"Well, what of it?" asked Ford, angrily; "why shouldn't a man burn up a piece of paper that he's got no further use for?"
"Because you left the paper you've been at work on with your answers in the examination room!" retorted Rattleton, "and this is an extra sheet. It shows what became of the two sheets that Babbitt missed."
Ford looked from one to another of the students and broke into a laugh.
"Well," he said, "I don't feel called upon to make any explanation to you fellows, but as I understand it, your particular friend, Merriwell, will have a good deal to explain."
"By all that's good," exclaimed Diamond; wrathfully, "you'll do the explaining for him."
"Me?"
"Yes, you, you skulking hound! You had those two papers; here's Dismal Jones, to whom you confessed to having got hold of them. You wanted Dismal to take one, hoping that he would give it away to Frank and the rest of us, so that if any exposure came we'd be mixed up in it. I know your sly trick!"
Ford had turned very pale. He sank into a chair, shut his teeth together, and muttered:
"You're doing a good deal of guesswork; but if you're trying to pick a row go right along; I'm not afraid of you."
"We're not here to pick a row, Ford," said Page; "I'm beginning to see through the whole thing.