“Catch hold of me, while I make this fast,” said Max. Then he bent forward over the edge of the roof, for a moment. “Now,” he continued, as he cautiously rose to a perpendicular once more, “if they don’t stare to-morrow morning, when they go to put up the colors, my name’s not Max Eliot.”
“Won’t Paul be wild, though, to think that none of his men were bright enough to think of it?” said Louis, with a chuckle, as he prepared to descend.
Max followed him at a little distance, and half their way was safely accomplished when Louis heard a sudden slip, followed by a heavy thud and a suppressed exclamation from Max.
“What’s the matter?” he asked, in the same low tone in which all their conversation had been carried on.
“Missed one of the steps and sat down,” replied Max wrathfully. “I wouldn’t mind the thump; but I hit on one of these beastly nails and I felt something give out. If I’ve torn a hole in my coat, it will give the whole thing away. I could build a better armory than this, myself,” he added, as he scrambled to his feet again.
“Safe!” ejaculated Louis, when the door of their room had once more closed behind them. “We’ve put the thing through, Max, and I don’t see how we can get caught.”
“Unless my coat tells the story,” said Max ruefully, as he pulled off the offending garment and felt up and down the back. “Here ’tis,” he continued; “a great three-cornered tear, large enough to put my head through. However am I going to mend it, so it won’t show?”
“You can pin it up,” said Louis hopefully. “If you can just get through the morning, you can let it go that was torn in a scrimmage. But do go to bed, for we mustn’t be sleepy in the morning.”
Louis’s warning was unnecessary, for the excitement of their escapade and of the coming game kept the boys from sleeping soundly during the few remaining hours of the night; and the first light of the morning found Max, partly dressed, sitting on the edge of his bed, with his mouth full of pins, as he tried to repair the damages wrought by his fall.
“How does this go, Wing?” he asked, slipping on the coat and turning his back to Louis who was still in bed.