School over for the day, Ben Stone found an opportunity to question Grant. “What would you have done,” he asked, “if the professor had singled you out and put it to you point-blank?”
“I should have declined to answer.”
“Then he certainly would have believed you concerned in the breaking of the skeleton.”
“I was.”
“But you were not to blame. If you had told the truth the other fellows would have had to suffer, while you must have been exonerated.”
“Had he cornered me,” said Grant, “I should have requested that the same questions be put to every other fellow in school.”
“What if they had lied? They might have denied knowing anything about it.”
“In that case,” said Grant, “I should have told the story of the hazing and refused to give the names of the fellows who took part in it.”
“Do you think they would have followed the same course—all of them, or any one of them—had the situation been reversed?”
“I don’t know,” answered Grant; “but I hope so.”