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

by Edward Stratemeyer

  CHAPTER XX OUT IN THE COLD

  It was not long after this that our friends and Captain Putnam reachedthe main road leading from Top Rock Hill to Cedarville. Scarcely had theydone so than they saw a carriage coming along the road, containing Mr.Ringwood, Dan Baxter, and two of the workingmen from the preserve.

  "Here they come!" cried Jack, and the captain ran out in the middle ofthe road and motioned for the carriage to stop.

  "Hullo, is that you, Captain Putnam?" called out Mr. Ringwood, in a farfrom pleasant tone.

  "It is, Mr. Ringwood, and I wish to talk to you."

  "I've got one of your students here."

  "So I see."

  "He's a bad egg, captain. I caught him stealing my nuts. After that hewas impudent to me."

  "I wasn't impudent," grumbled the bully.

  "I just heard about it and I came out to meet you," answered CaptainPutnam. "Won't you drive over to the Hall, and we'll try to settle thismatter."

  "If you wish it, captain. I had half a mind to have the young rascalarrested."

  "There will be no need to do that, Mr. Ringwood. I think I can punish himsufficiently for what he has done."

  "Very well, then; I'll drive over." And in a moment more the carriage washeaded for Putnam Hall, and the captain and our friends trudged after it.

  "You may go now, young gentlemen," said the master of the Hall. "If Iwish you again, I'll call for you."

  This was a hint that they were not wanted, and off they went, across thecampus and into the school by a side entrance, the others entering by thefront way and going directly to Captain Putnam's private office.

  It was not until the next day that they learned something of whathappened to Dan Baxter. From Peleg Snuggers the information went forththat the bully of the Hall was a close prisoner in a small room at therear of the Hall. The window to this room was heavily barred, making theapartment a regular prison cell.

  "The captain give Baxter a talkin' to which would make your hair curl,"said the general utility man. "He laid down the law good an' strong. Hesaid he wasn't goin' to have no pupil a-gittin' the academy in disgrace.Then he made Crabtree put him in a cell, an' he's livin' on bread, soup,an' water fer a week."

  "Phew! That's pretty severe punishment!" cried Jack. "The captain musthave been mad!"

  "You git the cap'n riled up real good an' you'll see a reg'lar cyclonebroke loose," went on Snuggers. "I know him, because I worked fer thefam'ly before. He's real tame alongside o' what he was when he was anarmy officer."

  Mumps and Paxton had little or nothing to say. Each was given extralessons to do, and did them without a murmur. They saw that the captainwas much disturbed over what had happened and did not want to do anythingto add to his anger.

  Two days after the outing for nuts, came a light fall of snow, and thenthe weather grew steadily colder and colder. As a consequence, manyoutdoor games came to an end, and the students spent their off timeeither in the library of the Hall or the gymnasium.

  The latter place was a favorite with Dale, who was beyond question theleading all-around athlete of the school. He was graceful on the ringsand bars, and could jump and run with the best of them. The only one whocould match him at all was Andy, who did things on the flying rings whichwould have done credit to a professional acrobat or gymnast.

  "Andy, you could go into a circus," said Jack, after watching the agileyouth.

  "Perhaps I will go into a circus some day," answered Andy, seriously."I've heard that some daring fellows earn two or three hundred dollarsper week at it."

  "They do," put in Pepper. "But they risk their necks every time theyperform."

  "I don't see how you can do some of those tricks," put in Joe Nelson. "Asyou do them, they seem as easy as pie, but when I try them, I can't dothem at all."

  "I guess I was born to it," answered Andy, with a quiet smile. "Somehowit always came natural to me."

  "Must have circus blood in your veins," said Pepper, and then there was ageneral laugh.

  In his cell, Dan Baxter passed day after day in moody silence. He wasallowed only his school books, and each day Josiah Crabtree or GeorgeStrong visited him to hear him recite. Only once did Coulter manage tosee him on the sly.

  "Mumps and Paxton can't come," said Gus Coulter. "They are being watchednight and day."

  "They have deserted me, and they gave me away!" growled the bully.

  "No, they haven't deserted you," answered Coulter. "And they didn't tellon you."

  "Then who did tell on me?"

  "Jack Ruddy, Pepper Ditmore, Andy Snow, and that crowd."

  "Are you sure of this, Gus?"

  "Positive."

  "Then I've got an account to settle with them when I get out," and thebully grated his teeth. He did not stop to consider that those who hadinformed on him had probably saved him from a term in the Cedarvillejail.

  During those days spent by Baxter in his cell, Jack, Pepper, and Andy,along with a number of other students, had an exceedingly hard time of itwith Josiah Crabtree. For some reason or other, the head teacher wasfeeling particularly cross, and he vented his anger on those under him,until they could scarcely stand it. He made them do all sorts of extratasks, and "nagged" at them until some felt like open rebellion.

  "It's outrageous!" declared Andy. "Here I've got ten extra examples inalgebra for nothing at all!"

  "And just because I dropped my history on the floor, old Crabtree made mestay in half an hour," grumbled Pepper.

  "I've caught it, too," came from Jack. "I missed in astronomy and had tostudy five pages extra. Mr. Strong or the captain never treated us thatway!"

  "I wish we had another teacher in old Crabtree's place," came from Dale.

  "Captain Putnam can't discharge him," said Joe. "He's got a contract, soStuffer was telling me."

  "I wish we could duck him in the lake. The cold water might do him good,"went on Pepper.

  "That's a fine idea!" cried Andy. "It would certainly cool him off!"

  One day Captain Putnam was called away to Albany on business. As itchanced, George Strong was also absent, so the Hall was left in solecharge of Josiah Crabtree.

  "He will be more dictatorial than ever now," said Pepper, and so itproved. During the day over a dozen students got into "hot water," and atrecess they held a secret meeting, to determine what had best be done.

  "If we could only get him out of the building we might keep him out,"suggested Andy. "It's going to be a cold night, remember."

  This idea took like wild-fire, and it was resolved to get Josiah Crabtreeout of the building by all means. Only the faithful were let into thesecret, and they watched the teacher narrowly after the school sessioncame to an end.

  "I know how to do it," said Pepper. And he unfolded his plot, to whichthe others listened eagerly. They saw Crabtree walk through a sidehallway, and immediately hurried to a spot just around the corner fromwhere the teacher was standing.

  "Yes, we'll meet at the gym to-night, at exactly ten o'clock," saidPepper in a loud voice. "Be sure and be on hand."

  "All right--the gym at ten o'clock," said Andy, in an equally loud voice."We'll have a fine spread!" And then the boys ran off before JosiahCrabtree could stop them.

  The crabbed teacher heard what was said, and as soon as the cadets hadvanished his face took on a crafty look.

  "The gymnasium at ten o'clock, eh?" he murmured to himself. "A finespread, eh? Not if I know it! Josiah Crabtree, you must capture them, andmake an example of them!"

  As the captain and Mr. Strong were away, he enlisted the services ofPeleg Snuggers. It may be mentioned here that the other teachers cameonly during school hours, one living at Cedarville, and others coming buttwice a week, to teach music and foreign languages.

  At the proper time that night all of the pupils but Pepper and Andy wentto bed. The latter hid themselves in the hallway, one near JosiahCrabtree's room, and the other one downstairs.

  At a qua
rter to ten the teacher came forth from his room, wearing hisregular school suit. As the gymnasium was only across the campus, he didnot feel it necessary to don his overcoat. He slipped to the rear of theschool, summoned Peleg Snuggers, and both left the building.

  "He has gone!" cried Andy, and rushing forward from his hiding place helocked the door. Then he and Pepper saw to it that all of the other doorsand also the windows were secured.

  "Wait, I'll fix them better than that," said Jack, and secured smallwedges of wood. These were driven under the doors, and alongside of thewindow sashes, so that they could not be opened without great effort.

  By this time fully a dozen of the cadets were out of their dormitories.Pepper and Andy went around summoning the others.

  "We want your aid," said Pepper, boldly. "Old Crabtree has gone outsideand we mean to keep him out."

  "Everybody in favor of keeping him out raise their hands," called outAndy, and fully sixty hands went up.

  "Paxton, what do you say?" asked Jack. He knew Nick Paxton was the leaderof the Baxter crowd during the absence of the bully.

  "I'm not saying anything," growled Paxton.

  "Don't you try to let Crabtree in," came from one cadet. "We are going tolet him have a regular freeze-out."

  As Gus Coulter had had trouble with the teacher, he was willing to keepthe man out, and so, after some talk, it was decided that nobody shouldaid in letting the teacher get into the Hall building.

  "If anybody tries it, he'll catch it good and hard," warned Pepper.

  "So say we all of us!" shouted a score of others. "No sneak wanted here!"And some glanced at Mumps in a fashion that made that youth slink out ofsight in short order.

  Going to an upper window, Pepper, Andy, and Jack looked out, and sawCrabtree and Snuggers stealing softly around the gymnasium. After a lookinto several of the windows, the two men crouched down behind somebushes.

  "This is the best yet!" whispered Pepper. "They think we haven't arrivedyet."

  "Let them wait," returned Jack. "It will cool them off sure. It isnipping cold to-night."