“I—I have a tall hat, which I’ll give you, until you can have this one fixed,” spoke Sid, as they walked along.
“Until I get this one fixed? It is beyond fixing!” declared Mr. Tines wrathfully.
Good Dr. Churchill looked pained when the three culprits were ushered into his presence.
“Look here, sir! Look here!” spluttered Professor Tines, his voice fairly trembling as he thrust the battered hat close to the president, who was near-sighted. “Just look at that, sir!”
“Ha! Hum!” murmured the doctor. “Very interesting, I should say. Very interesting.”
“Interesting?” and Mr. Tines stood aghast.
“Yes. I presume you have been illustrating to your class the effect of some explosive agent on soft material. I should say it was a very complete and convincing experiment—very complete, convincing and interesting. I congratulate you.”
“Congratulate! Interesting experiment!” gasped the irate “Pitchfork.”
“Yes. It was very well done. My, my! The crown of the hat is almost completely gone. Almost completely,” murmured the doctor, looking interestedly at the dilapidated tile. “What sort of an explosive did you use, Professor Tines? I trust your class took careful notes of it.”
“Explosion!” burst out Professor Tines, looking as if he was likely to blow up himself. “That was no explosion, sir! My best hat was ruined by a baseball in the hands of these vandals, sir! I demand their expulsion at once.”