“I think that was the best joke we ever played,” remarked Andy, when he and the other Rovers were dressing on the following morning.
“It sure did count one against old Lemon,” chuckled Randy.
“Yes. And to think the way Slugger and Nappy were knocked over by the goats too!” broke in Fred.
“I’ll bet they’re mad over that,” observed Jack. “More than likely, it will make them take a hand in assisting Lemm to find out who was guilty. We’ll have to be on our guard against them.”
“Did anybody see you making off with the goats?” queried Randy suddenly.
“I don’t think so,” answered Jack. But in this surmise he was mistaken; one cadet had seen Walt Baxter hurrying from the school with goats’ harness under his sweater, and this youth had, from a safe distance, watched Jack and Walt place some of the harness on the goats and drive them off in the direction of Mike O’Toole’s farm.
This cadet was Codfish, who was always sneaking around, trying to pick up information that did not rightly belong to him.
“Ha, ha!” said the little sneak to himself, after Walt and Jack had disappeared. “Now I know who was responsible for bringing those goats into the school.”
At first the sneak thought he would report the matter to either Asa Lemm or Colonel Colby, but as he was not in particularly good favor with the professor on whom the joke had been played, he thought it might be as well for him to wait and think the matter over.
“Maybe I had better tell Slugger and Nappy first and see what they’ve got to say about it,” he reasoned. He went to the bully and his crony with everything.
He dressed early, and then went over to Nappy’s room, where he found the cronies together, just as he had surmised. They were talking over the affair of the night before and wondering who could be guilty.
“I’ve got some news,” announced Codfish.
“What news?” demanded Nappy.
“It’s very important,” went on the little cadet. “If I tell you will you promise not to give me away?”
“Is it about last night’s affair, Cod?” demanded Slugger quickly.
“Now look here, Slugger! You promised not to call me Cod any more,” pleaded the sneak.
“All right, Henry. That was merely a slip of the tongue,” returned the bully good-naturedly. He knew exactly how to handle such a fellow as Stowell. “Now tell us what you’ve got on your mind.”
“Will you promise not to give me away?”
“Sure!” came from both of the others promptly.
“Well then, I know who brought those two goats into the school last night,” announced Codfish proudly; and thereupon, being urged to do so by the others, he told of what he had seen.
“I knew the Rovers were mixed up in that!” cried Slugger.
“And I’ve noticed that Walt Baxter has been training with them. More than likely it was the work of the whole Rover crowd,” announced Nappy.
“Don’t you think we ought to let Colonel Colby know about this?” questioned Codfish anxiously. It was his delight to get other cadets into trouble and see them suffer, but he always wanted to keep his own actions dark for fear his schoolmates might turn on him and start in to “square up.”
“Of course we ought to let Colonel Colby know about this—and Professor Lemm too,” answered Nappy. “The question is, how can we do it without getting mixed up in it ourselves?”
“We might send a note to Colonel Colby,” suggested the sneak.
The matter was talked over for several minutes, and then it was decided that two notes should be written and one delivered to Colonel Colby and the other to Asa Lemm.
“Who is going to write the notes?” questioned Codfish.
“You can do that, Henry,” said the bully quickly. He had not forgotten how the anonymous letter he had once sent out had been traced back to him, in spite of the disguised handwriting.
“Oh, I couldn’t do that!” answered Stowell in alarm. And he shook his head vigorously.
“Yes, you can!” broke in Nappy. And thereupon, somewhat against his will, Codfish penned the two notes in as much of a disguised hand as was possible for him.
“But I’m not going to deliver the notes,” he warned feebly. “You two have got to do that much.”
“All right, we will,” answered Slugger. He turned to his crony. “You slip one of them under Professor Lemm’s door, and I’ll place the other on Colonel Colby’s desk.”
“All right, but be careful.”
“Bet your life!”
Asa Lemm was just finishing his morning toilet and grumbling over the happenings of the night, when he chanced to glance toward the door of his room, and at that moment saw a letter thrust under it. He stared for an instant in amazement, and then rushed forward and threw the door wide open. But his movement, quick as it was, came too late, for Nappy Martell had already slipped around a corner and made his escape. Taking up the letter, the professor read the contents with great interest. The communication ran as follows:
“Dear Professor Lemm:
“If you want to know more about the trouble last night, ask John Rover and Walter Baxter. They had the two billy goats. I think you will find that all of the Rovers and the boys who go with them were in this joke.
“Yours respectfully,
“One Who Knows.”
“So that’s who is guilty!” muttered the teacher, after reading the letter a second time. “The Rovers, eh? I might have known it because of the trouble I have had with them in the classroom. And I remember now that I have also had trouble with that Baxter boy. I must see Colonel Colby about this at once.”
The professor hurried downstairs, and found that Colonel Colby had entered his office but a few minutes before, and was perusing the communication left there secretly by Slugger Brown.
“I have found out who was guilty last night,” snapped Asa Lemm, as he flourished the letter in his hand.
“Did you receive an anonymous communication?” demanded the master of the Hall.
“I did, sir. But what makes you ask that question?”
“I have such a communication myself,” and Colonel Colby indicated the epistle.
“We must punish those rascals, sir!”
“First I want to find out if there is any truth in these letters,” answered Colonel Colby. “Very frequently anonymous communications cannot be relied upon.”
“Oh, I haven’t the least doubt but what Rover and Baxter are guilty!” exclaimed Asa Lemm quickly. “I’ve had trouble in the classroom with them, and also with the other Rovers. I should not be surprised if the whole crowd had something to do with it.”
“I will send for Rover and Baxter.”
It must be confessed that Jack was somewhat surprised when one of the assistants came to him and told him he was wanted immediately in the office.
“Gee! this looks bad!” cried Randy.
“Want any of us to go with you?” questioned Fred quickly.
“No; I can face the music alone,” answered the oldest Rover boy.
He arrived at the office just as another assistant was bringing in Walt Baxter. The two exchanged glances, but said nothing. But the glance given Walt meant, “Keep mum,” and the other understood and nodded slightly.
“So here you are, eh?” cried Asa Lemm, before Colonel Colby had a chance to say a word. “I thought I’d catch you!”
“Excuse me, Professor Lemm, but I wish you would allow me to conduct this examination,” put in Colonel Colby a trifle stiffly. If the truth must be told, the overbearing manner of the teacher was not any more to the liking of the master of the Hall than it was to the cadets. Yet, Asa Lemm had come well recommended, and Colonel Colby did not wish to pass hasty judgment on him.
“Yes, sir,” returned the professor. “But please remember I have suffered greatly, and I
demand satisfaction.”
“I have sent for you cadets in order to clear up the affair that happened last night,” began Colonel Colby, ignoring Asa Lemm’s last remark. “I have been given to understand that you were the two to bring those goats into the Hall. Am I right?”
“I did not bring the goats into the Hall,” returned Walt Baxter promptly. “Just the same, I guess I’m as guilty as anybody,” he added quickly, not wishing to shirk responsibility.
“I was one of the cadets who brought the goats into the Hall, Colonel Colby,” answered Jack promptly.
“Baxter did not assist in bringing them into the Hall?”
“No, sir.”
“But you were not alone, Rover?”
“No, sir.”
“Who was with you in this escapade?”
“I prefer not to answer that question, Colonel Colby.”
“Make him answer! Make him answer!” stormed Asa Lemm. “You young rascal! I’ll teach you to play tricks on me!” and he shook his fist in Jack’s face.
“Professor Lemm, I’ll thank you to be less violent,” interrupted Colonel Colby. “This examination must be held in an orderly fashion. You say you were not alone, Rover. Will you tell me how many were mixed up in this affair?”
Jack thought for a moment. “Do you mean the whole happening in Professor Lemm’s room?”
“Yes.”
“Oh, there were eight or ten of us—maybe more. Of course, some had more to do with it than others,” responded Jack.
“Eight or ten of you!” gasped Asa Lemm. “As many as that?” And his face showed his surprise. He had imagined that possibly only the Rover boys and Walt Baxter were guilty.
“Are you quite sure you don’t want to mention any names, Rover?” asked Colonel Colby again.
“No, Colonel. And if you were in my position, I do not think you would want to mention any of them either,” added Jack, looking the master of the Hall squarely in the eyes.
“We won’t discuss that side of the question.” Colonel Colby turned to Walt Baxter. “How about you? Do you care to say who was mixed up in this affair?”
“No, sir,” was the prompt response.
“Make them tell! Make them tell!” exclaimed Asa Lemm. “Punish them severely! Put them in the guardhouse on bread and water until they are willing to divulge the names of all the rascals who were mixed up in these outrageous proceedings.”
“I am not going to make them tell if they won’t do it on their own account,” was Colonel Colby’s answer. As a cadet at Putnam Hall, he had never had any use for a tale bearer.
“Then I’ll take the law in my own hands!” cried Asa Lemm vindictively. “I’ll go down to Haven Point and make a complaint and have them both arrested!”
CHAPTER XIII
ASA LEMM IS DISMISSED
While the examination of Jack and Walt was taking place in the office, the other Rovers and their chums held a meeting in Randy’s room.
“What do you suppose this means—calling Jack and Walt down to the colonel’s office?” remarked Fred anxiously. He had just been informed by Dan Soppinger about Walt.
“It was Jack and Walt who took those goats back. Maybe somebody spotted them,” suggested Spouter.
The discussion lasted for some minutes and grew quite warm, and then Andy leaped up.
“I know what I’m going to do!” he said. “I’m going below and try to find out just what it means.”
“And so am I,” added Fred and Randy quickly.
“We’ll all stand by him,” announced Spouter. “Of course, you fellows brought the goats here, but I think we had as much to do with the rest of it as any of you.”
Andy hurried off, and lost no time in making his way to the door of Colonel Colby’s private office. The door had been left slightly ajar, so it was an easy matter for him to take in most of what was said.
“Gracious! this certainly is growing serious,” he murmured to himself, when Asa Lemm made the declaration that he would go down to Haven Point and have Jack and Walt arrested. “I guess I had better let the others know about it,” and he scurried upstairs again.
“Oh, Andy! do you suppose old Lemon will really have them locked up?” questioned Fred anxiously, after being told of what was taking place below.
“I don’t think he would dare to do it,” announced Spouter.
“I move we all go down and take a hand in this!” cried Gif. “There is no fairness in letting Jack and Walt suffer for what we did.”
Several other cadets had drifted in, those who had either been on the watch while the joke was being prepared or who had assisted in placing the sheets of ice on the floor and in the bed, and all agreed that the crowd had better stand together when it came to acknowledging what had been done.
“Forward march!” cried Gif, who, as a leader in athletics, took it upon himself to manage the affair. “Come on now—and no shirking!”
Braced up by numbers, all of the cadets fell in readily with this plan, and as a consequence there were ten boys led by Gif and the Rovers who marched down to the office.
“We’ll enter by column of twos,” announced Gif. “March in in regular military fashion,” he added, and then knocked upon the office door.
Colonel Colby was doing what he could to question Jack and Walt on one hand, while trying to make Asa Lemm keep quiet on the other, when the others arrived. The master of the Hall was having no easy time of it, because Professor Lemm seemed to be growing more and more excited.
“I’ll have the law on them, I tell you!” he cried. “They ought to go to state’s prison for this!”
“Please be quiet just a minute, Professor,” remonstrated Colonel Colby. Then came the knock on the door, and the colonel flung it open, not at all pleased over the interruption.
“Wha—what does this mean?” gasped Asa Lemm, as he saw the double row of cadets filing in.
“Colonel Colby, we have come to report,” announced Gif, saluting.
“Please allow me to be the spokesman, Gif,” pleaded Randy, stepping to the front. And then, before his school chum could speak, he continued: “Colonel Colby, we have come to give ourselves up.”
“Give yourselves up! What do you mean, Rover?”
“We were all in this lark together, sir.”
“And if there is to be any punishment we want to stand for our share of it,” added Andy.
“I think we Rover boys were more to blame than the others,” put in Fred.
“You see, Professor Lemm is down on us, and we thought we had to do something to get square,” Andy endeavored to explain.
“He doesn’t treat us fairly in the classroom!” cried Spouter.
“If he wasn’t here we’d get along without any trouble whatever,” piped up a voice in the rear.
It must be confessed that the sudden entrance of the ten cadets, and what they had to say concerning the joke that had been played, somewhat stumped the master of the Hall. As for Asa Lemm, for the moment he was dumbfounded; but then his natural antipathy to boys asserted itself, and he glared at them viciously.
“So you were all in it, eh?” he snarled. “I might have known as much. You are all a pack of rowdies! You are not fit to associate with respectable people!”
“Professor Lemm, I do not wish you to address our cadets in such a manner,” said Colonel Colby sternly. “These young gentlemen are not rowdies, even though they have played a joke which was not particularly nice. I do not uphold them in the least in what they have done, but, at the same time, I cannot help but remember that they are only boys, and that boys are sometimes very thoughtless.”
“Thoughtless! They think too much! I tell you, sir, they are a pack of rowdies, and unless you punish them, and punish them severely, I shall take the matter in my own hands and have them arrested.”
“If you do a
nything of that sort, Professor Lemm, we will have to dispense with your services in this school,” announced Colonel Colby flatly. He was growing weary of the irate teacher’s manner.
A strenuous half hour followed, everybody present forgetting all about roll call and breakfast. Colonel Colby did what he could in questioning all of the cadets regarding the occurrences of the night before, but was continually interrupted by the unreasonable teacher. Finally he could stand it no longer, and turned to the professor with all the dignity he could command.
“Professor Lemm, I have stood enough,” he said in a cold, hard voice, which instantly commanded attention. “I want no more such language from you. You may go to your breakfast, and I will conduct this examination alone, and will see you about it before we begin the day’s session in the school. And, in the meantime, allow me to impress upon you that it is all nonsense to talk about having any of these boys arrested. They have done nothing that warrants arrest, and if you attempt anything of that sort, you will not only make yourself ridiculous, but you might place yourself open to a suit for damages. Now, please leave this office.”
“I’ll see about this! I’ll see about this!” snapped the unreasonable teacher, and left the office in anything but a dignified fashion.
As soon as Professor Lemm had gone, the master of the Hall questioned the boys closely concerning, not only the affair of the night before, but also about the troubles they had had with the teacher, both in the classroom and elsewhere. This was the first time the boys had had a chance to “get one in on old Lemon,” as Andy afterwards declared, and they did not mince matters in telling of the many trials and tribulations which Asa Lemm had caused them. It is barely possible that some of the complaints were overdrawn, yet there was such a unanimity of opinion concerning Professor Lemm’s harshness that Colonel Colby was quite impressed.
“Now I want to ask you boys a question, and I want you to answer it honestly,” said Colonel Colby toward the close of the examination. “Would you have played such a trick as this upon any of the other professors?”
The Rover Boys Megapack Page 354