morning, Frank was stopped a number of
times and asked, "What was that scrape you got into, Mulvy?" At first,
he laughed it off. But gradually it irritated him, as one after another
referred to it. It was his custom to make a visit to the church every
morning on his way to school. This morning he went straight to the altar
of the Blessed Virgin and prayed fervently that in this trying situation
he would do nothing displeasing to her or her Son. He also begged her
that she would be a Mother to his mother and help her in this hour of
trial. Arising from prayer he felt that he could submit to
misunderstanding or even injustice, and do it patiently.

On leaving the church he met Tommy and Dick also coming out.

"Gee!" exclaimed Dick, "you are in for it, Hank. Everybody says that you
are the cause of the Club damage. The fellows are saying nothing, but
one or two must have leaked, for it's all over the parish that you
admitted you were in it."

"Yes," added Tommy, "I nearly got into a fight denying that you had a
part in the matter."

"You two are true blue," answered Frank. "Things do look bad for me. But
in a day or two it'll be all cleared up." He was calculating on Bill
Daly's telling everything to Father Boone on his next visit to the
hospital. Frank knew that the priest would see Bill every day or so
until he got well, and that it was only a rush of work that had kept the
director from going down again before this.

When Frank got to school he noticed almost at once that Mr. Collins
seemed somewhat disturbed. He barely bade Frank good morning. When a
teacher prides himself on the fact that his class bears the highest
reputation in the school for deportment and application, of course he
feels it keenly if one of his best boys is the subject of criticism and
veiled accusations. On the way to school, Mr. Collins had got many
inquiries about Mulvy's character. 'He was glad to say that Frank was
the finest boy in his class.' But by the time he reached the class room,
he showed his disturbed feelings in his greeting to Frank. The boy
really cared greatly for his teacher, and was hurt to think that he
should lose his good opinion even for a short while.

However, class went on as usual until about ten o'clock, when the
principal of the school entered the class room. He listened to the
recitations for a short while and spoke approvingly of the good work
being done. Then he turned to Mr. Collins and said, "Have you any o