It was while he was still decorating the bench, however, that Steve again fell foul of him.
The unseasonably warm weather held well into the middle of October, and it was one evening a day or two after Sawyer's removal from the regular line-up that Steve and Tom, rather fagged from an hour's study in a close room, picked up Roy and Harry and went over to the gymnasium for a dip in the tank.

The swimming tank was a favourite resort of the younger fellows between eight and ten at night, but, for some reason, the older boys seldom appeared there in the evenings.

To-night, though, when the quartette, having changed into swimming trunks, reached the tank they found five upper-class fellows swinging their bare legs from the side of the pool and amusing themselves by criticising the antics of the youngsters.

There was Eric Sawyer, Jay Fowler and three others whom neither Steve nor Tom knew save by sight.

The tank was well populated, for the warmth of the evening made the thought of cool water very agreeable, and there was much noise and splashing going on.
Steve and Harry went in from the spring-board at the deeper end of the pool, while Tom and Roy dived from the floor.