CHAPTER XXVIII.
AROUSED AT LAST.
On Monday morning Rod was early at the academy, waiting for Springer and Piper. He paid no apparent heed to the disdainful, contemptuous looks of the boys who saw him posted there on the steps; nevertheless, he took note of their manner and felt fierce, resentful wrath burning in his heart.
The girls likewise regarded him with open aversion. Sadie Springer and Lelia Barker, coming up the path together, beheld the defiant young Texan and exchanged words concerning him. It was natural enough that Lelia should espouse her brother’s cause and hold the same opinions regarding Grant; however, for some reason which he himself could not understand, her remark, distinctly heard as she mounted the steps, cut him keenly.
“Why, Sadie,” she said, evidently speaking for his ears as well as those of her companion, “he’s a perfect young ruffian. No one else would do things he has done.”
In many ways Lelia was unlike her brother. She was headstrong and impulsive, and, while Berlin was coldly cautious and calculating, she had often betrayed a daring and almost reckless disposition. He had never been pronouncedly popular, but Lelia was both liked and admired by nearly all the girls and boys of the school. They had never exchanged a word, but Rod, had he analyzed his true feelings, would have found that he also entertained a strong liking for Lelia.
He forgot her in a moment, however, as he saw Phil Springer and Roger Eliot turn in at the gate, with Piper and some other fellows a short distance behind.
“Springer,” said Rod, descending the steps to meet him, “I want to have a little talk with you. You, too, Piper; I’d like to ask you fellows some questions.”
They regarded him coldly, repellantly, Sleuth’s lips taking on a curl of disdain.
Rod continued quickly: “According to Barker, you fellows were with him when he found my silk handkerchief Saturday morning. Is that right?”