Eddie was the first one I saw when I got out. He gave me a triumphant laugh.
“Thought you’d put it over on me, didn’t you?” he taunted. “No one sick at our house but the cat!”
“You’ll be sick in a minute,” I assured him, getting a strangle hold on my teeth.
“Who’s this bird?” a Freshie asked, stooping over Obadiah who was trying to persuade his knees to hold him up.
Say—when the fellows saw who it was I thought they’d drop dead where they stood. They were the scaredest bunch I ever looked at.
Obadiah couldn’t talk yet but his eyes weren’t frozen shut. He was using ’em to spot every boy in the crowd. A cat didn’t have anything on Obadiah the way he saw in the dark.
“Why—why Mr. Tucker ... what are you doing here?” asked Eddie, in a voice that shook worse than mine.
“Th-th-that’s wh-wh-what I w-w-want to know!” stuttered Obadiah, having an awful time keeping from biting his tongue. “A-A-And I’m g-g-going to f-f-find out!”
This declaration was what I’d been waiting for. I stepped over where Obadiah could see me.
“I guess they thought you were one of the Sophomores, too,” I said, putting over my thunderbolt.