"From the hills of the beautiful Hudson,
Rendered sacred by patriot blood,
Come to us most inspiring traditions,
Swelling on in a glorious flood."
"The mighty achievements of Clinton, Of brave Putnam and—-"
Here Pete Herring suddenly jumped on his feet, and waving a paper in his hand, cried excitedly:
"That's plagiarism! That thing was not written by any of the Hilltop boys. It has been taken bodily from a paper published up the state, which I get every week, and was written by——-"
"Why, those verses were written by Jack Sheldon himself!" cried
Percival, getting up excitedly.
"They were published in the Riverton News, but were unsigned. I know that Jack wrote them."
"Please be seated, Percival," said the doctor. "Sit down, Herring. I will give you an opportunity to speak presently. This poem purports to have been written by Sheldon. Is that so?"
"Yes, sir," said Jack, "or at least what you have read was written by me. I don't know if the rest was. I cannot tell till I hear it."
"And you say that the lines I have just read were not written by him?" Dr. Wise asked, turning to Herring.
"No, they were not, they were written by Miss Sadie May, and were published in a paper up the state. Here it is. I received it this morning, and was reading it as I came in."