The Coolidge examiner., 1933-11-24
CHAPTER VIlI-Continued

MIR. Warwick began without Of
f'r'ns him chair. MY reasons for
senu.hg foI vnu are serious. Mr..
buckley he stated. According TO
The record you filed on your enroll
inent. you matriculated here direct
~ from Vandalia high school That
was untrue; you had already at
tended Aberdeen college. from
which. l have learned, you were dis
gracefully expelled. You gained
admittance here through "A fraudu-
ieH high school record. containing
no notice of your previous enroll
ment. He extended the telegram.
What have you 10 say 10 this?"
Though the detection must have
shaker him. Buckley might have
been Indifferent as he read the mes
sage
u don't suppose | can say any
thing. Since you have the facts di-
rectly from Aberdeen, why deny
them?"
You could scarcely expect to get
through four years of school, un-
discovered" Mr. Warwick spoke in
censure. This means the end of
your career here. you understand
or for that matter. at any other
college. At the same time" he
paused TO emphasize his words,
you've placed yourself in an ex-
tremely dangerous position"
Dangerous? How?" A slight
culver in the boys voice betrayed
his first alarm.
This matter is trifling beside
another charge against you" the SUI
pervisor replied. Your one chance
of escaping IL. young man, is
through absolute frankness. I'll do
my best TO help you. and Mr..
Rankin has no wish to be hard on
you; but unless you tell us the COM
plete truth in every detail. | can
not do thing for you"
The truth? What do you mean.
SiA ADbi
did not ring convincingly and his
eyes distinctly reflected the alarm
of comprehension.
Rankin lost patience at his fenc-
ing. Mr. Warwick has warned
you Buckley" he broke in sternly.
1t is waste of time to pretend
you have no idea why | am here. II
is only In Difference TO him that
give you this opportunity TO exoner-
ate yourself II you can and refrain
from arresting you at once"
Arrest me for what?" the stu
dent protested. II haven't done any
thing wrong"
For the murder of Stuart Jor-
dan last Tuesday night during the
initiation at the Mn Beta Sigma
houser'
II ii was Ran6in's intention to
remove the last vestige of Buckley's
assurance. ne succeeded. Stark ter
ror replaced his boldness he start
ed spasmodically. his features sud
denly pallid. But his CONSERVATION
was leavened by amazement and
= perplexity. written in his dropping
jaw. and this the detective found dis
turbing.
"Jordan's murder?" he cried in
horror. "Oh. my Cd! | had moth
ing To do with that don't know
anything about it"
But you didn't like him. did
you?" Rankin continued III charge
of the situation. I'm fact. You hated
him because you considered him re-
spOnsible for your dismissal from
Aberdeen. Besides, he denounced
you as a cheat"
That was id liel | always
played straight gamer Momen-
tarily, Buckley's resentment over
came his apprehension and his eyes
flashed.
Disregarding his outburst, Rankin
pressed his attack aggressively.
And when you discovered Jordan
at Philadelphia. Buckley. you had
even more cause to fear him." he
accused. He was acquainted with
your trouble at Aberdeen. which
you hoped 10 suppress; and he
might have guessed the artitice by
which you enrolled here But
whether he did or not, there was
danger that he would report your
past TO Mr.. Warwick n some other
official and again get you dis
missed You heard from Larry
Palmer that any chance of your
joining the fraternity was blasted
by Ned Patterson, who was Jordan's
sponsor Naturally you attributed
his opposition to your enemy's in
reference and he threatened you
still further"
AS the detective paused, Buck
ley's silence and twisting features
were sufficient reply; and ne
pursued his indictment with telling
effect.
Immediately after that you
pumped yonng Palmer in his nn
guarded moments about Mu Beta
Sigma's secret codes and ritual
You learned its passwords and Gus
toms; the kind of robes members
of the fraternity wore al the init