WHAT THE GIRLS HAD TO TELL
“What do you say, Jack, to a spin on our wheels?”
“That suits me, Pepper. Shall we go alone, or ask some of the others?”
“I have already asked Andy and Dale.”
“Good enough.”
It was after school hours and still light. As the cadets had good
bicycles they often took rides up and down the lake road, or out in the
country back of Cedarville.
All of the cadets were soon ready for the spin, and off they went, Jack
and Pepper abreast, with Andy and Dale close behind.
“Want a race?” asked Andy. “I feel as if I could ride like the wind.”
“Well, I’ll go you!” cried Pepper.
“I’m not stripped for racing, but I’ll join in for the fun of it,” said
Dale.
“So will I,” added the young major.
Coming to a smooth portion of the road the four bicycle riders drew up
abreast.
“How far is this race to be?” questioned Dale.
“Oh, to Boston and back,” cried Pepper, with a grin.
“Make it Hong Kong while you are at it,” added Jack gaily.
“We’ll race to the old white post,” said Andy. “That’s a mile and a half
from here.”
“Done!” cried the others.
“All ready?”
“Yes.”
“Then go!”
Off shot the four cadets, keeping abreast for a distant of several rods.
Then Andy pedalled to the front.
“Here is where I bid you good-bye!” sang out the acrobatic youth.
“Not much you don’t!” answered Pepper, and commenced to push on his
pedals harder than ever. He soon ranged alongside of Andy, and away they
went, side by side, with Dale and Jack dropping further and further
behind.
“I can’t make time in this uniform,” said the young major. “Let them
race it out.”
“Just what I say,” answered Dale. “I hate to get in a perspiration right
before supper anyway.”
On and on went Andy and Pepper. The road was in excellent condition and
so were the cadets. Each lad rode well and it remained a question as to
who would come in ahead.
Half the distance to the post had been covered when the racers reached a
turn. Around this they sped, and as they did so an unexpected scream
reached their ears. It came from two girls in a buggy.
“Don’t run us down!” came the cry. And then the cadets saw that the
girls had been in the act of turning their buggy around and that the
turnout completely filled the road.
There was but one thing to do and that was to turn aside. Andy went to
the right and Pepper to the left, and each brought up rather suddenly in
a clump of bushes. Andy flew over his handle bars, and it was only his
acrobatic agility that saved him from being seriously hurt.
[Illustration: There was but one thing to do, and that was to turn
aside.]
Both of the girls screamed again, this time louder than ever.
“They are killed!” moaned one.
“Oh, how dreadful!” came from the other.
“It’s our fault, Flossie!”
“I know it, Laura!”
Their horse, greatly startled by the sudden appearance of the
bicyclists, had begun to rear and plunge and for the moment the girls
had to give all their attention to the animal in an effort to quiet it.
“Why, it’s Pepper Ditmore!” cried the older girl, as The Imp arose to
his feet from the bushes.
“And Andy Snow,” added the other girl.
Still somewhat dazed the cadets looked again at the girls and now
recognized two old acquaintances, Laura and Flossie Ford. They were the
daughters of Rossmore Ford, a rich gentleman who had a fine summer home
on a point of the lake shore. As related in “The Putnam Hall Cadets,”
Andy, Jack and Pepper had once saved Laura and Flossie from drowning,
and for this brave act the Fords were extremely grateful.
“How do you do, girls!” cried Pepper, with a grim smile.
“Oh, Pepper are you hurt?” queried Laura anxiously.
“Not much, scratched a little, that’s all.”
“And what of you, Andy?” questioned Flossie.
“Got a few bush leaves down my neck, that’s all,” answered Andy. His
wrist was a good deal scratched but he kept it out of sight, not wishing
to alarm the girls still more.
“Can we do anything for you?” questioned Laura.
“Might bake us a few pies,—as you did when we ran away from school,”
answered Andy.
“How absurd!” cried Flossie, and gave a laugh. “Oh, I am so glad you
didn’t hurt yourselves seriously.”
By this time Jack and Dale were coming up, and the situation was quickly
explained. The young major shook hands with the girls and turned the
horse around for them. The Ford girls were glad to meet the cadets but
sorry that they had interrupted the race so disastrously.
“Oh, it was a tie anyway,” said Andy. “I don’t care, if Pep doesn’t.”
“It wasn’t much of a race anyway,” answered Pepper. “How have you been
since we saw you last?” he added.
“Very well,” answered Laura. “How are matters at the school? We heard
somebody had taken the clapper of the Union Church.”
“So we heard, too,” said Dale dryly. “But that’s a thing of the past
now. We are getting ready to go into camp again—this time in the regular
fashion, under Captain Putnam and the teachers, you know.”
“How delightful!” murmured Flossie. “And where are you going?”
“Up to Lake Caboy, near the river and the falls.”
“Well, of all things!”
“What makes you so surprised?” asked Dale.
“Why, we are going up to Lake Caboy ourselves—up to the new summer hotel
there. Papa and mamma thought it would be a change for us.”
“Then we may see something of each other,” said Jack. “That will be
fine.”
“We’ll come down to your camp—if you’ll allow visitors,” said Flossie.
“I guess Captain Putnam will have to allow them. Every time we go into
camp the country folks come to see us. They like to see the tents and
the uniforms, and like to see us drill.”
“Then we’ll be sure to come.”
“We’ll try to arrange for a regular visitors’ day,” said the young
major. “Then we can have drills and athletic contests, and a lunch, and
all that.”
“Oh, that will be grand!” cried both girls enthusiastically.
“Have you been to Lake Caboy before?” questioned Pepper.
“Yes, we were up there two years ago, for a week,” answered Laura. “We
stayed at the old hotel that was burnt down—a place near the old
Robertson mill. You’ve heard of that place, haven’t you?”
“No.”
“It is said to be haunted.”
“Haunted!” cried all of the cadets in chorus.
“Yes. We never went very near it, for we were afraid.”
“We’ll have to investigate that mill,” said Dale. “I don’t believe in
ghosts.”
“We had almost forgotten about the old mill until yesterday,” went on
Flossie. “Then the strangest kind of a boy asked us about it—a tall,
thin boy.”
“A tall, thin boy!” cried Pepper. “Did he tell you his name?”
“Yes, Bert Field.”
“Why, we met that boy once,” said Pepper. “But he wasn’t looking for the
Robertson mill then. He was looking for——” And then Pepper stopped
short, for he remembered what the strange lad had said—that he wished to
find Jabez Trask without that individual being aware he was being sought
out.
“What was he looking for?” asked Laura.
“Oh, it doesn’t matter.”
“He did ask us about something else,” said Flossie. “Oh, yes, I remember
now. He wanted to know where a man named Trask lived—Jabez Trask.”
“Well, he asked us, too,” said Pepper. “Did you tell him? We never heard
of such a person.”
“Yes, we told him. Trask lives between here and Lake Caboy, on the
Ritchfield road. We know because papa once had some business dealings
with him. He is an old man, and papa says he is a regular miser.”
“Was the boy a relative?”
“I don’t know. But he was certainly a strange fellow. He asked us a
great number of questions and seemed to be grateful for the information
we gave him. But this morning papa took me across the lake in his boat
and when I was in the town over there I met him again, face to face, and
he didn’t even recognize me.”
“That is queer,” said Jack thoughtfully. “Maybe he was afraid you’d say
something in public he didn’t want you to. He told us he didn’t want
this Jabez Trask to know he was asking for him.”
“I told papa about it, and he told me something that makes the matter
queerer than ever. He says that the Trask family once had something to
do with the old Robertson mill.”
“Humph!” mused Jack. “I’d like to meet that boy again and talk to him.
Maybe he knows something about why the old mill is haunted.”
“He is certainly a strange boy!” declared Laura.
The girls wished to know something of the details of the proposed
encampment and the cadets told as much as they knew.
“We’ll come over if we can,” promised Laura. “And if you get the chance
you must call on us at the new hotel.” And this the cadets readily
promised to do. Then the girls turned homeward, and the boys continued
their ride.
“They are fine girls,” said Dale. “It was a great feather in your cap to
save them from drowning.”
“Oh, let us forget that!” cried Andy, who did not care at any time to
pose as a hero.
“There is one thing I regret about this encampment at Lake Caboy,” said
Jack, as the four cadets turned in the direction of Putnam Hall. “There
is no way of getting our sailboats up to that lake. Some of the rowboats
will be taken over on the wagons, but I’ll have to leave the _Alice_
behind, and Fred Century will have to leave the _Ajax_, too.”
“Well, we’ll have to take our fun on the water out in rowing and
swimming and fishing,” said Dale.
“What’s the matter with having a nice sail before we go away?” came from
Pepper.
“To be sure, we can do that,” said Jack; and so, later on, it was
arranged.
The _Alice_ was a truly beautiful sloop, with graceful lines. Her hull
was finely painted and her sails were of snowy whiteness. The _Ajax_,
too, was a good boat, and the youthful owners were justly proud of the
two craft.
On the Saturday afternoon previous to the time for the encampment Jack
and Fred made up their parties for a sail. The young major carried
Pepper, Andy and four others, and the _Ajax_ took on an even greater
load. It was decided to go up the lake, and the cadets received
permission to remain out from two o’clock to six.
There was a favorable wind blowing, and a cheer went up when the two
sloops spread their canvases and stood up the lake shore. Jack and Fred
were at the tillers and each handled his craft with care and skill.
“Going to race?” asked one of the cadets, of Fred.
“No, we are just out for the pleasure of it,” said Fred. He knew his
boat was a good one, but the young major had beaten him before and he
did not, just then, wish to risk another defeat.
Soon the sloops were well on their way up the lake. Pepper and Andy were
in particularly good humor, and neither of them dreamed of the
remarkable adventure in store for them.