Page:The purple pennant (IA purplepennant00barb).pdf/156

Rh place of safety and the roller, emitting a roar of rage and disappointment, tried to escape. Then followed a vivid account of the pursuit, the disorderly conduct of the roller, the wanton attack on the lamp-post and the final subjugation and arrest of the marauder, an arrest not consummated until several members of the police force and employees of the Street Department had been hurried to the scene. It made a good story and at least five of the Reporter's readers enjoyed it vastly. To their relief the paper ended with the encouraging statement that "so far the police are unable to offer any satisfactory explanation of the affair. Superintendent Burns, of the Street Department, hints that some person or persons unknown had a hand in the matter, but to the Reporter it looks like a remarkable case of inanimate depravity."

And that ended the matter, save that eventually the true story leaked out, as such things will, and became generally known throughout the school. Whether it ever reached the ears of Superintendent Burns is not known. If it did he took no action.

Brent Field profited in any case. That Monday afternoon the improvement in the condition of the ground was so noticeable that many fellows remarked on it. Fortunately, though, they were quite satisfied with the casual explanation that it had been