“Is ruined!” Steve gasped.
“O dear!” sighed Will. “Henry, do—do you suppose—”
Marmaduke continued to advance, and presently he hailed them.
Then Will lost all control of himself, and cried wildly: “Oh, Henry, we must run for it!”
“Yes, Henry; unblind your eye, and run!” Steve counselled.
The Sage, who had just hit upon a stratagem to get out of the difficulty, endeavored to restore order. But he was too late, as usual; and so, seeing that the boys were bent on flight, he had sufficient presence of mind to shout: “Split, boys, split; so that when Marma—”
But Henry had already torn off the handkerchief, and he and the other demoralized plotters were flying as though pursued by a regiment of light-armed Bélître Scélérats.
When Will and his relative gained the security of their own chamber, the latter said frankly: “Well, there is a lot of nice fellows here, and I like them well.”
“Yes,” said Will, “but you haven’t seen Marmaduke yet!”
“Will, I never ran away from anybody before—and this fellow is only a harmless and innocent schoolboy!”