The Putnam Hall Cadets: or, Good Times in School and Out

“Yes,” answered her father.

“Are there any more of them?”

“He is the only one that got loose,” answered Pepper.

Thus assured, the girls and Mrs. Ford came downstairs, followed later by the butler and the cook. The latter was still trembling.

“Thought we was goin’ to be eat up suah!” said the cook.

“It was a great happening, sir,” said the butler. “I can’t abide wild beasts, sir, not me!”

“You ought to have the skin of this tiger,” said Jack to Mrs. Ford. “It would make a fine rug.”

“Yes, mamma, let us have the skin by all means,” pleaded Laura. “We can have it fixed up with the head on, and it will look beautiful!”

“I’ll have to see the circus people about it,” came from Mr. Ford. “Tell me how he happened to come here.” And then all told their stories, to which the gentleman listened closely.

“I’m so glad these young men were here,” said Mrs. Ford. “Had we been alone, I do not know what might have happened.”

The tiger was dragged to a carriage shed by the gardener and the boys, and then the cook was sent off to get dinner ready. It was found that outside of eating up some steaks, drinking a pan of milk, and breaking a few dishes, the tiger had done no damage. Every bullet aimed at him had taken effect, and there were also two old wounds on him, in the leg and side.

“He must have gotten these old wounds when he leaped into the lake,” said Mrs. Ford. “But it was a mistake to report him drowned.”

“I don’t know as I ever want to meet another tiger at large,” said Andy. “They are too dangerous!”

“Yes, Snow,” answered Mr. Ford. “You can all be thankful that he did not get at you. If he had, he might have made mince-meat of one or another in no time.”

CHAPTER XVI

OFF ON A LONG MARCH

When the boys returned to Putnam Hall and told about their adventure with the tiger, they were proclaimed genuine heroes.

“You certainly deserve a great deal of credit,” said Captain Putnam. “Just the same, had I known the tiger was still at large, I should have kept you at the Hall.”

Later on, the circus authorities were communicated with, and from them Rossmore Ford obtained the skin of the beast, and had it prepared, with the head on, for a rug; and it is in his mansion on the floor to this day.

The cadets of Putnam Hall were now getting ready for an outing to last several days. Before winter set in, the captain wished to give them a taste of camp life, and so decided to make a march to a beautiful valley some twenty miles away. Here the boys were to go into camp for two nights, returning on the next day.

“That is what I’ll like!” exclaimed Stuffer Singleton. “No lessons to study. Only to march, get up an appetite, and eat!”

“Especially eat!” said Andy. “That hits Stuffer every time.”

“We’re to go on army rations,” put in Pepper, with a wink at his chums. “Pork and beans, and hard-tack.”

“No!” exclaimed Stuffer in alarm. “Who told you that?”

“Why, everybody knows it,” put in Andy.

“We’ll see that you get all the hard-tack you want, Stuffer,” went on Pepper. “The captain won’t want you to go hungry, you know.”

“I don’t want any hard-tack,” growled Stuffer, in disgust. “I thought we’d get the same kind of feed as we get here.” The march had suddenly lost all of its interest for him.

“Better take some private rations along,” suggested another cadet. “A loaf of bread, or some dried herrings, or – ”

“Oh, you’re joking!” exclaimed the boy who loved to eat. “I’m going to ask Mr. Strong,” and off he ran, while the others set up a loud laugh.

It was a cool, crisp morning when the battalion started. The cadets made a fine showing in their clean, neat uniforms, with buttons and buckles polished to the last degree. Major Jack was at the head of the column, and he was certainly proud of his position, and had a right to be.

“Shoulder arms, forward, march!” was the command given, and the drums sounded out, and the column moved off. A few people were present to see them march away, and these gave a cheer.

“Ain’t no nicer school in these United States!” exclaimed Peleg Snuggers, enthusiastically. “Them boys is the real thing, right straight through!”

“An’ nice boys, too,” added Mrs. Green. “God bless ’em, every one!”

For the first mile the route was along the lake shore. Then the battalion turned to the westward, and were soon pursuing a road that wound in and out among the hills. The cadets passed through several small villages, and the inhabitants came out to gaze at them in wonder, while the small boys set up a cheer.

One of the villages had just been left behind, when those in the front of the line of march heard a loud tooting from an automobile horn.

“Here comes one of those big autos,” said Pepper. “Say, it’s coming at a spanking gait, too.”

“Hope it gives us plenty of room,” came from another cadet. “I don’t like to meet those big machines, when they are going at a twenty-mile clip.”

The automobile was coming around a turn of the road, and soon it was almost on top of Company A. The cadets were marching on the right side of the road, but the automobile crowded them closely.

“Hi, there, keep to your side of the road!” shouted Jack.

“Go to Halifax!” growled the man who was running the machine, a big burly fellow, with a red face.

“If you don’t keep to your side of the road there will be trouble,” answered Jack, sharply, and then the young major commanded the battalion to halt. He was in sole charge, Captain Putnam and his assistants having gone ahead to arrange for dinner.

“Look here, young fellow, you can’t bulldoze me, even if you are in soldier clothes!” stormed the man, bringing his machine to a standstill.

“Never mind, Carl!” pleaded a lady who sat on the rear seat of the automobile. “Let us go on.”

“I want him to understand he can’t bulldoze me, Annie.”

“I am not trying to bulldoze you, sir,” answered Jack. “We are entitled to half the roadway, and we are going to have it.”

“Feel big, don’t you?” sneered the automobilist.

“Are you going to give us half the road or not?”

“Give them what they want, Carl!” pleaded the lady.

“I can’t give them half the road,” growled the man. “I’m not going to run my wheels into the soft ground for anybody. I might get stuck.”

“You can give us half the road and not get stuck either,” returned Jack. He knew a little about running an automobile himself.