The Putnam Hall Champions
“Wonder if we could get it back for you?” mused Jack. “We might try it, anyway, if you say so.”
“Do you think you could?” questioned the girl, brightening up. “Oh, if you could I’d be so thankful!”
“Let us try it anyway,” said Pepper.
“But you will go at it quietly?” pleaded Flossie.
“Yes, nobody shall know of it but Carey himself,” answered the young major.
“He acted real nice first,” explained the girl. “But the second time he called I saw he was of the Roy Bock stamp and I treated him real cool. I was very foolish to let him call at all. I cannot bear such rude boys.”
The cadets remained to play several games of croquet, and to partake of some lemonade and cake. They told the girls about the proposed bicycle race, and the latter said they would be on the watch to see the contestants pass.
“We’ll have cold milk or lemonade ready for you,” said Laura. “So if you want to drink it won’t take you long to do it.”
“Thanks awfully!” cried Andy. “That will be fine. I guess we’ll be pretty dry after climbing the hill below here, especially if the road is dusty.”
On the way back to Putnam Hall the three chums discussed the question of getting back Flossie’s bracelet. They had learned that the bracelet was of solid gold, with five small diamonds set in a row. It had cost at least a hundred dollars, if not more.
“If that rascal really means to keep the bracelet he ought to be horsewhipped for it!” declared Andy.
“I think he is only teasing Flossie,” answered Jack. “But he has no business to do that. She is terribly worried.”
“The idea of Will Carey wanting to kiss her!” said Pepper, almost savagely. “I’d like to – to – thrash him!”
“I think I’ll write Carey a letter, asking him to meet me in Cedarville,” said Jack, after thinking it over. “When he comes I’ll tell him he must return the bracelet at once, or take the consequence, and I’ll hint at the law. Most likely that will fetch him.”
“Want us along?” asked Pepper.
“I think it may be better if I met Carey alone, Pep. If all of us got at him he might get stubborn, thinking we wanted to have the laugh on him.”
“Well, if he doesn’t give up, we’ll all get after him, and good and hard, too,” said Andy.
Jack wrote the letter to the Pornell Academy student that evening. It was short and to the point, and informed Carey that he must meet the young major without fail. He was told to come alone, and was informed that Jack would also be unaccompanied. The next day brought a brief answer, as follows:
“Do not know what you want, but will be thereWill Carey.”“He’ll be astonished when you tell him what brought you,” said Pepper, when the young major showed him the communication.
There was a small village green in Cedarville, with a number of benches and a bandstand, and Jack had requested Carey to meet him there. The young major was on time, but he found the Pornell student ahead of him.
“Well, what do you want that is so mysterious?” demanded Carey, abruptly. “I haven’t much time. I’ve got another engagement inside of an hour.”
“What I’ve got to say, Carey, won’t take an hour,” answered Jack. “In fact, it won’t take me five minutes.”
“All right – let’s have it.”
“You have a bracelet belonging to Flossie Ford.”
At this announcement Will Carey was startled and showed it. He gazed at the young major hesitatingly.
“Who told you that?” he asked slowly.
“She did – and she wants it back.”
“Humph! Did she send you to me?”
“No, I volunteered to come.”
“Want to worry me into doing something, I suppose,” and the Pornell Academy student tried to put a sneer into his tone.
“I simply want you to give the bracelet back, that’s all. You’ve got to do it.”
“I did give the bracelet back.”
“You did! To-day?”
“No, two or three weeks ago. I didn’t want her old bracelet. I simply took it to tease her, that’s all.”
“You gave the bracelet back two or three weeks ago?” said Jack, slowly. “She told me yesterday that you still had it.”
“It isn’t so! I returned it to her three or four days after I took it.”
“How did you send it?”
“I didn’t send it. I put it in a box of chocolates and gave it to her.”
“It’s queer she didn’t say anything about that,” mused Jack. Carey’s statement mystified him a good deal.
“Is that all you wanted to see me about?” demanded the Pornell youth.
“Yes.”
“Then I’ll be going,” and without another word Will Carey walked away across the green and down the street leading to the steamboat landing. Jack made as if to follow him, then changed his mind and turned in the direction of Putnam Hall.
“There is a mistake somewhere,” he told his chums. “I guess I had better see Flossie Ford again before I go further in this matter.”
“You might write her a letter,” suggested Pepper.
“Mrs. Ford might not like us to be sending her daughters letters, Pep. No, I’ll talk it over, the first chance I get.”
The chance came sooner than expected. The chums were out on Monday practicing for the bicycle race when they saw a buggy ahead of them. They spurted up, intending to pass the vehicle, when they discovered that it contained the Ford girls, who had been down to the Cedarville post-office.
“Glad we met you,” said Jack, when the greetings were over. “Please stop, I want to ask you something.”
Then, when all had come to a halt by the road-side, he told the particulars of his meeting with Will Carey.
“He never returned that bracelet at all!” cried Flossie, indignantly. “He said it was in the box of chocolates – if he hadn’t said that I never should have taken the box – but when I opened it all there was in it were the candies and a note asking me to meet him for a row on the lake.”
“You are positive it wasn’t in the box?” asked Pepper.
“Yes, I am. I dumped all the chocolates into my lap, for I wanted my bracelet and not the candy. When I saw that he had fooled me I was so angry I threw the chocolates away.”
“Was he there at the time?” asked Andy.
“No, he went away just as soon as he gave me the box.”
“You didn’t go rowing, I suppose,” said Jack.
“No, indeed! I tore up the note and didn’t answer it. Then I didn’t see him for a week. When I did I asked for the bracelet, and he began to tease me and said he had put it in the box of chocolates, under the tissue paper.”
“And you are perfectly positive it wasn’t in the box?” insisted Jack.
“Why, Jack, don’t you believe me?” asked Flossie, reproachfully.
“Yes, but I want to make certain there was no mistake. You looked through the box carefully?”
“I surely did. All that was in it besides the candy was a sheet of tissue paper and a tiny tin tongs. Oh, I am positive the bracelet was not there.”
“Well, I must confess I don’t know what there is to do,” said Jack, biting his lip meditatively. “He declares he gave the bracelet back. Even if you went to law, his word would be as good as yours.”
“Oh, we are not going to law!” cried Laura, horrified.
“I understand. But I don’t see how you are going to get the bracelet back.”
“I’ve got a plan,” put in Pepper.
“Oh, what is it?” asked Flossie, eagerly.
“I don’t think I’ll mention it just now. I’ll tell you about it later,” was the reply. “But you can rest assured of one thing. If Will Carey has got that bracelet we’ll get it for you.”
“I think I know what Pep’s plan is,” broke in Andy. “And if so, I think it’s all right,” and he winked at his chum.
“I trust I get the bracelet soon,” said Flossie, soberly. “Every day I am afraid papa or mamma will ask me about it. And when they do I won’t know what to say! Oh, I wish I had never met that horrid Will Carey!”
CHAPTER XV
THE GREAT BICYCLE RACE
“Now, what is this plan of yours, Pep?” questioned Jack, on the way back to Putnam Hall.
“Make Carey a prisoner somewhere and scare him into giving up the bracelet,” was the prompt answer. “I am sure we can do it, for I feel he must be a coward at heart.”
“But he will not be likely to have the bracelet with him.”
“That is true,” put in Andy. “But we can fix that by making him give up something else – his watch, for instance, – to be exchanged for the bracelet later.”
“I suppose it could be done,” mused Jack. “But it would be a ticklish proceeding, for he might have us arrested.”
“We can do it on the sly.”
“He would recognize us.”
“Not if we were masked. Hurrah, that is the way to do it! We’ll wear masks and gowns, and scare him out of his wits – make him think the Whitecaps or Klu Klux Klan are after him.”
This proposal suited everybody, and the three boys decided to carry out their plan as soon after the bicycle race as possible.
The day for the proposed race dawned cloudily and up to noon the cadets were doubtful if they would be able to go out – it looked so much like rain. But by one o’clock the sun was shining brightly and their spirits revived.
Ten cadets who had wheels were sent out ahead, to station themselves about two miles apart on the course. They were to keep tally of every rider and see to it that nothing was done contrary to the rules laid down.
The contestants lined up in front of the Hall in fine style. Then came a pistol shot, and off they went in a manner that elicited much cheering.
“Hurrah! May the best rider win!”
“Take it easy, boys, twenty miles is a long distance to cover!”
So the cries ran on as the bicyclists sped down the roadway, their safeties gleaming brightly in the sunlight. Everybody was in fine condition, and the race promised to prove a spirited one. Each racer wore a blue sweater with the letters P. H. on the breast.
Jack, Andy and Pepper started in a bunch, directly after the leaders. Not far away were Ritter, Coulter and Paxton. They kept close behind our friends for all of a mile.
“I guess they want us to set the pace for them,” cried Pepper.
“Well, we can do it,” answered Andy. “Pump up, fellows, we want to break some records to-day.” And he spurted ahead.
Jack and Pepper were not to be left behind, and they speedily caught up to the acrobatic youth. Than another mile was covered and they passed the first of the guards along the road.
“You’re doing well!” shouted the guard, as he waved his hand at them. “Keep it up!” And then his voice was lost in the distance.
“Some of the others are coming up,” said Jack a minute later, and then came a flash of wheels and Reff Ritter went past them at top speed.
“Ritter can’t keep up that pace,” said Pepper. “If he tries it he’ll wear himself out before he covers ten miles.”
“Here come some more,” said Andy, and a few seconds later Coulter and Paxton flashed past.
The riders were now coming to a narrow part of the road. On either side were low-hanging trees, so the bicyclists were forced to keep almost in the middle of the highway, to avoid the branches. All in the race were now ahead of the three chums, who were saving a good portion of their strength for the last half of the run.
As Jack and his friends turned a curve in the highway they saw Coulter and Paxton directly ahead of them. The two contestants were side by side and riding now in anything but racing fashion.
“Clear the track!” sang out Andy, as he and the others came closer.
Neither Paxton nor Coulter paid the slightest attention to the call. They kept on as before, at a pace of about six miles an hour.
“Hi, you, give us some room!” cried Jack. “Don’t block the road in this fashion.”
“If you are going to race, race,” said Andy.
“We are racing,” drawled Paxton, without increasing his speed.
“We are not going to kill ourselves at the start,” added Coulter.
“Well, let us pass,” said Pepper, impatiently.
“You can pass for all of me,” answered Paxton. “I am not holding you back.”
“Yes, you are.”
“Nonsense!” cried Coulter. “Go ahead if you want to – the road is wide enough.”
“You know that the trees are in the way,” answered Jack. “Now, either go on or steer aside.”
“Humph! Are you running this race?”
Coulter and Paxton continued to keep to the middle of the road and it was utterly impossible for the others to pass them.
“This is a trick – to keep us in a pocket and hold us back,” muttered Jack. “It’s the meanest thing I ever heard of.”
“We ought to bump into them and send them flying,” growled Pepper.
“If you do that you’ll be disqualified,” said Andy.
Paxton and Coulter now spurted up a little. They did this just to pass the next guard in good form. But as soon as the guard had been left behind they dropped down to their six-mile-an-hour gait once more.
“If we can’t pass them we might as well give up right now,” declared Pepper. “I declare, I never felt so much like punching a fellow in my life!” he added, vehemently.
“I think I know a way out of this!” cried Jack, suddenly. “Let me get a little ahead of you and watch me closely.”
The others were willing to try anything and dropped behind as the young major desired. About an eighth of a mile more was covered and they came to another turn, where the road ran slightly down hill. Here the trees were thicker than ever, so that to pass Coulter and Paxton would have been utterly impossible.
“Wonder what Jack has up his sleeve,” mused Andy.
The question was speedily answered. As the turn of the road was gained there appeared a foot path between the trees, running parallel to the highway and distance from it less than five yards. Onto this foot path spun Jack, and Pepper and Andy came directly after him. The path was smooth and spongy and the bicycles flew over it “like greased lightning,” as Jack said afterwards.
“Hi! they are off the road!” yelled Paxton, looking around.
“They are on the path!” yelled Coulter. “Come, we mustn’t let them get ahead of us!” And he pedalled forward with vigor.
“Follow me and be quick!” cried the young major to his chums. “This path comes out into the road at the foot of the hill!” And away he sped.
It was a dangerous proceeding, for a jar of any kind might throw them headlong into a tree or a rock. But they were on their mettle, and willing to take chances, and Andy and Pepper stuck to Jack’s trail like shadows. On and on they went over the foot path, and out in the roadway Coulter and Paxton did their best to outdistance them and block their chances of winning the race.
At last the bottom of the hill was less than a hundred feet away. Jack saw a straight stretch ahead of him and put on all power. Like an arrow from a bow his wheel swept on and gained the road well in advance of Coulter and Paxton. Andy followed, with Pepper overlapping his back tire by three inches.
“Come on, we’ve got to catch them!” screamed Coulter, in a rage. “Remember the narrow road at Dunham’s farm.”
“All right, set the pace and I’ll keep up if I can!” cried Paxton.
Jack and his chums were fifty feet in the lead. They watched Coulter and Paxton narrowly and saw them trying to steal up.
“It won’t do to let them pass us – they’ll only pocket us again,” said Andy.
“Yes, but they’ll wear us out trying to keep them back,” answered Pepper. “I must say, they ride well.”
“They can’t keep it up more than ten or twelve miles,” said Jack. “But they may make us lose, nevertheless.”
Another guard was passed and then came a new spurt by Coulter and Paxton. They had almost reached Andy when there followed a crash and a yell.
“Coulter is down!” said Jack.
“Yes, and Paxton smashed into him!” added Andy.
“It serves them right,” came from Jack. “Now, boys, I don’t think they’ll bother us any more.” And he was right. Coulter had a broken handle bar and Paxton received a badly-skinned shin, and the two misguided ones had to give up the contest.
Free to do as they pleased, Jack and his chums now set their own pace and four miles were reeled off in quick but easy fashion. On the way they met one other rider who had broken down and given up, and they passed two more who were almost winded. Then they came in sight of several others. Reff Ritter was in the lead of the bunch.
“Now is the time for us to make good!” cried Jack.
“All right,” answered Pepper. “Everybody for himself!” and he commenced to spurt along the level stretch before them.
The three chums had soon passed all but Reff Ritter and Joe Nelson. Of these two, Ritter was in the lead, with Joe clinging to him stubbornly.
“Good for Joe!” sang out Andy. “I didn’t think he could ride so well.”
“He looks less used up than anybody,” declared Andy.
It was now a fierce grind. They were on the road leading to Point View Lodge and Jack and his chums looked out eagerly for the Ford girls. They were at the gateway, holding a pitcher of lemonade and glasses.
“Awfully sorry, but if we stop we may lose the race!” shouted Jack, slackening his speed a bit. “It’s nip and tuck!”
“Then don’t stop!” called both girls. “Good luck to you!”
Jack passed on, followed by Ritter and Andy. Pepper had dropped behind, for the awful pace was beginning to tell on him.
“I’ve got to have some of that lemonade,” he said, as he took a glass. “My mouth is full of cotton.”
“I hope Jack wins,” declared Laura. “He was in the lead.”
“Come some time and tell us all about it!” called Flossie, and then Pepper leaped into the saddle again and made after the flying contestants.
On and on sped the leading ones, Jack in advance, Ritter second, Andy third and Joe Nelson fourth. Then Andy and Joe spurted and passed Ritter. But the bully clung to them like grim death, and thus another mile was left behind.
“Three miles more and it will be over,” cried Jack presently. “Now to put in some of my best licks!” And he rode harder than ever. “Good-bye, Andy!”
“Oh, you can’t lose me!” called out the acrobatic youth. “I’m not quite all in yet!”
It was a tremendous burst of speed on the part of the young major and his chum and it speedily carried them ahead. They reached a down grade and descended with the speed of an express train. Then they rushed over a small bridge spanning a brook, and took a turn leading to the lake road.
“Help! help!” came a sudden cry from ahead. “Help! Robbers! Help!”
“What’s that?” asked Jack.
“Somebody calling for help!” answered Andy. “It comes from yonder cottage!”
“Look!” ejaculated Jack. He could scarcely credit his eyesight.
“Those fellows with the green masks and green hoods!” burst out the acrobatic youth.
“Yes, and they are holding a boy and robbing him,” came from Jack. “Andy, we’ve got to stop this!”
And leaping from his wheel he ran toward the cottage, followed closely by his chum.
CHAPTER XVI
AT THE CHETWOOD COTTAGE
The cottage mentioned by Andy was located about a hundred and fifty feet from the road. It was set among some small trees, and a roadway led to the front door. Along this roadway dashed Jack and the acrobatic youth.
The boy who had uttered the cry for help was a tall, thin lad, with a shock of black hair and deep, black eyes. He was a cripple, walking with a crutch, one leg being bent at the knee. He had come out of the cottage hopping on his good limb and flourishing his crutch menacingly at the two individuals in the green masks and hoods.
“Give up the wrench!” cried one of the strange individuals, shaking a barrel stave in the boy’s face.
“We must have it!” shouted the second masked person. “We need it for opening the treasure chest!”
“Go away!” cried the boy. “Go away, I tell you!”
As he spoke he swung the crutch around and hit one of the masked men on the shoulder. At this the fellow leaped back and uttered a wild laugh.
“Stop that!” cried Jack, as he leaped from his wheel. “Let that boy alone!”
“Ha! ha! The police have arrived!” cried the second masked man, who was armed with a small section of a garden hose.
“We must vanish!” cried the other masked fellow. “They want to put us in jail for a thousand years!” and he began to retreat towards the woods behind the cottage.
“Here, hold up!” called out Andy, a sudden thought flashing into his mind. “I think I know those chaps,” he added to Jack.
“They have robbed our home!” called out the cripple. “Please stop them!”
By this time the two masked men were running for the woods with all the speed at their command. Jack and Andy rushed after them, leaving their bicycles at the cottage door.
“What do you mean by saying you think you know those chaps?” asked Jack.
“Don’t you remember Mr. Strong’s two crazy relatives – Bart Callax and Paul Shaff? I believe the masked fellows are the same.”
“By jinks, I think you’re right, Andy! But I thought Mr. Strong had those relatives of his cared for.”
“They must have broken away again – crazy people have a way of running off, you know.”
“Well, those rascals acted as if they were half loony,” was the young major’s comment.
All this while the cadets were racing after the two strange individuals, who were now crashing along between the trees and bushes of the woods. The men were fleet of foot, and slowly but surely they drew out of sight of their pursuers.
“It’s no use,” panted Andy at last. “After such a ride as we’ve had on our wheels I’ve no wind left for a foot race,” and he came to a halt and leaned heavily against a tree for support.
“I wish I knew for certain that the two rascals were really those crazy men,” was Jack’s comment, as he, too, halted. “That would clear up the mystery of the hold-up you and Pepper experienced the time the tire was punctured.
“Well, we can tell Mr. Strong about this, when we get back to Putnam Hall. He can telegraph to the folks who had the men in charge and learn if they have escaped.”
Having rested, the chums retraced their steps to the cottage. They had run into the woods the best part of half a mile, and just before they came in sight of the cottage they met the crippled boy, who had walked after them as well as his condition would permit.
“Did you catch them?” he asked, anxiously.
“No, they ran too fast for us,” answered Jack.
“We might have caught them had it not been that we were tired out from bicycle riding,” explained Andy. “We were in a race. But I guess that’s all over now, eh, Jack?”
“It certainly is so far as we are concerned,” was the acrobatic youth’s answer.
“I saw some boys on wheels ride past, just after you came up,” said the crippled youth. He heaved a deep sigh. “Wish you had caught those two men.”
“Don’t you think they were crazy?” asked Jack.
“To be sure they were – crazy as loons. But I didn’t know that at first. You see I was alone – father and mother went to Ithaca yesterday and they won’t be home till Saturday. Those men came along just as I was locking up to go fishing down to the lake. They came up quietly and didn’t speak until they were right behind me. I can tell you they scared me pretty well with those green masks!”
“What did they do?” asked Andy.
“At first they demanded that I get them some dinner. I said I had very little in the house. Then one of them said he’d take some oysters on toast and some baked liver. I thought he was fooling, and that the two of ’em might be some of my friends who had come to our house thinking they could scare me while my folks were away. Then they went inside and began to rummage around and I told them to quit – that a joke was a joke, but they were carrying it too far. Then they took a vest from my father’s trunk and I got scared and pulled one of ’em back. Then both of ’em knocked me down and one pulled out a big butcher knife. Then I got scared and ran outside. I saw you coming on your wheels and I yelled like an Indian. I am very thankful you came to help me,” concluded the crippled youth.
After that he told them his name was Nat Chetwood and that his father owned a vineyard and a small shop where baskets were made. He said his parent had gone to Ithaca on business and that his mother was off to pay a relative a visit.
“Did they steal anything of value?” questioned the young major.
“That I can’t say,” answered Nat Chetwood. “You see, I don’t know exactly what my father had in his trunk. All they took out of the house was a small looking-glass, an empty inkwell, and a big, tin wash-basin. But they threw the wash-basin away when you came. I know they took one of my father’s vests, for the big man of the two stuffed it under his coat. While they were at the trunk one of ’em asked me to whistle Yankee Doodle and said he’d take me to the circus next week. Oh, they were certainly crazy, – and dangerous.”
