"Charlton!" cried Elgert, in furious rage; and forgetful of all precaution, he struck a savage blow at him, which sent him spinning backwards over a form with a crash. "Keep quiet! You will rouse the whole school!" cried Dobson in terror. "Hark! I hear some one coming. Run--run, I say, or we shall be found here!" And Elgert, awakening to the danger of the position, glided away with him, as voices were heard calling and asking what was the matter. "What shall we do now?" groaned Dobson; but his companion answered in a fierce whisper-- "Quick--get back to your room and pull off your clothes, as if you had just slipped out of bed. Be quick! Then come out on to the landing, as if you were only half awake. They are certain to catch him, and we must declare that we know nothing of it. He has the papers in his hand, and it is our word against his, and appearances are upon our side." Dobson nodded, and hastily dragging off his clothes, he sat on the edge of his bed, and called aloud: "Who is there?" That roused the others; and he asserted that he had been scared by a noise downstairs. Up tumbled Warren and Ralph and some more, and Charlton's bed was seen to be empty. Then the Fifth Form boys, aroused by Elgert, came out on the landing, only to be met by one of the masters, who quietly said that nothing was wrong, and directed them all to go back to bed again. Nothing wrong! Go back to bed! But why was Charlton's bed empty? And what did that glimpse of the boy, in the custody of Kesterway, the head monitor, mean? Ralph looked at Warren in dismay. Whatever mischief had Fred Charlton been up to? CHAPTER XXVIII THE NEXT DAY "Believe it! Of course we don't believe it. And I do not think that the Head does, either. You cheer up, old fellow! I know you were only trying to serve me; but you were silly to go without waking Warren, or myself." The speaker was Ralph, and he addressed his chum Charlton, who was a prisoner. A prisoner, that is, inasmuch as the Head had forbidden him to go out into the playground until he had thoroughly gone into the incidents of the previous night. It was all very well for Ralph to say "cheer up," but Charlton did not feel very cheerful. His sensitive nature shrank from the position in which he found himself, and his heart revolted at the wicked falsehoods which were told so calmly by both Dobson and Elgert. Besides, he was kept in, and that afternoon he had hoped to get across to see how his father was getting on. And though we, who know the truth, may wonder how it was that the Head should do this, still, the doctor himself did not know the truth, and he could hardly think that two lads would tell such wicked deliberate lies; and, moreover, everything pointed to Charlton being guilty.