“No,” said he, with a laugh; “don’t run away as if you were ashamed of it. Stay where you are; let him see you keep good company now and then.”
“Oh, I must go!” exclaimed the boy; “he’ll think all sorts of things. He’ll think I’m such a hypocrite after what I promised him. Oh, do let me go!”
His agitation only increased the amusement of his tormentor, who, with a view to give the captain as vivid an impression as possible, laid his hand affectionately on the boy’s arm and beamed most benignantly upon him. It was no use for Wyndham to resist. After all, suspicious as it might appear, he was doing nothing wrong.
And yet, what would Riddell think?
The captain was pacing the Big in a moody, abstracted manner, and at first appeared not to notice either the bench or its occupants. Wyndham, as he sat and trembled in Silk’s clutches, wildly hoped something might cause him to turn aside or back. But no, he came straight on, and in doing so suddenly caught sight of the two boys.
He started and flushed quickly, and for a moment it looked as if he were inclined to make a wild dash to rescue the younger boy from the companionship in which he found him. But another glance changed that intention, if intention it had been.
His face fell, and he walked past with averted eyes, apparently recognising neither boy, and paying no heed to Wyndham’s feebly attempted salute.
Before he was out of hearing Silk broke into a loud laugh. “Upon my word, it’s as good as a play!” cried he. “You did it splendidly, young ’un! Looked as guilty as a dog, every bit! He’ll give you up for lost now, with a vengeance!”
Wyndham’s misery would have moved the pity of any one but Silk. The new hopes which had risen within him had been cruelly dashed by this unhappy accident, and he felt no further care as to what happened to him. Riddell would have lost all faith in him now; he would appear little better than an ungrateful hypocrite and impostor. The last motive for sparing him would be swept away, and—so the boy thought—the duty of reporting him would now become a satisfaction.
He tore himself from the seat, and exclaimed, “Let me go, you brute!”