“Gee! he’s sure enjoying himself!” chuckled Andy.
“Come on, fellows, let’s see what all the noise is about!” exclaimed Jack in a loud voice. “Something dreadful must be going on in Professor Lemm’s room.”
“What’s the matter—is somebody getting killed?” called out Randy.
“It isn’t a fire, is it?” broke in Walt Baxter, catching the cue.
“Sounds to me as if somebody was pulling the school down,” was Spouter’s contribution.
“Everybody to the rescue!” yelled Ned Lowe.
These cries, combined with the noise which was coming from Asa Lemm’s apartment, caused such a commotion that soon fully a score of other cadets showed themselves in the hallway.
“What’s the matter?” questioned Slugger Brown, who had just been on the point of retiring, and who was in his pajamas and slippers.
“Something going on in Professor Lemm’s room,” answered Nappy Martell, who had been with him, and who was similarly attired.
By this time Professor Lemm had managed to regain his feet a second time, but the broken sheets of ice were now all over the floor of his room, and just as he managed to turn on the lights he slipped once more, this time sending a chair spinning against the closet door.
“It’s ice—it’s ice, and nothing else!” he ejaculated, as he gazed in wonder at the floor. “Now, how did that come here? I don’t see any broken water pipe.” Then, of a sudden, his face took on a dark look. “It’s those boys—confound them! If I can catch them, I’ll make them suffer for this!”
CHAPTER XI
THE JOKE ON ASA LEMM
“Let’s go in and see what’s the matter with the poor man,” suggested Andy.
“That’s right—maybe he’s got a fit.”
“Something has happened to Professor Lemm!” yelled one of the other cadets.
By this time the commotion had attracted the attention of nearly everybody in the school, and teachers and cadets came running from all directions, and even some of the hired help from the kitchen came up the back stairs, wondering what had gone wrong. Then the bunch of boys, led by the Rovers, suddenly threw open the door which led to Asa Lemm’s room. It was at this instant that the astonished and bewildered professor was making his way toward the closet door. A strange thumping had reached his ears.
“I knew it—it’s some of those boys, and more than likely one of them got locked into the closet by his fellows. I’ll soon find out who he is and make him tell me who is responsible for this outrage!”
The door had been locked by Randy, but the key was in it, and readily turned. Then Professor Lemm flung the door open viciously.
“You rascals, I’ll teach you to play tricks on me!” he began, as in the somewhat dim light he made out what he thought were the forms of two crouching boys. Then he let out a sudden yell of alarm as one of the crouching figures launched itself forward at him. The figure was that of Patrick, the larger of the goats.
Bewildered by the confinement, and not at all liking the way in which he had been dressed up, the big billy goat hurled himself straight at the teacher. He struck Asa Lemm fairly and squarely in the stomach, bowling him over as if he were a tenpin. Then he made another leap, and landed on the top of the bed, where he gazed around, not knowing which way to turn next.
“Oh my! look at what Professor Lemm has in his room!” piped up Andy.
Asa Lemm had rolled over and was now trying to get up, but just as he raised himself on his hands and knees, he struck some of the sliding sheets of ice, and down he went once more, this time directly in front of the other goat, which promptly proceeded to leap on top of him.
“Hi! get off of me, you rascal!” spluttered the professor, and thrashed around wildly. “Get off of me! Who are you, anyway?” and then, as he got a better sight of the animal, which at that moment leaped up on the bed beside his mate, he turned and sat up in amazement.
“A goat! Two goats! How did they get here?”
“What do you know about this? Professor Lemm is keeping goats in his room!” cried Jack.
These and a score of other cries rent the air, while all the cadets crowded into the doorway of the room to see what was going on. In the bunch of boys were Slugger Brown and Nappy Martell, and it must be confessed that these two unworthies were enjoying the scene quite as much as anybody.
“I’ll fix some of you for this!” roared Asa Lemm, as he struggled to his feet, slipping around and clutching the end of his bed as he did so. “I’ll have some of you suspended! Where is Colonel Colby? Send for Colonel Colby at once!”
Evidently Patrick, the larger goat, did not like the looks of the irate teacher, who was now shaking his fists at the grinning cadets. Suddenly the goat made another leap, this time striking Asa Lemm in the shoulder, and once more the pro fessor went down, this time with his feet sliding directly under the bed, so that he became somewhat wedged in from his waist down. Then the goat made another leap and charged toward the door to the hallway.
“Look out!” warned Jack, and was just in time to push Fred out of danger. Then the goat made a rush, and the next minute came full tilt into Slugger Brown, sending the bully crashing into those behind him. The second goat also leaped from the bed, and made for the doorway, hitting Martell as he passed.
“Look out for the battering-ram!”
“This is only a battering goat—but it’s just as bad!” yelled Andy. “Go it, goat! Go it!” he added gleefully.
Both goats did “go it.” They raced through the hallway, knocking down cadets right and left. One younger boy, named Stowell, but who was always called Codfish by the others because of his unusually broad mouth, was attacked at the head of the stairs and sent hurtling down to the bottom.
“Oh! oh! I’m killed! He has knocked me to pieces!” yelled Codfish.
With the two goats racing around the school, the excitement increased. But gradually the goats were driven by the Rovers to a lower hallway, and then toward a side door, which Jack and Fred lost no time in opening.
“Get them out of here as quick as you can. We don’t want them to be captured,” whispered Jack to his cousins. “We don’t want old Lemon to know they are Mike O’Toole’s animals.”
“Stop those goats! I don’t want them to get away!” yelled Asa Lemm, from the upper hallway. But the goats were already outside.
“Oh gee! we forgot one thing—I mean several things!” gasped Andy. “The goats are dressed up in old Lemon’s clothes!”
“Gracious! why didn’t we think of that?” gasped Randy. “We can’t let ‘em run away with all that stuff!”
“I’ll go after them and see if I can stop them,” said Jack.
“Want me to go with you?” questioned Walt.
“If you will, Walt. Maybe it will take two of us to manage the goats.” And then Jack and Walt hurried off and the others returned to see what would happen next.
Fortunately for the boys who had gone after them, the goats did not run very far. Jack had a few more vegetables left in his pocket, and with these in his hand he walked cautiously up to the animals, which had run down to a corner of the campus.
“Hurrah! I’ve got one of them!” cried the Rover boy presently, as he caught Patrick by the horns. “Now, Walt, see if you can hold the other, and we’ll take these things off of them.”
Now that they were once more in the open air, the goats appeared to be quite docile, and consequently the two cadets had little difficulty in disrobing them.
“Why don’t you return the goats to O’Toole while you are at it?” suggested Walt, after the wearing apparel had been placed in a small bundle.
“I’d do it if I had their harness, Walt.”
“Want me to go back for it?”
“If you will.”
“All right, I’ll do it. And give me that bundle. I’ll smuggle it
into the school somehow and watch my chance to leave it in old Lemon’s room.” Evidently the son of Dan Baxter was as bold as his father had ever been before him.
So it was arranged, and a minute later Walt disappeared into the school building. He was gone the best part of five minutes, and then came running across the school campus, carrying the goats’ harness under his sweater.
“Gee, but they are having a peach of a time in the school,” he announced. “Asa Lemm is quarreling with Colonel Colby, who came over from his rooms. He wants to have half the school arrested on account of the goats and the ice.”
“What did you do with the bundle?”
“Oh, say—that was easy! All the crowd were around old Lemon and the colonel discussing the matter, so I slipped behind them and threw the bundle in the corner of Lemon’s room.”
The two Rovers lost no time in placing a little of the harness on the goats—just sufficient to drive them.
“Now, you needn’t go with me, Walt, unless you want to. I can get these goats to O’Toole’s alone.”
“Oh, I’d just as lief keep you company,” answered the other cheerfully.
Urging the two goats before them, the pair made off down the hill in the direction of the O’Toole farm. The animals seemed to know the way home, and kept up a brisk pace.
“Now then, we had better go a bit slow,” announced Jack, when they came in sight of the buildings. “Maybe O’Toole has discovered the absence of the goats, and is on the watch for us.”
This warning, however, was unnecessary, for the old Irish farmer and his wife had retired for the night, doing this without being aware of what had taken place among their live stock.
Cautiously the two cadets opened the goat stable and led the animals inside. Then, while Walt lit a couple of matches, Jack managed to place the goats where they had been before, and also put the harness away.
“I don’t think I’ll leave that note, or the money either,” he said. “Maybe it will be as well if O’Toole never knows that the goats were out. I don’t think the experience did them any harm. If it did, we can settle with O’Toole later;” and he pocketed the note he had previously written, and also the money. Then the two cadets lost no time in hurrying back to Colby Hall.
In the meantime, what Walt had said about the commotion going on at the school was true.
“I tell you, sir, it’s a perfect outrage!” bawled Asa Lemm at the top of his lungs. “An outrage, sir, and I demand satisfaction!”
“Please do not become so excited, Professor,” responded Colonel Colby. “We must try to get at the bottom of this matter. You say there is ice on the floor of your room?”
“Yes, sir; a perfect pond of ice!”
“Did somebody flood your floor and then freeze it?” questioned the master of the Hall in wonder.
“I don’t know how it was done. But it was done, and I nearly broke my neck the minute I entered the room. It was disgraceful! I never saw anything to equal it!” and Asa Lemm’s face was fairly purple with rage.
“And what about those goats?”
“They were locked up in my closet and dressed up in some clothing—my clothing, I suppose.”
“Then, when they ran out of the building, they must have taken your clothing with them.”
“More than likely. Oh, it’s shameful!” and the irate professor shook his fists in his rage.
“Where are the goats now?”
“I don’t know, and I don’t care.”
“One of those goats knocked me flat,” growled Slugger Brown.
“Yes, and he biffed me one, too,” came from Nappy Martell.
“Let us go and make an investigation, Professor Lemm,” remarked Colonel Colby. “I will accompany you to your room,” for they were now near the stairway which the goats had descended.
The pair proceeded to the apartment, followed by some of the other teachers and nearly all of the cadets. By this time much of the ice on the floor had melted, forming little pools of muddy water.
“We had better have this cleaned up at once,” said Colonel Colby, and turned to one of the teachers. “Order some of the hired help up here, please;” and the teacher hurried off to execute the errand.
While Colonel Colby was looking at the ice and the water, Asa Lemm chanced to glance in a corner. Then he strode forward and caught up the bundle Walt Baxter had flung there.
“What is that?” questioned the master of the Hall. And then, as the professor undid the bundle, he continued: “Is that your clothing?”
“I—I think it is,” faltered Asa Lemm. “Yes, sir.”
“Did they undress the animals before they let them go?” queried the master of the school, and, if the truth must be told, he had all he could do to keep a straight face. He could not help but remember some of the pranks he had played himself while a cadet at Putnam Hall.
“I don’t know anything about this, Colonel Colby. But these are my things,” and, catching up the bundle, Asa Lemm flung it into the clothing closet. He continued to storm around, demanding that some of the boys be punished for what had occurred. While this was going on, two of the hired help came up from the kitchen with pails and mops, and presently succeeded in cleaning up the floor. Two rugs which had been lying there were taken away to be dried.
“I think we had better let this matter rest until morning,” said Colonel Colby finally. “It is too late to start an investigation now. I wish all of you to retire at once,” he commanded, to the amused cadets.
“Some one is going to suffer for this,” growled Asa Lemm.
“I shall do what I can for you, Professor,” announced the master of the Hall, and then he moved away, scattering the cadets before him.
Most of the boys retired to their rooms smiling broadly to themselves, for nearly all of them had enjoyed the joke greatly.
“But it isn’t over yet,” whispered Andy to his immediate friends. “There is more to come. Just watch and see!”
CHAPTER XII
IN COLONEL COLBY’S OFFICE
As soon as Jack and Walt returned to Colby Hall, they hurried up to the rooms occupied by the Rover boys. They found Jack’s cousins present, and also Gif, Spouter and several others.
“We had the best luck ever!” declared Jack, and related how they had managed to get the goats back to Mike O’Toole’s stable without the Irish farmer being aware of what had happened.
“Say, that’s fine!” burst out Andy.
“We want to be on the watch,” remarked Randy. “Old Lemon will be going to bed pretty soon, and we want to find out just how comfortable he finds his bed,” and he grinned.
Word had been passed around to about a dozen of the cadets, and as soon as the school had quieted down and the others had retired to their rooms, these cadets came forth into the halls on tiptoes and made their way noiselessly in the direction of the apartment occupied by Asa Lemm.
“He’s arranging that clothing in his closet,” announced Andy, after peering through the keyhole in the door. “He’s partly undressed, so I guess he’ll go to bed pretty soon.”
There was a short silence, and then the boys heard the bed creak as Professor Lemm got into it. An instant later came a cry of rage.
“What’s this? More ice, I declare! The bed is sopping wet! Oh, those young rascals!” for Asa Lemm had thrown himself down beneath the spread under which had been placed several sheets of thin ice. A large portion of the ice had melted, and the sheets were as wet as they were cold. As a consequence, his pajamas were pretty well soaked, and he shivered as he threw the covers back and bounced to his feet.
“He’s enjoying it all right enough,” whispered Andy.
“Hang those boys!” roared the irate teacher. “Oh, what I wouldn’t do to them if I had them here!” He hopped around the room first on one foot and then on the other, shivering as he did so. As was us
ual, the steam throughout the building had been turned off some time before, so that the apartment was quite cold.
“We had better scatter,” warned Jack. “He may open the door at any instant and find us here.”
“Right you are!” answered Randy, and then, unable to resist the temptation, he bent down and shouted through the keyhole: “Pleasant dreams, Professor! I hope you enjoyed the ice-water!”
Then all of the cadets fled to their rooms, and in less than five minutes each of them was undressed and safe in bed.
If ever there was an angry man, it was Asa Lemm at that particular moment. He had to change all his night clothing, and then don a bathrobe and slippers and go down below once more and get some of the hired help to clean up his room and take away the wet mattress of his bed. A dry mattress was substituted from a vacant bedroom, but it was all of half an hour before this work was accomplished; and in the meantime the professor stormed around, threatening about everything he could imagine.
“I’ll have the law on them! I’ll have every one of them locked up!” he said to Colonel Colby. “It’s an outrage that I should be treated in this fashion.”
“It is certainly a most unpleasant occurrence, Professor,” agreed the master of the Hall. “But boys will be boys—you know that as well as I do. I can remember when I went to school, I loved to play practical jokes, and they were not always kindly jokes, either. But as for having these boys arrested, or anything of that sort, that, I think, would be going too far. We can punish them enough right here—that is, provided we can find out who they are.”
“I don’t believe in such jokes!”
“Neither do I—now that I have grown older. But I did believe in them when I was a boy.”
“The trouble with this school is, the discipline is not strict enough,” snapped Asa Lemm. “If we are not more strict, the cadets will degenerate into nothing but rowdies and hoodlums.”
“I think I am the best judge of how discipline should be maintained in this institution,” responded Colonel Colby, with dignity. “I will take this matter up in the morning and do my best to sift it to the bottom. Now I think we had better retire, as it is growing late,” and thereupon he returned to his own rooms.
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