r, I mean. Then we shall want a
raft. I know we can buy some tar at Streaker's, and a call at the
poultry shop will get us heaps of feathers. We'll manage that
to-morrow, and dress our statue in the evening, between tea and prep."

The details of the prank to be played were quickly arranged, and soon
Phil's companions slipped off like ghosts, and he tumbled into bed and
fell into a deep sleep.

The following evening, after dusk had fallen, four figures, each
carrying a long school-form, slipped out through the back gate of
Ebden's, and stole down to the lake.

"Now for the raft," whispered Phil. "Place them alongside one another
and lash them with the rope."

In a few minutes a raft was constructed, but to the disgust of all the
lads it was so light and frail that it was not even sufficient to
support one of them.

"We're done. Bother it!" exclaimed Carrol.

The others stood without a word, and stared at the raft in deep
vexation.

"It's all right. I've got it, you chaps," Phil suddenly cried in tones
of excitement and pleasure. "The lake's only a foot deep. We'll shove
one form out, and then put another in front of it, and so on till we
reach the statue. The bottom is made of stone, so there's no fear of
toppling over or sinking in mud."

A half-suppressed shout of joy answered him, and all at once set to work
to make the bridge. It was easier than they had hoped, and before very
long, by means of two extra forms, Hercules was reached. Then began the
work of tar-and-feathering, an act of vandalism for which each and every
one of them deserved a good thrashing, done though it was as a piece of
pure boyish mischief, and in all thoughtlessness.

At length it was finished, and with hands and faces smeared with tar,
and feathers sticking to their clothes, Phil and his boon companions
returned silently to the house, and having hastily washed themselves
took their places in "prep." as though nothing had happened. But a
scarcely-suppressed bubble of excitement and huge grins of amusement
showed that all at Ebden's were conscious of the prank, save the worthy
head himself, who, if he had only known, would there and then have gone
out and done his best to clean the statue before the light of day
disclosed it to Mr Julius Workman.

On the following afternoon a game of cricket was in progress, when a cry
of "Here's old Bumble!" put a sudden stop to it, and the boys at once
selected the nearest and best hid