The Putnam Hall Rivals

“Mr. Crabtree!” called a voice, from the floor below.

“What is it?” returned the assistant teacher.

“You are wanted in the office, sir – a gentleman to see you.”

“Who is it?”

“Gave the name of Simon – Andrew Simon.”

“Really! My old friend Simon!” murmured the teacher. “Snuggers, I will go below at once. We can continue this search at another time.” And down the stairs went Josiah Crabtree and the general-utility man after him.

“Phew! but that was a narrow escape,” murmured Jack. “If they had gotten in here our cake would have been dough.”

After that the boys found the time hanging heavily on their hands. They talked the situation over in a low tone, but could reach no satisfactory conclusion.

Presently it grew darker and began to rain, the storm keeping up far into the night. This made a noise on the roof, so they could talk with but little danger of being heard.

At supper-time they partook of some more of the eatables in the basket and then prepared to make themselves comfortable for the night. They were resting on the bed when they heard a low whistle at the door.

“Hullo!” came in Andy’s voice.

They unlocked the door, and there stood Andy and Stuffer, each with some supper done up in a napkin. Andy also had a candle and some matches. Dale had told them where to come.

“Had a time getting this here,” said Stuffer, after the candle had been lit.

“Old Crabtree is nearly crazy, thinking you have run away from the Hall,” said Andy. “He and Snuggers have been hunting all over for you. They even sent word to Cedarville.”

“Well, let Crabby worry – he deserves it,” grumbled Pepper. “Say, it’s mighty good of you to bring this,” he continued.

“Here are a couple of new magazines, too,” said Stuffer, handing them over. “I got them from the library. They’ll help you to pass away the time.”

Andy and Stuffer did not dare to remain upstairs long, and soon left, and then the door was locked as before and Jack hung his handkerchief over the keyhole. The curtain to the window was drawn down tightly, so that the candlelight might not be seen by anybody outside.

Several hours went by and the academy became quiet. Both boys had read for awhile and also taken several naps. Then Pepper started up.

“Jack, I’ve an idea!”

“What now, Pep?”

“Let us go downstairs after old Crabby is to bed and play some trick on him.”

“That would be all right – if we didn’t get caught. But if he catches us it will go so much harder with us when it comes to a settlement.”

“I don’t care,” said the Imp, recklessly. “We may as well be hung for sheep as lambs.”

They talked the matter over, and at last concluded to go below. The candle was extinguished and the door opened with care. They crawled cautiously to the top of the stairs and looked down.

“Everybody is in bed by this time,” whispered Pepper.

They waited a little, to make certain. Then they crept down and made their way to the door of the apartment which the assistant teacher occupied.

“He’s asleep and snoring,” said Jack, and told the truth.

They tried the door and found it unlocked. With extreme care they entered the room. A dim light was burning in a corner of the apartment, casting shadows in all directions. Covered up on the bed lay Josiah Crabtree, flat on his back and with a nightcap on his head.

Their first move was to transfer the key of the door from the inside to the outside. This done, Pepper got a washbowl of cold water and placed it on the floor beside the bed. Then they took several of the chairs and placed them on the floor sideways, and put down several piles of books near by.

“Now open the window wide,” whispered Pepper. “But be careful or he may wake up.”

The window was opened top and bottom.

“All ready, Jack?”

“Yes.” And the light was put out.

“Then together – quick!”

The boys stood at the foot of the bed. Each took a firm hold of the numerous coverings and gave them a sharp jerk. Off they came, and in a twinkling the lads made for the door, taking the blankets and spread with them. They locked the door from the outside and scooted for the next floor, throwing the things they carried in a corner out of sight.

Josiah Crabtree awoke with a start and uttered a low cry of alarm.

“Hi – er – what does this mean?” he cried, and sat bolt upright. “Where are the covers? Help! Thieves! Robbers!”

He leaped out of bed and down into the cold water went his left foot. He gave a yell of fright and the next instant stumbled over one of the chairs and went headlong among the piles of books. As he was only half awake he was more alarmed than ever.

“Help! Something is wrong here! Thieves! Robbers!” he bawled. “What does this mean! Oh! oh!”

He tried to get up, and fell over a second chair. Then he bumped into a stand and brought down some more books and some photographs. He yelled louder than ever, and finally reaching the door, tried to open it.

“Open the door! Who locked me in? Wake up, somebody! They must be robbing the house! Thieves! Robbers! Help!”

His cries rang out through the Hall, and, soon George Strong and many others, including cadets, were awakened.

“Mr. Crabtree, what is the matter?” asked George Strong, coming to the door, clad in a dressing-gown and carrying a pistol.

“Let me out! There is a – er – I don’t know what is going on! Let me out!”

“There is no key here.”

“My key is also gone. Somebody has locked me in. They – er – a – oh!” And in moving around Josiah Crabtree stumbled again and sat down on the sharp edge of a chair. “This is – er – outrageous!”

By this time George Strong had brought out a bunch of keys. One fitted the lock, and the door was speedily opened. There stood the confused teacher, trembling in every limb.

“Where are they?” he panted.

“Who?”

“The – er – the robbers who visited my room.”

“I have seen no robbers, Mr. Crabtree. What did they steal?”

“Took my bedclothes, for one thing,” growled the assistant teacher. He was recovering somewhat from his fright. “Wait till I make a light.”

He managed to find a match, but not before he had hit his toe on a pile of books and bumped into one of the chairs again. Then the light was lit and Josiah Crabtree put on his bath-robe.

“Look there, and there, and there!” he snarled, pointing to the coverless bed, the washbowl on the floor, and the overturned chairs and other disarranged things. “Doesn’t that look like burglars, – or – something, Mr. Strong?”

“I am afraid some of the students have been playing a trick on you,” said the second assistant teacher, with a faint smile showing on his face.

“A trick?” gasped Josiah Crabtree.

“Where’s the robber!” cried Andy, coming up and realizing at once what had occurred. “Let me catch him!”

“That’s right, catch him by all means,” put in Dale.

“Maybe he tried to murder poor Mr. Crabtree,” put in Stuffer.

“Sure, Mr. Crabtree, did he hurt yez very much?” asked Emerald, with mock sympathy.

“I wonder if there really was a burglar?” said Dan Baxter, coming to the scene.

“Oh, I hope not!” cried Mumps, and the toady began to shiver from fright.

“There he is, Mumps,” said Andy, coming close. “He’s aiming a pistol at you!” and the acrobatic youth pointed down the semi-dark hallway.

“Don’t shoot!” screamed Mumps. “Please don’t shoot me!” And he caught hold of Dan Baxter for protection.

“Let go,” said the bully. “He’s only fooling you. I don’t think there is any burglar.”

“Oh, dear! I wish we were sure,” whined Mumps.

CHAPTER XII

FACING THE MUSIC

“This is outrageous!” stormed Josiah Crabtree.

“It is certainly too bad,” commented George Strong.

“If some of the students played this trick on me they should be – be hung for it!”

“Oh, not quite as bad as that, Mr. Crabtree.”

“It is as bad – it’s worse!” stormed the unreasonable teacher. “I am not going to permit it.”

To this the second assistant teacher said nothing.

“Boys, who did this?” demanded Josiah Crabtree, eyeing the assembled crowd with great severity. “Answer me at once.”

“Didn’t you say it was a burglar?” asked Andy, meekly.

“I thought he called out thieves,” came from Stuffer.

“I – er – I may have done that, but I am now satisfied somebody has been playing tricks,” said Josiah Crabtree. “I intend to discover the offender and punish him severely.”

“Mr. Crabtree, I didn’t do it, I assure you,” piped in Mumps.

“No, Mumpsy dear wouldn’t do such a wicked thing,” came from a student in the rear, and this caused a snicker.

“I demand to know what has been done with the bedclothing,” resumed the irate teacher.

“Hullo, who has Mr. Crabtree’s bedclothes?” sang out Andy. “Come, don’t all speak at once.”

“Here you are!” cried Hogan, and threw the bundle at Andy’s head.

“Where were they?” cried Josiah Crabtree.

“Right here, in the corner,” answered the Irish cadet. “Sure it’s a queer happening entirely, so it is,” he added, soberly, but with a twinkle in his merry eyes.

Try his best Josiah Crabtree could not learn who had been guilty of disturbing him, and at last ordered the cadets to retire. Then he straightened out his room and went to bed again, this time making certain to lock the door and placing a chair against it.

From the upper landing Jack and Pepper saw and heard something of what went on and laughed heartily. Then they too retired, and slept soundly until the morning bell awoke them.

“Well, we haven’t got to hurry, that’s one comfort,” observed the Imp, as he proceeded to dress leisurely. “Jack, our time’s our own.”

“Yes, but we must be ready to go to Captain Putnam as soon as he arrives,” was the answer. “We want him to understand that we are willing to submit to what he does, but not to Crabtree’s harshness.”

They heard the cadets march to the mess-hall for breakfast. A little later a carriage came along the road towards the Hall.

“There is the captain now!” cried Jack, who was on the watch.

“Let us go down and present ourselves as soon as possible – before Crabtree can tell his story,” said Pepper.

Disposing of the basket and what was left of the eating, they stole downstairs and then to the front of the Hall. They were just in time to see Captain Putnam walk towards his office. Beside him was Josiah Crabtree.

“Ran away!” the master of the academy was saying. “You are sure of this?”

“I am, sir,” answered the assistant teacher. “We hunted everywhere for them.”

“What made them do it?”

“They got scared, I imagine.”

“You did not mistreat them in any way, Mr. Crabtree?”

“No! no! On the contrary, I think I used them too good.”

“Oh, listen to that!” whispered Pepper. “What an old fraud he is!”

“Well, I will listen to the story in detail after the school has been opened,” said Captain Putnam, after a pause, and then he entered his office, while Josiah Crabtree passed on to one of the classrooms.

“Now come on, Pep,” said Jack. “Let us put on a bold front and face the music.”

“I’m with you.”

They marched down the stairs and knocked on the door of the office. There was a rustling of papers, and then the voice of Captain Putnam bade them enter.

The master of the Hall was looking over a mass of legal documents. He stared at the boys in considerable astonishment.

“Why, I understood you two students had run away!” he exclaimed.

“No, sir, we did not run away, Captain Putnam,” answered Jack. “We have not been outside of this building.”

“Then where have you been?”

“In one of the vacant rooms at the top, sir,” answered Pepper.

“What made you hide away there?” And the voice of the master of the Hall grew stern.

“We got away and hid because we did not like the way Mr. Crabtree treated us,” said Jack. “At first we were put in a room where we were nearly frozen, and then he put us down in the cellar, close to the big furnace, and nearly baked us.”

“We didn’t come here to be put in the cellar,” put in Pepper. “Especially when we have done no wrong.”

“So you were put in the cellar? I did not know that,” and now the captain’s face softened a little.

“Captain Putnam, I think we are not being treated fairly,” said Jack, earnestly. “We have done no wrong, and is it right to condemn us without a hearing?”

“I expect to listen to your story, Ruddy, and I will also listen to what Ditmore has to say.”

“Will you listen now?”

“I will be at leisure in an hour. You may come to this office then. Have you had breakfast?”

“We had a little,” and Pepper smiled faintly as he answered the question.

“Then go to the mess-room and get the meal. If you see Mr. Crabtree tell him that I said you were to report to me.”

“We will,” answered both cadets, and left a moment later.

“I think we’ll come out all right,” said Jack, on the way to the dining-room. “I don’t think he’ll stand for Crabtree’s putting us down in the cellar.”

“I reckon that’s our strong point.”

Inside of an hour after the boys left the office Josiah Crabtree came in and sat down.

“Now I will listen to what you have to say about Ruddy and Ditmore,” said the master of the Hall.

Josiah Crabtree told his tale, with many exaggerations. According to what he said, Jack and Pepper acted in a most vicious manner.

“They are natural-born young rascals,” said the assistant teacher. “If we can locate them, we must make examples of them, Captain Putnam.”

“Perhaps they are not so bad as you think, Mr. Crabtree.”

“They are every bit as bad – maybe worse. They ran away because they were afraid to face the consequences of their misdoings.”

“But they did not run away.”

“Wha – er – what?”

“They did not run away.”

At this announcement the jaw of the assistant instructor dropped.

“If they didn’t run away where are they?”

At that moment came another knock on the office door.

“Come in,” said the captain, and Jack entered, followed by Pepper.

“Well, I never!” murmured Josiah Crabtree. “Where did you come from, you young villains!”

“Gently, Mr. Crabtree,” interposed the captain.

“Mr. Crabtree, I am not a villain and I don’t want you or anybody else to call me one,” said Jack, hotly.

“Ha! don’t talk to me!” spluttered the assistant teacher.

“Mr. Crabtree, I will examine the two young gentlemen in private,” said Captain Putnam, decisively. “I will thank you to take charge of the classes for the present. I will send word when I wish to see you again.”

This was a strong hint that he was not wanted, and with rather bad grace the assistant teacher retired.

“Now, Ruddy, tell me your story,” went on Captain Putnam. “Tell me the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth.”

“I will, sir,” answered Jack; and in a plain, straightforward manner told how Pepper had come to him with the strange note, and how they had hurried down to the old boathouse. Then he related how they had seen the fire start up and found themselves locked in, and how they had gotten out and given the alarm.

“We saw those cigarette butts there once before, and also an empty liquor bottle,” he added. “But I do not remember that we saw any playing-cards.”

“Have you anything to add to this story?” asked the captain of Pepper.

“No, sir, excepting to say that Jack has told the exact truth, Captain Putnam. We had nothing to do with the fire and nothing to do with the cigarettes or drink.”

“What about the cigarettes, cards, and liquor that were found in your belongings?”

“If they were found there, they were put there by somebody who wanted to do us harm.”

“Most likely the same party who got Pepper to go to the boathouse with me,” added Jack.

“Have you any idea who that party can be?”

“Yes, sir, but I should not like to speak of that,” answered Jack, firmly.

CHAPTER XIII

A CHALLENGE ACCEPTED

Captain Putnam looked at both cadets sharply.

“Both of you suspect somebody, is that it?” he said, slowly.

“We do,” said Pepper.

“But you are not certain?”

“We are not certain, and therefore it would not be right for us to mention any names,” said Jack.

“Now tell me the truth of your trouble with Mr. Crabtree,” pursued the captain, after a thoughtful pause.

Thereupon, the two boys told how they had been taken from the cold storeroom and placed in the cellar, and how they had escaped through the clothing closet above. At the recital the captain had to turn away his face, to conceal a smile that hovered around his mouth.

“We didn’t think it was fair at all,” went on Jack. “So when we got out we determined to hide until you got back and then come to you. And that is just what we have done.”

The captain was silent and nodded slowly to himself several times. Then he took a deep breath and rubbed his chin reflectively.

“Boys!” he exclaimed, decisively. “I am going to take you at your word. You can return to your studies and forget what has passed. Does that suit you?”

“It suits me!” exclaimed Jack, and his heart gave a bound.

“Suits me, too,” added Pepper. “I am much obliged, sir.”

“There is some mystery here, and some day perhaps we shall get at the bottom of it. I expect you to help me all you can to clear it up.”

“Captain Putnam, am I to – re – to – ” Jack could not go on.

“To what, Ruddy?”

“Mr. Crabtree said I was to – er – to give up being major of the battalion – ”

“You will take your place as formerly, Major Ruddy.”

“Oh, thank you!” And now the youthful major’s face fairly beamed.

“I will attend to this matter so far as it concerns Mr. Crabtree,” went on the master of the Hall. “You may go.”

“Thank you!” cried both cadets, and ran off with hearts as light as air.

“Hullo, glad to see you back!” whispered Andy, as they took their seats. “How did you get out of it?”

“I’ll tell you after school,” said Jack, and Pepper said the same.

Josiah Crabtree tried to question them, but they referred the assistant teacher to Captain Putnam. Later in the day the master of the Hall and Crabtree had a long session together, but what was said none of the students ever learned. But after that Josiah Crabtree was decidedly meek for a long while to come.

“I think he got a calling-down,” said Pepper, to Jack.

“Well, don’t you think he deserved it?” returned the young major.

After this affair Dan Baxter and his cronies were more bitter than ever against Pepper, Jack, and the others. Of course the plot to injure the boys had been gotten up by the bully, to pay them back for spoiling the proposed feast.

“Crabtree must have made a mess of it,” growled Dan Baxter.

“That’s it,” answered Reff Ritter. “Well, we’ll have to try something else.”

“Right you are,” answered the bully. “And next time we’ll make a sure thing of it.”

Several weeks passed along rather quietly. During that time the weather changed rapidly. The rain had washed away the snow and most of the ice, and now the grass began to grow green and the trees pushed forth their leaves and the bushes their buds.

“I am glad spring and summer are coming,” cried Andy. “I’ve had enough of winter.”

“Right you are,” said Pepper. “Hurrah for baseball!”

“And rowing,” put in Dale.

Nearly all of the boys loved to row, and at the earliest opportunity the boats at the new boathouse were repaired and gotten out. At first the lads were a bit stiff at the oars, but soon limbered up.

“This is something like,” said Andy, while he and some of the others were out in two of the boats.

“Let us have a little race,” suggested Jack, and off the two boats started, up the lake a distance of half a mile. They kept side by side, and presently the race was declared a tie, and then the rowers stopped to rest.

“I’ve got news,” said Dale. “Some of the students from Pornell Academy want to row us a race.”

“Didn’t they get enough last summer?” asked Andy.

“This is something of a new crowd,” went on Dale. “Do you remember Roy Bock, and Grimes, and Gussie?”

“Do we?” cried Pepper. “The chaps who stopped us in the woods one night and wanted us to promise that we would not visit the Fords again. I rather guess we do!”

“What a bully that Roy Bock was!” put in Jack. “Almost as bad as Baxter.”

“That’s so,” said Stuffer. “And that chap Grimes is about his equal. The Pornell students must be sick of that crowd.”

“Some of the Pornell students are nice enough,” was Dale’s comment.

“So they are!” said Emerald. “So they are! But not Bock – no, not Bock!”

“Well, what about this race, Dale?” questioned Jack.

“Roy Bock, Grimes, Gussie, and four others of their crowd want to race a crew of seven, composed of you, Pepper, Andy, Emerald, Stuffer, Henry Lee, and myself, and they want to race us for two miles.”

“When do they want to race?” asked Pepper, with interest.

“Next Saturday afternoon.”

“Humph; that’s rather short notice,” was Andy’s comment. “For all we know they may have been practicing on the rowing-machine in their gym.”

“Better put it off until the following Saturday,” said Jack.

“No, Bock says he can’t put it off, because they have got to row elsewhere.”

“Do they want to put up any prize?”

“Yes, a silver cup worth fourteen dollars, each fellow to chip in a dollar for the trophy.”

“Well, that is fair enough,” said Hogan. “But if they have been after practicin’ on their rowin’ machine – ”

“Never mind, let us row them anyway!” cried Pepper. “If we refuse they’ll think we are afraid.”

“I don’t think we’ll lose,” said Jack. “That is, not if we practice hard between now and racing time.”

“We can do that,” said Stuffer, with determination.

“We’ll put you on a diet, Stuffer,” said Pepper, with a wink at the others.

“All right – anything to win,” said the boy who loved good eating. “I am glad it is only four days off instead of three weeks!”

That night a letter was sent accepting the challenge from the Pornell Academy students, and on the following day the Putnam Hall cadets started to practice in earnest. Dale was made the coxswain, and he coached those under him to the best of his ability.

It soon became noised about that our friends were going to row a race against Roy Bock and his crowd, and at once nearly all of the cadets of the Hall became interested. As a consequence some other races were arranged, one between Baxter, Ritter, Coulter, and Paxton on one side and four boys from the rival school. The bully and his friends went around everywhere declaring that they would surely win.

“But Dale Blackmore and his crowd will lose, mark my words,” said Dan Baxter.

“I don’t think so,” answered Henry Lee, who chanced to hear the remark.

“Well, you will, I’ll bet on it.”

“Thank you, but I don’t bet,” said Henry, quietly.

“That’s because you are afraid,” sneered the bully, and walked off.

CHAPTER XIV

THE BOAT RACES

The day for the boat races dawned clear and bright. There was no breeze and the surface of Cayuga Lake was almost as smooth as a mill pond.

“What an ideal day for the contests!” cried Jack, as he and Andy walked down to the boathouse. “It couldn’t possibly be better.”

“If it doesn’t blow up a storm by afternoon,” answered the acrobatic cadet.

The boys went rowing for an hour in the morning, and Dale coached them as before. George Strong came down to watch them and gave them a few “points,” for he had rowed in the crew of his college years before.

“You have not had quite enough practice,” said the teacher. “But you do fairly well.”

When the time came for the races quite a crowd assembled along the lake shore, and many were out in rowboats and sailboats and also in gasoline launches.

“I wonder if Mr. Ford is out?” said Jack. He referred to a wealthy gentleman of that district who owned a beautiful yacht. The season before Jack, Pepper, and Andy had saved Mr. Ford’s two daughters, Laura and Flossie, from being drowned, and the gentleman had been their warm friend ever since.

“I think not,” said Stuffer. “Their mansion at the Point has been closed up for the winter, and they are not yet back.”

It was not long before Roy Bock and his crew appeared, in a brand-new rowboat which was certainly a beauty. It was painted black, with a gold stripe, and cut the water like a thing of life.