Mr. Appleby, a.s.suming an air of importance, stood waiting.
"Well, boys, none the worse from the excitement of last night, I hope,"
began the head of the school. "At least I see you are able to resume football practice," and he smiled at the rather soiled appearance of the lads.
"Yes, we"re all right," a.s.sented Jack.
"Be you Doctor Meredith?" broke in the farmer.
"I am," was the quiet answer, and a pair of eyes that had an uncomfortable habit of seeming to bore right through one, looked sharply at the farmer. "Did you wish to see me?"
"Yes, I"m Mr. Appleby. It was my hay stacks that burned last night."
"Oh, yes, I heard about it. I am sorry for you. I understand that had it not been for some of my students the fire would have been much worse.
You have come to thank them, through me, I take it."
"Well, no, Doctor Meredith, I don"t know as I have," and the farmer"s voice seemed harsh and grating.
"You have not? Pray, then, what------"
"I come t" tell you, Doctor Meredith, that perhaps if it hadn"t been fer some of your boys maybe there wouldn"t have been any fire!"
"What"s that?" exclaimed the doctor, drawing himself up sharply and looking at the farmer intently. "Just what do you mean, Mr. Appleby?"
"Jest what I said. I"m not satisfied as t" how that fire started, and I suspect that some of your students set it."
"Preposterous! Why should they do such a thing as that?"
"Because some of them have a grudge against me. It ain"t th" fust time the school boys has played tricks on me. Two years ago they burned up an old shed."
"So you said at the time, but you could never prove it, I believe. You should be careful how you make accusations, sir."
"I am careful, Doctor Meredith, an" that"s why I didn"t come sooner.
I"ve got evidence now."
"Evidence? What kind?"
"Well, one of my hired men saw a fellow, who looked like a school lad, sneaking around the hay stacks a leetle while afore they begun to blaze."
"Is that all? If it is, I call that very flimsy evidence; and I again warn you to be careful how you make accusations."
"It ain"t all, Doctor Meredith. Th" same hired man picked up this pin near the stacks," and the farmer held out a pin such as was worn by nearly every Elmwood Hall student.
"Picked up the pin near the stacks; did he?" asked the head master coolly, as he looked at the ornament. "Well, seeing that a number of my students were helping put out the fire, it is but natural that one might lose a pin there. I see no evidence in that, and again----"
"This here pin were picked up at the stacks just _afore_ th" fire was discovered--not _afterward_," said the farmer in a harsh voice, as his gaze swept the faces of Tom and his chums.
CHAPTER XIII
THE POISONED HORSES
For the s.p.a.ce of several seconds there was silence--a portentous silence--and then the head of the school, looking from the pin in his hand at the accusing farmer, and thence to the three lads said:
"Do you know, Mr. Appleby, to whom this pin belongs?"
"No, sir, I don"t. But I thought maybe you could tell. That"s why I come t" see you. If anybody set my stacks afire I want t" know it, an"
I want damages, same as I had when some fellers tromped through my corn," and Mr. Appleby looked straight at Tom, who returned the gaze fearlessly.
"Again I warn you to be careful in your accusations, Mr. Appleby," said the head master sharply.
"I am, Doctor. I ain"t namin" no names, but I brought that pin t" you, thinkin" you could tell who owned it. Then, when it is knowed who was sneakin" around my barns, I may be able t" say who sot the fire!"
"Preposterous!" exclaimed Doctor Meredith. "I will not, for one moment, entertain a suspicion, even, against one of my lads on such flimsy evidence as this."
""Tain"t flimsy!" retorted the farmer. "There"s been men convicted of serious crimes on less evidence than a gold pin. That"s a school emblem, an" I know it!"
"True enough," agreed the head master.
"Then I ask you to say who owns it?" demanded the incensed farmer.
"That I cannot say," was the cool answer. "This is not a cla.s.s pin--it is a hall emblem--that is, any lad in the school is ent.i.tled to wear it, and nearly every one does."
"Then call the roll, an" find out who"s lost his pin!" suggested Mr.
Appleby eagerly. "That"s an easy way to find out."
"I shall do nothing of the sort!" answered the doctor firmly.
"Then I"ll go t" law about it. I tell you, Doctor Meredith, that pin was picked up near the stack before the hay was found t" be on fire.
It belongs to one of your students, an" I demand an investigation."
"Well, you may demand as much as you please, Mr. Applesauce----"
"Appleby"s my name--Jed Appleby."
"Very well, Mr. Appleby. You may demand as much as you please, but I shall not inflict an accusation on any of my students in general, and certainly on none in particular, on such flimsy evidence as this. Here is the pin, you may advertise it if you like."
"Huh! Yes, an" d" ye s"pose th" owner would claim it? Not much. I don"t want th" pin. It ain"t mine. But I want t" know who sot that fire, an" I"m goin" t" find out! One of my men seen a school lad near the hay early in th" evenin", I tell ye!"
"Can he identify him?" asked the doctor.
"No, I don"t know as he kin. It was dark, an"----"
"That will do," interrupted the head master. "I am afraid I have no more time to listen to you. Good day. I shall keep the pin, since you refuse to take it," and the doctor, with a curt nod to the farmer, and a smile at the lads, pa.s.sed on.
For a moment Tom and his chums stood looking at the somewhat bewildered farmer, and then Tom spoke.
"You"ve got a lot of nerve!" he said cuttingly.