The Triple Alliance | Page 8

reproduction of the fiery hue of Noaks's nose, when the
bell rang for afternoon school, and the bombardment had to be
postponed until the following day.
It was no small trial of patience being thus obliged to wait nearly
twenty-four hours before wreaking their vengeance on the effigy; still
there was no help for it. The boys bottled down their feelings, and
when at last the classes were dismissed, and the dux cried, "Come on,
you fellows!" every one obeyed the summons willingly enough. There
had been a slight thaw in the night, and the statue stood in need of some
trifling repairs. Acton suggested, therefore, that the half-hour before
dinner should be devoted to putting things to rights, and to making
some small additions in the shape of pebbles for waistcoat buttons, and
other trifling adornments.
Mr. Welsby kept the boys at the table for nearly a quarter of an hour
after the meal was finished, talking over his plans for the coming term,
and when at last he finished there was a regular stampede for the
playground. Acton was leading the rush; he dashed through the garden
doorway, and then stopped dead with an exclamation of dismay. All
those who followed, as they arrived on the spot, did the same. Every
vestige of the snow man, which had been left barely an hour ago
standing such a work of art, had disappeared. Certainly a portion of the
pedestal still remained, looking like the stump of an old, decayed tooth;
but the figure itself had been thrown down, trodden flat, and literally
stamped out of existence!

The little crowd stood for a moment speechless, gazing with
woebegone expressions on their faces at the wreck of their hopes and
handiwork; then the silence was broken by a subdued chuckle coming
from the other side of the wall on their left, and every one, with a start
and a sudden clinching of fists, cried simultaneously: "The Philistines!"
The words had hardly been uttered when above the brickwork appeared
the head and shoulders of a boy a size or so bigger than Acton; a
dirty-looking brown bowler hat was stuck on the very back of his head,
and rammed down until the brim rested on the top of his ears; and it
will be quite sufficient to remark that his face was in exact keeping
with the manner in which he wore his hat. Once more everybody gave
vent to their feelings by another involuntary ejaculation--"Young
Noaks!"
The stranger laughed, pulled a face which, as far as ugliness went, was
hardly an improvement on the one Nature had already bestowed upon
him, and then pointed mockingly at the remains of the masterpiece.
His triumph, however, was short-lived. Jack Vance, as he left the house,
had caught up a double handful of snow, which he had been pressing
into a hard ball as he ran down the path, determining in his own, mind
to be the first to open fire on the snow man. Without a moment's
hesitation he flung the missile at the intruder's head, and, to the intense
delight of his companions, it struck the latter fairly on the mouth,
causing him to lose his precarious foothold on the wall and fall back
into the road.
It needed no further warning to inform the Birchites that the Philistines
were upon them, and every one set to work to lay in a stock of
snowballs as fast as hands could make them. "Look out!" cried
Kennedy. Young Noaks's face rose once more above the top of the wall,
and the next moment a big stone, the size of hen's egg, whizzed past
Diggory's head, and struck the garden door with a sounding bang.
"Oh, the cad!" cried Acton; "let's go for him."
The whole garrison combined in making a vigorous sortie into the road;

but it was only to find the enemy in full retreat, and a few dropping
shots at long range ended the skirmish.
"I say, Vance," exclaimed Diggory, "who are they? Who are these
fellows?"
Now, as the aforesaid Philistines play rather an Important part in the
opening chapters of our story, I propose to answer the question myself,
in such a way that the reader may be enabled to take a more intelligent
interest in the chain of events which commenced with the destruction
of the snow man; and in order that this may be done in a satisfactory
manner, I will in a few words map out the ground on which this
memorable campaign was afterwards conducted.
Take the well-known drawing of two right angles In Euclid's definition,
and imagine the horizontal line to be the main road to Chatford, while
the perpendicular one standing on it is a by-way called Locker's lane. In
the right angle stood The