could bear him to the floor and
overpower him.
His hands were securely bound, and then he was lifted to his feet.
"Well, fellows, that was a pretty slick trick," he half laughed, as he
coolly looked around. "You sophs have been trying to corral a gang of us
for a week, and with the aid of the smooth Mr. Browning you succeeded
very finely this time."
"Silence!" roared a deep voice, and a tall fellow in a scarlet Mephisto
rig confronted Frank. "You have intruded upon forbidden ground. None but
the chosen may enter here and escape with life."
"Not one!" chorused all the masks in deep and dismal unison.
Mephisto made a signal. Once more the freshmen were seized.
"Away with them!" shouted the fellow in red.
In another moment all but Frank had been hustled out of the room. Then
Frank was suddenly held fast and blindfolded. He was dragged along to
some place where the opening of another door brought to his ears the
sound of horns and shouts of fiendish glee. He was made to mount some
stairs and then his feet were kicked from beneath him, and he shot down
a steep and slippery incline into the very midst of the shouting demons.
He dropped through space and landed--in a vat of ice-cold water. Then he
was dragged out, thumped on the head with stuffed clubs, deafened by the
horns that bellowed in his ears, and tossed in a blanket till his head
bumped against the ceiling. Then he was forced to crawl through a piano
box that was filled with sawdust. He was pushed and pulled and hammered
and thumped till he was sore in every part of his body.
All through this ordeal not a word or murmur escaped his lips. His teeth
were set, and he felt that he had rather die than utter a sound that
betrayed pain or agitation.
This seemed to infuriate his assailants. They banged him about till he
could scarcely stand, and then, of a sudden, there was a great hush,
while a terrible voice croaked:
"Bring forth the guillotine!"
There was a bustle, and then the bandage was stripped from Frank's eyes,
he was tripped up, and a second later found himself lying helpless with
his neck in the socket of a mock guillotine. Above him was suspended a
huge gleaming knife that seemed to tremble, as if about to fall. At his
side was a fellow dressed in the somber garments of an executioner.
It was really a severe strain upon his nerves, but still his teeth were
clinched, and not a sound came from his lips.
"The knife is broken," whispered t
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