The Triple Alliance

r crowd, all anxious to view the mysterious footprints. The Triple Alliance gained fresh renown as the originators of the s

on and Diggory, but seemed rath

ve been there before. I don't see what there is in the shed that should make it worth any one's while to brea

stolen, the subject was allowed to drop, and the usual excitement connected with the end of term and the

ege, a large school in the neighbourhood, to which a good number of Mr. Welsby's former pupils had been transferred after undergoing a preliminary course of education at The Birches. Letters from these departed heroes, containing disjointed descriptions of their new surroundings, awakened a feeling of in

school in Germany. My brother John is there; he's one of the big chaps, and is captain of the football team

hough six a side was comparatively a poor business, yet under his instruction they gained a good grounding in the rudiments of the "soccer" of the period. The old system of dri

into the playground one morning, with a piece of pa

d round, wonder

avier than we are, and we should probably get licked; but that isn't the question: any sportsman would sooner play a losing game than no game at all, and it'll be good practice. We always used to have a match with them every term;

rmur ran thro

a moment ago a decidedly unfriendly spirit has existed between you and the boys at Mr. Phillips's. Now an exhibition of this feeling on a football field would be a disgrace to the school. You must play like gentlemen, and there

s,

d say we shall be pleased to pl

ent went football mad. It was played in the schoolroom and passages with empty ink-pots and balls of paper, in the bedrooms with

d a good defence, put himself and Shaw as full backs. Acton took centre for

erly to grief in their work; but Mr. Blake understood th

against the wall, cracking nuts, and remarking that he "wished they'd hurry up and not keep us waiting all day." At length there was a sound of voices in the lane, and the next moment the enemy entered the field, headed by their under-master,

d Jacobs, "they'

ut and spitting out the shell. "They aren't going to eat us; and as

oming up to his followers, "we play towards the roa

attack swept down upon him only to break up like waves on a rock, and the ball came flying back with a shout of "Now, then! Get away, Birches!" Twice the Horace House wing men got round Shaw, and put in good shots; but Diggory saved them both, and was seen a moment later calmly rewarding himself with another nut. Gradually, as the time slipped away and no score was made, the Birchites began to realize that being able t

state of things; they had expected an easy win, and began to sho

g happened which very nearly caused Mr.

pting to take the ball from Hogson

ur of indignation among the home team,

e play is a trifle rough. Our men," he

hing about not funki

y the game, boys, and th

immense amount of secret satisfaction. He caught the ball in his hands, and at the same moment Noaks made a fierce rush, meaning to knock him through the goal. Diggory, with an engaging smile, hopped on one side, and the Philistine flung himself against the post, and bumped his head w

to

he came striding up the grou

st all the chief clubs in the district, and in any of those matches, if su

oval, in which several o

d by a member of my team.-Noaks," he added, turning to the culprit, "put on your coat and go home; you hav

d Acton; "old Fox

ht," answered Morris; "it's only

ual in numbers, but the sudden calamity which had overtaken their centre f

t nearly so spirited,

s appeared in fr

the game would end in a draw-a result which the h

and in answer to a query from Mr

me take your place, and you go back. Do

he fight was raging in the very mouth of the enemy's goal. Morris put in a

ll take it. Now you fellows ge

he ball as it flew through the air. It dropped in exactly the right place, and Jack Vance, by some happy fluke, kicked it j

a band of applauding comrades, who, with his head about a couple of feet lower than his heels, carried him in triumph across the playground, and staggered half-way up the steep garden path,

en the Triple Alliance was decidedly in evidence and won fresh laurels, yet there are other reasons which make an account of it necessary, as the reader will discover in following the course of subsequent events. If Jack Vance had kicked the ball a yard over the bar instead

ther Noaks nor his two cronies, Hogson and Bernard, had any of this manly spirit about them; and smarting under the disappointment of not having won, and the knowledge that at least one of them had reaped shame and contempt instead of glory, they determined to seek a speedy rev

e legs of the players, while the latter replied by inquiring when they meant to "come over and take another licking." At other times these Horace House Cossacks swooped down on single members of the rival establishment, harrying them in the very streets of Chatford, and on one occasion had the audacity to lay violent hands on Jacobs, beat his bowler hat down over his eyes, and push him through the folding doors of a drapery establishment, where he upset an umbrella-stand and three chair

n the playground waiting for his return from Chatford, when they became conscious of certain "alarms without;" whoops and war-cries sounded somewhere down Locker's Lane, and ceased as suddenly as they had begun. The boys stood for some mom

ded to shorten his return journey by risking the dangers of Locker's Lane. He had been captured by a party of Philistines, who, under

there and then, burnt Horace House to the ground, and hung its inhabitants on the surrounding trees-it would be hard to say; as it was,

ws, some one's stolen

upon the devoted heads of Mr. Welsby's pupils. Every one stared at his neighbour in mute am

ha

efore going into the field I hung my watch up on a nail in the shed, and stupidly forgot all abou

y ferocious look, "who knows anything about this? speak up, can't y

ttempted

tell him, and I won't keep the key of that place. Of course it mak

heel and strode off in t

ed Jack Vance, "now

and though he spoke in a calm and collected manner, with no trace of passion in his voice, yet his words made them all tremble. Miss Eleanor sat silent at the tea-table, w

owed his example. The whole of the next afternoon was spent in a careful examination of desks and boxes, but with n

found," and suspicion fell on Kennedy and Jacobs. The result of Diggory's trap seemed to show that the various thefts had been committed at night. It was agreed that the two occupants of the "Main-top" had special opportunity for getting out of the house if so minded; every other room had one or more fellows in it who had suffered the loss of some property; and lastly, Kennedy was known to possess a pair of hob-nailed fishing-boots, which he usually kept under his be

nd Jack Vance in so doing. He continued to affirm that it must be the man he had seen in the playground on the occasion of the first me

lowship. Even the association of the Triple Alliance seemed likely to end in an open rupture, and very possibly

to Chatford. It was nearly dark when they started to come b

Philistines; besides,

solitary figure was discovered stan

o late to turn back, but most likely he won't n

s sauntered through the doorway. A gleam of light from the house happened to fall on D

his companion or the enemy; and though he ventured back as far as the double doors, which were now closed, not a soul was to be seen. He knew in a moment that his class-mate had been captured, but all hope of attempting anything in the shape of a rescue was out of the question. It was impossible for him single-handed to storm the fortress, and so, after lingering about for some mi