"Come along," he said.
Trembling like a leaf, Ford crossed the room, picked up his hat from the table, and went out into the hall.
The other students followed closely after.
As he came to the stairway Ford made a leap. In his excitement he probably hoped that he might be able to run away from these angry fellows, and possibly escape making the confession that they wished him to make.
With an angry laugh they all leaped after him and caught him as he was two steps down the stairs.
The result was that the whole pack of them went tumbling down the flight and landed with many a bruise in a heap at the bottom.
When they got up Browning had his strong hand clinched in Ford's collar until the miserable rascal was almost choking.
In this way he was fairly pushed across the campus, to the great astonishment of all the students who happened to be there at the time.
He was marched straight up to the dean's office, where the students entered without knocking.
The dean was still talking with Babbitt and Mr. Harding.