"Gone!"
Bart staggered as if he had been struck a heavy blow, and his face grew ghastly pale, while his eyes stared at the spot where he had last seen the ring.
It was truly gone. In some surprising manner it had disappeared from the room while he was in pursuit of the paper, astonishing though such a thing seemed.
For a few moments Hodge was quite overcome by this discovery. He sank weakly into a chair, wringing his hands and breathing hoarsely.
How had it happened?
It did not take Bart long to decide that some one must have slipped into the room and stolen the ring while he was after the drawing.
In that case, whoever committed the theft must have been watching for an opportunity, knowing that he had the ring.
Hodge quickly recovered from his stupefied condition, and dashed out into the corridor to look for the miscreant.
"It must have been Snell," was his decision. "I will look for the sneak."
Straight to Snell's room he rushed, but Snell's roommate, who was studying, declared Wat had not been there in the past hour.