A SECRET SOCIETY.
It was a clear, starlight night. Diggory was one of the first to leave
the dining-hall, and, passing swiftly out of the quadrangle, was soon
hurrying across the junior playing field. On reaching the pavilion, all
was quiet and deserted, and he stood for a moment considering what
should be his next step.
The thin hedge dividing the two playgrounds was by this time bare of
leaves, and afforded no hiding-place; the only chance of concealment was
to take shelter inside the den itself--a place which has already been
described. This, however, seemed rather like venturing into the lion's
mouth. What was going to happen? Would anything take place, or was it
only a wild-goose chase after all?
"Here goes!" muttered Diggory to himself. He opened the door, pulling
it to again after him as he crept inside; then taking a step forward in
the pitchy darkness, promptly fell over a bucket with an appalling
crash. Scrambling once more to his feet, he felt in his waistcoat
pocket, and finding there a fusee which he remembered to have taken from
a box owned by "Rats," he struck it, and by the aid of its feeble glare
crept behind the heap of benches which lay piled up close to the
opposite wall.
Hardly had he done so when there were a sound of footsteps and a murmur
of conversation; the door was opened, and some one crept into the den.
No sooner had the new-comer crossed the threshold than he stopped,
sniffed audibly, and exclaimed,--
"Hullo! what a stink of fusees! Who's been here, I wonder?"
Diggory instantly recognized the voice as belonging to Noaks, and the
sound of it brought a momentary recollection of the time when he and
Jack Vance had lain concealed behind the hedge opposite to Horace
House. His heart beat fast, and he vainly wished that he had had
sufficient forethought to come provided with some ordinary matches.
Several more boys entered, and one of them struck a light. Diggory,
peering through an aperture in the pile of forms, saw at a glance who
they were--Fletcher senior, Thurston, Noaks, and Hawley.
"There don't seem to be any one about," continued Noaks, peering into
the corners; "yet it's rum there should be such a smell of fusees."
"I expect it was the man," said Thurston, producing a candle-end, and
sticking it in an empty ginger-beer bottle which lay on the ground.
"He was in here this afternoon after some of those old boxes, and I
expect he lit his pipe. The smell is sure to hang about when the door's
shut."
The four boys sat down on two upturned buckets and a couple of old
hampers, with the candle in their midst, and Diggory gave vent to an
inward sigh of relief.
"Well," began Thurston, "one reason we meet here to-night is because I
wanted to explain to you fellows that we can't have any more of those
pleasant little parties in my study--at all events, for the present.
Until this row about Browse has blown over, every one'll be watching us
like cats watching a mouse. We ought not to be seen speaking together,
and that's where that cipher business that old Fletcher invented will
come in jolly useful. We can say anything we want to without appearing
to meet."
"By-the-bye," interrupted Noaks, "what became of that last note? Mouler
told me about it, or I shouldn't have come. Some one had taken it away
before I went to look."
"Perhaps it was Gull," answered Thurston. "Where is he?"
"He's got some turned work to do," answered Hawley.
"Mouler's outside keeping _cave_" added Noaks. "We thought it would be
well for some one to keep a look-out in case anybody came."
"Well, what I was going to say," continued Thurston, "is, that for the
present we'd better lie low, and not be seen going about together.
It was a good thing Gull and I managed to turn the tables on Oaks
at that inquiry; it would have been jolly awkward for the rest of you to
have proved an _alibi_. Of course it was agreed that I should keep out
of it, as it was a dead certainty they'd pounce down on me first; so I
went and sat all the evening with old Smeaton. Ha, ha! the fool quite
thought I meant it when I asked him to help me about my work. But I
say, how did it come off? I haven't heard the particulars."
"Oh, simply enough," answered Hawley. "Noaks and Mouler and Gull and I
did the trick; young Grundy's was the voice that told Browse to go down
to the 'lab.' Grundy hung about at the top of the stairs, and as soon
as he saw Browse come back and make for Allingford's study, he let us
know the coast was clear, so we unlocked the door and skedaddled.
Gull went straight away to the matron's room, and asked her to sew the
two buttons on his waistcoat; he'd pulled them off on purpose. He is a
cunning beggar, that Gull. Fancy his staying behind to light the
reading-room gas, and telling Lucas he'd only just come! Why, he did
more of the wrecking than any two of us put together."
"D'you think young Grundy's to be trusted?" asked Noaks.
"Oh yes," answered Hawley; "he's been on our side all along. He had a
fight with young what's-his-name not long ago, about that skit on the
Town match. Besides, I've told him that if it gets out that he had a
hand in that Browse business, he'll be expelled. So he'll keep his
mouth shut right enough."
"Oh, by-the-bye," cried Thurston, turning to his particular chum, "have
you heard anything more about that poem of yours?"
Fletcher senior, who had been sitting all this time scowling in silence
at the candle, answered shortly, "No."
"Hullo!" returned his friend, "what's the matter? You seem precious
glum to-night. What's up? Are you going to chuck this business and
turn good?"
"You asked me whether I'd heard anything more about that rhyme I wrote,"
answered the other, rousing himself, and speaking with a thrill of anger
in his voice. "I say no, but I've _seen_ a jolly lot."
"How d'you mean?"
"Why, there's not a fellow in the Sixth but gives me the cold shoulder.
Allingford sets the example, and there's hardly one of them will give me
a civil word. They'd like to oust me from the prefects like they did
you, but they shan't, and, what's more, I'll get even chalks with some
of them before I leave."
"Hear, hear!" exclaimed Thurston; "that's just what I say. And now the
question is, what shall we do?"
"Nothing at present," answered the other. "We must wait until this
affair's blown over. There's no need to run the risk of getting
expelled; and, besides, we want some time to think of a plan."
The faint _clang, ter-ang_ of a bell sounded across the playing field.
Noaks and Hawley rose to their feet.
"'Prep!'" exclaimed the latter. "We must be off." A new cause for
anxiety now presented itself to Diggory's mind in the thought that he
would be late in taking his place in the big schoolroom. He knew
that Noaks and Hawley would have to be in time for the assembly; but the
two Sixth Form boys were not amenable to the same rule, and might linger
behind.
Thurston, however, rose to his feet, blew out the candle, and the four
conspirators groped their way in a body out through the low doorway.
Diggory waited until he thought they must have reached the school
buildings, and then prepared to follow. The bell had stopped ringing
some minutes, and without looking very carefully where he was going, he
ran as fast as he could out of the match-ground, and across the junior
field. Suddenly, right in front of him, and within fifty yards of the
paved playground, a dark figure seemed all at once to rise out of the
ground. It was Noaks! The latter had dropped a pencil-case, and had
been left by his companions searching for it on his hands and knees.
"Hullo!" he exclaimed, catching the small boy by the arm. "Who are you?
and where have you been?"
"What's that to you?" answered Diggory boldly; "let me go."
The remembrance of that mysterious smell of a fusee flashed across
Noaks's mind.
"Look here!" he cried sharply. "You tell me this moment where you've
been."
"In the other field."
"What were you doing there?"
"Running."
There was a moment's silence. Noaks had a strong suspicion that the
other knew something about the secret meeting; it was equally possible,
however, that he did not. Young madcaps were often known to let off
steam by careering wildly round the field after dark, and if this had
really been the case in the present instance, it would be folly to say
anything that should awaken suspicion. The big fellow hesitated; then a
happy thought occurred to him: he dragged his captive across the paved
playground, and stopping under the gas-lamp which lit up the archway
leading into the quadrangle, began a hasty examination of the contents
of the latter's pockets. There was no time to lose, and failing to find
what he sought, Noaks gave the youngster a final shake, saying as he
did so: "Look here, have you forgotten that coin robbery? Because, if
you have, I haven't. I've got that knife still. Don't you fall foul of
me, or you'll have reason to be sorry for it, d'you hear?"
The two boys ran quickly across to the big schoolroom, and entered just
in time to take their seats before the master on duty called, "Silence!"
As might have been expected, none of the Triple Alliance put in an
appearance at supper that evening; as a matter of fact, they were
congregated in a quiet corner of the box-room, listening to a graphic
account of Diggory's adventures. Noaks's threat about the pocket-knife
revived all their former feelings of dread and uneasiness respecting
their unfortunate expedition to The Hermitage, and there was a grave
look upon their faces as the narrative concluded.
"You see," said Diggory, as he brought his story to a close, "the thing
was this: he wasn't quite sure whether I knew anything or not, but he
said that to frighten me in case I did."
"I don't see that we can do anything," began Mugford uneasily. "You say
they aren't going to kick up any other row just yet, and it would be an
awful thing if Noaks found it out, and sent my knife to the police."
"No, I don't see very well what I can do," answered Diggory. "Somehow
it seems rather mean to hide away and then go and tell what you've
overheard. I think it's best to leave it, and keep a sharp look-out
and see what happens next."
"Fancy Fletcher inventing that cipher," said Jack Vance, "and being
mixed up with that lot. He is a double-faced beast; it was just like
him making that underhanded attack on the football team."
"Yes," added Mugford; "and fancy Gull being in both those rows, and
making every one believe he wasn't! They must be a deep lot."
"So they are," answered Diggory complacently; "but they aren't a match
for the Triple Alliance."
"I say, what made Noaks search your pockets?" asked Jack, as the three
friends prepared to break up their "confab."
"Oh, for a long time I couldn't imagine, and then all of a sudden I
thought why it was. Don't you see, he wanted to find if I had any more
fusees. My stars, I was glad 'Rats' had only given me one instead of
the box!"