
In the small town of Sugar Creek, a close‑knit gang of boys spends their days swapping jokes, sled rides, and the occasional scrape. The hot‑headed newcomer Shorty Long teams up with the tough Big Bob Till, shaking up the group's rhythm of pranks and rivalries. Their biggest obstacle now is a stern, balding teacher who has just taken over the classroom, earning the derisive verses of Poetry, the gang’s resident rhymester. The boys spend their afternoons dreaming up schemes, convinced any misstep will land them in the principal’s office.
One rainy afternoon, a glossy illustration in an old school‑master book sparks a wild idea in Bill and Poetry—a plan to outwit their new teacher by echoing the daring escape they just read about. With school out for the holidays and fresh snow covering the hills, the gang readies for a Saturday showdown that promises sleds, snowmen, and a prank that could go spectacularly wrong. As the clock ticks toward their secret meeting on Bumblebee Hill, the boys wonder whether they'll become legends or simply create a messy lesson.
Language
en
Duration
~2 hours (162K characters)
Publisher of text edition
Project Gutenberg
Credits
Produced by Bryan Ness, C. St. Charleskindt, Scanned by Bryan Ness and the Online Distributed Proofreading Team at https://www.pgdp.net
Release date
2008-12-06
Rights
Public domain in the USA.

1902–1977
Best known for creating the much-loved Sugar Creek Gang adventures, this prolific Christian writer brought lively mysteries and faith-filled lessons to generations of young readers. He was also an ordained Baptist minister whose storytelling grew out of years in evangelism and preaching.
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