Kitabı oku: «The Putnam Hall Cadets: or, Good Times in School and Out», sayfa 7
CHAPTER XIX
THE RESULT OF THE NUTTING PARTY
All the boys who accompanied Jack were good walkers, and it was not long before they were deep in the woods back of Putnam Hall. The clear, bracing air put them in good spirits, and more than one began to whistle as they went on their way.
“There is a barbed wire fence!” cried Pepper, as they began to ascend Top Rock Hill. “We can’t go over that, I suppose.”
“Here is a path to the left,” answered Andy. “And I don’t know but what it is the better of the two.”
Not long after that they struck the first nut tree. They sent up a dozen sticks and stones, and down came a perfect shower of chestnuts, so thick in fact that they had to “stand from under” until the nuts stopped coming down.
“We’ve struck a bonanza, first trip,” cried Dale. “This will fill one-third of our bags at least.”
They began to pick up the nuts industriously, and soon had the majority of them. Then they passed on up the hill and soon found another tree almost as good.
“Let us go to the very top of this hill,” said Jack. “We are sure to get a beautiful view from up there.”
For the time being nutting was forgotten, and they raced along, to see who should get to the top of the hill first. But Dale outdistanced the others with ease.
“No use talking, Dale, you are the champion runner of Putnam Hall!” cried Jack, enthusiastically. “If we had a game of hare and hounds you ought to be the hare.”
“And no hounds would ever catch him,” put in Pepper.
“Gosh, but running makes a chap hungry!” came from Stuffer.
“Have some chestnuts,” answered Andy.
“Yes, here are a few to start on,” came from Pepper, and he let several fall down the hungry youth’s back, inside his shirt.
“Wow! Let up!” ejaculated Stuffer, squirming around. “Don’t! They’ll scratch me all the rest of the day!”
“Stand on your head and shake them out, Stuffer,” suggested Jack, and in the end that was what the hungry youth had to do. But he got square that night by placing some chestnut burrs in Pepper’s bed, much to the Imp’s discomfiture.
The top of the hill gained, a grand panorama was spread out on all sides of them. To the westward were other hills, with streams winding along them, and to the eastward Putnam Hall and the broad lake, the latter lying like a sheet of silver among the trees and rocks.
“Isn’t it great?” said Jack. “Do you know, I wish we had brought a camera along. I’d like a photo of it.”
“We can come up some day and take pictures,” replied Andy. “The folks at home will be glad to see them.”
“Say, fellows, look over there!” came from Stuffer, a moment later. “Am I mistaken, or is that Dan Baxter and his party?”
“To be sure it is Baxter, Paxton, and Mumps,” answered Jack. He gazed a moment longer. “What are those men doing to them?”
“I can’t make out.”
“The men have sticks, and one has a gun!” exclaimed Pepper. “As sure as you are born, Baxter and his cronies are in trouble!”
“They went into private grounds, that’s what the trouble is, and those men have caught them,” said Dale. “Just the same, fellows, I’d hate to see any of our cadets come to harm.”
“Baxter will earn what he gets, Dale.”
“Let us sneak closer and see what is being done,” said another. “We don’t want to see anybody shot.”
So it was agreed, and with their bags of nuts over their shoulders they hurried in the direction where they had located the bully and his cronies.
As they surmised, the party had poached on a private preserve, and the owner of the place, a hot-tempered old gentleman from Syracuse, and his three workmen, had caught them red-handed, with their bags loaded with the choicest kind of nuts.
To their consternation the old gentleman at first threatened to shoot the evil-doers, at which Mumps fell on his knees and begged for mercy. Then he ordered them to place all their nuts in a heap on the ground.
“Now, I’ll let you off on one condition,” he said, sternly.
“What condition?” asked Paxton.
“Oh, I’ll do anything!” howled the sneak of the Hall. “Only don’t have me arrested.”
“If the three of you will pick for me a full bushel of nuts I will let you all go,” said the owner of the preserve.
“Humph!” grumbled Baxter. “Aren’t you satisfied to rob us of those we have already picked?”
“I cannot rob you of what is already mine, young man.”
“I’ll pick nuts for you,” said Mumps, eagerly.
“So will I,” added Paxton, humbly.
“I’ll not pick any more,” came from the bully, defiantly.
“Very well, then, I’ll have you sent down to the Cedarville jail. I don’t think Captain Putnam will like that, or your parents, either.”
“It’s a mean thing – to send a fellow to jail for a few nuts.”
“You saw my signs, and when you came in here you did it at your own risk. Men and boys have been hunting, fishing, and nutting in here until I am tired of it, and I shall make an example of you, unless you agree to do as I wish. I make this offer merely out of friendship for Captain Putnam.”
“I’m not going to pick any nuts,” came firmly from Dan Baxter. He had on an extra stubborn streak.
“Very well, then. Mike and John, make him a prisoner.”
Without ceremony two of the workmen leaped forward and caught hold of the bully. He tried to resist, but in a twinkling one of the workmen laid him flat on his back. Then his hands were tied behind him.
“Let me go!” he roared.
“You keep quiet or you’ll get a sound thrashing,” ejaculated the gentleman, whose temper was none of the best.
“I – I’ll make you pay for this!”
“Perhaps you’ll do a little paying for yourself, unless you wish to serve a term in prison.”
After this there came a spell of silence, during which Paxton and Mumps piled up as many nuts as they could.
“I want your names,” said the gentleman, taking out a note-book and a pencil.
“Mine is John Fenwick,” said the sneak, humbly. He felt there would be no profit in acting ugly.
“Now yours, young man?”
“Nick Paxton.”
“And now I want yours.”
“Perhaps I won’t give it to you,” returned the bully.
“Really! Mike, did you bring that horsewhip along?”
“I did that, sur,” answered the workman addressed.
“Don’t you dare to horsewhip me!” cried Baxter, and now for the first time he turned pale.
“Then give me your name.”
“Jerry Smoker.”
“Um! I believe I heard one of the others call you Dan,” said the gentleman, sharply.
To this the bully was silent.
“Come, give me your correct name – or it shall go hard with you.”
“Dan Baxter.”
“That’s better.”
“See here, if I help pick nuts will you let me off?” said the bully, after an awkward pause.
“No, it is too late now.”
This reply disconcerted the bully greatly, and he did not know what to say further. He had a vision of being taken to the Cedarville jail, and it caused him to shiver.
“That’s rough on Baxter,” whispered Jack, he and his chums having come closer during the conversation.
“Well, he brought it on himself,” answered Pepper. “The captain warned him not to go on private property.”
“He could easily do as Mumps and Paxton are doing,” put in Andy. “They are getting off easily enough.”
Not long after this the gentleman that owned the preserve told Paxton and the sneak of the Hall that they might quit gathering nuts.
“Let this be a lesson to you, John Fenwick and Nicholas Paxton,” he said, sternly. “I shall keep your names before me, and if I ever find you here again it shall go hard with you.”
“Can we go?” questioned Mumps, eagerly.
“Yes.”
“Come on, Nick.”
“Are you going to desert me?” cried Dan Baxter, in fresh alarm.
“I want them to go, and at once,” said the gentleman. “I can take care of your case without their aid.”
A little more talk followed, and then Paxton and Mumps shoved off, in the manner of two whipped curs, leaving the bully of Putnam Hall to his fate.
“Perhaps we ought to try to rescue Baxter,” whispered Jack to his chums. He was too generous-hearted to see any fellow cadet in trouble without trying to aid him.
“Don’t you attempt it,” put in Dale.
“But if Baxter is put in jail it will bring discredit to the whole school, Dale.”
“I’ll tell you what we can do,” came from Pepper. “To get to Cedarville, the owner of this place will have to take the Rumley Road. Let us get back to the Hall and tell the captain what is going on. Perhaps he can stop the party on the way to Cedarville and make a deal with the man who wants to have Baxter arrested.”
“That’s an idea! Come on!” cried Andy.
With their bags of nuts on their shoulders, Jack and his friends hurried away, down the hill and along the highway leading to Putnam Hall. Before they reached the school they had to take to a side road, and along this they fairly ran, so that they might not be too late with their news. As luck would have it, they came upon the master of the Hall just as the latter was returning from a visit to the gymnasium.
“Oh, Captain Putnam, we have news!” cried Andy. “Dan Baxter is in trouble, and a man is going to take him down to Cedarville to have him jailed.”
“Baxter in trouble?” repeated Captain Putnam. His face grew serious. “Tell me the particulars.”
As well as they were able, they did so. The master of the Hall took in what they said in silence and his face grew stem.
“You are sure Paxton and Fenwick were allowed their liberty?” he said at last.
“Yes, sir.”
“Very well; I’ll meet Mr. Ringwood, and see what I can do about this. I am glad you told me.”
“We didn’t wish to see any of the cadets put in jail,” came from Jack. “It would bring discredit to the whole school.”
“Right you are, Major Ruddy. I’ll go out to meet Mr. Ringwood at once, and you can go along if you wish.”
CHAPTER XX
OUT IN THE COLD
It was not long after this that our friends and Captain Putnam reached the main road leading from Top Rock Hill to Cedarville. Scarcely had they done so than they saw a carriage coming along the road, containing Mr. Ringwood, Dan Baxter, and two of the workingmen from the preserve.
“Here they come!” cried Jack, and the captain ran out in the middle of the road and motioned for the carriage to stop.
“Hullo, is that you, Captain Putnam?” called out Mr. Ringwood, in a far from pleasant tone.
“It is, Mr. Ringwood, and I wish to talk to you.”
“I’ve got one of your students here.”
“So I see.”
“He’s a bad egg, captain. I caught him stealing my nuts. After that he was impudent to me.”
“I wasn’t impudent,” grumbled the bully.
“I just heard about it and I came out to meet you,” answered Captain Putnam. “Won’t you drive over to the Hall, and we’ll try to settle this matter.”
“If you wish it, captain. I had half a mind to have the young rascal arrested.”
“There will be no need to do that, Mr. Ringwood. I think I can punish him sufficiently for what he has done.”
“Very well, then; I’ll drive over.” And in a moment more the carriage was headed for Putnam Hall, and the captain and our friends trudged after it.
“You may go now, young gentlemen,” said the master of the Hall. “If I wish you again, I’ll call for you.”
This was a hint that they were not wanted, and off they went, across the campus and into the school by a side entrance, the others entering by the front way and going directly to Captain Putnam’s private office.
It was not until the next day that they learned something of what happened to Dan Baxter. From Peleg Snuggers the information went forth that the bully of the Hall was a close prisoner in a small room at the rear of the Hall. The window to this room was heavily barred, making the apartment a regular prison cell.
“The captain give Baxter a talkin’ to which would make your hair curl,” said the general utility man. “He laid down the law good an’ strong. He said he wasn’t goin’ to have no pupil a-gittin’ the academy in disgrace. Then he made Crabtree put him in a cell, an’ he’s livin’ on bread, soup, an’ water fer a week.”
“Phew! That’s pretty severe punishment!” cried Jack. “The captain must have been mad!”
“You git the cap’n riled up real good an’ you’ll see a reg’lar cyclone broke loose,” went on Snuggers. “I know him, because I worked fer the fam’ly before. He’s real tame alongside o’ what he was when he was an army officer.”
Mumps and Paxton had little or nothing to say. Each was given extra lessons to do, and did them without a murmur. They saw that the captain was much disturbed over what had happened and did not want to do anything to add to his anger.
Two days after the outing for nuts, came a light fall of snow, and then the weather grew steadily colder and colder. As a consequence, many outdoor games came to an end, and the students spent their off time either in the library of the Hall or the gymnasium.
The latter place was a favorite with Dale, who was beyond question the leading all-around athlete of the school. He was graceful on the rings and bars, and could jump and run with the best of them. The only one who could match him at all was Andy, who did things on the flying rings which would have done credit to a professional acrobat or gymnast.
“Andy, you could go into a circus,” said Jack, after watching the agile youth.
“Perhaps I will go into a circus some day,” answered Andy, seriously. “I’ve heard that some daring fellows earn two or three hundred dollars per week at it.”
“They do,” put in Pepper. “But they risk their necks every time they perform.”
“I don’t see how you can do some of those tricks,” put in Joe Nelson. “As you do them, they seem as easy as pie, but when I try them, I can’t do them at all.”
“I guess I was born to it,” answered Andy, with a quiet smile. “Somehow it always came natural to me.”
“Must have circus blood in your veins,” said Pepper, and then there was a general laugh.
In his cell, Dan Baxter passed day after day in moody silence. He was allowed only his school books, and each day Josiah Crabtree or George Strong visited him to hear him recite. Only once did Coulter manage to see him on the sly.
“Mumps and Paxton can’t come,” said Gus Coulter. “They are being watched night and day.”
“They have deserted me, and they gave me away!” growled the bully.
“No, they haven’t deserted you,” answered Coulter. “And they didn’t tell on you.”
“Then who did tell on me?”
“Jack Ruddy, Pepper Ditmore, Andy Snow, and that crowd.”
“Are you sure of this, Gus?”
“Positive.”
“Then I’ve got an account to settle with them when I get out,” and the bully grated his teeth. He did not stop to consider that those who had informed on him had probably saved him from a term in the Cedarville jail.
During those days spent by Baxter in his cell, Jack, Pepper, and Andy, along with a number of other students, had an exceedingly hard time of it with Josiah Crabtree. For some reason or other, the head teacher was feeling particularly cross, and he vented his anger on those under him, until they could scarcely stand it. He made them do all sorts of extra tasks, and “nagged” at them until some felt like open rebellion.
“It’s outrageous!” declared Andy. “Here I’ve got ten extra examples in algebra for nothing at all!”
“And just because I dropped my history on the floor, old Crabtree made me stay in half an hour,” grumbled Pepper.
“I’ve caught it, too,” came from Jack. “I missed in astronomy and had to study five pages extra. Mr. Strong or the captain never treated us that way!”
“I wish we had another teacher in old Crabtree’s place,” came from Dale.
“Captain Putnam can’t discharge him,” said Joe. “He’s got a contract, so Stuffer was telling me.”
“I wish we could duck him in the lake. The cold water might do him good,” went on Pepper.
“That’s a fine idea!” cried Andy. “It would certainly cool him off!”
One day Captain Putnam was called away to Albany on business. As it chanced, George Strong was also absent, so the Hall was left in sole charge of Josiah Crabtree.
“He will be more dictatorial than ever now,” said Pepper, and so it proved. During the day over a dozen students got into “hot water,” and at recess they held a secret meeting, to determine what had best be done.
“If we could only get him out of the building we might keep him out,” suggested Andy. “It’s going to be a cold night, remember.”
This idea took like wild-fire, and it was resolved to get Josiah Crabtree out of the building by all means. Only the faithful were let into the secret, and they watched the teacher narrowly after the school session came to an end.
“I know how to do it,” said Pepper. And he unfolded his plot, to which the others listened eagerly. They saw Crabtree walk through a side hallway, and immediately hurried to a spot just around the corner from where the teacher was standing.
“Yes, we’ll meet at the gym to-night, at exactly ten o’clock,” said Pepper in a loud voice. “Be sure and be on hand.”
“All right – the gym at ten o’clock,” said Andy, in an equally loud voice. “We’ll have a fine spread!” And then the boys ran off before Josiah Crabtree could stop them.
The crabbed teacher heard what was said, and as soon as the cadets had vanished his face took on a crafty look.
“The gymnasium at ten o’clock, eh?” he murmured to himself. “A fine spread, eh? Not if I know it! Josiah Crabtree, you must capture them, and make an example of them!”
As the captain and Mr. Strong were away, he enlisted the services of Peleg Snuggers. It may be mentioned here that the other teachers came only during school hours, one living at Cedarville, and others coming but twice a week, to teach music and foreign languages.
At the proper time that night all of the pupils but Pepper and Andy went to bed. The latter hid themselves in the hallway, one near Josiah Crabtree’s room, and the other one downstairs.
At a quarter to ten the teacher came forth from his room, wearing his regular school suit. As the gymnasium was only across the campus, he did not feel it necessary to don his overcoat. He slipped to the rear of the school, summoned Peleg Snuggers, and both left the building.
“He has gone!” cried Andy, and rushing forward from his hiding place he locked the door. Then he and Pepper saw to it that all of the other doors and also the windows were secured.
“Wait, I’ll fix them better than that,” said Jack, and secured small wedges of wood. These were driven under the doors, and alongside of the window sashes, so that they could not be opened without great effort.
By this time fully a dozen of the cadets were out of their dormitories. Pepper and Andy went around summoning the others.
“We want your aid,” said Pepper, boldly. “Old Crabtree has gone outside and we mean to keep him out.”
“Everybody in favor of keeping him out raise their hands,” called out Andy, and fully sixty hands went up.
“Paxton, what do you say?” asked Jack. He knew Nick Paxton was the leader of the Baxter crowd during the absence of the bully.
“I’m not saying anything,” growled Paxton.
“Don’t you try to let Crabtree in,” came from one cadet. “We are going to let him have a regular freeze-out.”
As Gus Coulter had had trouble with the teacher, he was willing to keep the man out, and so, after some talk, it was decided that nobody should aid in letting the teacher get into the Hall building.
“If anybody tries it, he’ll catch it good and hard,” warned Pepper.
“So say we all of us!” shouted a score of others. “No sneak wanted here!” And some glanced at Mumps in a fashion that made that youth slink out of sight in short order.
Going to an upper window, Pepper, Andy, and Jack looked out, and saw Crabtree and Snuggers stealing softly around the gymnasium. After a look into several of the windows, the two men crouched down behind some bushes.
“This is the best yet!” whispered Pepper. “They think we haven’t arrived yet.”
“Let them wait,” returned Jack. “It will cool them off sure. It is nipping cold to-night.”
CHAPTER XXI
THE BOYS “HOLD THE FORT”
Quarter of an hour passed, and still Josiah Crabtree and Peleg Snuggers remained in the vicinity of the gymnasium, while the boys, from behind the window shades, watched all of their movements.
“They are cold enough,” was Dale’s comment. “See them slapping their arms.”
At last the crabbed teacher could stand it no longer. Leaving the general utility man to remain on guard, he started back for the Hall at a brisk pace.
“He is coming!” whispered Jack. “Now, boys, don’t make a sound.”
Reaching the door, Josiah Crabtree tried the knob.
“Humph! Who could have locked that?” he asked of himself. “Certainly I did not. Snuggers must have the key.”
“Ain’t got no key an’ I didn’t lock the door, Mister Crabtree,” said the hired man, on being questioned.
“Well, it is certainly locked now.”
“Ain’t nobuddy come here neither,” said Peleg Snuggers. He was growing tired of waiting around in the cold.
“I’ll try the other doors,” came from Josiah Crabtree, and he hurried off once more. Of course he found everything tight shut.
“Somebody has locked us out,” he muttered. “It must have been those boys. Perhaps they saw Snuggers and myself going to the gymnasium. Confound the luck!”
Again he walked around the Hall, trying all of the doors, and when he had done so, called to Snuggers:
“Have you a key?”
“No, sir.”
“They have locked us out.”
“You don’t say so! Who did it?”
“I don’t know.”
Josiah Crabtree pondered for a moment and then, walking back to the main door of the Hall, pulled the bell.
Ordinarily the bell pealed loudly, but now no sound came forth, for the clapper had been bent back by one of the cadets.
“Ha! they have disconnected the bell!” growled Josiah Crabtree. “The young scamps! I’ll fix them for this! Just wait till I get inside.” And then he began to thump on the door with his fist.
“He’s getting warmed up,” whispered Andy, grinning broadly.
“Never mind, it will keep his blood in circulation,” answered Jack, and all of the cadets present snickered.
“Are you going to open that door?” roared Josiah Crabtree, at last. “You young villains, open the door, I say!”
“My, but he’s getting complimentary, I must confess,” said Dale.
“Do you think the noise will wake up Mrs. Green?” asked one of the boys.
“No, she sleeps like a cow,” answered another. “Besides, her room is at the top of the building, and all of the upper doors are shut.”
“Open the door!” bellowed Josiah Crabtree.
“Open the door!” echoed Peleg Snuggers.
“Shall we answer?” asked Joe.
“Not yet,” returned Pepper. “Wait till he tries to break in. Then I’ve got another scheme to work on him.”
Finding he could do nothing at the door, Josiah Crabtree hurried to one of the windows.
“Now, fellows, is your chance!” cried Stuffer. “A little water from one of the pitchers – ”
“Whoop!” came from Hogan. “It’s a bath he’s afther nadin’, sure!” And up the stairs he bounded. Water pitcher in hand, he approached a window over the one the teacher was trying to open. Then down came the water on the teacher’s head, wetting him thoroughly.
“Ouch!” roared Josiah Crabtree, and began to dance around. “Oh, the water has gone down my back! It’s ice-cold! Oh, I’ll pay you for that!”
“Thank you, no payment requoired!” said Hogan, softly, and closed the window again.
“Emerald, you’re a gem!” said Andy. “Won’t old Crabtree feel fine with a wet back on such a bitter night as this?”
“If you don’t let me in I’ll – I’ll have the law on some of you!” yelled Josiah Crabtree. “This is – er – preposterous! Open the door!”
“All the winders is tight shut,” said Peleg Snuggers, who had been making an examination. “I must say, I dunno how we are to git in, Mr. Crabtree.”
“We must get in,” fumed the teacher. “Why, my back feels like a – er – an icicle.”
“Sorry, sir.”
“If I stay out here I’ll catch my death of cold.”
“I’ve got an idee, sir. I might get a ladder and put it up to the second-story winders.”
“Yes, yes. Get the ladder at once.”
The general utility man hurried off to the carriage house and presently came forth carrying a long ladder.
“It’s all I can do to lift it, sir,” he said. “You’ll have to help me raise it.”
“I can do that.”
“They’ve got a ladder!” whispered Jack. “They are going to try to get into one of the upper windows.”
“Come on upstairs,” returned Pepper. “Say, has anybody got a blank cartridge left?”
Several had, having saved them from the encampment, and they were passed over to Pepper, who placed one in his gun. Then Andy loaded up likewise.
“Put on your caps, boys,” said Pepper. “Pull ’em down over your eyes, so Crabtree can’t recognize us in the dark.”
This was also done, and a score of students crowded into the room which the teacher and Snuggers expected to enter.
They had scarcely done so when there came an unexpected crash. In trying to raise the heavy ladder both Josiah Crabtree and Snuggers had allowed it to slip, and the end came through the window sash, shattering the window panes into a thousand pieces.
“Phew! That’s the time they did it!” exclaimed Henry Lee. “There will be some glass to pay for when this adventure is over.”
“Well, that wasn’t our fault,” came from Harry Blossom. “They should have been more careful with the ladder.”
“Snuggers, have a care!” roared Josiah Crabtree. “You have broken the window.”
“Twasn’t my fault!” howled the hired man. “Why didn’t you keep her from slippin’?”
“Hold the bottom of the ladder while I go up,” ordered the teacher, ignoring the question. “Be careful now. I don’t want to break my neck.”
“I’m a-holdin’ tight enough,” grumbled the hired man.
With caution Josiah Crabtree started to come up the ladder.
“Here comes the burglar, boys!” shouted Pepper, in an assumed voice. “He has broken the window. He deserves to be shot!”
“Yes, yes! shoot the burglar!” came in a shout. “Shoot him!”
“We’ll teach ’em that they can’t rob Putnam Hall even if Captain Putnam is away.”
“Stop!” screamed Josiah Crabtree. “I am no bur – ”
“Take careful aim,” commanded Pepper, loudly. “All ready?”
“Boys, I am no bur – ”
“All ready?”
“Yes, yes!”
“Boys, I command you to sto – ”
“Fire!”
Bang! bang! bang! went three of the guns, the cadets shooting high up into the night air. With a wild scream of terror, Josiah Crabtree slid down the ladder, on top of Peleg Snuggers’ head, and both sank to the ground.
“There goes Mr. Burglar!”
“Run away, you robber! If you don’t we’ll give you another dose!”
“Oh, my poor head!” groaned Snuggers.
“They are shooting at me!” moaned Crabtree, scrambling up.
“They be takin’ us for burglars!” went on the general utility man.
“There are two of them,” came from above. “Shoot them, fellows! They must be regular desperadoes to try such a game as this.”
“Let us run!” screamed Peleg Snuggers, and set off at his best pace, with Josiah Crabtree at his heels. Neither stopped until he was safe in the shelter of the barn.
“There they go!” laughed Pepper. “I’ll wager they won’t come back in a hurry.”
“Shove the ladder off,” commanded Jack, and this was done, the ladder falling out across the campus.
“Of course they’ll come back,” came from Dave Kearney. “What shall we do next?”
“Sure an’ there is plenthy av water,” suggested Hogan.
“That’s the ticket. Put the guns away, or we may arouse Mrs. Green after all, or somebody living at a distance.”
The guns were restored to the racks on the lower floor of the Hall, and this done, two students stationed themselves at each window upstairs, each with a pitcher of cold water.
“Here is where somebody is going to get a fine ducking,” said Bart Conners, with a merry twinkle in his eyes. Bart did not do much talking, but he was as full of mischief as the average cadet.
Soon they saw Josiah Crabtree and Peleg Snuggers sneaking toward one of the lower windows. The hired man had an ax.
“They surely mean business this trip,” whispered Pepper. “Give it to them!”
Down went one pitcherful of water after another, and in a trice both the teacher and the hired man were thoroughly drenched. They set up a howl, and Snuggers dropped the ax as he ran off with Crabtree by his side.
“Haven’t we had about enough?” questioned Jack, after a wild burst of laughter.
“Let’s go to bed, and be as mum as oysters,” said Andy, and this was agreed to. All of the upper windows were closed, and then some of the cadets unlocked the door below that had been open, and fixed the door bell.
“Now, then, not a word from anybody, on his life!” said Jack, and the word spread rapidly. Inside of five minutes every cadet was in bed, the lights were put out, and all became as silent as a tomb inside of Putnam Hall.
