"You pet me your life I vos. I vill peen ignorand as a clam."
But it seemed that the professors did not suspect that any of the academy boys had been present, and so no inquiries were made in the school.
Tad Jones, however, was accused of having some of his village chums in the scrape, and, when he refused to tell their names, he was soundly strapped by his father, who had sincerely hoped one of the professors would propose to Nancy and take her away without delay.
Just how the rival professors had escaped was not known, but, if possible, the coldness between them was more pronounced than ever. The feud seemed of a deadly nature, and some of the boys declared that Jenks and Scotch were certain to fight a duel over Nancy sooner or later.
The following Saturday was fine, and that afternoon large numbers of the boys from the academy sought the village pond, where the skating was excellent.
By mid-afternoon there were between two and three hundred skaters on the long pond, while half as many spectators were gathered on the shore.
It was a lively and pleasant scene. Inza Burrage was there, with her chosen companion, May Blossom. Inza was a beautiful skater, and so was much sought as a companion by the boys. Three times did Frank approach her to ask her to skate with him, and each time he saw her carried off by some one else.
She was in a coquettish mood that day, and her merry laughter as she skated away each time proved rather tantalizing to Frank, who finally muttered:
"All right; two can play at that game."
It was almost, if not quite, May Blossom's first attempt at skating, and, although she was doing very well, her company was not in such demand as that of Inza.