THE MISSING LAUNCH
As the cadets read the words on the sheet of paper their faces showed
their deep chagrin and mortification. Had they been alone they would
have considered the affair a trick on them and nothing more, but with
the Fords along it was an entirely different matter.
“What is that? Let me see it,” said Laura, and took the paper from
Andy’s hand. She read the words aloud.
“I must say I do not understand this,” said Mrs. Ford. “What has this
empty hornets’ nest to do with the launch?”
“It means that a trick has been played on us,” said Jack, his face
growing red. “I think it’s a shame to involve you in it—and I’ll tell
those other fellows so, when I get the chance!” he added, half savagely.
“But what is it about?” asked Rossmore Ford.
“We may as well make a clean breast of it,” said Pepper to his chums,
and then he related the particulars of the hornets’ nest and how it had
been used during the Ritter feast. The girls laughed outright and Mr.
and Mrs. Ford smiled.
“Now here is where the Ritter crowd pay us back,” went on Pepper. “I
don’t know how they got here, but they did—and they have either hidden
the launch or made off with it. I am awfully sorry—on your account,” and
he looked anxiously at the Fords.
“Well, you are in the same boat as ourselves,” said Mr. Ford.
“I guess you mean we are both out of the boat,” returned Andy, with a
sickly grin. He turned to Able Fales. “Have you looked all along the
shore for the launch?” he asked.
“Pretty much,” was the answer. “But I can take another look. So it was
some friends of yours took the boat, eh?”
“Hardly friends,” answered Dale dryly. “They belong to our military
school.”
“I know you fellers are full of tricks. Took the bell clapper of the
church once,” went on the boatman.
Another search was made by the boatman and the boys and Mr. Ford joined
in the hunt. But not a trace of the missing craft could be found. Jack
looked at his watch and saw that it was nearly five o’clock.
“If this isn’t the worst yet!” he murmured. “Pepper, what do you think
we had best do?”
“I don’t know. If they don’t bring the boat back we may have to remain
on the island all night.”
“That would be a hardship on Mrs. Ford and the girls. They are not used
to roughing it, and there is nothing but a shed here, and that isn’t
very clean.”
“Well, what do you propose?”
“I don’t know what to say.”
“If we had a canoe, or even a raft, we might get to the mainland and
hire another boat,” said Dale. “Can’t we build a raft of some kind?”
“We might, but it would take time.”
While this conversation was going on Andy had walked to some high rocks
overlooking the lower end of the lake. Now, of a sudden, he set up a
shout:
“Boat ahoy! Hello! Come in here, we want you!”
“Andy has sighted a boat!” ejaculated Pepper, and ran to join the
acrobatic youth, and his chums followed.
All saw a launch moving up the lake. It contained a young lady of about
twenty and a boy of sixteen.
“What do you want?” asked the boy, as the launch came to a standstill
out in the lake.
“We want help!” called back Andy. “Will you please come ashore?”
“What is wrong?” questioned the girl, as she set the motor of the boat
in motion once more and steered for the shore of Butterfly Island.
“Our boat is gone,” answered Andy.
“Why, that is Belle Penwick!” cried Laura, as she caught sight of the
girl in the launch. “And her brother Roger! How fortunate!”
“Then you know them?” said Jack.
“Oh, yes, we are old friends, and they are stopping at the same hotel
with us. That is Belle’s boat, but her brother Roger aids her in running
it.”
The _Spray_, for that was the name of the craft, soon came close to the
shore, and then the engine was stopped once more. The boys were
introduced to the newcomers, and the latter were told about the missing
_Emma_.
“Why, we saw that boat about an hour ago!” cried Roger Penwick. “Some
cadets dressed like you fellows had her in tow and were taking her
towards Hull Island.”
“Did they leave her there?” questioned Jack
“I don’t know.”
“Were the cadets in a rowboat?”
“Yes.”
“I suppose they couldn’t run the launch because of the dismantled
motor,” said Pepper. “Most likely they hid her in the bushes on the
shore of Hull Island.”
The matter was talked over, and the Penwicks said they would take some
of the party over to Hull Island if they wished to go. It was arranged
that Jack, Andy and Able Fales should make the trip.
“If the launch is there I’ll fix her up as soon as I can and run her
back here,” said the old boatman.
The _Spray_ was soon on the way. She was a light-built craft and cut the
bosom of the lake like a thing of life.
“I like my sloop, but I declare I’d like a motor boat too,” said Jack.
“They certainly can travel!”
“And they don’t have to wait for the wind,” added Pepper.
“It’s fine—if the motor doesn’t get out of order,” said Roger Penwick.
“But sister and I have to do a lot of tinkering, I can tell you!
Yesterday we spent about an hour sailing around and two hours fixing the
engine.”
“Well, my spark wasn’t just right, that was all,” responded Belle. “You
can’t make a boat run well without a good electric spark,” she
explained.
The run to Hull Island, a small patch of land close to the upper end of
Lake Caboy, did not take long, and then the island was slowly circled,
while the boys and the old boatman scanned the shore with care.
“There she is, there’s the _Emma_!” cried Abel Fales, presently, and
pointed out his craft, shoved in under some overhanging bushes. “Pretty
well hidden, I must say! I would have had a hard job finding her if you
hadn’t seen her being taken here,” he added to the Penwicks.
The Ritter crowd had done nothing to the launch but tow her off, and
soon Able Fales was at work fixing his engine. With the cylinder
repaired the machinery worked very well, and both craft started back to
Butterfly Island, arriving there a little later.
“Some of you can come in my boat if you wish, it will make your run
easier,” said Belle Penwick, and then it was arranged that Andy and Dale
and Flossie should go with her. This divided up the weight of passengers
pretty evenly, and when the two boats left the island they kept close
beside each other.
“I’ve got a plan to scare the Ritter crowd,” said Jack, on the way home,
and then he explained what it was.
The Fords were willing to let him carry out his idea, Rossmore Ford
being especially anxious to make the boys who had taken the _Emma_
suffer for the trick. Jack and his chums were landed at a distance up
the lake shore from the encampment, and the _Emma_ took care to keep out
of sight as she swung down the lake.
“Tell ’em I’ll have ’em locked up if they don’t return my boat by
to-morrow morning!” cried Able Fales, who, now that he had his boat
back, entered into the spirit of the fun that was afloat.
Jack and his chums watched their opportunity and stole into camp without
being noticed by anybody but one of the guards. They slipped to their
tents and donned their regular uniforms, and the young major buckled on
his sword.
As the cadets came out on the parade ground they saw Ritter, Coulter and
Paxton directly ahead of them. They hurried on, and soon caught up to
the trio, who were conversing earnestly.
“They won’t get away until morning, and I know it,” Ritter was saying.
“I’ll bet they were mad when they saw the hornets’ nest,” came from
Coulter.
“If they ate up everything they carried for dinner they will have to go
without supper and breakfast,” added Paxton.
“How are you, Ritter!” cried Jack, pleasantly.
The entire crowd ahead wheeled around and a look of blank astonishment
came into their faces.
“Why—er—where did you come from?” stammered Ritter. He did not know what
to say.
“From Butterfly Island,” answered Jack. Then he lowered his voice and
added: “Ritter, you and your cronies have got yourselves in a nice mess.
You stole Mr. Fales’s boat, and he says if you don’t return it to him by
to-morrow morning he’ll have you all locked up!”