The Putnam Hall Encampment; or, The Secret of the Old Mill

by Edward Stratemeyer

  CHAPTER VII WHAT THE GIRLS HAD TO TELL

  "What do you say, Jack, to a spin on our wheels?"

  "That suits me, Pepper. Shall we go alone, or ask some of the others?"

  "I have already asked Andy and Dale."

  "Good enough."

  It was after school hours and still light. As the cadets had goodbicycles they often took rides up and down the lake road, or out in thecountry back of Cedarville.

  All of the cadets were soon ready for the spin, and off they went, Jackand Pepper abreast, with Andy and Dale close behind.

  "Want a race?" asked Andy. "I feel as if I could ride like the wind."

  "Well, I'll go you!" cried Pepper.

  "I'm not stripped for racing, but I'll join in for the fun of it," saidDale.

  "So will I," added the young major.

  Coming to a smooth portion of the road the four bicycle riders drew upabreast.

  "How far is this race to be?" questioned Dale.

  "Oh, to Boston and back," cried Pepper, with a grin.

  "Make it Hong Kong while you are at it," added Jack gaily.

  "We'll race to the old white post," said Andy. "That's a mile and a halffrom here."

  "Done!" cried the others.

  "All ready?"

  "Yes."

  "Then go!"

  Off shot the four cadets, keeping abreast for a distant of several rods.Then Andy pedalled to the front.

  "Here is where I bid you good-bye!" sang out the acrobatic youth.

  "Not much you don't!" answered Pepper, and commenced to push on hispedals harder than ever. He soon ranged alongside of Andy, and away theywent, side by side, with Dale and Jack dropping further and furtherbehind.

  "I can't make time in this uniform," said the young major. "Let themrace it out."

  "Just what I say," answered Dale. "I hate to get in a perspiration rightbefore supper anyway."

  On and on went Andy and Pepper. The road was in excellent condition andso were the cadets. Each lad rode well and it remained a question as towho would come in ahead.

  Half the distance to the post had been covered when the racers reached aturn. Around this they sped, and as they did so an unexpected screamreached their ears. It came from two girls in a buggy.

  "Don't run us down!" came the cry. And then the cadets saw that thegirls had been in the act of turning their buggy around and that theturnout completely filled the road.

  There was but one thing to do and that was to turn aside. Andy went tothe right and Pepper to the left, and each brought up rather suddenly ina clump of bushes. Andy flew over his handle bars, and it was only hisacrobatic agility that saved him from being seriously hurt.

  There was but one thing to do, and that was to turn aside.]

  Both of the girls screamed again, this time louder than ever.

  "They are killed!" moaned one.

  "Oh, how dreadful!" came from the other.

  "It's our fault, Flossie!"

  "I know it, Laura!"

  Their horse, greatly startled by the sudden appearance of thebicyclists, had begun to rear and plunge and for the moment the girlshad to give all their attention to the animal in an effort to quiet it.

  "Why, it's Pepper Ditmore!" cried the older girl, as The Imp arose tohis feet from the bushes.

  "And Andy Snow," added the other girl.

  Still somewhat dazed the cadets looked again at the girls and nowrecognized two old acquaintances, Laura and Flossie Ford. They were thedaughters of Rossmore Ford, a rich gentleman who had a fine summer homeon a point of the lake shore. As related in "The Putnam Hall Cadets,"Andy, Jack and Pepper had once saved Laura and Flossie from drowning,and for this brave act the Fords were extremely grateful.

  "How do you do, girls!" cried Pepper, with a grim smile.

  "Oh, Pepper are you hurt?" queried Laura anxiously.

  "Not much, scratched a little, that's all."

  "And what of you, Andy?" questioned Flossie.

  "Got a few bush leaves down my neck, that's all," answered Andy. Hiswrist was a good deal scratched but he kept it out of sight, not wishingto alarm the girls still more.

  "Can we do anything for you?" questioned Laura.

  "Might bake us a few pies,--as you did when we ran away from school,"answered Andy.

  "How absurd!" cried Flossie, and gave a laugh. "Oh, I am so glad youdidn't hurt yourselves seriously."

  By this time Jack and Dale were coming up, and the situation was quicklyexplained. The young major shook hands with the girls and turned thehorse around for them. The Ford girls were glad to meet the cadets butsorry that they had interrupted the race so disastrously.

  "Oh, it was a tie anyway," said Andy. "I don't care, if Pep doesn't."

  "It wasn't much of a race anyway," answered Pepper. "How have you beensince we saw you last?" he added.

  "Very well," answered Laura. "How are matters at the school? We heardsomebody had taken the clapper of the Union Church."

  "So we heard, too," said Dale dryly. "But that's a thing of the pastnow. We are getting ready to go into camp again--this time in theregular fashion, under Captain Putnam and the teachers, you know."

  "How delightful!" murmured Flossie. "And where are you going?"

  "Up to Lake Caboy, near the river and the falls."

  "Well, of all things!"

  "What makes you so surprised?" asked Dale.

  "Why, we are going up to Lake Caboy ourselves--up to the new summerhotel there. Papa and mamma thought it would be a change for us."

  "Then we may see something of each other," said Jack. "That will befine."

  "We'll come down to your camp--if you'll allow visitors," said Flossie.

  "I guess Captain Putnam will have to allow them. Every time we go intocamp the country folks come to see us. They like to see the tents andthe uniforms, and like to see us drill."

  "Then we'll be sure to come."

  "We'll try to arrange for a regular visitors' day," said the youngmajor. "Then we can have drills and athletic contests, and a lunch, andall that."

  "Oh, that will be grand!" cried both girls enthusiastically.

  "Have you been to Lake Caboy before?" questioned Pepper.

  "Yes, we were up there two years ago, for a week," answered Laura. "Westayed at the old hotel that was burnt down--a place near the oldRobertson mill. You've heard of that place, haven't you?"

  "No."

  "It is said to be haunted."

  "Haunted!" cried all of the cadets in chorus.

  "Yes. We never went very near it, for we were afraid."

  "We'll have to investigate that mill," said Dale. "I don't believe inghosts."

  "We had almost forgotten about the old mill until yesterday," went onFlossie. "Then the strangest kind of a boy asked us about it--a tall,thin boy."

  "A tall, thin boy!" cried Pepper. "Did he tell you his name?"

  "Yes, Bert Field."

  "Why, we met that boy once," said Pepper. "But he wasn't looking for theRobertson mill then. He was looking for----" And then Pepper stoppedshort, for he remembered what the strange lad had said--that he wishedto find Jabez Trask without that individual being aware he was beingsought out.

  "What was he looking for?" asked Laura.

  "Oh, it doesn't matter."

  "He did ask us about something else," said Flossie. "Oh, yes, I remembernow. He wanted to know where a man named Trask lived--Jabez Trask."

  "Well, he asked us, too," said Pepper. "Did you tell him? We never heardof such a person."

  "Yes, we told him. Trask lives between here and Lake Caboy, on theRitchfield road. We know because papa once had some business dealingswith him. He is an old man, and papa says he is a regular miser."

  "Was the boy a relative?"

  "I don't know. But he was certainly a strange fellow. He asked us agreat number of questions and seemed to be grateful for the informationwe gave him. But this morning papa took
me across the lake in his boatand when I was in the town over there I met him again, face to face, andhe didn't even recognize me."

  "That is queer," said Jack thoughtfully. "Maybe he was afraid you'd saysomething in public he didn't want you to. He told us he didn't wantthis Jabez Trask to know he was asking for him."

  "I told papa about it, and he told me something that makes the matterqueerer than ever. He says that the Trask family once had something todo with the old Robertson mill."

  "Humph!" mused Jack. "I'd like to meet that boy again and talk to him.Maybe he knows something about why the old mill is haunted."

  "He is certainly a strange boy!" declared Laura.

  The girls wished to know something of the details of the proposedencampment and the cadets told as much as they knew.

  "We'll come over if we can," promised Laura. "And if you get the chanceyou must call on us at the new hotel." And this the cadets readilypromised to do. Then the girls turned homeward, and the boys continuedtheir ride.

  "They are fine girls," said Dale. "It was a great feather in your cap tosave them from drowning."

  "Oh, let us forget that!" cried Andy, who did not care at any time topose as a hero.

  "There is one thing I regret about this encampment at Lake Caboy," saidJack, as the four cadets turned in the direction of Putnam Hall. "Thereis no way of getting our sailboats up to that lake. Some of the rowboatswill be taken over on the wagons, but I'll have to leave the _Alice_behind, and Fred Century will have to leave the _Ajax_, too."

  "Well, we'll have to take our fun on the water out in rowing andswimming and fishing," said Dale.

  "What's the matter with having a nice sail before we go away?" came fromPepper.

  "To be sure, we can do that," said Jack; and so, later on, it wasarranged.

  The _Alice_ was a truly beautiful sloop, with graceful lines. Her hullwas finely painted and her sails were of snowy whiteness. The _Ajax_,too, was a good boat, and the youthful owners were justly proud of thetwo craft.

  On the Saturday afternoon previous to the time for the encampment Jackand Fred made up their parties for a sail. The young major carriedPepper, Andy and four others, and the _Ajax_ took on an even greaterload. It was decided to go up the lake, and the cadets receivedpermission to remain out from two o'clock to six.

  There was a favorable wind blowing, and a cheer went up when the twosloops spread their canvases and stood up the lake shore. Jack and Fredwere at the tillers and each handled his craft with care and skill.

  "Going to race?" asked one of the cadets, of Fred.

  "No, we are just out for the pleasure of it," said Fred. He knew hisboat was a good one, but the young major had beaten him before and hedid not, just then, wish to risk another defeat.

  Soon the sloops were well on their way up the lake. Pepper and Andy werein particularly good humor, and neither of them dreamed of theremarkable adventure in store for them.