Ned nodded. “Yes. It was rather decent of him, I think. Take that idiotic expression from your face and sit down. This is how Elk tells it. He and Jim were looking out of their window that night and saw the lights of Mr. Wells’s car on the other side of the hedge. One of them said something about Mr. Wells always leaving his car around and what a joke it would be if it wasn’t there when he came back for it. Well, that idea sort of stuck, and after a while Elk suggested that they sneak down and run the car off around the corner. Elk says that Jim usually wouldn’t have gone in for anything like that on a bet, but there’d been some tough exams that day, and Jim was sort of keyed up. Anyhow, they sneaked down-stairs after a while and got out by one of the windows in the recreation-room. They didn’t dare try the front way, for Cornish had his study door open. They put the brakes off and tried to push the car toward Washington Street, but it was heavy, and after they’d got it a little ways they decided to start it and run it around the corner. So they did, pretty sure that it was too far off for Mr. Wells to hear. Elk took the wheel and they went to Washington Street. Then, he says, the thing was working so pretty they thought they’d go on further. When they got to where Washington joins Walnut it was pretty dark, and he swung to the right too soon.
“That’s when they hit the hydrant. Of course, they were scared pink, and Elk shut the motor off and they beat it as fast as they could. When they got back here they found that some one had been prowling around and had locked the window. Then they saw our windows open and decided to climb up by the ivy. Elk says they hoped we’d be asleep. If we waked up they meant to tell us and ask us to keep mum. Jim climbed up first and made it all right, but Elk had hurt his wrist when the car struck the hydrant, and he had a hard time of it. They didn’t either of them know that Cornish had seen them. For that matter, he only saw one, I guess, and that one was probably Elk, for he says it took him two or three minutes to get to the window because his wrist hurt him so. Seems that Jim left the hall door open after him, but the draft closed it, and that’s what woke us up, I guess. Well, what Elk came for was to say that neither of them knew they’d been seen and that they hadn’t meant to throw suspicion on us. He says if they’d known that Cornish was prowling around they wouldn’t have entered our window. He was very particular about making that clear. Guess he thought you might think he had done it on purpose to get even with you. And that’s that, old son.”
Laurie nodded thoughtfully. “Kind of too bad,” he mused. “I suppose they didn’t intend anything but a sort of joke on Mr. Wells. Did he tell you what they were going to get?”
“Get? Oh, they’re suspended, he says. He seemed to feel worse about Jim than about himself. Do you know, old son, after all Elk isn’t such a bad sort. At least, that’s the way it strikes me after hearing his spiel. He says he’s not coming back next year. He’s going to tutor this summer and try and make college in the fall.”
“Yeah,” said Laurie abstractedly. “Well, I’m sort of sorry for him. And of course he didn’t mean to get us in wrong.” He lapsed into silence. Then, abruptly, “Cas Bennett split his finger with a foul tip about half an hour ago,” he announced.
“He did?” exclaimed Ned. “Gosh, that’s tough luck! Will it keep him out of the game?”
“Yes,” replied Laurie.
“That is tough! Say, what are you looking so queer about?”
“Just thinking,” answered Laurie. “You try it.”
“Huh?”