“We’ve both been through it, haven’t we, Dave?” was Buster’s reply, with a grin.
“Here is where the Oak Hall boys celebrate!” cried Roger.
“You’ve said it!” responded Phil. “And thank fortune we’ve got something to celebrate on,” he added.
“Phil and I went back to the nearest French town yesterday,” explained Ben. “We took up a collection and came back with a whole lot of good things to eat. We thought you would be along soon, from the word you sent two days ago.”
“That’s fine!” replied Dave, his eyes beaming. It warmed his heart to think of how his chums had remembered him. “Oak Hall forever!” he exclaimed enthusiastically. And then he added, making a sudden wry face: “Although I know one fellow who won’t subscribe to that sentiment.”
“Who is he?”
“Show him to me, and I’ll pound the life out of him!”
“He must be some dirty sneak!”
“The fellow I mean is Nat Poole,” answered Dave, and then came another outburst.
“Where did you meet that slacker?”