The Young Wild-Fowlers

“Now we shall see what we shall see,” whispered Enoch, as he and Jones drew themselves into the smallest possible compass and waited, with beating hearts, to see what was going to happen. He spoke calmly enough, but the thought of what might be the result of his rash undertaking caused him no little anxiety.

“I wish Lester Brigham had been down in Mississippi before he proposed this thing to us, or else that he was here in my place,” whispered Jones, in reply. “Let’s get out of here while we have the chance.”

It is possible that Enoch would have agreed to this proposal if a way of retreat had been open to them; but before he could speak, the door opened, and the first-class boys came pouring in. It was too late to repent now.

It required all the fortitude Enoch possessed to carry him through the hour that followed, but he had come there to listen, and he did not forget to do it; while his timid companion, who was trembling in every limb, did not understand half a dozen words that were uttered in his hearing. Enoch was greatly amazed to learn that, if the idea of stealing the dinner which the graduating class had prepared for themselves and their friends was original with Lester Brigham, he was not the first student to propose it. In the years gone by, some of the mischief-loving fellows who then belonged to the academy had thought of the same thing, and, moreover, they had worked to such good purpose that they had given the first-class boys no end of trouble. This knowledge was so very encouraging to Enoch that he almost forgot that he was frightened; and when the meeting adjourned, and he and Jones stole out of the recitation room and made their way toward their dormitories, he told himself that if he were as smart as he thought he was, he could do more than make trouble for the graduating class—he could make Lester’s scheme successful.

“There’s one thing about it, fellows,” said Enoch, as he and Jones stopped to exchange a few words with Charley Porter. “They are afraid of our crowd, and have taken all sorts of precautions to guard against any interference on our part. They couldn’t have paid us a bigger compliment; could they, Jones?”

“N—no,” stammered the latter. “Oh, yes; it was a splendid compliment,” he added, trying to arouse himself. The fact was, he did not know what Enoch was talking about.

“I guess you didn’t hear much that was said while you were in the recitation room,” said Charley, who did not fail to notice how very pale Jones’s face was and how his hands trembled. “You look and act as if you were scared half to death.”

“And so I was,” answered Jones, who knew that it would be of no use to deny the charge. “It makes me shiver all over when I think what those fellows would have done to us if they had caught us there. Fortunately they were all gathered in the front of the room, and that was the way we escaped discovery.”

“You know that much about it, don’t you?” said Enoch, with a laugh. “Never mind; I was frightened myself, and when I went down stairs, Charley told me that he wouldn’t act as a spy on Mack and the rest for a million dollars. Charley is nobody’s coward, either.”

“I hope I am not,” said the guard, who was pleased with the compliment. “And I am not foolhardy, either. I don’t call you two brave—I call you reckless.”

“Perhaps we were,” said Enoch. “At any rate I wouldn’t do the same thing again for a dozen dinners. Now we are ready to talk the matter up among the fellows, and we will begin to-morrow.”

Just then the deep tones of the big bell in the cupola rang through the building, and the spies, knowing that the officer of the guard would soon make his rounds, burned toward their rooms; while Charley placed his hands behind his back and began pacing up and down the hall.

“That for you and your rules, Don Gordon,” thought Enoch, snapping his fingers in the air and taking his seat at the study-table opposite his room-mate—a good little boy, who would have been frightened at the bare thought of deliberately violating any of the rules of school. Bert Gordon had fondly hoped that by “chumming” Enoch on a studious, well-behaved fellow, he could induce him to mend his ways and devote himself to business, so that he could take a higher stand in the school; for Enoch was bright, and could have earned a lieutenant’s shoulder-straps very easily, if he had only applied himself. If Bert had known what Enoch was thinking about now, he would have seen that his plan was not likely to work.

That was a long night to Enoch, who rolled restlessly about on his bed trying in vain to go to sleep. His mind was full of thoughts of the dinner and of the stratagems of which he intended to make use in order to secure possession of it (he knew that those he would take into his confidence would expect him to manage the matter), and the worst of it was, that he could not unburden himself to anybody before morning. When at last he sank into an uneasy slumber, he dreamed about the fun in prospect, and it was the first thing that came into his mind when the booming of the morning gun called him up to begin the duties of the day.

It will be remembered that after breakfast the students were allowed an hour in which to look over their lessons for the day, or to walk about the grounds and watch guard-mount. It is hardly necessary to say that Enoch didn’t do either. He devoted the time to making out a list of those who he thought would be willing to assist him in his enterprise, and Lester, Jones, and Charley Porter acted as his advisers. The two last were quite willing to look upon Enoch as the leading spirit, but Lester was not a little provoked at the matter-of-fact way in which the management of affairs was taken out of his hands. He could not have acted as leader himself, and he knew it; but he wanted the others to show him a little respect. Instead of that, they did not notice him at all; but at his request they added the name of Wallace Ross to those on the list, because they knew that they would have occasion to use some of the money with which Ross was so well supplied. After that each member of this self-appointed committee took a copy of the list, and the conspirators separated to “talk the matter up among the boys.” Those to whom they spoke on the subject were, without exception, utterly confounded by the magnitude of the enterprise, and loud in their praises of the courage that Enoch and Jones had exhibited the night before. They said so much about it that Lester became disgusted, and wished most heartily that he had gone into the recitation room himself, instead of allowing Jones to go.

“You seem to forget that I was one of those who saved the lives of the crew of the Mystery,” observed Lester, who could not hear that the two spies should receive all the credit. “Where would they have been if it hadn’t been for me? There wasn’t a boy among you who had the pluck to volunteer to go in the dory with Enoch.”

“What in the world has the wreck of the Mystery to do with stealing the dinner of the graduating class?” demanded one of the dozen or more boys to whom Lester talked in this way. “We know that you and Enoch showed courage that day, and saved us all from being sent down. We are much obliged to you, too, for proposing this thing, for we think we shall be able to get some sport out of it; but Enoch is the fellow to manage it. I, for one, have full confidence in him, but I won’t have anything to do with it unless he is allowed to take command.”

This was what all the boys said, and it made Lester very angry. More than once he told himself that the next time the crowd got hard up for amusement they could go to somebody else to help them out, for he’d be shot if he would do it. He even thought seriously of telling Colonel Mack all about it; and there is every reason to believe he would have done so, had it not been for the fact that he knew he would have to appear as the principal witness when the court-martial came off. As it was, he had to take his place in the ranks, so to speak, and look on and listen while others planned the campaign and issued the necessary orders.

We need not linger to unfold those plans or to repeat the orders, because it would take up too much time; and, besides, everything will be made clear as our story progresses. It will be enough to say that Enoch proved himself to be a long-headed commander, and that when the time for action arrived, everything moved off as smoothly as he could have desired. There was not a single hitch anywhere—but he and his companions didn’t eat the dinner.

We have said that class-day was always observed as a sort of holiday. By that we mean that all the students in the first class were granted leaves of absence for twenty-four hours, with permission to visit the city; that those who lived in Hamilton were allowed to go home for the same length of time; that the others who were worthy of them were granted passes, good “between gun and gun”—that is, between sunrise and sunset—and which permitted them to go as far as the village, and no farther; and that the academy was “garrisoned” only by the guard, and by those who, owing to some violation of the rules, had failed to obtain liberty. Enoch’s crowd numbered nearly forty boys, and, for a wonder, every one of them got a pass. The superintendent was surprised when he came to examine the different reports that were handed in to him, for some of this crowd were the laziest and most turbulent boys in the school; but he complimented them on the marked improvement in their conduct and standing, and said he hoped it would be lasting.

“What would the old fellow think if he knew as much as we do?” said Enoch, to his friend Jones. “He won’t hold us in so high esteem by this time to-morrow as he does now.”

“Perhaps there won’t be much of us left to esteem,” replied Jones, dolefully. “We’re playing a desperate game, Enoch, and I wish Brigham hadn’t thought of it.”

And Lester himself wished that Ross hadn’t thought of it. He had studied and worked with the rest, hoping that before the time for action arrived, something would happen to upset Enoch’s calculations; but every one of his plans worked smoothly, Lester had his pass in his pocket, and there was no backing out.

On the afternoon of the day immediately preceding the one that had been set for the banquet, four boys who lived in Hamilton and who belonged to the crowd, received permission to go home on a twenty-four hours’ visit. Before they went they listened to some very explicit instructions from Enoch and his lieutenants, who reminded them that they had a most important part to perform, and that the success of the enterprise depended solely upon their discretion. Things were all right so far, Enoch said, and if they carried out their orders to the very letter, the members of the crowd would eat that dinner in spite of all that could be done to prevent it.

These emissaries, who departed on the one o’clock train, were accompanied as far as the depot by another student, whose object in loitering about on the platform for five long hours was not made apparent, until the evening train from Hamilton thundered up to the station; then he walked up to the baggage-car, and some one on the inside handed him a letter addressed in a familiar hand to Enoch Williams. It must have been just what the student was waiting for, for as soon as he received it he jumped off the platform and set out post-haste for the academy. Enoch and a few of his trusted followers must have been expecting him, for they were the first boys he encountered after he passed the sentry at the gate.

“It’s from Endicott,” exclaimed Enoch, glancing at the writing on the envelope. “Fellows, this is what comes of having friends at court. If Endicott’s father were not an officer of the road, the baggage-master would not have troubled himself to bring this letter up to us. Now, let us see what those fellows have been doing since they went down to Hamilton. Some of you keep watch while I read.”

As the letter threw considerable light upon the plans of the conspirators, and contained some things the reader ought to know in order to fully comprehend what happened in the city the next day, we transcribe it entire. It ran as follows:

“Everything is working as smoothly as we could wish. Mr. Colson was very much surprised when I told him that we had decided to eat our dinner in Bordentown, and consequently should not want the hall, and so was Mr. Taylor, when we asked him if we could have the eatables at the transfer-depot in time for the afternoon train. But he didn’t hesitate to promise that everything should be there, and neither did he ask any disagreeable questions. We have seen the leader of the band, and told him that we want him to be at the depot to meet the lightning express instead of the regular mail, and he has promised to be on hand and to go to Bordentown with us. My father has placed his carriage at my disposal for to-morrow afternoon, and I have arranged with Sam (that’s the coachman’s name) to meet Blake and his committee at the depot, and to take them as far out into the country as he can before he lets them out. The horses are very fast, and if Sam puts them to their speed, he ought to be able to take them as far as Grove farm. If he does, it will take them forever to find their way back to town, for the roads twist and turn about so bewilderingly that even those who are well acquainted with the woods sometimes get lost there. By the time they get back we shall be on our way to Bordentown, and they will have no means of following us, for we shall take the last train. The best joke of the whole was, that nobody suspected us. We didn’t say that we were first-class boys—they took that for granted. We simply said that we were the committee that had been instructed to make new arrangements regarding the banquet. All the other things you spoke to me about have been attended to, and if you do your part as well as I have done mine, the dinner is ours as sure as you are a foot high. I send this by the baggage-master, as I promised.

“He’s a brick!” exclaimed Enoch, as he folded the letter and returned it to the envelope. “And, Brigham, you are another. No one but you would ever have thought of such a thing as this, and if I have any influence with the fellows, the toast of the evening shall be: ‘Lester Brigham—the student to whose fertile brain we are indebted for this evening’s enjoyment.’ Endicott shall give it, if no one objects. He’s the best speaker among us, and he will do it up brown.”

From this time forward the conspirators lived in a fever of excitement. There was but one thing to be feared now, and that was that Mr. Taylor or Mr. Colson might telegraph to the president of the first class, asking if the “committee” who had called that day had authority to make so radical a change in the programme; but they need not have troubled themselves about that. The gentlemen referred to had been informed by the secretary that if the class thought best to make any changes, they would be duly notified of the fact by a committee and not by letter, and so they supposed that everything was just as it should be.

The morning of the eventful day came at last, and shortly after breakfast the boys exchanged their fatigue suits for their dress uniforms, and began to leave the grounds—all except the members of the first class, who, as we have recorded, marched out in a body in the afternoon, in time to take the five o’clock train. Now more strategy on the part of the conspirators became necessary in order to rid themselves of the presence of those who were not in the secret. There were tickets to be purchased—Ross’s pocket-book came handy now—and then they were to hold themselves in readiness to board the one o’clock train; and, more than that, both of these maneuvers were to be accomplished secretly, or else, to quote from Jones, the fat would all be in the fire.

Among those who had come out with them, and who persisted in keeping them company in spite of all their efforts to shake them off, were several good little boys of the Bert Gordon stamp; and these must be kept in profound ignorance of the contemplated movement. If they should happen to see any of Enoch’s party at the window of the ticket office, or should chance to be on the platform when they boarded the cars, some tale-bearer among them would be sure to hasten to the academy with the information, which might open the eyes of the first-class boys and lead to an investigation by telegraph. Enoch knew that the majority of these good little boys could be trusted—that even if they should accidentally learn the details of all his plans they would not say a word to the teachers about it, unless they were questioned; but there were two among them who could not hold their tongues, and who must be got out of the way at all hazards.

“But how shall it be done? that’s the question,” said Enoch, who was at his wit’s end now. He and Jones had been talking about it all the morning, and just as he asked the question Lester Brigham came up and joined in the conversation. For a wonder the latter hit upon an idea at once. He, too, had been revolving a knotty problem in his mind, and that was, how to get rid of Wallace Ross. He (Lester) was to be toasted as the originator of the grandest scheme for amusement that had ever been thought of by school-boys, and he was afraid that when his name was proposed, Ross would become indignant and tell the truth about the matter. That would be very mortifying indeed, and Lester had decided that the only way to prevent it was to keep Ross away from Bordentown. He had just thought of something.

“Leave them to me, fellows,” said he. “I’ll see that they are not around when we get on the cars.”

“If you will,” exclaimed Enoch, seizing Lester’s hand and giving it a hearty shake, “you will add another to the long list of favors for which we are indebted to you. I wish I could think up things as readily as you can, but my wit is slow. How are you going to do it?”

“I haven’t yet fully decided,” was Lester’s reply. “But I will tell you how you can help me: I want you to spread it around where these two fellows can hear it, that the train we intend to take is an hour late; but——”

“Oh, that wouldn’t do at all,” said Enoch, hastily. “They’d get scattered all over town, and half of them——”

“But,” repeated Lester, paying no attention to the interruption, “have it distinctly understood among our own boys that it is on time. Then come down to the livery stable at twelve o’clock, sharp, and, no matter what I am doing, tell me that the superintendent wants to see me at once. Understand?”

“I understand what you say,” replied Enoch, “but I don’t understand the plot.”

“No matter; I understand it, and you will see how nicely it will work. Will you do as I say?”

Enoch replied that they would, and Lester hastened away to hunt up Wallace Ross before any of the crowd had time to post him in regard to the trick that was to be played upon Smith and Wheeler, the two good little boys whom Enoch was afraid to trust. He found him after awhile, and lost not a moment in putting his hastily-formed plans into execution.

“I say, Ross,” he exclaimed, with a great show of annoyance, “I have been looking all over for you. Our train is an hour behind time, and——”

“How do you know?” demanded Ross.

“Telegraph,” answered Lester.

“Now that’s very provoking,” said Ross, who believed every word of it. “I wish we were in the city now, for I shall not draw an easy breath as long as we stay here. A word from the operator in Hamilton would make dough of our cake in a little less than no time.”

“That’s so,” assented Lester. “I feel as uneasy as you do—more so, in fact, because—er——”

“Because what?” said Ross.

“No matter,” replied Lester, with an air which said that he could tell something surprising if he wanted to. “But if the superintendent should send an orderly after me with instructions to report at the academy without a moment’s delay, it would not astonish me in the least. But if he does, I don’t mean that the orderly shall find me. Let’s go out to the Big Tree, get a good country dinner, and inquire about the trout-fishing.”

The Big Tree was the name of a little tavern that was located in the country, about five miles beyond the village limits. It was a favorite place of resort for the students who were fond of angling, and a visit to the ponds and streams in its immediate vicinity was sure to result in a full creel. The landlord was famous for his pies, but when it came to pancakes, the boys all agreed that he could not begin to compete with Cony Ryan. The Big Tree was so far away that it was some trouble to reach it, and so the students were accustomed to go in parties large enough to fill a two-horse carriage, which they paid for by “pooling” their small supply of pocket-money.

“I am in favor of that,” said Ross, readily. “The boys drew on me pretty heavily this morning, but I think I have enough left to pay my share toward a livery rig.”

“I haven’t,” said Lester; “that is if you and I go alone. Let’s get two more good fellows to go with us. It will make the expense lighter. Here come Smith and Wheeler. They’ve got some collaterals; let’s ask them.”

“What, those spooneys!” exclaimed Ross, who was very much surprised. “I believe I would rather stay here than go with them. I thought you didn’t like them.”

“Neither do I; but our fellows are pretty well strapped, and, as I said, Smith and Wheeler have money. We shall be in their company only about an hour and a half, and you surely can stand it for that length of time.”

“We won’t run any risk of missing the train, will we?”

“Oh, no. I have a watch.”

Smith and Wheeler came up at this moment, and when Lester proposed that they four should club together and hire a team to take them out to the Big Tree, they consented at once. The four boys then strolled slowly toward the livery stable, which they reached shortly before noon. When Lester told the proprietor that he and his companions wanted a double team for an hour and a half, the man did not seem to be in any hurry to order it out.

“Have you got the money to pay for it?” he demanded.

“Of course we have,” answered Lester, indignantly. “Did I ever order a team of you without paying for it?”

“No, you never did; but last week some of your boys ordered a rig for Saturday afternoon, and told me to be sure and keep it for them, and they would take it, rain or shine. I could have let that team a dozen times. When Saturday came it rained, and the boys didn’t show up; consequently I lost my money.”

“We are perfectly willing to pay you in advance,” said Ross.

“More than that,” continued the livery stable man, “I’ve had students come here, order a rig out of pure meanness, and slip out while I was hitching up; and I have said that no academy boy should ever draw a rein over one of my horses again. Will you take the team if I bring it out?”

“Of course we will,” said Wheeler, who, being perfectly honest and upright in all his dealings, felt rather nettled by the livery-man’s suspicions. “You must think we have little to do to come here and call for a thing we don’t want.”

The livery-man laughed and turned away, and presently one of his hands backed a neat wagon with a canopy top into the middle of the floor, and another appeared leading the two horses that were to draw it. Then Lester knew that if Enoch and Jones did their part, the three objectionable boys were effectually disposed of. Enoch had not yet made his appearance, but Lester had so much confidence in him that his absence did not trouble him in the least. He climbed into the wagon and sat there while the horses were being hitched to it; then the others got in, and Wheeler, who handled the reins, was about to drive out of the barn, when the chief conspirator and his lieutenant suddenly appeared at the door.