“Mr. Osborn, please sit down at that desk and write a complete statement of what you have just told me.” And calling his aide, he directed that all of the entrance examination papers of Candidates Short and Osborn be brought to him. “Did Mr. Short pass the other examinations?” he asked.
“Yes, sir,” replied the professor, “and he was sworn in as a midshipman and is now aboard the Santee.”
“Send for Mr. Short,” directed the superintendent.
By the time Ralph had finished writing the statement required, the examination papers which the superintendent had sent for were brought to the office.
“Here are Mr. Short’s mathematical papers, admiral,” remarked the professor. “He did very well indeed; he made 3.63.”
“May I look at those papers, sir?” asked Ralph, eagerly. He took but one rapid glance at them, and then said simply, but with glistening eyes: “That is my work, sir; I left those papers on my desk. Each sheet was marked 153 when I left the room.”
“They are marked 155, sir,” said the professor.
“Will you please see if the last figure on each sheet does not look as though it had been erased?” asked Ralph.
The superintendent took the sheets, and without remark, deliberately examined each number with a magnifying glass. Then he said slowly: “Professor, the last figure of the number 155 shows evidence on each sheet of having been erased. There is no doubt whatever of this fact. And on some of the pages you can plainly see that the figure 3 was erased and made into a 5. See for yourself.”
“This is unquestionably so,” remarked the professor, after deliberate scrutiny.