“No, never go to school no more,” chanted the Outlaws.
They decided not to go home for provisions because their unexpected presence there would be sure to raise comment and question.
And as William said, “We don’t want any food but blackberries an’ mushrooms an’ roots an’ things. People used to live on roots an’ I bet we’ll soon find some roots to live on. It’ll be quite easy to find what sort to eat and what sort not to eat. An’ we’ll kill rabbits an’ things an’ make fires an’ cook them. That’s what real Outlaws did, an’ we’re real Outlaws now. An’ we don’t want any clothes but what we’ve got. When they fall to pieces we’ll make some more out of the skins of rabbits we’ve killed to eat. That’s what real Outlaws did, I bet.”
“Where’ll we go to?” said Douglas. William considered.
“Well,” he said, “we must be in a wood. Outlaws are always in woods, ’cause of hiding an’ eating the roots and things. And we oughter be on a hill ’cause of seeing people comin’ when they come tryin’ to catch us——”
“Ringers’ Hill, then,” said Ginger blithely.
Ringers’ Hill was both high and wooded.
The Outlaws cheered again. They were still drunk with the prospect of freedom, intoxicated by William’s glorious optimism. They marched down the road that led away from the school singing lustily. The Outlaws were very fond of community singing. They liked to sing different songs simultaneously. William in sheer lightness of heart was singing—very unsuitably—“Home Sweet Home,” Ginger was singing “We won’t go to school no more,” to the tune of “It ain’t go’n rain no more,” Douglas was singing “Shepherd of the Hills,” and Henry was singing “Bye-bye, Blackbird.”
Suddenly two of their class-mates—Brown and Smith—came round the corner on their way to school. They looked at the Outlaws in surprise. Brown was deprived of the power of speech by a twopenny bull’s eye of giant proportions which he had just purchased at the village shop, but Smith said, “Hello! You’re going the wrong way.”
“No, we aren’t,” said William, blithely, “we’re going the right way.”