appearance
at the second-eleven practice next day supplied it.

Bloomfield, who in ordinary course had strolled round to watch the play,
noticed his absence, and drew his own conclusions from it.

To Bloomfield's credit be it said that, whatever his own suspicions may
have been, he had been as reluctant as Riddell himself, as long as any
doubt existed, to name Wyndham publicly as the culprit for whom all
Willoughby was on the lookout. He had been very angry with Riddell for
his reserve, but when it came to the point of publishing his own
suspicions or not, his better feeling prevented him, and led him to copy
the captain's example.

For Riddell's reply to the suggestion of Wyndham's name had neither
confirmed or denied its correctness. He had merely declined to say
anything about the matter, so that as far as Bloomfield was concerned it
was no more than a guess, and that being so, he too was wise enough to
keep it to himself.

However, now that he noticed Wyndham's unwonted absence from the cricket
practice, he felt more than ever convinced something was wrong in that
quarter.

And so there was.

Wyndham, with a drawn sword, so to speak, over his head, was fit for
nothing.

He dared not go back to Riddell. As long as his tongue was tied any
explanation was impossible, and unless he could explain, it was worse
than useless to talk to the captain.

Equally out of the question was a confession to the doctor, or a letter
explaining all to his brother. The only thing was either to make up his
mind to his fate, or else, by getting Silk and Gilks to release him from
his promise, to get his tongue free to make a full confession of his own
delinquencies, and throw himself entirely on the doctor's mercy.

This last chance seemed feeble enough. But a drowning man will clutch
at a straw, and so Wyndham, as his last hope, faced the unpromising task
of working on the generosity of his two old patrons.

He began with Gilks. Gilks was in his own house, and had always seemed
to be the least vicious, as he was also the least clever of the two.
Besides, of late it was notorious Gilks and Silk were no longer the
friends they had been. There was a mystery about their recent quarrel;
but as Gilks had been down in the mouth ever since, while Silk showed no
signs of dejection, it was safe to assume the former had come off second
best.

Wyndham therefore selected Gilks for his first attempt as being on the
whole the less f