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

by Edward Stratemeyer

  CHAPTER IX A SEND-OFF FOR JOSIAH CRABTREE

  Andy and Pepper heard the old man leave the dining room and then,excepting for the occasional rumble of thunder in the distance, allbecame quiet around them. The sudden shower was passing away to theeastward, and soon the rain ceased.

  "Well, if this isn't the worst yet!" exclaimed the acrobatic youth,after looking at the narrow window with its iron bars. "Pep, this is asbad as the lock-up at the school!"

  "Right you are, Andy. We are certainly prisoners."

  "And accused of attempted burglary!"

  "I don't believe anybody in Cedarville will believe that charge, afterwe tell our story."

  "No, but they may think we were up to some trick--especially after thataffair of the bell clapper."

  "Wonder if he'll come back?"

  "He'll come soon enough if we try to break out of here."

  Each of the boys tried to open the door. But the key was still on theother side and they could not turn it.

  "Not a thing to smash it down with either," said Pepper, gazing aroundthe storeroom. The apartment contained nothing but some odds and ends ofbooks and bric-a-brac and an old ice-box which was empty.

  Pepper knocked on the door, but for several minutes there was no replyto this summons. Then came the nervous tones of Jabez Trask.

  "You keep quiet, or I'll shoot right through the door!" shrilled the oldman. "I've got ye! You can't get away!"

  "We want to talk this matter over," said The Imp.

  "Not now. You can do your talking after I have put you in the hands ofthe law!" And then the old man seemed to walk to another part of themansion.

  "We have got to get out somehow!" said Andy in a low voice.

  "I've got an idea!" answered Pepper. "Let us examine the floor. Maybesome of the boards are loose."

  Both boys got down and lit matches and examined the floor with care.Pepper moved the old ice-box in doing this, and a long ice-pick fellfrom it.

  "Hurrah, I can use this as a pry!" said the cadet. "Wait till I find aboard that looks a little loose."

  Presently he found a board that looked inviting and he managed to getthe ice-pick in the crack beside it. By working with care he loosenedone end of the board and it came up several inches.

  "A coal cellar below," he said, as he caught sight of some shiny piecesof coal.

  "Well, if we can get into that cellar I guess we can get out of thehouse," answered his chum.

  Making as little noise as possible, the two cadets raised up the boardand then took up that next to it. This left an opening just wide enoughfor them to squeeze through. They looked down and saw that the coal wasbut a few feet beneath them.

  "Here goes!" said Pepper and let himself down with care. As his feettouched the coal some of it slid away, making considerable noise.

  "Keep quiet!" whispered Andy. "The old man may be listening."

  "I didn't mean to make that noise," was the reply. "Come on, quick!"

  Andy dropped down on the coal and both boys left the bin and came outinto the cellar proper. It was quite dark and they stumbled over someironware and crocks. The ironware made a crash that could be heard allthrough the mansion.

  "Hi! hi! Who is that?" they heard the old man yell, and then he camerunning across the floor overhead.

  "Quick, or we'll be caught again!" exclaimed Pepper. "I see a way out!"

  He had espied a back entrance to the cellar. To this he ran, with Andyclose behind him. They pushed open a door and ran up a flight of stonesteps. Above was the back yard, close to the kitchen of the house.

  The cadets did not wait to look around them, but made a straight dashacross the yard toward a barn. They skirted this building and as theydid so Pepper gave a cry of wonder.

  "See, Andy!" he exclaimed.

  "What is it?"

  "That boy--running through the trees!"

  "Who is it?"

  "The boy Jack and I met at the church, Bert Field! He must have beenspying around here!"

  "Perhaps he's the one the old man said he saw this morning."

  "More than likely."

  They looked and saw the tall, thin youth disappear in a grove of treeslining the main road. Then, a few minutes later, they saw him walkingdown the road as fast as possible.

  "There is certainly something queer about that boy," was Pepper'scomment.

  "And there is something queer about the old man, too," was the reply."But, come on, unless you want Jabez Trask to fill you full of shot."

  The old man was now at the door of the mansion and he held his shotgunin his hands. The cadets darted out of sight and took good care to keepout of range of the weapon.

  "That's an adventure for you," said Pepper, after they had covered quitea distance. "I rather think I'll keep away from strange houses afterthis."

  "I wonder if the old man will come to Putnam Hall to make trouble?"

  "I hope not."

  The rain had ceased and the sky was brightening. The cadets went on to afork of the road and then reached a path they knew ran down to the lakefront.

  "More than likely the _Alice_ had returned to the Hall," said Andy. "I'dnot blame Jack for doing it, in such a rain."

  "Nor I, Andy. But let us look around a little and see. Maybe he tied upat some boathouse during the storm."

  The two boys walked to the edge of the lake and looked up and down theshore.

  "There she is!" exclaimed Pepper, and pointed up the lake.

  "Sure that's the _Alice_?" queried his chum.

  "Yes, I'd know her as far as I could see her." Pepper raised his voice:"Sloop ahoy! On board the _Alice_!"

  At first his cry was not heard. Then Jack caught sight of the pairstanding on a rock, and waved his hand in return. The mainsail of thesloop was thrown over, and the _Alice_ came slowly up to the rock andAndy and Pepper leaped on board. Then a straight course was laid forPutnam Hall.

  "We tied up at Paul's boathouse when it started to rain," said the youngmajor. "It was certainly a heavy shower, eh?"

  "Yes, indeed," returned Pepper.

  "I see you managed to keep dry," came from Stuffer. "Have some peanuts,"he added, diving into a pocket and bringing up a handful.

  "Yes, we managed to keep dry," answered Andy. "But we had a remarkabletime doing it." And then he and Pepper told of their adventure at oldJabez Trask's mansion. The others listened in wonder to what they had totell.

  "That old man must be a tartar," was Dale's comment.

  "Sure, an' mebbe he'll come to the school to make trouble fer ye," saidHogan. "But if he does sure yez can have him arristed fer falseimprisonment!"

  "Somehow, I don't think he'll come to the school," answered Pepper. "Iimagine he is the kind of a man to keep by himself--one who hatespublicity." And he was right, Jabez Trask did not come to the school,nor did he report the affair to the Cedarville authorities. There was areason for this, as we shall learn later.

  "Then you didn't get your basket, Pepper?" said Jack, just as the schooldock was reached.

  "No, but I'll get something of the sort in Cedarville, and send it to myaunt," was the answer, and the lad was as good as his word. He found thebasket maker had removed to town, and there procured a basket thatpleased his relative very much.

  "I know one thing I'd like," said Pepper to Jack, the next morning. "I'dlike to meet that Bert Field and have a talk with him. There issomething odd about his wanting to meet such a queer stick as JabezTrask, and about his wanting to know the location of that haunted mill."

  "Maybe you'll meet him while we are in camp, Pep."

  "Perhaps."

  Sunday passed quietly in and around Putnam Hall, and on Monday morningthe cadets commenced their preparations for going into camp. Eachstudent was allowed to take along a dress-suit case full of clothing,the suit-cases being transported to the camp by wagon, along with thetents, the cooking outfits, and blankets.

  "Hurrah! I've got good news!" cried Dale, bursting i
nto the dormitorywhere Jack and some others were sorting out their things.

  "Then tell it quick," returned the young major.

  "Old Crabtree isn't going to camp with us. He has a call to come toAlbany on some family business. Only Captain Putnam and Mr. Strong aregoing."

  "Thanks be to Crabtree for staying away," said Andy solemnly. "What ablessing it would be if he would stay away forever."

  "No such luck," put in Fred, who, though a comparatively new pupil atthe Hall, detested the first assistant teacher as cordially as did theothers.

  "Say, if Crabtree is going away we ought to give him something toremember us by," came from Pepper.

  "Sure, let us present him with a gold watch and chain," answered Dalesarcastically. "We might have it inscribed as follows: 'To our muchbeloved friend, The Honorable Josiah Crabtree, A. M., P. M., X. X. M.,and all the rest, as a slight token of our love, esteem, friendship,well-wishes, and undying affection.'"

  "He'd fall dead if he got it," put in Andy.

  "I move we present him with an alarm clock," said Pepper. "A good loudone. I saw a special sale of 'em in Cedarville for seventy-five centseach."

  "That's the talk!" cried Dale. "If you'll get one, I'll get another."

  "The box is now open for contributions to the Crabtree Alarm ClockCollection!" announced The Imp, grinning broadly. "Who wants to chip into get our beloved teacher a few clocks with good alarms attached?"

  The idea took like wildfire and in a short time the cadets collectedseveral dollars. Pepper and Dale were chosen to get the clocks, and theybought five, each with an "alarm" that was loud and long.

  "We must be careful to set them just right," said The Imp.

  "I think about five minutes apart will do," said Andy, and so it wasarranged. The boys watched their chances, and after winding up theclocks managed to place them in two dress-suit cases which JosiahCrabtree had packed to take with him. They knew that the teacher wasgoing to take the boat from Cedarville at five o'clock and timed theclock alarms accordingly.

  "We must get down to Cedarville to see the fun," said Pepper. This wasan easy matter, for, because of going away in the morning, the cadetswere allowed to do pretty much as they pleased, Captain Putnam andGeorge Strong being too busy getting ready for the encampment to paymuch attention to them.

  A crowd of the cadets went to Cedarville on their bicycles and somewalked. Josiah Crabtree went in the school carryall, driven by PelegSnuggers.

  The teacher was bachelor yet he had quite an eye for the ladies, andwhen he saw a pretty widow he knew walking down to the steamboat dock hebowed and tipped his hat and asked her to ride with him. She acceptedand entered the carryall, and then both walked out on the dock to awaitthe arrival of the boat.

  "Five minutes yet!" announced Pepper. "And then for some fun!"

  Josiah Crabtree found a seat for the widow, and both chatted pleasantly.In the meantime a crowd commenced to collect on the dock.

  "Yes, I dearly love music," the widow was saying.

  "Music is grand," answered Josiah Crabtree. "I often think----"

  What the teacher thought was not expressed, for just then from one ofthe dress-suit cases came the shrill rattle of one of the alarm clocks.