"No—no—of course not——"
"And, Mr. Catherwood," he added, "I am to assume, am I, that you can throw no light on this—on this most mysterious matter...?"
At that instant a knock fell on the door.
"Come in," Catherwood called.
The door was pushed back and a young man with a note-book in his hand stood on the threshold.
"I'm Green," he explained. "I'm on the 'Varsity News. You're Catherwood, aren't you? Yes; well, we got wind of the case. Fellow heard your landlady yell and telephoned us. What does it amount to——?"
The assistant professor, squaring his shoulders, assumed the privilege of answering the breezy youth.
"Perhaps," he said, "it might be as well not to go into details just now. Mr. Catherwood was assaulted in his room last night and was found gagged and tied in his bed not an hour ago. It is a case for official investigation. Mr. Catherwood was made, much against his will, naturally, to miss an important examination this morning—I may say a very important examination. There is a meeting of the faculty to be held to-night when I shall present the facts of this most shocking affair as I have gathered them and I am confident that an official investigation will follow. You may say as much...."
The reporter had been busy with his note-book.