Of course, Pepper had uttered his words merely to throw Ritter and his crony off the track, and the Imp’s trick had worked to a charm. Ritter never learned how he had been fooled.
When Pepper went down into the library that evening, to get a book to read, he was met by Andy and Joe Nelson. Andy was quite excited.
“Pepper, we made a mistake last night,” cried the acrobatic youth.
“A mistake? What do you mean?” and he looked at Joe Nelson.
“Andy tells me that you took me and Harry Blossom for the fellows with the green masks and the green hoods,” said Joe. “You made a mistake.”
“Joe and Harry saw those fellows, too,” continued Andy.
“You did? Where?”
“At the back of the Hall—just as we came in. We had been down to the boat-house looking for a gold stickpin Harry lost. We found the pin in a crack of the floor and then came up to the school. The men came around a corner. When they saw us, they ran off, across the corn-patch back of the barns.”
“Then they weren’t some of the students?”
“I don’t think so. But, of course, I am not sure,” answered Joe Nelson. “You can question Harry about it.”