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

CHAPTER XV
HAZING A BULLY

Pepper and Andy slept close together in one of the tents. That night, about twelve o’clock, each was rudely awakened by having the cot upon which he rested tipped up on one side. Both rolled to the floor and bumped into one another.

“Hi, what’s this?” cried the acrobatic youth.

“Hazing!” returned Pepper. “Will you kindly take your head out of my stomach,” he added.

“Who did it?” asked Andy, as he struggled to get up, a blanket having become twisted about his feet.

“I don’t know – excepting it may be the Reff Ritter crowd,” returned Pepper, rubbing his nose, which had been bumped on the floor.

Cries came from the tent adjoining, and the two boys soon discovered that the cots of a dozen cadets had been turned over. One sufferer’s nose was bleeding, and all of the crowd were more or less angry.

“It was Ritter!” cried one cadet. “I saw him just as he dodged around a corner of the tent.”

“How is it you were awake?” asked another suspiciously.

“I just came in from guard duty. I was on Post 5.”

“Well, if it was the Ritter crowd we ought to get after ’em,” came from Dale.

“How could it be the Ritter crowd?” came from another cadet. “I heard they were going to have a feast to-night.”

“That comes off to-morrow night,” answered Joe Nelson.

As quietly as possible, so as not to disturb Captain Putnam and George Strong, the cadets looked around the various tents of their enemies. They found Ritter in his tent, lying on his cot and snoring loudly.

“He is shamming,” whispered Pepper. “Just wait till I prove it.”

“How will you do it?” asked Dale.

“I’ve got some red ink in a bottle here. I’ll daub his face with that. It’s indelible and it won’t come off for a month. He’ll look like an Indian on the warpath.”

The Imp spoke in a whisper and on tiptoes he approached Reff Ritter. As he bent over the bully the latter sat up very suddenly.

“You let me alone!” he blustered. “Don’t you dare to daub me with your red ink!”

“Ha! so you are wideawake, just as I suspected,” cried Pepper.

“Don’t you touch me with that red ink, Pepper Ditmore!”

“Red ink?” questioned The Imp, innocently. “Who mentioned red ink?”

“You did – but you’re not going to put any on me! I’ll report you if you do!”

“You must be dreaming, Ritter. I haven’t any red ink. I just came in to see if you were awake. Do you usually snore so loudly when you aren’t asleep?”

“Humph! think you’re smart, don’t you?”

“He was shamming true enough!” cried Andy. “Boys,” he went on, addressing his friends. “I move we initiate Ritter into the mysteries of a trip on an airship.”

“Airship?” said the bully. “Who has an airship?”

“That’s the talk!” cried several who understood Andy’s allusion to an “airship.” “Let’s give him his first lesson now.”

In a twinkling Reff Ritter was surrounded and bundled up in his own blanket. Then he was lifted bodily from the cot and taken out of the tent through the back. Six cadets carried him across the field.

Some cadets were still on guard and how to get out of camp was a problem. But Dale solved that question with ease. He gave a low whistle and one of the guards answered it almost instantly.

“Go past Post No. 7,” said Dale. “The guard there will be looking at the stars.”

The others followed his advice. On Post No. 7 Fred Century was stationed. They saw him looking intently up at a bright star, evidently oblivious to his surroundings and, of course, he did not see or notice them.

“Good for Fred!” cried Pepper. “He knows his little book all right!”

Reaching the end of the encampment field, the cadets entered the edge of the woods. Here was a swing which some of the boys had put up the afternoon before.

The rope of the swing was speedily secured, and several cadet belts were placed around Ritter’s waist and under his arms. Then the rope was run under these belts and the other end was thrown over the limb of a big tree.

“Now up with him!” ordered Andy. “Ritter, you’ll soon know how it feels to fly through the air!”

The cadets pulled on the rope with a will and up into the air went Ritter, sprawling out like a frog and turning around and around.

“Hurrah!” shouted one of the cadets. “Reff, how do you enjoy flying?”

“My, but he cuts a pretty figure!” added another.

“Just move your arms and you’ll think you are flying sure,” came from a third.

“Say, you let me down!” growled the bully. “It’s no fun to have these belts cutting you. I’m getting dizzy, too.”

“I guess you can stay there until sunrise!” answered Pepper.

“Sunrise! Not much! You let me down!” howled Ritter.

“We’ll let you down if you’ll apologize for dumping us out of bed and if you’ll promise not to do it again,” said Andy. Nobody had any intention of leaving Ritter suspended in mid-air for any great length of time.

“I’ll apologize to nobody!” cried the bully.

“Then let him hang,” said Dale. “Come on back, fellows.”

He made a move as if to leave the spot and his chums did the same.

“Hi, come back! Don’t leave me!” yelled Ritter, in sudden horror. “I can’t stand it! Let me down!”

“Will you apologize?” demanded several.

“I suppose I’ll have to. But this ain’t fair.”

“Do you apologize?”

“Yes,” was the low answer.

“And do you promise not to do such a thing again?”

“Oh, yes, anything you want, – only let me down,” growled Ritter.

The bully was lowered and the rope and belts were loosened. He was a little dizzy, and sank down on the ground.

“Gi – give me air!” he gasped.

The other cadets fell back, so that he might have all the air he desired. This was the chance the bully wanted and with a bound he arose and commenced to run for camp with all the speed he could command.

“Corporal of the guard!” he yelled, as he dodged past one of the cadets on guard. “Thieves! Robbers! Help!” he went on, and then he dodged into his tent and threw himself on his cot, pretending to be asleep as before.

The loud alarm woke the entire camp, just as the bully had desired, and Captain Putnam came rushing from his tent, followed by George Strong. Then Major Jack appeared and so did Captain Bart Conners and Captain Henry Lee.

“What is the trouble?” demanded Captain Putnam.

“I don’t know, sir,” answered Major Jack, but he suspected that some of the cadets were out for a lark.

“I’ll go the rounds of the guards and find out,” went on the master of the school shortly. He was determined to break up the horseplay if it could possibly be accomplished.

In the meantime Andy, Pepper and the others had not yet gotten into camp. They had to put the swing rope away and distribute the belts, and the sudden alarm given by Ritter had taken them all unawares.

“Say, fellows, we are going to have a tight squeeze of it getting in,” said Pepper, as the alarm increased.

“I didn’t think Ritter would be mean enough to raise such a hullabaloo,” said Dale. “He can’t take a joke.”

“He is sour on our crowd and will do all in his power to get us into trouble,” said Joe.

“We can’t get past Fred again, for there is Captain Putnam making straight for that post!” said another.

“Come on down to the lake front,” said Andy. “But be quick. They may call the roll!”

The cadets skirted the woods on the double-quick and came down to the water’s edge. Here, to their relief, they found Hogan on guard. Hale gave a low whistle, to which the Irish cadet responded. Then up into the air went Emerald’s face and he commenced to study the stars, utterly oblivious to his surroundings.

“This is our chance!” cried Pepper, and past the guard they sped, Hogan paying not the slightest attention to them. After they had passed Dale whistled once more, and the Irish cadet withdrew his gaze from the stars and resumed his march to the end of his post

Scarcely had the boys gotten into camp when the drum rolled out sharply. Wondering what was wrong, those who had been sleeping soundly got up and hurried to the parade ground. Lanterns and torches were lit, and the two companies lined up.

“Have the roll called, Major Ruddy,” said Captain Putnam. “Note carefully the names of all those who do not answer.”

“I will sir,” answered the young officer, and he wondered how many of his chums would prove to be missing.

Pepper dropped into line yawning broadly, as if just aroused from a heavy sleep, and Andy and the others followed suit, Dale stretching himself as if he could not get awake.

“Why don’t they let a fellow sleep?” grumbled The Imp, and this almost set some of the others to laughing.

“Shut up!” said Andy in a low voice. “I want to keep a straight face.”

“Did we all get here?” asked another anxiously.

“I guess so.”

The calling of the roll commenced, and one after another the cadets answered their names. The roll was called by the quartermaster, but George Strong had another roll on which he did the checking, so that Bob might make no mistake or check off some friend who did not answer.

“Eleven cadets missing,” announced George Strong after the roll call had come to an end.

“Eight of those are on guard duty,” answered Major Jack, and had the corporal of the guard give the names. He was wondering who the three other cadets could be.

“That leaves three to account for,” said Captain Putnam. “Who are they?”

George Strong consulted his roll.

“Nicholas Paxton, William Sabine and Frank Barringer.”

“Barringer had permission to go away – his folks are at the Lake Hotel,” answered the master of the school. He raised his voice: “Does anybody know anything about Paxton and Sabine?”

To this question there was no answer.

“We will take a look around the camp and see if we can find them,” said Captain Putnam.

This was done but the two cadets could not be found.

“Paxton said after supper he didn’t feel very well,” said Coulter, lamely. “Maybe he left the camp to look for a doctor.”

“Possibly, but I doubt it,” answered Captain Putnam, dryly.

The cadets were dismissed and told to keep absolutely quiet for the remainder of the night. As they returned to their tents speculation was rife concerning the two missing cadets.

“If they slipped off to one of the lake hotels they will be punished for it,” said Andy.

“Paxton is getting quite sporty,” answered another cadet. “And poor Billy Sabine is just foolish enough to follow his example.”

“I am sorry for Billy,” said Dale. “He is a pretty decent sort sometimes.”

The cadets retired and for about an hour matters in camp were quiet. Then, from the woods, came several screams of terror. A rifle shot rang out, and once more the camp was in an uproar.

CHAPTER XVI
A GAME OF BASEBALL

“What’s the trouble now?”

“Did somebody get shot?”

“Say, this night is the worst yet! Why can’t they let a fellow sleep?”

“If it’s going to keep on like this we better go back to the Hall!”

So the talk ran on, as the cadets rushed out on the parade ground to learn the cause of the new disturbance.

Those to make first appearance beheld Nick Paxton and Billy Sabine running as if some demon was after them. Both were out of breath and shaking with terror.

“Save me!” screamed Billy Sabine, and ran to Captain Putnam and clutched him by the arm frantically.

“What is the trouble, Sabine?” asked the master of the school anxiously.

“It’s a ghost – a madman, a monster!” gasped Sabine. “Oh, don’t let him touch me, please!”

“A ghost?” queried Captain Putnam.

“Yes, sir.”

“It was worse than a ghost,” came from Paxton, when he was able to speak. “Oh, I hope it doesn’t come this way!” And he glanced over his shoulder apprehensively.

“This is nonsense, boys! There are no ghosts.”

“Who fired that shot?” asked George Strong, while a crowd of cadets gathered around to learn what the new alarm meant.

“I did,” said a guard named Leeks. “I called on those fellows to halt, but they didn’t, so I fired to arouse the corporal of the guard.”

“Which was quite right, Leeks,” returned the master of the school. He turned again to Paxton and Sabine. “Now, give me your stories. Where have you been? You had no permission to leave the grounds. We missed you an hour or more ago.”

At these words Paxton and Sabine hung their heads. Sabine looked thoroughly miserable. As my old readers know, he was not naturally bad but was a lad easily led into wrongdoing.

“Cannot you answer me?” demanded the master of the school, after a painful pause.

“Paxton got me to go to a hotel down the lake shore, sir,” said Sabine in a low tone. “I am very sorry I went, sir, and I hope you’ll forgive me, sir. I won’t do it again.” And he gazed pleadingly at Captain Putnam.

“How about this, Paxton?”

“I – er – I went to the hotel because I thought some of my friends were stopping there,” was the lame reply. “As soon as I – er – found my friends weren’t there I came back.”

“Do you usually make calls after midnight?” demanded the master of the school, with fine sarcasm.

“I – er – I didn’t know it was so late, sir. But we would have been back long ago if it wasn’t for that – er – ghost, or worse!” continued Paxton.

“What did you see? Now no fooling, Paxton, or it will go hard with you,” and Captain Putnam’s voice grew extra stern.

“We saw a ghost, or demon, or something, sir. It was horrible!”

“The most frightful thing one could possibly imagine,” broke in Sabine, and his voice commenced to tremble again. “Oh, Captain Putnam, you may not believe it, but it was awful, sir, awful!”

“But what was it?” persisted the master of the school, seeing how much in earnest both cadets were.

“It was like a half-man and a half-beast,” answered Paxton. “It was very large and had a terrible voice. It chased us with a stick that was full of flashes of fire, and both of us thought we were going to be killed.”

“Maybe a trick of some of the cadets,” suggested George Strong.

At this suggestion Paxton and Sabine looked up quickly.

“Oh, could it have been some of the cadets?” questioned Sabine. “But no, it couldn’t be – it was too awful!” And he shook his head positively. Evidently he had been almost frightened out of his senses.

“The cadets have all been accounted for,” said Captain Putnam. “I don’t think any of them are responsible for this.”

“Where did this happen, over in yonder woods?” questioned George Strong.

“Back of the woods, sir.”

“Back of the woods?”

“Yes, sir, near the falls. There is an old mill up there. We were coming along the mill road when all of a sudden the Thing, whatever it was, rushed at us. We ran and it came after us! Oh, I thought my last moment on earth had come!” gasped Sabine, shaking afresh over the recollection of what had occurred.

“This is strange, to say the least,” mused the master of the school. “How did it look to you, Paxton?”

“I can’t tell you any more than I have, sir,” was the reply. “It was ghostlike and half-man and half-beast, and it had a loud voice and that stick of fire. It came at us so – so ferociously that we had to run for fear of being killed on the spot!”

This was all either Paxton or Sabine could tell. They stuck to their tale so persistently that Captain Putnam felt compelled to believe them.

“I’ll investigate in the morning,” said he. “It is probably some trick.”

“Maybe it was played by some of the Pornell students,” suggested Bart Conners.

“Possibly. Now go to bed, all of you, and let me hear no more alarms.”

Once again the cadets retired. Pepper walked off with Jack and Andy.

“Jack, what do you make of this?” asked Pepper.

“Oh, it was some trick,” answered the young major.

“But did you hear what they said – that it happened near that old mill, the Robertson mill?”

“That’s so,” mused Jack. “The place that Bert Field was asking about, and the spot some claim is haunted.”

“I don’t think the Pornell fellows would play that trick,” said Andy. “They wouldn’t dare – so close on their other doings.”

“I’d like to investigate this on my own account,” continued Pepper. “I am very curious to visit that haunted mill, and I am curious to know why Bert Field is interested in it.”

“Well, you may get a chance some day,” answered Jack; and there the talk had to come to an end.

In the morning the majority of the cadets were sleepy and inclined to lay around after inspection and breakfast and take it easy. Paxton and Sabine were again questioned, and Captain Putnam departed on horseback, to investigate their story.

“Looks as if it was going to rain,” said Andy, and he was right, and soon the drops commenced to fall. It was a steady downpour, lasting until the middle of the afternoon and the boys were glad enough to keep under shelter, only the guards being out, wearing their rubber coats.

In the midst of the storm Captain Putnam came back. He held a long talk with George Strong and then called in Paxton and Sabine.

“I do not know what scared you,” said the master of the school. “I rode around the old mill and found it locked and nailed up and nobody in sight. As you were badly frightened I will not punish you for leaving the camp without permission. But do not do it again, or I will punish you severely.” And there the matter rested.

The rain put a damper on the enthusiasm of the cadets and a few wished they were back at the Hall. But by nightfall it cleared off, and great campfires were kindled, so that things might be dried out, and then everybody felt better.

On Saturday it had been arranged that a game of baseball should come off, between nines of Company A and Company B. The rivalry between the nines was intense and much interest was manifested as a consequence.

Company A had for its pitcher Reff Ritter. Ritter had not been chosen for his popularity but because he knew how to pitch and had lately been doing good work in the box. For a catcher Ritter had Coulter, and two of his other cronies were in the field.

Dale was the pitcher for Company B, and Stuffer was catcher. On this nine, Andy was shortstop and Pepper covered second. These were not the positions the lads had previously filled, but Captain Putnam insisted that some changes be made, so that other lads might have a chance.

To make matters more interesting it was announced that visitors would be welcome to the camp during the game and afterwards, and Jack, who did not play, quickly invited the Fords to attend. A little stand was erected, so that the visitors might have seats.

Mr. Rossmore Ford came up the lake road in a big tallyho, bringing with him his wife, his two daughters, and half a dozen other people. Others arrived in carriages, on bicycles and on foot, until the visitors numbered fully a hundred.

“Oh, I hope Pepper and Andy’s side win!” cried Laura Ford, enthusiastically, after she had looked over the players.

“So do I,” added Flossie.

“Well, I think Company B has as good a show as Company A,” answered Jack, with a smile.

A professional ball player who chanced to be stopping at one of the lake hotels had consented to be umpire, and promptly at three o’clock he called out “Play!”

Company A was first at the bat, with their best men heading the list, and when they retired they had scored two runs. This made their supporters enthusiastic and they were loudly applauded.

“Now show ’em what you can do!” cried a cadet, as Company B came up to the home plate.

“Ritter will strike ’em out!” said another.

The first man up was struck out and the second followed. Then came a pop fly, which was easily gathered in, and Company B retired with the score 2 to 0 against them.

“This looks bad,” said Jack. “But the game is young yet.”

In the second inning Company A managed to get one more run and in the third they brought their score up to seven runs. Company B scored three times.

“Take a brace, boys!” cried Jack, to Pepper and Andy.

“My arm was a little stiff at the start, from getting wet during the storm,” said Dale. “But it is limbering up now.” And this proved to be true, and in the next inning he struck out three men in succession, amid great applause.

When Company B came to the bat Pepper knocked a home run and Andy a three-bagger. But that ended the run getting for the time being.

The beginning of the eighth inning found the score 11 to 7 in favor of Company A. Ritter and his followers were in high feather, thinking they were sure of winning.

“And maybe we won’t celebrate to-night,” chuckled the bully.

“Rub the defeat in good while you are at it,” said Paxton, who was on the substitute bench.

“You bet we will!” answered Ritter boastfully.

Ritter was to the bat and managed to line out a safety. He was followed by a player who went out on a foul, but the next man knocked a two-bagger and Ritter managed to slide home, amid well-deserved applause. When Company A retired they had 14 runs to their credit.

Dale was now to the bat and managed to get to second in safety. Pepper got to first and a wild throw over the baseman’s head gave Dale third and Pepper second. Then came a streak of good batting and the end of the eighth inning found Company B with 11 runs.

“We must hold ’em down!” said Pepper, as Company A came up for the ninth time to the bat. “Dale, do your best!”

The pitcher tried to steady himself and struck out the first man up. The second went to first on balls and the next batter hit a safety.

“Steady, Dale, steady!” cried Jack. And Dale settled down to even work once more, and Company A retired with only its 14 runs.

“Our last chance to win!” cried Pepper, as his side came in.

“Right you are,” answered the young major, anxiously. “Three runs to tie the score and four to win!”