CHAPTER VITHE VINDICATION
“Oh!”
It seemed as though a score of voices framed that one word. A few of the students looked pleased because suspicion seemed to have alighted upon a shining mark, but the vast majority were shocked and stunned. Helen turned as white as a little ghost, while Minnie Cuthbert half rose from her seat, and stared at the principal as though she thought he had surely taken leave of his senses.
Frank stood up quickly. He could not help it if his face burned just then, for any one would naturally be confused at so sudden an accusation.
Almost as quickly the color left his face, and he flashed a defiant look around, as if to discover who it was chuckled, for it appeared that Lef could not wholly contain himself.
Frank walked directly in front of the professor, and looked him straight in the face. He bore himself proudly, as might an innocent lad upon whom unjust suspicion had been cast. If some enemy had done this, Frank did not intend to let him have the satisfaction of seeing how it hurt.
FRANK WALKED DIRECTLY IN FRONT OF THE PROFESSOR, AND LOOKED HIM STRAIGHT IN THE FACE.Columbia High on the Diamond.Page54.
FRANK WALKED DIRECTLY IN FRONT OF THE PROFESSOR, AND LOOKED HIM STRAIGHT IN THE FACE.Columbia High on the Diamond.Page54.
FRANK WALKED DIRECTLY IN FRONT OF THE PROFESSOR, AND LOOKED HIM STRAIGHT IN THE FACE.Columbia High on the Diamond.Page54.
“Frank, were you in my office alone at any time yesterday afternoon?” asked Professor Parke steadily, as he gazed at the lad before him, and those who knew anything about reading expression would have seen readily enough that it was more like a look of sincere affection that he gave the boy than one of accusation or doubt.
“I was not, sir,” came the immediate response, clear-cut and ringing.
“This communication, which, as I said before, has no name attached to it, states that you probably have that examination paper in your pocket at this moment. Is there any truth in that assertion, Frank?” went on the principal.
“So far as I know, sir, there is not. I am perfectly willing to have any one search me over. In fact, sir, after what has been said Idemandthat it be done,” said the student, indignantly.
“Suppose you do it yourself, Frank. Place everything in your pockets on my desk here, please.”
With a smile Frank started to obey. Of course, every eye followed each of his movements, and Lanky Wallace, who happened to be just behind Lef, wondered why the fellow gripped his desk and partlyarose, as his lips kept forming unuttered words, and he trembled all over.
Suddenly Frank’s smile faded. He had a troubled look on his face as he slowly drew something out, took one swift glance at it, and then handed it up to the professor.
“It’s the paper!”
“Oh, he had it after all!”
“How did it ever happen? I don’t believe he ever took it!”
“Isn’t it dreadful, girls?” this last from Emily Dodsworth, who had often tried to interest Frank Allen in her own simpering self, but without success.
Frank stood there, looking straight up into the eyes of the principal.
“This is indeed the missing examination paper. The unknown party to whom we are so heavily indebted certainly told the truth when he said it would be found in your pocket, Frank. Are you willing to answer me one question?”
“I will answer as many as you ask me, sir,” replied the boy, without quailing.
“Have you ever seen this paper before, Frank?”
“I give you my word for it, sir, that I never set eyes on it until I drew it out of my pocket just now. I don’t know how it got there, unless some fellow put it there for fun, or to injure me.”
A few smiled disdainfully. They were the oneswho had always been envious of Frank Allen’s popularity in the school, and rejoiced to see him even temporarily under a cloud.
But there were ten to one who looked terribly stunned, and found it hard to realize that the boy they had all admired as a shining example of honesty and candor could even be accused of so despicable a thing as this, the smallest, meanest cheat of which any student could be guilty.
“I wish to state right here, Frank, that I believe you are speaking the exact truth,” said the professor, with one of his rare smiles; “and I’m going to explain just what I mean by that, if you will all sit back in your seats and listen.”
The silence became profound. Even Lef had drawn within his shell, so to speak, at this unexpected remark from the Head, as if he might have been a cautious old tortoise. He scented trouble from afar, and was preparing to put on an innocent look. When Lef was really on his guard, it would require a keen eye indeed to detect guilt in his face. He could stare any one in the countenance and lie out of any hole deliberately and vehemently.
“In the first place,” went on the principal, “I have always set it down as an absolute fact that in nine cases out of ten an anonymous communication is the work of a sneak, a coward, and generally a criminal,who wants to throw dust in the eyes of possible pursuers, so as to effect his own escape. Either that, or else it is his intention to ruin the reputation of the party he accuses.
“It might give me more or less embarrassment, though not anxiety, in the premises, Frank, on account of this paper being found on your person, only for one thing. And that was just where circumstances conspired to make the wretch who could so miserably plot to harm a fellow student, overreach himself.
“After I had placed those papers in my desk, I went straight to the gymnasium, where you were practising, and called you aside. In my company you went to ascertain about certain matters that you had called to my attention, and where repairs were absolutely necessary. And I wish to state emphatically that during the half hour I was from my room Frank Allen was actually at my side every minute of the time until I stepped into my office again!”
He paused, as if to let the effect of his statement sink into the minds of the whole assemblage. Then there came a ripple that immediately broke into a deluge of cheers, until the entire building seemed to vibrate with the tremendous volume of sound.
Nor did Principal Parke raise a hand to assuage the voluntary tribute to the popularity of the boy who had been under so unjust a suspicion! Mr.Amos Wellington, one of the other men teachers, raised a hand feebly, but who cared for his protest when the Head, by his silence, gave tacit consent to the shouts.
Then Professor Parke bent over and offered his hand to Frank, which action was the occasion for more cheers and a tiger, as well as the school yell. There certainly had never been such an extraordinary spectacle seen in old Columbia High during the twenty years of its existence.
And Lef shouted just as loudly as the rest! He did not dare hold back, lest suspicion be turned his way. He was trembling in his shoes even then as the enormity of his iniquity burst upon him. What if the janitor, Soggy Dolan, had glimpsed him when he slipped out of the office, for the latter had gone past with a step ladder on his shoulder, and might have turned his head, unknown to the culprit.
Lanky thought it queer that Lef should seem so pleased over the vindication of one toward whom he was known to bear only ill will. He imagined that this sudden change of heart on the part of Lef might be placed in the same category as the suspicion said to attach to the Greeks bearing gifts.
And so, after all, the incident that had been planned as calculated to attach infamy to Frank’s name only served to raise him still further in theestimation of his schoolmates, and the teachers of Columbia High.
And it was certainly a pleasure to have them all swarm around him later on, to declare their satisfaction and delight at his complete vindication.
Frank was far from satisfied.
It was a dreadful thought to realize that he had an enemy in the school vindictive enough to do such a terrible thing as this, simply to crush him.
“Ten to one I could guess who he is,” said Lanky, angrily.
“Have you any proof of it?” asked Frank.
Lanky was forced to admit that his declaration was only grounded on certain suspicious circumstances. He would have told of Lef’s queer actions, but Frank declined to listen.
“I’m going to try and find out the truth for myself, Lanky; but whatever I do, I won’t accuse any one until I can pin him down with indisputable proof,” he said.
“And then what, Frank?”
“Well, I won’t say, but the miserable coward who would try to strip a fellow of his reputation hadn’t ought to be allowed to go free,” and had Lef seen the flash in the eyes that accompanied these words, he would very likely have trembled more than ever, and tried to walk a chalk-line.
Frank sought the principal after school. Hefound the professor in his office, and the other welcomed him with a warm smile.
“What can I do for you, Frank? You understand that not for a single minute did I dream that you were guilty. I had remembered the circumstances of your being in my company every bit of the time while I was out of here, and the thief crept in to rob my desk. But I would give a good deal to be able to find out who played so mean a trick upon you.”
“Will you let me see the paper you received, sir?” asked Frank.
“That you will find in my waste-paper basket yonder. Now that you mention it, I can see that it was unwise of me to toss it aside contemptuously. Have you found it, my lad?”
“Yes, sir,” said Frank, bending over.
“I see, you think it possible to recognize the writing. But in this case the scoundrel followed the usual custom with all anonymous letter writers, for he simply printed the words,” remarked the principal.
“Yes, sir, I notice he did. And the paper seems to be just what is used by every student in school, as the supplies come from you,” observed Frank, still examining the crumpled sheet.
“I’m afraid that we may never know who did it, unless through some accident.”
“Where did you find this note, sir?” continuedthe boy, eagerly, as though a sudden idea had struck him.
“Slipped under my door here when I opened it this morning. You know Mr. Dolan does not open my office save on Saturdays, when he cleans. Whoever put the paper under the door chose a time when no one was likely to see him.”
“You threw this in the basket as soon as you read it, sir?”
“Yes, for, as I remarked, I was indignant,” replied the professor, curiously wondering what all these questions implied.
“And at that early time I don’t suppose you were using your ink at all, sir?”
“Certainly not, Frank. What makes you ask that, lad?”
Frank spread the paper, which he had smoothed out, before the gentleman.
“You see, sir, whoever wrote this used ink; and in some way or other he must have gotten a certain small amount on his fingers and thumb. Look here, and you will see where there is a very plain imprint of a thumb, and from the other marks that accompany it, I should say that it is theleftthumb, too!”
“You interest me amazingly, my boy. And it is all just as you say. I do declare, it must be the left thumb that has left an imprint here. I see what you have in mind, Frank. Go your own way aboutit. If you discover the guilty one, I leave it to you entirely whether you bring him before me or not. This is your especial affair, and you can manage it as you please.”
“Well, I happened to be reading lately how they take the imprint of criminals’ thumbs over in France, and that no two are exactly alike. With other measurements, it is called the Bertillon system, and has been found to work well. There, I have made an impression of my left thumb, and you can see, sir, that the lines are very much unlike this one.”
“Frank, you are correct, and I give you credit for so much acumen. But do you want me to call every boy in school in here and take an impression of each left thumb, so that we can discover the one rascal?” smiled the principal.
“Oh, no, sir, but I thought I’d like to try on my own hook, to see if I could land him,” exclaimed Frank.
“All right, go ahead. I give you free permission, and wish you luck. And, Frank, perhaps you have already some idea as to what direction you mean to hunt first of all,” this last with uplifted eyebrows and a questioning look.
“Well, sir,” said Frank, as he turned to depart with the precious paper safe in his pocket, “I suppose I have suspicions, but they may be unjust toward a certain party, and I wouldn’t mention themto any one. Thank you, Professor, for helping me. If I succeed, perhaps I may bring the proof to you. It all depends upon circumstances.”
“Ah, yes,” murmured the professor, after he found himself alone; “I can understand what that means. If the rascal pleads only strong enough that generous lad will even go so far as to forgive him, and hush the ugly matter up, for the honor of Columbia. Would that there were more like him!”