"I know, sir. Yes, sir."
"And you refuse still?"
"It's an invention, sir. That's all I can tell you, sir. I'm sorry, sir. Please, Doctor, I'd like to stay in the school."
The Doctor considered. He was a just man and his sense of humor allowed him to distinguish between the vicious and the playful imagination. After long, agonizing moments for Skippy waiting at the window, he took a sudden decision.
"Yes, sir."
"If I let you remain at Lawrenceville, will you give me a promise—that so long as you remain here, you won't attempt to invent anything else?"
"So long as I'm in the school?" said Skippy, broken-hearted.
"Absolutely. It's that or expulsion. I have four hundred tender lives to protect. Well?"
"I swear," said Skippy, with tears in his eyes.