Our young friends had not forgotten the Fords, and having received another invitation to call at the mansion at Point View Lodge, they set off one afternoon as soon as they could get away.
“I hope we don’t have another encounter with those Pornell Academy fellows,” said Jack, as they drove along in the buggy the captain had let them have. “One such mix-up was enough.”
“I guess they haven’t forgotten how they fared on that occasion,” returned Andy. “They promised to call it off, if you’ll remember.”
“So they did, but I shouldn’t take their word for it,” put in Pepper.
They arrived at the Ford mansion without mishap, having met absolutely nobody on the road. Laura and Flossie were there, and also Mrs. Ford and a niece from Rochester, and all did what they could to make the time pass pleasantly for the boys. They played croquet and lawn tennis, and went out for a short row.
“You boys can certainly handle the oars,” said Laura, with a sunny smile. “I wish I could row half as well.”
“It’s practice that does it,” answered Jack. “Now, all of you girls can play croquet better than we can.”
The party of girls and cadets was just returning to the house when they heard a loud scream coming from the direction of the road running to Point View Lodge.
“Hullo, what does that mean?” cried Jack, stopping short.
“Somebody is in trouble!” came from Andy.
“Help! save me!” was the cry. “Save me! I’ll be eaten up alive!”
“Something is wrong, fellows. Come on!” ejaculated Jack, and ran forward, catching up an oar as he spoke. The others followed, one with another oar, and Andy with a boathook. They were just in time to see a colored woman, who was the cook at the mansion, flying into a side door.
“I see what’s up!” exclaimed Jack, pointing down the road. “It’s the tiger!”
“The tiger!” echoed Pepper, and all of the girls set up a scream.
“Yes, there he is—crouching by the side of yonder tree.”
“I see him!”
“So do I,” put in Andy. “Quick, girls, get into the house before he comes this way!”
“Come in! Come in!” roared the colored cook. “He’ll eat you all up!”
As fast as they could the girls ran for the mansion, entering by a back door. The cadets followed. Looking back they saw the tiger moving slowly from the vicinity of the tree to a clump of bushes on the lawn.
“He is certainly coming this way,” called out Jack.
“He is moving for the house, too!” put in Pepper. “There he goes around to the kitchen door!”
Pepper spoke the truth. The tiger had reached the back door. Now he bounded up the small stoop, and a second later entered the kitchen of the mansion.
As soon as they could do so the three cadets ran into the side door of the mansion. They found the girls on an upper landing, gazing down anxiously.
“Is the tiger coming?” called down Laura.
“Yes, he’s in the kitchen,” answered Jack.
“The kitchen!” gasped Mrs. Ford, who had come out of the library.
“Oh, save me, somebody!” came from the rear of the mansion, and the butler appeared, with his hair almost on end. “A wild beast, mum—roaming the pantry, mum,” he spluttered.
“Better go upstairs, all of you,” said Jack, as he heard the tiger leap upon a table.
“Dat’s where I’m a-goin’,” said the cook, and ran to the top of the house, followed by the butler, where both locked themselves in their rooms.
The girls and Mrs. Ford were soon on the second floor of the mansion, and the three cadets followed.
“Shut all of the doors tight, Mrs. Ford,” said Jack. “For all we know, he may take it into his head to come upstairs.”
Following Jack’s directions, the doors were closed, and the family gathered in a large room in the front of the mansion.
“Whatever are we to do?” questioned Laura, helplessly.
“Well, we can stay here,” answered her sister. “That is what I am going to do for the present.”
“Where is Joseph?” asked Mrs. Ford. The man she mentioned was the gardener.
“He has gone to town to have the lawn mower repaired,” answered Laura. She turned to Jack. “Oh, isn’t this dreadful!”
“Have you got anything in the way of a gun or a pistol, Mrs. Ford?” questioned the young major.
“My husband keeps a pistol in his bedroom. I can get it for you.”
“Please do so.”
“Are you going to risk going after the tiger?” asked Andy.
“A pistol won’t fetch him,” put in Pepper. “He looks as tough as a boarding-house steak.”
“I want to investigate, and I’ll feel safer with the pistol,” answered Jack.
The weapon was soon brought and the young major saw that it was ready for use. It looked as if it might do considerable damage.
“Keep all the doors but this one shut,” said Jack, and then tiptoed his way into the hall once more. He looked down the stairs and along the lower hallway, but could see nothing of the tiger.
“How are you making out?” questioned Pepper, coming out behind him with a bed slat.
“Don’t see anything yet.”
Andy came out into the hallway also, and the three listened intently. All was quiet outside and not a sound came from the lower floor of the mansion.
“Perhaps he went outside again,” whispered Andy. “It wouldn’t be natural for him to stay indoors. Tigers love to roam the forest, and lay in wait for——”
“I hear him!” interrupted Pepper. “Hark!”
All listened again, and now they could hear the creature moving from the kitchen into the library, and then to the parlor. A discord on the piano followed.
“Hullo, he is trying the piano!” cried Pepper, and grinned. “Maybe he’ll play us a waltz!”
From the parlor the tiger roamed into the library, and then showed his head in the hallway for an instant. But before Jack could take aim the beast had disappeared.
“He is making himself at home,” muttered the young major. “Wish I could get a chance at him.”
“Here he comes again!” cried Pepper, and at that moment the tiger came out into the hall and turned partly around.
Jack had his pistol ready, and taking a quick aim, he pulled the trigger. There was a flash and a report, in the semi-dark hallway, and the tiger gave a snarl of pain. Then he glanced up the stairs, glared at the cadets, and came up four steps at a time.
“Into the room, quick!” yelled Jack, and blazed away twice in rapid succession. The tiger was struck in the fore leg, and came to a pause close to the top of the stairs. Jack fired one more shot, then followed his chums into the room, and the door was closed and locked.
“Did you hit him?” queried several, in concert.
“I certainly did, but I don’t know how badly he is wounded. Mrs. Ford, have you any cartridges for this pistol?”
“Yes,” answered the lady of the mansion, and brought forth a box half full. Without loss of time, Jack filled up the empty chambers of the pistol.
“He is snarling outside of the door!” cried Laura. “Oh, do you think he’ll try to break down the door?”
Before anybody could answer there came a wild snarl, and then a thump on the barrier that almost took the door from its hinges.
“Better get into the next room,” called out Pepper. “He’ll break in here if he can.”
“Let us move the bed against the door,” suggested Andy.
The bed was a large affair, of solid mahogany, and would prove an excellent barrier, but before it could be rolled into position there came a crash, and the tiger’s head appeared through a portion of one of the door panels.
Crack! crack! went the pistol in Jack’s hand, and as quickly as he had appeared the tiger disappeared, with a wound in the jaw and another along the left ear.
“Guess that will teach him to keep his distance,” said the young major.
“He is going to the front of the house,” cried Andy.
“The upper veranda! He is going out on the upper veranda!” cried Mrs. Ford.
“He’ll come through the windows!” burst from Flossie’s lips. “Let us go to another room, mamma!” And the girls and their mother did so. Andy and Pepper looked inquiringly at Jack.
“A few more shots ought to make him tired of living,” said the young major.
“Let me try the pistol on him,” came from Pepper, and having secured the weapon, he peeped out into the hallway. The tiger stood at the front end, gazing at the upper veranda and beyond.
Pepper was not an extra shot, but the bullet took the tiger in the left hind knee, and made him utter a fierce snarl. He leaped out on the veranda, and then made another leap into the branches of a nearby tree.
“He has taken to the tree!”
“Let me give him a shot too,” pleaded Andy, and having received the pistol, he awaited his opportunity, and blazed away, hitting the beast in the side. There was a snarl, and the tiger fell to the grass, rolling over and over in evident pain.
“Good!” cried Jack. “That’s one of the shots that told! Give him another, Andy!” and the cadet did so.
“What’s all this shooting about?” came from the roadway, and Mr. Ford appeared, in company with his gardener. “Gracious! Where did that tiger come from?” he added.
“It’s the one that got away from the circus the other day!” called down Jack. “Look out, there may be some fight left in him yet, although we have peppered him pretty well.”
“Throw down the pistol and I’ll finish him,” said the gentleman.
“Let us finish him, won’t you?” pleaded Pepper.
“All right, you can do so.”
All three of the cadets went down the front stairs with a rush, while the girls and Mrs. Ford came out on the upper balcony. Pepper fired one shot, Jack a second, and Andy a third. The last was too much for his tigership, and with a final quiver he rolled over, stretched out, and lay dead.
“Is he—he dead?” asked the gardener cautiously.
“I think so,” answered Mr. Ford. “But don’t go near him yet—he may be shamming.”
They waited a few minutes, and then Jack went up carefully and made an examination.
“Dead as a barn door!” he called out. “My, what a big fellow he is!”
“Are you certain he is dead?” faltered Laura.
“Yes,” answered her father.
“Are there any more of them?”
“He is the only one that got loose,” answered Pepper.
Thus assured, the girls and Mrs. Ford came downstairs, followed later by the butler and the cook. The latter was still trembling.
“Thought we was goin’ to be eat up suah!” said the cook.
“It was a great happening, sir,” said the butler. “I can’t abide wild beasts, sir, not me!”
“You ought to have the skin of this tiger,” said Jack to Mrs. Ford. “It would make a fine rug.”
“Yes, mamma, let us have the skin by all means,” pleaded Laura. “We can have it fixed up with the head on, and it will look beautiful!”
“I’ll have to see the circus people about it,” came from Mr. Ford. “Tell me how he happened to come here.” And then all told their stories, to which the gentleman listened closely.
“I’m so glad these young men were here,” said Mrs. Ford. “Had we been alone, I do not know what might have happened.”
The tiger was dragged to a carriage shed by the gardener and the boys, and then the cook was sent off to get dinner ready. It was found that outside of eating up some steaks, drinking a pan of milk, and breaking a few dishes, the tiger had done no damage. Every bullet aimed at him had taken effect, and there were also two old wounds on him, in the leg and side.
“He must have gotten these old wounds when he leaped into the lake,” said Mrs. Ford. “But it was a mistake to report him drowned.”
“I don’t know as I ever want to meet another tiger at large,” said Andy. “They are too dangerous!”
“Yes, Snow,” answered Mr. Ford. “You can all be thankful that he did not get at you. If he had, he might have made mince-meat of one or another in no time.”
When the boys returned to Putnam Hall and told about their adventure with the tiger, they were proclaimed genuine heroes.
“You certainly deserve a great deal of credit,” said Captain Putnam. “Just the same, had I known the tiger was still at large, I should have kept you at the Hall.”
Later on, the circus authorities were communicated with, and from them Rossmore Ford obtained the skin of the beast, and had it prepared, with the head on, for a rug; and it is in his mansion on the floor to this day.
The cadets of Putnam Hall were now getting ready for an outing to last several days. Before winter set in, the captain wished to give them a taste of camp life, and so decided to make a march to a beautiful valley some twenty miles away. Here the boys were to go into camp for two nights, returning on the next day.
“That is what I’ll like!” exclaimed Stuffer Singleton. “No lessons to study. Only to march, get up an appetite, and eat!”
“Especially eat!” said Andy. “That hits Stuffer every time.”
“We’re to go on army rations,” put in Pepper, with a wink at his chums. “Pork and beans, and hard-tack.”
“No!” exclaimed Stuffer in alarm. “Who told you that?”
“Why, everybody knows it,” put in Andy.
“We’ll see that you get all the hard-tack you want, Stuffer,” went on Pepper. “The captain won’t want you to go hungry, you know.”
“I don’t want any hard-tack,” growled Stuffer, in disgust. “I thought we’d get the same kind of feed as we get here.” The march had suddenly lost all of its interest for him.
“Better take some private rations along,” suggested another cadet. “A loaf of bread, or some dried herrings, or——”
“Oh, you’re joking!” exclaimed the boy who loved to eat. “I’m going to ask Mr. Strong,” and off he ran, while the others set up a loud laugh.
It was a cool, crisp morning when the battalion started. The cadets made a fine showing in their clean, neat uniforms, with buttons and buckles polished to the last degree. Major Jack was at the head of the column, and he was certainly proud of his position, and had a right to be.
“Shoulder arms, forward, march!” was the command given, and the drums sounded out, and the column moved off. A few people were present to see them march away, and these gave a cheer.
“Ain’t no nicer school in these United States!” exclaimed Peleg Snuggers, enthusiastically. “Them boys is the real thing, right straight through!”
“An’ nice boys, too,” added Mrs. Green. “God bless ’em, every one!”
For the first mile the route was along the lake shore. Then the battalion turned to the westward, and were soon pursuing a road that wound in and out among the hills. The cadets passed through several small villages, and the inhabitants came out to gaze at them in wonder, while the small boys set up a cheer.
One of the villages had just been left behind, when those in the front of the line of march heard a loud tooting from an automobile horn.
“Here comes one of those big autos,” said Pepper. “Say, it’s coming at a spanking gait, too.”
“Hope it gives us plenty of room,” came from another cadet. “I don’t like to meet those big machines, when they are going at a twenty-mile clip.”
The automobile was coming around a turn of the road, and soon it was almost on top of Company A. The cadets were marching on the right side of the road, but the automobile crowded them closely.
“Hi, there, keep to your side of the road!” shouted Jack.
“Go to Halifax!” growled the man who was running the machine, a big burly fellow, with a red face.
“If you don’t keep to your side of the road there will be trouble,” answered Jack, sharply, and then the young major commanded the battalion to halt. He was in sole charge, Captain Putnam and his assistants having gone ahead to arrange for dinner.
“Look here, young fellow, you can’t bulldoze me, even if you are in soldier clothes!” stormed the man, bringing his machine to a standstill.
“Never mind, Carl!” pleaded a lady who sat on the rear seat of the automobile. “Let us go on.”
“I want him to understand he can’t bulldoze me, Annie.”
“I am not trying to bulldoze you, sir,” answered Jack. “We are entitled to half the roadway, and we are going to have it.”
“Feel big, don’t you?” sneered the automobilist.
“Are you going to give us half the road or not?”
“Give them what they want, Carl!” pleaded the lady.
“I can’t give them half the road,” growled the man. “I’m not going to run my wheels into the soft ground for anybody. I might get stuck.”
“You can give us half the road and not get stuck either,” returned Jack. He knew a little about running an automobile himself.
The machine was standing almost in the middle of the road. Somewhat to the right was a puddle of water, and had the cadets marched around the machine, they would have had to go directly through the wet spot.
“Do you expect us to march through that puddle?” demanded the young major, after a pause.
“You can break ranks and go around the other way,” answered the man. He evidently wanted to make as much trouble for the young soldiers as he could.
“We are not breaking ranks for that purpose.” Jack’s face was growing white. “I’ll give you just two minutes in which to get out of the road. Now be quick, and move on!”
“Ho! do you intend to dictate to me?” growled the man, but looked just a bit anxious.
For reply the young major got out his watch. At the same time he turned to the two companies behind him.
“Support arms!” was the command. “Fix bayonets!” And at the last word the cadets drew their shining bayonets from their scabbards and fastened them to their guns.
“Oh, Carl, do move to one side!” cried the lady, in terror. “They are going to charge on us!”
“Hi! hi! don’t you charge!” yelled the man. He knew only too well what bayonets could do to the rubber tires of his automobile.
“Time is up,” called out Major Jack. “Are you going to get to your side of the road or not?”
“ARE YOU GOING TO GET TO YOUR SIDE OF THE ROAD OR NOT?”
“Wait—I’ll try it,” grumbled the man, and turning on the power, he moved to one side, and passed the two companies with ease. Several made imitation charges on his rubber tires as he passed, much to his alarm.
“What a brute!” was Andy’s comment, as the cadets moved on once more. “I suppose he wanted the whole road to himself.”
“A good many folks who own autos forget that other folks have rights on the road which they are bound to respect,” answered Joe Nelson. “If they had their way, they’d ride over everything and everybody that came along.”
A short distance further on, the battalion came to another village, and here the young soldiers stopped for dinner. Without loss of time Jack reported to Captain Putnam.
“I am sorry you had trouble,” said the owner of the Hall. “You did right to demand half the road. If you have more trouble, let me know.”
Dinner was had under some large spreading chestnut trees. It was plain but wholesome, and the long morning march had given everybody a good appetite.
“Are you enjoying your hard-tack, Stuffer?” asked Pepper, with a wink at the always-hungry cadet.
“Humph! I knew you fellows were only fooling,” was the answer.
At two o’clock the march was resumed, and kept up until half-past five. They had now reached a spot known as Squire’s Grove, and here tents were pitched in true military style. Big fires were started, and the cadets had their first taste of camp life.
“Say, but I’d like about a month of this,” was Andy’s comment, after each cadet had been assigned to his quarters.
“Perhaps we couldn’t have some fun!” put in Pepper. “As it is, I’m going to try for some fun to-night.”
“Right you are, Pep.”
The air was so cool in the evening that the cadets were glad enough to gather around the big camp-fires. They told stories, and sang songs, and all too quickly came the hour to turn in.
As Captain Putnam wanted the students to learn what real military life was like, each cadet was assigned to two hours of guard duty during the night. As soon as he heard of this, Pepper learned where Mumps would be stationed, and then called Andy to one side.
“Did you hear that ghost story Dale was telling?” he questioned.
“To be sure I did. It fairly made some of the younger lads tremble.”
“Did you notice how scared Mumps was?”
“Yes.”
“Well, Mumps is going to see a ghost to-night, Andy.”
“How do you know?”
“Because we are going to fix one up for him,” and then Pepper unfolded a plan that had just entered his head. It met with instant approval, and soon the two boys started to carry it out.
Taking a tree branch they wrapped it up in a white sheet, and on the top placed a white duck cap, making the whole look like the ghost of a cadet while at a distance. Then they took this out of camp, and placed it at the end of a strong cord, running up over the limb of a tree. The figure was pulled up among the branches, out of sight, and this done they sought out Mumps.
“Say, Mumps, was it you told the fellows that a cadet was once murdered around here?” questioned Pepper, innocently.
“Murdered?” returned the sneak of the school. “No, I never heard of it.”
“They say a cadet was murdered at this place about four years ago, and that if you watch for it, you can see his ghost among the trees.”
“Ah, you can’t scare me,” returned Mumps.
“I’m not trying to scare you. I thought you told the story yourself,” was the answer, and then Andy and Pepper strolled on.
“He’ll remember that, I’ll wager,” whispered Pepper.
“We’ll know better when he goes on guard,” answered Andy, and then they waited impatiently for the time to come when they could work off their little joke on the sneak.
As luck would have it, Pepper and Andy went on guard from ten o’clock to midnight, while Mumps had his time set from midnight to two in the morning.
As soon as they came in from guard duty, Pepper and Andy told a few of their chums of what was in the air, and they all stole from their tents to a spot overlooking the ground that Mumps would have to cover during the next two hours.
The sneak was already on duty, pacing up and down slowly, with his gun on his shoulder. He had to march from one tree in the grove to another, a distance of two hundred feet.
As the sneak passed the tree where the white figure was concealed, Pepper, who was close at hand, uttered a low and unearthly groan.
At once Mumps came to a halt.
“Wh—what’s that?” he faltered.
For reply Pepper uttered another groan, and Andy followed with a sound like that of a dying calf.
“I say, what’s that?” repeated the sneak. All was so dark and strange around him that he felt anything but comfortable.
“Murdered!” moaned Pepper. “Murdered!”
“Murdered!” put in Andy, in a solemn tone. “Oh, to be avenged!”
Then when Mumps’ back was turned Pepper allowed the white figure to drop to within a foot of the ground. As it was light in weight, the breeze made it sway slowly from side to side.
“Ha! ha! ha!” came from Andy and Pepper together.
At this blood-curdling laugh the sneak of the school turned around once again. When he saw the swaying figure in white his teeth began to chatter.
“Oh! Ple—please go—go a—away!” he groaned. “G—go away!”
“Ha! ha! ha!” went on Pepper and Andy. “Down on thy knees, if thou wouldst live!”
“Don’t!” screamed Mumps, and fell on his knees. “Oh, please, don’t kill me! I—I didn’t have anything to do with killing that other fellow, indeed I didn’t!”
“Thou art doomed!” went on the Imp and his chum.
“Doomed! doomed! doomed!” came from half a dozen. All of the cadets could scarcely keep from laughing.
“Oh, save me!” yelled Mumps, and sprang to his feet. “Save me! Save me from the ghost!” And throwing down his gun he started for the center of the camp, with all the speed at his command.
The other cadets set up a laugh, but the sneak was too paralyzed with fear to pay attention to it. Still yelling for help he ran down the main street of the camp, and plunged into the tent occupied by Captain Putnam.
“Hullo, what’s the trouble?” came from Captain Putnam.
“Oh, the ghost! Please save me from the ghost, Captain Putnam!” howled Mumps, and clutched the master of the Hall by the arm. “Save me! The ghost is going to kill me!”
“Why, Master Fenwick, what is the trouble? Have you a nightmare?”
“No, sir. It’s the ghost of the murdered cadet! I—I saw it. It came after me! Oh, save me!”
“Nonsense! You have seen no ghost. Be reasonable.”
“I did see it, sir. It was all white, and it was going to kill me!” And the sneak clung tighter than ever.
“This is some trick.” The captain slipped into his clothes, and turned up a lantern hanging on a tent post. “I’ll investigate. Come along.”
“Oh, I—I’m afraid!” whined Mumps.
“You need not be, Fenwick. I’ll protect you. Come along. There are no such things as ghosts.”
It was fully five minutes before Captain Putnam could get the sneak to accompany him to the spot where the latter had been doing guard duty. In the meantime the whole camp had been aroused, and Pepper and Andy had folded up the sheet and put it away, along with the cap and the cord.
“You can see for yourself that there is nothing here, Fenwick,” said the captain, gazing around.
“But I saw it, Captain Putnam. A tall white figure, right there.”
“You must have been dreaming.”
“No, sir, I saw it, I am certain.”
“Well, where is it now?”
“I don’t know, sir.”
An investigation was made, but, of course, nothing out of the ordinary was brought to light.
“You had better go back to your duty, Fenwick,” said the master of the Hall at last.
“Oh, sir—supposing that ghost comes again?”
“Run up and catch hold of it. You’ll likely find it some joke the other cadets have played on you,” and Captain Putnam smiled broadly.
“A joke!” Mumps looked interested. “Do you think it was a joke?”
“More than likely.”
“Oh, but it looked so real!”
“A ghost can’t look real. You have been deceived. Go back to your duty,” and the master of Putnam Hall returned to his tent, and Mumps resumed his guard duty, with a heart that trembled every time he took a step.
“Gosh! but that was rich!” laughed Andy, when the affair was over.
“Talk about being scared,” returned Pepper. “I was afraid he would have a regular fit!”
There was more fun that night. Poor Hogan was tossed in a blanket, and Dan Baxter had three frogs placed between the blankets of his cot. Our friends did not escape, for in the morning Pepper found a sharp burr in one shoe, and Andy found the sleeves of his coat tied into hard knots. Jack was minus his shoes, which were finally located dangling from the limb of a tree back of his tent.
“Hullo, Major Ruddy has planted a shoe tree!” cried one of the cadets. “Wouldn’t mind having some seed, major. I’d like to grow a pair of slippers.”
“Why not try some lady-slipper seed,” suggested Pepper.
“I’ll slipper the chap that put my shoes up there, if I can find him,” grumbled Jack.
At breakfast there was more fun. Dan Baxter’s crowd was preparing a pot of coffee when Pepper, watching his chance, dropped a piece of soap into the pot.
“Phew! but this is rank coffee!” came from Paxton, spitting out a mouthful.
“Vilest I ever tasted,” came from Coulter. “Say, Dan, did you make that out of stale glue, or old boots?”
“It’s good enough coffee for anybody,” grumbled the bully. “If you don’t like it, make it yourself after this.”
Then he took a deep gulp, just to show them he was not afraid to drink it. A wry face followed.
“Fine, eh?” came from Paxton, sarcastically.
“Regular Waldorf-Astoria brand,” put in Coulter.
“Something’s got in the pot,” cried the bully, and poured the coffee into a big pan that was handy. “What’s this? A cake of soap, I declare! Who put that there?”
“Excuse me from drinking soap coffee,” grunted Paxton.
“Hullo, Dan Baxter’s crowd is drinking soap coffee!” shouted one of the cadets.
“How do you like the flavor, Dan?” asked another.
“Better than Java, eh?” came from a third cadet.
“I have heard of all sorts of tastes in coffee, but I never heard of soap being used before,” was Pepper’s comment.
“Baxter’s afther wantin’ a good wash on th’ insoide!” came from Hogan.
“Ah, you fellows shut up!” growled the bully, and taking the chunk of semi-soft soap, he hurled it at Pepper. But the Imp dodged, and the soap landed in Mumps’ left eye.
“Oh! oh!” howled the sneak. “Oh! you have put out my eye! Oh!” And he began to dance around wildly.
“Didn’t mean to hit you, Mumps,” said Baxter. “I say,” he called out; “who put that soap in the coffee?”
“Here’s a riddle,” came from Andy. “A lima bean to the one who solves it last.”
“Coffee in the soap is good for warts,” said Dale, with a grin, for Baxter’s hands were covered with warts.
“Just wait—I’ll get square!” growled the bully; and there the talk had to come to an end.
Breakfast over, there was a long drill, and then the cadets were allowed to do as they pleased for several hours. Some wandered through the woods, while others went to a nearby brook to fish. Half a dozen of Baxter’s crowd went off through the woods by themselves.
“Where are they going?” asked Pepper.
“I don’t know—and don’t much care,” answered Jack.
Baxter’s crowd walked through the woods to where there was a farmhouse, and there stopped to get some apples and some milk. While stopping at the place they got into conversation with the farmer’s daughter, a pleasant-looking damsel of eighteen.
“She’s a beauty,” said Coulter.
Baxter followed the farmer’s daughter to the dairy, and began to talk to her in a pleasant way. Then he tried to put his arm around her waist.
“Stop that!” she said sharply.
“I’m not going to hurt you,” said he. “Won’t you give me just one kiss?”
“I’ll give you—this!” she answered quickly, and, taking up a can of sour milk, she threw it directly into his face. Then she ran into the house, shrieking with laughter.
“Dan got it that time!” said Paxton, with a snicker.
“It was real sweet, too!” added Coulter.
Wild with rage, Baxter wiped the sour milk from his face and hair.
“I’ll fix you for that!” he roared, and started to go into the house, but the girl appeared with a broom.
“You keep away!” she cried, shrilly. “If you don’t, I’ll set our dog on you!”
“Oh, come on away!” put in Mumps, in alarm. “Come on!” And he hurried towards the road.
“I guess we had better go,” whispered Coulter. “If the farmer should report us to Captain Putnam, there would be the Old Nick to pay,” and he too walked off, with Paxton and the sneak beside him. Seeing there was no help for it, Baxter withdrew, the girl laughing merrily at him as he did so.
All too soon for the young cadets the encampment in the grove came to an end, and the march back to Putnam Hall was taken up.
“This gives us a taste of what the annual encampment will be like,” said Andy. “My, but won’t we have just boss times!” And his face glowed with anticipation.
The day was positively cold, and the young soldiers were glad enough to march along briskly. Mile after mile was covered, until they came to the place where they had taken dinner when coming from the Hall.
While they were resting Jack and Pepper fell in with a boy of the neighborhood, who was riding a bicycle. The boy asked them about life at the Hall, and in return they questioned him about his wheeling trips.
“You can try my wheel if you wish,” said the youth to them, and Pepper took a short spin up the road and back. Then Jack turned his sword over to his chum and hopped into the saddle.
“The seat isn’t quite high enough for me,” said the young major. “But it’s a good wheel and I feel as if I could pedal ten or twenty miles without half trying.”
Jack had gone quite a distance down the road when he heard a whirring sound, and looking in the direction, saw an automobile approaching. It was coming at good speed, and swaying from side to side.
“Hullo, I’ll have to get out of the way, or run the risk of being run over,” he said to himself, and drew up near a stone fence.
As the automobile came closer he saw that it contained only a lady and a little girl. The lady was holding on to the steering wheel with one hand, and holding the girl with the other.
“Oh, help!” she cried out, as the automobile passed Jack. “Help! I cannot stop the machine!” And then she passed by in a cloud of dust.
For the moment Jack did not comprehend. Then he shut his teeth hard, turned around, and raced after the automobile on the bicycle.
“I’ll have to stop that machine for her if I can!” he reasoned. “I suppose she is afraid the girl will fall out, or else the lever is stuck.”
The automobile was now a good distance down the road, and running dangerously close to the stone fence. Then it swayed to the other side, two wheels going into some mud.
“Help! help!” the lady shrieked, at some cadets standing near.
“Here comes Jack on the bicycle!” exclaimed Andy.
“Look, he is going after the auto!” put in Pepper.
Along the road swung the ponderous machine, the lady continuing to call for help, and the little girl crying in her terror. Behind, Jack was doing his best to catch the runaway machine.
It was a stiff race, and for several minutes it looked as if the young cadet would not make it. But at last he closed the gap ahead, and came up directly behind the automobile. Then, with a quick leap, he cleared the bicycle handle bars and caught hold of the back seat of the turnout ahead.
“What’s the matter?” he asked, as he piled forward. “Can’t you stop it?”
“No, the lever is stuck!” gasped the woman. She was on the point of fainting through excitement and fear.
Jack bent down, and his knowledge of automobiles stood him in good stead. He saw how the lever had become bent. With all of his might he tugged upon it, and brought it back. At once the automobile began to slacken its pace. Then came another pull, and the ponderous machine came to a complete standstill.
“Oh!” murmured the lady, and sank back in a deathlike swoon.
“Oh, Aunt Annie is dying!” shrieked the little girl. “Oh, dear, I never want to ride like this again!”
“She isn’t dying,” said Jack. “She’ll soon be better.”
He looked back and saw some of the cadets hurrying along the road. Soon Pepper came up, followed by Andy and a dozen others, and then Captain Putnam put in an appearance.
The lady was lifted from the automobile and carried to a shady spot under a tree. She had smelling salts with her, and was treated with these, and her face was bathed with water from the brook. Soon she opened her eyes and stared around her.
“You are safe, madam,” said the captain. “Pray take it easy.”
“And Jennie, my niece?”
“She is safe too.”
“What a fearful ride I have had,” went on the lady, with a shudder. “It was awful! The auto got entirely beyond my control. Where is the brave young gentleman who stopped it for me?”