"I didn’t want to sign the paper, anyway," said Wade. "I thought it might get us into trouble."
"Now, how can it get us into trouble?" exclaimed Zeb.
"Why, old Gunn says we’ve got to prove the charges against Merriwell."
"And that we’ll be made examples of if we do not," put in Reid.
"Which means that we’ll be expelled," faltered Wade.
Jim Watson looked frightened, but said nothing.
"Oh, nothing of the kind!" declared Zeb, with attempted bravado. "They can’t expel you for a little thing like that."
"But they say it’s a mighty serious offense to deliberately try to damage a fellow’s character here at Fardale."
"You’re in just as bad a hole as we are," said Reid, "and you are to blame for the whole thing. You made me believe it was a joke more than anything else."
"Me, too," asserted Wade. "It’s a pretty serious joke—for us. My mother sent me here, and it will be hard on her if I’m expelled."