The Putnam Hall Encampment: or, The Secret of the Old Mill
TextCHAPTER XI
ON THE TRAIL OF THE WAGONS
“Where are the wagons?”
“Thought they were going to meet us here!”
“Didn’t they come on the same road we took?”
“If they missed the way, what are we to do for the night? We can’t stay out doors without tents.”
Such were some of the questions asked and remarks made as the cadets came to a halt, broke ranks, and surrounded Captain Putnam and George Strong.
“I cannot understand this,” said the head of the school, his face showing his concern. “I told the wagon men to come straight here.”
“Did they know the road?” asked Mr. Strong.
“They said they did, although none of them had been over it before. It’s straight enough.”
All looked around in perplexity, and while doing so were approached by a farmer who lived in the vicinity. He said he had seen nothing of the wagons, although he had looked for them. To this farmer belonged the field which Captain Putnam had rented for the night.
“We may as well scatter and make a search,” said the young major, after talking the matter over with the master of Putnam Hall. “Perhaps the wagons took to some side road.”
It was agreed that the cadets should look for the wagons, and permission was given to stay away for two hours, no longer. Several parties were formed, one being made up of Jack, Pepper, Andy and Stuffer.
“Say, I’ve got an idea,” said the youth who loved to eat, when the party was out of hearing of the others. “I may be away off, but it won’t do any harm to tell what I think.”
“Well, what is in your brain, Stuffer?” asked the young major.
“I think some of the Pornell Academy students are responsible for the non-appearance of those wagons,” answered Stuffer, as he commenced to chew on some gum in lieu of eating.
“What makes you think that?” demanded Pepper.
“Because I was down to Cedarville last night, and I saw Roy Bock, Bat Sedley, and several others quizzing Peleg Snuggers about where we were going to camp and all that. As I passed them I heard Bock mention the wagons, and he asked who was going to drive ’em.”
“It would be just like the Bock crowd to do such a thing!” cried Andy. “Just to get square with us for the tricks we have played on ’em in the past.”
“But how could they get possession of the wagons?” asked Pepper. “Do you suppose they played highwaymen?”
“I don’t know. Bock and his gang are willing to do anything, I guess, to square old scores. But most likely they directed the drivers to the wrong road. They could easily do that, if the men didn’t know the road in the first place.”
“If that’s the case it is up to us to find those wagons as soon as possible,” cried Jack. “If we had to stay out all night without tents the Pornell students would have the laugh on us.”
The boys were walking along the road by which they had come. They kept their eyes on the ground, and presently saw some tracks that interested them.
“Here is where some wagons turned off into yonder field,” said Andy. “The question is, Were they our wagons or not?”
“Let us follow the tracks and see,” returned Pepper.
They crossed the field and came out on a back road that led through a dense patch of trees. Beyond this were two other roads.
“The wagons took that to the left,” announced Stuffer. “Oh, dear!” he added. “Wish we could find them and get supper! I’m mortally hungry!”
“Were you ever otherwise?” asked Jack “Come on, we’ll not have anything to eat until this mystery is cleared up.”
They walked on for over a mile, and came to a spot where the trees were interspersed with heavy brushwood.
“Here is one of the wagons,” shouted Andy.
“Here is another!” cried the young major.
“The whole four are here,” came, a minute later, from Pepper. “But where are the men and the horses?”
The wagons stood among the trees and bushes. The eight horses that had been hitched to them were missing, and so were the four drivers. The cadets looked around, but the spot appeared to be deserted.
“Well, we’ve found the wagons anyway,” said Jack. “That’s something.”
“But how are we to get them to Hayville without teams?” asked Stuffer.
“I don’t know. Maybe we can borrow horses nearby, although I don’t see any farmhouse.”
“Say, can’t I get something to eat?” went on Stuffer pleadingly. “I am hollow down to my shoes!”
“Go ahead – if you can find anything,” answered the young major, and the cadet who loved to eat lost no time in locating what he wanted on one of the wagons.
The boys walked into the woods a distance, but saw nothing of the horses. Then they came back to the wagons.
“Two of us had better stand guard with our guns while two go back and tell Captain Putnam,” said Jack. “I’ll detail you, Pepper and Stuffer, to stay here.”
“All right,” answered Pepper. “But don’t stay away too long, for it is getting late.”
“We’ll be back as soon as possible. And you, Stuffer, don’t eat too much or you’ll get sick,” added the young major.
“I never get sick from eating,” answered Stuffer, calmly munching on a biscuit, his sixth.
Jack and Andy hurried through the woods, taking a short cut in the direction of Hayville. They had covered less than a quarter of a mile when to their surprise they came to a tumbled-down cottage with a big barn attached.
“What an out-of-the-way place for a building!” cried Andy.
“I guess it was built before the trees grew up,” answered his chum. “Maybe – Wait, get down out of sight!”
Jack dropped behind some bushes and the acrobatic youth followed his example. The young major had seen two boys coming from the old cottage. They were headed for the dilapidated barn.
“Roy Bock and Bat Sedley!” murmured Andy. “Jack, I reckon we are on the right track!”
“That’s what we are!”
“More than likely they have the horses here.”
“I think so myself.”
“But what became of the drivers of the wagons?”
“That remains to be found out.”
“You don’t suppose those fellows would make them prisoners, do you? They’d think they were going to be robbed and would put up a fight.”
“Oh, I reckon the Bock gang played some sort of trick on them. Maybe they got ’em to go into a roadhouse for refreshments and then drove off with the wagons on the sly.”
“What shall we do?”
“I don’t know yet – it depends upon how many of the crowd are here.”
Still keeping out of sight behind the bushes, Jack and Andy watched the two Pornell students closely. They saw the pair enter the barn. Then they came out again and went back to the old cottage.
“Come on – I think they are alone,” said the young major. “And if they are – ”
“We’ll get the best of ’em somehow,” finished his chum.
With caution the two cadets sneaked along through the bushes and up to the side of the dilapidated cottage. Looking through a broken-out window they beheld Roy Bock and Bat Sedley seated on benches, smoking cigarettes.
“How soon do you suppose Carey will get back?” Bock was asking.
“Oh, he won’t come for an hour or two,” answered Sedley. “It’s quite a walk.”
“He ought to have taken one of the horses.”
“He didn’t dare, for he had to pass the very roadhouse where we left those drivers.”
“Say, those drivers must have been astonished when they found the wagons gone.”
“Humph! That will teach ’em a lesson not to let strangers treat them. All of them were glad enough to be treated at Plunkett’s expense.”
“Is Plunkett still with ’em?”
“I suppose so. He said he’d stay, so they wouldn’t suspect him of having anything to do with running off with the wagons.”
“Say, how mad those cadets and Captain Putnam must be!”
“Serves ’em right. I haven’t forgotten how we got it in the neck, the last time we tried to play a joke on them.”
So the talk ran on. In the meantime Jack and Andy had heard enough and convinced themselves that Bock and Sedley were alone and that they did not expect anybody else for some time to come.
“It’s a cinch!” whispered the young major. “We’ll make them prisoners! Just wait till I get a strap or two from the harness on the horses.”
He hurried to the barn, and presently came back with several straps. Then he gave his chum a few directions.
A moment later Roy Bock and Bat Sedley were dumbfounded to find themselves confronted by the two cadets, one with a drawn sword and the other with a leveled rifle.
“Hands up, or I’ll shoot!” ordered Andy, in the sternest voice he could command, and this order made Sedley, who was something of a coward, scream in fright.
“Don’t shoot me! Please don’t shoot!”
“Then up with your hands!” And in keen fright Sedley put his hands over his head and kept them there.
“Humph! It’s Jack Ruddy and Andy Snow!” murmured Roy Bock. “How did you get here?”
“Up with those hands, Bock, or I’ll order Snow to fire!” returned Jack. “I want you to understand this is no laughing matter.”
“You won’t dare to shoot us,” said Bock, but his voice showed his uneasiness.
“Don’t you believe it! You are nothing but highway robbers!”
“No, we are not, we – ”
“Are you going to put up those hands or not?” demanded Andy. “This is a repeating rifle, and it is fully loaded.” He spoke the truth, for Captain Putnam had allowed the cadets to load up before starting on the search, not knowing what might turn up. The boys, however, had been cautioned to be very careful.
Slowly Roy Bock elevated his hands. He was uneasy, for he did not know what to expect.
“Can’t you take a joke,” he grumbled.
“Maybe you won’t find this a joke when you get through with it,” said Jack. “Stealing horses and wagons is a State’s prison offence.”
He made the statement merely to scare the Pornell students, and his words had their full effect on Sedley if not on Bock.
“Oh, please don’t have us locked up!” cried Sedley. “It was only done in fun, really it was! We didn’t touch anything in the wagons, and the horses are safe in the barn.”
“Are you alone?” asked Bock.
“Alone? All of the cadets are out looking for the wagons,” answered Jack. “Andy, keep them covered, and shoot if I tell you to.”
“I will, Major!” answered the private, with true military precision.
“Hi, what are you going to do?” demanded Bock, as Jack slipped his sword into its scabbard and advanced with the straps.
“You’ll soon find out,” was the cool reply. “Now, no monkey work – unless you want to get shot!”
Sedley was badly scared, and it was an easy matter to bind his hands behind him and tie him fast to a door handle at one side of the room. Bock looked as if he wanted to fight or run away, but having the muzzle of the rifle pointed directly at his head made him waver.
“Have your way,” he muttered. “But we’ll get square sometime, don’t forget that!”
“You are only getting what is coming to you, Bock,” answered Jack, as he tied the Pornell student fast to another door. “Now I reckon you won’t get away until your friends come for you,” he added, and then motioned to Andy to withdraw.
“One thing more,” said Andy. “Where did you leave those drivers?”
“At Maddock’s roadhouse,” said Sedley. “But I reckon they are not there now. Most likely they are out looking for the teams and wagons.”
CHAPTER XII
THE CAVE IN THE WOODS
Leaving the Pornell students prisoners in the old cottage, Andy and Jack hurried to the barn. There were all of the horses, tied up in the stalls and in the portion devoted in years gone by to threshing. They had suffered no injury and had been fed from bags of oats taken along by the drivers.
“We’ll take them over to the wagons and hitch them up,” said the young major. “There is no use of reporting to Captain Putnam. We can bring the wagons right in with us.”
His chum was willing, and in a few minutes they had the animals out of the barn. They were ordinary work horses, so there was small danger of their running away.
“I think we can manage them,” said the young major. “I’ll lead the bunch and you can follow them.”
Thus the start was made through the woods, and before long they came in sight of the four wagons, with Pepper and Stuffer on guard. The latter was munching on some cake he had managed to locate in a box on one of the wagons.
“Hello, if they haven’t found the horses!” cried Pepper joyfully. “This is famous!”
“Where did you locate them?” questioned Stuffer, hiding the cake from the young major.
The story was soon told, the boys meanwhile hitching the horses to the wagons.
“I hope those Pornell fellows have to remain at the old cottage all night,” said Pepper. “It will serve ’em right.”
“We ought to get a crowd and go there and wipe up the floor with ’em!” said the lad who loved to eat.
“We’ll see what can be done after we get back to Hayville,” answered Jack. “I can drive one wagon. Can you chaps drive the others?”
“Sure!” came in a chorus from his chums.
“Then let us be off. Captain Putnam will be much worried until he learns that the outfit is safe.”
Not without some difficulty the wagons were turned around and taken to the main road. Then the horses were urged on, and it was not long before they came in sight of Hayville. Almost the first persons they met were Captain Putnam, George Strong and one of the wagon drivers.
“Safe, eh?” cried the master of the Hall. “I am glad to hear it.” And his face showed his relief.
He insisted upon knowing the details and Jack told us as much as he deemed necessary.
“It was only a schoolboy trick, sir,” he added. “I guess they meant no harm.”
“Nevertheless, I shall make a complaint to Doctor Pornell,” answered Captain Putnam. “He ought to know how his students are conducting themselves. It was largely, however, the fault of the drivers. One of the older academy seniors got them to leave their wagons and go into the roadhouse with him. There he treated them and got them to take their eyes off my property – and then the other students ran off with the outfit.”
“Well, they didn’t make the trick turn out as intended,” said Pepper. “We’ve got the outfit back, – and it is only a little after supper time. We can get supper, and get up our tents, too, before it is very late.”
“I am very thankful for what you cadets did,” went on the master of the Hall. “I shall not forget it. It was lucky that you struck the right trail.”
The drummers were called in and they rolled their drums, – a signal that the outfit had been found. This brought in the cadets from all over, and soon, while some were helping the regular cooks get supper, others were at work erecting the tents.
The only cadets who were not glad that the outfit had been found were Reff Ritter and his crowd. They were jealous of what Jack and his chums had accomplished, and could not help but show it.
“The Ruddy crowd will now be more stuck up than ever,” grumbled Ritter.
“Oh, pshaw! it wasn’t so much to do,” added Coulter.
“It was more than you ever did for the school, Coulter,” answered Fred, who chanced to overhear the remarks.
“Was it?” sneered Coulter.
“Yes, it was, and you know it.”
“If Ruddy and his crowd hadn’t found the wagons we might have stopped at the hotel over night,” said Paxton. “I’d rather stay there anyway than out here.”
“I think the Hayville Hotel would have hard work to accommodate so many cadets,” said Fred, with a smile. “It has about six rooms for guests.” And then he walked away, leaving the Ritter crowd to continue their fault-finding.
The cadets were not used to marching over the rough roads, and a good many of them were tired out and glad enough to turn in and go to bed. But some of them had to stand guard, and among these were Andy and Stuffer.
“Say, let us go back into the woods and see what became of those Pornell fellows,” said Pepper to Jack.
“I can’t get away, otherwise I would,” answered the young officer.
“Supposing I get up a crowd and go, Jack? You’ll have the guards keep their eyes closed, won’t you?”
“Sure. But don’t let Ritter and his gang spot you.”
“I’ll be careful.”
Pepper made a careful canvass and managed to enlist the services of nine cadets, including Fred, Dale, Emerald and Bob Grenwood.
“I’ve got a plan to scare them – if they are still in the woods,” said the quartermaster of the battalion. “I was going to try the trick on some of our own fellows, up at Lake Caboy – but I’d rather work it on the Pornell crowd,” and then he told what his plan was.
“Just the thing!” cried Pepper. “We’ll scare ’em out of their senses!”
With caution the party stole away from the temporary camp. Several of them carried bundles, and Bob Grenwood had a big megaphone.
“We’ve got to hurry, otherwise they may be gone,” said Pepper. “Bock and Sedley were waiting for Carey.”
It was not yet ten o’clock and the sky was bright with stars. The cadets hurried as fast they could, The Imp leading the way.
“We may as well put on the disguises now,” said he, as soon as they reached the spot where the wagons had been found. “For all we know they may be coming this way.”
The party halted and undid their bundles. Out rolled some white bedsheets and tall hats made of white cardboard. The cadets put on the hats and wound the sheets around them, making them look like so many ghosts.
“Now for the phosphorus,” said Bob Grenwood and brought forth a little box. He rubbed some on his hands, his forehead and his cheeks and the others did likewise. The phosphorus gave forth a sickly yellow glow that was ghastly in the extreme.
“Look!” cried Pepper, just as the boys had finished their ghostly preparations. “Here they come now!”
All looked and saw that he was right. From the direction of the dilapidated cottage four young fellows were approaching rapidly. They were Bock and Sedley, their particular chum, Carey, and Plunkett, the senior who had invited the wagon drivers into the roadhouse.
“We’ll surround them,” whispered Pepper. “And be sure and don’t let any of them escape.”
So it was arranged, and the ghostlike figures ranged themselves in a semi-circle in the woods.
“Halt!” cried Bob Grenwood, through the megaphone. “As you value your lives, halt!”
He spoke in a low tone, and in amazement the four Pornell students stopped short. Then Sedley caught sight of the figures with the glow upon their faces and he set up a yell.
“It’s ghosts!”
“Ghosts?” repeated Carey.
“Ye – yes – don’t – yo – you see ’em?” And Sedley’s teeth commenced to chatter. “Oh, I wish I wa – was ba – back to Pornell!” he wailed.
“They aren’t ghosts,” growled Plunkett. “This is a trick!”
“They look like ghosts!” gasped Carey, who was as much of a coward as Sedley.
“I don’t believe in ghosts,” said Roy Bock. “It must be some of the Putnam Hall cadets – or else some of our own crowd.”
“Halt!” cried Bob again, and his companions repeated the command. Then, as the Bock crowd stopped, the cadets surrounded them, so that none of them might slip away.
“What do you want?” demanded Bock, who was evidently the leader, though Plunkett was older.
“We want you to have a good time,” said Bob, in a pleasant voice. “We came to treat you – in return for giving the Putnam Hall boys so much trouble.”
“Who are you?” demanded Plunkett. It was too dark under the trees to distinguish faces, especially when distorted from the glowing of the phosphorus.
“Friends,” said another cadet, for the quartermaster’s plan had been explained to all.
“What do you want of us?”
“We want you to come along. We have a plan to play another trick on the Putnam Hall fellows.”
“But who are you?” demanded Sedley, who had recovered from his fright.
“That’s telling, Bat. But you’ll soon know – when we get at the feast Oliver has prepared for us.”
Now Oliver was a caterer who had often supplied the Pornell Academy students with good things to eat. The mention of his name took the Bock crowd off their guard.
“Have you got a spread for us?” demanded Bock, who was tremendously hungry.
“We sure have, Roy.”
“But this rig – ”
“We were going to scare the cadets – if we missed you,” answered Pepper, in a disguised voice.
Some more questions were asked, and then Bock and his crowd agreed to follow the ghostlike figures through the woods. The cadets kept in the dark as much as possible and worked hard to keep their identity a secret. Bock at last concluded the boys belonged to a new batch of Pornell students, who had come to that institution only a short while before. One of these lads had spoken about giving a feast, in honor of his birthday, and Bock thought the feast was now on the way.
Bob Grenwood was something of a hunter, and during his spare hours he had tramped for many miles through the woods, looking for game. On one of these expeditions he had run across a cave in a hillside, bordering a stream that flowed into one of the lakes of that vicinity. He had visited the cave several times and had fixed it up for use, with a rough bench and table, and a rude fireplace.
To this cave the young quartermaster now led the way and all of the others followed. When almost there Bob called a halt.
“I will go ahead and see if all is in readiness,” he said in a deep voice.
Then he ran into the cave and found a candle that was there. He cut the candle into six pieces and lit them all, making quite a light as they were ranged on the table. He covered the center of the table with a cloth, resting on several sticks of wood, so that the cloth would look as if it had things to eat under it.
“Now advance, and prepare for the grand feast!” he called out, and seeing the lights streaming from the cave the Bock crowd ran forward.
“A cave!” cried Sedley.
“And a spread!” added Carey. “See the table!”
“This is a surprise,” murmured Plunkett.
“We’ll see what they’ve got to eat,” came from Bock, and then the four students marched into the cave and surrounded the table with its burning candles.
“Now then, work quick!” cried Bob in a low voice, and leaped towards some sticks beside the cave entrance. The others understood, and soon had the sticks piled up against the opening. Against the sticks they heaped up some rocks that were handy.
“What does this mean?” roared Roy Bock, wheeling around and trying to get out of the cave.
“It means you are prisoners of the Putnam Hall cadets!” cried Pepper, throwing off his disguise.