His chair was glued fast to him, and wherever he moved the chair went too!

“Oh!” exclaimed Bob in a hoarse and horrified whisper.  “I put the stuff on the wrong chair!  I wanted Captain Spark to stick fast, and I put it on the minister’s chair by mistake!”

By this time the dominie was endeavoring to pull the chair loose from the seat of his trousers.  But the glue Bob had spread was very sticky.  Pull and tug as he did, the minister could not free himself.

First there was a murmur, then some one laughed.  In a moment the whole room was in an uproar.

“You’ll catch it!” prophesied Ted, in an awestruck whisper.

“I won’t unless some of you squeal on me,” declared Bob.

He looked over the balcony railing at the struggling minister, who was trying in vain to get free from the chair.

“Nobody’ll squeal,” declared Will Merton.

“Of course not,” added Sam Shoop.

CHAPTER VI

MRS. HENDERSON’S DECISION

The minister, very much embarrassed, was doing his best to get rid of the chair.  It was hard work, for if he turned around to one side to grasp it, the chair, naturally, swung away from him.  It was several seconds before any one thought to aid him.  Then Captain Spark came to his relief.

“Guess I’ll have to give you a hand, dominie,” he said.  “You’re anchored pretty hard and fast on a shoal, and you’ll need help to break loose.  How did it happen?  Did you sit down on an egg?”

“Some one put glue in the chair.  I did not notice it until I tried to get up.”

“Glue, eh?”

The captain’s eyes had a queer look in them.

“Yes.  I suppose some of the boys did it for a joke.”

“Pretty poor sort of a joke,” remarked Mrs. Olney.  “I could almost put my hand on the boy that did it, too.”

She looked to see if Mrs. Henderson had heard her, but Bob’s mother was on the other side of the room and was not fully aware of what had happened.

Captain Spark tried to pull the chair loose from the minister, but the glue had taken a firm hold, and the only result of his efforts was to drag the reverend gentleman about the room.

[Illustration:  “Captain Spark tried to pull the chair loose.”]

All this while the people were trying hard not to laugh.  But it was impossible.  Men were chuckling and endeavoring to suppress their mirth, and nearly all the women were red in the face from holding in their laughter.

“Guess you’d better sit down, dominie,” advised the captain.

“If I do, I’ll stick faster than before.”

“Well, if you do I’ll put my feet on the rounds of the chair and hold it down while you get up.  Maybe you can pull loose.”

“I’m afraid,” said Rev. Mr. Blackton.

“Afraid of what?”

“I might tear my trousers, and,” he added in a whisper to the captain, “they’re the best pair I have.”