"Just so!" said Jim, eagerly.
"Ben Platt"s evidence ought to count for something," said Hector. "He saw your nephew putting the wallet into the pocket of my pants."
Socrates was clearly perplexed. In spite of his partiality for his nephew, the case against him certainly looked very strong.
Hector, however, determined to make his defense even stronger.
"I would like to ask Platt," he said, "at what time this took place?"
"At three o"clock."
"How do you know it was three?" asked the princ.i.p.al, sharply.
"Because I heard the clock on the village church strike three."
"I would like to ask another boy--Frank Lewis--if he heard the clock strike three?"
Lewis answered in the affirmative.
"Where were you at the time?"
"In the playground."
"What were you doing?"
"Playing ball."
"Was I in the game?"
"Yes."
"How long had the game been going on?"
"Half an hour."
"How long had the game been going on, do you know?"
"From half to three-quarters of an hour."
"Can you remember whether I was with you all the time?"
"You were."
"Now, Platt, will you tell me how long after the wallet was put into my pocket before Mr. Smith appeared in search of it?"
"Not over half an hour."
"I submit, then," said Hector, in a matter-of-fact manner, "that I was absent in the playground during the entire time when it was found in my room. I believe this is what lawyers call an alibi that I have, fortunately, been able to prove."
"You are a very smart lawyer!" sneered the princ.i.p.al.
The boys were by this time so incensed at Mr. Smith"s evident effort to clear his nephew at the expense of Roscoe, that there was a very audible hiss, in which at least half a dozen joined.
"Is this rebellion?" asked Socrates, furiously.
"No, sir," said Ben Platt, firmly. "We want justice done; that is all."
"You shall have justice--all of you!" exclaimed Socrates, carried beyond the limits of prudence.
"I am glad to hear that, sir," said Hector. "If you do not at once exonerate me from this charge, which you know to be false, and write to my guardian retracting it, I will bring the matter before the nearest magistrate."
This was more than Socrates had bargained for. He saw that he had gone too far, and was likely to wreck his prospects and those of the school.
"I will look into the matter," he said, hurriedly, "and report to the school hereafter. You may now apply yourselves to your studies."
CHAPTER XXI. THE USHER IS DISCHARGED.
Among the boys of Smith Inst.i.tute there was but one opinion on the subject of the princ.i.p.al"s wallet. All acquitted Roscoe of having any part in the theft, and they were equally unanimous in the belief that Jim Smith had contrived a mean plot against the boy whom he could not conquer by fair means. There was a little informal consultation as to how Jim should be treated. It was finally decided to "send him to Coventry."
As this phrase, which is well understood in English schools, may not be so clear to my readers, I will explain that Jim was to be refused notice by his schoolfellows, unless he should become aggressive, when he was to be noticed in a manner far from agreeable.
Jim could not help observing the cold looks of the boys, who but lately were glad enough to receive notice from him, and he became very angry.
As to being ashamed of the exposure, he was not sensitive, nor did he often have any feeling of that kind. Naturally vindictive, he felt especially angry with the two boys, Ben Platt and Wilkins, whose testimony had proved so uncomfortable for him.
"I"ll thrash those boys if I never thrash another," he said to himself.
"So they have turned against me, have they? They"re only fit to black my boots anyway. I"ll give "em a lesson."
Platt and Wilkins were expecting an attack. They knew that Jim would seize the opportunity of attacking them singly, and in the absence of Hector, of whom he was afraid, and with good reason. They concerted measures, accordingly, for defeating the common enemy.
Jim was stalking about the next day, looking sullen and feeling ugly.
He could not help observing that whenever he approached a group of boys they immediately scattered and walked away in various directions. This naturally chafed him, for, having no intellectual resources, he found solitude oppressive. Besides, he had been accustomed to the role of boss, and where is a boss without followers?
Tired of the schoolroom precincts, Jim went to walk. In a rustic lane, much to his delight, he saw approaching him one of the boys who had so seriously offended him.
It was Ben Platt.
Ben was sauntering along in idle mood when he came face to face with the dethroned boss.
"So it"s you, Platt, is it?" said Jim, grimly.
"I believe it is," answered Ben, coolly.
"I"ve got a word or two to say to you," said Jim, significantly.