w could there be?"

"That I cannot say, Clinton. Anyhow the matter is most serious. Of
course he could not have taken any clothes with him?"

"No, sir; at least he cannot have got any beyond what he stands in. I
should think the matron would not have given him any out, especially as
he must have told her that he was ill, or he could not have got into the
dormitory."

"I had better see her first, Clinton; it is always well to be quite sure
of one's ground. You go up and dress while I make the inquiries."

Rupert returned to the dormitory, finished dressing, and then ran down
again. "He has taken no clothes with him, Clinton. The matron says that
he went to her in the afternoon and said that he had a splitting
headache, and wanted to be quite quiet and undisturbed. She offered to
send for the doctor, but he said that he expected that he should be all
right in the morning, but that if he wasn't of course the doctor could
see him then. So she unlocked the door of the dormitory and let him in.
I asked her if he had his boots on. She said no; he was going up in
them, contrary to rule, when she reminded him of it, and he took them
off and put them in the rack in the wood-closet. I have seen the
boot-boy, and he says he noticed when he went there this morning early
to clean them, No. 6 rack was empty. So your brother must have come
down, after he had gone up to the dormitory, and got his boots.

"Now let us ask a few questions of the servants." He rang the bell, and
sent for some of the servants. "Which of you were down first this
morning?" he asked.

"I was down first, sir," one of the girls said.

"Did you find anything unusual?"

"Yes, sir. One of the windows downstairs, looking into the yard, was
open, though I know I closed it and put up the shutters last night; and
John says the door of the yard has been unbolted too, and that the lock
had been forced."

The master went out, walked across the yard, and examined the lock.

"There would be no difficulty in opening that on this side," he said to
Rupert; "it could be done with a strong pocket-knife easily enough."

"What is to be done, sir?" Rupert asked anxiously. "Shall I telegraph to
my father?"

"I think you had better go and see him, Clinton. Your brother probably
did not leave the house until twelve o'clock, though he may have gone at
eleven. But whether eleven or twelve it makes no difference. No doubt he
posted the letter he speaks of the first thing on