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twg_000000049500 | nice mess." "But we didn't steal the coins," said Mugford. "Of course we didn't--the safe had been robbed before we went there--but it looks as if we'd done it; and if they find out we got into the house, I don't see how we're going to prove that we're innocent." There was a short silence; then Diggory spoke. "Look here, | 60 | gutenberg |
twg_000000049501 | Jack: I was the one who proposed going inside the place; shall I tell your guv'nor?" "Well, I was thinking of doing that myself, only I don't see what good it can do. If we tell him, he'll be bound to tell the police, to explain about those footmarks; and when it comes out that we got into the house, | 60 | gutenberg |
twg_000000049502 | I should think we are pretty certain to be charged with having stolen the coins. I think the best thing will be to keep it dark: we didn't crib the things, and the thieves are sure to be caught in time." Even after Jack had retired to his own room, Diggory and Mugford lay awake for hours discussing the situation; | 60 | gutenberg |
twg_000000049503 | and when at length they did fall asleep, it was only to dream of being chased by "The Hermit" and a swarm of long-legged policemen, who forced their way into the Third Form classroom at Ronleigh, and handcuffed the unfortunate trio in the very bosom of "The Happy Family." The following morning was spent in visiting such parts of the | 60 | gutenberg |
twg_000000049504 | town of Todderton as were worth seeing. "Upon my word," said Jack, "I feel funky to show my nose outside our gate, just as if I really had prigged those wretched coins. I shan't be at all sorry this evening to get back to Ronleigh. It's all in the paper this morning; it mentions the footmarks and the knife-blade, and | 60 | gutenberg |
twg_000000049505 | says that as yet the police have not been able to discover any further traces of the robbers." The conditions on which the half-term holiday was granted required every boy to return to school on the Monday evening, and accordingly, about seven o'clock, the Triple Alliance found themselves once more on their way to the railway station. They took their | 60 | gutenberg |
twg_000000049506 | seats, and had hardly done so when young Noaks entered the compartment. "Hullo, you fellows!" he exclaimed; "didn't you hear me whistle? I was standing over there by the book-stall." Regarding this as an overture of friendship after their recent encounter, Jack Vance replied in an equally amicable manner, and after a few common-place remarks the party relapsed into silence. | 60 | gutenberg |
twg_000000049507 | At Chatton, the station before Ronleigh, a man who had so far travelled with them got out, and the four boys were left alone. Hardly had the train started again when Noaks put down his paper, and turning to his companions said,-- "That's a rum business about that old chap's house being robbed, isn't it?" Something in the speaker's look | 60 | gutenberg |
twg_000000049508 | and in the tone of his voice caused the three listeners to experience an unpleasant quickening of their pulses. "Yes," answered Diggory, with a well-assumed air of indifference. "I suppose they'll catch the thieves in time." "I suppose so," returned the other, "especially if they find the chap who owns that knife with the broken blade." The malignant look with | 60 | gutenberg |
twg_000000049509 | which these words was accompanied showed at once that the speaker meant mischief. The three friends looked at one another in horrified amazement. Could it be possible that their visit to The Hermitage had already been discovered? Noaks watched their faces for a moment, evidently well pleased with the effect which his remark had produced; then he burst out laughing. | 60 | gutenberg |
twg_000000049510 | "Look here," he continued, producing from his pocket a buck-handled clasp-knife: "I wonder if that's anything like it; I see the big blade's broken." The Triple Alliance recognized it in a moment as one of the articles that had been rescued from Mugford's sale at The Birches; in fact, the owner's name appeared plainly engraved on the small brass plate. | 60 | gutenberg |
twg_000000049511 | Diggory was the first to find his tongue. "What d'you mean? We didn't steal the coins!" "My dear fellow, I never said you did. I only know that on Saturday I was looking over our wall, through an opening there happens to be in the shrubs, and saw you fellows climbing out of the old chap's window; and after you'd | 60 | gutenberg |
twg_000000049512 | gone I noticed something lying in the path, and I hopped over, and picked up this knife." "Give it here; it's mine," said Mugford, holding out his hand. "No fear," answered the other, calmly returning the piece of lost property to his own pocket. "In this case finding's keeping; besides, I'm not sure if I couldn't get a reward for | 60 | gutenberg |
twg_000000049513 | this if I sent it to the right place." The train began to slacken speed as it approached Ronleigh station. "Look here, Noaks," cried Jack Vance, in a fit of desperation, "what are you going to do? You know very well we are not thieves." "I don't know anything of the sort," returned the tormentor, standing up to take his | 60 | gutenberg |
twg_000000049514 | bag off the rack; "all I know is just what I've told you. See here, Mr. Vance," he continued, rounding on Jack with a sudden snarl, "you were good enough some little time ago to make some very caddish remarks about my father; in the future you'd better keep your mouth shut. I owe all three of you a dressing | 60 | gutenberg |
twg_000000049515 | down for things that happened at Chatford, and now you'd better mind your P's and Q's if you don't want to be hauled up for housebreaking." With this parting threat the ex-Philistine left the carriage. Mugford, Jack, and Diggory gazed at one another for a moment with anything but a happy look on their faces. One after another they slowly | 60 | gutenberg |
twg_000000049516 | gathered up their things and stepped out on to the platform. Hardly had they done so when they heard their names called, and turning round beheld the small figure of "Rats" rushing forward to meet them. "Hullo!" he exclaimed. "Old Ally sent me down to get a paper, and I thought you'd come by this train. I say, there's a | 60 | gutenberg |
twg_000000049517 | fine row on up at the school--such a lark; I'll tell you about it as we go along." . A SCREW LOOSE IN THE SIXTH. For the time being the three friends forgot their own troubles in their eagerness to hear "Rat's" description of certain events which had happened during their absence from Ronleigh. "Look sharp; out with it!" they | 60 | gutenberg |
twg_000000049518 | exclaimed. "What's happened?" "Well," began Rathson, "it all came out through young Bayley acting the fool and spraining his ankle. You know we had the paper-chase this morning, and the hares ran out to Arrow Hill, and back again round by the canal and Birksam Church. Just after we'd rounded the hill, young Bayley jumped off the top of a | 60 | gutenberg |
twg_000000049519 | high hedge, and twisted his foot so badly that he couldn't stand up. As it happened, there was a check just then, and Carton ran forward and told Allingford what had happened. He and Oaks came back, and said the only thing would be to get him to Chatton station, and so home by train. It was awfully decent of | 60 | gutenberg |
twg_000000049520 | those chaps. They carried Bayley all the way, and then Oaks went home with him, and Allingford walked back, and so, of course, they missed half the run. Awfully brickish of them I call it, considering that it was only a kid like Bayley." The Triple Alliance gave a murmur of assent. "Was that what the row's about?" asked Diggory. | 60 | gutenberg |
twg_000000049521 | "Oh, bless you, no; I haven't come to that yet. After he'd seen Oaks and Bayley into the train, old Ally started to walk home. There's a little 'pub' about half a mile out of Chatton called the Black Swan, and he thought he'd call and ask if they'd seen the fellows pass. You know Thurston the prefect, that chap | 60 | gutenberg |
twg_000000049522 | who came to the door when we were having that meeting in the 'old lab.' Well, now, if he and Mouler, and two or three more of that sort, weren't sitting in the taproom, smoking, and drinking beer, and having a regular high old time. They'd lagged behind on purpose. Of course Allingford kicked them all out, and he and | 60 | gutenberg |
twg_000000049523 | 'Thirsty' had a frightful row. They say the big chaps want to hush the matter up as far as they can, and not report it to old Denson, for fear he'd make it an excuse to put a stop to paper-chasing. Ally slanged Thurston right and left, and told him that if he chose to drink beer in a low | 60 | gutenberg |
twg_000000049524 | 'pub' with the biggest blackguards in the school, he needn't expect that the fellows in the Sixth would have anything to do with him, and that he ought to send in his resignation as a prefect." On entering the school buildings, our three friends were convinced of the truth of their comrade's story, and on their way to the schoolroom | 60 | gutenberg |
twg_000000049525 | the question was repeated at least half a dozen times--"Have you heard about old 'Thirsty' being cobbed in the Black Swan?" Diggory thought of the conversation he had overheard in Acton's study, and mentioned it to Carton. "Yes," answered the latter. "Big Fletcher's a beast. I know Thurston's very chummy with him, but I don't see that's got much to | 60 | gutenberg |
twg_000000049526 | do with it. My brother, who left last term, said that 'Thirsty' used to be rather a jolly chap, only he's got a fearful temper when he's crossed. Most of the chaps like him as a prefect, because as long as you don't interfere with him he doesn't seem to care much what any one does. The real thing is | 60 | gutenberg |
twg_000000049527 | he's going to the dogs, and, as Allingford says, he ought to resign." Away in one of the Sixth Form studies the subject of their conversation was sitting with his hands in his pockets, frowning at the fire. He was roused from his reverie by some one putting his head round the corner of the door and exclaiming,-- "Hullo, 'Thirsty!'" | 60 | gutenberg |
twg_000000049528 | "Hullo, Fletcher! where on earth have you been all the evening?" The new-comer was tall and lanky; he had a sharp, foxy-looking face, with thin, straight lips, and two deep lines which looked almost like scars between the eyebrows. He shut the door, and dragging forward a chair, sat down with his feet on the fender, and commenced warming his | 60 | gutenberg |
twg_000000049529 | hands at the fire. "Oh, I've been nowhere in particular," he answered, laughing. "But I say, young man, you seem to have raised a pretty good hornets' nest about your ears along this corridor." "Yes, I know; they've had the cheek to send me that!" He leaned back as he spoke, and taking a piece of paper from the table, | 60 | gutenberg |
twg_000000049530 | tossed it across to his friend. It was a letter signed by most of the prefects, suggesting that he should send in his resignation. "Humph!" said Fletcher; "that's a nice sort of a round robin, don't you call it? Well, what are you going to do?" "Oh, I shall resign and have done with it. I'm sick of having to | 60 | gutenberg |
twg_000000049531 | masquerade about as a good boy. I mean to do what I like." "Pooh!" returned the other. "Now that you are a prefect, I wouldn't give up all the privileges and the right to go out and come in when you like just because a strait-laced chap like Allingford chooses to take offence at something you do. They can't force | 60 | gutenberg |
twg_000000049532 | you to resign unless they go to the doctor, and they won't do that. I know what I'd do: I'd tell them pretty straight to go and be hanged, and keep their sermonizing to themselves." Thurston turned on the speaker with a sudden burst of anger. "Oh yes!" he exclaimed; "you're always saying you'd do this and do that, but | 60 | gutenberg |
twg_000000049533 | when the time comes you turn tail and sneak away. Look here: you were the one who proposed going into the Black Swan this morning, and when young Mouler said Allingford was coming, you slipped out of the back door and left us to face the shindy." "Well," returned the other, laughing, "I thought you chaps were going to bolt | 60 | gutenberg |
twg_000000049534 | too. I hopped over the wall at the back into the field, and waited there for about a quarter of an hour, and then, as no one came, I made tracks home." "That's all very fine. You took precious good care to save your own bacon; you always do." "Oh, go on!" answered Fletcher, rising from his chair; "you're in | 60 | gutenberg |
twg_000000049535 | a wax to-night. Well, ta, ta! Don't you resign." This little passage of arms was not the first of the kind that had taken place between Fletcher and Thurston, and it did not prevent a renewal of their friendship on the morrow. The latter, following either his own inclination or the advice of his chum, decided not to resign his | 60 | gutenberg |
twg_000000049536 | position as a prefect, and in a few days' time the majority of the school had wellnigh forgotten the fracas at the Black Swan. Among those in high places, however, the affair was not so easily overlooked. The big fellows kept their own counsel, but it soon became evident that Thurston was being "cut" and cold-shouldered by the other members | 60 | gutenberg |
twg_000000049537 | of the Sixth; while he, for his part, as though by way of retaliation, began to hob-nob more freely than ever with boys lower down in the school and of decidedly questionable character. "It's awfully bad form of a chap who's a prefect chumming up with a fellow like Mouler in the Upper Fourth," said Carton one afternoon. "I wonder | 60 | gutenberg |
twg_000000049538 | old 'Thirsty' isn't ashamed to do it. And now he's hand and glove with those chaps Hawley and Gull in the Fifth; they've both got heaps of money, but they're frightful cads." From the morning following their return to Ronleigh the Triple Alliance had been kept in a continual state of uneasiness and suspense, wondering what action Noaks would take | 60 | gutenberg |
twg_000000049539 | regarding his discovery of their visit to The Hermitage. The days passed by, and still he made no further reference to the matter, and took no notice of any of the three friends when he happened to pass them in the passages. The fact was that for the time being his attention was turned in another direction. Like most fellows | 60 | gutenberg |
twg_000000049540 | of his kind, Noaks was a regular toady, ready to do anything in return for the privilege of being able to rub shoulders occasionally with some one in a higher position than himself, and he eagerly seized the opportunity which his friendship with Mouler afforded him of becoming intimate with Thurston. It was rather a fine thing for a boy | 60 | gutenberg |
twg_000000049541 | in the Upper Fourth to be accosted in a familiar manner by a prefect, and asked sometimes to visit the latter in his study; and when such things were possible, it was hardly worth while to spend time and attention in carrying on a feud with youngsters in the Third Form. But Noaks had never forgotten the double humiliation he | 60 | gutenberg |
twg_000000049542 | had suffered at Chatford--first in being sent off the football field, and again in the disastrous ending to the attempted raid on the Birchites' fireworks; nor had he forgiven the Triple Alliance for the part which they had played, especially on the latter occasion, in bringing shame and confusion on the heads of the Philistines. One morning, nearly a month | 60 | gutenberg |
twg_000000049543 | after the half-term holiday, the three friends were strolling arm in arm through the archway leading from the quadrangle to the paved playground, when they came face to face with their old enemy. He was about to push past them without speaking; then, seeming suddenly to change his mind, he pulled up, took something from his pocket, and handing it | 60 | gutenberg |
twg_000000049544 | to Jack Vance, said shortly,-- "There! I thought you'd like to see that; it seems a good chance to earn some pocket-money." The packet turned out to be a copy of the Todderton weekly paper. "I've marked the place," added Noaks, turning on his heel with a sneering laugh; "you needn't give it me back." A cross of blue chalk | 60 | gutenberg |
twg_000000049545 | had been placed against a short paragraph appearing under the heading "Local Notes." Jack read it out loud for the edification of his two companions. "We notice that Mr. Fossberry has offered a reward of pounds for any information which shall lead to the arrest of the thieves who entered his house some few weeks ago, and stole a valuable | 60 | gutenberg |
twg_000000049546 | collection of coins. As yet the police have been unable to discover any further traces of the missing property, but it is to be hoped that before long the offenders will be discovered and brought to justice." There was a moment's silence. "I wish I'd told my guv'nor," muttered Jack Vance. "Well, tell him now," said Diggory. "Oh no, I | 60 | gutenberg |
twg_000000049547 | can't now; he'd wonder why I hadn't done it sooner. Besides, I believe Noaks is only doing this to frighten us; he can't prove that we stole the coins, because we didn't. All the same, it would be very awkward if he sent the police that jack-knife, and told them he'd seen us climbing out of the old chap's window." | 60 | gutenberg |
twg_000000049548 | "Yes," answered Diggory; "I suppose it would look rather fishy. Bother him! why can't he leave us alone?" . SHADOWS OF COMING EVENTS. The Easter holidays came and went as rapidly as Easter holidays always do, and before the Alliance had recovered from the excitement connected with their first experience of breaking up at Ronleigh, they were back again, greeting | 60 | gutenberg |
twg_000000049549 | their friends, asking new boys their names, and, in short, commencing their second term as regular old stagers. Up to the present they had been content to "lie low," and had remained satisfied with making the acquaintance of their class-mates in "The Happy Family;" but now they began to take more interest in school matters in general, and to notice | 60 | gutenberg |
twg_000000049550 | what was going on in other circles besides their own. In answer to the eager inquiries of his two companions, Jack Vance said that he had seen nothing of Noaks during the holidays, except having passed him on one or two occasions in the street. The notice of the fifty pounds reward still appeared in the windows of the police | 60 | gutenberg |
twg_000000049551 | station; but the robbery itself was beginning to be looked upon as a thing of the past, and was already wellnigh forgotten. "I wonder if Noaks has still got my knife?" said Mugford. "Oh, I don't know," answered Jack. "He's too much taken up with Mouler and Gull and all that lot to think about us. I shouldn't bother my | 60 | gutenberg |
twg_000000049552 | head about it any further; he only showed us that paper out of spite, to put us in a funk." It was pretty evident, to the most casual observer, that the quarrel which the Black Swan incident had occasioned between Thurston and his brother prefects had not yet been dismissed from the minds of either party. The former became more | 60 | gutenberg |
twg_000000049553 | lax than ever in the discharge of his duties, and avoiding the society of his school equals, sought the companionship of such boys as Hawley, Gull, and Mouler, who at length came to be known throughout the College as "Thirsty's Lot." With the exception of Fletcher, the prefects left him severely alone. Allingford occasionally came down on him for allowing | 60 | gutenberg |
twg_000000049554 | all kinds of misconduct to pass unchecked, but it was hardly to be expected that a fellow who was hand and glove with some of the principal offenders should have much influence or power in maintaining law and order; and these interviews with the captain usually ended in an exchange of black looks and angry words. The consequences which resulted | 60 | gutenberg |
twg_000000049555 | from this lack of harmony among those in authority may be easily imagined. "Old Thirsty never makes a row when he sees a chap doing so-and-so," was the cry. "Why should Oaks and Rowlands and those other fellows kick up bothers, and give lines for the same thing?" To all these murmurers the prefects turned a deaf ear. "I don't | 60 | gutenberg |
twg_000000049556 | care what Thurston does," would be their answer; "you know the rule, and that's sufficient." Any further remonstrance on the part of the offender was met with a summary "Shut up, or you'll get your head punched," and so for a time the matter ended. It was hardly to be expected that the light-hearted juveniles of the Third Form should | 60 | gutenberg |
twg_000000049557 | trouble their heads to take much notice of this disagreement among the seniors. For one thing, they knew nothing of what was said and done in the Sixth Form studies, and even the prefects themselves never thought for a moment that this little bit of friction in the machinery of Ronleigh College would, figuratively speaking, lead to "hot bearings" and | 60 | gutenberg |
twg_000000049558 | a narrow shave of a general breakdown. So the members of "The Happy Family" pursued the even tenor of their way, getting into scrapes and scrambling out of them, feasting on pastry and ginger-beer, turning up in force on Saturday afternoon to witness the cricket matches, and coming to the conclusion that though Oaks and Rowlands might be a trifle | 60 | gutenberg |
twg_000000049559 | strict, and rather freehanded with lines and "impots," yet all this could be overlooked and forgiven for the sake of the punishment which they inflicted on the enemy's bowling. As it has been all along the intention of this story to follow the fortunes of the Triple Alliance, the record of their second term at Ronleigh would not be complete | 60 | gutenberg |
twg_000000049560 | without some mention of their memorable adventure with the "coffee-mill." Wednesday, the fourteenth of June, was Jack Vance's birthday, and just before morning school he expressed his intention of keeping it up in a novel manner. "Look here!" he remarked to his two companions. "You know that little bootmaker's shop just down the road, before you come to the church. | 60 | gutenberg |
twg_000000049561 | There's a notice in the window, 'Double Tricycle on Hire.' Well, the mater's sent me some money this year instead of a hamper, so I thought I'd hire the machine; and we'll go out for a ride, and take it in turns for one to walk or trot behind." "Oh, I'd advise you not to!" cried "Rats," who was standing | 60 | gutenberg |
twg_000000049562 | by and overheard the project. "Why not?" "Why, it's a rotten old _sociable_, one of the first, I should think, that was ever made. It's like working a tread-mill, and it rattles and bangs about until you think every minute it must all be coming to pieces. It's got a sort of box-seat instead of a saddle. Maxton hired it | 60 | gutenberg |
twg_000000049563 | out one day the term before last, and he and I and Collis rode to Chatton. It isn't meant to carry three; but the seat's very wide, and they squeezed me in between them. There's something wrong with the steering-gear, and it makes a beastly grinding noise as it goes along, so Maxton christened it the 'coffee-mill.' Fellows are always | 60 | gutenberg |
twg_000000049564 | chaffing old Jobling about it, when they go into his shop to buy bits of leather, and asking him how much he'll take for his coffee-mill, and the old chap gets into an awful wax." "Oh, I don't care!" answered Jack. "It'll be a lark, and we needn't go far.--What d'you say, Diggy?" Diggory and Mugford both expressed their willingness | 60 | gutenberg |
twg_000000049565 | to join in the expedition, and arrangements were accordingly made for it to take place that afternoon. "You'd better not let old Jobling see three of you get on at once," said "Rats." "I should send Mugford on in front and pick him up when you get round the corner." Rathson's description of the "coffee-mill" was certainly not exaggerated. It | 60 | gutenberg |
twg_000000049566 | was a rusty, rattle-bag concern--a relic of the dark ages of cycling--and .looked as if it had not been used for a twelvemonth. Jobling squirted some oil into the bearings, knocked the dust off the cushioned seat, and remarked that a shilling an hour was the proper charge; but that, as he always favoured the Ronleigh gentlemen, he would say | 60 | gutenberg |
twg_000000049567 | two shillings, and they might keep it the whole afternoon. Jack, as we have said before, was of rather a nautical turn of mind, and occasionally, when the fit was on him, loved to interlard his conversation with seafaring expressions. "She isn't much of a craft to look at," he remarked, as they drew up and dismounted at the spot | 60 | gutenberg |
twg_000000049568 | where Mugford stood waiting for them; "but we'll imagine this is my steam-yacht, and that we're going for a cruise. Now then, Diggy, you're the mate, and you shall sit on the starboard side and steer. Mugford's the passenger, so he'll go in the middle. I'm captain, and I'll work the port treadles. Now, then, all aboard!" The boys scrambled | 60 | gutenberg |
twg_000000049569 | on to the seat, and with some little amount of crushing and squeezing got settled in their places, and at the captain's word, "Half-speed ahead!" the voyage commenced. They went lumbering and clattering through the outskirts of the town, and at length, after having roused the dormant wit of one shop-boy, who shouted "Knives to grind!" after them, they gained | 60 | gutenberg |
twg_000000049570 | the highroad. For half a mile the voyage was prosperous enough; then the adventures began. They were going at a good pace down a gentle slope, and on turning a corner saw immediately in front of them a narrow piece of road with a duck-pond on one side and a high bank on the other. Some one had carelessly left | 60 | gutenberg |
twg_000000049571 | a wheelbarrow standing very nearly in the centre of the highway, and there was only just room to pass it on the water side. "Starboard a little!" The steering gear worked rather stiffly. Diggory gave the handle a hard twist, and it went round further than he intended. "Port!" cried the captain, "hard a-port!" But it was too late, and | 60 | gutenberg |
twg_000000049572 | the next moment the "coffee-mill" ran down the sloping bank and plunged into the duck-pond. It gave a violent lurch, but fortunately its breadth of beam kept it from overturning, and the water, being not more than a few inches deep, only wet the boots of the mariners. "You great ass, Diggy! why didn't you _port?_" demanded the captain. The | 60 | gutenberg |
twg_000000049573 | mate, who as a matter of fact could not have told the difference between the nautical "port" and home-made ginger-beer, answered promptly, "So I did;" and the two officers commenced to punch each other with their disengaged hands. This combat, which was conducted with the utmost good feeling on both sides, had been continued for nearly a minute, when the | 60 | gutenberg |
twg_000000049574 | passenger, on whose unoffending back a large proportion of the blows were falling, remarked,-- "Well, if we aren't going to stop here all day, when you've quite done we'd better think about getting out." They were at least four yards from the shore, and it was impossible to reach it dry-shod. "Some one must take off his boots and socks | 60 | gutenberg |
twg_000000049575 | and haul her out," said Diggory. "Well, I can't," answered Jack; "the captain never ought to leave the ship." "Oh, I'll go," answered Mugford, laughing; and accordingly, after performing some complicated gymnastic feats in getting off his boots, he slid from the seat into the water, and so hauled the "coffee-mill" back to _terra firma_. It would be impossible to | 60 | gutenberg |
twg_000000049576 | describe in detail all the alarming incidents which happened during the outward passage. They had not gone a quarter of a mile further when something went wrong with the brake. They flew down a long hill, holding on for dear life, nothing but the grand way in which the mate managed this time to steer a straight course down the | 60 | gutenberg |
twg_000000049577 | middle of the road saving them from destruction. Nevertheless, mounting the last slope was such hard labour that Mugford had to turn to and "work his passage," by every now and again taking a spell at the treadles. "Look here!" said Diggory at length: "don't you think we've gone far enough? we shan't be back in time for tea." "Oh, | 60 | gutenberg |
twg_000000049578 | I forgot," answered the captain. "We'll see. Stand by your anchor! Let go-o-o!" The "coffee-mill" stopped, and Jack Vance pulled out his watch. "By me it's half-past twelve, and I'm four hours slow: twelve to one, one to two, two to three, three to four--half-past four. Yes, it's time we turned round. Now, then, 'bout ship!" The tricycle clanked and | 60 | gutenberg |
twg_000000049579 | rattled away merrily enough on the return journey until it came to the long hill, which this time had to be climbed instead of descended. "Don't let's get off," said Jack; "we ought to rush her up this if we set our minds to it." With a great deal of panting and struggling they succeeded in getting about half-way; then | 60 | gutenberg |
twg_000000049580 | suddenly there was a crack, and the machine, instead of going forward, began to run back. Faster and faster it went, the pedals remaining motionless under their feet. "The chain's gone," gasped the captain. "There's a cart behind! Quick, run her aground!" Of course the mate turned the handle the wrong way. On one side of the road was an | 60 | gutenberg |
twg_000000049581 | ordinary hedge, while on the other lay a deep ditch, and into this a moment later the "coffee-mill" disappeared with every soul on board! There was an awful moment, when earth, sky, arms, legs, wheels, and bushes seemed all mixed together, and then Jack Vance found himself resting on his hands and knees in a puddle of dirty water. Diggory | 60 | gutenberg |
twg_000000049582 | and Mugford had been driven with considerable violence into the thickest part of a thorn hedge, and proceeded to extricate themselves therefrom with many groans and lamentations. "Well," said the mate, as they proceeded to drag the machine out of the ditch, "I should think, Jack, you've celebrated your birthday about enough; now you'd better give over, or we shall | 60 | gutenberg |
twg_000000049583 | all be sent home in a sack." "Me!" cried the captain, with great indignation. "It was _your_ fault, you dummy! you put the helm over wrong again, you--" "Hullo, you kids!" interrupted a voice behind them, and turning round the three friends saw the burly form of John Acton pushing a bicycle up the hill. "Hullo!" he continued; "it's young | 60 | gutenberg |
twg_000000049584 | Trevanock. What's up? Have you had a spill?" "Yes; the chain broke, and we ran into the ditch." "Umph! bad business. Now you'll have to foot it, I suppose." "Yes," answered Jack ruefully; "and we're bound to be back late pushing this old thing all the way. I wish old Jobling would try a ride on it himself." "Oh! is | 60 | gutenberg |
twg_000000049585 | that the 'coffee-mill'?" exclaimed the prefect, laughing. "Well, look here! If you're late, I'll see whoever's on duty, and tell him about the breakdown, and see if I can get you off." "Oh, thanks awfully!" chorused the small boys. "I've half a mind to say I wouldn't," continued Acton, looking round as he put his foot on the step of | 60 | gutenberg |
twg_000000049586 | his machine, and nodding his head at Diggory. "I owe you a grudge for not telling me what I wanted to know about my young brother's love-letter." The football captain was as good as his word: he got the Triple Alliance excused the "impot" which would otherwise have been awarded them for arriving at the school half an hour late, | 60 | gutenberg |
twg_000000049587 | and the only misfortune which resulted from their eventful excursion was that Jack Vance had to expend a further portion of his postal order in paying Jobling for repairing the broken chain. The day, however, did not close without another incident happening to one of the voyagers, which, though trifling in itself, proved, as it were, the shadow of coming | 60 | gutenberg |
twg_000000049588 | events which were destined to seriously affect the well-being and happiness of all the Ronleigh boys. Crossing the quadrangle soon after tea, Diggory saw something bright lying on the gravel; it proved to be a silver match-box with the letters C. T. engraved on the front. He took it with him into the school-room, and holding it up as the | 60 | gutenberg |
twg_000000049589 | boys were assembling at their desks for preparation, asked if any one knew who was the owner. "Yes, I do," answered young Fletcher: "it's Thirsty's; I've seen it often." Preparation of the next day's work having ended, Diggory's attention was occupied for a time in discussing with Carton the merits of some foreign stamps. Just before supper, however, he remembered | 60 | gutenberg |
twg_000000049590 | the match-box, and hurried away to restore it to its rightful owner. Thurston was evidently at home, for a prolonged shout of laughter and the clamour of several voices reached Diggory's ears as he approached the study. As he knocked at the door the noise suddenly ceased, there was a moment's silence, and then a murmur in a low tone, | 60 | gutenberg |
twg_000000049591 | followed by a scuffling of feet and the overturning of a chair. "Who's there? you can't come in!" shouted the owner of the den. "I don't want to," answered Diggory, through the keyhole. "I've brought your match-box that I picked up in the 'quad.'" "Oh, it's only a kid," said the voice of Fletcher senior; and the next instant the | 60 | gutenberg |
twg_000000049592 | door was unlocked by Thurston, who opened it about six inches, and immediately thrust his body into the aperture, as though to prevent the possibility of the visitor getting any sight of the interior of the room. "Oh, thanks; you're a brick," he said, taking the box, and immediately closed the door and turned the key. Diggory was retracing his | 60 | gutenberg |
twg_000000049593 | steps along the passage, wondering what could be the object of all this secrecy, when he nearly ran into the school captain. "Hullo, young man!" said the latter, "where have you been?" "To Thurston's study." "What have you been there for?" demanded Allingford sharply, with a sudden change in his tone and manner. "Only to give him his match-box that | 60 | gutenberg |
twg_000000049594 | I picked up in the 'quad.'" The captain eyed the speaker narrowly, as though half inclined to doubt the truth of this explanation; then, apparently satisfied with the honest expression of the small boy's face, told him to get down to supper. The latter wandered off, wondering more than ever what could have been the object of the private gathering | 60 | gutenberg |
twg_000000049595 | in Thurston's study which he had just interrupted. "It's what I told you before," remarked Carton, when Diggory chanced to mention what had happened. "Thirsty's going to the dogs, and I believe big Fletcher's got a lot to do with it. Allingford can't interfere with them as long as they keep to themselves. I don't know what they do, but | 60 | gutenberg |
twg_000000049596 | I shouldn't be surprised if there is a rare old kick-up one of these fine days." Mischief certainly was brewing, and the "kick-up" came sooner than even Carton himself expected. . THE WRAXBY MATCH. Wednesday, the twenty-fourth of July, saw the whole of Ronleigh College in a state of bustle and excitement. The near approach of the holidays was sufficient | 60 | gutenberg |
twg_000000049597 | in itself to put every one in high spirits, while, in addition to this, the afternoon was to witness the chief cricket contest of the season--the annual match against Wraxby Grammar School. During the hour before dinner the ground itself was a scene of brisk activity: the school colours flew at the summit of the flagstaff; the boundary flags fluttered | 60 | gutenberg |
twg_000000049598 | in the breeze; a number of willing hands, under the direction of Allingford, put a finishing touch to the pitch with the big roller, while others assisted in rigging up the two screens of white canvas in line with the wickets. "I do hope we lick them," said little "Rats" to Jack Vance as they stood by the pavilion, watching | 60 | gutenberg |
twg_000000049599 | Oaks mixing some whiting for the creases; "we _must_ somehow or other." "Why?" "Why? because they've beaten us now three times running; and the last time when our chaps went over to Wraxby and got licked at footer their captain asked Ally if in future we should like to play a master! Such rot!" continued the youthful "Rats," boiling with | 60 | gutenberg |
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