THE PARADE
The inquiries made among the hired help of Colby Hall produced little
results. Some of the servants were rather scared and declared to Colonel
Colby that they were innocent of any wrong doing.
"I am not accusing any one here," declared the master of the Hall. "I
only want to find out, if possible, who was guilty of this outrageous
proceeding."
It was found that two men with wagon loads of supplies for the school had
visited the place during the evening, but neither of these men had gone
any further into the building than the storeroom, and both had departed
as soon as their errands were finished. Outside of that, so far as the
servants could remember, no outsiders had been on the premises.
"And yet those footmarks on the window sill and the fire-escape look as
if it had been done by an outsider," said Captain Dale to the head of the
school.
"It's just possible that it may have been an inside job and an outside
job combined," ventured Professor Grawson.
"What do you mean by that?"
"Somebody in the institution may be in collusion with some outsider--some
professional thief. The inside person may have given the outsider a tip
as to when the coast was clear and may even have stood on guard while the
rooms were being looted."
"That is possible, Professor. But is there any one in the place that you
suspect?"
At this Professor Grawson shook his head.
"No, sir. So far as I can imagine they are all thoroughly honest."
"We might institute a general search of all the buildings," announced
Captain Dale. "We can call all the cadets out on the campus and all the
hired help into the mess room and request them to remain while the search
is going on."
"Some of the hired help may object to that," came from Professor Watson.
"If they did it would throw suspicion on them," answered Colonel Colby
quickly. "I think the idea had better be carried out."
All the persons in the school were assembled as mentioned, and then
Captain Dale explained to the cadets what had been proposed and Colonel
Colby did the same to the hired help.
"They're certainly welcome to search our rooms," declared Major Jack
promptly.
"And mine, too," added a score of others.
"I'm sure I haven't anything to conceal," put in Lieutenant Harkness.
"And I haven't anything to conceal either," came from Brassy Bangs. "They
can search my room all they please." He had announced the loss of a
stickpin and six dollars and a quarter in cash.
Among the hired help there was more or less murmuring, one of the old
cooks, an Irish woman who had been in the place since it had been opened,
shaking her head dubiously.
"Sure an' I didn't think yez would take me fer a thief, Colonel Colby,"
said Bridget, gazing at the head of the school severely.
"I'm not taking any one for a thief, Mrs. Mulligan," he answered. "But it
would not be fair to search any of the rooms without searching all of
them."
"Sure an' that's true fer yez," announced the cook, nodding her head in
assent. "An' if that's the way ye're after lookin' at it, go ahead and
search me room all ye please. Only don't be disturbin' them trinkets I
have from me dead mother."
The search was made without delay, all of the teachers and the cadets who
had lost their belongings taking part. It occupied the rest of the
morning. Every room was gone over carefully, and when anything in the way
of jewelry or other such articles as had been reported missing were
discovered all those who had suffered were asked to look on and see if
they could identify anything.
"Gee! there's a fountain pen that belongs to me," cried one of the boys
presently. And then he added in a crestfallen manner: "It's all right. I
lent that to Bill Latimer a couple of weeks ago and forgot all about
it."
Outside of this incident the search came to an end with nothing out of
the ordinary happening. Not an article that had been taken was discovered
in any of the rooms occupied by the cadets or the hired help. Nor was
anything discovered in any of the other rooms or closets of the
institution.
"It certainly is puzzling," declared Colonel Colby, after the search had
been called off. "It looks to me as if a thief had gotten away with
everything he took."
"Either that or he has some hiding place which we as yet haven't
unearthed," answered Captain Dale.
After that the hired help were told they might go, and as soon as
possible dinner was served to the cadets and the teachers. Then, when the
pupils were told to go to their afternoon classes, Colonel Colby and
Captain Dale held a conference in the office and notified the local
police authorities.
"I hate to do it," said Colonel Colby. "But there seems to be no help for
it. It will certainly give our institution a black eye."
"But I do not see how anyone can hold you responsible for this affair,"
returned Captain Dale. "We are as watchful at this institution as they
are anywhere."
"Of course I shall not permit our cadets to lose anything by this," went
on the master of the school quickly. "I shall ask each of them to value
carefully what they have lost, and then, if the things are not recovered
before the end of the term, I will make the loss good."
"That would be very nice on your part, Colonel Colby. And I think it
would be a good investment too," added Captain Dale. "It will prove to
the parents of the cadets that you consider yourself responsible while
they are under your care."
When the local authorities came to the school they went over the ground
carefully with Colonel Colby and some of the others and asked innumerable
questions.
"We have a number of strangers stopping in town, mostly traveling
salesmen," announced the chief of police. "I'll look 'em up, and also
look up any tramps or any other suspicious characters that may be hanging
around." And that for the time being was all he could say. Soon he and
his men departed.
That evening Jack found a letter in his box which had been mailed early
that morning at Haven Point. It was from Ruth. There was also a brief
note to Fred which had been sent by May.
In her communication to the newly-elected major Ruth congratulated him
heartily on his success and said she hoped soon to see him in a parade at
the head of the battalion. After that she wrote as follows about the
sleighing party that had been called off:
"I received an invitation to that party from Lester Bangs and May
received an invitation from Paul Halliday. Jennie Mason, Ida
Brierley and several of the other girls had invitations and they
wanted us to go very much. But, of course, I did not want to go
with such a fellow as Bangs. Then he came to me and started a
report that all of you Rovers were going to another party with some
of the girls from the town, and that the party was to take place
the same night as our party. Of course, I did not want to say
anything about it, because I realized that you could do as you
pleased. But I told Bangs positively that I would not go with him
and May told the same thing to Halliday. Then both of them got
quite ugly and accused you and your cousin of trying to spoil his
outing. I told him you had had nothing to do with it, but he
declared that you had and that you had better look out or you would
get into hot water. So, Jack, please look out for him and tell Fred
to look out for Halliday and the others."
There was more to the letter, and Jack read the communication with great
interest. He felt greatly relieved to think that Ruth had not intended to
accept Brassy's invitation, and later on he dropped her a note thanking
her for her kind congratulations and telling her that the report of
another party in which the Rovers and some girls from Haven Point were to
participate had been faked up.
The note received by Fred was on lines similar to the communication sent
to Jack. He sent word to May clearing up the situation.
"It was a mean thing for Bangs and Halliday to do," declared the
newly-elected captain of Company C. "We ought to pitch into them."
"We can't afford to do it, Fred, now that I'm a major and you're a
captain," was Jack's reply. "Remember what Colonel Colby said: We must be
models for the other cadets."
"Great Scott! does that mean we can't stick up for our rights?" demanded
the youngest Rover indignantly.
"Not at all, Fred. If those fellows say anything, give it back to them.
And if they start to fight, defend yourself just as well as you are
able."
As mentioned before, Snopper Duke had been absent from the Hall during
the election for officers and the celebration which had followed. When he
returned he looked much worried, and this worry was far from dispelled
when he visited his room.
"Colonel Colby, I, too, have been robbed!" he exclaimed, as he came
rushing down to the office. "I've had a silver cardcase taken, and also a
gold watch which has been in our family for several generations, a watch
that belonged to my father and my grandfather."
"It's too bad, Professor Duke," answered the master of the Hall
seriously. "May I ask what the articles were worth?"
"I don't suppose the cardcase was worth more than a few dollars, but the
watch was of gold, and I presume it must have cost fifty or sixty
dollars. It was an heirloom and I treasured it highly."
"I am doing my best to find out something about the robbery," said
Colonel Colby. "But so far all my efforts have been in vain. I intend, if
the articles are not recovered by the time the school session comes to an
end, to pay for everything that has been stolen." And that was all the
master of the Hall could say.
It must be admitted that both Jack and Fred felt quite proud when the
first regular parade of the battalion took place that spring. The cousins
had, of course, sent home word of the election and had received
permission to purchase new uniforms. Both looked spick and span as they
marched out at the head of their respective commands. It was a clear,
warm day, and Colonel Colby announced that the cadets could parade
through Haven Point to Clearwater Hall and return if they so desired.
"Hurrah! That's the stuff!" cried Fred.
And so it was arranged, and one of the teachers telephoned over to the
girls' academy, to let those at that institution know what they might
expect. Then one of the cadets telephoned to Felix Falstein, the owner of
the Haven Point moving picture theater.
"Falstein always hangs out his flags for us," said this cadet. "And he'll
do it this time, I'm sure."
Colby Hall now boasted of a drum and fife corps of twelve pieces, and
they made merry music as the battalion marched away in the direction of
Haven Point. All but three or four of the cadets were in the best of
spirits.
"I think marching over to Clearwater Hall is punk," declared Brassy
Bangs, with a snarl. "Why can't they march some place worth while or just
go around the town and let it go at that?"
"I guess Jack Rover wants to show off before those girls," grumbled Paul
Halliday.
"I wouldn't go if I could get out of it," growled Brassy.
"Oh, don't squeal," returned his crony quickly. "If you do they'll only
laugh at us and make us go anyway."
"Attention there, Bangs!" cried the captain of Company B, the command to
which Brassy belonged. "No talking in the ranks!" And thereupon the
cadets became silent.
As had been anticipated, when the cadets reached Haven Point they found
that Felix Falstein had outdone himself in the way of decorations. Not
only were several flags displayed across the front of his theater, but he
had strung two big flags across the street, and between them placed a
banner which he had had painted some time before and which read:
WELCOME TO
COLBY HALL
"That's very nice of him," remarked Jack, who was marching at the head of
the procession with Captain Dale on horseback close beside him.
"Very nice, indeed, Major Rover," answered the military man.
"I wonder if we can't come to a halt here and go through the manual of
arms?" went on the newly-elected major.
"Certainly, if you wish to do so."
"Battalion halt!" called out Jack, turning around and the three companies
came to a stop.