many
faint cheers.

"Good boy, Jack!" cried Bobolink, patting the other's back. "It was
just like the thoughtful fellow you are to go down and read the
prospect the weather sharps in Washington hold out for us."

"You must thank Paul for that, then," admitted the other, "for he told
me about it. I rather expect Paul had the laugh on the rest of us
to-night, boys."

"Now you're referring to that Jud Mabley business, Jack," said Phil
Towne.

"Well, when Paul let him off so easy every one of us believed he was
wrong, and that the chances were ten to one Paul would have to fork
over the dollar to pay for having that window pane put in," continued
Jack. "But you heard what happened?"

"Yes, seems that the age of miracles hasn't passed yet," admitted
Bobolink. "I thought I was dreaming when Paul told me that Jud's
little brother came this morning with an envelope addressed to him,
and handed it in without a word."

"And when Paul opened it," continued Jack, taking up the story in his
turn, "he found a nice, new dollar bill enclosed, with a scrap of
paper on which Jud had scrawled these words: 'Never would have paid
only I couldn't let _you_ stand for my accident, and after you treated
me so white, too. But this wipes it all out, remember. I'm no
crawler!'"

"It tickled Paul a whole lot, let me remark," Jud Elderkin explained.
"I do half believe he thinks he can see a rift in the cloud, and that
some of these days hopes to get a chance to drag Jud Mabley out of
that ugly crowd."

"It would be just like Paul to lay plans that way," acknowledged Jack.
"I know him like a book, and believe me, he gets more pleasure out of
making his enemies feel cheap than the rest of us would if we gave
them a good licking."

"Paul's a sure-enough trump!" admitted Bluff. "Do you know what he
said when he was showing that scrawl to us fellows? I was close enough
to get part of it, and I'm dead sure the words 'entering wedge' formed
the backbone of his remark."

"Do we go, snow or sunshine, then?" asked Bluff, as they came to a
halt on a corner where several of the boys had to leave the rest, as
their homes lay in different directions.

"That's for Paul to decide," Jack told him. "But we know our leader
well enough to feel sure it's got to be a fierce storm to make him
call a trip off, once all preparations have been made."

"Oh! don't borrow trouble," sang out Bobolink. "Everything is lovely,
and the goose hangs high. Just keep