"Didn't the professor make any inquiries when he discovered that two papers were missing?" asked the dean.
"He did," said Frank, "and I examined my desk, as I thought, thoroughly, to see if an extra paper had been placed there by mistake. I found none and went to work without any further thought on the matter. I worked out the problem on the back of the question paper without knowing what it was until the professor pounced on me."
The dean turned to Prof. Babbitt and said:
"I can't deny that the discovery of a paper under such circumstances is very suggestive, but I take it for granted that you have some explanation of your own to offer as to how Merriwell got possession of it?"
"Indeed I have, and that is just why I brought Mr. Harding here," replied Babbitt. "Tell the dean what you saw, Mr. Harding."
"I suppose," said Harding, "that it was simply some harmless prank of students at first, for we who live in New Haven are quite accustomed to such things, don't you know."
"I don't think I do," replied the dean, sharply, "for I haven't the slightest idea what you're talking about."
"Come right to the point, Mr. Harding!" added Babbitt.
"Well, sir, I live in the house next to the one occupied by Prof. Babbitt and some of the students.
"One day I was astonished, as I happened to be looking out of my window, to see a young man climb out of the big chimney at the top of Prof. Babbitt's house.
"He went around on the roof for a moment, looking for some way to get down, and at last caught the limb of a tree which bent under his weight until he could drop safely to the ground.
"Then he hurried away through an alley that led to another street. There was no doubt that he was trying to escape observation."
"Had you ever seen this student before?" asked the dean.
"Many times, though I never knew his name until now----"
"I was the student," interrupted Frank, quietly.
"The impudence of that confession," exclaimed Prof. Babbitt, hotly, "is enough to drive a man crazy! The great chimney in that house, dean, hasn't been used for many years, and the fireplaces have been boarded up, but an athlete like Merriwell could go up and down easily and you can see how he could effect an entrance by going into the fireplace of the room under mine, which is occupied by one of his friends, and so climbing up through the chimney to my room----"