“I wish he’d resign,” said Berry. “It’s time they pensioned him off and sent him to a hospital for incurables.”
“He’s a hopeless job,” said Millward. “I spent half an hour one day trying to make him understand that I was willing to stand him a shilling if he’d give us a few minutes’ grace in the morning. But he’s as deaf as a post and though he took my shilling he rang us up more punctually than ever next morning.”
“I wish he’d hang himself with his bell-rope,” said Culverwell.
They eyed the offending bell, which hung idly in its turret, built over what was once a stable, but was now part of the school building.
“I wish we could muffle the old thing,” said Millward, looking wistfully up. “It’s freezing hard, and ’twill be deadly work getting up to-morrow.”
“I believe I could shy a stone up and crack it,” suggested another.
Berry had been silently inspecting the building.
“Tell you what, you fellows,” he said at last, “I believe I could get up there if I had a ladder. Out of the small class-room window, jump on the ledge, then creep up the roof by the chimney, then a ladder over the space to the turret. If you fellows will hand me up the ladder I’ll go!”
They were all dumb for a moment at his audacity. Then Millward said:
“How are you going to get into the small class-room? It’s always locked in play-time.”