CHAPTER XIII

A SHOCK FOR MR. ANDREWS

A FEW days after Mrs. Murray's walk to Brading's stores, as Arthur was on his way there in the morning, a respectable-looking man touched him on the shoulder and said, rather sharply, "Your name is Arthur Murray, I think?"

"Yes," answered Arthur, "but if you want to speak to me, I must ask you to walk my way, for I am in a hurry this morning."

"Plenty of time, young man. You are going to Brading's, I suppose? But they must wait, for you are my prisoner."

And as he spoke, he laid his hand upon Arthur's shoulder in a fashion that was more energetic than pleasant.

"What do you mean?" demanded Arthur, stopping short and facing round to the man.

"Oh, it's all regular! I have got the warrant here. It's for a cheque and a letter."

"There must be some mistake about this!" And Arthur looked up into the man's face so fearlessly and frankly that, instead of slipping the handcuffs on him as he had intended, he said:

"Well, now, look here. You go with me to the station quietly, and I dare say it can soon be put right, if you know you haven't handled it. But if you try any monkey tricks with me, why, I've got the bracelets here, and I'll soon have them on you."

"I give you my word of honour that, if you let me walk quietly by your side, I will not attempt to run away. Why should I? I tell you I know nothing of the cheque!"

"All right! And I tell you this, I hope you will be able to prove it," said the man in a more friendly tone.

And the two walked on together, the few people who passed them little thinking that Arthur was a prisoner and the stranger a detective.

It was not a very long walk to the police station, and as soon as Arthur reached it, the warrant for his arrest was read over to him, and the inspector in charge asked him if he wished to send a message to his friends.

"I should like to send a note to Mr. Andrews, the lawyer, to ask him to come and see me, and also to Mr. Brading's, to tell them why I cannot go there this morning. But I would rather not let my mother know what has happened just yet."

Arthur spoke very calmly, but he had turned deathly pale while he was speaking, for after all, it would not be so easy to prove his innocence, he feared.

The inspector told him he could come to the desk and write the notes himself, and a messenger should take them at once, and possibly the lawyer might be able to see him before the magistrate arrived, who would hear the case about twelve o'clock.

So Arthur wrote to the lawyer, stating what had happened, and at the same time, saying he knew nothing of the cheque. He wrote the other note to Mr. Bristow, saying he had been arrested and had sent for Mr. Andrews. Of course, this gentleman knew all about the affair, but was none the less astonished at the turn the business had taken.

"That Lady Mary has let her temper blind her!" he exclaimed half-aloud, as he commenced Arthur's task of sorting the letters.

When Mr. Andrews received Arthur's note, which was placed on the table of his own private room in the office, he was dumfoundered. He had heard from Mr. Brading something about a letter being lost, but he had not thought much of it. And to hear that the lad in whom he had begun to take so deep an interest had been arrested for the theft, was something so unexpected, so bewildering, that at first he could only sit and stare at Arthur's note, and wonder what his first step in the matter ought to be.

At last he sprang to his feet. "I shall know in a moment whether the lad is guilty or innocent," he said half-aloud. "It will be time enough to think what I shall do after I have seen him." And leaving word with Phillips in the outer office, as he passed through, that he should be back in an hour, he walked quickly to the police station.

"Good-morning, Rawlins! I hear you have Mr. Arthur Murray here. What idiot has done this?"

"You can see the warrant, sir," answered the inspector.

"I'll see that afterwards. I want you to let me see your prisoner here, in the full light of day."

"All right, sir! I will send for him from the cells."

And in a minute or two, Arthur came into the room, but he was looking so pale and woebegone that for a moment the old man's heart almost died within him, until Arthur lifted his eyes and looked straight into the old man's fearlessly and frankly.

Then Mr. Andrews stepped forward and grasped his hand.

"This is a nice kettle of fish!" he said cheerily.

"I don't want my mother to know, Mr. Andrews," said Arthur anxiously. "Have you heard that she is getting better, and able to come downstairs every day?"

"Glad to hear it," said Mr. Andrews, somewhat indifferently, for he had no great liking for Mrs. Murray. "The thing we have to consider is, how we are to get you out of this ugly business. Now tell me all you know about it. Mind, every bit! No keeping anything back!"

And Mr. Andrews led the way to the farther end of the room, where they could discuss the matter without being overheard by anybody.

Arthur related the story of the missing letter once more, and then told the lawyer what had happened the evening they had met, and what Adrian had said by way of accusation, and also that he had disposed of the cheque.

"You mean to say that he took the cheque out of the letter, and then sent it on empty?" demanded Mr. Andrews.

"He didn't say so," answered Arthur. "What he said, as nearly as I can remember, was this: 'If I had the cheque, you had the letter!' But no letter came to us, so far as we can discover."

While he was speaking, Mr. Brading came into the room, and Mr. Andrews went to meet him.

"This is a nice state of things," said the lawyer, in a tone of vexation.

"I can assure you, I have had no hand in it," said Mr. Brading. "I would willingly give fifty pounds to have the matter satisfactorily cleared up, and I wrote a few days ago to Lady Mary Murray and told her I would bear the loss of the money, although I did not believe that the letter had ever reached us. Still, rather than have any more annoyance over the matter, I intended to let it drop and be forgotten, unless some further development in the future made it necessary to enquire further."

Mr. Brading sighed as he thought of all the worry and vexation this had already cost him, but he walked over and shook hands with Arthur. "You must keep up your courage, you know," he said heartily. "Circumstances may seem to be against you, but we shall get at the truth some day. By the way, it was a cheque Lady Mary received from you that was stolen!" suddenly exclaimed Mr. Brading. "Lady Mary told me all about it the last time she called. She says she could not find her own cheque-book just when she wanted it, and having received a cheque from you for five pounds, she endorsed it, enclosed it in the letter she had written, and gave it to her son to post!"

"Was there ever such a fool!" exclaimed the lawyer. "Why, she must know that her lad has been the town talk for months! Ever since that new billiard saloon has opened its doors, he has haunted the place. Morning, noon, and night, I am told, he might be seen there. Don't you think she must have known it? Where did she suppose he spent his time?" exclaimed the lawyer, in an exasperated tone.

"Well, it might be worse," said Mr. Brading. "For, being your cheque, there will be the less difficulty in tracing it," he continued soothingly.

So it was arranged that when Arthur was brought before the magistrate, he should be asked to adjourn the case until the next day and accept bail for Arthur, that he might be released at once.

This arrangement they were fortunately able to carry out, so that at dinner-time Arthur was on his way home, having made arrangements with Mr. Andrews to be at his office by three o'clock that afternoon.

Molly was helping Alice, the maid, to set the dinner-table when he arrived, and as she saw him going to the door she ran and opened it.

"Whatever is the matter, Arthur? Are you ill? Have you got the headache?" asked Molly, without waiting for one question to be answered before another was asked.

"I don't feel very well, and so I have come home to dinner," answered Arthur, with a smile at his sister's curiosity.

"But that isn't all," she answered quickly. "You need not think you can deceive me, Mr. Arthur," she whispered. "I know there is something the matter, but I won't tell."

This was said because Mrs. Murray and Annie were coming downstairs, and the next minute they came into the room.

"You had better lie down and have a sleep for an hour," said Mrs. Murray, looking across at Arthur.

"I have to call at Mr. Andrews' office at three o'clock," said Arthur.

"Did you meet him again?" asked Molly.

But Arthur was giving all his attention to his mother just now, and would not hear what Molly was saying, until she insisted upon his giving his opinion upon a question she had to propose.

"Arthur, don't you remember what we used to say when we were little children about finding a thing giving the right to keep it?"

"Oh, never mind about that now!" said Arthur. "If you have found that sixpence I lost upstairs last night, you may keep it."

"But suppose somebody else found it?" proposed Molly.

"Oh well, if Alice found it, she may keep it!" said Arthur in a weary tone.

"Molly, do let him have a little peace," put in Annie. "You can see he looks tired. Have your dinner, Arthur, and go and lie down until a quarter to three; that will give you time to reach Mr. Andrews' office by three o'clock."

And Annie took care to serve her brother first.

Arthur was glad to take the hint and have a quiet hour in his own room.

At three o'clock he was at Mr. Andrews' place of business, and was about to pass quickly through the outer office, as there were several people sitting on the bench waiting, when the senior clerk, Phillips, stopped him.

"Wait one minute, Mr. Arthur," he said. "The governor has something to finish for the next post, and he asked me to detain you here for a moment until his bell was rung. Do you know any of those people?" whispered Phillips, glancing in the direction of the bench. "Look round in a minute, as though you were looking at the picture on the wall opposite," said the old clerk.

Arthur looked round for a minute at the picture, and then glanced at the strangers on the bench. But before he could speak again to Phillips, Mr. Andrews' bell rang, and the clerk stepped forward to fetch the letter and announce the arrival of Arthur.

The lawyer's question, when Arthur went into the room, somewhat startled him. "Do you know any of the people out there?" he asked.

"No, I never saw them that I know of," answered Arthur.

"Very well, sit down here, at the end of the table, for a minute," said the gentleman.

And he pointed to a chair in which, as he sat, the light of a broad bay-window fell full upon his face.

Then Mr. Andrews touched his bell again, and one of the strangers walked in.

"Will you tell me where you saw this gentleman last?" asked the lawyer.

"I never saw him until to-day," answered the young woman promptly.

"But I thought you told the police that you changed a cheque for Mr. Murray a week or two ago?" said the lawyer.

"Yes, sir! But this is not the Mr. Murray I meant. The one that came into our shop, and got a post office order for three pounds, and gave me one of your cheques, was much shorter and thinner—quite a little man! I changed the cheque at the stationery counter, and then gave him the post office order."

"What is that about a post office order?" almost roared Mr. Andrews. "You never said a word about the post office order before!"

"No, sir, I forgot it," said the young woman meekly. "The policeman flurried me so with the lot of questions he asked, but Father said I must remember to tell you everything this time."

"I should think so indeed," commented Mr. Andrews. "Then you do not know this gentleman?"

"No, sir, I don't think I ever saw him before."

"Thank you, that will do! Mr. Phillips will tell you what to do to-morrow. Good afternoon, Miss Sims! Be sure you get to the court in good time."

"Yes, sir," answered the meek-voiced woman. And then she went, and closed the door behind her.

The next minute a young man came in, and he was asked if he knew Arthur.

"Never set eyes on the gent before," replied the young fellow briskly. "He don't look the sort that comes to our market. Our Mr. Murray was a little, weazel-like chap. Thought he knew a thing or two more than most of us, and we let him think so, as it paid the saloon well to. No, bless you, he isn't a bit like our Mr. Murray," concluded the young fellow.

"Thank you!" put in Mr. Andrews at this point, for, having got the evidence he wanted for the next day's examination, he did not wish to waste his time on gossip.

Then another man came in, and the moment he began to speak, Arthur recognized the voice of the cabman who had taken his cousin home the night the roughs were robbing him, and who afterwards took Arthur back to the town instead of driving the cab there empty. And this he was prepared to explain to the lawyer first, and to the magistrate the next day, if it was necessary.

But while Mr. Andrews was questioning this man, Phillips knocked at the door, and with a whispered word to his master gave him a note.

"It's from Simmons' people, and they want to withdraw the case against Mr. Arthur Murray."

"What? After having him arrested like a thief in the open street? Do they suppose we are going to stop the case to please them? No, no! My lady has insisted upon having this affair fully investigated, and so do I now. If she had not stirred in it, we should not. But the inquiry must go on now. Simmons' people may tell the magistrate they want to withdraw the case, but I shall insist upon my witnesses being heard before it is done. Charges have been made against my client here, and now I am fully prepared to disprove them, and clear his character once and for all; and nothing shall prevent me from doing it either!" added the lawyer in a determined tone.

"That's only fair and just," commented the cabman. "We can't none of us afford to lose our characters," he added, with a nod at Arthur.

"No; this lad needs a good character to be his mainstay through life as much as you or I do, and I mean to defend it," said the lawyer.

There was a little more talk, and then the cabman was dismissed with a word of advice as to the time he should be at the court the next day.

As the door closed, Mr. Andrews grasped the lad's hand. "It is plain sailing now, my lad," he said. "You can go home and tell your mother all about it without the least fear of what will happen to-morrow."

"But there is the post office order to account for. You remember the young woman said that Cousin Ted changed the cheque for five pounds, and then had a post office order for three pounds!"

"To be sure she did," answered Mr. Andrews. "But that point can rest for the present. You are charged, not with stealing a post office order, but a particular cheque for five pounds. I shall, of course, bring forward this point, but it will not affect our case. We can prove your innocence of the charge made against you, and that will be enough for the present."