The Putnam Hall Rebellion

“What about the grub they wanted?” asked another guard, who had come up during the talk.

“A little hunger would do them good. They would have gotten their fill to-morrow, and – ”

“No! no! that’s a mistake!” burst out Pluxton Cuddle. “Too much eating – ”

“Mr. Cuddle, I no longer agree with you on that point,” said Josiah Crabtree coldly. “If they return they shall have the same quantity of food as they got when Captain Putnam was here.”

“Humph! Then you have not the boys’ welfare at heart,” snorted the new teacher.

“I want you men to stay here, at least for the present,” continued Josiah Crabtree. “Let me see, I believe I promised you two dollars a day, didn’t I?”

“You did,” said one of the guards.

“Your work has not been pleasant and therefore I’ll make the pay three dollars a day. I did not mean to call you blockheads – I – er – was excited. Let us get down to – er – business now – and see if we cannot find those runaway cadets and persuade them to return to the Hall. If we can do that and – er – hush up this whole unpleasant matter I will – er – reward you handsomely.”

This talk was “pouring oil on the troubled waters,” and in the end the guards promised to stick by Josiah Crabtree and do what they could to bring the cadets back to school. They also promised, in view of a liberal reward, to tell Captain Putnam that the students and not the teachers were to blame for the outbreak.

CHAPTER XXIII

A DISCOVERY IN THE WOODS

“Andy, look out that you don’t drive off the road and into the gully,” said Stuffer, as the spring wagon lurched forward over the rough ground leading to Daly’s clearing.

“Stuffer wouldn’t have you lose any of that food for a fortune,” said Dale, with a laugh. “Trust him to look out for that!”

“Well, you’ll be just as ready to eat your breakfast as anybody,” grumbled the cadet who loved to eat.

Forward rolled the wagon, groaning dubiously when it bounded over the rocks. It was loaded to the limit and the boys feared that the springs would break before the journey was over.

From the vicinity of the Hall came calls and considerable noise. But this presently died away, and then all was as quiet as a tomb on the woody road the runaway cadets were traveling.

In half an hour the clearing was gained. They drove across it, and into the woods beyond for a distance of a hundred yards. Here it was so dark they had to light a lantern to see the way.

“They’ll be good ones if they track us to this spot,” observed Dale.

Having reached the place, they blanketed the horse and sat down to wait. It was somewhat chilly and all of the cadets present were glad enough to put on the heavy coats they had brought along.

“Don’t you think some of us ought to go over to Bailey’s barn and see if the others have arrived?” asked Stuffer, presently.

“We might do that,” answered another cadet. “But we can’t all go. Somebody must remain here and watch the horse and the outfit.”

In the end it was decided that Andy and Stuffer should make the journey to the old Bailey barn, a distance of a mile or more. They set off at once, Stuffer first, however, filling his pockets with crackers and apples.

“I know a path right through these woods,” said Stuffer. “It will bring us out just to the north of the old barn.”

“Well, be sure of the way,” answered the acrobatic youth. “We don’t want to get lost in this darkness.”

“How can we get lost in the dark if we carry a lantern, Andy?”

“Easily enough – if you get twisted around, Stuffer. I was lost once, in the Adirondacks, and I know.”

The two boys set off, Andy carrying a small lantern picked up in the carriage shed. This gave more smoke and smell than light and they had to proceed slowly, for fear of tumbling over the tree roots or into some hollow.

“Oh!” cried Stuffer, presently, as a strange sound struck his ears from close at hand. “What’s that?”

“Only an owl,” cried Andy, with a laugh. “How you jumped!”

“Are you sure it was an – an owl?” was the nervous question.

“Dead certain. Go ahead, or we won’t reach the old barn till morning.”

The path through the woods was not well defined and at one place forked in several directions. Stuffer did not notice this and kept to the right when he should have gone to the left. Andy followed without question, and thus the two cadets, instead of nearing the old barn, plunged deeper and deeper into the woods.

“Say, Stuffer, this doesn’t seem to be right,” observed Andy, after a full mile and a half had been covered.

“Huh! I know I am right,” was the reply. “We’ll get to the barn in a few minutes.”

They continued to go forward, up a slight rise of ground and then down into something of a hollow. Andy was just about to say again that he thought they were on the wrong path when he caught sight of a small campfire.

“Hello, see that!” he exclaimed.

“They have arrived and lit a fire!” answered Stuffer. “I don’t blame them. It is pretty cold. But they are running the risk of being discovered.”

“Stuffer, this isn’t the location of the old barn. We are not near the lake.”

“How do you know?”

“The locality doesn’t look like it. These are hemlock trees, while back of the barn there are chestnuts and walnuts.”

“That’s so too,” and now Stuffer became doubtful.

Moving a little more slowly, the two boys drew closer to the campfire. They saw that it was in a little clearing, to one side of which were some rocks and a spring of water. On the other side several small trees had been cut down and a rude shelter erected, covered with an old wagon top and several old horse blankets.

“Must be a gypsy camp,” said Stuffer, in a low tone, as the two boys stepped behind some bushes to gaze at the scene presented.

“They are tramps,” was Andy’s answer. “Don’t you see the hoboes lying around?”

He pointed to the forms of three men resting near the campfire. They were all rough-looking individuals and their clothing and shoes were much dilapidated. Several empty bottles lay scattered around, indicating that the fellows were drinkers. Near the shelter were a pile of chicken feathers and the skin of a lamb.

“I’ll tell you what I think,” whispered Andy. “These are not only tramps but also thieves. They have been robbing the farmers’ henroosts and somebody’s sheepfold. They’ve got a regular hangout here. I wonder how many of them there are?”

“I see three – but some of the crowd may be under the shelter. If they are thieves they ought to be locked up.”

“Yes. Shall we go into the camp and ask them the way?”

“I don’t think we ought to trust them. They might detain us, and rob us.”

Putting out the light so that they might not be discovered, the two cadets walked around the camp of the tramps. They saw that it was a hangout that had been used for some time. With great caution they stole up to the back of the rude shelter and peered within. They saw three more men, who were all snoring lustily.