"I am going to find out if they are in league with anybody
outside," said Josiah Crabtree, and started without delay to interview all
the hired help around the Hall and also the men from Cedarville. Each
and every person, of course, declared he or she knew absolutely nothing
of the missing food and had had no communication whatever with the
cadets.
"We are following your ordars, sah," declared the head waiter.
"Right or wrong, we are following 'em."
"Don't you think I am in the
right?" demanded Josiah Crabtree, sourly.
At this the colored man
shrugged his shoulders.
"That is fo' Cap'n Putnam to say,
sah."
"Ha! then you side with the boys, eh?"
"I ain't sidin' at
all, sah. I obeys orders, that's all, sah."
"Humph!" growled the teacher
and walked off, followed by Pluxton Cuddle. Then the teachers held another
conference.
In the meantime the imprisoned cadets ate what they had for
dinner with keen satisfaction, and then put away the rest of the food for
future use.
They had hardly finished when they heard footsteps in the
hallway and heard somebody talk to the guard.
"There is Peleg
Snuggers," said Pepper. "Wonder what he wants?"
"I say, in there!" called
out the man of all work, pounding on the door with his fist.
"Hello,
Peleg! What's this, a bombardment?" asked Jack, pleasantly.
"No, it ain't
no bombardment," answered the man. "I want to talk to Major
Ruddy."
"You're talking to him now, Peleg, my son."
"You are to
come down to the office to onct," went on the general utility
man.
"Who wants me?" asked the young major, in considerable
astonishment.
"Mr. Crabtree. He wants to talk to you."
"Does he
want anybody else?" asked Pepper.
"No, only Ruddy."
"Jack, look
out," whispered Dale. "This may be some trick."
"I don't think I'd go,"
came from Bart. "There is no telling what those teachers may be up
to."
"I am not afraid of them," answered the young major bravely.
"Perhaps they want to compromise."
"Are ye comin' or not?" demanded
Peleg Snuggers, impatiently.
"I can't come unless the door is
unlocked."
"I'll unlock it. But, remember, nobody but Ruddy is to come
out," went on the man of all work.
With great caution the door was
unfastened by Peleg Snuggers and the guard, and Jack was allowed to pass into
the hallway. Then the door was fastened as before.
"I say, Jack!"
called out Pepper. "If everything is O. K. we'll look for you back inside of
an hour."
"Very well," answered the young major.
He was
accompanied downstairs by Peleg Snuggers. Several times the general utility
man seemed to be on the point of speaking, but he did not say a word until
the door of the office was gained.
"Take care o' yourself!" he whispered
hoarsely. "Sorry I can't do nuthin' for ye!" And then he opened the door and
allowed Jack to enter.
The young major found Josiah Crabtree seated at
Captain Putnam's desk. The teacher had a slip of paper in his
hand.
"Major Ruddy, I wish you would read that," he said,
shortly.
Wondering what the paper would contain, Jack took it and started
to read. As he did so he was attacked from behind and a rope was
quickly passed from one wrist to another. In the meantime a folded towel
was held over his mouth, so that he might not cry out. Although he
struggled he was no match for Pluxton Cuddle and the guards, and in a very
few minutes he was a helpless prisoner. A loose gag was placed in his
mouth, so that to call out was impossible.
"I am very sorry to have to
treat you in this fashion," said Josiah Crabtree, with a wicked gleam of
triumph in his eyes. "But your conduct, and the conduct of your associates,
has rendered it necessary. I trust by to-morrow you will be in a proper frame
of mind to come to terms. Mr. Cuddle, you may have him taken
away."
Then Jack was led from the office to the rear of the Hall, where
there was a sort of guardroom. This was an apartment not over ten feet
square and having a single window, high up from the floor. Outside, a tall
iron fence ran around the window in the form of a semi-circle. In
the guardroom were two chairs and a washstand. The place was damp
and gloomy.
"You'll stay here for the present," said Pluxton Cuddle,
as he thrust Jack inside. Then the gag was removed, and his hands were
unfastened.
"I shall report this outrage to Captain Putnam," answered the
young major. And then the door was closed and locked on him, and he was
left alone.
CHAPTER
XX THE ESCAPE FROM THE GUARDROOM
The young
major was in no agreeable frame of mind when he found himself locked in the
guardroom. He had been attacked in an underhanded fashion and rather roughly
treated, and one button had been torn from his uniform. He sat down on a
chair and shut his teeth tightly.
"This is the limit," he mused. "When I
get out I rather think I'll make it warm for both Crabtree and Cuddle! They
have no right whatever to treat me in this fashion."
A quarter of an
hour passed--to the young major it appeared a much longer time--when he heard
footsteps approaching and the door was unlocked. He sprang up, hoping for
freedom. But he was mistaken, instead another cadet was thrown into the room,
protesting loudly. Then the door was secured as before.
"Ritter!"
exclaimed Jack, in astonishment.
"Oh, so you are here, eh?" cried the
school bully. "I thought I was to be alone. This is a fine way to treat a
student."
"If you mean that for sarcasm I agree with you," answered the
young major.
"Say, was it you gave me away to old Crabtree?" demanded
Reff Ritter suddenly.
"I don't know what you mean, Reff."
"He
sent Peleg Snuggers up to the door of our dormitory, stating he wanted to
have a talk with me. As soon as I got to the office Cuddle and some of those
outside guards pounced on me like a lot of wolves. I gave Cuddle a good one
in the nose and he hit me over the head with a cane--and then I was thrown in
here. Somebody must have told them about the inkwell and the hot potatoes and
plates. I believe it was you!" And Ritter gave Jack an ugly look.
"I
didn't say a word, Reff--I give my word of honor."
"I don't believe you,
Jack Ruddy. If you didn't, why am I here?"
"For that matter, why am I
here?"
"I don't know, excepting as a witness against me."
"You are
mistaken, Reff. Whether you believe it or not, I did not tell Crabtree a word
about you--in fact, your name wasn't mentioned to me. I was asked to come
down to the office and I went--and then I was attacked from behind, made a
prisoner, and brought here."
"Humph!" muttered the bully, and that was
all he said for the time being.
Several more minutes passed and then
from a distance they heard a sudden cry for help. Both leaped up from their
chairs.
"That was Bob Grenwood's voice!" exclaimed Jack. "It came from
the direction of the office. Maybe they are serving him as they served
us."
"Maybe," returned Reff Ritter, and his face lost some of its
gloomy look. It was a case of "misery loves company," with him. The
young major's words proved true, and in a few minutes the former
quartermaster of the Hall battalion was thrown violently into the guardroom.
His collar was partly torn, and blood was flowing from a scratch on
his cheek.
"They must have had quite a time with you, Bob," said Jack,
after greeting the new arrival.
"They sure did!" was the reply. "We
had a pitched battle in the office, and Crabtree hit me in the mouth and I
landed on his left eye. I guess he'll carry the eye in mourning for a
while."
"It looks as if they were going to make all of us prisoners one
by one," said Reff Ritter.
"That's about the size of it."
"This
guardroom won't hold over a dozen," said Jack. "What will they do with the
rest? I've got an idea!" he added suddenly.
"What's that?"
"Old
Crabtree is sending for the leader of every dormitory. More than likely he
thinks if he can get the leaders under lock and key the other cadets will
knuckle under to him."
"Maybe they'll do it," growled Reff Ritter. "When
I came away Mumps and Billy Sabine wanted to give in. Mumps, the sneak, was
scared half to death."
"If they take the leader from each dormitory
you'll soon see Frank Barringer and Mart Ballock coming along," said Bob
Grenwood.
The three youths talked the situation over until another noise
was heard in the hallway. Then Frank Barringer was shoved into the guardroom.
He was a dignified, gentlemanly youth and showed little
resistance.
"Mr. Cuddle, I protest against such rough treatment," he
said. "I shall hold you responsible for what you have done. If Captain Putnam
will not take up the matter, I shall get my father to do so. I thought this
was a young gentlemen's school, not a penitentiary."
"Don't talk to
me, sir, don't talk to me!" spluttered Pluxton Cuddle. "I know what I am
doing!" And then the door was banged into Frank's face.
"Number Four!"
cried Jack. "We are gradually filling the ranks. Before long we'll have
enough recruits for an awkward squad!" And he smiled faintly.
"Mart
Ballock next," said Bob Grenwood, and he was right, the cadet mentioned was
thrown into the guardroom a few minutes later. Then came two more cadets, the
head lads in two other dormitories.
"Boys, I've got a scheme," said Jack.
"There are now seven of us here. Why not try to break away when they come
with the next cadet? I'd rather be out of the school than in such a gloomy
hole as this."
"I am with you!" answered Bob Grenwood.
"It may
mean some fighting," mused Frank Barringer.
"What of it?" blustered Reff
Ritter. "I'll fight if the rest will. Let us give it to 'em good when they
come!"
"But if we get away, where are we to go to?" questioned Mart
Ballock. "I haven't a cent of money with me."
"We can camp out, if we
can't do anything else," said Jack. "We could get a tent or two, some
provisions, and go up the lake shore----"
"Hurrah! that's the idea!"
exclaimed another cadet. "We could remain out till Captain Putnam came
back."
"What of the other fellows?" asked Reff Ritter.
"They can
join us if they want to," answered the young major.
"That will be a
regular rebellion," said Frank Barringer.
"Don't you think we are
justified, Frank?"
"Oh, yes, Jack--under the circumstances we are
justified in doing almost anything. Besides, if we get away, I'll have a
chance to send that telegram to Captain Putnam. It ought to be sent at
once."
"We ought to have some plan of action," said Bob Grenwood. "After
we break away what shall we do?"
"We ought to fix it so that the
fellows left behind will know what we are up to," said the young major.
"Perhaps they might get out tonight and follow us--if they wanted
to."
After considerable discussion it was decided that, given the
chance, each cadet should get out of the Hall as best he could. All were to
meet later at the ruins of an old barn, half a mile up the lake
shore.
"Don't be worried if I don't show up on time," said Jack. "If I
can I want to let the other fellows know what is going on." And then he
told of the hole in the closet ceiling and of how it led to the trunk
room above.
There was little time to say more, for soon more footsteps
sounded in the hallway and again the door was opened. This time the prisoner
was Fred Century.
"Now, boys, all together!" shouted Jack, and leaped
for the half-closed door. "Come on, Fred!" he added. "We are off for Bailey's
old barn." He spoke the last words softly, so that those outside might not
hear.
Then came a wild rush, and blows were freely exchanged between
the guards and Pluxton Cuddle and the cadets. One of the guards was
thrown down and the other received a kick in the shins that made him roar
with pain. Cuddle made a grab for Jack, but Reff Ritter caught him by
the ankles and threw him on his back, where he lay for the moment, his
wind knocked out of him.
The encounter made considerable noise, and
before the cadets could get away Josiah Crabtree and one of the guards from
upstairs appeared on the scene. Crabtree held a cane in his hand and struck
several lads. Then Jack caught hold of the cane and wrenched it from the
teacher's grasp.
"Don't--don't hit me, Ruddy!" gasped the teacher, as he
saw the cane go up.
"Then get out of our way!" answered the young
major, and Josiah Crabtree shrank back in terror. The next moment Jack was
bounding through the hallway, and the other cadets scattered in several
directions. Some went into the classrooms and out of the windows while two
ran out of a side door. Jack mounted a side stairs, skipped past a guard who
looked bewildered and frightened, and then sped for the trunk room. But as
he reached the door his heart failed him. He remembered how the door
had been barricaded from the inside by a heavy trunk.
"If I can't
shove it back, I can't get in!" he thought, and tried the door. Just as he
did so it came open, and to his surprise he found himself confronted by
Pepper.
"Jack!" gasped The Imp. "Where have you been? I was just going on
a scouting expedition after you."
"Shut the door--and push the trunk
back into place," answered the young major. "I've got a great story to tell,"
he added. "We are now in
open rebellion!"
CHAPTER
XXI HOW THE CADETS RAN AWAY
While the
uproar below was still in progress, Jack and Pepper climbed down to the
dormitory, and there the young major told of all that had occurred since his
departure.
"Old Crabtree and Pluxton Cuddle are carrying matters with a
high hand," he went on, "and we have decided to stand it no
longer."
"Well, we about reached the same conclusion here," said Andy.
"Pepper was going to try to find you, and then we were going to see if
we couldn't get the whole crowd to run away."
"I hope none of the
fellows who were in the guardroom with me are captured," continued Jack. "If
Crabtree or Cuddle laid his hands on anyone it will go hard with that cadet,
I know."
The guards had all gone below, so the cadets in the dormitories
were left to themselves. They crowded to the various windows and soon
espied Bob Grenwood, Reff Ritter and two others on the road beyond the
campus. As soon as the runaway cadets saw that they were noticed they
raised their hands and beckoned for those left behind to join them. At this
the cadets in the windows nodded vigorously. And so the plan to run
away from Putnam Hall grew rapidly.
"I see two of the guards going
after those cadets," said one student who chanced to have a field glass. "But
I doubt if they catch our fellows."
"It will soon be night," said Dale.
"In the darkness getting away ought to be easy."
"Provided the
teachers don't get a stronger guard," answered Stuffer. "Now they are on the
warpath there is no telling how far they will go. I expect to see one of the
cadets beheaded next."
"Or made to learn ten pages of Latin backward,"
put in Joe Nelson, and this remark caused everybody to laugh.
"If we
are going to run away, we want some definite plan of action," said Jack.
"I've got my own idea, but I don't know if it will suit
the rest."
"What is the plan?" asked several.
"That we get away
as best we can, and, if possible, get some tents and rations, too. If we
can't get the rations from the pantry and the storehouse, get them from the
storekeepers of Cedarville. I am sure we can raise some money, and we can get
trust for the rest. Then we can go off and establish a regular camp until we
hear from Captain Putnam."
This plan met with instant favor, and the idea
was quickly circulated to some of the other dormitories. Fully three-quarters
of the cadets agreed to run away, if the chance offered. The others,
including Mumps and Billy Sabine, were too timid and said they would not
go.
Of the lads who had broken out of the guardroom only one was
captured and that was Frank Barringer. He and Josiah Crabtree had a
warm discussion after the capture, and what Barringer said made the
teacher somewhat nervous.
"You are carrying matters with a high hand,
Mr. Crabtree, and when Captain Putnam comes back I feel certain he will not
uphold you," said Barringer.
"We must have order," grumbled the
teacher.
"That is true, but you must try to get it in the right way. To
treat the cadets as if they were hoodlums is not the right way."
"We
know what we are doing," interposed Pluxton Cuddle. "You boys eat too much,
and----"
"Mr. Cuddle, I am talking to Mr. Crabtree," said Barringer,
with dignity. "He is the oldest teacher in the Hall, and he is
responsible for what is happening."
"I am responsible for what
happened in the classrooms," said Josiah Crabtree, quickly. "The outside care
of the students was left to Mr. Cuddle."
"And I know what I am doing,"
said that individual, pompously. "I am willing to assume all responsibility,
and I want no advice from you."
"All right--we'll wait till Captain
Putnam gets back," said Frank; and there the discussion ended. But the talk
made Josiah Crabtree nervous and after that he left the management of affairs
largely in Pluxton Cuddle's hands. Perhaps he was "casting an anchor to
windward," and he had need to, as later events proved.
Before the
excitement attending the escape from the guardroom came to an end, it was
growing dark. When it was time for supper the door to each dormitory was
suddenly thrust open and a basket was set inside, containing bread and butter
and a tin pail full of milk, with a glass.
"Hello, they have given up the
idea of starving us!" cried Dale.
"Huh! Nothing but bread and butter!"
grumbled Stuffer. "I'm glad some of that other grub is left."
"They
are afraid to let us go without food," said Andy. "Perhaps they think we'll
grow desperate on empty stomachs and break down the doors and create trouble
generally."
"'Tis a great shame old Crabtree is so pig-headed," observed
Emerald. "I shall be greatly surprised if the captain is afther upholdin' him
in it."
While it was growing dark the boys completed, as far as they
could, their plans for leaving Putnam Hall. Of course, much depended on
chance and there was considerable fear that their actions might fail. Word
was circulated that the movement should commence at exactly midnight, and
in the meanwhile every cadet should pretend to go to
sleep.
Fortunately for the boys, nature aided them in their undertaking.
Heavy clouds obscured the sky, making it very dark outside of the school.
From a distance came the low rumble of thunder, drowning out many
other sounds.
"I hope it doesn't rain," said Pepper.
"I don't
think it will," said Jack. "That storm is passing off to the westward." And
he was right, hardly a drop of rain fell in the vicinity of the
lake.
A heavy rope had been procured and this was strung along the
windows of the various dormitories and by its aid many of the cadets climbed
into the room occupied by Jack and his chums. Then Andy went through
the trunk room to the upper hall and from thence, by a ladder, to the
roof. From that point of vantage he let down the rope to the window of
a dormitory on the other side of the building. To the end of the rope
was a note reading as follows:
"Use this to get down to the ground.
Wait until we make a noise down by the gym., to attract the guards. Meet us
at the old Bailey barn. Bring camping outfit with you, if
possible.
"The Putnam Hall
Rebels."
To deceive the guards in the hallways, many of the cadets
pretended to go to bed about eleven o'clock.
"Might as well get a good
night's rest," said Jack loudly. "We can't do anything more until
morning."
"Right you are," answered Bart Conners, in an equally loud
voice. "Call it off, boys, and get to bed." And this ruse was worked in
every dormitory from which the cadets hoped to escape. It deceived the
guards completely, and when Pluxton Cuddle came up to learn how matters
were progressing he was informed that the cadets had retired.
At one
minute after twelve the boys arose from the beds upon which they had been
resting, and with their shoes and various bundles in their hands crawled
silently through the hole in the ceiling to the trunk room above. Then, with
Jack to lead them, they tiptoed their way through the back hall and down the
rear stairs, and then to the kitchen. Here the back door was opened, and ten
of the lads went out and in the direction of the barn and storehouse. This
detail was led by Andy.
"We want at least ten tents," said the acrobatic
youth. "And as much food as we can lug along."
"Say, why can't we get
a horse and wagon?" suggested Stuffer, who hated to carry
anything.
"Maybe we can--if Jack is willing. But get out the tents and
food first--so we can dust with them if there is any alarm."
"We might
take to the boats," said Dale.
"No, Jack said that wouldn't be safe. Old
Crabtree would hire a steam tug and come after us in no time. But say, I'll
tell you what we can do--hide the boats in the creek! That will throw them
off the scent."
In the storehouse were packed a number of army tents, to
be used when the cadets went out on the annual encampment. Here were also
boxes and barrels of provisions, for use in the school. Making certain nobody
was around, the boys shut the door, pinned some empty potato bags over
the windows, and lighted a lantern. Then, with great rapidity, they got
out some of the tents, and in them rolled up various kinds of
rations, beans, bacon, dried fish, coffee, sugar, butter, crackers and so
forth. They also took along a small sack of potatoes and another of
apples. Then they got out a camp cook stove, and some tinware, including
cups and plates, and pots, kettles and frying pans.
"We can't carry
all this," said Dale, in dismay. "We'll simply have to get a horse and
wagon."
"Very well then, we'll do it," said Andy. "But it is running an
extra risk."
CHAPTER
XXII JOSIAH CRABTREE IS WORRIED
While Andy
and those with him were getting out the things in the storehouse, Jack and
some others were searching the pantry and kitchen for such articles as they
thought they needed. These included knives, forks and spoons, and also
pepper, salt, lard and several smoked hams and tongues, and all the bread in
the big wooden bread box.
"Let's take some jam too," said one cadet, and
several glasses were added, and also such cake as chanced to be in sight. The
boys also found a small cheese, some lemons and oranges and a box of
raisins.
"I reckon we've got all we can carry," said Fred Century. "Talk
about moving day! This looks like one to me!"
As silently as shadows
the cadets took the things outside and hurried with them in the direction of
the storehouse, where they met some of the others.
"Where is Andy?"
asked the young major, anxiously.
"Gone for a horse and wagon," answered
Dale. "It is simply out of the question to carry all this stuff by
hand."
"But the risk!" cried Pepper. "I'm going to see how he is making
out."
He ran for the stable and saw Andy bringing forward one of the
horses. A spring wagon stood near by, under a shed, and Pepper ran it
forward, and helped his chum to hitch up the horse.
"Listen, somebody
is coming!" said Pepper, presently, and a moment later they heard Peleg
Snuggers calling from his room over the horse stable.
"Who's down there?
What ye doin'?" bawled the man. And then he appeared at a window in his
nightdress.
"Stop your noise, Snuggers!" ordered Pepper. "If you don't
they may find a dead man around here in the morning."
"Land sakes
alive! Don't shoot me!" spluttered the man of all work, and dropped out of
sight in a hurry.
"Don't you say a word and you won't be touched," went
on The Imp. "If you open your mouth there will be trouble, and lots of it,
Peleg!"
"I ain't sayin' nary a word!" answered the man, in a voice filled
with terror. The doings of the day had filled him with
apprehension.
As quickly as they could the cadets loaded up the spring
wagon, putting in all of the things collected and adding such additional
stores as the wagon would hold. Then Andy drove off, taking Dale, Stuffer and
some others with him.
"I'll go up to Daly's clearing," said the
acrobatic youth. "I'll drive right into the woods beyond. I don't think
anybody will find us there." And so it was arranged.
The outfit having
been sent on its way, the cadets left behind breathed more freely. If an
alarm came they could take to their legs, and they doubted if any of the
teachers or guards could catch them.
"Now for the demonstration near the
gym.," said Jack. "Make as much noise as possible, so the other fellows will
have a chance to get out of the dormitories, but don't let the enemy catch
you."
In less than five minutes after that a loud yelling arose back of
the gymnasium and several cadets could be seen running in as many
different directions. There were calls for "Come this way, boys!" and "Look
out, there's a guard after you!" and a lot of other cries that seemed to
mean much.
"What is that?" ejaculated Josiah Crabtree, who had fallen
asleep in an easy chair in his room. "Are they breaking out?"
"To the
gymnasium!" was the call outside. "Catch them, men, at
yonder building!"
Then came a rush from the guards, and they were
quickly joined by Crabtree and Cuddle. All ran in the direction of the
gymnasium, leaving the school building, for the time being, to take care of
itself.
It was what those left in the dormitories were watching and
waiting for, and in a twinkling cadet after cadet came sliding down the rope
and a line made of torn-up sheets. They threw out their bundles in
advance, and then, picking up the baggage, darted for a back path,
leading through the vegetable garden attached to the Hall.
"Hi! hi!
Look!" shrieked Pluxton Cuddle, as he chanced to gaze
behind him.
"What is it?" demanded Josiah Crabtree.
"The boys!
They are leaping from the dormitory windows!"
"Impossible! Some of them
will be killed. Ha! I see. They have ropes! Come, this is a trick--to get us
from the school!" And the teacher ran back toward Putnam Hall.
By this
time the guards were thoroughly bewildered and did not know what to do.
Crabtree gave orders, and Cuddle told them to do something else, and, as a
consequence, nothing was accomplished. The teachers
were frantic.
"They have--have run away!" gasped Josiah Crabtree, as,
having reached the school, he threw open the door of one dormitory after
another.
"All of them?"
"No, but the majority. What shall we
do?"
"I don't know."
"Mr. Cuddle, you are responsible for
this!"
"I, sir?" gasped the new teacher.
"Yes."
"Not at
all, sir, not at all, Mr. Crabtree! You started the affair. You are
responsible."
"It is not true. If you had not cut down the
food----"
"Tut! tut! tut! If you had not made a mistake in that Latin
lesson, sir, the cadets----"
"Don't talk to me, sir! I say it was your
fault, Mr. Cuddle," growled Josiah Crabtree.
"And I say, sir, it was
your fault."
And then the two teachers glared fiercely at each
other.
"Please, sir, what do you want us to do?" asked one of the
guards, somewhat sheepishly.
"Do!" cried Josiah Crabtree. "You can't
do anything! You allowed those cadets to run away! You are a set of
blockheads!"
"So they are, blockheads!" added Pluxton Cuddle.
"I'm
not a blockhead and I want you to know it," answered the man angrily. "You
fellers brought us up here on a fool's errand, I think. If you'll pay me off
I'll go home."
"Yes, pay me off and I'll go home too," added another of
the guards.
"What, are you going to desert us!" exclaimed Josiah
Crabtree, in sudden fear.
"I ain't no blockhead. You pay me and I'll
go."
"But see here, you promised to stay here as long as wanted,"
pleaded Crabtree.
"You don't want me any longer--now the boys have run
away. And let me say one thing--I think the boys had a right to run
away."
"Bah!"
"You teachers ain't treatin' 'em right," went on
another guard. "Just you wait till Captain Putnam gits back--I reckon he'll
make it warm for you!"
At this plain talk Josiah Crabtree almost
collapsed. He realized that he had gone too far. He wondered what the result
would be when the captain did get back. He was getting a fine salary and he
did not wish to lose his position.
"My dear fellows, you are making a
mistake," he said, in a milder voice. "Those cadets have broken the rules of
this institution and must be punished. I was simply going to keep them in
their rooms until to-morrow and then I was going to give them a lecture,
nothing more."
"What about the grub they wanted?" asked another guard,
who had come up during the talk.
"A little hunger would do them good.
They would have gotten their fill to-morrow, and----"
"No! no! that's
a mistake!" burst out Pluxton Cuddle. "Too much eating----"
"Mr.
Cuddle, I no longer agree with you on that point," said Josiah Crabtree
coldly. "If they return they shall have the same quantity of food as they got
when Captain Putnam was here."
"Humph! Then you have not the boys'
welfare at heart," snorted the new teacher.
"I want you men to stay
here, at least for the present," continued Josiah Crabtree. "Let me see, I
believe I promised you two dollars a day, didn't I?"
"You did," said
one of the guards.
"Your work has not been pleasant and therefore I'll
make the pay three dollars a day. I did not mean to call you
blockheads--I--er--was excited. Let us get down to--er--business now--and see
if we cannot find those runaway cadets and persuade them to return to the
Hall. If we can do that and--er--hush up this whole unpleasant matter I
will--er--reward you handsomely."
This talk was "pouring oil on the
troubled waters," and in the end the guards promised to stick by Josiah
Crabtree and do what they could to bring the cadets back to school. They also
promised, in view of a liberal reward, to tell Captain Putnam that the
students and not the teachers were to blame for the
outbreak.
CHAPTER
XXIII A DISCOVERY IN THE WOODS
"Andy, look
out that you don't drive off the road and into the gully," said Stuffer, as
the spring wagon lurched forward over the rough ground leading to Daly's
clearing.
"Stuffer wouldn't have you lose any of that food for a
fortune," said Dale, with a laugh. "Trust him to look out for
that!"
"Well, you'll be just as ready to eat your breakfast as
anybody," grumbled the cadet who loved to eat.
Forward rolled the
wagon, groaning dubiously when it bounded over the rocks. It was loaded to
the limit and the boys feared that the springs would break before the journey
was over.
From the vicinity of the Hall came calls and considerable
noise. But this presently died away, and then all was as quiet as a tomb on
the woody road the runaway cadets were traveling.
In half an hour the
clearing was gained. They drove across it, and into the woods beyond for a
distance of a hundred yards. Here it was so dark they had to light a lantern
to see the way.
"They'll be good ones if they track us to this spot,"
observed Dale.
Having reached the place, they blanketed the horse and sat
down to wait. It was somewhat chilly and all of the cadets present were glad
enough to put on the heavy coats they had brought along.
"Don't you
think some of us ought to go over to Bailey's barn and see if the others have
arrived?" asked Stuffer, presently.
"We might do that," answered another
cadet. "But we can't all go. Somebody must remain here and watch the horse
and the outfit."
In the end it was decided that Andy and Stuffer should
make the journey to the old Bailey barn, a distance of a mile or more. They
set off at once, Stuffer first, however, filling his pockets with crackers
and apples.
"I know a path right through these woods," said Stuffer.
"It will bring us out just to the north of the old barn."
"Well, be
sure of the way," answered the acrobatic youth. "We don't want to get lost in
this darkness."
"How can we get lost in the dark if we carry a lantern,
Andy?"
"Easily enough--if you get twisted around, Stuffer. I was lost
once, in the Adirondacks, and I know."
The two boys set off, Andy
carrying a small lantern picked up in the carriage shed. This gave more smoke
and smell than light and they had to proceed slowly, for fear of tumbling
over the tree roots or into some hollow.
"Oh!" cried Stuffer,
presently, as a strange sound struck his ears from close at hand. "What's
that?"
"Only an owl," cried Andy, with a laugh. "How you
jumped!"
"Are you sure it was an--an owl?" was the nervous
question.
"Dead certain. Go ahead, or we won't reach the old barn till
morning."
The path through the woods was not well defined and at one
place forked in several directions. Stuffer did not notice this and kept to
the right when he should have gone to the left. Andy followed without
question, and thus the two cadets, instead of nearing the old barn, plunged
deeper and deeper into the woods. |
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