“Here, sir.” Ken seized his serving tray and dashed off in pursuit of dessert.

“Thorne! Here, I see. Slater!”

“Here, sir!” answered a freckle-faced boy with burning red hair.

“Guppy!”

Blackie looked with interest at the boy with such a beautiful name. He was a little chap of about eleven, at the end of one row.

“Lefkowitz!”

“Present!” came a squeaky voice from across the table.

“Gallegher!”

“Here!” He was a sunburnt, black-haired chap with a scar across his forehead, shaped like a V.

“Crampton! No answer. It is the notorious Mr. Crampton who is missing. Has anybody here ever heard tell of the gentleman?”