CHAPTER IV.
READY FOR THE TEST.
Page got up looking very sheepish.
He expected that Frank would begin to turn the laugh on him. Nothing of that kind happened, for the first moment Ford and Frank were speaking together.
They had not met since the close of the last term, and they shook hands in a friendly way, and made polite inquiries about each other's vacations.
"What have you got here?" asked Frank, then, stepping toward the fireplace with a queer look at Page.
The latter had not the nerve to answer.
"I suppose it used to be a fireplace," said Ford. "It looked when I came into the room just as if there was no opening into the chimney at all, but this door fits very closely."
"Were you trying to use the chimney as a telescope when I came in?" asked Frank. "I saw you were both on your knees, looking up."
"No," replied Ford, "Page had something in there, he won't say what it was, some kind of a pet, I believe, and it has flown out."