"You were aware, were you not, that it was against the regulations of the school?"
"I suppose it must have slipped my mind," answered James, trying to look as innocent as possible.
Dr. Brush frowned, for he saw clearly that this was but a subterfuge.
"If this were true," he continued, "it would be no excuse. As students, it is your duty to make yourselves acquainted with the rules that govern the institution. In point of fact, I cannot believe that either of you is ignorant of the rule forbidding students to frequent places where liquor is sold. It is hardly necessary for me to defend the propriety of this rule. Intemperance is a fruitful source of vice and crime, and I cannot allow the youth under by charge to form habits of indulgence which may blast all their prospects, and lead to the most ruinous consequences."
"We didn't drink much," said Mark.
"I shall not inquire how much you drank. In drinking a single glass, you violated the rule of the school, and I cannot pass over it."
"What is he going to do with us, I wonder?" thought Mark.
He was not required to wonder long.
"As this is your first offense, so far as I know," proceeded the principal, "I will not be severe. You are both suspended from the institution for the remainder of the term, and are required to leave Bridgeville by the early train to-morrow morning for your respective homes. I shall write to your parents, explaining the cause of your suspension."
But a week remained of the term, and the punishment was mild, but both boys were mortified and left the study crestfallen.