“How d’ye know all this, Josh?” demanded Nick, rather tremulously.
“I just happened to be near where Clarence and Joe were having their heads together, and the idea came to me to listen. I only thought they were explaining how the game was lost, and I wanted to hear Clarence say how somebody sent a ray of sunlight into his eyes with a pocket mirror, just when he was handing out that ball Buster knocked out in deep center. You know his way, fellows, and how he squirms out of every hole so smoothly?”
“Yes, yes, of course we do, Josh; but go on;” cried Herb.
“Don’t you see you’ve got us keyed up to the breaking pitch? Let loose, and tell what you heard!” exclaimed George, always nervous and anxious to make speed.
“Well, it wasn’t much, but it counted for a heap,” replied the narrator. “About as near as I can remember, and repeat, this was what Clarence said: ‘Never mind, Joe, we’re going to get even soon. Wait till our dandy boat gets to Clayton. Say, mebbe there won’t be a lot of surprised fellows then, as we cut circles around ’em, and make ’em wish they hadn’t blackballed us. You wait and see, that’s all.’”
Various exclamations broke out from the other boys.
“Oh, yes, they must know, all right!” said Herb, bitterly.
“All I can say is it’s mighty queer, after we’ve taken such pains to keep everything a dead secret, so even our folks don’t know yet where we’re going,” Josh continued to say, meaningly.
Somehow or other, as if by mutual arrangement, every eye seemed to be gradually focussed on poor Nick, who turned as red as a turkey cock.
“Oh! yes, look at me, won’t you?” he exclaimed, spluttering more or less as was his habit when unduly excited. “You think I’m the one who leaked, just because I stopped to talk with Clarence the other day on the street, and George saw me. He never even said a single word about boats, but asked me something else. Look all you want too, but I tell you, once for all, that if there was a leak, it didn’t come through me! I never told a single soul!”