y Rider Boys were not making too much noise.

"Do you withdraw the flippant words you used to a member of this august
body?" demanded a deep voice.

"No!" cried Tad Butler. "Never! I'll die first!"

"Then take your punishment!"

With that they gave the boy a swing, one holding to the feet the other
the shoulders of the lad. When they let go, Tad sailed several feet
through the air. Quick as a cat in his movements Tad turned over
before he landed, going down on all fours. He thought he was going to
strike on the hard ground. Instead he landed at the bottom of a deep
pool of water cold as ice it seemed to him. He went in all over. Not
expecting anything of this sort the boy was not holding his breath.
The result was that he got a mouthful of water. He came up choking,
then pretended to go down again. Instead he crawled up to the bank,
under which he hid.

A moment passed and the Rangers began to be alarmed. Dippy stepped
to the edge of the pool and leaning over peered down somewhat anxiously.

Quick as a flash a pair of arms encircled his neck. Dippy plunged
in head first. He did not even have time to cry out. The others,
discovering that Dippy had fallen in, rushed to the edge shouting and
laughing. Two of them went the way of their companion, Tad having
jerked their feet from under them. Within sixty seconds from that time
half of the crowd were threshing about in the cold waters of the pool,
while Tad, who had crawled out, sat on the bank dripping, watching
their struggles.

Stacy Brown was rolling on the ground, howling with delight. All at
once he was picked up in a pair of strong arms and tossed in bodily.
Stacy howled lustily. Clambering out he squared off for fight, but the
only fight he got was another ducking in the pool.

"You---you----you fellows ought to be ashamed to pick on a wounded man
that way. Don't you know I've been shot?"

"Shot?"

"Yes, shot."

"He's been shot," chorused the boys and the Rangers together.

"Any of the rest of you kiddies been wounded in the fracas?" demanded
Folly.

"No, but you've overlooked two of us," announced Ned stepping out. "We
haven't had our baths yet and I reckon we need them."

Without a word, two of the Rangers got up and threw the two remaining
boys into the pool. Ned went in with a mighty splash, Walter Perkins
landing on top of him, nearly taking away the breath of Rector. They
had a rough and tumble scrimmage in the cold water,