“I see you are determined to make it hard for me,” she commented. “Very well, if we do no work this afternoon, we’ll get to the bottom of this.”
Then beginning with the girls, she asked each one if she had been in the room during recess time. As it happened not a girl had entered the room between the bells. An interesting game of tag had taken the attention of both grades in the girls’ half of the school yard.
Then Miss Mason began with the boys. Each one denied that he had been in the room till she reached Bobby.
“Yes, I was up here,” he admitted. 81
“Why didn’t you raise your hand?” snapped Miss Mason. “What were you doing?”
“I came up to get my ball. I had left it in my desk,” answered Bobby.
Unfortunately for him, he looked confused and cross, and Miss Mason had some grounds for thinking he might know more than he cared to tell.
“When were you up here?” she persisted.
Tim Roon listened eagerly for Bobby’s reply. He was beginning to wonder if he had been seen leaving the room.
“About three minutes before the bell rang,” said Bobby defiantly.