and if that wasn't enough he could get plenty of other men, and where
would our fighting be then? We should all get the most tremendous
licking we have ever had, and get laughed at besides through the
town for a pack of young fools."

Ned broke into a good tempered laugh.

"Of course you are right, Room. I only thought about Hathorn
himself. Still, it is horribly unfair. I will do it today. But if
he goes on with it, as he threatens, I won't do it, let him do what
he likes."

For some days this state of things continued. There was no longer
any sound of shouting and laughter in the playground. The boys walked
about moody and sullen, working at their lessons. They were fast
becoming desperate. No clue had been obtained as to the destroyer
of the cat, and the schoolmaster declared that if it took him months
to break their spirits he would do it.

Ned Sankey had said nothing at home as to his troubles. His father
noticed that he ran off again as soon as his dinner was over, and
that he no longer said anything as to the sports in which he was
engaged in playtime; also, that his lessons occupied him from tea
time until he went up to bed.

"Anything is better than this," Ned said one day to some of the
boys of his own age. "In my opinion it's better to have a regular
row. What Room said was quite true; we shall get the worst of it;
but the story will then come out, and it will be seen what a beastly
tyranny we have been undergoing. I tell you, I for one will not