and generally give their house a leg-up when the Houser with
Taylor's commenced, and their friend Grim had strict orders to bag them
each seats, front row, in the pavilion. They had been busy blowing eggs
for pretty well twenty minutes, and, as they were lazily returning
schoolwards, they caught sight of Gus watching his float.

"There's Gus Todd trying to hook tiddlers," said Rogers.

"Shy a stone," suggested Wilson, "and wake 'em up."

"Rot! There's no cover."

"It's only Todd," said Wilson. "What's the odds?"

"Yes, but not quite the old ass. Better get home."

Keeping well out of sight, the two cronies had watched with curiosity
Todd's manoeuvres as he tried to run the cigar-smokers to earth. When
Gus entered the punt-house, a bright idea struck Wilson.

"Say, Rogers, remember Toddy locking us in the laboratory last term? Two
hundred Virgil."

"Ah!" said Rogers, catching the meaning of Wilson's remark instanter;
"if we only could cork him up there for the afternoon! That would pay
him out for Merishall's call-over lines."

"We'll chance it," said Wilson. "If we can't do it, well, we didn't know
Gussy was in--eh?"

"Rather! That is the exact fable we'll serve out to Todd, if necessary."

Breaking cover, the young Biffenites had secured the door of the
punt-house without any difficulty, and then had run for dear life.

"Golly!" said Rogers, pulling up when well out of sight of the
boat-house; "we did that rather neat, eh? Hanged if Toddy wasn't smoking
like a chimney. Did you twig his weed?"

"Regular stench," said Wilson. "Toddy will have to swim out through the
front way, or howl for help. The punt is sure to be locked."

"He'll have to take a header off the punt into the moat, and that isn't
crystal, exactly."

"Six yards of mud is about the figure," said Wilson, almost
hysterically.

"I say, old man, if we'd only been able to bottle up Jim Cotton along
with his chum! What price Biffen's for the Houser, then?"

"_If_" said Wilson, wistfully. "Wouldn't the dervishes walk into
Taylor's bowling, if Bully wasn't there to sling them in?"

"Never mind," said Rogers, hardly daring to contemplate the ravishing
prospect of Taylor's house without Cotton, "the dervishes are sure to
come out strong this afternoon. Let 'em once get their eye in, and
either of 'em is good enough for a hundred."

The two young Biffenites found the faithful Grim holding the fort in the
front bench of the pavilion against the