The Putnam Hall Encampment: or, The Secret of the Old Mill

CHAPTER XXIV

WHAT HAPPENED UNDERGROUND

“You mean the Robertson mill?” asked Andy.

“Yes, the one mentioned by that Bert Field.”

“Have you heard from that boy, Pepper?”

“Not lately.”

“Shall we go to the old mill and see what it looks like?”

“We might pass it. We haven’t time to stop – not unless we want to get caught.”

Still walking swiftly, the chums went along the river until they came in sight of the Falls. Not far off was the old mill.

“Think we’ll meet that ghost?” asked Andy, as they paused at a distance to gaze at the ancient structure, some of the lower windows of which had been boarded over.

“I don’t know I’m sure. Want to go closer?”

“I’m not afraid.”

“Come on then, and we’ll scatter some paper near the door. Maybe the crowd will think we entered the mill.”

Knowing they had no time to spare, if they wanted to keep out of the reach of the hounds, the two cadets hurried on until they stood beneath a shed adjoining the old mill.

“I don’t see anything unusual,” said Pepper, as he looked around. “Maybe this story about a ghost is all made up.”

“Yes, but what about that yarn of a ghost that was half man, half beast?”

“I don’t know. But I think – Hark!”

Both boys listened. From inside the old mill a grating sound had reached their ears.

“Why, I wonder if the wheel is going!” cried Andy. “It sounds like it.”

“Let us look in at the door and see – if the door is unlocked,” was Pepper’s reply.

The chums stepped closer to the doors of the mill. Scarcely had they done so when, without warning, some planking gave way and they found themselves dropping into some space below. Each tried to save himself, but it was too late, and down they went, into a lower apartment of the old mill. Then, as swiftly as it had moved before, the planking overhead closed, leaving the two cadets in almost total darkness.

They were completely bewildered by what had occurred, and for the moment could do little but clutch each other and try to pierce the darkness which surrounded them. Andy had gone sprawling, with Pepper on top of him. Now both arose.

“What do you make of this?” asked Pepper, trying vainly to control his voice.

“I – I guess we have been trapped!” gasped Andy. “I – I wish we had a pistol, or something!”

“Did we fall or was a trap-door opened, Andy?”

“I guess a door was opened. Anyway, the opening is closed again.”

“Well, I don’t believe any ghost did it, do you?”

“No, it was some human being. But that human being might be just as bad as a ghost.”

“Right you are. How are we going to get out?”

“That remains to be seen.”

The two boys felt around them. On every side was a stone wall. In two of the walls were doors. One was locked, but the other stood partly open.

“Now we are down here we may as well do a little exploring,” whispered Pepper. “But let us keep close together.”

“Take care that you don’t fall into another hole!” answered his chum.

“Wonder if we can’t find sticks, or stones, or something.”

They felt around but nothing but the bare walls and bare floor met their touch.

At a distance they heard a strange rumble, but could not make out what it was or where it came from. They advanced with caution and passed through the open door. All was as dark as before, but they heard a rushing close at hand.

“Is that wind?” asked Andy.

“No, that must be the river, or the falls, Andy. We can’t be very far from the water.”

The boys had reached a flooring of wood. They passed along on this for several feet. They were side by side, trying to pierce the darkness, which was intense. A foul, musty odor greeted them.

“I’ll be glad to see daylight again,” said Andy. “Do you think – ”

He got no further, for just then the flooring upon which they stood tilted downward. Both tried to save themselves from another fall, but in vain. Down they rolled over the flooring and fell with a splash into the water.

Pepper went down several feet and his hand struck some rocks. Andy followed, and the chums grabbed each other by the shoulder. The ducking came so quickly that each swallowed considerable water.

“Hi, what’s this?” spluttered Pepper, when he could speak.

“We are in the river!” answered Andy. “Look out that you don’t hit your head on something!”

The water was flowing swiftly, and forward shot the two boys, in darkness that was as intense as before. They felt the passageway narrowing and felt the sharp rocks on either side of them.

“We can’t be in the river!” gasped Pepper. “We must be in some underground stream, an off-shoot from the river!”

“I guess you are right!” groaned his chum. “But if it is an off-shoot where is it taking us?”

“I don’t know.”

There was little opportunity to say more, for the water was now boiling and foaming all around them. The boys were jerked first one way and then another, and all but had the breath knocked from their bodies. Andy was hit on the head by a projecting rock and dazed.

“Save me!” he moaned, and Pepper clutched him and held fast. Then Pepper was struck and for several minutes knew no more.

When the two boys were able to realize what had happened they found themselves still in the dark, but almost out of the water, which was rushing madly beside them. On all sides were rough rocks, some of them of immense size. From far overhead came a glimmer of light.

“Are you all right, Andy?” asked Pepper, when he felt strong enough to speak.

“I – I guess so,” was the gasped-out answer. “But say, I don’t want to go through anything like that again!”

“Nor I! We came close to being drowned!”

“Yes, and close to having our heads pounded to a jelly!”

“Where do you suppose we are?”

“Somewhere among the rocks below the old mill. Instead of following the river we were caught in a side stream that flows under and between the rocks. I suppose we can be thankful that our lives were spared.”

“Yes, indeed!”

For several minutes the cadets were content to rest and gather their scattered wits together. The game of hare and hounds was completely forgotten until Andy chanced to glance at a big water-soaked paper still slung over his shoulder.

“Wonder what became of the other fellows,” said he.

“I hope they didn’t fall down the hole,” answered Pepper. “But if they did I reckon we would have heard it,” he added.

How to get out of the place in which they found themselves was a serious problem. On all sides were the great rocks. The opening through which the light was streaming was fully fifty feet over their heads.

“I guess the only thing to do is to climb out,” was Andy’s comment. “Think we can do it?”

“We can try. But we don’t want to break our necks.”

“Let us go to the upper end of the opening,” suggested the acrobatic youth. “It looks better to me there.”

They walked to the spot Andy indicated, and then the acrobatic youth commenced to scale the rocks. Pepper followed, and thus they managed to climb about half the distance to the top. But at that point little short of sheer walls confronted them.

“I guess we are stumped,” said Andy, in a disappointed voice.

“Wonder if the other fellows are in this vicinity,” said Pepper. “If they are they could help us out somehow.”

“Might call, Pepper.”

Both of the boys called out at the top of their lungs, not once but several times. At first no answer came back.

“Try again,” said Pepper, and they did so. The echoes had just died away when they saw a form appear at the top of the opening.

“Who is down there?” came the cry.

“Two boys,” answered Andy. “We want somebody to help us get out of this hole.”

“Oh, that’s it,” said the person at the top of the hole. “Well, maybe, I can do the trick. I happen to have a long rope with me.”

Something in the voice of the speaker struck Pepper as familiar. He strained his eyes, and then saw that the person who had spoken was the strange lad, Bert Field.

CHAPTER XXV

BERT FIELD’S REVELATION

“Hello there, Bert Field!”

“Hello yourself,” answered the lad at the top of the opening, in surprise. “Who are you?”

“I am one of the Putnam Hall cadets, Pepper Ditmore.”

“Oh, one of the fellows I met at the church?”

“Yes. I have a friend with me, Andy Snow. Can you help us to get out of here?”

“I guess I can,” was the answer from the boy above. “Can you climb a rope?”

“I can,” answered Andy quickly. “And if Pepper can’t perhaps the two of us can pull him up.”

“All right, here you are then. But wait till I tie the rope fast,” continued Bert Field.

Quickly the end of a stout rope dropped into the opening. Then came a pause, and then the boy above shouted out:

“All ready!”

Andy caught hold of the rope and now his ability as an acrobat stood him in good stead. Up the line he went, hand over hand, in a manner that would have done credit to a circus performer. Then Pepper tried it, and after a struggle came up, too, although much more slowly.

“How in the world did you get down there?” asked Bert Field, after the two cadets were safe. “I see you are pretty wet,” he continued, glancing at their soaked garments.

“It’s rather a long story,” answered Pepper, with a side glance at Andy, to keep the latter quiet. “By the way, Field, didn’t you say that you were looking for the old mill in this vicinity?”

“I said so, yes,” was the slow reply.

“May I ask what you know about that old mill?” went on Pepper.

“Why, I – that is – it is a personal matter, a family matter,” stammered Bert Field.

“I thought that if you told us something about the old mill we might be able to help you,” went on Pepper. “Has Jabez Trask something to do with it?”

“Yes.”

“And that is why you were looking for Trask?”

“Yes.” Bert Field’s face became a study. He looked at Pepper and Andy with eyes that seemed to pierce them through and through. “I wonder if I can trust you?” he said slowly.

“You can,” answered Pepper.

“If the thing is on the level you can trust me,” added Andy. He saw that the strange lad was laboring under some subdued excitement.

“I – I guess I need a friend,” went on Bert Field. “I said once I might need help. I may be able to solve this mystery alone, but somehow I am beginning to doubt it.”

“Then it is a mystery?”

“Yes.”

“About the old mill?”

“Yes, and about Jabez Trask.”

“I thought so,” said Pepper, with a little smile.

“It’s a long story and maybe you won’t want to listen to it now – with your clothing all wet. You may take cold.”

“Well, that’s true,” answered Pepper. “Can you meet us to-morrow evening near our encampment up the lake shore?”

“I will if you say so. I was going to use this rope to-day – but I can postpone that.”

“And we’ll postpone our story,” said Andy.

Bert Field showed them the way back to the trail through the woods and then separated from them. Andy and Pepper saw the odd youth slouch off with the coil of rope hung over his shoulder.

“He is certainly a queer stick,” was Pepper’s comment. “I venture to say he’ll have a queer story to tell.”

“Well, we’ll have a queer one to tell too,” replied Andy. “Wonder what he was going to do with that rope?”

“That remains to be found out. Maybe he was going to make the ghost a prisoner.”

“Perhaps.”

“I think we ought to keep our adventure a secret,” went on The Imp. “Maybe some day we’ll be able to solve this secret of the old mill.”

“Well, I am willing to keep it a secret for the present. But we want to find out what the others have to say first.”

The boys walked through the woods and on coming out on a regular road saw the hounds in a crowd, evidently hunting for the paper scent.

“There they are!” cried Dale, on seeing them. He ran up, followed by the others. “Where in the world did you go to?” he questioned.

“Went into the water,” answered Andy, pointing to his uniform. “Got a free bath.”

“Well, I never!” burst out another cadet. “No wonder we missed you!”

“How far did you follow us?” asked Pepper.

“Almost to the old mill. But some of the fellows wouldn’t go there, so we went in a semi-circle, but we couldn’t find the scent anywhere.”

“We tumbled into the water before we knew it,” said Pepper, telling the plain truth. “And we had an awful time getting out, for the current carried us quite a distance. We are wet through and through and want to get to camp as soon as possible, to change our clothing.”

“I don’t blame you,” said Dale. “Well, this ends the game,” he added, to his followers.

The whole crowd returned to the camp, and Andy and Pepper lost no time in taking a good rubbing down and in changing their raiment. The others thought they had simply slipped into the river and did not ask for particulars. Nevertheless, that evening, when they got the opportunity, Andy and Pepper gave Jack and Dale the details.

“Well, that is certainly queer,” was the comment of the young major. “Some wicked person must be hanging out at that old mill. But for what purpose?”

“Maybe it’s a counterfeiters’ den,” said Dale.

“I don’t know what it is,” said Pepper. “But somehow I’ve got one idea fixed in my mind and I can’t get it out.”

“What is it, Pep?” asked Jack.

“I think old Jabez Trask is mixed up in it. You’ll remember how he acted at his mansion. Well, isn’t this a good deal like that?”

“Perhaps, but what would Trask be doing at the old mill?”

“I don’t know. He may be trying to keep others from going there.”

“But why? An old, tumble-down mill like that is of no account. I doubt if there is anything about the place worth stealing. A thief couldn’t take the ground, and that is all there is of value.”

“Well, we’ll learn what this Bert Field has to say,” said Andy.

“Wish we could all meet him,” came from Dale, who was now as much interested in the mystery as anybody.

“Perhaps we can,” said Pepper. “Anyway, I can ask him about it.”

Promptly at the time appointed, Andy and Pepper went off to meet Bert Field. They had mentioned an old tree with a broken limb, and they found the strange boy there, pacing the ground nervously. He gave a start when Andy called to him, but when he recognized them he called up a faint smile.

“He is as nervous as a cat,” whispered Andy.

“Perhaps he has good cause to be,” was Pepper’s answer.

As soon as the cadets reached Bert Field, they mentioned Jack and Dale and the strange boy said they might be summoned if desired. Andy let out a shrill whistle, which Dale answered, and soon the latter and the young major appeared, and the whole crowd walked along the shore road and sat down on a grassy bank in the starlight.

“I said I’d tell you my story and I will,” said Bert Field, after an awkward pause. “I am an American like yourselves, but I was born in Japan, while my folks were on a trip around the world. My folks are dead now and about the only relative I have in the world is Jabez Trask.”

“Jabez Trask your relative!” cried Pepper.

“Yes, and he isn’t much of a one, sort of a third cousin, that’s all. I had another relative, a Robertson, but he is dead too.”

“The one that owned the old mill?” asked Jack.

“Yes. That mill was in the Robertson family for years, and they got rich from it, so I am told. Well, to cut a long story short, when my folks died they were in New York City and I was placed in the care of Jabez Trask, who sent me to a boarding school in Connecticut, the Haley Oaks School.”

“I’ve heard of that place!” said Dale. “Very strict institution.”

“It is a miserable place!” cried Bert Field. “The pupils are half starved and sometimes beaten. I had more than one row with the master, and about six months ago I ran away.”

“But you said you didn’t know where Jabez Trask was?” said Pepper, questioningly.

“True, for he had moved to the country – to the mansion he now occupies and which belonged to the Robertson estate. I tried to locate him, but I didn’t do it openly – for reasons I’ll tell you later. Well, at last I found him – and then I found the old mill.”

“But I don’t understand at all what you are driving at,” came from Andy. “Why all this secrecy?”

“I’ll tell you,” answered Bert Field earnestly. “Jabez Trask has a fortune in his keeping. He pretends that it belongs to him, but I think it belongs to me.”

CHAPTER XXVI

A STORY OF INTEREST

The cadets listened with much interest to what Bert Field had to say. Here indeed was a mystery – yet more of a mystery was to follow.

“I won’t go into all the details of the case,” went on the strange youth, “for it would take too long. As I said, Jabez Trask sent me to boarding school. He also went into court and had himself appointed my guardian. My folks left a little money and this he handled to suit himself.”

“I believe he is equal to it – he looked like a miser,” was Pepper’s comment.

“In a roundabout way I heard about the Robertson mill and the Robertson fortune. My mother and the Robertsons were related and I heard that when William Robertson died he had expected to leave his property to my mother’s side of the family and not to the Trask side. I wrote to Jabez Trask about this and he came to see me. He was furious and said the fortune belonged to him. He admitted that William Robertson’s will was missing. Nobody knew what had become of the paper.”

“This sounds like a story book,” said Dale, as Bert Field paused.

“Perhaps, but I am telling you only facts. Well, time slipped by and I was treated worse and worse at the boarding school. Then, one day I got a letter from an old woman who had once been a servant in the Robertson family. She said she was dying, but before she died she wished to tell me something. She said she was sure that William Robertson had made a will leaving his property to my mother and her heirs. She said she thought he had gone to the old mill with it, and that maybe the will was hidden in the mill. She added that Jabez Trask knew about this will and was looking for it and probably wanted to destroy it, so that he could keep possession of the Robertson fortune. That letter set me to thinking, and one day I up and ran away from the school.”

“To find the will, I suppose,” said Andy.

“Yes. But first I had to locate the old mill – and also locate Jabez Trask, who had moved, as I told you. You must remember that I was a stranger in this part of the country and had never known much about the Robertsons or the old mill. When I found the old mill I learned that it had the reputation of being haunted.”

“I believe I begin to see the truth!” cried the young major.

“What do you think?” asked Bert Field.

“Jabez Trask makes folks believe the old mill is haunted so that they will keep away. He is afraid that if folks visit the mill they may, accidentally or otherwise, find the missing will.”

“That’s it exactly – or at least, that is how I figure it out,” answered the strange youth.

“Do you think Trask plays ghost?” asked Pepper. “If he does, I’d like to go there and catch him at it.”

“He either does it himself or has somebody do it for him,” answered Bert Field. “You must remember that he is a very queer man, – very suspicious as well as miserly.”

“Have you been to his mansion, or to the old mill yet?” questioned Pepper.

“Yes, I was near the mansion several times, once during that thunderstorm, when I saw two of you, and I have been around the old mill. I tried to enter it once, when it was dark, but was warned away by a ghostlike figure. I wasn’t much alarmed by the ghost, but when the figure threatened to shoot me I walked away.”

“That proves that the so-called ghost is nothing but a man,” was Andy’s comment. “Well, I was sure of that before,” he added.

“When you saw me with the rope I had a new scheme I was going to try to carry out,” continued Bert Field. “I have been watching the streams around here and I came to the conclusion that the one flowing along where I met you ran under the old mill. I got the long rope and was going to let myself down in that opening and see if I couldn’t follow the stream backward to the place. By doing that – if it could be done – I thought I might be able to get into the old mill without Mr. Ghost knowing anything about it. Then, if I did get into the mill, I was going to watch my chance and hunt for that missing will. The old woman wrote to me that William Robertson was a great man for hiding valuable things under the floor. Maybe that will is under some flooring in the old mill.”

“Perhaps you can get into the mill by that stream,” said Andy. “But I advise you not to attempt it. Pepper and I came through that way and were nearly drowned.”

Then Andy and Pepper related the particulars of what had occurred to them during the game of hare and hounds. Bert Field’s manner showed that he was keenly interested.

“It fits in!” he cried. “Whoever is at the mill is doing his best to keep all other folks away.”

“Do you know what I think we ought to do?” said Jack. “We ought to march on the old mill in a body and demand admittance. They can’t play off that game of ghost on a big crowd.”

“That’s the talk!” exclaimed Pepper. “Why, we can organize a regular company for that purpose and go there with our rifles! I think Captain Putnam would let us do it.”

“That might work, if it wasn’t for one thing,” answered Bert Field. “Jabez Trask may get so alarmed that he may burn the old mill down – and then the will would be burnt up too. Even as it is, I am afraid every day that he will set the place on fire.”

“Yes, that is true,” answered Dale. “And I suppose all you care about is that will.”

“Exactly. The old mill is of no account whatever.”

“Well, we are willing to help you all we can,” said Pepper, after a pause. “I said I’d do that before.”

“Then you don’t think I can get into the mill by way of that stream?”

“Hardly. I’d not risk it. I think, if I were you, and you wish to get into the mill on the sly, I’d wait for a dark night and then crawl up very cautiously.”

“But the traps? You fell into one, and there may be others even more dangerous.”

“I’ve got a plan!” cried Andy. “I am sure it will work, too.”

“What is that?” asked Bert Field with interest.

“When we were ne