in quickly.

"The truth is out," Tom burst out laughing. "Darry, by that slip
of the tongue you admitted that you've been eating too much and
that you're all out of sorts."

Dave did not deny. He merely snorted, from which sign of defiance
his chums could gain no information.

They had gone another quarter of a mile through the woods when
Dick, now alone in the lead, suddenly halted, holding up one hand
as a signal to halt, while he rested the fingers of his other
hand over his lips as a command for silence.

"What is it?" whispered Darrin, stepping close.

"Fred Ripley, Bert Dodge and some of their fellows," Dick whispered,
at the same time pointing through the leaves.

"Well, we don't have to halt, just because they're around," retorted
Darrin, snorting. "If they try to pick any trouble with us we
can give 'em as good as they send. We've done it once or twice
already."

"But we don't want to go to fighting on Sunday, if there's any
way to avoid it," young Prescott urged, at which four of his chums
nodded their heads approvingly.

"I'm not looking for any fight, either," muttered Dave. "Yet
it goes against the grain to halt just in order to let that gang
slip by without seeing us."

"There are five of us against your single vote, Darry," Dick reminded
him. "Let us have our way."

"Well, we don't need to skulk, do we?" queried Dave.

"Oh, no," Dick assured him. "All we will do is to keep quiet
and not bring on a fight with that tough lot."

"Huh!" muttered Darrin, as though he could not see the difference
between that and skulking.

Presently, after holding a hand behind him to signal silence and
stealth, Prescott started on in the lead. He wanted, if possible,
to see just where Ripley, Dodge and their crowd went, so that
the Grammar School boys would not run too suddenly into them.
The "Co." trailed on in Indian file behind their leader.

Finally Dick halted again, his chums crowding on his heels. They
looked out into a clearing beyond. There, amid trees, stood a
small three-room house, looking still quite new in its trim paint,
though the building had stood there idle for some five years.
At one time the city had planned a new reservoir site on a hill
just above, and this little cottage had been intended for the
reservoir tender. Then a better site for the reservoir had been
found, and, to date, the cottage had not been removed.

"Ripley and his crew went around that cottage to the door side,"
Di