Part 4 (1/2)
”No, of course not.”
”It'll be easy enough to send him a note and get him away from the buildings and then we can do just what we like.”
”Give him a good scare and take the nonsense out of him.”
”And he won't know us, neither, for we'll have masks on and we mustn't say a word.”
”That'll be a hard thing for you,” laughed Merritt, who could not resist the temptation to have another fling at Herring.
The latter paid no attention to him, however, knowing that one word would only lead to another.
”We'll watch him,” he continued; ”find out when he goes off by himself and then do the job up brown. If he don't go off alone, we'll fix it so he will, and that's easy.”
”What'll you do with him?” asked Holt. ”Steal his clothes and make him walk home at night?”
”Black him up with soot and send him back,” suggested another, ”That stuff is awful hard to get off.”
”I'll make a good job, all right,” muttered Herring. ”Just you leave it to me.”
Some of the better sort of boys were seen approaching at that moment, and Herring said in a low tone:
”Come on, let's get out. Go in different directions. Those fellows might get a notion that we were fixing up something.”
The boys went off in different directions, and Harry, who was one of the other boys, said to Arthur:
”If Pete Herring and those sneaks are not plotting against the new fellow, I'll miss my guess.”
”Well, it may not be against him,” replied Arthur, ”but it probably has to do with some of the new fellows or with the little ones. Herring and his crowd are always pestering them.”
”If they try to make any trouble for Jack, they will get all that's coming to them,” laughed Billy Manners.
”Yes, you found out that he could take care of himself, didn't you?”
asked Arthur with a chuckle.
”There were others,” replied Billy with a grin.
Herring and his accomplices found a chance to meet again later when there was no chance of being interrupted by any of Jack's friends, and the bully laid his plans before the rest.
”That's all right,” said Merritt.
”Couldn't have fixed it up better myself,” added Holt.
”That'll do the trick,” said another.
Some time later, with still considerable time before supper, Jack happened to be pa.s.sing the rear of the house where Bucephalus was at work on a wagon.
”Dey was a tullyphome message fo' yo', sah,” said the man. ”Yo' was to call up two-fo'-six as soon as conwenient.”
”Where is the booth, Bucephalus?” asked Jack.