"A committee!" exclaimed Tom.
"What committee?" asked the Professor.
"A committee composed of several of the most distinguished members of the Mystic Order of Seven Sweethearts," said Toney.
"What is its object?" asked the Professor.
"A tournament," said Toney.
"A what?" exclaimed Seddon.
"A tournament," said Toney. "To M. T. Pate belongs the distinguished honor of being the originator of a tournament in this age and country."
"How did such an extraordinary idea ever enter his head?" said Seddon.
"Great men," said Toney, "are often led to important discoveries by certain phenomena, which, to ordinary minds, are devoid of significance. Suppose you, Tom Seddon, had been sitting under an apple-tree, instead of Newton, and an apple had fallen and hit you on the head; what would you have done?"