b.j. and reddy made off after it as fast as they could on the slippery ice with the help of the wind at their backs; but they never overtook it, and the run served them only the good turn of warming them somewhat, and thus saving them from all the dire consequences they deserved for their foolhardiness. when reddy reached home, he found that heady had preceded him. both were put to bed and dosed with such bitter medicine that they almost forgot the miseries they had had upon the lake. but it was many a day before they would consent to speak to b.j. when they saw him coming they crossed the street with great dignity, and if he spoke to them they seemed stricken with a sudden deafness. b.j.s troubles did not end with his return home; for, somehow or other, the escapade with the ice-boat reached his fathers ears. and it is reported that b.j.s father forgot for a few minutes the fact that his son was now a dignified academician. at any rate, b.j. took his meals standing for a day or two, and he could not explain this strange whim to the satisfaction of his friends. every member of the dozen realized the necessity of keeping the body clean if he would be a successful athlete, and of keeping his linen and clothes comely if he would be a successful gentleman. taken altogether, the twelve were exactly what could be called neat but not gaudy. but presentable as all of them were, there was none that took so much pains and pride in the elegances of dress as the boy pretty, who won his title from his fondness for being what the others sometimes called a dude. but he was such a whole-hearted, vigorous, athletic young fellow, with so little foolishness about his make-up, that the name did not carry with it the insult it usually conveys. the chief offense pretty gave to the less careful of the dozen was his fondness for carrying a cane, a practice which the rest of the boys, being boys, did not affect. but pretty was not to be dissuaded from this, nor from any of his other foibles, by ridicule, and the others finally gave him up in despair. when he went to kingston there was a new audience for his devotion to matters of dress. but at the academy it was considered a breach of respect to the upper-classmen for the lower-classmen to carry canes. pretty, however, simply sniffed at the tradition, and said it didnt interest him at all. finally a large senior vowed he would crack the cane in pieces over prettys head, if necessary. pretty heard these threats, and was prepared for the man. when the fatal moment of their meeting arrived, though the senior was much bigger than pretty, the lakerim youth did not runat least, he ran no farther than was necessary to clear a good space for the use of a little single-stick exercise. pretty was no boxer, but he was a firm believer in the value of a good stout cane. imagine his humiliation, then, when he found, in the first place, that the crook of his stick had caught in his coat-pocket and spoiled one good blow, and, in the second place, that the fine strong slash he meant to deliver overhead like a broad-sword stroke merely landed upon the upraised arm of the senior, and had its whole force broken. pretty then had the bitter misery of seeing his good sword wrenched from his hand and broken across the knee of the senior, who very magnificently told him that he must never appear on the campus again with a walking-stick. pretty was overcome with embarrassment at the outcome of his innocent foppery, and of his short, vain battle, and he was the laughing-stock of the seniors for a whole day. but, being of lakerim mettle and metal, he did not mean to let one defeat mean a final overthrow. he told the rest of the lakerimmers that he would carry a cane anyway, and carry it anywhere he pleased, and that the next man who attempted to take it from him would be likely to get mussed up. about this time he found a magazine article that told the proper sort of cane to carry, and the proper way to use it in case of attack; and he proceeded to read and profit. now, inasmuch as sawed-off was working his way through the academy, and paying his own expenses, without assistance except from what small earnings he could make himself, it was only natural that he should always be the one who always had a little money to lend to the other fellows, though they had their funds from home. it was now pretty who came to him for the advance of cash enough to buy a walking-stick of the following superb description: a thoroughly even, straight-grained bit of hickory-wood, tapered like a billiard-cue, an inch and a half thick at the butt and three fourths of an inch thick at the point, the butt carrying a knob of silver, and the point heavily ferruled. pretty had managed to find such a stick in the small stores of lakerim. he bought it with sawed-offs money, and he practised his exercises with it so vigorously and so secretly that when he next appeared upon the campus and carried it, the senior who had attacked him before, let him go by without any hindrance. he was fairly stupefied at the impudence of this lakerimmer whom he thought he had thrashed so soundly. he did not know that the main characteristic of the lakerimmer is this: he does not know when he is whipped, or, if he does know it, he will not stay whipped. but once he had recovered his senses, the haughty senior did not lose much time in making another onslaught on pretty. when some of his friends were pouring cold water on this seniors bruised head a few minutes later, he poured cold water on their scheme to attempt to carry out what he had failed in, for he said: dont you ever go up against that lakerim fellow; his cane works like a gatling gun. so pretty was permitted to carry his cane; and though he swaggered a little, perhaps, no further attempt was made by the seniors to take the stick away from him. they had to content themselves with trying to throw water on him from upper windows; but their aim was bad. xx pretty had not been home long on his christmas vacation before he called at the home of the beautiful girl enid, who had helped him win so many tennis games, and who was the best of all the best girls he devoted himself to, either in kingston, lakerim, or any other of the towns he blessed with his smiling presence. enid and pretty, being great lovers of fresh air, took many a long walk on the country roads about lakerim. one day, when the air was as exhilarating and as electric as the bubbles in a glass of ice-cream soda, they took a much longer stroll than usual. then they made a sudden decision to turn homeward; for, rounding a sharp bend in the road, they saw coming toward them three burly tramps