"As soon as you mentioned the name of Gates and George Long I knew what you had in mind," the man said. "You want to know what I know about that cup. I'll tell you right now that I didn't take it myself, and if you had come to me some years ago I would have driven you out of the door. But this ailment of mine has tamed me down a whole lot and I've had nothing to do but think for several years. Do you people at the school think I took it?"
"Colonel Morrell doesn't," Don answered. He went on to tell of the search for the trophies of the past and the story of the missing cup. "For years George Long has been suspected of having taken that cup," he went on. "He graduated under a cloud and has never come near the school since. What we are trying to find out, even at this late date, is whether he did take it or not."
"I thought something like that would happen," the former janitor said, closing his eyes. "I'm responsible for it, too. No, young man, George Long didn't take that cup. Arthur Gates stole that cup himself, on the morning it was to have been presented to him!"
"What! He stole his own cup!" cried Don, open-mouthed.
"Yes, and I saw him do it. He came out of Long's room with it in his hands, trying to get it under his coat, and I saw what was going on. There was only one thing to do, and Gates did it. He paid me a handsome sum to keep quiet and leave the school, and I did it. At that time I was very poor, and the money which I earned in such an easy manner came in mighty handy. But as years went on I found it wasn't easy. The thing weighed me down, and today I'm glad to get it off my chest."
"But why in the world should Gates have stolen his own cup?" asked Don.
"That I don't know; I can't help you there, Mr.----"
"Mr. Mercer, that you must learn from someone besides me. I don't know. I only know that he paid me to keep quiet and to leave. He even got me a good job here in Ashland. But after a while I bitterly regretted the fact that I had ever seen him come out of the room, and I hated myself for taking the money. Dishonesty is a heavy, dragging burden, Mr. Mercer."
"It must be," Don admitted, dazed at his success. "But you needn't regret the fact that you saw Gates come out of that room. If you hadn't, we would never have found out that Arthur Gates took the cup, and Long would never have been cleared. As it is now we can clear him."