“Fellows,” he said, “do you know, I don’t believe those chaps know anything about this place.”
“All the more reason for keeping it secret,” responded Texas; “that is, ’less you want to go out an’ lick ’em. Hey?”
“Oo-oo!” gasped Indian. “I don’t want to fight.”
This scheme did not “take,” and so Texas subsided.
“I wish we could play some trick on ’em, b’gee!” chuckled Dewey.
Just at that moment one of the cadets chanced to shout out a word or two to his companions. The next instant he turned and pointed straight at the plebes.
The latter dodged down in trepidation, for they imagined they had been seen. Their alarm was unfounded, however, as the bushes in front made a perfect screen. The cause of the yearlings’ surprise was something entirely different.
“Oh, say, did you hear that echo?” the seven listeners heard him call.
Our friends’ hearts began to beat once more at that, and they resumed their watch. An echo was what the yearlings were noticing. It was but natural, so the Parson whispered, that the cliff should return an echo at certain distances.
Evidently this one was a very strong echo, for it was delighting the yearlings considerably. Everybody knows how people amuse themselves with an echo. The cadets were bawling all sorts of nonsense at the top of their lungs.