CHAPTER VIA TOUCH OF MYSTERY
“Now I reckon we are worse off than we were before,” remarked Jack, as the assembled cadets looked at each other in consternation.
“If he cuts off our supper the best thing we can do is to save this grub,” declared Randy. “We’ll have to go on short rations.”
“And when we feel real hungry we can turn to our school books for consolation,” added his twin brother. “Gee! but doesn’t this take the cake?” And picking up his algebra he threw it at Phil. The boy from Texas dodged, and the algebra hit the wall behind him.
“Don’t start a rough-house, Andy,” remonstrated Jack quickly. “We’re in deep enough as it is. Please don’t forget that Fred and I are worse off than any of you.”
“How do you make that out?” demanded Gif.
“Because we are officers, and are supposed to be models for the rest of the cadets.”
“Huh! I forgot that,” said Gif. “That’s too bad.”
It must be admitted that the cadets were far less cheerful while finishing their meal than they had been a few minutes before. They ate somewhat sparingly, and placed what was left of the food in an out-of-the-way corner under one of the cots.
“No use of taking chances,” said Jack. “Duke may come in here and search the closet for rations when he gets the dirty dishes.”
“Well, I suppose we might as well spend our time studying,” came from Spouter presently. “We’ve got to learn our lessons, no matter if we are prisoners. Otherwise later on we’ll be marked down for that, too.”
“Too bad that poor Dan had to be caught with that pumpkin pie and cheese,” groaned Randy. He was particularly fond of the pies turned out by the Hall cooks.
Making themselves as comfortable as they could around the radiator, the seven cadets began to study. Thus an hour passed, and then came more footsteps in the hall.
“Another visitor,” said Jack, looking up.
When the door was thrown open they expected to see Snopper Duke or one of the other professors, and they were, therefore, much surprisedwhen Colonel Colby stepped into the room. The master of the Hall was alone.
“Attention!” called Jack sharply—for this had been arranged between the cadets earlier in the day—and thereupon all of the cadets leaped to their feet and saluted.
This action came somewhat as a surprise to the master of the school, and just the faintest flicker of a smile passed over his features. Then he closed the door behind him and came forward.
“I am very sorry to learn that all of you have been breaking the rules of this institution,” said Colonel Colby, in an even tone of voice. “Captain Rover, I would like to have your version of the affair if you care to make a report.”
“I don’t know that I can make much of a report, Colonel,” answered the young captain, his face flushing. “We brought the snowballs into the school, and that is all there is to it.”
“Well, what about sending that big snowball down the stairs on top of Professor Duke?”
“That was an accident, sir, and I was responsible for it,” broke in Andy.
“An accident? Professor Duke is quite certain it was done by design.”
“He is mistaken, sir,” continued Andy, and then in a few words related exactly how the accident had occurred.
“Well, what about the snowballs that were placed in the rooms of Stowell, Besser, Lunn and in the bathroom?”
“We only meant it for a little fun, Colonel,” pleaded Fred. “Of course, I realize now that maybe we went a little too far.”
“You certainly did go too far, Lieutenant Rover. And I am especially surprised to find you and Captain Rover mixed up in anything of this sort. I expect the officers of the cadets to set a good example.”
“I was thinking you might say that, Colonel Colby,” put in Jack quickly. “And I should have thought of it before I went into the affair. But we were having such fun outside snowballing, and like that, that we got deeper into it before we gave it a second thought.”
“And we really didn’t know that we couldn’t bring any snow into the school,” put in Phil rather lamely.
“Such an explanation won’t go here, Franklin. I expect my students to have more common sense than that. Of course, it may have been nothing but a boyish prank, and if you can give me your word that the snowball which went down the stairs and hit Professor Duke was not aimed at him deliberately, I shall feel inclined to let the matter pass.”
“Oh, Colonel Colby, will you really do that?” questioned Fred eagerly.
“Please remember we’ve been punished already,” put in Spouter. “Locked up like a lot of criminals, and the radiator turned off until we almost froze to death!”
“The radiator turned off?” questioned the owner of the school. “It is hot enough now,” he added, as he placed his hand upon it.
“But it wasn’t before,” answered Gif, and gave the particulars. As he did this Colonel Colby’s face became a study.
“I will look into that,” he said, and then walked over to one of the cots and also to one of the beds and inspected the thin coverings. “I trust none of you caught cold?”
“Well, I did catch a little cold,” answered Spouter, and began to cough, for what he said was true.
After this Colonel Colby talked to the cadets for fully ten minutes, trying to show them that what they had done was not what he expected of them. He was kind almost to the point of being fatherly, and made several remarks which caused the boys to do considerable thinking.
“I am afraid some of you lads do not like Professor Duke,” said he. “I am afraid you consider him rather quick-tempered and irritable.”
“Well, he certainly isn’t as nice as most of the other teachers,” declared Randy flatly.
“He always seems to be waiting for a chance to get in on a fellow,” broke out Fred. “In some ways he’s even worse than Asa Lemm was.”
“But he’s a splendid teacher, I will say that for him,” declared Jack. “Only, the way he sometimes jumps on a fellow is terrible.”
“I shouldn’t like to have you boys compare Professor Duke with that scalawag, Asa Lemm,” declared Colonel Colby. “Lemm had a good education—if he hadn’t had I should not have engaged him to teach here—but he was not the honest and upright man Snopper Duke is. I will admit that at times he is quick-tempered, but, believe me, boys, he has good reasons for it—or, at least, there is quite some excuse for his acting that way at times. I do not feel like discussing his personal affairs with you, but you will be doing a real act of kindness if at times you don’t notice his actions when he seems rather sharp. I am quite sure he doesn’t always mean it.”
“Well, of course, if there’s some reason——” began Jack.
“There is quite a reason, Captain Rover. But, as I said before, I do not care to discuss Professor Duke’s personal affairs further. Only, if I were one of you boys, I should go very slow injudging him. And now to come back to this present affair: I have had a talk with Professor Duke and I will have another talk this evening, and, all told, I think you have been punished enough. So we will call the matter off and you can return to your classrooms.”
“Thank you very much, Colonel Colby,” cried Jack, and, starting forward, he offered his hand, and the master of the school shook it warmly. Then all of the other cadets came forward to do likewise.
“I hope you won’t punish those other fellows for getting some extra food up to us,” said Fred, as he and Andy brought out the hidden things and placed them on one of the trays. “They only tried to do us a good turn.”
“You may rest assured, Rover, that I shall treat them only as they deserve,” answered Colonel Colby, and led the way downstairs. Here the cadets separated, each to pay a brief visit to his own room before going down to the classrooms on the lower floor.
“I wonder what Colonel Colby meant when he said Duke had reasons for being irritable?” remarked Randy.
“I don’t know, I’m sure,” answered Jack thoughtfully.
“Maybe he’s suffering from some sickness,”suggested Fred. “Perhaps he ought to have an operation and hates to have it done.”
“Maybe he’s worried about money matters,” came from Randy.
“It was certainly something worth while or Colonel Colby wouldn’t have been so serious about it,” said Fred. “Gee! I’m sorry if I misjudged him, if there is really something wrong.”
“I don’t believe Colonel Colby would caution us if it wasn’t so,” said Jack. “And after this I’m going to give Duke as much consideration as I possibly can.”
The boys had been told to go to their classrooms, but this was hardly necessary, for they had just about presented themselves when the afternoon session of the school came to an end. Then they followed some of their friends down to the gymnasium, where they were at once surrounded and asked to give the particulars of what had happened to them.
“It wasn’t a great deal,” said Jack. “And first of all I want to know what was done to Dan and the others.”
“Oh, Colonel Colby read us a little lecture, that’s all,” answered Walt Baxter, one of the cadets. “He told us we had no right to take any of the food without asking for it.”
“I offered to pay for it,” put in Ned Lowe,“and so did Dan. But the colonel said that wasn’t the point. That he wanted the discipline of the Hall maintained.”
“Did he say anything about Professor Duke?” questioned Fred.
“Not a word.”
“Well, he told us something,” continued the youngest Rover, and then related what had been said on the subject.
“Say, that squares with something I once heard,” cried Walt Baxter. “I met Professor Duke down at the barn one day where he was waiting to have Nixon drive him down to town. The professor was walking around, wringing his hands and muttering to himself. He looked all out of sorts, and he said something that sounded to me like ‘I don’t see how I can do it! I don’t see how I can really attempt it!’”
“And what do you suppose it was that bothered him, Walt?” questioned Jack curiously.
“I’m sure I don’t know. I watched him walk up and down and wring his hands. And then he took a notebook out of his pocket and began to study some of the figures in it. Then Nixon came along with the auto, and he jumped in and rode off.”
“Well, that sure is a mystery,” declared Randy.
This news concerning Snopper Duke graduallyspread throughout the school, and many of the boys watched the teacher curiously. In the meantime Colonel Colby had a conference, not only with Duke, but also with Professor Grawson; and when the classes opened the next day Jack and the others found themselves treated just as if nothing out of the ordinary had occurred.
“Colonel Colby said he would let the matter pass, and I guess he’s going to keep his word,” remarked Fred.
There was only one boy who remained troubled, and that was Codfish. He avoided the Rovers and the others as much as possible, often running away at the sight of them.
“Codfish is just about scared stiff,” remarked Randy. “He knows he got himself in wrong.”
“What a poor fish he is,” answered his twin.
On Saturday afternoon a number of the boys obtained permission to visit the town and attend the moving picture performance if they so desired. Jack had telephoned to his sister, and Martha had answered that probably a number of girls from Clearwater Hall would be in town at the same time.
“And I’ve got something to tell you, too, Jack,” said Martha over the wire. “Something I’m sure you’ll be interested in hearing.”
“Why don’t you tell me now?” he replied.
“Oh, this isn’t something to tell over a public telephone,” his sister answered.
The snowstorm had come to an end, and it was clear and bright overhead when the four Rovers and some of the others tramped to Haven Point. Here, at the railroad station, they met Martha and Mary, and also Ruth Stevenson, May Powell, and several other girls from the academy.
“How are your eyes feeling, Ruth?” questioned Jack anxiously, as he walked side by side with the girl on the way to the moving picture theater. As my old readers know, Ruth had once suffered dreadfully through getting some pepper into her eyes, and it had been feared that she might go blind.
“Oh, my eyes are quite all right again, Jack,” answered the girl. “Sometimes they feel the least bit scratchy. But I bathe them with a solution the doctor gave me and then they feel quite natural.”
“I’m mighty glad to hear that,” Jack returned warmly. For of all the girls who were friends of his sister he liked Ruth the best.
As luck would have it, there was a very good show on that afternoon, and as a consequence a crowd had assembled to obtain tickets of admission. Randy went ahead to get all the ticketsneeded, and while he did this Martha plucked her brother by the coat sleeve and drew him a little to one side.
“What’s this you’ve got to tell me, Martha?” questioned the young captain in a whisper.
“It’s about a fellow at your school—a chap named Lester Bangs,” replied the girl.
“Oh, you mean the fellow we call Brassy Bangs! What about him?”
“He and one or two of his particular chums have been up to Clearwater Hall three times. They took some of the girls out in a sleigh they hired, and that Bangs did his level best to get Ruth to go along. And now he has invited her to attend some kind of a party next week,” was Martha’s reply, words which for some reason he could not explain even to himself cut Jack to the heart.
CHAPTER VIISOMETHING ABOUT A SLEIGHRIDE PARTY
“What kind of a party is it, Martha?”
“I don’t know, except that it’s somewhere out of town and some of the girls and fellows are going to the place in sleighs. I wasn’t asked to go, and I got the information in a roundabout way.”
“Then Ruth hasn’t said anything to you about it?”
“Not a word. But I’m sure she received this Lester Bangs’ invitation.”
“And you think she may accept it?”
“I hope not, Jack. Because I don’t like Bangs. He wears such showy clothing and jewelry.”
“That’s the reason we call him Brassy—he is brassy in looks and brassy in manner. He’s just as much of a hot-air bag as Tommy Flanders,” went on the young captain, referring to an arrogant youth who the summer before had pitched for Longley Academy and been knocked out of the box.
“Isn’t it queer, he put me in mind of Flanders?” whispered Martha. “I hope you don’t have any trouble with him, Jack.” And then, as some of the others came closer, the private conversation had to come to an end.
While in the moving picture theater Jack sat with Ruth beside him. They occasionally spoke about the scenes presented to them and also about school matters in general, but not one word was said by either about the party Martha had mentioned.
“Mr. Falstein certainly gets good pictures,” remarked the girl, when the performance had come to an end and the crowd of young people was moving out of the theater. “They’re just as good as one can see in the big cities.”
“They’re the same thing, only he gets them a little later,” answered Jack.
“I like the comic pictures better than anything,” declared Andy. “I hate those serious ones. They’re generally so awfully mushy.”
“Why, Andy Rover, how you talk!” cried Alice Strobell. “I think that picture they showed today of Life in a Big City was perfectly grand.”
“Especially where the heroine sobbed herself to sleep over the sewing machine in her garret room,” went on Andy, with a snicker. “Wasn’t that just the tear-bringer?”
“I don’t care! It was just as true to life as it could be,” answered Alice sturdily.
“Well, maybe,” was the airy return of the fun-loving Rover. “Come to think of it, I never did run a sewing machine in a garret room with the snow blowing through a busted window. I’d rather sit in the shade of the old apple tree reading a good book and getting on the outside of some ripe pears,” he continued, and at this there was general laughter.
As was their custom, the young folks drifted from the theater to a nearby candy and ice-cream establishment. Here they split up into various groups at some tables in the rear. Of course, the boys insisted on treating the girls, and there was quite a discussion over what each would have. Martha and Mary had paired off with Gif and Spouter, and Fred and the twins were with some of the other girls, and this left Ruth and Jack by themselves.
Several times the young captain wanted to bring the conversation around to the question of the party that had been mentioned. But every time he checked himself.
“What were you going to say?” questioned Ruth, when he caught himself once. “You act as if you had something on your mind of special importance, Jack.”
“Not at all! Not at all!” he returned hastily. “How are you getting along with your studies, Ruth? Do your eyes interfere much with them?”
“Not a great deal. But, of course, I have to be more or less careful. But I’m doing finely, so the teachers say.”
“We’re going to have an election of officers soon,” continued the young captain. “Some of the fellows are urging me to run for major of the battalion. Ralph Mason is going to drop out, you know.”
“Oh, Jack! why don’t you run?”
“Do you want me to run, Ruth?”
“Why, of course! if there’s any chance of getting it, and I don’t see why there shouldn’t be,” she returned quickly.
Her manner was so intimate that once again he was on the point of mentioning the party. But then he shut his teeth hard and pretended to be interested in something taking place at the other tables.
“Don’t you think you could win the election if you tried?” Ruth continued, after looking at him questioningly for a moment.
“Oh, I guess I’d have as good a chance as any one in command. Of course, there are a number of other officers who would have as good a chance as I’d have. But I’m not altogether sure thatI want to be major. If I held that office Colonel Colby would expect me to toe the mark all the time just as an example to the others. Even as it was, he didn’t like to have me as a captain and Fred as a lieutenant mixed up in that snowball affair.”
“Oh, but, Jack! think of the honor of being major of the battalion,” cried the girl. “I’m sure Martha and your folks will be very proud of you.”
“Would you be proud, Ruth, if I should win the position?” he asked in a low tone.
“Why, of course—we all would,” returned the girl, her face flushing slightly. “I always like to see my friends make something of themselves.”
Ruth’s tone was cordial enough, and once again Jack was on the point of switching the talk to the party. But now some of the young folks had finished, and the little gathering began to break up and he and Ruth were surrounded by the others.
“We’ve got to do some shopping,” declared Mary, when they were out on the sidewalk. “So we can’t remain with you boys any longer.” And a few minutes later the crowd separated, the girls hurrying in one direction and the cadets in another.
“You let me know if you hear any more aboutthat party,” whispered Jack, on parting from his sister.
“I will,” she answered.
On starting back for the Hall Jack paired off with Fred and purposely lagged behind.
“Did you hear anything about a party in which Brassy Bangs was interested?” he asked of his cousin.
“Mary said that Brassy was getting up some sort of party, to come off either Thursday or Friday of this week. The crowd is going somewhere in two big sleighs.”
“She didn’t say where?”
“She didn’t know.”
“Did she say who was going?”
“As far as she knew the crowd of fellows consisted of Brassy and two or three of his chums at the Hall and some young fellows around town.”
“And what about the girls, Fred?”
“They asked Jennie Mason and Ida Brierley to go and a number of the other girls from Clearwater.”
“Did they ask May?”
“Mary wasn’t sure. But she rather thinks that May and Ruth both got an invite, although in some kind of roundabout way. Did Ruth say anything to you about it?”
“Not a word. But Martha did. She, too, thought Ruth had an invitation, but she didn’t mention May.”
“I wonder if May and Ruth will go?” questioned the youngest Rover. He was almost as chummy with Spouter’s cousin as Jack was with Ruth.
“I’m sure I don’t know, Fred. But I do know I’d hate to see either of them going out with such a fellow as Brassy.”
“It will be a shame to have any of those girls associate with him!” burst out Fred indignantly. “He’s not in their class at all—he’s altogether too loud and flashy.”
“He certainly sports a lot of cheap jewelry,” was Jack’s comment. “And that suit of clothes that he had on when he first came to the Hall was a scream.”
“Let’s go around to the livery stable and see if we can find out something about the party.”
The place Fred had in mind was located on a side street less than a block away, and it did not take the two young officers long to reach it. They found the livery-stable keeper out, but one of his assistants came forward to see what they wanted.
“Hello, Waxy,” cried Jack cordially, for he had met the young fellow many times before. “How are you these days?”
“Fine as a spider’s web,” answered Waxy, with a grin.
“I understand you’re going to use your two big sleighs for a party this week for some of our fellows?” went on the young captain.
“Yes, both sleighs are hired for Thursday or Friday night,” was the answer. “But you could get ’em for any other night you might want,” went on Waxy, with an eye to business.
“Where is the party to be held?” questioned Fred.
“I don’t know exactly. They’re to go about twelve miles out of town, so I was told.”
“Some young fellows from town helping to get it up, I believe?”
“Yes. Tom Drake, Bill Fenny, Joe McGuire, Ted Rosenblatt, and a bunch of others are interested. They’ll have one high old time, you believe me,” went on the livery-stable keeper’s assistant, with a grin.
“Rather a lively bunch, are they?” questioned Jack.
“About as lively as this town affords.”
“It’s a wonder some of our fellows are going with them,” was Fred’s comment.
“Oh, that’ll be all right. There won’t be anything out of the way,” put in Waxy hastily, afraid that he had said too much. “They’ll have a livelytime, but everything will be perfectly all right.”
“Maybe,” answered Jack, and then, after a few more words with the assistant, the two cadets hurried off after their chums.
“If McGuire and Rosenblatt have anything to do with that party it will certainly be a lively one,” said Fred, on the way to the school. “They’re the liveliest fellows this town affords.”
“It won’t be any kind of a party for our girl friends to attend,” remarked Jack. “I certainly hope May and Ruth don’t go.”
“Maybe we ought to warn them, Jack.”
“If we did that somebody might say we were sore because we weren’t invited, Fred.”
“I know it. But it’s a shame, just the same.”
“We might let Martha and Mary know what we found out, and then they might put a flea in the ears of the other girls.”
It must be confessed that Jack was rather sober that night and all day Sunday. He could not get the coming party out of his mind, and he wondered constantly whether Ruth would really accept the invitation which had been extended to her. Along with a number of other cadets he attended church in town, but, owing to the fact that it had begun to snow again, none of the girls from Clearwater Hall were present at the services.
“I guess I might as well call Martha up on the ’phone,” he told Fred, Sunday evening.
“All right,” was his cousin’s reply. “And don’t forget to mention May.”
When the young captain had his sister on the wire he learned a number of things that surprised him not a little. It seemed that the matter of the coming sleighride party had been rather freely discussed at Clearwater Hall, and a number of the pupils there were divided on the question as to whether to participate in the affair or not. Jennie Mason, Ida Brierley, and four or five others were in favor of accepting, while others had either declined or were noncommittal.
“Some of the girls have gotten almost into a fight over it,” said Martha. “It’s the liveliest thing that has happened in this school in a long while. I believe if the discussion keeps up none of the girls will be allowed to go, even though two married ladies from the town are to go along as chaperones.”
“Did you hear anything further about Ruth or anything about May?” questioned Jack.
“Not a word. Of course, not having been invited myself, I didn’t care to question either of them for fear they might think I was just a bit jealous, or something like that.”
“Well, I don’t think they ought to go to anysuch party,” answered Jack, and then told what he and Fred had learned at the livery stable.
“I’ve heard of Joe McGuire and also heard of Ted Rosenblatt!” exclaimed Martha. “I certainly shouldn’t want to be seen in their company. I’ll have to mention this to some of the others.” And here the conversation had to come to an end.
On Monday morning Jack met Brassy Bangs in one of the corridors and noticed that the loud-spoken youth looked at him rather speculatively. Nothing, however, was said, and the young captain entered one of the classrooms and was soon deep in his studies. That evening, however, Brassy Bangs and two of his chums were missing from their usual places at one of the mess-hall tables.
“They got permission to go to town. I suppose they went to make further arrangements about that big sleighing party,” remarked Randy.
To show that he meant to do his best as captain of Company C, Jack put in a full day on Tuesday drilling his command and in the classrooms. As a consequence that evening found him pretty well worn out from his duties. Yet he had some studying he felt he must do, and so announced he was going to sit up for a while afterhis cousins, who occupied rooms on both sides of him, had retired.
The young captain was hard at work doing some examples in geometry when there came a sudden sharp rap on his door. Thinking that one of his school chums had come to have a word with him before retiring, he threw the door open and found himself confronted by Brassy Bangs.
“I want to have a few words with you, Jack Rover!” cried the loud-mouthed cadet savagely. And then closing the door he advanced upon the young captain in anything but a friendly manner.
CHAPTER VIIIA FIGHT AND A CHALLENGE
Jack Rover could see that Brassy Bangs was laboring under great excitement. The youth who loved to dress in such a showy manner was red of face and his eyes glittered in a manner calculated to make any one quail before him.
But the young captain of Company C was not going to quail, and he stood his ground and looked the other youth squarely in the face.
“You want a few words, eh?” he said coldly. “Well, what is it?”
“You know well enough what brought me here!” cried Brassy. “I’ve a good mind to wipe up the floor with you!”
“I’m not fighting just now, Bangs. But don’t forget that I can defend myself if it’s necessary,” answered the young captain quickly. And then he added: “Now say what you’ve got to say or get out.”
“I’ll stay as long as I please,” blustered the showy youth. “It’s a fine piece of business you’vebeen in—trying to belittle me and my chums in the eyes of the girls at Clearwater Hall.”
“If you came here to talk about the young ladies from Clearwater the sooner you get out the better,” answered Jack, his face flushing.
“Thought you were pulling off a fine stunt, didn’t you, when you talked to Ruth Stevenson about me?” sneered Brassy.
“I haven’t said a word to Miss Stevenson about you.”
“I know better, Jack Rover. You went to her and some of the other girls and told them that my chums and I were no good, and that the sleighride party we and some other fellows were getting up was going to be the wildest thing that ever took place at Haven Point.”
“You’re entirely mistaken, Bangs. And the sooner you get out of here the better it will please me.”
“Do you dare deny that you hauled us over the coals with those girls at Clearwater Hall?”
“I decline to discuss the matter any further with you,” answered the young captain.
“See here, Rover! you can’t ride any high horse like that with me,” blustered Brassy. “You and your cousins and some of the other fellows did your best to queer our whole sleighing party, and you’ve got to take the consequences!” And nowBrassy Bangs doubled up his fists and tried to look more dangerous than ever.
“See here, Bangs! if you don’t stop your noise and get out of here I’ll put you out,” returned Jack, in a low but firm voice. “I don’t want any fight with you, but I want you to understand that I can hold up my end every time.”
“Like pie you can! You put on a big front as a captain, but I know your sort well enough! You can’t pull the wool over my eyes! You went to the girls’ school and shot off your mouth, and you are going to take the consequences!” and without further ado Brassy Bangs stepped forward and aimed a heavy blow at Jack’s face.
Had the fist landed as intended, Jack might have been knocked flat. But the young captain had not been in athletic training for several years for nothing, and he dodged quickly. Brassy was carried forward, so that his arm shot over Jack’s shoulder and his body came in contact with the young captain’s arm. The next instant Jack had him by the back of the collar and was holding him at arm’s length.
“Now you get out of here!” he cried, and tried to drag Brassy toward the door.
Of course the other youth squirmed, and in an instant there was a rough and tumble scuffle. Jack was pushed against the wall, and retaliatedby forcing Brassy backward over a chair. Then the two spun around the room, upsetting a stand containing a number of books.
“Hello! what’s going on here?” came a voice from one of the side rooms, and Fred appeared. He had been in bed and was attired only in his pajamas.
Jack and Brassy were so wrought up by this time that neither paid attention to the interruption. Nor did they take notice when another door opened and Andy and Randy came into view. Brassy managed to break away and land a blow on Jack’s arm, and in return received a crack in the chin which sent his head backward and all but unbalanced him.
“Gee! it’s a regular fight,” burst out Andy. “I didn’t know Brassy was here.”
“Neither did I,” said Fred. “Why didn’t you call us, Jack?”
“He didn’t give me time,” answered the young captain. “He accused me of getting him into trouble at Clearwater Hall, and then pitched into me.”
“I’ll fix you!” yelled Brassy, who was now almost beside himself with rage. “I’ll fix you!” and he made another lunge for Jack.
But the blow he intended to deliver fell short, and before he could recover the young captaincame at him with a crack in the ear, followed by another on the cheek, and these caused Brassy to stagger into a corner where he held fast to a chair.
“Say, you fellows will have Colonel Colby here in another minute,” warned Fred.
“I don’t care who comes!” bellowed Brassy recklessly. “But see here, I’m not going to fight four of you!” he went on sullenly, as he glared from one to another of the Rovers.
“There won’t be any more fight!” cried Jack, who had no desire to be brought up before the master of the school again. “Fred, open that door!” And then, as the youngest Rover did so, he added to his opponent: “Now get out of here before I throw you out.”
“You can’t throw me out!” blustered Brassy. But then, as Jack advanced on him threateningly, he made a sudden spring for the door and ran out into the corridor. “I’m not going to fight four to one. But just wait—this isn’t ended yet,” he went on, and then disappeared.
Fred closed the door again, and he and the others gathered around Jack, who was panting from his unexpected exertions.
“Gosh, but he looked mad!” was Randy’s comment. “What was it all about?”
In as few words as possible the young captainexplained the situation so far as he was able.
“Brassy must have gone over to Clearwater Hall and there got the idea that you were queering that proposed party,” was Fred’s comment. “Well, I’m glad if the girls are wise to what is going on.”
“Better chew this over in the morning,” admonished Andy. “The thing now is to get into bed and put out the lights. One of the professors may be up here any minute.”
This advice was considered good, and with lightning-like rapidity the room was placed in order and the others retired again, leaving Jack to undress and go to bed as quickly as possible. A little later one of the monitors came through the hall, but none of the Rovers was disturbed.
It was not until two days later that the Rovers heard the particulars of what had occurred at Clearwater Hall. Then they learned that, unknown to any of the girls, one of the teachers had been delegated by Miss Garwood, the head of the academy, to make a quiet investigation concerning the proposed sleighing party. And when this teacher had found out who were on the committee of arrangements, Miss Garwood had forbidden any of the young ladies to participate. When this became known, Brassy Bangs had at once concluded that Jack—and perhapssome of his relatives and friends—was responsible for what had occurred. The party had been called off.
“I’m glad it’s called off,” said Jack.
“So am I,” returned Fred. “But, believe me, Jack, Brassy will have it in for you after this.”
“Possibly.”
“You didn’t hear anything about what girls intended to go, did you?” put in Randy.
“I heard Jennie Mason, Ida Brierley, and Nettie Goss mentioned. That’s all,” answered Jack.
He would have given a good deal to have known what was the real attitude of Ruth and May toward the party. But, as before, neither he nor Fred felt inclined to make any direct inquiries.
“It almost looks as if Brassy had expected Ruth to go with him,” murmured the young captain to himself, when he was alone that night. And it must be confessed that the thought made him feel quite gloomy.
After this incident matters ran along smoothly for a week or more at the Hall. During that time the snow commenced to melt and almost before the cadets knew it, it had disappeared entirely.
In the meanwhile there was constant talk of the election for officers that was to take place. Ralph Mason, the major of the school battalion, wasabout to leave, as was also one of the captains, so there would be first an election to fill these vacancies and then another election in case one or both vacancies were filled by those who were already acting as officers.
“I really think you ought to try for the majorship,” said Gif to Jack. “You certainly have done well as a captain.”
“It would be very nice, Gif,” was Jack’s reply. “But I feel sometimes as if I ought to give some of the other fellows a show.”
“But they may not want it,” answered Andy. “Look at me, for instance. I don’t want to be an officer, and neither does Randy. And Gif here would rather continue at the head of our athletics.”
“Yes, but you fellows are not the whole school,” declared Jack, with a smile.
“I know lots of fellows who want you to run,” declared Spouter. “And you say the word and I’ll go around and do a lot of electioneering for you.”
The matter was talked over a good many times, and fully twenty of the cadets came to Jack and told him they wanted him to run for the office of major. And finally he consented.
“Hello, here’s news!” burst out Fatty Hendry, one day, as he joined his chums. “It’s the richest thing ever,” and he grinned broadly.
“What’s that?” questioned Dan Soppinger, who was present.
“I just heard through Teddy Brown that Brassy Bangs wants to run for major. That he even told one of the professors about it.”
“Why, he can’t do that!” declared Fred quickly. “That is, not without special permission from Colonel Colby or Captain Dale. The major is always chosen from among the captains and lieutenants, or those who have been officers before. That is, if there is any one to pick. It’s only Colonel Colby or Captain Dale who can declare the election open to any one. You can’t put a fellow who has just learned to handle a gun to march at the head of the battalion.”
“Well, of course Brassy didn’t know that, and he wouldn’t believe it until Captain Dale explained it to him. And then he said he thought he ought to be able to hold the position because he was one of the best shots in the school.”
“Well, he certainly is a good shot,” declared Fred. “I saw him shooting at a target one day and he certainly made some marvelous hits.”
“He comes from the West—from some place where everybody knows how to shoot,” declared Walt Baxter. “I heard him telling some of the fellows about it one day. He said he had learned to ride and to shoot when he was only six or sevenyears old. And he can ride, all right enough, too. I saw him do it one day when I was on the road back of the Point.”
“Well, I think a few of us can do a little shooting,” declared Andy. “Don’t forget that out of a possible twenty-five points Fred once made nineteen and Jack eighteen.”
“Oh, yes, I remember that,” put in Ned Lowe. “That was the time Lew Barrow scored twenty.”
“Yes, and the time I scored the whole of ten,” chuckled Andy. “But I don’t care,” he added proudly. “I guess I brought down my share of small game when we went hunting.”
The talk concerning Brassy Bangs wanting to run for the office of major was true, and the cadet was much disgusted when he found that the regulations of the Hall forbade this.
“I can beat any one of them at shooting,” he grumbled to Paul Halliday, one of his particular cronies and the fellow who had aided in trying to get up the sleighing party.
“Of course you can,” was Halliday’s quick reply. Then he went on: “Say, Lest, why don’t you challenge Jack Rover and his cousin Fred to shoot against you? You can show ’em up in great shape. It would be better than fighting them.”
“I’ll do it!” announced Brassy promptly, for the idea was one that appealed to him. “I’ll shootagainst them with either pistols or rifles, just as they may choose. I’ll show ’em up for a couple of dubs when it comes to handling firearms.”
“That’s the talk!” broke in Billy Sands, another of Bangs’ chums. “You say the word and Paul and I will take the challenge to the Rovers right away.”
“All provided Colonel Colby or Captain Dale will permit the contest,” said Brassy sourly. “Maybe that’s another one of the things their dirty rules won’t allow.”
The matter was talked over for a while longer, and the three boys went off to interview Captain Dale. He listened to them with a smile, and then nodded.
“Of course you can have a contest of that sort if you desire, Bangs,” he said presently.
Following this the challenge to Jack and Fred was promptly issued. It, of course, came as a surprise to the Rovers.
“We ought not to dirty our hands with a fellow like Bangs,” declared the young captain to Fred.
“Oh, we can’t afford to refuse, Jack!” cried his cousin. “If we did the fellows in the Hall would think we were afraid.”
And thereupon the challenge was accepted.