CHAPTER VIII
THE MIDNIGHT FEAST
"Well, fellows, are we all here?" asked Jack Ranger later that night, ashe gazed around on a crowd in his room.
"If there were any more we couldn't breathe," replied Bony Balmore, andthe cracking of his finger knuckles punctuated his remark.
"When does the fun begin?" asked Bob Movel.
"Soon," answered Jack.
"We ought to have some music. Tune up, Fred," said Sam.
"Not here," interposed Jack quickly. "Wait a bit and we can make all thenoise we want to."
"How's that?" inquired Bony. "Have you hypnotized Dr. Mead and put waxin Martin's ears so he can't hear us?"
"No, but it's something just as good. This afternoon I sat and listenedwhile Socker, the janitor, told me one of his war stories."
"You must have had patience," interrupted Nat Anderson. "Bob cats andbombshells, but Socker is tiresome!"
"Well, I had an object in it," explained Jack. "I wanted him to do me afavor, and he did it--after I'd let him tell me how, single-handed, hecaptured a lot of Confederates. I told him about this spread to-night,and was lamenting the fact that my room was so small, and that wecouldn't make any noise, or have any lights. And you know how awkward itis to eat in the dark."
"Sure," admitted Bony. "You can't always find your mouth."
"And if there's anything I dislike," added Nat, "it's putting pie in myear."
"Easy!" cautioned Jack at the laugh which followed. "Wait a few minutesand we can make all the noise we want to."
"How?" asked Bony.
"Because, as I'm trying to tell you, Socker did me a favor. He's goingto let us in the storeroom, back of where the boiler is, in thebasement. It'll be nice and warm there, and we can have our midnightfeast in comfort, and make all the row we like, for Martin can't hear usthere."
"Good for you, Jack!" cried Nat.
"That's all to the horse radish!" observed Sam.
Jack's trip to town that afternoon had been most successful. He hadfound at the express office a big package from home, and from the notethat accompanied it he knew it contained good things to eat, made by hisloving aunts. But, desiring to give an unusually fine spread tocelebrate the occasion of having made the acquaintance of WillWilliams, Jack purchased some other good things at the village stores.
He and Will carried them back to school, and managed to smuggle them in.It was a new experience for Will to have a friend like Jack Ranger, andto be taking part in this daring but harmless breach of the schoolrules. Under this stimulus Will was fast losing his melancholy mood, andhe responded brightly to Jack's jokes.
"Now you stay in your room until I call for you," our hero had said toWill on parting after supper that night. Jack wanted to spring a sort ofsurprise on his chums, and introduce Will to them at the feast. Inaccordance with his instructions the lads had gathered in his room aboutten o'clock that night, stealing softly in after Martin, the monitor,had made his last round to see that lights were out. Then Jack hadannounced his plan of having the feast in the basement.
"Grab up the grub and come on," said the leader a little later. "Softlynow--no noise until we're downstairs."
"Will Socker keep mum?" asked Bony.
"As an oyster in a church sociable stew," replied Jack. "I've promisedto listen to another of his war tales."
"Jack's getting to be a regular martyr," observed Sam.
"Silence in the ranks!" commanded Captain Jack.
The lads stole softly along the corridors. Just as they got opposite thedoor of Martin's room, there was a dull thud.
"What's that?" whispered Jack softly.
"I--I dropped one of the pies," replied Bony, cracking his knuckles atthe double-quick in his excitement.
"Scoop it up and come on. You'll have to eat it," said Jack.
In fear and trembling they went on. Fortunately, Martin did not hear thenoise, and the lads got safely past.
Jack, who was in the rear, paused at a door at the end of the hall, andknocked softly.
"Yes," answered a voice from within.
"Come on," commanded Jack, and he was joined by a dark figure.
They reached the basement safely, no one having disputed their nightmarch. Socker, the janitor, met them at the door of the boiler-room.
"Here we are," said Jack.
"So I see, Mr. Ranger. Why, it reminds me of the time when CaptainCrawford and me took a forced night march of ten miles to get somerations. We were with Sherman, on his trip to the sea, and----"
"You must be sure to tell me that story," interrupted Jack. "But notnow. Is everything all right?"
"Yes, Mr. Ranger. But I depend on you not to say anything about this toDr. Mead in case----"
"Oh, you can depend on us," Jack assured him.
"I thought I could. It reminds me of the time when we were beforePetersburgh, and a comrade and I went to----"
"You must not forget to tell me that story," interrupted Jack. "Iparticularly want to hear it, Socker."
"I will," said the janitor, delighted that he had at last found anearnest listener.
"But not now," said Jack. "We must get to work. Do you like pie,Socker?"
"Do I, Mr. Ranger? Well, I guess I do. I remember once when we were atGettysburg----"
"Bony, where's that extra choice pie you had?" asked Jack with a wink athis chum. "Give it to Mr. Socker here," and Bony passed over the bit ofpastry that had met with the accident in the hall.
"That will keep him quiet for a while," said Jack in a whisper.
The lads, bearing the good things Jack had provided, passed through theboiler-room and into a storage apartment, where cans of oil, waste,tools and the like were kept. Socker had arranged some boards on acouple of sawhorses for the students, and there, by the light ofseveral candles stuck in the necks of bottles, the table was spread.
"Say, but this is jolly, all right," said Sam Chalmers. "Jack, you're apublic benefactor."
He leaned over to shake hands with our hero.
"Look out! You'll upset the table!" cried Jack, as Sam, leaning againstthe boards, tilted them.
"Save the pieces!" cried Nat, springing to the rescue.
"Gentlemen, be seated!" invited Jack as the lads arranged themselvesabout the table. Socker had provided planks, stretched across big, emptyoilcans. "Here you are, Will, right next to me," went on our hero in alow tone to the lad who had joined him in the dark hall. "I'll introduceyou presently."
No one of Jack's chums had yet noticed the new lad, for Will had kept inthe shadows, and there was much confusion attending the placing of thegood things on the board. But as the guests prepared to seat themselves,Sam Chalmers caught sight of the unfamiliar face of Will Williams. Heknew he was not one of Jack's crowd, and thinking the lad might havecome uninvited he said:
"We have a stranger with us."
There was a sudden hush, and all eyes were fastened on Will, who turnedred.
"He is a stranger," said Jack quickly, "but we are going to cure that.Boys of Washington Hall--the top-notchers--the elite--thehigh-rollers--the cream of the bunch--allow me to present my friend BillWilliams. He is one of us, though I didn't know it until to-day. I'mgiving this blowout in his honor. Henceforth he is one of us, and intoken of that we will dub him not William, but Bill, which has a morekindly sound. Fellows, salute our new member!"
Jack Ranger's Gun Club; Or, From Schoolroom to Camp and Trail Page 9