“Not over half an hour.”
“I submit, then,” said Hector, in a matter-of-fact manner, “that I was absent in the playground during the entire time when it was found in my room. I believe this is what lawyers call an alibi that I have, fortunately, been able to prove.”
“You are a very smart lawyer!” sneered the principal.
The boys were by this time so incensed at Mr. Smith’s evident effort to clear his nephew at the expense of Roscoe, that there was a very audible hiss, in which at least half a dozen joined.
“Is this rebellion?” asked Socrates, furiously.
“No, sir,” said Ben Platt, firmly. “We want justice done; that is all.”
“You shall have justice—all of you!” exclaimed Socrates, carried beyond the limits of prudence.
“I am glad to hear that, sir,” said Hector. “If you do not at once exonerate me from this charge, which you know to be false, and write to my guardian retracting it, I will bring the matter before the nearest magistrate.”
This was more than Socrates had bargained for. He saw that he had gone too far, and was likely to wreck his prospects and those of the school.
“I will look into the matter,” he said, hurriedly, “and report to the school hereafter. You may now apply yourselves to your studies.”