“I――I don’t want to fight, thanks,” said a mild voice from the darkness. “I――I――――” “Are you a junior?” asked the other occupant of the gloom. “No, are you?” replied Hugh. “Yes, they collared me and Twining just as we were coming around the corner. We climbed out of a window in the gym and were trying to get to Manning. Do you suppose they mean to keep us here long?” “So that’s it, eh?” mused Hugh. “I thought you were upper middle fellows when I saw you scuffling down there. Well, they’ve got us to rights, haven’t they?” He made his way to the window, raised the lower sash and looked out. Everything was quiet below, a fact explainable by the unmistakable presence on the walk further along near Manning of two masters in conference. Hugh pulled his head in quickly for fear they might look up and see him. “They’ve all gone,” he announced to his fellow prisoners, “and Mr. Smiley and one of the other masters are down there.” “Then if we call to them they’ll let us out,” said the youth who wasn’t Twining. “Yes, but――――” Hugh thought a moment. Then: “All right,” he agreed. But when he put his head through the window again the masters had disappeared. “They’ve gone now,” he reported. “Try that door and see if it’s really locked, one of you chaps.” “Yes, it is,” was the answer from Twining, who had a thin, piping voice and sounded as though he might be only about thirteen. “Don’t you think they’ll come back pretty soon and let us out?” “I fancy so. They’ll wait until things quiet down, I dare say. All we can do is wait.” Hugh felt his way to a chair and seated himself and the others followed his example. There was silence for a minute or two during which Hugh felt admiringly of the lump over his left eye. Then Twining spoke with something like a sniffle. “I don’t think it’s fair for them to do this,” he complained. “We juniors have to be in by nine o’clock and I guess it must be more than that now, isn’t it?” “Must be,” agreed Hugh. “Can’t you get in without being seen?” “No,” replied the other junior disgustedly. “They lock the door about a quarter past and you have to ring. We’ll get the dickens!” “Well, it’s all in a lifetime,” returned Hugh philosophically. “Anyway, you chaps held your meeting. That ought to comfort you, eh?” “I dare say, but it isn’t very nice to have to spend the night up here.” “That’s the idea,” exclaimed Hugh. “Stay up here and they won’t know you weren’t in, will they?” They seemed doubtful about that. Twining was of the opinion that Mr. Gring, who was master on his floor, would somehow learn of his absence. “He finds out everything, Cupid does,” he sniffled. “Besides, I can’t sleep here in this hard seat all night.” “Try the floor then, old chap. That’s what I shall do if they don’t come back and let us out.” “But they will, of course,” said the other of the two. “They wouldn’t dare not to, would they?”