When he had finished Mr. Williams said, “I hardly think it could be possible. Still I think I had better send for Crossley; I will do so right away.” He promised to let the boys know later in the evening if anything worth while resulted. As a matter of fact Mr. Williams had concluded there might be more in the idea than he had let on. He sent Crossley a note like the one he had sent Hal, asking him to come to the office at once, late though it was. But he added a few words at the bottom: “Bring your chauffeur’s hat and goggles.”
When Crossley received the note he read it only once, but he knew it was all up with him. He had been having a pretty uncomfortable time himself during the past days, but it was only when he received Mr. Williams’ note that the utter baseness of his misdeeds became fully apparent to him. He couldn’t stand the thought of facing Mr. Williams and Hal.
Like a lot of the boys, he was brave only until he was called upon to stand a real test, and Crossley’s training wasn’t the kind that would let him take his medicine. So he didn’t even wait until the messenger had gone. His automobile was standing at the curb in front of his quarters. He didn’t stop for anything, not even to pack up, nor did he wait for his driver. He dashed down the stairs, jumped into his automobile and went away as fast as his machine could carry him. The messenger boy reported to Mr. Williams what he had seen and he said, “He must be the guilty party. His flight surely was a confession.”
He called up Hal and Hans and told them what had happened and that Hal might consider the suspension removed.
As for Crossley this is where he goes out of the story. They struck his name from the rolls of the University. No doubt he turned up at his home in due time, but the University authorities never made any attempt to punish him. They were satisfied that he had gone without bringing the fair name of the school into more disrepute.
They packed up his things and sent them to his home, and if they were ever called upon by Crossley’s father to explain anything about the matter will probably never be known. Nothing was ever said about it one way or the other at Lowell. The college people sent out the news that the medal had been found, leaving anyone to guess whether it had really been stolen or mislaid.
President Lawrence sent for Hal and thanked him for the courage he had shown while under the cloud, again expressed his sorrow that he had been forced by circumstances to put him under suspicion, and Hal went home feeling more relieved than he had ever felt in his life.
As for Hans he was jubilant. Hal felt particularly grateful to him for his clever work in clearing up the mystery and wanted to tell the story at the training table in order that Hans should have full credit, but Hans objected in his modest way and so they kept the story absolutely to themselves and were happy.