“Supper time!” cried Fred.
“You go down,” said Tom. “No use of all of us being late.”
“No, you go down,” answered Dick. “You’ve run risk enough. Besides, if you are absent from the crowd too long somebody may grow suspicious of you. I’ll help Sam and Tubbs to a safe hiding-place.”
“Find out if they are there first—and lock the door after we are gone.”
Leaning out of the window Dick tapped on the next glass. At once Sam showed himself.
“It’s quite a climb, but I reckon I can make it,” said the youngest Rover.
Waiting to hear no more, Tom hurried below, followed by Fred, and mingled with the crowd of students entering the mess hall.
Many of the boys were talking about the quarrel between Sam and Tubbs, and all condemned the actions of Jasper Grinder.
“He ought to have set them to doing extra lessons; that would have been punishment enough,” said one of the big boys, who was captain of Company A of the students for that term.
This opinion was that held by the majority. Several of the boys came to Tom to learn what he had to say. But he merely shrugged his shoulders.
“Wait and we’ll see what we will see,” he said
“Rover’s got a card up his sleeve, that’s as sure as you’re born,” said one of the students, and winked at Tom. But Tom only looked wise and turned away.
When the students sat down to eat it was noticed that Dick’s chair was vacant.
“Master Thomas Rover, do you know anything of your brother Richard?” asked an under-teacher.
“Perhaps he is having a talk with Mr. Grinder,” said Tom.
“Oh!” Then the under-teacher noticed that Mr. Grinder’s chair was also vacant, and said no more.
While the boys were eating, Peleg Snuggers came to the door and looked carefully about the mess hall.
“You won’t find them here, Peleg,” said Tom to himself. Then the man of all work disappeared, and the supper continued as if nothing out of the ordinary was happening.
CHAPTER V
A SCENE IN THE SCHOOLROOM
In the meantime, what of affairs in the dormitory? Was all going as quietly as Tom had anticipated?
As soon as Tom went below Dick locked the door, then turned again to the window. Sam was trying to climb from one room to the next, but could not get a satisfactory hold.
“Here, give me your hand,” cried Dick softly, and reaching forth he soon helped his brother to a position of safety.
“Say, aint it dangerous?” asked Tubbs anxiously, as he gazed to the ground, twenty feet below.
“You’ve got to run some risks, Tubbs,” said Dick. “Quick, or you may be too late.”
Fearful of a fall, the rich youth put out one foot and a hand. Dick tried to reach him, but was unable to do so.
“A little further, Tubbs,” he said encouragingly.
“I—I’m afraid I’ll fall,” was the trembling answer. Then the rich youth let out a cry of alarm. “Somebody is coming!”
“Come,” cried Dick, and reached out a trifle further. As Tubbs gave the eldest Rover his fingers Dick hauled him from the window and literally swung him into the dormitory. Then, as Tubbs landed in a heap on the floor, Sam closed the window and locked it.
“Now you must clear out to another room!” cried Dick. “Whoever was coming will find that window wide open, and guess you have escaped in this direction.”
“But where can we go to?” asked the rich youth.
“Go to Dormitory No. 6. Only young Adler is in there, and Hemmingway, and they are on a vacation until after Christmas. The closet is a big one, and you can both hide on the upper shelf. Quick! I’ll bring you some supper.”
All three left the dormitory, and Sam and Tubbs scurried off in the direction indicated. As for Dick, he lost no time in reaching the mess hall.
“Sorry, sir,” he said to the under-teacher. “The bell couldn’t have rung very loud.”
“It rang as loud as usual,” was the answer, and no more was said, the teacher’s head being just then full of other matters.
Glad to get off so easily, Dick lost no time in eating his supper. While making way with the food he stowed a goodly portion in his pockets, in a couple of spare napkins, and by some silent motions from Tom learned that his brother was doing the same.
Just as the students were finishing the meal, Jasper Grinder came in and walked down the aisles between the tables. He looked both angry and perplexed. As he came close to Tom he paused.
“Excuse me, Mr. Grinder, but won’t you let Sam out of the stone cell?” asked Tom, to avoid being questioned.
“You be silent Rover,” muttered the teacher, and passed on without saying more.
After the supper hour it was usual for the students to have half an hour to themselves, during which they might read, play games, or do as they pleased. But now Mr. Grinder called them together in the main classroom.
“I wish to talk to you young gentlemen,” said the teacher, when all were seated.
“We’re going to catch it now,” whispered Tom to Dick. “Don’t you give the secret away.”
“Indeed I won’t,” answered the eldest Rover. “I intend to lay the whole case before Captain Putnam as soon as he returns.”
“Silence!” thundered Jasper Grinder. “I want you boys to stop talking instantly.”
“I didn’t say anything,” murmured several in an undertone.
“Silence, I say!” repeated the master, and then all became so quiet that the ticking of the clock could be heard distinctly.
The teacher gazed around at the scores of faces and looked more stem than ever.
“I am going to question all of you separately, and I trust each of you will tell the truth. The question is, Do you know what has become of Samuel Rover and William Tubbs? or Do you know what they have done? I shall start with the first boy. Hickley, what have you to say?”
“I don’t know anything about them,” answered the boy named Hickley.
“Brainard, do you know?”
“No, sir.”
“Parkham?”
“I know they had a little set-to in the gymnasium, but that’s all. The whole thing was a friendly bout, I guess.”
“I am the best judge of that. It was a disgraceful fight. What have you to say, Griggs?”
“If you say it was disgraceful I suppose it was, sir. I thought it was only a friendly dispute——”
“Stop! I want you to answer the original questions, yes, or no.”
“No.”
“No, what?”
“No, to both original questions.”
“No, sir!” and Jasper Grinder stamped his foot.
“Oh! All right, sir. No, sir, to both questions, sir.”
There was a titter at this, which caused Jasper Grinder to grow red in the face.
“Boys, be quiet!” he shouted. “If you do not be still I will keep all of you in to-morrow.”
As this would have spoiled the chances for a good skate and some exciting races, the boys immediately subsided. Then the questioning went on until Dick Rover was reached.
“I don’t know where Sam and Tubbs are now,” said Dick. “Perhaps they are frozen stiff.”
“Did you aid them in escaping from the stone cell and the storeroom?”
“No, sir.”
“Have you seen them since I placed them there?”
“Yes, I have,” answered Dick boldly, seeing it was useless to beat about the bush longer.
“Oh! Then you did aid them to escape?”
“Not from the stone cell and the storeroom. I met them after they had escaped.”
“Where did you see them last?”
“I decline to answer that question.”
“Decline!” thundered
Jasper Grinder.
“I do, sir. As soon as Captain Putnam arrives I shall lay this whole matter before him, and learn if you have any authority for placing my brother in a place where he is liable to catch a cold which may give him pneumonia and be the cause of his death. As it is, my brother suffered a great deal, and so did Tubbs, and if they get sick from it you may be sure that you will be held legally accountable. It was an inhuman thing to do.”
As Dick finished there was a murmur, and then a number of the students broke out into applause, while Tom clapped his hands as hard as he could. Jasper Grinder stood at his desk dumbstruck, with his face growing paler each instant.
“Silence! silence!” he exclaimed, when he could control his voice. “Silence, I say, or I will cane you all! This is—is most unseemly—it is—er—mutiny! Silence!”
“I mean just what I say, Mr. Grinder,” went on Dick, when he could be heard. “You are master here, and we are bound to obey you, in certain things. But you shan’t keep my brother in an icy room all night, and on a supper of stale bread and cold water. Such treatment would almost make a mule sick.”
“Rover, will you be silent, or must I get the cane?” gasped Jasper Grinder, almost beside himself with rage.
“If you get your cane, sir, you won’t hit me more than once with it.”
“Won’t I? We’ll see who is master here.”
“My gracious! Is he really going to try to cane you, Dick!” exclaimed Tom.
“I suppose he is,” was the cool answer. “He is so angry he doesn’t know what he is doing.”
Rushing from the classroom Jasper Grinder presently reappeared, carrying a cane which looked as if it might hurt a good deal, if vigorously applied.
Tom could not help but grin. Dick was almost as tall as the school-teacher, and probably just as strong, and the idea of a caning appeared ridiculous in the extreme.
Caning was not allowed at Putnam Hall, but evidently Jasper Grinder meant to take matters in his own hands.
“Richard Rover, come up here,” he thundered.
“What for, sir?”
“To receive the punishment you so richly deserve.”
“Mr. Grinder, you haven’t any right to cane me. It’s against Captain Putnam’s rules.”
“I don’t care for the rules—I mean, you have acted in such an outrageous manner that I must do whatever I think necessary to uphold law and order.”
“I am willing to stand whatever punishment Captain Putnam sees fit to inflict. But I shall not take a caning from you.”
“Won’t you? We’ll see.”
As Jasper Grinder spoke he leaped from the platform and strode rapidly toward the spot where Dick was standing.
The eldest Rover did not budge, but remained where he was, eying the enraged school-teacher determinedly.
“Don’t you dare to strike!” he said warningly, as the cane was raised over his head.
“I will!” cried Jasper Grinder, and was about to bring the cane down with all force when Tom caught it from behind and wrenched it from his grasp.
CHAPTER VI
NEWS OF AN OLD ENEMY
Dick had not intended that the cane should hit him. He was prepared to dodge. But he wanted to make certain that Jasper Grinder would really try to carry out his ill-advised threat.
“Hi! give me that cane!” cried the schoolmaster, as he whirled around.
“I shall not,” answered Tom, and began to run down one of the aisles to the door.
Instantly Jasper Grinder made after him. But the boys had gathered in a crowd, and it was with difficulty that the man could get through.
As Tom ran for one door Dick ran for another, and it was not long before both met in a hallway leading to the mess hall and the dormitories.
“Dick, what shall we do next?” questioned Tom. “We can’t stay here, that’s certain.”
“We’ll get out,” answered Dick. “I think Mrs. Stanhope will keep us all night.”
“And if she won’t, I know the Lanings will,” said Tom, with a grin.
“We must let Sam know,” went on Dick. “He can go along. I shan’t come back until Captain Putnam returns.”
“Right you are.”
Up the stairs they rushed, and into the dormitory where Sam and Tubbs were in hiding.
“Sam!” called Dick, and the youngest Rover at once appeared.
“What’s up now? What are you in such a hurry for?”
“Get your overcoat and hat, and come on. We are going to the Stanhopes for the night. Here, Tubbs, is some supper,” and Dick passed over what he had in the napkins, while Tom did the same.
“Thanks,” said the rich boy. “But—but must I stay here alone?”
“I don’t think we can take you along,” answered Dick. “But you want to be careful. Old Grinder is as mad as a hornet. He was going to cane me for helping you two. Come, Sam, there is no time to waste. Tubbs, you had better let Fred Garrison know where you are. He’s all right.”
In a moment more Dick, Tom, and Sam were in their own room and putting on their heavy overcoats and their hats. They lost no time, and as they heard Jasper Grinder coming up one flight of stairs they ran down another pair leading into the kitchen.
Here the servants, directed by Mrs. Green, were putting away what was left of the students’ supper.
“Oh, dear!” burst out the matron, on catching sight of the boys. “What do you want here?”
“Good-by, Mrs. Green,” said Dick. “Tell the captain when he comes that we were driven away from the school by Mr. Grinder, and that we’ll return as soon as we learn that he is back.” And before the housekeeper could answer they opened the kitchen door and ran outside.
It was a dark night and the air was filled with snow, some of which was already sifting lazily downward. But they knew the way well, so the want of light did hot bother them. They crossed the parade ground on a run and made directly for the road leading to the Stanhopes’ cottage.
“I reckon it will be quite a surprise for Mrs. Stanhope and Dora,” said Tom, after they had told Sam of what had happened in the school-room. “They won’t be looking for us.”
“I know they’ll treat us well,” said Dick.
“To be sure they will—especially after all we did for them on the Lakes,” put in Sam. “But let me tell you, I am curious to know how this thing is going to end.”
“I think Mr. Grinder will get the worst of it,” returned Tom confidently. “He must know he was doing wrong to put you in that icy storeroom and poor Tubbs in the stone cell. How did you make out with Tubbs in the closet?”
“Oh, he became quite friendly, and we decided to let the past drop. I promised I wouldn’t call him Tubby any more.”
“That’s fair,” came from Dick. “He isn’t such a bad sort.”
On and on hurried the boys. The road was a somewhat lonely one, with several patches of woods to be passed. Several times they halted, endeavoring to ascertain if they were being pursued. But all remained silent. The snow was now coming down more thickly than ever.
“What a lot of adventures we have had in these woods,” observed Tom, during one of the halts. “Don’t you remember the tramp who stole the watch, and the rows with Josiah Crabtree and with Arnold Baxter and Dan?”
“Indeed I do,” said Sam. “Mrs. Stanhope and Dora must be glad to be rid of old Crabtree and Arnold Baxter.”
“It’s a pity Dan Baxter wasn’t locked up with his father,” said Dick. “Don’t you remember how he used to bother Dora and the Laning girls?”
“Do you think he’d bother them now?” asked Sam. “If he bothers Grace Laning he had better look out for me.”
“That’s right, Sam, stand up for your own particular girl——” began Tom.
“I didn’t say she was my girl,” cried Sam, and he was glad that the darkness
hid his red-growing face. “I’m no more sweet on her than you are on her sister Nellie.”
“It’s Dick who must lead off, with Dora Stanhope——” went on Tom.
“Oh, stow it, and come on!” burst in Dick. “If you keep on talking you’ll surely be caught. Grinder may be coming after us in a carriage.”
“If we had our bicycles we could get there in no time,” said Sam.
“Yes, and we might break our necks in the dark,” added Dick. “Come, we haven’t more than a mile further to go.”
On the three trudged, through the snow, which was coming down faster each instant. Once they thought they heard carriage wheels behind them, but soon the sounds faded away in the distance.
At last they came in sight of the Stanhope cottage. A bright light was streaming from the sitting-room windows, and looking in they saw Dora sitting at the table reading a book, and Mrs. Stanhope resting comfortably in an easy-chair in front of the bright-burning fire.
Dora herself came to the door in answer to their ring. “Why, mamma, it’s the Rovers!” she cried, as she shook hands, “I never expected to see you to-night, in such a snowstorm. How kind of Captain Putnam to let you come.”
“The captain had nothing to do with it,” answered Dick, as he gave her hand an extra squeeze, which he somehow thought she returned. “We came because we were having a lot of trouble, and didn’t know what else to do.”
“More trouble!” came from Mrs. Stanhope, as she also greeted them. “I was hoping all our troubles were a thing of the past.”
“This isn’t any trouble for you,” answered Dick. “Excepting that it brings trouble through your giving us shelter for the night.”
“If that’s the case, then let it bring trouble,” put in Dora promptly. “But what is it all about.”
“I’ll tell you presently, Dora. But in the meantime can you give Sam some supper? He hasn’t had a mouthful since dinner time.”
“You poor boy!” came from Mrs. Stanhope. “To be sure he shall have his supper. I’ll tell Mary to prepare it at once,” and she bustled from the room to give the servant the necessary directions, and returned at once.
The Rover Boys Megapack Page 78
