summit. Not a sight of their rivals was to be seen, and blankly the
freshmen stood and stared about them till Hawley said:

"No use, fellows. They've got away and we might as well go back.
Foster," he added, "did you know the canes were gone?"

"Gone? Gone where?" replied Foster blankly.

"I haven't the slightest idea. All I know is that Mr. Whitaker told Mott
that the canes _had_ been in his house but they had been taken away."

"Who took them?"

"I haven't the slightest idea."

"You don't suppose the sophs got them, do you?" said Foster hastily.

"I hadn't thought of that. It never entered my mind that anybody but our
own fellows had come for them."

"I don't believe it was anybody else that got them," said Will. "You
ought to have heard Mr. Whitaker talk to Mott and the other sophs. They
were just determined to go into his house, but the old man would not let
them. No, you can rest easy about it, Mr. Whitaker never let the canes
go out of his house without knowing who had come for them. No, sir. Not
much."

Somewhat comforted by Will's positiveness, the boys began to retrace
their way down the long road, and after a moment Hawley said, "We'll
find out all about it anyway, for Mr. Whitaker will tell us. He's all on
our side. That's what comes of having his grandson in our class. Say,
fellows, you just ought to have heard Mott rake over our class. He had
the nerve to stand there and tell Mr. Whitaker that we were the worst
lot that had ever entered Winthrop."

"I wish we had caught him!" said Foster warmly. "We would have made him
come up in his estimate of the freshmen."

"Oh, he was just talking to hear himself," said Will Phelps lightly. "He
knows who we are all right enough, and he isn't going to forget us right
away either. But I wish we had caught him."

"Here we are, fellows," said Hawley, as the five young men clambered
over the fence and once more were in Mr. Whitaker's yard. "Let's go in
and ask him about it now."

"All right," responded Foster as they started toward the door. "Hold on
a minute. Let me take a look at my horse first. I'll be with you in a
minute. Gre-a-at--" he suddenly began. "The horse is gone!"

"What!" exclaimed Will in astonishment.

No heed was given his expression, however, as all five ran quickly to
the post to which the horse had been tied. But the horse and sleigh were
gone, and not a trace remained to show in which direction they had
departed.

"Sure you fasten