CHAPTER XIII THE ENCAMPMENT AT LAKE CABOY
"Sold!"
"I thought all along they might be fellows from Putnam Hall!"
"What fools we were to trust them!"
Such were some of the remarks made by the students of Pornell Academywhen they found themselves prisoners in the cave.
In vain they rushed to the entrance, trying to get out. Bob had someheavy sticks handy and these were quickly wedged in between the rocks sothat they could not be budged excepting from the outside. Then morerocks were piled up to keep the prisoners from breaking the sticks.
"See here," demanded Roy Bock. "Ain't you going to let us out?"
"We've got to get back to the Academy before morning," added Bat Sedley."Otherwise we'll get into hot water with Doctor Pornell."
"Don't you care!" cried Pepper. "You've got a roof over your head--andthat is more than we might have had if we hadn't located those wagons."
"Oh, let up about the wagons, will you?" growled Bock. He felt heartilysick over the outcome of that trick.
"There is one way you can get out of this cave," announced Bob. "That isby the back way."
"The back way?" queried Plunkett, looking behind him.
"Yes. See that opening in the rocks? Well, if you squeeze through thatyou'll come out in a deep cut, and if you'll follow the cut you'll reachthe woods, not far from the road to your school. I advise you to takethose candles with you though, for it is pretty dark in the cut, andthere are some bad holes."
"We may break our necks!" growled Carey.
"Not if you are careful. But you may get in the mud," answered the youngquartermaster.
"Oh, let us out the front way!" pleaded Bock.
"No, it's back way or nothing," said Pepper. "You deserve to suffer forthe way you treated us. Good night!"
"Going to leave us here alone?" cried Sedley.
"We are," said Emerald. "Pleasant drames to ye!"
"Just wait--we'll square up!" growled Roy Bock. Then the Putnam Hallcadets took their departure. The phosphorus no longer showed on theirhands and faces, and they put away the white sheets and hats forpossible future use.
"Can they really get out the back way?" asked Fred, as the party hurriedfor the night's encampment.
"Yes," answered Bob. "But they'll have to wade through water and mud upto their knees, and fight their way through a lot of wild blackberrybushes! They'll be sights to see when they get back to Pornell!"
The young quartermaster was right in his statement. The Bock crowd leftthe cave by the back way shortly after the departure of the Putnam Hallcadets. In the cut they had to walk in muddy water up to their knees,and once Sedley got stuck in the muck and his cronies had to pull himout. Bock fell down, and the mud entered his mouth and nose. Then all ofthe students got caught in the wild blackberry bushes and scratchedthemselves and tore their clothing. They did not get back to PornellAcademy until half-past seven o'clock in the morning, and were caught bya teacher just as they were trying to enter by a side door.
"What in the world is the matter with you young gentlemen!" cried theteacher, as he beheld the mud and blood. "Have you been in a smash-up onthe road?"
"We--er--we were in the woods and got lost and--er--tumbled in a gully,"stammered Roy Bock.
"That is too bad, Bock! Do you want a doctor?"
"I--er--I guess not," was the reply. Then the crowd hurried off to theirrooms, while the teacher reported the matter to Doctor Pornell.
Bock and his cronies thought they would escape punishment, but this wasnot to be. Later in the day Doctor Pornell received a stiff letter fromCaptain Putnam informing him of what had been done with the wagons, andstating he might possibly take the matter to court unless the guiltystudents were properly punished. This worried the head of the academy,and he had Bock and the others brought before him. Under sharpquestioning they broke down, and Sedley and Carey confessed all.
"I'll look into this affair further," said Doctor Pornell, and the nextday he announced that those who were guilty were to have their holidaysfor that term cut off and were to do a number of extra lessons. He alsomade the crowd write a letter to Captain Putnam, apologizing for whatthey had done.
Pepper and his friends returned to the encampment and got past theguards without trouble. The cadets were worn out by the day's doings andonce at rest slept "like tops," as Fred expressed it. There was a little"horseplay" during the night, but none of the lads who had been out inthe woods took part in it. In the morning it was whispered about how theBock crowd had been treated, and many of the cadets said it served thePornell students right.
By nine o'clock the wagons were re-loaded and the march for Lake Caboywas resumed. To make sure that no further harm should befall the wagonsand their drivers, the turnouts were made to keep close to thebattalion.
By noon the end of the lake was gained and they had their dinner at asummer hotel located there. Not far away was the hotel where the Fordswere stopping, and Jack, Pepper and Andy obtained permission to run overand see Laura and Flossie.
"Papa has hired a gasolene launch," said Laura. "So you can expect tosee us on the water more or less. Maybe we'll be able to take youout--that is, if you care to go."
"Just try us and see--if we can get permission to leave camp," answeredPepper.
"Jack ought to be able to get permission--being a major," answeredFlossie.
"Well, you must remember we are all under Captain Putnam's orders,"replied the young officer. "I am in command only during drill andparade, and like that."
"Well, we'll come up anyway, sooner or later," said Laura; and a fewminutes later the cadets had to hurry back to where they had left theothers, for the drum was already rolling to call the boys together.
As Jack, Andy and Pepper passed a corner of the summer hotel where thecadets had had dinner they caught sight of a tall youth just leaving thebuilding.
"Hello, there is that Bert Field!" cried Pepper. "I've a good mind tospeak to him."
"You haven't much time," answered Jack.
Pepper ran up to the tall, thin boy and caught him by the arm.
"Hello! How are you?" he said, pleasantly.
"Why--er--how do you do?" stammered Bert Field.
"I want to tell you that I know where you can find the man you werelooking for, Jabez Trask," went on Pepper.
"I--er--I have found him," answered the strange boy, in some confusion."That is--I--er--I know where he lives now."
"Yes, I thought I saw you around his mansion."
At this announcement Bert Field looked around nervously. Evidently hewas a boy who was not strong physically, and one who had been "keptdown" by others. He did not seem to have much of a will of his own.
"I--I--How did you happen to see me?" he stammered. He was evidently illat ease.
"I can't tell you now--I haven't time. I've got to be on the march, withthe rest of the cadets. We are going into camp up the lake thisafternoon. And by the way, it is not far from an old deserted mill."
"What!" Bert Field was now all attention.
"Yes, the Robertson mill. You are looking for that place, too, aren'tyou?"
"Yes. But who told you?"
"Some young lady friends of mine. But I've got to hurry. If you come upthe lake, won't you call at our camp and see me?"
"Maybe I will," answered Bert Field. He looked keenly at Pepper then ofa sudden caught his arm. "Say, you are a boy like myself and you lookhonest," he went on in a low voice. "Would you--would you help meto--to--do something?"
"If it was fair and square I would," answered Pepper, readily.
"This is fair enough. But it is--is dangerous--at least it may becomedangerous."
"Well, you call on me at our encampment and we'll talk it over,"answered Pepper, and ran off. Then of a sudden he turned back. "Is itmoney you need?" he questioned.
"No, that is, I don't need any just now. I may need some later onthough."
"Well, I'll do what
I can for you. I like your looks."
"And I like yours," answered Bert Field, heartily. "I'll come up to yourencampment sooner or later. I can't come right away," and he hurried offin the opposite direction.
Pepper had barely time to get into the ranks before the advance up thelake was resumed. As he marched along The Imp could not help but thinkover what Bert Field had said.
"He is certainly a queer stick," he reasoned. "And there is some mysteryabout him. I'll be glad enough to aid him just to find out what themystery is. Evidently it is connected in some way with Jabez Trask andthe old Robertson mill."
The route along the lake shore was a rough one, but presently theygained a fairly good highway, and late in the afternoon reached a broadfield, bordered by the lake on one side and by dense woods on theothers.
It was an ideal location for an encampment and nearly all of the cadetswere greatly pleased and said so. The only ones who did not particularlylike it were Ritter and a few others who were inclined to be "sporty."For them the spot was too far away from a town or city.
"We've got to stay here or go to one of the summer hotels for fun," saidReff Ritter. "I wanted to camp somewhere where we could get into townnow and then on the sly, and play pool and billiards, and get somethingto drink."
The field had been staked off into two long streets, one for Company Aand the other for Company B. Between the two streets was an opening, andhere were erected tents for Captain Putnam, George Strong, and likewisea shelter for Major Jack and another officer. At the end of the streetswere the cooking quarters and also a big tent where mess could be servedin wet weather. In dry weather the cadets got their food and ate itwhere they pleased.
The tents in the streets were erected with regularity. The ground slopedtoward the lake, and ditches were dug around the canvases, to carry offthe water when it rained, so that the tent floorings might remain dry.Each cadet had a cot upon which to sleep, and extra clothing was hungupon the tent-poles or kept in the suit-cases. In the very center of theencampment a tall pole had been erected and from this the Stars andStripes were already floating.
"We ought to have the time of our lives here," declared Andy. "Nolessons to learn, and plenty of chances to go fishing and swimming."
"If only the food is good," came from Stuffer.
"Hard tack and black coffee after to-night," answered Dale, with a winkat the others.
"Not much!" burst out the lad who loved to eat. "I want something betterthan that."
"Well, maybe you'll get horsefly soup some days--when the flies arethick," said Pepper, consolingly.
"Huh! horsefly soup! Do you want to make me sick?"
"And ant cake," added The Imp. "I know you love cake full of ants."
"Say, Pepper, do you want to disgust the lot of us?" cried Fred. "I cansee the ants already, crawling up my legs."
"I went camping once, up in the Adirondacks," came from Dale. "The antsgot so thick they covered everything we had, and we had to move in ahurry."
"We'll not be bothered here with ants, or horseflies either--I had themall cremated," said Jack, and this sally brought forth much laughter.
It was late by the time supper was had and the boys had arranged theirsleeping quarters to suit them.
"Any hazing to-night?" asked several.
"Not to-night," was the answer from the most of the others. "But watchout to-morrow night!"
The Putnam Hall Encampment; or, The Secret of the Old Mill Page 14