Poodles stepped forward.
"Did you make this confession?" demanded Mr. Parasyte, sternly.
"I did—but I was afraid the fellows would kill me if I didn't do it," whined the toady.
"Do you hear that?"
"I hear it, and do not wonder at anything he says," replied Vallington.
Pearl told the same story; but our general protested that no compulsion had been used by the students; that two boys who were charged with deception were not to be believed in preference to eighty others. Vallington proposed that the case should be heard over again, and Poodles required to perform the examples. The principal was indignant, and refused all compromise.
"Thornton is not only guilty, but this very day he attempted to drown me in the lake," said he. "Do you think I can forgive him, without—"
"We don't ask you to forgive him, and he does not ask it. We only wish you to give him a fair trial."
"I will hear no more about it!" replied Mr. Parasyte, impatiently. "Will you return or not?"
"We will not."