Macdonald Hall #2: Go Jump in the Pool

To sell or not to sell

Bruno kicked the door of room 109 with great determination.

"George!" he shouted. "George, open up and let me in so I can kill you!"

It was a week after the entire Macdonald Hall pool fund had been invested, and Lorelei Mining had taken a sudden alarming dip.

George, impeccably dressed in suede and cashmere, opened the door. "Yes? Bruno — Melvin — you require something of me?"

"The whole campus requires something of you!" exclaimed Bruno. "Your head! Lorelei's dropped down to sixty-five cents! We're losing money!"

"Simply a minor setback," said George calmly.

"Your minor setback has cost us fifteen hundred dollars!" cried Boots in agony. "We're going to lose! We're going to lose it all! And then what will we tell The Fish?"

"There is silver in that mine," George assured them. "I have it from the most reputable firm of geologists in Canada. It is simply a matter of time."

"You mean it's going to start going up soon?" demanded Bruno hopefully.

George smiled confidently. "Trust me," he said.

* * *

Three days later, Bruno and Boots were wishing with all their hearts that they had not put their trust in George. Lorelei now stood at fifty-eight cents per share.

"We're doomed," moaned Boots dismally, unable to concentrate on his homework. "The guys'll kill us. The girls'll kill us. The Fish'll kill us. In fact, I think I'll kill myself and save them the trouble."

"Twenty-two hundred down the drain," mourned Bruno. "That George! Why didn't you warn me about him?"

"I did warn you! You wouldn't listen! You never listen! He's a lunatic!"

"George still says we should hold on and we'll make our money," said Bruno. "But it sure doesn't look as if our stock is going to go up."

"I say we sell," said Boots, "while we still have some money. It makes sense to try and salvage something out of this mess."

"Well, I don't know..." Bruno began. He glanced out the window. "Hey, what's going on outside? All the guys are out there."

"They're probably gathering a mob to run us out of town," Boots predicted miserably.

"Look!" exclaimed Bruno. "They've got George! We'd better get out there and protect him! Everybody's mad enough to kill him!"

"Just remember that we're culprits number two and three," said Boots. "I don't want to go out there. Let George protect himself!"

Bruno opened the window. "Listen to that!"

From across the road came the rhythmic chanting of female voices: "We love George! We love George!"

Bruno and Boots exchanged a quick, confused glance before leaping out of their open window to join the crowd. They were met by a jubilant Pete Anderson. With him was Elmer Drimsdale, his neat black tie flapping in the breeze, his glasses awry.

"Don't be too hard on George!" shouted Bruno over the general din.

"Hard on him?" laughed Pete. "We're going to make him king!" And he ran back into the crowd which was, by this time, carrying George high in the air.

Bruno grabbed Elmer by his thin shoulders. "Elmer, what's going on here?"

"Well, I'm not certain exactly," said Elmer, "but I believe it has something to do with some men finding a lot of silver in our mine."