hout a word turned on his heel and went quickly
upstairs. He entered the attic, and in about half a minute they heard
him coming back.

"Ha, ha! I've got your ghost; I've been trying to lay him for some time
past."

The jingle of a chain was distinctly audible; Mr. Blake was evidently
bringing the spectre down in his arms! Diggory and Vance could no
longer restrain their curiosity; they hopped out of bed and glanced
round the corner of the door. The master held in his hand a rusty old
gin, the iron jaws of which were tightly closed upon the body of an
enormous rat.

"There's a monster for you!" he said; "I think it's the biggest I ever
saw. He'd carried the trap, chain and all, right across the room, but
that finished him; he was as dead as a stone when I picked him up.
Now get back to bed; I should think you're both nearly frozen."

Diggory and Jack Vance followed the advice given to Kennedy and Jacobs,
and did so rather sheepishly. They felt they had been making tools of
themselves; yet it would never have done to own to such a thing.

"What a lark!" said the new boy, after a few moments' silence.

"Wasn't it!" returned Jack Vance; "it's the best joke I've had for a
long time. But we didn't pay those fellows out for throwing those
snowballs; we must do it some other night. And now we three must swear
to be friends, and stand by each other against all the world, and
whatever happens. What shall we call our room?"

"I know," answered Diggory: "we'll call it 'The Triple Alliance!'"

CHAPTER II.

THE PHILISTINES.

The Triple Alliance, the formation of which has just been described, was
destined to be no mere form of speech or empty display of friendship.
The members had solemnly sworn to stand by one another whatever
happened, and the manner in which they carried out their resolve, and
the important consequences which resulted from their concerted actions,
will be made known to the reader as our story progresses.

Poor Mugford certainly seemed likely to be a heavy drag on the
association; he was constantly tumbling into trouble, and needing to be
pulled out again by those who had promised to be his friends.

An instance of this occurred on the day following Diggory's arrival at
The Birches. He and Vance had gone down after morning school into what
was called the playroom, to partake of two more of the latter's
mince-pies, and on their return to the schoolroom found a crowd
assembled round Ac