The throng swept out of the gate, and as they hastened silently along, the axles of the truck kindled with the friction and began to smoke.
"Carefully! steadily!" cried the boys all together.
They slackened speed a little, but, happily, the pond was but a short distance from the school.

It was a circular sheet of water, perhaps a mile in width.
"Boys, he is nearly on the other side," said Mr.Gray, as the crowd reached the shore.
In an instant the boat was afloat.

Mr.Gray, the stranger, and the six stoutest boys in the school, stepped into it.

The boys lifted their oars.
"Let fall! give way!" cried Mr.Gray, and the boat moved off, glimmering away into the darkness.
The younger boys remained hushed and awe-stricken upon the shore.

The stars were just coming out, the wind had fallen, and the smooth, black pond lay silent at their feet.