“You’re going to have something to-night that you don’t want me to know about,” declared Joel, his chubby face set defiantly, and crowding closer; “so there; now I’m going to find out what it is.”

“If we don’t want you to know, you ought not to try to find out, Joel Pepper,” cried Alexia.  “And you shan’t, either.”

“There, now you see,” cried Polly, unable to keep still, while her face grew red too.  “O dear! what shall we do?”

“You are—­you are,” cried Joel, capering up and down the platform, his black eyes shining with delight.  “Now I know for certain, and it’s at our house, too, for you asked Polly if you might bring some other girl, Elsie somebody or other, so!  Oh!  I’ll soon know.”

“Joel,” exclaimed Jasper suddenly, clapping him on the shoulder, “I’m going round to the gymnasium; want to go with me?”

Joel stopped his capering at once, this new idea thrusting out the old one.

“Don’t I, though!” he cried, with a nod at Polly and her friends.  “But I’ll find out when I do get home,” the nod declared plainly.

But Jasper also nodded.  He said, “He won’t get home till late; depend on me.”  And then “Come on, Joe,” he cried; “I’m going to walk,” and they were off.

Alexia pinched Polly’s gray woolen jacket sleeve convulsively.  “What an escape,” she breathed.

“Here comes Percy,” cried Polly nervously, and she broke away from her and the other girls, and ran to meet him, and the two boys following.

“Where’s Jasper?” asked Percy, rendered quite important in air and step, from his encounter with the baggage officials.

“Oh! he isn’t going home with us,” said Polly.  “Come, do let us get in,” and she scampered off to the carriage and climbed within.

“That’s funny,” said Percy, jumping in after.

Van opened his lips to tell where Jasper had gone, but remembering Percy’s delight in such an expedition, he closed them quickly, and added himself to the company in the carriage.  Davie followed, and closed the door quickly.

“Stop! where’s Joel?” asked Percy.  “Thomas, we’ve forgotten Joe,” rapping on the glass to the coachman.

“No, we haven’t; he isn’t going to drive,” said Polly.

“Oh!” and Percy, thinking that Joel had stolen a march on them on his good strong legs, now cried lustily, “Go on, Thomas; get ahead as fast as you can,” and presently he was lost in the babel of laughter and chatter going on in the coach.

“I’ve a piece of news,” presently cried Van in a lull.  “Davie’s bringing home a prize; first in classics, you know.”

“Oh, Davie!” screamed Polly, and she leaned over to throw her arms around him; “Mamsie will be so glad.  Davie, you can’t think how glad she’ll be!”

Davie’s brown cheek glowed.  “It isn’t much,” he said simply, “there were so many prizes given out.”

“Well, you’ve taken one,” cried Polly, saying the blissful over and over.  “How perfectly elegant!”