“If Slugger Brown wrote that letter, maybe he and Nappy Martell did the shooting,” remarked Randy.
“They would be just mean enough to do it,” added his twin. “They’d do anything to get our crowd into trouble.”
“Why can’t you two fellows watch Brown and Martell?” questioned Jack. “You might tell Gif and Spouter and Ned about it, too. Find out where those two fellows were yesterday afternoon, and find out if they used any of the shotguns.”
“Say! that’s an idea!” cried Randy, enthusiastically. “I’ll go at it right away!”
“And so will I!” declared his brother. “Maybe we’ll be able to lay the whole blame on that pair.”
The twins talked it over with the others for a little while longer, and then were let out of the guardroom by a servant, who locked the door after them. As they came out into the main corridor of the Hall, they saw that Elias Lacy was just leaving Colonel Colby’s office.
“All right, then, I’ll wait,” the old farmer was saying. “But I’ll be back by to-morrow afternoon, an’ if you can’t prove by that time that them Rover boys is innercent, I’m a-goin’ to have ‘em locked up.”
“Very well, Mr. Lacy,” the colonel replied, and bowed his visitor out of the door.
“Well, anyway, the colonel has got old Lacy to wait another day,” whispered Randy. “That will give us just so much more time to get on the track of what Martell and Brown have been doing.”
“All provided they are really guilty of playing this dirty trick,” answered his brother.
In the upper hallway the twins ran across Ned Lowe, and immediately took that cadet into their confidence, and asked him if he would not try to find out for them where Brown and Martell had been the previous afternoon.
“For, you see, we can’t ask them ourselves,” explained Randy. “If we did that they would become suspicious at once.”
“All right, I’ll do what I can,” answered Ned, and made off without delay. He came back in less than fifteen minutes, looking much excited.
“How did you make out?” queried Randy, eagerly.
“Great! I want you two fellows to come upstairs at once while Brown and Martell are out of their rooms. And I think you had better bring along one of the teachers as a witness.”
“Why, what have you learned, Ned?” questioned Andy.
“I saw them down near the gymnasium, and sneaked up behind them, and by rare good luck heard them talking about two shotguns that belonged in the gun rack. They were wondering how they could get them from their rooms back into the gun rack without detection.”
“Hurrah! I wager we have found ‘em out!” ejaculated Randy, excitedly. “Come on! let’s get one of the teachers at once!”
The boys were fortunate enough to fall in with Professor Brice a minute later, and in a rather excited fashion they told the teacher of what they had learned and what they proposed to do.
“Why, certainly, I’ll go with you,” said Paul Brice, quickly. “I want just as much as anybody to get at the bottom of this affair.”
Accompanied by the professor, the three cadets hurried to the second floor of the Hall and then to the rooms occupied by Slugger Brown and Nappy Martell. The door to each was locked, but one of them was opened for the crowd by an assistant janitor. A hasty search revealed nothing in the shape of a firearm in either room, and the Rover boys were much disappointed. But then Randy thought of the bed, and quickly raised the mattress. On the springs rested a shotgun.
“And I’ll bet the other shotgun is in the other bed!” cried Andy, and he and the professor made an investigation. The fun-loving Rover’s surmise was correct.
“These are guns belonging to the Hall, too!” cried Ned, pointing out the mark of the school on the stocks. “They must belong down in the gun rack, just as Slugger and Martell said.”
“Bring those guns along, boys, and we’ll go directly to Colonel Colby’s office,” said Professor Brice; and the cadets lost no time in doing as he directed.
They found the master of the school seated at his desk, looking over a mass of papers. He gazed in wonder at the three lads and Professor Brice.
“We found the shotguns that were used on those cows!” cried Randy, his eyes sparkling.
“And do you know where we found ‘em? In the beds that Slugger Brown and Nappy Martell use!” broke in Andy.
“What’s this?” And now the colonel was really startled.
“You had better let the boys tell the beginning of the story, and I will tell the end,” said Professor Brice.
Thereupon, the two Rovers repeated the talk that had taken place in the guardroom, and then told how they had gotten Ned to spy on Brown and Martell. Then Ned told of what he had heard, and of how the three had called on Professor Brice for assistance. After that the teacher took up the narrative, ending with the finding of the shotguns in the beds.
“It looks like a pretty clear case against Brown and Martell,” remarked the colonel slowly. “However, I shall have to make a further investigation. I will send for Brown and Martell at once.”
The colonel was as good as his word, and inside of five minutes Slugger and Nappy came into the office together. They looked much disturbed, and this look increased when they saw Andy and Randy.
“Brown and Martell, I have sent for you to answer a few questions,” began Colonel Colby, sternly, as the two cadets faced him. “I want you to answer me directly and truthfully. What was your object in taking two of our shotguns from the gun rack and going over to Mr. Lacy’s farm and shooting down two of his cows?”
“Wh—wh—why, wh—wh—what do you mean?” faltered Brown.
“We didn’t—er—shoot—er—any cows,” stammered Martell.
Both boys were thrown into utter confusion, and showed it plainly. Then Slugger Brown suddenly turned to glare at the Rovers.
“Is this some of your work?” he demanded. “If it is, let me tell you I’ll pay you back for it!”
“Stop that talk, Brown!” commanded Colonel Colby. “I want you and Martell to answer my question. Why did you go over there and shoot those cows?”
“Who says we shot the cows?” questioned Nappy, faintly.
“Never mind who says so. You did it, and it is useless for you to deny it. Here are the two guns you took from the gun rack and afterwards hid in your beds. And here is the despicable note you, Brown, wrote and mailed to Mr. Lacy,” and the colonel held out the communication.
“Oh, Colonel Colby, I di—di—didn’t do it!” faltered Slugger Brown. His face had suddenly gone white, and he could scarcely speak.
“Do you deny that this is your handwriting?”
“I—I——Oh, is——I—I—didn’t——That is——” and here Slugger Brown broke down absolutely, not knowing what to say.
“Did you mail that letter or did Brown do it?” questioned the colonel, quickly turning to Martell.
“He did it! I didn’t have anything to do with it!” burst out Nappy, breaking down completely.
“It ain’t so!” cried Slugger. “He was with me, and he dropped the letter in the post-office!”
“And so you killed the cows to get the Rovers into trouble?” said Colonel Colby; and now his eyes glittered like steel. “A fine thing to do, truly! I did not think any of our cadets would stoop to such a base action.”
“It was a—er—a joke,” gasped Nappy.
“A joke! To kill two valuable cows? Martell, if you talk that way, I’ll be inclined to think you are losing your senses. But evidently there is something radically wrong with both you and Brown,” went on the master of the Hall. “This case of the cows and the plot against the Rovers is bad enough, but I have another matter against you which may prove even worse.”
“What is that?” questioned Slugger, very faintly.
“It is a case that Captain Larkins of the stea
m tug,Mary D., has lodged against you. He says he has absolute proof that both of you went out in a motor boat one day and tampered with the towing line and the chains of a large lumber raft, so that when a sudden squall came up on the lake, the towing line parted and the lumber raft went to pieces.”
“Oh, say! that must have been the squall we were out in!” exclaimed Randy. “And we got caught among that floating lumber, too!”
“Yes, that was the time,” answered Colonel Colby.
“Oh, Colonel! can’t we go to our cousins and tell them that they can have their freedom?” questioned Andy, with a sudden thought of those left in the guardroom.
“Yes, Rover. Both of you and also Lowe can go,” was the colonel’s reply. “I will settle this affair with Brown and Martell.”
“And will you settle it with Mr. Lacy, too?” queried Randy, quickly.
“Yes. I will fix the whole matter up. You may tell Jack and Fred that they need not worry any further on this score.” And thereupon Andy, Randy and Ned hurried away to bear the glad tidings to the prisoners.
Of course Jack and Fred were greatly pleased to be released. They listened eagerly to all the twins and Ned had to relate.
“So Nappy and Slugger are guilty!” cried Jack. “What a mean way to act!”
“And to think they are also guilty of sending that lumber adrift,” said Fred. “They’ll suffer for that.”
“They ought to suffer,” answered his cousin.
CHAPTER XXX
A FOOTBALL VICTORY—CONCLUSION
“Whoop her up for Colby Hall!”
“This is the time Columbus Academy wins!”
“Not on your life! This is Colby Hall day!”
“You’ll sing a different tune after the game is over!”
“Hurrah! here come the elevens now!”
And then a wild shouting, intermingled with the tooting of horns and the sounding of rattles, rent the air, while banners went waving on every side.
It was the day of the great game between Colby Hall and Columbus Academy. It had been decided that the contest should take place on the field belonging to the military academy, and once again everything had been put in the best of order for this gala occasion. The grandstand and the bleachers were overflowing with spectators, and in a distant field were parked a hundred automobiles or more, while in another field were numerous carriages and farm wagons.
“We’ve certainly got a crowd to-day,” remarked Randy, who, with his brother, was in the section of the stand reserved for the Colbyites and their friends. In front of the twins and their chums sat Ruth, May, and half a dozen other girls from Clearwater Hall.
“I don’t see anything of Nappy Martell or Slugger Brown,” remarked Ida Brierley, who was with the girls.
“I hope you don’t want to see them, Ida,” returned Ruth, promptly.
“Indeed, I do not!” answered the other girl. “I was only wondering what had become of them.”
“Jack told me they had both left the Hall for the term. They shot those cows, you know, and they had some other trouble which was hushed up.”
“Oh, that was the trouble over that lumber raft,” put in Jennie Mason.
“Right you are!” answered Andy, bending over and speaking in a low tone so that no outsider might hear. “Their folks had to pony up a pretty penny, too, for the lumber and for the cows.”
“Oh, well, let’s forget Martell and Brown,” broke in May. “I want to enjoy this game.”
“And that’s what we all want to do,” said Alice Strobell.
What had been said concerning Slugger Brown and Nappy Martell was true. Questioned by Colonel Colby, the two misguided cadets had finally broken down utterly and confessed everything, telling how they had once gotten into a quarrel with Captain Larkins on the lake and how they had sought to get square by tampering with the fastenings of the lumber raft and the towline; and they had also related the particulars of how they had watched Jack and Fred go out shooting and had then purloined the two shotguns from the gun rack and hurried over to the Lacy farm to shoot the cows. Mr. Brown and Mr. Martell had been called upon to pay both the lake captain and the old farmer heavy damages; and thereupon they had withdrawn their sons from the Hall for the time being.
“And I’m glad they’re gone,” had been Fred’s comment. “I hope they never come back here again.”
“Yes, we could do without Brown and Martell very well,” had been Jack’s answer.
Both of the cousins were particularly happy on this day. Jack occupied his former position on the eleven, and Fred had been drafted from the scrub team and put on the substitutes’ bench in place of Brown.
“Maybe I’ll get a chance to play!” cried the youngest Rover eagerly, when the football captain brought him the news.
“Perhaps so, Fred,” answered Gif. “Although, of course, I hope none of our players get hurt.”
As the Colby Hall eleven marched out on the gridiron, Jack glanced towards the grandstand and caught Ruth’s eye. The girl gaily waved a Colby Hall banner at him. Then May caught sight of Fred on the side lines, and shook her hand at him.
Spectators from the town were almost as much interested in the contest as were the two schools. This football game was always the big match of the season, and many wagers were placed on the result. In the past the contests had always been exceedingly bitter, with the various scores almost a tie, Columbus Academy winning by a narrow margin one year and Colby Hall taking the lead by an equally narrow margin the following year.
When the Columbus Academy boys came out on the field, it was seen that they were good, husky fellows, every bit as heavy as the Colby Hall eleven. They looked in the pink of condition.
“I am afraid our boys will have their work cut out for them in this game,” remarked Mr. Crews to Colonel Colby.
“Well, our boys look pretty fit,” answered the master of the Hall.
By the toss of a coin, Columbus Academy won the choice of position, and took the west goal, the slight wind that was blowing being in their favor. Then the two teams lined up for the kick-off.
“Now then, boys, show ‘em what you can do!” yelled the Colby Hall cadets, and then the school slogan rang out on the air.
“Put it all over ‘em, boys!” yelled one of the Columbus Academy followers. “Come on now, all together!” he added, and started up a song, the refrain of which contained the line: “We’re here to-day to bury them!”
“What an awful song to sing!” remarked Ruth.
“Oh, you mustn’t mind that,” returned Andy, gaily. “He sings best who sings last, as the cat said to the bird.”
It must be confessed that both teams were rather nervous at the outset of the contest. The play was decidedly ragged, and one or two mistakes were made, which, however, profited neither side anything. The ball was carried first to the Colby Hall 10-yard line, and from there it went back to the Columbus 15-yard line, and then it sawed back and forth until eight minutes of the first quarter had passed.
“Gee! this begins to look like a blank,” was Spouter’s comment.
“So it does,” returned Dan Soppinger. “Say! can any of you tell me why the——”
“Don’t ask questions now, Dan,” interrupted Randy. “Oh, look! look!” he burst out suddenly. “Isn’t that great!”
The ball had dribbled back and forth until, by a punt, it reached Colby Hall’s 20-yard line. It landed close to Jack, and like a flash he gathered it to his breast and started for the Columbus goal.
“Go it, Rover! go it!”
“Don’t let ‘em down you, Jack!”
With his friends cheering lustily, Jack sped on, dodging many straight-arm tackles, and skipping from right to left and then back again in order to avoid the numerous players who seemed to confront him as if by magic. Then somebody appeared on his left, and the next moment he went
down with a thud, not knowing where he had landed.
“It’s a touchdown!” was the cry, and then the Colby Hall followers went wild with delight, while Columbus Academy was mute. The girls stood up in the grandstand and waved their banners gaily.
“Oh, just to think, Jack did it!” murmured Ruth, and her face showed her intense satisfaction.
“Now if only Walt Baxter can kick a goal!” cried Randy.
But this was not to be, for at the moment the leather sailed through the air, a strong puff of wind came up and the ball went just outside the posts.
“Well, never mind,” cried Randy, consolingly; “that puts us in the lead.”
The run had somewhat exhausted Jack, but still he insisted upon keeping on playing, and after the wonderful exhibition he had made, Gif had not the heart to call in a substitute to take his place.
But if, with a touchdown in their favor, Colby thought to remain in the lead, they soon had this hope shattered. The Columbus Academy eleven played a fast and snappy second quarter, and, as a result, before it was half over they took the ball on a fumble and circled the left end for twelve yards.
“Say, that’s going some,” remarked Fatty.
“Oh, it won’t net them anything,” responded Andy.
But in this he was wrong, for on the next two plays Columbus carried the ball over the line for a touchdown.
“A tie! A tie!” yelled the followers of the Academy.
“Now then, boys, don’t miss the goal!”
“It isn’t likely they’ll miss it,” grumbled Andy. “The wind is in their favor.” The goal was kicked with ease, and then the score stood: Columbus Academy—7, Colby Hall—6.
During the intermission between the second and third quarters, Gif and Mr. Crews gave the eleven some very pointed instructions. One player had hurt his ankle slightly, and he was taken out and a substitute took his place. But the substitute was not Fred, much to that youth’s disappointment.
If the first and second quarters had been fast and snappy, the third quarter was even more so. Back and forth went the ball, and it was lost both by Colby Hall and by the Academy team. There were some really fine tackles and splendid runs, but all of these availed nothing. And when the whistle blew the score still stood 6 for Colby Hall as against 7 for Columbus Academy.
The Rover Boys Megapack Page 345