"I can see that they do, sir,", replied Jack, "but I am certain that I did not submit both. By the way," with a sudden inspiration, "may I see the manuscript, sir?"

"If you will come to the desk I shall be pleased to show it to you."

Jack went forward, took the copy of the poem, looked it over carefully a few moments, and suddenly said:

"The opening lines are not in my handwriting, Doctor. It is similar, but not the same. These lines have been inserted by some one else.

I never put them in. You may see that they are at the top of the page, which had a wide margin. All the other pages had, but this one now has not. The title has been erased and written in at the top.

Some one has tampered with the manuscript. You can see for yourself, Doctor."

"Yes, but who would do this, Sheldon? You certainly do not accuse me of doing it? Or any of the professors?"

"Hardly, Doctor," with a smile, "but some one has done it."

"But why should they, Sheldon, especially as both poems are your own? What reason would any one have to do this? If the inserted lines belonged to another poem so that you might be accused of plagiarism, then there would be some color to this argument, but the whole thing is yours."

"It is strange," said Jack, going back to his seat, all the boys seeming to be greatly puzzled, and talking to each other about the matter in low and earnest tones.

"I will now read the poem which took second prize," said the doctor, and proceeded to read Percival's poem, very much to the latter's surprise and delight.

"Well, I came somewhere near you, at any rate, Jack," he said, "but I never expected to come in second."

There were other poems read, one receiving a prize and the best honorable mention, the boys being thoroughly satisfied with the awards, and cheering the winners loudly.

Jack was still puzzled about his poem, but he said nothing, having certain ideas about the matter, but not caring to make them known at the time, preferring to wait till he had more information.

After the exercises were over the boys went off in little groups of four or five in different directions.

Percival went with Jack on the river, taking young Smith along, and when they were out from shore Dick said:

"You have an idea who inserted the verses of your other poem in your new one, haven't you, Jack?"

"How did Herring happen to hit upon some other verses of mine which a paper up the state had stolen?" asked Jack.

"He might do that, of course, but how did they get into the poem you had submitted two days before if he got the paper only this morning?"

"The paper was a week old, Dick."

"Then you think that Herring may have been lying, Jack?" asked Dick pointedly.

"Other persons besides Herring may have seen the verses in the other paper, Dick. I cannot prove---now---that Herring wrote them in."

"But you may do so at some other time?"

"That's what he means," said young Smith, "but Jack never says anything against a fellow unless he is sure of it."

"That's right enough, J.W., and we agree with you."

"Do you remember a night or so ago when Billy Manners had the black eye?" asked the young fellow suddenly. "He said he must have got it tripping over a tent rope, and Harry said he got into their tent by mistake. I asked him what he was doing outside, and at first he would not tell me, but afterward he said there was some funny business going on the night before, and he thought that Herring and Merritt were in it, but he could not tell what it was."

"Well?" asked Percival.

"Then he told me that he had gone to the doctor's cottage, and that some one got out the window, fell over him and gave him a black eye.

Herring, as he thinks, said that he would fix somebody and keep him from getting the prize. He told me not to say anything, but-----"

"That's all right, J.W., it's as well you did, for now I think we will get at the bottom of this affair," said Percival in decided tones.

CHAPTER XVII

A PUZZLING MATTER SETTLED

At the same time that Jack Sheldon, Dick Percival and young Smith were on the river together, Billy Manners, Arthur Warren and Harry Dickson were going up the road leading to the Van der Donk house, although they had no idea of going there.

When they were well away from the camp and there were no other boys in sight, Billy stopped short suddenly, and said:

"Funny thing about Herring's recognizing that girl's poem in Jack's verses, wasn't it?"

"Why, I saw those verses two weeks ago, and knew they were Jack's,"

replied Harry.

"Funny about my getting that black eye the other night, too, wasn't it?" Billy went on.

"Yes, but what has that got to do with-----"

"I'll tell you. That night I woke up and heard some one say in the next tent to ours: 'it's all right, I've got it,' and somebody else asked, 'can you fix 't?' and the first fellow answered, 'fix it?

Of course I can fix it, and fix his winning the prize, too.' That's all I heard then."

"In the next tent?" said Arthur. "Who is in the next tent?"

"Herring and Merritt on one side and Seymour and Blaisdell on the other. It was not them I heard. It was Herring and Merritt. I was not sure of it at the time, being half asleep, but from what has happened since-----"

"Hello!" exclaimed Arthur. "This is getting interesting. Go on to how you got the black eye, Billy."

"Well, I knew that there was mischief of some sort going on, but I did not bear any more and fell asleep. Later I woke up again and heard one of the fellows say, 'That will do first rate,' and the other one asked, 'They, won't notice the difference?' and the first one, Herring I am sure, said: 'No, and now to put it back.'

Then they said something about the doctor being surprised, and I knew that there was some mischief on foot and I jumped out of bed and went out."

"Well, and what then?" asked Arthur.

"I saw somebody hurrying along, and followed till I came to the doctor's cottage when I stood just under the open window. I could hear some one inside and finally came to the window. I was too late, and the first thing I knew somebody jumped out and upset me.

I grabbed him by the leg, and he gave me a crack in the eye that made me see stars. Then he got away, and I found myself in your tent at last instead of my own, and later I fell over the tent rope and got another bump."

"And what do you make out the fellow was doing in the doctor's cottage?" asked Harry.

"Putting back the manuscript he had fixed up. He had written in the lines he thought were some one else's, and then he put it back.

He must have just come from taking it away when I first heard him."