CHAPTER XXII
A NIGHT OF FUN
“Hullo, what’s this?”
“Well, I never saw such a thing before in my life!”
“Where did the balloon come from?”
“Will somebody show me the way out of this circus tent?”
“Everybody lift!” cried Jack.
The cadets did as ordered, some standing their guns up. The guns acted like short tent-poles, and the bag of the balloon was thus kept a short distance from the ground. Slowly one student after another crawled forth into the open air.
“Is anybody hurt?” asked Captain Putnam, anxiously.
“I was knocked down,” came from Gus Coulter, and he showed where he had been rolled over in the dust.
“I was nearly smothered,” said Mumps.
Nobody had been hurt, although not a few had been frightened when the weight of the monstrous bag first settled down upon them. The balloon was rolled up and placed on one side of the road and the loose guns picked up.
“Guess it must be a runaway balloon,” suggested Pepper.
“I believe it has been used for exhibition purposes,” said Captain Putnam. “See there is a trapeze. Probably the performer jumped from the balloon and used a parachute for reaching the ground.”
“Was there to be an exhibition around here?” asked Jack.
“I believe one was advertised to take place at Menville. The wind is blowing from that direction.”
There was nothing to do but to leave the balloon by the roadside, and after a brushing up and a readjustment of equipments the battalion moved on once more. Half a mile was covered when they were halted by two men in a long farm-wagon.
“Excuse me!” shouted one of the men. “But have you seen anything of a balloon around here?”
“I should say we had,” answered Captain Putnam, who was marching by Jack’s side. “It came down in the roadway, directly on our heads.”
“What! I reckon you were scared,” and the man grinned.
“We shouldn’t care to repeat the experiment,” said the captain, coldly. “Some of my students were knocked down, and if they had not held up the balloon with their guns they might have been smothered.”
“Guess that’s right,” said the other man in the wagon. “I am sorry for you.”
“So am I sorry,” said the first man who had spoken. “Where is the balloon?”
“About half a mile back on the road.”
“Thanks; we’ll get it.”
“Whose balloon is it?” asked Jack, curiously.
“It belongs to Professor Aireo,” was the answer. “He made an ascension about an hour ago at Menville and came down with his parachute. I hope the balloon is all right.”
“It appeared to be,” answered Jack, and then the two men drove off and the battalion proceeded on its way.
The road was rather rough, and two hours later the cadets came to another halt. A farm-house was handy and they procured a drink at a fine old well where the water was both pure and cold. The farmer, who was present, told them to help themselves, and as he had a crate of strawberries ready to take to market, the captain purchased them and took them along, for use at the camp.
It was nightfall when Smalley Lake was reached. Some large flatboats were at hand, and on these the boys were rowed over to the island, and the camping outfit followed, the wagons and horses being left at a farm running down to the lake.
“What a fine spot for a camp!” cried Dale, on reaching the island.
It certainly was a nice place. The island was some acres in extent, containing a small grove of trees, a fine patch of grass, and a bit of smooth, sandy beach which would be very fine for bathing.
The tents were pitched on the grass, and after a rest Captain Putnam allowed some of the boys to take a dip in the lake. Then campfires were lit and supper cooked, to which the boys did full justice, topping off the meal with the strawberries that had been brought along.
“I don’t think we’ll have any fun to-night,” said Andy. “Everybody is too tired.” And he was right. The cadets were glad to rest and went to sleep without a murmur, only the guards remaining active. Each cadet had to go on guard two hours each night, in true military style.
“Oh, pshaw! It’s raining!” cried Pepper, on rising the following morning. “Isn’t that too bad!”
“I don’t think it will last,” said Jack, and he was right. By eight o’clock the rain stopped and soon after the sun came out good and strong, drying the grass rapidly. Breakfast was had, followed by a short drill, and then the cadets were told that they could do as they pleased until dinner-time. Some went bathing, others fishing, and a few just lolled around, taking it easy. Baxter and his crowd strolled off by themselves, to smoke some cigarettes Reff Ritter had purchased at the cross-roads hotel on the sly.
“Let us take a walk,” suggested Dale to Pepper and some of the others, and soon they were on the way, going first along the shore and then into the wood. Here it was cool and pleasant, and they enjoyed it thoroughly.
“Couldn’t a fellow have a fine time here if there wasn’t a big crowd?” said Dale. “Just think of six or seven of us with the whole island to ourselves!”
“It would be dandy,” answered Andy.
Having rested awhile in the woods, they moved on, until they came to a sort of shelter among the rocks. Looking through the bushes they saw Reff Ritter moving around.
“It’s the Ritter crowd,” said Jack, in a low voice.
“Wonder what they are up to?” said Pepper. “I am going to see.” And the Imp moved forward before anybody could stop him.
When Pepper was close enough he made out six boys seated in a circle. They were smoking cigarettes and talking in low but earnest voices.
“We can do it,” Dan Baxter was saying.
“Maybe we’ll get caught,” put in Mumps.
“No, we won’t,” came from Reff Ritter. “It’s a boss plan. We’ll carry it out to-night, and make somebody feel sick.”
“Better see if anybody is around,” cried Gus Coulter, and leaped up. Pepper had just time enough to regain his companions when the whole party was discovered. At once the Baxter crowd put away their cigarettes.
“Hullo, are you following us?” demanded Reff Ritter, striding forward.
“I guess you are following us,” said Pepper, quickly.
“Why should we follow you?” asked Jack.
At this Ritter and Baxter muttered something the others could not understand. Then the bully of the Hall and his cronies walked away to another part of the island.
“They are up to something,” said Pepper to his friends, and told what he had heard.
“It will pay to watch out to-night,” said Dale.
That afternoon the boys had a swimming match, in which over twenty cadets participated. The match was won by Harry Blossom, with Andy second, Bart third, Hogan fourth, and Gus Coulter fifth. Reff Ritter was in the match, but dropped out when he saw he could not win.
“I got a cramp in my big toe,” he said, but nobody believed him.
In the evening a happy time was had around the campfires and at ten o’clock the cadets turned in. Hogan and Stuffer were on guard, along with a number of others. Each guard had to walk up and down on his post, and that was all.
Pepper was dozing away when Andy pulled him by the arm.
“Something is doing,” whispered the acrobatic youth.
The Imp was wide-awake on the instant, and so were Dale and Harry, who were sleeping close by. Jack, as major, was in another tent.
Some shadows were moving around, and presently Andy and Pepper saw three cadets steal into the tent and lift up some uniforms and equipments. Instantly they leaped up, and caught two of the intruders.
“No, you don’t!” cried Andy. “Drop those uniforms!”
“Let me go!” muttered the other fellow, and Andy recognized Dan Baxter’s voice. Pepper had Reff Ritter, while Dale got hold of Nick Paxton. The latter slipped flat on his back and Dale came down upon him heavily.
“Oh! Get off of me!” grunted Paxton. “You are smashing in my ribs!”
“What does this mean?” demanded Dale, and caught his prisoner by the arm.
“It’s only a joke,” grumbled Paxton.
“What kind of a joke?”
“We – we were going to hide your uniforms, that’s all!”
“Oh, that’s it!” said Pepper. “Well, it didn’t work, and out you go!” And he gave Reff Ritter a shove that sent him headlong on the ground outside of the tent. Dan Baxter was also pushed out, and Paxton was flung on top of the bully. All three picked themselves up as quickly as they could and sneaked off.
“Coulter wasn’t with them,” whispered Pepper. “He and Mumps and Sabine must be trying the trick elsewhere. Let us go out and investigate.”
The others agreed, and slipping on some clothing they sallied forth in the darkness. Only a few stars were shining, so they had to pick their way with care among the tents.
“Wait, there is somebody – coming from Jack’s tent!” whispered Pepper, and the next moment the Imp had a fellow by the collar, while Andy and Dale caught the second cadet. They were Coulter and Sabine, and they had Jack’s uniform, his hat, shoes, and likewise the young major’s sword.
“Let us alone, will you?” growled Coulter, in a cowed tone.
“Sure, we will!” cried Pepper. “Dale, put those things back, will you?”
While Dale did so, Pepper and Andy held Coulter and Sabine. Jack slept on, totally unconscious of what was taking place.
Despite their protests, Coulter and Sabine were made to march back to the tent from which the other cadets had come. Then they were blindfolded.
“We’ll put them through the forty-fourth degree,” said Pepper.
The others understood what this meant, and in a twinkling the prisoners had their hands bound behind them.
“Let me go!” whined Billy Sabine. “Please don’t hurt me!”
“We won’t hurt you. Keep still.”
“If you don’t let us go, we’ll raise an alarm,” said Coulter.
“If you do we’ll tell how you tried to steal Major Ruddy’s things.”
“We weren’t going to steal them. We were only going to hide them.”
“It amounts to the same thing. March!” said the Imp.
“Where to?”
“You’ll soon find out.”
The prisoners were marched to one end of the camp where there were some low bushes. Then Pepper began to whisper, but in a voice so that Coulter and Sabine could hear.
“Fix the bayonets all around, and don’t forget to set the traps. That’s it, now set that trap too. If they dare to move, well, they’ll wish they hadn’t, that’s all.”
“You don’t want to kill them,” whispered Dale, entering into the spirit of the fun.
“They won’t get killed. It will only nip ’em pretty bad – if they move,” answered Pepper.
He opened and shut his pocketknife several times with sharp clicks. Then he announced that all was ready.
“Now don’t move – don’t budge – unless you want to fall into a sharp trap,” said the Imp, to the two prisoners.
“Ho – how long must we stay here?” asked Sabine, in a trembling voice.
“We’ll be back before sunrise and fix it so you can get away,” answered Andy.
Then the three boys withdrew and left the two prisoners alone.
Neither Coulter nor Sabine dared to move, thinking they would run into some sharp steel-trap, or sword point, and hurt themselves.
“This is awful!” groaned Coulter. “Hang the luck anyway!”
“If we get cut with a rusty trap we may get lockjaw,” groaned Sabine. “I heard of a boy who got caught in a bear-trap once and he died from blood-poisoning.”
Andy, Pepper, and Dale watched the prisoners for a while and then went back to their tent. Here they were joined by Hogan and Stuffer, coming in from guard duty.
There was a brief consultation of war, and it was decided that Baxter, Ritter, and the others must be paid back for what they had attempted to do.
CHAPTER XXIII
THE GENERAL ALARM
Baxter and his chums were just getting to sleep, having grown tired of waiting for the return of Sabine and Coulter, when the bully awoke with a start.
“What’s that?” he cried, sitting up and rubbing his eyes.
Before him he saw a curious figure jumping up and down. It gave forth a curious glow of light.
“You can’t fool me!” he cried, and leaped from his cot, – to pitch headlong over an empty barrel.
“What’s up?” came from Reff Ritter, and he too got up and bumped into a bag of flour hanging on a level with his head. Down came the bag, and the flour flew in all directions, nearly smothering Mumps, who was still sleeping.
“What’s this?” spluttered the bully’s toady. “Who threw flour over me!”
He too arose, and fell into a lot of loose tinware, creating a great racket. Then came a crash of another sort.
“Look out, the tent is coming down!” called out Ritter, and tried to get out. But he too fell over the empty barrel, and the next moment down came the tent, burying all three of the boys and making more noise than ever.
“Run!” called out Pepper, who had arranged the affair, and he and his chums ran and were soon out of sight.
The noise awoke Captain Putnam and George Strong, who were sleeping in a tent close by. Both ran out, and a lantern was lit.
“What’s the trouble here?” demanded the captain.
“A tent is down,” answered George Strong. “Some students’ fun, I presume.”
Soon Baxter, Ritter, and Mumps crawled from under the collapsed tent, making a great noise among the tinware as they did so. Then a crowd began to collect.
“Fenwick! What in the world is the matter with your face?” cried Captain Putnam.
“It’s flour, sir,” answered Mumps. “Somebody nearly smothered me with flour.”
“They played a trick on us,” growled Dan Baxter. “There was a noise and I got up and saw a make-believe ghost – some phosphorus on some dangling shingles. I started to get up, and then somebody pulled the tent down on our heads.”
Some of the cadets began to snicker at this. More lanterns were lit, and while some of those present started to repair the damage that had been done, Captain Putnam took a lantern and walked around the camp. Seeing something behind some bushes, he walked thither and came to where Coulter and Sabine were still standing blindfolded and with their hands tied behind them.
“What are you doing here?” asked the master of the Hall, in amazement.
“Oh, Captain Putnam, is that you?” asked Sabine. “Will you help us?”
“What is the trouble?”
“We are afraid of the traps,” said Coulter.
“Traps? I see no traps,” and Captain Putnam flashed around the rays of his lantern. Then he set the light down and untied the prisoners’ hands, and the cloths over their eyes were also removed.
“Well, I never!” cried Coulter, looking around.
“Not a single trap, or a bayonet!” murmured Sabine. “We have been fooled.”
“Go back to your tent at once!” cried Captain Putnam, sharply. “I want no more nonsense this night.”
The balance of the night passed quietly enough, for the cadets were afraid to prowl around, not knowing who might be on guard. In the morning there were a good many laughs, but Dan Baxter and his crowd did not join in.
Down at the general store at the cross-roads Pepper had purchased some firecrackers and also some seidlitz powders. Watching his chance that morning he took the white-paper powders and dumped them in the milk the Baxter crowd was using. Then he dumped the other powders into their sugar.
“Guess I’ll have some coffee now,” said Baxter, and got himself a cup. Then he put in some of the doctored milk and followed with some of the doctored sugar. Several of the others did the same.
An instant later Baxter’s coffee began to bubble and foam and then went up like a geyser. The bully was so astonished he let the cup fall with a smash.
“Great Scott! What’s up with the coffee!”
“My coffee is going to explode!” shrieked Mumps, and threw his cup in some bushes.
“This is awful!” cried Coulter. “Why, what in the world is the matter with it?”
“Say, Ferris, what did you do to that coffee?” demanded Ritter, striding up to the cadet who had made the beverage.
“I boiled it, that’s all,” answered Ferris. “It’s good, too,” he added.
“Did you put in some baking powder?” sneered Baxter.
“Not at all,” and now Ferris himself tasted some of the coffee he had in his pot. “Why, that’s fine.”
“Give me another cup of it,” said Baxter.
It certainly looked good and he put in some milk. Then he added the sugar as before. At once the coffee bubbled and foamed worse than before.
“Look there!” he cried, rushing forward with the coffee running over the cup and on to the ground. “What do you say to that?”
“Hullo, Baxter has got Mount Vesuvius brand of coffee!” cried Andy.
“Why don’t you bottle it for mineral water?” asked Pepper.
“Oh, shut up!” cried the bully.
“I think I’ll try some milk,” said Mumps. “Phew, what a flavor!”
To sweeten it he put in some sugar, and at once he had the milk boiling and foaming.
“This is what’s the matter!” cried Reff Ritter. “It’s the milk and sugar that is doctored. Somebody put seidlitz powders in them!”
“Dump the sugar and milk away,” said the bully, and this was done. Then the crowd had to get a new lot before they could go ahead with their meal. Pepper and his chums had a hearty laugh over the incident.
That night, when Pepper was on guard duty, he took his package of firecrackers with him and during his spare time fixed some of the crackers so that they would have extra long stems, made of nothing but ordinary cotton cord. Then, when he was off duty, he placed the firecrackers around the camp, lighting each fuse as he did so.
“Now wait, and you’ll see some fun,” he whispered to Andy, Dale, and the others.
For a few minutes there was silence, and then one of the crackers went off. It was of good size and the noise sounded like a gun shot.
“Corporal of the guard!” came the cry.
“What post?” was the question asked by the corporal, as he rushed out of his tent.
He had scarcely spoken when another firecracker went off with a loud bang.
“Something must surely be wrong,” murmured Captain Putnam, as he sprang up and donned part of his clothing. “There goes another shot!”
He ran outside and soon found the bewildered corporal of the guard, who was running around asking the various pickets who had fired the shots.
“I can’t find where the shots came from,” said the corporal, and just then came two more explosions, followed by a third.
As it happened, the explosions came from different sides of the camp, so Captain Putnam was as much bewildered as anybody. By this time all of the cadets were stirring, for it had been ordered that no shot should be fired unless something was really wrong.
“Must be thieves in the camp!”
“Maybe some wild beasts!”
“I think it is some bears,” said Andy, in a loud voice.
“Bears!” screamed Mumps, and the cry was taken up on all sides. “Oh, I don’t want to meet any bears!”
“Nonsense! There are no bears on this island,” said Captain Putnam. “They must be shooting at something else.”
“Let us go around and investigate,” said George Strong, and brought out his revolver, while the master of Putnam Hall did the same.
During this time the firecrackers continued to go off, by ones, twos, and threes. Then came the explosion of a dozen or more.
“My gracious, what can this mean?” ejaculated the captain. “All of the guards must be firing at once.”
“Perhaps it is a box of cartridges that got on fire,” suggested George Strong.
The corporal of the guard had been out to one of the posts, when an explosion took place just behind him, causing him to leap wildly into the air. He looked back, saw something burning, and picked it up.
“Here you are!” he called, rushing back to Captain Putnam. “I know what is up now.”
“Humph! A firecracker!” said the master of the school. “Who is setting them off, Pell?”
“I don’t know, sir.”
“Ah! nothing but firecrackers,” said Dan Baxter, in disgust. “I am going to bed again.”
“So am I,” added Reff Ritter.
All waited for a few minutes longer, but no more explosions followed, and finally Captain Putnam told the cadets to retire, while he and George Strong took a walk through the camp to make certain that everything was all right.
“Come with me,” whispered Andy to his chums. “Don’t go to bed yet.” And he led them to the rear of the tent occupied by Dan Baxter and his cronies.
CHAPTER XXIV
AN ATTACK AND A FIGHT
“What’s doing, Andy?”
“Wait and see. You won’t have to wait long.”
The bully of Putnam Hall and his cronies were sleepy and soon tumbled on their cots. They had scarcely gotten under the blankets when a general cry arose.
“Oh, my! I’m stuck full of pins!”
“Ouch! Something is sticking me in the middle of the back!”
“Ker-chew! Who – ker-chew! – put this – ker-chew! – pepper on my – ker-chew! – cot?”
“My cot is full of burrs!”
“There are thistles in mine!”
Groans and muttered imprecations followed. Dan Baxter and his cronies were wild with rage. They had to light a lantern and clean their cots and blankets with care. The boys outside sneaked to their own quarters, laughing heartily to themselves.
“When did you do it, Andy?” asked Dale.
“While the shooting was going on. I got the burrs and thistles while I was out walking this afternoon.”
“They won’t forget this encampment in a hurry,” said Pepper, with a grin.
“Look out that they don’t pay us back.”
There was other fun afloat that night, but our friends did not hear of it until morning. Then Jack brought the news.
“We are in a pickle now,” announced the young major.
“What’s up, Jack?” questioned Pepper.
“Every boat is gone.”
“The boats gone!” cried Harry Blossom. “Where did they go to?”
“Nobody seems to know.”
“Did they drift away?”
“I think not. Mr. Strong and myself saw that they were tied up last evening.”
“Some of the fellows must have used them,” said Andy.
“And forgot to tie them fast afterwards,” suggested Dale.
“Or else they hid the boats just for fun,” said Pepper.
Jack looked at his friends questioningly.
“See here, boys, please remember that I am the major at this encampment,” he began, seriously.
“We know it, Jack,” said Andy, quickly. “I, for one, know nothing of the boats.”
“And neither do I,” came from each of the others.
“Maybe it is the work of the Baxter crowd,” said Dale.
Two hours were spent in looking for the boats. Then a farmer was seen approaching the island in a small scow which had seen better days.
“Say, did you folks lose any boats?” he asked.
“Yes,” said George Strong, who was near. “All we had.”
“Well, they drifted down to my farm. Shall I bring ’em up?”
“If you will.”
“What is it worth, mister?” asked the farmer, who did not believe in working gratuitously.
Captain Putnam was called, and he told the farmer he would give two dollars to have the boats brought back.
“Can I go along and help, Captain?” asked Andy.
“Yes, you can go, and Conners can go with you,” answered Captain Putnam.
The boys were soon in the scow, and the farmer took them to the extreme end of the lake. Here they found all of the boats the school had used, drifted under some overhanging bushes.
“They are all tied together,” said Andy. “That looks as if they were taken away from the island on purpose.”
“You didn’t take them away, did you?” asked Bart Conners, of the farmer.
“Me? Not much. I was asleep last night,” was the answer. “I heard you shootin’ over to the island, but I didn’t git up.”
Andy leaped into one of the boats and picked up a cigarette butt and then another.
“I guess I know the crowd who did this,” said the acrobatic youth.
“Perhaps I do too,” said Bart, pointedly. “The same crowd that set the old boathouse on fire, eh?”
“Exactly.”
The cadets and the farmer took the boats back to the island. George Strong came down to inspect the craft and pay the farmer off.
“Humph!” said the teacher, as he saw the remains of the cigarettes. He said no more, but later on talked the matter over with Captain Putnam.
Saturday night found the cadets back at Putnam Hall, safe and sound. The march back to the school had been without special incident. The walk told on some of the students, and on Sunday many of them were content to do little but rest and eat their meals. By the majority the outing was voted a complete success. Baxter and his cronies did not appreciate it so much and wanted to “get square” with somebody for the tricks that had been played.
Once more the boys settled down to the regular routine. Many of them wanted to make a good showing when it came to the examinations and so applied themselves diligently to their studies. But some, including Reff Ritter and Dan Baxter, cared very little if they came out near the head or not.
“I expect to take a trip with my father before long,” said Dan Baxter. “I hope he takes me out of the school before the examinations come off.”
“Wish I was going away,” grumbled Ritter. “It’s mighty dull these days.”
For some reason Dan Baxter got it into his head that Pepper was responsible for all the troubles he had had, and one afternoon, when in a particularly ugly mood, he followed the Imp to the end of the campus.
“Say, Ditmore, you are getting pretty fresh, ain’t you?” he blustered.
“Thanks, Baxter, but I certainly shouldn’t wish to grow stale,” answered Pepper, coolly.
“I don’t like the way you are talking about me.”
“I don’t know as I have talked about you – at least, not lately.”
“Oh, you needn’t try to crawl out of it,” went on the bully in a loud tone, while a crowd began to collect.
“I am not crawling out of anything.”
“Maybe you’d like me to give you a good licking, eh?” went on Baxter, working himself up into a rage.
“I have no desire to fight. But if you – ”
“Bah! Take that!” cried the bully, and without warning hit Pepper a stinging blow on the chin. The Imp was not prepared for the attack and went flat on his back on the grass.
“For shame, Baxter!” cried Harry Blossom, who had just come up. “That wasn’t fair at all!”
“You keep your oar out!” snarled the bully. “I know what I am doing.”
Slowly Pepper rose to his feet, a good deal dazed.
“Have you had enough?” demanded the bully, striding up with clenched fists.
“Do you call that fighting fair?” asked Pepper, slowly.
“Oh, I don’t want any gas!”
“Baxter you are a bully and a brute!”
The big cadet glared at the speaker in amazement. Then he made another lunge forward, but his fist met only the empty air, for Pepper ducked just in time.
“I’ll fix you!” roared Baxter, as he staggered forward and then recovered himself.
“I didn’t want to fight, but since you force me to defend myself, why – take that!”
As Pepper finished he let out with his right fist and took the bully fairly and squarely in the ear. Then the Imp swung around his left fist and it came in contact with Baxter’s nose and made the blood spurt. The bully staggered, but before he went down there came another blow that loosened one of his teeth.
“Now have you had enough?” asked Pepper, standing over the fallen form of the bully.
“No!” snarled Baxter, and as quickly as he could he got on his feet. But the instant he was up again, Pepper knocked him down.
“I am going to give you a dose of your own medicine, Baxter,” said the Imp. “If you try to get up again, down you go once more.”
“Boys! boys! what does this mean?” came in a stern voice, and looking up they saw Captain Putnam approaching.