CHAPTER XXI.THE ESCAPE.
“I
“I AM happy to inform you that I have done all my part of the work, according to orders. The provisions have been purchased, and are now safely stowed away in a farmer’s barn, on Block Island. The Sweepstakes is ready for the cruise; and I will see that every thing is kept in order, so that when you are ready to start, we can put to sea with the least possible trouble. No one in the village has the slightest suspicion that any thing is in the wind. I hope you will be as fortunate as I have been.”
So ran a note which Tom received from Johnny Harding, on Tuesday afternoon, and which he showed to his friends on the ball-ground. It is needless to say that the Night-hawks were delighted with the success of their plans; and the new members looked upon Tom and Johnny as the two smartest boys in existence.
Attempts to desert the academy were very uncommon, and, as all the boys well knew, had failed more frequently than they had proved successful; and so great an undertaking as Tom had suggested, had never before entered into the head of the most reckless student. The conspirators, with but very few exceptions, had never imagined that the grand commander’s scheme could be successfullycarried out. They had given their consent to it, not because they hoped to be able to escape the examination, but because they wanted something exciting with which to occupy their minds; and even Rich and Miller, who had long been acquainted with Tom, and who knew pretty nearly what he could do, had often predicted that the grand commander’s plan would prove to be but a sure way of bringing every member of the society to certain and speedy punishment. The colonel, they said, would certainly “snuff something,” and the first thing they knew, they would all find themselves in the guard-house, living on bread and water. This was the reason why they had kept in the background as much as possible, and allowed Tom to do all the work. If they were discovered, he, being the leader, would be the most severely punished. But when Tom showed these two worthies the note he had just received from the fifth captain, they found that they had been mistaken. The outside work had all been accomplished without giving any one a hint of what was going on, and they began to believe that Tom was in earnest, and that, perhaps, he might, after all, manage affairs so that they could avoid the examination, and have a “jolly time on their own hook.” But still there was chance for failure; and, although they took a prominent part in all the “business meetings”—which were held as often as the Night-hawks could get together—they always endeavored to have it understood that Tom was the leader of the conspiracy.
Monday, the day on which the examination was to commence, was still a long way off. Five days of lessons and drills must be endured before the time for actionarrived, and the excited Night-hawks hardly believed that they should be able to live through them. Time moved on laggard wings; but the boys survived, in spite of hard lessons and extra guard-duty at night, and, finally, the eventful day arrived. The examination commenced that morning, and, as the Night-hawks had made no preparation for it, they fell sadly behindhand in all their lessons. The result had shown them exactly what they might have expected; and, when dress parade was over, and the members of the society met in an unfrequented part of the grounds, to hold their last council at the academy, they were very much excited, and they were ready to risk almost any thing to escape the remaining six days of examination.
“I tell you what it is, fellows,” said one of the new members, “I never did like this business; but I’m in for it now. I couldn’t live through a week’s work such as we had to-day.”
“We’re in a bad fix,” chimed in another. “If we stay here, we are certain to be placed under arrest, while the other fellows are in camp enjoying themselves; and if we are caught in our attempt to take French leave, of course we shall be put into the guard-house.”
“Are you going to back out?” asked Rich.
“O, no; I’m going to stick to you. But I can’t help thinking that we are in a very unpleasant situation.”
“We can’t help it,” said Tom. “We are not going to stay here, and be put under arrest; that’s settled. Of course, we run something of a risk in trying to escape; but we can’t help that, either. I hope you didn’t think that, when we got ready to go, the colonel would give us all a furlough for two or three weeks? At any rateit’s too late to back out. Now for business! I hope that you have all concluded that my plan is the best.”
Tom’s plan for escape was by making use of the rope—a clothes’-line—which, with the assistance of some of his friends, he had doubled and twisted; but it was still long enough to reach from the third story of the building to the ground. After the rope had been procured, it was a long time before any of the conspirators, except Rich and Miller, would consent to use it. The thought of lowering themselves down, from a second or third story window, with a clothes’-line, even though it was doubled and twisted, was enough to make them shudder. One of the new members had proposed to file a key to fit one of the outside doors, which were locked by the teachers, every night at nine o’clock; but this plan was at once voted down by the others, who argued that, even if they possessed a key that would open the door, they could not pass the sentries in the hall. Another desperate fellow, who had been reading a story of a mutiny at sea, proposed that they should knock the sentinels down, and tie them hand and foot. A third suggested that the Night-hawks be instructed to conceal themselves in different parts of the building, until the other students and the teachers had all gone to bed, when they would make their escape through the school-room windows. These and many other plans had been proposed and discussed; but, at last, the conspirators were compelled to acknowledge that Tom’s idea was the best. True, it was rather dangerous and even Tom himself hardly expected that it would be successful; but still, it promised better than any that had been proposed, and the grand commander was determined to attempt it.
The dormitory to which Miller and Rich belonged was in the third story of the academy, and directly over that occupied by Tom, Martin, and three or four other members of the society. Miller was to take possession of the rope, and, at midnight, open the third window from the front of the building, fasten one end of the rope securely to his bedstead, and throw the other to the ground. The boys in the upper dormitory were to make their descent first, and then those who belonged to dormitory H. Just as these plans had been determined upon, the ringing of the supper-bell broke up the council.
“Now, boys,” said Tom, “be very careful. Don’t go to sleep to-night; and, whatever you do, don’t make noise enough to disturb any outsiders.”
The Night-hawks separated, and, although many of them felt like criminals, no one who met them, as they entered the academy, had reason for supposing that any thing unusual was going on. Of course they were intensely excited, and more than one held his breath when he thought of hanging by a clothes’-line from a third story window. Tom, Rich, and Miller were the only ones who appeared to be unconcerned. They did not stop to think of the risk they were about to run; they thought only of the fine time they expected to have during the cruise, and how astonished the principal and all the teachers would be when they discovered that fourteen students had “taken French.”
At nine o’clock the conspirators marched, with the others, from the school-room to their dormitories, and, half an hour later, were all in bed, and, apparently, fast asleep. At eleven o’clock Mr. Hudson passed throughdormitory H, and saw the grand commander lying with his head covered up in the quilts; but he did not notice that he snored louder than usual. Tom’s snoring, however, was not genuine. He was wide-awake, and, when Mr. Hudson entered his room and closed his door, the chief conspirator cautiously raised the quilts from his head and looked about. The lights in the dormitory burned dimly, and nothing disturbed the stillness save the gentle breathing of the sleepers, and the measured tread of the sentinels in the hall. After satisfying himself that all “outsiders” were sound asleep, Tom arose from the bed and pulled on his trowsers. He then wrapped his boots up in his coat, and, after casting a suspicious glance about the room, he cautiously raised the window at the head of his bed, and threw the bundle to the ground. After carefully closing the window, he again got into bed, no one but the wide-awake Night-hawks having witnessed his movements. Tom was greatly encouraged. If he could raise the window once without awaking any of his forty-eight sleeping room-mates, he could certainly do it again. From that moment he looked upon his escape as a settled thing, and he began to be impatient for Rich and Miller to begin operations. The latter, however, remembering their instructions, made no move until midnight, and the grand commander began to fear that they had disgracefully “backed out.” But presently he heard a noise that caused him to chuckle to himself, and to look toward the beds of the apparently sleeping Night-hawks, who, in fact, were as wide-awake as himself, and listening with all their ears. It was a grating, hissing sound, as if some heavy body was being loweredslowly, cautiously, down the side of the building. The Night-hawks in the upper dormitory were beginning to make their escape. There could be no mistake about it, and Tom began to be really excited now, his heart thumping against his ribs with a noise that frightened him. Slowly and steadily the body descended, and, in a few moments, Tom heard the rope tapping against the wall, showing that the boy, whoever he was, had reached the ground in safety. For five minutes all was silent, and then the same grating noise told the grand commander that a second boy was descending the rope. During the half hour that followed, the operation was repeated eight times, and Tom, who knew just how many boys there were in the dormitory above him who belonged to the Night-hawks, prepared to take his turn. After glancing cautiously about the room, in order to make sure that no “outsiders” in his dormitory had been alarmed, he arose from his bed, and, with trembling hands, arranged the quilts so that a careless observer would not have noticed that it was empty; then he stepped to the window, which he raised without making noise enough to disturb a cricket. Thrusting his arm out into the darkness, he clutched the rope, which was still suspended from the room above, and crawled carefully out of the window. The next moment he found himself dangling in the air thirty feet from the ground. His position was now a trying one. The clothes’-line cut into his hands, every thing below him was concealed by Egyptian darkness, and it is natural to suppose that the boy who was afraid to ascend the mast of a schooner felt his courage giving away when he found himself hanging from a second-story window. But Tom, rememberingthat ten boys had already made the descent in safety, and knowing that there were three more Night-hawks in the building waiting to make their escape, and that the least awkwardness on his part might alarm the sentries, clung to the rope with a death-gripe, and manfully choked back the cry for help that involuntarily arose to his lips. Slowly, cautiously, he worked his way downward, and presently an encouraging whisper came up through the darkness—“That’s the way to do it, Newcombe. You’re a brick. Go easy!” and the next moment the grand commander slid down the rope into the arms of his friends, receiving their congratulations apparently as unconcerned as if he had never in his life experienced the sentiment of fear.
The Escape from the Academy.—Page 286
The Escape from the Academy.—Page 286
Tom’s first care, upon finding himself safe on the ground, was to hunt up his coat and boots. By the time this was done, another boy had made his escape, and, in a quarter of an hour more, the last member of the society had been seized and embraced by his exultant friends.
“Who would have thought it, boys?” whispered Rich. “I tell you we have done something now worth bragging about. Won’t the old colonel open his eyes?”
“No time to talk, fellows!” whispered Tom. “Don’t laugh till you are out of the woods. Come on, let’s be off.”
So saying, the grand commander, now as proud of his position as if he had been a brigadier-general, led the way toward the south side of the grounds, where a picket had been knocked off the fence the day before, to assist them in making their escape.
The Night-hawks were all astonished at their success,as well they might be. Not only had they thrown all their former exploits completely into the shade, but they had accomplished a feat that would be an interesting passage in the history of the Newport Military Academy, as long as that institution should stand. They pressed one another’s hands in silence as they walked along through the grounds, and more than one gave Tom a complimentary slap on the back, accompanied by the whispered exclamation:
“Newcombe, you are a jolly old brick! It takes you to manage such business as this!”
Tom easily found the place where the picket had been removed, and one after another of the boys squeezed themselves through the opening until they all stood in the road.
“Now, then,” said Tom; “I know we’re all right, but the faster we go, the more time we shall gain. Forward, double-quick.”
So elated were the deserters, that they could scarcely refrain from shouting; but, knowing that they were not yet safe, they gave vent to their exultant feelings by cutting astonishing capers as they ran along the road. Just before they arrived at the village, they separated into a half a dozen little parties, and, following different roads, bent their steps toward the creek where the Sweepstakes lay at her anchorage. In half an hour they were all assembled at the lumber-pile, where they were met by Johnny Harding and his four friends, in a state of considerable excitement.
“O, fellows,” whispered the fifth captain, wildly throwing his arms about, “we’re aground, and a thousand miles from water!”
“You don’t say so!” exclaimed all the boys at once.
“Yes, I do say it!” answered Johnny. “The whole thing is knocked into a cocked hat; the expedition is as dead as a herring. Go back to the academy, take your punishment like men, and say no more about it.”
“But what’s the matter?” asked Tom, impatiently.
“Just look out there!” said Johnny, pointing toward the creek. “Do you see the Sweepstakes anywhere? No, you don’t! Squire Thompson suddenly took it into his head that he would like to go on a fishing excursion, and he’s gone; he won’t be back for a week.”
The Night-hawks were astounded at this intelligence. After congratulating themselves on the gallant and skillful manner in which they had made their escape from the academy, and looking forward so eagerly and confidently to the consummation of all their plans, this disheartening piece of news came upon them like a thunder clap from a clear sky. They had placed themselves in danger all for nothing; for, if their boat was gone, they might as well be at the academy.
“O, now, I’m the most unlucky boy in the whole world!” drawled Tom. “Something is always happening to bother me. I never can do any thing! But I knew all the time just how it would turn out!”
“You did?” exclaimed Rich, angrily. “Then what did you get us in this miserable scrape for? We are all a parcel of blockheads. We ought to have had sense enough to know that such a scheme as this never could succeed. I throw up my appointment as commander of the vessel.”
“No doubt you do,” said Miller, who seemed to take the matter more coolly than any one else. “It’s veryeasy to throw up your command after our vessel is gone. But, Johnny, why didn’t you send us word of this? You’ve got us into a pretty mess.”
“I didn’t know that the Sweepstakes was gone until seven o’clock to-night,” replied the fifth captain, “and it was too late to send you word then.”
“Well, somebody suggest something!” said Miller. “Come, Newcombe, have your wits all left you? We are in a bad scrape, and we must get out, if possible. Let’s hear from you!”
“O, now, I’ve got nothing to say!” drawled Tom, who was walking thoughtfully up and down the lumber-pile. “We’re booked for the guard-house, easy enough. I always was an unlucky boy.”
He was thinking, not what plan he ought to adopt to extricate himself and companions from their unpleasant situation, but how he might avoid punishment when he returned to the academy.
“We are not in the guard-house yet,” replied Miller; “and I, for one, don’t intend to go there until we have had our cruise. Johnny, did you mail that letter to ’Squire Thompson, as you intended?”
“Of course not; what was the use of paying for his boat until we were certain that we could get her? I’ve got the letter in my pocket now, with fourteen dollars in it. By the way, you academy fellows owe us a quarter of a dollar apiece. You didn’t give us money enough to settle all the bills.”
“We’ll pay you, Johnny,” said Tom, who, from some cause or another, seemed in a fair way to recover his usual spirits. “But do you know where the Swallow is?”
“That’s so!” exclaimed Johnny, excitedly. “Where is she? She’s at your father’s wharf, that’s where she is. I saw her there this evening. I have been so upset by losing the Sweepstakes that I didn’t think we could capture some other vessel just as well.”
“The captain of the Swallow doesn’t generally leave a watch on board his vessel when he’s in port, does he?” inquired Tom.
“No, he don’t; we’re all right yet. All hands stand by to get ship under way. Come ahead, boys.”
“Hold on!” exclaimed Tom, who, now that he saw a way out of the difficulty, was quite willing to resume the management of affairs; “we must separate. No more than two of us ought to go together, for we may be seen, you know, even at this hour. Pair off, and meet again on my father’s wharf as soon as possible.”
In obedience to these orders, the boys separated, and in a few moments Tom, accompanied by Johnny Harding, arrived at the wharf, where the Night-hawks were all assembled. The Swallow was moored at the wharf, and the boys were encouraged when they saw that her deck was deserted.
“Now, then,” said Miller, in a low whisper, “how do we know but there are men on board that vessel?”
“Some one ought to go and see,” said Rich. “You do it, Newcombe. You are the strongest and bravest fellow in the party, and we would rather trust you than any other fellow.”
Tom would have been much better pleased if some one else had been selected to perform this rather dangerous piece of business. What if there was a watch on board the Swallow, and he should be discovered? Whatexcuse could he make for being away from the academy at such an unusual hour, and for prowling about where he had no business? Tom asked himself these questions, but still he could not refuse to play the part of spy, for not only was he utterly unable to resist flattery, but he did not dare to make an exhibition of cowardice before the new members of the society, for he was anxious to establish a reputation among them. In as steady a voice as he could command, he replied:
“If you fellows will go behind the office, out of sight, I’ll do it.”
As soon as the Night-hawks had concealed themselves, Tom walked across the wharf on tip-toe, climbed over the rail of the sloop, and looked about him. He took two things in at a glance. The cabin doors were closed, which was good evidence that she was deserted, and there were no other vessels lying at his father’s wharf. This was a very favorable circumstance for the runaways. All the large vessels in the harbor, of course, kept a night-watch; and, if the boys should be discovered making off with the sloop, there might be some trouble. Having noted these two points, Tom crossed the deck, opened the cabin-doors, and disappeared from the view of the Night-hawks, who, closely watching all his movements, held themselves in readiness to take to their heels and leave their grand commander to his fate, if he should be discovered. But the cabin was found to be empty; for the captain, not dreaming that any one would disturb his vessel, had not thought it necessary to leave a watch on board.
“We are all right now, boys,” whispered Tom, when he had reported the result of his investigations to hiscompanions; “and I propose that Rich be allowed to assume authority as captain of the vessel.”
“Agreed,” said all the boys.
“Now, Rich,” continued Tom, “we are ready to hear your orders. Be lively.”
“Well, then,” said the captain, hurriedly, “all you landlubbers go on board that vessel, and remain in the cabin, out of sight, until we get out of the harbor; and all you fellows, who have been to sea, stay with me.”
When the “landlubbers” had obeyed the order, Rich found that he had a crew of eight boys.
“Johnny,” said Tom, “address that letter you have in your pocket to the captain of the Swallow, and put it in the post-office.”
“I’ve got no pen,” replied Johnny; “and how can I see to address the letter without a light?”
“Go aboard the ship,” commanded Captain Rich, “and no doubt you will find writing materials there. The next thing,” he continued, as Johnny ran off to obey the order, “is to appoint my officers. As you have managed this thing so far, Newcombe, I’ll reward you by making you my first mate. Miller, you will be second; and Johnny Harding, when he comes back, shall be third.”
Some of the boys were a good deal disappointed by this arrangement, for all those who had been to sea, had made calculations on receiving some office. But it had been decided beforehand, that the captain should be allowed to select his own officers; and, as all the boys were impatient to get to sea, they did not raise any objections.
“So far, so good,” said Rich, as he walked up andtook a survey of the vessel he was to command. “The next step is to get her out to the end of the pier. Miller, jump aboard and get out a stern-line. Newcombe, find something that will do for a tow-line; make one end fast on board, and lead the other round the starboard side of the vessel back to the wharf.”
“What’s that for?” exclaimed Tom. “That isn’t the best way to turn her around.”
“Newcombe!” said Rich, angrily, “I am the captain of this vessel, and you must do as you are ordered, without stopping to ask questions.”
“O, now, see here!” drawled Tom, “I want you to understand that the government of this society is democratic, and I have a right to have my say.”
“And I also want you to understand that I have been ordered to take this vessel to sea, and that I’m going to do it,” said Captain Rich. “If you don’t get a tow-line out very soon, I’ll appoint another first mate.”
This threat alarmed Tom, who, without further parley, sprang on board the sloop and hastened to carry out his orders.
“All ready for’ard,” said he, when he had got out the tow-line.
“All ready aft,” repeated Miller.
“Man the tow-line,” said Captain Rich.
In obedience to this order, the crew, now numbering five boys, who were still on the wharf, took hold of the rope.
“Cast off for’ard,” continued the captain, “and shore off. Run away with the tow-line.”
As these commands were obeyed, the bow of thesloop swung around, and, when the stern-line was cast off, she came about, and her bow pointed out to sea. The boys who held the tow-line, pulled her to the end of the pier, where she was again made fast.
“Hasn’t Johnny got back yet?” asked Rich.
“Yes, here I am,” answered the fifth captain, who had run all the way from the wharf to the post-office and back. “I’ve mailed the letter, and the old captain will get his fourteen dollars in the morning. It’s all right; he won’t grumble.”
“What did you say in the letter?” asked Tom.
“I said: Sir—Inclosed herewith please find fourteen dollars, to pay for the use of your boat for two weeks. Yours, truly—blank. I didn’t sign any name to it.”
“All aboard!” said Rich. “Newcombe, stand by to get under way.”
At this stage of the proceedings, it became evident that the first mate of the Swallow was either sadly ignorant of ship discipline, or else that he was determined to set it aside altogether, and establish a routine of his own; for, when the captain gave the order, “Stand by to get under way,” Tom, instead of stationing his crew and awaiting further commands, gave the order—
“Unloose the sails—all of ’em—hoist away lively.”
But his object was to get to sea as soon as possible, and these orders, no doubt, answered his purpose as well as any others, for the crew understood them. In a few moments the mainsail and jib were spread, and the Swallow began to careen as she caught the wind, as if impatient to be off.
“Harry Green!” said Rich, calling to one of his crew. “Go to the wheel. Cast off.”
Slowly the sloop swung away from the pier, the wind filled the sails, and she began to move toward the blue water.