The Triple Alliance | Page 6

room, but that
finished him; he was as dead as a stone when I picked him up. Now get
back to bed; I should think you're both nearly frozen."
Diggory and Jack Vance followed the advice given to Kennedy and
Jacobs, and did so rather sheepishly. They felt they had been making

tools of themselves; yet it would never have done to own to such a
thing.
"What a lark!" said the new boy, after a few moments' silence.
"Wasn't it!" returned Jack Vance; "it's the best joke I've had for a long
time. But we didn't pay those fellows out for throwing those snowballs;
we must do it some other night. And now we three must swear to be
friends, and stand by each other against all the world, and whatever
happens. What shall we call our room?"
"I know," answered Diggory: "we'll call it 'The Triple Alliance!'"
CHAPTER II.
THE PHILISTINES.
The Triple Alliance, the formation of which has just been described,
was destined to be no mere form of speech or empty display of
friendship. The members had solemnly sworn to stand by one another
whatever happened, and the manner in which they carried out their
resolve, and the important consequences which resulted from their
concerted actions, will be made known to the reader as our story
progresses.
Poor Mugford certainly seemed likely to be a heavy drag on the
association; he was constantly tumbling into trouble, and needing to be
pulled out again by those who had promised to be his friends.
An instance of this occurred on the day following Diggory's arrival at
The Birches. He and Vance had gone down after morning school into
what was called the playroom, to partake of two more of the latter's
mince-pies, and on their return to the schoolroom found a crowd
assembled round Acton, who, seated on the top of a small cupboard
which always served as a judicial bench, was hearing a case in which
Mugford was the defendant, while Jacobs and another boy named Cross
appeared as plaintiffs.

The charge was that the former was indebted to the latter for the sum of
half a crown, which he had borrowed towards the end of the previous
term, in separate amounts of one shilling and eighteen pence, promising
to repay them, with interest, immediately after the holidays. The money
had been expended in the purchase of a disreputable old canary bird,
for which Noaks, the manservant, had agreed to find board and lodging
during the Christmas vacation. Now, when the creditors reminded
Mugford of his obligations, they found him totally unable to meet their
demands for payment.
"Now, look here," said Acton, addressing the defendant with great
severity, "no humbug--how much money did you bring back with
you?"
"Well, I had to pay my brother before I came away for my share in a
telescope we bought last summer, and then--"
"Bother your brother and the telescope! Why can't you answer my
question? How much money did you bring back with you?"
"Only five bob."
"Then why in the name of Fortune don't you pay up?"
"Because I had to pay all that to Noaks for bird-seed."
"D'you mean to say that that bird ate five shillings' worth of seed in
four weeks?"
"Well, so Noaks says; he told me he'd kept scores of birds in his time,
but he'd 'never seen one so hearty at its grub before.' Those were the
very words he used, and he said it was eating nearly all the day, and
that's one reason why it looks such a dowdy colour, and never sings."
"Well, all I can say is, if you believe all Noaks tells you, you're a fool.
But that's no reason why these two chaps should be done out of their
money; so now, how are you going to pay them?"

"If they only wait till pocket-money's given out--" began Mugford.
"Oh no, we shan't!" interrupted Cross. "He only gets sixpence a week,
and he's always breaking windows and other things, and having it
stopped."
There seemed only one way out of the difficulty, and that was to put as
it were an execution into Mugford's desk, and realize a certain amount
of his private property.
"Look here," said Acton, "he must sell something.--Now, then," he
added, turning to the defendant, "just shell out something and bring it
here at once, and we'll have an auction."
The boy walked off to his desk, and after rummaging about in it for
some little time, returned with a miscellaneous collection of small
articles in his arms, which he proceeded to hand up one by one for the
judge's inspection.
"What's this?"
"Oh, its a book that was given me on my birthday, called 'Lofty
Thoughts for Little Thinkers.'"
"Lofty grandmother!" said Acton