The Argosy, December 1905 — page 108: what you’re looking at

Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.

86 dent took one look and then literally yelled with rage. For there, depicted in clear and un- mistakable photography, appeared the figures of three men, all arms and legs, making a wild dash toward the camera. And these three men were none other than the president of the college, the professor of mathematics, and the in- eumbent of the chair in history. In the excitement that followed, Gus- sie Smith passed down the aisle and reached his seat. But before he sat down he leaned over and whispered to Tomlinson and his two friends. “Tf you fellows,” said Charles Au- gustus Smith, “will keep your mouths shut, nobody will be the wiser. Under- stand?” They understood. They subsided, al- though they were still frightened. The faculty immediately broke up chapel, sent the students to their classes, and went into secret session. They sent for Charles Augustus Smith. They could get nothing out of him. All that he would say was that he had been thrown into the river, and that was all. They could find no fault with Charles Augustus, for they knew the attitude of the class toward him, and knew that he ~ had been the subject of abuse. He was a victim and was entitled to consider- ition and not reproof. They called up the editorial offices af the Light on the long distance wire. They succeeded in getting the office. The editor was very gracious, but he got more out of them than they did out of him, and what he got made a fine story for the afternoon edition. But they insisted upon an answer to one question. “Who furnished the details of the story to the Light? ” The editor was willingness itself. He told them. It was a reporter of the name of Howard W. Budd. “Where did Budd get the informa- tion?” “Now,” said the editor, “you are asking me too much. I don’t know where he got it; I don’t care. Ifit were a fake, ’'d haul Budd over the coals, but according to your own admission, gen- THE ARGOSY. tlemen, the undoubtedly true. “But ll do anything you say and Ill print anything you say. Im fact, Vl be only too glad to print this entire con- versation, word for word.” “No, no!” yelled the president. “Don’t do it! No, no, I tell you! Hey, Central, don’t cut me off!” “T didn’t cut you off,” said Central. * He rang off. See?” Before the president was able to get the editor again, the story had been set up and was on the street in the shape of a special extra. The faculty were wild, but powerless. Try as they might, they were unable to find the perpetrators of the outrage or the man who had furnished the story to the papers. It was true that they suspected Smith of making the whole tale up out of his imagination, but unfortunately for this theory, in the early stages of the game, during Smith’s absence, they had found men who, from a distance, had really seen the thing, but who were too far off to distinguish the men who did it. It was an admitted fact that Smith story was ~had been thrown into the ice-cold stream against his will, and that was the whole story. Nobody could blame Smith. They might suspect him, but they couldn’t blame him. But there were three men who did blame him and blame him exceedingly. These three men had a decided griey- ance. These men were Tomlinson, Jen- kins and Whitehead. “Blamed little rascal,’ they said among themselves, “to get us worked up like that. It’s just like him. Tried to get the faculty down on us. By George, he had no business to worry us like that. Not much. We’re not through with him yet.” And they weren’t. They determined to make another call on Smith, and to make it in the evening. Smith was in his room when they ap- peared. He pulled a lazy cord as usual and opened up the door. “ Glad to see you, gentlemen, ” he said politely. “By the way,” he added pleasantly, “I have never shown you CORmMICLOOKS (C@