Part 13

IV OF VARIOUS THINGS

And the next day, the story which flew all over the yard, how that Joel Pepper was "put into Coventry" last night, was overtaken and set right.

"Huh! there, now you see," cried Van Whitney, coming out of his rage. He had cried so that his eyes were all swollen up, and he was a sight to behold. Percy, too miserable to say anything, and wishing he could ever cry when he felt badly, had slunk out of sight, to bear the trouble as well as he might. Now he came up bright and smiling. "Yes, now you see," he cried triumphantly.

"Oh, I hope that mean beggar Jenk will be expelled." There appeared to be but one voice about it.

"Well, he won't," said Van.

"Won't? Why not?" The boys crowded around him on the playground, all games being deserted for this new excitement. "Why not, pray tell?"

"Of course he will," said one boy decidedly. "Dr. Marks never'll keep him after this."

"Yes he will too," roared Van, glad he could tell the news first, but awfully disappointed that it must be that Jenkins was to stay, "for Joel got Dr. Marks to promise there shouldn't anything be done to Jenk. So there now!"

"What, not after locking that door! That was the worst." The boys, two or three of them, took up the cry, "'Twas beastly mean."

"Contemptible! Just like Jenk!" went all over the playground.

"Well, he isn't to go," repeated Van with a sigh; "and Joel says he was as bad, because he went out at night to fight."

"Why, he had to; Jenk dared him. And he couldn't have it out in the dormitory; you know he couldn't, Whitney," said one of the boys in surprise.

"Oh dear! I know," said Van helplessly. "Well, Joel says it's no matter that the racket was stolen out of his room, and--"

"No matter!" ejaculated the boys, a whole crowd of them swarming around him, "well, if that isn't monstrous!"

"Oh, Joel's afraid that Dr. Marks will expel Jenk," Percy, very uncomfortable to have Joel blamed, made haste to say. "Don't you see?"

"Well, he ought to be turned out," declared one boy decidedly. "Never mind, we'll make it so hot for that Jenk, he'll want to go."

"No, you mustn't," declared Percy, now very much alarmed. "Oh, no, you mustn't, Hobbs; because, if you do, Joel won't like it. Oh, he'll be so angry! He won't like it a bit, I tell you," he kept saying.

The idea of Joel's not liking it, seemed to take all the fun out of the thing; so Hobbs found himself saying, "Well, all right, I suppose we've got to put up with the fellow then. But you know yourself, Whitney, he's a mean cad."

There seemed to be but one opinion about that. But the fact remained that Jenkins was still to be one of them, to be treated as well as they could manage. And for the next few days, Joel had awfully hard work to be go-between for all the crowd, and the boy who had made it hard for him.

"You'll have to help me out, Tom," he said more than once in despair.

"Pretty hard lines," said Tom. Then the color flew all over his face. "I suppose I really ought, for you know, Pepper, I told you I wanted at first that you should lose your racket."

"Never mind that now, Tom," said Joel brightly, and sticking out his brown hand. "You've been awfully good ever since."

"Had to," grunted Tom, hanging to the hand, "when I saw how mean the beggar was."

"And but for you I should never have found the racket, at least not in time." Joel shivered, remembering the close call he had had from losing the game.

Tom shivered too, but for a different cause. "If I hadn't told him, I'd always have hated myself," he thought.

"Well, Joe, I wouldn't after this give away a racket. Now you see if you hadn't bestowed your old one on that ragamuffin in town, you wouldn't have been in such a scrape." Tom tried to turn it off lightly.

"Oh, that made no difference," Joel made haste to say, "'cause I could have borrowed another. But I'd got used to my new one. Besides, Grandpapa sent it to me to practise with for this game, and I really couldn't have done so well without it."

"Yes, I know--I know," said Tom remorsefully, "and that's what Jenk knew, too, the beggar!"