aches West," said Jack. "Don't you
think you might wind up the trick now, and let them in?"

"All in good time," said Mason coolly. The banging at the entrance grew
terrific, and though separated from the first class-room by a long
passage, he had to raise his voice to be heard above it. "Let's be quite
sure that we're ready for them. You--Bacon and Armitage--have you done
your job?"

"Yes, properly."

"We ought to, for we've been at it nearly half an hour."

"And you others--Brady, Ethel, Lucy, et cetera--you've all got your
books ready?"

"Ay, ay, sir," laughed Simmons.

"What was your job, Armie?" asked Jack. He had been engrossed in inking
new slates.

Armitage smothered a laugh.

"Muddling, Jack, my boy, muddling! And a truly artistic muddle have we
made. It's been a game of 'General Post' with the books. The
dictionaries have taken the atlases' place, the Greek grammars have
deposed the Latins, and--"

"Hist!" interrupted Jack. "I smell Pepper! We must whistle to Ethel."
And without waiting for permission he did so.

"Ethel" was posted down the long passage by the school entrance, with
instructions to turn the key back when he heard the signal. The sound of
unlocking was drowned in the hubbub without, and, turning, he fled
noiselessly up the passage and into the school-room, at the identical
moment in which two others made their appearance there--namely Mr.
Peace, through the opposite door, and Norman Hallett outside the window!

"Now, then, where is everybody?" cried the fussy little master, seeing
less than a dozen boys assembled for work. Then his eye fell on
Hallett's pale, angry face peering through the glass. "Why, Hallett
outside? What's the meaning of this? What's the meaning of this?"

"Do you think perhaps they didn't hear the bell, sir?" suggested
Simmons. "They've been making rather a noise outside."

Mr. Peace was not deceived by the boy's demureness.

"You want your ears boxed, you rogue!" he began; but at that moment in
surged a torrent of rather frightened, very wrathful boys, who had been
unprofitably spending the last half-minute in striving with penknives to
force the lock of the already unfastened door.

However, the rudiments of school honour forbade their furnishing the
master with an account of the occurrence, and they had to content
themselves with breathing dark threats to those day-boys who crossed
their path in the frantic rush to the book-room.

At sight of that rus