“They are afraid to let us go without food,” said Andy. “Perhaps they think we’ll grow desperate on empty stomachs and break down the doors and create trouble generally.”
“’Tis a great shame old Crabtree is so pig-headed,” observed Emerald. “I shall be greatly surprised if the captain is afther upholdin’ him in it.”
While it was growing dark the boys completed, as far as they could, their plans for leaving Putnam Hall. Of course, much depended on chance and there was considerable fear that their actions might fail. Word was circulated that the movement should commence at exactly midnight, and in the meanwhile every cadet should pretend to go to sleep.
Fortunately for the boys, nature aided them in their undertaking. Heavy clouds obscured the sky, making it very dark outside of the school. From a distance came the low rumble of thunder, drowning out many other sounds.
“I hope it doesn’t rain,” said Pepper.
“I don’t think it will,” said Jack. “That storm is passing off to the westward.” And he was right, hardly a drop of rain fell in the vicinity of the lake.
A heavy rope had been procured and this was strung along the windows of the various dormitories and by its aid many of the cadets climbed into the room occupied by Jack and his chums. Then Andy went through the trunk room to the upper hall and from thence, by a ladder, to the roof. From that point of vantage he let down the rope to the window of a dormitory on the other side of the building. To the end of the rope was a note reading as follows:
“Use this to get down to the ground. Wait until we make a noise down by the gym., to attract the guards. Meet us at the old Bailey barn. Bring camping outfit with you, if possible.
“The Putnam Hall Rebels.”
To deceive the guards in the hallways, many of the cadets pretended to go to bed about eleven o’clock.
“Might as well get a good night’s rest,” said Jack loudly. “We can’t do anything more until morning.”
“Right you are,” answered Bart Conners, in an equally loud voice. “Call it off, boys, and get to bed.” And this ruse was worked in every dormitory from which the cadets hoped to escape. It deceived the guards completely, and when Pluxton Cuddle came up to learn how matters were progressing he was informed that the cadets had retired.
At one minute after twelve the boys arose from the beds upon which they had been resting, and with their shoes and various bundles in their hands crawled silently through the hole in the ceiling to the trunk room above. Then, with Jack to lead them, they tiptoed their way through the back hall and down the rear stairs, and then to the kitchen. Here the back door was opened, and ten of the lads went out and in the direction of the barn and storehouse. This detail was led by Andy.
“We want at least ten tents,” said the acrobatic youth. “And as much food as we can lug along.”
“Say, why can’t we get a horse and wagon?” suggested Stuffer, who hated to carry anything.
“Maybe we can—if Jack is willing. But get out the tents and food first—so we can dust with them if there is any alarm.”
“We might take to the boats,” said Dale.
“No, Jack said that wouldn’t be safe. Old Crabtree would hire a steam tug and come after us in no time. But say, I’ll tell you what we can do—hide the boats in the creek! That will throw them off the scent.”
In the storehouse were packed a number of army tents, to be used when the cadets went out on the annual encampment. Here were also boxes and barrels of provisions, for use in the school. Making certain nobody was around, the boys shut the door, pinned some empty potato bags over the windows, and lighted a lantern. Then, with great rapidity, they got out some of the tents, and in them rolled up various kinds of rations, beans, bacon, dried fish, coffee, sugar, butter, crackers and so forth. They also took along a small sack of potatoes and another of apples. Then they got out a camp cook stove, and some tinware, including cups and plates, and pots, kettles and frying pans.
“We can’t carry all this,” said Dale, in dismay. “We’ll simply have to get a horse and wagon.”
“Very well then, we’ll do it,” said Andy. “But it is running an extra risk.”
While Andy and those with him were getting out the things in the storehouse, Jack and some others were searching the pantry and kitchen for such articles as they thought they needed. These included knives, forks and spoons, and also pepper, salt, lard and several smoked hams and tongues, and all the bread in the big wooden bread box.
“Let’s take some jam too,” said one cadet, and several glasses were added, and also such cake as chanced to be in sight. The boys also found a small cheese, some lemons and oranges and a box of raisins.
“I reckon we’ve got all we can carry,” said Fred Century. “Talk about moving day! This looks like one to me!”
As silently as shadows the cadets took the things outside and hurried with them in the direction of the storehouse, where they met some of the others.
“Where is Andy?” asked the young major, anxiously.
“Gone for a horse and wagon,” answered Dale. “It is simply out of the question to carry all this stuff by hand.”
“But the risk!” cried Pepper. “I’m going to see how he is making out.”
He ran for the stable and saw Andy bringing forward one of the horses. A spring wagon stood near by, under a shed, and Pepper ran it forward, and helped his chum to hitch up the horse.
“Listen, somebody is coming!” said Pepper, presently, and a moment later they heard Peleg Snuggers calling from his room over the horse stable.
“Who’s down there? What ye doin’?” bawled the man. And then he appeared at a window in his nightdress.
“Stop your noise, Snuggers!” ordered Pepper. “If you don’t they may find a dead man around here in the morning.”
“Land sakes alive! Don’t shoot me!” spluttered the man of all work, and dropped out of sight in a hurry.
“Don’t you say a word and you won’t be touched,” went on The Imp. “If you open your mouth there will be trouble, and lots of it, Peleg!”
“I ain’t sayin’ nary a word!” answered the man, in a voice filled with terror. The doings of the day had filled him with apprehension.
As quickly as they could the cadets loaded up the spring wagon, putting in all of the things collected and adding such additional stores as the wagon would hold. Then Andy drove off, taking Dale, Stuffer and some others with him.
“I’ll go up to Daly’s clearing,” said the acrobatic youth. “I’ll drive right into the woods beyond. I don’t think anybody will find us there.” And so it was arranged.
The outfit having been sent on its way, the cadets left behind breathed more freely. If an alarm came they could take to their legs, and they doubted if any of the teachers or guards could catch them.
“Now for the demonstration near the gym.,” said Jack. “Make as much noise as possible, so the other fellows will have a chance to get out of the dormitories, but don’t let the enemy catch you.”
In less than five minutes after that a loud yelling arose back of the gymnasium and several cadets could be seen running in as many different directions. There were calls for “Come this way, boys!” and “Look out, there’s a guard after you!” and a lot of other cries that seemed to mean much.
“What is that?” ejaculated Josiah Crabtree, who had fallen asleep in an easy chair in his room. “Are they breaking out?”
“To the gymnasium!” was the call outside. “Catch them, men, at yonder building!”
Then came a rush from the guards, and they were quickly joined by Crabtree and Cuddle. All ran in the direction of the gymnasium, leaving the school building, for the time being, to take care of itself.
It was what those left in the dormitories were watching and waiting for, and in a twinkling cadet after cadet came sliding down the rope and a line made of torn-up sheets. They threw out their bundles in advance, and then, picking up the baggage, darted for a back path, leading through the vegetable garden attached to the Hall.
“Hi! hi! Look!” shrieked Pluxton Cuddle, as he chanced to gaze behind him.
“What is it?” demanded Josiah Crabtree.
“The boys! They are leaping from the dormitory windows!”
“Impossible! Some of them will be killed. Ha! I see. They have ropes! Come, this is a trick—to get us from the school!” And the teacher ran back toward Putnam Hall.
By this time the guards were thoroughly bewildered and did not know what to do. Crabtree gave orders, and Cuddle told them to do something else, and, as a consequence, nothing was accomplished. The teachers were frantic.
“They have—have run away!” gasped Josiah Crabtree, as, having reached the school, he threw open the door of one dormitory after another.
“All of them?”
“No, but the majority. What shall we do?”
“I don’t know.”
“Mr. Cuddle, you are responsible for this!”
“I, sir?” gasped the new teacher.
“Yes.”
“Not at all, sir, not at all, Mr. Crabtree! You started the affair. You are responsible.”
“It is not true. If you had not cut down the food——”
“Tut! tut! tut! If you had not made a mistake in that Latin lesson, sir, the cadets——”
“Don’t talk to me, sir! I say it was your fault, Mr. Cuddle,” growled Josiah Crabtree.
“And I say, sir, it was your fault.”
And then the two teachers glared fiercely at each other.
“Please, sir, what do you want us to do?” asked one of the guards, somewhat sheepishly.
“Do!” cried Josiah Crabtree. “You can’t do anything! You allowed those cadets to run away! You are a set of blockheads!”
“So they are, blockheads!” added Pluxton Cuddle.
“I’m not a blockhead and I want you to know it,” answered the man angrily. “You fellers brought us up here on a fool’s errand, I think. If you’ll pay me off I’ll go home.”
“Yes, pay me off and I’ll go home too,” added another of the guards.
“What, are you going to desert us!” exclaimed Josiah Crabtree, in sudden fear.
“I ain’t no blockhead. You pay me and I’ll go.”
“But see here, you promised to stay here as long as wanted,” pleaded Crabtree.
“You don’t want me any longer—now the boys have run away. And let me say one thing—I think the boys had a right to run away.”
“Bah!”
“You teachers ain’t treatin’ ’em right,” went on another guard. “Just you wait till Captain Putnam gits back—I reckon he’ll make it warm for you!”
At this plain talk Josiah Crabtree almost collapsed. He realized that he had gone too far. He wondered what the result would be when the captain did get back. He was getting a fine salary and he did not wish to lose his position.
“My dear fellows, you are making a mistake,” he said, in a milder voice. “Those cadets have broken the rules of this institution and must be punished. I was simply going to keep them in their rooms until to-morrow and then I was going to give them a lecture, nothing more.”
“What about the grub they wanted?” asked another guard, who had come up during the talk.
“A little hunger would do them good. They would have gotten their fill to-morrow, and——”
“No! no! that’s a mistake!” burst out Pluxton Cuddle. “Too much eating——”
“Mr. Cuddle, I no longer agree with you on that point,” said Josiah Crabtree coldly. “If they return they shall have the same quantity of food as they got when Captain Putnam was here.”
“Humph! Then you have not the boys’ welfare at heart,” snorted the new teacher.
“I want you men to stay here, at least for the present,” continued Josiah Crabtree. “Let me see, I believe I promised you two dollars a day, didn’t I?”
“You did,” said one of the guards.
“Your work has not been pleasant and therefore I’ll make the pay three dollars a day. I did not mean to call you blockheads—I—er—was excited. Let us get down to—er—business now—and see if we cannot find those runaway cadets and persuade them to return to the Hall. If we can do that and—er—hush up this whole unpleasant matter I will—er—reward you handsomely.”
This talk was “pouring oil on the troubled waters,” and in the end the guards promised to stick by Josiah Crabtree and do what they could to bring the cadets back to school. They also promised, in view of a liberal reward, to tell Captain Putnam that the students and not the teachers were to blame for the outbreak.
“Andy, look out that you don’t drive off the road and into the gully,” said Stuffer, as the spring wagon lurched forward over the rough ground leading to Daly’s clearing.
“Stuffer wouldn’t have you lose any of that food for a fortune,” said Dale, with a laugh. “Trust him to look out for that!”
“Well, you’ll be just as ready to eat your breakfast as anybody,” grumbled the cadet who loved to eat.
Forward rolled the wagon, groaning dubiously when it bounded over the rocks. It was loaded to the limit and the boys feared that the springs would break before the journey was over.
From the vicinity of the Hall came calls and considerable noise. But this presently died away, and then all was as quiet as a tomb on the woody road the runaway cadets were traveling.
In half an hour the clearing was gained. They drove across it, and into the woods beyond for a distance of a hundred yards. Here it was so dark they had to light a lantern to see the way.
“They’ll be good ones if they track us to this spot,” observed Dale.
Having reached the place, they blanketed the horse and sat down to wait. It was somewhat chilly and all of the cadets present were glad enough to put on the heavy coats they had brought along.
“Don’t you think some of us ought to go over to Bailey’s barn and see if the others have arrived?” asked Stuffer, presently.
“We might do that,” answered another cadet. “But we can’t all go. Somebody must remain here and watch the horse and the outfit.”
In the end it was decided that Andy and Stuffer should make the journey to the old Bailey barn, a distance of a mile or more. They set off at once, Stuffer first, however, filling his pockets with crackers and apples.
“I know a path right through these woods,” said Stuffer. “It will bring us out just to the north of the old barn.”
“Well, be sure of the way,” answered the acrobatic youth. “We don’t want to get lost in this darkness.”
“How can we get lost in the dark if we carry a lantern, Andy?”
“Easily enough—if you get twisted around, Stuffer. I was lost once, in the Adirondacks, and I know.”
The two boys set off, Andy carrying a small lantern picked up in the carriage shed. This gave more smoke and smell than light and they had to proceed slowly, for fear of tumbling over the tree roots or into some hollow.
“Oh!” cried Stuffer, presently, as a strange sound struck his ears from close at hand. “What’s that?”
“Only an owl,” cried Andy, with a laugh. “How you jumped!”
“Are you sure it was an—an owl?” was the nervous question.
“Dead certain. Go ahead, or we won’t reach the old barn till morning.”
The path through the woods was not well defined and at one place forked in several directions. Stuffer did not notice this and kept to the right when he should have gone to the left. Andy followed without question, and thus the two cadets, instead of nearing the old barn, plunged deeper and deeper into the woods.
“Say, Stuffer, this doesn’t seem to be right,” observed Andy, after a full mile and a half had been covered.
“Huh! I know I am right,” was the reply. “We’ll get to the barn in a few minutes.”
They continued to go forward, up a slight rise of ground and then down into something of a hollow. Andy was just about to say again that he thought they were on the wrong path when he caught sight of a small campfire.
“Hello, see that!” he exclaimed.
“They have arrived and lit a fire!” answered Stuffer. “I don’t blame them. It is pretty cold. But they are running the risk of being discovered.”
“Stuffer, this isn’t the location of the old barn. We are not near the lake.”
“How do you know?”
“The locality doesn’t look like it. These are hemlock trees, while back of the barn there are chestnuts and walnuts.”
“That’s so too,” and now Stuffer became doubtful.
Moving a little more slowly, the two boys drew closer to the campfire. They saw that it was in a little clearing, to one side of which were some rocks and a spring of water. On the other side several small trees had been cut down and a rude shelter erected, covered with an old wagon top and several old horse blankets.
“Must be a gypsy camp,” said Stuffer, in a low tone, as the two boys stepped behind some bushes to gaze at the scene presented.
“They are tramps,” was Andy’s answer. “Don’t you see the hoboes lying around?”
He pointed to the forms of three men resting near the campfire. They were all rough-looking individuals and their clothing and shoes were much dilapidated. Several empty bottles lay scattered around, indicating that the fellows were drinkers. Near the shelter were a pile of chicken feathers and the skin of a lamb.
“I’ll tell you what I think,” whispered Andy. “These are not only tramps but also thieves. They have been robbing the farmers’ henroosts and somebody’s sheepfold. They’ve got a regular hangout here. I wonder how many of them there are?”
“I see three—but some of the crowd may be under the shelter. If they are thieves they ought to be locked up.”
“Yes. Shall we go into the camp and ask them the way?”
“I don’t think we ought to trust them. They might detain us, and rob us.”
Putting out the light so that they might not be discovered, the two cadets walked around the camp of the tramps. They saw that it was a hangout that had been used for some time. With great caution they stole up to the back of the rude shelter and peered within. They saw three more men, who were all snoring lustily.
“That makes six all told,” said Stuffer, as he and his chum withdrew.
“Did you notice that fellow who was in the corner?” demanded Andy, excitedly.
“Not particularly. Why?”
“Unless I am greatly mistaken he is the fellow I saw in the jewelry store the day I was robbed—the chap I thought might be guilty.”
“Is that so, Andy? Are you certain it is the fellow?”
“No, because I didn’t get a good look at his face. But he certainly looked a good deal like him.”
“Then you ought to investigate—I mean later on, when we have some of the others with us,” went on Stuffer hastily. “It would be foolish for us to tackle six men alone.”
“I’ll come back some time to-morrow—if I can get a crowd to come along,” was the reply from the acrobatic youth. “Beyond a doubt these fellows are thieves, and the farmers around here would be glad to place them under arrest.”
“In that case let the Putnam Hall cadets make the capture. It will be quite a feather in our cap.”
“I’d like to get back that stolen medal and the ring,” said Andy, as they moved away from the tramps’ hangout. “And I’d like to see the guilty party punished for attacking me.”
Having withdrawn into the woods once more the two cadets set to work to find the right path to the old barn. This was no easy task, and it was not until almost daybreak that Andy gave a cry and pointed ahead.
“I see the lake! I think I know where we are now.”
He hurried on and Stuffer came behind him, and presently the pair struck a wagon road running directly past the old Bailey barn. They ran up to the structure, to be stopped by a cadet who was on guard.
“Halt and give the countersign!” cried the cadet.
“Hello!” cried Andy. “That sounds natural. Is the crowd here?”
“It is,” answered the cadet. “How did you make out?”
Andy told him and then went in the barn, where he found the other cadets assembled, some sleeping and a few talking in low tones. Four guards had been stationed outside, to give the alarm, should the enemy be seen approaching.
“We might as well be on the move,” said Jack, after Andy and Stuffer had told their story. “As soon as it is daylight Crabtree and Cuddle will most likely send somebody out to look for us.”
“Yes, and we want to make a regular camp somewhere,” put in Stuffer. “Then we can start a fire and cook a good breakfast, and——”
The boy who loved to eat did not finish for several began to laugh.
“We’ll make Stuffer head cook,” cried Pepper. “Stuffer, how does that suit you?”
“All right—if only you won’t ask me to wash dishes,” was the reply.
“Everybody will have to do his share of work,” said Jack, and looked knowingly at Pepper. Then he leaned over and whispered in Andy’s ear. “I am afraid we are going to have trouble with Reff Ritter and his crowd. Reff wants to have everything his own way, and he thinks the fellows ought to make him leader.”
By eight o’clock that morning the runaway cadets of Putnam Hall went into camp not a great distance away from where Andy had driven the wagon into the woods. They found an ideal spot in a small clearing surrounded by dense woods. There the tents were pitched, and some of the boys cleaned out a handy spring, that all the water needed might be procured. While some of the cadets were raising the tents, others, under the directions of Bob Grenwood and Stuffer, were preparing breakfast. The cook stove had been set up, and three cadets had been detailed by Jack to procure firewood.
“We’ll have this camp in apple-pie order before noon,” said the young major. “I am going to observe the same kind of regulations as if we were off on an annual encampment.”
Early in the morning one of the cadets had hurried away to Cedarville, to send a telegram to Captain Putnam, notifying him of the state of affairs. A letter was also dropped into the post-office for the master of the Hall, and this was marked Private. Then another letter was sent to Josiah Crabtree, a farm boy being hired to deliver it. This letter ran as follows:
“Mr. Josiah Crabtree:
“Dear Sir: We have left Putnam Hall to camp out until the return of Captain Putnam. To remain at the school under the management of yourself and Mr. Cuddle was impossible. As soon as Captain Putnam returns we shall lay our case before him.
“Yours truly, “The Students’ Committee, “Joseph Nelson, Sec’y.”
“I guess that will set old Crabtree to thinking,” was Dale’s comment, when the communication was dispatched. “He’ll find out that he can’t do just as he pleases.”
“Yes, and it will set that new teacher to thinking too,” added Pepper. “Oh, wouldn’t I like to square up with Pluxton Cuddle, for cutting us short on rations!”
Andy had told the young major about the tramps and Jack agreed to see what could be done as soon as camp matters were arranged.
“I’ve got to get things into shape here first,” said Jack. “I feel it in my bones that Ritter is going to make trouble. Since we ran away he acts like a regular sorehead.”
While breakfast was being served Reff Ritter and Gus Coulter growled at nearly everything that was being done. The camping spot, to them, was no good, the tents were not properly placed, and Reff stated loudly that he would have picked out a spot that had better drinking water, while Coulter turned up his nose at the coffee served.
“This is regular dishwater,” said Gus. “I thought we ran away to have something good to eat and to drink.”
“See here, Gus, if you don’t like the coffee, supposing you make some for yourself,” answered Bob Grenwood, sharply.
“Huh! Maybe you think I can’t make coffee!”
“This ham is about half done,” came from Nick Paxton. “It isn’t fit for a dog to eat.”
“Well, what can you expect, when those fellows are running everything to suit themselves?” growled Reff Ritter. “If I was leader I’d have things different.”
“See here, Reff!” cried Jack, sharply. “I don’t like your talk at all. The boys are doing the best they can. You can’t expect everything to work like a charm at the very start. We are all tired out, and what we need is a good night’s sleep. Don’t grumble so much.”
“I’ll grumble if I please!” flared up the bully of the school. “You may be major of the battalion but you can’t boss me here.”
“You didn’t have to come with us if you didn’t want to,” put in Dale. “Jack is our leader, and everybody in this camp has got to obey his orders.”
“That’s the talk!” cried Pepper.
“Humph! Then I reckon the best we can do is to get out,” answered Ritter, with a meaning look at his cronies.
“Yes, give us our share of the camp stuff and we’ll go,” added Coulter.
“All in favor of going with Reff Ritter raise their right hand,” sang out Nick Paxton.
Evidently the matter had been talked over between the bully and his cohorts for on the instant nine hands went up.
“Ten of us, counting Reff,” said Coulter. “How many are there all told?”
“Thirty-three,” answered Fred.
“Then we number about one-third of the total and we ought to have one-third of the stuff,” said a cadet who had voted to join Reff Ritter.
“That wouldn’t be fair!” cried Hogan. “Sure, and it was Jack and his chums who planned this thing and who got the most of the goods together, so they did. Ritter didn’t carry a thing but his own clothing.”
“Never mind,” said the young major. “If Ritter and his crowd want to camp by themselves let them do it. We’ll give them a fair share of the tents and the provisions.”
A warm discussion followed, which almost ended in a fight. But Jack’s suggestion prevailed, and just before noon Ritter and his nine followers left, taking with them a share of the tents and the provisions. The bully wanted more than was dealt out to him, and went away muttering that he would pay the others back for their meanness.
“I am glad they are gone,” said Jack, when the crowd had departed. “We’d never have harmony with them around.”
“Right you are,” answered Pepper. “Just the same, I think we gave them more than they deserved.”
“We’ve got to keep our eyes peeled for them,” was Dale’s comment. “Ritter is just the fellow to play us some underhanded trick.”
“That’s true—he doesn’t know when to be grateful,” said Bart Conners.
“I am glad he is gone,” came from Stuffer. “Now we won’t have to cook for so many.” And this remark caused a smile.
With the discontented ones gone the camp took on a more cheerful appearance. Breakfast was finished, and the few dishes washed, and then the majority of the cadets laid down to rest, for they had not had a sound sleep since the rebellion had begun. Andy and Joe were anxious to go after the tramps, but Andy could hardly keep his eyes open, while Joe was little better off.
“Might as well wait until to-morrow,” said the young major. “It isn’t likely those tramps will go away in a hurry. Most likely they intend to stay there until cold weather.”
A guard was set, which was changed every two hours, and the cadets laid down to rest. The majority of them slept “like logs,” and it was again dark when they commenced to stir around, and Stuffer began preparations for supper.
“Wonder what is going on at the Hall,” said Jack, as he stretched himself. “Crabtree and the others must be hunting for us.”
“I don’t care what they do, so long as they don’t find us,” answered Pepper.
In the evening Pepper and Andy set off for Cedarville, to buy some things that were needed in the camp. They took to the regular road, thinking they could easily get out of sight if any of the enemy appeared.
As they walked along they saw a buggy approaching. It contained two girls, and as it came closer Pepper uttered an exclamation of pleasure:
“Laura Ford and her sister Flossie! Won’t they be surprised when they learn what has happened.”
The girls he mentioned were two old friends of the cadets. They were the daughters of a Mr. Rossmore Ford, a rich gentleman who owned a summer cottage called Point View Lodge, located on the lake shore. In the past the boys had done the girls several services of importance and the young ladies and their parents were correspondingly grateful.
“And so you’ve really and truly run away!” cried Laura Ford, after Pepper and Andy had told their story. “What fun! I wish I was a cadet!”
“How angry that Mr. Crabtree must be!” came from Flossie, as she tossed back her curls. “Of course he’ll tell Captain Putnam it was all your fault.”
“Most likely,” said Pepper.
“Where are you going now?” asked Laura.
“To Cedarville—to buy some things we need. You see, we came off in such a hurry we forgot some things,” and The Imp grinned.
“Can’t we help you?” asked Flossie. “I’d dearly love to—you boys have done so much for us.”
“Might bake us some pies,” suggested Andy, with a twinkle in his eye.
“Just the thing—only we’ll get the cook to do the baking. We’ll have the pies for you to-morrow. Where shall we bring them?”
“Oh, that will be too much trouble,” cried Andy. “I didn’t really mean what I said.”
“But we’ll get the pies for you—and some cake too. Just tell us where to bring them,” said Laura. “Can we visit your camp? I’d like to see what it looks like.”
“We’ll feel honored,” said Pepper, and then he told where the camp was located. The girls said they would have the coachman drive them as close as possible to the spot and would get there early enough, so the cadets could have the pies for dinner. Then the two parties separated.
“Now those are girls worth knowing!” cried Pepper. “Always willing to treat a fellow just right.”
“I guess Stuffer would think so—if he knew about the pies,” returned Andy. “Well, I’d like a piece of good pie myself.” And he smacked his lips.
The boys hurried to Cedarville and there procured the articles they wanted. Then they asked several people if any chicken thieves had been around lately.
“Yes, indeed!” said one man. “Tom Robinson lost some chickens last week, and so did Billy Peters and the Widow Lilly.”
“Were any lambs stolen?” asked Andy.
“I heard that Landerson the butcher, had a lamb stolen a couple of weeks ago. He just bought it from a man over to Hoetown. What do you want to know for? Do you know anything about the thieves?”
“I think I do. I’ll go over and ask the butcher about the lamb.”
At the butcher shop the two cadets had quite a talk, the upshot of which was that the butcher said he would visit the camp on the following afternoon, bringing two farmers who had lost chickens with him. He let the boys have some fresh meat on trust, and smiled broadly when they asked him not to tell anybody where their camp was located.
“I know something about the trouble up to the school,” he said. “One of them teachers—I think his name is Crabapple, or something like that—wanted my cousin, Jim Pepperhill, to go up there to keep order. But Jim didn’t like the looks of the teacher and wouldn’t go.”
“Did Mr. Crabtree say what the trouble was?” asked Pepper.
“Said some of the boys wouldn’t behave themselves, and that they had to be locked in their bedrooms and kept there.”
From the butcher shop the two cadets visited the post-office, to see if there was any mail for themselves and their fellow students. To their surprise they were told that another cadet had called there only half an hour before and taken all the cadets’ mail away.
“Who was it?” asked Andy, and the clerk described the person.
“I think his name is Coulter,” he said. “He has been here for mail before. Wasn’t it all right to give it to him?”
“Not just now,” answered Pepper. “After this you keep some of the mail here until one of our party calls for it.” And he wrote down a list of names. Then he and his chum hurried off in the direction of camp.
“It was mighty cheeky of Coulter to take all the mail!” grumbled Andy. “Why didn’t he sort it out and hand our mail back? Now we have got to wait until he gets ready to bring it to us.”
“Maybe he won’t bring it, Andy.”
“Then we’ll have to go for it.”
“You forget that we don’t know where the Ritter crowd is located.”
“Gracious, that’s so! Well, we will have to find out. If he’s got any of my mail, I want it.”
When the boys got back to camp the others listened with interest to what they had to tell.
“It will be fun to go after those tramps and clean them out,” said Dale. “And if the fellow is there who attacked Andy I hope we catch him and get back the stolen things.”
“Home-made pies!” murmured Stuffer, referring to what the boys said about the Ford girls. “Yum! yum! That’s the best ever!”
“I knew that would make a bull’s-eye hit with you!” said Pepper, with a merry laugh.
“I hope they bring enough to go around. Did you tell them how many there were of us?” asked the boy who loved to eat, anxiously.
“I told them there were over half a dozen of us,” answered Pepper, with a wink at the others.
“Oh, Pepper! Half a dozen! Then they’ll only bring two or three pies, and we won’t get more than a mouthful apiece!” And Stuffer’s face took on a mournful look.
“Well, you know, Master Singleton,” said The Imp, imitating Pluxton Cuddle’s tone of voice. “Too much eating is bad for a youth. It makes him stupid and incapable of studying properly. If one ate less——”
“Oh, stop your tommy-rot about eating less!” roared Stuffer. “I guess you must really believe in it—or you wouldn’t let those Ford girls bring only two or three pies.” And he turned to walk away.
“Stop, Stuffer, Pep was only fooling,” cried Andy. “They’ll bring enough pies, don’t you worry.” And then the youth who loved to eat felt relieved.
A campfire was kept going during the evening, and around this the runaway cadets gathered, to tell stories, sing songs and speculate upon how the whole affair was to end. A few were nervous, but others felt certain that Captain Putnam would not blame them for what they had done.
“If he does, he is not the man I take him to be,” said Dale.
“If he sides with Crabtree and Cuddle I shall ask my father to send me to another school,” said another.
“If we stick together he is bound to side with us,” added Fred.
“Now, don’t make such a mistake as that,” said Jack, to the last speaker. “Captain Putnam will not be influenced by our sticking together, even if it breaks up his school. He will decide this case solely on its merits. But I hope he will see that we were in the right—at least, that we were not as much in the wrong as Josiah Crabtree and Pluxton Cuddle.”
Among the boys to be placed on guard when the cadets retired was Fred Century. He was stationed at the east side of the camp, not far from where the wagon stood and the horse was tethered. In the wagon were a goodly part of the provisions, covered with a tarpaulin that had been brought along.
Fred had not slept well the night before and was consequently sleepy. He tramped around for a while and then sat down on a rock to rest.
He had been sitting still for several minutes, with his eyes partly closed, when he heard a slight noise behind him. Before he could move a cloth was clapped around his mouth and his hands were caught and held. Then a rope was brought into play, and he was made a close prisoner and carried away into the woods.
“Hi, fellows, get up! Something has happened!”
It was Pepper who aroused the others, and he made such a noise that the cadets who were asleep sprang up without delay.
“What’s wrong?”
“Have the enemy discovered us?”
“Are we going back to the Hall?”
These and a number of other cries rang out, and nearly all the runaways surrounded The Imp. For answer Pepper pointed to where the horse and wagon had been.
“Gone!”
“Who took them?”
“Don’t ask me,” was the answer. “I missed them a minute ago and tried to find out what had become of them. But they are teetotally gone, and that is all there is to it.”
“Where are the guards?” demanded Jack. “Brightwood, did you see anything of the horse and wagon?”