So Fred Ripely tagged on at the rear of the flight.
"What is it, boys---a fire?" called Laura Bentley. A dozen girls had drawn in, pressing against the wall, to let this whirlwind of boys go by.
"Tell you when we get back," Purcell called. "Time presses now."
It took the leaders only about four minutes to reach Foster"s Pond. Even Ripley and the other tail-enders were on hand about a minute later. There was a fine grove here, fringed by thick bushes, and no houses near. In a jiffy the High School boys were disrobing.
"And the fellow who "chaws" anyone else"s clothes, to-day," proposed d.i.c.k, "is to be thrown in and kept in, when he"s dressed!"
"Hear! hear!"
d.i.c.k was one of the first to get stripped. He started on a run, glided out over a log that lay from the bank, and plunged headlong into one of the deepest pools. Then up he came, spouting water.
"Come on, in, fellows! The water"s _grand_!" he yelled.
Splash! splash! The surface of the pond at that point was churned white. The bobbing heads made one think of huckleberries bobbing on a bowl of milk.
Splash! splash! More were diving in. And now the fun and the frolic went swiftly to their height.
"This is the real thing!" vented one ecstatic swimmer. "Down with "do-re--mi-fa-sol!"
"As long as we"re all to be hanged together, what say if we don"t go back at all to-day?" questioned Purcell.
There were some affirmative shouts, but d.i.c.k, who had just stepped back on the bank for a moment shook his head.
"Don"t be hogs, fellows!" he urged. "Don"t run a good thing into the ground. We"ll have our swim, get well cooled off---and then we"d better go back looking as penitent as the circ.u.mstances seem to call for."
"I guess it"s the wise one talking," nodded Purcell, as he climbed to the bank preparatory to another dive.
For at least twenty minutes the High School boys remained at their delightful sport. Then cries started here and there:
"All out! All out!"
Reluctantly the youngsters began to leave the water.
"Now, don"t let anyone lag," begged Purcell. "As we ran away together, we ought all to go back together."
So dressing went on apace. Then the fellows began to look at each other, wonderingly. To be sure, they didn"t stand so much in personal awe of the princ.i.p.al. But then Mr. Cantwell had the Board of Education behind him. There was Superintendent Eldridge, also, and back of it all, what parents might---oh, hang it, it began to look just a bit serious now.
"Who are the heroes here?" called out one fellow.
"Why?" demanded another.
"Well, we need our a.s.sured brave ones to lead going back."
"That"s where the baseball squad comes in, then," nodded Purcell.
"School nine and subs first, second team following. Then let the chilly-footed ones bring up the rear."
"We can go back in column of fours," proposed d.i.c.k, as he fastened on his collar, "with no leaders or file-closers. Then it will be hard to guess at any ring-leaders."
"That"s the best idea yet," agreed Purcell. "Then, fellows, a block from the school, let the baseball squad form first, and then all of the rest of you fall in behind in column of fours, just as you happen along."
"And keep good ranks, and march the best you know how," urged d.i.c.k. "Unyielding ranks may suggest the community idea to Prin."
"Then we won"t have to explain it," laughed Grady.
"Oh, come, now," shouted another, "don"t flatter yourselves that we"re going to get out of some tall explaining."
A block from the school the order was given to form fours. This was quickly done. Purcell, d.i.c.k, Darrin and Dan Dalzell composed the first four as the line turned into the yard.
There at the main doorway the culprits beheld the princ.i.p.al.
And that gentlemen certainly looked almost angry about something.
The weather indications were for squalls in the High School.
"Go to your seats in the a.s.sembly room," said the princ.i.p.al, coldly, as the head of the line neared him. As the boys wore no overcoats it was not necessary to file down to the locker rooms first.
They marched into the hat room just off of the a.s.sembly room.
And here they found Mr. Drake on duty.
"No conversation here. Go directly to your seats," ordered Mr.
Drake.
The few girls who were not at cla.s.ses looked up with eyes full of mischievous inquiry when the boys entered the big room. The princ.i.p.al and Mr. Drake took their seats on the platform. The late swimmers reached for their books, though most of them made but a pretense of study. Almost at once there was another diversion made by the girls who were returning from recitations.
Then the bell was struck for the beginning of the next period.
Out filed the sections. The boys began to feel that this ominous quiet boded them no good. Not until closing time did the princ.i.p.al make any reference to the affair.
"The young ladies are dismissed for the day," he remarked. "The young gentlemen will remain." Clang!
Then a dead silence fell over the room. It was broken, after a minute, by the princ.i.p.al, who asked:
"Where were you, young gentlemen, when the end of recess bell rang this morning!"
No one being addressed, no one answered.
"Where were you, Mr. Purcell?"
"Swimming at Foster"s Pond, sir."
"All of you?"
"All of us, sir, I think."
"Whose idea was it?"
"As I remember, sir, the idea belonged to us all."
"Who made the first proposal?"
"That would be impossible to say, now, sir."