t the
next minute I uttered quite a sob, for light flashed into my brain:
memories of what I had so often heard my chosen companion say, the envy
he had displayed, and the way in which all at once Burr major's watch
had disappeared from his jacket in the cricket-field,--all came back
with a force that seemed to cause a singing noise in my ears, for here
before me was the end of it all,--the explanation of the disappearance
of the watch, which was now lying in my hand, with the hands close
together and pointing to twelve. At last uttering a sound that was
almost a groan, I muttered,--

"Oh, Tom, Tom, how could you do such a thing as this?"

The feeling of confusion came back like a thick mist floating over me,
and I turned the watch over in my hand two or three times, asking myself
what I should do.

Should I take it to Burr major, and say I had picked it up? Should I go
and confide in Mr Hasnip? Should I go straight to Tom Mercer and
accuse him of taking it?

No, no, no: I felt that I could do none of these things, and in a
dreary, slow, helpless way, I thrust the watch back in amongst the tow,
rammed more in after it, and then stood, after laying the rabbit down,
asking myself what I should do next, while a poignant sense of misery
and wretchedness seemed to make my position unbearable.

It all came back now: how, ever since Burr major had that watch, Mercer
had been envious, and longed for it. Scarcely a day had passed that he
had not said something about his longings; and now here it was plainly
enough before me: he had gone on coveting that wretched toy till the
desire had been too strong for him, and it had ended in my manly,
quaint, good-tempered school-fellow descending to become a contemptible
pickpocket and thief.

The blood flushed up into my cheeks and made them burn, while my fists
clenched hard, and I thought to myself that I had learned boxing for
some purpose.

"I can't go and tell tales of him," I said. "I can't betray him, for it
would disgrace him for ever. He would be expelled from the school, and,
shamefaced and miserable, go home to his father and mother, who would be
nearly broken-hearted. No. I can't tell."

Then I felt that, painful as it would be to confess all, and speak
against the boy I had grown to care for as if he had been my brother, I
ought to go straight to the Doctor and tell him. It was my duty, and it
might act beneficially for Tom Mercer. The severe punishment mi