“But, Sam!” ventured Herman Boyd. “Aren’t you piling it on this crowd? Suppose Orkney was—er—er—os—os—what’s that word I want?”
“Ostracized?” suggested Step.
“That’s it—ostracized. Well, suppose that was what happened to Orkney. We didn’t do it—all. The whole school had a hand.”
“That doesn’t relieve us of responsibility for our part.”
“You’re right, Sam,” said Poke very soberly; for like the others he felt the influence of Sam’s earnestness. “You’re right. We’ve got some responsibility. We were boasting of it the other day, and we can’t crawfish and shirk it now. But what’s the practical thing? What can we do about it?”
“That’s it! What can we do?” echoed Step and the Trojan.
“We can talk, argue,” Sam explained. “We can tell people Orkney has been misjudged. We can spread everywhere the truth about Little Perrine.”
“Well, I’ll go so far, gladly,” said Step.
“Same here!” cried the Trojan.
“Of course,” agreed Poke.