"I don't know what to think," was the answer, given slowly. "It gets
me!"

"And it does all of us," added Jack. "In the first place, I never
thought Sam and Nick would have the nerve to come back, but since they
had, I surely thought they'd cave in when they saw we meant business."

"So did I," agreed Bert. "But since they haven't, what's to be done?"

"There's only one thing," decided Jack. "We've got to expose 'em,
that's what!"

"Sure!" cried George Abbot, getting a bit excited. "Let the whole
school know what they did to you, and I guess that will end things for
them at Elmwood Hall."

"It seems to be the only way," agreed Tom. "Of course I'm out of it,
in a way, for they didn't keep me locked up In the old mill, with
nothing but bread and water. But they did Bert and Jack, and that's
the same thing. And there's Dick to be thought of. Of course he isn't
an Elmwood lad, though he may be soon, for he wants to come here. But
I feel that I ought to take his part."

"Sure!" chorused Jack and Bert, while the former added grimly: "We're
on the job, and can look after ourselves. You can represent Dick, Tom,
and we'll form a combination."

"To run them out of this school!" exclaimed Bert with energy.