"Oh, I've been listening to some interesting information," answered
Songbird.

"Playing the eavesdropper, eh?" came from Flockley with a sneer.

"If so, it was for a good purpose," answered the would-be poet warmly.

"Say, Jerry, you want to look out for him!" cried Larkspur warningly.
"He rooms with Dick Rover, remember. They are old chums."

"I know that," said Koswell. He faced Songbird again. "How long have
you been here?" he cried angrily.

"That is my business, Koswell. But I heard enough of your talk to
know how you tried to put Tom Rover in a hole. It's a mean piece of
business, and it has got to be stopped."

"Bah!"

"You can 'bah!' all you please, but I mean what I say. To play a joke
is one thing, to blame it on a fellow student who is innocent is
another. As the poet Shelley says--But what's the use of wasting
poetry on a chap like you? Max, you heard what was said, didn't you?"

By this time the German-American student was free of his tormentor, a
happy-go-lucky student named Henry Cale. He nodded to Songbird.

"Yes, I heard it," he said, and gave Koswell a meaning look.