“Nothing except tell a lie. I led Roy’s mother to believe that I didn’t know a thing about it.” “You couldn’t do anything else,” said Cooper. “I could have told the truth, couldn’t I?” “That would have been peaching; that would have been blowing on us all. You couldn’t do that.” “If you fellows have got the notion that we’re going to hide and escape through lying and deception, you’d better give it up. We’ll have to shoulder our part of the blame, sooner or later.” “That’s fine!” sighed Chipper dolefully. “My father hasn’t used the strap on me for some time, but I’m going to pad my trousers in preparation for the coming walloping.” “I’d like to pup-punch old Shultz!” rasped Springer. “He’s the one that’s to bub-blame for it all.” “No,” contradicted Piper promptly, “we can’t duck behind any such excuse. If we hadn’t been there it never would have happened, for it takes more than two or three to make up a decent game of poker. We were all doing something on the sly—something that we didn’t wish respectable people to know about, and something we mortally dread to have them find out about.” “Dread it!” groaned Chipper. “I should say I do!” “It wasn’t a cuc-crime,” spluttered Springer, in an attempt at justification. “I don’t know about that,” snapped Billy. “Gambling is illegal, and so it was a crime.” “Oh, but we wasn’t gug-gambling; we were just playing for fun.” “And we’re getting a lot of fun out of it, aren’t we? Perhaps you enjoy it!” At this point Phil’s anger blazed and he raged at Billy, calling him chicken-hearted. Piper refused to listen; shrugging his shoulders, he walked hastily away, heedless of the calls of the two lads, who begged him to come back. The church bells were sounding the second call and people in their Sunday clothes were passing on their way to services when Piper rang at Mrs. Chester’s door. The maid appeared, and, answering his inquiry, informed him that Ned Osgood had already departed for church. “He goes every Sunday reg’ler,” she said, with a touch of pride. “The misses calls him ‘a most exempl’ry young man.’ Maybe you’ll see him at the church if you go, too.” “Thank you,” said Billy, descending the steps. As soon as possible, he struck off across lots, to avoid the church-goers. “A most exempl’ry young man!” he muttered, with a short laugh. “He’s got her fooled. She doesn’t know what’s been going on in his rooms every Saturday night. I wonder if she’s heard about Roy? Don’t s’pose she’d have an idea anything happened to him in her house if she has heard.” He next thought of finding Shultz, but, from lack of courage or an aversion for facing the fellow, could not bring himself to look for the prime cause of all the trouble.