As the boys looked over the list of questions, many a sigh or frown showed that that list contained precisely the questions that one or another had hoped would not be there.
But most of the boys settled down at once to steady work, and for a while nothing was heard but the scratching of pens and the rattling of paper, or the uneasy movements of some lad who was trying in vain to recall a forgotten theorem.
As Gordon laid aside a written sheet, he happened to glance towards a seat occupied by Blake—one of the boys who had entered that year, and he saw Blake softly lift the lid of his desk, and peep at something on the inside.
Leaving his seat, Gordon marched directly to Blake’s, and, without a word, suddenly lifted the lid of his desk, in spite of the other’s efforts to prevent it On the inside of the lid was pinned a brief explanation of several of the toughest problems in the geometry.
With a look of scorn in his blue eyes, Gordon snatched the paper and tore it into bits; then, still without a word, he returned to his seat. As he did so, several boys, whose quick eyes had taken note of the whole performance, clapped their approval, and at this, Blake, who had started up angrily, dropped back into his seat, and went on with his work in sulky silence.
One or two other boys attempted to cheat that day, but their attempts were put down by the rest as promptly as Blake’s had been.
Blake tried to slip out of the room unnoticed after the examination was over, but Gordon had kept an eye on him, and speedily overtook him in the hall.
“Blake,” he said, “I’m sure you are glad, now, that you did your work honestly. You wouldn’t have liked Mr. Horton to know that you went back on your word.”
“He wouldn’t have known it, if you’d minded your own business,” growled Blake, “and I should have had a hundred on the examination, and now I shan’t get above eighty, thanks to your meddling.”
“I’m sorry for that, Blake, but I’d rather have an honest eighty than a dishonest hundred, and I’m sure Mr. Horton would say so, too.”