ny enemy in the school, who might have done it?" asked
Professor Raymond.

"Not that I know of," answered Fred. "That is----" the thought of Andy
flashed across his mind, but he was too generous to give it utterance.
"No," he went on, "I don't think of anybody who could be mean enough to
put the thing off on me."

"Is there anything that might have any connection with this matter that
you haven't yet told us?" continued his questioner.

"Only one thing," replied Fred, to whom at that moment came the
recollection of what he had seen in the moonlight. "I did see a fellow
going away from the Hall the other night after twelve o'clock."

"Ah," came from both men, bending forward, and then they questioned him
carefully about the size and general appearance of the midnight skulker.

"Why didn't you tell some of us about that at the time?" asked Doctor
Rally severely.

"I suppose I ought to have done so," was the answer, "but I was cold and
sleepy, and the next day I forgot all about it."

There was a long silence, while Doctor Rally pondered. He broke it at
last by saying:

"I want to be entirely just to you, Rushton. I am not ready to condemn
you on this evidence, though I will not deny that things look dark for
you. I shall look into the matter further, and when I have reached a
decision I will let you know. That is all for the present."

He nodded a dismissal, and Fred, picking up his hat, stumbled blindly
from the room.

The two men who held his fate in their hands, stared at each other for a
long minute without speaking.

"It looks bad," said Doctor Rally, at last, "and I am more sorry than I
can tell, that he should be mixed up in such a wretched mess. His
parents are the finest kind of people, and his uncle is a particular
friend of mine."

"Do you think that he is guilty, then?" asked the professor.

"What else can I think?" said the doctor gloomily. "Everything seems to
indicate it. The facts are like so many spokes of a wheel, all leading
to the hub, and that hub is Rushton.

"Who knew that the examination papers were in your desk? Rushton. Who
had been wishing he were a mind reader, so that he might know what
questions you were going to ask? Rushton. Who saw, or says he saw a
mysterious marauder coming from the building at midnight, and yet said
nothing to any one about it? Rushton. And, above all, who actually had
the missing package in his locker? Rushton.

"Of course, all this is circumstantial