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 some kind of dodge. This fellow's record has never been any too good. Yet you can never tell. He may come into the committee and do a real job. Sometimes fellows are like that—give them a little responsibility and they stick out their chests and go right to it. We've got to take him in; but I'll tell anybody who likes to know that I haven't much faith in what's running around inside his head."

"We—we don't want any trouble in the committee," Merritt said with a greater show of nervousness. "We'll have to trust that Fry . . ."

"Trust nothing," Perry said grimly. "I'm going to keep an eye on him."

Jim Fry would have been amused in his boisterous way had he been aware of Perry's determination. The idea of Perry—thin, gangling, serious Perry—keeping an eye on him, would have filled him with uproarious mirth. Nature had made Jim Fry burly and belligerent. Physical strength had made him the leader in a certain crowd in the school, physical strength was the only attribute that could draw his respect. Perry's idea of watching him would have sent him off intd roars of laughter.

His distorted, mistaken sense of humor had prompted him to start the disorders that had spread through the school corridors. It had