“Not here,” interposed Jack quickly. “Wait a bit and we can make all the noise we want to.”
“How’s that?” inquired Bony. “Have you hypnotized Dr. Mead and put wax in Martin’s ears so he can’t hear us?”
“No, but it’s something just as good. This afternoon I sat and listened while Socker, the janitor, told me one of his war stories.”
“You must have had patience,” interrupted Nat Anderson. “Bob cats and bombshells, but Socker is tiresome!”
“Well, I had an object in it,” explained Jack. “I wanted him to do me a favor, and he did it—after I’d let him tell me how, single-handed, he captured a lot of Confederates. I told him about this spread to-night, and was lamenting the fact that my room was so small, and that we couldn’t make any noise, or have any lights. And you know how awkward it is to eat in the dark.”
“Sure,” admitted Bony. “You can’t always find your mouth.”
“And if there’s anything I dislike,” added Nat, “it’s putting pie in my ear.”
“Easy!” cautioned Jack at the laugh which followed. “Wait a few minutes and we can make all the noise we want to.”
“How?” asked Bony.
“Because, as I’m trying to tell you, Socker did me a favor. He’s going to let us in the storeroom, back of where the boiler is, in the basement. It’ll be nice and warm there, and we can have our midnight feast in comfort, and make all the row we like, for Martin can’t hear us there.”