to the trembling Bert as the culprit.

"How do you know he is the offender, Mr. Snelling?" inquired the doctor,
gravely.

"Graham said he saw him do it, sir, and Lloyd confesses it himself,"
replied Mr. Snelling.

"Oh! indeed--that is sufficient. Leave Lloyd with me." And thus
dismissed, Mr. Snelling returned to his desk.

"Lloyd, I am sorry about this. You must stand upon the floor for
punishment," said the doctor, turning to Bert; and Bert, chilled to the
heart, took his place upon the spot where he had so often pitied other
boys for being.

Presently, drawing out his strap, the doctor came toward him:

"Hold out your hand, sir."

Bert promptly extended his right hand to the full. Swish! and down came
the cruel strap upon it, inflicting a burning smart, as though it were a
red-hot iron, and sending a thrill of agony through every nerve. Swish!
And the left hand was set on fire. Swish! Swish! right and left; right
and left, until twenty stripes had been administered; and then, turning
on his heel, the doctor walked solemnly back to his desk.

During all this torture not a sound had escaped Bert. He felt that the
doctor could not do otherwise than punish him, and he determined to bear
the punishment bravely; so closing his lips tightly, and summoning all
his resolution, he held out one hand after the other, taking the blows
as fast as the doctor could give them. But when the ordeal was over he
hurried to his seat, and burying his head in his burning hands, burst
into a passion of tears--for he could control himself no longer.

A few minutes later his attention was aroused by hearing the doctor call
out, in a loud, stern voice:

"Graham, come forward."

Graham got out of his seat, and in a half-frightened way, slunk up to
the doctor's desk.

"I understand, Graham," said the doctor, with his grimmest expression,
"that you volunteered to tell Mr. Snelling who it was that threw that
pellet. You know, or ought to know, the rule of this school as to
informers. You will receive the same punishment that I have just given
Lloyd. Stand upon the floor."

Completely taken aback at this unexpected turn in affairs, Rod Graham
mechanically took up his position, looking the very picture of abject
misery. The doctor kept him there for full half-an-hour, and then
administered twenty stripes, with an unction that showed, clearly
enough, his profound contempt for that most contemptible of beings, an
informer.

Now, Bert