The daughter of the man came in at that moment and at her father’s command she showed Don to the door. He went directly to a restaurant and ate a hearty supper, turning the amazing disclosure over and over in his mind. Before very long he was again on the train.
“Well, this is turning into a royal mystery,” he reflected on the way back to school, “I certainly would like to know why Arthur Gates should have taken the trouble to steal the very cup which was to be turned over to him!”
Chapter 4
A Visit to Mr. Long
Don allowed Sunday to go by without saying anything to the colonel about the cup and the story attached to it. He had already told it all to his brother and Terry, and they spent fruitless hours trying to figure out why Gates had stolen his own cup.
“Beats me,” Jim finally confessed, giving it up in despair.
“It is something like that old story of the man who stole his own wedding present,” suggested Terry. “Only, that fellow had some plan in mind when he did it. He wanted to stop the wedding.”
“Arthur Gates had some scheme in mind, don’t doubt that,” Don said, seriously. “But what was it?”
On Monday he told his story to the colonel. The headmaster was astonished and in one sense pleased.
“Then Long is innocent!” he exclaimed. “That’s splendid! My former cadet comes out with flying colors!”
“But another one does not!” Don reminded him.