Part 8 (1/2)

”Perry Alford's worked, and so did mine, and Bill Silvey's, Olaf's, Carl's, and the country kid's.”

”The other kids aren't paying you no nickel.”

”They are, too. Ask Mickey and his brother, and the Shepherd kids.

They're going to be sick this afternoon, and they've paid me.”

”I can go to Olaf,” a.s.serted the would-be dead-beat. ”He'll tell me what you told him, and it'll only cost a penny.”

”He'd better not! I'll smash his face in if he does. _Are you going to give me that nickel?_”

”Naw, I ain't.”

John clenched his fists belligerently. His debtor raised both arms in a posture of defense. The princ.i.p.al tiptoed noiselessly around the end of the fence. John sparred for an opening and his opponent spied the approaching figure.

”Jiggers! Old man Downer!” he yelled. ”Beat it quick!”

John turned, only to meet the princ.i.p.al's firm grasp on his shoulder.

”Come up to the office,” said the quiet voice. ”I want to have a talk with you.”

He led the way to the center doors, an entrance reserved for the use of such awe-inspiring mortals as the faculty, visiting school superintendents, and parents. Up the dingy wooden stairs, worn at either end by the innumerable shuffling feet which had pa.s.sed over them, they went, and into the bleak little office.

”Sit down,” said Mr. Downer.

John collapsed into an uncomfortable wooden chair and gazed about him.

There were the same desk, the same window box, filled with geraniums and pansies, and the same dun wall that he had seen on previous visits, prompted by his various sins. There was only one change. Opposite him, a newly framed head of Was.h.i.+ngton looked down from the wall in cold disapproval of the culprit who, for once in his brief life, felt strangely small and subdued.

There were no questions; the princ.i.p.al had heard too much from his vantage point beside the fence. So he talked on and on and on in even, severe tones, of notes mailed to parents, of suspension notices, of school board action, and of interviews with Mr. Fletcher, until John, staring, motionless, at a panel in the big oak desk, felt his lower lip quiver. Then the gray-haired man desisted.

”But I hope none of these measures will be necessary, John,” he concluded.

”N-no, sir,” came the scarcely audible response.

Had the boy looked at the kindly face, he would have seen that the deep set eyes were a-twinkle with suppressed merriment, but he was too conscience-stricken to do anything but slink from the office to the school yard.

There he found that the news of his downfall had been spread among the fast increasing throng of boys who scampered over the pavement in breakneck games of tag or made tops perform miraculous tricks as they waited for the school bell to ring. Not a few jeered at him. One or two little girls who were pa.s.sing stuck out their tongues. Even Sid DuPree and Silvey and the rest of the ”Tigers” had only derisive laughter.

It was the first time in his life that he had been made to feel ridiculous and he liked it not at all. He felt strangely out of place and stood to one side of the yard, a scowl on his face, glaring at the throng of merrymakers. Anyway, the proceeds of his escapade were in his pockets; that was more money than any of the scoffers owned. He shook the coins consolingly.

A boy darted past. ”Y-a-a, Johnny will try to fool the doctor!”

The scowl deepened, then vanished suddenly. ”Hey!” he bellowed to an astonished group near him. ”Come on, all of you, over to the school store.”

They filed, a perplexed, noisy throng, into the cramped room. The proprietress gasped. John swaggered forward.

”Here,” said he, with the air of a young millionaire throwing away twenty-dollar tips, ”I want forty-five cents' worth of six-for-a-cent lemon drops. Give each of these kids two and save the rest for me, if there is any rest!”

Then he strutted out, a veritable lord of creation. His pockets were empty, but little he cared. The clamor in the school store was as sweet music to his ears, for it meant that his status among his play-fellows was restored. His b.u.mp of conceit no longer ached. So he knew that the victory was worth the price and again he felt at peace with the world.