Evening star., 1917-05-27
We'll. how did he get in the cellar,

We'll. how did he get in the cellar,
them
'He-he fell in." said Sam.
How did he fall in?"
well, the door was open, and-well.
he kept walkin' around there. and we
hollered at him to keep away, but lust
then he kind of-well. the first ! no.
ticed was couldn't see him, and so we
he was sitting down there on the bot
tom step and kind of shouting, and"
See here!" Mr.. Williams interrupted.
You're going to make a clean breast
of this whole affair and take the conse-
quences. You're going to tell 1t and tell
1t all. Do you understand that
Yes, sir"
Then you tell me how George Bas-
sett fell down the cellar steps-and tell
me quick"
"He-he was biindfolded."
Aha! Now we're getting at it You
begin at the beginning and tell me just
what you did to him from the time he
got here. UnderstandT'
Yes. sir"
Go on. Them
well. I'm goin' to- Sam protested.
I'VE never hurt him at all He WASH t
even hurt when he fell down cellar.
There's a lot of mud down there. be-
cause the cellar door leaks, and
SAM" Mr.. Williams tone was deadly
Did you hear me tell you to begin at
the beginning"
Sam made a great effort and was able
to obey.
We'll, we had everything ready for the
'nishiauon before lunch" he said. I'VE
wanted it all to be nice. because you
said we had to have him, papa. and
after lunch Penrod went to guard him
that's a new part in the rixual-and
he brought him over, and we took him
out to the shack and blndfoided him.
and-well, he got kind of mad because
we wanted him to lay down on his
stummick and be tied up, and he said
he wouldn't because the floor was lit
tie bit wet in there and he could feel it
sort of squashy under his shoes, and
he said his mother didn't want him ever
to get dirty and he just wouldn't do il
and we all kept telling him he had to.
or else how could there be any 'nishia-
ton: and he kept gettin' madder and
said he wanted to have the 'nishiation
outdoors where it wasn't wet and he
wasn't goin' to lay down on his Stun
mick. anyway" Sam paused for wind,
then got under way again:
We'll, some of the boys were tryin'
to get him to lay down on his stum-
mick, and he kind of fell up against the
door and 1t came open and he ran out in
the yard. He was tryin' to get the
blindfold off his eyes, but he couldn't
because II was a towel IN a pretty hard
knot; and he went tearin' all around
the backyard, and we didn't chase him,
OF anything. All we olQ was just Watch
him-and that's when he fell in the
cellar. Well. it didn't hurt him any. 1t
didn't hurt him at all, but he was
muddier than what he would of been
If he'd Just had sense enough to lay
down in the shack. Well. so we
thought, long as he was down in the
cellar anyway, we might as we'll have
the rest of the 'nfshiation down there.
So we brought the things down and
and 'nfshiated him-and that's all.
That's every bit we did to him."
YES" said Mr.. Williams sardonically;
Il see. What were the details OF the
initiation"
"Sir?'
'I want to know what else you did
to him? What was the initiation"
"It's-it's secret" Sam murmured.
piteously.
Not any longer, / assure you! The
society is a thing of the past and you'll
find your friend Penrod's parents agree
with me in that. Mrs. Bassett had al
ready telephoned them when she called
us up. You go on with your story"
Sam sighed deeply. and yet it may
have been a consolation to know that
his present misery was not altogether
without its. counterpart. Through the
falling dusk his spirit may have crossed
the intervening distance to catch a
glimpse of his friend suffering stimuli
taneously and standing within the same
peril. And il Sans spirit did thus be-
hold Penrod in jeopardy, it was a true
vision.