“Girls sometimes are,” joked Mr. Franklin, at which Betty took heart.
“Won’t you tell me what happened, Mr. Franklin, to make her think I cheated?”
“Not yet. Near whom did you sit, Betty?”
“Why, Dora Jenkins sits in front of me; and on the aisle next, to the right, Mickey Carlin is across from Dora and Sim, James Simmonds, I mean, sits across from me and on the other aisle, across from me, there’s Sally Wright, a colored girl, and Peggy Pollard back of her. The alphabet is all mixed up in this class.”
“Who is back of you?”
“Andy–oh, no, Mr. Franklin, it was all different that day. I remember the boys changed–but I shouldn’t tell you!”
“Go on. One of the boys told me that they changed seats for fun on the day you had a substitute and it was not an exactly criminal act, though I don’t stand for it. Then they didn’t change back?”
“I suppose they thought they’d better not since she had seen them there, though I imagine Miss Heath’s roll is made out that way.”
“Never mind. Haven’t you the least remembrance who sat behind you or to the side back?”
“Seems to me it was Jakey Bechstein behind me and the boys seemed to be all mixed up around there. But I wasn’t thinking about it.”