The Putnam Hall Encampment: or, The Secret of the Old Mill

CHAPTER XIII
THE ENCAMPMENT AT LAKE CABOY

“Sold!”

“I thought all along they might be fellows from Putnam Hall!”

“What fools we were to trust them!”

Such were some of the remarks made by the students of Pornell Academy when they found themselves prisoners in the cave.

In vain they rushed to the entrance, trying to get out. Bob had some heavy sticks handy and these were quickly wedged in between the rocks so that they could not be budged excepting from the outside. Then more rocks were piled up to keep the prisoners from breaking the sticks.

“See here,” demanded Roy Bock. “Ain’t you going to let us out?”

“We’ve got to get back to the Academy before morning,” added Bat Sedley. “Otherwise we’ll get into hot water with Doctor Pornell.”

“Don’t you care!” cried Pepper. “You’ve got a roof over your head – and that is more than we might have had if we hadn’t located those wagons.”

“Oh, let up about the wagons, will you?” growled Bock. He felt heartily sick over the outcome of that trick.

“There is one way you can get out of this cave,” announced Bob. “That is by the back way.”

“The back way?” queried Plunkett, looking behind him.

“Yes. See that opening in the rocks? Well, if you squeeze through that you’ll come out in a deep cut, and if you’ll follow the cut you’ll reach the woods, not far from the road to your school. I advise you to take those candles with you though, for it is pretty dark in the cut, and there are some bad holes.”

“We may break our necks!” growled Carey.

“Not if you are careful. But you may get in the mud,” answered the young quartermaster.

“Oh, let us out the front way!” pleaded Bock.

“No, it’s back way or nothing,” said Pepper. “You deserve to suffer for the way you treated us. Good night!”

“Going to leave us here alone?” cried Sedley.

“We are,” said Emerald. “Pleasant drames to ye!”

“Just wait – we’ll square up!” growled Roy Bock. Then the Putnam Hall cadets took their departure. The phosphorus no longer showed on their hands and faces, and they put away the white sheets and hats for possible future use.

“Can they really get out the back way?” asked Fred, as the party hurried for the night’s encampment.

“Yes,” answered Bob. “But they’ll have to wade through water and mud up to their knees, and fight their way through a lot of wild blackberry bushes! They’ll be sights to see when they get back to Pornell!”

The young quartermaster was right in his statement. The Bock crowd left the cave by the back way shortly after the departure of the Putnam Hall cadets. In the cut they had to walk in muddy water up to their knees, and once Sedley got stuck in the muck and his cronies had to pull him out. Bock fell down, and the mud entered his mouth and nose. Then all of the students got caught in the wild blackberry bushes and scratched themselves and tore their clothing. They did not get back to Pornell Academy until half-past seven o’clock in the morning, and were caught by a teacher just as they were trying to enter by a side door.

“What in the world is the matter with you young gentlemen!” cried the teacher, as he beheld the mud and blood. “Have you been in a smash-up on the road?”

“We – er – we were in the woods and got lost and – er – tumbled in a gully,” stammered Roy Bock.

“That is too bad, Bock! Do you want a doctor?”

“I – er – I guess not,” was the reply. Then the crowd hurried off to their rooms, while the teacher reported the matter to Doctor Pornell.

Bock and his cronies thought they would escape punishment, but this was not to be. Later in the day Doctor Pornell received a stiff letter from Captain Putnam informing him of what had been done with the wagons, and stating he might possibly take the matter to court unless the guilty students were properly punished. This worried the head of the academy, and he had Bock and the others brought before him. Under sharp questioning they broke down, and Sedley and Carey confessed all.

“I’ll look into this affair further,” said Doctor Pornell, and the next day he announced that those who were guilty were to have their holidays for that term cut off and were to do a number of extra lessons. He also made the crowd write a letter to Captain Putnam, apologizing for what they had done.

Pepper and his friends returned to the encampment and got past the guards without trouble. The cadets were worn out by the day’s doings and once at rest slept “like tops,” as Fred expressed it. There was a little “horseplay” during the night, but none of the lads who had been out in the woods took part in it. In the morning it was whispered about how the Bock crowd had been treated, and many of the cadets said it served the Pornell students right.

By nine o’clock the wagons were re-loaded and the march for Lake Caboy was resumed. To make sure that no further harm should befall the wagons and their drivers, the turnouts were made to keep close to the battalion.

By noon the end of the lake was gained and they had their dinner at a summer hotel located there. Not far away was the hotel where the Fords were stopping, and Jack, Pepper and Andy obtained permission to run over and see Laura and Flossie.

“Papa has hired a gasolene launch,” said Laura. “So you can expect to see us on the water more or less. Maybe we’ll be able to take you out – that is, if you care to go.”

“Just try us and see – if we can get permission to leave camp,” answered Pepper.

“Jack ought to be able to get permission – being a major,” answered Flossie.

“Well, you must remember we are all under Captain Putnam’s orders,” replied the young officer. “I am in command only during drill and parade, and like that.”

“Well, we’ll come up anyway, sooner or later,” said Laura; and a few minutes later the cadets had to hurry back to where they had left the others, for the drum was already rolling to call the boys together.

As Jack, Andy and Pepper passed a corner of the summer hotel where the cadets had had dinner they caught sight of a tall youth just leaving the building.

“Hello, there is that Bert Field!” cried Pepper. “I’ve a good mind to speak to him.”

“You haven’t much time,” answered Jack.

Pepper ran up to the tall, thin boy and caught him by the arm.

“Hello! How are you?” he said, pleasantly.

“Why – er – how do you do?” stammered Bert Field.

“I want to tell you that I know where you can find the man you were looking for, Jabez Trask,” went on Pepper.

“I – er – I have found him,” answered the strange boy, in some confusion. “That is – I – er – I know where he lives now.”

“Yes, I thought I saw you around his mansion.”

At this announcement Bert Field looked around nervously. Evidently he was a boy who was not strong physically, and one who had been “kept down” by others. He did not seem to have much of a will of his own.

“I – I – How did you happen to see me?” he stammered. He was evidently ill at ease.

“I can’t tell you now – I haven’t time. I’ve got to be on the march, with the rest of the cadets. We are going into camp up the lake this afternoon. And by the way, it is not far from an old deserted mill.”

“What!” Bert Field was now all attention.

“Yes, the Robertson mill. You are looking for that place, too, aren’t you?”

“Yes. But who told you?”

“Some young lady friends of mine. But I’ve got to hurry. If you come up the lake, won’t you call at our camp and see me?”

“Maybe I will,” answered Bert Field. He looked keenly at Pepper then of a sudden caught his arm. “Say, you are a boy like myself and you look honest,” he went on in a low voice. “Would you – would you help me to – to – do something?”

“If it was fair and square I would,” answered Pepper, readily.

“This is fair enough. But it is – is dangerous – at least it may become dangerous.”

“Well, you call on me at our encampment and we’ll talk it over,” answered Pepper, and ran off. Then of a sudden he turned back. “Is it money you need?” he questioned.

“No, that is, I don’t need any just now. I may need some later on though.”

“Well, I’ll do what I can for you. I like your looks.”

“And I like yours,” answered Bert Field, heartily. “I’ll come up to your encampment sooner or later. I can’t come right away,” and he hurried off in the opposite direction.

Pepper had barely time to get into the ranks before the advance up the lake was resumed. As he marched along The Imp could not help but think over what Bert Field had said.

“He is certainly a queer stick,” he reasoned. “And there is some mystery about him. I’ll be glad enough to aid him just to find out what the mystery is. Evidently it is connected in some way with Jabez Trask and the old Robertson mill.”

The route along the lake shore was a rough one, but presently they gained a fairly good highway, and late in the afternoon reached a broad field, bordered by the lake on one side and by dense woods on the others.

It was an ideal location for an encampment and nearly all of the cadets were greatly pleased and said so. The only ones who did not particularly like it were Ritter and a few others who were inclined to be “sporty.” For them the spot was too far away from a town or city.

“We’ve got to stay here or go to one of the summer hotels for fun,” said Reff Ritter. “I wanted to camp somewhere where we could get into town now and then on the sly, and play pool and billiards, and get something to drink.”

The field had been staked off into two long streets, one for Company A and the other for Company B. Between the two streets was an opening, and here were erected tents for Captain Putnam, George Strong, and likewise a shelter for Major Jack and another officer. At the end of the streets were the cooking quarters and also a big tent where mess could be served in wet weather. In dry weather the cadets got their food and ate it where they pleased.

The tents in the streets were erected with regularity. The ground sloped toward the lake, and ditches were dug around the canvases, to carry off the water when it rained, so that the tent floorings might remain dry. Each cadet had a cot upon which to sleep, and extra clothing was hung upon the tent-poles or kept in the suit-cases. In the very center of the encampment a tall pole had been erected and from this the Stars and Stripes were already floating.

“We ought to have the time of our lives here,” declared Andy. “No lessons to learn, and plenty of chances to go fishing and swimming.”

“If only the food is good,” came from Stuffer.

“Hard tack and black coffee after to-night,” answered Dale, with a wink at the others.

“Not much!” burst out the lad who loved to eat. “I want something better than that.”

“Well, maybe you’ll get horsefly soup some days – when the flies are thick,” said Pepper, consolingly.

“Huh! horsefly soup! Do you want to make me sick?”

“And ant cake,” added The Imp. “I know you love cake full of ants.”

“Say, Pepper, do you want to disgust the lot of us?” cried Fred. “I can see the ants already, crawling up my legs.”

“I went camping once, up in the Adirondacks,” came from Dale. “The ants got so thick they covered everything we had, and we had to move in a hurry.”

“We’ll not be bothered here with ants, or horseflies either – I had them all cremated,” said Jack, and this sally brought forth much laughter.

It was late by the time supper was had and the boys had arranged their sleeping quarters to suit them.

“Any hazing to-night?” asked several.

“Not to-night,” was the answer from the most of the others. “But watch out to-morrow night!”

CHAPTER XIV
WHAT HAPPENED DURING A SWIM

On the following morning camp duty commenced in earnest and Major Ruddy and his fellow officers had their hands full. Drill and inspection were had, following breakfast, and then the camp was “policed,” that is, cleaned up. After that the cadets had two hours in which to do as they pleased.

Some boats had been sent to the spot by Captain Putnam, and some of the lads went rowing, while others went fishing and bathing. Pepper and his friends preferred a dip into the cool and inviting waters of the lake and were soon in their bathing suits, which had been brought along. Reff Ritter and Gus Coulter went off in a rowboat, followed by some others.

“Say, this is something like!” cried Andy, after a first plunge into the limpid waters. “I am going to have a dip every day I am here!”

“So am I, unless something happens to prevent it,” returned Fred. He missed the use of his sloop very much.

The cadets had found a cove where the water was deep and here they had erected a springboard, and took turns in diving from this. It was great sport and for some time George Strong watched the lads.

“Come on in, Mr. Strong!” cried Andy. “The water is fine!”

“Not to-day,” answered the teacher, with a smile. “But I may come in some other day. I like swimming as well as you do.” And then he walked off, to attend to some camp duties.

“What a difference between him and old Crabtree!” sighed Dale. “If all teachers were like Mr. Strong we’d never have a bit of trouble.”

“Right you are,” answered Pepper. “But old Crabtree is the kind that sets your teeth on edge the minute you rub up against him.”

The boys spent quite some time diving and sporting around, and then Fred proposed a race.

“To the rock over yonder and back!” he cried, pointing with his hand.

“I’ll go you!” said Andy. “What’s the prize?”

“A brass-bound copy of last year’s almanac,” answered Jack, and this caused a general laugh.

Six cadets entered the race, and at a word from a lad on the shore all struck out sturdily for the rock that was to be the turning spot of the contest.

At first Pepper was ahead, with Fred second, but presently Emerald drew to the front, followed by Dale.

“Hi, this won’t do!” cried Jack, good naturedly. “Throw out your anchor!”

“Sure, an’ I can’t sthop, so I can’t!” answered Hogan.

As the six swimmers made the turn at the rock one after the other, a rowboat shot into view. It was that containing Reff Ritter and Gus Coulter.

“Racing, eh?” murmured the bully, crossly. He had not slept well the night before and was all out of sorts.

“I’d like to spoil their fun for ’em,” returned Coulter.

“Maybe we can do it,” went on the bully, craftily. “They have no right to get in the way of our boat.”

“Say, you wouldn’t run ’em down, would you?” asked his crony, anxiously.

“Not very hard, Gus – only enough to break up their race.”

“Stop! stop!” cried Andy, in alarm, as he saw the rowboat being sent in close to the swimmers.

“Get out of the way!” roared Reff Ritter, ungraciously.

“Don’t run us down!” called out Fred. “Turn out, Ritter!”

But Ritter would not turn out. Instead he sent the boat closer to shore. All in the water tried to avoid the craft, some swimming to one side and others ducking beneath the boat. The race was completely broken up.

Hogan heard the cries, but he was too anxious to win the race to pay much attention. Suddenly the rowboat shot beside him and struck him a sharp blow in the shoulder. With a gasp the Irish cadet threw up an arm and then disappeared from view.

“Emerald is struck!” cried Andy.

“Oh, I hope he isn’t hurt,” added Jack

“It was his own fault,” said Ritter. “Why didn’t he get out of the way?” Now that the damage was done he was somewhat scared himself.

“It was your fault, Ritter,” answered Dale.

The rowboat drifted over the spot where Emerald had gone down, and all of the other cadets looked in that direction. The Irish lad was nowhere to be seen.

“Maybe he’s killed!” gasped Andy. “He got struck pretty hard.”

“Oh, don’t say that!” gasped Coulter, and he went white with fear.

All of the boys in the water swam to the spot, and presently Jack and Dale caught sight of Hogan, near the bottom of the lake. They dove down and brought him up. He was unconscious and had swallowed considerable water. He could not aid himself and the others took him ashore.

“This is the worst trick yet,” said Jack, after Emerald had given a gasp and opened his eyes. “How do you feel, old man?”

It was several seconds before the Irish cadet could reply. In the meantime, very much disturbed, Ritter and Coulter had beached their boat and joined the group surrounding the sufferer.

“I – er – I lost control of the boat at the last minute,” said the bully lamely. “I didn’t mean to hit anybody. I was only going to scare you.”

“It was done on purpose! I saw it,” answered Andy firmly.

“See here, Andy Snow, you say that again and I’ll knock you down!” cried Ritter fiercely.

“You have got to spell Able first,” was the acrobatic youth’s reply, as he doubled up his fists.

“Whe – where is that spalpeen, Ritter?” came unsteadily from Hogan. “Where is he, I say?” And he staggered to his feet. There was a slight cut on his neck, from which the blood was flowing.

“Here he is,” answered Pepper. “But, Emerald, you had better keep quiet for awhile. We’ll attend to Ritter later.”

“I’ll attend to Ritter and right now!” roared the Irish cadet, and having recovered himself somewhat he made a sudden leap at the bully. “I’ll be afther givin’ ye a dose o’ your own medicine, so I will!” he added.

He caught Ritter and in his fury shook the bully as a dog shakes a rat. Then he commenced to back Ritter to the lake front.

“Hi, let up!” roared the other. “It was only done in fun, I tell you, Hogan!”

“Thin lit this be fun too,” was the Irish cadet’s answer, and of a sudden he gave Ritter a shove in the breast that sent the bully over backwards with a splash into the lake.

“Serves Ritter right,” murmured Dale.

“An’ now fer you, me little goslin!” went on Hogan and leaped for Coulter.

“Le-let me alone – I didn’t mean to touch you!” whined Coulter.

“You backed up Ritter – an’ ye can cool off wid him, too,” answered Hogan, and catching Coulter by the neck and the seat of his trousers, he ran him down to the lake after Ritter and pitched him in. Coulter landed on top of his crony, and both went out of sight with a great splash. Then Hogan shoved from the shore the rowboat Ritter and Coulter had been using.

“You git into that, an’ be off wid yez!” roared the Irish cadet, when Ritter and Coulter reappeared in the water. “Don’t yez dare to land here!”

Much alarmed at Hogan’s sudden fury, the bully and his crony kept away from the shore. They swam to the rowboat and clambered on board. Then, dripping from head to feet, they picked up their floating caps, and took up the oars.

“You think you’re smart, but I’ll show you!” cried Reff Ritter.

“’Tis your own fault,” answered Emerald. “Supposin’ I had been drowned, what thin, eh? Bad cess to you, Ritter! You’re a bad egg, if iver there was wan!”

To this the bully did not dare make answer, and he and his crony rowed off. They went to a secluded but sunny spot up the lake, and there dried themselves as best they could.

“I told you not to do it,” whined Coulter.

“Oh, dry up, you make me tired,” answered Ritter, and for the remainder of the day he and Coulter had little to do with each other.

“What makes you so wet?” asked Paxton, when the pair went back to the camp.

“Oh, we got into a mix-up with some of the cadets and fell overboard,” answered Ritter, in an off-handed manner. “Where have you been?” he added, quickly, to avoid giving further particulars.

“Went up to the head of the lake,” answered Paxton. “And say, I and Mumps made a discovery,” he added. Mumps was, as my old readers know, a small cadet whose real name was John Fenwick. He was a good deal of a sneak and continually toadying to those bigger than himself.

“What did you discover?”

“We found a good big hornets’ nest.”

“Humph! that’s of no account,” was Coulter’s comment

“Isn’t it though! That’s all you know about it,” cried Paxton. “I once found a hornets’ nest and put a big flour bag over it and took it down and brought it to school and had dead loads of fun with it.”

“Say, can you handle ’em that way?” queried Ritter, with interest.

“Certainly, but you have to be awfully careful.”

“Then, it would be a scheme to secure the nest and introduce some of our enemies to the hornets.”

“Just what I was thinking,” said Nick Paxton.

“When can you get the nest?”

“The best time is at night, when the hornets are all inside.”

“You’ll want a good, heavy bag, otherwise the hornets will get out and sting you.”

“I can make a bag, of paper and paste,” said Paxton.

“Well, keep it quiet and we’ll see what we can do with the nest – after we have it,” answered Reff Ritter. “I think I know of a scheme,” he chuckled.

“What?” asked the cadet who had made the find.

“Sooner or later the Ruddy crowd will have some kind of a feast. When they get together we can watch our chance and throw the hornets’ nest in their midst. I reckon that will wake ’em up!”

“It sure will,” said Paxton with a chuckle, and even Coulter had to smile over the prospect of doing such a thing to the enemy.

In the meantime, while this talk was going on, Jack and Andy were walking in the woods back of the encampment. Presently they fell in with Mumps.

“Hello, Mumps!” cried the young major pleasantly. “Walking out for your health?”

“Oh, I’ve been up the lake with Paxton,” answered the little sneak. He liked to be noticed by such a superior as the major of the battalion.

“Well, did you see anything worth seeing?”

“Oh, lots of things. Saw a hornets’ nest.”

“Fall into it?” asked Pepper. “If you did I guess you got out in a hurry.”

“No, I didn’t fall into it. Paxton and I found it.”

“I’ll wager you threw stones at it,” said Jack.

“No, we didn’t touch it. I wanted to throw a stone but Paxton wouldn’t let me. He said – But never mind that now,” added the sneak hastily.

“What did he say, Mumps?” demanded Pepper.

“Oh, well, if you want to know, he said he might come and get the hornets’ nest some time and play a joke on some of the cadets with it. I guess he wants to get square with some of the fellows.”

“Hum, I see,” mused Jack, and he and Pepper looked knowingly at each other. “Where was the hornets’ nest?”

“Oh, Paxton said I wasn’t to tell anybody.”

“You tell me, Mumps, and I’ll give you my old baseball,” said Pepper. He chanced to know that the sneak wanted a ball.

“Well, I’ll tell you, but you musn’t tell Paxton I did so.”

“We won’t say a word,” said The Imp. And thereupon the sneak took him and the young major to where the hornets’ nest was located.

“I’ll give you the ball to-morrow,” said Pepper, on the way back to the camp. “Now, mum’s the word all around remember.”

“I won’t tell anybody I told you,” answered Mumps.