"Ha!" exclaimed the head master.
"I went to the three elms to get my algebra which I had forgotten," said Dick.
"After taps?"
"Then you broke one of the rules."
"Yes, sir, but I thought that if it rained, and my book got wet, I'd get a demerit for that, so I decided I would take a chance on going after taps. I started before the bugle sounded."
"Ha! I will look into that afterward. You are sure you were not near the gun?"
"Yes, sir."
"I might add," went on Stiver, "that, after I called to Hamilton to halt, and he would not, I saw his dog running after him, and the animal seemed to have something tied to its tail."
"To it's tail?"