“Ouch! who left tacks on the floor?”
“Gee whiz! stop that!”
Jack had strewn a few small tacks on the floor and the boys who had meant to give him a little hazing had stepped upon them in the dark.
One of the invaders fell against the bed and at once the water jug tumbled over upon him or at any rate that was what he supposed had happened in his confusion.
“What’s the matter, boys?” asked Jack, quietly, and then a flash of light from a pocket searchlight shone from the bed.
“Tacks!” exclaimed one.
“Waterspouts!” ejaculated another, he who had been drenched by the contents of the jug.
“Do you often have these little affairs, boys?” asked Jack, with provoking coolness. “Do you enjoy them?”
Two of the boys were sitting on the edge of their beds taking tacks out of their feet while another was looking for a dry night shirt in his locker.
The others looked rather sheepish and no attempt was made to rush in upon Jack who said with the least suspicion of a laugh: