“Where have you been, Reff?” came from Gus Coulter, who had awakened.
“I—er—I went for a—er—a drink,” stammered Ritter, not knowing what to say.
“Why didn’t you drink the water in the pitcher on the stand?”
“Oh, that’s stale and warm. I got a fresh drink out of the tank in the main hall.”
“Humph! I just drank from our pitcher and thought it was all right. Hear anything more about Ruddy when you were out?”
“No,” growled Reff, and turned over and pretended to go to sleep.
He felt relieved in one way, but not in another. His enemy was not going to die, but on the other hand Captain Putnam had promised a rigid investigation. What if he should be discovered? What if somebody had seen him taking the powder from the medicine closet, or seen him putting it in the glass of water?
“I’ve got to face it out,” he told himself. “I’ve got to face it out, no matter what comes. My word is as good as anybody’s.”
Captain Putnam’s investigation revealed but little. No person had been seen near the medicine closet for several days back, and what had become of the box of headache powder nobody seemed to know. Regarding the glass of water drunk by Jack, and the food eaten at supper, the cook and the colored waiters declared they knew of nothing wrong.
“Was any cadet in the mess-room just previous to supper?” asked the master of the school.