"Ham Spink, I want to say just one thing," answered Snap. "I think you are as mean as you ever were, and I, for one, am going to pay you back for what you did the day we went swimming."
"Oh, give us a rest!" muttered the dudish youth, and went on, and Carl Dudder followed, sticking his tongue in his cheek as he passed.
"Say, shall we pitch into them?" whispered Whopper. "We can knock them into the middle of next month!"
"No—wait—I've just thought of something," interposed Snap. "Let them go and come with me."
He led the way to a safe distance and then turned to Whopper.
"Did you hear them speak of some fireworks?"
"Sure."
"Did they say anything about the fireworks in the post-office?"
"Why, yes. But what has that got to do with—"
"What did they say. Whopper?"
"Why, it seems Ham and Carl and some other fellows—the same crowd that has been against us for so long—have chipped in and ordered some fireworks from the city. They are going to set the fireworks off in front of the Dudder house on
