The Putnam Hall Rebellion

“Perhaps somebody is playing a trick on us,” suggested Dale.

“Yes – Crabtree and Cuddle,” murmured the young major.

“Let’s try the door to the next room,” suggested Andy.

Several of the dormitories were connected by side doors, and hurried into the next room, Andy tried the door leading to the hall.

“This is locked too!” he said.

“We’re locked in, that is all there is to it!” cried one of the cadets. “The enemy has locked us in while we slept!”

“This must be a new idea for bringing us to terms,” said Stuffer. “Wonder how long Crabtree and Cuddle expect to keep us here?”

“Long enough to make you go without your breakfast, Stuffer,” said Pepper, with a grin. “Not much! I’ll break down the door first!”

“No, you won’t break down no door!” cried a harsh voice from the outer side of the barrier. “If you try it, you’ll get hurt, remember that!”

“Who are you?” demanded Andy, in astonishment.

“I’m a man hired to watch this door, and I am going to do it. Don’t you try no funny work, or you’ll get hurt.”

“Are you one of the fellows who was in the mess hall yesterday?” asked Jack.

“Yes.”

“Then you’ve been hired by Mr. Crabtree and Mr. Cuddle?”

“That’s it.”

“Where are they?”

“That ain’t none of your business,” answered the strange man, roughly.

“It is my business,” returned the young major, warmly. “You send for Mr. Crabtree at once.”

“I ain’t a-going to do it. I was told to stay here and watch these doors. Now you jest keep quiet and mind your own business.”

“Supposing we break down the door?” asked Pepper.

“The first boy who tries it, will get a good licking, and he’ll be tied up in the coal cellar in the bargain.”

“Are you alone?” asked Fred Century.

“Not much I ain’t! There are ten of us here and outside, and we are actin’ under orders from the teachers. They are going to show you that you can’t run this school during Captain Putnam’s absence.”

“I wonder if he is telling the truth?” whispered the young major to his chums. “Ten of them! It doesn’t seem possible!”

“Wait till I take a look out of a window,” said Dale, and ran to the nearest opening. He poked out his head and looked down on the campus. “Well, I declare!” he ejaculated.

“What do you see?” asked several in a chorus.

“Three men down there, and they are armed with clubs and guns!”

“Never!” burst out Jack, and ran forward to take a look himself. Soon every window was crowded with cadets, all gazing down to the ground below. There were three strange men, including one of those who had been in the mess hall the evening previous. As Dale had said, each had a club in one hand and a gun in the other. They walked up and down the side of the building, every once in a while glancing upward.

“This is the limit!” cried Pepper. “Why, you’d think we were prisoners in a penitentiary!”

“Yes, and some of those men were the keepers,” added Andy. “Oh, I say,” he went on, “let us give them something to let them know we are awake.”

“Right you are!” cried Pepper, quick to catch on to a joke. “Everybody hand them a souvenir!”

In a moment more each cadet present in the two rooms had armed himself. One had a cake of soap, another an old pair of shoes, another a pitcher of water, and the rest old books and odds and ends of various kinds.

“Now then, all together!” cried Pepper. “One, two, three!” And down went the miscellaneous collection on the heads of the guards. Yells of pain and wonder arose, for each of the men was struck. Before the guards could recover from the unexpected attack, each cadet withdrew from sight.

“Hi, you! We’ll get square, see if we don’t!” yelled one of the men. “Don’t you attempt to git out o’ them windows or you’ll git shot!”

“Do you think they’d attempt to shoot us?” asked one of the boys, in consternation.

“I don’t know what to think,” answered Jack, and his tone was very grave. He realized that the situation had become a truly serious one.

CHAPTER XVII

ANDY SNOW’S DISCOVERY

Leaving the windows, the cadets went back to the doors leading to the hallway. They again called up the man on guard there and asked for Josiah Crabtree.

“We must speak to him,” said Jack. “And if you won’t call him we’ll all rush the doors, break them down, and – well, you know what to expect.”

At first the man wanted to argue again, but presently he became frightened and blew a whistle he carried. Then the cadets heard footsteps approaching.

“What do you want?” came in Josiah Crabtree’s sharp voice.

“They want to talk to you,” answered the guard doggedly. “Said they’d break down the doors if I didn’t call you.”

“They’ll not dare to do it!” cried the teacher.

“Yes, we will dare!” shouted several of the boys who heard the remark.

“Mr. Crabtree, what is the meaning of this?” demanded Jack, in a loud, clear voice.

“It means that I am going to keep you in your rooms until you learn how to behave yourselves,” was the cold answer.

“What about breakfast?”

“You can have something to eat when you come downstairs.”

“Then let us come down now,” put in Stuffer.