[CHAPTER XII]
GARY IS SURPRISED
Let Gil and Poke tell about Gary’s surprise party, for they were eye-witnesses.
“You could have knocked me over with a feather,” declared Poke—the four Sunnywood boys were on their way back to the cottage at noon—“and I never thought Nancy Hanks had it in him! Here’s the way it was. Most of the class were in their seats and Mort Nichols—he’s monitor, you know—was calling the roll. When he got to the G’s he skipped Bull’s name because he could see that Bull wasn’t there. Mort’s rather a chum of Bull’s, you know. But Nancy was on to him. ‘You’ve left out a name, Nichols,’ says he. ‘Go back, please.’ So Mort gets sort of red and calls, ‘Gary.’ And Bull, who had just come loafing in at the door says, ‘Dead on the field of battle,’ and the fellows began to laugh. It really was funny, wasn’t it, Gil?”
“Rather.”
“Pshaw! You laughed, too. I saw you. Well, Nancy never turned a hair—”
“The funny thing,” interrupted Gil, “was the way Mr. Hanks was looking. He was sort of white and frightened and he had his mouth set in a straight line like—like this.” And Gil illustrated. “I never saw him look that way before.”
“And he had a funny little sparkle in his eyes,” said Poke. “Did you notice that, Gil?”