By noon the news was all over school: Roy Porter was on inner bounds for the rest of the term! "Emmy told him," confided Sid importantly to a group of Juniors and Middlers awaiting the dinner summons on the steps of Burgess, "that if it wasn't for his good record all year he would have suspended him!" "Gee!" quoth the youngest boy in school, "that's pretty fierce, just for fishing on Sunday!" "He was poaching," explained Sid. "Anyhow, Emmy says he was. Old Mercer swears he saw him on his place yesterday afternoon. Why, a couple of years ago there was a fellow _fired_ for poaching!" "Gee!" echoed the youngest again in wide-eyed amaze. "Well, Sid, who'll play first?" asked another of the audience. Sid shook his head dispiritedly. "Patten, I s'pose. I think it's a beast of a shame, that's what I think! Take a fellow off the nine just five days before the big game! Of course Hammond'll lick us." "Sure!" was the concurrent opinion. "If Patten goes back to first you may get his place at right-field," suggested the youngest boy. "Maybe I will," answered Sid gloomily, "but who wants to play if Roy's out of it?" And the countenances of the audience answered: "Who indeed?" "I'll bet if we wanted to we could get him back on the nine," said Sid presently. "How?" asked half a dozen voices eagerly. "Oh, I know a way," was the unsatisfying reply. "Go on and tell us, Sid!" "I would if you'd promise never to tell anyone, cross your heart and hope to die." Everyone promised instantly and fervidly. "Supposing, then," resumed Sid, "that a whole raft of us were caught fishing on old Mercer's place. What would happen?" "We'd all get suspended," piped up the youngest boy promptly. "Inner bounds," suggested someone else. "Huh! I guess not! It isn't likely Emmy would suspend half the school," replied Sid scornfully. "He'd see the injustice of it, of course, and give us all a good blowing up and let us go. And if he let us go he'd have to let Roy off too. It would be a--a--" Sid paused for a word--"it would be in the nature of a popular protest!" "That's so," said one of the number. "He couldn't punish all of us very well." "He might, though," muttered the youngest uneasily. "Oh, we don't want you in it," answered Sid contemptuously. "I'm going if the rest do," was the dogged answer. "We'd ought to get a whole lot of fellows, though," one of the Middlers said. "Yes, about twenty," answered Sid. "We can do it, too, you bet! Supposing we call a meeting of the Middlers and Juniors for this afternoon after supper?" "Good scheme! Whereabouts?" "At the boat-house. You fellows tell it around, but don't say what the meeting's about. If you do Emmy'll hear of it, sure." Then the dinner bell rang and the informal conclave broke up. "Wait for me after dinner," whispered Chub to Roy at the table. "I want to see you." "All right," answered Roy cheerfully.