Gentleman Jo was the janitor. He was a relative of Master Lewis, and a very intelligent man. He had been somewhat disabled in military service in the West, and was thus compelled to accept a situation at Yule that was quite below his intelligence and personal worth. The boys loved and respected him, sought his advice often, and sometimes invited him to meetings of their Society.
“Have you called together the Club yet?” asked Master Lewis of Charlie, when the latter had ceased reading.
“We had an informal meeting in my room last evening.”
“What is your plan of study?”
MOUNTAIN SCENERY IN SOUTHERN GERMANY.
“We have none as yet,” said Charlie. “We are to have a meeting next week for the election of officers, and for literary exercises we have [!-- illustration --] [!-- blank page --] agreed to relate historic ghost stories. We asked Tommy Toby to be present, and he promised to give us for the occasion his version of ‘St. Dunstan and the Devil and the Six Boy Kings.’ I hardly know what the story is about, but the title sounds interesting.”
“What made you choose ghost stories?” asked Master Lewis, curiously.
“You gave us Irving and Hawthorne to read in connection with our lessons on American literature. ‘Rip Van Winkle,’ ‘Sleepy Hollow,’ and ‘Twice-Told Tales’ turned our thoughts to popular superstitions; and, as they made me chairman, I thought it an interesting subject just now to present to the Club.”