A DOSE OF SNOW AND ICICLES
As soon as it became apparent that Andy was doing much better than he
had been able to do, Reff Ritter lost interest in the exhibition going
on.
“I reckon I’ve seen enough,” he drawled. “It’s cold in here anyway. I’m
going back to the school,” and he shuffled off, followed by Mumps.
“Andy, you are ten times better than he is on the bar and rings,” cried
Pepper.
“Sure, an’ that Ritter is a big blow, so he is!” was Hogan’s comment. “I
am glad that Andy took him down.”
“I don’t think he’ll like it much,” observed Andy.
The acrobatic youth was right. Reff Ritter was very bitter at heart.
“Where are Baxter and Coulter?” he asked of Mumps, as they hurried
outside.
“Went down to the old boathouse,” and Mumps winked.
“For a smoke?”
“Yes,” was the whispered answer. For, as my readers may imagine, smoking
among the cadets was strictly prohibited.
“Think I’ll have a cigarette myself,” said Ritter. “Will you come
along?”
Now, Mumps did not like to smoke, as it made him sick. But he did not
wish to offend his new friend, and so he agreed to go along. They soon
made their way to where Baxter and Coulter had taken themselves, and the
toady gave a peculiar whistle.
It was answered a moment later, and Coulter appeared.
“Oh, it’s you,” he said. “All right, come in.”
They entered a section of the old boathouse that was but little used. It
would have been cold, only the cadets had found a charcoal stove, and
this was burning. Around it were Dan Baxter, Paxton, and Coulter, all
smoking cigarettes.
“Hullo, glad to see you,” said Dan Baxter to Reff Ritter. “Sit down with
us and enjoy yourself.”
Ritter sat down and drew from his pocket a package of imported
cigarettes. He offered one to Mumps, and the toady lit it. Then Ritter
lit one himself, inhaling the smoke and blowing it forth through his
nose.
“Say, this is something like,” he observed. “Quite a cozy bunk you
have.”
“It’s good enough for a smoking place in the winter time,” answered the
bully of Putnam Hall. “In the summer time we can go anywhere.”
“Captain Putnam must be down on smoking.”
“He is.”
“I don’t see why,” said Paxton. “I’ve smoked ever since I was eight
years old.” And his pinched face showed it.
“I love these imported Egyptian cigarettes,” went on Reff Ritter. “I get
the genuine, you know.”
“I’ve got a treat for all hands,” said Dan Baxter, after a pause. He
brought forth a big bottle from his overcoat.
“What is that?” asked Mumps.
“Wine—I bought it down at Cedarville.”
“Just the stuff!” exclaimed Ritter. “I’m with you on wine. I got used to
drinking it when I was over in Europe. You know they serve it regularly
for dinner at all the hotels.”
The bottle of wine was passed around, and all of the boys assembled
drank a portion. Mumps wanted to decline, but did not dare.
“Don’t be afraid of it, Mumpsy, old boy,” said Baxter to his toady.
“Drink it, it will make a man of you.”
The boys continued to smoke and drink for the best part of half an hour.
Then they heard a peculiar noise outside.
“Hi, somebody is coming!” cried Paxton, in alarm. “Put out the light!”
The lantern that hung on a nail was extinguished and the boys listened.
They heard somebody moving around in the dark. Then all became silent.
“I—I don’t like this,” said Mumps, in a trembling voice. “I think
somebody was spying on us!”
“We had better get back to the school,” said Baxter, and this advice was
followed without delay. They saw somebody running across the campus, but
could not make out who the person was.
During the time the Baxter crowd had been smoking and drinking they had
talked over many matters, and particularly their troubles with Pepper,
Jack, and Andy Snow. The bully of the Hall wanted to get even with
Pepper for the trouble on the ice, and Reff Ritter was willing to do
almost anything to “put a spoke in Andy Snow’s wheel,” as he expressed
it.
The upshot of the talk was that the crowd determined to play some tricks
on our friends, and do it that very night.
“I know something brand-new,” said Coulter, and told his cronies of it.
“That’s the talk—if we can work it,” said Baxter. “And we’ll do
something else, too,” he added.
Gus Coulter’s idea was to get some snow and stuff it into the pillows of
the other boys. The heat of the boys’ heads would gradually melt the
snow and leave the lads in beds that were soaking wet.
As luck would have it, Dan Baxter and his party found the dormitory
occupied by Jack and the others empty when they went upstairs. They
quickly got out the bed pillows, and from the roof of an addition to the
academy procured the necessary snow, which they stuffed into the
pillow-cases, next to the feathers. Then they got a number of icicles
and put several at the foot of each bed, under the blankets, and in such
manner that the boys’ feet would come up against them.
“And now for a finishing touch,” said Ritter, and placed a big chunk of
snow on the upper edge of the dormitory door, leaving the door slightly
open. Then the boys hid away to watch proceedings.
It was not long after this that Jack and his friends came upstairs to go
to bed. They did not, however, go straight to their dormitory, but
stopped to talk to some other cadets at the end of the hall.
“I wish they would go in their room,” whispered Paxton, from a corner.
“I am getting tired of waiting.”
“Say, here comes old Crabtree,” put in Mumps.
“Yes, and he’s going toward their room!” cried Gus Coulter, in surprise.
He spoke the truth, and an instant later Josiah Crabtree pushed upon the
dormitory door. Down came the big chunk of snow on the teacher, sending
him flat to the floor.
“Hi! hi! What’s this?” spluttered Josiah Crabtree. “Who is—er—who
covered me with snow?”
He turned over and got to his feet. His shoulders were full of snow and
some snow had gone down inside his collar, causing him to shiver with
cold.
The noise attracted the attention of all the cadets in the vicinity, and
soon they gathered around the teacher.
“What’s the matter?”
“Old Crabtree is taking a snow bath for his health.”
“Where did all that snow come from?”
“Major Ruddy, can you explain this?” demanded the assistant teacher,
turning angrily to Jack.
“No, sir, I cannot,” was the answer.
“I was going to enter this dormitory when down came this snow, almost
burying me alive!”
“I am sorry, Mr. Crabtree.”
“It is outrageous—villainous! Somebody is responsible!”
“I am not. I know nothing about the snow.”
“I guess it was put there for our benefit,” put in Pepper. “We were
about to enter the room when you came along.”
“Humph! A silly trick.”
“How did you happen to catch it, Mr. Crabtree?” asked Andy, curiously.
“I was going into the room to see if the windows were closed. There is a
great draught through this hallway, as you can feel. Then you do not
know who did this?” went on the instructor, gazing sharply at the
assembled pupils.
All looked blankly at each other. Dan Baxter and his cronies took good
care to keep in the background.
“Gather up the snow and throw it out of a window,” ordered Josiah
Crabtree, and this was done, but not before several snowballs had been
thrown, one catching Mumps in the neck and another landing on Reff
Ritter’s left ear. Then the throwing was stopped, order was restored,
and all of the cadets were told to retire.
“Somebody put up a job on us right enough,” observed Pepper, when he and
his chums were in the dormitory and the door had been closed. “If old
Crabtree hadn’t come along one of us would have gotten that dose.”
“I’ll wager that I know who is guilty,” came from Dale.
“Dan Baxter and his crowd?”
“Exactly. Didn’t you see how they hung back and how they grinned at us?”
“I saw it,” came from Andy. “That’s why I soaked Mumps with a snowball.”
“And I let Ritter have it in the ear,” said Pepper. “But I say, fellows,
we want to be on our guard.”
“Do you think they played more jokes on us?” questioned Hogan. “Sure an’
it would be just like ’em to do it, so it would!” he added.
“It certainly won’t do any harm to look around,” suggested Jack. “It
won’t take but a few minutes to do it.”
Pepper held up his hand.
“Wait!” he whispered, and sliding to the door, threw it open suddenly.
Outside he found Ritter, Baxter, and Coulter. The trio were amazed at
being thus suddenly confronted.
“I thought so!” cried Pepper, triumphantly.
“Oh, go to grass!” muttered the bully of the school, and walked away.
“We’ll fix you another time,” muttered Ritter.
“And do it well too,” added Coulter.
Pepper waited until he had seen the others enter their dormitory and
then closed his own door again.
“I’ve found something!” cried Andy, and dove into his pillow-case.
“Filled with snow!”
“Snow for Snow!” said Jack.
“That’s a cold pun,” observed Dale. “Just the same, here is snow in my
pillow too. Say, we just got this in time. It would have melted before
long and then our pillows would have been wringing wet.”
“Don’t say a word about snow,” said Emerald. “Just be after lookin’ at
this now!” And he held up three icicles he had dislodged from his bed.
“Ain’t they iligant foot-warmers though!”
Without delay the other boys looked into their beds, and soon all the
icicles were disposed of, and the snow was likewise cleaned away. They
then made another hunt around the dormitory, to make certain that
nothing else was wrong.
“I guess we are safe now,” said Jack, at last. “But what a mess this
would have made if we had not found it out in time!”
“I know what I am going to do,” said Pepper, decidedly.
“What, Imp?” came from several of the others.
“I’m going to pay the Baxter crowd back, and with interest.”
And the others instantly agreed to help him.