As soon as the boys in the hallway had secured the outer end of the doubled cord, Dave stepped out of the room again, followed by Roger and Phil.
"Why not lock the door?" whispered the senator's son. "The key is here."
"Just what I intended to do," answered Dave, in an equally low voice.
The door was closed and locked, and the students all gathered in front of the portal, each with his hand on the cord.
"I wish we could dump him out of bed," muttered Plum.
"We'll give him a little quiver first," said Dave. "He won't know what to make of it. I don't think he'll notice the cord. It is just the color of the wall."
They pulled the cord taut, and then raised the head of the bed an inch or two. Then they let it drop.
"Oh—er—who is that?" they heard Job Haskers murmur. "Is it time to get up, Swingly?" He mentioned the name of the school janitor, who had orders to rouse him when he was over-sleeping.
Of course there was no answer to the teacher's question. He waited for a moment, and then turned over in bed, as if for another snooze.
"Now we'll give him a sharp jerk," whispered Dave, and the students caught hold of the cord with vigor. Up came the head of the bed about a foot and swayed violently towards the door.