“Marmaduke may be rather foolish,” said Charles, “but I doubt whether he would write such a letter, and then be imposed on by it!”
“Do you take me for a fool?” cried Stephen, with theatrical indignation. “Now, Will’s cousin Henry can scribble French like a supercargo, Will says—let us get him to do it.”
“The very thing!” cried Charles and George in a breath. “Come, Will, we are going to do this, and you must help us,” the former requested.
“I don’t like your ideas at all, boys,” Will replied, “but if you are bound to do it, why, I don’t want to be left out, and so I’ll write to Henry, and get him to come here. He spoke of coming soon when he wrote to me last; and now I’ll ask him to hurry along as soon as the holidays begin.”
“You’re a jewel, Will!” all three exclaimed in excitement.
“Oh, we’ll hatch a famous plot, won’t we, boys?” and Steve, the speaker, clawed the ground as though he were a demon or a hag.
“It’s my turn to suggest something now,” the Sage observed. “When Marmaduke sets out for the prison-house, we, of course must go with him. Let Henry and Stephen, or whoever we may think best, slip on in advance, and represent the prisoner and the fiendish villain when we arrive.”
A shout of acclamation greeted this new proposal.
“The plot is getting pretty thick,” said Steve. “And now, what about the ghost in the back-ground?”