Willy Gum had robbed the bank and disappeared.
In the first dreadful moment, perhaps the only one who did _not_ disbelieve it was Clerk Gum.

Other people said there must be some mistake: it could not be.

Kind old Lord Hartledon came down in his carriage to the clerk's house--he was too ill to walk--and sat with the clerk and the weeping mother, and said he was sure it could not be so bad as was reported.

The next morning saw handbills--great, staring, large-typed handbills--offering a reward for the discovery of William Gum, posted all over Calne.
Once more Clerk Gum went to London.

What he did there no one knew.