“Dead bodies an’ all,” murmured Ginger again in a sepulchral voice.
“An’ dressed all funny,” said William, “an’ queer sorts of things all over the place. ’Sides, what’d he be doin’ ordin’ry chemistry for, anyway? He’s too old to be goin’ in for exams.”
This was felt to be unanswerable.
“What I think is——” began William, but he never got as far as what he thought.
A plaintive voice came through the dusk—the voice of William’s sister Ethel.
“William! Mother says it’s long past your bedtime and will you come in and she says——”
The Outlaws crept off through the dusk.
******
The next day Joan came back from a visit to an aunt.
Joan was the only female member of the Outlaws. Though she did not accompany them on their more dangerous and manly exploits she was their unfailing confidante and sympathiser and could be always counted on to side with them against a hostile and unsympathetic world. She was small and dark and very pretty and she considered William the greatest hero the world has ever known.