posing of
it? No one will lay it to me."

The temptation proved too strong for Jim's power of resistance. He
selected a five-dollar bill and five dollars in small bills, and
reluctantly replaced the rest of the money in the wallet.

"So far, so good!" he thought. "That's a good idea."

Then, unlocking the door, he passed along the entry till he came to the
room occupied by Hector. As he or one of the two boys who roomed with
him might be in the room, he looked first through the keyhole.

"The coast is clear!" he said to himself, in a tone of satisfaction.

Still, he opened the door cautiously, and stepped with catlike tread
into the room. Then he looked about the room. Hanging on nails were
several garments belonging to the inmates of the room. Jim selected a
pair of pants which he knew belonged to Hector, and hurrying forward,
thrust the wallet into one of the side pockets. Then, with a look of
satisfaction, he left the room, shutting the door carefully behind him.

"There," he said to himself, with exultation. "That'll fix him! Perhaps
he'll wish he hadn't put on quite so many airs."

He was rather annoyed, as he walked along the corridor, back to his
own room, to encounter Wilkins. He had artfully chosen a time when he
thought all the boys would be out, and he heartily wished that some
untoward chance had not brought Wilkins in.

"Where are you going, Jim?" asked Wilkins.

"I went to Bates' room, thinking he might be in, but he wasn't."

"Do you want him? I left him out on the playground."

"Oh, it's no matter! It'll keep!" said Jim, indifferently.

"I got out of that pretty well!" he reflected complacently.

Perhaps Jim Smith would not have felt quite so complacent, if he had
known that at the time he entered Hector's room it was occupied, though
he could not see the occupant. It so chanced that Ben Platt, one of
Hector's roommates, was in the closet, concealed from the view of anyone
entering the room, yet so placed that he could see through the partially
open door what wras passing in the room.

When he saw Jim Smith enter he was surprised, for he knew that that
young man was not on visiting terms with the boy who had discomfited and
humiliated him.

"What on earth can Jim want?" he asked himself.

He did not have long to wait for an answer though not a real one; but
actions, as men have often heard, speak louder than words.

When he saw Jim steal up to Hector's pants, and producing a wallet,
h