AT THE FORD MANSION
"Don't you admire our very fashionable turnout?" questioned Pepper, as
he came forward and shook hands with the girls.
"It's the latest in carriages," came from Andy.
"Oh!" murmured Laura. "Did you really come all the way from Putnam Hall
in that?"
"It must have been hard riding," was Flossie's comment.
"No, we didn't come all the way," answered Pepper. "We'll tell you about
it later," he added. Then Ezra Cole was paid. The old farmer lost no
time in driving away.
As the girls and boys walked slowly toward the mansion the cadets told
the particulars of the breakdown on the road.
"And you really think some of your rivals did it?" questioned Laura.
"How mean!"
"I'd never speak to them again," added Flossie, with a flash of her
eyes.
"Well, we'll talk a whole lot to 'em," answered Pepper, grimly.
"But you have got to prove them guilty first," said Laura.
Once at the mansion the situation was explained to Mr. and Mrs. Ford,
and the boys were conducted by a servant to a bathroom, where they might
wash and brush up and make themselves otherwise presentable. They did
not linger long, and when they came below, the folding-doors to the
dining-room were opened and the butler announced dinner.
It was a jolly meal, and the cadets were made to feel perfectly at home.
Mr. Ford asked them how they were getting along in school, and was
surprised when told that they hoped to graduate from the Hall the
following June.
"We shall miss your visits to the Lodge," said Mrs. Ford.
"You'll have to visit us anyway--if you get a chance," said Laura, and
all of the cadets said they would remember her kind words. Then they
talked about old times, and especially about the time when the boys had
visited the Lodge and killed the tiger that had escaped from the circus,
as related in "The Putnam Hall Cadets," and of how the girls had visited
the cadets in the woods, when the boys had run away from the Hall, as
told of in "The Putnam Hall Rebellion."
"I'd like to go to a boarding-school," said Flossie. "It must be lots of
fun!"
"Fun and work, mixed," answered Andy.
After the dinner, over which they took their time, the young folks
gathered around the piano and sang and played, and they also had several
dances, with the old folks looking on. All too soon it came time for the
boys to go back to the Hall.
"I have ordered the auto around," said Rossmore Ford. "John can take you
back, and he can also stop for your bicycles, if you wish."
"Thank you very much," answered Jack. "We'll ride home in the auto with
pleasure. But I guess we had better let the bicycles rest to-night where
they are; eh, fellows?"
"Yes," answered Pepper and Andy.
A little later the cadets said good-night. The big touring car was
brought around and they got in the tonneau. Then the chauffeur turned on
the power, and away they shot into the darkness, the girls crying a
good-by after them.
"Well, we had a dandy time, in spite of the breakdown," remarked the
young major.
"But we have got to find out who played this trick on us," came from
Pepper.
"That may be easier said than done," said Andy. "Whoever was mean
enough to play such a trick will do his best to lay low."
When the boys got back to the Hall they found that the majority of their
friends had gone to bed. Only Stuffer Singleton was up, reading a novel
by the light of a wax-candle he had smuggled up to the room.
"Hello! have a good time?" queried the boy who loved to eat, as he cast
aside the volume.
"Bang up," answered Jack, and then he went on quickly. "Stuffer, were
you near the gym this afternoon?"
"No. Why?"
"Somebody was mean enough to tamper with our bicycles," answered the
young major, and gave a few particulars.
"Oh, you can bet it was the Ritter crowd, or Ritter alone," said
Stuffer, quickly. "It would be just like them to do their best to spoil
your fun."
It was not until two days later that Jack and his chums had a chance to
go for their broken-down wheels. They found them exactly as they had
been left, and explained to the owner of the barn how they happened to
be there.
"It's all right," said the farmer. "You can leave them here a month if
you want to." He knew Captain Putnam well, having sold him some straw
for the school stables.
The cadets had to trundle the bicycles back to Putnam Hall and then had
many hours' work in fixing the wheels so they could be used again.
During those two days the youths made many inquiries, but were unable to
get a clue as to who had played the trick. Ritter and Coulter "laid low"
and kept out of their way.
Following the game with the Dauntless Club came several other football
contests, and Putnam Hall won two games and lost one. Then the weather
turned off cold, with a promise of snow in the air.
During those days it must not be supposed that the search for Jack's
gold watch and chain was abandoned. It was continued with spirit, but no
clue was brought to light.
"It's as much of a mystery as the disappearance of my things when the
horse ran away with me," said Andy. "I don't suppose I'll ever hear of
those things either."
"Yes, but that was different, Andy," said the young major. "You were on
a public highway, where anybody might pick up the things, supposing you
merely dropped them. But I was right here, where everybody is supposed
to be honest."
"It gives the school a black eye, doesn't it?"
"That's it. I know Captain Putnam feels terrible about it, too."
"Do you suspect any of the hired help?"
"I don't know what to think."
The weather grew colder rapidly, and one morning the cadets arose to
find the ground covered with snow to a depth of several inches.
"Hurrah!" shouted Fred. "See the snow! Doesn't it look inviting?"
"Want a roll in it, Fred?" questioned Bart Field.
"Not exactly. I was thinking of a snowball fight."
"That's the talk! Let us get up a fight after school hours!" cried Bart
Conners.
Pepper was at the window. Slyly he raised the sash and scooped up a big
handful of snow from the broad ledge outside. Andy was nearby, bending
over, lacing up his shoe.
"Welcome to the snow!" cried The Imp, gaily, and let a portion of the
frozen mass slip down the acrobatic youth's collar.
"Wow!" snorted Andy, straightening up with a jerk. "Hi, you, what do you
take me for, an ice-box?" And he commenced to squirm as the cold snow
ran down his backbone. Then he made a dive for Pepper and chased The Imp
around the dormitory. Over two of the beds they flew, and then brought
up in a corner with a crash.
"Have mercy on the furniture!" cried Joe Nelson.
"Don't knock over the table!" added Stuffer.
"Give me that snow!" cried Andy, and managed to get a small portion from
Pepper. "How do you like that?" And he plastered the snow in The Imp's
left ear.
"Hurrah! Snow from Snow!" cried Jack.
"'Twill warm Pepper's blood, so it will!" was Emerald Hogan's comment.
More snow had been scooped from the window-sill by Fred and Joe, and
soon a battle-royal was in progress in the dormitory. But it came to an
abrupt end when Dave Kearney appeared.
"Stop it!" cried the young sergeant. "Crabtree is coming!"
"All over!" whispered Jack. "All as orderly as lambs!" And at once every
cadet settled down and started in an orderly fashion to finish his
morning toilet.
"What was the noise in here?" demanded Josiah Crabtree, as he threw open
the door and strode into the dormitory.
He glared around savagely, but nobody answered him.
"I demand to know what was going on here!" he continued.
"Mr. Crabtree, did you speak to me?" asked Pepper, meekly.
"I spoke to you all!" thundered the teacher. "What were you doing in
here?"
"I am dressing, Mr. Crabtree," answered Andy.
"I am dressing, Mr. Crabtree," came from Jack.
"I am dressing, too," put in Fred.
"And so was I dressing," said Stuffer, with a smile.
"And I was dressing," supplemented Pepper. "Come to think of it, I
rather fancy we were all dressing. You see, we always do dress when we
get up in the morning, Mr. Crabtree," he added with a simple smile.
"I want none of your impudence, Ditmore."
"Oh, dear, was I impudent?" murmured The Imp. "I didn't know it. I beg
ten thousand pardons--yes, a million, if you'd rather, sir."
"Be quiet, you--you forward boy! Something was going on in here! If I
find out what it was, I shall punish all of you!" And having thus
delivered himself, Josiah Crabtree strode out of the dormitory, banging
the door after him.
"Isn't he an angel!" murmured Andy.
"The sweetest teacher that ever grew!" returned Pepper.
"I'd like to know how long Captain Putnam will put up with him," was
Jack's comment.
"I don't believe it will be very long," answered Fred.
The cadets finished their dressing and hurried below. On account of the
storm the morning drill was held in the gymnasium, and then the young
soldiers marched to the mess-room. On the way several could not resist
the temptation to pick up some snow and throw it at each other.
"Hi, you stop that!" roared Reff Ritter, as a snowball took him in the
neck. "Who threw that?" he demanded; but nobody answered him. "I believe
it was you, Ditmore!" he went on, turning an ugly look on Pepper.
"That's one for tampering with our bicycles, Ritter," retorted Pepper.
It was a chance shot, taken on the spur of the moment, but it told. Reff
Ritter started and turned pale.
"Who--er--told you I--er--tampered with your bicycles?" he stammered.
"Never mind who told me, Ritter. We are going to get square with you,
and don't you forget it."
"Who said I touched 'em?" grumbled the bully.
"Never mind about that."
"You are trying to corner me, that what's you are up to!" grumbled
Ritter. "But you shan't do it! I never touched your wheels, and you
can't prove that I did. Now don't you throw any more snowballs at me,
or I'll report you." And then Ritter hurried into the mess-room as fast
as he could.
Pepper, Jack and Andy looked at each other.
"He is guilty, I know it!" said Pepper firmly.
"I believe you," answered the young major; and Andy nodded his head to
show that he agreed with his chums.