CHAPTER XIXTHE RESULTJust who would have won in that battle between Fred Martin and Sparrow Bangs remains one of the unsolved mysteries of Rockledge School.It was never finished. The quartette of boys had made one mistake. They should have taken a fifth youngster into their confidence and set him on watch.Mr. Leith, the head master under Dr. Raymond, always took a constitutional around the grounds after the midday meal. Not often did he cross the campus, for he was not a man given to spying upon his young charges.But this day the campus seemed to be deserted. It was a cold day, and most of the boys had remained indoors to take advantage of the hour of study before afternoon lessons.He came down the railing that defended the cliff's edge, and he heard, as he approached the notorious "bloody corner," boyish voices."That's it, Sparrow! Hit him again!" shrieked one voice."Let him hit me—I'll give him as good as he sends!" spoke up another voice.There was the instant sound of blows interchanged. The teacher could not doubt what was going on."Boys! boys! how dare you fight?" he demanded, and strode toward the hedge of hemlock trees, his coattails flapping behind him.The fight had not continued long. Both boys had removed their coats and vests and caps. They were hard at it indeed when Mr. Leith's voice smote upon their ears."Cheese it!" gasped Shiner. "Leith's onto us!"With the fear of being apprehended in all their minds, the four boys sprang for the underbrush, on the other side of the corner. They knew which way the teacher was coming.The two belligerents had picked up their discarded clothing, but as they got under cover Fred gasped:"Scubbity-yow! I've dropped my cap.""Keep on!" exclaimed Bobby. "I'll get it."He was so earnest to shield his chum from the result of his wrong doing, that he forgot his own danger. If Fred's cap were found, Mr. Leith would know it, and Fred would be called upon to explain.Bobby darted back while the other boys scudded through the bushes. He saw the cap on the ground just inside the open space. He sprawled all over it, grabbed it up, and then was stricken motionless and dumb by the voice of the master who stepped into view:"Robert! What does this mean?"Bobby shook all over, but he stuffed the cap into the breast of his jacket."Robert, stand up!" commanded the teacher.Bobby did so. He looked timidly across at the gentleman. Certainly Mr. Leith was a very stern looking man!"Come here, Robert," said Mr. Leith.Bobby crossed the sandlot at a slow crawl. Mr. Leith cleared his throat, removing his eyeglasses to wipe them. On the instant, as the boy reached the fence, he flung Fred's cap through the rails and out over the edge of the cliff. It disappeared like a shot."What was that, sir?" demanded Mr. Leith, putting on the eyeglasses and looking at Bobby again.The boy hesitated. The gentleman repeated:"What was it? I saw you throw something away.""It—it was a cap," said Bobby."A cap? Not your own cap?" exclaimed the teacher, in surprise. "You have your own cap on.""No, sir. Not my own cap," admitted Bobby."Whose cap was it, then?"Bobby was silent. He looked up at Mr. Leith pleadingly. That gentleman knew well enough what was in the boy's mind. He, too, understood boys pretty well, but he did not believe in handling them just as the old Doctor did."Do you hear me, young man?" he asked, harshly."Yes, sir.""Why do you not answer me?"Bobby wanted to cry out and plead with him. Mr. Leith had norightto ask such a question! That is the way the boy looked at it. The teacher was tempting him to do the meanest thing in a boy's catalog of sins.He was asking Bobby tosnitch!"I—I can't tell you, sir," stammered the boy."You mean you are determined not to tell me?" repeated Mr. Leith.Bobby was silent, but still looked straight into his face. No frown could make Bobby Blake drop his eyes in shame."Two boys were fighting here just now," said the teacher, slowly and sternly. "Isn't that so?""Yes, sir," said Bobby, quietly."Barrymore Gray was not here?" asked the other, sharply."Oh, no, sir. Barry knew nothing about it, sir," cried Bobby."Ah! Indeed? Then this fight was a strictly private affair?"Bobby looked miserable, but said nothing."How many boys were here?"Bobby wagged his head negatively. "I—I can't tell you, sir.""Nor the names of the boys who fought?""No, sir.""You know who they are?""Oh, yes, sir.""And you refuse to tell me?""I—I can't tell!" gasped Bobby, both hands clutched tightly upon the breast of his jacket. It seemed to him as though the teacher must see the pounding of his heart."Robert," said Mr. Leith, "I do not like such actions as this. I will not allow a boy to refuse me answers to perfectly proper questions. Go to your class-room. You must not go to the gymnasium, nor out of doors at all, until I bid you. When you are not in classes, remain in your dormitory."I am disappointed in you, Robert. You have shown yourself to be a studious boy heretofore and not a ruffian.""Oh, sir—""Silence! You may not have been one of the boys fighting; but you were aiding and abetting a ruffianly encounter between two of your schoolmates. It cannot be overlooked."I had hopes of you, Robert. We all had. Dr. Raymond himself had commended your course since you came to Rockledge. But no boy who wishes to stand in the honor class can break the rules of the school and then refuse to stand the full punishment for his act.""Oh, Mr. Leith!" cried Bobby, brokenly. "I am not trying to get out of anything. Truly I'm not! Punish me all you want to, sir, butdon'task me to tell on the other boys. I can't do that.""We shall see, Robert," said the teacher, grimly. "Return to your class-room."Now began a very terrible time for Bobby Blake—or so it seemed to the heartsick boy. He held a secret that he could not speak of, and his refusal to reveal it broke down his chances of gaining that Honor Medal on which he had set his hopes.Of course, it never entered his mind for a moment that hecouldtell—even though the other boys did not realize what he had been through with Mr. Leith, and what his punishment was.Fred and Sparrow, made friends by the emergency, with Jimmy Ailshine, waited for Bobby in a secure hiding place known to all four; but Bobby did not come. When they got back to the classroom at half past one, Bobby was there ahead of them.His face was very red; he may have been crying, but Fred could not tell. The latter slipped a brief note to him:"Did he catch you?"Bobby nodded, but did not write back. Fred, after a while, slipped over another written question:"Where's my cap?"This time Bobby replied: "At the foot of the cliff. He doesn't know any of you. Keep still.""Good old sport, Bobby," quoth Fred to Sparrow, when recitations were over and they filed out. "Scubbity-yow! that was a soaker you gave me on the jaw. It's sore yet.""I believe I'm going to have a black eye," revealed Sparrow, with pride.They went off together, inseparable friends for the time being. Bobby remained behind, taking his books into the big study.Mr. Leith did not speak to him again. In fact, nobody came near him before supper. When the boys came in, giggling and talking, just as unable as usual to settle down quietly to the meal until an adult eye was turned threateningly upon them, Bobby entered, too, but with such a lump in his throat that he felt that he could scarcely swallow a mouthful.Nobody noticed his condition but Pee Wee, and he only to seize upon the pudding that Bobby could not touch. "You act as if you had the mumps and couldn't swallow," whispered the fat boy. "But what you can't eat I'll get rid of for you, Bobby."Three wistful days passed. Bobby remained indoors, and the boys knew that he was being punished. Only three knew what for, and they did not know how much."Good old scout, Bobby!" said Shiner, clapping him on the shoulder. "Wild horses wouldn't get anything out of you, eh!"Fred began to eye his chum askance. Thoughtless as the red-haired one usually was, he began to worry.Then Mr. Leith called Bobby to him again."Will you tell me who was fighting down there at the corner?" he asked."Please—please do not ask me, sir!" begged the boy."Ahem! you are still stubborn, are you!""Ye—yes, sir," said Bobby, not knowing what else to say."Very well. I shall keep you indoors no longer. I see that gentle means will not cureyourtrouble. At the last, I should have been tempted to keep the matter to myself and give you a chance for the medal. But I see leniency is wasted upon you."You may have your freedom, Robert. Nothing you can do now will wipe out the fact that you have deliberately refused to answer my questions. That is all."And Bobby Blake forgot the Doctor's office door was unlocked!He accepted the punishment of Mr. Leith as final. He knew he had lost all chance of winning the Medal of Honor. Young as he was, it seemed to him as though his punishment was almost too great for him to bear!CHAPTER XXON THE BRINK OF WARTo everybody else, affairs at Rockledge School seemed to go on as ever. There were hard lessons, and easy lessons (the former predominating, the boys thought) and there were many, many good times as the season advanced.Monatook Lake froze completely over. At first the boys were not allowed upon it; but when a team of horses, hitched to a pung, had been driven from shore to shore—from the edge of Rockledge town to Belden—word was given from the teachers' desks that skating on the lake within so many yards of the boathouse, would be allowed.The gate-keeper set stakes, to which little red flags were attached, at the corners of the ice-bounds, and for a few days, at least, the Rockledge boys were satisfied with the restrictions.They saw the Belden boys skating on their side of the lake, too, and other boys, from the two villages, who did not go to either school, skated where they pleased.On half holidays bounds were released, but if the boys wished to skate the length of the lake a teacher went along. Owing to the feeling between the boys of the two schools, Dr. Raymond did not even test the Lower School with Barry Gray for monitor.Bobby, of course, entered into all these sports. Even Fred thought that his chum's punishment had ended, and likely enough the red-haired boy had forgotten all about his interrupted fight with Sparrow Bangs.Fred and Sparrow were the best of friends. To tell the truth, Bobby Blake was somewhat gloomy these days—he was not as much fun as usual.Fred put it down to the fact of the mystery regarding Mr. and Mrs. Blake. Of course, a fellow could not be very jolly when he did not know for sure whether his father and mother were dead or alive!However, Fred did not see how he could help his chum. He did his best to liven Bobby up; but was not very successful at it. It did really seem to Fred as though Bobby "gloomed about" altogether too much."It's all right for a fellow to feel badly about his folks," said Ginger to Sparrow, who had become his confidant for the time being, "but you can't get him out of his grouch.""He's trying to be too good," scoffed Sparrow. "I bet he's aiming to get the medal.""Scubbity-yow!" ejaculated Fred. "That would be great!""Pshaw! he can't get it. No Lower School boy ever got it. I expect Barry Gray will be medal manthisyear.""He won't getmyvote," declared Fred, shaking his head."Why not, Ginger?"Fred was used to this nickname now, and did not get mad at it, but he shook his head, and said:"Just forthat. Barry nicknamed me. He's too fresh.""Aw, pshaw! you're prejudiced," laughed Sparrow.None of the boys realized what the matter was with Bobby. And he would not tell Fred that he had anything to do with forming the cloud under which Bobby suffered.The silence of his father and mother—the uncertainty about them—didtrouble Bobby continually. Yet he had a deep-seated hope that all would come out right about them. Barry Gray's comforting words regarding the shipwreck had fired his imagination.The thought, however, that no matter how well he stood in his classes, or how high his marks of deportment were, he could not win the Medal of Honor, disturbed the boy's mind.Christmas week came. Bobby and Fred had intended to go home to Clinton for the short holiday, but the very day the term closed a great snowstorm set in. It snowed so heavily the first night that the railroads were blocked. Dr. Raymond would not let any of the boys leave the school, save two or three who lived near and whose people came for them in sleighs.The good doctor telegraphed to the parents of his boys instead, and great preparations were made for a dinner and celebration at the school which would make the boys forget their disappointment.Presents could arrive by express, too, by New Year's, and Dr. Raymond said that the actual distribution of gifts at Rockledge would be advanced one week. New Year's should be celebrated like Christmas.The two and a half days' snow covered the lake two feet deep on a level. The ice had been more than a foot thick when it began to snow. In fact, the Rockledge and Belden icemen had been getting ready to cut, but would now have to put it over until after New Year's, because of the scarcity of labor.There was no danger on the ice. There was not one airhole anywhere between the shore-fronts of the two schools—a stretch of nearly four miles of level, glistening snow.The boys of the Rockledge Lower School had had much fun, on half holidays, up the lake at the island where the winter camp had been built; but that was a long way to go over the snow. Nobody had ever tried snowshoeing and skiing, and the authorities at the school rather frowned upon these sports. However, the field of snow between the bluffs on which the rival schools were built was a vast temptation for a hundred active boys.There was a snowball skirmish between the larger boys of the two schools the very first day after the storm ceased. Captain Gray and his crowd had met a bunch of Beldenites ("Bedlamites," the Rockledge boys called their rivals) near the first island—a little, rocky cone, now a snowy mound, and with only a few trees upon it.The fight had been fast and furious as long as it lasted, but it was rather a good-natured one, after all. Finally Captain Gray and the captain of the Belden School met for a few minutes' conversation. In that few minutes a challenge was given and accepted. Unless the teachers interfered, it was arranged to have a general snow battle between the schools.Free from lessons, and with most of the ordinary rules relaxed, Captain Gray could plan a coup that the enemy would not possibly expect. It had been agreed that the coming battle should be fought near the island, which was about in the middle of the lake between the two schools.That night, after supper, Captain Gray picked a dozen boys to help him—and not all big boys, for Bobby and Fred were among them—and they slipped out of the house."We'll get the bulge on those Bedlamites," chuckled the captain. "Come on, now. Run!" and he set off in the lead.He would not tell what was afoot, but every boy was excited enough to follow and obey.They crossed the campus and went down the long flight of stairs to the boathouse. The cold was so intense, and the wind had blown so hard while it was snowing, that they crunched along right on top of the drifts, and the walking was easy.There was no moon, but the stars gave them light enough. Besides, it is never really dark when the snow covers the ground.The twelve boys speeded across the white expanse. Bobby and Fred were proud that they had been chosen by the bigger fellows to take part in this mysterious adventure.Captain Gray insisted upon several snow-shovels being brought along, and as soon as they reached the island, he put them all to work. The idea was to fortify the islet and hold it against the expected attack next day of the Belden School."This will be a surprise to them," declared Gray, proudly. "I saw right off that whichever side could get this island and hold it, would have an advantage."Building breastworks down on the pond is all right, but from this height we can throw snowballs right into any breastworks that those fellows can build."A bunch of us will come out here to-morrow morning with our breakfasts in our hands (I've fixed it all up with Mary, the cook) and we'll hold this island till the crowd on both sides gets here."Two hours' work under the direction of Barry turned the island (which was barely ten yards long) into a veritable fort. Within that time, the twelve boys had built the fortress, partly of bowlders that had been well placed by Nature, and pieced out the rock buttresses with thick walls of snow.The party got back to school just before the retiring bell rang, and escaped a scolding only because the rules were relaxed for the holidays. In the cold, chilly dawn, half a dozen of the boys of Dormitory Two were awakened by the bigger fellows. Bobby and Fred were among them."Aw, crickey!" gaped Fred, burrowing in the pillow. "I don't want to get up now."Bobby was out of bed in a moment. "Come along! It's going to be fun, Fred," he said.Fred was lazy. He burrowed deeper. In about thirty seconds a large, juicy snowball, scooped off the window sill by Max Bender, was thrown into the back of Fred Martin's neck."Yee-ow!" yelled the startled Ginger, and rose up to fight back. The big boy ran, however, chuckling, and all Fred could do was to dress, grumblingly."All these big fellows are fresh," he confided to Bobby."I wonder whatwe'llbe when we are as big as they are, and boss the school?" returned his more thoughtful chum.That feazed Fred a little. By and by—as he finished his dressing—he admitted:"Well, Bobby, I'd never thought of that!"The guard thus called to duty by Captain Gray gathered, shivering, in the kitchen. Good natured Mary had risen an hour earlier than usual and made a big can of coffee, and there were sandwiches and doughnuts."Worth getting up early for, that's sure," announced Fred, becoming more content. "Won't Pee Wee be sore because he's not in this?"They marched away with shovels and sleds. Overnight the smaller boys had made a lot of snowballs and they had been packed in boxes and put on the sleds. But before the early procession started, Barry examined all the boxes, and finding that somebody had made "soakers," he dumped them out."Let me catch any of you boys icing the ammunition, and I'll tend to you," he promised, angrily."Aw, those Bedlamites busted Frankie Doane's head open with a soaker last winter," complained Sparrow Bangs."We won't be mean just because they've been," declared Captain Gray. "You see that you're not guilty, Sparrow.""Gosh!" muttered Fred, in Sparrow's ear, "don't that sound just like Bobby?""You bet! They're a pair. Guess Bobby's a copy-cat. He's following in Barry's 'feet-prints.'""Don't you say that!" flamed up Ginger, at once. "Bobby hasalwaysbeen like that. He's the fairest chap that ever was. If anybody's the copy-cat, it's old Captain Gray!"Neither of the boys in question beard this, and it was just as well perhaps that they didn't.It was scarcely daylight when the party reached the island. They did not see a Belden boy stirring on the farther bank of the lake. After setting the tasks to be done by these guards, Barry went back to the school, leaving Max Bender in charge of the fortress.Max was rather a lazy fellow, and he always let the smaller boys do his work—if they would agree. He was good natured enough about it.He sat down in a sheltered place, and had Bobby and Fred cut the under branches of the firs for firewood, and they soon had a nice little fire going.This might attract the attention of the enemy to the fort, but Max did not care for that."You boys keep on making snowballs. You'll have to make them outside the fort—down on the ice, there, and then you can draw them in on the sleds. Get busy now.""What areyougoing to do?" demanded Ginger Martin, rather perkily."Never you mind, youngster," returned Max. "You never read of the officers in authority getting on the firing line, do you? I've got to stay up here and keep watch, and plan the defense of the island.""Oh, crickey!" exclaimed Ginger, scornfully. "You're a regular Napoleon—not!"And it was a fact that, had the younger boys holding the fort depended upon Bender's watchfulness, the Beldenites would have been upon them unannounced.Naturally the boys making snowballs did so on the side of the island facing Rockledge School. The island hid from them the Belden side of the lake.But suddenly Bobby, who had dragged in a heavy sled load of snowballs, and was packing them securely in a pile behind an upper fortification, chanced to stand up to stretch his limbs and looked over the breastwork."Oh, look here!" he yelled. "Here's the Bedlamites right onto us!"And it was true. The captain of the rival school had seen what the Rockledge boys were about—or he had suspected it, seeing the smoke of Max Bender's fire.He had brought out his whole crew, and the vanguard of Belden boys was now but a few yards from the shore of the snow-covered and embattled island. They were making the attack in silence, and hoped to take the garrison of the fort by surprise.CHAPTER XXIGIVE AND TAKEBobby was scared at first by his sudden discovery. Here the Belden boys were coming on the rush, and there was only a handful of Rockledge boys—ten in all—at the island, to stand the unexpected charge.Hi Letterblair, the captain of the Belden School, was at the head of the charging column. He and eight of the biggest boys of Belden were very near the island already.Directly in the rear of the vanguard were a dozen smaller boys with schoolbook bags over their shoulders. Bobby knew by the bulky appearance of these receptacles, that they were full of snowballs.Some distance behind were the rest of the Belden boys, dragging sleds heaped with ammunition. The entire force of the enemy was approaching.Bobby wheeled about, even before he cried out, save for that first exclamation of surprise, to look at the Rockledge shore. There was not another Rockledge boy in sight save those at the island."What's the matter!" lazily demanded Max Bender, warming his hands over the tiny blaze."Look! Look!" repeated Bobby, turning to point again. "Here they come!""Herewhocome?" asked Bender, jumping up.He shuffled up to the place where Bobby stood. One look he gave and then vented his amazement in a long whistle."My goodness!" he muttered. "They've got us beaten before we even begin.""Aren't we going to fight?" demanded Bobby, with energy."What! fight the whole bunch—just us few?""Of course. We've got the island—""And a fat time we'd have trying to keep it," grunted Max."Why, you're a quitter!" exclaimed the smaller boy, under his breath. He whirled and waved his hands to the boys below, busy making snowballs. "Get up here, fellows—in a hurry!" he cried. "Here come the Bedlamites.""Scubbity-yow!" was Ginger Martin's response, and the red head came on the run. A fight was meat and drink to Fred.The other boys hurried up the slope, too. Bobby yelled to them to bring in the sleds and all the ammunition.In making the fortress the evening before, and in rolling "snow bombs" to fling down upon the heads of the enemy should they get to close quarters, the island itself had been for the most part swept clean of snow. The bulwarks of the fortress were as tall as most of the boys defending it at the present moment."We're going to get licked," muttered Max Bender again.Sparrow grinned at Ginger. "I always believed Bender was a softie," he whispered. Ginger nodded, but he looked at Bobby."We'vegotto hold on here till Captain Gray gets over with reinforcements," the boy from Clinton was saying, eagerly."Sure we have!" agreed most of the ten, in chorus."And the way to do it is not to let those Belden fellows see how few in numbers we are," said Bobby, thoughtfully. "We have heaps of ammunition. We'll beat them off till Captain Gray comes.""We can't do it," declared Max Bender, with conviction.Fred turned on him with his face as well as his hair aflame: "You're a healthy lieutenant, you are!" he snarled. "Why didn't Captain Gray leave a baby in command? Come on! you can fling snowballs, can't you, like Bobby says?""Well—But these fellers will surround the island and then they'll get us," croaked Max.Sparrow laughed sneeringly. It was Bobby who replied."If you propose to run, you start now before the fight begins," he said, gravely. "Then they'll think we're sending a messenger for reënforcements, not that one of our side is a coward and is running away.""Hurrah!" yelled Sparrow."Scubbity-yow!" exclaimed Ginger. "Now he's got it."Max Bender was actually pale. He was scared to fight and he was scared to run! In truth his position was pitiable.But Bobby Blake gave the big fellow very little attention. The other boys just naturally looked to Bobby to lead them."Don't show yourselves, fellows, if you can help it. Don't throw too quickly; we don't want to waste ammunition. Let's all line up along here now, and one of us peek over and give the word to fire—""I'll do that!" cried the excited Mouser Pryde."Yes you will!" sneered Fred. "I'd like to see you. Bobby's bossing this.""That's right!" exclaimed Sparrow, generously. "If this big simpleton, Bender, won't take the lead, let Bobby do it.""Sure! let Bobby do it!" shouted the others.Bobby, his eyes flashing, his cheeks red with excitement, did not argue the point. Of course he wanted to lead—what boy would not?Besides, he believed they could hold the Beldenites off until reinforcements came. Max Bender stood beside him, packing a snowball tighter, and said nothing. Bobby jumped up and looked over the high parapet. It was almost two feet across at the top, and lots thicker at the bottom. The inside was cut straight up and down, but outside it sloped.Bobby could stand upon a rock and see over the top of the wall. Hi Letterblair and his crowd was now quite near. When Bobby popped up Hi saw the Rockledge boy."Hurrah!" yelled the Belden leader. "Come on, fellows! Charge!""Let's fire at them, Bobby!" gasped Fred, fairly dancing up and down in his eagerness."No. They're too far away yet. Hold your fire.""Till we see the whites of their eyes—just like Bunker Hill!" exclaimed Sparrow Bangs."They'll hammer the life out of us if they get up here," grumbled Max.Bobby turned on him suddenly. Big as Bender was, he was doing all he could to scare the rest of the garrison."You be still!" commanded Bobby. "If you won't fight, run; but if you stay with us, you keep your mouth shut and throw snowballs as hard as you can!"And actually, big as he was, the pale faced Max did not reply!Bobby whirled back to look over the parapet. His eyes danced and he was so excited that he could scarcely keep still."Now!" he cried. "Up and at them! Fire three each, and then drop down. And take aim—dotake aim!"Most of the boys obeyed him. The snowballs flew in a shower upon the advancing enemy. With the advantage of their position, the Rockledge boys pelted the on-comers well.Belden's leader brought up his whole force before he attempted to reply to the fusillade. Letterblair knew that they would have to get nearer to pelt their missiles at the garrison with any precision.Behind the wall of snow and rock, Bobby said:"Now, three more snowballs. Get ready!" Each boy could hold two missiles in his left hand while he threw the third. The idea was to get in the fusillade and then drop out of sight before the enemy could return the compliment."All ready?" cried Bobby again. "Come on, now! Let them have it!"Up jumped the nine youngsters and saw that Hi Letterblair and his crew was now very near the island."Shoot!" yelled the captain of the Belden boys.They were at a disadvantage, however. They had to throw up, while the Rockledge garrison threw down.The missiles from the island-fortress descended upon the charging enemy with considerable force. Before the Beldens could return the fire, Bobby and his crowd dropped out of sight again.The Beldens cheered. Bobby popped up, saw that they were still advancing, and gave the order for another volley."At them again!" he shouted.Fred was yelling his battle-cry like a crazy boy, and Shiner and Sparrow were scarcely less excited. In the midst of one of Fred's vociferous shouts,slamcame a snowball right into his mouth!"Oh! oh! that was a soaker!" cried Sparrow.Fred was hopping mad. He wanted to keep on firing at the enemy when Bobby gave the command to dip down for another supply of ammunition."Obey the captain!" bawled Howell Purdy."Get ready!" called Bobby, steadily. "Don't throw so wild. They are getting too near for comfort.""They'll just give usfitswhen they get up here," murmured the shaking Max."I neverdidsee such a lump of uselessness," grumbled Mouser. "Did you, Bobby?""Come on!" shouted the young leader of the defenders. "Give them as good as they send—and take what they send us laughing."The Rockledge boys popped up again. Their last volley had stopped the Belden boys. Some of the youngsters had run away with the ammunition. Hi Letterblair had halted his party to make new snowballs."Give it to them!" shouted Bobby, and down upon the attacking party hurtled another well-aimed volley.They drove the besiegers back several yards, but now Hi Letterblair saw that there was but a small garrison on the island. He saw only boys from the Rockledge Lower School, and it was evident that Captain Gray was not present.He called a council of war, and soon the Belden party began to spread out and quickly surrounded the island. Bobby and his crowd were completely hemmed in."What did I tell you?" whined Max Bender. "Now wecan'tget away at all.""You had your chance to go," Bobby said, with scorn. "We can beat the whole crowd off—for awhile, at least. We have plenty of snowballs.""But there's not much snow to make any more," said Howell Purdy."We should worry!" exclaimed Sparrow. "We'll throw them just as fast as we can, as long as they last.""No use in trying to throw so far," advised Bobby. "We have the advantage of them, anyway. They have to throw higher than we do."Soon a shower of snowballs was flung at every head which appeared above the ramparts. Nor could Bobby and his friends remain in hiding all the time. If they did so, the Beldens would soon charge and rout them by the weight of superior numbers.It was only by returning the enemy's fire with vigor and precision that the Rockledge boys held the fort at all. Hi Letterblair had ten or a dozen big boys massed to make a charge; Bobby could see that.Therefore the young leader of the defending party urged his followers to concentrate their attack upon the captain of the Belden School."Keep them off! we'vegotto keep them off till Captain Gray gets here," panted Bobby."Hurrah! here they come!" yelled one of the smaller boys, suddenly.Bobby shot a glance toward the Rockledge shore. Indeed, there they did come! With Captain Gray and the school flag at their head, the bulk of the Rockledge boys were coming across the snow-covered lake towards the island."Keep still! don't wake them up!" begged Bobby, before anybody else could cheer. "If the Bedlamites don't know they're coming till they get here—why, all the better."The appearance of reënforcements put pluck into Max Bender. He began to hurl snowballs with more precision and with more force. He became very active. Hi Letterblair's crew of big boys charged only half heartedly.The boys behind the ramparts almost smothered them before the attacking party got upon the island. They had chosen the easiest ascent, but only one of the attackers reached the snow-wall.Instantly half a dozen hands reached for this plucky enemy, and it was Max who hauled him over into the fort and sat on him."Hurrah! we've got a prisoner!" yelled Howell Purdy, dancing up and down."What'll we do with him, Bobby?" demanded Fred."Huh!Icaptured him," grumbled Max. "I guess I'll do what I please with him.""While we're fooling with that fellow, the others will get up here," declared Shiner."Come on! here they come!" shouted Bobby, who was ever on the watch.The second charge of Hi and his cohorts was resultless to either party. And then, almost immediately, Captain Gray and the rest of the Rockledge boys came upon the Beldens.Hi Letterblair ordered his party to face about, and brought up the smaller boys from the other side of the island. At once the garrison of the fort leaped upon the ramparts and drove down a withering fire upon the enemy.Thus held between two fires, the Beldenites were driven back around the island, and out of shot from the fortress. Captain Gray ordered his army to spread out and hold them at bay.They had dragged out from the shore thousands of snowballs. The Rockledge party had ammunition enough to last for hours, both in the fort and on the sleds.Captain Gray hurried into the fort. Max had let the prisoner up and the boys were all dancing about excitedly."You fellows did fine!" cried Barry Gray, his eyes shining. "Max! you're all right! You held them off in fine shape.""They gave us a hard rub, Barry," said the big fellow, coolly. "And I yanked this chap inside when they charged."His statement was perfectly correct—as far as it went; but for Max to accept praise for the defense of the fort struck most of the smaller boys dumb. Not Fred Martin, however."Well I never!" gasped the red-haired boy. "Will you listen tothat? Talk about the brass cheek of him!""What's the matter with you, Ginger?" demanded Max, scowling."Say! do you think you can get away with it?" shouted Fred. "Yougetting thanked for holding this island? Why, Barry," he cried, turning on the captain, with blazing eyes, "that big simpleton wanted to give up the fort and run away when he saw the Bedlamites coming. Yes he did! I'll leave it to Sparrow and the rest of the boys."Sparrow shouldered his way to the front. "That's right, captain," he said. "Max was having a fit of shivers here, and wouldn't give orders. Bobby fought us.""Sure he did!" cried Shiner and Howell Purdy together. "It was Bobby who did it. We'd have been whipped, if it hadn't been for Bobby.""Well, did I say hedidn'tdo his share?" snarled Max Bender, the wind all taken out of his sails. "I—I had a headache, anyway. And Ididgrab this fellow prisoner."He looked around for the boy in question. But while they had been arguing, the Belden boy had slipped out of the fort and made his escape.
CHAPTER XIX
THE RESULT
Just who would have won in that battle between Fred Martin and Sparrow Bangs remains one of the unsolved mysteries of Rockledge School.
It was never finished. The quartette of boys had made one mistake. They should have taken a fifth youngster into their confidence and set him on watch.
Mr. Leith, the head master under Dr. Raymond, always took a constitutional around the grounds after the midday meal. Not often did he cross the campus, for he was not a man given to spying upon his young charges.
But this day the campus seemed to be deserted. It was a cold day, and most of the boys had remained indoors to take advantage of the hour of study before afternoon lessons.
He came down the railing that defended the cliff's edge, and he heard, as he approached the notorious "bloody corner," boyish voices.
"That's it, Sparrow! Hit him again!" shrieked one voice.
"Let him hit me—I'll give him as good as he sends!" spoke up another voice.
There was the instant sound of blows interchanged. The teacher could not doubt what was going on.
"Boys! boys! how dare you fight?" he demanded, and strode toward the hedge of hemlock trees, his coattails flapping behind him.
The fight had not continued long. Both boys had removed their coats and vests and caps. They were hard at it indeed when Mr. Leith's voice smote upon their ears.
"Cheese it!" gasped Shiner. "Leith's onto us!"
With the fear of being apprehended in all their minds, the four boys sprang for the underbrush, on the other side of the corner. They knew which way the teacher was coming.
The two belligerents had picked up their discarded clothing, but as they got under cover Fred gasped:
"Scubbity-yow! I've dropped my cap."
"Keep on!" exclaimed Bobby. "I'll get it."
He was so earnest to shield his chum from the result of his wrong doing, that he forgot his own danger. If Fred's cap were found, Mr. Leith would know it, and Fred would be called upon to explain.
Bobby darted back while the other boys scudded through the bushes. He saw the cap on the ground just inside the open space. He sprawled all over it, grabbed it up, and then was stricken motionless and dumb by the voice of the master who stepped into view:
"Robert! What does this mean?"
Bobby shook all over, but he stuffed the cap into the breast of his jacket.
"Robert, stand up!" commanded the teacher.
Bobby did so. He looked timidly across at the gentleman. Certainly Mr. Leith was a very stern looking man!
"Come here, Robert," said Mr. Leith.
Bobby crossed the sandlot at a slow crawl. Mr. Leith cleared his throat, removing his eyeglasses to wipe them. On the instant, as the boy reached the fence, he flung Fred's cap through the rails and out over the edge of the cliff. It disappeared like a shot.
"What was that, sir?" demanded Mr. Leith, putting on the eyeglasses and looking at Bobby again.
The boy hesitated. The gentleman repeated:
"What was it? I saw you throw something away."
"It—it was a cap," said Bobby.
"A cap? Not your own cap?" exclaimed the teacher, in surprise. "You have your own cap on."
"No, sir. Not my own cap," admitted Bobby.
"Whose cap was it, then?"
Bobby was silent. He looked up at Mr. Leith pleadingly. That gentleman knew well enough what was in the boy's mind. He, too, understood boys pretty well, but he did not believe in handling them just as the old Doctor did.
"Do you hear me, young man?" he asked, harshly.
"Yes, sir."
"Why do you not answer me?"
Bobby wanted to cry out and plead with him. Mr. Leith had norightto ask such a question! That is the way the boy looked at it. The teacher was tempting him to do the meanest thing in a boy's catalog of sins.
He was asking Bobby tosnitch!
"I—I can't tell you, sir," stammered the boy.
"You mean you are determined not to tell me?" repeated Mr. Leith.
Bobby was silent, but still looked straight into his face. No frown could make Bobby Blake drop his eyes in shame.
"Two boys were fighting here just now," said the teacher, slowly and sternly. "Isn't that so?"
"Yes, sir," said Bobby, quietly.
"Barrymore Gray was not here?" asked the other, sharply.
"Oh, no, sir. Barry knew nothing about it, sir," cried Bobby.
"Ah! Indeed? Then this fight was a strictly private affair?"
Bobby looked miserable, but said nothing.
"How many boys were here?"
Bobby wagged his head negatively. "I—I can't tell you, sir."
"Nor the names of the boys who fought?"
"No, sir."
"You know who they are?"
"Oh, yes, sir."
"And you refuse to tell me?"
"I—I can't tell!" gasped Bobby, both hands clutched tightly upon the breast of his jacket. It seemed to him as though the teacher must see the pounding of his heart.
"Robert," said Mr. Leith, "I do not like such actions as this. I will not allow a boy to refuse me answers to perfectly proper questions. Go to your class-room. You must not go to the gymnasium, nor out of doors at all, until I bid you. When you are not in classes, remain in your dormitory.
"I am disappointed in you, Robert. You have shown yourself to be a studious boy heretofore and not a ruffian."
"Oh, sir—"
"Silence! You may not have been one of the boys fighting; but you were aiding and abetting a ruffianly encounter between two of your schoolmates. It cannot be overlooked.
"I had hopes of you, Robert. We all had. Dr. Raymond himself had commended your course since you came to Rockledge. But no boy who wishes to stand in the honor class can break the rules of the school and then refuse to stand the full punishment for his act."
"Oh, Mr. Leith!" cried Bobby, brokenly. "I am not trying to get out of anything. Truly I'm not! Punish me all you want to, sir, butdon'task me to tell on the other boys. I can't do that."
"We shall see, Robert," said the teacher, grimly. "Return to your class-room."
Now began a very terrible time for Bobby Blake—or so it seemed to the heartsick boy. He held a secret that he could not speak of, and his refusal to reveal it broke down his chances of gaining that Honor Medal on which he had set his hopes.
Of course, it never entered his mind for a moment that hecouldtell—even though the other boys did not realize what he had been through with Mr. Leith, and what his punishment was.
Fred and Sparrow, made friends by the emergency, with Jimmy Ailshine, waited for Bobby in a secure hiding place known to all four; but Bobby did not come. When they got back to the classroom at half past one, Bobby was there ahead of them.
His face was very red; he may have been crying, but Fred could not tell. The latter slipped a brief note to him:
"Did he catch you?"
Bobby nodded, but did not write back. Fred, after a while, slipped over another written question:
"Where's my cap?"
This time Bobby replied: "At the foot of the cliff. He doesn't know any of you. Keep still."
"Good old sport, Bobby," quoth Fred to Sparrow, when recitations were over and they filed out. "Scubbity-yow! that was a soaker you gave me on the jaw. It's sore yet."
"I believe I'm going to have a black eye," revealed Sparrow, with pride.
They went off together, inseparable friends for the time being. Bobby remained behind, taking his books into the big study.
Mr. Leith did not speak to him again. In fact, nobody came near him before supper. When the boys came in, giggling and talking, just as unable as usual to settle down quietly to the meal until an adult eye was turned threateningly upon them, Bobby entered, too, but with such a lump in his throat that he felt that he could scarcely swallow a mouthful.
Nobody noticed his condition but Pee Wee, and he only to seize upon the pudding that Bobby could not touch. "You act as if you had the mumps and couldn't swallow," whispered the fat boy. "But what you can't eat I'll get rid of for you, Bobby."
Three wistful days passed. Bobby remained indoors, and the boys knew that he was being punished. Only three knew what for, and they did not know how much.
"Good old scout, Bobby!" said Shiner, clapping him on the shoulder. "Wild horses wouldn't get anything out of you, eh!"
Fred began to eye his chum askance. Thoughtless as the red-haired one usually was, he began to worry.
Then Mr. Leith called Bobby to him again.
"Will you tell me who was fighting down there at the corner?" he asked.
"Please—please do not ask me, sir!" begged the boy.
"Ahem! you are still stubborn, are you!"
"Ye—yes, sir," said Bobby, not knowing what else to say.
"Very well. I shall keep you indoors no longer. I see that gentle means will not cureyourtrouble. At the last, I should have been tempted to keep the matter to myself and give you a chance for the medal. But I see leniency is wasted upon you.
"You may have your freedom, Robert. Nothing you can do now will wipe out the fact that you have deliberately refused to answer my questions. That is all."
And Bobby Blake forgot the Doctor's office door was unlocked!
He accepted the punishment of Mr. Leith as final. He knew he had lost all chance of winning the Medal of Honor. Young as he was, it seemed to him as though his punishment was almost too great for him to bear!
CHAPTER XX
ON THE BRINK OF WAR
To everybody else, affairs at Rockledge School seemed to go on as ever. There were hard lessons, and easy lessons (the former predominating, the boys thought) and there were many, many good times as the season advanced.
Monatook Lake froze completely over. At first the boys were not allowed upon it; but when a team of horses, hitched to a pung, had been driven from shore to shore—from the edge of Rockledge town to Belden—word was given from the teachers' desks that skating on the lake within so many yards of the boathouse, would be allowed.
The gate-keeper set stakes, to which little red flags were attached, at the corners of the ice-bounds, and for a few days, at least, the Rockledge boys were satisfied with the restrictions.
They saw the Belden boys skating on their side of the lake, too, and other boys, from the two villages, who did not go to either school, skated where they pleased.
On half holidays bounds were released, but if the boys wished to skate the length of the lake a teacher went along. Owing to the feeling between the boys of the two schools, Dr. Raymond did not even test the Lower School with Barry Gray for monitor.
Bobby, of course, entered into all these sports. Even Fred thought that his chum's punishment had ended, and likely enough the red-haired boy had forgotten all about his interrupted fight with Sparrow Bangs.
Fred and Sparrow were the best of friends. To tell the truth, Bobby Blake was somewhat gloomy these days—he was not as much fun as usual.
Fred put it down to the fact of the mystery regarding Mr. and Mrs. Blake. Of course, a fellow could not be very jolly when he did not know for sure whether his father and mother were dead or alive!
However, Fred did not see how he could help his chum. He did his best to liven Bobby up; but was not very successful at it. It did really seem to Fred as though Bobby "gloomed about" altogether too much.
"It's all right for a fellow to feel badly about his folks," said Ginger to Sparrow, who had become his confidant for the time being, "but you can't get him out of his grouch."
"He's trying to be too good," scoffed Sparrow. "I bet he's aiming to get the medal."
"Scubbity-yow!" ejaculated Fred. "That would be great!"
"Pshaw! he can't get it. No Lower School boy ever got it. I expect Barry Gray will be medal manthisyear."
"He won't getmyvote," declared Fred, shaking his head.
"Why not, Ginger?"
Fred was used to this nickname now, and did not get mad at it, but he shook his head, and said:
"Just forthat. Barry nicknamed me. He's too fresh."
"Aw, pshaw! you're prejudiced," laughed Sparrow.
None of the boys realized what the matter was with Bobby. And he would not tell Fred that he had anything to do with forming the cloud under which Bobby suffered.
The silence of his father and mother—the uncertainty about them—didtrouble Bobby continually. Yet he had a deep-seated hope that all would come out right about them. Barry Gray's comforting words regarding the shipwreck had fired his imagination.
The thought, however, that no matter how well he stood in his classes, or how high his marks of deportment were, he could not win the Medal of Honor, disturbed the boy's mind.
Christmas week came. Bobby and Fred had intended to go home to Clinton for the short holiday, but the very day the term closed a great snowstorm set in. It snowed so heavily the first night that the railroads were blocked. Dr. Raymond would not let any of the boys leave the school, save two or three who lived near and whose people came for them in sleighs.
The good doctor telegraphed to the parents of his boys instead, and great preparations were made for a dinner and celebration at the school which would make the boys forget their disappointment.
Presents could arrive by express, too, by New Year's, and Dr. Raymond said that the actual distribution of gifts at Rockledge would be advanced one week. New Year's should be celebrated like Christmas.
The two and a half days' snow covered the lake two feet deep on a level. The ice had been more than a foot thick when it began to snow. In fact, the Rockledge and Belden icemen had been getting ready to cut, but would now have to put it over until after New Year's, because of the scarcity of labor.
There was no danger on the ice. There was not one airhole anywhere between the shore-fronts of the two schools—a stretch of nearly four miles of level, glistening snow.
The boys of the Rockledge Lower School had had much fun, on half holidays, up the lake at the island where the winter camp had been built; but that was a long way to go over the snow. Nobody had ever tried snowshoeing and skiing, and the authorities at the school rather frowned upon these sports. However, the field of snow between the bluffs on which the rival schools were built was a vast temptation for a hundred active boys.
There was a snowball skirmish between the larger boys of the two schools the very first day after the storm ceased. Captain Gray and his crowd had met a bunch of Beldenites ("Bedlamites," the Rockledge boys called their rivals) near the first island—a little, rocky cone, now a snowy mound, and with only a few trees upon it.
The fight had been fast and furious as long as it lasted, but it was rather a good-natured one, after all. Finally Captain Gray and the captain of the Belden School met for a few minutes' conversation. In that few minutes a challenge was given and accepted. Unless the teachers interfered, it was arranged to have a general snow battle between the schools.
Free from lessons, and with most of the ordinary rules relaxed, Captain Gray could plan a coup that the enemy would not possibly expect. It had been agreed that the coming battle should be fought near the island, which was about in the middle of the lake between the two schools.
That night, after supper, Captain Gray picked a dozen boys to help him—and not all big boys, for Bobby and Fred were among them—and they slipped out of the house.
"We'll get the bulge on those Bedlamites," chuckled the captain. "Come on, now. Run!" and he set off in the lead.
He would not tell what was afoot, but every boy was excited enough to follow and obey.
They crossed the campus and went down the long flight of stairs to the boathouse. The cold was so intense, and the wind had blown so hard while it was snowing, that they crunched along right on top of the drifts, and the walking was easy.
There was no moon, but the stars gave them light enough. Besides, it is never really dark when the snow covers the ground.
The twelve boys speeded across the white expanse. Bobby and Fred were proud that they had been chosen by the bigger fellows to take part in this mysterious adventure.
Captain Gray insisted upon several snow-shovels being brought along, and as soon as they reached the island, he put them all to work. The idea was to fortify the islet and hold it against the expected attack next day of the Belden School.
"This will be a surprise to them," declared Gray, proudly. "I saw right off that whichever side could get this island and hold it, would have an advantage.
"Building breastworks down on the pond is all right, but from this height we can throw snowballs right into any breastworks that those fellows can build.
"A bunch of us will come out here to-morrow morning with our breakfasts in our hands (I've fixed it all up with Mary, the cook) and we'll hold this island till the crowd on both sides gets here."
Two hours' work under the direction of Barry turned the island (which was barely ten yards long) into a veritable fort. Within that time, the twelve boys had built the fortress, partly of bowlders that had been well placed by Nature, and pieced out the rock buttresses with thick walls of snow.
The party got back to school just before the retiring bell rang, and escaped a scolding only because the rules were relaxed for the holidays. In the cold, chilly dawn, half a dozen of the boys of Dormitory Two were awakened by the bigger fellows. Bobby and Fred were among them.
"Aw, crickey!" gaped Fred, burrowing in the pillow. "I don't want to get up now."
Bobby was out of bed in a moment. "Come along! It's going to be fun, Fred," he said.
Fred was lazy. He burrowed deeper. In about thirty seconds a large, juicy snowball, scooped off the window sill by Max Bender, was thrown into the back of Fred Martin's neck.
"Yee-ow!" yelled the startled Ginger, and rose up to fight back. The big boy ran, however, chuckling, and all Fred could do was to dress, grumblingly.
"All these big fellows are fresh," he confided to Bobby.
"I wonder whatwe'llbe when we are as big as they are, and boss the school?" returned his more thoughtful chum.
That feazed Fred a little. By and by—as he finished his dressing—he admitted:
"Well, Bobby, I'd never thought of that!"
The guard thus called to duty by Captain Gray gathered, shivering, in the kitchen. Good natured Mary had risen an hour earlier than usual and made a big can of coffee, and there were sandwiches and doughnuts.
"Worth getting up early for, that's sure," announced Fred, becoming more content. "Won't Pee Wee be sore because he's not in this?"
They marched away with shovels and sleds. Overnight the smaller boys had made a lot of snowballs and they had been packed in boxes and put on the sleds. But before the early procession started, Barry examined all the boxes, and finding that somebody had made "soakers," he dumped them out.
"Let me catch any of you boys icing the ammunition, and I'll tend to you," he promised, angrily.
"Aw, those Bedlamites busted Frankie Doane's head open with a soaker last winter," complained Sparrow Bangs.
"We won't be mean just because they've been," declared Captain Gray. "You see that you're not guilty, Sparrow."
"Gosh!" muttered Fred, in Sparrow's ear, "don't that sound just like Bobby?"
"You bet! They're a pair. Guess Bobby's a copy-cat. He's following in Barry's 'feet-prints.'"
"Don't you say that!" flamed up Ginger, at once. "Bobby hasalwaysbeen like that. He's the fairest chap that ever was. If anybody's the copy-cat, it's old Captain Gray!"
Neither of the boys in question beard this, and it was just as well perhaps that they didn't.
It was scarcely daylight when the party reached the island. They did not see a Belden boy stirring on the farther bank of the lake. After setting the tasks to be done by these guards, Barry went back to the school, leaving Max Bender in charge of the fortress.
Max was rather a lazy fellow, and he always let the smaller boys do his work—if they would agree. He was good natured enough about it.
He sat down in a sheltered place, and had Bobby and Fred cut the under branches of the firs for firewood, and they soon had a nice little fire going.
This might attract the attention of the enemy to the fort, but Max did not care for that.
"You boys keep on making snowballs. You'll have to make them outside the fort—down on the ice, there, and then you can draw them in on the sleds. Get busy now."
"What areyougoing to do?" demanded Ginger Martin, rather perkily.
"Never you mind, youngster," returned Max. "You never read of the officers in authority getting on the firing line, do you? I've got to stay up here and keep watch, and plan the defense of the island."
"Oh, crickey!" exclaimed Ginger, scornfully. "You're a regular Napoleon—not!"
And it was a fact that, had the younger boys holding the fort depended upon Bender's watchfulness, the Beldenites would have been upon them unannounced.
Naturally the boys making snowballs did so on the side of the island facing Rockledge School. The island hid from them the Belden side of the lake.
But suddenly Bobby, who had dragged in a heavy sled load of snowballs, and was packing them securely in a pile behind an upper fortification, chanced to stand up to stretch his limbs and looked over the breastwork.
"Oh, look here!" he yelled. "Here's the Bedlamites right onto us!"
And it was true. The captain of the rival school had seen what the Rockledge boys were about—or he had suspected it, seeing the smoke of Max Bender's fire.
He had brought out his whole crew, and the vanguard of Belden boys was now but a few yards from the shore of the snow-covered and embattled island. They were making the attack in silence, and hoped to take the garrison of the fort by surprise.
CHAPTER XXI
GIVE AND TAKE
Bobby was scared at first by his sudden discovery. Here the Belden boys were coming on the rush, and there was only a handful of Rockledge boys—ten in all—at the island, to stand the unexpected charge.
Hi Letterblair, the captain of the Belden School, was at the head of the charging column. He and eight of the biggest boys of Belden were very near the island already.
Directly in the rear of the vanguard were a dozen smaller boys with schoolbook bags over their shoulders. Bobby knew by the bulky appearance of these receptacles, that they were full of snowballs.
Some distance behind were the rest of the Belden boys, dragging sleds heaped with ammunition. The entire force of the enemy was approaching.
Bobby wheeled about, even before he cried out, save for that first exclamation of surprise, to look at the Rockledge shore. There was not another Rockledge boy in sight save those at the island.
"What's the matter!" lazily demanded Max Bender, warming his hands over the tiny blaze.
"Look! Look!" repeated Bobby, turning to point again. "Here they come!"
"Herewhocome?" asked Bender, jumping up.
He shuffled up to the place where Bobby stood. One look he gave and then vented his amazement in a long whistle.
"My goodness!" he muttered. "They've got us beaten before we even begin."
"Aren't we going to fight?" demanded Bobby, with energy.
"What! fight the whole bunch—just us few?"
"Of course. We've got the island—"
"And a fat time we'd have trying to keep it," grunted Max.
"Why, you're a quitter!" exclaimed the smaller boy, under his breath. He whirled and waved his hands to the boys below, busy making snowballs. "Get up here, fellows—in a hurry!" he cried. "Here come the Bedlamites."
"Scubbity-yow!" was Ginger Martin's response, and the red head came on the run. A fight was meat and drink to Fred.
The other boys hurried up the slope, too. Bobby yelled to them to bring in the sleds and all the ammunition.
In making the fortress the evening before, and in rolling "snow bombs" to fling down upon the heads of the enemy should they get to close quarters, the island itself had been for the most part swept clean of snow. The bulwarks of the fortress were as tall as most of the boys defending it at the present moment.
"We're going to get licked," muttered Max Bender again.
Sparrow grinned at Ginger. "I always believed Bender was a softie," he whispered. Ginger nodded, but he looked at Bobby.
"We'vegotto hold on here till Captain Gray gets over with reinforcements," the boy from Clinton was saying, eagerly.
"Sure we have!" agreed most of the ten, in chorus.
"And the way to do it is not to let those Belden fellows see how few in numbers we are," said Bobby, thoughtfully. "We have heaps of ammunition. We'll beat them off till Captain Gray comes."
"We can't do it," declared Max Bender, with conviction.
Fred turned on him with his face as well as his hair aflame: "You're a healthy lieutenant, you are!" he snarled. "Why didn't Captain Gray leave a baby in command? Come on! you can fling snowballs, can't you, like Bobby says?"
"Well—But these fellers will surround the island and then they'll get us," croaked Max.
Sparrow laughed sneeringly. It was Bobby who replied.
"If you propose to run, you start now before the fight begins," he said, gravely. "Then they'll think we're sending a messenger for reënforcements, not that one of our side is a coward and is running away."
"Hurrah!" yelled Sparrow.
"Scubbity-yow!" exclaimed Ginger. "Now he's got it."
Max Bender was actually pale. He was scared to fight and he was scared to run! In truth his position was pitiable.
But Bobby Blake gave the big fellow very little attention. The other boys just naturally looked to Bobby to lead them.
"Don't show yourselves, fellows, if you can help it. Don't throw too quickly; we don't want to waste ammunition. Let's all line up along here now, and one of us peek over and give the word to fire—"
"I'll do that!" cried the excited Mouser Pryde.
"Yes you will!" sneered Fred. "I'd like to see you. Bobby's bossing this."
"That's right!" exclaimed Sparrow, generously. "If this big simpleton, Bender, won't take the lead, let Bobby do it."
"Sure! let Bobby do it!" shouted the others.
Bobby, his eyes flashing, his cheeks red with excitement, did not argue the point. Of course he wanted to lead—what boy would not?
Besides, he believed they could hold the Beldenites off until reinforcements came. Max Bender stood beside him, packing a snowball tighter, and said nothing. Bobby jumped up and looked over the high parapet. It was almost two feet across at the top, and lots thicker at the bottom. The inside was cut straight up and down, but outside it sloped.
Bobby could stand upon a rock and see over the top of the wall. Hi Letterblair and his crowd was now quite near. When Bobby popped up Hi saw the Rockledge boy.
"Hurrah!" yelled the Belden leader. "Come on, fellows! Charge!"
"Let's fire at them, Bobby!" gasped Fred, fairly dancing up and down in his eagerness.
"No. They're too far away yet. Hold your fire."
"Till we see the whites of their eyes—just like Bunker Hill!" exclaimed Sparrow Bangs.
"They'll hammer the life out of us if they get up here," grumbled Max.
Bobby turned on him suddenly. Big as Bender was, he was doing all he could to scare the rest of the garrison.
"You be still!" commanded Bobby. "If you won't fight, run; but if you stay with us, you keep your mouth shut and throw snowballs as hard as you can!"
And actually, big as he was, the pale faced Max did not reply!
Bobby whirled back to look over the parapet. His eyes danced and he was so excited that he could scarcely keep still.
"Now!" he cried. "Up and at them! Fire three each, and then drop down. And take aim—dotake aim!"
Most of the boys obeyed him. The snowballs flew in a shower upon the advancing enemy. With the advantage of their position, the Rockledge boys pelted the on-comers well.
Belden's leader brought up his whole force before he attempted to reply to the fusillade. Letterblair knew that they would have to get nearer to pelt their missiles at the garrison with any precision.
Behind the wall of snow and rock, Bobby said:
"Now, three more snowballs. Get ready!" Each boy could hold two missiles in his left hand while he threw the third. The idea was to get in the fusillade and then drop out of sight before the enemy could return the compliment.
"All ready?" cried Bobby again. "Come on, now! Let them have it!"
Up jumped the nine youngsters and saw that Hi Letterblair and his crew was now very near the island.
"Shoot!" yelled the captain of the Belden boys.
They were at a disadvantage, however. They had to throw up, while the Rockledge garrison threw down.
The missiles from the island-fortress descended upon the charging enemy with considerable force. Before the Beldens could return the fire, Bobby and his crowd dropped out of sight again.
The Beldens cheered. Bobby popped up, saw that they were still advancing, and gave the order for another volley.
"At them again!" he shouted.
Fred was yelling his battle-cry like a crazy boy, and Shiner and Sparrow were scarcely less excited. In the midst of one of Fred's vociferous shouts,slamcame a snowball right into his mouth!
"Oh! oh! that was a soaker!" cried Sparrow.
Fred was hopping mad. He wanted to keep on firing at the enemy when Bobby gave the command to dip down for another supply of ammunition.
"Obey the captain!" bawled Howell Purdy.
"Get ready!" called Bobby, steadily. "Don't throw so wild. They are getting too near for comfort."
"They'll just give usfitswhen they get up here," murmured the shaking Max.
"I neverdidsee such a lump of uselessness," grumbled Mouser. "Did you, Bobby?"
"Come on!" shouted the young leader of the defenders. "Give them as good as they send—and take what they send us laughing."
The Rockledge boys popped up again. Their last volley had stopped the Belden boys. Some of the youngsters had run away with the ammunition. Hi Letterblair had halted his party to make new snowballs.
"Give it to them!" shouted Bobby, and down upon the attacking party hurtled another well-aimed volley.
They drove the besiegers back several yards, but now Hi Letterblair saw that there was but a small garrison on the island. He saw only boys from the Rockledge Lower School, and it was evident that Captain Gray was not present.
He called a council of war, and soon the Belden party began to spread out and quickly surrounded the island. Bobby and his crowd were completely hemmed in.
"What did I tell you?" whined Max Bender. "Now wecan'tget away at all."
"You had your chance to go," Bobby said, with scorn. "We can beat the whole crowd off—for awhile, at least. We have plenty of snowballs."
"But there's not much snow to make any more," said Howell Purdy.
"We should worry!" exclaimed Sparrow. "We'll throw them just as fast as we can, as long as they last."
"No use in trying to throw so far," advised Bobby. "We have the advantage of them, anyway. They have to throw higher than we do."
Soon a shower of snowballs was flung at every head which appeared above the ramparts. Nor could Bobby and his friends remain in hiding all the time. If they did so, the Beldens would soon charge and rout them by the weight of superior numbers.
It was only by returning the enemy's fire with vigor and precision that the Rockledge boys held the fort at all. Hi Letterblair had ten or a dozen big boys massed to make a charge; Bobby could see that.
Therefore the young leader of the defending party urged his followers to concentrate their attack upon the captain of the Belden School.
"Keep them off! we'vegotto keep them off till Captain Gray gets here," panted Bobby.
"Hurrah! here they come!" yelled one of the smaller boys, suddenly.
Bobby shot a glance toward the Rockledge shore. Indeed, there they did come! With Captain Gray and the school flag at their head, the bulk of the Rockledge boys were coming across the snow-covered lake towards the island.
"Keep still! don't wake them up!" begged Bobby, before anybody else could cheer. "If the Bedlamites don't know they're coming till they get here—why, all the better."
The appearance of reënforcements put pluck into Max Bender. He began to hurl snowballs with more precision and with more force. He became very active. Hi Letterblair's crew of big boys charged only half heartedly.
The boys behind the ramparts almost smothered them before the attacking party got upon the island. They had chosen the easiest ascent, but only one of the attackers reached the snow-wall.
Instantly half a dozen hands reached for this plucky enemy, and it was Max who hauled him over into the fort and sat on him.
"Hurrah! we've got a prisoner!" yelled Howell Purdy, dancing up and down.
"What'll we do with him, Bobby?" demanded Fred.
"Huh!Icaptured him," grumbled Max. "I guess I'll do what I please with him."
"While we're fooling with that fellow, the others will get up here," declared Shiner.
"Come on! here they come!" shouted Bobby, who was ever on the watch.
The second charge of Hi and his cohorts was resultless to either party. And then, almost immediately, Captain Gray and the rest of the Rockledge boys came upon the Beldens.
Hi Letterblair ordered his party to face about, and brought up the smaller boys from the other side of the island. At once the garrison of the fort leaped upon the ramparts and drove down a withering fire upon the enemy.
Thus held between two fires, the Beldenites were driven back around the island, and out of shot from the fortress. Captain Gray ordered his army to spread out and hold them at bay.
They had dragged out from the shore thousands of snowballs. The Rockledge party had ammunition enough to last for hours, both in the fort and on the sleds.
Captain Gray hurried into the fort. Max had let the prisoner up and the boys were all dancing about excitedly.
"You fellows did fine!" cried Barry Gray, his eyes shining. "Max! you're all right! You held them off in fine shape."
"They gave us a hard rub, Barry," said the big fellow, coolly. "And I yanked this chap inside when they charged."
His statement was perfectly correct—as far as it went; but for Max to accept praise for the defense of the fort struck most of the smaller boys dumb. Not Fred Martin, however.
"Well I never!" gasped the red-haired boy. "Will you listen tothat? Talk about the brass cheek of him!"
"What's the matter with you, Ginger?" demanded Max, scowling.
"Say! do you think you can get away with it?" shouted Fred. "Yougetting thanked for holding this island? Why, Barry," he cried, turning on the captain, with blazing eyes, "that big simpleton wanted to give up the fort and run away when he saw the Bedlamites coming. Yes he did! I'll leave it to Sparrow and the rest of the boys."
Sparrow shouldered his way to the front. "That's right, captain," he said. "Max was having a fit of shivers here, and wouldn't give orders. Bobby fought us."
"Sure he did!" cried Shiner and Howell Purdy together. "It was Bobby who did it. We'd have been whipped, if it hadn't been for Bobby."
"Well, did I say hedidn'tdo his share?" snarled Max Bender, the wind all taken out of his sails. "I—I had a headache, anyway. And Ididgrab this fellow prisoner."
He looked around for the boy in question. But while they had been arguing, the Belden boy had slipped out of the fort and made his escape.