“O-oh, Lordy!”
Toots made a jump for the saddle of his bicycle, but jumped too far and went clean over the wheel, striking his knee and turning in the air, to fall with a thump on the back of his neck.
“Mah goodness!” he gurgled, as he lay on the ground, dazed by the shock of the fall. “De ol’ debbil done gib meh a boost then fo’ suah!”
The other lads looked at each other in perplexity.
“Well, wh-wh-what do you think of that?” stammered Rattleton.
“He ought to file his voice, whoever he is,” coolly observed Browning. “It’s a little rough along the edges.”
“It strikes me that somebody is having fun with us,” said Merriwell, a look of displeasure on his face.
“What are you going to do about it?” asked Harry.
“We don’t seem able to do much of anything now. Come on.”
Toots scrambled up, and they mounted their wheels. As they started to ride away, a hollow-sounding voice cried: