"Never mind, he's got to take the test anyway."
Now Tubbs was by no means a good swimmer, and the idea of being thrown into the water with his hands tied behind him and his head in a sack was frightful in the extreme.
"Le—let me go!" he whined. "Let me go, I say!"
"Forward with him!" was the heartless reply, and he was pushed on until he suddenly found tiimself in water up to his ankles.
"Stop! stop!" he cried, in a muffled voce. "Stop! I don't want to drown!"
"Will you obey your superiors?"
"Yes, yes—anything!"
"Will you join the Order of Black Skulls?"
"Anything, I told you, only don't let me drown!" cried the frightened Willam Philander.
"And will you promise to keep mum about what has happened here to-night?"
"Yes, yes!"
"Very well, you shall not be allowed to drown. But you must take the plunge."
"Oh, dear me! I can't"
"Forward, and be lively about it. We wil fish you out with a crab net."
"But I—I can't swim with my hands tied behind me!" chattered poor Tubbs.
