Chapter 1 EXPELLING A PUPIL

"What are you looking so glum about this morning, Stumpy?" asked Ned Wilding as he greeted his chum, Fenn Masterson, otherwise known as "Stumpy" because of his short, stout figure. "Haven't you got your lessons, or are you going to be expelled?"

"I'm not to be expelled but some one else is, Ned."

"What's that? Some one going to be expelled?" asked Bart Keene, coming up in time to hear what Fenn said.

"John Newton is," replied Stumpy.

"What's that got to do with you?" asked Bart, for, as had Ned, he noticed that Fenn looked worried.

"It might have something to do with me if John-"

Just then the bell of the Darewell High School began to ring, and, as it was the final summons to classes the three boys and several other pupils hurried into the building. On the way up the stairs Ned Wilding was joined by a tall youth with dark hair and eyes.

"What's this I hear about John Newton?" asked the tall lad.

"Hello, Frank! Why Stumpy says John's got to leave the school, but it's the first I heard about it."

"Are they going to expel him this morning?"

"Seems so. We'll soon know."

A little later several hundred boys and girls were gathered in the auditorium of the school for the usual morning exercises. When they were over the principal, Professor McCloud, came to the edge of the platform.

"I have a very unpleasant duty to perform," he began.

Most of the boys and girls knew what was coming. The principal never prefaced his remarks that way unless he had to expel a pupil. Ned and Bart looked over toward where Fenn sat. They wanted to see if there was any reason for Stumpy's seeming apprehension.

"John Newton!" called Professor McCloud, and a tall youth, with eyes that squinted slightly, left his seat and shambled forward.

"It's coming now," whispered Fenn, and Frank Roscoe, who was sitting beside him, looked at his chum and wondered.

"Any one would think it was you who had to face the music," declared Frank.

By this time John Newton was standing in front of the raised platform on which the principal and teachers sat during the morning exercises. He did not seem to mind the humility or disgrace of his position. He turned half around and looked toward Fenn.

"If he says anything-" began Stumpy, whispering to himself, but he did not finish the sentence for Professor McCloud was speaking.

"John Newton," the principal said, "I am deeply grieved that I have to do this. It is very painful." It was the same speech the pupils had heard before. The principal always used it, with such slight variations as might be necessary. "You have been dilatory in your studies. You have been insubordinate. You have played mean tricks. You have refused to mend your ways."

The principal took a long breath. He always did at this particular point in his painful duty. But this time there was a variation from the usual scene. John Newton stepped forward and addressed the principal. It was a thing unheard of in the Darewell school.

"Professor McCloud," said John, "I want to say that while I'm partly to blame in this matter, Fenn Mas-"

"That will do! That will do!" interrupted Mr. McCloud so sharply that John started. A number of the pupils turned in their seats to gaze at Stumpy, who looked painfully self-conscious.

"There's something in the wind," whispered Ned to Bart.

"I'm not going to take all the blame," persisted John, ignoring the principal's command to remain silent. "Fenn Mast-"

"I said that would do," and Mr. McCloud spoke so decisively that John remained silent. "I know what you would say," the professor went on. "I have looked into that matter thoroughly. No one is to blame but yourself, and your effort to shift the punishment to some other boy does not do you any good. You should not have attempted to mention any pupil's name. I will not refer to it again, except to say that no one is involved but yourself. I am fully satisfied on this point."

Frank noticed that Fenn seemed much relieved at the professor's announcement, and he wondered what connection there could have been between his chum and John Newton.

"You have been given several opportunities to reform," the principal went on, "but you have refused to profit by them. You are a dangerous element to have in this school. Therefore, we return you to your friends," and, with a wave of his glasses toward the door to emphasize his remark, the principal indicated that John Newton might go. That ended it. John was expelled.

The pupils went to their various classes, and, though there was considerable whispering back and forth during the morning session as to what caused John's expulsion, and what his reference to Fenn might mean, there was no chance to discuss the matter until the noon recess. Then questions and answers flew thick and fast.

"Now Fenn, tell us all about it," said Ned Wilding when he and the two other boys who had remarked Stumpy's apprehension, were gathered in the basement where lunches were usually eaten. "What was John driving at? What were you afraid of?"

"Didn't you hear Professor McCloud say it was all ended and he was satisfied I had no hand in it?"

"Yes, but that doesn't satisfy us," said Bart. "We want the whole story."

"There isn't much to it," Fenn declared. "You must promise not to repeat it."

"We'll promise but I guess John will tell it all over town," said Frank.

"You know John and I used to be pretty friendly," Fenn began, getting his chums off into a corner. "He lives near me and I used to go fishing with him once in a while. But he got down on me because I wouldn't lend him my best reel one day, though for a while I didn't know he wasn't friendly.

"He's always playing some kind of tricks in school, but most of 'em aren't any worse than those we get up. But this last one was the limit."

"What was it?" asked Ned.

"He'd been reading some book on India, and how they catch tigers by smearing bird-lime on the leaves near the water-hole. He made some of the lime. I helped him. Got some of the stuff from the laboratory. Then he put it all over the papers in Mr. McCloud's desk, one night after school, and they got so fastened together they couldn't be separated."

"You don't mean to say you helped him do that?" asked Frank.

"Who said I did? I only helped make the bird-lime. He told me we could catch rabbits with it. I didn't know what he was up to or I wouldn't have done that much. When he learned he was discovered, for he left his knife in the desk, he said he was going to make me take part of the blame for helping him make the lime. That's what I was afraid of this morning, when I heard he was going to be expelled."

"He did try to give you away," interrupted Bart.

"Yes, rather mean, too. But it seems Mr. McCloud had been investigating, though I didn't know it. He must have found out that I didn't have any hand in putting the stuff in the desk, even if I did help John make it."

"Lucky for you that he did," commented Ned. "Do you think John will try to do anything more to make trouble for you?"

"I hope not," Fenn replied.

"He was always up to tricks," commented Frank. "Once he daubed tar on the bottoms of his shoes and walked through the classroom, leaving black marks all over. He pasted paper caps on the pestle when the chemistry class was going to recite and Professor Long thought the powder he was mixing went off at the wrong time."

"Yes, and do you remember the time he whistled like a bird in school," put in Ned, "and made the teacher believe a canary was loose somewhere. My, but he can whistle!" he went on. "He can do as well as some of the fellows on the stage. I'm sorry he got expelled, but I'm glad you're out of it, Stumpy."

* * *

You'll also like

The $300 Husband Is A Zillionaire

Nap Regazzini

5.0

I woke up in a blindingly white hotel penthouse with a throbbing headache and the taste of betrayal in my mouth. The last thing I remembered was my stepsister, Cathie, handing me a flute of champagne at the charity gala with a smile that didn't reach her eyes. Now, a tall, dangerously handsome man walked out of the bathroom with a towel around his hips. On the nightstand sat a stack of hundred-dollar bills. My stepmother had finally done it—she drugged me and staged a scandal with a hired escort to destroy my reputation and my future. "Aisha! Is it true you spent the night with a gigolo?" The shouts of a dozen reporters echoed through the heavy oak door as camera flashes exploded through the peephole. My phone lit up with messages showing my bank accounts were already frozen. My father was invoking the 'morality clause' in my mother’s trust fund, and my fiancé had already released a statement dumping me to marry my stepsister instead. I was trapped, penniless, and being hunted by the press for a scandal I hadn't even participated in. My own family had sold me out for a payday, and the man standing in front of me was the only witness who could prove I was innocent—or finish me off for good. I didn't have time to cry. According to the fine print of the trust, I had thirty days to prove my "rehabilitation" through a legal marriage or I would lose everything. I tracked the man down to a coffee shop the next morning, watching him take a thick envelope of cash from a wealthy older woman. I sat across from him and slid a napkin with a $50,000 figure written on it. "I need a husband. Legal, paper-signed, and convincing." He looked at the number, then at me, a slow, crooked smile spreading across his face. I thought I was hiring a desperate gigolo to save my inheritance. I had no idea I was actually proposing to Dominic Fields, the reclusive billionaire shark who was currently planning a hostile takeover of my father’s entire empire.

A Divorce He Regrets

Alissa Nexus

4.8

The day Raina gave birth should have been the happiest of her life. Instead, it became her worst nightmare. Moments after delivering their twins, Alexander shattered her heart-divorcing her and forcing her to sign away custody of their son, Liam. With nothing but betrayal and heartbreak to her name, Raina disappeared, raising their daughter, Ava, on her own.Years later, fate comes knocking when Liam falls gravely ill. Desperate to save his son, Alexander is forced to seek out the one person he once cast aside. Alexander finds himself face to face with the woman he underestimated, pleading for a second chance-not just for himself, but for their son. But Raina is no longer the same broken woman who once loved him.No longer the woman he left behind. She has carved out a new life-one built on strength, wealth, and a long-buried legacy she expected to uncover.Raina has spent years learning to live without him.The question is... Will she risk reopening old wounds to save the son she never got to love? or has Alexander lost her forever?

Revealing My Secret Identities! My Bros Are Speechless!

Zhen Xiang

5.0

For seventeen years, I was the crown jewel of the Kensington empire, the perfect daughter groomed for a royal future. Then, a cream-colored envelope landed in my lap, bearing a gold crest and a truth that turned my world into ice. The DNA test result was a cold, hard zero percent-I wasn't a Kensington. Before the ink could even dry, my parents invited my replacement, a girl named Alleen, into the drawing room and treated me like a trespasser in my own home. My mother, who once hosted galas in my honor, wouldn't even look me in the eye as she stroked Alleen's arm, whispering that she was finally "safe." My father handed me a one-million-dollar check-a mere tip for a billionaire-and told me to leave immediately to avoid tanking the company's stock price. "You're a thief! You lived my life, you spent my money, and you don't get to keep the loot!" Alleen shrieked, trying to claw the designer jacket off my shoulders while my "parents" watched with clinical detachment. I was dumped on a gritty sidewalk in Queens with nothing but three trunks and the address of a struggling laborer I was now supposed to call "Dad." I traded a marble mansion for a crumbling walk-up where the air smelled of exhaust and my new bedroom was a literal storage closet. My biological family thought I was a broken princess, and the Kensingtons thought they had successfully erased me with a payoff and a non-disclosure agreement. They had no idea that while I was hauling trunks up four flights of stairs, my secret media empire was already preparing to move against them. As I sat on a thin mattress in the dark, I opened my encrypted laptop and sent a single command that would cost my former father ten million dollars by breakfast. They thought they were throwing me to the wolves, but they forgot one thing: I'm the one who leads the pack.

My Irresistible Alpha

Eunoiab

5.0

She gave him her innocence. He gave her a mark she could never escape. Five years ago, Elena's world shattered when she was betrayed by everyone she loved. Left homeless and heartbroken, she found fleeting solace in the arms of a devastatingly handsome stranger-a single night of raw, primal passion that became her secret touchstone of strength. Now, she's rebuilt her life from the ashes, fighting to provide for her young son. But every door she tries to open slams shut, sabotaged by a powerful, unseen force. That force is Dax Valiente. Billionaire. Alpha. Obsession. As a human girl, Elena has never expected what awaits her when she walks into the Valiente Group. That ruthless man was not just her new Boss, but the werewolf king who wants her to be his.

THE LYCAN KING'S TREASURED LUNA

Jhasmheen Oneal

5.0

Narine never expected to survive. Not after what was done to her body, mind, and soul. But fate had other plans. Rescued by Supreme Alpha Sargis, the kingdom's most feared ruler, she finds herself under the protection of a man she doesn't know... and a bond she doesn't understand. Sargis is no stranger to sacrifice. Ruthless, ambitious, and loyal to the sacred matebond, he's spent years searching for the soul fate promised him, never imagining she would come to him broken, on the brink of death, and afraid of her own shadow. He never meant to fall for her... but he does. Hard and fast. And he'll burn the world before letting anyone hurt her again. What begins in silence between two fractured souls slowly grows into something intimate and real. But healing is never linear. With the court whispering, the past clawing at their heels, and the future hanging by a thread, their bond is tested again and again. Because falling in love is one thing. Surviving it? That's a war of its own. Narine must decide, can she survive being loved by a man who burns like fire, when all she's ever known is how not to feel? Will she shrink for the sake of peace, or rise as Queen for the sake of his soul? For readers who believe even the most fractured souls can be whole again, and that true love doesn't save you. It stands beside you while you save yourself.

Mated to The Quadruplet Bullies

MISS ARINYA D

4.2

Clocking 18, Suzie had just one thing in mind, to take revenge on everyone who has bullied her, including her father and the quadruplet brothers, one of them which she has given her entire heart only for him to shatter it. But hours before her shift, the goddess played a trick on her, mating her to the same brothers she desperately wanted to play with their lives. What would become of Suzie’s revenge especially now that the four brothers want to be with her? Even with their lives in danger, all they want is for their mate, whom they have tortured all this years to love and forgive them. Would this be possible for Suzie? Or would she turn a blind eye and watch their lives turn miserable? Find out.

The Heroes of the School

Contents

Chapter 1 EXPELLING A PUPIL

Other books by Allen Chapman

Tom Fairfield's Pluck and Luck

The Radio Boys' First Wireless Or Winning the Pemberton Prize

The Radio Boys at Ocean Point

Tom Fairfield's Pluck and Luck; Or, Working to Clear His Name

Tom Fairfield in Camp; or, The Secret of the Old Mill

Bart Stirling's Road to Success; Or, The Young Express Agent