The meal was almost at an end when Phil, Ben, and Roger made their appearance. They had but little to say, but Dave could see that something was wrong.
“Had another wrangle with Jason Sparr,” explained Phil, after the meal. “He followed me to one of the stores, and I told him just what I thought of him.”
“And he threatened to have Phil arrested for defamation of character,” added Ben.
“But he didn’t dare to do it,” declared the shipowner’s son.
“Better let him alone,” advised Dave. “You’ll gain nothing by keeping in hot water over it, Phil.”
That night all of the boys had to study hard, and consequently they retired to their dormitories early. The only exception was Polly Vane, who had to go to Oakdale to meet a relative who would stop off but who was going away again on the midnight train.
The boys studied until ten o’clock and then retired. Dave was completely tired out and his head had hardly touched the pillow when he was sound asleep.
He was awakened about two hours later by the sounds of excited talking. He opened his 160 eyes to behold Polly Vane standing in the dormitory fully dressed, while Phil was sitting on the edge of the bed, and Ben and Roger and some others were just rousing up.
“What’s going on?” Dave asked, sleepily.
“A whole lot, if what Polly says is true,” answered the shipowner’s son.