“Oh, I’m giving it to you straight! You were so soft that you declared you’d play fair in that battle, and the man you were to play fair with gave you that.”
“Then who hit Starbright?”
“He wasn’t hit. He fell as he was rushing toward the walls of the fort, and was kicked on the head by accident. The kick laid open his head; and he made a great fuss about it for the purpose of making you think that he, too, was hit on the head. That’s all there was to that. Seldon was in the rear at the time, and saw the whole thing!”
“Why didn’t Seldon come and tell me, then?”
“He’s ready to tell you now!”
Don Pike pushed the door open, and a stripling, with a pale, nervous face, entered. He came in hesitatingly and stood with hat in hand till Dade asked him to take a seat.
Morgan knew Seldon well, and did not highly regard him, though the fellow had been one of the twenty freshmen selected to take part in the snowball battle.
“We’ve talked it over, and Seldon is ready to tell you all about it,” said Pike, as Seldon dropped into a chair.
“Yes, I saw it!” Seldon avowed. “Starbright was behind you, and he aimed that snowball straight at your head, while pretending to be aiming it at the sophomores. I was so close to him that I’m sure I couldn’t be mistaken.”
“Did you see Starbright when he was struck?” Dade asked, his heart flaming again against Dick.