What shouting and cheering there was then! And how, while Mr. Rexworth, as we will still call him, was talking to the Doctor, Ralph got nearly pulled to pieces. Why, they even forgot the birching in the excitement of Ralph's return. They had to hear his story, and how he had found his father; and then Warren explained how they had found out that Mr. Charlton was innocent. That was good news for Ralph--the best news that could possibly be--and escaping with Warren and Irene, he hurried across to the matron's house, and begged that he might see his chum. Charlton was all right, only he was so excited, and just a little inclined to cry. And he wanted to know where his father was; and when Ralph explained how Mr. Charlton had given himself up, he exclaimed-- "Oh, Ralph, let us go and explain! Let us go now!" "Come and tell my father. He will understand," said Ralph; but there was little need for telling. Already Mr. St. Clive had been informed, and he had hurried off at once. It would not be long before Mr. Charlton was a free man. And then Mr. Rexworth, seeing that there would be much to talk about, went back with Ralph and Irene and Charlton to Mr. St. Clive's house, there to tell his story, and explain how it was that he had become the prisoner of the man who had treated him so very cruelly. CHAPTER XXXIII CONCLUSION Seated in the drawing-room at Mr. St. Clive's house, an interested party gathered around Mr. Rexworth to hear his story. And not only an interested party, but a happy one, for the trouble was gone, and the sun was shining for all there. It was no wonder that, even before stories were told, Mr. Rexworth should have said, "Let us all kneel and thank our Heavenly Father for His great mercy and goodness," nor that every heart should have been filled with devout gratitude as, with bent heads, they listened to the words of thanksgiving, for, like the psalmist of old, they could say, "God hath done great things for us, whereof we are glad." And so they sat, while Mr. Rexworth told his story, a story that had its moral, too, for it revealed how disobedience to a father might bring sore punishment afterwards. For, as we now know, Mr. Rexworth was the son of old Lord Stephen, and in his early days he had been wild and headstrong, and had frequently disobeyed his father's commands. And in that he had been aided by his cousin Elgert. For Elgert envied the young heir his position, and hoped to make a bad quarrel between the father and son. And he was successful. The quarrel came, and Mr. Rexworth had run away from home, dropping his name of Stephen, and going away to the wild plains of Texas, to indulge in the roving life for which he longed. But he soon found that it was not all pleasure--that hardship and disappointment followed, and that whether in England or away in wild lands, the best thing for a man was to be a follower of the Lord Jesus Christ.