CHAPTER XV A Merited Punishment Sandy Podder and Lent Stewart looked at each other and turned pale. They rose and left the room, followed by curious eyes. Mr. Allen was alone in his office. He motioned them to seats. Then he sat there, looking from one to the other with glances that seemed to bore them through. They alternately flushed and paled and fidgeted in their seats. "Podder and Stewart," he suddenly shot at them, "why did you put those hip flasks in the desks of Grayson, Long, and Sherwood?" It was like the explosion of a bomb. The guilty students jumped convulsively. They tried to speak, but no words came. At last Sandy found his voice. "Wh-wh-what do you mean, Mr. Allen?" he stammered. "You know what I mean," thundered Mr. Allen, rising to his feet and towering over them. "Lying is useless. I have the facts. I know the plot from beginning to end. Why did you put those hip flasks in the desks of Grayson, Long, and Sherwood? Out with it now! Out with the truth!" He was so sure, so positive, so unbending, that the boys' hearts turned to water. They quailed before those boring eyes. Their guilty consciences gave them no support. Lies were only broken reeds. In confession seemed to lie their only hope. Sandy was the first to break. "It--it was only a joke--" he stuttered. "A joke!" repeated Mr. Allen with biting scorn. "Then you did do it, Podder? And you too, Stewart?" The fat was in the fire now, and they nodded their heads, averting meeting the principal's blazing eyes. "And the bringing of the cow to the classroom, the spattering of the map, and the spoiling of the electric fans," continued Mr. Allen, pressing his advantage relentlessly. "You did that too? Come clean now!" Sandy and Lent were so wilted that they had no strength for further denial and nodded miserably. "We weren't the only ones, though," said Sandy, hoping he might gain some immunity by implicating others. "There was Chat Johns and Aleck Anderson." "Anderson, you say?" said Mr. Allen. "I'll deal with him. Johns is not a member of the school, and I have no jurisdiction over him." He sat down, wearied from the strain of his emotions, but infinitely relieved because of having elicited the truth. The guilty consciences of the culprits had been his best helpers, and he had not needed to bring witnesses or thrust Jake's name into the matter. "So it was a joke, was it!" he said, scathingly. "A joke to weave such a dastardly plot about innocent comrades! A joke to see them punished for something they knew nothing about! A joke to lie to me! Well, it's the last joke you'll play in this school. We have no place here for your peculiar brand of humor. Go!" They went out like whipped dogs.