That night Bob and Joe Carter and his brother, who since Saturday’s
baseball game was looked upon as a veritable hero, played euchre on
Bob’s bunk from after camp-fire until it was time to go to bed. Dan
looked on awhile but seemed very fidgety and quoted somebody whose
name he didn’t remember to the effect that cards were only fit for
fools and imbeciles. Finally he wandered back to his own bunk and began
to prepare for slumber. Tom was already in bed with his lantern rigged
up beside his pillow and was deep in his fascinating book.
“What are that silly hero and the girl doing now?” asked Dan.
“Escaping from the lighthouse,” answered Tom without raising his eyes
from the volume.
“How? In a trolley car?” asked Dan sarcastically.
“Boat; and they’ve only got one oar and there’s a peach of a storm
coming up, and they haven’t got anything to eat, and----”
“Tommy, you ought to be ashamed to read such trash,” said Dan severely.
Then he seized the book and sent it with excellent aim to the farther
end of the hall, where it narrowly missed Bob’s nose and created
consternation among the card-players. Tom leaped out of bed and raced
after it, and during the next thirty seconds Dan, unnoticed of all,
worked very hard. Having recovered his book Tom started to retrace his
steps.
“Don’t you bring that pernicious literature around here,” warned Dan.
“If you do I shall be forced to take it away from you. I must protect
my morals at any cost.”
Tom told him what he thought of his morals and then annexed Nelson’s
bunk and returned to his story. When he was ready for bed Dan went
visiting farther down the dormitory. The result of this maneuvering
was that when bedtime came and the lights at the ends of the hall were
put out by the councilors Tom and Dan were still out of their bunks.
The former closed his book with a sigh of regret and stumbled down the
aisle. Dan heard him putting the book away. Then there was a moment of
silence save for the whispers of the fellows, and then----
“_Gu-gu-gosh!_” shrieked Tom, leaping out of bed again.
“Wh-wh-wh-what’s in my bed?”
Instantly the dormitory was in a turmoil, the fellows, scenting fun,
tumbling out of their bunks to gather about Tom, who stood, wild-eyed
and disgusted, in the middle of the aisle.
“What’s the matter?” they asked him expectantly.
“Somebody’s pu-pu-put something nu-nu-nasty in my bed,” he answered. “I
bu-bu-bu-bet it was Du-du-du-Dan did it!”
“What’s that about me?” asked Dan innocently. By this time there were
plenty of lanterns, and Tom gingerly threw back his blankets. In the
bed repose four slimy, cold chub, their round eyes seemingly fixed
reproachfully upon Tom.
“Fish!” shouted Nelson quite as though he hadn’t expected it.
“Chub!” cried Dan.
Tom, cautiously examining his bedfellows, caught the expression on
Dan’s face.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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