A LESSON IN CHEMISTRY
Jack was awakened next morning by a knock on his door.
"Who's there?" he asked.
"Martin, the monitor," was the reply. "Dr, Mead wishes to see you at
once."
"Great Scott! I've overslept!" exclaimed Jack, as he jumped out of
bed and saw it was after eight o'clock. "No wonder, being up half the
night. Tell Dr. Mead I'm sorry and I'll be right down," he went on.
Jack almost made a record for dressing, and went to Dr. Mead's
office, where he found the same gathering that had confronted him the
previous morning.
"Well, Ranger," began the head of the school, "the time you asked for
has expired. Have you anything to say?"
"I have, sir," replied Jack. "But first I would like to request that
this hearing be adjourned to the laboratory. I also request that Sam
Chalmers, Dick Balmore, Fred Kaler, Budge Rankin and Adrian Bagot be
summoned."
"Do you accuse all of them?" asked Dr. Mead, in some astonishment.
"I accuse no one," Jack replied. "I want to make a demonstration, and
let the facts speak for themselves."
"This is all nonsense!" exclaimed Professor Grimm. "This boy is
guilty and he knows it. He is only seeking to delay matters. I demand
his expulsion!"
"I think it only fair to grant his request," said Dr. Mead.
"Professor Gales, will you kindly summon the students mentioned.
Professor Hall, please see that the laboratory is opened."
In a few minutes Jack was leading the way to the latter room. He
carried several bundles, while Socker, the janitor, bore a rack of
test tubes he had taken from Jack's room. The lads mentioned
attended, wondering what had happened.
"What's this all about?" demanded Adrian, haughtily. "I haven't had
my breakfast yet."
"The time was up an hour ago," said Dr. Mead sharply, glancing at the
new student, who seemed disposed to take life as easily as possible.
"May I speak?" asked Jack, of Dr. Mead.
"Since you are the accused it is but fair that you be given a chance
to clear yourself," was the reply. "But as you have given a certain
publicity to this matter, I shall tell these other students what it
is all about."
Dr. Mead then explained the charge against Jack. There was an uneasy
movement among the other boys, and Adrian Bagot was seen to shift
about. He even started to walk around as though to leave the room,
but the monitor stood at the door and Adrian did not want to make any
confusion by forcing past him. So young Bagot remained in the
laboratory.
"When Professor Grimm accused me of playing this trick I denied it,
as I am innocent," Jack said, when Dr. Mead had finished and looked
at him as if inviting him to speak. "Perhaps if the matter has been
made public the fellows who took the bell would have come forward and
admitted it. As it is I asked twenty-four hours to prove that I did
not do it. I believe I have succeeded.
"In the first place," Jack went on, "I wish to exhibit this garment,"
and he held up to view a long linen coat, commonly called a duster.
"You will observe," he went on, "that there are several brown lines
on it. I have measured these and they are exactly the shape and size
that would be made by the sharp rim of a bell, if it was rested on
the garment when some one was wearing it."
"You will have to have better evidence than that," sneered Professor
Grimm.
"I think I will have," announced Jack quietly. "Of course those marks
might have been made by any sharp, rusty object. Now the bell metal
rusts scarcely at all, but the iron clapper of a bell does. The rust
from that runs down inside a bell, and gets on the edges. I took some
iron rust from the clapper of the stolen bell and placed it in a test
tube. I assumed, for the purpose of experimenting, that I did not
know that it was iron rust, but only suspected it. I applied the
proper chemical tests, and I got the results that showed me there was
iron present in the test tube. Here, I will show you."
Jack mixed a few chemicals and soon the brown mixture in the tube
turned red.
"That is from the bell clapper," the young chemist went on. "Here is
a solution made from scraping the lines on the duster. I will apply
the test and see what happens."
While the others looked on anxiously Jack dropped some of the mixture
into the second tube. In an instant it turned red.
"There!" exclaimed Jack, holding up the two tubes, side by side. "The
same color coming in both mixtures from the same strength of
chemicals that I used, shows that the iron rust on the duster and
that on the bell clapper are the same."
"What does that prove, except that you might have worn the duster?"
asked Dr. Mead.
"That is all, as yet," Jack admitted. "But I will prove that the
duster is not mine, and that I never wore it. I have something else
here," he went on.
From among a pile of things on the laboratory table Jack took a white
object, with brown spots. Walking rapidly across the room he handed
it to Adrian.
"The rag off my sprained wrist!" exclaimed the sporty student. "Where
did--"
Then he stopped, seeming to realize he had said too much.
"I will ask Professor Grimm to smell of that," Jack continued,
thrusting the rag under the teacher's nose.
"Arnica!" exclaimed the instructor. "The same that you used, and
which enabled me to discover it was you who played the trick."
"It is arnica," Jack admitted, "but it happens I was not the only one
who used it that night. I have also to show this article, which was
picked up in your room, Professor Grimm," and Jack extended the spark
plug Budge had given him.
"Ha! What is that?" asked Mr. Grimm.
"It is some part of an automobile," Dr. Mead said. "Who, of our
students, has one. Ah! I begin to see," he added.
"Adrian Bagot, I will return your duster to you," Jack went on,
walking forward and passing the rust-stained automobile garment to
young Bagot. "I had to borrow it from your room, but I am through
with it now. You may also have your spark plug, and this rag I had to
take from your wrist rather unceremoniously last night."
"You're a thief!" burst out Adrian, but Jack stopped him with a
gesture.
"I'll not take that from you or any one else," exclaimed Jack. "Dr.
Mead," he went on, "I ask that you inquire of my friends, Sam
Chalmers, Dick Balmore and Fred Kaler when they last saw Adrian in
his auto."
"When did you?" Dr. Mead asked the boys.
"The night the bell was stolen," answered Sam, and the others agreed
with his testimony. Jack told the story of the collision and how his
ankle was injured.
"Is there anything else?" asked Dr. Mead.
"I think not," was our hero's answer, "unless Bagot has something to
say."
"So you did it, eh?" asked Professor Grimm, turning to the new
student. "I demand that he be punished, Dr. Mead," and Mr. Grimm did
not even take the trouble to beg Jack's pardon for having falsely
accused him.
"What have you to say, Bagot?" asked the head of the academy.
"Circumstances point strongly to you,"
Bagot mumbled something about it being only a harmless joke, and
seemed quite confused.
"I will not ask you to tell on your companions," Dr. Mead went on
sternly. "There must have been several of them. If they choose to
come forward and admit their part, well and good. I will go no
further with this, since the chief culprit is known. Ranger, you are
fully vindicated, and I congratulate you on the effective manner in
which you have proved your innocence."
"As for you, Bagot, seeing that it is your first offense, I will be
lenient. I will suspend you for one week, and you are to make up all
the studies you lose in that time. That is all."
With a scowl on his face, and an angry look at Jack, Adrian shuffled
from the laboratory. The teachers followed Dr. Mead out, while Jack's
friends gathered around to congratulate him.
"Didn't know you were such a chemist," spoke Sam.
"I'll have to play a march of victory on the jew's-harp and mouth
organ at the same time!" burst out Fred Kaler.
"Well," admitted Jack, "it came out about as well as I expected."
"Betcherwhat!" exclaimed Budge, as he walked off, stretching his gum
out at arm's length.
The news soon spread that Jack had been vindicated, and there was an
impromptu celebration in his room.
"Lopsided lollypops!" exclaimed Nat Anderson. "We ought to do
something to get even with Bagot, Jack."
"Oh, I'm satisfied, let it go as it is." "But we're not," Sam
Chalmers put in. "You got vindicated all right, but an insult to you
is one to all this crowd you travel with. I'll bet Dr. Mead has a
sort of idea that some of us had a hand in the joke. We may not be
able to prove we didn't, but we can get even with that sneak Bagot
for making all the trouble."
"L-l-l-lets puncture h-h-h-is t-t-t-t-ti--" sputtered Will Slade.
"What's that about his necktie?" asked Sam with a grin.
"W-w-w-who s-s-s-said n-n-neck t-t-ti-?"
"I thought you were trying to, and I wanted to help you out," replied
Sam.
"I-I-I-I ni-m-m-meant his autototototo--"
"Toot-toot!" sung out Fred. "All aboard! Where does your train stop,
Will?"
"I know what you mean," put in Jack, coming to Will's relief. "But I
don't want to do anything like bursting his auto tires. That's not my
way."
"We can easily enough find a plan," Sam went on. "Will you join us,
Jack?"
"You know I'm always ready for anything that's going."
"Then I'll try and think up something," Sam concluded. "But we'd
better hustle now. Chapel bell will ring in five minutes."