“Me, too!” exclaimed a fourth. “Put me down for that scrape. A great many folks think that school-boys have no rights.”

In this way the subject was discussed among a class of the boys, and even some girls signified a willingness to express their indignation in some such way as that proposed. It was claimed that as many as “twenty” pupils would quit school if Bell was expelled. But when, at last, they came around to James with their proposition, they met with a serious embarrassment.

“Why should I leave the school because another fellow is sent away?” answered James. “Can you tell me?”

Of course they could not give a reason why he should. One boy did venture to reply:

“We want to show our indignation.”

“Indignation about what?” asked James.

“At sending Bell away.”

“But he is not sent away yet, and he may not be.”

“Well, I don’t believe in treating a fellow so.”

“How?” persisted James.

“Well, call a fellow up, and make such a touse over his way of speaking to a man.”

“How did he speak?”

“The citizen claims that he insulted him. But that’s not the thing for us boys to look at; we ought to stand by our fellows.”

“Stand by them, right or wrong?” inquired James.

“Yes, if necessary.”

“Well, I shall not,” answered James, emphatically.

“If one of our fellows gets into a scrape, I will not help him out unless it can be done honourably; you can depend on that.”

“I think it is mean,” continued the boy, “for a citizen to complain of a scholar just because he did not use his tongue quite right.”

“I don’t agree with you,” answered James; “Bell ought to use his tongue as well as he does his hands, for all that I can see; and if it gets him into trouble, he has no one to blame except himself.”

“That may all be true,” added Bell’s persistent friend; “but if he gets into trouble thoughtlessly, I am willing to help him out.”

“So am I,” quickly responded James, “provided he is sorry, and is willing to be helped out of it in a proper way.”

“I suppose by that, you have not a good opinion of our method of helping him?”