“Wisht that old gymnasium building would burn up; then Uncle Bill could come home,” muttered Rufe.
Mrs. Doyle went to see to her fire. Hester beckoned the boy to the window and whispered to him. Gradually Rufe’s face lit up with one of his flashes of cunning. Money passed from the girl’s hand to that of the half-witted youth.
Just then Dr. Agnew appeared and Hester took her departure.
On the following morning Franklin Sharp, the principal of Central High, called a conference of his teachers at the first opportunity. He was very grave indeed when he told them that another raid had been made upon the girls’ gymnasium.
“Not so much damage is reported as was done before. But, then, the paraphernalia before destroyed was not all removed. But this time the scoundrel—or scoundrels—tried arson.
“A fire was built in a closet on the upper floor. Bill Jackway smelled smoke and got up to see what it was. He found no trace of the firebug—can discover no way in which he got out——”
“But how did he get in?” asked one of the teachers.
“That is plain. It had rained early in the evening. Footprints are still visible leading across a soft piece of ground from the east fence to a window. The window was open, although Bill swears it was shut and locked when he went to bed at ten o’clock. That is how the marauder entered the building. How he got out is a mystery,” declared the principal.
“It is a very dreadful thing,” complained Miss Carrington. “I do not see what we can do about it.”
“We must do something,” said Miss Gould, with vigor.