"Of course, we'll have to be careful how we get the goats into the Hall," he began.
"Hurrah! I knew it would hit you just right, Jack!" cried Andy, slapping his cousin on the shoulder. "Just you wait—we'll make old Lemon sit up and take notice this time!"
"But mum's the word—remember that," cautioned Randy. "If he ever caught us, well—good-night!"
The four Rover boys were almost up to Mike O'Toole's place when suddenly Jack caught Andy by the shoulder.
"Wait a minute!" he exclaimed.
"What's wrong now?" demanded the fun-loving youth.
"I've just been thinking, Andy. If we take those goats into the Hall and get into any kind of trouble, Professor Lemm will find it an easy matter to learn who got the goats from O'Toole."
"That's right, too!" broke in Fred, in dismay.
"Maybe we can get the goats on the sly," suggested Randy.
"I think that would be the better way to do it," answered Jack. "We can leave a note behind, stating that the goats will be returned, and we can also pay O'Toole something for using his animals."
The boys talked the matter over for several minutes, and then it was decided that Andy andRandy should go ahead and reconnoitre. This they did, and were gone for about ten minutes.
"The coast is clear so far as we can see," announced Randy. "Mike O'Toole and his wife are both in the kitchen of the farmhouse preparing supper.
"And where are the goats?" questioned Fred quickly.
"He keeps them in a little shed off of his barn. Come on, I'll show you," returned Randy.
The other cadets followed him, and they soon reached the place he had mentioned. Here O'Toole kept six goats, and they were found finishing up some food he had evidently given them a short while before.
Two of the billy goats were quite large, one possessing a very fine pair of horns. This one, the boys knew, was called Patrick. The other large goat went by the name of Dan.
"Here is the harness," said Andy, bringing it from some pegs on which it was hanging. "We'll have to do the best we can about hitching 'em up."
While the others were doing this, Jack tore a page from a notebook he carried, and on this, in a large, disguised hand, he wrote the following:
"Dear Mr. O'Toole:"We have taken the privilege of using two of your goats until to-morrow. They will be safely returned to you."
"Dear Mr. O'Toole:"We have taken the privilege of using two of your goats until to-morrow. They will be safely returned to you."
"I think we ought to pay him for the use of the animals," said Jack. "A little money will make him feel a great deal better."
"Let's pin two dollars to the note," suggested Fred, and this was done by Jack and the note placed where the Irish farmer would be sure to find it when he came again to tend to his animals.
It was an easy matter for the four boys to get the goats out of the shed, and then they led them to a spot behind some trees where the animals were hitched to the bobsled. Soon they started on the way to Colby Hall.
"Now that we've got possession of the goats, how do you fellows expect to work this stunt?" demanded Fred, as they brought the two goats down to a walk.
"I'll tell you one thing," declared Jack. "If you want to play this trick without the whole school knowing it, you had better reach Colby Hall by the lane that comes up behind the barn."
"Just what I was thinking of doing," answered Andy. "I thought maybe we could stable themin that little toolhouse in the cornfield until we had a chance to get 'em into the Hall."
"That's the talk!" cried Randy. "Of course, we'll have to watch our chance, and not make a mess of it."
The two billy goats had often been harnessed together, so they got along quite amiably on the trip to the Military Academy. They were strong animals, and consequently the boys reached the field behind the barn in ample time to unhitch the goats and place them in the toolhouse that had been mentioned. Then they hurried around to the garage, where they were allowed to store their bobsled, and after that lost no time in getting ready for the evening parade and drill.
Directly after supper was over, the Rovers took Spouter, Gif and Fatty Hendry aside and told them of what was in the wind.
"Oh, say! that's great!" cried Fatty. "Let me have a hand in it, won't you?" He had had a quarrel with Asa Lemm a few days before, and was as sore as any of the other cadets.
"You ought to let us all have a hand in that, Andy," put in Spouter. "I believe every one of us feels the same way when it comes to old Lemon. He may have a vast amount of learning stored in his cranium, but his font of the milk of human kindness is completely dried up. Werehe to realize, or have the least conception——"
"Cut it, Spouter!" interposed Gif. "We agree with you—Asa Lemm is the lemon of all lemons, and I for one would like to teach him some kind of lesson."
The matter was talked over for some time, and, as a result, a number of other cadets, including Walt Baxter, Ned Lowe and Dan Soppinger, were let into the secret.
"Some of you will have to keep tab on Lemm while others see if the coast is clear during the time we are trying to get the goats upstairs," announced Randy.
"I don't think we'll have an easy time getting two animals to old Lemon's room," remarked Fred. "However, we'll get 'em up there somehow!"
Dan Soppinger was detailed to locate and watch Asa Lemm, and he soon came back and reported that the professor was sitting in a corner of the school library, making notes from several volumes.
"Well, you watch him, Dan," said Jack, "and if he starts to come upstairs, you let us know at once;" and to this Soppinger agreed.
After the supper hour, the cadets had their usual studying to do, and then came another hour for recreation previous to retiring.
"Now is our time," said Andy, as he threw aside his books and leaped to his feet. "Come on! Everybody on the job!"
The lads had already figured out how they expected to get the goats up to Asa Lemm's room. In the extreme rear of the school building was located an outside fire-escape leading from the third and second floors to the ground. At each floor there was a large doorway with a bolt on the inside. In order to induce the goats to mount the steps of the fire-escape, the boys had provided themselves with some vegetables purloined from the kitchen storeroom. Leaving the others to watch on the fire-escape and in the upper hallway of the school, the Rovers went out to the toolhouse and released the two goats.
"Now then, Patrick and Dan, be good!" said Randy, patting the animals on the neck. And then he handed each of them a small carrot.
With more vegetables displayed close in front of them, the two billy goats mounted the fire-escape quite nimbly, being rewarded with something more to eat when they stood on the landing in front of the door leading into the upper hallway.
"Now if they only don't take it into their heads to let out a loud 'ba' when they get into the hall!" said Fred anxiously.
"We'll feed them something," returned Jack. "That will be sure to keep them quiet," and he passed over some bits of celery he had in his pocket.
A cautious rap on the iron door, and it was unbolted by Walt Baxter, who had been assigned to that duty.
"How about it—is the coast clear?" whispered Andy anxiously.
"I think so; but wait a minute and I'll make sure," whispered Walt in return.
Soon he came back with word from Fatty and Ned that the rear hall of the school was practically deserted. Ned had already tried several keys in the door to Asa Lemm's apartment, and unlocked it.
It was by sheer good luck that the boys managed unobserved to get the two goats into the school through two hallways and at last into the room of the hated professor.
On one side of the professor's bedroom there was a large clothing closet, and in this the two goats were placed.
"Now we'll take off their harness," said Jack. "There is no use in getting that snarled up or damaged."
"I'm going to fix up some new harness for them," announced Randy. "Come on, Andy."
His twin understood, and while the others remained on guard in the hallway, Randy and Andy lost no time in decorating the two goats with various articles of Professor Lemm's wearing apparel. They buttoned a coat around each goat like a blanket, and got a bright green sweater over one goat's head and around his neck. Then they found a number of used neckties in a chiffonier, and these were tied on the goat's legs and horns.
"They sure do look like some goats now!" cried Andy gaily. Then the animals were shoved back into the closet and the door closed.
"Is the coast still clear?" asked Randy, as they came out of the bedroom.
"It is. But I don't think Lemm will stay downstairs much longer," answered Jack.
"Will you fellows come down again? I've got another idea!" burst out Randy. "Come on—quick!"
Not knowing what was in the wind, the others followed him through the hallway and down the fire-escape once more. Then he led them to a place behind the garage. Here were a number of flat boxes, which, in the springtime, had been used for raising plants. These boxes had had a small amount of water in them, and were now filled with thin sheets of ice.
"Let's take a few of those sheets of ice upstairs," said Randy. "They'll fit in very nicely between the sheets on old Lemon's bed."
All of the others caught at the suggestion with avidity, and in a very few minutes each of the boys was mounting the fire-escape once again, this time with a large sheet of ice, not unlike a heavy pane of glass, under his arm.
"I've got a scheme," suggested Andy, with a broad grin. "We'll place three of the sheets of ice in his bed under the sheet, and the others on the floor here right in front of the door. Then he'll have a chance to slide into the room."
"Wow! and maybe it won't be some slide!" chuckled Walt Baxter.
The sheets of ice were soon placed in the bed and covered with some of the bedspreads, and the others were disposed on the hardwood floor directly in front of the door inside the room. Then the cadets turned out the lights, locked the door as before, and hurried away.
It was less than five minutes later when Dan Soppinger came rushing upstairs, whistling in a peculiar manner. This was a signal that danger was at hand.
"He just put the books away, and he's gathering up his papers," announced Dan. "I think he'll be upstairs in a few minutes more."
"All right, Dan, we're ready for him," announced Randy. "Now then, fellows, if there isn't some fun when Asa Lemm enters his room, then I miss my guess."
The joke that was to come off seemed to be too good to keep, and as a consequence, after a hurried consultation, about a dozen other cadets were let into the secret. All watched eagerly for the coming of Professor Lemm, and there was a low whistle of warning went from room to room when the hated teacher was seen to be mounting the stairs.
As was quite usual with him, Asa Lemm was not in good humor. He had been hunting up a number of references in the library without his usual success.
"This job of teaching is getting worse and worse," he grumbled to himself. "It's too bad that I've got to waste my time on these boys. If I could only get back some of that money I lost, I wouldn't spend another hour over this tiresome task," and he heaved a deep sigh. The loss of his little fortune was the one great sore spot with him.
He came swinging through the hall with long, rapid strides, and as he did so the Rovers and their friends watched him from various doorways and side halls. They saw him unlock his doorand throw it open. The next instant came a sudden yell of alarm, and then a tremendous bump. Asa Lemm's feet had struck the sheets of ice on the floor, and they had gone out from under him very suddenly, letting him down flat on his back.
"Hi! hi! what's the meaning of this?" spluttered the teacher; and then, as his hand struck the icy coldness of what was beneath him, he gave another cry. "Ice! What does this mean? Can the water pipes have burst and flooded the room?"
Not without difficulty he managed to regain his feet, and then started to walk to where he could turn on the lights. But again he slipped, and this time he came up against a small table piled high with books and sent this over with a crash.
"Gee! he's sure enjoying himself!" chuckled Andy.
"Come on, fellows, let's see what all the noise is about!" exclaimed Jack in a loud voice. "Something dreadful must be going on in Professor Lemm's room."
"What's the matter—is somebody getting killed?" called out Randy.
"It isn't a fire, is it?" broke in Walt Baxter, catching the cue.
"Sounds to me as if somebody was pulling the school down," was Spouter's contribution.
"Everybody to the rescue!" yelled Ned Lowe.
These cries, combined with the noise which was coming from Asa Lemm's apartment, caused such a commotion that soon fully a score of other cadets showed themselves in the hallway.
"What's the matter?" questioned Slugger Brown, who had just been on the point of retiring, and who was in his pajamas and slippers.
"Something going on in Professor Lemm's room," answered Nappy Martell, who had been with him, and who was similarly attired.
By this time Professor Lemm had managed to regain his feet a second time, but the broken sheets of ice were now all over the floor of his room, and just as he managed to turn on the lights he slipped once more, this time sending a chair spinning against the closet door.
"It's ice—it's ice, and nothing else!" he ejaculated, as he gazed in wonder at the floor. "Now, how did that come here? I don't see any broken water pipe." Then, of a sudden, his face took on a dark look. "It's those boys—confound them! If I can catch them, I'll make them suffer for this!"
"Let's go in and see what's the matter with the poor man," suggested Andy.
"That's right—maybe he's got a fit."
"Something has happened to Professor Lemm!" yelled one of the other cadets.
By this time the commotion had attracted the attention of nearly everybody in the school, and teachers and cadets came running from all directions, and even some of the hired help from the kitchen came up the back stairs, wondering what had gone wrong. Then the bunch of boys, led by the Rovers, suddenly threw open the door which led to Asa Lemm's room. It was at this instant that the astonished and bewildered professor was making his way toward the closet door. A strange thumping had reached his ears.
"I knew it—it's some of those boys, and more than likely one of them got locked into the closet by his fellows. I'll soon find out who he is andmake him tell me who is responsible for this outrage!"
The door had been locked by Randy, but the key was in it, and readily turned. Then Professor Lemm flung the door open viciously.
"You rascals, I'll teach you to play tricks on me!" he began, as in the somewhat dim light he made out what he thought were the forms of two crouching boys. Then he let out a sudden yell of alarm as one of the crouching figures launched itself forward at him. The figure was that of Patrick, the larger of the goats.
Bewildered by the confinement, and not at all liking the way in which he had been dressed up, the big billy goat hurled himself straight at the teacher. He struck Asa Lemm fairly and squarely in the stomach, bowling him over as if he were a tenpin. Then he made another leap, and landed on the top of the bed, where he gazed around, not knowing which way to turn next.
"Oh my! look at what Professor Lemm has in his room!" piped up Andy.
Asa Lemm had rolled over and was now trying to get up, but just as he raised himself on his hands and knees, he struck some of the sliding sheets of ice, and down he went once more, this time directly in front of the other goat, which promptly proceeded to leap on top of him.
"Hi! get off of me, you rascal!" spluttered the professor, and thrashed around wildly. "Get off of me! Who are you, anyway?" and then, as he got a better sight of the animal, which at that moment leaped up on the bed beside his mate, he turned and sat up in amazement.
"A goat! Two goats! How did they get here?"
"What do you know about this? Professor Lemm is keeping goats in his room!" cried Jack.
These and a score of other cries rent the air, while all the cadets crowded into the doorway of the room to see what was going on. In the bunch of boys were Slugger Brown and Nappy Martell, and it must be confessed that these two unworthies were enjoying the scene quite as much as anybody.
"I'll fix some of you for this!" roared Asa Lemm, as he struggled to his feet, slipping around and clutching the end of his bed as he did so. "I'll have some of you suspended! Where is Colonel Colby? Send for Colonel Colby at once!"
Evidently Patrick, the larger goat, did not like the looks of the irate teacher, who was now shaking his fists at the grinning cadets. Suddenly the goat made another leap, this time striking Asa Lemm in the shoulder, and once more the professor went down, this time with his feet sliding directly under the bed, so that he became somewhat wedged in from his waist down. Then the goat made another leap and charged toward the door to the hallway.
"Look out!" warned Jack, and was just in time to push Fred out of danger. Then the goat made a rush, and the next minute came full tilt into Slugger Brown, sending the bully crashing into those behind him. The second goat also leaped from the bed, and made for the doorway, hitting Martell as he passed.
"Look out for the battering-ram!"
"This is only a battering goat—but it's just as bad!" yelled Andy. "Go it, goat! Go it!" he added gleefully.
Both goats did "go it." They raced through the hallway, knocking down cadets right and left. One younger boy, named Stowell, but who was always called Codfish by the others because of his unusually broad mouth, was attacked at the head of the stairs and sent hurtling down to the bottom.
"Oh! oh! I'm killed! He has knocked me to pieces!" yelled Codfish.
With the two goats racing around the school, the excitement increased. But gradually the goats were driven by the Rovers to a lower hallway,and then toward a side door, which Jack and Fred lost no time in opening.
"Get them out of here as quick as you can. We don't want them to be captured," whispered Jack to his cousins. "We don't want old Lemon to know they are Mike O'Toole's animals."
"Stop those goats! I don't want them to get away!" yelled Asa Lemm, from the upper hallway. But the goats were already outside.
"Oh gee! we forgot one thing—I mean several things!" gasped Andy. "The goats are dressed up in old Lemon's clothes!"
"Gracious! why didn't we think of that?" gasped Randy. "We can't let 'em run away with all that stuff!"
"I'll go after them and see if I can stop them," said Jack.
"Want me to go with you?" questioned Walt.
"If you will, Walt. Maybe it will take two of us to manage the goats." And then Jack and Walt hurried off and the others returned to see what would happen next.
Fortunately for the boys who had gone after them, the goats did not run very far. Jack had a few more vegetables left in his pocket, and with these in his hand he walked cautiously up to the animals, which had run down to a corner of the campus.
"Hurrah! I've got one of them!" cried the Rover boy presently, as he caught Patrick by the horns. "Now, Walt, see if you can hold the other, and we'll take these things off of them."
Now that they were once more in the open air, the goats appeared to be quite docile, and consequently the two cadets had little difficulty in disrobing them.
"Why don't you return the goats to O'Toole while you are at it?" suggested Walt, after the wearing apparel had been placed in a small bundle.
"I'd do it if I had their harness, Walt."
"Want me to go back for it?"
"If you will."
"All right, I'll do it. And give me that bundle. I'll smuggle it into the school somehow and watch my chance to leave it in old Lemon's room." Evidently the son of Dan Baxter was as bold as his father had ever been before him.
So it was arranged, and a minute later Walt disappeared into the school building. He was gone the best part of five minutes, and then came running across the school campus, carrying the goats' harness under his sweater.
"Gee, but they are having a peach of a time in the school," he announced. "Asa Lemm is quarreling with Colonel Colby, who came overfrom his rooms. He wants to have half the school arrested on account of the goats and the ice."
"What did you do with the bundle?"
"Oh, say—that was easy! All the crowd were around old Lemon and the colonel discussing the matter, so I slipped behind them and threw the bundle in the corner of Lemon's room."
The two Rovers lost no time in placing a little of the harness on the goats—just sufficient to drive them.
"Now, you needn't go with me, Walt, unless you want to. I can get these goats to O'Toole's alone."
"Oh, I'd just as lief keep you company," answered the other cheerfully.
Urging the two goats before them, the pair made off down the hill in the direction of the O'Toole farm. The animals seemed to know the way home, and kept up a brisk pace.
"Now then, we had better go a bit slow," announced Jack, when they came in sight of the buildings. "Maybe O'Toole has discovered the absence of the goats, and is on the watch for us."
This warning, however, was unnecessary, for the old Irish farmer and his wife had retired for the night, doing this without being aware of what had taken place among their live stock.
image3THE GOAT CAME FULL TILT INTO SLUGGER BROWN.Page111
Cautiously the two cadets opened the goat stable and led the animals inside. Then, while Walt lit a couple of matches, Jack managed to place the goats where they had been before, and also put the harness away.
"I don't think I'll leave that note, or the money either," he said. "Maybe it will be as well if O'Toole never knows that the goats were out. I don't think the experience did them any harm. If it did, we can settle with O'Toole later;" and he pocketed the note he had previously written, and also the money. Then the two cadets lost no time in hurrying back to Colby Hall.
In the meantime, what Walt had said about the commotion going on at the school was true.
"I tell you, sir, it's a perfect outrage!" bawled Asa Lemm at the top of his lungs. "An outrage, sir, and I demand satisfaction!"
"Please do not become so excited, Professor," responded Colonel Colby. "We must try to get at the bottom of this matter. You say there is ice on the floor of your room?"
"Yes, sir; a perfect pond of ice!"
"Did somebody flood your floor and then freeze it?" questioned the master of the Hall in wonder.
"I don't know how it was done. But it was done, and I nearly broke my neck the minute Ientered the room. It was disgraceful! I never saw anything to equal it!" and Asa Lemm's face was fairly purple with rage.
"And what about those goats?"
"They were locked up in my closet and dressed up in some clothing—my clothing, I suppose."
"Then, when they ran out of the building, they must have taken your clothing with them."
"More than likely. Oh, it's shameful!" and the irate professor shook his fists in his rage.
"Where are the goats now?"
"I don't know, and I don't care."
"One of those goats knocked me flat," growled Slugger Brown.
"Yes, and he biffed me one, too," came from Nappy Martell.
"Let us go and make an investigation, Professor Lemm," remarked Colonel Colby. "I will accompany you to your room," for they were now near the stairway which the goats had descended.
The pair proceeded to the apartment, followed by some of the other teachers and nearly all of the cadets. By this time much of the ice on the floor had melted, forming little pools of muddy water.
"We had better have this cleaned up at once," said Colonel Colby, and turned to one of the teachers. "Order some of the hired help up here,please;" and the teacher hurried off to execute the errand.
While Colonel Colby was looking at the ice and the water, Asa Lemm chanced to glance in a corner. Then he strode forward and caught up the bundle Walt Baxter had flung there.
"What is that?" questioned the master of the Hall. And then, as the professor undid the bundle, he continued: "Is that your clothing?"
"I—I think it is," faltered Asa Lemm. "Yes, sir."
"Did they undress the animals before they let them go?" queried the master of the school, and, if the truth must be told, he had all he could do to keep a straight face. He could not help but remember some of the pranks he had played himself while a cadet at Putnam Hall.
"I don't know anything about this, Colonel Colby. But these are my things," and, catching up the bundle, Asa Lemm flung it into the clothing closet. He continued to storm around, demanding that some of the boys be punished for what had occurred. While this was going on, two of the hired help came up from the kitchen with pails and mops, and presently succeeded in cleaning up the floor. Two rugs which had been lying there were taken away to be dried.
"I think we had better let this matter rest untilmorning," said Colonel Colby finally. "It is too late to start an investigation now. I wish all of you to retire at once," he commanded, to the amused cadets.
"Some one is going to suffer for this," growled Asa Lemm.
"I shall do what I can for you, Professor," announced the master of the Hall, and then he moved away, scattering the cadets before him.
Most of the boys retired to their rooms smiling broadly to themselves, for nearly all of them had enjoyed the joke greatly.
"But it isn't over yet," whispered Andy to his immediate friends. "There is more to come. Just watch and see!"
As soon as Jack and Walt returned to Colby Hall, they hurried up to the rooms occupied by the Rover boys. They found Jack's cousins present, and also Gif, Spouter and several others.
"We had the best luck ever!" declared Jack, and related how they had managed to get the goats back to Mike O'Toole's stable without the Irish farmer being aware of what had happened.
"Say, that's fine!" burst out Andy.
"We want to be on the watch," remarked Randy. "Old Lemon will be going to bed pretty soon, and we want to find out just how comfortable he finds his bed," and he grinned.
Word had been passed around to about a dozen of the cadets, and as soon as the school had quieted down and the others had retired to their rooms, these cadets came forth into the halls on tiptoes and made their way noiselessly in the direction of the apartment occupied by Asa Lemm.
"He's arranging that clothing in his closet," announced Andy, after peering through the keyhole in the door. "He's partly undressed, so I guess he'll go to bed pretty soon."
There was a short silence, and then the boys heard the bed creak as Professor Lemm got into it. An instant later came a cry of rage.
"What's this? More ice, I declare! The bed is sopping wet! Oh, those young rascals!" for Asa Lemm had thrown himself down beneath the spread under which had been placed several sheets of thin ice. A large portion of the ice had melted, and the sheets were as wet as they were cold. As a consequence, his pajamas were pretty well soaked, and he shivered as he threw the covers back and bounced to his feet.
"He's enjoying it all right enough," whispered Andy.
"Hang those boys!" roared the irate teacher. "Oh, what I wouldn't do to them if I had them here!" He hopped around the room first on one foot and then on the other, shivering as he did so. As was usual, the steam throughout the building had been turned off some time before, so that the apartment was quite cold.
"We had better scatter," warned Jack. "He may open the door at any instant and find us here."
"Right you are!" answered Randy, and then, unable to resist the temptation, he bent down and shouted through the keyhole: "Pleasant dreams, Professor! I hope you enjoyed the ice-water!"
Then all of the cadets fled to their rooms, and in less than five minutes each of them was undressed and safe in bed.
If ever there was an angry man, it was Asa Lemm at that particular moment. He had to change all his night clothing, and then don a bathrobe and slippers and go down below once more and get some of the hired help to clean up his room and take away the wet mattress of his bed. A dry mattress was substituted from a vacant bedroom, but it was all of half an hour before this work was accomplished; and in the meantime the professor stormed around, threatening about everything he could imagine.
"I'll have the law on them! I'll have every one of them locked up!" he said to Colonel Colby. "It's an outrage that I should be treated in this fashion."
"It is certainly a most unpleasant occurrence, Professor," agreed the master of the Hall. "But boys will be boys—you know that as well as I do. I can remember when I went to school, I loved to play practical jokes, and they were not always kindly jokes, either. But as for havingthese boys arrested, or anything of that sort, that, I think, would be going too far. We can punish them enough right here—that is, provided we can find out who they are."
"I don't believe in such jokes!"
"Neither do I—now that I have grown older. But I did believe in them when I was a boy."
"The trouble with this school is, the discipline is not strict enough," snapped Asa Lemm. "If we are not more strict, the cadets will degenerate into nothing but rowdies and hoodlums."
"I think I am the best judge of how discipline should be maintained in this institution," responded Colonel Colby, with dignity. "I will take this matter up in the morning and do my best to sift it to the bottom. Now I think we had better retire, as it is growing late," and thereupon he returned to his own rooms.
"I think that was the best joke we ever played," remarked Andy, when he and the other Rovers were dressing on the following morning.
"It sure did count one against old Lemon," chuckled Randy.
"Yes. And to think the way Slugger and Nappy were knocked over by the goats too!" broke in Fred.
"I'll bet they're mad over that," observed Jack. "More than likely, it will make them take a handin assisting Lemm to find out who was guilty. We'll have to be on our guard against them."
"Did anybody see you making off with the goats?" queried Randy suddenly.
"I don't think so," answered Jack. But in this surmise he was mistaken; one cadet had seen Walt Baxter hurrying from the school with goats' harness under his sweater, and this youth had, from a safe distance, watched Jack and Walt place some of the harness on the goats and drive them off in the direction of Mike O'Toole's farm.
This cadet was Codfish, who was always sneaking around, trying to pick up information that did not rightly belong to him.
"Ha, ha!" said the little sneak to himself, after Walt and Jack had disappeared. "Now I know who was responsible for bringing those goats into the school."
At first the sneak thought he would report the matter to either Asa Lemm or Colonel Colby, but as he was not in particularly good favor with the professor on whom the joke had been played, he thought it might be as well for him to wait and think the matter over.
"Maybe I had better tell Slugger and Nappy first and see what they've got to say about it," he reasoned. He went to the bully and his crony with everything.
He dressed early, and then went over to Nappy's room, where he found the cronies together, just as he had surmised. They were talking over the affair of the night before and wondering who could be guilty.
"I've got some news," announced Codfish.
"What news?" demanded Nappy.
"It's very important," went on the little cadet. "If I tell you will you promise not to give me away?"
"Is it about last night's affair, Cod?" demanded Slugger quickly.
"Now look here, Slugger! You promised not to call me Cod any more," pleaded the sneak.
"All right, Henry. That was merely a slip of the tongue," returned the bully good-naturedly. He knew exactly how to handle such a fellow as Stowell. "Now tell us what you've got on your mind."
"Will you promise not to give me away?"
"Sure!" came from both of the others promptly.
"Well then, I know who brought those two goats into the school last night," announced Codfish proudly; and thereupon, being urged to do so by the others, he told of what he had seen.
"I knew the Rovers were mixed up in that!" cried Slugger.
"And I've noticed that Walt Baxter has been training with them. More than likely it was the work of the whole Rover crowd," announced Nappy.
"Don't you think we ought to let Colonel Colby know about this?" questioned Codfish anxiously. It was his delight to get other cadets into trouble and see them suffer, but he always wanted to keep his own actions dark for fear his schoolmates might turn on him and start in to "square up."
"Of course we ought to let Colonel Colby know about this—and Professor Lemm too," answered Nappy. "The question is, how can we do it without getting mixed up in it ourselves?"
"We might send a note to Colonel Colby," suggested the sneak.
The matter was talked over for several minutes, and then it was decided that two notes should be written and one delivered to Colonel Colby and the other to Asa Lemm.
"Who is going to write the notes?" questioned Codfish.
"You can do that, Henry," said the bully quickly. He had not forgotten how the anonymous letter he had once sent out had been traced back to him, in spite of the disguised handwriting.
"Oh, I couldn't do that!" answered Stowell in alarm. And he shook his head vigorously.
"Yes, you can!" broke in Nappy. And thereupon, somewhat against his will, Codfish penned the two notes in as much of a disguised hand as was possible for him.
"But I'm not going to deliver the notes," he warned feebly. "You two have got to do that much."
"All right, we will," answered Slugger. He turned to his crony. "You slip one of them under Professor Lemm's door, and I'll place the other on Colonel Colby's desk."
"All right, but be careful."
"Bet your life!"
Asa Lemm was just finishing his morning toilet and grumbling over the happenings of the night, when he chanced to glance toward the door of his room, and at that moment saw a letter thrust under it. He stared for an instant in amazement, and then rushed forward and threw the door wide open. But his movement, quick as it was, came too late, for Nappy Martell had already slipped around a corner and made his escape. Taking up the letter, the professor read the contents with great interest. The communication ran as follows:
"Dear Professor Lemm:"If you want to know more about the trouble last night, ask John Rover and Walter Baxter. They had the two billy goats. I think you will find that all of the Rovers and the boys who go with them were in this joke."Yours respectfully,"One Who Knows."
"Dear Professor Lemm:"If you want to know more about the trouble last night, ask John Rover and Walter Baxter. They had the two billy goats. I think you will find that all of the Rovers and the boys who go with them were in this joke."Yours respectfully,"One Who Knows."
"So that's who is guilty!" muttered the teacher, after reading the letter a second time. "The Rovers, eh? I might have known it because of the trouble I have had with them in the classroom. And I remember now that I have also had trouble with that Baxter boy. I must see Colonel Colby about this at once."
The professor hurried downstairs, and found that Colonel Colby had entered his office but a few minutes before, and was perusing the communication left there secretly by Slugger Brown.
"I have found out who was guilty last night," snapped Asa Lemm, as he flourished the letter in his hand.
"Did you receive an anonymous communication?" demanded the master of the Hall.
"I did, sir. But what makes you ask that question?"
"I have such a communication myself," and Colonel Colby indicated the epistle.
"We must punish those rascals, sir!"
"First I want to find out if there is any truth in these letters," answered Colonel Colby. "Very frequently anonymous communications cannot be relied upon."
"Oh, I haven't the least doubt but what Rover and Baxter are guilty!" exclaimed Asa Lemm quickly. "I've had trouble in the classroom with them, and also with the other Rovers. I should not be surprised if the whole crowd had something to do with it."
"I will send for Rover and Baxter."
It must be confessed that Jack was somewhat surprised when one of the assistants came to him and told him he was wanted immediately in the office.
"Gee! this looks bad!" cried Randy.
"Want any of us to go with you?" questioned Fred quickly.
"No; I can face the music alone," answered the oldest Rover boy.
He arrived at the office just as another assistant was bringing in Walt Baxter. The two exchanged glances, but said nothing. But the glance given Walt meant, "Keep mum," and the other understood and nodded slightly.
"So here you are, eh?" cried Asa Lemm, before Colonel Colby had a chance to say a word. "I thought I'd catch you!"
"Excuse me, Professor Lemm, but I wish you would allow me to conduct this examination," put in Colonel Colby a trifle stiffly. If the truth must be told, the overbearing manner of the teacher was not any more to the liking of the master of the Hall than it was to the cadets. Yet, Asa Lemm had come well recommended, and Colonel Colby did not wish to pass hasty judgment on him.
"Yes, sir," returned the professor. "But please remember I have suffered greatly, and I demand satisfaction."
"I have sent for you cadets in order to clear up the affair that happened last night," began Colonel Colby, ignoring Asa Lemm's last remark. "I have been given to understand that you were the two to bring those goats into the Hall. Am I right?"
"I did not bring the goats into the Hall," returned Walt Baxter promptly. "Just the same, I guess I'm as guilty as anybody," he added quickly, not wishing to shirk responsibility.
"I was one of the cadets who brought the goats into the Hall, Colonel Colby," answered Jack promptly.
"Baxter did not assist in bringing them into the Hall?"
"No, sir."
"But you were not alone, Rover?"
"No, sir."
"Who was with you in this escapade?"
"I prefer not to answer that question, Colonel Colby."
"Make him answer! Make him answer!" stormed Asa Lemm. "You young rascal! I'll teach you to play tricks on me!" and he shook his fist in Jack's face.
"Professor Lemm, I'll thank you to be less violent," interrupted Colonel Colby. "This examination must be held in an orderly fashion. You say you were not alone, Rover. Will you tell me how many were mixed up in this affair?"
Jack thought for a moment. "Do you mean the whole happening in Professor Lemm's room?"
"Yes."
"Oh, there were eight or ten of us—maybe more. Of course, some had more to do with it than others," responded Jack.
"Eight or ten of you!" gasped Asa Lemm. "As many as that?" And his face showed his surprise. He had imagined that possibly only the Rover boys and Walt Baxter were guilty.
"Are you quite sure you don't want to mention any names, Rover?" asked Colonel Colby again.
"No, Colonel. And if you were in my position, I do not think you would want to mention any of them either," added Jack, looking the master of the Hall squarely in the eyes.
"We won't discuss that side of the question." Colonel Colby turned to Walt Baxter. "How about you? Do you care to say who was mixed up in this affair?"
"No, sir," was the prompt response.
"Make them tell! Make them tell!" exclaimed Asa Lemm. "Punish them severely! Put them in the guardhouse on bread and water until they are willing to divulge the names of all the rascals who were mixed up in these outrageous proceedings."
"I am not going to make them tell if they won't do it on their own account," was Colonel Colby's answer. As a cadet at Putnam Hall, he had never had any use for a tale bearer.
"Then I'll take the law in my own hands!" cried Asa Lemm vindictively. "I'll go down to Haven Point and make a complaint and have them both arrested!"
While the examination of Jack and Walt was taking place in the office, the other Rovers and their chums held a meeting in Randy's room.
"What do you suppose this means—calling Jack and Walt down to the colonel's office?" remarked Fred anxiously. He had just been informed by Dan Soppinger about Walt.
"It was Jack and Walt who took those goats back. Maybe somebody spotted them," suggested Spouter.
The discussion lasted for some minutes and grew quite warm, and then Andy leaped up.
"I know what I'm going to do!" he said. "I'm going below and try to find out just what it means."
"And so am I," added Fred and Randy quickly.
"We'll all stand by him," announced Spouter. "Of course, you fellows brought the goats here, but I think we had as much to do with the rest of it as any of you."
Andy hurried off, and lost no time in making his way to the door of Colonel Colby's private office. The door had been left slightly ajar, so it was an easy matter for him to take in most of what was said.
"Gracious! this certainly is growing serious," he murmured to himself, when Asa Lemm made the declaration that he would go down to Haven Point and have Jack and Walt arrested. "I guess I had better let the others know about it," and he scurried upstairs again.
"Oh, Andy! do you suppose old Lemon will really have them locked up?" questioned Fred anxiously, after being told of what was taking place below.
"I don't think he would dare to do it," announced Spouter.
"I move we all go down and take a hand in this!" cried Gif. "There is no fairness in letting Jack and Walt suffer for what we did."
Several other cadets had drifted in, those who had either been on the watch while the joke was being prepared or who had assisted in placing the sheets of ice on the floor and in the bed, and all agreed that the crowd had better stand together when it came to acknowledging what had been done.
"Forward march!" cried Gif, who, as a leaderin athletics, took it upon himself to manage the affair. "Come on now—and no shirking!"
Braced up by numbers, all of the cadets fell in readily with this plan, and as a consequence there were ten boys led by Gif and the Rovers who marched down to the office.
"We'll enter by column of twos," announced Gif. "March in in regular military fashion," he added, and then knocked upon the office door.
Colonel Colby was doing what he could to question Jack and Walt on one hand, while trying to make Asa Lemm keep quiet on the other, when the others arrived. The master of the Hall was having no easy time of it, because Professor Lemm seemed to be growing more and more excited.
"I'll have the law on them, I tell you!" he cried. "They ought to go to state's prison for this!"
"Please be quiet just a minute, Professor," remonstrated Colonel Colby. Then came the knock on the door, and the colonel flung it open, not at all pleased over the interruption.
"Wha—what does this mean?" gasped Asa Lemm, as he saw the double row of cadets filing in.
"Colonel Colby, we have come to report," announced Gif, saluting.
"Please allow me to be the spokesman, Gif," pleaded Randy, stepping to the front. And then, before his school chum could speak, he continued: "Colonel Colby, we have come to give ourselves up."
"Give yourselves up! What do you mean, Rover?"
"We were all in this lark together, sir."
"And if there is to be any punishment we want to stand for our share of it," added Andy.
"I think we Rover boys were more to blame than the others," put in Fred.
"You see, Professor Lemm is down on us, and we thought we had to do something to get square," Andy endeavored to explain.
"He doesn't treat us fairly in the classroom!" cried Spouter.
"If he wasn't here we'd get along without any trouble whatever," piped up a voice in the rear.
It must be confessed that the sudden entrance of the ten cadets, and what they had to say concerning the joke that had been played, somewhat stumped the master of the Hall. As for Asa Lemm, for the moment he was dumbfounded; but then his natural antipathy to boys asserted itself, and he glared at them viciously.
"So you were all in it, eh?" he snarled. "I might have known as much. You are all a packof rowdies! You are not fit to associate with respectable people!"
"Professor Lemm, I do not wish you to address our cadets in such a manner," said Colonel Colby sternly. "These young gentlemen are not rowdies, even though they have played a joke which was not particularly nice. I do not uphold them in the least in what they have done, but, at the same time, I cannot help but remember that they are only boys, and that boys are sometimes very thoughtless."
"Thoughtless! They think too much! I tell you, sir, they are a pack of rowdies, and unless you punish them, and punish them severely, I shall take the matter in my own hands and have them arrested."
"If you do anything of that sort, Professor Lemm, we will have to dispense with your services in this school," announced Colonel Colby flatly. He was growing weary of the irate teacher's manner.
A strenuous half hour followed, everybody present forgetting all about roll call and breakfast. Colonel Colby did what he could in questioning all of the cadets regarding the occurrences of the night before, but was continually interrupted by the unreasonable teacher. Finally he could stand it no longer, and turned to the professor with all the dignity he could command.
"Professor Lemm, I have stood enough," he said in a cold, hard voice, which instantly commanded attention. "I want no more such language from you. You may go to your breakfast, and I will conduct this examination alone, and will see you about it before we begin the day's session in the school. And, in the meantime, allow me to impress upon you that it is all nonsense to talk about having any of these boys arrested. They have done nothing that warrants arrest, and if you attempt anything of that sort, you will not only make yourself ridiculous, but you might place yourself open to a suit for damages. Now, please leave this office."
"I'll see about this! I'll see about this!" snapped the unreasonable teacher, and left the office in anything but a dignified fashion.
As soon as Professor Lemm had gone, the master of the Hall questioned the boys closely concerning, not only the affair of the night before, but also about the troubles they had had with the teacher, both in the classroom and elsewhere. This was the first time the boys had had a chance to "get one in on old Lemon," as Andy afterwards declared, and they did not mince matters in telling of the many trials and tribulations which Asa Lemm had caused them. It is barelypossible that some of the complaints were overdrawn, yet there was such a unanimity of opinion concerning Professor Lemm's harshness that Colonel Colby was quite impressed.
"Now I want to ask you boys a question, and I want you to answer it honestly," said Colonel Colby toward the close of the examination. "Would you have played such a trick as this upon any of the other professors?"
"I wouldn't," answered Randy quickly.
"Nor I," came from Fred and Andy.
"I'd never dream of playing such a trick on anybody but a man like Professor Lemm," announced Jack. The others also agreed that it was not likely any such joke would have been played on anybody else in the Hall.
"Then, evidently, none of you likes Professor Lemm," said Colonel Colby slowly.
To this there was no reply, but the look on the faces of the various cadets showed the master of the Hall that he had struck the truth.
"Now I'm going to ask you boys another question," he went on, after a pause, and there was a faint smile on his face when he spoke. "Don't you think you ought to be punished for what you have done?"
For a moment there was another silence. Then Jack spoke up.
"In one way, yes, sir; but in another, no," he replied. "Professor Lemm treated us very unjustly in the classroom in making us stay in and making us do extra lessons, and we didn't know of any other way to get square with him."
"Looks to me as if we got our punishment before we played the joke," said Andy, and this reply made some of the cadets grin.
Colonel Colby looked out of the window, which faced the snow-covered campus. Although the boys did not know it, he hardly knew what to say or do. He realized that he could not pass over the occurrence without punishing the lads, and yet he could see their point of view—that Asa Lemm had been the first at fault in not treating them fairly during classes.
"Order has got to be maintained in this school," he said finally, as he faced them. "If we did not have order, the whole institution would go to pieces. That is my first point. My second is that two Wrongs have never yet made a Right, and instead of taking matters into your own hands, as you did, after having trouble with Professor Lemm, you should have come to me and told me what was wrong.
"I shall take this matter up later, after I have had an opportunity to make further inquiries concerning your conduct. In the meantime, you maygo to breakfast, and then to your classes;" and thus he dismissed them.
Of course, as soon as the boys were by themselves, they began to discuss the situation from every possible angle. Several wanted to know how it was that the master of the Hall had learned that Jack and Walt were guilty.
"Somebody sent Colonel Colby a note about us. I saw it on his desk," answered Jack.
"Yes, and Asa Lemm had another note just like it," added Walt. "Some sneak in this school must have watched us, and then sent the notes."
Much to the cadets' relief, they did not see Asa Lemm in the messroom. Nor did the language teacher show himself during the morning session.
"Perhaps he's having another talk with Colonel Colby," suggested Fred.
The youngest Rover was right. The unreasonable teacher was closeted with the master of the Hall for over an hour, and during that time much of what had been told by the cadets was threshed over. Asa Lemm was as unreasonable as ever, and finally Colonel Colby lost all patience with him.
"I am afraid, Professor Lemm, that you are not suited to be a teacher in this institution," he said. "Your actions here show that you are veryirritable and unreasonable. After you left this office, I questioned all of those cadets closely, and all had practically the same story to tell; namely, that you had required more than was fair of them in your classes, and that, on the slightest pretext, you had punished them by making them stay in and do extra lessons. I went into many of the details, and I am convinced that in a good proportion of the cases the students were right and you were wrong. Now, I regret this very much, because I realize that——"
"Sir, I don't want to be talked to in this fashion!" cried Asa Lemm, bridling up. "I was not in the wrong at all. Those boys are regular imps! They don't know how to treat a teacher decently! I won't stand for their nonsense! I want them severely punished, or else——"
"Wait a moment, Professor Lemm," interrupted the colonel, rising and facing him sternly. "I said I was sorry, and I am; but I feel that you are not the man to teach in this institution, and consequently I must ask you for your resignation. I will pay you your salary up to the first of next month, and you can leave this school just as soon as you desire."
"Wha—what? This! to me?" ejaculated the professor in consternation.
"Yes, sir. You can draw your pay, and,if you wish, you can leave this morning."
"But—but—this is outrageous! I won't stand it! I was hired for the school year!"
"You were—on condition that your services were entirely satisfactory to me. They are not satisfactory, and consequently I am giving you this opportunity to resign."
"If I have to leave, I'll have those boys arrested!" stormed Asa Lemm.
"I don't think I'd be so foolish, if I were in your place, Professor. What they did was nothing but a foolish schoolboy joke, and they did that simply to get square with you for your unreasonable conduct toward them. I think the best you can do is to drop the matter. If you insist on dragging this affair before the public, perhaps the boys, and I, myself, will have something to say that you will not care to hear."
"We'll see—we'll see!" cried Asa Lemm, shaking his head and with his eyes blazing wrathfully. "We'll see about this!" and thus speaking, he stamped away.