The Human Boy

rant, in fact, never got any pocket-money in his life, owing to his father being a gentleman farmer. Not that he had nothing. On t

ing harriers, which Morrant, by knowing the country well, could run with to a certain extent while they hunted. But Morrant's father was so worried about chemical manures and other farming things, including 203the price of wheat, that he d

It came from his godfather, who had never taken any notice of Morrant for thirteen years, though he was a clergyman. But the previous term Morrant had got a prize for Scripture history, and when that came to his godfather's ears, throug

rs what he ought to do with the money. And Ferrars said that before everything Morrant ought to give a tithe to charity. But when it was explained to Morrant that this

. He also said that in the case of a chap who had never had a half-sovereign in his life before, it was a great question whether he could be expected to give away any; and Morrant said there was no questio

-sovereign till he grew up, Morrant felt the awful importance of spending it right, because an affair once bought could never be replaced if lost. And, as Bra

ecially in Morrant's case. If he had got a sovereign, for instance, he might have bought a silver watch-chain to take the place of one which he had. It was made of the hair of his grandmother when she was young, and Morrant didn't much like it, and had often tried to sell it and f

ricks would get old after a while, and some might be guessed and would become useless. Then Parkinson had a remarkably swagger paint-box, and knew where Morrant could get another with only three paints less for ten shillings. And Morrant as near as a toucher bought that, but happened to remember he couldn't paint, and didn't care in the least about trying to. Corkey minimus said he would run the risk and sell Corkey minor's 207bat to Morrant fo

ho had made large fortunes simply by not changing gold when they had it. Gideon said there was nothing like never changing gold; so Morrant didn't

t's mind; and then came an extraordinary day when it act

shed in the space of two hours and a half. He had changed in the dormitory for "footer," and left his trousers on his bed at three o'clock, returning to them at 4.45. Then,

appened, did not make a lot of row, but just told about t

e?" and Butler said it was a very good question and show

h excitement that Butler made him write down the answers to his questions, and even then Phipps lost his nerve so that he spelled "yes" with two s's. But he solemnly put down and signed that Morrant had never told him where he kept his half-sovereign; and after he had gone Morrant said that, now he came to think about it, he felt sure Phipps was right. Whic

er s

d if you told Fowle yo

orran

e; and though many chaps hate Fowle pretty frightfully, I've never know

utler

say he's taken the money, because that's a libel, and he might, I believe, go to law against me; but I do say tha

c, would never rob another; and Butler said he would, because it wasn't like Freemasons, who wouldn't score off one anoth

er s

little history and hear about the Spanish Inquisition. Especially this may have happened seeing that Fowle is the chap. I tell you candidly that, in my opinion, after a good deal of experience of fellows in general, I t

Morrant was getting at, he showed tremendous indignation, and asked what he had ever done that such a charge should be brought against him, especially at such a time. He reminded Morrant that they were of the same way of 212thinking in holy affairs, a

ons, money kept going in small sums. Ferrars was set to watch in the pavilion, I remember, during a football match, and Morrant himself, and even Butler once or twice, also watched. Some chaps thought it was the ground-man; but as money also disappeared at school, that showed it couldn't be him. And then there was a theory that it might be a charwoman who 213came from Merivale twice a week. I believe she was a very good charwoman of her

e to the door of the boot cupboard, and two other rather larger holes were also made for my eyes. Mrs. Gouger, which was the charwoman's

bbed, which I thought only men did when they washed horses; but there was nothing suspicious, if you understand me. She didn't to

ars, and, to my great astonishment, Mrs. Gouger courtesied

loftiness, and evidently knew

s

hear, and she blessed him for all his goodness to her, and said God had sent him to a lone, struggling woman, and that he would re

he child is better. Keep on at your husban

ling in her pocket and blesse

his desk, which doesn't lock, owing to Forrest havi

and Butler thought it rum, and Gideon sa

er s

has given the charwoman tin before, or else she wouldn't have blesse

I

lling

oes he

nda

it was a Dunston chap, and Mrs. Gouger answered that she was not at liberty to say. She seemed rather defiant about it, Gideon thought, and, in fact, when he pressed her for the amount the chap gave her, she told Gideon to mind his own business. A watch was still kept, especially on Ferrars; and once Butler did an awfully cunning thing by setting Ferrars to watch and setting another chap to watch Ferrars

ough Slade doesn't like Gideon, owing to his way of making money by usury, yet it was such a serious affair that he listened all through and promised to go to the Doctor. Gideo

n hour and come out crying. Fowle had listened as best he could till the Doctor's butler had come by and told him to hook it; but he had heard no

nous thing for Ferrars. And what was more ominous still ha

self and say clever things, came out with a theory that Mrs. Gouger was Ferrars's mother, and that Ferrars was therefore stealing a

he said for a chap to steal money and hand it over to a charwoman in charity was contrary to human nature. All the same, if a thing actually hap

s

t that other's sanction is a thief. Boys, briefly there has been a thief among you--a thief whose moral obliquity has taken such an extraordinary turn, whose views of rectitude have become so distorted, that even my own experience of school-boy ethics cannot parallel 220his performance. This lad has looked around him upon the world, and found in it, as we all must find, a vast amount of suffering and privation, of honest toil and of humble heroism, displayed by the lowest among us. He has also observed that Providence is pleased to make wide distinctions between the rich and the poor; he has noted that where one labors for daily bread another reaps golden harves

'charity covereth a multitude of sins,' he imagined it must extend to cover that forbidden by the Eighth Commandment. This commandment he broke no less than fourteen times. You ask with horror why. 222That the domestic affairs of Mrs. Gouger might be ameliorated. He took the pocket-money of his colleagues, and with it modified those straits into which poverty and conjugal difficulties have long cast Mrs. Gouger. It was Ferrars's unhappy, and I may say unparalleled, design to go on appropriating the money of his school-mates until a sum of five pounds had been raised and conveyed to Mrs. Gouger. Of this total, with deplorable ingenuity, he had already subtracted from various pockets the sum of four pounds five shillings and sixpence; it was his intention to continue these depredations until the entire sum had been collected. But the end has come. The facts have been placed before m

nto a hat. If you drew a cross on the paper it meant that you wanted Ferrars to be expelled; and if you drew a naught, that meant he was to be let off.

numbers we

ulsion

expulsio

had happened, but I heard him tell the new master, Thompson, a day afterwards that perhaps the Lower School ought not to have been allowed to vote, as small boys would merely have understood that Ferrars had stolen money and nothing else. Their minds, th

en ten shillings from him too. But it happened that Ferrars had kept the most 225careful account of all the money he had raised for Mrs. Gouger and the people he had raised it from. But he had never taken a farth