one else."

"Would it be honorable in me?" repeated Jerry.

"You are not here to ask questions, but to answer them. Are you going
to refuse to help me by giving me the names of the boys?"

"I cannot, indeed I cannot; it would be so mean in me. You must punish
me any way I deserve, sir; I am willing to bear it; but I cannot tell
on the boys."

"Very well, Jerry Downer; you are dismissed," and he waved Jerry out
of the room.

But after Jerry had gone, he went to the window and stood watching
him.

"That is a generous boy!" he said; "but he has made a mistake. He will
see it when he is older and wiser. He will learn that true manhood
helps law and order, not even the idea of honor coming before it,
noble as it is."

Still the difficulty of unravelling the matter remained with him in as
much doubt as it did with Miss Ashton; but with both of these
excellent principals there was no question but that it must be sifted
to the bottom, the delinquents discovered and punished.

The time for doing this was short; and should it be necessary to expel
a pupil, the coming vacation offered a suitable occasion.

Soon after, Miss Ashton, going through the corridor one evening, found
two girls in close and excited conversation,--Myra Peters and Julia
Dorr.

They did not see her at first, so she was quite near enough to them to
catch a few words.

"You may say what you please," said Julia Dorr. "I'm as sure of it as
sure can be; I've sat close by you time and again when you had it on,
and if I had been you I would have owned it."

"Owned it!" snarled Myra Peters, "will you be kind enough to mind your
own business, and let other people's alone, Miss Interferer?"

"Well, interferer or not, I've half a mind to go and tell Miss
Ashton."

"Tell Miss Ashton what?" asked a voice close beside them.

The girls turned, to find Miss Ashton there.

"Tell Miss Ashton what?" she asked again pleasantly; "I always like to
hear good news. What is this about?"

Now, nothing had really been farther from Julia's intention than to
tell on Myra. She was one of those who had gone up to the desk when
Miss Ashton showed the piece of cloth, and had recognized it as like a
dress she had seen Myra wear. That there was anything of more
importance attached to it than the ability to mend the dress neatly,
she did not think, so she answered readily,--

"Why, Miss Ashton, that piece of cloth you showed us was exactly like
Myra's dress. I've seen i