It consisted of about twenty-five feet of garden hose in fair condition.
One end of it was introduced into the shack through a knothole, and the other was secured by wire round the faucet of hydrant in the stable.
Thus, if members of the order were assailed by thirst during an important session, or in the course of an initiation, it would not be necessary for them all to leave the shack.

One could go, instead, and when he had turned on the water at the hydrant, the members in the shack could drink without leaving their places.

It was discovered, also, that the section of hose could be used as a speaking-tube; and though it did prove necessary to explain by shouting outside the tube what one had said into it, still there was a general feeling that it provided another means of secrecy and an additional safeguard against intrusion.

It is true that during the half-hour immediately following the installation of this convenience, there was a little violence among the brothers concerning a question of policy.

Sam, Roddy and Verman--Verman especially--wished to use the tube "to talk through" and Maurice, Penrod and Herman wished to use it "to drink through." As a consequence of the success of the latter party, the shack became too damp for habitation until another day, and several members, as they went home at dusk, might easily have been mistaken for survivors of some marine catastrophe.
Still, not every shack is equipped with running water, and exuberance befitted the occasion.