the members of the "Big Bug Club."

THE BIG BUG CLUB.

[Illustration: Fig. 186. A Section through the Completed Cave.]

Of course, we had to organize a secret society, to occupy our
subterranean dwelling. In that I fear we overstepped the rules of the
school. Of course, Mr. Clark knew of our cave, in fact he visited us
there once, lowering his dignity sufficiently to squeeze into the narrow
passageway, and playing Bill a game of chess at our club table. He
seemed quite pleased with our work, and complimented us very highly on
the masterful way in which we had built the underground house. We told
him that we had organized a club of the older fellows to play indoor
games and have occasional spreads, but we did not tell him that most of
our spreads were held at the dead of night, when there was no moon and
the stars were hidden by clouds. At 10 o'clock each night the bell rang
for us to turn out our lights, and after that the six members would
each, in turn, keep a half-hour watch, that is, first one would sit up
and try to keep awake for half an hour, after which he would waken the
next fellow, who at the end of a half hour would rouse the third, and so
on, until 1 o'clock, when the sixth watcher would wake up the entire
club. Then we would all creep out the back window in the hall, onto the
roof of the rear annex of the schoolhouse, and thence climb down a rope
ladder to the ground.

MIDNIGHT BANQUETS.

I suppose we could have just as easily have tiptoed downstairs and out
the back door, but it would have spoiled the romance of it all. The
absolute stillness and the pitch-black darkness of the night were
awe-inspiring. The roll of a pebble or the crack of a twig under foot
would set us all atingle as we stole out to our cave house. Sometimes
the night was so black that we could hardly find the entrance of the
cave. Once inside, in the light of a few candles, the nervous tension
was relieved, and we reveled in a banquet of cold victuals and dainties,
purchased out of the monthly club dues. Our meetings in the cave lasted
scarcely half an hour. In fact, the meeting, and even the banquet, were
mere incidentals. The main enjoyment consisted in stealing out to the
cave and back again, always at the risk of getting caught. Usually when
we got to bed again we would be too excited to fall asleep right away,
and when we did finally drop off our sleep was so sound that several
times the breakfast bell caught one or more o