CHAPTER XXX
THE MYSTERY EXPLAINED—CONCLUSION
"My watch and chain!" cried the former major of the school battalion.
"Yes."
"What did you do about it? Why didn't you report it to me, or to Captain Putnam?"
"I was so stunned I didn't know what to do. I couldn't believe that Reff had taken them, and that he was guilty of the robberies that were going on. I locked the box up and put the key back in his pocket. That night I accused him of the theft, and we had a quarrel and almost came to blows. He said he didn't take the watch and chain, that he found them in the gymnasium near the lockers. He said he was only keeping them to get square with you, and that he would return them to you before the term closed."
"Found them in the gym?" repeated Pepper.
"I don't believe it," came firmly from the former major of the school battalion. "I believe he took them; and I believe he took the other things, too!"
"And I believe that myself, now!" cried Gus Coulter. "Oh, my eyes are open! I used to think Reff was a pretty good fellow, even though something of a bully, but I am learning that he is bad through and through. Paxton saw him sneaking through the dormitories at night, and he got afraid of him and cut him."
"And what of Cameron Smith?" asked Jack. "You said he was bad?"