"Oh! Don't, please don't."
"You'll yell worse than that when we are through with you," answered Sam.
"You bet he will," said Buster Beggs. "I got a hot cinder in my right eye."
"Don't, please don't!" shrieked Nat Poole. He was a coward at heart, and the attitude of those around filled him with sudden terror. "I didn't do it, I tell you."
"Then who did?" demanded Dave.
"Oh, I—I can't tell you. I—I"
"Yes, you can tell," said Shadow, and gave Poole's ear a twist. The story-teller of the school had gotten some hot ashes in his mouth, which had put him in anything but a gentle humor.
"It was Link Merwell. He put the crackers under the fire and let the fuses stick up," said Poole.
"You're a fine sort to blab!" sneered Merwell. "Since you're willing to tell so much, I'll tell something too. He bought the fire-crackers."
"Is that true, Poole?" questioned Roger.
"Ye—yes, but I—I didn't know"
"He knew what I was going to do with them," broke in Link Merwell. "It was only a joke."
"So is that a joke, Merwell," answered Roger, and hauling off he boxed the tall youth's right ear. "If you want to make anything out of it, do so. Look at my hands and neck. You went too far."
