AN ALARM OF FIRE
With great care, so as not to make any noise, the two Rover boys tiptoed
their way back behind the boxes and barrels until they reached the
narrow stairway.
"Come on! But don't make a bit of noise," said Randy quickly, and went
down the stairs as rapidly as possible, with Fred at his heels. Reaching
the lower floor of the gymnasium, they shut the door, and then lost no
time in mixing with the other Rovers and their chums at the far end of
the building.
"Where have you fellows been?" questioned Jack, who had suddenly noticed
their absence.
"I'll tell you later," said Fred.
"Now, don't say a word more about our being away--especially if Slugger
and Nappy and Codfish come this way. Act just as if we had been here
right along."
"I get you, Randy," said Jack; and a minute later, as the others who had
been mentioned came into sight, he continued in a loud voice: "Go
ahead, Randy, it's your turn. Have you been asleep?"
"No; I'm not asleep," answered Randy, and caught a ball which was being
pitched around.
Fred began to practise on an exercising machine, and acted as if he had
been at it for some time.
Soon Slugger, Nappy and Codfish came down and passed the crowd, eyeing
all of them closely. Then Slugger winked to the others, and the three
made their way slowly from the gymnasium building.
"Now then, I'll tell you fellows something," announced Fred; and
thereupon he and his cousin related to the others what they had
overheard in the upper room of the building.
"So that's their game, is it?" cried Jack wrathfully. "That's the way
they are going to pay us back for agreeing to give them another chance
at this school!"
"You ought to tell Colonel Colby about this at once," put in Spouter,
who had listened to what was being said. "Then he can have those rascals
watched."
"I don't like the idea of going to Colonel Colby," Jack answered. "I
feel more like taking the matter in my own hands."
"Don't you do it, Jack," advised Gif. "Your idea would be all well
enough if they were ordinary cadets. But they are not. They should have
been dismissed from this school long ago. If I were you, I wouldn't
dirty my hands on them. Report the matter to the colonel, and let him
take charge of it."
"What is this you are saying, Garrison?" demanded a voice from close
behind the cadets, and Professor Brice appeared in the doorway of the
washroom of the gymnasium. "What is this you just said about Brown and
Martell?"
"I said they were not fit to be cadets in this institution," answered
Gif flatly.
"From what you young gentlemen have been saying, I should judge that you
know something concerning Brown and Martell," went on the young teacher,
with a glance around the crowd.
"We do know something," answered Walt, after a somewhat painful silence.
"That is, two of the crowd here know. We have been urging them to speak
to Colonel Colby about it."
"Who are the two, and what do you know?"
Again there was a silence, and then Spouter came to the front.
"Professor Brice, I'd like to ask a question," he said. "Two of the
cadets here overheard a talk between Brown, Martell and Stowell. Those
three proposed to play a most outrageous trick on Colonel Colby, and
then make it appear as if that trick had been played by some other
cadets. In fact, they were going to make all the evidence point to those
other cadets. Now, do you think those cadets ought to defend themselves
by telling Colonel Colby all they know? They feel that they don't want
to be tale bearers."
"If the trick was to be played solely to injure their reputation, they
certainly ought to expose it," was the teacher's quick response. "It is
one thing to tell on another person just for the sake of telling, and it
is quite a different thing to defend one's own reputation."
Following this there was quite a discussion, but in the end Professor
Brice convinced the Rovers that they had better tell the particulars of
what they had overheard. He listened to their story with close
attention.
"This is certainly worthy of an investigation," he said, after they had
finished. "I'll tell Colonel Colby about it, and maybe he will send for
you. If he does so, kindly take my advice and see to it that when you
come to the colonel's office you are not watched by Brown, Martell and
Stowell, or that may spoil everything. I think that the colonel will
agree with me that the thing to do is to catch those fellows
red-handed."
"All right, Professor, we'll leave everything in your hands," answered
Fred. Even yet he did not feel just right over what had been done. He
still felt that he and his cousins should have settled affairs privately
with Slugger Brown and his cronies, even if it had been a matter of fist
fights.
The young professor lost no time in going to Colonel Colby. He found the
master of the Hall in his study looking over the questions which were to
be used in the coming examination.
"I am sorry to report more trouble, sir," he announced, and, sitting
down, he gave Colonel Colby a rapid sketch of what had taken place at
the gymnasium.
"Too bad! too bad!" and the master of the Hall showed his
disappointment. He heaved a sigh. "It looks to me, Brice, as if I had
made a mistake in giving Brown and Martell another chance."
"Just what I was thinking, sir," returned the young teacher.
"You say the Rovers did not wish to report the matter?"
"That's it, sir. I had to fairly drag the story but of them. They did
not want to have the reputation of tale bearers."
"I think I understand their view of it, Brice. At the same time, this is
too serious a matter to allow them to settle it between themselves. I
think the best thing we can do is to have those three cadets watched
closely, to see if they really intend to carry out their nefarious
plot."
"Exactly what I was thinking, Colonel Colby."
"First, however, you may send Randy Rover and his Cousin Fred to me. I
want to question them, so as to make sure of my ground."
Expecting this call, Randy and Fred kept themselves in readiness, and as
soon as Professor Brice came for them they hurried off to the office,
taking care that none of their enemies should see them. Slugger, Nappy
and Codfish, however, were out of sight, having gone upstairs to their
rooms.
"Now, I want you to tell me exactly what was said," announced Colonel
Colby, as soon as the two cadets appeared.
They had their story well in mind, and it did not take long to give the
master of the Hall all of the details. In the midst of the conversation,
Fred let drop accidentally that the three unworthy cadets had been
smoking.
"They were smoking?" interrupted the colonel.
"Yes, sir. But--I--I--didn't mean to mention that," stammered Fred.
"What were they smoking, Rover?"
"Cigarettes."
"All of them?"
"Yes, sir. Although, to tell the truth, Codfish--I mean Stowell--didn't
seem to want to smoke, but Slugger--that is, Brown--urged him, so that
he didn't know how to get out of it. I guess the cigarette made him
sick."
"I see." Colonel Colby nodded his head slowly. "Now go on;" and then the
story of what had been overheard in the upper room of the gymnasium was
finished.
"It's an outrage! an outrage! if what you say is true; and I have no
reason to doubt your word," went on the master of the Hall, after the
cadets had finished. "I am sorry now that I gave Brown and Martell this
chance to return to our school."
To this neither of the Rovers made any reply. For an instant both of
them thought of the trick they had played on Asa Lemm. Colonel Colby
seemed to follow their thought.
"Your trick and this thing are two entirely different affairs,"
continued the colonel. "In the one case, you, in your boyish fashion,
tried to square up for the way you had been mistreated. In this case,
however, these cadets are trying to get you into trouble, and if this
trick had succeeded, it is just possible that I might have been angry
enough to send you and the rest of your family home."
"Well, don't send Brown and Martell home on our account," announced
Randy. "We are not afraid of them."
"That may be, Rover. But I cannot have such underhand work at this
school. Now I want you cadets to do me a favor. I want you to act
exactly as if nothing out of the ordinary had occurred. I want you to
tell all of the others to keep quiet about this. I want to set a trap,
and if possible catch those rascals in the midst of their work. Do you
understand?"
"Yes, sir," came from both of the cadets.
"Then that is all."
Allowed to leave the office, Randy and Fred lost no time in hunting up
the others, who had gone upstairs to the Rover boys' rooms. On the way,
they met Walt, Spouter and Gif, and told these cadets to come along.
Then they closed the door to the hallway.
"It's to be kept a secret," announced Randy.
In subdued voices, so that no one passing in the hallway might hear
them, the Rovers and their chums discussed the situation. They were in
the midst of this when they suddenly heard a wild cry of alarm. Then
came a rush of footsteps, and less than a minute later the loud clanging
of a bell.
"Hello! what's that?" exclaimed Jack.
"Something is wrong--that's sure!" announced Randy.
"What's the bell ringing for?" queried Fred. "It isn't time for parade
yet."
"That isn't the parade bell!" ejaculated Gif. "That's the fire bell!
There must be a fire!"
The boys flung open the doors, and ran hastily into the hallway. Cadets
were pouring forth from every quarter, and there was a tremendous
excitement.
"Is the building on fire?"
"Take it easy, boys! Take it easy!" yelled Major Ralph Mason, as he
appeared at the head of one of the stairways. "There is no fire in this
building. Don't get excited."
"Where is the fire?" queried a dozen voices in chorus.
"It's down at the gym! The upper floor is in flames!"