“You cannot see Captain Putnam at present,” said the teacher.  “You will have to remain here with the other pupils until he is at leisure.”

“Something must be wrong,” murmured Tom, as he slipped in a seat next to George Granbury.

“I think the captain is getting rid of old Grinder,” was the whispered reply.  “He’s afraid we’d go out and give him three groans when he left.”

“I see Well, it’s best to let him go quietly.  Good riddance to him.”

“That’s what all the boys say, although some are sorry he had the fit.”

“So am I sorry; but he brought it on himself.”

Presently there was loud knocking in the front of the building and the slamming of a door.  Then a trunk was dumped into the captain’s cutter, and the horse started off, carrying Peleg Snuggers and Jasper Grinder behind him.

When the captain came into the classroom he was pale, and pulled nervously on his mustache Evidently his task of getting rid of the passionate teacher had not been a light one.  He said but little, and shortly after the boys were dismissed and sent to bed.

Sunday continued bright and clear, but it was so bitter cold that but few of the students went to church and Sunday school.  Tom was anxious to hear how Sam was getting along, and in the afternoon Captain Putnam himself drove him to the Stanhope cottage in the cutter.

It was found that the youngest Rover was feeling much better, although his hoarseness had not left him.  He said he was sure he could go back to school the next day.

“We had a visit from Jasper Grinder,” said Dick.  “He insisted on stopping here in spite of all Snuggers could do to stop him.”

“And what did he say?” asked the captain anxiously.

“Oh, he was in a terrible rage, and threatened to sue my father because, as he put it, we had driven him from earning a good living.  I could hardly get him out of the house, and when he left he picked up a big chunk of ice and snow and hurled it through the sitting-room window at Sam.  I believe the man isn’t quite right in his head.”

“It certainly looks like it,” was the captain’s grave response.

“Did Snuggers leave him in Cedarville?”

“Yes.  But Snuggers didn’t know where he went after that, excepting that he called at the post office for some letters,”

“I hope I never have anything to do with him again,” said Sam, with a shiver.

“I do not believe he will bother you in the future,” returned the captain.  “When he comes to his sober senses he will realize fully how foolishly he has acted.”

As Sam was so much better and needed no care that Mrs. Stanhope and Dora were not willing to give him, Tom returned to the Hall with Dick and Captain Putnam, after supper at the widow’s cottage.  The sleigh ride to the school was delightful, for the road was now in excellent shape, while overhead the stars shone down like so many glittering diamonds.