ornamented with several shades of colour, blue, green, and yellow, the
result of the previous day's pugilistic encounter: "my brother Roland
heard the master say he suspected one of the seniors."

Arthur Channing looked inquiringly at Gaunt. The latter tossed his head
haughtily. "Roland Yorke must have made some mistake," he observed to
Arthur. "It is perfectly out of the question that the master can
suspect a senior. I can't imagine where the school could have picked up
the notion."

Gaunt was standing with Arthur, as he spoke, and the three seniors,
Channing, Huntley, and Yorke, happened to be in a line facing them.
Arthur regarded them one by one. "You don't look very like committing
such a thing as that, any one of you," he laughed. "It is curious where
the notion can have come from."

"Such absurdity!" ejaculated Gerald Yorke. "As if it were likely Pye
would suspect one of us seniors! It's not credible."

"Not at all credible that you would do it," said Arthur. "Had it been
the result of accident, of course you would have hastened to declare
it, any one of you three."

As Arthur spoke, he involuntarily turned his eyes on the sea of faces
behind the three seniors, as if searching for signs in some countenance
among them, by which he might recognize the culprit.

"My goodness!" uttered the senior boy, to Arthur. "Had any one of those
three done such a thing--accident or no accident--and not declared it,
he'd get his name struck off the rolls. A junior may be pardoned for