"Yes, but they sometimes come late or two or three together. A friend sends them to me."
"Have you the paper containing the poem handy, Percival?" asked the doctor. "Would you kindly fetch it?"
"Certainly, sir," and Percival left the pavilion, returning in a few minutes with a copy of the Riverton paper in his hand.
The doctor compared the verses in both and found them to be identical, saying with a puzzled look:
"The one in the News is the same as this other, but it is not signed.
The other is signed Sadie May. Do you use that as a nom de plume,
Sheldon?"
"No, sir, I do not," said Jack with a smile.
"Then it strikes me that this other paper has been taking liberties with the News, not only taking things 'written especially for the News,' as printed over the poem, but declining to give any credit to the paper, and putting on the name of another besides the writer. Reputable newspapers are not supposed to do this."
Many of the boys smiled, and the doctor continued:
"Didn't you recognize this poem when you read it in the out-of-town paper, Herring?"
"I had never seen it before," Herring answered, and it was noticed by some of the boys that he seemed a bit restless.