Page:Baseball Joe on the School Nine.djvu/153

Rh there was no use getting into trouble. So Tom hesitated and was lost.

For a moment later, the throng of white-clad and unrecognizable figures (because of the masks) stepped into the room.

"We have come," announced one in a voice that sounded hollow and deep, "to initiate you into the Mystic and Sacred Order of the Choo-Choo!"

"Get out, Peaches, I know your voice," said Joe, not quite sure whether he did or not.

"Prepare to join the Mystic and Sacred Order of the Choo-Choo! Shall he not, comrades?" demanded a second figure.

"Toot! Toot! He shall!" was the answer in a chorus.

"That's Teeter all right," affirmed Tom.

"Come!" commanded the first figure, advancing to take hold of Tom's arm.

"Shall we go, Joe?" asked his chum.

Joe thought a minute. There had been rumors in the school of late, that several initiations had been held into a newly-formed society. Reports differed as to what society it was, some lads stating that they had been made to join one and some another. But all agreed, though they did not go into particulars, that the initiations were anything but pleasant. Joe was as fond of fun as anyone