suppose," said Harding, "that it was simply some harmless prank of students at first, for we who live in New Haven are quite accustomed to such things, don't you know."
"I don't think I do," replied the dean, sharply, "for I haven't the slightest idea what you're talking about."
"Come right to the point, Mr. Harding!" added Babbitt.
"Well, sir, I live in the house next to the one occupied by Prof. Babbitt and some of the students.
"One day I was astonished, as I happened to be looking out of my window, to see a young man climb out of the big chimney at the top of Prof. Babbitt's house.
"He went around on the roof for a moment, looking for some way to get down, and at last caught the limb of a tree which bent under his weight until he could drop safely to the ground.
"Then he hurried away through an alley that led to another street. There was no doubt that he was trying to escape observation."
"Had you ever seen this student before?" asked the dean.
"Many times, though I never knew his name until now – "
"I was the student," interrupted Frank, quietly.
"The impudence of that confession," exclaimed Prof. Babbitt, hotly, "is enough to drive a man crazy! The great chimney in that house, dean, hasn't been used for many years, and the fireplaces have been boarded up, but an athlete like Merriwell could go up and down easily and you can see how he could effect an entrance by going into the fireplace of the room under mine, which is occupied by one of his friends, and so climbing up through the chimney to my room – "
"May I ask a question?" interposed Frank.
"Certainly," responded the dean.
"Mr. Harding," said Frank, "what day was it when you saw me climb out of the chimney on the roof?"
Harding was silent a moment, and then said:
"I hadn't given the matter any thought until a few moments ago, when Prof. Babbitt met me and remarked that he was in great trouble because a student had somehow entered his room and stolen a paper.
"I then told him what I had seen and he asked me to come here and tell the same thing to you. I think that this thing occurred on Tuesday."
"Are you quite sure?" asked Frank.
Mr. Harding took some envelopes from his pocket and looked them over.
"Yes," he said, "I had an important letter come a few minutes after that, and I see by the postmark here that it was delivered on Tuesday. I am certain that it was Tuesday."
"I only wish to say," said Frank, turning to the dean, "that it was on Tuesday that Prof. Babbitt took his question paper to the printer. The printed examination papers could not have been delivered before Wednesday at the earliest."
CHAPTER VII
A FORCED CONFESSION
There was a sarcastic smile on the dean's face as he turned to Prof. Babbitt and asked:
"That doesn't seem to justify your charge, does it?"
"Why – why – " stammered the professor. "At first blush perhaps it doesn't, but, don't you see, it shows that he had found the way to my room, and the fact that he was idling away his time in Page's room beneath ever since, is proof enough that he was waiting his chance to go up again.
"I'm sure he got the paper, for I have taken a glance at the answers given by him and his particular crew of friends, and I find that every one of them passed perfect papers, and, without cheating, not more than one of them could have answered more than one problem."
"You see, Merriwell," said the dean, "the circumstances point very unhappily – "
"I know they do, sir," said Frank, "and I feel miserable about it, but there's an explanation of how I and my friends have passed perfect papers, that I'm perfectly willing to state."
"Do so, then."
Frank thereupon related Page's joke just as it happened. He told all about the conversation he had overheard between Babbitt and Instructor Frost, and then described how he had got his friends together and led them in studying up the subject.
"It may be that you call that cheating," he concluded, "but you must understand that none of us knew what problems the professor was to put upon the paper.
"We only knew the general subject which he had chosen for the examination, and we set to work to make ourselves solid on that subject, and it seems that we did so."
"Why, yes," responded the dean, with a queer smile. "I must say that if your story is correct, the professor has nothing to complain of. He wanted to compel you to work up on points that you were weak on, and it seems you did so.
"Of course it was a very unusual thing for you to get the warning as to what the subject of the examination was to be, but if the professor himself gave the warning – "
"Who would have dreamed," exclaimed Babbitt, "that a rascally student was listening in the chimney!"
"Tut! tut!" exclaimed the dean, "don't use harsh language, professor. I don't think the situation justifies it. According to Merriwell's story, he was in the chimney without any idea of listening to you, and I think any of us who can remember our student days will admit that if we had been in the same position we would have done substantially what he did."
Prof. Babbitt bit his lip. It was not at all pleasant for him to find that Frank had a friend in the dean, who, next to the president, is the highest official in the college.
"All this," he muttered, "doesn't explain the fact that two examination papers were missing!"
"True," answered the dean, "and we shall have to think that over. Merriwell, will you step into the next room for a short time, please?"
Frank obeyed, and he felt certain that he read in the dean's eyes perfect belief in his story.
"It'll come out right somehow," he thought, as he closed the door upon the dean, Babbitt and Mr. Harding.
He could hear their voices in earnest conversation for fully a quarter of an hour. They were doubtless discussing the discovery of the extra paper upon Merriwell's desk, and Frank wondered what conclusion they would come to about it.
Meantime, another event was taking place that led to a solution of the mystery.
One by one the students finished their work on the examination papers and left the hall; few of them went away from the door; the most gathered there talking excitedly about the accusation against Merriwell.
There were some who professed to believe that Merriwell had been up to a sharp trick, and had actually stolen the question paper, but the great majority indignantly denied it.
There are many students who would have no scruples against cheating at an examination, but few would think of descending so low as to commit theft for the purpose.
Frank's friends were in the majority, and very loud in their assertions as to his honorable conduct.
Among the first to leave the room after Frank's exit was Dismal Jones; he stood around with his hands in
