PRISONERS ON THE SLOOP
A short, sharp fight followed, and Ritter and Coulter were struck over
the head with the hockey sticks. But then Andy slipped and fell and
Ritter pounced upon him. Then Coulter attacked Pepper from the front and
Paxton came up in the rear. Suddenly Paxton pulled the Imp’s legs from
under him, and as he went down his head struck on the guard rail and he
was momentarily stunned. He was thrown into the cuddy and Andy was
thrown after him, and then the tiny door was shut and bolted. To make
the temporary prison more secure the Ritter crowd ran a heavy rope
around the cuddy, just as one would put a rope around a big box.
“Hi, let us out!” shouted Andy and began to pound on the door loudly.
“If you don’t we’ll make it hot for you!”
“You’ve got to stay in there for awhile,” answered Ritter, coolly.
Paxton and Coulter were much excited over the turn affairs had taken and
wanted to know what was to be done next.
“Let us talk it over,” said Ritter. “I didn’t expect this any more than
you did.” And he rubbed the lump one of the hockey sticks had raised
over his left ear. “I’ll pay Ditmore back for that crack, see if I
don’t,” he added, bitterly.
“I got one, too, from Snow,” growled Coulter.
“We had better move the sloop from shore,” went on Ritter. “If we don’t
some others may come down and make it warm for us.”
The anchor was hoisted and the line attached to the dock cast off. Then
they raised the mainsail and stood out into the darkness of the lake.
Soon Putnam Hall and the boathouse were lost in the gloom.
“Now lower the sail and let her drift while we talk,” said Ritter.
“She may go on the rocks,” warned Coulter.
“If she does she won’t hit hard enough to hurt. The breeze has about
died out.”
In the cuddy Pepper had regained his senses. With the door shut the
place was suffocating, and all the two cadets could think of was to get
out. They pounded and kicked on the door, but this brought no response.
“We can’t stay in here!” gasped Pepper.
“We’ll have to stay—unless we can break out,” returned his chum. “And
I’d hate to damage the sloop to that extent—right before the race, too.”
“But they’ll damage her more yet, Andy!”
“If they dare!”
“I believe Ritter would do anything. He is bound to make the _Alice_
lose that race.”
Several minutes went by, and the two prisoners heard those outside
walking from end to end of the sloop. Then came a sudden jar, followed
by another.
“Hi! Paxton is overboard!” they heard Coulter yell.
“I didn’t think we’d hit those rocks so hard,” answered Reff Ritter.
“Now is our time to get out—if we can!” cried Pepper. “If we break the
door we can have it mended.”
Both boys braced themselves against the walls of the cuddy and put their
shoulders to the door. It could not stand this strain and in a few
seconds began to crack. Then it flew outward, over the rope with which
it had been held in, and the cadets followed. They saw Coulter and
Ritter at the bow, bending over to assist Paxton, who was wading in
water up to his neck.
“They are loose!” yelled Coulter, but ere he could say more Andy grabbed
him and pushed him overboard. Pepper caught Ritter and got that young
rascal partly over the rail, but there he clung.
“Help me, Andy!” cried Pepper, and Andy did so by putting his foot on
Ritter’s hand. The bully gave a yell, and a moment later went over
backward with a loud splash.
The _Alice_ had struck several half-submerged rocks, but had not gone
upon them. The craft was now drifting further up the lake, leaving
Ritter, Paxton and Coulter behind.
“Ho there!” roared Paxton, “don’t leave us!”
“Come back!” added Ritter and Coulter.
“Not to-night!” answered Pepper, grimly. “Maybe we’ll see you in the
morning.”
“If you don’t come back, I’ll get square, remember that!” yelled Ritter,
in a rage.
“See you to-morrow,” sang out Andy.
The rocks upon which the sloop had struck were several in number and
were backed up by a small island situated a hundred feet or more from
the shore. Peering into the gloom those on the craft saw the others wade
out of the water to the island.
“They are safe,” said Pepper. “But they are a good mile and a half from
Putnam Hall.”
“And they can’t get ashore without swimming,” added Andy. “But as their
clothing is already wet, that won’t hurt them much.”
“What scoundrels they are—to want to injure this boat!”
“That’s true. We really ought to report them to Captain Putnam and have
them expelled.”
“We might do that if it wasn’t for one thing. Remember, we have no right
to be away from the school to-night. We should have obtained permission
to watch the sloop.”
“I know it—and that will keep us from reporting Ritter and his cronies.
Just the same, we ought to let the others know of this—I don’t mean Jack
alone, but every one in our crowd.”
“We will let them know it. See, here is one of the files they brought
along.”
“And here is the pot of stuff they were going to put on the rudder, and
the drag for the keel. This drag alone would have been enough to make
the boat lose—in a close race.”
The boys, while talking, had hoisted the mainsail of the _Alice_, and
now they tacked and stood back in the direction of the school dock. They
did not go close to shore, however, but anchored at a point quite a
distance from the boathouse. They had towed the two rowboats along and
left them floating at the stern.
“Do you think they’ll dare to come back?” asked Andy, after his
excitement had died down.
“I don’t think so. If they do we can fight them off, or sail the boat
away.”
The boys lit a lantern that was on board and by its light inspected the
damage done to the cuddy door. Fortunately the hinges had given way and
these could be renewed with but little cost. The craft had been mussed
up a little, but that was all. Where Ritter and his cronies had gone to
work on the ropes the damage was slight.
“They struck on the rocks just in time,” was Pepper’s decision. “Had
they kept on, these ropes would soon have been ruined, and it would have
been too late to refit the _Alice_ for that race.”
At last the boys settled down for the remainder of the night. They took
turns at sleeping and each got a good nap if nothing more. As soon as
the first bell rang Andy went ashore, sneaked into the school, and up to
his dormitory.
“Any alarm?” asked Jack, who was just getting up.
“I just guess!” answered the acrobatic youth. “If we hadn’t remained on
board your cake would have been dough to-day.” And then he related what
had occurred. Not only the young major, but all of the others present
listened with interest. Then a rush was made downstairs and to the boat
dock.
“The villains!” was all the young major could say. “I really ought to
expose them. But as you say, it might get you into trouble,” and he
turned to Andy and Pepper.
“I know why Ritter and his crowd are so anxious to make you lose,” said
Dale. “I wasn’t going to mention it, but now I think it best. That gang
have put money into the hands of Crosby, who runs the store in
Cedarville, and he is putting it up against Putnam Hall. They want to
win a pot of money, I think.”
“Then the bitterest pill you can make them swallow is to win the race,”
cried Joe Nelson.
“That’s the way I figure it,” went on Dale. “Do that and you’ll probably
break them.”
“A fellow who bets deserves to lose,” said Joe Nelson, who never wagered
on anything.
The chums wondered if they would see anything of Ritter, Paxton and
Coulter at breakfast, but those unworthies managed to keep out of sight.
From Billy Sabine they learned that Ritter had been excused from getting
up because of a headache, and the others had asked for permission to
make an early trip to Cedarville.
“They are afraid to show themselves,” said Jack, and he was right; none
of the trio mingled with the other cadets until it was time for the
great race to come off.
It had been decided that each sloop should carry a crew of five, and
Jack had selected Andy, Pepper, Dale and Stuffer to accompany him. This
crew went out in the _Alice_ during the morning, and learned from the
judges of the race just how the contest was to be sailed. The course was
a triangular one, exactly twelve miles in length. The start was to be
made at exactly two o’clock and if by six o’clock no boat had covered
the course the race was to be declared off for the day and was to be
sailed the following Saturday, weather permitting.