"Say!" he gasped. "Now we are up against it!"
"Up against what?" asked Sube languidly.
"We dassent ring that bell!" Gizzard exclaimed in a tone of subdued alarm.
"Why not! I'd like to know!" demanded Sube, rising quickly to a sitting posture.
"With ol' Hank Morley waitin' right at the bottom of the ladder when we come down!"
Sube collapsed. "Gosh! I didn't think about that."
"The minute we begun to ring that bell," Gizzard enlarged, "he'd duck right to the bottom of the ladder, and he'd wait there for us if we stayed up here a week!" After a moment he added hoarsely, "Prob'ly they'd starve us out!—Or else send Dan Lannon up after us!"
"Well," Sube responded weakly, "we can't get out now! We got to wait till ol' Hank goes home—"
"Yes, and we'll miss the bonfire!" whined Gizzard. "You got me into a nice pickle this time!"
"Well, why didn't you think of it before?" was Sube's feeble defense.