AN UNDESERVED PUNISHMENT
The whirling fan, going at tremendous speed, had scattered the contents
of the egg far and wide, and hardly any one had escaped.
For a moment there was a stunned silence. Then a roar of laughter broke
from the boys. To them it seemed a capital joke.
But Mr. Leith did not laugh. His black eyes snapped and his face was
pale with anger.
"Who did that?" he asked, as he took out his handkerchief and wiped the
smear from the bosom of his shirt.
Naturally there was no answer. The laughter died out, and everything
became as silent as the grave.
"Such conduct is subversive of all discipline," went on Mr. Leith in his
stilted way and trying to get control of his voice. "If the boy who did
that will confess, I will take that into account in the punishment I
shall lay upon him. But no matter how long it takes, I am determined to
find the culprit."
Still no answer.
"Well," said Mr. Leith after waiting a moment, "I see that I shall have
to question each one of you separately."
He called them up one by one, beginning at the front of the room, and
each one denied knowing anything about it, Bobby among the rest. Then he
came last to Hicksley.
"I didn't do it," said Hicksley; "but--"
Then he stopped, as though he had gone further than he intended.
"But what?" queried the teacher sharply.
"Nothing," mumbled Hicksley, in apparent confusion.
"You were going to say something else," said Mr. Leith, "and I insist on
knowing what it was."
Hicksley kept silent. He wanted to give the impression that if he told
anything it would have to be dragged out of him against his will.
"You had better tell me what you were going to say," snapped the teacher
severely, "or it will be the worse for you."
"I don't want to tell on anybody," said Hicksley.
"Oh, then you know who threw it," said Mr. Leith, brisking up like a
hound on the trail.
"Yes," replied Hicksley.
"Who was it?"
"I don't want to tell."
"Who was it, I say?" thundered Mr. Leith in exasperation.
"Blake," blurted out Hicksley, as though he did not want to say it but
had to yield to force.
Bobby was thunderstruck, and for a minute the room seemed to be whirling
around him.
"It isn't true," he cried, recovering himself.
"It's a--a whopper!" shouted Fred fiercely. "I was sitting right beside
Bobby, and he didn't throw it."
"Keep quiet, Martin," commanded Mr. Leith. "Blake, come here."
Bobby went forward and stood in front of the desk.
"Why did you do a thing like that?" asked Mr. Leith.
"I didn't do it," replied Bobby stoutly. "I was as surprised as any one
else when it happened."
Mr. Leith beckoned to Fred.
"You say that Blake didn't throw it," he said. "Were you looking at him
at the time?"
"N-no, sir," Fred had to confess, "I was looking at the blackboard. But
I know I'd have noticed it if he had made any motion. Besides," he added
in his attempt to help his friend, "if Bobby had been going to do
anything of that kind he'd have told me beforehand."
"That isn't proof," remarked the teacher; "especially when Hicksley says
that he actually saw him do it. Do you still stick to that, Hicksley?"
"Yes sir," answered Hicksley, who was scared now at the tempest he had
raised but had gone too far to back out.
But he carefully avoided meeting the blazing eyes of Bobby.
"Go to your seats," Mr. Leith ordered.
They obeyed, and as Hicksley sank down between Bronson and Jinks, he
whispered in a panic:
"Don't forget that you fellows have got to stand by me."
Mr. Leith reflected for a moment.
"Did any one else see Blake throw the egg?" he asked at length.
Hicksley nudged his cronies and both raised their hands.
"I did," came from both at once.
Bobby half rose from his seat and Fred clenched his fists.
"It's not so!" exclaimed Bobby.
"The low-down skunks!" ejaculated Fred.
Mr. Leith quieted them with a gesture.
He was a good man, and he tried to be just. But he had been sorely tried
by this breach of discipline, and his dignity had received a severe
shock. He could not forget the glaring yellow smear on his shirt front,
and he felt that he had been made a laughing stock before his class.
He had always liked Bobby, who had stood high in his lessons and whose
behavior in class had always been good. Yet it was possible that an
impish spirit of mischief had suddenly taken possession of him, and that
on the impulse of the moment he might have taken refuge in denial.
And there was the positive testimony of three witnesses that they had
actually seen Bobby throw the egg. To be sure, he knew something of the
character of those witnesses, and against any one of them he would have
been inclined to take Bobby's word in preference. But he knew nothing of
the grudge the bullies held against Bobby, and to a man of his upright
character it was inconceivable that three of them should make such a
charge if it were not true.
He pondered the matter for several minutes, while the class waited
breathlessly.
"I shall look into this matter further," he finally announced; "but for
the present, Blake, and until the affair is cleared up, you are not to
take part in track sports or play on the baseball team."