"If he did it, he's done something totally unlike what one would have believed possible of him." The various items of evidence were put together, and certainly they seemed to prove a strong case against Eric.

In addition to the probabilities already mentioned, it was found that the ink used was of a violet color, and a peculiar kind, which Eric was known to patronise; and not only so, but the wafers with which the paper had been attached to the board were yellow, and exactly of the same size with some which Eric was said to possess.

How the latter facts had been discovered, nobody exactly knew, but they began to be very generally whispered throughout the school.
In short, the almost universal conviction among the boys proclaimed that he was guilty, and many urged him to confess it at once, and save the school from the threatened punishment.

But he listened to such suggestions with the most passionate indignation.
"What!" he said, angrily, "tell a wilful lie to blacken my own innocent character?
Never!" The consequence was, they all began to shun him.

Eric was put into Coventry.