"I don't know that I want to, either," Prescott answered, with a smile. "But some one has to start the meeting. As soon as you come to order you can choose any one you want for presiding officer. All I'm trying to do is to get the thing started. Come to order, please."
"I'll meet you on Main Street any Saturday you like, Hi Martin!" called Ted belligerently.
"I wouldn't go out of my way to meet anything like you," shot back Martin.
"Order! Order!" insisted Dick. "Come to order, fellows!"
By the aid of his chums and a few other friends, and a great deal of "sh! sh!" all through the crowd, Dick at last got the meeting into a semblance of quiet.
"Now, as I said before," Prescott went on, "all the reason I had for taking the chair——"
"Where is it?"
"What did you take it for?"
"——was to get the meeting started," Dick went on. "Now that we're at least as quiet as some of the very small boys here will allow us to be, suppose you nominate some one to preside over this meeting."
"Dick Prescott is good enough for us," sang out several Central Grammar boys.