gave promise of a further addition
to the sinews of war.

By general consent the visitors slipped in, not in a body, but casually
one by one, and so escaped special observation. As soon as they were
all assembled, Percy gave the order to screw up, and pile on the
barricades.

_Wally_, who was disposed to be patronising, snuffed up somewhat at his
brother's calm assumption of the command.

"Why didn't you say you wanted screws?" said he; "we've got one or two
long ones. That's not the way to stick it in, young Lickford; make the
hole more sideways. Here, I'll do it for you."

"I'll tell you what," said D'Arcy, "you chaps had better begin to move
up the bed against the door, in case they come before we're fast in.
Fire away. Stick it close up, and young Lickford can stand on to it to
put in the screw."

"Come on, Cash; stick these parcels out of the way," said Ashby, handing
out the provender; "they'll be better in the cupboard. Mind how you put
them in."

"You've got a knife, Cottle," said Fisher minor. "Cut these bits of
wood into wedges to go under the door. They'll make it pretty secure."

In this manner the Classic auxiliaries coolly took charge of the
arrangements before ever their hosts had time to realise that they had
been relegated to a back seat.

However, just now there was no time for arguing questions of precedence
and authority. The enemy might be upon them at any moment, and they had
a lot to do before their outworks could be said to be in a proper state
of defence.

The screws in the door were driven hard home into the wainscot; the
wedges underneath were tightly fixed. The bed, with bedding complete,
was drawn against the entry. A second line of defence was thrown up of
chairs, chest of drawers, book-case, and wash-stand. Beyond that were
stacked against the wall cricket bats, stumps, boxing-gloves, and other
dangerous-looking implements, for use in a last emergency. At Percy's
suggestion, and under Wally's direction, an additional loophole was
bored in the panel of the door (in flagrant forgetfulness of the rights
of School property), through which, as well as through the ventilating
holes above, the enemy might be reconnoitred and operated on.

These preliminaries being complete, and Fisher minor having been perched
on the table (which was on the bed), with his eye to the loophole, the
company, to pass the time, resolved itself into a committee on the
School shop, and waited a