“I said they were not fit to be cadets in this institution,” answered Gif flatly.
“From what you young gentlemen have been saying, I should judge that you know something concerning Brown and Martell,” went on the young teacher, with a glance around the crowd.
“We do know something,” answered Walt, after a somewhat painful silence. “That is, two of the crowd here know. We have been urging them to speak to Colonel Colby about it.”
“Who are the two, and what do you know?”
Again there was a silence, and then Spouter came to the front.
“Professor Brice, I’d like to ask a question,” he said. “Two of the cadets here overheard a talk between Brown, Martell and Stowell. Those three proposed to play a most outrageous trick on Colonel Colby, and then make it appear as if that trick had been played by some other cadets. In fact, they were going to make all the evidence point to those other cadets. Now, do you think those cadets ought to defend themselves by telling Colonel Colby all they know? They feel that they don’t want to be tale bearers.”
“If the trick was to be played solely to injure their reputation, they certainly ought to expose it,” was the teacher’s quick response. “It is one thing to tell on another person just for the sake of telling, and it is quite a different thing to defend one’s own reputation.”
Following this there was quite a discussion, but in the end Professor Brice convinced the Rovers that they had better tell the particulars of what they had overheard. He listened to their story with close attention.
“This is certainly worthy of an investigation,” he said, after they had finished. “I’ll tell Colonel Colby about it, and maybe he will send for you. If he does so, kindly take my advice and see to it that when you come to the colonel’s office you are not watched by Brown, Martell and Stowell, or that may spoil everything. I think that the colonel will agree with me that the thing to do is to catch those fellows red-handed.”
“All right, Professor, we’ll leave everything in your hands,” answered Fred. Even yet he did not feel just right over what had been done. He still felt that he and his cousins should have settled affairs privately with Slugger Brown and his cronies, even if it had been a matter of fist fights.
The young professor lost no time in going to Colonel Colby. He found the master of the Hall in his study looking over the questions which were to be used in the coming examination.
“I am sorry to report more trouble, sir,” he announced, and, sitting down, he gave Colonel Colby a rapid sketch of what had taken place at the gymnasium.
“Too bad! too bad!” and the master of the Hall showed his disappointment. He heaved a sigh. “It looks to me, Brice, as if I had made a mistake in giving Brown and Martell another chance.”
“Just what I was thinking, sir,” returned the young teacher.
“You say the Rovers did not wish to report the matter?”
“That’s it, sir. I had to fairly drag the story but of them. They did not want to have the reputation of tale bearers.”
“I think I understand their view of it, Brice. At the same time, this is too serious a matter to allow them to settle it between themselves. I think the best thing we can do is to have those three cadets watched closely, to see if they really intend to carry out their nefarious plot.”
“Exactly what I was thinking, Colonel Colby.”
“First, however, you may send Randy Rover and his Cousin Fred to me. I want to question them, so as to make sure of my ground.”
Expecting this call, Randy and Fred kept themselves in readiness, and as soon as Professor Brice came for them they hurried off to the office, taking care that none of their enemies should see them. Slugger, Nappy and Codfish, however, were out of sight, having gone upstairs to their rooms.
“Now, I want you to tell me exactly what was said,” announced Colonel Colby, as soon as the two cadets appeared.
They had their story well in mind, and it did not take long to give the master of the Hall all of the details. In the midst of the conversation, Fred let drop accidentally that the three unworthy cadets had been smoking.
“They were smoking?” interrupted the colonel.
“Yes, sir. But—I—I—didn’t mean to mention that,” stammered Fred.
“What were they smoking, Rover?”
“Cigarettes.”
“All of them?”
“Yes, sir. Although, to tell the truth, Codfish—I mean Stowell—didn’t seem to want to smoke, but Slugger—that is, Brown—urged him, so that he didn’t know how to get out of it. I guess the cigarette made him sick.”
“I see.” Colonel Colby nodded his head slowly. “Now go on;” and then the story of what had been overheard in the upper room of the gymnasium was finished.
“It’s an outrage! an outrage! if what you say is true; and I have no reason to doubt your word,” went on the master of the Hall, after the cadets had finished. “I am sorry now that I gave Brown and Martell this chance to return to our school.”
To this neither of the Rovers made any reply. For an instant both of them thought of the trick they had played on Asa Lemm. Colonel Colby seemed to follow their thought.
“Your trick and this thing are two entirely different affairs,” continued the colonel. “In the one case, you, in your boyish fashion, tried to square up for the way you had been mistreated. In this case, however, these cadets are trying to get you into trouble, and if this trick had succeeded, it is just possible that I might have been angry enough to send you and the rest of your family home.”
“Well, don’t send Brown and Martell home on our account,” announced Randy. “We are not afraid of them.”
“That may be, Rover. But I cannot have such underhand work at this school. Now I want you cadets to do me a favor. I want you to act exactly as if nothing out of the ordinary had occurred. I want you to tell all of the others to keep quiet about this. I want to set a trap, and if possible catch those rascals in the midst of their work. Do you understand?”
“Yes, sir,” came from both of the cadets.
“Then that is all.”
Allowed to leave the office, Randy and Fred lost no time in hunting up the others, who had gone upstairs to the Rover boys’ rooms. On the way, they met Walt, Spouter and Gif, and told these cadets to come along. Then they closed the door to the hallway.
“It’s to be kept a secret,” announced Randy.
In subdued voices, so that no one passing in the hallway might hear them, the Rovers and their chums discussed the situation. They were in the midst of this when they suddenly heard a wild cry of alarm. Then came a rush of footsteps, and less than a minute later the loud clanging of a bell.
“Hello! what’s that?” exclaimed Jack.
“Something is wrong—that’s sure!” announced Randy.
“What’s the bell ringing for?” queried Fred. “It isn’t time for parade yet.”
“That isn’t the parade bell!” ejaculated Gif. “That’s the fire bell! There must be a fire!”
The boys flung open the doors, and ran hastily into the hallway. Cadets were pouring forth from every quarter, and there was a tremendous excitement.
“Is the building on fire?”
“Take it easy, boys! Take it easy!” yelled Major Ralph Mason, as he appeared at the head of one of the stairways. “There is no fire in this building. Don’t get excited.”
“Where is the fire?” queried a dozen voices in chorus.
“It’s down at the gym! The upper floor is in flames!”
CHAPTER XVI
PUTTING OUT THE FLAMES
“What do you know about that! The gym is on fire!” gasped Fred, and clutched Randy by the arm. He looked at his cousin knowingly.
“I know what you’re thinking, Fred. Those cigarettes that Slugger, Nappy and Codfish were smoking——”
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p; “That’s it! They threw them down recklessly, and also threw down the matches they had lighted.”
“If the gym burns down Colonel Colby will hold them responsible for the loss,” put in Jack, who had heard what was said.
While this talk was taking place, all of the cadets were rushing down the stairs. Soon they were out on the campus and headed through the fast-falling snow in the direction of the gymnasium building.
A heavy smoke was pouring from a broken-out upper window, and also from the edges of a scuttle on the roof. As the cadets hurried closer, they saw a thin flame show itself for a moment just inside the window.
“It’s on fire all right enough, but maybe they can get it under control,” announced Jack. “Come on, fellows! Do your duty!”
Warned by the fate which had overtaken Putnam Hall, Colonel Colby had taken every possible precaution against fire. There were several large water towers erected in and near the school buildings, and these were connected with various fire plugs. There were also numerous lengths of hose, with nozzles attached, hung up in the several buildings, and both the cadets and the teachers had been instructed in a fire drill.
Some of the cadets, who had been in the gymnasium when the fire was discovered, had already brought out the hose in that building and attached it to one of the plugs. Now this water was turned on, and a stream of fair size began to play upon the flames, the cadets, aided by one of the teachers, dragging the hose up the narrow stairway for that purpose.
“Get out hose number three and number eight!” directed Colonel Colby, who was on the scene; and the cadets went to work with a will, and soon had two more streams in action.
Despite the thickness of the smoke, two of the teachers and several of the cadets had gone up into the second floor of the building and located the fire.
“It’s up near the steam radiator, just between the two windows,” announced one of the teachers. “It’s in some boxes and barrels that contain straw and excelsior.”
“Isn’t the building on fire?” queried one cadet.
“The flames are going up to the roof, but so far they haven’t broken through.”
The announcement that the fire so far was confined to some boxes and barrels, nerved the cadets and the others to make a greater effort to get it under control, and some began to fill buckets with water in the washroom below, and these were passed up the narrow stairway and the water thrown where it was apparently most needed.
Randy and Andy were in this bucket brigade, while Fred and Jack worked with one of the hose gangs. It was exciting labor for all of the boys, but this they did not mind.
“Hurrah! we’re getting it under control!” shouted Major Mason presently. “Keep it up, boys, and we’ll save the whole building!”
In the crowd were, of course, Slugger, Nappy and Codfish. At the first alarm they had run forth from the school and gazed in amazement at the smoke pouring from the gymnasium.
“Oh, look! It’s the gym that’s on fire!” Codfish had burst out; and then the little sneak had suddenly turned deadly pale, and would have sunk down in the snow had not Slugger caught him.
“See here, Codfish!” hissed the bully, shaking him. “Don’t you say a word about this, do you understand? Not a word!”
“Don’t you dare to admit to anybody that you were upstairs in the gymnasium,” added Nappy.
“I—I ain’t going to say nothing!” sniveled Codfish, and then, of a sudden, burst out crying. “You fellows let me alone! I didn’t want to smoke anyhow!” he wailed.
“Shut up! Don’t you mention smoking to anybody, or I’ll just about half kill you!” hissed Slugger. “Now mind! not a word, if you know when you are best off!” and then he gave Codfish’s arm such a twist that the little cadet screamed with pain.
Not to be suspected of what they had done, Slugger and Nappy mingled with the other cadets and did their full share in working on the lines of hose; but there were really more cadets than were needed for this labor, so they had little to do. Codfish also tried to take hold, but he trembled so that he soon had to give up, and then he ran back into the Hall, where he sat on the stairs, half sobbing.
By this time there was little more than smoke to be seen in the upper part of the gymnasium. The teachers and the cadets still continued to play water into the building. Some now began to open all the windows, realizing that a draft could not do much harm. Then, as the smoke began to clear away, they began an investigation, so that the last spark of the fire might be extinguished.
“I guess it’s about out,” announced Professor Brice presently. He had worked hard, and his face and hands were streaked with black.
“I think you are right, Brice,” answered Colonel Colby, who had also mounted to the upper floor. “We may as well bring up a few buckets of water, and then turn off all the hose. There is no use of flooding the building, especially in this cold weather. As it is, I think the boys will have a skating pond below by morning,” and he smiled faintly.
“Do you suppose this started from the heating plant?” questioned the teacher.
“Not at all!” was the low reply. “But we won’t speak about that now, Brice,” added Colonel Colby significantly; and thereupon the young teacher understood and said no more about the matter.
The cadets were sent below, and Colonel Colby and Professor Brice, aided by a couple of the hired men, made a close examination of the spot where the fire had taken place. It had been confined almost wholly to three boxes, loosely filled with excelsior, and two barrels containing straw and waste paper.
“It was a mistake to put such inflammable material up here,” said Colonel Colby to Mr. Crews, the gymnasium instructor.
“I realize that now, Colonel Colby,” answered Silas Crews, and his manner showed how much the fire had upset him. “But, you see, it was this way. We got some of that new gymnasium material in only a couple of weeks ago, and we weren’t altogether satisfied with it—if you will remember. I said something about sending it back. Well, it came in those boxes and barrels, and so I just put them up here, thinking that maybe we’d want to use them in sending the stuff back. If it hadn’t been for that, I’d have cleaned the boxes and barrels out and burnt the stuff up.”
“I see, Crews. Well, after this, I want you to be careful and not do anything like that again.”
“But I don’t see how the boxes and barrels caught fire, sir,” went on the gymnasium instructor perplexedly. “We had no light up here, and I don’t see how they could catch from that little steam radiator over there. Why, that radiator hardly gets warm!” It may be mentioned here that the radiator had been placed on the upper floor of the gymnasium because there had once been talk of partitioning this part of the floor from the rest and making of it a meeting room for one of the cadet clubs.
“I’ll make an investigation later,” answered Colonel Colby. “For the present, as the steam heating plant seems to be in perfect order, you had better start the fire up well, so that we can dry things out here. Otherwise, all the pipes may freeze up, and that might give us more trouble than this fire.”
“Yes, sir. I’ll see to it, sir,” said Silas Crews hastily. “And I’ll have this whole place cleaned up the first thing in the morning. And I’ll also have the broken windows fixed.”
As soon as he returned to the school, Colonel Colby sent for Randy and Fred. He questioned them closely about the cigarette smoking indulged in by Slugger, Nappy and Codfish.
“You two are quite sure that you were not smoking yourselves?” he demanded sternly.
“We don’t smoke, sir,” answered Randy promptly.
“Did you light any matches while you were upstairs in the gymnasium?”
“No, sir. We had no need for a light,” returned Fred.
“Have you any idea how this fire started?”
“I don’t see how it could start unless it was from the cigarettes an
d the matches those fellows used,” answered Randy bluntly. “I hate to make that statement, but the truth is the truth.”
“I believe you are right, Rover. Now then, I wish you to do me a favor. I want you to keep as quiet about this as you are to keep quiet about that joke those cadets proposed to play. Do you understand?”
“Yes, sir,” answered both the Rovers.
“Then that is all for the present;” and, so speaking, Colonel Colby dismissed the boys.
“I guess he’s going to save this fire affair until he catches them trying to play the joke,” was Fred’s comment, as they hurried away to join the others.
“That’s it, Fred.” Randy looked at his cousin knowingly. “There is certainly something coming to Slugger, Nappy and Codfish, isn’t there?”
CHAPTER XVII
CAUGHT IN THE ACT
The news that there had been a fire at Colby Hall soon spread to the town and to Clearwater Hall, and there were many anxious inquiries over the telephone and otherwise as to whether anybody had been hurt.
“No, nobody was hurt, and the fire didn’t amount to much,” said Spouter, when called up by his Cousin May. “Perhaps, when we see you girls personally, we’ll have something to tell you that will be a surprise.”
In the middle of the afternoon of the day following the fire, a number of letters were brought in by one of the hired men from the Haven Point post-office.
“Here’s a drop letter for you, Jack,” remarked Gif, who was distributing some of the mail. “Most likely from your best girl,” and he smiled good-naturedly.
“Doesn’t look much like a girl’s handwriting,” answered the oldest Rover boy, as he inspected the envelope. Wondering what the letter might contain, he tore open the envelope and was considerably surprised to read the following, written on a raggedly-torn half sheet of note paper:
“You Rovers think yourselves smart, but do not forget that I am not done with you. You have been the means of my losing a very lucrative position. I will not have you arrested, for it would be a hard matter for me to obtain justice in this neighborhood; but I will remember you, and some day I will bring you to book for what you have done. You are nothing but a set of imps and hoodlums, and sooner or later Colby will learn the truth.”
The Rover Boys Megapack Page 356