The first race was a four-oared affair between the smaller boys, and much to the surprise of everybody it was won by Mumps and a lad named Cathby.
“Hullo, I didn’t know Mumps could row so well,” cried Pepper.
“He comes from a town on the Hudson River, and was brought up around boats,” answered a cadet standing near. “His folks own several sailboats, so I’ve been told.”
“Well, he deserves credit for winning, even if he is a sneak,” declared Jack.
The next race was an eight-oared affair, between crews made of Stuffer, Hogan, Blackmore, and a number of others already mentioned in these pages. This was lost by the crew led by Stuffer.
“Stuffer had been eating too much,” said Pepper. And the always-hungry lad afterwards admitted that this was true.
The third race was a four-oared affair between Jack, Pepper, Andy, and Joe Nelson on one side, and Paxton and several chums on the other. Baxter had been expected to row in this, but fell out at the last moment, stating he was not well. Privately, he was afraid of losing, for he knew Jack and his friends were good oarsmen.
The race was for a mile, and at the discharge of a pistol both crews started in fine shape.
“Go it, Paxton!” was the cry. “You can win if you try!”
“Pull, Pepper, pull!”
“Make every stroke tell, Jack!”
On and on swept the two boats, and for the first half of the course kept side by side.
“It’s going to be a tie race!”
“Pull, Paxton! Pull, Leeds!”
“See, Paxton’s boat is going ahead!”
It was true—slowly but surely the craft went forward, until it was a full length in advance. Jack, Pepper, and the others were doing their best but the other boat continued to keep in the lead.
“I see a rope trailing behind!” cried Pepper suddenly.
“There it goes,” added Andy. “It was caught on the bottom.”
“All together, and give her tar!” shouted Jack, shutting his teeth hard. “Pull, boys, pull!” And they did pull as never before.
But quarter of a mile of the race remained, and now Jack’s boat was crawling up to the rival craft.
“See, Paxton’s boat is but half a length ahead!”
“They are tie again!”
“Pull, everybody, and may the best crew win!” came from a gentleman in one of the sailboats.
“Oh, pa, I hope that last boat wins,” cried a girl in the sailing craft, a fine small yacht.
“So do I, Laura,” came from a second girl.
“Why, Flossie?” questioned her father, with a smile.
“Oh, I don’t know. They look nicer than the boys in the first boat.”
“Really? You have sharp eyes, I must say.” And then Mr. Ford, for such was the gentleman’s name, turned to the race once more.
Jack, Pepper, Andy, and Joe Nelson were working like steam engines, and the same may be said of their opponents. On and on swept the two rowboats toward the finish line. There was a wild yelling along the lake front and from the various boats gathered around.
“Come, we must win!” shouted Joe Nelson, and seemed to suddenly wake up. Jack and the others also renewed their exertions, and now their spurt carried them a foot in the lead.
“Here they come!”
“Jack Ruddy’s boat is ahead!”
“Paxton is crawling up again!”
It was true, the rivals were also spurting, and for a moment the two craft were side by side once more. But Paxton’s crew could not keep up the terrific pace, and suddenly they fell back, and Jack and his friends shot over the line winners by a full length.
“Hurrah! Jack Ruddy’s crew wins!”
“It was a stiff race though, wasn’t it?”
“It was, indeed!”
As soon as he saw that he had lost Paxton fell down in his boat and put his hand to his side.
“What’s the matter, Paxton?” asked George Strong, who was in a boat nearby.
“Got a—a pain in—my—side,” gasped Paxton. “It’s the old trouble, sir.”
“That’s too bad.”
“I—I could have won if—it—wasn’t—for—that,” went on Paxton.
“Possibly,” returned the assistant teacher.
“He and his crew were beat clean and clear,” whispered one of the cadets nearby, and this opinion was the opinion of the majority who witnessed the race.
When Jack and his crew landed at the boathouse a crowd surrounded them, slapping them on the backs and shaking hands.
“It was well won!” cried Bart Conners. “But, say, wasn’t there something the matter with your boat at first?”
“Sure there was,” answered Pepper. “Somehow, a rope caught fast to the bottom. If it hadn’t been for that I think we should have won with ease.”
“I’d like to know how that rope got there,” said Andy. But the mystery was never explained.
Half an hour later the race came off between the Putnam Hall cadets and the crew from Pornell Academy. None of our friends took part in this affair, and to witness it to advantage Jack, Pepper, and Andy went out in a small rowboat and stationed themselves near the course.
“There is that yacht that passed us while we were racing,” observed Andy, pointing the craft out. “See the girls who waved their handkerchiefs at us.”
“They look to be nice girls,” said Jack. “Let us get a little closer to the yacht.”
“Hullo, Jack must be smitten!” came from Pepper.
“Nonsense!” murmured Jack, turning red. “I only wanted to see who the gentleman was who is on board.”
“I know him,” came from Andy. “His name is Ford, and he has a fine estate further up the lake. Somebody told me he was rich. Those girls must be his daughters.”
“I don’t believe he knows much about handling a yacht,” said the young major. “See how he is bringing her around.”
“Those girls want to be careful,” came from Andy. “That boom may——”
Andy got no further, for just then the yacht swung around on another tack. Around came the boom of the mainsail, hitting each of the girls on the shoulder. Just then the yacht gave a lurch, and with a wild scream of terror, the two maidens slipped over the craft’s side and disappeared beneath the waters of Cayuga Lake!
“They are overboard!”
“They’ll be drowned!”
“We must save them!”
Such were the three exclamations that came from Jack, Pepper, and Andy as Laura and Flossie Ford sank beneath the surface of the broad and rippling lake.
“My daughters! My daughters!” came in an agonizing cry from Rossmore Ford. “Save them! Save them! I cannot swim!”
“We’ll save them!” shouted back Jack, and bent to the oars of the rowboat, while Pepper did the same. Andy was in the bow, and stood up, ready to dive overboard should it become necessary to do so.
The mishaps had occurred some distance away and it took nearly a minute for the small craft to reach the locality. In the meantime both Laura and Flossie had reappeared and were shrieking for help. Both could swim a little, but not enough to keep up with all of their clothing and their shoes on.
“Save them! Save them!” Mr. Ford continued to call out, and tried his best to bring the yacht around again.
By the time the rowboat was at hand the girls had disappeared once more. As quick as a flash Andy dove overboard, for he had caught a brief glimpse of Flossie’s dress.
“I see the other one, Pep!” called out Jack. “Keep the boat handy!” And then he followed Andy into the water.
It was a long dive for Jack, but it brought him close beside Laura, and soon he had hold of the girl and was bringing her to the surface. She clutched him tightly, and he had all he could do to keep her from shutting off his breath.
“Don’t—don’t hold so tight—you—you are safe,” he gasped, when they got their heads above water. “Here is a rowboat. I’ll put you in that!”
“Oh!” murmured Laura. “Ple—please don’t let me go down again!”
“I won’t. Here’s the boat. Now easy, Pep, or you’ll tip over.”
“I’ve got her, Jack,” was the reply, and bracing himself in the rowboat, Pepper hauled the young lady aboard.
“I’VE GOT HER, JACK!”
“Where’s Andy?” questioned the young major, looking around.
“I see him,” answered Pepper, and a moment later Andy came up, holding Flossie by the back of her shirt-waist. The girl was partly unconscious.
“Got tangled up in some wild grass on the bottom,” spluttered Andy. “Here, take her,” and he held her up, and soon Flossie was resting on the seats of the rowboat.
By this time several boats were coming up, including the steam tug containing the judge of the coming race.
“They’re safe!” was the cry. And this was re-echoed on all sides.
“Are they—they all right?” asked Rossmore Ford, in a faltering voice.
“Yes, sir.”
“Thank God for that!” murmured the rich man. “Will you bring the rowboat up here?”
“Better lower your mainsail first,” suggested Pepper. This was done, and soon the rowboat was alongside of the yacht, and then the girls were passed up to the deck.
“Oh, dear, what has happened?” murmured Flossie, opening her eyes. She gave a shudder. “I—we went overboard, didn’t we?” And she gazed around in wonder.
“Are you all right, Laura?” questioned the father.
“Yes, pa—but I—I don’t want to fall overboard again,” said the older of the two sisters.
“Neither do I,” put in Flossie. She was recovering rapidly. “It was the boom struck us, wasn’t it?”
“Yes.”
“Let us get out of the crowd,” whispered Jack. “The girls are all right now.”
“Just as you say,” answered Andy. And they rowed away as rapidly as they had come up.
“Hi! hi!” called out Rossmore Ford. “Wait! I want to thank you for what you have done.”
“Oh, that’s all right, sir,” called back Jack.
“Come back, won’t you?” pleaded the rich man.
“We’ll have to go back,” said Andy, and once more the rowboat was turned around, and presently they boarded the yacht and tied the small craft behind.
“Are those young ladies safe?” asked the judge of the race, from the steam tug.
“They are,” answered Rossmore Ford.
“Good,” and the tug soon after that moved away, and so did the majority of the other boats.
“I owe you young gentlemen a good deal for saving my daughters,” said Rossmore Ford.
“I shall never forget what you did,” put in Laura, with a bright glance at Jack.
“You saved us from death,” came from Flossie, and gave Andy a grateful look.
“Your boom came around pretty lively,” said the young major.
“Yes. The—er—fact is, I don’t know as much about sailing a boat as I’d like to,” answered the owner of the yacht. “I’ll have to be more careful in the future.”
He asked the cadets their names, and then introduced himself and his daughters, and all shook hands.
“Pa, we’ll have to go home and put on some dry clothing,” said Laura.
“Gracious me, I never thought of that!” exclaimed the fond parent. “To be sure—we’ll go back at once. Do you wish to go along, young gentlemen?”
“I guess we had better stay behind and see the race,” answered Jack, after a questioning look at his companions.
“Yes, I presume you are greatly interested. I was interested myself.”
“I hope your school wins,” came from Laura.
“So do I,” added her sister.
“You must give us a call some time,” went on Rossmore Ford. “Our home is up the lake—Point View Lodge we call it. We shall be glad to see you any time.”
“Thank you, perhaps we’ll come up,” said Andy, and the others said practically the same. Then the cadets jumped into their rowboat once more and the yacht went on its way.
“They are certainly nice people,” was Pepper’s comment. “You two fellows are regular heroes for saving the maidens fair.”
“Pooh! As if you didn’t have as much to do with it as anybody!” cried Jack.
“I didn’t leap into the briny deep, as the novelists say.”
“Briny deep is good,” laughed Andy. “Why, the water isn’t over twelve feet deep around here.”
“It’s deep enough to drown in. If you don’t believe it, stand on the bottom and find out.” And then there was a general laugh.
The race between the cadets of Putnam Hall and the boys from Pornell Academy was now about to start. Crack! went the pistol and down into the clear waters of Cayuga Lake went the oars.
“They are off!”
“And Putnam Hall leads!” came the cry half a minute later.
It was true, almost from the start Putnam Hall led by half a length. The oarsmanship of the crew was perfect, and the lead was held for the first half of the race.
“Oh, if only they can keep it up!” cried Pepper.
“Go it, boys, go it!” yelled Jack. “You’ve got to win!”
“Show ’em what Putnam Hall can do!” cried Andy.
On and on flew the two boats. Putnam Hall was still ahead, but only a few inches.
“We’re going to lose the lead!” cried Harry Blossom. “Too bad!”
“Are we?” came from Dave Kearney. “Not much! How is that for a spurt?”
As he spoke the captain of the Putnam Hall crew spoke to his fellows, and in a twinkling the time of the stroke was increased. Straight to the front leaped the boat, until the stern was even with the bow of the rival’s craft.
“They are going ahead!”
“Hurrah for Putnam Hall!”
“Pull, Pornell, pull! You’ve got to win!”
So the cries ran on and the crew of the Pornell boat did their best to increase their stroke. But they could not overtake Putnam Hall and when the line was crossed the latter was the winner by two lengths and a half.
A wild din went up. Horns tooted, rattles clacked loudly, and cheer after cheer rent the air.
“That’s the way to beat ’em!”
“Pornell wasn’t in it from start to finish!”
“Better go home and learn to row!”
The rivals felt sheepish enough, and without loss of time they rowed ashore and the members of the crew disappeared, followed by those who had come from Pornell Academy to see them win.
“You have certainly done very well,” said Captain Putnam, to the winning crew. “Your stroke was almost perfect.”
“And it was well kept up,” came from George Strong. “I never saw a prettier race in my life.”
Josiah Crabtree had nothing to say, for he took no interest in sports. But nobody paid attention to the crabbed teacher.
The races were followed by a general holiday time, in which nearly all of the cadets participated. Only Dan Baxter and his crowd went away. They departed for a deserted boathouse, and there sat talking and smoking cigarettes.
“I suppose those fellows will have swelled heads after this,” muttered the bully.
“Sure,” grumbled Paxton. “But I don’t care. If they try to crow over me——”
“What will you do?” asked Mumps.
“Never mind, I’ll do something.”
“And I’ll help,” came from the bully of the school. “We have got to take them down a peg or two, or else they’ll be running the whole Hall to suit themselves.”
For a week after the races, matters at Putnam Hall ran along smoothly. Captain Putnam insisted upon it that the students attend to their studies and our friends pitched in with vigor, so that Jack stood first in his class, Pepper third, and Andy fourth, which was certainly fine.
During that time Dan Baxter had a sharp “run-in” with the master of the Hall, who gave the bully a stern lecture. As a consequence Baxter was quite humble for the time being and did not risk doing anything to bring him into further disgrace.
On a Tuesday morning Captain Putnam called Jack, Pepper, and Andy into his private office.
“Gracious, I hope we aren’t in for a lecture!” whispered Andy while on the way.
“Have you been doing anything wrong?” asked Pepper with a wink.
“No, have you?”
“Not much. I had some flour yesterday and when I was upstairs old Crabtree was in the lower hallway. Somehow the flour slipped out of my hand and went down on Crabtree’s head.”
“Slipped is good!” chuckled Jack. “Did he spot you?”
“Not much! I had business elsewhere, and I dusted,” answered his chum.
When they entered the office they found Captain Putnam awaiting them with a smile and knew at once that everything was all right.
“I’ve received an invitation for you three lads,” said the master of the Hall. “It is from Mr. Rossmore Ford. He and his wife and daughters are going to have a small gathering at their home this afternoon and evening, and they would like you to be present. If you desire to go you may do so. Mr. Ford is anxious to do something to show how much he appreciates what you did for his daughters.”
“Oh, I don’t know——” faltered Andy, who was somewhat bashful.
“Let us go by all means!” cried Pepper. “I’m sure we’ll have a good time.”
“I shouldn’t mind going,” said Jack. “They seemed to be real nice people, and it would look strange to refuse.”
So it was settled that they should go, and Captain Putnam said they could take a horse and buggy from the Hall and make the journey to Point View Lodge and back in that.
“And remember to be back by eleven o’clock,” said the master of the Hall.
They were to start at two o’clock, and immediately after dinner they rushed up to their dormitory to get ready. It was a rule of the establishment that cadets must wear their uniforms when going out on such occasions and they brushed up as never before, and put on their best collars, cuffs, and shoes.
“Jack is sprucing up for the girls,” observed Pepper, with a wink at Andy.
“I’m sprucing up for the credit of the Hall,” retorted the young major. “And you must do the same.”
When they went down to the barn, Peleg Snuggers had the horse and buggy ready for them, and the utility man told them of the road to take to get to Point View Lodge.
“Mr. Ford is a swell gent,” said Peleg Snuggers. “Ain’t no more swell gent in these parts.”
“Any danger of his bursting?” queried Andy.
“Is he a land swell or a sea swell?” questioned Pepper.
“You young gents know wot I mean,” answered the utility man. “He’s rich—got millions.”
“Phew!” murmured Jack. “Boys, we’ll have to put on swell airs!”
“Peleg, won’t you lend me a diamond for my shirt front?” asked Andy.
“Ain’t got no diamond.”
“Maybe you’ll lend us a gold watch,” suggested Jack.
“Oh, you stop a-jokin’ me,” cried the utility man. “How am I to git diamonds an’ gold watches on twenty dollars a month, answer me that now?”
“Oh, we know you’re rich, Peleg,” said Pepper. “Some day you’ll buy out the Hall and give us free board, eh?” And then the boys drove off, leaving Peleg Snuggers standing grinning after them.
“Boys is boys, an’ allers will be!” murmured the man of all work. “Bless ’em all, say I.”
The road to Point View Lodge was somewhat rough and they had to drive along with care. In some spots the trees overhung the road completely, making the way rather dark.
“It will be no mean drive getting back,” said Andy.
“We’ve got a lantern, and we can drive slow,” answered Jack. “We ought to start for the Hall by half-past nine o’clock.”
At last they reached the Lodge, located on a point of the lake shore. There were elegant grounds, filled with shrubs and flowers, and a fine mansion with broad piazzas. Off to one side was a large summerhouse and to the other a barn and sheds.
“This is fine and no mistake,” murmured Jack. “See, there is quite a crowd here, too.”
A stable-hand took care of their turnout, and soon Rossmore Ford and his stately wife came to greet them. Then the girls came also, and there were warm handshakings all around.
“I am very, very thankful for what you did for Laura and Flossie,” said Mrs. Ford. “I want you to make yourselves at home here, and I trust you have a good time.”
“It’s a splendid place,” said Andy.
They were introduced to a number of the guests, including several young men from Pornell Academy, and then Laura and Flossie took them around the mansion and grounds, showing them various points of interest. The girls were bright and lively and soon succeeded in making them feel perfectly at home.
“I see you have several students from Pornell here,” said Jack to Laura, when they had drifted a short distance away from the others.
At this Laura frowned slightly.
“Yes. We did not expect them. They came to make a call.”
“Oh, I see.”
“One of them, Roy Bock, knows some of my mother’s people, and he comes on that account and brings those others with him.”
“He seems to be making himself at home.”
“Yes, he acts as if he owned the place. Flossie and I do not like them to come, but mamma doesn’t like to say anything, and pa is away most of the time.”
They took a ramble through the garden and into a conservatory, and Laura gave Jack a big rose for his buttonhole, while Flossie got roses for Andy and Pepper. These had just been pinned on when Roy Bock appeared, followed by three of his fellow students from Pornell Academy.
“So here you are!” cried Roy Bock, loudly. “We were wondering what had become of you. Spooning, I suppose?” he added, coarsely.
“We were showing our friends around the grounds,” said Laura, quietly.
“I just heard you were the chaps that pulled the girls out of the lake,” said a student named Grimes.
“Oh, anybody could have done that,” came from another, named Gussic.
“I suppose anybody could have rowed that race, too,” said Jack, sharply. The manner of the rival academy boys was very obnoxious.
“Oh, I heard how your school won that race!” cried Flossie, her eyes beaming.
“I guess our school didn’t have a fair show,” growled Roy Bock. “The Putnam Hall crew started before the pistol went off.”
“That is not true!” exclaimed Pepper. “The start was a very fair one.”
“Humph! Of course you’d say so,” grumbled the student named Gussic.
“I say so because it is true.”
“I reckon all you fellows have the swelled head now,” put in Grimes. “But just wait till the football match comes off—we’ll show you a trick or two.”
“Oh, please don’t quarrel here!” whispered Laura, in a frightened tone. “If you get Roy Bock mad, he’ll say all sorts of mean things.”
“We’ve got to go back now,” said Bock. “We’ll call again some day—when these fellows ain’t around. We don’t want anything to do with chaps who cheat at boat races.”
“Bock, some day I’ll make you take back those words,” said Jack, hotly. “But we are guests here, so I’ll say no more.”
“Bah! I’m not afraid of you,” growled Roy Bock, and then he strode off, followed by his fellow students. Soon they left the house, on the buckboard that had brought them to the Lodge.
“Oh, how thankful I am that they are gone,” said Flossie. “Do you know, I am getting afraid of Roy Bock!”
“He’s a—a—puppy,” said Andy. “Excuse the word, but I can’t describe him in any other way.”
“I think he is very mean,” came from Laura. “I wish he would keep away for good.”
“His companions are about as bad as he is,” said Pepper. “They seem to be all tarred with the same brush.”
“They are always together,” said Flossie. “They always come here in a bunch and stay and stay. It’s a wonder they didn’t invite themselves to dinner. And then, so I’ve been told, they tell their fellow students that we urge them to come, and that they can’t hardly get away from here!”
There were one or two other young folks present, and all had a good time until dinner was served. The repast was an elaborate one, and our friends did it full justice. Then came some music and a few games, and all too soon it was time for Jack, Pepper, and Andy to leave.
“We’ve had a boss time!” cried Pepper, enthusiastically. “Excuse the French!” he added, meaning the slang.
“Couldn’t have had a better!” added Jack.
“It was real nice of you to ask us to come,” put in Andy.
“We have enjoyed your company,” said Laura, and Flossie said the same. Then Mr. and Mrs. Ford asked them to call again.
“You must come down to our school,” said Jack. “On Saturdays we give a special drill.”
“And Jack, you know, is our major!” said Andy.
“Oh, pa, we must see the drill by all means!” cried the two girls.
“Well, we can drive over some day,” answered the fond parent.
It was quarter to ten when the boys left the grounds in the buggy. The lantern was lit and hung over the dashboard, yet it did not light the road very well, and they had to proceed with care.
“This isn’t so nice,” observed Andy, when they were in a black portion of the woods. “Supposing some tramps or highway robbers should pounce out on us?”
“Andy must have been reading some trashy five-cent library,” laughed Pepper. “I caught Link Smiley reading one the other day, and I had to laugh at all the hair-breadth escapes the so-called hero had.”
“Excuse me, but I’m not giving up my good nickels for such rot,” answered Andy. “Good books are too plentiful. But it is dark and no mistake.”
“I see a light ahead!” interrupted Pepper. “Perhaps a carriage is coming this way.”
They drove slowly, and presently came up to where the light was resting, on a limb of a tree. Just as they were opposite to the lantern, eight masked figures leaped out from behind the bushes.
“Stop!” was the command. “Don’t you dare to drive another step!”
“What are we up against now?”
“Are these fellows tramps?”
“Are they going to rob us?”
Such were a few of the questions which Jack, Andy, and Pepper asked when they found themselves confronted by the eight masked figures on the lonely forest road. Each of the masked persons was armed with a stout stick.
“Stop, do you hear?” came from one of the crowd, and stepping forward, he caught the horse by the head.
“What is the meaning of this?” demanded Jack.
“It means that you must consider yourself prisoners,” was the cold reply.
“Prisoners!”
“Yes.”
“Who are you?” queried Pepper.
“That remains for you to find out. Step down out of that carriage and be quick about it.”
“Perhaps we won’t step out,” said Andy.
“If you don’t, you’ll get hurt.”
“I know them!” shouted Jack. “They must be Pornell students. Roy Bock, I know your voice.”
“I am not Roy Bock,” was the answer, in a disguised voice.
“You are. What are you going to do with us?”
“We are going to give you a lesson,” growled Roy Bock, for it was really he who had spoken. “Come down out of that buggy!”
As Bock spoke one of the boys leaped forward and secured the whip and two others pulled away the reins. There was no help for it, and Jack, Pepper, and Andy had to leap out. They were at once surrounded.
“This is a pretty high-handed proceeding,” said Jack, in a steady voice. “Don’t you know we can put you in the hands of the law for it?”
“Bah!” growled one of the masked students. “You don’t know us.”
“Perhaps we do.”
“We know Bock, and Grimes, and Gussie,” put in Pepper.
“None of them here,” said one of the Pornell boys. “You are on to the wrong crowd entirely.”
“Maybe this is a Baxter trick!” whispered Andy to his chums.
“No, it’s a Roy Bock trick, I am sure of it,” returned Jack. “He is mad because we cut him out with the Ford girls.”
Our friends were led to a small grove not far from the roadside. Here a camp-fire was burning, and they were forced to kneel while the enemy stood around with their sticks upraised.
“We want you to make a solemn promise,” said one of the masked students.
“What promise?” demanded Jack.
“You have no right to visit Point View Lodge.”
“Ho! I thought so!”
“All of you must promise not to go there again.”
“I’ll not promise,” cried Jack.
“Nor I,” added Pepper.
“Count me out too,” came from Andy. “Why should we stay away?”
“You won’t promise?” asked several.
“No!” came in unison from our three friends.
“Then you’d rather suffer, eh?”
“We don’t intend to suffer!”
“Quit talking and take them to the lake, fellows!” growled one of the masked students. “They’ll sing another tune after they have been ducked three or four times.”
“So you are going to duck us?” said Jack.
“Such is our intention.”
“It’s a mean trick.”
“You can save yourself by promising to steer clear of Point View Lodge in the future.”
“Supposing we are invited there?”
“You can plead a previous engagement.”
“I’ll not do it,” said Andy.
“Nor I,” came from Jack and Pepper.
“To the lake with them!”
In spite of their resistance, our three friends were hurried through the woods, to a point where there was a small cove of the lake. Here a bent tree overhung the water and here were several ropes.
“We’ll tie them by the hands and feet and then duck them good,” said Roy Bock.
“We must escape!” whispered Jack to his friends. “When I give the word cut for it, and cut lively.”
“All right,” they answered.
“I’d rather be ducked than make any promises,” said Jack, loudly. “But I want to tell you fellows something. We have friends, and some day we’ll get square. The people—Gracious sakes alive! What is that, fellows? Look, it’s coming this way! It must be a mad bull!”
As Jack broke off short and pointed with his hand, all of the masked students looked in that direction. Then Jack gave Pepper and Andy the signal, and side by side they dove into the woods and ran towards the road.
“They are gone!”
“It was a trick, to get us to look away!” roared Roy Bock. “Come on after them!”
“If you come after us now we’ll shoot somebody!” cried Andy. They had no firearms, but he thought he might scare their enemies.
“Do you think they will shoot?” questioned one of the masked boys, a lad who was timid by nature.
“No, I don’t,” answered Grimes. “Come on!”
“We don’t want to get hurt——”
“Come on, it’s all right!” And then the crowd went after Jack, Pepper, and Andy pell-mell.
But our friends had gained a good start and they made the best possible use of their time. They leaped over the rocks and small brush-wood, and presently caught sight of the lantern, still hanging over the dashboard of the buggy.
“Hullo, what’s this?” cried Pepper, as he stumbled over something. “Bicycles, I declare, four singles and two tandems!”
“They must have come to this spot on their wheels,” answered Andy.
“I’ve got an idea—we’ll take a couple of the wheels along! Then somebody will have to walk home!”
This was agreed to, and in a trice they had hoisted two of the bicycles into the buggy. Then they got in and urged the horse forward.
“Stop!” came from behind. “Stop!”
“They have two of our wheels!” came in alarm, a moment later. “They are driving away with them!”
“Give us back our bicycles!”
“Not to-night!” shouted Jack. “If you want them, come to Putnam Hall to-morrow and get them!”
“This is the worst yet!” growled Roy Bock, whose wheel had been taken. “We must catch them if we can.”
“Yes, let’s do our best,” returned Grimes, whose wheel was likewise missing.
The rest of the boys mounted their wheels and tried to follow the buggy. But the road to Putnam Hall was much rougher than that to Pornell Academy, and soon they had to abandon the pursuit.
“We made a mess of it,” said Gussic. “They have the laugh on us.”
“I don’t feel like going to Putnam Hall for my wheel,” said Grimes, with a downcast look on his face.
“No more do I,” answered Bock. “But what are you going to do about it?”
“They’ll be sure to tell the Ford girls of this, and they’ll have the laugh on us.”
“If they do that, I’ll punch somebody’s head,” grumbled Roy Bock.
As soon as they were sure the Pornell students had given up the pursuit, those in the buggy slackened their pace, and re-arranged the bicycles they were carrying.
“We surely turned the tables on them that time,” laughed Jack. “I don’t think they’ll stop us again in a hurry.”
When they reached Putnam Hall they placed the bicycles in care of Peleg Snuggers.
“An’ where did you get them machines?” demanded the general utility man.
“They belong to a couple of Pornell boys. We picked ’em up on the road,” answered Jack.
“I’ll wager a tomato you got into a scrap,” said Peleg, with a grin.
“If we did, we didn’t get the worst of it, Peleg,” said Pepper.
“I don’t reckon you did. Most on the boys at Putnam Hall knows how to take care o’ themselves.”
Our friends were curious to know what the Pornell students would do about their wheels. Two days passed, and then a hired man from the Academy appeared with a wagon, and a note for Jack. The note was unsigned and read as follows:
“Please return the two bicycles per bearer, and we will call the whole thing off.”
“That’s short enough,” said Pepper, after Jack had read the note aloud. “What are you going to do?”
“Let them have their wheels. It wouldn’t be honest to keep them.”
“Let us send a note in return,” suggested Andy.
“I have it!” cried Pepper, and without delay he wrote out the following:
“In the future beware and keep off the grass.
“Committee of Three.”
“That’s short and to the point,” said Jack. The note was sent with the bicycles; and that was the last seen or heard of the Pornell boys for some time to come.