When Friday night came they emerged from the haze of declensions and vocabularies, axioms and theorems, equations and symbols in which they had been engulfed all week and decided that Saturday should see them as far away from school as possible. "Let's get out of the city altogether," suggested Frank, as the Hardy boys left the classroom on Friday afternoon. "What say we all go for a hike out into the country?" "Suits me," agreed Chet. "No motorcycles either. Let's walk." "Good idea," Jerry Gilroy approved. "Unless," he said hopefully, "you fellows would rather come up to the campus and have baseball practice." "Another smart remark like that out of you and I'll practise my famous left hook on your jaw," warned Biff Hooper, squaring off in a pugilistic attitude. "We don't want to see or hear of this school again until Monday morning, and that'll be too soon." "All right, all right," said Jerry placatingly. "I just thought I'd mention it." "And I just think you'll forget about it," said Chet. "You'll come along on this hike with us. Here, have an apple and keep quiet." He dug into the inexhaustible recesses of his pockets and produced a slightly shopworn apple, which he thrust into Jerry's hands. "There, see if that'll keep you quiet for a while." Jerry, who could never resist anything in the nature of food, accepted the donation eagerly. "Where shall we go on this hike?" he asked, raising the fruit to his lips. "I was thinking we could go up to Carl Stummer's farm," suggested Joe. "Mother was saying she wondered if Stummer would let her have any cherries to can this year. This would be a good time to ask him." "Suits me," said Jerry, taking a prodigious bite of the apple. Then an expression of pained surprise crossed his face to be replaced by a look of ghastly realization. Tears spurted to his eyes and his jaws worked convulsively. Then he emitted a gurgle of agony, spluttered, spat out the apple and began to dance around on the pavement, waving his arms in the air. "Indian war dance!" commented Chet gravely, clapping his hands. "Fine work, Jerry. Do it again." "Pepper!" spluttered Jerry. "I'm burning up! Water!" "Call the fire brigade," advised Chet, bursting into a shriek of laughter. The other lads gazed at their companion in amazement until his wild antics became too much for them and they all roared as Jerry continued his frantic splutterings. Wildly, the victim turned toward the school again. There was a water fountain near the front door and he headed toward it, but his eyes were so full of tears from the mouthful of red pepper that he had gulped when he bit into the hollow apple that he did not see a flower-bed in his path. Jerry stumbled over the wire border and sprawled full length among the flowers.