“Just leave that to me,” said Tom; “I’ll not put the letter in the mail-box; I’ll send it through in some other way.”
There were a good many objections raised to this arrangement, for the Night-hawks all knew that there was danger in it; but, after a little argument, they concluded that Tom’s plan was the only one left them, and he and Miller being the oldest members of the society, as well as the highest in rank in the academy, were instructed to write the letter. So, that afternoon, during play-hours, Miller visited Tom in his dormitory, and, after the latter had produced writing materials, they sat down to study up the important document.
“Now, Newcombe,” said Miller, “you ought to write that letter. You understand the business better than I do, and, besides, you are the highest officer in the society.”
But this was not the reason why the fourth colonel wanted Tom to do the work. He doubted the latter’s ability to get the letter safely into the hands of the village boys; and, if it should happen to fall into the possession of the principal, the handwriting would tell him where to look to find the guilty one. Thus, Tom was again used as a “cat’s paw.”
“That’s one point settled,” continued Miller. “Now, to whom shall we send it?”
“Johnny Harding is the best fellow,” answered Tom. “I know he’ll help us. But how shall we address him?”
“Why, as it is an official letter from you, as the grand commander of the council, you ought to address him according to his rank. Is he still second corporal?”
“O, no, he made a big jump; one night, when his mother told him to stay in the house, he crawled out of his window and came down the lightning-rod. As his room was in the second story of the building, it was something of a job, I tell you. When he told us about it, we offered to make him a lieutenant, but Johnny said the reward wasn’t big enough; and he told us that if we didn’t give him something better than that, he would stay in the house the next time his mother ordered him to do so. Well, we couldn’t afford to lose Johnny, you know; so the next evening, after school, we all went up to look at the house and the lightning-rod, and we came to the conclusion that there was not another fellow in the society who would dare to attempt a thing like that; so we created the office of fifth captain, and gave it to him.”
“Well, he earned it,” said Miller. “But if he carries this thing through for us, he will want something higher.”
“He ought to have it,” replied Tom. “I’ll be willing to promise anything, if he’ll only help us.”