To be unloved, untrusted, solitary, and despised, to be coldly disbelieved or contemptuously contradicted, was so very hard to bear! But, with a strange and sickening sense of dread, he found himself longing, most of all, to hear of Harry--to know if he were sorry, or remorseful, or only thankful to be spared! Then, at last, in some roundabout way the news came to him.
Harry had been taken ill with brain fever the very day after the tragedy, and had been sent home; and it gave Haggart his first moment of conscious happiness to realise that he had perhaps saved the poor, weak, little, trembling creature from one night of fear and anguish.
The boys were always kind to him in their peculiar way.

There seemed to be a bewildered feeling in their minds of cruelty and injustice, and they were glad that he had not stuck out to the last and included the whole school in the punishment; so sticks of liquorice, and jam-tarts, and even white mice, were secretly conveyed to his desk as tokens of friendship; but, although Haggart was grateful for the attentions, he could never quite shake off the longing to make a clean breast of it to the Doctor, and get his troubled mind set straight.
But one morning before the holidays a thrill went through the whole school when the Doctor stood silently for a minute after prayers and then in his peculiarly quiet voice called to Haggart to come forward.
"Boys," he said, "I have had a letter this morning from Harry Parker's Mother, and she says that he has told her the truth about the boat.

He has been very ill, poor child, and, in his delirium, it haunted him that Haggart had suffered for his sake.

Let him be cleared before you all from the unjust suspicion.

But, Haggart," and he laid his hand very kindly on the boy's shoulder, "you must remember that the injustice came from _you_--no one would have doubted you if you had not first accused yourself! I had my doubts always, but I did not know enough to understand.