Frank Armstrong, Drop Kicker

by Matthew M. Colton

  CHAPTER XX.

  A HEAVY PENALTY.

  On the way out of Chapel the next morning Butler, the proctor, handeda note to Frank and another to Jimmy. Frank opened the envelope andread the curt message:

  "FRANK ARMSTRONG.

  "SIR: You will come to the office of Dr. Hobart at ten o'clock this morning and show reason why you should not be suspended from Queen's School for meddling with the Chapel bell last night.

  "Very truly yours, "A. M. COOPER, _Secretary_."

  "Very pretty note I have," said Frank. He pursed up his lips and gavea low whistle, at the same time handing the letter to Jimmy.

  "Mine is sharp and to the point," said Jimmy, grinning feebly, and hehanded the one that he had received to Frank as they walked slowlyalong. The notes were identical, with the exception that the nameswere different.

  "How do you suppose that man Butler is so stupid as to think we didthat little trick last night?" said Jimmy scornfully. "I'd like topunch his nose for him."

  "It does look stupid, that's sure, but when you consider it as I havedone, you'll have to admit that we seem to be in the wrong."

  "Oh, get out, we can prove we had nothing to do with it," said Jimmyhotly.

  "How? It looks as if we had been caught with the goods on, unlesssome one saw the real perpetrators of the alleged joke."

  Jimmy was finally obliged to admit that it didn't look so good ashe had thought at first. There was an indignation meeting over inHoneywell, in which all our friends participated. All talked at onceand Butler was threatened with destruction in every key. But in spiteof the disgust of every one that Frank and Jimmy should be undersuspicion, every one also recognized that appearances were againstthem. "The only hope for you," said David, who had been thinking hardover the subject, "is to find the real fellows and make them confess."

  "They're likely to," snorted the Codfish. "They will save their ownskins if they can."

  At ten o'clock Frank, with Jimmy at his heels, knocked on the doorof Dr. Hobart's room in Warren Hall, and a moment later they were inthe presence of the Doctor himself. The latter did not look up for atime, but sat writing at his desk for several minutes while the boysshifted uneasily from foot to foot. Finally the Doctor laid aside hispen, swung about on his swivel chair and transfixed Frank with hispiercing eye. The glass eye stared straight ahead stonily.

  "What were you young men doing in the tower of the Chapel lastnight?" The question was shot suddenly by Dr. Hobart, so suddenlythat both boys almost jumped. "Wait, let us have Mr. Butler here."He turned and pressed a button which connected with a room near hisown where Mr. Butler was waiting. The proctor came in. "Sit down, Mr.Butler," said Dr. Hobart. "What is the accusation against these youngmen, Mr. Armstrong and Mr. Turner? What did you find in the towerlast night?"

  Thus admonished, Mr. Butler told of his being disturbed in his roomat about half-past nine. The bell began to clang wildly. He ran tothe front door of the Chapel, and finding it locked, remembered thatthere was a door in the rear. That door he found open. As quicklyas possible he got a light and climbed the tower to the floor of thebelfry where he found "this young man," indicating Turner, lying onthe floor in a pool of water, nearly unconscious, with Armstrongworking over him.

  "And what did you make of that, Mr. Butler?" inquired the Doctor in acool and even voice.

  "They said that they had been chasing a cat and that Turner hadfallen and hurt himself, and put the blame for meddling with theChapel bell onto some unknown boys who had preceded them," Mr. Butlerfinished, smiling sarcastically.

  "Well," said Dr. Hobart, turning to the boys; "what have you to sayto this?"

  "What Mr. Butler says is the truth," answered Frank, looking theDoctor steadily in the eye; "but there were a number of things thathappened before he came."

  "Yes, and what were they?"

  "We went up to find Mrs. Bowser's cat, which had come into the Chapelin the morning----"

  "Or was brought in," interrupted Mr. Butler.

  "I do not know how she got in, but she got in somehow, and when theboys tried to catch her she became frightened and hid."

  "And you came to the conclusion that she liked belfries and hadhidden up there."

  "No, sir," said Jimmy. "Frank came out to have a walk before goingto bed. I had been in his room and as it was cold we raced up to theChapel, where I slipped and fell. While we were standing there, wethought we heard a cat crying up in the tower."

  "And why didn't you report it?" said the Doctor.

  "It was late," Frank returned, "and when we found the small door inthe tower open, we thought we might be able to find her ourselves andreturn her to the lady, who was much worried about the loss of herpet. We were particularly anxious to get it for Mrs. Bowser."

  "Very generous-minded, indeed," said the Doctor, stroking his chin."And so you went up alone?"

  "Yes, sir, we went up alone, and while we were in the upper part ofthe tower, the boys who were disturbing the bell came up. We heardthem planning to do something, but could not make out what it was atfirst."

  "And why didn't you make your presence known?" inquired the Doctor.

  Both boys looked at each other. Why hadn't they? This was thequestion that each was asking himself. "We were waiting," said Frank,after a noticeable hesitation, "to find out, if we could, who theywere. But they spoke so low that we could not recognize their voices,nor could we see who they were because there was so little light."

  "So, so," said the Doctor musingly; "and what then?"

  "When they had put the water in the bell and were working at the propwhich held the bell in the position they wanted it, something gaveway and the bell swung back to its natural position. Turner, here,started to get down, then slipped and fell. When I saw him fall, Istarted after him and let go of the cat, which flew down stairs. Mr.Butler found us, as he says he did, but we were not responsible forwhat happened to the bell."

  The Doctor heard the recital to the end, while Mr. Butler smiledsarcastically and knowingly, glancing from the boys to the stern oldgentleman who was cross-questioning them. After deliberating a fullminute, Dr. Hobart spoke again:

  "You said a moment ago that you were particularly anxious to get thecat for Mrs. Bowser. Why were you particularly anxious?"

  "Because," blurted out Jimmy, "she helped us out of a scrape once."He could have bitten his tongue off after he had said it, but it wastoo late to draw back.

  "So," said the Doctor, pricking up his ears. "And what was thescrape?"

  "Oh, just an accident," said Frank.

  "Yes, and what kind of an accident?" There was nothing for it but totell the story of the wrong box which had reached Mrs. Bowser's housethe winter before. Frank told it in a straightforward fashion, buthe could feel the blood mounting to his face. The Doctor stiffenedperceptibly as he listened. Frank refrained from bringing either theCodfish or Lewis into the story.

  "So you are in the habit of practical joking?" he said coldly. "It isa poor business, my young gentlemen, and it must be stopped. We willhave no practical jokers around Queen's School. This is a place forstudy and not for pranks. Your case has been much weakened by what Ihave just heard. It seems to me I remember, too, Armstrong, that youplayed a practical joke on some one by pretending to be drowned lastyear, did you not, and disturbed the whole school? I remember youwere before me at that time."

  "He took the place of a boy who was being hazed," Jimmy burst outhotly, "and it served the hazers right."

  "Yes, Turner, perhaps it did, but I remember it disturbed the School.In the face of the tendency for practical joking that these incidentsseem to prove," turning to Frank, "can you expect me to believe youare guiltless in the matter of the bell?" The tone was sharp and theglance which accompanied it keen and penetrating, but Frank repliedsteadily: "We had nothing to do with the bell, sir."

  "Is this your fur glove, Armstrong?" said the Doctor, opening adrawer of his desk and producing a glove which Frank thought herecognized as his
own. He stepped forward, looked it over carefully,and finally turned the wristband back, where, plainly inked, were theletters "F. A."

  "Yes, sir, that is my glove."

  "And this one," continued Dr. Hobart. "Did you ever see this before?"handing him another glove, the counterpart apparently of the first.

  "Yes, sir, that is also my glove. It's the mate of the one you showedme first."

  "Very well, Armstrong. One of these gloves was found by Mr. Butlerin the Chapel belfry and the other in your room; is that not so, Mr.Butler?"

  "Yes, Dr. Hobart. I found that glove," indicating the first oneshown, "under the bell this morning, and the other lay on the top ofhis trunk in his sleeping room, where I went to look for evidencethis morning."

  The boys stared at each other in amazement and from Dr. Hobart totheir accuser. "I do not see how the first glove got up there," saidFrank at last. "I was in my bare hands when I went out last night, asI only meant to be gone a few minutes."

  "Mr. Butler, please bring that young man in here."

  The proctor walked from the room, was gone a few minutes andreturned, followed by none other than Chip Dixon. Dixon nodded curtlyto the two boys and faced the Doctor jauntily.

  "You say, Dixon, that you saw these two boys entering the rear doorof the Chapel last night?" inquired the Doctor, indicating thesupposed culprits by a jerk of his head in the direction of Frankand Jimmy.

  "I did not say it was Turner and Armstrong. I said I saw two boysnear the door, and that it looked like these two here. One of themhad something in his hand which looked like a bucket."

  "Which one was that?"

  "Armstrong, sir; or at least the one I took to be Armstrong."

  "What time was that?"

  "I think it was about a quarter past nine or perhaps a little later."

  "We were just under the belfry at that hour," Jimmy snapped out. "Theclock striking the quarter startled me. I remember it well." Franknodded in approval.

  "It may have been earlier," continued Dixon. "I didn't think anythingmuch about it till after the racket in the tower. Then I rememberedthat I had seen some boys around the Chapel, and recalled that theylooked like Turner and Armstrong."

  "That will do, Dixon, you may go," said the Doctor.

  When Dixon had left the room, the Doctor turned to our friendsagain. "You do not look like boys who would do such silly mischiefas that of last night, but all these stories fit together with suchnicety that I am forced to believe that you were responsible. Theselittle things that look like jokes sometimes have a very seriousresult. For instance, that water which filled the bell came down andbadly damaged the ceiling in the robing room on the ground floor,and, moreover, it ruined a valuable etching, a gift from one of ouralumni, which hung there in that room."

  "But we did not do it," said Frank, "nor did we have anything to dowith it in any way, shape or manner." His voice was trembling as hespoke. Jimmy was too savage to speak, but stood glowering at theDoctor.

  Unfortunately the Doctor, although a distinguished scholar, was notentirely in sympathy with his pupils. He sometimes forgot that he hadbeen young himself once, and there were not a few in the School whosaid that "Old-Pop-Eye" had always been as old as he was then. He wastoo much immersed in the technical side of his school work and schoolproblems to acquaint himself with the units that made up his school.He was apt to judge harshly. And his judgment in this case was harsh.

  "In view of all the circumstances," said the Doctor, after studyingthe boys for a minute or two, "I should suspend you both from Queen'sSchool or dismiss you entirely. We want boys here who come to studyand not to play idle tricks and destroy school property. I feelconvinced that you were concerned in this work of last night, forthe evidence is strongly against you. I can perhaps put no greaterpunishment upon you than to say to you that for the remainder of theSchool year you can take part in no athletics as the representativesof Queen's School. I understand that you both have played on Schoolteams." The Doctor paused. "If I find you concerned in any otherescapades of this character, I have no other course than to ask youto withdraw from the School."

  Jimmy was about to burst forth in violent denial, but stopped andheld himself in check. Frank said very calmly, "Dr. Hobart, I say itagain: I had nothing to do with this affair of last night; neitherhad Turner. I think I can prove it to your satisfaction some day. Maywe go?"

  "Yes," said the Doctor, who had turned to his desk again.

  The boys almost staggered from the room and down the stairs. Ithad been an unexpected blow. At the foot of the stairs, Lewis, theCodfish and David were waiting. They bore them off to Honeywell,where the whole scene in the Doctor's office was rehearsed. Mostuncomplimentary things were said about the Doctor and almostmurderous threats raised against the proctor, Butler, who, theCodfish protested, had "poisoned Doctor Hobart's mind against Frankand Jimmy."

  "And what's to become of our baseball nine?" cried the Codfish.

  "And the hockey team, and the track contest?" echoed David.

  "I told you to let that blooming old cat stay where she had gotherself," grumbled the Codfish. "A black cat is unlucky. Don't youremember Poe's story about the black cat?"

  "She was unlucky enough for me," said Frank ruefully. "But maybewe'll come out of it all right."

  "How do you suppose that glove of mine got up into the tower?" saidFrank. "I certainly didn't have my gloves with me. I wouldn'tnaturally have one in my pocket and one in my room."

  "I distinctly remember seeing them both on the trunk yesterdaymorning," said David. "I've been thinking about it since you toldwhat Butler found."

  "I know positively," cried Frank eagerly, "that I didn't have them onyesterday. I didn't have occasion to use them."

  "Then it's a put-up job," said the Codfish. "Some one who has it infor you sneaked in here and got that glove for a purpose."

  "Who could it be, do you suppose?" questioned Jimmy. "Dixon wouldn'tdo such a trick in spite of his general meanness and his dispositiontoward Frank. And who else is there?"

  "Gamma Tau!" said the Codfish suddenly. "They have members in thisdormitory and it would be the easiest thing in the world to get inhere, for the door is never locked. The gloves were in plain view onthe trunk."

  "I think you have the answer," said David. "Frank has been toopopular to suit our friends, the Gammas, ever since he won fame as adrop kicker. Now this talk of another society has set them going,but I say, it was a dirty way to do it."

  "Well, we'll beat them yet," said Jimmy, jumping up and smashing afist into the palm of the other hand. "And if I ever get a real goodchance at Dixon, I'll give him a thumping he won't forget for fiftyyears!"

  "And I'll help you," said the Codfish, throwing out his narrow chestand thumping it valiantly. At which all laughed.