"Yes."
"I bought three empty tar-barrels from the foreman. He is going to leave them in the woods yonder for me at seven o'clock. They'll make the finest bonfires you ever saw."
"That's the cheese!" cried Dale, slangily. "Do you know what we can do? Place one barrel on top of another and touch them off. They'll make the greatest blaze you ever heard of."
"But mum's the word until the right time comes," warned Pepper. And then the crowd dispersed for the evening drill.
Two boys had been listening to the talk from behind a nearby clump of bushes. They were Reff Ritter and Gus Coulter.
Neither of the cronies had gone to the football game, having preferred to walk to a cabin in the woods, where they could smoke and play cards. The victory of Jack and his friends had put them in a particularly bad humor.
"I suppose they expect a great celebration with those tar-barrels," muttered Coulter. "Say, I tell you what let's do!" he cried. "Let us sneak to the woods before they arrive and roll the barrels down to the lake!"
"I'll do it," answered Reff Ritter. "Anything to put a damper on that celebration."
"Well, water will dampen the tar-barrels," added Coulter, grimly.