Then we would all creep out
the back window in the hall, onto the roof of the rear annex of the
schoolhouse, and thence climb down a rope ladder to the ground.
Midnight Banquets.
I suppose we could have just as easily have tiptoed downstairs and out the
back door, but it would have spoiled the romance of it all. The absolute
stillness and the pitch black darkness of the night were awe-inspiring.
The roll of a pebble or the crack of a twig under foot would set us all
a-tingle as we stole out to our cave house. Sometimes the night was so
black that we could hardly find the entrance of the cave. Once inside, in
the light of a few candles, the nervous tension was relieved, and we
reveled in a banquet of cold victuals and dainties, purchased out of the
monthly club dues. Our meetings in the cave lasted scarcely half an hour.
In fact, the meeting, and even the banquet, were mere incidentals. The
main enjoyment consisted in stealing out to the cave and back again,
always at the risk of getting caught. Usually when we got to bed again we
would be too excited to fall asleep right away, and when we did finally
drop off our sleep was so sound that several times the breakfast bell
caught one or more of us still napping.
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