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mangled beyond recognition. The radiator was spewing water, the hood was
crumpled like an accordian, and the windshield was smashed.
Dropping their instruments, Miss Scrimmage's girls rushed to her rescue.
"Yes, yes, girls, I'm perfectly all right," the Headmistress assured them.
"It was only a little accident."
"A little accident!" screamed the developer. "That was an eighteen thousand
dollar car!"
"Now, now," shrilled Miss Scrimmage. "None of the children were hurt, and
that's the main thing." She smiled at her girls and glared at the boys from
Macdonald Hall. "Shoo! Get away! Leave my girls alone!"
That was all the encouragement the boys needed. They picked up their
instruments and stampeded across the road-towards home.
* * *
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So it was that when Mr. Sturgeon returned to Macdonald Hall after his Board
meeting he found a large tow-truck trying to separate the remains of a
limousine from Miss Scrimmage's pick-up truck.
Bruno Walton was on the scene to offer an explanation.
"I think the man in that limo was coming to Macdonald Hall, sir. Miss
Scrimmage came barrelling down the road on the wrong side. Boy, did she
clobber him! The guy was so mad that he called a taxi and went back to
Toronto. He says he's going to sue Miss Scrimmage blue!"
The Headmaster was facing away from him, but Bruno could see that he was
smiling.
Bruno was smiling too. He had finally found a good use for Miss Scrimmage.
But will it fly?
"Miss Scrimmage," said Mr. Sturgeon into the telephone on Sunday morning, "I
do not follow your line of reasoning. How can it possibly be the fault of
Macdonald Hall that your automobile insurance rates are going up?& And I also
strongly doubt that my boys were over on your lawn scaring your girls with
loud noise. It has been my experience that nothing scares your girls& Miss
Scrimmage, right beside the accelerator is another pedal. It activates the
braking mechanism. Its function is to stop your vehicle's forward movement,
thus avoiding an incident such as occurred yesterday. I would venture to say
that any of my boys, without a lesson or a licence, could figure that out& I
am not 'bugging' you, Miss Scrimmage.You telephonedme . Good day."
"William," said his wife thoughtfully, "the boyswere over there yesterday. I
told you they were getting the two school bands together. They were even on
the early news last night."
"Yes," said Mr. Sturgeon with a crooked smile. "That's the last time I leave
Mr. Fudge in charge of the campus. He was probably taking a nap, and they say
nothing wakes him up. The point is, however, that even though our boys had no
business being over at Scrimmage's they were not at the wheel of the truck
when it drove into that limousine. Miss Scrimmage was."
"That car belonged to the land developer, didn't it? The one who was coming
here to look at Macdonald Hall?"
"It did. Miss Scrimmage seems to have adequately deterred him." Mr. Sturgeon
switched on the television set. "The band was on the news, you say? Maybe it
will be on again this morning. It's almost time for the ten o'clock report."
They watched a cartoon for a few minutes, and then the local newscaster came
on the air. He smiled, opened his mouth to speak, and vanished. Once again the
fish image monopolized the screen. The audio crackled with static, then a
voice said,A certain someone proved to be an asset rather than a liability
yesterday. We of the Fish Patrol extend our thanks . There was a wicked
laugh.We will crush all who oppose us. Beware the Fish !
The newscaster reappeared.
"Mildred," said Mr. Sturgeon, perplexed, "why does that comment ring a bell?
Why do I have the feeling that I should know that voice?"
"Oh, you're just tired and overwrought, dear," soothed his wife. "Have
another cup of coffee."
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* * *
Sergeant Featherstone stared at the television set in horror as the fish
faded away. The 'certain someone,' who was obviously Featherstone himself, had
been of assistance to the Fish's operation! But how? How could he have done
these fiends a favour? Could it be that he, an officer of the law, had
unwittingly become a tool in the hands of the forces of evil?
But he had done nothing in the past few days beyond acquiring and studying
the Fish's code book. They were bluffing. They had to be. He was getting
close. They had found that he could not be scared off by threats of violence,
and now they were trying to make him believe that the code book was worthless.
Oh, yes, he was getting very close.
* * *
"Bruno, what are you moping about?" asked Boots. "We've been on television,
haven't we?"
"Yeah," said Bruno savagely. "In front of Scrimmage's school as the
Scrim-Band! That kind of publicity does nothing for Macdonald Hall!"
"Well, we got rid of the developer," pointed out Boots optimistically.
"If he's really dead set on building those apartments," retorted Bruno,
"he'll be back. He won't let Miss Scrimmage stop him."
"It's ready," announced Elmer.
"Not now, Elm," said Bruno, still talking to Boots. "And as for the band
practices," he went on, "I guess we were pretty stupid to think that a little
noise would drive a guy away from a multi-million-dollar business deal."
"It's ready," repeated Elmer.
"What's ready?" asked Bruno impatiently.
"My remote control device," said Elmer. "It's ready for testing."
"Well, why didn't you say so?" cried Bruno, jumping to his feet. "How do we
go about testing it?"
"We simply take it outdoors and fly it," said Elmer.
"Great," exclaimed Bruno. "We'll do it right now. Where's the best place?"
"Actually, the only place to test the mechanism properly would be in an area
where there are trees. This would enable me to test the manoeuvrability, and
more important, to see how my signals travel when there are solid obstacles
about."
"What about the woods right in back?" suggested Boots.
Elmer shook his head. "No good. The trees are much too close together. There
would be a crash."
"Scrimmage's apple orchard," decided Bruno. "It's perfect."
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"Yes, it would be ideal," Elmer agreed. "However, I strongly doubt that Mr.
Sturgeon or Miss Scrimmage would grant permission, relations being rather
strained lately between our two respective schools."
"Yes," agreed Bruno, "but they couldn't object if they didn't know about it."
"No," said Boots simply, "we're not going there again."
"Don't be ridiculous!" scoffed Bruno. "The old girl guards her young ladies,
not her apples. We're going tonight."
"Uh," protested Elmer uneasily, "I'm not sure I want to-"
"What a pair of chickens!" interrupted Bruno. "The matter is settled." To
emphasize his point, he switched on Elmer's video machine.
* * *
Greetings once more from the Fish Patrol, crackled the now-familiar voice
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