Beware the Fisj by Gordon Korman Page B

of our hand, and it all turned to gazoobies!”
    “We got away with it, though,” Boots pointed out. “Cathy saved our lives! Did you see the way she handled The Fish? I don’t understand it. She told him the most ridiculous story and he fell for it like a jerk.
We
never could have gotten away with that.”
    “Yeah,” agreed Bruno, “but if we’d admitted the cans were ours he couldn’t have socked it to Miss Scrimmage. He loves getting the best of her.”
    “So long as we don’t get expelled,” Boots sighed.
    “We don’t have to get expelled,” mourned Bruno. “No pop cans, no pyramid, no record, no publicity, no enrolment, no Macdonald Hall.”
    He opened the door to room 201 and switched on the light, startling Elmer who had, in the end, been exempted from pop-can duty. Elmer was on his knees tinkering by flashlight with a huge mechanical device which had materialized in the centre of the room in place of the chemistry lab. That had been pushed to a corner and had not been used since the incident with Coach Flynn. Flynn, who had been more than bewildered about losing a day somewhere, still had his cold.
    “On the plus side,” muttered Boots, “no Macdonald Hall, no Elmer Drimsdale.”
    “Where have you been?” asked Elmer anxiously. “What happened?”
    “Miss Scrimmage again,” moaned Bruno. “The pop cans are gone. End of pyramid. Zap.” He threw himself onto his bed. “She caught us with Elmer; she caught us with Sidney; she was there when you lost your shoe; she darn near got us sneaking off her bus; and she got us tonight and ruined our pyramid! I don’t know what I’m going to
do
with that woman!”
    Boots pointed to the immense contraption towering over Elmer. “What on earth is
that
?”
    “It’s the new remote control device I’m working on,” Elmer replied.
    “What does it do?” asked Boots.
    “It is an extremely inexpensive remote-control guidance system with a high-speed capability,” explained Elmer.
    “What’s so great about that?” murmured Bruno, depressed and weary. “Everybody flies model airplanes.”
    “Not, I believe, at these speeds — nor for the price,” replied Elmer. “If it’s successful, it may be an extremely important discovery.”
    Bruno was suddenly interested. “Do you think it will get us lots of publicity?”
    “I should think so,” said Elmer cautiously.
    “Okay,” decided Bruno. “You work on that non-stop. We’ll take care of your plants and ants and stuff. Meanwhile Boots and I will think of other records to set. I’m not going to let Macdonald Hall collapse because of Miss Scrimmage!”
    “Couldn’t we go to sleep now?” yawned Boots. “We haven’t slept since Thursday!”
    Bruno, fully dressed, was already asleep.
    * * *
    “Catherine, I’m shocked,” said Miss Scrimmage. “Shocked and disappointed.” The two were in Miss Scrimmage’s sitting room having a late night discussion over warm milk. “Haven’t I always been a fair Headmistress? You should have come to me when you needed someplace to keep your collection. I’m very hurt.”
    “I’m sorry, Miss Scrimmage,” murmured Cathy. “I was afraid you’d think collecting pop cans was unladylike.”
    “Nonsense, dear,” replied the Headmistress. “It’s a lovely hobby. We can keep your collection in the empty storage room in the basement. It’s dry and comfortable and always locked, so your cans will be perfectly safe there.”
    “Oh, thank you, Miss Scrimmage,” said Cathy gratefully.
    “Now, run along to bed, dear, and we’ll say no more about the events of this night.”
    Congratulating herself on a successful evening, Cathy went to her room.
    * * *
    “William!” exclaimed Mrs. Sturgeon as her husband entered the kitchen where she was brewing tea. “What happened? You look ten years younger!”
    “Mildred, you would have died!” chuckled the Headmaster. He told her about the riot and the pop cans in Dormitory 3. “And I had Walton and O’Neal