Page:Dave Porter at Oak Hall.djvu/244

222 very well in the task. This caused the professor to write a long letter in return, in which he urged Dave not to pay attention to those who had sneered at him.

As a test in history the class to which Dave belonged had to write a composition on the "Three Greatest Achievements of George Washington." The pupils were given ten days in which to bring in the papers, and Dave worked hard to make his the best of the number. It was hard for him to decide upon which had been the three greatest achievements, and he wrote three compositions before he finished one that suited him.

On the day before the compositions were to be handed in, Dave chanced to go up to his dormitory during the morning recess. He was just in time to catch Chip Macklin leaving the room. Macklin looked scared, and lost no time in disappearing without saying a word.

"He acts queer," thought Dave. "I wonder if he is up to some of his underhanded work?"

The morning passed, and at noon Dave went for his composition, which he had left in his drawer of a desk the dormitory contained. To his consternation the paper was missing.

"I couldn't have put it in somebody else's drawer," he mused, and looked the others over. He was doing this when Phil entered.

"What's up, Dave? You look worried."