me to do as I
pleased--send 'em to the Old Ladies' Home, or throw 'em away! He
didn't act a bit nice."

"Say, you chump, you!" shouted Phil, growing suddenly angry. "I didn't
send you any word at all about calling it off. I----"

"Don't you call me a chump, you young rascal!" shouted the hotel man,
in equal heat. "I got your message over the telephone----"

"I never sent any," interrupted Phil.

"It must be a trick," cried Roger.

"Who played it?" queried another student.

"Maybe this is the work of some of the Military Academy fellows."

"Like as not."

"But how did they learn that Phil was going to give the spread?"

"Give it up."

"Maybe some of our own fellows did it--some who didn't get an
invitation to attend," suggested Chip.

"Would any one be so mean?" asked Buster.

"Some of them might be," murmured Gus.

"I didn't send you any word," went on Phil, in greater anger than
ever.

"Well, I got word, and so did Professor Smuller. He was mad, too,
because he lost another job taking yours."

"Why didn't you make sure the word was sent by Mr. Lawrence?" demanded
Ben. "You could have done that easily enough."

"I didn't think that was necessary. This fellow said----"

"I tell you I didn't send word!" shouted Phil, growing more angry
every instant. "You might have known it was a trick."

"Of course, he might have known," added Ben. He lowered his voice.
"Say, Phil, if he doesn't give us the supper make him give your money
back."

"Sure he's got to give me the money back," cried the shipowner's son.

"See here, you can't bulldoze me!" cried the hotel proprietor. "I've
had trouble enough as it is. I got ready for this spread and then you
called it off, and you were mighty sassy about it, too. I've lost a
lot of money."

A wordy war followed, lasting the best part of a half an hour. Through
this it was learned that the hotel man had prepared for the spread,
and so had the professor of music. Just after noon telephone messages
had come in, calling the whole affair off. Some hot words had passed
over the wire, and the hotel man was considerably ruffled. The party
talking to Jason Sparr had said that when the spread did come off it
would be held elsewhere--intimating that a better place than his hotel
could be found.

"It's all some trick, to get my business away from me!" stormed the
hotel man. "I won't stand for it!"

"I didn't send the messages, and I either want the spread or I want my
mone