, a mere matter of time, for Heathcote’s nature was not one which could hold a secret for many days together, and his loyalty to his “leader” was such that whenever the secret had to come out, Dick’s was the bosom that had to receive it.
“It’s rum,” said the latter, after having read the mysterious document twice through. “I don’t like it, Georgie.”