like, Burke's
principle has been accepted as akin to the organic law and the
idea is that a community cannot be indicted."

It was a fine speech, for Grady had real genius in him, and this
was the first chance he had ever had. The principal waited until
the budding legal light had finished. Then Mr. Cantwell cleared
his throat, to reply crisply:

"While I will not venture to gainsay Burke, and he is not here
to be cross-examined, I will say that the indictment of the community,
in this instance, would mean the expulsion of all the young men
in the High School. To that form of sentence I do not lean.
A light form of punishment would be to prohibit absolutely the
final baseball game of the school season. A sever form would
be to withhold the diplomas of the young men of the graduating
senior class. I think it likely that both forms of punishment
will be administered, but I shall not announce my decision to-day.
It will come later. The young men are dismissed." Clang!

Dismay would have been a mild name for what the fellows felt when
they found themselves outside the building. Of the principal,
in a rage they were little afraid. But when the principal controlled
his temper he was a man in authority and of dangerous power.

After his own meal, and some scowling reflection, Mr. Cantwell
set out to find his friend and backer in the Board of Education,
Mr. Gadsby. That custodian of local education heard Mr. Cantwell
through, after which he replied:

"Er---um----ah---my dear Cantwell, you can't very well prohibit
the game, or talk of withholding diplomas from the young men of
the graduating class. Either course would make you tremendously
unpopular. The people of Gridley would say that you were lacking
in---era sense of humor."

"Sense of humor?" raged the principal, getting up and pacing the
floor. "Is it humorous to have a lot of young rascals running
all over one's authority?"

"Certainly not," responded Mr. Gadsby. "You should---er---preserve
discipline."

"How am I to preserve discipline, if I can't inflict punishments?"
insisted Mr. Cantwell.

"But you should---er---that is---my dear Cantwell, you should
make the punishments merely fit the crimes."

"In such an outrageous case as to-day's," fumed the principal,
"what course would have been taken by the Dr. Thornton whom you
are so fond of holding up to me as a man who knew how to handle
boys?"

"Dr. Thornton," responded Mr. Gadsby, "would ha