THE 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.
[Illustration: FRANK WALKED DIRECTLY IN FRONT OF THE PROFESSOR, AND
LOOKED HIM STRAIGHT IN THE FACE.
_Columbia High on the Diamond._ _Page 54._]
“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 I
_demand_ that 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 partly arose, 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 ones who 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
the estimation 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. He found 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?” continued the 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 the
_left_ thumb, 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 about it. 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 them to 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!”