IN THE GYMNASIUM
"Company attention! Carry arms! Present arms! Shoulder arms! Forward
march!"
Captain Jack Rover, assisted by Lieutenant Fred Rover and his other
officers, was drilling Company C in a corner of the gymnasium of Colby
Hall. It was two days after the adventure on the Rick Rack River, and it
was still raining, so that drilling in the open was almost out of the
question.
The four cadets who had taken part in the rescue of John Franklin and
his son Phil had explained the situation to Captain Dale on their return
to the school and had been warmly praised by that old West Point
military man for their bravery.
It may be mentioned here that Captain Dale had been in charge of the
school since Colonel Colby had volunteered for the war and gone to
France to fight.
Many of the cadets hated the rain and hoped it would soon clear. They
loved drilling in the open far more than when held indoors, and they
also wished to get at baseball and other Spring sports.
"It's a shame it doesn't let up," remarked Gif Garrison, after the
drilling had come to an end and the rifles had been put away in their
cases along the wall. Gif was a big youth, and the recognized head of
many of the athletic sports.
"Well, we have to take such matters as they come," returned Spouter
Powell, running his hand through his heavy brush of hair. "Were it not
for the gentle rains, and the dews later on, the fields and slopes of
the hills would not be clothed in the verdant green which all true
lovers of nature so much admire. Instead we might have a bleak
barrenness, a dissolution which would appall----"
"Gee, Spouter is at it again!" broke in Will Hendry, usually called
Fatty by his chums because of his rotundity. Fatty was extremely
good-natured, and as a consequence nearly every one admired him.
"Nothing gentle about this rain!" exclaimed Dan Soppinger, another
cadet. "It's coming down in bucketfuls. Say, that puts me in mind--I've
got an essay to write on moisture. Can any of you tell me why
condensation takes place when----"
"Hurrah! the human question-box is once more with us," broke in Andy
Rover. "Dan, I think you'd die if you couldn't ask questions."
"Humph! how is a fellow going to learn anything if he doesn't ask
questions?" retorted Dan.
"You might walk around with a set of encyclopedias in your pocket,"
proposed Randy.
"That's it, Dan. Get a regular thirty-volume set while you are at it.
You've got about thirty pockets in your suit, haven't you? You could put
one in each pocket."
"I wish it would clear off to-morrow, at least enough to go to Haven
Point," said Fred. "They have a dandy moving picture at Mr. Falstein's
place."
"Oh, I know the piece you mean, Fred," cried Andy slyly. "It's entitled
'Meeting the Girls; or, The Great Conspiracy.'"
"Did the girls say they were going to see the pictures, Fred?"
questioned Jack quickly.
"Mary telephoned that they might go," answered Fred. "That is, she said
she and Martha might, and if they go probably some of the others will go
too."
"Then we must get down to see the pictures by all means," answered Jack.
"That is, if the storm lets up. If it keeps on raining I don't think any
of them will show up."
"Let's go in for a little gymnastic work," cried Randy, and had soon
shed his cap and his coat. He leaped up to one of the turning-bars, and
was soon busily going through various gymnastic evolutions. His twin
joined him, and then they did a little team work, much to the admiration
of some of the others present.
"How about a swing from one bar to the next?" called out Ned Lowe. Ned
was known as the chief singer of the school and was very handy with a
mandolin.
"All right, Ned; I'll swing against you," called Andy quickly.
"Not much!" was Ned's ready reply. "I know you can beat me. See what you
can do against Walt Baxter."
Walt Baxter was a clean-cut athletic youth who had made good in various
contests in the gymnasium and on the baseball and football field. He was
the son of Dan Baxter, who at one time had been a bitter enemy of the
older Rovers. But the senior Baxter had reformed, and his son was well
liked by the younger Rovers.
"All right, Walt," called out Andy. "Do you want to swing against me or
against my brother Randy?"
"I'll swing against both of you," answered Walt pleasantly.
The details of the little contest were quickly arranged, and it was
decided that Randy should make the first swing, Walt the second, and
Andy should come last. The swing was to consist of a flying leap from
one bar to the next, and then to a large pad spread beyond the second
bar.
"One try only now, remember!" cried Dan Soppinger. "Do your best,
everybody."
It did not take Randy long to get into position, and then he made a
swing and a leap which were gracefulness itself. He landed on the pad
lightly, but quite close to the second bar.
"I'm sure I can do better than that!" cried Walt Baxter; and in less
than a minute he too had made the swing, landing half a foot beyond the
mark set by Randy.
Andy eyed the distance carefully, and then prepared to make the swing.
"Here's where I do the flying-fish act!" he cried merrily.
"What's going on here? A contest? Let me see it!" came a voice from
behind the crowd that had assembled to see the performance. Then Henry
Stowell, a small cadet who was a good deal of a sneak, pushed his way to
the front of the gathering.
"Hi, Codfish, what are you trying to do?" exclaimed Ned Lowe, who had
been elbowed rather rudely by the small cadet.
"I want to see what's going on," cried Stowell.
"All right, Codfish, take it in for all you're worth," called out Fatty
Hendry, and then put out his foot and pushed the sneak of the school
forward.
It was a vigorous shove, and in order to keep himself from pitching
headlong Henry Stowell took half a dozen quick steps forward. Andy was
just in the act of launching himself from one bar to the next when
Stowell's forward movement carried him to a point directly between the
two bars. As a consequence Andy's feet struck the smaller cadet in the
shoulder, and both went down in a heap on the floor.
"Stop! Stop! What are you trying to do--kill me?" yelled Stowell, as
Andy came down on top of him in anything but a gentle fashion.
"I'd like to know what you are trying to do, Codfish?" demanded Andy,
using a nickname for Stowell which the latter abhorred.
"I didn't do a thing! Fatty Hendry tried to trip me up."
"And you shoved your way in where you had no business to be," retorted
Fatty. "Just the same, I'm sorry he got in your way, Andy," he added.
"Are either of you hurt?" questioned Jack quickly.
"He spoiled my jump," answered his cousin.
"And he kicked me in the shoulder and knocked me down," whined Stowell.
"I've a good mind to report him."
"What! After all we did for you in the woods last Winter?" demanded
Fred. They had found Stowell with Werner and Glutts and had rescued the
little cadet from the bullies and seen him safe on his way home.
"I don't care! My shoulder hurts terribly," whined Stowell.
"Never mind, Codfish, we'll give you a mustard plaster to put on it,"
cried Ned Lowe. And then in some confusion the sneak of Colby Hall
withdrew from the crowd.
"I don't suppose you feel like trying the swing now," remarked Walt
Baxter to Andy. "If you want to call it off, all right."
"Not much!" was the quick reply. "I got pretty well shaken up by hitting
Codfish, but just the same, I'm going to make the swing." And a moment
later Andy did so.
"And he wins!" declared Dan Soppinger, after measurements were made.
"He's a good six inches ahead of anybody!"
"Well, some time we'll try it again, and then maybe I'll be able to do
better," remarked Walt Baxter good-naturedly.
"I'm afraid you've made Codfish sore on us once again," remarked Jack to
Andy, after the little contest had come to an end and the cadets were
breaking up into various groups.
"If he is going to get sore over that he can do it," retorted Andy.
"I supposed he would be real friendly after all we did for him up in the
woods last Winter," remarked Fred.
"Well, that shows what's in a fellow is bound to come out sooner or
later," answered Randy. "Codfish always was a poor stick, and I suppose
he always will be. Just the same, I did hope he would turn over a new
leaf."
When the cadets awoke on Saturday morning a pleasurable surprise awaited
them. The storms of the weeks previous had completely passed, and the
sun was shining over the hills most gloriously.
"Oh, but isn't this the best ever!" cried Randy, after glancing out of
the window.
"It's simply scrumptious," retorted his twin; and then to show how good
he felt, Andy turned a flip-flap over his bed. Then he caught up a
pillow and threw it through an open doorway at Fred, who had just
started to dress.
"Hi, you! what's this--a bombardment by the Huns?" yelled Fred, and
promptly returning by sending a sneaker at his cousin. But the footwear
struck Randy, who promptly returned the missile and followed it up with
a book and a wadded-up towel.
"Hi, you fellows! stop the rough-housing!" shouted Jack. "Do you want to
be reported?"
"Who's going to report us--you?" questioned Andy.
"No. But some monitor will, or some teacher. And then a fat chance
you'll have of going to Haven Point this afternoon."
"Oh, that's so. We don't want to have our off-time cut off," put in
Randy quickly. "The war's over, the armistice is signed, and everybody
can go home and get washed up," he added, with a grin.
But while he was speaking Andy had advanced upon Fred, and now the two
started to wrestle. Jack tried to stop them and in the confusion the
three upset a small stand, sending a dozen or more books to the floor
with a thump. Almost immediately came another thump on one of the doors
leading to the corridor.
"Now we've done it," whispered Fred, in sudden alarm.
"Pick up those books! Quick!" answered Andy, and got down on his knees
to do so while Jack righted the stand which had held the volumes. At the
same time Randy leaped to pick up the pillows and otherwise straighten
the connecting rooms which the Rovers occupied.
"Ho, you fellows! aren't you up yet?" came from the corridor in the
voice of Gif Garrison. "Let me in. I've got some important news to tell
you."
"Oh, it's only Gif!" murmured the twins in relief.
"He said he had important news," put in Jack. "I wonder what it can be."