Leaving the old man and his rowboat at the dock, the four Rovers rowed up the lake once more in the direction of the Clearwater Hall boathouse. By this time the explosions at the shell-loading plant had practically ceased, and only a small amount of smoke was now coming from the ruins.
When the Rovers arrived at the boathouse connected with the girls’ school, they found that Mary and Martha had come down to the place, accompanied by a number of the other girls. All had heard that the Rovers had taken the rowboat, and were wondering if the lads were safe.
“You’ve given us a terrible scare,” declared Martha to her brother. “You shouldn’t have taken such a risk!”
“Well, it was worth while,” answered Fred, and then told of the rescue of Jed Kessler.
“Well, we’ve had a surprise since you went away,” said Ruth Stevenson presently.
“A thoroughly disagreeable surprise, too,” added May Powell. “You’ll never guess who was here only a few minutes ago!”
“Some of our folks from New York?” questioned Jack quickly.
“No such luck,” answered his sister.
“They were two persons we didn’t care to see,” said Ruth. “They were Slugger Brown and Nappy Martell!”
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“Slugger Brownand Nappy Martell!” The cry came from all of the Rover boys simultaneously.
“What were those fellows doing here?” continued Jack.
“Did they dare to speak to you?” demanded Fred.
“Of course they spoke to us—you can’t stop fellows like Brown and Martell from doing that,” answered Ruth. “But you can be sure we gave them both the cold shoulder.”
“What did they want here?” questioned Jack.
“I don’t know what they wanted or where they came from,” continued Ruth. “Their appearance gave us such a shock we didn’t know what to do at first.”
“We were on our way from the school to the boathouse, and were just crossing the roadway when Slugger and Nappy came along in a runabout,” said May. “The minute they saw us theystopped and jumped out. They asked us a whole lot of questions about how we were getting along at school and if your sisters were here.”
“Our sisters!” cried Fred. “What business have they got to ask about Martha and Mary?”
“Of course we didn’t answer their questions, and Martha and Mary had gone on ahead, so Brown and Martell didn’t see them,” said Ruth. “They tried to act in a friendly manner, but we gave them to understand that we wanted nothing to do with them. Then they jumped into the runabout again and drove off.”
“Did they go toward Haven Point?” questioned Randy.
“Yes.”
“Those fellows certainly have their nerve with them—to show themselves anywhere near Colby Hall after what happened!” burst out Andy.
“One would think they wouldn’t want any of their old classmates to see them,” remarked Fred.
“They are not that kind,” replied Jack. “Both of them are too thick-skinned to be sensitive. More than likely they have been telling their friends that we did our best to get them into trouble and that they were not to blame.”
“Oh, Jack! if you go back to Colby Hall by way of the town, I hope you don’t get into anytrouble with those horrid fellows,” said his sister.
“Don’t worry about that, Martha,” answered her brother quickly. “I’m not afraid of Slugger or Nappy either. They have got to behave themselves; otherwise we may bring up one of the old charges against them.”
Of course the girls wanted to know more concerning what had happened to the Rover boys while they were out on the lake, and they related many of the particulars.
“And do you really think those two Germans that that Jed Kessler spoke about set fire to the munition plant?” questioned Ruth.
“I don’t know what to think, Ruth,” answered Jack. “One thing is certain: If the first explosions weren’t accidental, then they must have been due to some underhand work.”
During the time the boys spent with the girls at the boathouse there were no more explosions, and now the fire on the opposite shore of the lake was dying out, while only a small part of the pall of curious-colored smoke remained.
“I guess it’s about over,” was Randy’s comment.
Feeling that those at Clearwater Hall would be safe, at least for the time being, the Rovers decided to return to Colby Hall, knowing that Colonel Colby and his assistants would be anxious concerning the welfare of all the cadets.
Spouter and those with him had taken one automobile, but the other remained, and, bidding the girls good-bye, the Rover boys jumped into this and were soon off. Jack was at the wheel, and in spite of the numerous machines on the road, for the blowing-up of the shell-loading plant had caused great excitement for many miles around, he drove the car with considerable speed in the direction of Haven Point.
“Let us stop at the town for a few minutes and find out, if we can, just how bad this affair has been,” said Fred.
“That’s it!” returned Randy. “I’d like to know if anyone has been killed or seriously hurt.”
They stopped on the main street close to where were located a number of the stores and also the moving-picture theater where the cadets had first met Ruth Stevenson and her chums.
“It’s a pretty bad affair,” said one of the storekeepers, with whom in the past the boys had done some trading. “I was just down to police headquarters, and they say there that two workmen were killed and about fifteen injured. It certainly is a rascally piece of business, and the fellows who did it ought to be strung up.”
“Then they are pretty certain that it is thework of some German sympathizers?” questioned Jack quickly.
“They can’t figure it out any other way. The boss of the plant, and likewise two of his head foremen, have been closely questioned, and they declare that every possible precaution against accidents was taken. More than that, they say that there were two separate explosions occurring almost at the same time—one down on the railroad tracks and another in a storehouse quite a distance away.”
“Yes, we heard that, too, from one of the dockmen of the plant,” answered Fred. “He said he thought two men who looked like Germans and who had been hanging around the plant might be guilty.”
“Yes, I’ve heard that story, too. I think it was started by old Jed Kessler, wasn’t it?”
“That’s the man,” said Randy.
“I think I saw those two fellows here in Haven Point,” continued the storekeeper. “They were heavy-set, round-faced men, and each had heavy black hair and a heavy black beard, just as Kessler described them. They were here several times. I think they had business at one of the machine shops, although I’m not certain about that.”
The Rover boys spoke to several other peopleof the town and gathered a little additional information regarding the destruction of the shell-loading plant, and then reëntered their automobile and started once more for the military academy. With them went Bart White and Frank Newberry, who had come down to the town directly after the ball game.
“It’s too bad this affair had to happen just as it did,” declared Bart White. “It kind of takes the shine off of our victory over Hixley High.”
“So it does,” said Jack. “But that can’t be helped.”
“If you put it up to the shell-loading people they would probably have been willing to postpone the blowing up indefinitely,” remarked Andy dryly.
“I suppose the newspapers here will be full of nothing but this affair,” said Fred wistfully; “and they won’t give our game with Hixley High more than a brief mention.”
“Oh, well, what of it?” cried Randy gaily. “We walloped ’em, and that’s the main thing.”
“Right you are!” came in a chorus from several of the others.
At one of the street corners, owing to the excitement, there was a congestion of traffic, and Jack had to bring the car to a stop. As he did this there was a sudden yell from behind, andthen came a slight bump followed by a jingling of glass.
“Hi, you! what do you mean by stopping so suddenly?” yelled an irate voice from the rear.
“They’ve busted one of our headlights!” added another voice in surly tones.
Those in the tonneau of the Rovers’ automobile looked around quickly.
“Nappy Martell and Slugger Brown!” ejaculated Fred in surprise.
“They must have been following us!” added Randy quickly.
“Say, I didn’t know those fellows were anywhere around here!” burst out Frank Newberry.
“I thought from what you fellows told us those fellows would steer clear of this vicinity,” added Bart White.
By this time Jack and Andy, who were on the front seat, were also looking back to see what had happened. They beheld a runabout standing close up to their own car. The collision had not been sufficient to do any more damage than to break the glass in both of the headlights of the runabout. They had struck the framework holding an extra shoe on the rear of the Rovers’ car, and for this reason the other automobile had not suffered any damage whatsoever.
“You fellows will pay for this damage!” grumbled Slugger Brown, who was at the wheel of the runabout.
“You did it yourself,” answered Bart White quickly.
“You fellows had no business to stop so suddenly!”
“They did it on purpose!” burst out Nappy Martell.
As was usual with the youth, he was loudly dressed, wearing a light checkered suit with a cap to match and a flaming red tie. He looked somewhat dissipated.
“I’ll attend to this,” said Jack to his cousins and the others. And without delay he leaped from the front machine and walked back to the other.
“Just see what you’ve done, Jack Rover!” began Slugger Brown. But then the stern look in Jack’s face caused him to come to a stop.
“I’m glad I met you, Brown—and you too, Martell,” said Jack in a low, steady voice. “I was hoping I’d see you before you had a chance to leave Haven Point.”
“Wanted to see us, eh?” said Slugger; and now a somewhat uneasy look took possession of his face.
“Don’t let him talk himself out of paying for the damage done,” put in Nappy loftily. He waspuffing on a cigarette and blew the smoke high into the air as he spoke.
“We’re not going to pay for any damage done,” said Jack. “This little accident is your own fault, for you had no business to be driving so close behind our car.”
“We’ll see about that,” grumbled Slugger.
“What I want to talk to you about is another matter,” went on Jack, without raising his voice because he did not wish to have any outsider hear. “You took the trouble a while ago to stop at Clearwater Hall and speak to some of the young ladies attending that school.”
“Well, what of it? Haven’t we got a right to do that if we want to?”
“I guess we can speak to our lady friends any time we feel like it,” added Nappy.
“Both of you know very well that none of those young ladies want anything to do with you,” continued Jack. “You’ve had your warning before. Now I want you to leave them alone.”
“Huh! you talk as if you were our master,” growled Slugger, an ugly look coming into his eyes.
“Never mind how I talk, Brown. You just listen to what I’m saying, and you mind me. If you don’t, you’ll get into a whole lot of trouble, just as sure as you are born.”
By this time Fred had also left the forward car and was standing beside Jack.
“You fellows asked about my sister and about Jack’s sister,” said Fred. “Why did you do that?”
“That’s our business,” answered Nappy.
“I know why you did it,” went on Fred quickly. “You did it because you thought you might make some sort of trouble for the girls. I know you! Jack,” he continued, turning to his cousin, “I think the best thing we can do is to have them both arrested for that affair on Snowshoe Island.”
“You can’t bring up those old things—they are past and gone!” cried Nappy Martell, his face showing sudden uneasiness. “Old Barney Stevenson agreed to let the whole matter drop provided he was allowed to remain on the island.”
“Oh, he’s only bluffing, Nappy,” broke in Slugger. “They can’t do a thing, and they know it!”
“We can and we will unless you leave all the girls at Clearwater Hall alone,” declared Jack stoutly. “Not a one of them wants anything to do with you.”
“How do you know what they want?”
“Because they told us.”
“I don’t believe it, Rover.”
“You can suit yourself about that, Brown. Butjust you remember this: If you or Martell attempt to do anything in the future to annoy my relatives or any of our girl friends at that school, I’ll see to it that you are punished, and punished heavily.”
“Say, do you know what I think?” cried Andy, who had come to the rear of the front car. “I think we ought to give them both a good licking.”
“It might do them both good,” answered his twin.
“I don’t see how you fellows can show yourselves around here,” remarked Frank Newberry. “After the way you acted at Colby Hall and up on Snowshoe Island I should think you’d want to keep out of sight.”
“What right have you got to butt in here, Frank Newberry?” cried Slugger Brown wrathfully.
“I’ve got a good deal of right, and you know it, Brown! You and Martell were a disgrace to Colby Hall, and every cadet at the academy is aware of that fact. And I, too, know for a fact that none of the young ladies at Clearwater Hall wants to have anything to do with you.”
“Aw, you fellows make me tired!” growled Slugger Brown.
By this time a small crowd had collected,anxious to find out how the damage to the headlights of the runabout was to be settled. Then a policeman pushed his way forward.
“Any trouble here?” he asked.
“No trouble that I know of,” answered Jack. “I stopped my car, and this fellow came up behind me so suddenly that he smashed his headlights.”
“I see.” The policeman turned to Slugger Brown. “Your own fault, was it?”
“It was his fault! He stopped too quickly,” grumbled Slugger. “But—er—I—I—won’t make any complaint—at least not—not now,” he said lamely. “I’ll take this up later.”
“And we’ll get what’s coming to us—you see if we don’t!” put in Nappy Martell.
Then Slugger Brown started up the engine of his runabout, backed up a few feet, and turned out into the roadway. He ran around the nearest corner and up the road, and was soon out of sight in the distance.
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“Hewas afraid to make a complaint,” was Fred’s comment.
“I can’t understand why two such fellows should act the way they do,” said Bart White. “They both come from fairly well-to-do families, and they could be really fine fellows if they wanted to.”
“Slugger Brown doesn’t come from a very good family—at least as far as his father is concerned,” answered Jack. “Mr. Brown is just as mean and dishonorable as Slugger. He was at the head of the plot to do poor Barney Stevenson out of Snowshoe Island.”
“Yes, and to my mind Mr. Martell is no better,” added Randy. “I’ve heard my father talking about him several times. Martell has been in more than one shady stock transaction down in Wall Street.”
When the Rover boys arrived at Colby Hall they were immediately surrounded by a numberof their friends, all eager to learn the particulars of what had occurred in the vicinity of the girls’ boarding school. Of course the others who had come in ahead of them had already told their stories, but everybody at the military academy was eager to get all the details possible.
“It’s the worst calamity that ever happened around here,” said Will Hendry, the stoutest boy in the school, and who was generally called Fatty. Hendry had started to leave the school grounds shortly after the others had gone, but had been stopped by Captain Dale.
“It looks to me as if it was the work of German sympathizers,” said Major Ralph Mason, who was the cadet at the head of the school battalion. Ralph was the oldest student at the Hall, and one who was greatly liked by everybody.
“Ralph, what do you think about our getting into this war in Europe?” questioned Randy. During off hours the young officer was always addressed by the Rovers by his first name, although during school hours and when on parade they invariably addressed the young major by his official title.
“I’m glad we’ve got into it at last,” returned Ralph Mason. “My father thinks we should have gotten into it long ago. I only wish one thing,” he added wistfully.
“And I know what that is!” cried Jack. “You wish you were old enough to volunteer for the army or the navy!”
“If we were all older what a grand company of volunteers the Government could get out of Colby Hall,” said Randy. “I’ll wager more than half of the fellows would want to go.”
“I’m certain fellows like Codfish wouldn’t want to go,” remarked Fred.
He referred to one of the younger boys, Henry Stowell by name, a lad who was a good deal of a sneak and who in time past had been a toady to Brown and Martell. On account of the great width of his mouth, Stowell was usually called Codfish.
“If you fellows will keep a secret, I’ll tell you something,” remarked Ralph Mason, lowering his voice. “I just heard of this a while ago.”
“What is it, Ralph?” questioned Jack quietly.
“Will you fellows keep it to yourselves until it becomes public property?” asked the young major anxiously.
“Sure!” was the prompt response.
“I overheard the talk quite by accident while I was in the library. Colonel Colby was talking to Professors Grawson and Brice. He stated that he intended to leave the Hall under the management of Captain Dale.”
“You mean Colonel Colby is going away?” questioned Fred. “Where to?”
“He has offered his services to the Government.”
“Hurrah for the colonel! I knew he’d do something like that!” cried Randy.
“Do you know whether his offer has been accepted?” questioned Jack.
“Of course his offer will be accepted,” answered Ralph Mason. “Now that we are in this great war Uncle Sam will need all the soldiers he can possibly muster, and of course they’ve got to have first-class men like Colonel Colby to command them.”
“You’re right there,” said Fred. Then he looked questioningly at Jack and the twins. The others understood that look, but just then nothing was said concerning the thought which had rushed into their minds.
“I’ve got to go now,” said Ralph Mason, a few minutes later. “I suppose you fellows will want to celebrate that baseball victory to-night?”
“Surest thing you know!” declared Jack.
“I don’t suppose we’ll have as much fun as we would have had if the shell-loading plant hadn’t gone up,” grumbled Andy. “We can’t make any such noise as that.”
“Oh, we’ll have fun enough—don’t worry about that,” answered his twin quickly.
“Well, don’t tear the old Hall down,” returned the young major, laughing, and then hurried away.
“This certainly is great news about Colonel Colby’s volunteering for the army,” said Jack, a little later.
“I wonder why Captain Dale doesn’t volunteer, too?” said Andy.
“Oh, he’s too old; and besides he’s somewhat crippled by rheumatism or something,” said Randy.
The Rover boys hurried off to their room to get into their cadet uniforms. The twins went on ahead, leaving Jack and Fred alone for the time being.
“Jack, what do you think our fathers will do?” questioned Fred. He remembered that both Jack’s father and his own had at one time been officers of the cadets at Putnam Hall. The fun-loving father of the twins had never aspired to such a position, being content to remain “a high private in the rear rank,” as he himself had often expressed it.
“I’m sure I don’t know, Fred,” was the sober reply. “It may be that they will be just as anxious to get into the war as Colonel Colby seems to be. But you must remember that they are at the head of The Rover Company, and possibly they won’t be able to leave—at least not right away.”
“But they are so patriotic they’ll want to go,” declared Fred.
“Well, if they make up their minds to go, I guess we’ll be among the first to hear about it.”
“Gee, how I’d like to be a soldier boy!” sighed Fred. “Wouldn’t it be great if all of us cadets could go into the army?”
“We’ll have to wait four or five years before we can do that, Fred. And I rather think that by that time this great war will be over.”
“Oh, you can’t tell how long a war like this will last. For all you know the Germans may come right over here.”
“I don’t think they’ll do that. They’ll have their hands full fighting in Europe.”
“Well, they’ve sent their submarines over here already.”
“I know that. But I don’t think they’ve got enough submarines to transport an army that way.”
Since coming to Colby Hall the Rover boys had occupied four very pleasant rooms on the second floor in a wing of the great building. But instead of using the four rooms for bedrooms, the twins slept together and all used one of the extra rooms, No. 20, for a sitting-room.
“You fellows have got to hurry up or you’ll be late for roll call!” cried Randy, when he entered.
“Oh, I think they’ll give us a little leeway on account of all the excitement,” returned Fred. And he was right,—the roll call and drill were postponed for half an hour, for which many of the cadets were thankful.
It did not take the Rovers long to throw off their baseball togs, wash, and don their uniforms. Then they lost no time in rushing below to the gun rack and obtaining their rifles, doing this just as the drums rattled on the parade ground.
Soon the battalion of several companies was examined, and then began the roll call. After this there was a brief inspection by Captain Dale, with Colonel Colby looking on. Then the drums rattled and the fifes struck up a lively march air, and the cadets marched around the grounds, disposed of their rifles, and entered the mess hall of the institution. Here each had his place assigned to him at one of the long tables, each table presided over by one of the officers or a teacher.
The meal was a substantial one, for Colonel Colby believed in treating his pupils well, and it is perhaps needless to state that all of the cadets fell to with vigor. There was a constant clatter of forks and knives, mingled with a flow of livelyconversation, carried on, however, in rather a subdued tone, for boisterousness of any sort in the mess hall was against regulations. After each lad finished he excused himself and left the hall, and soon all of them had scattered in various directions.
“Bonfires to-night!” announced Andy gaily, as he turned a handspring on the campus.
“I think we ought to have some sort of feast,” said Fred.
“Great Cæsar, Fred! didn’t you get enough to eat at supper?” queried Jack.
“Oh, you know what I mean—a little something to eat just before we go to bed!” answered his cousin.
“Suits me!” was the cry from the others.
Talk about the victory over Hixley High and about the excitement attending the destruction of the shell-loading plant filled the air. The cadets were only boys, and the facts regarding the awful occurrence across the lake could not subdue their high spirits when they considered their great victory over the high school.
“We’ve just got to celebrate and let off steam somehow,” was the way Randy expressed himself.
Boxes and barrels had already been stored away in anticipation of a victory, and these werepromptly brought forth and placed on the river front. They were piled as high as possible and then set on fire, the flames shooting skyward quickly and illuminating the scene for a long distance around.
“Hello there, Codfish!” cried Andy gaily, when he beheld the sneak of the school standing not far from one of the bonfires.
“Got any more boxes to put on the fire, Codfish?” questioned Randy, who was beside his twin.
“I haven’t got any boxes,” grumbled the young cadet. Since the departure of Slugger Brown and Nappy Martell from the Hall, Codfish had kept a good deal to himself. But he was as much of a sneak as ever, and did many mean things which were exceedingly irritating to the other cadets.
“You haven’t any boxes?” said Randy, in apparent surprise. “What’s the use of talking like that? You know better;” and then he winked at his brother.
“I’m on,” whispered Andy quickly. “Bring him up to his room in about ten minutes.” And then he ran away at top speed.
“It’s a waste of good money to burn up boxes and barrels like that,” was Codfish’s comment. “I don’t see why Colonel Colby allows it. Thoseboxes and barrels could be used to pack all sorts of things in.”
“Well, if you don’t like to see the boxes and barrels burned up, why don’t you furnish us with a little cord wood?” inquired Gif Garrison, who had come up.
“That’s the talk!” said Jack quickly. “Show us where you’ve got your cord wood stored, Codfish,” he went on, after Randy had whispered in his ear. Then Randy ran off in the direction his twin had taken.
“I haven’t any cord wood, I tell you!” stormed Codfish. “And I haven’t any boxes or barrels, either!” and then he walked away to get clear of his tormentors.
But Jack remembered what Randy had said to him, and did not allow Codfish out of his sight. He kept the sneak in view, and quickly gathered Spouter, Gif, Fatty, Walt, and a number of others around him.
“We’re going to take Codfish up to his room in a few minutes and treat him to the surprise of his life,” he explained. “Don’t forget to come along and see the fun.”
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Theidea of having a little fun with Codfish had occurred to Andy and Randy on the day previous, when they had been out collecting some boxes and barrels for the bonfires which they hoped to have—provided, of course, that Hixley High was beaten in the baseball contest. They had talked the matter over for some time, and had then set to work, laying their plans to give the sneak of the school the surprise of his life.
“What’s doing, Jack?” questioned Walt Baxter, in some surprise.
“Going to put one over on Codfish?” questioned Gif.
“Just you wait and see,” announced Jack. And then, turning to Spouter, he continued: “In about five minutes I wish you would go over to Codfish and tell him somebody wants to see him up in his room without delay. Put it to him good and strong so that he goes up at once.”
“Trust me for that,” answered Spouter, with agrin. “I’ll tell him his grandfather has just died and the lawyer is up there waiting to hand him an inheritance of a million dollars.”
“Don’t pile it on as thick as that!” cried Fred. “If you do, he’ll take it for another joke, and won’t go at all.”
All of the crowd kept their eyes on Codfish, and when the time was up Spouter approached Stowell as if in a great hurry.
“I say, Henry,” he said in an earnest voice, “there’s a man wants to see you. They just sent him up to your room.”
“To see me! What for?” questioned Codfish in surprise.
“I don’t know. He seemed to be a very nice man, though. He was in a great hurry. You had better not keep him waiting. He said it was very important,” and without waiting to be questioned further, Spouter hurried away.
Codfish looked after the other cadet rather doubtfully, and stood still for a moment. Then, however, his curiosity got the better of him, and he hurried off in the direction of the Hall.
“Come on, fellows!” cried Jack in a low voice. “But don’t let him suspect that you are following him, or it may spoil the fun.”
Stowell entered the school by a side door and ran up the nearest stairway to the main corridorabove. The others hastened around to the front entrance and came up by another staircase. They were just in time to see the sneak hurrying into the room he occupied.
“Hist!” came in a low voice from the other end of the corridor, after the door had closed upon Codfish, and then from a shadowy recess Andy and Randy appeared.
“Did you get everything fixed up?” questioned Jack hurriedly.
“All fixed,” answered Andy laconically. “Come on in here,” and he motioned to a room next to that occupied by Stowell. This belonged to a student who, for the time being, was away from the school.
Once inside of this room, Randy and Andy took the others to where there was a door connecting that apartment with the one occupied by the sneak. This was partly open, so that they could look into Stowell’s room with ease.
“Hello there!” they heard the sneak exclaim. And then followed the switching on of an electric light. “It’s only one of their rotten jokes! I knew it all along!” murmured the cadet.
He looked around the room, and then a cry of astonishment burst from his lips. In the center of the floor were piled at least ten boxes of various sizes and shapes. Some of the boxes hadhad straw in them and others excelsior, and part of this was strewn on the floor.
“Huh! Some of those fellows are mighty smart, putting these boxes in my room!” growled Codfish to himself. “I’d just like to know who did it! If it was that Spouter Powell, I think I’ll go and tell on him!”
“Here is where I got in fine!” murmured Spouter.
Codfish glanced further, and his eyes fell on the interior of the closet of the room, the door to which stood wide open. Then he gave a gasp.
“My gracious! if they haven’t taken all my clothing, and my hats, and even my shoes!” he groaned. “This is the worst yet!” He rushed to the closet, and another look convinced him that the place was entirely empty. Then he ran to a corner where stood a clothes tree, which had contained some of his athletic outfit. This was likewise empty. Then he rushed to his chiffonier.
“Gone! Everything gone! Not a thing left!” he groaned. “Oh, if this isn’t the worst yet! If I don’t tell on somebody for this!”
Coming back to the middle of the room, he surveyed the pile of boxes suspiciously. Then a sheet of paper resting on the top box claimed his attention.
“’For anything that is missing look in theboxes,’” he read from the slip of paper. “Oh, dear! I suppose those fellows were just mean enough to stuff all my things in those packing cases. I wonder what they did that for? Maybe they thought they were going to cart them down to the bonfire and burn them up, and burn all my stuff, too. Just wait and see if I don’t fix somebody for this!”
There was rather a small box on top of the others, and this Codfish started to open first. One end of the lid was nailed down, but the other was loose, and he pulled up on this with vigor.
And then the sneak got the first of a series of surprises. The lid of the box held down a large rubber frog, and this bounced out of the box, hitting him full in the face. He staggered back and fell over on his bed.
“Hurrah! First round!” whispered Andy delightedly.
“Just wait for the second,” said Randy.
There was nothing else in the box but excelsior, and having rummaged about in this, Codfish threw the box aside and started to investigate the next receptacle.
The lid to this was screwed on, and he had quite a job opening it. The other cadets watched with interest, doing their best to keep from laughing. When the box was opened, Codfish foundthat it contained a layer of excelsior. Under this, however, were a number of bundles wrapped in newspapers, each containing a small portion of the stuff taken from his chiffonier.
“Huh! thought they were smart, didn’t they?” he muttered, as he put the things where they belonged. “Just wait! I’ll fix ’em for this.”
The next box contained some of his clothing, which he hung in the closet. Then he tackled a rather large box which was bound up with an old clothesline. He had to tug at the line quite a little to get it loose, not thinking in his excitement that it would be easier to cut the line. The top of the box was filled with all sorts of rubbish. Beneath this were some more of his things, and then at the very bottom a rather small wooden box with a sliding cover.
Any ordinary school boy would have suspected some trick in connection with this box. But not so Codfish. He looked at it carefully, and then, bringing it close under the light, proceeded to pull the sliding cover back.
And then he was treated to another surprise, this time far more disagreeable than the other. The box contained a large codfish, one which, as Andy afterwards explained, had seen better days.
“Phew, what a smell!” cried the sneak, as heallowed the decayed codfish to fall out on the floor.
The odor when released from the air-tight box was so overpowering that he had to go over and throw open the window.
“Codfish for the Codfish!” sang out Andy gaily, unable to keep quiet any longer.
The sneak of the school whirled around suddenly, and there beheld in the doorway of the next room the Rover boys and their chums in a group, all grinning at him.
“How’d you like the fish, Codfish?” questioned Fred.
“Thought you said you didn’t have any boxes in your room,” came from Jack.
“I didn’t know you were raising frogs for a living,” remarked Randy.
“Why don’t you take those boxes down and put them on the bonfire?” questioned Gif.
“You ought to be ashamed of yourself—littering up your room with all that straw and excelsior,” was Walt’s comment. “If you aren’t careful, you’ll get some mighty bad marks for doing that.”
“What did you do with the man who wanted to see you?” questioned Spouter. “Did you tell him that you were too busy to talk?”
“You’re a fine bunch of fellows!” howled Codfish, not knowing what to say. “You had no business to play a trick like this on me!”
“Play a trick on you?” questioned Andy innocently. “Who has been playing a trick? Why, we don’t know what it is to do anything like that!”
“I think somebody said you wanted to see us, but I don’t know what for,” added Randy.
“If anybody should ask me, I would say you had a queer way of cleaning house, Codfish,” remarked Fred calmly.
“And to think he stole one of the codfish from the pantry!” said Jack. “By the way it smells, he must have taken it the day he enrolled here.”
“Maybe he likes codfish good and strong,” suggested Gif.
“I’ll ‘codfish’ you fellows if you don’t leave me alone!” howled the sneak. He was so vexed he almost felt like crying. “You just wait till Colonel Colby or Captain Dale hears about this!”
“Yes, I wonder what the colonel will say when he finds out you stole one of the codfish belonging to the school,” said Andy. “You oughtn’t to have done it, Henry, my boy. If you wanted anything to eat, why didn’t you ask one of the teachers for it?”
“Maybe he chews on codfish in the middle of the night when he can’t sleep, or when he is trying to solve a problem in algebra,” suggested Randy.
“I don’t do any such thing, and I didn’t take that codfish from the pantry, and you know it!” howled Codfish, in anger. “It’s a put-up job, and you are the fellows who did it! All of you ought to be sent away from this school.”
“If he took a codfish, maybe he took some other things, too,” said Jack. “I think this ought to be investigated.”
“And how did you happen to get all these boxes?” demanded Fred. “I know them. They were collected for the bonfire some days ago.”
“You certainly have no right to have them in your room, Codfish,” said Gif. “Better hustle ’em down and put ’em on the fire before the rest of the fellows hear of this.”
“And if you’ve got things belonging to the school victuals besides that codfish, you’d better fork ’em over,” admonished Jack.
“You clear out, every one of you! I don’t want to hear another word!” screamed Codfish, in a rage. “You just wait until I report you! I think you’re all too mean for anything! Go on away!” And he tried to close the door to the other room in their faces. But they held it back so he could do nothing.
“Come on, fellows, let’s put those boxes wherethey belong!” cried Jack. And, marching into the room, he picked up one of the packing cases, and the others quickly followed suit. Then they marched out into the hallway, leaving Codfish staring after them in bewilderment.
“I know you’ve got some other things belonging to the school besides that fish!” cried Andy. “You’ve got the pockets of your overcoat just stuffed with good things!”
“Haven’t any such thing!” declared the sneak. And then, struck by a sudden idea, he ran to the clothing closet and brought forth his overcoat, which had been in one of the boxes. He rammed his hand into one of the pockets, and then suddenly withdrew it with a yell of fright and pain.
And his fright and pain were not without good reason, for clinging to the thumb of the hand he had inserted into the pocket of the overcoat was a small, but exceedingly active, snapping turtle!
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“Oh, oh, oh!” yelled Codfish, dancing around the room wildly. “Take that thing off! Oh, I’ll be bitten to death! Take it off, somebody! What is it, anyhow?”
“Hello! Codfish has been fishing,” cried Andy gaily.
“Maybe he got that from the cook’s pantry, too,” broke in Randy.
“What’s the dear creature’s name, Codfish?” questioned Fred.
“You haven’t got to let go of him if you don’t want to, you know,” came from Jack.
All this while the sneak of the school was dancing around the room, doing his best to shake off the snapping turtle. But the creature, though small, had a hold that was very tenacious, and refused to budge.
“Say, he won’t be seriously bitten, will he?” questioned Spouter, in a low tone.
“No, it’s only a baby snapping turtle,” answered Andy slowly. “Codfish is far more scared than hurt.”
The sneak of the school was so frightened that he did not dare to take hold of the snapping turtle. He held the creature out at arm’s length and continued to dance around, asking the others to take it off.
“He’ll eat my finger!”
“Put it in some water and it will let go quick enough,” suggested Fred presently.
“Yes, give him a chance to swim around in a bathtub,” added Randy quickly, when he saw Stowell make a move toward the washbowl in one corner of the room. “That isn’t big enough for a good healthy turtle.”
“Oh, oh! I’ll have the law on you for this!” yelled the sneak, and then bolted for the door and ran down the corridor in the direction of the nearest bathroom.
As it happened, at that moment Job Plunger, the school janitor, was coming along the corridor carrying an armful of old magazines which he had been ordered to store away in the attic. As my old readers know, Plunger, who had been nicknamed “Shout,” was quite deaf, and with eyes in another direction he did not see Codfish coming. The two collided violently, and the janitor was sent over backward, scattering the magazines in all directions, while Codfish came down on top of him.
“Hi you! what you mean by knockin’ me down that way?” shrilled the janitor, when he could regain his breath.
“I—I didn’t mean to do it,” stammered the sneak, as he arose to his feet. “I was in a hurry.”
“You ain’t got no right to race through these halls like a crazy horse,” went on Plunger. “I ought to report you.”
“I told you I was in a hurry,” explained Codfish.
“Worry?” queried Plunger, not hearing aright. “Ain’t I got a right to worry if a feller like you sends me sprawlin’?”
“I didn’t say worry—I said I was in a hurry. A snapping turtle had me by the finger, and I wanted to get rid of it.”
“Rappin’! Well, you ain’t goin’ to rap me. I’ll let you know that!” growled the deaf janitor.
“I said snapping—not rapping—a snapping turtle!” Codfish put his mouth close to the janitor’s ear. “A snapping turtle!”
“What’s that? No, I ain’t got no snappin’ turtle. What would I be doin’ with a snappin’ turtle?” queried Plunger blankly.
“I said I had one here—on my thumb!” cried Codfish. “It’s gone now. I guess my fallknocked it off,” and he looked around in the rather dim corridor to see what had become of the turtle, but without locating the creature.
“I’m off, am I?” snarled Plunger, who had been asked that day to do a large amount of extra work by the cadets, and was consequently in no good humor. “I ain’t half as much off as you are, you young rascal!” He grabbed Codfish by the arm. “You jest pick up them magazines and put ’em in my arms ag’in, or I’ll report you.”
At this the sneak muttered something under his breath. But he was afraid of the deaf janitor, and so he began to pick up the various magazines that had been scattered around and piled them high in Plunger’s arms. While he was doing this, he continued to look around for the snapping turtle, but the little creature had disappeared.
“Now you be careful after this,” said Plunger, when the task of gathering up the scattered magazines had been completed. “After this when you want to run through the halls, you walk!” And then he continued on his way.
The Rovers and their chums had witnessed the scene in the corridor, but as soon as Stowell turned to come back to his room they ran off and down a side stairs, carrying the packing cases with them.
“Say, but that was rich—the way he thumped into Shout,” was Andy’s comment.
“Yes, and the way Shout took him up for what he said,” returned Randy. “Gosh! it seems to me as if poor old Shout is getting deafer every day.”
“I wonder what became of the snapping turtle,” said Fred.
“If they fell on it, they must have crushed the poor creature,” returned Jack.
The boxes were soon placed on the various bonfires, and then the boys mingled with the other students in having a good time generally. The cadets sang songs and danced around the fires, and then organized an impromptu parade up and down the river front and around the Hall.
“How about that little feast we were going to have before we went to bed?” questioned Randy presently.
“Just what I was thinking about,” answered Fred. “I’d like to have it first rate; but where are we going to get the eats?”
“Perhaps we can get something from the Hall pantry,” suggested Jack.
“Nothing doing in that direction,” came from Ned Lowe, who was present.
“What makes you say that?” questioned Spouter.
“Bart White and I tried it a little while ago,and everything is locked up as tight as a drum. I guess the head cook and the head waiter got on to the fact that we might make a raid.”
“Then there is only one other thing to do,” said Randy quickly. “And that is to go down to town for something.”
“That would be easy enough, especially if we could get some one on the road to give us a lift,” said Jack.
The Rovers and their chums talked the matter over for several minutes, and then it was decided that Jack, Fred, Spouter, and Gif would pay a hurried visit to Haven Point, bringing back with them such good things as they could pick up quickly in the stores and carry back. A cap was passed around, and eight dollars was collected for the proposed feast. The cadets who had been selected as a committee lost no time in leaving the school grounds, and then hurried off down the road leading to the town.
“Let’s watch our chance for a ride,” said Jack. “We don’t want to waste any time on this trip.”
He had scarcely spoken when they heard the rumble of a truck approaching. It was a motor truck belonging to a dairy company doing business in Haven Point and other towns around the lake.
“Hello there! Give us a ride into town, willyou?” questioned Fred of the driver, as the truck came to a halt at their signal.
“Sure! Climb on board,” said the good-natured driver. He had only a small load and was glad of their company, feeling sure that they would treat him well for the accommodation.
By means of the truck it did not take the cadets long to reach the town, and there they left the driver, Jack tossing him a quarter for his kindness. Then the lads hurried to such of the stores as were still open.
They had already made up their minds as to what they wanted if the things could be obtained. At a delicatessen store they purchased a pasteboard box lined with waxed paper and filled with chicken salad, and also some ham and tongue sandwiches. Then they rushed into a bakeshop, the proprietor of which was just closing, and purchased several layer cakes and also a generous supply of ginger snaps. Then they hurried to a confectionery, and there obtained some bottled soda water and ginger ale, and likewise several quarts of ice-cream.
“Now I guess we’re pretty well fixed for a little spread,” declared Jack, when they were once more on the street, each loaded with several bundles.
“I hope we can get a ride back to the school,” said Fred. “These bundles are pretty heavy.”
“I’ve got an idea,” said Andy. “See that automobile yonder? Well, that belongs to the man who owns the moving-picture theater. There he is in front of his place. I wonder if he wouldn’t let his chauffeur run us down to the Hall? He knows all the boys at the Hall are pretty good customers at his show place.”
“It wouldn’t do any harm to ask him, Andy,” answered his cousin.
The crowd crossed the street and was soon interviewing the owner of the moving-picture theater. He had seen the boys there a number of times, and remembered them, and was keenly alive to anything that might aid his business.
“Sure, my man can run you down to the school,” he said readily. “Here he is now.” He turned to his colored chauffeur. “Joe, take these young gentlemen to Colby Hall and then come back here just as soon as you can.”
The run to Colby Hall in the automobile took but a few minutes, and the driver very condescendingly agreed to take them around to the rear entrance of the building. The cadets paid him for his trip, and then lost no time in sneaking what they had bought up a back stairway and into the rooms occupied by the Rovers.
By this time the celebration over the defeat ofHixley High had about come to an end. The cadets were disappearing in all directions, some going to their rooms and others to the library of the school, a large room which was often used as a general meeting place.
Word had been passed around to a number of others, so that a crowd of about a dozen assembled in the Rovers’ rooms to take part in the feast.
“I’ll tell you one thing we ought to do,” said Randy. “We ought to square ourselves somehow with Codfish. Otherwise he may be just mean enough to give us away.”
“I guess I can fix it for you,” said Ned Lowe, who in the past had been a bit more friendly with the sneak than any of the others present. “Just give me a plate of ice-cream and a piece of cake, and I’ll go and smooth it over with the little sneak.”
“Go ahead and do it, by all means, Ned,” answered Andy quickly. “I don’t begrudge the little sneak a bit of something good. It will make him forget how his thumb hurts.”
Ned soon departed with the ice-cream and cake, and then the others passed around the food which had been provided. They had brought along some paper dishes and paper drinking cups, and likewise a few tin spoons, and the boys made themselves comfortable on various chairs and on the beds.
“It’s all right,” said Ned, when he returned. “Codfish was sitting by the window in his room wondering what he was going to do. He was suspicious at first, thinking there was some trick about the ice-cream or the cake, but when he found it was all right he felt better, and he has promised to keep quiet. But just the same, we’ll have to keep quiet ourselves in here, or we’ll get into trouble. I just heard the professors going around giving orders that the celebration was now over and everybody would have to turn in.”
With such healthy appetites as all of the cadets possessed, the good things to eat and drink disappeared as if by magic. Some of the boys wanted to sing, but this had to be tabooed. Spouter, however, was called on to make a little speech, much to his delight.
“It’s a grand occasion,” he began. “A grand and glorious occasion, and one which will live long in the memory of those attending this school. In years to come we can point with great pride to our baseball association and how, in spite of the fact that our opponents possessed a pitcher whose renown had traveled for many miles, and an outfield which was classed as second to none in this district, yet our invincible heroes——”
“Hurrah! Hurrah! That’s the stuff, Spouter!” interrupted Andy.
“Did you say invisible heroes?” queried Randy.
“I did not,” snorted Spouter. “I said our invincible heroes. And as I was about to further remark, our invincible heroes covered themselves with a glory which will ever remain as a bright guiding star to this glorious school, and when in days to come——”
“How do you know the days are to come?” questioned Andy. “Maybe the days will go.”
“Stop your interrupting!” cried the young speechmaker. “And in the days to come——” he repeated, “and in the days to come—er—we shall, in the days to come——”
“Great Cæsar, Spouter! how long are those days coming?” queried Randy.
“Say, how can a fellow make a speech if you’re going to interrupt him all the time?” cried Spouter. “If you want to listen to what I’ve got to say——”
At this moment came another interruption, but not from any of the others present. There was a loud knock on the door, something which brought all of the cadets to their feet in alarm.
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“I’llbet it’s one of the professors!” whispered Fred.
“Just our confounded luck!” grumbled Andy.
“And when we were having such a dandy time!” added his twin.
“Say, you fellows get that stuff out of sight, and be quick about it!” commanded Jack in a low tone of voice. “Take everything into the other rooms.”
With alacrity the cadets removed all traces of the spread, placing the empty soda-water bottles and ginger-ale bottles and other things in a closet and in the adjoining rooms.
“Now you outside fellows get into the other rooms, and hide in the closets if necessary,” said Jack. “I’ll stay here with my cousins.”
The knock on the door had been repeated several times, and Jack had answered in a sleepy voice that he was coming. Then, when all was ready, he threw the door open—to find himselfconfronted, not by one of the professors, as he had expected, but by Bob Nixon, a fellow who was employed as a chauffeur and a general man of all work around the school.
“You must sleep pretty sound,” announced Nixon good-naturedly. “I thought I’d have to knock the door down to make you hear.”
“I told you I was coming, Nixon,” answered Jack. “What do you want?”
“Got a telegram for you,” answered the man curtly. “Professor Brice asked me to bring it up to you. Say, you fellows certainly did trim up Hixley High to-day, didn’t you?” the chauffeur went on, grinning.
“You’re right we did!” answered Jack. He was immensely relieved to think it was not one of the professors come to spoil their feast. “Where is the telegram?”
“Here you are,” and Nixon held it forth.
“Any charges?”
“No; it’s a prepaid telegram. It was delivered with another one for Colonel Colby. He signed for it, thinking you might be asleep. I hope you haven’t got any bad news.”
“I hope so myself,” answered Jack. His heart had given a little jump on first receiving the news, thinking that possibly something had happened at home. He lost no time in opening theenvelope, and while he did this Fred and the twins crowded around him.
The telegram was from Jack’s father, and read as follows: