The High School Pitcher | Page 3

until only Dick & Co. were
together.
"Dan," said Dick, smilingly, "something struck you hard this morning,
when Mr. Cantwell asked us all to bring the music-money on Monday."
"He didn't say exactly 'money,'" retorted Dan Dalzell, quickly. "What
Prin. did say was that each one of us was to bring fifteen pennies."
"Yes, I remember," laughed Dick.
"Now, we couldn't have held that mob when school let out," pursued
Dan. "And now it's too late. But say, if the Prin. had only sprung that
on us before recess-----"
"Well, suppose he had?" interrupted Greg Holmes, a trifle impatiently.
"Why, then," retorted Dan, mournfully, "we could have passed word
around, at recess, to have everybody bring just what the Prin. called
for---pennies!"
"Hm!" grinned Dave Darrin, who was never slow to see the point of
anything. "Then you had a vision of the unpopular Prin. being
swamped under a deluge of pennies---plain, individual little copper
cents?"
"That's it!" agreed Dan. "But now, we won't see more than a few before

we go to school again Monday. Oh---wow! What a chance that takes
away from us. Just imagine the Prin. industriously counting away at
thousands of pennies, and a long line of boy and girl students in line,
each one waiting to pass him another handful of pennies! Say, can you
see the Prin.---just turning white and muttering to himself? But there's
no chance to get the word around, now!"
"We don't need to get the word around," smiled Dick. "If we passed the
word around, it might get to the Prin.'s ears before Monday, and he'd
hatch up some way to head us off."
"If you can see how to work the trick at this late hour, you can see
further than I can," muttered Dan, rather enviously.
"Oh, Dick has the scheme hatching, or he wouldn't talk about it,"
declared Dave Darrin, confidently.
"Why, if all you want is to send the whole student body on Monday
morning, each with fifteen copper cents to hand the Prin., that can be
fixed up easily enough," Dick pronounced, judicially.
"How are we going to do it?" asked Dalzell, dubiously.
"Well, let us see how many pennies would be needed? There are close
to two hundred and fifty students, but a few might refuse to go into the
trick. Let us say two hundred and forty times fifteen. That's thirty-six
hundred, isn't it? That means we want to get thirty-six dollars' worth of
pennies. Well, we'll get them!"
"We will?" demanded Dan, with a snort. "Dick, unless you've got more
cash on hand than the rest of us then I don't believe a dragnet search of
this crowd would turn up two dollars. Thirty-six? That's going some
and halfway back!"
"There are three principal ways of buying goods of any kind," Dick
continued. "One way is with cash-----"
"That's the street we live on!" broke in Harry Hazelton, with a laugh.

"The second way," Dick went on, "is to pay with a check. But you must
have cash at the bank behind the check, or you get into trouble. Now
the third way is to buy goods on credit."
"That's just as bad," protested Dan. "Where, in the whole town, could a
bunch of youngsters like us, get thirty-six dollars' worth of real credit?"
"I can," declared Dick, coolly.
"You? Where? With your father?"
"No; Dad rarely takes in much in the way of pennies. I don't suppose he
has two dollars' worth of pennies on hand at any time. But, fellows, you
know that 'The Morning Blade' is a one cent paper. Now, the publisher
of 'The Blade' must bank a keg of pennies every day in the week. I can
see Mr. Pollock, the editor, this afternoon, right after luncheon. He has
probably sent most of the pennies to bank today, but I'll ask him if he'll
have to-morrow's pennies saved for us."
"Say, if he'll only do that!" glowed Dan, his eyes flashing.
"He will," declared Dave Darrin. "Mr. Pollock will do anything, within
reason, that Dick asks."
"Now, fellows, if I can put this thing through, we can meet in my room
to-morrow afternoon at one o'clock. Pennies come in rolls of fifty each,
you know. We'll have to break up the rolls, and make new ones, each
containing fifteen pennies."
Dave Darrin stopped where he was, and began to laugh. Tom Reade
quickly joined in. The others were grinning.
"Oh, say, just for one look at Prin.'s face, if we can spring that job on
him!" chuckled Harry Hazelton.
"We can," announced Dick, gravely. "So go home and enjoy your
dinners, fellows. If you want to meet on the same old corner on Main
Street, at half-past two to-day, we'll go in a body to 'The Blade' office

and learn