Page:Dave Porter at Oak Hall.djvu/285

Rh Didn't you notice his front teeth? They are all loose."

This was a falsehood, but Poole was willing to take Plum's word for it, and it soon became noised around that the bully had given Dave a sound beating. Poole added that the fight had lasted half an hour, and that Plum had had the better of it from start to finish.

Of course, Dave denied the story, and so did Macklin, yet many believed the tale, and as a consequence Gus Plum was looked up to by them as the king of the academy. Later on, one or two new pupils became his toadies, in place of Macklin.

Winter had now set in, and erelong there came a fall of snow, followed by a cold snap which put an inch of ice on the surface of the river. Then followed more snow, covering the ground to a depth of half a foot on a level, although the wind swept it into drifts in some places and left other spots, and especially the river, almost clear.

"Whoop! hurrah for a snowballing match!" cried Roger, rushing in. "This snow is glorious! It packs just right!"

Some of the students were already snowballing each other, and poor Pop Swingly, who was trying to clean off one of the walks, had been hit several times, and so had Horsehair Lemond, who was helping at the task.