“Then I don’t know the answer,” replied Billy, shifting his books to his other arm and starting on again.
“Hold on! Come up here and see it, will you? Chambers has gone crazy, and the paper’s full of the funniest things you ever saw!”
“Huh! You want me to catch the measles, I guess!”
“You won’t; I’m all over ’em.”
“It’s against orders, though. Besides, I’ve got a copy of my own in the room.”
“All right, don’t!” said Wilkes, aggrievedly. “You’re missing something great, though. Listen to this.” Wilkes stuck The Scholiant through the window, and proceeded to read from the first column: “‘Yardley Wins at Last! Notable Victory Scored Over Greenburg Female Academy!!’”
“What?” cried Billy. “Here, I’m going to have a look!”
He tossed his books on to the steps and dashed upstairs, the danger of infection all forgotten.
A quarter of an hour later Yardley was in an upheaval. Copies of The Scholiant were at a premium; and the few fellows who, from motives of economy, didn’t subscribe to the school weekly, regretted the fact deeply. Between classes the steps of Oxford fluttered with the sheets, and copies were even handed about surreptitiously during recitations; and more than one copy was confiscated by authority.