The Putnam Hall Rebellion
“I’ll show you what it means to treat me like a pig!” cried Roy Bock, and he struck Ritter a blow in the nose that drew blood.
“Oh, you can’t bluff me!” retorted the Putnam Hall bully, and hit the lad from Pornell in the left eye. Then the pair clinched and rolled over and over in the dirt of the road.
In the meantime Grimes struck Coulter and Paxton hit Gussic. Then everybody struck out, and inside of a minute the three Putnam Hall boys were down and the enemy were on top of them. Clothing was torn, collars and ties pulled off, and the general melée was something awful to behold.
It was in the midst of this excitement that Jack and his chums arrived.
“Whow!” cried Andy. “Say, but they are going at each other for keeps, aren’t they?”
“Sure, an’ it’s fightin’ like cats an’ dogs they are,” was Hogan’s comment. “’Tis a bit av Donnybrook Fair,” he added. “Oh, for a shillalah!”
“The Pornell crowd isn’t fighting fair,” said Jack. “They outnumber our fellows.”
“What of it?” demanded Dale. “I reckon Ritter, Coulter and Paxton are getting all they deserve.”
“Ge – get off of m – me!” came in a groan from Paxton. “Yo – you are crushing in my ribs!”
“Don’t hit me with that stone!” they heard Coulter scream.
“They are certainly going too far,” said Pepper. “Enough is enough. Let us scare the Pornell fellows off.”
This was agreed to, and picking up sticks and stones Jack’s crowd set up a sudden wild yelling that made the Pornellites stop fighting and glance around in fear.
“Come on!” cried Pepper. “Putnam Hall to the rescue! Down with Pornell Academy!” And he looked over his shoulder, as if urging others behind him. Then Jack and the others took up the cue, and they made it appear as if a big party was approaching. Andy even ran behind some bushes and called out in as many different tones of voice as he could master.
The ruse worked to perfection, and Roy Bock and his cohorts lost no time in leaping to their feet and retreating a few paces.
“I guess the whole school is coming!” said the bully of Pornell Academy.
“Charge them! Charge them!” yelled Jack, and ran forward brandishing a big stick. Pepper was at his side, and flung a big stone over Bock’s head. This was too much for the Pornell students, and turning, they ran along the road for a short distance and then took to the woods. They did not stop running until they had covered a good quarter of a mile and were sure the pursuit had come to an end.
“It was a put-up job!” growled Roy Bock, as he leaned against a tree to rest and catch his breath. “That was Ruddy came to help Ritter and the others. It was a put-up job and nothing else!”
“Yes, and we walked into the trap like a lot of mice after cheese,” grunted Gussic, with his hand on his windpipe, where he had been hit.
“Just look at these duds!” came from another lad. “About fit for the ragbag!” And he mournfully surveyed a torn sleeve and a hole in his trouser leg.
“My collar is gone, and so is that new dollar tie I bought for the party,” said Bock. “I ought to make somebody buy me another tie.”
“Speaking of the party,” said another. “Are you going?”
“Going?” stormed the bully. “Are you crazy? If we went the girls would take us for scarecrows!”
“It’s funny that other crowd didn’t go to the party,” remarked Grimes.
“Oh, I guess they’d rather play a trick on us than go to any party,” was Gussic’s comment. “I am of the firm opinion that Ritter, Ruddy and the whole bunch was in the plot against us.”
“Sure thing,” answered Roy Bock. And then he and his cronies walked slowly in the direction of Pornell Academy, wondering what they should say when they got there, and what sort of excuse they should send to the girls who had been waiting for them.
In the meantime Reff Ritter and his cronies had gotten up and brushed themselves off. They were considerably astonished to find that Jack and his chums had come to their rescue.
“Huh! So it’s you!” growled Ritter, with a far from pleasant look on his face.
“Yes,” said the young major cheerily. “I guess we got here just in the nick of time, didn’t we?”
“Maybe you did.”
“What’s the row about?” questioned Pepper innocently, but with a side wink at Andy and Dale.
“About? They tied us up in bags, and – ” began Paxton, when a cold look from Reff Ritter stopped him. “I mean – er – they – ”
“Never mind what it was about,” growled Ritter.
“Tied you up in bags, did they?” said Andy. “That was hard luck sure. How did you escape?”
“I cut my way from the bag with my pocketknife,” said Coulter, ignoring Ritter’s look. “Those fellows – ”
“Say, can’t you keep it to yourself?” demanded the bully of the Hall sourly. He was afraid Jack and his chums would laugh at him and those who had suffered with him.
“Ritter, you needn’t tell us anything,” said the young major, drawing himself up, stiffly. “We did what we could for you, but we don’t expect either your confidence or your thanks.” He turned to his chums. “Come, fellows, I fancy we are not wanted here,” and he turned and walked in the direction of Putnam Hall, with Pepper and the rest at his heels. Each boy wanted to laugh but each managed to keep a straight face until a safe distance was covered. Then Pepper had to roll on the ground and roar, and Andy did the same.
“Oh, Jack!” panted The Imp, when he felt able to speak. “That was the richest yet – what you said – ‘We did what we could for you, but we don’t expect your thanks!’ Gracious, I thought I’d die when you said it!”
“We’ve got ’em guessing,” said Dale.
“Yes, and I reckon Bock and his gang and Ritter and his cronies will be enemies for life now,” said Andy.
“Boys, in honor of this occasion, I move we celebrate to-night,” said Pepper.
“Second the motion,” answered Andy, promptly. “But how is it to be done?”
“Might each do an extra example in geometry, in honor of the event,” suggested Jack, with a smile.
“Geometry!” snorted Stuffer. “Not much! Let’s have something to eat!”
“Stuffer’s one idea of celebrating is something to eat,” cried Andy.
“Well, a feast isn’t so bad,” said another cadet.
“Where are we going to get anything?” asked Pepper. “We can’t go to Cedarville – it’s too late.”
“I have it!” cried Andy. “Let us have an ice-cream festival.”
“That’s easy enough to say, Andy, but where are you going to get the cream?” asked the young major.
“If some of you will make excuses for me after supper I’ll get the cream,” answered the acrobatic youth. “I can go to Cedarville and back in no time on my wheel. But I want some money,” he added, suddenly. “Poser, the ice-cream man, doesn’t tick anybody.”
“An ice-cream party it is,” said Emerald. “Sure, an’ I could eat some now, so I could!” And he smacked his lips.
When the cadets got back to Putnam Hall they washed up hastily and then some of the others turned over to Andy a portion of their spending money. Andy got a hasty supper, and then, watching his chance, stole from the mess hall on the sly. His bicycle was in the wagon house, and mounting this he spun along the highway leading to the town at record-breaking speed.
“Where did Snow go?” demanded Pluxton Cuddle, when he noticed the vacant chair.
“Perhaps he wasn’t feeling well,” suggested Pepper. “I noticed he had his hand to his stomach.”
“He eats too much,” grumbled the new teacher. “All of you boys eat more than is good for you. After this I shall have to keep an eye on Snow.” He glared round the table. “Singleton, what is that you have in your hand?”
“A piece of cake, sir,” answered Stuffer.
“Didn’t you have a piece before, sir?”
“Yes, sir. But I’m hungry and – ”
“One piece of cake is enough, Singleton. Put that down and leave the table.”
“Do you want me to go hungry?” demanded Stuffer, half angrily. The strenuous events of the afternoon had made him unusually hungry.
“I will not allow a cadet to stuff himself. I do not wonder that some of the boys have given you the nickname of Stuffer – although I abhor nicknames. Leave the room, sir!”
“All right, old cat!” grumbled Paul, under his breath, and he marched out, with Pluxton Cuddle’s eyes glaring after him. In the meantime Pepper calmly reached over, took half a dozen slices of cake and rolled them up in a napkin in his lap. Seeing this, Jack did the same. When Pluxton Cuddle chanced to look at the plate a minute later he stared in amazement.
“Who took that cake?” he thundered.
To this question all the cadets remained silent.
“Answer me, who took that cake?” he repeated, and looked at each boy in turn.
“I didn’t,” answered Dale.
“I ate but one piece, Mr. Cuddle!” said Pepper.
“That is all I ate, too,” added Jack.
“Only Stuffer – I mean Singleton – ate more than one piece,” said Bart Conners.
“Strange! strange! I thought the plate was full of cake,” murmured Pluxton Cuddle. He glared again at the cadets. “If I find out that any of you have deceived me I shall punish you severely. Now finish your suppers!” And he began to munch away vigorously on the dry toast he was eating. His theory was that a person should eat very little but masticate that little well, and he sometimes chewed a mouthful of food thirty or forty times.
When the meal was over, Pepper and Jack slipped the napkins full of cake under their jackets and left the mess hall. Then they took the cake upstairs and hid the dainty in a safe place. This done they strolled down the highway leading to Cedarville, looking for Andy.
“He ought to be coming soon,” remarked the young major, after a half hour had passed.
They walked a short distance from the Hall and then sat down on a rock to rest. Here presently Dale and Stuffer joined them.
“Where is Andy?” called out Stuffer. “I am hungry enough to eat that ice-cream right now.”
“I think something is wrong,” said Jack. “He ought to be back by this time.”
“What could be wrong, Jack?” asked Pepper.
“I don’t know, but – ” The young major paused. “Somehow, I feel that something serious has happened to Andy!”
CHAPTER XI
WHAT HAPPENED TO ANDY
“Perhaps Andy had a tumble from his wheel,” suggested Dale. “It might have broken down, you know.”
“Let us walk toward town and find out,” answered Pepper.
To this the others readily consented, and all set off in the direction of Cedarville. They had to go around a long curve, and then came to a spot where the roadway was lined upon either side with thick brushwood and trees.
“Here he is!” called out Jack, and ran forward. “At least, here is his wheel.”
He was right about the bicycle. It rested by the roadside, close to the fallen limb of a tree.
“He certainly took a tumble!” cried Stuffer. “But where is he?”
This question was answered by a groan that made all of the cadets start. They turned, peered into the bushes, and there beheld poor Andy stretched out on some grass. The blood was flowing from a wound in his forehead and from a cut on his hand.
“Andy!” cried the young major. “Are you hurt much?”
“I – I don’t know,” was the gasped-out reply.
“Didn’t you see the tree limb?” asked Pepper, as he got out his handkerchief to wipe away some of the blood on his chum’s face, so he might see the extent of the injury. Fortunately the cut was not deep, and it was easily bound up.
“That limb came down right in front of me,” was Andy’s answer. “If it had been down before I got to it I could have cleared it somehow.”
Stuffer ran to a nearby brook for water, bringing some in a cone he made of a sheet of writing paper, and inside of five minutes the sufferer felt well enough to tell his story.
“I was coming along, guiding the wheel with one hand and holding the ice-cream with the other,” he explained. “All at once the limb came down right in front of me. I crashed into it and landed on some stones in the bushes and then, I guess, I lost consciousness. That’s all I’ve got to tell.”
“What became of the ice-cream?” asked Stuffer, and despite Andy’s plight the lad who loved to eat gazed around rather anxiously.
“Why, it – it – I don’t know, I’m sure,” stammered Andy. “Isn’t it on the road?”
It was not, nor was it anywhere in that vicinity. The cadets looked at each other suggestively.
“Maybe it was a trick,” said Pepper. “A trick to get the cream away from Andy and spoil our little festival.”
“That’s it!” cried Dale. “For look, there is no tree around here where that limb could come from.”
The others looked around and saw that Dale was right. Only small trees were in that vicinity and none of these had lost a branch.
“If it was a trick, it was a mighty mean one,” was the young major’s comment. “Why, the tumble might have killed Andy!”
“Did you see anybody, Andy?” questioned Stuffer.
“No, and I didn’t hear anybody either.”
“Well, it’s too bad. It must have been a trick. I wonder if some of our fellows or some fellows from Pornell Academy played it?”
“That remains for us to find out,” said Pepper. “And when we do find out – well, somebody will suffer, that’s all!”
“Right you are!” answered Jack and Dale.
The other boys helped Andy to his feet. He was still dizzy and they had to support him on either side. It was found that the bicycle had a broken pedal.
“I wish I knew who did this,” grumbled Andy, as he started to limp along between Pepper and Jack. “I’d – Oh!” And he stopped short.
“What’s the matter?” came simultaneously from those who were assisting him.
“It’s gone!”
“What is gone?”
Andy did not answer immediately. He began to search his clothing, going through every pocket several times. Then he started to hunt around on the ground.
“What have you lost, Andy?” asked Jack.
“Was it valuable?” put in Stuffer.
“Was it valuable?” queried Andy. “Well, I just guess yes! It was worth at least two hundred dollars!”
“Two hundred dollars!” exclaimed all of the others in astonishment.
“Yes – and more.”
“What was it?”
“Joe Nelson’s medal.”
“Andy!”
That was all the others said – but it was enough. Every lad at Putnam Hall knew Joe Nelson’s medal, the one left to Joe by his Uncle Richard. It was a beautiful racing medal of gold, set with jewels, and Joe was very proud of it.
“What were you doing with Joe’s medal?” asked Jack, after a pause.
“The pin catch got broken and Joe sent it to the watchmaker to have another put on. He asked me to get it for him – I was with him when he left it at Bright’s shop. I went for it before I went for the cream.”
“And where did you have the medal?” asked Dale.
“In the inside pocket of my jacket, and I had the pocket fastened with a safety pin, too, to keep the medal from jumping out on the road.”
“It must be somewhere around here,” said Stuffer. “Let us make a good search.”
This they did, but it was of no avail. In the midst of it Andy set up another cry.
“My change is gone, and so is my ring!”
“Andy!”
“Boys, I have been robbed!”
“Oh, Andy, can this be true?” burst out Jack.
“What else can it be? I couldn’t lose my ring and everything else, could I, by just tumbling from my bicycle?”
“Andy must be right – the sudden coming down of the tree limb proves it,” declared Pepper. “Were you unconscious long?” he continued.
“I don’t know.”
“But you are sure you were completely knocked out when you hit the rock?” asked Dale.
“Yes – everything got dark and I didn’t know a thing. And, yes, when I came to my senses – just before you arrived – I was in the bushes!”
“Then somebody must have carried you from the road!” declared Jack. “And that somebody robbed you!” he added, bitterly.
After this there was a moment of silence. The others looked at Andy, and the acrobatic lad stared at them blankly.
“Yes, I must have been robbed,” he said slowly. “But who did it?”
“I don’t believe any of our fellows would do it,” answered Dale. “Even Ritter isn’t bad enough for that.”
“Would the Pornell fellows do it?” queried Stuffer.
“I don’t think so,” answered the young major. “Why, this is a prison offence!”
“Andy, who knew you were carrying the medal?” questioned Pepper.
“I don’t know.”
“Did anybody see you get it from the watchmaker’s?”
At this question Andy’s face lit up suddenly.
“Yes, a beggar, who came in and asked Mr. Bright for the price of a meal. Mr. Bright gave him five cents and I gave him the same. He was a tall, hungry looking fellow, with a flat nose, and, I remember now, he looked greedily at the gold medal and at the things in the shop.”
“Then maybe he is the guilty man,” said Dale.
“How would he know enough to come here and strike Andy down?” asked Stuffer.
“He would know, by Andy’s uniform, that he belonged to the Hall,” answered the young major. “He may have taken to this road and laid in wait for Andy.”
“I believe you are right!” cried Andy. “I didn’t like the looks of that chap, even though I did give him five cents. He looked just as if he wanted to get his hands on something of value.”
“And he must have taken the ice-cream too,” came mournfully from Stuffer.
“I hope it poisons him,” muttered Pepper.
“Humph! The idea of ice-cream poisoning anybody! Besides, a fellow like that most likely has the digestion of an ostrich,” returned Stuffer.
It was now growing so dark that to look around further was impossible. Jack and Pepper assisted Andy, and Dale brought along the broken bicycle, and thus the crowd returned to Putnam Hall. At the entrance to the campus they encountered Josiah Crabtree.
“Stop!” called the teacher, harshly. “Where have you been? Did you have permission to leave?”
“Mr. Crabtree, where is Captain Putnam?” asked Jack, without answering the questions put. “Andy had been hurt and robbed. We’ll have to notify the authorities at once.”
“Hurt? Robbed? How?” And Josiah Crabtree was much interested.
“He was knocked off his wheel and robbed of a ring, some money and Joe Nelson’s fine gold medal. Is Captain Putnam in his office?”
“I presume so. But I want to know – ”
“Time is valuable here, Mr. Crabtree. We want to catch the thief if we can,” put in Pepper, and then the whole party hurried to the office of the master of the Hall before Josiah Crabtree could detain them further. The teacher’s curiosity was aroused and he stalked after them.
Captain Putnam listened to Andy’s story with keen attention, and then asked all of the boys a number of questions. Nothing was said about ice-cream, nor did the captain ask Andy if he had had permission to go to the village.
“You did not come back at once, after getting the medal?” was the question put.
“No, sir. I went to a couple of stores and posted a letter at the post-office.”
“Then that would give the rascal time enough to get out of the village and make his plans to waylay you,” answered Captain Putnam. “I think the least we can do is to try to catch that beggar and make him give an account of himself. If he can prove he was in Cedarville at the time of the robbery, why then you’ll have to look further for the thief.”
His army experience had taught Captain Putnam to act quickly in a case of emergency, and now, without delay, he had Peleg Snuggers hitch his fast mare to a buggy, and he and Andy drove down to Cedarville. Here the local authorities were interviewed, and two constables and a special policeman went out on a hunt for the beggar. The policeman had seen the man, and remembered how he looked and how he had been dressed.
“He had an upper set of teeth that were false and a flat nose,” said the policeman. “He was dressed in a suit of blue that was too big around for him but not quite long enough. I saw him begging down at the steamboat dock, and I told him if he didn’t clear out he’d be run in.”
A hunt was instituted that very night, and was kept up for several days. But the beggar had disappeared and all efforts to locate him seemed fruitless. A reward was offered by the captain and by Andy’s parents, but brought no results.
“I am afraid he’s gone, and for good,” sighed Andy.
“Well, if the medal is gone it’s gone, and that is all there is to it,” answered Joe Nelson. He felt the loss of his uncle’s gift greatly.
“Joe, my father says he will buy you another medal,” said Andy.
“He doesn’t have to do that, Andy,” was the quick reply. “It wasn’t your fault you were robbed. Besides, I’d like to have that particular medal back.”
“Yes, and I want my ring,” said Andy. “My mother gave me that on my last birthday, and I prized it highly.”
“Well, maybe the medal and the ring will turn up some day,” concluded Joe; and there the subject was dropped.
CHAPTER XII
THE BEGINNING OF A REBELLION
As has been said, George Strong had gone away on business, and now Captain Putnam followed him. This left the school in charge of Josiah Crabtree and Pluxton Cuddle. That there might be no dispute regarding authority the master of the school made it plain to the two assistants that Crabtree was to have undisputed sway during school hours and that at other times Cuddle was to assume command.
“We are in for it now,” said Bart Conners, after the captain had gone. “Just you wait and see. Crabtree will be as dictatorial as possible during recitations and Cuddle won’t let us call our souls our own the rest of the time.”
“Well, I’ll stand just so much,” answered Pepper. “Then, if it gets worse, I’ll kick.” And his chums said about the same.
The first trouble arose in the schoolroom. Some of the boys had a Latin lesson that was extra difficult, and when they stumbled in the recitation Crabtree read them a lecture that was bitter in the extreme.
“You must understand that I am now in authority here,” he declared, pompously. “I want no more shirking. The reason you haven’t this lesson is because you are lazy!”
“Mr. Crabtree,” answered Joe Nelson, with a flushed face. “I did my best on that translation. But we have never had – ”
“Stop, Nelson, I want no excuses,” roared Josiah Crabtree. “This lesson is simple enough for a child to learn.”
“I did my best,” put in Jack, half aloud.
“Ruddy, did you speak?” demanded the teacher, whirling around and eyeing the young major savagely.
“I did, sir. I said I did my best. As Joe says, we have never had – ”
“Silence! Didn’t I say I wanted no excuses? Ditmore, you may translate from the beginning of paragraph twenty-four.”
“I didn’t study paragraph twenty-four,” answered Pepper. “I thought we were to take to twenty-two only.”
“I said twenty to twenty-five,” answered Josiah Crabtree, coldly. “If you can’t translate sit down, and I’ll mark you zero. Ritter, you may translate paragraph twenty-four for Ditmore’s benefit.”
The last words were said maliciously, for the teacher knew that Pepper and Ritter were on bad terms with each other. Pepper’s face reddened and he scowled. But a moment later he had to grin.
“Mr. Crabtree, I – er – I am not prepared to translate,” stammered Reff Ritter.
“What!” shouted the teacher.
“I am not prepared to translate. I – er – I had such a headache last night I couldn’t study.”
“Headache is good!” muttered Dale into Pepper’s ear. “He was out on the lake having a good time and smoking cigarettes!”
“Perhaps the cigarettes made his head ache,” answered Pepper.
“Stop that talking!” bawled Josiah Crabtree, and rapped sharply on his desk with a ruler. “Kearney, you may go on with the lesson.”
Now as it chanced, Dave Kearney was an exceptionally good Latin scholar, so he translated fairly well, even though he had not looked over the paragraph given. Then Stuffer was called on.
“I studied only up to twenty-three,” said he. “That’s as far as you said we were to go.”
“Don’t contradict me! Don’t you dare!” shouted Josiah Crabtree, red in the face with rage. “I know what lessons I give out. Conners, you go on.”
The big boy of the class shrugged his shoulders.
“I can go on, but not very well, sir,” he answered. “I understood we were to go to the end of paragraph twenty-two only. I may be mistaken – ”
“You’re right!” came from a cadet in the rear of the room.
“So he is!” said several others.
“Silence! silence!” shouted Josiah Crabtree, leaping to his feet and shaking his ruler in the pupils’ faces. “Silence! I will have silence!”
“Anybody got any silence to spare?” murmured Pepper, looking behind him. “Mr. Crabtree wants to borrow some silence.” And at this a snicker went around.
