As soon as the monitors had gone their rounds to see that everything was quiet for the night, Spouter, Gif, Fatty, Ned, Dan, Walt and several others found their way to the Rover boys’ suite.
“Now, don’t make too much noise,” admonished Fred, who let them in. “Remember Bill Glutts and his gang will be only too glad to find out what is going on and report us.”
“And we don’t want to get any black marks when it’s so near the end of the term,” added Jack.
“Right-o,” came from Andy.
The new arrivals proceeded to make themselves at home, and then the Rovers passed around the good things which had been obtained.
“Say, this is all right,” declared Walt, munching a tongue sandwich.
“Couldn’t be beat,” came from Gif, who had his mouth full of layer cake.
“Here, Fatty, have some nuts!” cried Andy gayly, and let several almonds slide down the fat youth’s collar.
“Hi, there! Let up!” cried Fatty. “I don’t eat nuts that way,” and he made a pass at Andy with a pillow.
“No horseplay, now! Cut it out, Andy,” warned Jack.
After that the cadets conversed in low tones and at the same time enjoyed the many good things to eat.
“What are you going to do with those banana skins, Andy?” questioned his twin, as he saw the youth place several of the skins in a bit of newspaper.
“Oh, I’ve got a plan to use them,” was the answer.
“Well, if there is any fun on foot, let me in on it,” went on Randy promptly.
“I was thinking we might send some of these good things over to Bill Glutts, Codfish and Nick Carncross,” went on the fun-loving Rover. “It might make ‘em feel better over their defeat.”
“What! Give up some of these good eats to them?” demanded Fred.
“Well, I don’t know whether they would be very good eats or not,” answered Andy, closing one eye suggestively. “Do you see what I’ve got in this little package?” he went on, bringing a small paper bag from his pocket. “Smell it.”
Fred did so, but with caution. Then he gave a sudden sneeze.
“Cayenne pepper!”
“Right you are, Freddie boy! How did you guess it?” and Andy grinned broadly.
“Say, that’s the talk!” burst out Randy. “Let’s send them over a few sandwiches and a couple of slices of cake, all well doctored with cayenne pepper.”
“They’ll be suspicious, especially if you take them over,” remarked Jack. “We ought to get some outsider to do the job.”
“I’ll do it if you want me too,” responded Walt Baxter promptly. “I don’t love those chaps any more than you do. You just fix up some sandwiches and the cake, and I’ll go around and explain that Dan and Ned and Fatty, and some of the rest of us, are giving the Rovers a little spread in honor of the victory and that we don’t think it any more than right that they should have some of the good things.”
So it was decided, and a little while later the cover of a pasteboard box was fixed up as a tray, containing several tempting looking sandwiches, some slices of layer cake, and two bananas. Then Walt Baxter marched off with the things in the direction of the room occupied by Bill Glutts.
“Come on and listen to what happens,” said Andy, and presently, having slipped off their shoes, he and the others followed Walt down the corridor, but kept well in the background.
When Baxter arrived at Bill Glutts’ room he heard low voices, and was much pleased to learn that Glutts was talking to Nick Carncross. When he knocked lightly on the door there was an uneasy stir within.
“Maybe it’s one of the monitors come back,” whispered Carncross uneasily.
“Who is there?” questioned Glutts sharply.
“It’s I—Walt Baxter,” was the answer. “Open the door, Glutts. I’ve got something good for you fellows.”
The door was opened cautiously, and Walt explained his errand, at the same time holding out the improvised tray.
“I don’t know that we want anything,” said Glutts rather sourly.
“Oh, well, we might as well take it,” put in Carncross hastily. He was a growing cadet, and always hungry.
“We’d like to have Codfish have some of this, too,” said Walt. “Will you see that he gets some?”
“Sure!” answered Carncross readily. “He’s right across the hall. I’ll call him.”
In a few minutes more Codfish came from his room clad in his pajamas and slippers. He sneaked over into the room occupied by Glutts and Carncross, and then the three began dividing the things Walt had brought for them.
“I’ll have to go now,” said Walt hastily. “Remember, this is with regards from our whole crowd,” he added significantly.
“Thanks,” muttered Carncross briefly, while Glutts and Codfish said nothing.
Then the bully closed the door and he and his cronies prepared to enjoy the things which had been brought to them.
CHAPTER VI
AT THE MOVING PICTURE THEATRE
“There’ll be something doing in a minute or two,” murmured Randy, as he and the others came to a halt before Bill Glutts’ door.
“You fellows be careful and don’t step on any of these,” whispered Andy, as he bent down and laid the banana skins he had saved on the floor. “Splendid doormat for them when they come out,” he added, grinning.
Fortunately, those within the room were so busy dividing the sandwiches and cake that they paid no attention to what was going on outside.
“Rather nice of them to remember us,” remarked Codfish. “Thank you, I don’t think I care for any sandwiches, but I’ll take that piece of cake instead.”
“Me for a sandwich, Bill,” murmured Carncross. “I’m quite hungry.”
Then the three began to munch away on the sandwiches and the cake at a lively rate.
All had their mouths full when suddenly Codfish began to splutter.
“Hello! what’s the matter?” cried Glutts. “Trying to swallow too much at once?”
“You don’t want to make a pig of yourself, Codfish,” admonished Carncross.
“Oh! Oh!” cried the sneak of the school. “Oh!”
“What’s wrong?”
“Oh, I’m burning up! Oh, they must have poisoned me!”
“Gee! do you suppose they put something in that cake?” cried Carncross, in sudden alarm.
“Oh, my mouth is on fire!” groaned Codfish.
To this neither Glutts nor Carncross made any answer. Each was beginning to feel a sudden strange sensation on his tongue and in his throat. Both began to feel as if their mouths were burning up.
“It’s something they’ve put in the eats!” exclaimed Glutts. “They’re trying to poison us, or something!”
“It’s pepper! That’s what it is—cayenne pepper!” came from Codfish. “Oh, give me a drink of water, or something! This is dreadful!”
The sneak made a dash across the room to where a water pitcher stood on a stand with a glass beside it. But the pitcher proved to be empty.
“My gracious, this is terrible!” spluttered Carncross, and began to cough.
In the meantime Glutts smelled of the food that remained on the improvised tray, and suddenly gave a loud sneeze, followed by several others.
“Hurrah! they are enjoying it all right enough,” remarked Jack, in a low tone.
“I’ve got to have a drink!” yelled Carncross recklessly. “Gee! I’m burning up clean from my mouth to my stomach!”
“You’re no worse off than I am,” spluttered Glutts. “Oh, just wait until I get hold of that Walt Baxter!”
“It was the whole bunch that did it. I’ll bet the trick was gotten up by those Rovers!”
The door was flung open, and all of the occupants of the room dashed out into the hallway, bent upon getting to the nearest bath
room or water cooler for a drink. Not one of them noticed the slippery banana skins spread out on the floor, and on the instant Bill Glutts went sliding along and came down flat on his back. Carncross did likewise, Codfish tripping over him and pitching headlong.
“Say! what’s this?” exploded Glutts. “Oh, my back! I guess I’ve broken my shoulder.”
“They must have soaked the floor,” came from Carncross. “No! It’s banana skins,” he added, in deep disgust. “Say, Codfish, take your feet off my stomach, will you?”
“I—I couldn’t help falling over you, you went down so suddenly,” apologized the sneak. “Oh dear! let me get a drink of water—I’m all on fire inside.”
The Rovers and their chums had retreated to a distance, and this was wise, for, had Glutts and Carncross been able to get hold of them, there would certainly have been a fight. But as it was, the bully and his cronies passed down a back corridor to the nearest bathroom, where they proceeded to wash out their mouths and get a long drink.
“Now we’d better get back to our rooms and get into bed as soon as possible,” said Jack. “They may report us, and some of the professors may come around to investigate.”
“Let them come! We’ll all be asleep like so many innocent lambs,” remarked Randy.
“They’ll find that I’ve been asleep for the last two hours,” added Walt Baxter, and at this the others had to smile.
The crowd separated, and the four Rovers returned to their rooms, where they lost no time in getting rid of all the evidences of the feast. Then they undressed, turned out the lights, and crept into their beds.
“I don’t believe they’ll dare to report this,” whispered Andy to his twin. And in this surmise the fun-loving Rover was correct. Glutts and his cronies did a good deal of grumbling, but there the matter, for the time being, ended.
“But I’ll get square some day! You just wait and see!” Glutts told the others.
The school term was now drawing to an end, and it was definitely announced that, owing to the war conditions, Colby Hall would remain closed for a period of six weeks for the winter holidays. This would give the Rovers and their chums a full month’s vacation after New Year’s.
“And what a good time we will have up at Cedar Lodge!” cried Fred.
“It certainly was grand of Gif to ask us to go up there with him and Spouter,” added Jack.
The Rovers and their chums, and especially Walt Baxter, kept a close eye on Bill Glutts and his cronies. But beyond scowling at them whenever they passed, the bully did nothing regarding the peppered food which had been presented.
“He’s laying low for something, I suppose,” said Walt. “However, I’m not going to worry.”
One day he received a “soaker” of a snowball in his left ear while hurrying to the gymnasium. He did not know who threw the missile, but was satisfied in his mind that it came from either Glutts or Carncross.
The examinations for the term were held, and much to the Rover boys’ satisfaction all acquitted themselves creditably. Spouter and Gif did very well too, and were equally elated.
“Let us go down to town this evening and celebrate,” suggested Jack that afternoon. “I think Captain Dale will let us go, and I understand they are giving a very good war picture at Mr. Falstein’s moving picture theater.”
“That will suit me,” answered Fred.
The matter was talked over by a number of the cadets, and they went to see Captain Dale about it; and as a result nine of them set out for Haven Point, where was located the moving picture theater at which Jack and his cousins first met the girls from Clearwater Hall.
“This looks like a pretty good picture,” remarked Gif, as he pointed to one advertised on the billboards. “A real war play with some of the scenes taken at the front.”
“Either at the front or on the Hackensack Meadows,” remarked Randy dryly. “They tell me that more than three-fourths of those so-called war pictures are faked up.”
“Well, you wouldn’t expect the moving picture actors to go right out in the middle of a battlefield and perform, would you?” queried Jack.
“Here’s a good comic, too!” put in Fatty Hendry. “That suits me all right. I like a good laugh.”
“Fatty, you ought to go in the movies,” remarked Fred. “You would make a hit as the Living Skeleton.”
“He would unless his face broke the camera,” added Ned Lowe.
“I understand some of those fat fellows in the movies get a couple of hundred dollars a week for acting,” said Fatty. “I wouldn’t mind doing some of those stunts myself at that price.”
The cadets purchased their tickets and were soon inside the showhouse. An educational film was being thrown on the screen, and they were much interested in seeing the details of tanning leather and making leather belts, handbags, and shoes.
“Gee! how easy it is to learn about these things in a moving picture,” remarked Gif.
“What a pity it is they can’t teach a fellow algebra and geometry in the same way,” sighed Randy.
The educational film was followed by the war play, and whether this was given with faked-up backgrounds or not, it proved to be a very interesting production, especially to the Rover boys. There were pictures of life in the soldiers’ camps and on the transports bound for Europe, and then scenes of life in the French trenches, culminating in a terrific bombardment by big cannons, and then a thrilling charge over No-Man’s Land.
“Gee, isn’t that immense!” murmured Fred. “Think of dad being in such a charge as that!”
“It brings the war pretty close, doesn’t it, Fred?” asked Jack.
The scenes of the mighty conflict not alone thrilled the Rover boys but also sobered them, especially when there came a picture of the dead and the dying, with the ambulances rushing hither and thither to take the wounded to the field hospitals.
Poor Fred felt the tears coming into his eyes, and was glad that the moving picture house was rather dark, so that he might use his handkerchief without being noticed.
The war picture was followed immediately by one depicting the trials and tribulations of a fat man who obtained a position as a bell-boy in a country hotel. He did some wonderful stunts, and managed to break up a great deal of crockeryware and innumerable pies, and this set all the cadets, as well as the majority of the audience, to roaring with laughter.
“I guess those fellows earn their money,” remarked Spouter to Fatty. “Just think of being slammed around in front of the camera like that!”
“Yes. And think of having three or four pies plastered all over your face,” returned the stout youth. “I guess, after all, I’d rather go into ordinary business.”
“I imagine some of those so-called stunts are only trick pictures—I mean those things like climbing up the side of a house and holding on to the top of a church steeple,” remarked Jack. “Just the same, those moving picture actors have to risk their lives more than once, especially when they take wild rides on horse-back or in automobiles, or get in railroad smash-ups.”
Immediately following the comic picture, all the lights in the theater were turned on and a gentleman stepped on the stage to address the audience.
“I wonder what he’s going to talk about,” whispered Randy.
“Liberty Loan, or something like that, I suppose,” answered his twin.
He was right. There was a new drive on to raise money for the Government to be used for war purposes, and this gentleman, as a member of the local committee, had come forth to urge every man and woman in the audience to invest in Liberty Bonds.
“That is what my father was doing in and around New York before he went to war,” explained Andy to Walt Baxter. “He made quite a success of it, too. He was on a whole lot of committees.”
“And he did a lot of work for the Red Cross, too,” added Randy.
While the lights were tu
rned on the cadets had a chance to look around the showhouse. They thought that possibly some of the girls from Clearwater Hall might be present, but they were disappointed.
The talk about Liberty Bonds had come to an end, and several men and women were passing through the audience trying to get subscribers for the bonds when half a dozen newcomers entered the moving picture theater. One of the number was in cadet uniform, and as he came down the aisle and took a seat on the other side of the showhouse, Jack caught Fred by the arm.
“Look who’s here, will you?” he whispered excitedly.
“Why, it’s Bill Glutts!” returned Fred.
“Exactly! And do you see who is with him?”
“No. I can’t make out. Who is it?”
“Gabe Werner!”
“Gabe Werner! Are you sure, Jack?”
“Positive! I saw him full in the face just before he sat down.”
Soon the lights in the showhouse went out once more, and the moving picture performance continued.
CHAPTER VII
THE END OF THE TERM
“What can Gabe Werner be doing around here?” questioned Randy, who had heard the conversation between his two cousins.
“I’m sure I don’t know,” answered Jack. “He doesn’t live anywhere in this vicinity, and I thought after he left the school he went home.”
“Evidently Glutts must have known about his being here, otherwise they wouldn’t be together,” said Andy.
Jack stood up so that he might get a better view of the other side of the showhouse. He noticed several vacant seats directly behind those occupied by Glutts and Werner.
“I’m going to slip over there just as soon as the lights are turned down,” he said to Fred. “If they are hatching out any mischief perhaps we’ll hear something worth listening to.”
The Rover Boys Megapack Page 388