Bert, without replying, washed for supper, and a moment later the bell rang. Ben went down to the dining-room in his shoes. The twelve boys sat at two tables, the seniors and upper middlers at one, presided over by Mr. Folsom, and the lower middlers and juniors at the other, under the supervision of Mr. Crane. Doctor Merton, with his wife and daughter, occupied a small table at the end of the room. Whispering was not countenanced, and so the mutineers could not compare notes. Lanny looked flustered and defiant, Kid excited and happy and Small worried. Once Bert encountered Nan’s eyes across the room and received a look that he couldn’t fathom, not knowing that Nan had learned of the mutiny and was doing her best to convey to him that she was just terribly excited and was dying to hear all about it. Then Mr. Crane, helping the last portion of cold roast beef, remarked:
“Well, you boys want to eat plenty, you know. There’s hard work ahead this evening.”
This pleasantry elicited no response and he pretended to be surprised. As a matter of fact, Mr. Crane had found the proclamation on the mantel, had laughed over it with Mr. Folsom and had subsequently taken it to Doctor Merton.
“Eh?” he went on. “Isn’t this the night we fix the slide, Crandall?”
“Yes, sir, I believe so,” replied Crandall.
“I thought so. Well, there’s plenty of snow. Last year you had rather hard work, if I remember.”
“Yes, sir, we did.”
“How are you with a snow shovel, Bryant; pretty husky?”
“Only fair, sir. No good at all after dark.”
“How’s that?”