was striking off in a new direction at the top of his speed, and was well over the stone wall before they could get up steam to follow him. across the road and through the barbed-wire fence he led them pell-mell. there was a little pause while jumbo helped the lubberly sawed-off through the strands that had laid hold of his big frame like fish-hooks. b.j. took this chance to vouchsafe his followers just one bit of information. theyre at rodens knoll, he puffed. rodens knoll was a little clearing in the woods that marked the highest point of land in the state, though it was approached very gradually, and nothing but a barometer could have told its elevation. it was a long run through the night, over many a treacherous bog and through many a cluster of bushes, which, as jumbo said, had finger-nails; and there was many a stumble and jolt, and many a short stop at the edge of a sudden embankment. one of these pauses that brought the whole nine up into a knot was the little step-off where tug and history had thought they were being shoved over the precipice of a grand cañon. at length rodens knoll was reached, but there the weary lakerimmers were discouraged to find nothing but a smoldering fire and the signs of a hard straggle. were too late; its all over, sighed pretty, thinking sadly of the mud and the rips and tears that disfigured his usually perfect toilet. i move we rest a bit, groaned sleepy, seconding his own motion by dropping to the ground. shh! commanded b.j.; dyou hear that? instantly they were all in motion again, for they heard the noise of many runners crashing through the thicket. soon they saw a shadowy form ahead of them and overtook it, and recognized one of the crows. they gave him a glance, and then shoved him to one side with little gentleness, and ran on. two or three of the crows they overtook in this manner, but spent little time upon them. they were bent upon a rescue, not upon the taking of prisoners. then, just as they were approaching the edge of the woods, they heard a cry that made their weary blood gallop. it was the l`¨¡y-krim! l`¨¡y-krim! of tug making his last charge on the flock of crows. in a moment they had reached the mass of humanity that was writhing over him, and they began to tear them off and fling them back upon the ground with fierce rudeness. man after man they peeled off and flung back till they got down to one fellow with his knee on somebodys nose. that nose was tugs, and they soon had the boy on his feet, and turned to continue the argument with the crows. but there were no crows to argue with. the dozen had made up in impetus and vim what it lacked in numbers, and the crows had fled as if from an army. a few black ghosts flying for their lives were all they could see of the band that had been so courageous with only history and tug to take care of. so the ten from lakerim gathered together, and while b.j. beat time they spent what little breath was left in them on the club yell. it sounded more like a chorus of bullfrogs than of young men, but it was gladsome enough to atone for its lack of music, and it was loud enough to convince history that it was safe to come out, of the bushes where he had been crouching in ghostly terror. the lakerimmers were inclined to laugh at history for his fears, but tug told them that if it had not been for his seizing the red-hot pokers there would have been a different story to tell; so they hugged him instead of laughing at him, and sawed-off clapped him on the back such a vigorous thump that history thought the hazers had hold of him again. now they took up their way back to the academy, and b.j. began to plot a dire revenge on the cowardly crows. but tug said: i move we let the matter drop. theyre the ones to talk now of getting even, for they have certainly had the worst of it. itll be just as well to keep a sharp eye on them, though, and it is very important for us to stand together. when they had reached the dormitory they all joined in straightening up and rearranging tugs room before they went to their well-earned sleep. i am afraid the lakerim eleven had the bad taste to do a little gloating over the crows. their wit was not always of the finest, but they enjoyed it themselves, though little the crows liked it, and it kept them all unusually happy for many days all except reddy. he showed a strange inclination to mulpa portmanteau word that jumbo coined out of mope and sulk. viii to see the hilarious reddy mulping was very odd. about the only subject in or out of books that seemed to interest him in the slightest degree was the mention of the name of his twin brother, heady; and that, too, in spite of the fact that the two of them had quarreled and bickered so much that their despairing parents had finally sent them to different schools. but now reddy seemed to be inconsolable, grieving for the other half of his twin heart. finally the boys blues grew so blue that no one was much surprised when he announced his desperate determination to journey to the town where heady was at school, and visit him. reddy got permission from the principal to leave on friday night and return on monday. he had been saving up his spending-money for many a dismal week, and now he went about borrowing the spending-money of all his friends. one friday evening, then, after class hours, all the lakerimmers went in a body down to the railroad-station to bid reddy a short good-by