ridors between classes he knew that he had caught the interest of the school. Students stopped him and asked him what it was all about; he smiled, and parried, and told them nothing. Mr. Quirk, teacher of English V, had once remarked that the best way to keep suspense alive was to veil a situation with mystery. Even Perry King was repulsed, and stalked off in a temper.
"You're putting on airs," he said angrily. "I'm one of the delegates to the Congress, and yet when I'm asked about this I'm in the dark. It makes me look like a fool."
George sighed. To tell Perry would be akin to shouting the tidings from the manual training rooms in the basement to the auditorium on the top floor. Perry had never quite outgrown an itch to impress others with how much he knew. The president's tone became conciliatory.
"Tell them they'll have to wait until to-morrow."
Perry looked at him suspiciously. "All right," he grumbled. "That will let me save my face, anyway. But if you make a fozzle of this don't think you're going to drag the rest of Room 13 in with you."
"I won't," George promised meekly. It had begun to dawn on him that a petition of protest would mean nothing unless it carried a formid-
