It was very soon decided by the sixth form that he should run the gauntlet of the school.  The boys instantly took out their handkerchiefs, and knotted them tight.  They then made a double line down each side of the corridor, and turned Barker loose.  He stood stock-still at one end, while the fellows nearest him thrashed him unmercifully with the heavy knots.  At last the pain was getting severe, and he moved on, finally beginning to run.  Five times he was forced up and down the line, and five times did every boy in the line give him a blow, which, if it did not hurt much, at least spoke of no slight anger and contempt.  He was dogged and unmoved to the last, and then Avonley hauled him into the presence of Dr. Rowlands.  He was put in a secure room by himself, and the next morning was first flogged and then publicly expelled.  Thenceforth he disappears from the history of Roslyn school.

I need hardly say that neither Eric nor his friends took any part in this retributive act.  They sat together in the boarders’ room till it was over, engaged in exciting discussion of the recent event.  Most warmly did Eric thank them for their trustfulness.  “Thank you,” he said, “with all my heart, for proving my innocence; but thank you, even more a great deal, for first believing it.”

Upton was the first to join them, and since he had but wavered for a moment, he was soon warmly reconciled with Eric.  They had hardly shaken hands when the rest came flocking in.  “We have all been unjust,” said Avonley; “let’s make up for it as well as we can.  Three cheers for Eric Williams!”

They gave, not three, but a dozen, till they were tired; and meanwhile, every one was pressing round him, telling him how sorry they were for the false suspicion, and doing all they could to show their regret for his recent troubles.  His genial, boyish heart readily forgave them, and his eyes were long wet with tears of joy.  The delicious sensation of returning esteem made him almost think it worth while to have under gone his trial.

Most happily did he spend the remainder of that afternoon, and it was no small relief to all the Rowlandites in the evening to find themselves finally rid of Barker, whose fate no one pitied, and whose name no one mentioned without disgust.  He had done more than any other boy to introduce meanness, quarrelling, and vice, and the very atmosphere of the rooms seemed healthier in his absence.  One boy only forgave him, one boy only prayed for him, one boy only endeavored to see him for one last kind word.  That boy was Edwin Russell.

After prayers, Mr. Gordon, who had been at Dr. Rowlands’ to dinner, apologised to Eric amply and frankly for his note, and did and said all that could be done by an honorable man to repair the injury of an unjust doubt.  Eric felt his generous humility, and from thenceforth, though they were never friends, he and Mr. Gordon ceased to be enemies.

That night Mr. Rose crowned his happiness by asking him and his defenders to supper in the library.  A most bright and joyous evening they passed, for they were in the highest spirits; and when the master bade them “good night,” he kindly detained Eric, and said to him, “Keep an innocent heart, my boy, and you need never fear trouble.  Only think if you had been guilty, and were now in Barker’s place!”