Tom was, fortunately, and it seemed not only to him, but to some of the others, as if the teacher was displeased. Very likely he would have been glad of a chance to punish Tom. But he did not get it—at least that day.
“Unmannerly brute!” murmured Tom, as he sat down. “I’ll pay you back yet. Not because of what you did to me, but because you’re unfair to the rest of the class.”
Tom hated unfairness, and he also felt that, in a way, he was to blame for the punishment the class had unjustly suffered. He had not been able to learn anything about how the powder came to be put in his pocket, though he suspected Heller more than ever, as he saw how vindictive the Freshman bully was toward him.
“I almost wish he’d pick a fight with me,” thought Tom. “Then I could give him what he deserves.”
But Sam saw no chance of doing any further harm to the lad whom he hated with so little cause.
“Why can’t you think of something to help me out?” Sam asked of his crony.
“Think of something yourself,” retorted Nick. “I’ve got my own troubles. We’re going to haze the Freshmen tonight, and I’m on the committee of rules and regulations,” and he laughed.
“You are? Then this is my chance! Come over here where we can talk,” and the bully led his crony to one side.
This talk followed the dismissal of Professor Skeel’s Latin class, during which nothing had occurred save that the instructor took every chance of insulting the students.
“Say, if this keeps up much longer, we’ll have to do something, Jack,” declared Tom, as they proceeded on to another recitation.