Where the Red Fern Grows

From the text:

Over against the building, a large blue pipe ran up on an angle fromthe ground. A few feet from the top there was a bend in it. The pipe seemed to go into the building. Boys were crawling into its dark mouth. I counted nine of them. One boy stood about six feet from the opening with a stick in his hand.

Staring goggle-eyed, trying to figure out what they were doing, I got a surprise. Out of the hollow pipe spurted a boy. He
sailed through the air and lit on his feet. The boy with the stick marked the ground where he landed. All nine of them came
shooting out, one behind the other. As each boy landed, a new mark was scratched.