skunks, some of them. They might say things that would make _you_ feel
like a kettle on the boil."

"If they did--I would kill them."

Roy stated the fact with quiet deliberation, and without noticing that
he had repeated the very words of the vanished victim.

This time Desmond did not treat it as a joke.

"'Course you would," he agreed gravely. "And that sort of shindy's no
good for the school. So I thought--better give you the tip----"

"I--see," Roy said in a low voice, without looking up. He did not see;
but he began dimly to guess at a so far unknown and unsuspected state of
mind.

Desmond sat silent while he shook the sand out of his boots. Then he
remarked in an easier tone: "Quite sure there's no damage?"

Roy, now on his feet, found his left leg uncomfortably stiff--and said
so.

"Bad luck! We must walk it off. I'll knead it first, if you like. I've
seen them do it on the Border."

His unskilled manipulation hurt a good deal; but Roy, overcome with
gratitude, gave no sign.

When it was over they set out for their homeward tramp, and found the