AN INTERRUPTED FEAST
"Oh, oh, oh!" yelled Codfish, dancing around the room wildly. "Take
that thing off! Oh, I'll be bitten to death! Take it off, somebody!
What is it, anyhow?"
"Hello! Codfish has been fishing," cried Andy gaily.
"Maybe he got that from the cook's pantry, too," broke in Randy.
"What's the dear creature's name, Codfish?" questioned Fred.
"You haven't got to let go of him if you don't want to, you know,"
came from Jack.
All this while the sneak of the school was dancing around the room,
doing his best to shake off the snapping turtle. But the creature,
though small, had a hold that was very tenacious, and refused to
budge.
"Say, he won't be seriously bitten, will he?" questioned Spouter, in a
low tone.
"No, it's only a baby snapping turtle," answered Andy slowly.
"Codfish is far more scared than hurt."
The sneak of the school was so frightened that he did not dare to take
hold of the snapping turtle. He held the creature out at arm's length
and continued to dance around, asking the others to take it off.
"He'll eat my finger!"
"Put it in some water and it will let go quick enough," suggested Fred
presently.
"Yes, give him a chance to swim around in a bathtub," added Randy
quickly, when he saw Stowell make a move toward the washbowl in one
corner of the room. "That isn't big enough for a good healthy turtle."
"Oh, oh! I'll have the law on you for this!" yelled the sneak, and
then bolted for the door and ran down the corridor in the direction of
the nearest bathroom.
As it happened, at that moment Job Plunger, the school janitor, was
coming along the corridor carrying an armful of old magazines which he
had been ordered to store away in the attic. As my old readers know,
Plunger, who had been nicknamed "Shout," was quite deaf, and with eyes
in another direction he did not see Codfish coming. The two collided
violently, and the janitor was sent over backward, scattering the
magazines in all directions, while Codfish came down on top of him.
"Hi you! what you mean by knockin' me down that way?" shrilled the
janitor, when he could regain his breath.
"I--I didn't mean to do it," stammered the sneak, as he arose to his
feet. "I was in a hurry."
"You ain't got no right to race through these halls like a crazy
horse," went on Plunger. "I ought to report you."
"I told you I was in a hurry," explained Codfish.
"Worry?" queried Plunger, not hearing aright. "Ain't I got a right to
worry if a feller like you sends me sprawlin'?"
"I didn't say worry--I said I was in a hurry. A snapping turtle had me
by the finger, and I wanted to get rid of it."
"Rappin'! Well, you ain't goin' to rap me. I'll let you know that!"
growled the deaf janitor.
"I said snapping--not rapping--a snapping turtle!" Codfish put his
mouth close to the janitor's ear. "_A snapping turtle!_"
"What's that? No, I ain't got no snappin' turtle. What would I be
doin' with a snappin' turtle?" queried Plunger blankly.
"I said I had one here--on my thumb!" cried Codfish. "It's gone now. I
guess my fall knocked it off," and he looked around in the rather dim
corridor to see what had become of the turtle, but without locating
the creature.
"I'm off, am I?" snarled Plunger, who had been asked that day to do a
large amount of extra work by the cadets, and was consequently in no
good humor. "I ain't half as much off as you are, you young rascal!"
He grabbed Codfish by the arm. "You jest pick up them magazines and
put 'em in my arms ag'in, or I'll report you."
At this the sneak muttered something under his breath. But he was
afraid of the deaf janitor, and so he began to pick up the various
magazines that had been scattered around and piled them high in
Plunger's arms. While he was doing this, he continued to look around
for the snapping turtle, but the little creature had disappeared.
"Now you be careful after this," said Plunger, when the task of
gathering up the scattered magazines had been completed. "After this
when you want to run through the halls, you walk!" And then he
continued on his way.
The Rovers and their chums had witnessed the scene in the corridor,
but as soon as Stowell turned to come back to his room they ran off
and down a side stairs, carrying the packing cases with them.
"Say, but that was rich--the way he thumped into Shout," was Andy's
comment.
"Yes, and the way Shout took him up for what he said," returned Randy.
"Gosh! it seems to me as if poor old Shout is getting deafer every
day."
"I wonder what became of the snapping turtle," said Fred.
"If they fell on it, they must have crushed the poor creature,"
returned Jack.
The boxes were soon placed on the various bonfires, and then the boys
mingled with the other students in having a good time generally. The
cadets sang songs and danced around the fires, and then organized an
impromptu parade up and down the river front and around the Hall.
"How about that little feast we were going to have before we went to
bed?" questioned Randy presently.
"Just what I was thinking about," answered Fred. "I'd like to have it
first rate; but where are we going to get the eats?"
"Perhaps we can get something from the Hall pantry," suggested Jack.
"Nothing doing in that direction," came from Ned Lowe, who was
present.
"What makes you say that?" questioned Spouter.
"Bart White and I tried it a little while ago, and everything is
locked up as tight as a drum. I guess the head cook and the head
waiter got on to the fact that we might make a raid."
"Then there is only one other thing to do," said Randy quickly. "And
that is to go down to town for something."
"That would be easy enough, especially if we could get some one on the
road to give us a lift," said Jack.
The Rovers and their chums talked the matter over for several minutes,
and then it was decided that Jack, Fred, Spouter, and Gif would pay a
hurried visit to Haven Point, bringing back with them such good things
as they could pick up quickly in the stores and carry back. A cap was
passed around, and eight dollars was collected for the proposed feast.
The cadets who had been selected as a committee lost no time in
leaving the school grounds, and then hurried off down the road leading
to the town.
"Let's watch our chance for a ride," said Jack. "We don't want to
waste any time on this trip."
He had scarcely spoken when they heard the rumble of a truck
approaching. It was a motor truck belonging to a dairy company doing
business in Haven Point and other towns around the lake.
"Hello there! Give us a ride into town, will you?" questioned Fred of
the driver, as the truck came to a halt at their signal.
"Sure! Climb on board," said the good-natured driver. He had only a
small load and was glad of their company, feeling sure that they would
treat him well for the accommodation.
By means of the truck it did not take the cadets long to reach the
town, and there they left the driver, Jack tossing him a quarter for
his kindness. Then the lads hurried to such of the stores as were
still open.
They had already made up their minds as to what they wanted if the
things could be obtained. At a delicatessen store they purchased a
pasteboard box lined with waxed paper and filled with chicken salad,
and also some ham and tongue sandwiches. Then they rushed into a
bakeshop, the proprietor of which was just closing, and purchased
several layer cakes and also a generous supply of ginger snaps. Then
they hurried to a confectionery, and there obtained some bottled soda
water and ginger ale, and likewise several quarts of ice-cream.
"Now I guess we're pretty well fixed for a little spread," declared
Jack, when they were once more on the street, each loaded with several
bundles.
"I hope we can get a ride back to the school," said Fred. "These
bundles are pretty heavy."
"I've got an idea," said Andy. "See that automobile yonder? Well, that
belongs to the man who owns the moving-picture theater. There he is in
front of his place. I wonder if he wouldn't let his chauffeur run us
down to the Hall? He knows all the boys at the Hall are pretty good
customers at his show place."
"It wouldn't do any harm to ask him, Andy," answered his cousin.
The crowd crossed the street and was soon interviewing the owner of
the moving-picture theater. He had seen the boys there a number of
times, and remembered them, and was keenly alive to anything that
might aid his business.
"Sure, my man can run you down to the school," he said readily. "Here
he is now." He turned to his colored chauffeur. "Joe, take these young
gentlemen to Colby Hall and then come back here just as soon as you
can."
The run to Colby Hall in the automobile took but a few minutes, and
the driver very condescendingly agreed to take them around to the rear
entrance of the building. The cadets paid him for his trip, and then
lost no time in sneaking what they had bought up a back stairway and
into the rooms occupied by the Rovers.
By this time the celebration over the defeat of Hixley High had about
come to an end. The cadets were disappearing in all directions, some
going to their rooms and others to the library of the school, a large
room which was often used as a general meeting place.
Word had been passed around to a number of others, so that a crowd of
about a dozen assembled in the Rovers' rooms to take part in the
feast.
"I'll tell you one thing we ought to do," said Randy. "We ought to
square ourselves somehow with Codfish. Otherwise he may be just mean
enough to give us away."
"I guess I can fix it for you," said Ned Lowe, who in the past had
been a bit more friendly with the sneak than any of the others
present. "Just give me a plate of ice-cream and a piece of cake, and
I'll go and smooth it over with the little sneak."
"Go ahead and do it, by all means, Ned," answered Andy quickly. "I
don't begrudge the little sneak a bit of something good. It will make
him forget how his thumb hurts."
Ned soon departed with the ice-cream and cake, and then the others
passed around the food which had been provided. They had brought along
some paper dishes and paper drinking cups, and likewise a few tin
spoons, and the boys made themselves comfortable on various chairs
and on the beds.
"It's all right," said Ned, when he returned. "Codfish was sitting by
the window in his room wondering what he was going to do. He was
suspicious at first, thinking there was some trick about the ice-cream
or the cake, but when he found it was all right he felt better, and he
has promised to keep quiet. But just the same, we'll have to keep
quiet ourselves in here, or we'll get into trouble. I just heard the
professors going around giving orders that the celebration was now
over and everybody would have to turn in."
With such healthy appetites as all of the cadets possessed, the good
things to eat and drink disappeared as if by magic. Some of the boys
wanted to sing, but this had to be tabooed. Spouter, however, was
called on to make a little speech, much to his delight.
"It's a grand occasion," he began. "A grand and glorious occasion, and
one which will live long in the memory of those attending this school.
In years to come we can point with great pride to our baseball
association and how, in spite of the fact that our opponents possessed
a pitcher whose renown had traveled for many miles, and an outfield
which was classed as second to none in this district, yet our
invincible heroes----"
"Hurrah! Hurrah! That's the stuff, Spouter!" interrupted Andy.
"Did you say invisible heroes?" queried Randy.
"I did not," snorted Spouter. "I said our invincible heroes. And as I
was about to further remark, our invincible heroes covered themselves
with a glory which will ever remain as a bright guiding star to this
glorious school, and when in days to come----"
"How do you know the days are to come?" questioned Andy. "Maybe the
days will go."
"Stop your interrupting!" cried the young speechmaker. "And in the
days to come----" he repeated, "and in the days to come--er--we shall,
in the days to come----"
"Great Caesar, Spouter! how long are those days coming?" queried Randy.
"Say, how can a fellow make a speech if you're going to interrupt him
all the time?" cried Spouter. "If you want to listen to what I've got
to say----"
At this moment came another interruption, but not from any of the
others present. There was a loud knock on the door, something which
brought all of the cadets to their feet in alarm.