“He attacked me first.  If anybody attacked you, wouldn’t you be apt to knock him down if you could?”

“That would depend upon, circumstances, Rover.  If a man attacked me on the street I would certainly endeavor to defend myself to the best of my ability.  But you must remember that you are a pupil here, and Mr. Crabtree is one of your masters, appointed by me.”

“I am not a pupil yet, sir —­ although I hope to be very soon.”

“Why, what do you mean?” demanded Victor Putnam, and now his voice grew stern.  Many a boy would have flinched, but Tom had determined to say just what he thought of Crabtree, and he stood his ground.

“I mean just this, Captain Putnam.  I came to Putnam Hall with the best intention in the world of doing my duty as a pupil and becoming a credit to your institution.  I hadn’t a thought of breaking a rule or being impudent.  Before I entered your grounds I thought of a big fire cracker I had in my pocket, and just for the fun of the thing set the cracker off, as a sort of farewell to the outdoor life so soon to be left behind.”

“Captain Putnam, are you going to listen to such tomfoolery?” interrupted Josiah Crabtree.

“I believe I have a right to tell my story,” answered Tom.  “Unless that right is granted, I shall leave the Hall, go back to my guardian, and tell him that I refuse to become a pupil here.”

“You are a pupil already,” snarled Crabtree.

“I am not —­ and that is just the point I am trying to make,” went on Tom to the owner of Putnam Hall.  “As soon as the firecracker went off, this man rushed up and demanded an explanation.  He was going to lock up my brother first, but I said I had fired the cracker, and so he compelled me to go to the guardroom with him.  I was locked in and treated to bread and milk for supper, and he wanted to steal the keys of my trunk and valise from me.”

“Steal!” ejaculated Josiah Crabtree.

“That is what it amounted to, for the keys, and boxes are my property.”

“Mr. Crabtree merely wanted to see that your baggage contained nothing improper,” put in Captain Putnam.  “There are certain things we do not allow boys to bring into the institution.”

“Then he had a right to keep my baggage out until I was properly enrolled as a pupil.  I did not bring in the trunk and bag myself.”

At this Captain Putnam began to smile.

“I see the point you are trying to make, Rover.  You are trying to prove that you were placed under arrest, so to speak, before you were under our authority here.”

“Exactly.  I will leave it to you, Captain Putnam, if I was really a pupil when Mr. Crabtree hauled me off to the guardroom.”

At this plain question the face of the owner of the Hall became a study.

“You make a very fine distinction, Rover,” he answered slowly.

“Perhaps so, sir; and I do it because I want to begin right here.  If I am to be handicapped at the start of my career, what is the use of my trying to make a record for myself?” and Tom looked the master of Putnam Hall full in the face.