CHAPTER XVIII.
MRS. BOWSER'S CAT.
"The question before this honorable board," began the Codfish, ashe stretched himself out one night in Frank's Morris chair beforeFrank's comfortable blaze, thus displaying his characteristic hosieryof vivid color, "is, what has become of Mrs. Bowser's cat? Don't allspeak at once."
It was a cold day in the middle of January. Football had been laidaway on the shelf for two months. The ticklish period of examinationsbefore the Christmas holidays was a thing of the past, and allexaminations had been passed successfully by our friends, althoughLewis had had a tight squeeze. Frank, Jimmy, the Codfish, Lewis andDavid were gathered around the blazing fire. Books had been tossedaside for the night, when the Codfish propounded his question.
"The poor thing couldn't stand that hymn in Chapel this morning,"said Frank. "When you raised your voice she skipped to the talltimbers."
"I don't blame her, do you, Frank?" inquired Jimmy. "The Codfishhas a voice which would drive a biped crazy, to say nothing of aquadruped or even a centipede. He sings on both sides of the note andnever hits it."
"What happened to the old cat, anyway?" broke in Lewis, as theCodfish was about to come back at Jimmy with hot shot.
"Ask the Codfish," returned Frank. "He was on the aisle where thewhole thing happened. Maybe he was responsible for the presence ofTabby, and if he was, he has first-hand information of the greatestimportance. Out with it, Codfish."
"Not guilty!" said the accused, stretching himself still furthertill his feet touched the fender. "I got tangled up with the Bowserfamily once, and once is enough. I stand before you guiltless of thedastardly deed."
"Who brought the cat in, anyway?"
"Give it up," said the Codfish. "Some one of those fresh young thingson the east aisle. The proctors are looking for him, and if they findhim and Mrs. Bowser gets her hand on him, there will be a funeral atsome rural household, I'm thinking."
"She certainly did set up a howl this morning," said Jimmy, "when----"
"Who, the cat or Mrs. Bowser?" inquired Frank.
"The cat, my smart young drop kicker; and then she--the cat, not Mrs.Bowser--flew out with her tail the size of a muff."
"And like the last lines of the story, she was never seen nor heardof again," added Jimmy dolefully.
"Poor Mrs. Bowser!" said Frank.
"Poor Tabby!" said the Codfish. "Mrs. Bowser still has her nice,warm, comfortable house, while poor pussy is probably out in the coldsomewhere. Why doesn't the fool cat have sense enough to go home?" hecontinued. "I would."
"Probably the fear of hearing your voice is in her heart, and shewould have to pass Honeywell Hall to get back home."
The incident that the boys were discussing was the appearance thatmorning at prayers of a sleek black cat. Evidently she had beenpicked up by some one of a mischievous turn of mind and smuggled intothe Chapel. Prayers were just over. The boys were in the middle ofthe fine old tune of "America," and had reached the first line of thethird verse, "Let music swell the breeze," when there was a piercinghowl, and a furry bunch of animation, which proved to be a black cat,shot across the open space of the Chapel just below the platform andbetween that and the first row of seats. The volume of tone instantlydiminished as heads were turned and necks craned to see what washappening. Pussy ran up the steps of the platform, took one wildlook at Dr. Hobart and then tore down the aisle for the door. Handsshot out here and there to interrupt the meteor-like passage of theblack cat, but she dodged them all and, uttering high-pitched yowls,reached the Chapel door and disappeared.
From that moment no one had seen her. During the day the news hadspread around that Mrs. Black Cat, who bore the euphonious name of"Pandora," had been kidnapped. A search was instituted. The Chapelbuilding had been searched and the dormitories next to it, butneither hide nor hair of Pandora had come to light. Mrs. Bowserwas distracted. The guilty boy or boys who smuggled the cat intothe Chapel had gone undetected, although there had been muchcross-questioning and some little detective work by the proctors.
"Well, I'd like to find Pandora," said Frank. "I don't forget thatMrs. Bowser helped us out of a bad scrape last year, when Lewis gotthe tags mixed up on the ice-cream consignment and sent the poor ladythe wrong box."
"Same here," said the Codfish. "I'd take a hand in the rescue myself,if it wasn't so blooming cold to-night."
"That's just it, it is so blooming cold that poor pussy is likely tofreeze to death. If she's inside, she's all right."
"Of course she's inside, you blithering idiot," said the Codfish,yawning. "Any cat that knows enough to sing 'America' isn't likely tobe so dumb as to stay out in zero weather, is she? Perhaps she wasn'tkidnapped at all----"
"Cat-napped, you mean," corrected Jimmy.
"Well, cat-napped, then. Perhaps she's just a good religious cat andcame in to prayers like any Freshman. Whatever her intention was, Ican't help it. But there's one thing I do know," and the Codfish satup and wagged his forefinger impressively.
"What?"
"That I'm going to my downy couch, cat or no cat." He rose to hisfeet, gave a prodigious stretch and ambled off in the direction ofthe bed chamber.
"Well, I must be going, too," said Jimmy.
"I'll take a turn with you," said Frank. "Come on, David, a whiff ofthis sharp air will do you good."
"Can't," said David. "I've got to work on an editorial for the_Mirror_."
"All right, I'll go alone. I'll only be a minute."
Together the three boys, Jimmy, Lewis and Frank, clattered out of thedormitory and stepped rapidly up the walk.
"By Jove!" said Frank, "I'd like to walk about five miles. Isn't thisair wonderful?" and he drew in a deep breath of the frosty air.
"About fifty feet is enough for me," grunted Lewis, and as theyreached his entry, "I'll drop off this procession right here. Ta, ta.If you fellows are found frozen stiff as Lot's wife in the morning,I'll say I told you so."
"Lot's wife wasn't frozen," said Jimmy; "she was petrified. YourBiblical education has been neglected."
"You fellows will be both petrified and frozen in about five minutes,if you hang around there correcting your betters on Biblicalmatters," retorted Lewis, and he dashed up the stairs.
"Come on!" shouted Frank to Jimmy; "I'll race you to the other end ofthe yard and back--one, two, three, go!"
Away the two tore at breakneck speed down the walk. The Chapel lay atthe far end of the walk on which the boys were having their littlerace, and it was to be the turning point. Frank reached the wall ofthe tower first, touched it and turned a step or two ahead of Jimmy.The latter trying to make a quick turn slipped and fell to the groundwith a crash. Frank stopped and came back.
"Acknowledge you're licked," he said, helping Jimmy to his feet.
"I'm licked, all right, and I'm also skinned, all right," grumbledJimmy. "Ouch! I've knocked more skin off my hip than I did allthrough the football season." He limped around rubbing the injuredmember.
"I've got a bottle of arnica at the room; come on back and I'll fixyou up," laughed Frank. "Sorry, old man, but you can't run till youstretch your legs more. They're too short."
"I don't want arnica; I want some nice tough skin. If you have any ofthat down there to spare, I'll go back with you. S-s-s-s-h--what wasthat?"
Jimmy's ear had caught a sound like a long-drawn-out cry. "Didn't youhear it, Frank?"
"You have a singing in your ears, Jimmy," said Frank. "Come along,I'll give you my arm."
"There it is again," said Jimmy in a whisper. "Listen!"
As they stood with their heads cocked, there came a long wail as ofsomething in distress. It sounded half human, half animal, and wasquite terrifying. It seemed to come out of the air above them.
"Great Peter, what is it?" said Jimmy, clutching Frank by the arm.
Frank began to laugh. "It does sound bad, certainly. She's trying toget the tune of 'America' just right, I guess. It's the cat, or Imiss my guess."
"And for p
ity sake, where is she?" gasped Jimmy, turning his faceskyward where the stars glittered in the frosty atmosphere.
"The mystery is explained," said Frank. "Mrs. Bowser's cat hassomehow or other got into the tower. She doesn't like it a bit, andshe wants to go home."
"I guess that's the explanation," returned Jimmy. "But I don't seehow she's going to get home to-night, unless we can get up there."
"And if we don't get up, she'll probably never go home," said Frank."It must be terribly cold up there. It is all open up in the belfry,and it's dollars to doughnuts she'll be as stiff as Lewis said Lot'swife was, by morning." To emphasize his words, another wail floatedout on the night air. It seemed more pitiful than before and weaker.
"Poor Pandora is getting discouraged," cried Jimmy. "We've got to gether somehow."
For answer, Frank strode to the big front door of the Chapel andtried the knob, with Jimmy at his heels. "Just as I thought," hesaid; "it is locked."
The boys stood and looked at each other. "Guess we'd better go andhunt up the janitor," said Jimmy. "He can bring her down. I don'twant to take any more chances. I've lost all the skin I want to loseto-night."
"There's a little door around on the other side," said Frank, "whichthe janitor uses to go in and out of the building, but I supposethat's locked, too. Let's try it. If we can't get in, we'll have toreport the whereabouts of Pandora. But just for the fun of the thing,I'd like to get that tabby cat and take her back to the lady who isworrying about her. It would square us a little for that bad job wedid to the Travel Club last winter." He was already on his way to thelittle door at the back of the tower, and Jimmy tagged along behind,protesting.
"No use, Frank," he said. "Old Bonesey"--the nickname applied to theChapel janitor by the boys because he was so lean and bony--"keepsthat door locked as tight as a drum. Some one stole the clapper ofthe bell a few years ago and he is particular about that door. We'dbetter go and report that pussy is in the tower, and then skip forbed. It's getting late."
But Frank was not listening. Just about the time Jimmy reachedthe end of his protest, Frank reached the door, which was all indarkness, sunk as it was in the deep wall of the tower, which was atthis point perhaps three feet thick.
"Here we are," he said as he grasped the handle. "And here'sluck--it's open. Old Bonesey slipped a cog to-night. Come on." Frankstepped over the threshold. Jimmy followed cautiously. The hall wasas dark as pitch, not even the faintest ray of light penetrating intothe place to help them. Frank, leading, stumbled along and fell oversomething in the passageway, startling Jimmy half out of his wits.
"Come back here, you chump," he cried in a subdued voice. "I don'tlike this."
"Come on!" whispered Frank, who had regained his feet and wasadvancing. "This passage brings us out into the vestibule of theChapel, and once there we can get into the tower easily. There's aladder or stairs or something from the back of the gallery."
"Yes, I know that," returned Jimmy in a half whisper, for the gloomof the place chilled him more than the biting air; "but how are wegoing to climb it in the dark?"
"Oh, it's easy," said Frank. "Come on, I'll lead and you can comebehind. I'm going to make a try for that cat."
"All right," said Jimmy almost sulkily, "go on, but if you break yourblooming neck you needn't blame me for it," and he shuffled afterFrank.
Soon they came out of the passageway and, as Frank said, they were inthe vestibule leading to the Chapel. From that vestibule the doorsled into the various aisles of the Chapel, and at the farther endof the vestibule rose a circular flight of stairs which led to thegallery and on to the belfry, as the boys well knew. Toward thisthey made their way cautiously. A little light from the stars camein through the windows at the far end of the vestibule. Frank ledon, feeling along the wall and stepping cautiously. They both felt alittle queer to be alone in such a place and in such a manner in thedead of night, but, as Frank said afterward, they were on an errandof mercy, and having set out on the mission they would not turn back.Soon they struck the wall at the far end of the vestibule from whichthey had entered, and a little feeling around gave them the lowerstep of the winding stairway.
"Here she is!" said Frank. "Take hold of the rail. Our troubles arehalf over."
"I think they are only beginning," grumbled Jimmy. "I'd much ratherbe in bed than here any day."
"Any night, you mean. Come on. This is easy." Jimmy didn't think so,but he would have followed Frank anywhere that Frank would lead. Itwas plain that he didn't like the errand, judging from sundry gruntsthat came from him as they edged up the stairs. Without mishap, thetwo rescuers climbed steadily on. At times their passage was lightedby a flicker of outside light which came through the narrow slits ofwindows, and at times they were in absolute blackness.
At last they came to a landing, which Frank carefully felt over tomake sure there were no holes through which they might tumble. Theexamination was satisfactory. "Now, there ought to be a short ladderfrom here up into the belfry where Pandora is probably freezing todeath, for she hasn't howled since we started."
He had hardly spoken the words when a wail just above their headsshowed them they were on the right track. "All right, pussy, we're onthe way; keep a stiff upper lip! Here's the ladder, Jimmy. I knew itmust be here somewhere. Be careful, it seems to be about straight upand down." Jimmy had just set his hand to the ladder and Frank wasup in the darkness somewhere above him, when there was a tremendouscrash just above their heads and the whole tower seemed to rock withthe noise!
Frank Armstrong, Drop Kicker Page 18
