“Broadwood?”
“Yep.”
[CHAPTER XXI]
THE STAMP ALBUMS ARE PUT AWAY
There was a moment of silence. Then,
“How did he find out?” Dan asked.
“I don’t know,” sighed Arthur, gloomily. “He had me all right, though. ‘Where were you between ten and midnight on the thirty-first of last month?’ he asked. ‘In bed,’ I said, stretching a point; I was for awhile, you know. ‘Were you off the school grounds that night?’ he asked. ‘I’d rather not answer,’ says I. ‘I’m sorry,’ says he, ‘because I have every reason to believe that you took part in the Broadwood escapade. Do you deny it?’ ‘I haven’t anything to say, thank you,’ says I. ‘Who was with you?’ he asks. ‘That’s no good,’ says I, ‘because I’m not going to talk.’ ‘Then we will say probation until further notice,’ he says. Then I told him ‘much obliged’ and beat it.”
Alf groaned. “Isn’t it the very dickens?” he said. “And here I am, the—the ringleader, the prime villain, as you might say, getting off scot-free. Jove, I’ve a good mind to go over and give myself up!”
“What good would that do?” asked Arthur. “We talked that all over before. I’m dished, but that’s no reason why you should be.”