Harry Watson's High School Days Part 14

"Shall you pay it? I suppose you'll a.s.sess the members equally?" asked Harry.

"Pay it! Well, I should say not!" retorted Dawson, angrily. "Princy can nail up the door of the chapter room first!"

"Now, don't go to making any threats, Tom," interposed Longback. "The thing to do is to have a meeting of the Kappa Phis and Psi Mus to decide what shall be done."

"How about us?" demanded Jerry. "Being the victims, it seems to me we should have a little say in the matter."

"There you go again," retorted Dawson. "You freshmen never can seem to understand that it is part of your training to do as your betters tell you. Inasmuch as just about all the Kappa Phis are old Pi Eta men, you can be very sure that nothing will be decided upon that will lower the dignity of any Pie Eater."

While they were talking, the boys were standing upon the porch of the school building.

In the meantime, the princ.i.p.al had started on his rounds of the various rooms, immediately upon the departure of the student committee, and it was only a short time before he had learned that all the Greek letter men had cut their cla.s.ses.

Angered at such action, Mr. Larmore was stalking back to his office, when he chanced to espy the committee members through the gla.s.s in the door.

Hastening his steps, he pushed open the inner door, yanked the k.n.o.b of the outside one so that the door came open with a jerk, and faced the boys.

"Why aren't the Greek letter students at their cla.s.ses, and what are you doing out here?" he demanded.

"I can only speak for myself, sir," returned Dawson. "I am out here because I'm not going to school to-day."

Only the tone in which he spoke saved the boy's speech from being grossly disrespectful, but the princ.i.p.al had sufficient understanding of scholars to know that it would not be well for him to press the matter farther, and without another word, he closed the door and returned to his office.

"Wow, but Princy's mad!" e.j.a.c.u.l.a.t.ed Jerry. "Let's get hold of the other fellows and decide on our plan of action just as soon as we can."

This suggestion met with the approval of the other members of the committee, and forthwith they hied themselves down the hill.

As they reached the foot, they met a crowd of boys hurrying toward them.

"Princy's closed the Pi Eta room," cried several of them, as they gathered about the members of their committee.

"We know it," returned Dawson. "And what's more it will stay closed until the Pi Etas pay seventy dollars, which Mr. Larmore says is the amount of the damage done in the physical laboratory-and that, I opine, will be some time in the far distant future."

At first the other boys refused to believe this announcement, but they were quickly a.s.sured of its authoritativeness, and when its full significance dawned upon them they stared at one another blankly.

"I can also tell you that Princy's very sore because the Greek letter men have cut their cla.s.ses."

"My word, but the prospect looks cheerful, doesn't it?" commented Socker. "Where will the Pi Eta bunch meet, now?"

"The graveyard seems the most appropriate place," a.s.serted Misery.

"You'll have to do without your chapter room," laughed Dawson. "In the meantime, the Kappa Phis and the Psi Mus are going to have a meeting to decide what you shall do."

"That's awfully sweet of you," mocked one of the freshmen. "I do hope you won't decide on anything that it won't be perfectly ladylike to do,"

and turning to his companions he exclaimed: "Come on, fellows, let's go down to the river and have a hockey game."

"You'll do nothing of the sort," countermanded Dawson, as a dozen or so of the boys started off to get their skates. "It's up to you boys to find Tony, while the rest of us are holding our consultation."

"But what's old Tony got to do with it?" chorused several of the group.

"Everything, seeing that it is he who told Princy the Pi Etas were in the laboratory," returned Longback, dryly.

"But there isn't one of us Tony wouldn't recognize-except, of course, Watson."

"That's it, exactly," a.s.serted Dawson.

"Can Watson prove an alibi?" demanded a voice from the outside of the crowd which had been constantly increasing, as the word had pa.s.sed around that the delegates had concluded their interview with the princ.i.p.al of the Rivertown High School.

"Who said that?" demanded Jerry, indignantly.

No one, however, made any response.

"I'll wager the fellow who said that thing is the one who broke the apparatus," declared Paul.

"Of course, I--" began Harry.

"Keep quiet! Shut up! Don't answer him! Forget it!" shouted several of the boys, effectually drowning Harry's words.

"You mustn't forget you're a Pi Eta, and that a Pi Eta is never doubted," said Jerry.

"Hear! Hear!" mocked several of the upper cla.s.smen.

"Seriously, though, you mustn't waste any more time," interposed Longback. "You n.o.ble spirited Pi Etas go find Tony, and we'll have our confab; then you may meet us in the hall in front of the Psi Mu chapter room."

The freshmen, however, did not wait to hear the last of the taunt, and breaking up into bands of two or three, they started out with the purpose of locating the janitor.

"Why not look for him at the school," suggested Harry.

"Because, this is his day to go to Lumberport," returned Jerry. "He always goes over there every Thursday to draw money for school expenses."

"Maybe he hasn't gone yet. Let's go round to his house," suggested Paul.

Quickly, the boys who were natives of Rivertown set out to guide their new chum to the house where the janitor lived; but when they arrived they were disappointed to know that he had been gone some two hours.

"Are you the young gentlemen he was expecting to bring him money?" asked Mrs. Farelli.

"Money for what?" asked Paul, surprised.

"I don't know, sir. He just said some young men were to bring him some money and I thought it might be you, so I was going to tell you he said to take it over to Lumberport and leave it at Rector's cigar store for him, as he won't be back for a couple of days."

"Then he hasn't gone on school business, to-day?" exclaimed Jerry, with a rising inflection in his voice.

"No, sir."

CHAPTER XVII-THE TRIP TO LUMBERPORT