"To be a free and accepted Chevalier of the Bath a fellow has to be a
water-proof rat. To be a Knight of the Garter he must consent to wake up at
midnight to find a rope tackle around one ankle, and be dragged out of bed
and down the hall."

"Well, we'll have to take our medicine, I suppose," said Frank lightly.

"To be a Scout of the Gauntlet," went on Bob, "is to be sent in the dark
down the stairs on a fool errand, and come back to face a pillow shower. A
genuine Guide of Mystery must have the grit to be left blindfolded in the
village graveyard at midnight, barefooted, and with a skeleton stolen from
the museum hitched to one arm."

"That's the program, is it, Bob?"

"Exactly," assented Frank's new chum. "The show begins to-night, as I say.
Stick close to me and you won't lose any rest."

Frank looked blandly and admiringly at his comrade, and was rather proud of
him.

There had never come so marked and agreeable a change over a boy as that
manifested in the instance of Bob Upton within three days.

There was still under the surface with Bob, when he met strangers, a
certain suspicious element that had been engrafted in him. The least hint
that any one was guying him or imposing upon him would bring the old look
back to his face, but Frank watched him closely, and coming to Bellwood
School had indeed been the beginning of a new life for Bob.