"It looks like it," answered Fred comically, whereupon the doctor and his wife laughed heartily, and, the ice being broken, Nellie and Fred joined in the merriment, though it was at their own expense.
"Well," said the doctor seriously, "this paper records a very grave matter. The boys should be punished."
"Why, I wonder, didn't Mr. Simmons have them punished?" asked Nellie.
"The case looks suspicious," answered her father.
"He has never reported it, or we should have heard of it," said Mrs. Dutton.
Fred rested his head on his hand in deep thought.
"He must have had some object in getting this paper," he at length answered. "It looks to me as though he had been bribed—been paid to keep the matter a secret."
"That seems very probable," answered the doctor.
"Would Matthew's father have paid Mr. Simmons anything for such a purpose?"
"No, indeed. He would be the last man imaginable to allow himself to be fleeced in such a way."