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

by Edward Stratemeyer

  CHAPTER XII THE CAVE IN THE WOODS

  Leaving the Pornell students prisoners in the old cottage, Andy and Jackhurried to the barn. There were all of the horses, tied up in the stallsand in the portion devoted in years gone by to threshing. They hadsuffered no injury and had been fed from bags of oats taken along by thedrivers.

  "We'll take them over to the wagons and hitch them up," said the youngmajor. "There is no use of reporting to Captain Putnam. We can bring thewagons right in with us."

  His chum was willing, and in a few minutes they had the animals out ofthe barn. They were ordinary work horses, so there was small danger oftheir running away.

  "I think we can manage them," said the young major. "I'll lead the bunchand you can follow them."

  Thus the start was made through the woods, and before long they came insight of the four wagons, with Pepper and Stuffer on guard. The latterwas munching on some cake he had managed to locate in a box on one ofthe wagons.

  "Hello, if they haven't found the horses!" cried Pepper joyfully. "Thisis famous!"

  "Where did you locate them?" questioned Stuffer, hiding the cake fromthe young major.

  The story was soon told, the boys meanwhile hitching the horses to thewagons.

  "I hope those Pornell fellows have to remain at the old cottage allnight," said Pepper. "It will serve 'em right."

  "We ought to get a crowd and go there and wipe up the floor with 'em!"said the lad who loved to eat.

  "We'll see what can be done after we get back to Hayville," answeredJack. "I can drive one wagon. Can you chaps drive the others?"

  "Sure!" came in a chorus from his chums.

  "Then let us be off. Captain Putnam will be much worried until he learnsthat the outfit is safe."

  Not without some difficulty the wagons were turned around and taken tothe main road. Then the horses were urged on, and it was not long beforethey came in sight of Hayville. Almost the first persons they met wereCaptain Putnam, George Strong and one of the wagon drivers.

  "Safe, eh?" cried the master of the Hall. "I am glad to hear it." Andhis face showed his relief.

  He insisted upon knowing the details and Jack told us as much as hedeemed necessary.

  "It was only a schoolboy trick, sir," he added. "I guess they meant noharm."

  "Nevertheless, I shall make a complaint to Doctor Pornell," answeredCaptain Putnam. "He ought to know how his students are conductingthemselves. It was largely, however, the fault of the drivers. One ofthe older academy seniors got them to leave their wagons and go into theroadhouse with him. There he treated them and got them to take theireyes off my property--and then the other students ran off with theoutfit."

  "Well, they didn't make the trick turn out as intended," said Pepper."We've got the outfit back,--and it is only a little after supper time.We can get supper, and get up our tents, too, before it is very late."

  "I am very thankful for what you cadets did," went on the master of theHall. "I shall not forget it. It was lucky that you struck the righttrail."

  The drummers were called in and they rolled their drums,--a signal thatthe outfit had been found. This brought in the cadets from all over, andsoon, while some were helping the regular cooks get supper, others wereat work erecting the tents.

  The only cadets who were not glad that the outfit had been found wereReff Ritter and his crowd. They were jealous of what Jack and his chumshad accomplished, and could not help but show it.

  "The Ruddy crowd will now be more stuck up than ever," grumbled Ritter.

  "Oh, pshaw! it wasn't so much to do," added Coulter.

  "It was more than you ever did for the school, Coulter," answered Fred,who chanced to overhear the remarks.

  "Was it?" sneered Coulter.

  "Yes, it was, and you know it."

  "If Ruddy and his crowd hadn't found the wagons we might have stopped atthe hotel over night," said Paxton. "I'd rather stay there anyway thanout here."

  "I think the Hayville Hotel would have hard work to accommodate so manycadets," said Fred, with a smile. "It has about six rooms for guests."And then he walked away, leaving the Ritter crowd to continue theirfault-finding.

  The cadets were not used to marching over the rough roads, and a goodmany of them were tired out and glad enough to turn in and go to bed.But some of them had to stand guard, and among these were Andy andStuffer.

  "Say, let us go back into the woods and see what became of those Pornellfellows," said Pepper to Jack.

  "I can't get away, otherwise I would," answered the young officer.

  "Supposing I get up a crowd and go, Jack? You'll have the guards keeptheir eyes closed, won't you?"

  "Sure. But don't let Ritter and his gang spot you."

  "I'll be careful."

  Pepper made a careful canvass and managed to enlist the services of ninecadets, including Fred, Dale, Emerald and Bob Grenwood.

  "I've got a plan to scare them--if they are still in the woods," saidthe quartermaster of the battalion. "I was going to try the trick onsome of our own fellows, up at Lake Caboy--but I'd rather work it on thePornell crowd," and then he told what his plan was.

  "Just the thing!" cried Pepper. "We'll scare 'em out of their senses!"

  With caution the party stole away from the temporary camp. Several ofthem carried bundles, and Bob Grenwood had a big megaphone.

  "We've got to hurry, otherwise they may be gone," said Pepper. "Bock andSedley were waiting for Carey."

  It was not yet ten o'clock and the sky was bright with stars. The cadetshurried as fast they could, The Imp leading the way.

  "We may as well put on the disguises now," said he, as soon as theyreached the spot where the wagons had been found. "For all we know theymay be coming this way."

  The party halted and undid their bundles. Out rolled some whitebedsheets and tall hats made of white cardboard. The cadets put on thehats and wound the sheets around them, making them look like so manyghosts.

  "Now for the phosphorus," said Bob Grenwood and brought forth a littlebox. He rubbed some on his hands, his forehead and his cheeks and theothers did likewise. The phosphorus gave forth a sickly yellow glow thatwas ghastly in the extreme.

  "Look!" cried Pepper, just as the boys had finished their ghostlypreparations. "Here they come now!"

  All looked and saw that he was right. From the direction of thedilapidated cottage four young fellows were approaching rapidly. Theywere Bock and Sedley, their particular chum, Carey, and Plunkett, thesenior who had invited the wagon drivers into the roadhouse.

  "We'll surround them," whispered Pepper. "And be sure and don't let anyof them escape."

  So it was arranged, and the ghostlike figures ranged themselves in asemi-circle in the woods.

  "Halt!" cried Bob Grenwood, through the megaphone. "As you value yourlives, halt!"

  He spoke in a low tone, and in amazement the four Pornell studentsstopped short. Then Sedley caught sight of the figures with the glowupon their faces and he set up a yell.

  "It's ghosts!"

  "Ghosts?" repeated Carey.

  "Ye--yes--don't--yo--you see 'em?" And Sedley's teeth commenced tochatter. "Oh, I wish I wa--was ba--back to Pornell!" he wailed.

  "They aren't ghosts," growled Plunkett. "This is a trick!"

  "They look like ghosts!" gasped Carey, who was as much of a coward asSedley.

  "I don't believe in ghosts," said Roy Bock. "It must be some of thePutnam Hall cadets--or else some of our own crowd."

  "Halt!" cried Bob again, and his companions repeated the command. Then,as the Bock crowd stopped, the cadets surrounded them, so that none ofthem might slip away.

  "What do you want?" demanded Bock, who was evidently the leader, thoughPlunkett was older.

  "We want you to have a good time," said Bob, in a pleasant voice. "Wecame to treat you--in return for giving the Putnam Hall boys so muchtrouble."

  "Who are you?" demanded Plunkett. It was too dark under the tre
es todistinguish faces, especially when distorted from the glowing of thephosphorus.

  "Friends," said another cadet, for the quartermaster's plan had beenexplained to all.

  "What do you want of us?"

  "We want you to come along. We have a plan to play another trick on thePutnam Hall fellows."

  "But who are you?" demanded Sedley, who had recovered from his fright.

  "That's telling, Bat. But you'll soon know--when we get at the feastOliver has prepared for us."

  Now Oliver was a caterer who had often supplied the Pornell Academystudents with good things to eat. The mention of his name took the Bockcrowd off their guard.

  "Have you got a spread for us?" demanded Bock, who was tremendouslyhungry.

  "We sure have, Roy."

  "But this rig----"

  "We were going to scare the cadets--if we missed you," answered Pepper,in a disguised voice.

  Some more questions were asked, and then Bock and his crowd agreed tofollow the ghostlike figures through the woods. The cadets kept in thedark as much as possible and worked hard to keep their identity asecret. Bock at last concluded the boys belonged to a new batch ofPornell students, who had come to that institution only a short whilebefore. One of these lads had spoken about giving a feast, in honor ofhis birthday, and Bock thought the feast was now on the way.

  Bob Grenwood was something of a hunter, and during his spare hours hehad tramped for many miles through the woods, looking for game. On oneof these expeditions he had run across a cave in a hillside, bordering astream that flowed into one of the lakes of that vicinity. He hadvisited the cave several times and had fixed it up for use, with a roughbench and table, and a rude fireplace.

  To this cave the young quartermaster now led the way and all of theothers followed. When almost there Bob called a halt.

  "I will go ahead and see if all is in readiness," he said in a deepvoice.

  Then he ran into the cave and found a candle that was there. He cut thecandle into six pieces and lit them all, making quite a light as theywere ranged on the table. He covered the center of the table with acloth, resting on several sticks of wood, so that the cloth would lookas if it had things to eat under it.

  "Now advance, and prepare for the grand feast!" he called out, andseeing the lights streaming from the cave the Bock crowd ran forward.

  "A cave!" cried Sedley.

  "And a spread!" added Carey. "See the table!"

  "This is a surprise," murmured Plunkett.

  "We'll see what they've got to eat," came from Bock, and then the fourstudents marched into the cave and surrounded the table with its burningcandles.

  "Now then, work quick!" cried Bob in a low voice, and leaped towardssome sticks beside the cave entrance. The others understood, and soonhad the sticks piled up against the opening. Against the sticks theyheaped up some rocks that were handy.

  "What does this mean?" roared Roy Bock, wheeling around and trying toget out of the cave.

  "It means you are prisoners of the Putnam Hall cadets!" cried Pepper,throwing off his disguise.