A few bright rebels like Archie Fletcher signed on at once. Rudd, too, thought it safer to put his name down. But the average person was more cautious.
"How many have you got down?"
"Oh, about fifteen."
"Well, look here, if you get over fifty I'll join in."
As nearly everyone said this, the hopes of successful operations seemed unlikely.
But still it all helped to disarm any trace of suspicion.
"I say, Ferguson, what do you think of all this?" said Mansell.
"I think a great creed has gone down. I shall no longer believe that conscience and cowardice are synonymous; only conscience is the trade name of the firm."
Mansell laughed. It was probably meant to be funny. He never quite understood Ferguson. On the next afternoon everyone sat down to two hours' extra school. There was much swearing at tea. But in a day or two it was all forgotten.
To this day no one at Fernhurst knows who the two boys were. The secret was well kept.