OFF FOR THE ENCAMPMENT
“Oh, dear me!” shrieked the widow. “What in the world is that?”
“I—I don’t know!” answered the teacher, as he surveyed the suit-case in
wonder.
“Time to get up!” observed a man standing nearby. And at this sally
several persons laughed.
“You evidently are carrying an alarm clock,” said the widow to Josiah
Crabtree.
“I—er—I didn’t know it,” was the answer. “I—er—wish the thing would
stop!”
Br-r-r-r-r-i-ng! went the alarm clock as loudly as ever, and now all the
people on the dock commenced to laugh. The widow grew red and the
teacher bit his lip savagely.
“Must be some joke of the boys,” he muttered.
Presently the alarm gave out, and Josiah breathed a sigh of relief.
“As you were saying about music——” he began, with a smile.
“Why, yes, Professor Crabtree! I think music is grand. I love to sit in
church and listen to the deep tones of the organ, and the singing of
the——”
Br-r-r-r-r-r-i-ng! went the second alarm clock, in a tone louder than
the other. Josiah Crabtree gave a jump and the widow screamed.
Br-r-r-r-r-r-r-r-r-i-ng!
“Oh, dear me! Did you wind that thing up again!” gasped the widow.
“No, madam, I didn’t touch the confounded thing!” snapped Josiah
Crabtree. “This is—er—a trick!”
The alarm continued to rattle and the crowd on the dock roared. The
teacher caught up the suit-case and started to open it in a hurry. He
was not careful and out dropped several dress-shirts and some socks and
underwear. This made the crowd laugh again and Josiah Crabtree grew
sour.
“You may think this a laughing matter, but I don’t!” he cried. “It is a
trick, and if I find out who is guilty——” Then he pulled out one of the
offending clocks and hurled it into the waters of the lake. By this time
the second clock had run down and quietness was restored. The teacher
found this, but left it in the suit-case. The other clocks were in his
other baggage.
The boat was coming in and soon the passengers commenced to come ashore.
Josiah Crabtree started to talk to the widow again and had just got her
to smile when there came another rattle. He dropped the suit-case like a
hot potato and this time the crowd fairly howled. And the cadets, who
were watching from behind a pile of boxes, howled too.
Br-r-r-r-r-r-i-ng! went one alarm clock, and a minute later still
another joined in. The noise was great and the teacher did not know what
to do. In his rage he jumped on the suit-case, smashing the middle flat.
But the clocks rattled on more viciously, it would seem, than ever, and
now the fifth and last added to the racket. Everybody stopped to enjoy
the fun and a large crowd collected.
“What’s the matter?”
“Is it a fire-alarm?”
“Does he want an ambulance?”
“He must be a clock vendor. Anybody want to buy an alarm clock cheap?”
“You shut up, all of you!” roared Josiah Crabtree. “I don’t sell clocks!
This is a trick! Oh, those cadets! I’d like to wring their necks! What a
disgrace!” And he jumped on the suit-case again. “Will you stop? Oh,
what a racket! I shall go mad!” And then picking up the offending
baggage he fairly ran on the steamboat and disappeared into the cabin,
the last of the clocks still rattling shrilly. The widow hurried in
another direction, and the teacher did not dare to go near her during
the trip.
“Well, I reckon that send-off was worth the price,” said Pepper, after
he and his chums had laughed themselves sore. “What a figure he did cut,
trying to stop the clocks!”
“And wasn’t the widow mad!” put in Jack. “She’ll never speak to him
again!”
“Crabtree will remember those clocks as long as he lives,” added Andy.
“We’ll give him another when he comes back—just for a memento of the
occasion,” said The Imp. And then in high spirits over the success of
their trick, the cadets returned to Putnam Hall.
For the time being, lessons were a thing of the past, and that evening
the students had a good deal of fun, in one way or another. Some of the
crowds went from one dormitory to another, and pillow fights were
frequent.
“The Ritter gang is coming down the hall,” announced Joe Nelson, about
ten o’clock. “Look out for them, for they may have something worse than
pillows and stuffed clubs.”
It was well that Joe issued the warning, for less than five minutes
later Ritter came on, followed by Coulter, Paxton, and four others. They
had pillows and stuffed clubs, but the latter were stuffed with sawdust
and were quite hard.
“Repel boarders!” sang out Andy, and caught up a water pitcher full of
water. “Back, if you don’t want a ducking!”
“Down with ’em!” roared Reff Ritter, and struck at Pepper with his club.
The Imp ducked and then caught the bully by the foot and yanked him
down.
In a moment more the fight raged furiously. Pillows, shoes, soap, books
and other articles sailed through the air. Jack was struck in the ear by
Coulter and he retaliated by filling the fellow’s mouth with soft soap
that was handy in a dish. Andy wet Ritter and Paxton with the contents
of the pitcher.
“Let up! that ain’t fair!” roared Paxton.
“You need a bath, to wash up your reputation, Paxton!” answered the
acrobatic cadet.
Ritter had arisen to his feet, and watching his chance he drew something
from his pocket. He was about to hurl it at Jack’s head when Pepper
caught his arm.
“No, you don’t!” cried Pepper. “Give me that!” And he tried to get the
article from the bully’s grasp.
“Let me alone!” cried the bully, in alarm.
“Give me that!”
“I won’t!”
“You shall!” And then Pepper and Ritter commenced to tussle. The Imp
went down, but still kept his hand over that of his enemy.
“Ough! my hand! Do you want to cut it?” suddenly howled the bully, and
then opened his hand. A large lump of rough glass fell to the floor.
“Hello, what’s this?” demanded Dale, coming up.
“Ritter was going to throw that at Jack’s head.”
“I wasn’t!” answered the bully, doggedly.
“Glass, I declare!” said Dale, picking it up. “Say, Ritter, this is no
thing to use in a fight like this.”
“I wasn’t going to use it. I only had it in my hand,” was the lame
reply.
“You were going to throw it at Jack’s head—I am positive of it,” said
Pepper firmly.
“If you were, Ritter, you’re a villain!” declared Dale.
“What’s that?” demanded Stuffer, and now the fight came to a sudden
stop.
“Ritter was going to throw a lump of rough glass at Jack’s head!” cried
Pepper. “He might have cut Jack badly!”
“It’s not true!” was the bully’s answer.
“Here’s the glass. He had it aimed at Jack when I caught his hand.”
The cadets gathered around and looked at the glass and then at Ritter.
Nobody had known about the glass but the bully and even his cohorts were
surprised.
“So you were going to throw that at me, eh?” said Jack, sternly, as he
looked Ritter squarely in the eyes.
“I—I wasn’t.”
“I’d rather take Pepper’s word for it than yours. It was a contemptible
piece of business, Ritter!”
“It might have cut Jack badly,” said Fred. “The glass is very sharp on
one side.”
“I tell you I wasn’t going to use it,” cried the bully. “I held it up
just to scare Ruddy.”
“I shall never believe that, Ritter. You are a coward as well as a
bully. Now get out of here and be quick, or I’ll knock you down!”
“It’s not safe to fight here,” said the bully, growing slightly pale.
“But I’ll tell you what I’ll do, Ruddy. I’ll fight you to a finish when
we are in camp. Do you dare do that?”
“As you please,” muttered the young major; and then the boys from the
other dormitories withdrew.
“What a mean, dirty trick,” was Dale’s comment. “A chunk of glass, of
all things!”
“It shows up Ritter in his true character,” said Fred.
“He ought to be drummed out of this school,” said another.
“Jack, will you fight him again?” asked Pepper.
“Certainly if he wants it. I am not afraid of him.”
“He’s a bully, but he is strong,” said Dale, and there the talk had to
come to an end, for the monitor put in an appearance and made them go to
bed.
The cadets were to have breakfast at an early hour and promptly at six
o’clock the drum roll aroused the lads. Pepper ran to the window and
looked out
“Clear as a bell!” he cried. “A dandy day for marching!”
He commenced to dress and so did the others. They put on their marching
uniforms, and all presented a fine appearance when they assembled for
roll-call. Drill was dispensed with, and the cadets lost no time in
eating their breakfast in the mess-hall.
It had been noised around that the cadets were to march to Lake Caboy
and quite a crowd from the village and from the neighboring farms
gathered to see them depart. The wagons were already on the way, loaded
high with the baggage and the camping outfit. It had been decided that
the march to the lake was to be made in two days instead of one, so that
no cadet would get tired out from the tramp. The first night out was to
be spent at a place called Hayville, and there the wagons were to await
the arrival of the battalion.
“Battalion attention!” called out Major Jack Ruddy, after breakfast was
over and the drum had sounded again. And the companies formed in haste
and the cadets stood as stiff as ramrods.
Then Captain Putnam made a short speech, telling of the encampment, and
stating he hoped all would pass off pleasantly.
“Forward march!” was the next command from the young major, and then the
drums sounded out, and off the battalion started across the campus. “By
columns of fours!” came the next order. And so they passed out on the
highway, with Captain Putnam and George Strong on horseback in the lead,
and the young major following. The music came from two snare drums, a
bass drum and three fifers, and could be heard a long distance away. The
two companies made a fine appearance and the onlookers applauded
vigorously.
“Have a good time, boys!” said one of the teachers, who had been left
behind, to superintend the alterations on the school buildings.
“We’ll try to!” called back Pepper.
“You keep out of mischief,” added the teacher, who understood The Imp’s
fun-loving disposition only too well.
On marched the boys, along the lake and then taking to a highway that
led directly to Lake Caboy. As they passed farm after farm, the folks
came out to look them over and give them a cheer.
Dinner was had at a place called Dodd’s Corners, and after a brief rest
the march was resumed towards Hayville. Here the road was not so good,
and some of the cadets were glad when, at four o’clock, they came in
sight of their resting place for the night. But here a great surprise
awaited Captain Putnam and all of the others. The baggage train,
consisting of four large wagons, was missing with all of their outfit.