Bunter the Caravanner - Friardale

'Yes, in the capacity of a man-servant—'
'Oh!'
'It was easy to pick up news of a caravan, and follow,'
continued Mr. Fixer. 'But when he saw the man again, there was
another change in his appearance. He appeared to have had an
accident.'
'An—an accident?'
'Yes! A fall, it seems, on some broken glass.'
'Oh!'
'So that when our schoolmaster saw him, his face was scarcely to
be recognized; it was so screened by sticking-plaster.'
'Oh!'
'Had it been a chance meeting, no doubt this accident - or
trick, whichever it was, would have passed muster. But as our
schoolmaster had joined the caravan party especially to observe
the man, he concluded that so timely an accident was nothing but
a trick to escape recognition: that the pretended man-servant
was, in fact, the man he remembered from years before as a
science master at his school.'
'Oh!'
'And so,' continued Mr. Fixer, smiling, 'he lost no time in
telephoning Whitehall 1212, and stating his suspicions in the
proper quarter, leaving the rest to the police.' There was a
dead silence in the caravan party, as Mr. Fixer ceased to speak.
It was a stunned silence.
Harry Wharton and Co. looked at Jervis. Billy Bunter blinked at
him. Amazing as it was; bewildering as it was; it was obvious
that what Mr. Fixer had related, referred to Mr. Quelch and
Jervis. Obviously it could mean nothing else. But Jervis gave no
sign. He walked on at the horse's head as if he had heard
nothing.
Harry Wharton broke the silence.
'You are speaking of Mr. Quelch!' he said.
'Yes: that is the schoolmaster's name,' assented Mr. Fixer.
'And we are the caravanners—?'
'Exactly.'
'Then what—?'
Harry Wharton did not finish asking that question. Up to that
moment, Jervis had given no sign. But at that moment came a
sudden change. With a sudden bound, he left the horse and
reached the hedge at the side of the road. With a crash, he went
through the hedge, and a moment later was seen running across
the field beyond, with the fleetness of a deer.
'Oh!' gasped Harry.
'Jervis!' squeaked Bunter.
The juniors stared after the running man. Mr. Fixer gazed after
him. He made no move to pursue. He smiled.
Bob Cherry, in his excitement, caught the detective by the arm.
'Look here, Mr. Fixer!' he exclaimed. 'Is that man—that man
Jervis - Bunter's man-servant—is he—is he that man you're after?
It doesn't seem possible, but—is he?'