CHAPTER XV

A Merited Punishment

Sandy Podder and Lent Stewart looked at each other and turned pale. They rose and left the room, followed by curious eyes.

Mr. Allen was alone in his office. He motioned them to seats. Then he sat there, looking from one to the other with glances that seemed to bore them through. They alternately flushed and paled and fidgeted in their seats.

"Podder and Stewart," he suddenly shot at them, "why did you put those hip flasks in the desks of Grayson, Long, and Sherwood?"

It was like the explosion of a bomb. The guilty students jumped convulsively. They tried to speak, but no words came. At last Sandy found his voice.

"Wh-wh-what do you mean, Mr. Allen?" he stammered.

"You know what I mean," thundered Mr. Allen, rising to his feet and towering over them. "Lying is useless. I have the facts. I know the plot from beginning to end. Why did you put those hip flasks in the desks of Grayson, Long, and Sherwood? Out with it now! Out with the truth!"

He was so sure, so positive, so unbending, that the boys' hearts turned to water. They quailed before those boring eyes. Their guilty consciences gave them no support. Lies were only broken reeds. In confession seemed to lie their only hope.

Sandy was the first to break.

"It--it was only a joke--" he stuttered.

"A joke!" repeated Mr. Allen with biting scorn. "Then you did do it, Podder? And you too, Stewart?"

The fat was in the fire now, and they nodded their heads, averting meeting the principal's blazing eyes.

"And the bringing of the cow to the classroom, the spattering of the map, and the spoiling of the electric fans," continued Mr. Allen, pressing his advantage relentlessly. "You did that too? Come clean now!"

Sandy and Lent were so wilted that they had no strength for further denial and nodded miserably.

"We weren't the only ones, though," said Sandy, hoping he might gain some immunity by implicating others. "There was Chat Johns and Aleck Anderson."

"Anderson, you say?" said Mr. Allen. "I'll deal with him. Johns is not a member of the school, and I have no jurisdiction over him."

He sat down, wearied from the strain of his emotions, but infinitely relieved because of having elicited the truth. The guilty consciences of the culprits had been his best helpers, and he had not needed to bring witnesses or thrust Jake's name into the matter.

"So it was a joke, was it!" he said, scathingly. "A joke to weave such a dastardly plot about innocent comrades! A joke to see them punished for something they knew nothing about! A joke to lie to me! Well, it's the last joke you'll play in this school. We have no place here for your peculiar brand of humor. Go!"

They went out like whipped dogs.

Later Mr. Allen sent for Anderson. He was a surly sort of fellow, a member of the football team, but one who had always cherished an envious grudge against Garry Grayson because of the sudden rise of the latter to football prominence. Anderson was a senior, had played for three years with the team, counting the current season, and had fondly hoped that, following the departure of Ralph Wynn, he might be chosen captain. To have Garry, a sophomore, placed over himself, a senior, had galled him to the quick.

"I know everything, Anderson," Mr. Allen said to him curtly, as he entered the office. "Sandy Podder and Lent Stewart have confessed to their part and yours in planting the hip flasks in the desks of Grayson, Long, and Sherwood. What have you to say for yourself? Think well before you speak."

Utterly taken aback by the suddenness of the attack, confused and flabbergasted, not knowing whether it were safer to deny or to tell the truth, Anderson kept silent, his face as pale as death.

"Silence is confession," remarked Mr. Allen after a moment's pause. "Do you admit it?"

Shamefacedly, Anderson nodded.

"That will do," said Mr. Allen. "You may go."

Ever since the conference of the day before Garry had been besieged by his chums to tell them what he had meant by his cryptic utterances. But Mr. Allen had requested him to say absolutely nothing until he gave him permission. So Garry perforce kept silent, despite all the baiting of his friends.

"Can't do it, fellows," he said. "You'll hear soon enough. But look at my face."

"Why should we have to?" snorted Rooster. "What have we done?"

"Not much to look at," remarked Ted, eying Garry critically.

"Do I look downhearted?" asked Garry, disregarding the gibes. "Am I weeping bitter tears? All I can tell you is to keep your eyes and ears open. Something's going to break, and you won't be sorry when it does."

Following his interview with Aleck Anderson, Mr. Allen called a conference of his teachers at noon. At the afternoon sessions of the various classes the students were told that they were all to gather in the assembly room to hear a statement by the principal as soon as school work was over for the day.

The pupils poured into the assembly room, buzzing like so many bees, agog with curiosity. But the noise subsided like magic when Mr. Allen came from his office and advanced to the front of the platform.

"I have called you together this afternoon," he said, "to right a wrong and do justice."

He paused for a moment and the silence was almost painful.

Garry's heart gave a bound. Involuntarily his eyes swept the audience. Sandy Podder and Lent Stewart were nowhere to be seen.

"You all know," Mr. Allen went on, "of the recent happenings that have taken place in Lenox High and have brought discredit on the school. Reports have been current of wild parties here. Hip flasks have been found in desks. An animal has been brought into the classroom. A wall map has been bespattered with ink. The electric fans have been put out of commission.

"Such acts of vandalism could of course not be tolerated. An inquiry was set on foot and circumstantial evidence seemed to point to three boys as guilty. Those boys had always up to that time maintained a good record in the school. But the evidence was strong, and in addition was strengthened by the personal testimony of certain other pupils of the school. No other course seemed open to the officers of the school than to inflict punishment. That punishment consisted in barring them from all athletic activities for the remainder of the term.

"I want to say to you all that that punishment was unjust. Those boys are innocent. Grayson, Long, and Sherwood, stand up."

Garry, Rooster, and Bill rose to their feet.

Instantly there was a wild outburst of cheering. Again and again it rose and swelled into a roar that seemed as though it would never stop. The boys who were nearest reached over and pounded the trio on the back, yelling like maniacs. All semblance of order was for the moment abandoned. If Garry, Bill, and Rooster ever had had any doubt as to how they stood with their comrades, they could have none now.

Mr. Allen made no effort to subdue the outburst. He stood there smiling and let it run its course. Then when it had subsided he raised his hand for attention.

"I want to tender to you boys, on behalf of the officers of the school," he said, addressing the three, "our heartfelt apologies for the wrong that was done you."

Again wild cheering ensued.

"Now just one word more, and it is with profound regret that I have to say it," went on Mr. Allen, as Garry, Bill, and Rooster, blushing but happy beyond all words, took their seats. "I know not only that these boys are innocent of the charges brought against them, but I know who the guilty ones are. This time there is no doubt. I have their own confessions.

"Had they simply done these things in a spirit of mischief, without seeking to cast the blame on others, it would have been bad enough. Still, that might have been punished by suspension. But they deliberately plotted to involve others in misery and disgrace. For that, the only fit punishment is expulsion.

"Podder, Stewart, and Anderson are no longer pupils of this school."