A WILD GOOSE CHASE
The announcement that Jack made filled the Ritter crowd with alarm, and
they showed it.
“Have us arrested?” cried the bully, and he grew somewhat pale.
“That is just what he said,” broke in Pepper. “Fun is fun, but to steal
a launch is another story.”
“We didn’t steal the boat,” came from Coulter. “We—er—What do you know
about it anyway?” he demanded suddenly.
“We know all we wish to know,” said Andy. “You took Mr. Fales’s boat and
did not return it. You can well imagine how angry he is. He looked all
around Butterfly Island for it, but with no success.”
“We didn’t leave it at Butterfly Island,” said Paxton. We left it—” He
stopped short and looked at his cronies questioningly.
“How did you get away from the island?” asked Ritter.
“A party came along in another launch, the _Spray_,” said Jack, and did
not attempt to explain further.
“We—er—we hid the _Emma_ on the shore of another island,” said Coulter.
“We didn’t hurt the boat in the least.”
“Well, you better return her before morning, or Mr. Fales may get out
warrants for your whole crowd,” said Andy. “After we found the hornets’
nest he wanted to know who you were.”
“Humph! I suppose you told him too,” sneered Ritter.
“Why not? You put us in a hole. But you’d better get the boat. Don’t you
know that there are some thieves on this lake? They wouldn’t hesitate to
take that launch if they found it, and paint it over and change the
name—and then you’d never find the craft.”
“Yes, you’ll get into serious trouble if you don’t return that boat by
morning,” said the young major, and then he motioned to his chums and
all walked away. Looking back they saw the Ritter crowd get together and
commence an earnest conversation.
“I’ll wager they go out after the launch,” said Andy, with a broad grin.
“Won’t they be surprised when they find the boat missing from Hull
Island!” came from The Imp. “They’ll think she drifted away or was
stolen!”
“If they go out they may get wet,” said Jack. “It certainly looks like
rain.”
The chums joined the other cadets, and pretended to pay no further
attention to the Ritter faction. But on the sly Dale watched them and
after taps saw Ritter, Coulter, Paxton and Sabine steal away in the
direction of the lake. They took one of the rowboats with two pairs of
oars and rowed away in the darkness.
“There is a wild goose chase for you!” cried Jack, and he and his chums
laughed heartily over the matter. The young major was right—it was
indeed a wild goose chase. The row to Hull Island was a hard one, and
when the spot was reached the search for the launch in the darkness was
difficult. To add to the discomfort of the crowd it commenced to rain,
and as they had no covering each of the cadets got wet to the skin. They
all spent over an hour looking for the _Emma_, but all in vain.
“She must have drifted away, or else she was stolen!” groaned Billy
Sabine. “Oh, if we don’t find her, will they really lock us up?”
“She couldn’t drift away, for she was tied up,” said Ritter. “I tied her
myself, and I did it good, too.”
“Nobody was around here when we brought the launch in,” came from
Paxton. “I looked around good. And I don’t know how any thieves could
locate her.”
“Do you know what I am beginning to think?” cried Ritter. “I think they
played a trick on us.”
“How?”
“They got the boat back, but made up a plot to get us out on the hunt.”
“We might row down the lake to where they usually keep the launch and
find out,” said Paxton. “We better do it. I wouldn’t sleep a wink if I
thought I was going to be arrested in the morning.”
“Nor I,” added Sabine, with a shiver. “Let’s have a look.”
“It’s over three miles from here,” grumbled Ritter. Nevertheless, he was
as much disturbed as anyone, and in the end the four took up the oars
and commenced the tedious task of rowing down the lake in the rain. It
was an hour before they reached the dock where the launch was usually
kept. They came in rather awkwardly and bumped loudly against the
stringpiece.
“Here she is!” cried Ritter, as he made out the _Emma_ tied securely to
the dock. “She’s all right, too.”
“Then that Ruddy crowd played a trick on us—getting us to look for her
in this rain!” grumbled Coulter.
“Hi! hi! what does this mean? Who are you?” came a call from the
darkness.
“Shove off! We don’t want to meet anybody!” said Ritter in a low voice.
The rowboat had drifted in and was now between the launch and the dock,
and it was hard work to shove the craft out into the lake. They heard
footsteps and a man showed himself.
“Stop!” he called loudly. “Stop, or I’ll fire!” And now he pointed a
pistol at the cadets.
“Don’t shoot!” screamed Sabine. “Don’t shoot! We haven’t done anything,
mister!”
“Then stop,” called the man. He was a watchman, employed by Able Fales
and a number of others, to look after the various craft in that
vicinity.
“It’s all right,” Ritter endeavored to assure the watchman. “We only
stopped in here to see if a certain boat was safe.”
“Fine time to do it, I must say!” returned the watchman. “It’s half-past
one o’clock! What boat were you looking for?”
“The—er—the _Emma_,” stammered Coulter, as Ritter paused before
replying.
“Oh, I know now!” said the watchman, and his face took on a grin. He
sprang aboard the _Emma_ and so got closer to the quartet of cadets.
“You are from that military school, ain’t you? You run off with the
boat, and Able sent word he’d have you locked up if you didn’t return
her! Ha! ha! Able got the boat all right, and you’ve had a fine time
looking for her! It’s a nice night for a long row! No dust, nor nuthin’
like that!” And the watchman laughed again.
“Aw, you dry up!” said Ritter, in deep disgust, “Come on back to camp,”
he added to his cronies.
“Don’t you dare to touch any of these boats ag’in!” shouted the
watchman. “If you do you’ll git shot!” And then the rowboat started up
the lake for the encampment. Ritter and his cronies were wet through and
through and thoroughly tired out when they got back, and a more
disgusted crowd it would be hard to imagine.
On the following Monday came a tug-of-war between two teams composed of
ten cadets each. Dale, Hogan and Andy were on one team, and their side
won, after a tug that lasted sixteen minutes. The tug-of-war was
followed by a game of hare and hounds, or, as some boys called it, a
paper chase. In the paper chase Andy and Pepper were the “hares” and
Dale the leader of the “hounds,” which numbered about thirty cadets. The
“hares” carried big bags of paper cut into fine pieces which they
scattered on the ground as a trail, so the “hounds” could follow them.
“The hares will have just ten minutes start,” announced Jack, who had
been chosen umpire and referee. “Now then, Andy and Pepper, are you
ready?”
The two cadets looked to their shoe laces, their belts, and their bags
of paper, and then announced that they were.
“Then go!” shouted the young major, and off Andy and Pepper bounded,
across the camp and into the woods. They took to a road leading
westward, but presently came to a trail running southward and switched
off to that.
“We ought to get a good start in ten minutes,” remarked Pepper, as they
moved along on a dog trot, dropping the fine bits of paper on the way.
“Well, don’t forget that those other fellows can run too,” returned the
acrobatic youth. “Say, but it’s a fine day, isn’t it!” he added, and
then, coming to a cleared space, his spirits arose and he turned several
hand-springs in quick succession.
“Hi, stop that!” called Pepper. “Save your wind for running, Andy.”
“Oh, I couldn’t help it,” was the reply. “I’ve got to do a stunt once in
a while or I’ll bust!”
The two cadets presently came to a hill and climbed this and then
dropped from a cliff to the gully below. They left paper everywhere, so
the trail would be plain.
“They’ll have to get down the cliff one at a time,” said Andy. “That
will retard them a little—if they want to keep in a bunch.”
Presently they came to another road and followed this for over a mile.
Then they left the road and took to another trail through the woods.
“Here is a river!” cried Andy, presently. “Hark how the water roars!”
“I know this stream,” said Pepper. “It is the Caboy River, and what you
hear are the Falls. This is the place where that haunted mill is
located.”