e, to the "fuzziest" Freshman, who thought
he bore the weight of the whole school on his narrow shoulders.

For one and all felt the stigma that rested upon the institution--Tom
most of all. True, as it happened, the affair was not as serious as
had at first seemed. Only one of the farmer's horses died, and that
was not a very valuable beast. The others had been very sick, though.

Fortunately, however, most of the fall crops were in, and the fact of
not having his steeds to work for him did not seriously inconvenience
Mr. Appleby. His neighbors helped him with the loan of their horses.

Still the farmer was a vindictive man, and he determined to have
punished, if possible, the guilty person. That it was Tom, with whom
he had quarreled, he had no doubt.

And, it might be added, though most of the students bore in mind the
injunction of Dr. Meredith not to talk about the matter, and make
useless accusations, Sam Heller and his cronies, did not observe that
silence. Indeed, Sam even went to the trouble of repeating to Mr.
Appleby all the evidence he had discovered against our hero.

"Oh, I know he's guilty!" the vindictive farmer had said, when Sam and
his crony called at the house one day, ostensibly to ask for a drink of
water, but in reality to talk of Tom. "I know he's guilty, but my
lawyer won't let me have him up on charges. He says I might get sued."

"Oh, I guess you could win the case," asserted Sam. He was aching to
see Tom humiliated further. But the farmer shook his head.

"I've lost a heap of money already," he complained, "an' I ain't
a-goin' t' lose no more!"

And thus the case stood when Jack had his inspiration, as he sat in the
gloaming with his chum Bert.

"Here he comes!" exclaimed the latter, as a footfall was heard in the
corridor.

"Yes, that's Tom. Now to tell him."

"Well, Tom, how goes it?" asked Jack, as he arose to open the door in
response to the code knock. "Anything new?"

"I don't know, yet, but I think--why, what's up?" he asked quickly,
surprised at the looks on the faces of his chums.

"You tell him, Jack," insisted Bert generously. "You thought of it."

"It's only this," said Jack modestly. "I've been thinking over this
confounded thing, as of course you have, and I've come to the sudden
conclusion that it was Sam Heller who poisoned those horses."

"Sam Heller?" cried Tom. "What makes you think so?"

"Several reasons," insisted Jack. "Sit down and I'll