IN COLONEL COLBY'S OFFICE
As soon as Jack and Walt returned to Colby Hall, they hurried up to the
rooms occupied by the Rover boys. They found Jack's cousins present, and
also Gif, Spouter and several others.
"We had the best luck ever!" declared Jack, and related how they had
managed to get the goats back to Mike O'Toole's stable without the Irish
farmer being aware of what had happened.
"Say, that's fine!" burst out Andy.
"We want to be on the watch," remarked Randy. "Old Lemon will be going
to bed pretty soon, and we want to find out just how comfortable he
finds his bed," and he grinned.
Word had been passed around to about a dozen of the cadets, and as soon
as the school had quieted down and the others had retired to their
rooms, these cadets came forth into the halls on tiptoes and made their
way noiselessly in the direction of the apartment occupied by Asa Lemm.
"He's arranging that clothing in his closet," announced Andy, after
peering through the keyhole in the door. "He's partly undressed, so I
guess he'll go to bed pretty soon."
There was a short silence, and then the boys heard the bed creak as
Professor Lemm got into it. An instant later came a cry of rage.
"What's this? More ice, I declare! The bed is sopping wet! Oh, those
young rascals!" for Asa Lemm had thrown himself down beneath the spread
under which had been placed several sheets of thin ice. A large portion
of the ice had melted, and the sheets were as wet as they were cold. As
a consequence, his pajamas were pretty well soaked, and he shivered as
he threw the covers back and bounced to his feet.
"He's enjoying it all right enough," whispered Andy.
"Hang those boys!" roared the irate teacher. "Oh, what I wouldn't do to
them if I had them here!" He hopped around the room first on one foot
and then on the other, shivering as he did so. As was usual, the steam
throughout the building had been turned off some time before, so that
the apartment was quite cold.
"We had better scatter," warned Jack. "He may open the door at any
instant and find us here."
"Right you are!" answered Randy, and then, unable to resist the
temptation, he bent down and shouted through the keyhole: "Pleasant
dreams, Professor! I hope you enjoyed the ice-water!"
Then all of the cadets fled to their rooms, and in less than five
minutes each of them was undressed and safe in bed.
If ever there was an angry man, it was Asa Lemm at that particular
moment. He had to change all his night clothing, and then don a bathrobe
and slippers and go down below once more and get some of the hired help
to clean up his room and take away the wet mattress of his bed. A dry
mattress was substituted from a vacant bedroom, but it was all of half
an hour before this work was accomplished; and in the meantime the
professor stormed around, threatening about everything he could imagine.
"I'll have the law on them! I'll have every one of them locked up!" he
said to Colonel Colby. "It's an outrage that I should be treated in this
fashion."
"It is certainly a most unpleasant occurrence, Professor," agreed the
master of the Hall. "But boys will be boys--you know that as well as I
do. I can remember when I went to school, I loved to play practical
jokes, and they were not always kindly jokes, either. But as for having
these boys arrested, or anything of that sort, that, I think, would be
going too far. We can punish them enough right here--that is, provided
we can find out who they are."
"I don't believe in such jokes!"
"Neither do I--now that I have grown older. But I did believe in them
when I was a boy."
"The trouble with this school is, the discipline is not strict enough,"
snapped Asa Lemm. "If we are not more strict, the cadets will degenerate
into nothing but rowdies and hoodlums."
"I think I am the best judge of how discipline should be maintained in
this institution," responded Colonel Colby, with dignity. "I will take
this matter up in the morning and do my best to sift it to the bottom.
Now I think we had better retire, as it is growing late," and thereupon
he returned to his own rooms.
"I think that was the best joke we ever played," remarked Andy, when he
and the other Rovers were dressing on the following morning.
"It sure did count one against old Lemon," chuckled Randy.
"Yes. And to think the way Slugger and Nappy were knocked over by the
goats too!" broke in Fred.
"I'll bet they're mad over that," observed Jack. "More than likely, it
will make them take a hand in assisting Lemm to find out who was
guilty. We'll have to be on our guard against them."
"Did anybody see you making off with the goats?" queried Randy suddenly.
"I don't think so," answered Jack. But in this surmise he was mistaken;
one cadet had seen Walt Baxter hurrying from the school with goats'
harness under his sweater, and this youth had, from a safe distance,
watched Jack and Walt place some of the harness on the goats and drive
them off in the direction of Mike O'Toole's farm.
This cadet was Codfish, who was always sneaking around, trying to pick
up information that did not rightly belong to him.
"Ha, ha!" said the little sneak to himself, after Walt and Jack had
disappeared. "Now I know who was responsible for bringing those goats
into the school."
At first the sneak thought he would report the matter to either Asa Lemm
or Colonel Colby, but as he was not in particularly good favor with the
professor on whom the joke had been played, he thought it might be as
well for him to wait and think the matter over.
"Maybe I had better tell Slugger and Nappy first and see what they've
got to say about it," he reasoned. He went to the bully and his crony
with everything.
He dressed early, and then went over to Nappy's room, where he found the
cronies together, just as he had surmised. They were talking over the
affair of the night before and wondering who could be guilty.
"I've got some news," announced Codfish.
"What news?" demanded Nappy.
"It's very important," went on the little cadet. "If I tell you will you
promise not to give me away?"
"Is it about last night's affair, Cod?" demanded Slugger quickly.
"Now look here, Slugger! You promised not to call me Cod any more,"
pleaded the sneak.
"All right, Henry. That was merely a slip of the tongue," returned the
bully good-naturedly. He knew exactly how to handle such a fellow as
Stowell. "Now tell us what you've got on your mind."
"Will you promise not to give me away?"
"Sure!" came from both of the others promptly.
"Well then, I know who brought those two goats into the school last
night," announced Codfish proudly; and thereupon, being urged to do so
by the others, he told of what he had seen.
"I knew the Rovers were mixed up in that!" cried Slugger.
"And I've noticed that Walt Baxter has been training with them. More
than likely it was the work of the whole Rover crowd," announced Nappy.
"Don't you think we ought to let Colonel Colby know about this?"
questioned Codfish anxiously. It was his delight to get other cadets
into trouble and see them suffer, but he always wanted to keep his own
actions dark for fear his schoolmates might turn on him and start in to
"square up."
"Of course we ought to let Colonel Colby know about this--and Professor
Lemm too," answered Nappy. "The question is, how can we do it without
getting mixed up in it ourselves?"
"We might send a note to Colonel Colby," suggested the sneak.
The matter was talked over for several minutes, and then it was decided
that two notes should be written and one delivered to Colonel Colby and
the other to Asa Lemm.
"Who is going to write the notes?" questioned Codfish.
"You can do that, Henry," said the bully quickly. He had not forgotten
how the anonymous letter he had once sent out had been traced back to
him, in spite of the disguised handwriting.
"Oh, I couldn't do that!" answered Stowell in alarm. And he shook his
head vigorously.
"Yes, you can!" broke in Nappy. And thereupon, somewhat against his
will, Codfish penned the two notes in as much of a disguised hand as was
possible for him.
"But I'm not going to deliver the notes," he warned feebly. "You two
have got to do that much."
"All right, we will," answered Slugger. He turned to his crony. "You
slip one of them under Professor Lemm's door, and I'll place the other
on Colonel Colby's desk."
"All right, but be careful."
"Bet your life!"
Asa Lemm was just finishing his morning toilet and grumbling over the
happenings of the night, when he chanced to glance toward the door of
his room, and at that moment saw a letter thrust under it. He stared for
an instant in amazement, and then rushed forward and threw the door wide
open. But his movement, quick as it was, came too late, for Nappy
Martell had already slipped around a corner and made his escape. Taking
up the letter, the professor read the contents with great interest. The
communication ran as follows:
"DEAR PROFESSOR LEMM:
"If you want to know more about the trouble last night, ask John
Rover and Walter Baxter. They had the two billy goats. I think you
will find that all of the Rovers and the boys who go with them were
in this joke.
"Yours respectfully,
_"One Who Knows."_
"So that's who is guilty!" muttered the teacher, after reading the
letter a second time. "The Rovers, eh? I might have known it because of
the trouble I have had with them in the classroom. And I remember now
that I have also had trouble with that Baxter boy. I must see Colonel
Colby about this at once."
The professor hurried downstairs, and found that Colonel Colby had
entered his office but a few minutes before, and was perusing the
communication left there secretly by Slugger Brown.
"I have found out who was guilty last night," snapped Asa Lemm, as he
flourished the letter in his hand.
"Did you receive an anonymous communication?" demanded the master of the
Hall.
"I did, sir. But what makes you ask that question?"
"I have such a communication myself," and Colonel Colby indicated the
epistle.
"We must punish those rascals, sir!"
"First I want to find out if there is any truth in these letters,"
answered Colonel Colby. "Very frequently anonymous communications cannot
be relied upon."
"Oh, I haven't the least doubt but what Rover and Baxter are guilty!"
exclaimed Asa Lemm quickly. "I've had trouble in the classroom with
them, and also with the other Rovers. I should not be surprised if the
whole crowd had something to do with it."
"I will send for Rover and Baxter."
It must be confessed that Jack was somewhat surprised when one of the
assistants came to him and told him he was wanted immediately in the
office.
"Gee! this looks bad!" cried Randy.
"Want any of us to go with you?" questioned Fred quickly.
"No; I can face the music alone," answered the oldest Rover boy.
He arrived at the office just as another assistant was bringing in Walt
Baxter. The two exchanged glances, but said nothing. But the glance
given Walt meant, "Keep mum," and the other understood and nodded
slightly.
"So here you are, eh?" cried Asa Lemm, before Colonel Colby had a chance
to say a word. "I thought I'd catch you!"
"Excuse me, Professor Lemm, but I wish you would allow me to conduct
this examination," put in Colonel Colby a trifle stiffly. If the truth
must be told, the overbearing manner of the teacher was not any more to
the liking of the master of the Hall than it was to the cadets. Yet, Asa
Lemm had come well recommended, and Colonel Colby did not wish to pass
hasty judgment on him.
"Yes, sir," returned the professor. "But please remember I have suffered
greatly, and I demand satisfaction."
"I have sent for you cadets in order to clear up the affair that
happened last night," began Colonel Colby, ignoring Asa Lemm's last
remark. "I have been given to understand that you were the two to bring
those goats into the Hall. Am I right?"
"I did not bring the goats into the Hall," returned Walt Baxter
promptly. "Just the same, I guess I'm as guilty as anybody," he added
quickly, not wishing to shirk responsibility.
"I was one of the cadets who brought the goats into the Hall, Colonel
Colby," answered Jack promptly.
"Baxter did not assist in bringing them into the Hall?"
"No, sir."
"But you were not alone, Rover?"
"No, sir."
"Who was with you in this escapade?"
"I prefer not to answer that question, Colonel Colby."
"Make him answer! Make him answer!" stormed Asa Lemm. "You young rascal!
I'll teach you to play tricks on me!" and he shook his fist in Jack's
face.
"Professor Lemm, I'll thank you to be less violent," interrupted Colonel
Colby. "This examination must be held in an orderly fashion. You say you
were not alone, Rover. Will you tell me how many were mixed up in this
affair?"
Jack thought for a moment. "Do you mean the whole happening in Professor
Lemm's room?"
"Yes."
"Oh, there were eight or ten of us--maybe more. Of course, some had more
to do with it than others," responded Jack.
"Eight or ten of you!" gasped Asa Lemm. "As many as that?" And his face
showed his surprise. He had imagined that possibly only the Rover boys
and Walt Baxter were guilty.
"Are you quite sure you don't want to mention any names, Rover?" asked
Colonel Colby again.
"No, Colonel. And if you were in my position, I do not think you would
want to mention any of them either," added Jack, looking the master of
the Hall squarely in the eyes.
"We won't discuss that side of the question." Colonel Colby turned to
Walt Baxter. "How about you? Do you care to say who was mixed up in this
affair?"
"No, sir," was the prompt response.
"Make them tell! Make them tell!" exclaimed Asa Lemm. "Punish them
severely! Put them in the guardhouse on bread and water until they are
willing to divulge the names of all the rascals who were mixed up in
these outrageous proceedings."
"I am not going to make them tell if they won't do it on their own
account," was Colonel Colby's answer. As a cadet at Putnam Hall, he had
never had any use for a tale bearer.
"Then I'll take the law in my own hands!" cried Asa Lemm vindictively.
"I'll go down to Haven Point and make a complaint and have them both
arrested!"