“I’ll Mumps him!” retorted Jack Ruddy. “Come on!” And he rushed out of the dormitory, and down the broad stairway three steps at a time. He was just near the bottom when he passed a tall and rather sour-looking teacher, who was coming up.
“Master Ruddy, not so fast——” began the teacher, when of a sudden Pepper Ditmore struck the man on the shoulder, hurling him flat on his back at the foot of the stairs.
“Oh, excuse me, Mr. Crabtree!” burst out the cadet. “I—er—I didn’t mean to run into you!”
“Yo—you imp!” spluttered Josiah Crabtree. “What do you mean by tearing downstairs like a—a cyclone?”
“We’re after a fellow who threw some mud up into our room,” explained Jack Ruddy.
“I didn’t see you coming,” added Pepper. “Very sorry—it shan’t occur again.”
“This jumping downstairs has got to be stopped!” fumed Josiah Crabtree. “I shall make an example of you, Ditmore. Go back to your classroom and write this sentence one hundred times: ‘It is best to walk with care.’”
“Have I got to go back now?” cried Pepper.
“At once.”
“It isn’t fair, Mr. Crabtree. I didn’t mean to run into you; really, I didn’t.”