“Then you shall go to the guardroom,” said the teacher.  “Rover, you may go to see the captain alone.”

“I will sir —­ at once,” and Tom made away.  He had no sooner departed than George Strong marched Baxter off to the guardroom previously described.  As the pair passed down the stairs they encountered Mumps coming up.

“Hullo, Dan, what does this mean?” asked Mumps in wonder.

“I’m under arrest,” laughed Baxter bitterly.  “And for nothing, too.”

“Silence!” commanded George Strong.  “If you have done nothing wrong, you will soon be released.”

“You bet I will,” rejoined Baxter insolently, and then, watching his chance, he made a sign which Mumps well understood.  The sign meant “Come and help me if you can.”

Mumps nodded to show that he understood.  Then he pretended to go up to the dormitory, while the head teacher conducted Baxter to the guardroom, locked the impudent one in, and walked away with the key.

CHAPTER XX

THE BULLY LEAVES PUTNAM HALL

“So you wish to see me, Rover?  Very well, come right in and sit down,” said Captain Putnam, who sat in front of his desk, making up some of his accounts for the month just past.

Tom came in and sat down.  It must be confessed he was a trifle nervous, but this soon wore away.

“I came to tell you something and to ask your advice,” he began.  “You remember what happened to me when I ran away into the woods just after arriving at the Hall?”

“Very well, Thomas,” and the captain smiled.

“Well, when Sam and I went to Cedarville to buy our skates we saw Dan Baxter in the tavern there, in company with the man with a scar on his chin.  This man gave Baxter some bank bills.”

“What!  At the tavern?”

“Yes, Sir.”

“Please tell your story in detail, Rover,” and now Captain Putnam swung around so that he might get a full view of his pupil’s face.

And Tom told his story from beginning to end just as I have set it down in the foregoing pages.

“I am certain this man is some relative of Baxter,” he concluded.  “And I am equally certain he is not an honest fellow.”

“Humph!” Captain Putnam arose and began to pace the heavily carpeted floor.  “Rover, this is a serious charge.”

“I understand that, Sir.  But you can’t blame us boys for trying to get back Dick’s watch and trying to — to -”

“Bring the guilty party to justice?  Certainly not!  But it would seem the man with a scar is not the thief.”

“No, but he is the boon companion of the thief.”

“That is true —­ unless there is some grave mistake.  But you are right about one thing, the man is really Baxter’s father, and his name is Arnold Baxter.”

“And why does he travel around under the name of Nolly?”