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diff --git a/.gitattributes b/.gitattributes new file mode 100644 index 0000000..d7b82bc --- /dev/null +++ b/.gitattributes @@ -0,0 +1,4 @@ +*.txt text eol=lf +*.htm text eol=lf +*.html text eol=lf +*.md text eol=lf diff --git a/LICENSE.txt b/LICENSE.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..6312041 --- /dev/null +++ b/LICENSE.txt @@ -0,0 +1,11 @@ +This eBook, including all associated images, markup, improvements, +metadata, and any other content or labor, has been confirmed to be +in the PUBLIC DOMAIN IN THE UNITED STATES. + +Procedures for determining public domain status are described in +the "Copyright How-To" at https://www.gutenberg.org. + +No investigation has been made concerning possible copyrights in +jurisdictions other than the United States. Anyone seeking to utilize +this eBook outside of the United States should confirm copyright +status under the laws that apply to them. diff --git a/README.md b/README.md new file mode 100644 index 0000000..362b27a --- /dev/null +++ b/README.md @@ -0,0 +1,2 @@ +Project Gutenberg (https://www.gutenberg.org) public repository for +eBook #60838 (https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/60838) diff --git a/old/60838-0.txt b/old/60838-0.txt deleted file mode 100644 index cd787ff..0000000 --- a/old/60838-0.txt +++ /dev/null @@ -1,8335 +0,0 @@ -The Project Gutenberg EBook of The Rod and Gun Club, by Harry Castlemon - -This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere in the United States and most -other parts of the world at no cost and with almost no restrictions -whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or re-use it under the terms of -the Project Gutenberg License included with this eBook or online at -www.gutenberg.org. If you are not located in the United States, you'll have -to check the laws of the country where you are located before using this ebook. - -Title: The Rod and Gun Club - -Author: Harry Castlemon - -Release Date: December 3, 2019 [EBook #60838] - -Language: English - -Character set encoding: UTF-8 - -*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE ROD AND GUN CLUB *** - - - - -Produced by David Edwards and the Online Distributed -Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net (This file was -produced from images generously made available by The -Internet Archive) - - - - - - - - - - -[Illustration: THE BATTLE WITH THE STRIKERS.] - - - - - _ROD AND GUN SERIES._ - - THE - ROD AND GUN CLUB. - - BY HARRY CASTLEMON, - AUTHOR OF “THE GUNBOAT SERIES,” “BOY TRAPPER SERIES,” - “ROUGHING IT SERIES,” ETC. - - THE JOHN C. WINSTON CO., - PHILADELPHIA, - CHICAGO, TORONTO. - - - - -FAMOUS CASTLEMON BOOKS. - - - =GUNBOAT SERIES.= By HARRY CASTLEMON. 6 vols. 12mo. - - FRANK THE YOUNG NATURALIST. - FRANK IN THE WOODS. - FRANK ON THE LOWER MISSISSIPPI. - FRANK ON A GUNBOAT. - FRANK BEFORE VICKSBURG. - FRANK ON THE PRAIRIE. - - =ROCKY MOUNTAIN SERIES.= By HARRY CASTLEMON. 3 vols. 12mo. - Cloth. - - FRANK AMONG THE RANCHEROS. - FRANK IN THE MOUNTAINS. - FRANK AT DON CARLOS’ RANCH. - - =SPORTSMAN’S CLUB SERIES.= By HARRY CASTLEMON. 3 vols. 12mo. - Cloth. - - THE SPORTSMAN’S CLUB IN THE SADDLE. - THE SPORTSMAN’S CLUB AFLOAT. - THE SPORTSMAN’S CLUB AMONG THE TRAPPERS. - - =FRANK NELSON SERIES.= By HARRY CASTLEMON. 3 vols. 12mo. Cloth. - - SNOWED UP. - FRANK IN THE FORECASTLE. - THE BOY TRADERS. - - =BOY TRAPPER SERIES.= By HARRY CASTLEMON. 3 vols. 12mo. Cloth. - - THE BURIED TREASURE. - THE BOY TRAPPER. - THE MAIL-CARRIER. - - =ROUGHING IT SERIES.= By HARRY CASTLEMON. 3 vols. 12mo. Cloth. - - GEORGE IN CAMP. - GEORGE AT THE WHEEL. - GEORGE AT THE FORT. - - =ROD AND GUN SERIES.= By HARRY CASTLEMON. 3 vols. 12mo. Cloth. - - DON GORDON’S SHOOTING BOX. - THE YOUNG WILD FOWLERS. - ROD AND GUN CLUB. - - =GO-AHEAD SERIES.= By HARRY CASTLEMON. 3 vols. 12mo. Cloth. - - TOM NEWCOMBE. - GO-AHEAD. - NO MOSS. - - =FOREST AND STREAM SERIES.= By HARRY CASTLEMON. 3 vols. 12mo. - Cloth. - - JOE WAYRING. - SNAGGED AND SUNK. - STEEL HORSE. - - =WAR SERIES.= By HARRY CASTLEMON. 5 vols. 12mo. Cloth. - - TRUE TO HIS COLORS. - RODNEY THE OVERSEER. - MARCY THE REFUGEE. - RODNEY THE PARTISAN. - MARCY THE BLOCKADE-RUNNER. - -_Other Volumes in Preparation._ - -COPYRIGHT, 1883, BY PORTER & COATES. - - - - -CONTENTS - - - PAGE - - CHAPTER I. - - SOME DISGUSTED BOYS 5 - - CHAPTER II. - - BIRDS OF A FEATHER 25 - - CHAPTER III. - - LESTER BRIGHAM’S IDEA 45 - - CHAPTER IV. - - FLIGHT AND PURSUIT 66 - - CHAPTER V. - - DON’S ENCOUNTER WITH THE TRAMP 87 - - CHAPTER VI. - - ABOUT VARIOUS THINGS 108 - - CHAPTER VII. - - A TEST OF COURAGE 130 - - CHAPTER VIII. - - THE FIGHT AS REPORTED 152 - - CHAPTER IX. - - IN THE HANDS OF THE MOB 172 - - CHAPTER X. - - WELCOME HOME 194 - - CHAPTER XI. - - HOPKINS’ EXPERIENCE 217 - - CHAPTER XII. - - PLANS AND ARRANGEMENTS 239 - - CHAPTER XIII. - - THE DESERTERS AFLOAT 261 - - CHAPTER XIV. - - DON OBTAINS A CLUE 284 - - CHAPTER XV. - - ANOTHER TEST AND THE RESULT 307 - - CHAPTER XVI. - - THE ROD AND GUN CLUB 324 - - CHAPTER XVII. - - CASTING THE FLY 344 - - CHAPTER XVIII. - - CONCLUSION 360 - - - - -THE ROD AND GUN CLUB. - - - - -CHAPTER I. - -SOME DISGUSTED BOYS. - - -“Well, young man, I will tell you, for your satisfaction, that I have got -you provided, for, for four long years to come.” - -The speaker was Mr. Brigham. As he uttered these words he placed his hat -and gloves on the table, and looked down at his son Lester, who had just -entered the library in obedience to the summons he had received, and -who sat on the edge of the sofa, twirling his cap in his hands. The boy -looked frightened, while the expression on his father’s face told very -plainly that he was angry about something. - -“I have had quite enough of your nonsense,” continued Mr. Brigham, in -very decided tones. “Since we came to Mississippi you have done nothing -but roam about the woods and fields with your gun on your shoulder, and -get yourself into trouble. You made yourself so very disagreeable that -none of the decent boys in the settlement would have anything to do with -you, and consequently you had to take up with such fellows as Bob Owens -and Dan Evans. After setting fire to Don Gordon’s shooting-box, and being -caught in the act of stealing David Evans’s quails, you had to go and mix -yourself up in that mail robbery. Why, Lester, have you any idea where -you will bring up if you do not at once begin to mend your ways?” - -“Why, father, I had nothing to do with that,” exclaimed Lester, trying -to look surprised and innocent; “nothing whatever. You know, as well as -I do, that I was at home when those men who lived in that house-boat -waylaid and robbed the mail-carrier.” - -“I am aware that you took no active part in the work,” said his father. -“If you had, you would now be confined in the calaboose. But you told Dan -Evans about those checks for five thousand dollars that my agent sends me -every month.” - -“I didn’t,” interrupted Lester. - -“Everything goes to prove that you did,” answered Mr. Brigham. “If you -didn’t, how does it come that Dan knew all about those checks? He made -a full confession to Don Gordon. The story is all over the country, and -the people about here are very angry at you. Suppose that Dan had shot -Don Gordon, as he tried to do? What do you suppose would become of you? I -really believe you would have been mobbed before this time. I wonder if -you have any idea of the excitement you have raised in the settlement?” - -No; Lester had not the faintest conception of it, for the simple reason -that he had held no conversation with anybody, save the members of his -own family, since the afternoon on which Dan Evans was overpowered and -robbed of his mail-bag. When the full particulars of the affair came to -his ears, he was as frightened as a boy could be, and live. He knew that -he was in a measure responsible for the robbery, that it would never -have been committed if he had held his tongue regarding his father’s -money, and the fear that he had rendered himself liable to punishment -at the hands of the law, nearly drove him frantic. His terror was -greatly increased by his father’s last words. There had not been so much -excitement in the settlement since the war—not even when it became -known that Clarence Gordon and Godfrey Evans had dug up a portion of the -general’s potato patch, in the hope of unearthing eighty thousand dollars -in gold and silver that were supposed to be buried there. Don Gordon had -more friends than any other boy in the settlement, unless it was Bert, -and the planters were enraged at the attempt that had been made upon his -life. If Dan Evans’s bullet had found a lodgment in his body instead of -going harmlessly through the roof, Dan and Lester Brigham, as well as the -three flatboatmen who stole the mail, might have had a hard time of it. - -Lester’s first care was to hide himself in the house, as he had done -after he and Bob Owens burned Don’s old shooting-box. He earnestly hoped -that the men would escape with their plunder; but when he learned that a -strong party, led by General Gordon, had pursued them in Davis’s sailboat -and captured them, he was ready to give up in despair. Judge Packard -would have to look into the matter now through his judicial spectacles, -and Lester did not want to be summoned to appear as a witness. Neither -did Dan, who, disregarding the advice Don Gordon had given him, took -to the woods and hid there, just as he did after he picked his father’s -pocket of the hundred and sixty dollars that David had made by trapping -quails. - -When Mr. Brigham saw that Lester took to staying in the house, and -that he had suddenly lost all interest in hunting and shooting, his -suspicions were aroused. He always kept his ears open when he went to the -landing, and by putting together the disjointed scraps of conversation -he overheard while he was waiting for his mail, he finally accumulated a -mass of evidence against his son Lester that fairly staggered him. - -“I couldn’t believe this of you until I went to Gordon and asked him what -he knew about it,” continued Mr. Brigham. “Then the whole story came out. -Lester, you will have to go away from here.” - -“That’s just what I want to do,” exclaimed the boy, in joyous tones. “I -never did like this place. It is awful lonely and dull, and there is -no one for me to associate with. If I could only go off somewhere on a -visit——” - -“As I told you, at the start, I have got things fixed for you for -four years to come,” said Mr. Brigham. “You ought to have something to -do—something that will occupy your mind so completely that you will have -no time to be discontented or to think of anything wrong. I have decided -to send you to school; and I am sorry I didn’t do it long ago.” - -When Lester heard this he threw his cap spitefully down upon the floor, -planted his elbow viciously upon the arm of the lounge, and looked very -sullen indeed. School-rooms and school-books were his pet aversions. - -“I don’t want you to do that,” said he, angrily. “I would much rather -stay here.” - -“Do you want to grow up in ignorance?” demanded his father. - -If Lester had given an honest response to this question it would have -been: “No, I don’t want to grow up in ignorance, but I do want to live at -my ease. I desire to go to some place where I can find plenty to amuse -me, and where I shall have no labor to perform, either mental or manual.” -But he did not quite like to say that, and so he said nothing. - -“You don’t know a single thing that a boy of your age ought to know,” -continued Mr. Brigham. “I have just had a long conversation with Gordon -and his two boys.” - -Lester looked up with a startled expression on his face. “You haven’t -determined to send me to Bridgeport, have you?” he exclaimed. - -“I have,” was the decided answer. - -“To the military academy?” asked Lester, in louder and more incredulous -tones. - -“That’s the very place. The systematic drill and training you will there -receive, will be of the greatest benefit to you, if you are only willing -to profit by them. That school has made men of Don and Bert Gordon -already.” - -“I should say so,” sneered Lester, suddenly recalling some items of -information that had come to him in a round-about way. “Don has been in a -constant row with the teachers ever since he has been there.” - -“That is not true. He got himself into trouble when he first entered -the school, and lost his shoulder-straps by it; but he has toned down -wonderfully under the influence of those three boys he brought home with -him, and he is bound to make his mark before his four years’ course is -completed.” - -“But, father, do you know that the teachers are awful hard on the -boys—that if a student looks out of the wrong corner of his eye, or -breaks the smallest one of the thousand and more rules that he is -expected to keep constantly in mind, he is punished for it?” asked -Lester, who was almost ready to cry with vexation. It was bad enough, he -told himself, to be sent away to any school against his will; but it was -worse for his father to select a military academy, and then to hold that -embodiment of mischief and rebellion, Don Gordon, up to him as an object -worthy of emulation. Lester had no desire to learn the tactics, and he -dreaded the discipline to which he knew he would be subjected. - -“I heard all about it during my talk with Don and Bert,” replied his -father. “A strong hand and plenty of work are just what you need.” - -“But do you know that Bert is first sergeant of the company to which I -shall probably be assigned, and that one of its corporals is a New York -boot-black? Do you want me to obey the orders of a street Arab?” - -“He could not have attained to the position he holds unless he had proved -himself worthy of it. The majority of the students, however, are the -sons of wealthy men, and they are the ones I want you to choose for your -associates. Make friends with them and bring some of them home with you, -as Don and Bert did, or go home with them, if they ask you. My word for -it, you will see plenty of sport there, if you will only do your duty -faithfully. Gordon’s boys are impatient to go back; and yet there was a -time when Don disliked school as heartily as you do.” - -“When shall we start for Bridgeport?” - -“A week from next Wednesday. New students are received up to the 13th of -the month; so we must make our application two days before the school -begins.” - -“Of course we’ll not go up on the same boat with the Gordons?” - -“Why not? Having been there before, they can save us a great deal of -trouble by telling us just where to go and what to do.” - -“But I don’t like the idea of traveling in their company. They will snub -me every chance they get.” - -“You need not borrow any trouble on that score. They have good reasons -for disliking you, but if you conduct yourself properly, you will -have nothing to fear from them. Now, Lester, promise me that, if you -are admitted to that school, you will wake up and try to accomplish -something. I will do everything I can to aid and encourage you, and I -will begin by putting it in your power to hold your own with the richest -student there.” - -Lester perfectly understood his father’s last words, and he was -considerably mollified by them. If there were anything that could -reconcile him to becoming a member of the military academy, it was the -knowledge of the fact that a liberal supply of spending money was to be -placed at his disposal. Lester’s highest ambition was to be looked up to -as a leader among his companions. He had failed to accomplish his object -so far as the boys about Rochdale were concerned, but he was pretty sure -that he would not fail at Bridgeport. He didn’t, either. His money, which -Mr. Brigham might better have kept in his own pocket, brought him to the -notice of some uneasy fellows at the academy, who joined him in a daring -enterprise, the like of which had never been heard of before. It gave -the village people something to talk about, and furnished the law-abiding -students with any amount of fun and excitement. In fact the whole school -term was crowded so full of thrilling incidents, so many things happened -to take their minds off their books, that when the examination was held, -some of the best scholars narrowly escaped being dropped from their -classes. - -“I will do anything I can for you,” repeated Mr. Brigham, seating himself -in the nearest chair and taking a newspaper from the table. “If you will -go through the four years’ course with flying colors, and come out at the -head of your class, I shall be highly gratified, and I assure you that -you will lose nothing by it.” - -Mr. Brigham fastened his eyes upon his paper, and Lester, taking this -as a hint that he had nothing more to say just then, picked up his cap -and went out. He made his way directly to his own room, and taking his -squirrel rifle down from the antlers that supported it—purchased antlers -they were, and not trophies of the boy’s own skill—he buckled a cartridge -belt about his waist and left the house. He wanted to go off in the woods -by himself and think the matter over; but it is hard to tell why he took -his rifle with him, for he had no intention of hunting, and he could not -have killed anything if he had. Perhaps it was because he had fallen into -the habit of carrying a weapon on his shoulder wherever he went, just as -Godfrey and Dan did. - -“It is some comfort to know that the governor is not disposed to put -me on short allowance,” thought he, as he sat down on a log and rested -his rifle across his knees, “and perhaps I can manage to stand it for a -while. If I can’t, and father won’t let me come home, I’ll skip out, as -Bob Owens did; only I’ll not go into the army. But it can’t be all work -and no play up there. There must be some jolly fellows among the students -who are in for having a good time now and then, and they are the ones I -shall run with. I am sorry Bert is an officer, for he will tyrannize over -me in every possible way. I feel disgusted whenever I think of that.” - -Lester Brigham was not the only boy in the world who felt disgusted that -day. There were three others that we know of. One of them lived away off -in Maryland, and the others lived in Rochdale. The last were Don and Bert -Gordon. - -When their father came into the room in which they were sitting and -told them that Mr. Brigham was waiting to see them in the parlor, they -followed him lost in wonder, which gave place to a very different feeling -when they learned that this visitor had come there to make some inquiries -regarding the Bridgeport military academy, with a view of sending his -son there. Bert gave truthful replies to all his questions, and so did -Don, for the matter of that; but he did not neglect to enlarge upon the -severity of the discipline, or to call Mr. Brigham’s attention to the -fact that no boy need go to that school expecting to keep pace with his -classes, unless he was willing to study hard. Believing that Lester would -make trouble one way or another, Don did not want him there, and he hoped -to convince Mr. Brigham that the academy at Bridgeport would not at all -suit Lester; but he did not succeed. The visitor seemed to believe that -military drill was just what his refractory son needed, asked the boys -when they were going to start, thanked them for the information they had -given him, and took his leave. - -“Well, now, I am disgusted,” exclaimed Don; while Bert went over to the -window and drummed upon it with his fingers. - -“I don’t see how you are going to help yourselves, boys,” said the -general. “Lester Brigham has as much right to go to that school as you -have.” - -“I know that,” replied Don. “But I don’t want him there, all the same.” - -“Neither do I,” said Bert. “He will be in my company, and if I make him -toe the mark, he will say that I do it because I want to be revenged on -him for burning Don’s shooting-box and getting Dave Evans into trouble.” - -“Do your duty as a soldier, and let Lester say what he pleases,” said the -general. - -“Oh! he’ll have to,” exclaimed Don. “If he doesn’t, he will be reported. -Bert’s got to walk a chalk line now, and if he makes a false step, off -come his diamond and _chevrons_. It’s some consolation to know that we -can’t introduce him to Egan and the rest. They would snub us in a minute -if we did, and serve us right, too. A plebe must be content to wait until -the upper-class boys get ready to speak to him.” - -“Having passed four years of my life in that academy I am not ignorant -of that fact,” said the general, after a little pause, during which he -recalled to mind how he had once had his face washed in a snow-drift by -a couple of second-class boys whom he had presumed to address on terms -of familiarity. “But I hope you will do all you can for Lester. Remember -how lonely you felt when you first went there, and found yourselves -surrounded by those who were utter strangers to you.” - -“Oh, we will,” said Bert, while Don scowled savagely but said nothing. -“If he will show us that he has come there with the determination to do -the best he can, we’ll stand by him; won’t we, Don?” - -Of course the latter said they would, but he gave the promise simply -because his father desired it, and not because he had any friendly -feeling for Lester Brigham. - -The other disgusted boy was Egan, who, on this particular day, was pacing -up and down the back veranda of his father’s house, shaking his fist at -the surf that was rolling in upon the beach, and acting altogether like -one whose reflections were by no means agreeable. What it was that had -happened to annoy him, we will let him tell in his own way. - -Christmas, with its festivities, was now a memory. New Year’s day -came and went, and Don and Bert, each in his own way, began making -preparations for their return to Bridgeport. The latter, who was -determined that the close of another school year should find him with at -least one bar on his shoulder, devoted his morning hours to his books, -while Don, to quote his own language, proceeded to put himself through a -regular course of training. There was a long siege of hard study before -him, but one would have thought, by the way he went to work, that he was -preparing himself for a physical rather than an intellectual contest. He -rode hard, hunted perseveringly, kept up his regular exercise with Indian -clubs and dumb-bells, and looked, as he said he felt, as if he were good -for any amount of work. - -Knowing how valuable a little advice would have been to them when they -first joined the academy, Don and Bert rode over to see Lester, intending -to give him some idea of the nature of the examination he would have to -pass before he would be received as a student, and to drop a few hints -that would enable him to keep out of trouble; but they never repeated the -experiment. Lester was surly and not at all sociable; and he was so very -independent, and seemed to have so much confidence in his ability to make -his way without help from anybody, that his visitors took their leave -without saying half as much to him as they had intended. - -“I know what they are up to,” said Lester, who stood at the window -watching Don and Bert as they rode away. “They have reasons for wishing -to get on the right side of me. Somebody has probably told them that I am -to have plenty of money to spend, and they intend that I shall spend some -of it for their own benefit. I am going in for a shoulder-strap—I am not -one to be satisfied with a sergeant’s warrant—and the first thing I shall -do, after I get it, will be to take those stripes off Bert Gordon’s arms. -He and his boot-black can’t order _me_ around.” - -This soliloquy will show that Lester had changed his mind in regard to -the school at Bridgeport. He wanted to go there now. His father, who -knew nothing about the academy beyond what Don and Bert had told him, -and who judged it by the fashionable boarding-schools at which he had -obtained the little knowledge he possessed, had neglected no opportunity -to impress upon Lester’s mind the fact that a rich man’s son would not -be allowed to remain long in the ranks, and that there was nothing to -prevent him from winning and wearing an officer’s sword, if he would only -use a little tact in pushing himself forward. After listening to such -counsel as this, it was not at all likely that anything that Don and Bert -could say would have any influence with him. - -“He thinks he is going to have a walk over,” said Don, as he stroked his -pony’s glossy mane. - -“It looks that way, but there’s where he is mistaken,” replied Bert. -“Lester will be walking an extra before he has been at the academy a -week.” - -“Well, we’ll not volunteer any more advice, no matter what happens to -him,” said Don. “We’ll let him go as he pleases and see how he will come -out.” - -The day set for their departure came at last, and Don and Bert, -accompanied by Mr. Brigham and Lester, set out for Bridgeport, which they -reached without any mishap. They rode in the same hack from the depot to -the academy, and when they alighted at the door, they were surrounded -by a crowd of boys who had already reported for duty, and who made it -a point to rush out of the building to extend a noisy welcome to every -newcomer. School was not yet in session, and the first-class boys were -not above speaking to a plebe. - -Among those who were first to greet Don and Bert as they stepped out of -the hack, were Egan, Hopkins and Curtis. As these young gentlemen had -already completed the regular academic course, perhaps the reader would -like to know what it was that brought them back. They came to take what -was called the “finishing course,” and to put themselves under technical -instruction. After that (it took two years to go through it) Hopkins -was to enter a lawyer’s office in Baltimore; Egan intended to become -assistant engineer to a relative who was building railroads somewhere in -South America; while Curtis was looking towards West Point. - -The boys who composed these advanced classes were privileged characters. -They dressed in citizens’ clothes, performed no military duty, boarded in -the village, and came and went whenever they pleased. When the students -went into camp, they were at liberty to go with them, or they could -stay at the academy and study. If they chose the camp, they could ask to -be appointed aids or orderlies at headquarters, or they could put on a -uniform, shoulder a musket, and fall into the ranks. They held no office, -and the boy who was lieutenant-colonel last year, was nothing better than -a private now. - -Don and Bert greeted their friends cordially, and as soon as the latter -could free himself from their clutches, he beckoned to Mr. Brigham and -Lester, who followed him through the hall and into the superintendent’s -room. - - - - -CHAPTER II. - -BIRDS OF A FEATHER. - - -“Which one of these trunks do you belong to, Gordon?” inquired a young -second-lieutenant, whose duty it was to see that the students were -assigned to rooms as fast as they arrived. - -“The one with the canvas cover is mine,” replied Don. - -“Any preference among the boys?” asked the lieutenant. “You can’t have -Bert for a room-mate this term, you know. The second sergeant of his -company will be chummed on him.” - -Don replied that he didn’t care who he had for a companion, so long as -he was a well-behaved boy; whereupon the lieutenant beckoned to a negro -porter whom he called “Rosebud,” and directed him to take Don’s trunk up -to No. 45, third floor. - -“By the way, I suppose that that fellow who has just gone into the -superintendent’s room with Bert is a crony of yours?” continued the young -officer. - -“He is from Mississippi,” said Don. He did not wish to publish the fact -that Lester Brigham was no friend of his, for that would prejudice the -students against him at once. Lester was likely to have a hard time of it -at the best, and Don did not want to say or do anything that would make -it harder for him. - -“All right,” said the officer. “I will take pains to see that he is -chummed on some good fellow.” - -“You needn’t put yourself to any trouble for him on my account,” said Don -in a low tone, at the same time turning his back upon a sprucely-dressed -but rather brazen-faced boy, who persisted in crowding up close to him -and Egan, as if he meant to hear every word that passed between them. “He -is nothing to me, and I wish he was back where he came from. He’ll wish -so too, before he has been here many days. I said everything I could to -induce his father to keep him at home, but he——” - -“Let’s take a walk as far as the gate,” said Egan, seizing Don by the arm -and nodding to Hopkins and Curtis. “You stay here, Enoch,” he added, -turning to the sprucely-dressed boy. - -“What’s the reason I can’t go too?” demanded the latter. - -“Because we don’t want you,” replied Egan, bluntly. “I told you before -we left home, that you needn’t expect to hang on to my coat-tails. Make -friends with the members of your own company, for they are the only -associates you will have after school begins.” - -“But they are all strangers to me, and you won’t introduce me,” said -Enoch. - -“Then pitch in and get acquainted, as I did when I first came here. You -may be sure I’ll not introduce you,” said Egan, in a low voice, as he -and his three friends walked toward the gate. “An introduction is an -indorsement, and I don’t indorse any such fellows as you are.” - -“What’s the matter with him?” asked Don, who had never seen Egan so -annoyed and provoked as he was at that moment. - -“Everything,” replied the ex-sergeant. “He’s the meanest boy I ever met—I -except nobody—and if he doesn’t prove to be a second Clarence Duncan, I -shall miss my guess.” - -“The boy who came here with me will make a good mate for him,” said Don. - -“This fellow’s father has only recently moved into our neighborhood,” -continued Egan. “He went into ecstasies over my uniform the first time -he saw it, and wanted to know where I got it, and how much it cost, and -all that sort of thing. Of course I praised the school and everybody and -everything connected with it; but I wish now that I had kept still. The -next time that I met him he told me that when I returned to Bridgeport he -was going with me. I was in hopes he wouldn’t stick, but he did.” - -“Mr. Brigham crowded Lester upon Bert and me in about the same way,” said -Don. - -“Was that Lester Brigham?” exclaimed Curtis—“the boy who burned your old -shooting-box and kicked up that rumpus while we were at Rochdale? We -often heard you speak of him, but you know we never saw him.” - -“He’s the very one,” replied Don. - -“Then he will make a good mate for Enoch Williams,” said Egan. “Why, Don, -this fellow has been caught in the act of looting ducks on the bay.” - -Egan’s tone and manner seemed to indicate that he looked upon this as one -of the worst offenses that could be committed, and both he and Hopkins -were surprised because Don did not grow angry over it. - -“What’s looting ducks?” asked the latter. - -“It is a system of hunting pursued by the pot-hunters of Chesapeake bay, -who shoot for the market and not for sport. A huge blunderbuss, which -will hold a handful of powder and a pound or more of shot, and which is -kept concealed during the day-time, is put into the bow of a skiff at -night, and carried into the very midst of a flock of sleeping ducks; and -sometimes the men who manage it, secure as many as sixty or seventy birds -at one discharge. The law expressly prohibits it, and denounces penalties -against those who are caught at it.” - -“Then why wasn’t Enoch punished?” - -“Because everybody is afraid to complain of him or of any one else -who violates the law. It isn’t safe to say anything against these -duck-shooters, and those who do it are sure to suffer. Their yachts will -be bored full of holes, their oyster-beds dragged at night or filled with -sharp things for the dredges to catch on, their lobster-pots pulled up -and destroyed or carried off, their retrievers shot or stolen—oh, it -wouldn’t take long to raise an excitement down there that would be fully -equal to that which was occasioned in Rochdale by that mail robbery.” - -If the reader will bear these words in mind, he will see that subsequent -events proved the truthfulness of them. The professional duck-shooters -who played such havoc with the wild fowl in Chesapeake bay, were -determined and vindictive men, and it was very easy to get into trouble -with them, especially when there were such fellows as Enoch Williams and -Lester Brigham to help it along. - -The four friends spent half an hour in walking about the grounds, talking -over the various exciting and amusing incidents that had happened while -they were living in _Don Gordon’s Shooting-Box_, and then Don went to his -dormitory to put on his uniform, preparatory to reporting his arrival to -the superintendent. Every train that steamed into the station brought a -crowd of students with it, and the evening of the 14th of January found -them all snug in their quarters, and ready for the serious business of -the term, which was to begin with the booming of the morning gun. All -play was over now. There had been guard-mount that morning, sentries -were posted on the grounds and in the buildings, and the new students -began to see how it seemed to feel the tight reins of military discipline -drawn about them. Of course there were a good many who did not like it -at all. Events proved that there was a greater number of malcontents -in the school this term than there had ever been before. Bold fellows -some of them were, too—boys who had always been allowed to do as they -pleased at home, and who proceeded to get up a rebellion before they had -donned their uniforms. One of them, it is hardly necessary to say, was -Lester Brigham. On the morning when the ceremony of guard-mounting was -gone through with for the first time, he stood off by himself, muffled -up head and ears, and watching the proceeding. Presently his attention -was attracted by the actions of a boy who came rapidly along the path, -shaking his gloved fists in the air and talking to himself. He did not -see Lester until he was close upon him, and then he stopped and looked -ashamed. - -“What’s the trouble?” asked Lester, who was in no very good humor himself. - -“Matter enough,” replied the boy. “I wish I had never seen or heard of -this school.” - -“Here too,” said Lester. “Are you a new scholar? Then we belong to the -same class and company.” - -“I wouldn’t belong to any class or company if I could help it,” snapped -the boy. “My father didn’t want me to come here, but I insisted, like the -dunce I was, and now I’ve got to stay.” - -“So have I; but I didn’t come of my own free will. My father made me.” - -“Get into any row at home?” asked the boy. - -“Well—yes,” replied Lester, hesitatingly. - -“I don’t see that it is anything to be ashamed of. You look like a city -boy; did the cops get after you?” - -“No; I had no trouble with the police, but I thought for a while that I -was going to have. I live in the canebrakes of Mississippi, and my name -is Lester Brigham. I used to live in the city, and I wish I had never -left it.” - -“My name is Enoch Williams, and I am from Maryland,” said the other. “I -don’t live in a cane-brake, but I live on the sea-shore, and right in -the midst of a lot of Yahoos who don’t know enough to keep them over -night. Egan is one of them and Hopkins is another.” - -“Why, those are two of the boys that Don Gordon brought home with him -last fall,” exclaimed Lester. “Do you know them?” - -“I know Egan very well. His father’s plantation is next to ours. If he -had been anything of a gentleman, I might have been personally acquainted -with Hopkins by this time; but, although we traveled in company all the -way from Maryland, he never introduced me. Do you know them?” - -“I used to see them occasionally last fall, but I have never spoken to -either of them,” answered Lester. “By the way, the first sergeant of our -company is a near neighbor of mine.” - -“Do you mean Bert Gordon? Well, he’s a little snipe. He throws on more -airs than a country dancing-master. I have been insulted ever since I -have been here,” said Enoch, hotly. “The boys from my own State, who -ought to have brought me to the notice of the teachers and of some good -fellows among the students, have turned their backs upon me, and told me -in so many words, that they don’t want my company.” - -“Don and Bert Gordon have treated me in nearly the same way,” observed -Lester. - -“But, for all that, I have made some acquaintances among the boys in -the third class, who gave me a few hints that I intend to act upon,” -continued Enoch. “They say the rules are very strict, and that it is of -no earthly use for me to try to keep out of trouble. There are a favored -few who are allowed to do as they please; but the rest of us must walk -turkey, or spend our Saturday afternoons in doing extra duty. Now I say -that isn’t fair—is it, Jones?” added Enoch, appealing to a third-class -boy who just then came up. - -Jones had been at the academy just a year, and of course he was a member -of Don Gordon’s class and company. He was one of those who, by the aid -of Don’s “Yankee Invention,” had succeeded in making their way into the -fire-escape, and out of the building. They failed to get by the guard, -as we know, and Jones was court-martialed as well as the rest. His back -and arms ached whenever he thought of the long hours he had spent in -walking extras to pay for that one night’s fun; and he had made the -mental resolution that before he left the academy he would do something -that would make those who remained bear him in remembrance. He was lazy, -vicious and idle, and quite willing to back up Enoch’s statement. - -“Of course it isn’t fair,” said he, after Enoch had introduced him to -Lester Brigham. “You needn’t expect to be treated fairly as long as you -remain here, unless you are willing to curry favor with the teachers, and -so win a warrant or a commission; but that is something no decent boy -will do. I can prove it to you. Take the case of Don Gordon: he’s a good -fellow, in some respects——” - -“There’s where I differ with you,” interrupted Lester. “I have known him -for a long time, and I have yet to see anything good about him.” - -“I don’t care if you have. I say he’s a good fellow,” said Jones, -earnestly. “There isn’t a better boy in school to run with than Don -Gordon would be, if he would only get rid of the notion that it is manly -to tell the truth at all times and under all circumstances, no matter -who suffers by it. He’s as full of plans as an egg is of meat; he is -afraid of nothing, and there wasn’t a boy in our set who dared join him -in carrying out some schemes he proposed. Why, he wanted to capture the -butcher’s big bull-dog, take him up to the top of the building, and then -kick him down stairs after tying a tin-can to his tail! He would have -done it, too, if any of the set had offered to help him; but I tell you, -I wouldn’t have taken a hand in it for all the money there is in America.” - -“He must be a good one,” said Enoch, admiringly. - -“Oh, he is. We had many a pleasant evening at Cony Ryan’s last winter -that we would not have had if Don had not come to our aid; but when the -critical moment arrived, he failed us.” - -“You might have expected it,” sneered Lester, who could not bear to hear -these words of praise bestowed upon the boy he so cordially hated. - -“Well, I didn’t expect it. Don was one of the floor-guards that night, -and he allowed a lot of us to pass him and go out of the building. When -the superintendent hauled him up for it the next day, he acknowledged his -guilt, but he would not give our names, although he knew he stood a good -chance of being sent down for his refusal. I shall always honor him for -that.” - -“I wish he had been expelled,” said Lester, bitterly. “Then I should not -have been sent to this school.” - -“Well, when the examination came off,” continued Jones, “Don was so far -ahead of his class that none of them could touch him with a ten-foot -pole; and yet he is a private to-day, while that brother of his, who -won the good-will of the teachers by toadying to them, wears a first -sergeant’s _chevrons_. Of course such partiality as that is not fair for -the rest of us.” - -“There isn’t a single redeeming feature about this school, is there?” -said Enoch, after a pause. “A fellow can’t enjoy himself in any way.” - -“Oh yes, he can—if he is smart and a trifle reckless. He can go to Cony -Ryan’s and eat pancakes. I suppose Egan told you of the high old times we -had here last winter running the guard, didn’t he?” - -“He never mentioned it,” replied Enoch. - -“Well, didn’t he describe the fight we had with the Indians last camp?” - -“Indians!” repeated Enoch, incredulously, while Lester’s eyes opened with -amazement. - -“Yes; sure-enough Indians they were too, and not make-believes. We -thought, by the way they yelled at us, that they meant business. Why, -they raised such a rumpus about the camp that some of our lady guests -came very near fainting, they were so frightened. Didn’t Egan tell you -how he and Don deserted, swam the creek, went to the show disguised as -country boys, and finally fell into the hands of those same Indians who -had surrounded the camp and were getting ready to attack us?” - -No, Egan hadn’t said a word about any of these things to Enoch, and -neither had Don or Bert spoken of them to Lester; although they might -have done so if the latter had showed them a little more courtesy when -they called upon him at his house. Some of the matters referred to were -pleasant episodes in the lives of the Bridgeport students, and the reason -why Egan had not spoken of them was because he did not want Enoch to -think there was anything agreeable about the institution. He didn’t want -him there, because he did not believe that Enoch would be any credit to -the school; and so he did with him just as Don and Bert did with Lester: -he enlarged upon the rigor of the discipline, the stern impartiality of -the instructors, the promptness with which they called a delinquent to -account, and spoke feelingly of their long and difficult lessons; but he -never said “recreation” once, nor did he so much as hint that there were -certain hours in the day that the students could call their own. - -“Tell us about that fight,” said Enoch. - -“Yes, do,” chimed in Lester. “If there is any way to see fun here, let us -know what it is.” - -Jones was just the boy to go to with an appeal of this sort. He was -thoroughly posted, and if there were any one in the academy who was -always ready to set the rules and regulations at defiance, especially -if he saw the shadow of a chance for escaping punishment, Jones was -the fellow. He gave a glowing description of the battle at the camp; -told how the boys ran the guard, and where they went and what they did -after they got out; related some thrilling stories of adventure of which -the law-breakers were the heroes; and by the time the dinner-call was -sounded, he had worked his two auditors up to such a pitch of excitement -that they were ready to attempt almost anything. - -“You have given me some ideas,” said Enoch, as they hurried toward their -dormitories in obedience to the call, “and who knows but they may grow -to something? I’ve got to stay here—I had a plain understanding with my -father on that point—and I am going to think up something that will yield -us some sport.” - -“That’s the way I like to hear a fellow talk,” said Jones, approvingly; -“and I will tell you this for your encouragement: we care nothing for -the risk we shall run in carrying out your scheme, whatever it may be, -but before we undertake it, you must be able to satisfy us that we can -carry it out successfully. Do that, and I will bring twenty boys to back -you up, if you need so many. We are always glad to have fellows like you -come among us, for our tricks grow stale after a while, and we learn new -ones of you. Don Gordon can think up something in less time than anybody -I ever saw; but it would be useless to look to him for help. Egan and -the other good little boys have taken him in hand, and they’ll make an -officer of him this year; you wait and see if they don’t.” - -“Jones gave me some ideas, too,” thought Lester, as he marched into the -dining-hall with his company, and took his seat at the table; “but I -must say I despise the way he lauded that Don Gordon. Don seems to make -friends wherever he goes, and they are among the best, too; while I have -to be satisfied with such companions as I can get. I am going to set my -wits at work and see if I can’t study up something that will throw that -bull-dog business far into the shade.” - -Unfortunately for Lester this was easy of accomplishment. He was not -obliged to do any very hard thinking on the subject, for a plan was -suggested to him that very afternoon. There was but one objection to it: -he would have to wait four or five months before it could be carried out. - -Lester’s room-mate was a boy who spelled his name Huggins, but pronounced -it as though it were written Hewguns. He had showed but little -disposition to talk about himself and his affairs, and all Lester could -learn concerning him was that he was from Massachusetts, and that he -lived somewhere on the sea-coast. He and Lester met in their dormitory -after dinner, and while the latter proceeded to put on his hat and -overcoat, Huggins threw himself into a chair, buried his hands in his -pockets and gazed steadily at the floor. - -“What’s the matter?” inquired Lester. “You act as if something had gone -wrong with you.” - -“Things never go right with me,” was the surly response. “There isn’t a -boy in the world who has so much trouble as I do.” - -“I have often thought that of myself,” Lester remarked. “Come out and -take a walk. Perhaps the fresh air will do you good.” - -“I don’t want any fresh air,” growled Huggins. “I want to think. I have -been trying all the morning to hit upon something that would enable me to -get to windward of my father, and I guess I have got it at last.” - -“What do you mean by getting to windward of him?” asked Lester. - -“Why, getting the advantage of him. If two vessels were racing, the one -that was to windward would have the odds of the other, especially if the -breeze was not steady, because she would always catch it first. I guess -you don’t know much about the water, do you?” - -“I don’t know much about boats,” replied Lester; “but when it comes to -hunting, fishing or riding, I am there. I have yet to see the fellow who -can beat me.” - -“I am fond of fishing,” said Huggins. “I was out on the banks last -season. We made a very fine catch, and had a tidy row with the -Newfoundland fishermen before we could get our bait.” - -“What sort of fish did you take?” - -“Codfish, of course.” - -“Do you angle for them from the banks?” - -“I said _on_ the banks—that is, in shoal water.” - -“Oh,” said Lester. “I don’t know anything about that kind of fishing. Did -you ever play a fifteen pound brook-trout on an eight-ounce fly-rod?” - -“No; nor nobody else.” - -“I have done it many a time,” said Lester. “I tell you it takes a man who -understands his business to land a fish like that with light tackle. A -greenhorn would have broken his pole or snapped his line the very first -jerk he made.” - -“You may tell that to the marines, but you needn’t expect me to believe -it,” said Huggins, quietly. “In the first place, a fly-fisher doesn’t -fasten his hook by giving a jerk. He does it by a simple turn of the -wrist. In the second place, the _Salmo fontinalis_ doesn’t grow to the -weight of fifteen pounds.” - -Lester was fairly staggered. He had set out with the intention of giving -his room-mate a graphic account of some of his imaginary exploits and -adventures (those of our readers who are well acquainted with him will -remember that he kept a large supply of them on hand), but he saw that it -was time to stop. There was no use in trying to deceive a boy who could -fire Latin at him in that way. - -“The largest brook-trout that was ever caught was taken in the Rangeley -lakes, and weighed a trifle over ten pounds,” continued Huggins. “And -lastly, the members of the order _Salmonidæ_ don’t live in the muddy, -stagnant bayous you have down South. They want clear cold water.” - -“Why do you want to get to windward of your father?” inquired Lester, who -thought it best to change the subject. - -“To pay him for sending me to this school,” replied Huggins. - -“And you think you know how to do it?” - -“I do.” - -Lester became interested. He took off his hat and overcoat and sat down -on the edge of his bed. - - - - -CHAPTER III. - -LESTER BRIGHAM’S IDEA. - - -“If one might judge by the way you talk and act, you didn’t want to come -to this school,” said Lester. - -“No, I didn’t,” answered Huggins. “I don’t want to go to any school. The -height of my ambition is to become a sailor. I was born in sight of the -ocean, and have snuffed its breezes and been tossed about by its waves -ever since I can remember. I live near Gloucester, and my father is -largely interested in the cod-fishery. He began life as a fisherman, but -he owns a good sized fleet now.” - -“Didn’t he want you to go to sea?” asked Lester. - -“No. He allowed me to go to the banks now and then, but when I told him -that I wanted to make a regular business of it, he wouldn’t listen to me. -After I got tired of trying to reason with him, I made preparations to -run away from home; but he caught me at it, and bundled me off here.” - -“What are you going to do about it?” - -“I’m not going to stay. I’ve been to school before, but I was never -snubbed as I have been since I came to Bridgeport. The idea that a boy of -my age should be obliged to say ‘sir’ to every little up-start who wears -a shoulder-strap! I’ll not do it.” - -“You’d better. If you don’t you will be in trouble continually.” - -“Let the trouble come. I’ll get out of its way.” - -“How will you do it?” - -Huggins shut one eye, looked at Lester with the other, and laid his -finger by the side of his nose. - -“Oh, you needn’t be afraid to trust me,” said Lester, who easily -understood this pantomime. “Those who are best acquainted with me will -tell you that I am true blue. I know just how you feel. I don’t like this -school any better than you do; I was sent here in spite of all I could -say to prevent it. I have been snubbed by the boys in the upper classes -because I spoke to them before they spoke to me, and when I see a chance -to leave without being caught, I shall improve it.” - -“I guess I can rely upon you to keep my secret,” said Huggins, but it is -hard to tell how he reached this conclusion. One single glance at that -peaked, freckled face, whose every feature bore evidence to the sneaking -character and disposition of its owner, ought to have satisfied him that -his room-mate was not a boy who could be confided in. - -“You may depend upon me every time,” said Lester, earnestly. “I’ll bring -twenty good fellows to help you.” - -“Oh, I can’t take so many boys with me,” said Huggins, looking up in -surprise. “I couldn’t find berths for them.” - -“Are you going off on a boat?” - -“Of course I am. Some dark night, when all the rest of the fellows are -asleep, I am going to slip out of here, take my foot in my hand and draw -a bee-line for Oxford; and when I get there, I am going to ship aboard -the first sea-going vessel I can find.” - -“As a sailor?” exclaimed Lester. - -“Certainly. I shall have to go before the mast; but I’ll not stay there, -for I can hand, reef and steer as well as the next man, I don’t care -where he comes from, and I understand navigation, too.” - -Lester was sadly disappointed. He hoped and believed that his room-mate -was about to propose something in which he could join him. - -“I am sorry I can’t go with you,” said he; “but I don’t want to follow -the sea.” - -“Of course you don’t, for you belong ashore. I belong on the water, and -there’s where I am going. Oxford is two hundred miles from Bridgeport, -and that is a long distance to walk through snow that is two feet deep.” - -“You can go on the cars,” suggested Lester. - -“No, I can’t; unless I steal a ride. My father is determined to keep -me here, and consequently he does not allow me a cent of money,” said -Huggins; and he proved it by turning all his pockets inside out to show -that they were empty. - -“He is mean, isn’t he?” said Lester, indignantly. He was about to add -that his father had given him a very liberal supply of bills before he -set out on his return to Rochdale, but he did not say it, for fear that -his friend Huggins might want to borrow a dollar or two. - -“But he will find that I am not going to let the want of money stand -in my way,” added Huggins. “I saw several nice little yachts in their -winter quarters when I was at the wharf the other day, and if it were -summer we’d get a party of fellows together, run off in one of them, and -go somewhere and have some fun. When the time came to separate, each one -could go where he pleased. The rest of you could hold a straight course -for home, if you felt like it, and I would go to sea.” - -“That’s the very idea,” exclaimed Lester. “I wonder why some of the boys -didn’t think of it long ago. When you get ready to go, count me in.” - -“I shall not be here to take part in it,” replied Huggins. “I hope to be -on deep water before many days more have passed over my head.” - -“I am sorry to hear you say so, for you would be just the fellow to lead -an expedition like that. But there’s one thing you have forgotten: if you -intend to slip away from the academy, you will need help.” - -“I don’t see why I should. I shall not stir until every one is asleep.” - -“Then you’ll not go out at all. There are sentries posted around the -grounds at this moment, and as soon as it grows dark, guards will take -charge of every floor in this building. It is easy enough to get by the -sentries—I know, for some of the boys told me so—but how are you going to -pass these floor-guards when they are watching your room?” - -“Whew!” whistled Huggins. “They hold a fellow tight, don’t they?” - -“They certainly do; and it is not a very pleasant state of affairs for -one who has been allowed to go and come whenever he felt like it. Your -best plan would be to ask for a pass. That will take you by the guards, -and when you get off the grounds, you needn’t come back.” - -“But suppose I can’t get a pass?” - -“Then the only thing you can do is to wait until some of your friends are -on duty. They will pass you and keep still about it afterward.” - -“I haven’t a single friend in the school.” - -“You can make some by simply showing the boys that your heart is in the -right place. I must go now to meet an engagement; but I will see you -later, and if you like, I will introduce you to a few acquaintances I -have made since my arrival, every one of whom you can trust.” - -As Lester said this, he put on his hat and overcoat and left the room. -Huggins had given him an idea, and he wanted to get away by himself and -think about it. He did not have time to spend a great deal of study upon -it, for as he was about to pass out at the front door, he met Jones, -who was just the boy he wanted to see. He was in the company of several -members of his class, but a wink and a slight nod of the head quickly -brought him to Lester’s side. - -“Say, Jones,” whispered the latter, “I understand that there are a good -many yachts owned in this village, and that they are in their winter -quarters now. When warm weather comes, what would you say to capturing -one of them, and going off somewhere on a picnic?” - -“Lester, you’re a good one,” exclaimed Jones, admiringly. - -“Do you think it could be done?” - -“I am sure of it,” replied Jones, who grew enthusiastic at once. “It’s -the very idea, and I know the boys will be in for it hot and heavy. -It takes the new fellows to get up new schemes. I can see only two -objections to it.” - -“What are they?” inquired Lester. - -“The first is, that we can’t carry it out under four or five months. -Couldn’t you think up something that we could go at immediately?” - -“I am afraid not,” answered Lester. “Where could we go and what could we -do if we were to desert now? We could not sleep out of doors with the -thermometer below zero, for we would freeze to death. We must have warm -weather for our excursion.” - -“That’s so,” said Jones, reflectively. “I suppose we shall have to wait, -but I don’t like to, and neither would you if you knew what we’ve got -to go through with before the ice is all out of the river. The other -objection is, that we have no one among us who can manage the yacht after -we capture it.” - -“What’s the reason we haven’t?” - -“Can you do it?” - -“I might. I have taken my own yacht in a pleasure cruise around the great -lakes from Oswego to Duluth,” replied Lester, with unblushing mendacity. -“It was while I was in Michigan that I killed some of those bears.” - -“I didn’t know you had ever killed any,” said Jones, opening his eyes in -amazement. - -“Oh, yes, I have. They are also abundant in Mississippi, and one day I -kept one of them from chewing up Don Gordon.” - -“You don’t say so. You and Kenyon ought to be chums; there he is,” said -Jones, directing Lester’s attention to a tall, lank young fellow who -looked a great deal more like a backwoodsman than he did like a soldier. -“He is from Michigan. His father is a lumberman, and Sam had never been -out of the woods until a year ago, when he was sent to this school to -have a little polish put on him. But he is one of the good little boys. -He says he came here to learn and has no time to fool away. Shall I -introduce you?” - -“By no means,” said Lester, hastily. He did not think it would be -quite safe. If his friend Jones made him known to Kenyon as a renowned -bear-hunter, the latter might go at him in much the same style that -Huggins did, and then there would be another exposure. He could not -afford to be caught in many more lies if he hoped to make himself a -leader among his companions. “Since Kenyon is one of the good boys, I -have no desire to become acquainted with him,” he added. “And, while I -think of it, Jones, don’t repeat what I said to you.” - -“About the bears? I won’t.” - -“Because, if you do, the fellows will say I am trying to make myself out -to be somebody, and that wouldn’t be pleasant. After I have been here -awhile they will be able to form their own opinion of me.” - -“They will do that just as soon as I tell them about this plan of yours,” -said Jones. “They’ll say you are the boy they have been waiting for. But -you will take command of the yacht, after we get her, will you not?” - -“Yes; I’ll do that.” - -“It is nothing more than fair that you should have the post of honor, for -you proposed it. I will talk the matter up among the fellows before I am -an hour older.” - -“Just one word more,” said Lester, as Jones was about to move off. -“My room-mate is going to desert and go to sea. If I will make you -acquainted with him, will you point out to him the boys who will help -him?” - -“I’ll be glad to do it,” said Jones, readily. “But tell him to keep his -own counsel until I can have a talk with him. If he should happen to drop -a hint of what he intends to do in the presence of some boys whose names -I could mention, they would carry it straight to the superintendent, and -then Huggins would find himself in a box.” - -“If he runs away, will they try to catch him?” asked Lester. - -“To be sure they will. Squads of men will be sent out in every direction, -and some of them will catch him too, unless he’s pretty smart. Tell him -particularly to look out for Captain Mack. He’s the worst one in the lot. -He can follow a trail with all the certainty of a hound, and no deserter -except Don Gordon ever succeeded in giving him the slip. Now you take a -walk about the grounds, and I will see what my friends think about this -yacht business. I will see you again in fifteen or twenty minutes.” - -So saying Jones walked off to join his companions, while Lester -strolled slowly toward the gate. The latter was highly gratified by -the promptness with which his idea (Huggins’s idea, rather) had been -indorsed, but he wished he had not said so much about his ability to -manage the yacht. He knew as much about sailing as he did about shooting -and fishing, that is, nothing at all. He had never seen a pleasure-boat -larger than Don Gordon’s. If anybody had put a sail into a skiff and told -him it was a yacht, Lester would not have known the difference. - -“It isn’t at all likely that my plan will amount to anything,” said -Lester, to himself. “I suggested it just because I wanted the fellows -to know that there are those in the world who are fully as brave as Don -Gordon is supposed to be. But if Jones and his crowd should take me at my -word, wouldn’t I be in a fix? What in the name of wonder would I do?” - -It was evident that Lester was sadly mistaken in the boys with whom he -had to deal, and he received another convincing proof of it before half -an hour had passed. By the time he had taken a dozen turns up and down -the long path, he saw Jones and Enoch Williams hurrying to meet him. The -expression on their faces told him that they had what they considered to -be good news to communicate. - -“It’s all right, Brigham,” said Jones, in a gleeful voice. “The boys are -in for it, as I told you they would be, and desired us to say to you that -you could not have hit upon anything that would suit them better. I have -been counting noses, and have so far found fifteen good fellows upon whom -you can call for help any time you want it. They all agreed with me when -I suggested that you ought to have the management of the whole affair.” - -“Where did you learn yachting, Brigham?” asked Enoch. - -“On the lakes,” replied Lester. - -“Then you must be posted. I have heard that they have some hard storms up -there occasionally.” - -“You may safely say that. It is almost always rough off Saginaw bay,” -answered Lester; and that was true, but he did not know it by experience. -He had heard somebody say so. - -“I am something of a yachtsman myself,” continued Enoch. “I brought my -little schooner from Great South Bay, Long Island, around into Chesapeake -bay. Of course my father laid the course for me, and kept his weather -eye open to see that I didn’t make any mistakes; but I gave the orders -myself, and handled the vessel.” - -Lester, who had been on the point of entertaining his two friends by -telling of some thrilling adventures that had befallen him during his -imaginary cruise from Oswego to Duluth, opened his eyes and closed his -lips when he heard this. He saw that his chances for making a hero of -himself were growing smaller every hour. He was afraid to talk about -fishing in the presence of his room-mate; he dared not speak of bears -while he was in the hearing of Sam Kenyon; and it would not be at all -safe for him to enlarge upon his knowledge of seamanship, for here was -a boy at his elbow who had sailed his own yacht on deep water. He was -doomed to remain in the background, and to be of no more consequence at -the academy than any other plebe. He could see that very plainly. - -“There’s a splendid little boat down there near the wharf,” continued -Enoch, who was as deeply in love with the water and everything connected -with it as Huggins was, although he had no desire to go before the -mast. “I bribed her keeper to let me take a look at her the other day, -and I tell you her appointments are perfect. I should say that her -cabin and forecastle would accommodate about twenty boys. But this is -cutter-rigged, and I don’t know anything about vessels of that sort; do -you?” - -“I’ve seen lots of them,” answered Lester. - -“I suppose you have; but did you ever handle one?” - -Lester replied that his own boat was a cutter; and when he said it, he -had as clear an idea of what he was talking about as he had of the Greek -language. - -“Then we are all right,” said Enoch. “They look top-heavy to me, and I -shouldn’t care to trust myself out in one during a gale, unless there was -a sailor-man in charge of her. But if we get her and find that she is -too much for us, we can send the yard down and make a sloop of her. It -wouldn’t pay to have her capsize with us.” - -Lester shuddered at the mere mention of such a thing; and while Enoch -continued to talk in this way, filling his sentences full of nautical -terms, that were familiar enough to him and quite unintelligible to -Lester, the latter set his wits at work to conjure up some excuse for -backing out when the critical time came. He was not at all fond of the -water, he was afraid to run the risk of capture and punishment, and he -sincerely hoped that something would happen to prevent the proposed -excursion. - -“Of course we can’t decide upon the details until the time for action -arrives,” said Jones, at length. “But you have given us something to -think of and to look forward to, and we are indebted to you for that. -Now, let’s call upon your room-mate and see what we can do to help him.” - -Lester led the way to his dormitory, and as he opened the door rather -suddenly, he and his companion surprised Huggins in the act of making -up a small bundle of clothing. He was startled by this abrupt entrance, -and he must have been frightened as well, for his face was as white as a -sheet. - -“It’s all right, Huggins,” said Lester, who at once proceeded with the -ceremony of introduction. “You needn’t be afraid of these fellows.” - -“Of course not,” assented Jones. “We know that you intend to take French -leave, but it is all right, and if there is any way in which we can help -you, we hope you will not hesitate to say so.” - -Huggins did not seem to be fully reassured by these words. The pallor -did not leave his face, and the visitors noticed that he trembled as he -seated himself on the edge of his bed. - -“I am obliged to you, but I don’t think I shall need any assistance. This -will see me through the lines, will it not?” said Huggins, pulling from -his pocket a piece of paper on which was written an order for all guards -and patrols to pass private Albert Huggins until half-past nine o’clock. -The printed heading showed that it was genuine. - -“Yes, that’s all you need to take you by the guards,” said Jones. “And -when half-past nine comes, you will be a long way from here, I suppose.” - -“I shall be as far off as my feet can carry me by that time,” replied -Huggins. “But don’t tell any one which way I have gone, will you?” - -“If you were better acquainted with us you would know that your caution -is entirely unnecessary,” said Jones. “But you are not going to walk two -hundred miles, are you? Why don’t you go by rail?” - -“How can I when I have no money?” - -“Are you strapped?” exclaimed Enoch. “I can spare you a dollar.” - -“I’ll give you another,” said Jones, looking at Lester. - -“I’ll—I’ll give another,” said the latter; but he uttered the words with -the greatest reluctance. He was always ready to spend money, but he -wanted to know, before he parted with it, that it was going to bring him -some pleasure in return. As he spoke he made a step toward his trunk, but -Huggins earnestly, almost vehemently, motioned him back. - -“No, no, boys,” said he, “I’ll not take a cent from any of you. I am used -to roughing it, and I shall get through all right. All I ask of you is to -keep away so as not to direct attention to me. How soon will my absence -be discovered?” - -“That depends upon the floor-guard,” answered Jones. “If he is one of -those sneaking fellows who is forever sticking his nose into business -that does not concern him, he will report your absence to the officer of -the guard when he makes his rounds at half-past nine. If the floor-guard -keeps his mouth shut, no one will know you are gone until the morning -roll is called. In any event no effort will be made to find you until -to-morrow.” - -“And then I may expect to be pursued, I suppose?” - -“You may; and if you are not caught, it will be a wonder. Every effort -will be made to capture you, for don’t you see that if you were permitted -to escape, other boys would be encouraged to take French leave in the -same way? Now, listen to me, and I will give you some advice that may be -of use to you.” - -If his advice, which was given with the most friendly intentions, had -been favorably received, Jones would have said a good deal more than he -did; but he very soon became aware that his words of warning were falling -on deaf ears. Huggins was not listening to him. He was unaccountably -nervous and excited, and Jones, believing that he would be better pleased -by their absence than he was with their company, gave the signal for -leaving by picking up his cap. He lingered long enough to shake hands -with Huggins and wish him good luck in outwitting his pursuers and -finding a vessel, and then he went out, followed by Enoch and Lester. - -“How strangely he acted!” said the latter. - -“Didn’t he?” exclaimed Enoch. “He seemed frightened at our offer to give -him a few dollars to help him along. What was there wrong in that? If -I had been in his place I would not have refused. Now he can take his -choice between begging his food and going hungry.” - -“I don’t envy him his long, cold walk,” observed Jones. “And where is he -going to find a bed when night comes? The people in this country don’t -like tramps any too well, and the first time he stops at a farm-house he -may be interviewed by a bull-dog.” - -Lester did not find an opportunity to talk with his room-mate again that -day. They marched down to supper together, and as soon as the ranks were -broken, Huggins made all haste to put on his hat and overcoat, secure his -bundle and quit the room. He would hardly wait to say good-by to Lester, -and didn’t want the latter to go with him as far as the gate. - -“He’s well out of his troubles, and mine are just about to begin,” -thought Lester, as he stood on the front steps and saw Huggins disappear -in the darkness. “I would run away myself if I were not afraid of the -consequences. It wouldn’t be safe to try father’s patience too severely, -for there is no telling what he would do to me.” - -Lester strolled about until the bugle sounded “to quarters,” and then he -went up to his room, where he passed a very lonely evening. No one dared -to come near him, and if he had attempted to leave his room, he would -have been ordered back by the floor-guard. He knew he ought to study, but -still he would not do it. It would be time enough, he thought, to take up -his books, when he could see no way to get out of it. - -Lester went to bed long before taps, and slept soundly until he was -aroused by the report of the morning gun, and the noise of the fifes and -drums in the drill-room. Having been told that he would have just six -minutes in which to dress, he got into his clothes without loss of time, -and fell into the ranks just as the last strains of the morning call died -away. - - - - -CHAPTER IV. - -FLIGHT AND PURSUIT. - - -“Fourth company. All present or accounted for with the exception of -Private Albert Huggins,” said Bert Gordon, as he faced about and raised -his hand to his cap. - -“Where is Private Huggins?” demanded Captain Clayton. - -“I don’t know, sir. He had a pass last night, and he seems to have abused -it. At any rate he is not in the ranks to answer to his name.” - -Captain Clayton reported to the adjutant, who in turn reported to the -officer of the day, and then the ranks were broken, and the young -soldiers hurried to their dormitories to wash their hands and faces, comb -their hair, and get ready for morning inspection. While Bert and his -room-mate were thus engaged, an orderly opened the door long enough to -say that Sergeant Gordon was wanted in the superintendent’s office. - -“Hallo!” exclaimed Sergeant Elmer—that was the name and rank of Bert’s -room-mate—“you are going out after Huggins, most likely. If you have the -making up of the detail don’t forget me.” - -Bert said he wouldn’t, and hastened out to obey the summons. As he was -passing along the hall he was suddenly confronted by Lester Brigham, who -jerked open the door of his room and shouted “Police! Police!” at the top -of his voice. - -“What’s the matter with you?” exclaimed Bert, wondering if Lester had -taken leave of his senses. - -“I’ve been robbed!” cried Lester, striding up and down the floor, in -spite of all Bert could do to quiet him. “That villain Huggins broke open -my trunk and took a clean hundred dollars in money out of it.” - -Lester’s wild cries had alarmed everybody on that floor, and the hall was -rapidly filling with students who ran out of their rooms to see what was -the matter. - -“Go back, boys,” commanded Bert. “You have not a moment to waste. If your -rooms are not ready for inspection you will be reported and punished for -it. Go back, every one of you.” - -He emphasized this order by pulling out his note-book and holding his -pencil in readiness to write down the name of every student who did not -yield prompt obedience. The boys scattered in every direction, and when -the hall was cleared, Bert seized Lester by the arm and pulled him into -his room. - -“No yelling now,” said he sternly. - -“Must I stand by and let somebody rob me without saying a word?” -vociferated Lester. - -“By no means; but you can act like a sane boy and report the matter in -a quiet way, can’t you? Now explain, and be quick about it, for the -superintendent wants to see me.” - -“Why, Huggins has run away—he intended to do it when he got that pass -last night—and he has taken every dollar I had in the world to help -himself along. Just look here,” said Lester, picking up the hasp of -his trunk which had been broken in two in the middle. “Huggins did -that yesterday, and I never knew it until a few minutes ago. I went -to my trunk to get out a clean collar, and then I found that the hasp -was broken, and that my clothes were tumbled about in the greatest -confusion. I looked for my money the first thing, but it was gone.” - -“Don’t you know that it is against the rules for a student to have more -than five dollars in his possession at one time?” asked Bert. “If you -had lived up to the law and given your money into the superintendent’s -keeping, you would not have lost it.” - -“What do I care for the law?” snarled Lester. - -“You ought to care for it. If you didn’t intend to obey it, you had no -business to sign the muster-roll.” - -“Well, who’s going to get my hundred dollars back for me? That’s what I -want to know,” cried Lester, who showed signs of going off into another -flurry. - -“I don’t know that any one can get it back for you,” said Bert quietly. -“It is possible that you may never see it again.” - -“Then I’ll see some more just like it, you may depend upon that,” said -Lester, walking nervously up and down the floor and shaking his fists in -the air. “I was robbed in the superintendent’s house, and he is bound to -make my loss good.” - -“There’s where you are mistaken. You took your own risk by disobeying the -rules——” - -“The money was mine and the superintendent had no more right to touch it -than you had,” interrupted Lester. “My father gave it to me with his own -hands, because he wanted I should have a fund by me that I could draw on -without asking anybody’s permission.” - -“Well, you see what you made by it, don’t you? How do you know that -Huggins has run away?” - -“He told me he was going to. I offered to give him a dollar to help him -along, and so did Jones and Williams.” - -“You ought not to have done that.” - -“I don’t care; I did it, and this is the way he repaid me. I’ll bet he -had my money in his pocket when he refused my offer. I thought he acted -queer, and so did the other boys.” - -“Do you know which way he intended to go?” - -“He said he was going to draw a bee-line for Oxford, and ship on the -first vessel he could find that would take him to sea. Are you going -after him?” inquired Lester, as Bert turned toward the door. “Look here: -if you will follow him up and get my money back for me, I’ll—I’ll lend -you five dollars of it, if you want it.” - -Lester was about to say that he would _give_ Bert that amount, but he -caught his breath in time, and saved five dollars by it. He knew very -well that Bert would never be obliged to ask him for money. - -The sergeant hurried down to the superintendent’s office, where he found -the officer of the day, who had just been making his report. - -“I understand that Private Huggins abused my confidence, and that -he stayed out all night on the pass I gave him yesterday,” said the -superintendent, after returning Bert’s salute. “Perhaps you had better -take a corporal with you, and look around and see if you can find any -traces of him.” - -Bert was delighted. Here was an opportunity for him to win a reputation. - -“Shall I go to Oxford, sir?” said he. - -“To Oxford?” repeated the superintendent, while the officer of the day -looked surprised. - -“Yes, sir. There’s where he has gone.” - -“How do you know?” - -“His room-mate told me so. He has run away intending to go to sea.” - -“Well, well! It is more serious than I thought,” said the superintendent, -while an expression of annoyance and vexation settled on his face. “He -must be brought back. Was he going to walk all that distance or steal a -ride on the cars? He has no money, and his father took pains to tell me -that none would be allowed him.” - -“He has plenty of it, sir,” replied Bert. “He broke into Private -Brigham’s trunk and took a hundred dollars from it.” - -The superintendent could hardly believe that he had heard aright. - -“That is the most disgraceful thing that ever happened in this school,” -said he, as soon as he could speak. “I didn’t suppose there was a boy -here who could be guilty of an act of that kind. Sergeant,” he added, -looking at his watch, “you have just fifteen minutes in which to reach -the depot and ascertain whether or not Huggins took the eight o’clock -train for Oxford last night. Learn all you can, and go with the squad -which I shall at once send in pursuit of him.” - -“Very good, sir,” replied Bert. - -“Can I go?” asked Sergeant Elmer, as Bert ran into his room and snatched -his overcoat and cap from their hooks. - -“I hope so, but I am afraid not. The superintendent will make up the -detail himself or appoint some shoulder-strap to do it, and it isn’t -likely that he will take two sergeants from the same company. You will -have to act in my place while I am gone.” - -“Well, good-by and good luck to you,” said the disappointed Elmer. - -Bert hastened down the stairs and out of the building, and at the gate -he found the officer of the day who had come there to pass him by the -sentry. As soon as he had closed the gate behind him, he broke into a -run, and in a few minutes more he was walking back and forth in front -of the ticket-office, conversing with a quiet looking man who was to be -found there whenever a train passed the depot. He was a detective. - -“Good morning, Mr. Shepard,” said Bert. “Were you on duty when No. 6 went -down last night?” - -No. 6 was the first southward bound train that passed through Bridgeport -after Huggins left the academy grounds. - -“I was,” answered the detective. “Was that fellow I came pretty near -running in last night on general principles one of your boys?” - -“I can’t tell until you describe him,” said Bert. - -“There was nothing wrong about his appearance, but I didn’t like the -way he acted,” observed the detective. “He looked as though he had been -up to something. He didn’t buy a ticket, and he took pains to board the -train from the opposite side. He wore a dark-blue overcoat, Arctic shoes, -seal-skin cap, gloves and muffler, and had something on his upper lip -that looked like a streak of free-soil, but which, perhaps, on closer -examination might have proved to be a mustache.” - -“That’s the fellow,” said Bert. “Did he go toward Oxford?” - -“He did. Do you want him? What has he been doing?” - -“I do want him, for he is a deserter,” replied Bert. He said nothing -about the crime of which Huggins was guilty. The superintendent had not -told him to keep silent in regard to it, but he knew he was expected to -do it all the same. - -“Then I am glad I didn’t run him in,” said Mr. Shepard. “You boys always -see plenty of fun when you are out after deserters. But you can’t take -that big fellow alone. He’ll pick you up and chuck you head first into a -snow-drift.” - -“There are one or two fellows in that squad whom he can’t chuck into a -snow-drift,” said Bert, pointing with his thumb over his shoulder toward -the door. - -The detective looked, and saw a party of students coming into the depot -at double time. They were led by Captain (formerly Corporal) Mack, who, -having been permitted to choose his own men, had detailed Curtis, Egan, -Hopkins, and Don Gordon to form his squad. A long way behind them came -the old German professor, Mr. Odenheimer, who was very red in the face -and puffing and blowing like a porpoise. The fleet-footed boys had -led him a lively race, and they meant to do it, too. They didn’t want -him along, for his presence was calculated to rob them of much of the -pleasure they would otherwise have enjoyed. He was jolly and good-natured -when off duty, but still pompous and rather overbearing, and if Huggins -were captured and Lester Brigham’s money returned to him, the honor of -the achievement would fall to him, and not to Captain Mack and his men. - -“Young sheltemans,” panted the professor, stopping in front of the squad -which Captain Mack had halted and brought to a front preparatory to -breaking ranks,“I use to could go double quick so good like de pest of -you ven I vas in mine good Brussia fighting mit unser Fritz; but I peen -not a good boy for running not now any more. Vere is Sergeant Gordon?” - -“Here, sir,” replied Bert, stepping up and saluting. - -“Vell, vere ish dat young rascals—vat you call him—Hukkins?” - -“He has gone to Oxford, sir,” said Bert, who then went on to repeat the -substance of his conversation with the detective. Now and then his eyes -wandered toward the boys in the ranks, who came so near making him laugh -in the professor’s face that he was obliged to turn his back toward them. -They were indulging in all sorts of pranks calculated to show their -utter disapproval of the whole proceeding. Don was humped up like old -Jordan, the negro he had so often personated; Hopkins was mimicking the -professor; Egan, who had assumed a very wise expression of countenance, -was checking off Bert’s remarks on his fingers; Curtis was watching for -a chance to snatch an apple from the stand behind him; while Captain Mack -held himself in readiness to drop a piece of ice down his back the very -moment he attempted it. These boys all liked the professor in spite of -his pomposity and his constant allusions to his military record, but they -would have been much better satisfied if he had remained at the academy. -If they had taken time to consider the matter, they would have seen very -clearly that the superintendent had acted for the best, and that he would -not have showed any degree of prudence if he had left them to pursue and -capture the deserter alone and unaided. There was no play about this, and -besides Huggins was something worse than a deserter. - -Just then the whistle of an approaching train was heard; whereupon -Captain Mack was ordered to break ranks and procure tickets for himself -and his party, Bert included. This done they boarded the cars, and in a -few minutes more were speeding away toward Oxford. - -“I don’t at all like this way of doing business,” observed Captain Mack, -who occupied a seat with Bert. “I am not personally acquainted with -Huggins, but if there is any faith to be put in his appearance, he is -nobody’s fool. He’ll not go to Oxford after stealing that money. If he -went this way, he will stop off at some little station, buy another suit -of clothes and keep dark until he thinks the matter has had time to blow -over.” - -“Perhaps you had better say as much to the professor,” suggested Bert. - -“Not I!” replied Captain Mack, with a laugh and a knowing shake of his -head. “I have no desire to give him a chance to turn his battery of -broken English loose on me. He has done it too many times already. While -I am very anxious that Huggins should be caught and the money recovered, -I can see as much fun in riding about the country as I can in drilling; -and if the professor wants to spend a week or two on a wild-goose chase, -it is nothing to me. I put in some good solid time with my books last -vacation, and I am three months ahead of my class.” - -The captain was right when he said that Huggins did not look like -anybody’s fool, and he wasn’t, either. When he first made up his mind -to desert the academy, he laid his plans just as he told them to Lester -Brigham; but one morning an incident occurred that caused him to make -a slight change in them. He saw Lester go to his trunk and take a -five-dollar bill from a well-filled pocket-book which he kept hidden -under his clothing. The sight of it suggested an idea to Huggins—one -that frightened him at first, but after he had pondered upon it for a -while and dreamed about it a few times, it became familiar to him, and he -ceased to look upon it as a crime. - -“It is easier to ride than it is to walk,” he often said to himself. -“Lester doesn’t need the money, and I do, for I don’t know what I shall -have to go through with before I can find a vessel. Oxford is a small -place, and I may have to stay there a week or two before I can secure a -berth, and how could I live all that time without money? I am not going -to steal it—I shall borrow it, for, of course, my father will refund -every cent of it. I know he will not like to do it, but he ought to have -let me go to sea when I asked him.” - -After reasoning with himself in this way a few times, Huggins finally -mustered up courage enough to make himself the possessor of the coveted -pocket-book. Unfortunately, opportunities were not wanting. Lester was -hardly ever in his room during the day-time, and it was an easy matter -for Huggins to lock the door and break open the trunk with the aid of a -spike he had picked up in the carpenter-shop. Then he bundled up some of -his clothes, intending to ask for a pass and leave the academy at once. -He got the pass, as we know, but found, to his great surprise and alarm, -that he could not use it until after supper. It was no wonder that he -showed nervousness and anxiety when Jones and the rest offered to lend -him money to help him along. If he had not succeeded in satisfying them -that he would not accept assistance from them, and Lester had gone to -his trunk after the dollar, there would have been trouble directly. He -escaped this danger, however, and as soon as he could use his pass, he -made all haste to get out of Bridgeport. - -“But I’ll not go to Oxford yet,” said he, when he found himself safe on -board the cars. “The fellows said they wouldn’t tell where I intended to -go, but when they made that promise they didn’t know that I had borrowed -Brigham’s money.” - -Just then the conductor tapped him on the shoulder and held out his hand -for the boy’s ticket. - -“What is the fare to the next station?” asked the latter. - -“One twenty-five,” was the answer. - -Huggins produced the money, and then buttoned his overcoat, settled -back into an easy position on his seat, and tried to make up his mind -what he should do next. Before he had come to any decision on this -point, the whistle blew again, and the train came to a stop; whereupon -Huggins picked up his bundle, which he had carried under his coat when -he deserted the academy, and left the car. The few men he saw upon the -platform were running about as if they were very busy—all except one, -who strolled around with his hands in his pockets. Huggins drew back -out of the glare of the lamps that were shining from the windows of the -depot, to wait for an opportunity to speak to him. He had got off at a -tank-station, but he did not find it out until it was too late to go -farther. - -Having taken on a fresh supply of coal and water the engine moved off, -dragging its long train of sleeping-cars behind it, the station agent -went into his office, closing the door behind him, and Huggins and the -unemployed stranger were left alone on the platform. - -“Good evening to you, pard,” said the latter, walking up to the boy’s -place of concealment. - -“How are you?” replied Huggins, who did not like the familiar tone in -which he had been addressed. “Can you tell me which way to go to find a -hotel?” - -“Hotel!” repeated the stranger. “There’s none around here.” - -Huggins started and looked about him. Then he saw that he had got off in -the woods, and that there were only one or two small buildings within the -range of his vision. - -“Is there no house in the neighborhood at which I can obtain a night’s -lodging?” asked Huggins, growing alarmed. - -“I don’t suppose there is,” was the encouraging reply. - -“Where does the station-agent sleep?” - -“In his office.” - -“How far is your house from here?” - -“Well, I can’t say just how many miles it is.” - -“What is your business?” asked Huggins, growing suspicious of the -stranger. - -“I haven’t any just now. I am a minister’s son, traveling for my health. -I’ll tell you what we might do, pard: if you are a good talker you might -coax the agent to let us spend the night in the waiting-room. There’s a -good fire there——” - -Huggins waited to hear no more. The man was a professional tramp, there -was no doubt about that, and the idea of passing the night in the same -room with him was not to be entertained for a moment. He started for the -office to have a talk with the agent, the tramp keeping close at his -heels. - -“I made a mistake in getting off here,” said Huggins to the agent, “and I -would be greatly obliged if you will direct me to some house where I can -put up until morning.” - -“I should be glad to do it,” was the answer, “but there is no one right -around the depot who can accommodate you. There is a boarding-house for -the mill-hands about a mile from here, but I couldn’t direct you to it so -that you could find it. The road runs through the woods, and you might -miss it and get lost.” - -“Why, what in the world am I to do?” asked Huggins, who, having never -been thrown upon his own resources before, was as helpless as a child -would have been in the same situation. “Must I stay out doors all night?” - -“Not necessarily. Where did you come from?” - -“I came from Bridgeport and paid a dollar and twenty-five cents to go -from there to the next station.” - -“Well, the next station is Carbondale, which is three miles from here. -There is where you ought to have stopped.” - -“Could I hire a horse and cutter to take me there?” - -“I don’t think you could.” - -“I am able and willing to pay liberally for it.” - -“Oh, you would have to go out to the mills to find a horse and a man to -drive it for you, and you might as well walk to Carbondale at once as to -do that.” - -“When is the next train due?” - -“The next train won’t help you any, for it is the lightning express, -and she doesn’t stop here. You can’t go on the next one either, for she -is the fast freight, and doesn’t carry passengers. You’ll have to wait -for the accommodation which goes through here at six fourteen in the -morning.” - -“Then I suppose I shall have to pass the night in your waiting-room,” -said Huggins, who was fairly at his wits’ end. - -“Well, I suppose you won’t,” said the agent in emphatic tones. “I shall -have to ask you to go out now, for I am going to lock up.” - -“Don’t you leave a room open for the accommodation of passengers?” -exclaimed Huggins, wondering what would become of him if the agent -turned him out in the snow to pass the night as best he could, while the -thermometer was only a degree or two above zero. If it had been summer -he could have bunked under a tree; but as it was—the runaway shuddered -when he thought of the long, cold hours that must be passed in some way -before he would see the sun rise again. Here the tramp, who stood holding -his hands over the stove, put in a word to help Huggins; but he only -made a bad matter worse. The heart of the station agent was not likely -to be moved to pity by any such advocate as he was. He carried a very -hard-looking face, he was rough and unkempt, and his whole appearance was -against him. Besides, he did not speak in a way calculated to carry his -point. - -“I don’t see what harm it will do for us to sit by your fire,” said he, -in angry tones. - -“I don’t care whether you see any harm in it or not,” said the agent, -taking a bunch of keys from his pocket. “I know what my orders are, and I -intend to obey them. Come now, move; both of you.” - -“I wish you would tell me what to do,” said Huggins, as he turned toward -the door. “I am not in this man’s company, and neither am I interceding -for him. I am speaking for myself alone.” - -“I can’t help that. If I let you in I must let him in too; but my orders -are to turn everybody out when I lock up. The best thing you can do is to -strike out for Carbondale at your best pace. The night is clear, and you -can’t miss the way if you follow the railroad. There are no bridges or -trestle-works for you to cross, and no cattle-guards to fall into. If you -make haste, you can get there before the hotels shut up. Go on, now!” - -The agent arose from his chair as he said this, and Huggins and the tramp -opened the door and went out into the cold. - - - - -CHAPTER V. - -DON’S ENCOUNTER WITH THE TRAMP. - - -“You’re not in my company, ain’t you? You didn’t speak for me but for -yourself, did you? You think you’re too fine a gentleman to be seen -loafing about with such a fellow as I am, don’t you?” growled the tramp, -when he and Huggins were alone on the platform. “I’ve the best notion in -the world to make you pay for them words, and I will, too, if I find you -hanging about here after the agent has gone to bed.” - -There was no doubt that the man was in earnest when he said this. The -light from the agent’s window shone full upon his face and the runaway -could see that there was an evil look in it. - -“If you had stood by me I would have given you a good place to sleep, for -I know where there is a nice warm hay-mow with plenty of blankets and -buffalo robes to put over you,” continued the tramp. “I slept there last -night, and I’m going there now, after I see you start for Carbondale. Go -on, be off with you!” - -“I’m not going there,” replied Huggins, who was so badly frightened by -the man’s vehemence that he was afraid to show any of the indignation -he felt at being ordered about in this unceremonious way. “I shall stay -right here on this platform until daylight.” - -“No, you won’t. I’m not going to have you staying around here watching -for a chance to follow me to my warm bed. You went back on me, and now -you can look out for yourself.” - -“I have no intention of following you,” said Huggins. - -“I’ll believe that when I see you dig out for Carbondale. Go on, I say, -or I’ll help you!” - -The man took his hands out of his pockets, and Huggins believing that -he was about to put his threat into execution, jumped off the platform, -and started up the railroad track at a rapid pace, the tramp standing in -the full glare of the light from the agent’s window, and keeping a close -watch over his movements. - -“That was a pretty good idea,” said he to himself, as he saw the boy’s -figure growing dim in the distance. “He said he was able and willing to -pay liberal for somebody to take him to Carbondale, and that proves that -he’s got money. I’ll just look into that matter when he gets a little -farther away. I’ll take that fine cap, muffler, and them gloves of his’n, -too. They’ll keep me warm while I have ’em, and I can trade ’em off or -sell ’em before the police can get wind of me.” - -So saying the man stepped down from the platform and moved leisurely up -the track in the direction in which Huggins had disappeared, shuffling -along in a supremely lazy and disjointed way, that no one ever saw -imitated by anybody except a professional tramp. - -“The insolent fellow!” thought Huggins, looking back now and then to make -sure that the man was still standing on the platform. “What right had he -to tell me to go on to Carbondale if I wanted to stay at the depot until -morning? He must think I am hard up for a night’s rest if he imagines -that I would be willing to sleep in a hay-mow. I’ll have a good bed while -I am about it, for now that I am on the road to Carbondale, I shall keep -moving until I get there. How lonely and still it is out here, and how -gloomy the woods look! I wish I had somebody to talk to.” - -When the darkness had shut the station-house, the tank, the upright, -motionless figure of the tramp and every thing else except the light in -the agent’s window out from his view, Huggins broke into a run, and flew -along the track at the top of his speed. He kept up the pace as long as -he could stand it, and then settled down into a rapid trot which carried -him easily over one of the three miles he had to cover before he could -find a roof to shelter him and a bed to sleep in. - -“I think I am all right now,” soliloquized the runaway, slackening his -pace to a walk and unbuttoning his heavy muffler, which felt too warm -about his neck. “I tell you I am glad to see the last of that tramp, for -I didn’t at all like the looks of him. I believe he’d just as soon——” - -The runaway’s heart seemed to stop beating. He faced quickly about, and -there was the tramp whom he hoped he had seen for the last time, close -behind him. He had easily kept pace with the boy, stepping so exactly -in time with him that the sound of his feet upon the frosty snow had -not betrayed his presence. He held some object in his hand which he -flourished over his head, and Huggins, believing it to be a pistol, stood -trembling in his tracks and waited for him to come up. The object was -not a pistol, but it was a murderous looking knife, which made the boy -shudder all over as he looked at it. - -“I’ve concluded to make you pay for going back on me so fair and square -while you were talking to the agent,” were the tramp’s next words. “Put -your hands above your head while I go through your pockets and see what -you’ve got in ’em.” - -“Do you want my money?” asked Huggins, who could hardly make himself -understood, so frightened was he. “If you do I will give it to you, but -don’t hurt me.” - -He carried his money in two places. The greater portion of it was in -Lester Brigham’s pocket-book; and in one of his vest pockets he had the -small amount of change the conductor gave him when he paid his fare. As -it was all in small bills and made a roll of respectable size, he hoped -he could satisfy the robber by handing it over, but he was doomed to be -disappointed. When he made a move as if he were about to unbutton his -overcoat, the man raised his knife threateningly. - -“None o’ that!” said he, in savage tones. “You can’t draw a barker on me -while I am within reach of you, and it will be worse for you if you try -it. Put your hands above your head, and be quick about it.” - -Huggins was afraid to refuse or to utter a word of remonstrance. He -raised his hands in the air, and the robber, after dropping the knife -into his coat-pocket, so that it could be readily seized if circumstances -should seem to require it, proceeded to “go through” him in the most -business-like way. He turned all the boy’s pockets inside out, and when -he had completed his investigations, Huggins’s money was all gone and he -stood shivering in the tramp’s hat and thread-bare coat, while the tramp -himself looked like another person. He had appropriated the runaway’s -cap, coats, muffler and gloves, and would have taken his boots and -Arctics too, if they had been big enough for him. - -“Now, then,” said he, as he buttoned the muffler about his neck and drew -on the gloves, “I believe I am done with you, and you can dig out.” - -“But where can I go?” cried Huggins. “I have no money to pay for a -night’s lodging, and I am almost a thousand miles from home.” - -“You are better off than I am, for I have no home at all,” answered the -tramp. “It won’t hurt you to sleep out of doors; I’ve done it many a -time. Now skip, for I have wasted words enough with you. Not that way,” -he added, as Huggins reluctantly turned his face toward Carbondale. “Go -back to the station. Step lively now, for if you don’t, I shall be after -you.” - -The boy dared not wait for the command to be repeated, believing, as -he did, that it would be emphasized by a prod with the knife which the -robber still held in his hand. Scarcely realizing what he was doing he -hurried along the track toward the station, and when he ventured to look -behind him, the tramp was nowhere in sight. - -“Now what am I going to do?” said Huggins to himself; and it was a -question he pondered all the way to the station, and which he could not -answer even when daylight came. The station-agent was just locking up as -he stepped upon the platform, and he resolved to make another effort to -obtain a seat by one of his fires. - -“Won’t you please let me sit in the waiting-room until morning?” said the -boy, in a pleading voice. - -“No, _no_!” was the angry response. “Clear out! You are the third one -who has asked me that question to-night. I don’t keep a hotel. If I did, -I’d have a sign out.” - -“That man who followed me into your office a little while ago, has robbed -me,” gasped Huggins, choking back a sob. - -“Well, I should say he had!” exclaimed the agent, after he had taken -a sharp look at Huggins. “I thought I knew your voice, but I didn’t -recognize you in those clothes. If I had had the chance I should have -told you to shake him as soon as possible. He has been hanging around -here all day, and I was afraid he would be up to something before he -left. Why didn’t you call for help?” - -“He was armed and savage and I was afraid to say a word,” replied the -runaway. “Besides it would have done no good, for I was a long distance -up the track when he overtook me.” - -“Did he take all your money?” - -“Every red cent. He didn’t even leave me my pocket-knife or note-book.” - -“Your case is a hard one, that’s a fact, and I will do what I can for -you,” said the agent. “You may sit in this room to-night. That fellow -will probably go to Oxford, and if I can get the operator there to -respond to my call, I’ll tell him to put the police on the look-out. -To-morrow I will send an alarm all along the line.” - -“I am much obliged to you,” said Huggins, gratefully. “I may some day be -able to repay you for your kindness.” - -“That’s all right. Good night.” - -The agent went out, and the runaway drew one of the chairs up in front of -the stove and sat down in it. He was provided for for the night, but what -should he do when morning came? Should he stay there at the tank-station -and look for work, or would it be better for him to start for Oxford on -foot, begging his meals as he went like any other tramp? That was what -he intended to do when he first made up his mind to desert the academy, -and he could not see that there was any other course open to him now. -While he was thinking about it, he fell asleep. He did not know when -the lightning express and the fast freight went through, but he heard -the whistle of the morning train, and hurried to the door to see the -accommodation approaching. He saw something else, too—something that put -life and energy into him, and sent him around the corner of the building -out of sight. - -“They are after me already,” said he, as he hurried along a road that led -from the station into the woods. “I saw their uniform caps sticking out -of the window.” - -If he had waited a few minutes longer he would have seen Captain Mack and -Sergeant Gordon step upon the platform and run toward the agent’s office. - -“Did you say he was a tall young fellow with a little mustache, and -that he wore a dark-blue overcoat, Arctic shoes and seal-skin furs? -He’s the very chap. Come with me. He was fast asleep in a chair in the -waiting-room not more than half an hour ago. There is his chair,” said -the agent, as he opened the door, “but he has skipped out, as sure as the -world.” - -“Have you any idea where he is?” asked the young captain. - -“I think he must have gone to Carbondale,” replied the agent. “But see -here, boys: you needn’t waste any time in looking for a fellow in a blue -overcoat and seal-skin furs, for the police will take care of him. You -want to keep your eyes open for a chap in a patched and torn broad-cloth -coat and a slouch hat without any brim to it. You see——” - -Here the agent went on to tell how Huggins had been robbed and compelled -to exchange clothes with the tramp. The boys listened attentively, and -when the agent finished his story, they hastened back to the train to -report to the professor. Captain Mack did the talking, and wound up with -the request that he might be permitted to take a couple of men and go up -the wagon-road toward Carbondale to see if Huggins had gone that way. -To his great surprise as well as delight the request was granted, the -professor adding that he and the rest of the squad would keep on with the -train until he thought they had got ahead of the runaway, and then they -would get off and come back on foot. - -“If you seen any dings of Hukkins or de veller vot robbed him, you will -gatch all two of dem and rebort to me py delegraph,” said the professor, -in concluding his instructions. “I shall pe somveres along de road, and -as lightning can dravel so much fasder dan shteam, you can easy gatch -me.” - -“Very good, sir. I wish I could take you with me, Bert,” he added, in a -whisper, “for I am bound to carry off the honors of this scout; but you -will have to stay and act as lackey to the professor. Gordon, you and -Egan come with me.” - -The boys obeyed with alacrity, smiling and kissing their hands to Hopkins -and Curtis, who frowned fiercely and shook their fists at them in return. -They stood upon the platform until the train moved off, and then Captain -Mack said: - -“Business before pleasure, boys. I move that we go somewhere and get a -good, old-fashioned country breakfast. I speak for a big bowl of bread -and milk.” - -The others were only too glad to fall in with this proposition. Having -left the academy almost as soon as they got up, they began to feel the -cravings of hunger, and their appetites were sharpened by the mere -mention of bread and milk. They held a short consultation with the -station-agent, and then started leisurely down the wagon road in the -direction of Carbondale, stopping at every house along the route with the -intention of asking for a bowl of bread and milk, but always, for some -reason or other, coming away without doing it. They were not inclined -to be fastidious. When it came to the pinch they could eat pancakes or -bacon that were seasoned with nothing but ashes and cinders with as much -zest as anybody; but they had become so accustomed to the strict and -rigidly enforced rules regarding personal cleanliness, that any violation -of these rules shocked them. To quote from Don Gordon, who generally -expressed his sentiments in the plainest possible language, they had no -use for children whose faces and hands were covered with molasses, nor -could they see anything to admire in an unkempt woman who went about her -cooking with a well-blackened clay-pipe in her mouth. - -“There’s the place we are looking for,” said Egan, directing his -companions’ attention to a neat little farm-house a short distance in -advance of them. “If we can’t find a breakfast there, we’ll not find it -this side of——” - -At that instant the front door of the house was suddenly opened, and a -lady appeared upon the threshold. She looked anxiously up and down the -road, and, seeing the students approaching, beckoned to them with frantic -eagerness, at the same time calling out, “Help! help!” at the top of her -voice. - -“Come on, boys,” cried Captain Mack. “Her house is on fire.” - -The officer and his men broke into a run, discarding their heavy -overcoats as they went, but before they had made many steps they -discovered that it was something besides fire that had occasioned the -lady’s alarm. All on a sudden a back door was jerked violently open, and -a man bounded down the steps and ran across a field toward the railroad -track. - -“He’s been doing something in there,” shouted Captain Mack. “Take after -him, boys.” - -“That’s one of the fellows we want,” observed Egan. “He’s got Huggins’s -overcoat on.” - -“So he has,” said the captain. “Never mind the lady, for she is safe now. -Catch the tramp, and we’ll find out what he had been doing to frighten -her.” - -Don Gordon, who had already taken the lead of his companions, cleared the -high farm gate as easily as though he had been furnished with wings, and -ran up the carriage-way. He lingered at a wood-rack he found in front of -the barn long enough to jerk one of the stakes out of it, and having -thus provided himself with a weapon, he continued the pursuit. - -The tramp, who had about fifty yards the start, proved himself to be no -mean runner. His wind was good, his muscles had been hardened by many -a long pedestrian tour about the country, and Don afterward admitted -that for a long time it looked as if the man were going to beat him; but -when the latter got what school-boys are wont to call his “second wind,” -he gained rapidly. Another hundred yards run brought him almost within -striking distance of the fugitive, and while he was trying to make up his -mind whether he ought to halt him or knock him down without ceremony to -pay him for frightening the lady, the tramp suddenly stopped and faced -about. Then Don saw that he carried a knife in his hand. - -“Keep away from me,” said he, in savage tones, “or I’ll——” - -“You’ll what?” demanded Don, leaning on his club and casting a quick -glance over his shoulder to see how far his companions were behind. - -“Do you see this?” said the tramp, shaking the knife threateningly. - -“Yes, I see it,” answered Don, coolly. “You had better throw it away. You -might hurt yourself with it.” - -The tramp was astonished. Here was a boy who could not be as easily -frightened as Huggins was, and he began to stand in awe of him. He was -old enough to know that a cool, deliberate antagonist is much more to -be feared than one who allows himself to go into a paroxysm of rage and -excitement. - -“Drop that knife,” commanded Don, who had suddenly made up his mind that -the tramp ought to be disarmed before his companions came up; and as he -spoke, he raised his club over his head. - -A year’s hard drill, added to faithful attention to the instructions -he had received from Professor Odenheimer, had made Don Gordon very -proficient in the broadsword exercise, but he had never had an -opportunity to test the value of the accomplishment until this particular -morning. Seeing that the man had no intention of dropping the knife he -proceeded to disarm him, and he did it in a way that was as surprising -to him as it was to the tramp. Bringing his club to the first position, -he made a feint with it as if he were going to give a No. 1 cut. If the -weapon had not been arrested in its progress through the air, and the -tramp had stood motionless, he would have received a sounding whack on -his left cheek; but seeing the club coming he ducked his head at the very -instant that Don changed from the first to the third cut, thus receiving -squarely between the eyes the full force of a terrific blow that was -intended for his right forearm. He fell as if he had been shot. The knife -fell from his grasp, and before he could recover it, Captain Mack had run -up and secured possession of it. - -Without saying a word Egan proceeded to explore the tramp’s pockets, and -the first thing he brought to light was Lester Brigham’s money. It was -all there, too, for the tramp had had no opportunity to spend any of it. -He had reasons of his own for desiring to go to Oxford, but he did not -intend to start immediately. He slept in a barn that night, and intended, -as soon as he had begged a breakfast, to strike back into the country and -make his way to Oxford by a round-about course, avoiding the railroad -and all the villages along the route. He hoped in this way to elude the -police who, he knew, would be on the watch for him. When he reached the -farm-house from which he had taken his hurried flight, and found that -the male members of the family were absent, he began to act as though -he had a right there. He demanded a warm breakfast and a seat at the -table; and when the lady of the house objected and tried to oppose his -entrance into the kitchen, he frightened her nearly out of her senses by -producing his knife and threatening to do something terrible with it if -his demands were not complied with on the instant. Some of these things -Captain Mack and his men learned from the tramp himself, and the rest of -the story they heard from the lady, into whose presence they conducted -their prisoner without loss of time. The latter came very near meeting -with a warm reception. The farmer and his two stalwart sons had just come -in from the wood-lot where they had spent the morning in chopping, and -it was all the old gentleman, aided by his wife and Captain Mack and his -men, could do to keep the boys from punching the tramp’s head. - -“What are you going to do with him?” demanded the farmer, when quiet -had been restored and Captain Mack had told what the tramp had done to -Huggins the night before. - -“I am going to take him back to the station and telegraph to Professor -Odenheimer for orders,” answered the captain. “Those are my instructions.” - -“Haven’t had any breakfast, I reckon, have you? I thought not. Well, I -haven’t either. Come in and sit down. It’s all ready.” - -“Thank you,” said Mack. “A bowl of milk would be——” - -“Oh, we’ve got something better than that.” - -“You haven’t anything that would suit me better,” said Mack, with -refreshing candor. “I am a city boy.” - -“Oh, ah! Well, you shall have all the milk you can drink.” - -When Captain Mack and his men had satisfied their appetites and listened -to the grateful words of the farmer, who thanked them for their prompt -response to his wife’s appeals for assistance, they put on their -overcoats, which one of the boys had brought in from the road during -their absence, and set out for the station with their prisoner. The -latter’s face began to show the effect of Don’s blow, but the tramp did -not seem to mind it. He ate the cold bread and meat which the farmer’s -wife gave him just as he was about to leave the house with his captors, -and even joined in their conversation. - -When the students reached the depot they were met by the agent, who -laughed all over when he saw the tramp, and drew Captain Mack off on one -side. - -“You got him, didn’t you?” said he. “Some of you must have given him a -good pounding, judging by his countenance. Now, if you are at all sharp, -you can capture the other.” - -“Who? Huggins?” - -“Yes. He went out to the mill and got a job there at hauling wood. He was -in here not ten minutes ago, and I had a long talk with him. He saw some -of you looking out of the window when the accommodation came in, and that -was the reason he took himself off in such a hurry. I told him that you -had gone on toward Oxford. He’ll be back here with another load in less -than an hour, and then you can catch him.” - -“I am much obliged to you,” said Captain Mack. “Now will you see if you -can ascertain where the professor and the rest of the boys are?” - -The agent said he would; but his efforts to find them met with no -success. The operators of whom he made inquiries had all seen them, but -couldn’t tell where they were. - -“They haven’t left the train yet,” said he. “The accommodation will be at -Munson in a quarter of an hour, and then I will try again.” - -Of course the captain could not make his report until he knew where the -professor was, so he and his men went into the waiting-room, accompanied -by the tramp, and sat down there—all except Don Gordon, who was ordered -to hold himself in readiness to capture the deserter when he came back -with the next load of wood. - - - - -CHAPTER VI. - -ABOUT VARIOUS THINGS. - - -Don’s first care was to ascertain which way Huggins would come from when -he returned from the mill with his wood, and his second to keep behind -the depot out of sight. He paced up and down the platform in front of the -door of the waiting-room, so that he could be at hand to lend assistance -in case the tramp showed a disposition to make trouble for Mack and Egan, -but that worthy had no more fight in him. He was a coward and afraid of -Don, and he wisely concluded that the best thing he could do was to keep -quiet. - -At the end of twenty minutes the station-agent came in. He had heard -from the professor and the rest of the squad, who had left the train at -Munson. At Captain Mack’s request he sent off the following despatch: - -“Have captured the tramp who robbed Huggins, and expect to have Huggins -himself inside of an hour.” - -In due time the answer came back: - -“Remain at the station until I come.” - -“And when he comes, which will be about four o’clock this afternoon, we -shall have to go back to our books and duties,” said the young officer, -stretching his arms and yawning. “I haven’t seen a bit of fun during this -scout, have you, Egan? I hope the next fellow who makes up his mind to -desert the academy, will lead us a good long chase and give us some work -to do.” - -The captain had his wish. The next time he was sent in pursuit of a -runaway, he did not come back in one day nor two; and even at the end -of a week he had not completed his work. We shall tell all about it -presently. - -The minutes wore away, and presently Don Gordon, who stood where he could -command a view of the road for a long distance, saw a load of wood coming -out of the timber. There was somebody walking beside it and driving -the horses, but Don would not have known it was Huggins had not the -station-agent, who was also on the watch, at that moment opened his door -and called out: - -“There he is.” - -“Much obliged,” replied Don, who straightway pulled off his overcoat and -dropped it upon the platform. He knew nothing whatever of Huggins. The -latter might be a good runner or a good fighter, and if he concluded to -make a race of it or to resist arrest, Don intended to be ready for him. - -Huggins approached the depot with fear and trembling. He stopped very -frequently to reconnoiter the building and its surroundings, and when he -drew up to the wood-pile, he threw the blankets over his steaming horses, -and jumped upon the platform. He wanted to make sure that the coast was -clear before he began throwing off his load. Don could not see him now, -but the sound of his footsteps told him that the deserter was approaching -his place of concealment. When he came around the corner of the building, -Don stepped into view and greeted him with the greatest cordiality. - -“Your name is Huggins, I believe,” said he; and without giving the -runaway time to recover from his surprise and bewilderment, Don took him -by the arm and led him toward the door of the waiting-room. “I am glad -to see you,” he continued, “and you will be glad to know that the tramp -who robbed you last night has surrendered Lester Brigham’s money, and -that your clothes—— Hallo! What’s the matter?” - -Huggins had been brought to his senses by Don’s words. He saw that he -had run right into a trap that had been prepared for him, and he made a -desperate attempt to escape. Throwing all his strength, which was by no -means insignificant, into the effort, he tried to wrench his arm loose -from Don’s grasp, and to trip him up at the same time; but the vicious -kick he aimed at Don’s leg expended its force in the empty air, and -Huggins turned part way around and sat down on the platform very suddenly. - -“What are you doing down there?” said Don, taking the runaway by the -collar and lifting him to his feet. “Come into the waiting-room if you -want to sit down. I was about to say, when you interrupted me, that -you can get your clothes back now. Mack’s got the money, and all your -property. Here we are. Walk right in and make yourself at home.” - -Captain Mack and Egan, who had kept a watchful eye on Don and his -captive, but who dared not go out to assist him for fear that the -tramp would improve the opportunity to escape, opened the door of the -waiting-room, and Huggins walked in without saying a word. In obedience -to Captain Mack’s command an exchange of hats and coats was made between -the new prisoner and the man who had robbed him, and after that another -despatch was sent to Professor Odenheimer. The answer that came back was -the same as the first. - -The fun, as well as the work, was all over now, and the students had -nothing to do but walk about the room and wait as patiently as they -could for the train that was to take them back to Bridgeport. It came at -last, and in due time the tramp was handed over to the authorities to be -tried for highway robbery, while Huggins was marched to his room to be -kept there under guard until his father came to take him away. He was -expelled from the school in general orders. Lester Brigham was punished -for keeping so large an amount of money by him in violation of the -regulations, and Don Gordon was looked upon as a hero. This hurt Lester -more than anything else. He had come there with the fixed determination -to supplant Don and Bert in the estimation of both teachers and -students—to build himself up by pulling them down—and he was not a little -disappointed as well as enraged, when he discovered that it was not in -his power to work them any injury. He wrote a doleful letter to his -father, complaining of the indignities that were constantly heaped upon -him, and begging to be allowed to go home; but for once in his life Mr. -Brigham was firm, and Lester was given to understand that he must make up -his mind to stay at Bridgeport until the four years’ course was completed. - -“I’ll show him whether I will or not,” said Lester, who was almost beside -himself with fury. “He’ll _have_ to let me go home. If Jones and the rest -will stand by me, I will kick up a row here that will be talked of as -long as the academy stands. I’ll show the fellows that Don Gordon isn’t -the only boy in the world who has any pluck.” - -In process of time Mr. Huggins came to the academy to look into the -charges that had been made against his son, and when he went away, the -deserter went with him. It was a long time before the boys knew what had -become of him, for he left not a single friend at the academy, and there -was no one who corresponded with him. - -Things went smoothly after that. Of course there was some grand running, -and a good deal of extra sentry and police duty to be performed by the -idle and disobedient ones; but there were no flagrant violations of -the rules—no more thefts or desertions. The malcontents were plucky -enough to do almost anything, but they lacked a leader. There were no -Don Gordons or Tom Fishers or Clarence Duncans among them. They had -expected great things of Lester Brigham, but when they became better -acquainted with him, they found that he was a boy of no spirit whatever. -He talked loudly and spent his money freely, and his liberality brought -him plenty of followers who were quick to discover all the weak points -in his character. His insufferable vanity and self-conceit, his hatred -of Don Gordon, his fondness for telling of the imaginary exploits he had -performed both afloat and ashore—all these were seized upon by a certain -class of boys who flattered him to his face, ate unlimited quantities of -pancakes and pies at his expense and laughed at him behind his back. But -the idea he had suggested to them—that of stealing a yacht and going off -somewhere and having a picnic—was not forgotten. They talked about it at -every opportunity; numerous plans for their amusement were proposed and -discussed, and they had even selected the yacht in which they intended to -make their cruise. Lester was, of course, the nominal leader, but Jones -and Enoch Williams did all the work and laid all the plans. - -The winter months passed quietly away, spring with its trout-fishing and -pickerel-spearing came and went, and summer was upon them almost before -they knew it. Now the students went to work in earnest, for the season -of the annual camp and the examination that followed it, was close at -hand. Even the lazy boys began to show some signs of life now, for they -had heard much of the pleasures that were to be enjoyed during their -month under canvas, and they were as anxious as the others to make a good -showing in the presence of the strangers and friends who would be sure to -visit them. - -Lester Brigham would have looked forward to the camping frolic with -the greatest eagerness and impatience if he had only had a corporal’s -_chevrons_ to wear; but he hadn’t, and if we might judge by his standing -in his class, he was not likely to wear them, either. - -“I’ll have to stand guard and be bossed around by that little whiffet -of a Bert Gordon, who will throw on more airs than he deserves,” Lester -often said to himself. “But I’ll not go to camp, if I can help it. If I -do, I’ll not stay there long, for I will do something that will send me -back to the academy under arrest.” - -This was a part of Jones’s programme. The boys who were to steal the -yacht and go to sea in her—there were twenty-eight of them in all—were -to fall so far behind their classes that they would be ordered to remain -at the academy to make up for lost time. If they did not succeed in -accomplishing their object and were sent to camp against their will, they -were to commit some offence that would cause them to be marched back -under arrest. The boys growled lustily when this programme was marked out -for them, and some of them flatly refused to follow it. - -“As this is my first year at the academy I have never been in camp, and I -should like to see what they do there,” said one. “Suppose those Mount -Pleasant Indians should come in again? I shouldn’t like to miss that.” - -“I don’t see any sense in waiting so long,” said another. “Why can’t we -go now?” - -“Where’s the yacht?” asked Jones, in reply. “There isn’t one in the -harbor. They have all gone off on a cruise. The first thing is to make -sure that we can get a boat. As soon as that matter is settled, I will -tell you what to do next. If you will hold yourselves in readiness to -move when I say the word, I will guarantee that we will see more fun than -those who stay in camp.” - -“What will they do with us after they capture us?” - -“They will court-martial and expel the last one of us. That’s a foregone -conclusion. If there are any among us who desire to stay in this school, -they had better back down at once, so that we may know who they are. But -we’ll lead them a lively race before we are caught; you may depend upon -that.” - -Whenever Jones talked in this way there were a few of his adherents—and -they were the ones who had exhibited the most enthusiasm when Lester’s -plan was first proposed—who felt their courage oozing out at the end of -their fingers. It was easy enough to talk about capturing and running off -with a private yacht, but as the time for action drew nearer they began -to show signs of wavering. Unfortunately, however, an incident happened -during the latter part of June, which did more to unite them, and to -bring their runaway scheme to a head, than almost anything else could -have done. - -Among those who kept a watchful eye over the interests of the academy, -and who took the greatest pride in its success, were the rank and file -of the 61st regiment of infantry, National Guards, which was located at -Hamilton, a thriving little city about fifty miles north of Bridgeport. -This regiment was composed almost entirely of veterans, and a few of -them were the fathers, uncles and older brothers of some of the boys who -were now wearing the academy uniform. Their colonel and some of their -field and line officers were graduated there, and in the ranks were -many bearded fellows who, in the days gone by, had run the guards to -eat pancakes at Cony Ryan’s, and who had paid for their fun by spending -the next Saturday afternoon in walking extras with muskets on their -shoulders and packed knapsacks on their backs. - -The regiment had once spent a week in camp with the academy boys, and -this year was the twenty-fifth anniversary of its organization. The -members intended to celebrate it by giving the citizens of Hamilton the -finest parade they had witnessed for many a day. Regiments from Rhode -Island, New York and Ohio had given favorable replies to the invitations -that had been sent to them, others from Virginia and North Carolina, -which had seen service under General Lee at Richmond, had promised to be -present, the firemen and civic societies were to join in the parade, and -the academy boys were expected to be there in full force. The line was to -be formed after dinner had been served in a big tent, and the festivities -were to conclude with a grand ball in the evening. - -When the superintendent read the invitation before the school and asked -the students what they thought about it, they arose as one boy and raised -such a tumult of “Union cheers” and “rebel yells” (remember there were -a good many Southern boys among them), that the superintendent, after -trying in vain to make his signal bell heard, raised his hand to enforce -silence. - -“Young gentlemen, you know that such a demonstration as this is a -direct violation of our rules and regulations,” said he, when the boys -had resumed their seats; but still he did not seem to be very much -annoyed. He judged that they were unanimously in favor of accepting the -invitation, and the adjutant would be instructed to reply accordingly. -He hoped that every member of the academy would be able to join in the -parade, _but_ there were two things that must be distinctly understood: -The first was, that they could not remain to take part in the festivities -of the evening—they must start for home at six o’clock. The boys, he -said, had all they could do to prepare themselves for the examination, -and pleasure must not be allowed to interfere with business. If they -deserved it they would have plenty of recreation when they went into -camp. Just then a boy in the back part of the room raised his hand. The -superintendent nodded to him, and the boy arose and said: - -“Could we not march to and from the city, camping out on the way, instead -of going by rail?” - -The flutter of excitement which this proposition caused in every part of -the school-room indicated that the students were all in favor of it; but -it seems that the superintendent wasn’t. There would be no objection, he -said, if the parade were to come off immediately; but the 24th of July -was the day that had been set for the celebration; it would take three -days to march there, as many more to return, and seven days of study -taken from the end of the term would certainly show in the examination. -They were too valuable to be wasted. One day was all he could allow them. - -The second thing he wished them to understand was this: The parade would -be an event of some consequence. It would afford them as much pleasure as -the fight with the Mount Pleasant Indians. They would be surrounded by -well-drilled men who would watch all their movements with critical eyes, -and note and comment upon their slightest errors or indiscretions. He had -no fears for the majority of the students, for he knew beforehand that -they would act like soldiers while they were in the ranks, and like young -gentlemen when they were out of them; but there were some among them, -he was sorry to say, whose presence would reflect no honor upon their -companies—boys who could not keep their eyes directed to the front while -they were marching, or hold their heads still on dress-parade, and whose -conduct, when they were on the streets and out of sight of their teachers -and officers, would not be calculated to win the respect of the citizens -of Hamilton. He did not want those boys to accompany them, but still he -would give them the same chance he gave the others. - -They had nearly five weeks of hard study and drill before them, during -which time it was possible for any studious and attentive boy to run his -standing up to a hundred. Those who did that, might be sure of a holiday -and a general good time on the 24th of July; but those who allowed -themselves to fall below seventy-five, would be required to remain at the -academy. He left the matter in their own hands. - -“I say, Don,” whispered Egan, as the students marched out of the -school-room, “if this thing had happened last year, you and I would have -gone to the hop, wouldn’t we?” - -“I believe we would,” answered Don. - -“Well, what do you say to——” - -“I’ll not do it,” was the emphatic response. “If any of the other fellows -have a mind to desert and stay to the roll, they may do it and take the -consequences; but I won’t. I haven’t received a single reprimand this -term, not even from that old martinet Odenheimer, and what’s more, I -don’t intend to put myself in the way of getting one.” - -“Good for you, Gordon,” said Egan, approvingly. “Stick to it, and the day -that sees you a first-class cadet, will see you lieutenant-colonel of the -academy battalion. You hear me?” - -“I hope it will,” replied Don. “It certainly will not see me a private; -you may depend upon that.” - -That night Lester Brigham and his friend Jones met in the gymnasium. -Their followers came up, one after the other, and in a few minutes there -was quite a crowd of boys gathered about them. Some of them spoke with -great enthusiasm regarding the proposed excursion to Hamilton, while -others were sullen, and had but little to say. Among the latter was -Lester Brigham, who, having wasted his time and fallen behind his class -in everything, saw very plainly that his chances for participating in -the celebration were slim indeed. He grew angry whenever he thought that -he would have to remain a prisoner at the academy while the other boys in -his company were seeing no end of fun, and when he got that way, he was -ready for almost anything. He saw how his enforced sojourn at Bridgeport -could be turned to account; but the next thing was to make the rest of -the fellows see it. - -“Things couldn’t have been planned to suit us better, could they?” said -Lester, as the boys crowded about him. - -“They might have been planned to suit _me_ better—a good deal better,” -growled one, in reply. “I wish that invitation had been sent a month ago. -Then I should have gone to work in earnest, and perhaps I would stand -some chance of going to Hamilton with my company.” - -“Why, do you want to go?” exclaimed Lester. - -“Of course I do, and I will, too, if there is anything to be gained by -faithful effort. If you catch me in any mischief before the result of the -next five weeks’ study is announced, you may shoot me.” - -“And me; and me,” chorused several of the boys. - -“Look here, Brigham,” said Jones. “That celebration will be the grandest -thing you ever saw, outside of a big city, and we mustn’t miss it.” - -“I was going to suggest that it would be a good time to start off on our -cruise,” said Lester. “The boys who will be left here to stand guard will -be fellows after our own hearts, and we can easily induce them to pass us -or to join in with us.” - -“That’s my idea,” said another. - -“Well, it isn’t mine,” said Jones, in very decided tones. - -“Don’t you know what the understanding was?” began Lester. - -“I know all about it,” replied Jones. “I ought to, for I proposed it. The -bargain was, that we were to be left out of camp, if we could, so that we -could desert the academy when it was not strongly guarded. Failing that, -we were to leave the camp in a body, capture our boat and go to sea in -her. Wasn’t that the agreement, boys?” - -The students all said it was. - -“I am ready to live up to that agreement,” continued Jones; “but I -wouldn’t miss that parade for any money. I am going to the ball in the -evening, too.” - -“You can’t,” said Lester. “The superintendent said you would come home on -the six o’clock train.” - -“Some will and some won’t,” said a boy who had not spoken before. “It -will be an easy matter for those of us who want to stay, to slip away and -hide until the rest of the boys are gone. If I go to Hamilton I shall go -to the dance.” - -“And I’ll stay here,” said Lester, who was disappointed as well as -enraged. “But when you return, you will not find me. I am going off on a -cruise if I have to steal a skiff and go alone.” - -“You needn’t go alone,” said one of the boys. “I will go with you.” - -“Wait until August and we will all go with you,” said Jones. - -“I can’t and I shan’t. I have waited long enough already. I have seen -quite enough of this school.” - -These were the sentiments of a good many of the students, who gradually -drew over to Lester’s side, and when the latter had run his eye over -them, he found that there were an even dozen who were willing to stand by -him. - -“Whose side are you on, Enoch?” inquired Lester. - -He waited with considerable anxiety for the reply, for he knew that a -good deal depended upon Enoch Williams. He was to be first officer of -the yacht, when they got her (the real commander, in fact, for Lester, -who was to be the captain, didn’t know the starboard rail from the main -truck) and if Lester could induce him to come over to his side, the rest -of the boys would probably come with him. - -“I go with the majority,” answered Enoch. “The most of the fellows have -declared against your plan, and if they are going to the celebration, I -am going too.” - -“By dividing in this way, you act as if you desire to read us out of -your good books,” said Jones. “If that is the case, all right. If you -will keep still about us and our plans, we will not blow on you. If you -succeed in reaching the bay, and in eluding the tugs that are sent after -you, we may join you some time during the second week in August, if you -will tell us where you are going.” - -“They are a pack of cowards,” observed Lester, as Jones and Williams -walked away, followed by their friends. “You fellows did well to side -with me. They had no intention of helping us capture that yacht, and this -is the way they take to get out of it.” - -“I don’t know whether we have done well or not,” said one of Lester’s -friends, when he saw the others moving away. “Now that Enoch has deserted -us, who is there to command the boat?” - -“Why, I am to have charge of her,” said Lester, with a look of surprise. -“That was understood from the very first.” - -“But you are a fresh-water sailor and don’t know anything about the -coast,” said the boy. - -“I know I don’t, and neither does Enoch. But I never yet got a vessel -into a place that I couldn’t get her out of, and if you will trust to me -I will look out for your safety and insure you lots of fun besides,” said -Lester, confidently; and then he wondered what he should do if the boys -took him at his word. - -“I must see if I can’t induce Enoch to stand by me,” said he to himself. -“If he refuses, the whole thing is up stump, for I can’t command the -yacht, and I am not foolish enough to try it. I will wait a few days, and -perhaps something will turn up in my favor.” - -Lester was not disappointed. When each scholar’s standing for the week -was announced on Friday night, Jones had only fifty marks to his credit, -while Enoch Williams was obliged to be satisfied with thirty. - -“I’ve done my level best,” said the former, in a discouraged tone, “and -now I believe I’ll give it up.” - -“Never say die,” said Enoch, hopefully. “I have better reason for being -discouraged than you have. I shall try harder than ever from this time -on, and if I can get up as high as ninety next week, and stay there, that -will make my average standing seventy-eight. You _must_ try, old boy, for -I don’t want to go to Hamilton unless you do. Give me your promise.” - -Jones gave it, but said he didn’t think anything would come of it. - - - - -CHAPTER VII. - -A TEST OF COURAGE. - - -It was by no means a common occurrence for the best of the scholars to -win a hundred credit marks in a week, for in order to do it, it was -necessary that they should be perfect in everything. If their standing -and deportment as students were all they desired them to be, they ran the -risk of falling behind in their record as soldiers. If they handled their -muskets a little too quickly or too slowly while their company was going -through the manual of arms, if they forgot that the guide was left when -marching in platoon front, and allowed themselves to fall half an inch -out of line, or if they turned their heads on dress-parade to watch the -band while it “rounded off,” they were sure to be reported and to lose -some of their hard-earned credit marks. - -Don Gordon worked early and late, and his average for the first three -weeks was ninety—Bert following close behind with eighty-eight. Jones -and Enoch Williams did not do as well, and Lester was out of the race -almost before it was begun. Enoch made a gallant struggle, and would have -succeeded in winning the required number of marks if Jones had only let -him alone; but at the end of the third week the latter gave up trying. - -“It’s no use, Williams,” said he. “I’ve made a bad showing, thanks to -the partiality of the instructors, who don’t intend to let a fellow win -on his merits. I have made just a hundred and forty altogether, and if I -could make a clean score during the next two weeks, my average would be -sixty-eight—seven points too low. Now what are you going to do?” - -“You can’t possibly make seventy-five, can you?” said Enoch, after he had -performed a little problem in mental arithmetic. “Well, if you’ve got to -stay behind, I’ll stay too. How about that picnic? Lester hasn’t been -near me in a long time. He and his crowd seem to hang together pretty -well, and I shouldn’t wonder if they had got their plans all laid.” - -“Let’s hunt him up and have a talk with him,” said Jones. “We have made -him mad, and perhaps we shall have hard work to get him good-natured -again.” - -“I don’t care if he never gets good-natured again,” answered Enoch. -“I have long been of the opinion that we ought to throw that fellow -overboard. We shall certainly see trouble through him if we do not.” - -“We’ll see trouble if we do,” said Jones, earnestly. “I have studied him -pretty closely, and I have found out that there is no honor in him. We’ve -gone too far to drop him now. If we should attempt it, he’d blow on us as -sure as the world.” - -Jones struck pretty close to the mark when he said this, for Lester had -already set his wits to work to conjure up some plan to keep the boys who -would not side with him at the academy while he and the rest were off on -their cruise. He had decided that when the proper time came he would make -an effort to induce Enoch to go with him, and if he refused, he (Lester) -would take care to see that he didn’t go at all. He would contrive some -way to let the superintendent know what he and Jones and their crowd -intended to do. - -“Brigham is no sailor, and there’s where the trouble is coming in,” said -Enoch. - -“I confess that I have often had my fears on that point,” replied Jones; -“but we mustn’t think of leaving him behind. Let him act as leader, if -he can, until we are fairly afloat, and then, if we find he doesn’t know -what he is about, we can easily depose him and put you in his place.” - -“I don’t care to be captain,” said Enoch. “I’d just as soon go before the -mast, provided there is somebody on the quarter-deck who understands his -business. These racing boats are cranky things, and sometimes they turn -bottom side up without any provocation at all. There’s Brigham now.” - -Lester was delighted to learn that his two old cronies were ready to side -with him, but he did not show it. He appeared to be quite indifferent. - -“I listened with all my ears when the last week’s standing was announced, -and I know very well what it was that brought you over to me,” said he, -addressing himself to Jones. “You’re going to fall below seventy-five -in spite of all you can do, and Enoch doesn’t want to go to Hamilton -without you. I’ll have to talk to the boys about it. Perhaps they will -say they don’t want you, because you went back on us once.” - -“I say we didn’t go back on you or anybody else,” said Enoch, looking -savagely at Lester. “We are ready to stand by our agreement, and you are -not.” - -Jones and Williams, believing that Lester was not very favorably disposed -toward them, thought it would be a good plan to talk to the boys about it -themselves. They found that some were glad to welcome them back, but that -those who wanted to go to Hamilton and who were working hard, and with a -fair prospect of success, to win the required number of marks, met their -advances rather coldly. - -“Let the celebration go and come with us,” urged Jones. “I’ll warrant -you’ll see more fun on the bay than you will in marching about the dusty -streets of Hamilton while the mercury is away up in the nineties.” - -“Sour grapes!” exclaimed one of the boys. “Look here, Jones. A little -while ago this parade was the grandest thing that ever was thought of, -and you wouldn’t miss it for any amount of money. You tried your best -to win a place in the ranks of your company, but you failed, and now you -want us to fail, too. I can’t see the beauty of that.” - -There was more than one who couldn’t see it—boys who spent all their time -with their books and watched themselves closely, in the hope of attaining -to the required standing. Some succeeded and others did not. Those who -failed fell back into the ranks of Lester’s crowd, angry and discouraged, -and ready for anything that would close the doors of that school against -them forever. The fortunate ones, turning a deaf ear to the pleadings of -their companions, but promising to keep a still tongue in their heads -regarding the proposed picnic, went to the city with their company, and -we must hasten on to tell what happened to them while on the way, and -what they did after they got there. - -While these things were going on inside of the academy, some stirring -events, in which a few of the students finally became personally -interested, were occurring outside of it. The daily papers, to which -many of the boys were subscribers, began to speak of railroad strikes, -and in every issue there was a column or more of telegrams relating to -“labor troubles.” The boys read them, simply because they wanted to keep -themselves posted, as far as they could, in all that was going on in -the world; but they paid no particular attention to them. The news came -from distant points and did not affect them in any way, because they -were independent of the railroads and would be until September. If the -hands on the Bordentown branch, the road that ran from Oxford through -Bridgeport to Hamilton, wanted to strike for higher wages, they could do -it and welcome. There was no law to prevent them. In fact, the students -hoped they would do it, for then they could shoulder their muskets and -march to the city, as the majority of them wanted to do. - -Time passed and things began to assume a more serious aspect. The strike -became general and trouble was feared. The strikers would not work -themselves nor would they allow others to work; and when men came to take -their places they won them over to their side, or assaulted them with -clubs and stones and drove them away. The lawless element of the country, -the “dangerous classes,”—the thieves, loafers, tramps and socialists, who -had everything to make and nothing to lose, joined with the strikers; -and although the latter repudiated and denounced them in strong language, -they did not send them away. The police could do nothing, and finally the -National Guard was called out; but its presence did not seem to have any -effect. The most of the guard were working men, and the strikers did not -believe they would use their weapons even if ordered to do so. At Buffalo -the mob threw aside the bayonets that were crossed in front of the door -of a machine shop, and went in and compelled the men to stop work. Not -satisfied with that they attacked the company that was guarding the shop -and put it to flight. A Chicago paper announced, with much trepidation, -that there were twenty thousand well-armed socialists in that city, who -were threatening to do all sorts of terrible things; a Baltimore mob -stoned and scattered the soldiers who had been sent there to preserve -order; New York was like a seething cauldron, almost ready to boil over; -the strikers and their allies had got beyond control at Pittsburg, and -were destroying the property of the railroad companies; and thus were -ushered in “those dark days in July, 1877, when the whole land was -threatened with anarchy.” - -“I tell you, boys, this is becoming interesting,” said Egan, as he and -his particular friends met one morning on the parade ground, each with a -paper in his hand. “Just listen to this despatch from Pittsburg: ‘A large -force of strikers has captured a train, and is running about the country, -picking up arms and ammunition wherever they can be found. A regiment is -expected from Philadelphia this evening.’” - -(This regiment didn’t do any good after it arrived. It was whipped at -once, driven out of the city, and every effort was made by the strikers -and their friends to have its commanding officer indicted for murder, -because he defended himself when he was attacked.) - -“That’s the worst news I have heard yet,” said Curtis, anxiously. “We’ve -got about four hundred stand of arms and two thousand ball cartridges in -the armory.” - -“That’s so!” exclaimed the boys, in concert. - -“And if the men who are employed on this railroad should take it into -their heads to come here and get them—eh?” continued Curtis. “It would be -worse than the fight with the Mount Pleasant Indians, wouldn’t it?” - -“I should say so,” cried Hopkins, growing alarmed. “But these Bordentown -fellows are all right yet.” - -“They’ve struck,” said Don. “My paper says that Hamilton is in an -uproar, that business is virtually suspended, that the mob is growing -bolder every hour, and that the 61st has been ordered to hold itself in -readiness to march at a moment’s notice.” - -“I know that,” said Hopkins. “The strikers have stopped all the freights, -but they haven’t yet interfered with the mail trains, nor have they -attempted any violence.” - -“If they would only stick to that, they would have a good deal of -sympathy,” said Curtis. “But when they defy the law and trample upon the -rights of other people, they ought to be put down with an iron hand, and -I hope they will be.” - -“You may have a chance to assist at it,” said Egan. - -“I shouldn’t wonder if he did,” exclaimed Don, when the other boys smiled -incredulously. “Mark my words: There’s going to be trouble in Hamilton. -There are a good many car-shops and founderies there, and one regiment, -which numbers only four hundred and fifty men, can’t be everywhere. - -“And of those four hundred and fifty men how many do you suppose there -are who do not sympathize with the strikers?” asked Egan. - -“There are at least two companies—the Hamilton Tigers and the Sanford -Guards,” replied Hopkins. “You can depend on them every time.” - -“And if the others show a disposition to get up on their ears, there will -be visiting troops enough to handle them without gloves,” observed Curtis. - -“I am afraid not,” answered Don. “Rumor says that the most, if not all, -the regiments that were expected to be there, have been ordered, by the -adjutant-generals of their respective States, to stay at home.” - -“And some of the firemen have given notice that they will not turn out,” -added Hopkins. - -“That knocks the parade higher than a kite,” exclaimed Egan. “Well, -there’s no loss without some gain. The prospect of marching with the -61st, had a good effect on me. It made me study hard and behave myself. -Hallo! what’s the matter with you? Any startling news?” - -This question was addressed to Sergeants Gordon and Elmer, who just then -hurried up, bringing with them pale and anxious faces. - -“Oh, fellows!” stammered Bert. “We’re going to have trouble right here at -the academy.” - -“No!” exclaimed all the boys at once. - -“But I say we are,” said Bert; who then went on to tell what had happened -to Elmer and himself just a few minutes before. They had been sent to the -village on business, and in going and coming they were obliged to pass -the railroad depot. They noticed that there were a good many men gathered -on the platform and standing around in little groups, all talking in low -and earnest tones, but no one paid any attention to them until they came -back, and then one of the truck hands, who was dressed in his Sunday -clothes, stepped out and confronted them. - -“Arrah, me foine gentlemen,” said he, nodding with his head and winking -his eyes vigorously, “it’s a swate little rod we have in pickle fur yees, -intirely; do yees moind that?” - -The boys made no reply. They turned out and tried to go by the man, but -he spread out his arms and stopped them both. - -“We’ll have thim foine soldier clothes aff the back of yees the day,” -said he, with a leer. - -“Be good enough to let us pass,” said Bert. “We have no desire to talk to -you.” - -“Haven’t yees now? Well, _I’ll_ spake to _yees_. Yer foine lookin’ little -b’ys to be takin’ the brid from the mouth of the wurrukin’ mon an’ his -childer, so ye are. I’ve a moind to knock the hids aff yees.” - -“Move on there, Mickey,” commanded a policeman. - -“Shure I will; but moind this, the hul of yees: We have min enough, an’ -there’s more comin’ from Hamilton, to take all the arrums yees have up -there to the school-house beyant, and there’ll not be a soldier nor a -polace lift the night. We’ll trample them into the ground like the dirt -under our feet; an’ so we will do with all the big min who want to grind -down the wurrukin’ mon; ain’t that so, me brave b’ys?” - -The “brave boys” who were standing around did not confirm these words, -and neither did they deny them. They looked sullen and savage, and the -two sergeants were glad to hurry on and leave them out of sight. - -“He said they were going to clean us out to-night, did he,” exclaimed -Don, when Bert had finished his story. “Well, they will have a good time -of it. Some of the boys are pretty fair shots.” - -“Oh, I hope it won’t come to that,” said Sergeant Elmer. - -“So do I,” said Don. “But there’s only one way to reason with a mob, and -that is to thrash them soundly.” - -“I don’t see why that man should pitch into us,” observed Bert. “If he -would go to work, he would get bread enough for himself and his children. -If the working man is ‘ground down’ we had no hand in it.” - -“Of course not,” said Egan. “But you wear a uniform and are supposed to -be strongly in favor of law and order.” - -“And we are, too,” said Bert, emphatically. - -“Well, that man knew it, and that was the reason he talked to you in the -way he did,” continued Egan. “He and his kind hate a soldier as cordially -as they hate the police, because the soldier is always ready to step in -and help the policeman when the mob gets too strong for him; and when -the boys in blue take a hand in the muss, the rioters generally hear -something drop. Now, Bert, you and Elmer had better go and report to the -superintendent.” - -All that day the excitement at the academy was intense, and it was no -wonder that the lessons were bad, that such faithful fellows as Mack, -Egan, Curtis and Bert Gordon came in for the sternest reprimands, or that -the teachers looked worried and anxious—all except Professor Odenheimer. -He was in his element, for he scented the battle from afar. His lectures -were full of fight, and never had his classes listened to them with so -much interest. When night came the excitement increased. It was plain -that the superintendent had received information which led him to believe -that it was best to be prepared for any emergency, for the guards were -doubled, mattresses were issued to the members of the first company who -bunked in the armory, and the boys who went on post were supplied with -ball cartridges. - -Another thing that increased the excitement and added to the general -disquiet and alarm, was the rumor that all idea of a parade had been -abandoned, and that the brigade commander had asked the superintendent -what he could do for him, if help were needed at Hamilton. There was -a mob there, and it was having things all its own way. It was growing -stronger and bolder all the while, the police were afraid of it, the -majority of the soldiers sympathized with it, and the only company that -had done anything was the Hamilton Tigers, which had cleared the depot at -the point of the bayonet. - -“Didn’t I say there would be trouble in the city before this thing was -settled?” asked Don Gordon of some of his friends whom he met in the -armory when dress parade was over. - -“And didn’t I say that the Tigers would do their duty every time?” -answered Hopkins. “But do you suppose the superintendent will order any -of us down there?” - -“Why shouldn’t he?” inquired Curtis in his quiet way. - -“Because we don’t belong to the National Guard, and there is no precedent -for any such proceeding,” answered Hopkins. - -“There’s where you are mistaken,” said Egan. “The students at the -Champaign Agricultural College in Illinois didn’t belong to the National -Guard, but when Chicago was burned some of them were ordered up there to -protect property, and I never heard it said that they didn’t do their -duty as well as men could have done it. It will be no boy’s play, but -I shall hold myself in readiness to volunteer with the company that is -ordered down there.” - -“Well, I won’t,” said a voice. - -The boys looked around and saw Williams, Jones, Lester Brigham and -several of that crowd standing close by. The faces of the most of -them were very pale, and Lester was trembling visibly. Under ordinary -circumstances they would have been ordered away at once; but class -etiquette was forgotten now. The young soldiers had something else to -think about. - -“I didn’t come here to fight,” continued Enoch Williams, “and I won’t do -it, either.” - -“How are you going to help yourself?” asked Curtis. “Will you skip over -to Canada? That’s what some of the Hamilton boys have done.” - -“No; but I’ll refuse to do duty, and stay here under arrest,” replied -Enoch. - -“And be court-martialed for cowardice and disgracefully dismissed the -academy when the trouble is over,” said Egan. “Don’t let the people down -in Maryland hear of it, Enoch. They’ll cut you, sure.” - -“I don’t care if they do,” was the defiant response. “I have no desire to -be knocked in the head with a coupling-pin.” - -The other boys didn’t want to be treated that way either, but they had no -intention of shirking their duty. They didn’t care to talk with Enoch and -his friends, and so they turned away and left them alone. - -There was little sleeping done in the academy that night, and those who -did slumber kept one eye and both ears open, and were ready to jump at -the very first note of alarm. It came shortly after midnight. All on a -sudden the clear blast of a bugle rang through the silent building, being -followed an instant later by the “long roll.” There was a moment’s hush, -and then hasty footsteps sounded in the different halls, and heavy blows -were showered upon the dormitory doors, mingled with loud cries of, “Fall -in! Fall in!” - -“The mob has come! Now we’ll know how it seems to engage in a real -battle,” were the words with which each boy encouraged his room-mate, as -he sprang out of bed and pulled on his clothes. “The rioters at Hamilton -number ten thousand men; and if they have all come up here, what can -three hundred boys do with them?” - -There were some pale faces among the young soldiers who jerked open their -doors and ran at the top of their speed towards the armory, but not one -of them was seen to falter. Some of them _did_ falter, however, but we -shall see that they did not escape detection. - -In a great deal less than the six minutes that were usually allotted for -falling in in the morning, the majority of the boys were in line and -ready for business. And that there was business to be done they did not -doubt, for no sooner had the companies been formed than they were marched -down the stairs in double time and out of the building, which in a few -seconds more was surrounded by a wall of bayonets; but they could neither -see nor hear anything of the mob. - -“I say, Hop,” whispered Don to his fat friend who stood next to him in -the ranks, “this is another put-up job. There are no cartridges in my -box.” - -“That’s so,” said Hopkins, after he had satisfied himself that his own -box was empty. “The teachers only wanted to test our pluck.” - -Just then the big bell in the cupola was struck once—half-past twelve—and -a few seconds later the voice of a sentry rang out on the quiet air. - -“No. 1. All’s well!” shouted the guard; and this assurance removed a -heavy burden of anxiety from the mind of more than one boy in the ranks. - -The whole thing was out now, and as there was nothing to be gained by -standing there in the dark, the companies were marched back to the armory -and the roll was called. The ranks of the first and second companies -were full, Jones and a few like him were missing from Don’s, and Bert -found, to his great mortification, that fully a dozen of his men had -failed to respond to their names. The reports were made through the -usual channels, and when the result was announced to the superintendent, -he ordered details from the third and fourth companies to hunt up the -delinquents. The rest of the battalion were brought to “parade rest” and -kept there, until the missing boys were brought in. Some of them had been -taken ill as soon as they heard the order to fall in; others had sought -safety and concealment in the attic; and a few had been found in the -cellar and pulled out of the coal-bins. They looked very crestfallen and -ashamed when they found themselves drawn up in line in full view of their -companions, and expected to receive the sternest kind of a reprimand; but -the superintendent did not once look toward them. - -“Young gentlemen,” said he, addressing himself to the boys who stood in -the ranks, “I am much pleased with the result of my experiment. I did -not expect so prompt a response from so many of you. The honors belong -to the third company. It was the first to fall in, and Captain Mack was -the first to report himself and his men ready for duty. I shall bear that -company in mind. You can now return to your respective dormitories and -go to sleep with the full assurance that there is no mob here and none -coming. All is quiet in the city. The 61st is under arms, but no trouble -is apprehended. Break ranks!” - -“Attention, company! Carry arms! Right face! Arms port! Break ranks, -march!” shouted the several captains; and the boys scattered and -deposited their muskets in their proper places, each one congratulating -himself and his neighbor on the indefinite postponement of the fight -with the mob, which the most of them believed would be sure to take place -sooner or later. The members of Don’s company had reason to be proud -of themselves, but there were some among them who shook their heads -dubiously whenever they recalled the superintendent’s words: “I shall -bear that company in mind.” What did he mean by that? - - - - -CHAPTER VIII. - -THE FIGHT AS REPORTED. - - -“It means that if the authorities at Hamilton need help in putting down -that mob, we third company boys will have to give it,” said Egan, in -reply to a question propounded to him by Captain Mack. - -“What do you mean by _we_?” inquired the captain. “You don’t belong to my -company.” - -“Yes, I do, and so do Hop and Curtis,” answered Egan. “We intend to -report for duty in the morning; and as long as this strike lasts, we are -to stand post and do duty like the rest of the boys. We asked permission -of the superintendent to-day, and he granted it.” - -Of course he granted it. Faithful students, like these three boys, were -allowed to do pretty nearly as they pleased. It was the idle and unruly -who were denied privileges. - -“I am glad to welcome such fellows as you are into my family,” said -Captain Mack. “But why didn’t you go into the first company where you -belong?” - -“We belong wherever it suits us to go,” said Egan, in reply. “And it -suits us to be with you and Don Gordon. Look here, Mack: If worst comes -to worst, and the superintendent calls for volunteers, you be the first -to jump. Do you hear? Good night and pleasant dreams.” - -The students hastened back to their rooms, and feeling secure from an -attack by the mob, the most of them slept; but their dreams, like Captain -Mack’s, were none of the pleasantest. More than one of them started up in -alarm, believing that he heard the order to fall in. They all expected -it, and it came the next day about eleven o’clock, but the majority of -the boys did not know it until dinner time; and then Don Gordon, who -had been acting as the superintendent’s orderly that morning, rushed -frantically about the building looking for Egan and the rest. - -“The time has come, fellows,” said he, when he found them. “Some of us -will have to face the music now.” - -“How do you know?” asked Egan and his friends, in a breath. - -“The superintendent received a despatch from the city a short time ago.” - -“Do you know what was in it?” - -“I do, for I heard him read it to one of the teachers. It ran: ‘Hold -a company, provided with ten rounds per man, ready to move at short -notice.’ The answer that went back was: ‘The company is ready.’” - -“Whew!” whistled Curtis, while the others looked at one another in blank -amazement. - -“But I don’t see how that company is to get to Hamilton,” said Hopkins, -at length. “There are no trains running to-day. Everything is as quiet as -it is on Sunday.” - -“They will go by special train,” said Don. “There are a good many -passengers and a big mail that were left at Munson last night when the -engineer of the lightning express was taken by force from his cab, and -the mob has agreed to let them come on to Hamilton. It was all talked -over in my hearing.” - -“And our boys are to go on that train, are they?” - -“Yes; if they get marching orders in time.” - -“Then there’ll be trouble. Remember what I tell you; there will be the -biggest kind of a fuss down there,” said Curtis, earnestly. “The rioters -didn’t agree to let soldiers into the city, and they won’t do it, either.” - -“Did it ever occur to you, that very possibly the wishes of the rabble -will not be consulted?” inquired Hopkins. “I hope that company will go in -if it is needed there, and that the very first man who fires a stone into -its ranks will get hurt.” - -Just then the enlivening notes of the dinner-call sounded through the -building, and the students made all haste to respond to it. The different -companies formed in their respective halls, but when they had been -aligned and brought to a right face by their quartermaster-sergeants, the -captains took command, ordered the sergeants to their posts, and marched -their men to the armory instead of to the dining-hall. They all wondered -what was going to happen now, and they were not kept long in suspense. - -“Young gentlemen,” said the superintendent, when all the companies had -come into line, “our friends in Hamilton are in need of assistance, and -we, being law-loving and law-abiding men and boys, and utterly opposed to -mob rule, can not refuse to give it to them. It may be—nay, I am sure, -from what I have heard, that it is a mission of danger; and therefore I -shall not ask any of you to go to the city against your will. Those of -you who are in favor of the law, and who have the courage to enforce it -if you are called upon to do so, will step three paces to the front.” - -These words, which were spoken so rapidly that those who heard them did -not have time to think twice, fairly stunned the boys. Egan, who stood -next the first sergeant of the third company, was the first to recover -himself. Reaching around behind the sergeant he gave Captain Mack a prod -in the ribs with his fist that fairly knocked him out of his place in the -ranks; but it brought him to his senses, and raising his hand to his cap -the captain said: - -“I speak for my company, sir.” - -“Your services are accepted,” said the superintendent. “You are too late, -young gentlemen,” he added, addressing himself to the boys in the first -and second companies who moved forward in a body, together with the -majority of the members of Bert’s company. “You ought to have had an old -first-sergeant in your ranks to wake you up.” - -This was Greek to some of the students, but Mack understood it and so did -Egan. So did the boys directly behind them, who had seen Egan strike the -captain in the ribs to “wake him up.” - -“If your conduct last night is any criterion, I shall have reason to be -proud of you when you return,” continued the superintendent, turning to -the third company boys. “I shall expect you to do your duty regardless -of consequences; and in order that you may work to the best advantage, I -shall make some changes in your _personnel_.” - -Here the superintendent paused and looked at the adjutant, who stepped -forward and drew his note-book from his pocket. - -“Mack, you’re a brick,” said Egan, in an audible whisper. - -“He’s a born fool,” said Jones to the boy who stood next him. “I didn’t -give him authority to speak for me, and I’ll not stir one step. If he -wants to go down there and be pounded to death by that mob, he can go and -welcome; but he shall not drag me along with him.” - -“It is not expected that boys who take refuge in the attic or hide in -coal-bins, or who are seized with the pangs of sickness at the very -first notes of a false alarm, would be of any use to you if you should -get into trouble,” added the superintendent. “Consequently those boys -will be permitted to remain at the academy. As fast as their names are -called they will fall out of the ranks and form a squad by themselves -under command of Sergeant Elmer, who will have charge of them until their -company returns.” - -Some of those who had behaved with so much timidity the night before, -thought this the severest punishment that could be inflicted upon them. -They were virtually branded as cowards in the presence of the whole -school, and they felt it most keenly; but the others, those who had -determined to be sent down since their parents would not allow them to -leave the academy, as they wanted to do, did not seem to mind it at all. -They were perfectly willing to be disgraced. They fell out of the ranks -as their names were called, and after their places had been supplied by -boys from the first and second companies whom the superintendent knew he -could trust, they were all marched down to the dining-hall. - -There was little dinner eaten that day, for their excitement took away -all their appetites. The hum of animated conversation arose above the -clatter of knives and forks from all except the third company boys, -who were already looked upon as heroes by some of their companions. -They were going down to the city to face an infuriated mob, and who can -tell what the result might be? These boys talked only in whispers, and -the all-absorbing question with them was: What teacher would be sent -in command of them? Everybody seemed to think it would be Professor -Odenheimer, who, by his fiery lectures, had now the appellation of -“Fighting Jacob,” which the students transformed into “Viting Yawcop.” -Everybody seemed to think, too, that if he were sent in command, they -would stand a fine chance of getting into a fight, whether the mob forced -it upon them or not. - -The study-call was not sounded that afternoon, because the teachers knew -that there would be no studying done. The students gathered in little -groups in the building and about the grounds, and there was an abundance -of talk, argument and speculation. They were all anxious for news, and -it did not take long to raise a crowd. If a teacher, an officer or an -orderly stopped for a moment to exchange a word or two with one of the -students, they were very soon joined by a third, the number was rapidly -augmented, and a large assembly was quickly gathered. The wildest rumors -were freely circulated as facts, and if the third company boys had -believed half they heard, it is hard to tell whether or not their courage -would have stood the test. The excitement arose to fever-heat when a -messenger-boy, who had been passed by the sentry at the gate, ran up the -walk with a brown envelope in his hand. - -“What is it? What is it?” cried the students, as he dashed through their -ranks. - -“It’s for the superintendent,” was the boy’s reply. - -“But what does it say?” - -“Don’t know; only there’s the very mischief to pay down at Hamilton. The -special is due in fifteen minutes.” - -“Then we’re off, boys,” said Egan; and so it proved. A few minutes after -the messenger-boy vanished through the door, a sergeant appeared on the -steps and cried out: “Fall in, third company!” whereupon all the boys -made a rush for the armory. Don and his comrades made all haste to put on -their belts and epaulets and take their muskets from the racks, while the -rest of the students drew themselves up in line behind the teachers so -that they could see all that was going on. - -“Fall in!” commanded the first sergeant. “Left face! Support arms! Listen -to roll-call!” - -Each boy in the ranks brought his piece to a “carry” and then to “order -arms,” as his name was called, and when this ceremony was completed the -company was again brought to a “carry,” and ordered to “count fours”; -after which the sergeant proceeded to divide it into platoons. Then he -faced about, saluted his commander and said, with a ring of triumph in -his tones: - -“All present, sir.” - -There was no one hiding in the attic or coal-bins this time. - -“Fix bayonets,” said the captain. - -The sergeant gave the order and moved to his place on the right of the -company, leaving the captain in command. His first move was to open -the ranks, and his next to order the quartermaster-sergeant to supply -each man with ten rounds of ammunition. Candor compels us to say that -the sergeant did not strictly obey this order. He was careful to put ten -cartridges, and no more, into each box, but he did not scruple to put -three or four extra ones into the hand that was holding the box open. - -By this time the boys had found out who was to be their real commander. -It was Mr. Kellogg, the most popular instructor at the academy. He was -a modest, unassuming gentleman, but he was a soldier all over. He had -served in the army of the Potomac, and had twice been carried to the rear -and laid among the dead. The boys knew he was going with them, for he was -dressed in fatigue uniform and wore a sword by his side. - -The cartridges having been distributed and the company brought to close -order, it was marched out of the armory and down the stairs. When the -other students saw it preparing to move, they rushed out in a body, ran -to the gate, and drawing themselves up in line on each side of the walk, -stood ready to give their friends a good “send off.” When the company -marched through their ranks, led by the band which was to accompany it -to the depot, they broke out into deafening cheers, which Captain Mack -and his men answered with a will. Don caught just one glimpse of his -brother’s face as he passed. It was whiter than his own. - -The students followed the company as far as the gate, and then ran along -the fence to keep it in view as long as they could; but all they could -see of it were the bayonets, the young soldiers themselves being wholly -concealed by the crowd of citizens who had assembled to see them off. The -men cheered them lustily, the ladies waved their handkerchiefs, and the -girls threw flowers at them until a bend in the road hid them from sight. -Then the boys who were left behind turned away from the fence, and walked -slowly toward the academy. - -“I’d much rather be here than with them,” said Jones to his friend -Lester, and the latter did not doubt it, for Jones was one of the boys -who had been found in the cellar. Lester had hidden his head under the -bed-clothes when he heard the bugle, and pleaded sickness when Bert -Gordon and his squad came to pull him out. “I suppose the teachers think -I feel very much disgraced because I was left behind, but I don’t. I -didn’t come here to fight, and when my father hears of this, he will tell -me to start for home at once. But I shan’t go until I get a good ready, -and then I am going in my own way. I am going to do something that will -make these fellows remember me. I said it long ago, and I mean it.” - -“It is my opinion that this day’s work will break up this school,” -observed Enoch Williams. “I know my father will not allow me to stay here -after he hears of it.” - -“Wouldn’t this be a good time to go off on our cruise?” inquired Lester. - -“I am afraid not,” answered Jones. “I should like to go this very night; -but as things look now, I am of the opinion that we shall have to wait -until next month. We don’t want to fail when we make the attempt, for if -we do, we shall be watched closer than we are now.” - -“I don’t want to stay here,” said Lester. “Suppose they should need more -help in the city, and that my company should be ordered down there?” - -“You need not waste any time in worrying over that,” was the encouraging -reply. “Your company is composed of nothing but raw recruits; and even if -it should be ordered there, _you_ wouldn’t go. You would be told to stay -behind, as I was.” - -Lester found some satisfaction in this assurance, but he found -none whatever in being snubbed as he was. Even the boys in his own -company—those who had promptly responded when ordered to fall in the -night before—would not look at him. If two of them were talking and -Lester came up to hear what they were saying, they would turn their backs -upon him without ceremony and walk away. All the boys who had concealed -themselves or played off sick when the false alarm was sounded, were -treated in the same way by their fellows, and all the companionship they -could find was in the society of students who were as timid as they -were. This had at least one good effect, so Lester thought. It brought -many friends to the boys who intended to desert the academy and run away -in the yacht, and before the day was over Lester, Jones and Enoch had -revealed their scheme to half a dozen or more new fellows, who heartily -approved of it and promised to aid them by every means in their power. -But after all they did not take as much interest in, or show as much -enthusiasm for, the scheme, as Lester and the rest thought they ought to. -The strike was the all-absorbing topic of conversation, and the possible -fate of the boys who had gone down to the city to confront the mob, made -many an anxious face. - -Although all study was over for the day, everything else was done as -usual, but nothing was done well. The students were thinking of something -beside their duties, and made blunders and received reprimands without -number. As the hours wore on, the excitement gave place to alarm. The -third company ought to have reached Hamilton at eight o’clock, if -everything had gone well with them, and now it was long after ten and not -a despatch had been received. - -“I am really afraid something has happened to them, Sam,” said Sergeant -Gordon, as he and Corporal Arkwright paced up and down the walk in front -of the guard-room in which sat the German professor, who was deeply -interested in his paper. These two boys were on duty until midnight, and -they wished they were going to stay on until morning, for they knew they -could not sleep if they tried. “My brother promised to telegraph me just -as soon as he reached the city,” continued Bert, “and he would surely -have done so, if something had not occurred to——” - -“Corporal of the guard, No. 1,” shouted the sentry at the gate. - -“Zetz auber!” exclaimed the professor, throwing down his paper. “Go out -dere, gorporal. Mebbe dot ish somedings from Meester Gellock.” - -The corporal went, and Bert went with him. If there were a messenger-boy -at the gate, his despatch might be from Don instead of Professor Kellogg; -but there was no messenger-boy to be seen. On the opposite side of -the tall, iron gate were a couple of men who peered through the bars -occasionally, and then looked behind and on both sides of them as if to -make sure that there was no one watching their movements. - -“These fellows affirm that they are just from the city,” said the sentry, -in a husky and trembling voice. “They have brought bad news. They say -that our boys were cut all to pieces by the rioters.” - -Bert’s heart seemed to stop beating. Without waiting to ask the sentry -any questions, he passed on to the gate and waited for the men to speak -to him. He could not have said a word to them to save his life. - -“We thought we had better come up here and let you know about it,” said -one of the visitors, at length. “The strikers are awful mad, and declare -they are going to burn the academy.” - -“Who are you?” demanded Bert, after he had taken time to recover his -breath. - -“We’re strikers, but we’re friends,” was the answer. “We live here in -Bridgeport and had to strike with the rest to escape getting our heads -broken. We saw the fight to-night, but we didn’t take any part in it.” - -“The fight?” gasped Bert. - -“Yes; and it was a lively one, I tell you. I didn’t know the boys had -so much pluck. But there were three thousand of the mob and only about -eighty of them, and so they had no show.” - -“Great Scott!” exclaimed Bert. “What became of our boys?” - -“We don’t know, for we lost no time in getting out of that when we found -that there were bullets flying through the air; but some of the strikers -told us that they whipped the cadets, and that those of them who could -get away ran like sheep.” - -“Corporal, go into the sentry’s box and get the key,” said Bert. “I shall -have to ask you to make your report to the officer of the guard.” - -“All right,” said the man who did the talking. “That’s what we came here -for; but we want to be as sly as we can in getting in and out, for if -we should be seen here, we’d have trouble directly. Bridgeport is in a -tumult of excitement, and there are lots of spies here. We came up from -Town Line on a hand-car with a lot of them. The lads must have got in -some pretty good work before they were whipped, or else the strikers -would not be so mad at them.” - -“Was there a fight, sure enough?” said Bert, as the corporal came up with -the key and opened the gate. He was so astounded and terrified that, -although he heard all the man said to him, he did not seem to comprehend -it. - -“Well, I should say there was a fight. I tell you, it must have been hot -in that car, and I don’t see how a single boy in it could possibly come -out alive!” - -“Then some of our friends must have been hurt?” faltered Bert. - -“Of course. I don’t believe a dozen of the whole company came out -uninjured.” - -Bert wanted to ask if his informant had heard the names of any of the -wounded, but the words he would have uttered stuck in his throat. While -he was trying to get them out he reached the guard-room, and ushered the -visitors into the presence of Professor Odenheimer. - -“These men, sir, desire to make report concerning a fight that took place -between our boys and the mob at Hamilton,” said the sergeant; and then he -backed off and stood ready to hear what they had to say in addition to -what they had already told him. - -The excitable Prussian started as if he had been shot. “Our poys did have -a pattle?” he exclaimed. - -“Yes, sir, they did,” answered one of the men. - -“Donder and blixen! I don’t can pelieve dot.” - -“They say they have just come from there, sir,” interposed Bert. - -The professor jumped to his feet, dashed his spectacles upon the table, -and broke into a torrent of German ejaculations indicative of the -greatest wonder and excitement. His next question was, not “Were any of -the boys injured?” but— - -“Did dem gadets make good fighting? Dot’s vot I vant to know.” - -The men replied that they had done wonders. - -“Dot’s all right! Dot’s _all_ right,” exclaimed Mr. Odenheimer, rubbing -his hands gleefully together. “Zargeant, you and de gorporal vait oudside -and I will hear de rebort of dese men. So dem gadets make good fighting! -I been glad to hear dot. Seet down in dem chairs and told me all apout -it.” - -The non-commissioned officers reluctantly withdrew, and the professor was -left alone with the visitors. - - - - -CHAPTER IX. - -IN THE HANDS OF THE MOB. - - -“Dutchy is a hard-hearted old wretch,” said Corporal Arkwright -indignantly. “He never asked if any of our boys were wounded.” - -“Of course he didn’t,” replied Bert. “He took it for granted. If the -fight was as desperate as those men say it was, we shall soon have a -sorrowful report from Hamilton. I ought to write to my mother at once, -but I haven’t the courage to do it.” - -The boys waited outside, as they were told to do, but they used their -best endeavors to overhear what passed between the professor and his -visitors. They had their trouble for their pains, however. The men -talked in low tones, and beyond an occasional ebullition of wrath from -Mr. Odenheimer, who invariably spoke in German, they could hear nothing. -Presently the door opened, and the three came out and hastened toward the -academy. - -“It is fully as serious as we thought, Sam,” said Sergeant Gordon. “They -are going in to tell their story to the superintendent.” - -Bert never slept a wink that night. He was at the gate at daylight, and -was the first to purchase a paper when the newsboys came around. As he -opened the sheet with trembling hands, his eye fell upon the following -paragraph: - -“WEDNESDAY MORNING, 3 O’CLOCK.—We have delayed the issue of our paper -until this morning, hoping to obtain direct information from Hamilton; -but we have heard nothing but vague rumors, which grew out of all -proportion as they traveled. That the academy boys had a brush with the -strikers is evident. They were met before reaching the city by an immense -mob, and a fight ensued, in which some of our boys were wounded. The -following despatch, taken from last night’s _Town Line Democrat_, despite -some inaccuracies, probably has a few grains of truth in it: - -‘This evening, when the Bridgeport Cadets got into Hamilton they were -stopped by striking rioters, who shoved their car upon a side track, and -then commenced stoning and shooting them. The Cadets, after standing the -fusillade for some time, opened fire and delivered volley after volley, -wounding thirty persons and killing many. The rioters finally succeeded -in getting upon the car and overpowering the company, capturing the guns, -and driving the boys out of the city.’ - -“Nine members of the academy company, having become separated from their -fellows in the _mêlée_, took the back track and are expected home to-day.” - -After making himself master of everything in the paper that related -to the fight, Bert went into the academy and handed the sheet to the -orderly, with the request that he would give it to the superintendent as -soon as he got up. It was probable, he thought, that the latter would -want to do something to assist those nine boys who were now on their way -home. When they arrived he might be able to learn something about Don; -and in the mean time he could do nothing but wait. - -No study-call was sounded that morning, and the day promised to be a -dark and gloomy one; but about ten o’clock little rays of sunshine began -breaking through the clouds. The first came when the word was passed -for Bert Gordon. He hurried into the superintendent’s office and was -presented with a despatch. He was about to go out with it when the -superintendent said: - -“Read it here, sergeant. There may be news in it, and we should like to -know what it is, if you have no objections.” - -Bert tore open the envelope and read aloud the following from Don, who -had telegraphed at the very earliest opportunity: - -“Got in this morning after a night of trouble. No violence offered in the -city. I am all right, and so is Curtis, but our unlucky friend Hop is -missing, and Egan is wounded.” - -Every one present drew a long breath of relief when Bert read these -words. This was the first reliable news they had received, and it removed -a heavy burden of anxiety from their minds. - -“So it seems that the company was not cut to pieces after all,” said -the superintendent. “It is probable that the boys were roughly handled, -but that didn’t keep them from going into the city. I feel greatly -encouraged.” - -And so did everybody. Bert would have felt quite at his ease if he could -have got over worrying about Hopkins and Egan. He feared the worst. -But then his fat crony was fortunate in some respects even if he were -unlucky in others, and it was possible that he might yet turn up safe and -sound and as jolly as ever, and that Egan’s wound might not be a serious -one. - -After that despatches came thick and fast. As soon as they were received -they were read aloud to the students, who made the armory ring with -their yells of delight when one came from Professor Kellogg stating -that Captain Mack and his men had behaved with the utmost gallantry. -Thirty-two of the company were fit for duty, although they had but -seventeen guns among them, eight were slightly wounded, but, having good -care, were doing well, and the rest were missing. They had whipped the -mob twice and carried their wounded off the field. - -“I tell you it makes a good deal of difference where the news comes -from—from your own side or from the enemy’s,” said Bert. “Things don’t -look as dark as they did. I wish those nine boys who are now on the way -home would hurry up. I am impatient to talk to them.” - -“They will soon be here,” replied one of the students. “I heard the -superintendent say that the citizens have sent carriages after them.” - -While those at the academy are waiting for these boys, let us go back -to the third company and see what really happened to them, and how -they acted when they found themselves surrounded by the mob. Of course -they did not know what was in store for them, but the majority made up -their minds that they would be called upon to face something decidedly -unpleasant when they reached Hamilton, for their train had hardly moved -away from the depot before it was whispered from one boy to another that -some one on the platform had been heard to say that they (the students) -were going into a hotter place than they ever dreamed of. Still they -kept up a good heart, although they did not at all like the looks of the -crowds of men and boys who were assembled at every station along the -road. They did not know that two unhanged villains, Michael Lynch, the -fireman of their train, and William Long, the Western Union operator at -Bridgeport, had conspired to make their reception at Hamilton a warmer -one than they had bargained for, by sending a despatch announcing their -departure to an office in the lower part of the city that was in the -hands of the strikers. - -For a while it looked as though the ball would be set in motion at Town -Line; for the large depot through which their train passed was literally -packed with strikers and their aids and sympathizers, who had a good deal -to say about the young soldiers and their object in going to the city. -But they went through without any trouble, and when they reached a little -station a few miles beyond, Professor Kellogg telegraphed for orders. -These having been received the train moved on again, and Captain Mack -came and perched himself upon the arm of the seat in which Don and Egan -were sitting. - -“I tell you, fellows, this begins to look like war times,” said he. - -“Where are we going, and what are we to do when we get there?” inquired -Egan. - -“We are not going into the city to-night,” answered the captain. “We are -sent down here simply to act as guards, and if there is any fighting to -be done, the 61st will have to do it. Our orders read in this way: ‘You -will leave the train at Hamilton creek and guard the railroad property -there during the night. Use such cars as you can, and keep all the guards -out that may be necessary.’ There are no signs of a gathering at the -creek, but in order to be on the safe side the professor has ordered the -conductor to let us out at least a quarter of a mile from the bridge. If -a mob appears anywhere along the road, we are to get off and form before -we go up to it.” - -There was nothing in these plans with which any military man could have -found fault. They would have met the requirements of the case in every -particular, had it not been for the fact that Professor Kellogg had to -deal with men who were as treacherous as the plains Indians are said to -be. There _was_ a mob at the bridge, and the engineer saw it long before -he reached it. In fact he ran through a part of it, and did not stop his -train until he was right in the midst of it. The first thing the boys -knew their car was standing still, hoarse yells and imprecations which -disturbed their dreams for many a night afterward were arising on all -sides of them, and the rioters were crowding upon the platforms. - -“Lave this kyar open; we’re strong,” said a man, in a voice which -proclaimed his nationality; and as he spoke he threw open the rear door -and placed one end of his heavy cane against it, at the same time -drawing himself back out of sight as much as he could. - -“Attention!” shouted Captain Mack, prompted by the professor; whereupon -the young soldiers arose and stood in front of their seats. Their -bayonets were fixed, they had loaded their guns when they left the -station at which they had stopped for orders, and if they had been -commanded to act at once, the mob never would have gained a footing in -the car. But Mr. Kellogg did just what he ought not to have done—he stood -in the front door, blocking the way as well as he could, and trying to -reason with the leaders of the rabble, who demanded to know why he had -come down there, and what he was going to do. The professor told them in -reply that he was not going into the city that night, that he had been -ordered to stop at the bridge and guard the railroad property there, and -this seemed to satisfy the mob, who might have dispersed or gone back to -Hamilton, as their leaders promised, had it not been for one unfortunate -occurrence. - -The attention of everybody in the car was directed toward the men who -were gathered about the front door, and no one seemed to remember that -there was a rear door at which no guard had been stationed. The rioters -at that end of the car did not at first make themselves very conspicuous, -for they did not like the looks of the muskets the young soldiers held -in their hands; but in a very few minutes they grew bold enough to move -across the platform in little squads, stopping on the way to take a hasty -glance at the interior, and finally some of the reckless ones among them -ventured to come in. These were followed by others, and in less time than -it takes to tell it the aisle was packed with strikers, who even forced -their way into the seats, crowding the boys out of their places. About -this time Mr. Kellogg happened to look behind him, and seeing that he -and his men were at the mercy of the mob—there were more strikers than -soldiers in the car now—he called out to the conductor, who stood on the -front platform, to go ahead with the train. - -“I can’t do it,” was the reply. “The strikers are in full possession of -it.” - -“Well, then, cut loose from us and go ahead with your passengers,” said -Professor Kellogg. “This is as far as I want to go anyhow.” - -“And you couldn’t go any farther if you wanted to,” said a loud-mouthed -striker. “We’ll have the last one of you hung up to the telegraph poles -before morning.” - -“Who said that?” exclaimed one of the leaders at the front door. “Knock -that man down, somebody, or make him keep his tongue still.” - -“Shove the car on to the switch,” yelled somebody outside. - -“Yes; run ’em into the switch!” yelled a whole chorus of hoarse voices. -“Dump ’em over into the creek.” - -Some idea of the strength of the mob may be gained from the fact that -the car, heavily loaded as it was, began to move at once, and in a few -minutes it was pushed upon a side-track, and brought to a stand-still on -the edge of a steep bank. While the car was in motion Don, who had grown -tired of being squeezed, sought to obtain an easier position by stepping -into his seat and sitting down on the back of it. As he did so he nearly -lost his balance; whereupon a burly striker, who had stepped into his -place as soon as he vacated it, reached out his hand and caught him, in -the most friendly manner. - -“Thanks,” said Don, placing his hand on the striker’s broad shoulder and -steadying himself until he was fairly settled on his perch. “Now, since -you have showed yourself to be so accommodating, perhaps you wouldn’t -mind telling me where those fellows on the outside are shoving us to, and -what they intend to do with us.” - -“They are going to throw you into the creek, probably.” - -“I don’t see any sense in that,” observed Don. “What’s the meaning of -this demonstration, anyhow?” - -“It means bread!” said the man so firmly that Don thought it best to hold -his peace. - -There were few in the mob who seemed inclined to talk. They answered all -the questions that were asked them, but gave their entire attention to -what was going on in the forward end of the car. Their recognized leaders -were there, talking with Professor Kellogg, and they were waiting to see -how the conference was going to end. Those who spoke for the strikers -seemed to be intelligent men, fully sensible of the fact that Professor -Kellogg and his company had not come to the city to trample upon the -rights of the workingman, and for a time the prospect for a peaceful -settlement of the points under discussion looked very bright indeed. -But there were some abusive and violent ones in the mob who could not be -controlled, and they always spoke up just at the wrong time. - -“Take the bayonets off the guns!” piped a forward youngster, who ought to -have been at home and in bed. “That’s the way we did with the 61st.” - -“I’ll tell you how to settle it,” said a shrill voice, that was plainly -audible in spite of the tumult in the car and the continuous yells of the -mob outside. “If they’re friendly toward us, as they say they are, let -them give up their guns. We’ll see that nobody harms them.” - -“Yes; that’s the way to settle it,” yelled the mob. “Let them give up -their guns.” - -This proposition startled the young soldiers. If they agreed to it they -would be powerless to defend themselves, and what assurance had they that -the strikers would not wreak vengeance upon them? Nothing but the word of -half a dozen men who could not have controlled the turbulent ones among -their followers, even if they had been disposed to try. But fortunately -Mr. Kellogg was not the man they took him for. As soon as the yells of -approval had subsided so that he could make himself heard, his answer -came clear and distinct; - -“I shall not disarm my men; you may depend upon that.” - -“Let’s run ’em back to Bridgeport, where they belong,” shouted a striker. - -“That’s the idea,” shouted the mob. “We don’t want ’em here. Run ’em back -where they came from. We can easy find an engine.” - -“I am not going back,” replied the undaunted professor. “I was ordered to -come here, and now that I got here, I am going to stay.” - -“Well, you shan’t stay with these guns in your hands,” said the -shrill-voiced man. “All of us who are in favor of disarming them say ‘I.’” - -“I! I!” was the almost unanimous response. - -If there were any present who were opposed to disarming the boys, they -were not given an opportunity to say so. Encouraged by their overwhelming -numbers, and by the fact that the mass of the soldiers were mere -striplings to be strangled with a finger and thumb, the rioters went to -work to secure the muskets, and then there was a scene to which no pen -could do justice. - -The fight, if such it could be called, was a most unequal one. That -portion of the mob which had possession of the car, was composed almost -entirely of rolling-mill hands, and not of “lazy, ragged tramps and -boys,” as a Hamilton paper afterward declared. They were powerful men, -and the young soldiers were like infants in their grasp. But, taken at -every disadvantage as they were, the most of the boys gave a good account -of themselves. A few, terrified by the sight of the revolvers and knives -that were flourished before their eyes, surrendered their weapons on -demand, and even allowed their cartridge-boxes to be cut from their -persons; but the others fought firmly to retain possession of their guns, -and gave them up only when they were torn from their grasp. Among the -latter was Don Gordon. - -When the proposition to disarm the boys was put and carried, the man who -was standing in Don’s seat, and who had caught him when he came so near -losing his balance, faced about, seized the boy’s musket, and, in spite -of all Don could do to prevent it, forced it over toward his friends -in the aisle. A dozen hands quickly laid hold of it, but Don would not -give it up. He held to it with all his strength, until one of the mob, -enraged at his determined resistance, gave a sudden jerk, pulling the -weapon out of his hands and compelling Don to turn a somerset over the -back of his seat. - -One thing that encouraged Don to make so desperate a struggle for the -possession of his piece, was the heroic conduct of a little pale-faced -fellow, Will Hovey by name, who occupied the seat in front of him. Will -didn’t look as though he had any too much courage, but his actions proved -that he had plenty of it. He was confronted by a ruffian big enough to -eat him up, who was trying to disarm him with one hand, while in the -other he had a formidable looking knife with a blade that was a foot long. - -“Give it up, I tell you,” Don heard the striker say. - -“I’ll not do it,” was Will’s reply. “I’ll die first.” - -The knife descended, and Don expected to see the brave boy killed before -his eyes; but he dodged like a flash, just in the nick of time, and the -glittering steel passed over his shoulder, cutting a great hole in his -coat and letting out the lining. Will lost his gun in the end, but he -wore that coat to the city, and was as proud of that rent as he would -have been of a badge of honor. He was a soldier all over, and proved it -by stealing a gun to replace the one the strikers had taken from him. - -When Don was pulled over the back of his seat, he fell under the feet -of a party of struggling men and boys, who stepped upon and knocked him -about in the most unceremonious way, and it was only after repeated -efforts that he succeeded in recovering his perpendicular. No sooner had -he arisen to an upright position than he fell into the clutches of a -striker who seized his waist-belt with one hand and tried to cut it from -him with a knife he held in the other, being under the impression that if -he succeeded, he would gain possession of the boy’s cartridge-box. But -there’s where he missed his guess, for the cartridge-box which hung on -one side and the bayonet scabbard that hung on the other, were supported -by breast belts; and the waist belt was simply intended to hold them -close to the person, so that they would not fly about too much when the -wearer was moving at double time. Don, however, did not want that belt -cut, and he determined that it should not be if he could prevent it. -The striker was larger and much stronger than he was, but Don fought him -with so much spirit that the man finally became enraged, and turned the -knife against him. If he had had any chance whatever to use his weapon, -he would certainly have done some damage; but he and Don were packed in -so tightly among the strikers and the students, who were all mixed up -together now, that neither one of them had an inch of elbow-room. The -struggling crowd was gradually working its way toward the rear door, and -Don saw that he must do something very quickly or be dragged out of the -car into the hands of the outside mob. After trying in vain to disarm his -assailant, and to free himself from his grasp by breaking the belt, he -set to work to unhook it; but he was knocked about so promiscuously by -the combatants on all sides of him, that he couldn’t even do that. - -How long the fight over the guns and cartridge-boxes continued no one -knows; and the reports in our possession, which are full and explicit on -all other points, are silent on this. But it took the strikers a long -time to disarm the boys, and even then they had to leave without getting -all the guns. - -Up to this time not a shot had been fired or a stone thrown. The mob -outside could not bombard the car for fear of injuring some of their own -men, and the students could not shoot for the same reason. Besides, the -order not to pull a trigger until they were told to do so was peremptory, -and in his report Professor Kellogg takes pains to say that this command -was strictly obeyed. The order to fire on the mob would have been given -before it was but for one thing: The only officer who had the right to -give it was being choked so that he could not utter a sound. The strikers -were quick to see that Professor Kellogg was the head and front of the -company, and believing that if they could work their will on him, they -could easily frighten the boys into submission, they laid hold of him and -tried to drag him out of the car; and failing in that, the door being -blocked by their own men, who were anxious to crowd in and take a hand in -the fracas, they bent the professor backward over the arm of a seat and -throttled him. The students in his immediate vicinity defended him with -the utmost obstinacy and courage, and a sword, and at least one bayonet, -which went into the fight bright and clean, came out stained. At any -rate the rioters did not succeed in killing the professor, as they fully -intended to do, or in dragging him out of the door. After a desperate -struggle he succeeded in freeing himself from their clutches, and as soon -as he could speak, he called out: - -“Clear the car! Clear the car!” - -This was the order the students were waiting for, and if the order had -not been so long delayed their victory would have been more complete -than it was, for they would have had more guns to use. They went to work -at once, and the way those rioters got out of that car must have been a -surprise to their friends on the outside. Swords, bayonets and the butts -of the muskets were freely used, and when the last rioter had jumped from -the platform, the real business of the night commenced. All on a sudden -the windows on both sides were smashed in, and stones, chunks of coal, -coupling-pins, bullets and buck-shot rattled into the car like hail. - -“Come on, me brave lads!” yelled a voice on the outside. “Let’s have the -last one of ’em out of there an’ hang them to the brudge.” - -A simultaneous rush was made for both the doors, but the maddened mob -had no sooner appeared than a sheet of flame rolled toward them, and -they retreated with the utmost precipitancy. Forbearance was no longer -a virtue. His own life and the lives of the boys under his charge were -seriously threatened now, and with the greatest reluctance Professor -Kellogg gave the order to fire. It was obeyed, and with the most telling -effect. After repulsing three charges that were made upon the car, the -boys turned their guns out of the windows, and firing as rapidly as they -could reload, they drove the mob over the railroad track and forced them -to take refuge behind the embankment. - -Although the students had full possession of the car, their position was -one of extreme danger. They were surrounded by a rabble numbering more -than three thousand men, sixty of whom were armed with their own muskets, -while the students had only seventeen left with which to oppose them; -the rioters were securely hidden behind the embankment, while the car -was brilliantly lighted, and if a boy showed the top of his cap in front -of a window, somebody was sure to see and shoot at it; and worse than -all, some of the mob, being afraid to run the gauntlet of the bullets -which were flying through the air from both sides, had taken refuge under -the car, and were now shooting through the bottom of it. One of the -lieutenants was the first to discover this. He reported it to Captain -Mack, and the latter reported it to the professor. - -“That will never do,” said Mr. Kellogg. “We must get out of here. -Attention!” - -The boys, who were crouched behind the seats and firing over the backs -and around the sides of them, jumped to their feet and stepped out into -the aisle, while Don opened the door so that they could go out. - -“Where’s your gun, Gordon?” demanded the professor. - -“It was taken from me, sir,” replied Don. “But I’ll have another before -many minutes.” - -Don knew very well that somebody would get hurt when they got out on the -railroad, and if he were not hit himself, he wanted to be ready to take -the gun from the hands of the first boy who _was_ hit, provided that same -boy had a gun. He secured a musket in this way, and he did good service -with it, too. - - - - -CHAPTER X. - -WELCOME HOME. - - -Don Gordon’s assailant kept him exceedingly busy in warding off the -thrusts of the knife, and the boy had a lively time of it before he -could escape from his clutches. When the students went to work to clear -the car, Don hoped that the man would become frightened and let go his -hold; but instead of that, he seemed all the more determined to pull -his captive out of the door. In spite of his resistance Don was dragged -as far as the stove, and there he made a desperate and final effort to -escape. Placing his foot against the side of the door he threw his whole -weight upon the belt, jerked it from the man’s grasp and fell in the -aisle all in a heap. When he scrambled to his feet the car was clear -of strikers, his antagonist being the last to jump from the platform. -Don was surprised to see how few there were left of the students. When -they left Bridgeport there were more of them than the seats could -accommodate; but there were only a handful of them remaining, and they -were gathered in the forward end of the car. Where were the others? While -Don stood in the aisle debating this question, two or three boys arose -from their hiding-places under the seats and hurried past him. - -“Come on, Gordon,” said one. “The way is clear now.” - -“Where are you going?” asked Don. - -“Anywhere to get out of the mob. Lots of our fellows have left the car -and taken to their heels. Come on.” - -“Don’t go out there,” cried Don. “You will be safer if you stay with the -crowd.” - -The boys, who were so badly frightened that they hardly knew what they -were doing, paid no attention to him. They ran out of the car, and a -minute later the rioters made their first charge, and the order was given -to fire. This put life into Don, who lost no time in getting out of the -range of the bullets in his companions’ muskets. Stepping out of the -aisle he made his way toward the forward end of the car, by jumping from -the back of one seat to the back of another. As he was passing a window -a coupling-pin, or some other heavy missile, came crushing through it, -barely missing him and filling his clothing with broken glass. If it had -hit him, it would probably have ended his career as a military student -then and there. - -Reaching the forward end of the car in safety the first thing Don saw, -as he dropped to his knee by Egan’s side, was a loaded musket; and the -second was one of the Bridgeport students lying motionless under a seat. -His face was too pale and his wide-open eyes were too void of expression -to belong to a living boy, and Don straightway came to the conclusion -that he was dead. - -“Poor fellow,” was his mental comment. “There’ll be a sad home somewhere -when the particulars of this night’s work get into the papers. He doesn’t -need his musket any more, so I will use it in his stead.” - -Don secured his musket in time to assist in repulsing every charge the -mob made upon the car, and then, like the others, he began firing from -the windows. While he was thus engaged one of the lieutenants passed -along the aisle, and discovering a student lying prone under a seat, he -bent down and looked at him. Like Don, he thought, at first, that the -boy was dead; but upon closer examination he found that there was plenty -of life in him. - -“What are you doing there?” demanded the young officer, indignantly. “Get -up and go to work. Where’s your gun?” - -“Gordon’s got it,” was the faint reply. - -The lieutenant looked around and saw Don in the act of firing his piece -out of the window. After he made his shot, the officer asked him whose -gun he was using. - -“I don’t know,” answered Don. “I found it on the floor, and thought it -might as well take part in this fight as to lie idle there.” - -“That’s all right; but it belongs to this man. Hand it over.” - -Don was glad to know that his comrade was not injured, but he was -reluctant to surrender the musket into the hands of one who had showed no -disposition to use it when he had it. He gave it up, however, and then -crouched behind a seat and passed out cartridges to Egan and Curtis, who -fired as fast as they could load. Both these boys had won the marksman’s -badge at five hundred yards, and it was not likely that all their shots -were thrown away. - -About this time report was made that some of the rioters had taken refuge -under the car and were shooting up through the floor, and the professor -determined to abandon his position. The company was called to attention, -Don Gordon opened the door, as we have recorded, and when the order was -given they left the car on a run, Don being the fourth to touch the -ground. After moving down the track a short distance they came to a halt -and faced toward the rioters, who arose from their places of concealment -and rushed over the embankment in a body, evidently with the intention -of annihilating the students. In fact they told the boys as they came -on that they were going to “wipe the last one of ’em out,” but they did -not do it. The young soldiers were as steady as veterans, and one volley -was enough to scatter the rioters, and send them in confusion to their -hiding-places. But the students did not escape unscathed. As Don stood -there on the track offering a fair target to the rifles of the mob, and -unable to fire a single bullet in response to those that whistled about -his ears, he heard a suppressed exclamation from somebody, and turned -quickly about to see the boy who stood on his left, bent half double and -clasping both his hands around his leg. - -“I’ve got it,” said he, as Don sprang to his assistance. - -“Well, you take it pretty coolly,” replied the other. “Come down out of -sight. You’ve no business up here now that you are shot.” - -After leading his injured comrade to a place of safety behind the -embankment, Don returned to the track just in time to receive in his arms -the boy who stood on his right and who clapped his hand to his breast and -reeled as if he were about to fall. That was the narrowest escape that -Don ever had. If he had been in line, where he belonged, the bullet which -struck this boy’s breast-plate and made an ugly wound in his chest, would -have hit Don squarely in the side. - -The wounded boy had a gun, and Don lost no time in taking possession of -it. After seeing that the owner was cared for by some of the unarmed -students, Don went back to his place in line, where he remained just long -enough to fire one round, when the company was ordered off the track -behind the embankment, and an inspection of boxes was held. To their -great astonishment the young soldiers found that they had not more than -two or three cartridges remaining. As it was impossible for them to hold -their ground with so small a supply of ammunition, Mr. Kellogg thought -it best to draw off while he could. The wounded were sent to the rear in -charge of the boys who had lost their guns in the car, after which the -company climbed the fence and struck off through an oat-field toward the -road. Seeing this retrograde movement the mob made another charge, but -one volley sufficed to check it. If the boys were whipped (as a Hamilton -paper, which was cowardly enough to pander to the mob and to extol its -heroism afterward declared they were) they did not know it, and neither -did the rioters, who took pains after that to keep out of sight. They -remained by the car, which they afterward used to carry their wounded to -the city, and the students saw them no more that night. - -It was during this short halt that Don Gordon, after firing his single -round, was approached by Curtis and Egan, one of whom held a musket in -each hand, while the other had his fingers tightly clasped around his -wrist. The latter was Egan, and his left hand was covered with blood. - -“Have you got a spare handkerchief about you, Gordon?” said he. “I’m hit.” - -“Great Scott!” exclaimed Don. “When did you get it?” - -“Just now. Curtis had a loud call too,” said Egan, nodding toward his -friend. “His plume was shot out of his cap.” - -“Let me look at your hand,” said Don, drawing a couple of handkerchiefs -from his pocket. - -“Oh, there’s no artery cut, for the blood comes out in drops and not in -jets,” answered Egan. “But I am afraid my little finger has gone up. I -have bled for my country and you haven’t.” - -“And what’s more, I don’t want to,” said Don. - -The latter bandaged the wounded hand as well as he could, and the -line moved on across the oat-field. On the way the boy who had been -shot through the leg, gave out and had to be carried. The other held -up bravely, making frequent and clamorous demands for his gun, and -announcing his readiness, severely wounded as he was, to whip the boy -who stole it from him. Don kept a still tongue in his head. He had the -gun, and being in a better condition to use it than the owner was, he -determined to hold fast to it. - -When they reached the road they tore a panel or two of the fence to -pieces to make a litter for the boy who had given out, and here they -were joined by ten or a dozen of their comrades who had left the car by -the rear door. By some extraordinary streak of good luck, such as might -not have fallen to them again in a thousand years, they had succeeded in -escaping the mob and finding refuge in a culvert under the railroad. They -brought two wounded boys with them, one of whom had been struck in the -eye with a buck-shot, while the other had had his scalp laid open by a -vicious blow from the butt of a musket as he was jumping from the car. - -“When we heard you going across the field we came out,” said one of the -new-comers, who was delighted to find himself among friends once more. -“There were strikers in the culvert, too, but they didn’t bother us, for -they were as badly frightened as we were. If they had known that there -was going to be a fight they wouldn’t have come near the bridge. They -said so.” - -“Seen anything of Hop?” asked Don, as soon as he had satisfied himself -that his fat friend was not with the party. - -“Not lately,” was the reply, “but I guess he’s all right. The last time I -put eyes on him he was going up the track toward Bridgeport, beating the -time of Maud S. all to pieces. If he kept on he’s at the academy by this -time. I always had an idea that I could outrun Hop, but when he passed me -I thought I was standing still.” - -“Were there any strikers after him?” - -“There wasn’t one in sight. When you fellows in the car got fairly to -work, you kept such a fusillade that they were afraid to show their -heads.” - -By this time the litter was completed, and the wounded boy being placed -upon it, the students resumed their march, stopping at the first house -they came to, which proved to be a little German inn. The hospitable -proprietor gave up his house to them; guards were posted at once; a good -Samaritan, who was also a surgeon, promptly made his appearance; the -wounded were tenderly cared for; and one of the corporals exchanged his -uniform for a citizen’s suit, went into the city, reported the fight, -and in due time returned with orders for the company to march in and -report at the railroad depot. - -When morning came the good Samaritan came also, accompanied by a liberal -supply of hot coffee and a substantial breakfast, which were served out -to the boys while they were sitting in the shade of the trees opposite -the inn. The doctor took the wounded home with him to be cared for until -they could be sent back to Bridgeport; and the others, having broken -their fast, shouldered their guns and set out for Hamilton. - -Don Gordon afterward said that his courage had never been so severely -tested as it was that morning. On their way to the depot the students -passed through the lower portion of the city and through the coal-yards -in which the hands had just struck. Thousands of tons of coal were piled -on each side of the narrow street, and on the top of these piles stood -the striking workmen, who, outnumbering the boys more than twenty to one, -and having every advantage of them in position, could have annihilated -them in a minute’s time if they had made the attempt. It required all the -nerve Don possessed to march through there with his eyes straight to the -front, and his hair seemed to rise on end whenever he heard one of the -men call out to his comrades: - -“Thim’s the fellers, b’ys. Have a bit of coal at thim.” - -Some of the men held chunks of coal in their hands, but they did not -throw them. No doubt there were those among them who had been in -the fight the night before, and who knew that the boys would defend -themselves if they were crowded upon. They passed the coal-yards in -safety, and marched into the depot, where they found a portion of the -61st under arms, together with several companies of militia, which had -been sent there from the neighboring towns. When they stacked arms in the -rear of one of the companies which held the left of the line, every boy -drew a long breath of relief, and Don hurried off to find a telegraph -office. - -But little duty was imposed upon the students that day, partly because -of their rough experience of the previous night, and partly for the -reason that the mob had threatened vengeance upon them—particularly -upon Professor Kellogg, who conducted the defence, and upon Captain -Mack and the boy with the stained bayonet who had so gallantly defended -their leader when the rioters tried to kill him. As one of the students -afterward remarked, they loafed about like a lot of tramps, eating and -sleeping as they do, and looking quite as dirty. As the hours wore away -the mob began gathering in front of the depot, and once when Don looked -out, he could see nothing but heads as far as his eyes could reach. There -were between eight and ten thousand of them, and opposed to them there -were less than three hundred muskets. They were kept in check by double -lines of sentries which they could have swept away like chaff if they had -possessed the courage to attempt it. - -With the night came more excitement. Reinforcements began to arrive. -Squads of men who had been sent off on detached duty came in, followed by -strong delegations from the Grand Army. There were three false alarms, -the last of which created some confusion. Some uneasy sleeper, while -rolling about on his hard bed, managed to kick over a stack of muskets. -One of them, which its careless owner had not left at a half-cock, as -he ought to have done, exploded with a ringing report that brought the -different companies to their feet and into the ranks in short order. -The company that created the confusion was stationed directly in front -of the Bridgeport boys. Some of its members, believing that the mob was -upon them, ran for dear life, deserting their arms and rushing pell-mell -through the ranks of the students, knocking them out of their places as -fast as they could get into them. - -This was an opportunity that was too good to be lost. Here were guns, -scattered about over the floor, and no one to use them. To snatch them up -and remove and throw away the slings that belonged to them, thus making -their identification a matter of impossibility, was the work of but a few -seconds. Will Hovey was the one who set the example, others were quick to -follow it, and no one noticed what they were doing. When order had been -restored and the ranks formed, there were eight men in one company who -could not find their weapons, and as many boys in another who held in -their hands muskets that did not belong to them. - -“Humph!” said Don to himself. “If our company gets into another tight -place, I hope we shall have somebody besides these men to back us. They -are very pretty fellows, well up in the school of the company, and all -that, but they don’t seem to have much pluck.” - -The night passed without further trouble, the forenoon came and went, and -at three o’clock the 49th, of Auburn, came in. The train that brought -them to the city was stopped by the strikers, who refused to allow it to -go any further. The colonel said he didn’t care—that he had just as soon -walk as ride—and ordered his men to disembark. - -If the rioters had never before been fully satisfied that their day was -passed, they must have seen it now. Instead of one company there were -several that got out of the cars—four hundred and ninety men, in fact, -who stood there with their bayonets fixed and their pieces loaded, all -ready for a fight if the rioters wanted it. But they didn’t. Having -been so severely handled by only seventeen boys, that they dared not -pursue them when they left the field, it was not likely that they were -anxious for a collision with this splendid body of men, many of whom were -veterans. The leaders held a consultation, and seeing that they could -not help themselves, they finally concluded that the regiment might -proceed. - -A short time after it came into the depot, the Bridgeport boys and two -other companies marched out, directing their course toward the Arsenal, -which was located on one of Hamilton’s principal business streets. Now -came another test of their courage. The sound of the drums served as a -signal to the mob, which congregated in immense numbers, and marched with -the troops to their destination. Some of them carried clubs and stones in -their hands, and loud threats were made against the students, who were -repeatedly assured that not one of them would ever leave the city alive. -If they had been alone they would probably have had another fight on -their hands; but they had a hundred and sixty men to back them, and that -number, added to their own, made a larger force than the mob cared to -face in battle. - -They took supper at the Arsenal, where they remained until midnight, -when they were ordered to fall in without the least noise. They obeyed, -lost in wonder, leaving the drill-room so silently that the men who -were slumbering on each side of them did not know they were gone until -daylight came to reveal the fact, and when they reached the gate they -found an immense police-van waiting for them. Into this they crowded and -were driven slowly up the street, Professor Kellogg and Captain Mack -going on ahead to see that the way was clear. - -“Where are you taking us?” whispered Don to the driver. - -“To the Penitentiary,” was the guarded response. - -“Going to lock us up there?” - -“Yes, sir; the last one of you.” - -“What for?” - -“To punish you for shooting at the mob last night.” - -“They’ll give us plenty to eat, I suppose?” - -“Oh, yes; all you want.” - -“Do they look for any trouble among the prisoners?” - -“I think so; at any rate you are sent up there at the mayor’s request. He -said he wanted men there who were not afraid to shoot, and such men he -wanted well fed.” - -This was a compliment to the company, and a decided indorsement of the -manner in which they had conducted themselves during the fight with the -mob. To quote from some of the members, they had a “soft thing” while -they remained at the Penitentiary. There were about four hundred convicts -there, but they knew better than to attempt an outbreak, and all the boys -had to do was to keep themselves clean, eat, sleep, and stand guard. -Having made themselves famous they received many calls during their two -days’ stay at the prison, and these visitors did not come empty-handed. -The stockings, handkerchiefs, collars, lemons and other needful things -they were thoughtful enough to bring with them, were gratefully accepted -by the young soldiers, who begged for papers, and wanted to know all that -was going on outside. They were gratified to learn that the back-bone of -the riot was broken; that the strikers were anxious to go to work; that -trains were running on some of the roads; and that the hour of their -release was close at hand. - -It came early on Saturday morning, when they were ordered to draw -cartridges and fall in for a march to the skating-rink, which was now -used as military headquarters, and which they reached without any mishap, -the streets being free from any thing that looked like a mob. As they -marched into the rink a soldier called out: “Three cheers for the -Bridgeport boys!” and the lusty manner in which they were given proved -that their comrades were entirely satisfied with what they had done. - -Their departure from Hamilton, which was ordered at eleven o’clock, was -in keeping with the treatment they had received from all the officers and -military during their entire stay. They were escorted to the depot by two -companies, which formed in line and saluted them as they passed by. After -taking leave of many new-made friends they boarded the car which had been -set apart for them (it was guarded at both doors this time, although -there was no necessity for it) and were whirled away toward home, their -journey being enlivened by songs, speeches and cheers for everybody who -had borne his part in the fight. When the whistle sounded for Bridgeport -one of the students thrust his head out of a window, but almost instantly -pulled it back again to exclaim: - -“Great Moses! What a crowd!” - -But it was one the boys were not afraid of. As soon as the train came to -a stand-still they left the car, and marching in columns of fours, moved -through long lines of firemen and students who had assembled to welcome -them home, the firemen standing with uncovered heads and the students -presenting arms. The cross-roads, as well as the roads leading from the -depot to the village, were crowded with carriages, all filled to their -utmost capacity with ladies and gentlemen, who waved their handkerchiefs -and hats, and greeted them with every demonstration of delight. - -“Halt here, captain,” said the marshal of the day, when the boys reached -the head of the line. - -“Where’s Professor Kellogg?” asked Mack, looking around. - -“I don’t know. Halt here, and come to a left face.” - -When the order was obeyed, the spokesman of a committee of reception, -which had been appointed by the citizens, mounted upon a chair and took -off his hat; whereupon Captain Mack brought his men to parade rest to -listen to his speech. It was short but eloquent, and went straight -to the hearts of those to whom it was addressed, with the exception, -perhaps, of Captain Mack. He knew that somebody would be expected to -respond, and while he pretended to be listening with all his ears, he -was looking nervously around to find Mr. Kellogg. But that gentleman -was seated in the superintendent’s carriage a little distance away, -looking serenely on, and Mack was left to his own resources, which, so -far as speech-making was concerned, were few indeed. When the speaker -had complimented them in well-chosen words for the gallantry they had -displayed in the fight, and told them how proud his fellow-citizens were -to say that the company that struck the first blow in defence of law -and order in Hamilton came from their little town, he got down from his -chair, and everybody looked at Captain Mack. - -The young officer blushed like a girl as he stepped out of the ranks with -his cap in his hand. He managed to make those of the crowd who could -hear him understand that he and his company were much gratified by their -reception, which was something they had not dreamed of, and delighted -to know that their conduct as soldiers was approved by their friends at -home; and then, not knowing what else to say, he broke out with— - -“I can’t make a speech, gentlemen of the committee, but my boys can -holler, and I’ll prove it. Three cheers and a tiger for the gentleman -who has so cordially greeted us, for the other gentlemen composing the -committee, and for every man, woman and _baby_ who has come out to -welcome us home.” - -The cheers were given with a will, and the citizens replied with “three -times three.” When the band struck up, the line was formed under -direction of the marshal and moved toward the park. The church bells -were rung, the solitary field-piece of which the village could boast, -and which was brought out only on state occasions, thundered out a -greeting every minute, and the crowds that met them at every turn cheered -themselves hoarse. Mottoes and bunting were lavishly displayed, and -Main-street was spanned by two large flags, to which was attached a white -banner having an inscription that sent a thrill of pride to the breasts -of the boys, who now read it for the first time— - - “WELCOME! - - _We honor those who do their duty._” - -On arriving at the park the arms were stacked, the ranks broken, and -fifteen minutes were taken for hand-shaking; and cordial as the formal -reception was, it bore no comparison to the hearty personal welcome that -was extended to each and every one of the third company boys, who never -knew until that moment how many warm friends they had in Bridgeport. -Among those who came up to shake hands with Don Gordon and Curtis was a -fellow who was dressed in the academy uniform, who walked with a cane and -wore a slipper on his left foot. It was Courtland Hopkins. - - - - -CHAPTER XI. - -HOPKINS’S EXPERIENCE. - - -“Boys, I am delighted to see you home again, safe and sound,” said -Hopkins, putting his cane under his arm and shaking hands with both his -friends at once. “I tell you we have been troubled about you, for some -of us who returned the second day after the fight, heard the rioters say -that you would never leave the city alive.” - -“We heard them say so, too,” replied Curtis. “But we’re here all the -same. Hallo, Bert. And there’s Egan. How’s your hand, old fellow? Lost -that little finger yet?” - -“No; and I don’t think I’ll have to. Why didn’t you let us know that you -were coming?” - -“You did know it, or else you couldn’t have met us at the depot,” -answered Don, after he had returned his brother’s greeting. - -“I mean that you ought to have sent us word this morning,” said Egan. -“The ladies would have got up a good supper for you if they had had time -to do it.” - -“We should have done full justice to it, for we had an early breakfast -and no dinner,” Curtis remarked. “But you have not yet told us what is -the matter with you, Hop. I hope you were not shot.” - -“Oh, no. It is nothing more serious than a sprained ankle,” replied -Hopkins. - -“And ‘thereby hangs a tale,’” added Egan. “I’ll tell you all about it -when we get up to the academy. Hop showed himself a hero if he did run -out of the back door.” - -“How did you get back to Bridgeport?” inquired Don. - -“I went home with the doctor on the morning that you fellows started -for Hamilton, you know,” replied Egan. “Well, as soon as he had dressed -my hand and the wounds of some of the other boys who were able to walk, -we went up the track to the next station, and there we telegraphed for -a carriage. To tell the truth I never expected to get home, for the -rioters were scouring the country in search of us. We heard of them at -every house along the road, and everybody cautioned us to look out for -ourselves.” - -During a hurried conversation with their friends, Don and Curtis learned -that the people of Bridgeport knew as much about the fight as they did -themselves. Perhaps they knew more, for they had heard both sides of the -story. The students who came home the day after the fight—the missing -ones had all reported with the exception of three, whose wounds were so -severe that they could not be brought from the city—had given a correct -version of the affair and described the part that every boy took in it. -All those who had done their duty like men were known to the citizens, -and so were those who gave up their guns when the strikers demanded them. -The boys who did the fighting, however, had not a word to say regarding -the behavior of their timid comrades. They had an abundance of charity -for them. - -“We don’t blame them for being frightened,” Don and Curtis often said. -“There isn’t a boy in the company who wouldn’t have been glad to get -out of that car if he could. When you have been placed in just such a -situation yourselves, you will know how we felt; until then, you have no -business to sit in judgment upon those who are said to have shown the -white feather.” - -The fifteen minutes allotted for hand-shaking having expired, the -students fell in and set out for the academy. As they marched through the -gate the bell in the cupola rung out a joyful greeting, the artillery -saluted them, and the boys in the first, second and fourth companies -presented arms. They moved at once to the armory, and after listening -to a stirring speech from the superintendent the ranks were broken, and -their campaign against the Hamilton rioters was happily ended. - -“And I, for one, never want to engage in another,” said Captain Mack, as -he and Don and Curtis set out in search of Egan and Hopkins. “Have you -heard some of the fellows say that they wish they had been there?” - -Yes, they and all the returned soldiers had heard a good deal of such -talk from boys who would have died before giving up their guns, and who -were loud in their criticisms of Mr. Kellogg, who ought to have stopped -the train at least half a mile from the mob, and fired upon it the moment -it appeared. What a chance this would have been for Lester Brigham, if he -had only been in a situation to improve it! If he had never known before -that he made a great mistake by feigning illness on the night the false -alarm was sounded, he knew it now. He could not conceal the disgust he -felt whenever he saw a third-company boy surrounded by friends who were -listening eagerly to his description of the fight. Such sights as these -made him all the more determined to get away from the academy where he -had always been kept in the background in spite of his efforts to push -himself to the front. And worse than all, there was Don Gordon, who had -come home with the marks of a rioter’s knife on his coat and belt, who -had behaved with the coolness of a veteran, and showed no more fear than -he would have exhibited if he had been engaged in a game of snow-ball. - -“I’ll bet he was under a seat more than half the time, and that nobody -noticed him,” said Lester, spitefully. - -“Oh, I guess not,” said Jones. “Gordon isn’t that sort of a fellow. Well, -they have had their fun, and ours is yet to come. There will be a jolly -lot of us sent down at the end of the term. What do you suppose your -governor will say to you?” - -“Not a word,” replied Lester, confidently. “He didn’t send me here to -risk life and limb by fighting strikers who have done nothing to me, and -when he gets the letters I have written him, he will tell me to start for -home at once.” - -“But you’ll not go?” said Jones. - -“Not until we have had our picnic,” replied Lester. - -“Perhaps your father won’t care to have Jones and me visit you,” remarked -Enoch. - -“Oh, yes he will. He told me particularly to invite a lot of good fellows -home with me, and he will give you a cordial welcome. I haven’t got a -shooting-box, but I own a nice tent, and that will do just as well. I -will show you some duck-shooting that will make you open your eyes.” - -“All right,” said Enoch. “I’ll go, according to promise, and you must be -sure and visit me in my Maryland home next year. Both the Gordons and -Curtis will visit Egan at that time, and unless I am much mistaken, we -can make things lively for them.” - -“Nothing would suit me better,” returned Lester. “I hate all that crowd. -Don and Bert went back on me as soon as they got me here, and I’ll never -rest easy until I get a chance to square yards with them.” - -(Lester learned this from Enoch. He remembered all the nautical -expressions he heard, and used them as often as he could, and sometimes -without the least regard for the fitness of things. He hoped in this way -to make his companions believe that he was a sailor, and competent to -command the yacht during their proposed cruise.) - -The conversation just recorded will make it plain to the reader that -Lester and some of his particular friends, following in the lead of Don -and Bert Gordon and _their_ friends, had made arrangements to spend a -portion of their vacation in visiting one another. They carried out their -plans, too, and perhaps we shall see what came of it. - -When Mack and the rest found Hopkins and Egan, they went up to the -latter’s room, where they thought they would be allowed to talk in peace; -but some of the students saw them go in there, and in less time than it -takes to write it, the little dormitory was packed until standing-room -was at a premium. The boys were full of questions. What one did not think -of another did, and it was a long time before Don could say a word about -Hopkins’s experience, which Egan related substantially as follows: - -To begin with, Hopkins did not leave the car because he wanted to, but -because he couldn’t help himself. When the rioters voted to disarm the -young soldiers, half a dozen pairs of ready hands were laid upon his -musket, but Hopkins wouldn’t give it up. Threats, and the sight of -the revolvers and knives that were brandished before his face, had no -effect upon him; but he could not contend against such overwhelming -odds, with the least hope of success. He was jerked out into the aisle -in spite of all he could do to prevent it, and dragged toward the door. -When the students turned their bayonets and the butts of their pieces -against their assailants, the latter made a frantic rush for the door, -and Hopkins was wedged in so tightly among them, that he could not get -out. His gun was pulled from his grasp, and Hopkins, finding his hands -at liberty, seized the arm of the nearest seat in the hope of holding -himself there until the mob had passed out of the car; but the pressure -from the forward end was too great for his strength. He lost his hold, -was carried out of the door by the rush of the rioters, who, intent -on saving themselves, took no notice of him, and crowded him off the -platform. - -“But before I went, I was an eye-witness to a little episode in which -our friend Egan bore a part, and which he seems inclined to omit,” -interrupted Hopkins. - -“Now, Hop, I’ve got the floor,” exclaimed Egan, who was lying at his ease -on his room-mate’s bed. - -“I don’t care if you have. There’s no gag-law here.” - -“Go on, Hop,” shouted the boys. - -“It will take me but a moment,” said Hopkins, while Egan settled his -uninjured hand under his head with a sigh of resignation. “When the mob -went to work to disarm us, one big fellow stepped up to Egan and took -hold of his gun. ‘Lave me this; I’m Oirish,’ said he. ‘I’m Irish too,’ -said Egan. ‘Take that with me compliments and lave me the gun;’ and he -hit the striker a blow in the face that lifted him from his feet and -would have knocked him out of the front door, if there hadn’t been so -many men and boys in the way. That fellow must have thought he had been -kicked by a mule. At any rate he did not come back after the gun, and -Egan was one of the few who got out of the car as fully armed as he was -when he went in.” - -Hopkins could be irresistibly comical when he tried, and his auditors -shouted until the room rang again. They knew that his story was -exaggerated, but it amused them all the same. Egan _did_ say that he was -Irish (Hopkins often told him that if he ever denied his nationality his -name would betray him), and it was equally true that he floored the man -who demanded his gun, and with him one or two of his own company boys who -happened to be in the way; but he said nothing about “compliments” nor -did he imitate the striker’s way of talking. Among those who felt some of -the force of that blow, was Captain Mack. - -“That explains how I got knocked down,” said he. “The rioters were trying -to drag the professor out of the car, and we were doing all we could to -protect him, when all at once some heavy body took me in the back, and -the first thing I knew I was sprawling on the floor. I thought I should -be trampled to death before I could get up.” - -When Hopkins struck the ground he stood still and waited for some of the -mob to come and knock him on the head; but seeing that they were looking -out for themselves, and that some of his comrades were making good -time up the track in the direction of Bridgeport, he started too, doing -much better running than he did when he stole farmer Hudson’s jar of -buttermilk, and passing several of the company who were in full flight. -The bullets sang about his ears and knocked up the dirt before and behind -him, and Hopkins began looking about for a place of concealment. Seeing -that some of his company ran down from the track and disappeared very -suddenly when they reached a certain point a short distance in advance of -him, Hopkins stopped to investigate. He found that they had sought refuge -in a culvert, which afforded them secure protection from the bullets; but -Hopkins was inclined to believe that in fleeing from one danger they had -run plump into another. There were strikers as well as students in there; -and as he halted at the mouth of the culvert he heard a hoarse voice say: - -“You soldier boys had better not stop here. You have made the mob mad, -and as soon as they get through with those fellows in the car, they -are going to spread themselves through the country and make an end of -everybody who wears the academy uniform. I heard some of them say so, -and I am talking for your good.” - -“And I will act upon your advice,” said Hopkins to himself. “It is a -dangerous piece of business to go along that railroad-track, but I don’t -see how I am going to help it.” - -It proved to be a more dangerous undertaking than the boy thought it -was. Death by the bullets which constantly whistled over the track, was -not the only peril that threatened him now. Believing that the main body -of their forces could keep the professor and his handful of students in -the car until their cartridges were expended, after which it would be an -easy matter to drag them out and hang them as they fully meant to do, the -rioters had sent off a strong detachment to look after the boys who had -escaped from the rear of the car. Hopkins could see them running through -the fields with the intention of getting ahead of the fugitives and -surrounding them. - -“That’s a very neat plan, but I don’t think it will work,” said Hopkins, -as he drew himself together and prepared for another foot-race. “I wish I -had known this before I left the culvert so that I could have told—I’ll -go back and tell them if I lose my only chance for escape by it.” - -Hopkins turned quickly about, but saw at a glance that there was no need -that he should waste valuable time by going back to the culvert. The boys -were leaving it in a body and making their way across a field. They were -going to join their comrades who had left the car, but Hopkins did not -know it, for he could not see the company, it being concealed from his -view by some thick bushes which grew on that side of the track. - -“They’re all right,” said Hopkins, “but it seems to me they are taking -a queer way to get home. I’ll stick to the track, because it leads to -Bridgeport by the most direct route. Now then for a run! Hallo, here! -What’s the matter with you, Stanley?” - -While Hopkins was talking in this way to himself, he was flying up the -track at a rate of speed which promised to leave the fleetest of the -flanking party far behind; but before he had run a hundred yards, he came -upon a student who was sitting on the end of one of the ties with his -head resting on his hands. As Hopkins drew nearer he saw that the boy had -bound his handkerchief around his leg just above his knee, and that it -was stained with blood. - -“What’s the matter?” repeated Hopkins. - -“I’m shot and can’t go any farther,” was the faint reply. - -“When did you get it?” - -“Just as I jumped from the car.” - -“Well, get up and try again. You must go on, for if you stay here you are -done for. Look there,” said Hopkins, directing the boy’s attention to the -rioters who were trying to surround them. - -“I can’t help it. I ran till I dropped, and I couldn’t do more, could I? -I am afraid my leg is broken. Take care of yourself.” - -“I will, and of you, too,” replied Hopkins. “Get up. Now balance yourself -on one foot, throw your arms over my shoulders and I will carry you.” - -The wounded boy, who had given up in despair, began to take heart now. He -did just as Hopkins told him, and the former walked off with him on his -back as if his weight were no incumbrance whatever. He did not run, but -he moved with a long, swinging stride which carried him and his burden -over the ground as fast as most boys would care to walk with no load at -all. The mob followed them until they came to the creek which was too -wide to jump and too deep to ford, and there they abandoned the pursuit. -At all events Hopkins and Stanley saw no more of them that night. - -“Look out,” said Stanley, suddenly. “There’s one of them right ahead of -us.” - -Hopkins looked up and saw a man standing on the track. The manner of -his appearance seemed to indicate that he had been hidden in the bushes -awaiting their approach. - -“You had better put me down and save yourself,” whispered Stanley, as -Hopkins came to a halt wondering what he was going to do now. “If you get -into a fight with him I can’t help you.” - -“I didn’t pick you up to drop you again at the first sign of danger,” was -the determined reply. “I wish I had a club or a stone. You don’t see one -anywhere, do you?” - -“Say, boss,” said the man, in guarded tones. - -“Bully for him; he’s a darkey,” exclaimed Hopkins. “We have nothing to -fear.” - -“Say, boss,” said the man again, as he came down the track, “Ise a -friend. Don’t shoot.” - -“All right, uncle. Come on.” - -“What’s de matter wid you two?” - -“There’s nothing the matter with me,” answered Hopkins, “but this boy is -shot. Can you do anything for him?” - -“Kin I do sumpin fur de soldiers?” exclaimed the negro. “’Course I kin, -kase didn’t dey do a heap fur me when de wah was here? I reckon mebbe I’d -best take him down to de house whar de women folks is.” - -“Handle him carefully,” said Hopkins. “He’s got a bad leg.” - -The negro, who was a giant in strength as well as stature, raised the -wounded boy in his arms as easily as if he had been an infant, and -carried him up the track until he came to a road which led back into -the woods where his cabin was situated. Here they found several colored -people of both sexes who had gathered for mutual protection, and who -greeted the boys with loud exclamations of wonder and sympathy. - -“Hush yer noise dar,” commanded the giant, who answered to the name of -Robinson. “Don’t yer know dat dem strikers is all fru de country, an’ dat -some of ’em was hyar not mor’n ten minutes ago?” - -“Not here at this house?” exclaimed Hopkins, in alarm. - -Yes, they had been there at the house, and in it and all over it, so -Robinson said, looking for the boys who had escaped by the rear door. -They might return at any moment, but he (Robinson) would do the best -he could for them. He couldn’t fight the mob, as he would like to, but -perhaps he could keep the boys concealed. - -“What do you think they would do with us if they found us?” inquired -Stanley. - -Robinson couldn’t say for certain, but the men who came to his house were -angry enough to do almost anything. They were all armed, and some of them -carried ropes in their hands. This proved that their threat to hang the -young soldiers was no idle one. - -The first thing Robinson did was to look at Stanley’s wound. A bullet -had plowed a furrow through the back of his leg just below his knee, -and although the artery had not been cut and the bone was uninjured, -everybody saw at a glance that it was impossible for him to go any -farther. Hopkins inquired where he could find a surgeon, but the negro -wouldn’t tell him, declaring that if he set out in search of one he -would never see his friends again. - -While Hopkins was trying to make up his mind what he ought to do, he -suddenly became aware that there was something the matter with himself. -One of his boots seemed to be growing tighter, and he limped painfully -when he tried to walk across the floor. - -“I declare, I believe I have sprained my ankle,” said he; and an -examination proved that he had. His ankle was badly swollen and inflamed, -and after he took his boot off he could not bear the weight of his foot -upon the floor. - -“I reckon you’ns has got to put up at my hotel dis night, bofe of you,” -said Robinson. “You can’t go no furder, dat’s sho’.” - -“Perhaps you had better let us lie out in the woods,” said Hopkins. “If -the strikers should return and find us here, they might do you some -injury.” - -The negro said he didn’t care for that. Soldiers had more than once -put themselves in danger for him, and it was a pity if he couldn’t do -something for them. At any rate he would take the risk. He bustled about -at a lively rate while he was talking, and in five minutes more the -disabled boys had been carried up the ladder that led to the loft and -stored away there on some hay that had been provided for them. After that -Stanley’s leg was dressed with cold coffee, which Robinson declared to be -the best thing in the world for gunshot wounds. Hopkins’s ankle was bound -up in cloths wet with hot water, a plain but bountiful supper was served -up to them, and they were left to their meditations. Of course they did -not sleep much, for they couldn’t. They suffered a good deal of pain, but -not a word of complaint was heard from either of them. Hopkins acted as -nurse during the night, and shortly after daylight sunk into an uneasy -slumber, from which he was aroused by a gentle push from Stanley, who -shook his finger at him to keep him quiet. - -“They’ve come,” whispered his companion. - -“They! Who?” said Hopkins, starting up. - -“The mob. Don’t you hear them?” - -Hopkins listened, and his hair seemed to rise on end when he caught the -low hum of conversation outside, which grew louder and more distinct as a -party of men approached the house. Enjoining silence upon his companion -Hopkins drew himself slowly and painfully over the hay to the end of the -loft, and looked out of a convenient knot hole. Stanley, who watched all -his movements with the keenest interest, trembled all over when Hopkins -held up all his fingers to indicate that there were ten of them. He also -made other motions signifying that the rioters were armed and that they -had brought ropes with them. Just then there was a movement in the room -below, and Robinson opened the door and stepped out to wait the mob. - -“Say, nigger,” exclaimed one of the leaders, “where are those boys who -were here last night?” - -Robinson replied that he didn’t know where they were. They had been taken -to the city early that morning, and he thought they were in the hospital. - -“Were they both hurt?” asked one of the rioters. - -“Yes; one had a bullet through his leg, and the other had been shot in -the foot.” - -“We wish those bullets had been through their heads,” said the leader. -“It’s well for them that they got away, for we came here on purpose to -hang them.” - -“Dat would serve ’em just right,” said Robinson. “Dey ain’t got no call -to come down hyar an’ go to foolin’ wid de workin’ man when he wants his -bread an’ butter. No, sar, dey ain’t.” - -The boys in the loft awaited the result of this conference with fear and -trembling. They fully expected that the rioters would search the house -and drag them from their place of concealment, but the negro answered all -their questions so readily and appeared to be so frank and truthful, that -their suspicions were not aroused. When Stanley, who kept a close watch -of his friend, saw him kiss his hand toward the knot-hole, he drew a long -breath of relief, for he knew that the rioters were going away. - -This visit satisfied both them and their sable host that they were not -safe there, and Robinson at once sent his oldest boy to the nearest -farm-house to borrow a horse and wagon. When the vehicle arrived the boys -were put into it, and Robinson took the reins and drove away with all the -speed he could induce the horse to put forth. - -“How do you suppose those men knew that we were at your house?” said -Hopkins. - -“One of dem no account niggers dat was dar las’ night done went an’ tol’ -’em,” replied Robinson, angrily. “I’ll jest keep my eye peeled fur dat -feller, an’ when I find him, I’ll make him think he’s done been struck by -lightnin’. I will so.” - -Robinson took the boys to the house of the nearest surgeon, who received -and treated them with the greatest kindness and hospitality. As Hopkins -and Stanley were boys who never spent their money foolishly they always -had plenty of it, and consequently they were able to bestow a liberal -reward upon the negro, who volunteered to drive to the nearest station -and sent off a despatch for them. The next day a carriage arrived from -Bridgeport and Hopkins went home in it, but Stanley, much to his regret, -was ordered to remain behind, the surgeon refusing to consent to his -removal; but he could not have been in pleasanter quarters or under -better care. - -There were half a dozen other boys in the room who told stories of -escapes that were fully as interesting as this one. They could have -talked all night, but the supper-call sounded, and that broke up the -meeting. - - - - -CHAPTER XII. - -PLANS AND ARRANGEMENTS. - - -“I say, fellows,” exclaimed Egan, the next time he found all his friends -together, “there’s something going to happen during this camp that never -happened before. The paymaster is coming here to settle with us.” - -“What do you mean by that?” - -“I mean that we are entitled to a dollar a day for the work our company -did at Hamilton,” replied Egan. “As we were under orders five days we -have five dollars apiece coming to us from the State.” - -“Do the wounded come in for that much?” inquired Hopkins. - -“They belong to the company, do they not?” demanded Egan. “They are not -to blame for getting hurt, are they? They will get just as much as the -others.” - -We may here remark that the Legislature gave them more. Hopkins received -a hundred dollars to pay him for his sprained ankle; the boy who was hit -in the eye with a buck-shot, and who stood a fair chance of going blind -from the effects of it, got eleven hundred; Stanley received six hundred, -and so did each of the boys who were shot at Don Gordon’s side when the -company was ordered out of the car. - -“I’ll never spend those five dollars,” said Don. - -“Neither will I,” chimed in Hopkins. “If I get the money all in one bill, -I’ll have it framed and hang it up in my room beside a fox-brush which I -won at the risk of my neck.” - -“I wonder how mine would look hung around the neck of that white swan -that led me such a race two winters ago,” said Egan. “I think they will -go well together, and every time I look at them, they will remind me of -the most exciting incident of my life. Gordon, you’ll have to make yours -into a rug and spread it on the floor beside the skin of that bear that -came so near making an end of Lester Brigham.” - -The boys had only three days more to devote to study during the school -term, and much lost time to make up. The work was hard, they found it -almost impossible to keep their minds upon their books, and everybody, -teachers as well as students, was glad when the first day of August -arrived, and the battalion took up its line of march for its old camping -ground. The students were hardly allowed time to become settled in their -new quarters before their friends began to flock into the camp. A few -fathers and guardians came there with the intention of taking their sons -and wards from the school at once—they did not want them to remain if -they were expected to risk their lives in fighting rioters. Some of the -timid ones were glad to go; but the others, who were full of military -ardor, begged hard to be permitted to complete the course, and pleaded -their cause with so much ability that their fathers relented, and even -took the trouble to hunt up Professor Kellogg and congratulate him on -having “broken the back-bone” of the Hamilton riot. - -Lester Brigham’s father and mother were among the visitors, and so were -General Gordon and his wife. The former were very indignant when they -left Rochdale. Mr. Brigham repeatedly declaring that it was a sin and an -outrage for the superintendent to send boys like those under his care -into battle, and after he had told him, in plain language, what he -thought of such a proceeding, he was going to take Lester out of that -school without any delay or ceremony. But when he reached the camp, he -did not feel that way. General Gordon reasoned with him, and when he -shook hands with Lester, he said he was sorry the boy hadn’t been in the -fight, so that he could praise him for his gallant conduct. Mr. Brigham -didn’t know that Lester had hidden his head under the bed-clothes when -the bugle sounded. - -“I was afraid you would want me to leave the school,” faltered Lester, as -soon as he had somewhat recovered from his surprise. - -“By no means,” said his father, earnestly. “You boys will have full -control of this government some day—did you ever think of that?—and now -is the time for you to learn your duty as citizens. What are you going to -be when this examination comes off? A captain, I hope.” - -“I shan’t be anything,” replied Lester, who could scarcely conceal his -rage. “I shall never be an officer, because I can’t see the beauty of -toadying to the teachers. I’ll not stay here to fight strikers, either.” - -“I sincerely hope your company will never be called upon to perform any -duty so hazardous,” said Mr. Brigham; “but if it is, I want to hear -that you are in the front rank. If you do not obtain promotion this -examination, I shall think you have wasted your time.” - -“I have invited a couple of my friends to go home with me,” said Lester, -who wanted to make sure of a cordial reception for Jones and Williams, -even if he and they were expelled from the academy for misconduct. - -“I am glad to hear it,” said Mr. Brigham. “Your mother and I will -endeavor to make their visit so agreeable that they will want to come -again.” - -“And Williams has invited me to go home with him next year,” added -Lester. “He lives down in Maryland, a short distance from Egan and -Hopkins. May I go?” - -“Certainly. Make all the friends you can, but be sure that they are the -right sort.” - -“I’ve got his promise,” said Lester to himself, as he paced his lonely -beat that night, “and he’ll not break it. But I must say he’s a nice -father for any fellow to have. I thought sure he had come here to take -me home with him. He talks very glibly about my risking life and limb in -defence of law and order, but would he take it so easy if he were in my -place? I’ll not stay here another year, and that’s flat.” - -Contrary to his expectations Lester Brigham, although he fell far behind -his class in both deportment and studies, had not been left at the -academy under arrest, and now he was glad of it. It was easier to get -out of the camp than it was to leave the academy grounds, and he and his -fellow-conspirators could hold a consultation every day. They began to -exhibit some activity now, and among those who had agreed to accompany -Lester on his “picnic” there was not one who showed any signs of backing -out, or who even thought of it, with the exception of Lester himself. -Three of their number had been taken home by their angry parents, but -those who remained held to their purpose, and urged their leaders to -decide upon a plan of operations. Lester, who had been rendered almost -desperate by the extraordinary behavior of his father, was anxious that -something should be done at once, and he and his two right-hand men had -many an earnest conference, the result of which was the promulgation -of an order to the effect that none of the “band,” as they called -themselves, should ask for a pass until they were told to do so. - -“That will keep us together, you know,” said Lester and his lieutenants. -“If one of us asks for a pass to-day and another to-morrow—why, when the -time for action comes those who have already been out will be refused, -and consequently not more than half of us will get away. Williams will -have to go out to do a little scouting so as to ascertain when and where -we can get a boat, but the rest of us must be content to stay in.” - -Their first week under canvas was a busy one, as it always was. The -fortifications, which had been thrown up the year before in anticipation -of that fight with the Mount Pleasant Indians, must be repaired and camp -routine established before liberty was granted to anybody. Before this -work was completed many of their visitors took their departure. Among -these were General and Mrs. Gordon, who wished Don and Bert a pleasant -visit with their friend Curtis in his northern home, and Lester’s father -and mother, who did not forget to give the boy a good supply of spending -money before they went, and to assure Jones and Williams that they looked -forward to their visit to Rochdale with many pleasurable anticipations. - -“That money is intended for the use of yourself and your friends,” said -Mr. Brigham. “If it is stolen from you, or if the superintendent finds -out that I gave it to you, it will be your own fault. If you will come -home with a strap on your shoulder, I will give you as much more.” - -During the second week passes were freely granted, and one of the first -to go out was Enoch Williams, whose duty it was to find a suitable -boat and lay plans for seizing it at a specified time. He was gone all -day, and when he came back he was full of enthusiasm, some of which he -communicated to Jones, who was the first boy he met after reporting his -return. They exchanged a few whispered words, and then hurried off to -find Lester. - -“It’s all right, Brigham,” said Jones, gleefully. “Enoch has done his -full duty, and deserves the thanks of every fellow in the band. We’re off -to-morrow night.” - -Somehow Lester did not feel as highly elated over this piece of news as -his friends thought he would. He wanted to desert and do something that -would make the academy boys talk about him after he was gone, but he -wished from the bottom of his heart that he had never said a word about -running away in a boat. - -“I think myself that I have planned things better than any other boy in -the band could have done it,” said Enoch, with no little satisfaction in -his tones. “I’ve got the boat, and now you must assess every fellow in -the band five dollars.” - -“What for?” demanded Lester. - -“To pay for her, and to buy our provisions.” - -“To pay for her,” echoed Lester. “I thought we were going to steal her.” - -“So we are—after a while. Now I will begin at the beginning and tell you -just what I have done: When I got down to the river I found that the -cutter I wanted to take on account of her superior accommodations, had -gone off on a cruise, and that there was only one yacht in port. But -she’s a beauty, and I wouldn’t be afraid to go to Europe in her. She -was anchored out in the stream, and while I was wondering how I could -get aboard of her, her keeper came off in a dory and told me that if I -wanted to take a look at the schooner he would be glad of my company, -for he was alone there. I went, and in less than an hour I had everything -arranged. His owner is going on a cruise with a party of friends next -Monday, and it took but little urging on my part to induce the keeper to -agree to give the band a ride down the river to-morrow night, provided we -would promise to come back when he said the word, so that he could have -the schooner in her berth at daylight.” - -“You didn’t promise that, of course,” said Lester, when Enoch paused to -take breath. - -“Of course I did,” answered Enoch. - -“Well, you’re a good one,” exclaimed Lester, in deep disgust. “I’ll not -go on any such expedition. A night ride on the river! There would be -lots of fun in that, wouldn’t there? When I start on this picnic I don’t -intend to come back to Bridgeport until I have had sport enough to pay me -for the trouble of deserting, or I am captured and brought back.” - -“Neither do we,” said Jones, as soon as he saw a chance to crowd a word -in edgewise. “Let Enoch finish his story, and then see if you don’t think -more of his plans.” - -“I promised that he could come back with his vessel before daylight, so -that his owner wouldn’t suspect that he had been doing a little cruising -on his own hook,” continued Enoch, “but I didn’t say that we would come -back with him.” - -“You might as well have said so,” snapped Lester. “Where are we going to -stay and what are we going to do without a boat to sail about in?” - -“Wait until I have had my say, and then you may talk yourself blind for -all I care,” retorted Enoch, who was beginning to get angry. - -“Go easy, Williams,” Jones interposed. “We don’t want a row before we get -out of camp. If we go to quarreling among ourselves there’s an end of all -our fun.” - -“I don’t want to quarrel,” said Lester, who did not like the way Enoch -glared at him. - -“Then wait till I get through before you pass judgment upon the -arrangements I have made,” exclaimed Enoch. “I didn’t promise -Coleman—that’s the boat-keeper’s name—that we would return to Bridgeport -with him, and neither did I say that he could bring the yacht back, for I -don’t intend that he shall do anything of the kind.” - -“How are you going to prevent it?” inquired Lester. - -“That’s the best part of the plan,” said Jones. “Go on, Enoch.” - -“This is the way we will prevent it,” continued the latter. “We’ll go -with him as far as Windsor, and then we will stop and make an excuse to -get him ashore. As soon as we are rid of him we’ll fill away for the bay. -If the wind is at all brisk he can’t catch us.” - -“What do you say to that?” demanded Jones. - -“I say it looks like business,” answered Lester, who now, for the first -time, began to take some interest in his scheme. “It’s all right, Enoch; -you couldn’t have done better, and I couldn’t have done as well. There’s -my hand.” - -“I thought you would like it after you had given me a chance to explain,” -said Enoch, growing good-natured again. - -“So did I,” chimed in Jones. “We want to do something daring and -reckless, you know; something that will make the good little boys open -their eyes.” - -“There’s only one objection to it,” continued Enoch. “When we send -Coleman ashore we shall lose our small boat, but we can easily stop at -one of the islands in the bay and borrow another.” - -“So we can,” exclaimed Lester, with great enthusiasm. “Say, boys, what’s -the use of buying any provisions? Let’s turn pirates and forage on the -farmers for our grub?” - -“That’s the very idea,” said Enoch. - -“I am in favor of foraging and have been all the while,” said Jones. “But -we must be careful and not try to carry things with too high a hand. If -we get the farmers down on us, they will help our pursuers all they can, -and that will bring our cruise to an end very speedily. We must buy the -most of our provisions and we must speak to the boys about it now, so -that when they ask for a pass they can draw on the superintendent for -five dollars apiece.” - -“But how will you get out of the lines, Enoch?” inquired Lester. “The -superintendent will not grant you liberty for two days in succession.” - -“I’ll get out; don’t you worry about that,” replied Enoch, confidently. -“Now let’s separate and post the other boys, and see who they want for -treasurer. That’s an official we have never had any use for before.” - -“Tell them that I am a candidate,” said Lester, who thought he would be -a little better satisfied if he could keep his five dollars in his own -hands. - -“That won’t do at all,” said Jones, quickly. - -“Of course not,” chimed in Enoch. “You’ll have enough to do to manage the -yacht. I shall push Jones for the office.” - -“By the way, how much did you agree to pay Coleman for giving us a ride -down the river?” asked Lester. - -“Twenty-five dollars,” replied Enoch. - -“That’s a good deal of money to pay out for nothing. The understanding -was that we were to capture our vessel. If we had held to that, we could -have got her for nothing.” - -“And had a tug after us as soon as she could get up steam,” replied -Enoch. “As I said before, this schooner is the only yacht in port. We -couldn’t capture her without getting into a fight with Coleman, and if we -had alarmed anybody, we should have had to run a race with the telegraph -as well as with the tug. Now, remember what I say, Lester: We shall be -in danger as long as we are this side of Oxford. Coleman knows that we -are going to take French leave, and has promised to be as sly as he can -in taking us on board the schooner; but no matter how carefully we cover -up our trail, some sharp fellow like Mack will be sure to find it, and -telegraph the authorities at Oxford to be on the look-out for us.” - -“And Coleman himself will raise an outcry just as soon as he finds out -that we have given him the slip,” added Jones. - -“To be sure he will. I tell you, Brigham, we’re going to have a time of -it, and you will have a chance to show just how smart you are. After -we get the schooner everything will depend upon you. If you can take -us safely past Oxford and out into the bay, you will be a leader worth -having, and the boys will feel so much confidence in you that they will -do anything you say.” - -“And if I fail in my efforts to do that, they will lose what little -confidence they have in me now, and put somebody else in my place,” -said Lester to himself, as he and his friends moved off in different -directions to hunt up the rest of the band and tell them of the plans -that had been determined upon. “What am I to do now?” - -There was a time when Don Gordon would have been delighted with such a -prospect as this. The responsibility resting upon the captain of the -schooner, and which was much too heavy a burden for Lester to bear, would -have aroused all the combativeness in his nature, and made him determined -to succeed in spite of every obstacle that could be thrown in his way. -Lester, however, felt like backing out, and he would have done so if he -had received the least encouragement from a single one of the band to -whom he spoke that night. They were all strongly in favor of Enoch’s -plan, and promised to be on hand at the appointed time with their money -in their pockets. - -“If you don’t want to go, now is the time to say so,” Lester ventured to -suggest, hoping that some timid boy would take the hint and give him an -excuse for staying behind himself; but the invariable reply was: - -“I do want to go. I didn’t agree to this thing just to hear myself talk. -If you fellows are going, I am going too.” - -“Whom have you seen, Brigham?” asked Jones, as the two met again just -before the supper call was sounded. “All right. Enoch and I have seen -the rest, and have found them all true blue. There’s not a single -weak-kneed one among them. We mustn’t leave the camp in a body, you -know, for that might excite suspicion; but we’ll see them in Bridgeport -to-morrow afternoon, and tell them to be at Haggert’s dock at dark.” - -They were all going, that was evident, and Lester did not see how he -could refuse to accompany them. If he feigned illness or neglected to -ask for a pass, he would surely be found out and accused of cowardice, -and then the boys would have nothing more to do with him. There were few -outside the band who ever took the trouble to speak to him, and if they -deserted him he would be lonely indeed. - -“And more than all, Williams and Jones would refuse to go home with me, -and that would knock my visit to Maryland in the head,” said Lester to -himself. “That wouldn’t be at all pleasant. I shall have a harder time at -Rochdale than I ever had before. Don and Bert Gordon will be sure to tell -all the people there how I have acted ever since I came to the academy, -and what a coward I was on the night the false alarm was given, and they -will make it so disagreeable for me that I can’t stay. I must stick to -those boys, for they are the only friends I have. I believe I’ll turn -the command of the yacht over to Enoch. He wants it and I don’t; and if -I give it up to him of my own free will, perhaps it will increase his -friendship for me.” - -Lester breathed easier after he made this resolution, and, although he -did not enjoy his sleep that night, he did not look forward with so many -gloomy forebodings. He received his pass and his money when he asked for -them, and in company with Jones set out for Bridgeport. They directed -their course toward Haggert’s dock, and when they reached it Lester -obtained his first view of a sea-going yacht. One glance at her was -enough to satisfy him that he could do nothing with her, and he suddenly -thought of an excuse for saying so. - -“Is that the schooner?” he asked, as he and his companion seated -themselves on a spar that was lying on the dock. - -“Why, of course she’s a schooner,” exclaimed Jones, looking up in -surprise. “A vessel of that size wouldn’t be square-rigged, would she? -Can’t you see that she is a fore-and-after?” - -“Not being blind I can,” replied Lester, loftily. “I inquired if she was -_the_ schooner—the one we are going to take.” - -“Oh!” replied Jones. “Yes, I suppose she is, but I can very soon find -out,” he added, as he drew his handkerchief from his pocket. “If that man -who is lounging in the cockpit is Coleman, I can bring him ashore.” - -“Having always been used to plenty of sea-room, I am not sure that I can -handle the schooner in this narrow river,” said Lester. - -“We are not going to stay in the river, you know,” answered Jones. “We -shall get out of it as soon as we can.” - -“I know that; but Enoch said last night that we shall be in danger as -long as we remain this side of Oxford, and the boy who takes us down the -river ought to be one who knows how to handle boats in close places. I -don’t know much about schooners, for, as I told you long ago, my yacht -was a cutter.” - -“What’s the difference?” asked Jones. - -“There is a good deal of difference the first thing you know,” exclaimed -Lester; and fearing that he might be asked to tell what it was, he -hastened to say: “Williams is a good fellow and a good sailor too, if -I am any judge, and I think I will ask him to take command. Of course -I could manage the schooner, and perhaps I will take her in hand after -Enoch gets her out of the river.” - -“All right,” said Jones. “I guess Enoch will take her if you ask him. -That’s Coleman.” - -“How do you know?” - -“Because he waved his hand in reply to my signal, and is now coming off -in his boat.” - -In a few minutes Coleman rowed up to the wharf in his dory. He did not -get out, but stood up in his boat and kept it in its place by holding -fast to a ring-bolt. - -“I wanted to make sure that everything is just as it should be,” said -Jones, who saw that the boat-keeper was waiting to hear what he had to -say. “Can we go on our cruise to-night?” - -“Are you one of the deserters?” asked Coleman. - -“I am; and my friend here, is another. One of our fellows was down here -yesterday and talked the matter over with you. Has anything occurred to -interfere with the arrangements you and he made?” - -“Not that I know of. How many of you are there?” - -“Just twenty-five,” replied Jones. - -“That will be a dollar a piece,” said Coleman. “Can you raise so much -money? Then it’s all right; but there’s one thing I want understood -before we start: I must be back here before daylight.” - -“There’s nothing to prevent it,” answered Jones; “that is, if you can -walk back from Windsor by that time,” he added, mentally. - -“I am doing this thing without my owner’s knowledge,” continued Coleman. -“If he should come down here early in the morning and find the yacht -gone, I’d lose my situation.” - -“We know that. All we ask of you is to take us as far as Windsor, where -we intend to go ashore for an hour or two. You don’t object to that, I -suppose.” - -“Oh, no. If you don’t want to go any farther than that, I can easily get -back in time to avoid suspicion. Anything going on at Windsor?” - -“A party,” replied Jones. - -After a little more conversation the two boys got up and walked away, and -Coleman went back to the schooner. - -“There is that much done,” said Jones. “We have paved the way for getting -him ashore. After we get him up in town we will lose him, and then we’ll -have the schooner to ourselves. Now let’s separate and look out for the -rest of the fellows. Tell them about the party that isn’t going to come -off in Windsor, and give them to understand that they may talk about it -as much as they please in Coleman’s hearing. Urge upon them the necessity -of being on the dock at dusk, so as not to run the risk of being left -behind, but caution them against forming a crowd there. We don’t want -anybody to see us off, and consequently we must be careful not to attract -attention. Williams and I will meet you at noon at Cony Ryan’s.” - -“Well, don’t bring any other fellows with you,” said Lester, who knew -that this meant pies, pancakes and milk for three, and that he would have -to foot the bill. - -Jones said he wouldn’t, and the two boys gave each other a farewell -salute, and set out in different directions in search of the other -members of the band. - - - - -CHAPTER XIII. - -THE DESERTERS AFLOAT. - - -If the deserters had had the ordering of things themselves they could -not have made them work more to their satisfaction. There was not a -single hitch anywhere; but there was just enough excitement to put them -on their mettle, and give them an idea of what was before them. In less -than twenty minutes after Lester Brigham parted from his friend Jones, he -ran against Captain Mack and Don Gordon. The latter wore a bayonet by his -side to show that he was on duty. If they had not been so close to him, -Lester would have taken to his heels. Although he had not yet deserted, -and carried a paper in his pocket that would protect him, the sight of -these two boys made him feel guilty and anxious. - -“Hallo, Brigham,” exclaimed the young captain, as he returned Lester’s -salute. “If I didn’t know better, I should say that you were out on -French leave.” - -“Oh, I am not,” answered Lester, with more earnestness than the -circumstances seemed to warrant. “I have a pass.” - -“I know it, for I was in the superintendent’s marquee when it was given -to you,” said the captain. “But I must say that you look rather queer for -an innocent boy. Seen anything of Enoch Williams?” - -“No, I haven’t,” replied Lester, who now began to prick up his ears. “Is -he out?” - -The captain laughed and said he was. - -“Has he got a pass?” - -“Of course not. If he had we wouldn’t be looking for him, would we? -He followed Egan’s example and Gordon’s, and ran the guard in broad -daylight. We’ve traced him to the village, and we’re going to catch him -if we have to stay here for a week. The boy who was on post at the time -Enoch went out said he ran like the wind, and if I can get Don after him, -I expect to see a race worth looking at. My men are scattered all over -the village, and if you see Enoch I wish you would post some of them.” - -“I will,” answered Lester. - -“He won’t,” said Don, as he and the captain moved on. - -“I know that very well,” returned Mack. “Brigham is up to something -himself, or else his face belies him.” - -“He and Jones and Williams are cronies, you know,” continued Don, “and I -believe that the surest way to find our man is to keep an eye on Lester.” - -“I believe so myself,” said the captain, giving his companion a hearty -slap on the back. “That’s a bright idea, Gordon, and we’ll act on it.” - -“Mack thinks he’s smart, but he may find out that there are some boys in -the world who are quite as smart as he is,” soliloquized Lester, as he -moved on up the street. “I don’t know whether I want Enoch to command -that schooner after all. His running the guard in daylight shows that he -is inclined to take too many risks.” - -Lester began to be alarmed now; the village seemed to be full of -Captain Mack’s men. He met them at nearly every corner, and they, as in -duty bound, asked to see his pass, and made inquiries concerning the -deserter. Every one of them declared that there was something afoot. - -“Williams didn’t run the guard in that daring way and come to town for -nothing,” said they. “There’s no circus here, nor is there anything -interesting going on that we can hear of; but there’s a scheme of some -kind in the wind, and we know it.” - -Lester’s fears increased every time Captain Mack’s men talked to him in -this way, and he began looking about for Jones. He wanted to know what -the latter thought about it; but he could not find him, nor could he see -any of the band. They had all disappeared very suddenly and mysteriously, -and now the only academy boys he met were those who wore bayonets. Eleven -o’clock came at last, and Lester was on the point of starting for Cony -Ryan’s, when he heard his name pronounced in low and guarded tones, and -looked quickly around to see Jones standing in a dark doorway. - -“Don’t come in here,” whispered the latter, as Lester stepped toward the -door. “Stand in front of that window and pretend to be looking at the -pictures, and then I’ll talk to you.” - -Lester wonderingly obeyed, and Jones continued: - -“We’re suspected already.” - -“I know it,” answered Lester, in the same cautious whisper. “Mack’s men -all believe that Enoch had some object in deserting as he did, and one of -them said they wouldn’t go home until they caught him if they had to stay -here a week.” - -“That’s just what they said to me,” returned Jones. “The thing is getting -interesting already, isn’t it?” - -“Almost too much so. What do you suppose the teachers would do to us if -Mack should hear of our plans?” - -“They wouldn’t do anything but stop our liberty,” replied Jones. “Some of -the best fellows in the school make it a point to desert every camp, and -there’s nothing done to them. Stealing the schooner is what is going to -do the business for us. We’ll be sent down for that, and it’s just what -we want.” - -“Have you seen anything of Enoch?” - -“Yes; he’s all right. He’s gone down to Ryan’s to order dinner for us.” - -“Where are the rest of the fellows?” - -“Some of them are hiding about the village, and the others have gone down -to Ryan’s. Enoch and I thought it best to tell them, one and all, to keep -out of sight. If Mack and his men should hear of our plan, the fat would -all be in the fire.” - -“Would they arrest us?” - -“You’re right.” - -“Why, we haven’t done anything.” - -“No, but we’re going to do something, and if they knew it, it would be -their duty to stop us.” - -“Well, why don’t you come out, or why can’t I go in there?” demanded -Lester. “There’s no one, except village people, in sight.” - -“There’s where you are mistaken,” replied Jones. “Look across the street. -Do you see that fellow on the opposite sidewalk who appears to be so -deeply interested in something he sees in the window of that dry-goods -store?” - -Yes, Lester saw him. He had seen him before, and took him for just what -he appeared to be—a country boy out for a holiday. His tight black -trowsers would not come more than half-way down the legs of his big -cowhide boots; his felt hat was perched on the top of a thick shock -of hair which looked like a small brush-heap; his short coat sleeves -revealed wrists and arms that were as brown as sole-leather; and the -coarse red handkerchief which was tied around his face seemed to indicate -that he was suffering from the toothache. But if he was, it did not -prevent him from thoroughly enjoying his lunch—a cake of ginger-bread -and an apple which he had purchased at a neighboring stand, and which -he devoured with so much eagerness, as he stood there in front of the -window, that everybody who saw him laughed at him. - -“I see some gawky over there,” said Lester, after he had taken a glance -at the boy. - -“That’s no gawky,” replied Jones. “It’s Don Gordon.” - -Lester was profoundly astonished. He faced about and looked again. There -was nothing about that awkward clown, who did not know what to do with -his big feet, that looked like the neat and graceful Don Gordon he had -met a short time before. - -“You’re certainly mistaken,” said Lester. “Don’s pride wouldn’t let him -appear in the public street in any such rig as that.” - -“It wouldn’t, eh? You don’t know that boy.” - -“Besides, Gordon couldn’t look and act so clumsy if he tried,” continued -Lester, who had striven in vain to imitate Don’s soldierly carriage. -“Why, he is making a laughing-stock of himself.” - -“I know it, and so does he; and he enjoys it. I don’t know where he -procured his disguise, but if he didn’t borrow it, he bought it. He’s got -more money than he can spend, and he will stick at nothing that will help -him gain his point. Now, can you see Mack anywhere?” - -Lester looked up and down the street and replied that he could not. - -“Well, he’s somewhere around, and you may be sure of it,” Jones went on. -“He is keeping Don in sight, and Don has disguised himself so that he can -keep _you_ in sight. They have been following you around the streets for -two hours, and this is the first chance I have had to tell you of it. -Have you let anything slip?” - -“No,” replied Lester, indignantly. - -“You’re spotted, any way; and I can’t, for the life of me, see why you -should be if you have kept a still tongue in your head,” said Jones, -in deep perplexity. “Now, our first hard work must be to shake those -fellows, and then we’ll draw a bee-line for Cony’s. When I say the -word, come into the hall and go up those stairs as if all the wolves in -Mississippi were close at your heels; but don’t make any noise.” - -Lester braced himself for a jump and a run, and Jones took up a position -in the hall from which he could observe Don’s movements without being -seen himself. The amateur detective—it really was Don Gordon—having -disposed of his lunch and growing tired of waiting for Lester to make a -move in some direction, shuffled rather than walked over to the other -window, not neglecting, as he made this change, to take a good look at -the boy he had “spotted.” As soon as he was fairly settled before the -other window, Jones whispered “_Now!_” whereupon Lester darted through -the door and went up the stairs three at a jump. Jones lingered a minute -or two and then followed him. - -“It’s just as I expected,” said he, hurriedly, when he joined Lester at -the top of the stairs. “Captain Mack was concealed somewhere down the -street. He saw you when you ran through the door and signaled to Don, who -is now coming across the street. Follow me and run on your toes. Stick -to me, and ask no questions.” - -So saying Jones broke into a run and led the way through a long hall to -another flight of stairs, which he descended with headlong speed, Lester -keeping close at his heels. On reaching the sidewalk they slackened their -pace to a walk, and Jones suddenly turned into a shoe-store, with the -proprietor of which he was well acquainted. - -“Mr. Smith,” said he, addressing the man who stood behind the counter, -“may I go in your back room long enough to take something out of my boot?” - -Time was too precious to wait for the reply, which they knew would be a -favorable one, so Jones and Lester kept on to the back-room. When they -got there the former took his foot out of his boot—there was nothing -else in it—while his companion, acting in obedience to some whispered -instructions, concealed himself and kept an eye on those who passed the -store. - -“There he goes!” he exclaimed suddenly, as Don Gordon walked rapidly -by, peering sharply through the glass doors as he went. “He must have -followed us through the hall.” - -“Of course he did, and consequently there is no need that I should tell -you why I came in here. Now we’ll start for Cony’s.” - -As Jones said this he opened a back door which gave entrance into a -narrow alley, and conducted his companion through a long archway that -finally brought them to a cross-street. After making sure that there were -none of Captain Mack’s men in sight, they came out of their concealment -and walked rapidly away toward the big pond. When they reached Cony -Ryan’s house and entered the little parlor which had been the scene of -so many midnight revels, they found it in possession of their friends, -who greeted them in the most boisterous manner and inquired anxiously for -Enoch Williams. A few of them had had opportunity to exchange a word or -two with him, all knew how he had run the guard, but none of them could -tell where he was now. - -“He is safe enough,” said Jones, knowingly. “Of course you don’t expect -him to show himself openly, as we can who have passes in our pockets. If -you will be on Haggert’s dock at dark—and those who are not there will -stand a good chance of being left, for when we get ready to start we -shall wait for nobody—you will find him. In the meantime be careful how -you act, and keep out of sight as much as you can. Mack knows that we -haven’t come down here for nothing.” - -The boys said they were well aware of that fact, and Jones went on to -tell how closely Don Gordon and Captain Mack had watched Lester in the -hope of finding out what it was that had brought him and his friends to -town that day, and described how he and Lester had managed to elude them. -While the boys were laughing over the success of their stratagem, Jones -disappeared through a back door, but presently returned and beckoned to -Lester, who followed him into the kitchen. Cony Ryan was there, and he -had just placed upon the table two large buckets covered with snow-white -napkins. - -“That’s your dinner,” said he, as he shook hands with Lester, who had -put many a dollar into his pocket that term. “They tell me that you are -getting to be a very bad boy, Brigham. You have put the fellows up to -stealing a yacht.” - -“It’s a pretty good scheme, isn’t it?” said Jones. - -“I never heard of such a thing,” said Cony. “I know every boy who has -been graduated at this academy during the last half century, and although -there were some daring ones among them, there were none who had the -hardihood to do a thing like this. I have about half made up my mind that -if Captain Mack comes here, I will report the last one of you.” - -“Well, so long as you don’t wholly make up your mind to it, we don’t -care,” replied Jones, who knew their host too well to be alarmed by any -such threats as this. “I’ll take one basket, Brigham, and you can take -the other. Cony, you keep your eyes open and give us the signal at the -very first sign of danger.” - -“Where are you going?” inquired Lester, as Jones, with one of the baskets -on his arm, led the way out of the door toward a grove that stood a -little distance off on the shore of the big pond. - -“To find Enoch,” answered Jones. “I know right where he is. I say, -Lester, you did something to be proud of when you got up this scheme. -When Cony Ryan praises a fellow, the praise is well deserved.” - -“I am very well satisfied with it,” said Lester, complacently. “You said -something about a signal of danger; what is it?” - -“Did you ever hear Cony’s greyhound sing?” asked Jones in reply. “Well, -if Cony sees any of Mack’s men approaching his house, he’ll tell his -hound to ‘sing,’ and the animal will set up the most dismal howling you -ever heard. If Enoch hears that, you will see him dig out for dear life.” - -After walking a short distance into the grove, the two boys came to a -little creek, whose banks were thickly lined with bushes. Here Jones -stopped and put down his basket, and hardly had he done so when Enoch -Williams made his appearance. He had been concealed in the bushes, -awaiting their arrival. This was the first time Lester had seen the -deserter that day, and one would have thought by the way he complimented -Enoch, that the latter, when he ran by the guard, had performed an -exploit that no other boy in the academy dare attempt. - -“I am glad to see you two,” said Enoch, nodding his head toward the -baskets, “for I am hungry.” - -“Any news?” asked Jones, as he spread the lunch on one of the napkins. - -“Not a word,” replied the deserter. “I haven’t seen Mack or any of his -squad for a long time.” - -“We have,” said Lester. “We’ve just had some fun in getting away from -them.” - -Of course Enoch wanted to know all about it, and Jones told the story -while they were eating their lunch. The good things that Cony had put -up for them rapidly disappeared before their attacks, but busy as they -were, they did not neglect to keep their eyes and ears open. They -depended upon Cony and his hound to guard one side of the grove, and upon -themselves to detect the presence of any danger that might threaten them -from other directions; but Mack and his men never came near them. Being -well acquainted with Cony Ryan, they knew it would be a waste of time -to look for a deserter about his premises. The old fellow was a staunch -and trustworthy friend. He could not be bribed, coaxed or flattered into -betraying a boy’s confidence. - -It seemed as if the day never would draw to a close. As Enoch did not -think it safe to venture near the house, Jones and Lester kept him -company in the grove, where they rolled about on the grass, consulting -their watches every few minutes and laying out a programme for their -cruise. By this time it was understood that Enoch was to command the -schooner. He was delighted when Lester proposed it, accepted the -responsibility without the least hesitation, and spoke confidently of his -ability to make the cruise a lively one and to give their pursuers a long -chase, if he could only succeed in getting the yacht out into the bay. - -The hours wore away, and when six o’clock came the deserter and his -friends finished what was left of their lunch and began to bestir -themselves. Jones and Lester returned to Cony Ryan’s house, which they -found deserted by all save the proprietor and his family, the members of -the band having formed themselves into little squads and strolled off -toward the dock. Having made sure that the coast was clear, Jones went -out on the back porch and gave a shrill whistle, to which the deserter -responded in person. - -“Now, Lester,” said Jones, when Enoch entered the house, “you stay here -and act as look-out for Williams, and I will take a scout about the -village and see how things look there. It will be dark by the time I -come back, and then we will make a start.” - -Jones was gone a long while, but the report he brought was a favorable -one. The members of the band were all hidden about the dock, awaiting -Enoch’s appearance with much anxiety and impatience, and Coleman was -ready to carry out his part of the contract. The sails were cast loose, -and all they had to do was to slip the anchor, and let the current carry -them down the river. He had seen nothing of Captain Mack or his men, nor -had he been able to find any one who could tell him what had become of -them. He believed they had gone back to camp. - -“Mack rather plumes himself on his success in capturing deserters, I -believe,” said Enoch, as he arose from the sofa on which he had been -lounging and put on his cap. “He fails sometimes, doesn’t he?” - -“Don’t shout until you are out of the woods,” replied Jones, who knew -that his friend was congratulating himself on his cunning. “The pursuit -has not fairly begun. He may gobble you yet and all the rest of us into -the bargain.” - -“Well, it will not cost him anything to try,” said Enoch, confidently. -“I am more at home on the water than I am on land, and the boy who beats -me handling a yacht must get up in the morning.” - -“But they will follow us in tugs,” said Lester. - -“Then we’ll hide among some of the islands in the bay and let them hunt -for us,” replied Enoch. “I tell you it will be a cold day when we get -left.” - -After Lester had paid for the lunch they had eaten in the grove, he and -his companions left Cony Ryan’s hospitable roof and set out for the -dock, neglecting no precautions on the way. Jones and Lester went ahead, -stopping at every corner and looking into every doorway, and Enoch, -who followed a short distance behind them, did not advance until they -notified him, by a peculiar whistle, that he had nothing to fear. - -By keeping altogether on the back streets and giving the business -thoroughfares a wide berth, they managed to reach the dock without -meeting anybody. There was no one in sight when they got there, but -Jones’s low whistle was answered from a dozen different hiding places. - -“Ahem!” said Enoch, looking toward the schooner. - -“Ahem!” came the answer through the darkness. “Who is it?” - -“The band,” replied Enoch; and then there came a few minutes of silence -and impatient waiting, during which Coleman got into his dory and shoved -off toward the dock. Another whistle from Jones brought several students -from their places of concealment, and when the dory was filled to its -utmost capacity, it was pulled back to the schooner. Coleman was obliged -to make three trips in order to take them all off, and when Jones, who -was the last to leave the dock, sprang over the schooner’s rail, he -announced that not a single one of the band was missing. - -“Keep silence fore and aft,” commanded Coleman, as he made the dory’s -painter fast to the stern and went forward to slip the chain. “Wait until -we get under way before you do any talking.” - -The boys were careful to obey. With a single exception they were highly -elated over the success of their plans, and now that the schooner was -moving off with them, they were determined that she should not come back -to her berth again until she had taken them on a good long cruise. That -exception was, of course, Lester Brigham. He became timid when he found -himself at the mercy of the current which was carrying him off through -darkness so intense that he could scarcely see the vessel’s length ahead -of him, and took himself to task for his foolishness in proposing such an -expedition. But when he found that the schooner was seaworthy, and that -Enoch knew how to keep her on top of the water and to get a good deal of -speed out of her besides, these feelings gradually wore away, and he even -told himself that he was seeing lots of fun. - -When the current had taken the little vessel so far down the river that -there was no longer any danger to be apprehended, Coleman came up to -Enoch, whom he recognized as one of the leaders of the band, and inquired: - -“Are there any among you who know a halliard from a down-haul?” - -Enoch replied that there were. - -“Then send a couple of them forward to run up the jib, while I take the -wheel,” said Coleman. “I want to throw her head around. No singing, now.” - -“What did he mean by that?” asked Lester, speaking before he thought. - -“Why, have you never heard sailors sing when they were hoisting the -sails?” exclaimed Enoch. “It makes the work easier, you know, and helps -them pull together.” - -“Why, of course it does,” said Lester. “What was I thinking of?” - -“I don’t know, I am sure. Come with me and lend a hand at the jib. Jones, -you had better attend to Coleman now.” - -“Shall I give him his money?” asked Jones, who, we forgot to say, had -been elected treasurer of the band without one dissenting voice. - -“Yes; hand it over, and perhaps he will want to go ashore and spend some -of it. You see,” added Enoch, as he and Lester went forward, “our first -hard work must be to get rid of Coleman without raising any fuss, and -Jones is going to try to induce him to go off with us at Windsor; so keep -away from him and let him talk.” - -It was so very dark and there were so many ropes leading down the -foremast that Lester didn’t see how Enoch could find the one he wanted; -but he laid his hand upon it without the least hesitation, and when he -began pulling at it, Lester knew enough to take hold and help him. The -schooner swung around as the wind filled the sail, and when her bow -pointed down the river the fore and main sails were hoisted, and in a few -minutes more she was bowling along right merrily. Enoch superintended the -work, all the boys lending willing but awkward assistance, and Coleman -complimented him by saying that he was quite a sailor. - -“And I am the only one on board,” said he, as soon as he found -opportunity to speak to Jones in private. “Brigham is a fraud of the -first water. There are lots of fellows aboard who make no pretensions, -but who know more about a boat in five minutes than he does in a month.” - -“His yacht was a cutter, you know,” suggested Jones. - -“Oh, get out!” exclaimed Enoch. “He doesn’t know a cutter from a -full-rigged ship.” - -Lester, who was painfully aware that his ignorance of all things -pertaining to a yacht had been fully exposed, was leaning against the -weather-rail, heartily wishing himself back at the academy. He then and -there resolved that he would never again attempt to win a reputation -among his fellows by boasting. It is a bad thing to do; and the boy who -indulges in it is sure to bring himself into contempt sooner or later. - - - - -CHAPTER XIV. - -DON OBTAINS A CLUE. - - -“How have you succeeded with Coleman?” continued Enoch. “Are we going to -get rid of him as easily as we hoped?” - -“Coleman is all right,” was Jones’s encouraging reply. “I laid a neat -little trap for him, and he fell into it just as easy! I told him that we -had been followed nearly all day, and he said he knew it, for he had seen -Mack and some of his squad on the dock. I told him, too, that Mack knew -all about the party at Windsor, and that I was afraid he would go down -there and lie in wait for us; and Coleman offered to go ashore in the -dory and reconnoiter.” - -“Good!” exclaimed Enoch. “Just the minute he is out of sight we’ll fill -away for the bay. Now let’s post the other boys, so that they may know -just what is expected of them.” - -The deserters did not at all enjoy their ride down the river, for they -were thinking about something else. They were impatient to see the -last of Coleman, and trembling for fear that something would happen to -excite his suspicions. They were strong enough to take the schooner from -him by force, and there were some reckless ones in the band who openly -advocated it; but the majority would not listen to them. They had enough -to answer for already, they said, and they would not countenance any such -high-handed proceeding. While they were talking about it they sighted -Windsor. - -“I guess I had better run in and tie up to the wharf,” said Coleman, who -stood at the wheel. - -“Don’t do that,” said Enoch, quickly. He wanted to keep the schooner out -in the river so that when the proper time came he could fill away without -the loss of a moment. If she were made fast to the wharf and the sails -were lowered, it would be a work of some difficulty to get under way -again, and if Coleman were the active and quick-witted man they took him -for, he would upset all their plans in an instant. - -“That wouldn’t do at all,” chimed in Jones. “How do we know but that Mack -and his men are hidden there on the wharf all ready to board us as soon -as we come alongside?” - -“Couldn’t you fight ’em off?” inquired Coleman. - -“We might, but we’ll not try it,” said Enoch. “There’s no law that -prevents a deserter from hiding or taking to his heels, but if he should -resist arrest, they’d snatch him bald-headed. We don’t want to fight, for -we’re deep enough in the mud already.” - -“What will the superintendent do to you when you go back?” asked Coleman. - -“Oh, he’ll court-martial us and stop our liberty,” replied Jones. “But -we don’t care for that, you know. We intend to have so much fun to-night -at the party that we can afford to stay in camp during the rest of the -month.” - -Jones did not think it best to tell Coleman that he and his companions -stood a fine chance of being expelled from the academy to pay for this -night’s work. He was afraid that if he did, the man would refuse to -assist them in their scheme, and that he would come about and take them -back to Bridgeport. If he had tried that, there would have been trouble -beyond a doubt, for his passengers were bound to make themselves -famous before they went back. They succeeded beyond their most sanguine -expectations. It is true that they were taken to the academy under -arrest, but they were looked upon as heroes and not as culprits who -were deserving of punishment. They gave the students and everybody else -something to talk about, but not in the way they had anticipated. - -“The safest plan you can pursue is to leave the schooner out here in -the river, and go ashore in the dory and see that the way is clear,” -continued Jones. - -“I don’t know of but one house in Windsor that is big enough for a party, -and that’s Dr. Norton’s,” said Coleman. - -“There’s right where we’re going,” said Enoch, at a venture. “We want you -to go out there and look carefully about his grounds to make sure that -Mack and his men are not in hiding there.” - -“Why, it’s a mile from the village!” exclaimed Coleman. - -“What of that?” - -“It would take me an hour to go there and come back,” replied the man, -“and to tell the truth, I am afraid to trust the yacht in your hands for -that length of time. You might beach her, or a steamer might run her down -in the dark.” - -“You needn’t be afraid of that,” replied Jones. “Williams can take care -of her. He owned and sailed a yacht years ago.” - -“And here’s another thing,” said Enoch. “You ought to remember that you -are as deeply interested in this matter as we are. If Mack and his men -should capture us now, wouldn’t they find out that you are using your -owner’s yacht without his knowledge, and wouldn’t they get you into -trouble by speaking of it?” - -“So they would,” answered Coleman. “I didn’t think of that. I must help -you now whether I want to or not. Well, I’ll go ashore, as I agreed. -Who’s going to manage the schooner while I am gone?” - -Enoch answered that he was. - -“All right. Take the wheel, and let me see you throw the yacht up into -the wind.” - -Enoch complied, and Coleman had no fault to find with the way in which -he executed the maneuver. As soon as the schooner lost her headway, the -man clambered down into the dory and pushed off toward the dock, not -forgetting to tell Enoch that he left the yacht entirely in his hands, -and that he (Enoch) would be responsible for her safety. - -“Don’t be uneasy,” was the boy’s reassuring reply. “I know just what -I want to do; and I’m going to do it,” he added, in a lower tone. “Go -for’ard, Jones, and keep an eye on him as long as you can. When you see -him go up the street that leads from the wharf, let me know.” - -The impatient boys watched Coleman as he rowed toward the dock, and -presently they saw his head bobbing up and down in front of the lights -in the store windows. As soon as he disappeared up the road that led to -Dr. Norton’s house, Jones carried the news to Enoch, who filled away -and stood down the river again. The deserters were so delighted at the -success of their stratagem that they danced hornpipes, and could with -difficulty restrain themselves from shouting aloud. - -“Brigham, tell those fellows to keep still,” commanded the new captain. -“Now, Jones, the next thing is something else. We’ve got the schooner -easy enough, but what shall we do with her?” - -“Let’s crack on and get into the bay as soon as we can,” suggested Jones. - -“I should like to, for I know we are not safe as long as we are in the -river, but I am afraid to put any more canvas on her. Not being familiar -with the channel I am going it blind, and I don’t want to knock a hole in -her, or run her high and dry on a sand-bar before I know it. I think it -would be safest to stay here for a while, and let our pursuers get ahead -of us, so that we will be in their wake instead of having them in ours. -Perhaps you had better talk it up among the boys and see what they think -of it. While you are about it, find out if there is any one in the band -who knows the river. If there is, send him to me.” - -Jones hurried away to obey this order, and presently returned with a boy -who lived in Oxford, and who had often piloted his father’s tugs up and -down the river. The information he gave the captain was contained in a -very few words, but it proved to be of great value to him. The boy told -him that he had better keep as close to the bluff banks as he could, for -there was where the channel was; but when he came to a place where the -banks were low on both sides, he would find the deepest water pretty -near the middle of the river. - -“That’s all I want to know about that,” said Enoch. “It is eleven -o’clock, isn’t it, and we are about thirty-five miles from Bridgeport? -Very well. How much farther down the river ought the current and this -wind to take us by daylight?” - -“I should think it ought to take us past Mayville, and that is seventy -miles from Bridgeport,” replied the boy. - -“Do you know of any little creeks around there that we could hide in -during the day?” - -The boy said there were a dozen of them. - -“All right,” answered Enoch. “Perhaps you had better stay on deck with me -to-night, and to-morrow we will sleep. Now Jones, divide the crew into -two equal watches, and send one of them below if they are sleepy and want -to go. Then bring up a couple of lanterns and hang them to the catheads. -If we don’t show lights we may get run over.” - -Jones proved to be an invaluable assistant, and it is hard to tell how -Enoch would have got on without him. He hung out the lamps, set the -watch, and then he and some of the band went below to take a look at -their floating home. He peeped into all the state-rooms, glanced at the -forecastle, examined all the lockers as well as the galley and pantry, -and was delighted with everything he saw. - -“I didn’t know there was so much elbow-room on one of these little -boats,” said he, after he had finished his investigations. “There are -provisions enough in the store-rooms to last us a week, and the owner has -left his trunk and his hunting and fishing traps on board.” - -“That must not be touched,” said Enoch, decidedly. - -“It wouldn’t do any harm to take out one of those fine breech-loaders and -knock over a mess of squirrels with it,” said Jones. - -“Yes, it would. Most men are very particular about their guns and don’t -want strangers to use them. We must return all this property in just as -good order as it was when it came into our hands. We’ve got money enough -to buy our own grub, and I’ll raise a row with the first fellow who dips -into those provisions, I don’t care who he is. We’re not mean, if we did -run away with the schooner.” - -Perhaps Egan would have been astonished to have heard such sentiments as -these expressed by the boy whom he believed to be the “meanest fellow -that ever lived.” Enoch could be manly so long as he was good-natured, -and so could Lester Brigham. It was when they got angry that they showed -themselves in their true characters. It may be that the fear of a -rigorous prosecution by the angry owner of the yacht had something to do -with the stand Enoch took in regard to the provisions and hunting outfit. - -Of course none of the band wanted to go below, inviting as the berths -looked, and Enoch, who liked company, did not insist upon it. They showed -a desire to sing, but that was something the captain opposed. The noise -they made would be sure to attract the attention of some of the people -living along the banks, and put it in their power to aid Captain Mack and -his men when they came in pursuit. He wanted to cover up their trail so -as to mystify everybody. - -“You need not expect to do that,” said one of the band. “Coleman will -blow the whole thing as soon as he gets home.” - -“But I don’t think he will go home and face his owner after what he has -done,” said Enoch. “I know I shouldn’t want to do it if I were in his -place. If he keeps away from Bridgeport, so much the better for us. Wait -till we get out of danger, and then you can sing to your hearts’ content.” - -Enoch stood at the wheel all night, and the boy who lived in Oxford kept -him company to see that he gave the sand-bars a wide berth. Some of the -band managed to sleep a little, but the majority of the members lounged -about the deck and wondered what they were going to do for excitement -during their cruise. - -The schooner passed Mayville shortly after daylight, and the deserters -could not see that there was any one stirring. About half an hour -afterward Enoch’s companion directed his attention to a wide creek which -he said would afford an excellent hiding-place for their vessel during -the day, and the schooner was accordingly turned into it. After she had -run as far up the stream as the wind would carry her, the sails were -hauled down, a dory they found in the creek was manned, a line got out, -and the yacht was towed around the bend out of sight, and made fast to -the bank. - -And where were Captain Mack and his men all this time, and did they -succeed in finding the trail of the deserters in spite of all Enoch’s -efforts to cover it up? They spent the night in their quarters, and -struck a hot scent the first thing in the morning. It came about in this -way: - -When Lester Brigham, with Jones’s assistance, succeeded in eluding Don -Gordon, the latter became firmly settled in the belief that there was -“something up.” He and Captain Mack used their best endeavors to get on -Lester’s track again, looking in every place except the one in which they -would have been sure to find him. That was at Cony Ryan’s house. As we -said before, they did not go there because they knew it would be time -wasted. - -“It’s no use, Gordon,” said Captain Mack, after he and his squad had -searched all the streets and looked into every store in the village. -“They’re safe at Cony’s, and we might as well go home. I hope they will -stay out all night so that we can have another chance to-morrow. I don’t -like to give up beaten.” - -Captain Mack knew where to find every one of his men, and in half an -hour’s time they were all marching back to camp. The young officer -reported his return and his failure to capture the boy who had run the -guard, adding that he had a strong suspicion that Enoch, Lester and the -rest had some plan in their heads, and that they did not intend to return -to camp of their own free will. - -“Very well,” said the superintendent. “If they do not return to-night, -you had better take a squad and go down to the village in the morning and -make inquiries. If they can get away from you they are pretty smart.” - -“Thank you, sir. I will do my best, but I can’t hope for success if I am -to be hampered by orders.” - -“No, I suppose not,” said the superintendent, with a laugh. “You would -rather waste your time in running about the country than stay here in -camp and attend to your business.” - -“I am ahead of my class, sir,” said Mack. - -“I know it. Well, stay out until you learn all about their plans, if they -have any, and capture them if you know where they have gone. I presume -that is the order you want.” - -“Yes, sir; that’s the very one,” said Mack, with so much glee in his -tones that the superintendent and all the teachers laughed heartily. “May -I select my own men and take as many as I want?” - -“Certainly, provided you leave enough to do camp duty.” - -“I will, sir. I’ll take a man for every deserter.” - -Captain Mack made his salute and hurried out, laughing all over. His -first care was to go to the officer of the guard and find out just how -many boys there were in Lester’s party (he took it for granted that they -were all together and that they intended to desert and go off somewhere -to have a good time), and his next to make out a list of the boys who -were to comprise his squad. It is hardly necessary to say that the names -of Don and Bert Gordon, Egan, Curtis and Hopkins appeared on that list. -The captain meant to have a good time himself, and he wanted some good -fellows to help him enjoy it. - -“I have a roving commission, fellows,” he said to the boys, as fast as he -found them. “If I can find out where those deserters have gone, I shall -not come back without them. Stick a pin there.” - -“Good for you, Mack,” was the universal verdict. - -“I tell you it pays for a fellow to mind his business,” continued the -delighted captain. “I never would have been allowed so great a privilege -if I hadn’t behaved myself pretty well this term. Say nothing to nobody, -but hold yourselves in readiness to leave camp at daylight. We’ll get -breakfast in the village. If you haven’t plenty of money, perhaps you -had better ask for some; and while you are about it, you might as well -get ten dollars apiece. The superintendent is not very particular about -financial matters during camp, you know.” - -That was true, but still he looked surprised when more than twenty boys -came to him that night and asked for ten dollars each. He handed over the -money, however, without asking any questions, and when the last one went -out he said to the teachers who had gathered in his marquee: - -“This looks as if Captain Mack were up to something himself. Well, he’s -a good boy, he associates with none but good boys, and we can trust him -with the full assurance that any privileges we grant him will not be -abused.” - -Captain Mack and his chosen men did not get much sleep that night. -Although they firmly believed that a large party of students had deserted -the camp they had no positive proof of the fact, and they were in a state -of great uncertainty and suspense. They hoped from the bottom of their -hearts that Lester and the rest would not come in, for if they did, that -was the end of the fun. Some of them ran out of their tents every time a -sentry challenged, and always breathed easier when they found that none -of the suspected parties had returned. At ten o’clock the challenges -ceased, and after that no one came through the lines. Captain Mack went -to the guard tent and found that none of Lester’s crowd had returned, and -then he knew that his scout was an assured thing. The band was gone sure -enough, and the next thing was to find it. All the members of his squad -reported for duty promptly at daylight (not one of them waited to be -called), and in five minutes more they were on their way to the village. - -“Now, boys,” said the captain, as he halted the squad in front of the -post-office, “scatter out, and take a look about the streets for half an -hour, and then report for breakfast at the International, which will be -our headquarters as long as we stay here. I will go down there and tell -them that we want something to eat as soon as they can dish it up.” - -The boys “scattered out” in obedience to their order, and a short time -afterward Don Gordon drew up at Haggert’s dock, where he found a portly -old gentleman who seemed to be greatly excited about something, for he -was striding back and forth, talking to himself and flourishing his cane -in the air. This was Mr. Packard—the one to whom Don and Bert presented -their letter of introduction on the night they got into trouble with the -guard, and saved Sam Arkwright from being ducked in the big pond by Tom -Fisher and his followers. - -“I declare I don’t understand this thing at all,” said Mr. Packard, -shaking his cane at Don, as the latter came up and wished him a hearty -good morning. - -“Neither do I,” replied Don, who knew that the angry old gentleman -expected him to say something. - -“Now there’s that villain, Coleman,” continued Mr. Packard, bringing the -iron ferrule of his heavy stick down upon the dock to give emphasis to -his words. “I’ve done everything I could for that man. I’ve footed his -doctor bill when he was ill, paid him more wages than he demanded, given -him employment when I didn’t really need him, and now he’s gone and run -off with my boat. I say hanging is too good for such an ingrate. Come up -to the house and take breakfast with me, Don. We haven’t seen you and -Bert there in a long time. What are you doing here at this hour in the -morning? Have you deserted again, you young scamp?” - -“No, _sir_,” said Don, emphatically. “I haven’t been in a single scrape -this term.” - -“You were in that fight at Hamilton, and I call that something of a -scrape. Everybody says you behaved with the greatest coolness. I am proud -of you, do you hear me?” said Mr. Packard, again shaking his cane at Don. - -“Thank you, sir,” was the reply. “What I meant to say was, that I have -broken none of the rules, and don’t mean to, either. Do you see this -bayonet? I am on duty, and consequently, I am obliged, much to my regret, -to decline your kind invitation. I am out after a lot of deserters.” - -“I hope you’ll not catch them,” exclaimed Mr. Packard. “Let them enjoy -themselves while they are young, for old age comes all too soon—too soon. -I haven’t forgotten that I was a boy once myself. Come up to the house as -often as you can—you and Bert. We are always glad to see you.” - -The old gentleman walked quickly away, and then he as quickly stopped and -shook his cane at the anchor buoy which marked the berth in which his -schooner lay the last time he visited the dock. - -“Now there’s that Coleman,” said he. “I’ll give him till dark to bring -that boat back, and if he doesn’t do it, I’ll have the police after him. -I will, for I can’t stand any such nonsense.” - -“I have an idea,” said Don; and he also left the dock, performing a -little problem in mental arithmetic as he hurried away. Given a five-knot -breeze and a three-mile current, how far could a vessel like the Sylph -(that was the name of Mr. Packard’s missing yacht) go in a narrow and -crooked channel in nine or ten hours? That was the question he was trying -to solve. While he was working at it, he entered a telegraph office -and found the operator dozing in his chair. He held a few minutes’ -consultation with him, which must have resulted in something that was -entirely satisfactory to Don, for when the latter came out of the office -and hurried toward the hotel, his face wore an excited and delighted -look. He found the squad at breakfast, he being the last to report. - -“What kept you?” demanded the captain, as Don entered and took his seat -at the table. - -“Business,” was the laconic reply. “Have any of you got a clue?” - -No, they hadn’t. With all their trying they had not been able to gain -any tidings of the deserters, who had disappeared in some mysterious -way and left no trace behind. Their leader, whoever he was, had shown -considerable skill in conducting their flight so as to baffle pursuit. - -“You’re a wise lot,” said Don. “I have a clue.” - -A chorus of exclamations arose on all sides, and the captain laid down -his knife and fork and settled back in his chair. - -“I know right where they were about the time we left camp this morning,” -continued Don. - -“Where were they?” exclaimed all the boys at once. - -“A long way from here. I tell you, Mack, the superintendent didn’t dream -of this when he gave you your roving commission. Is it necessary that you -should report to him for further orders?” - -“No. He told me to catch those fellows if I could learn where they were, -and that’s the only order I want.” - -“All right. What do you say to a sail on the bay?” - -The students raised a shout that made the spacious dining-room echo. -“Have they gone that way?” asked the captain. - -“They have, and this is the way I found it out,” answered Don, who, -having worked his auditors up to the highest pitch of excitement, went -on to repeat the conversation he had held with Mr. Packard, and wound up -by saying: “Somehow I couldn’t help connecting the deserters with the -disappearance of that yacht; so I dropped into a telegraph office, and -the operator, at my request, spoke to Mayville, who, after taking about -fifteen minutes to gain information, replied that the Sylph had gone down -the river at daylight with a lot of students aboard.” - -“Hurrah!” shouted Captain Mack; while his men broke out into a yell, -pounded the table, clapped their hands, and acted altogether so unlike -orderly guests of a first-class hotel, that the proprietor came in to see -what was the matter. - -“Break all the dishes,” said he, swinging his arms around his head. “Turn -the house out of doors, if you want to; it’s paid for!” - -“We’ll try to stop before we do any damage, Mr. Mortimer,” said Captain -Mack, with a laugh. “Now pitch in everybody, so that we can take the -first train.” - -“Where are we going, Mack,” inquired Curtis. - -“To Oxford. Egan is a sailor-man, and—you know Mr. Shelby, of course.” - -These words enabled the students to see through Mack’s plan at once, and -they made another boisterous demonstration of delight and approval. They -knew Mr. Shelby, who owned the finest and swiftest yacht in Oxford. He -was an academy boy, and had once been famous as a good runner. He was a -soldier as well as a sailor, as full of fun and mischief as any boy in -Mack’s squad, and just the man to help Lester and his band with one hand, -while giving their pursuers a lift with the other. Of course he would -lend them his yacht and take as deep an interest in the race as any -student among them. - -Breakfast over, Don asked and obtained permission to run up to Mr. -Packard’s and let him know what had become of the Sylph. To his great -surprise the old gentleman took it as a huge joke, and laughed heartily -over it. He warned Don that the schooner was a hard boat to beat when -Coleman was at the helm, and declared that if the deserters would return -her safe and sound, they might keep her a month and welcome. He would -never make them any trouble on account of it. He was sorry to give up -his cruise, but then his brother had just left Newport in his yacht, and -when he arrived, he (Mr. Packard) would go off somewhere with him. It was -plain that his sympathies were all with the runaways, although he knew -nothing of the great service they were going to render him and others. If -it hadn’t been for those same deserters, Mr. Packard would never again -have seen his brother alive. - - - - -CHAPTER XV. - -ANOTHER TEST AND THE RESULT. - - -“Keep her away, Burgess! If the ragged end of that spar hits us it may -send us to the bottom. Slack away the fore-sheet! Stand by, everybody, -and don’t let him go by for your lives! He looks as though he couldn’t -hold on another minute.” - -It was Egan who issued these hurried orders. He was standing on the -weather-rail of Mr. Shelby’s yacht, the Idlewild, which was sailing as -near into the wind’s eye as she could be made to go, now and then buoying -her nose in a tremendous billow that broke into a miniature cataract on -her forecastle and deluged her deck with water. He was drenched to the -skin, and so were the boys who were stationed along the rail below him, -trembling all over with excitement, and watching with anxious faces one -of the most thrilling scenes it had ever been their lot to witness. - -There had been a terrible storm along the coast. It was over now, the -clouds had disappeared and the sun was shining brightly; but the wind was -still blowing half a gale, there was a heavy sea running, and the waves -seemed to be trying their best to complete the work of destruction that -had been commenced by the storm. Two points off the weather-bow there had -been, a few minutes before, a little water-logged sloop, over which the -waves made a clean breach; but she was gone now. All on a sudden her bow -arose in the air, her stern settled deep in the water, and the yacht, -which had set sail from Newport a few days before with a merry party of -excursionists on board, went down to the bottom of the bay. Broad on -the Idlewild’s beam was the Sylph, the deserters working like beavers -to rescue the crew of the sunken yacht, heedless or ignorant of the -fact that they were in jeopardy themselves, their vessel being so badly -handled by the frightened and inexperienced boy at her wheel, that she -was in imminent danger of broaching to. Tossed about by the waves which -rolled between the Idlewild and the Sylph was a broken spar to which a -student, with a pale but determined face, clung desperately with one -arm, while in the other he supported the inanimate form of a little boy. -The student was Enoch Williams, and the boy was Mr. Packard’s nephew. - -The last time we saw the Sylph she was hiding in the creek a short -distance below Mayville. That was a week ago, and her persevering and -determined pursuers had but just come up with her. During the day the -deserters purchased a small supply of provisions from the neighboring -farmers, fished a little, slept a good deal, and when darkness came to -conceal their movements they got under way again, and stood down the -river, taking the stolen dory with them. At daylight they found another -hiding-place, and before dawn the next morning they ran by Oxford, a -bustling little city situated at the mouth of the river. If they were -pursued they did not know it. They made cautious inquiries as often as -they had opportunity, but no one could give them any information, because -Captain Mack and his men had escaped observation by going from Bridgeport -to Oxford on the cars. - -When the Sylph ran out into the bay, the deserters began to feel -perfectly safe. They shouted and sung themselves hoarse, and told one -another that they were seeing no end of sport; but in their hearts -they knew better. How was their cruise going to end? was the unwelcome -question that forced itself into their minds every hour in the day, and -none of them could answer it satisfactorily. It might be a daring exploit -to run off with a private yacht, but they didn’t think so now that the -mischief was done, and there was not one among them who did not wish that -he had taken some other way to get out of the academy. Enoch very soon -became disgusted. The wind being brisk he was obliged to be at the wheel -nearly all the time, and he couldn’t see the fun of working so steadily -while the rest of the band were lying around doing nothing. - -“I’ll tell you what’s a fact,” said he to Jones, one day. “There’s too -much of a sameness about this thing to suit me. I have the best notion in -the world to desert the yacht the next time we go ashore, and strike a -straight course for home.” - -“I have been thinking seriously of the same thing,” answered Jones. - -“It’s a cowardly thing to do,” continued Enoch, “but when I fall to -thinking of the settlement that’s coming, I can’t sleep, it troubles me -so. Suppose the man who owns this yacht is one who can’t take a joke! Do -you know that we have rendered ourselves liable to something worse than -expulsion from the academy?” - -“I didn’t think of that until it was too late,” said Jones. - -“Neither did I; nor did I think to ask myself what my father would say -and do about it. I believe our best plan would be to go back and put the -schooner in her berth. It will take us four or five days to do that, and -during that time each fellow can decide for himself how he will act when -we get to Bridgeport—whether he will go home, or return to the academy -and face the music.” - -“That’s a good idea,” exclaimed Jones. “I know what I shall do. I shall -get into camp, if I can, without being caught, and report for duty. -Let’s all do that, and if we return the schooner in as good order as she -was when we found her, we shall escape the disgrace of being sent down, -and at the same time have the satisfaction of knowing that we have done -something that no other crowd ever attempted. After we get home we can -tell our fathers that we don’t want to come back to school, and perhaps -we can induce them to listen to us. That fight with the mob will be in -our favor, for after our folks have had time to think it over calmly, -they’ll not willingly put us in the way of getting into another. That’s -the best plan, and you may depend upon it.” - -“I think so myself,” said Enoch. “Call the boys aft and ask them what -they think about it.” - -It is hardly necessary to say that the runaways were delighted with the -prospect of escaping the consequences of their folly. Their cruise among -the islands of the bay had been almost entirely devoid of interest. It is -true that they had raided a few melon-patches and corn-fields, and that -a little momentary excitement had been occasioned by the discovery of -suspicious sails behind them; but their foraging had been accomplished -with small difficulty and without detection, and the sails belonged to -coasters which held their course without paying any attention to the -schooner. Without giving Jones, who did the talking, time to enter fully -into an explanation, the deserters broke into cheers, and some of them -urged the captain to turn the schooner’s bow toward Oxford at once. - -“I am afraid to do it,” said Enoch, as soon as he could make himself -heard. “Just turn your eyes in that direction for a moment.” - -The boys looked, and saw a milk-white cloud, followed by one as black as -midnight, rapidly rising into view above the horizon. Underneath, the sea -was dark and threatening. - -“There’s wind in those clouds, and plenty of it, too,” continued the -captain. “If we are caught in it we are gone deserters. Our only chance -for safety is to make the lee of that island you see ahead of us.” - -The runaways watched the clouds with a good deal of anxiety. Up to this -time the wind had been fair and the weather all they could have desired; -but now it looked as though the Storm King were about to show them what -he could do when he got into a rage. The clouds came up with startling -rapidity; the lightning began playing around their ragged edges, the -mutterings of distant thunder came to their ears, and their haven of -refuge seemed far away; but fortunately the breeze held out, and just -a few minutes before the wind changed with a roar and a rush, and the -storm burst forth in all its fury, the Sylph dropped her spare anchor in -a sheltered nook under the lee of the island, and with everything made -snug, was prepared to ride it out. The rain fell in torrents, driving -the boys below and keeping them there until long after midnight. The -wind blew as they had never heard it blow before, but the anchor held, -and shortly before daylight the thunder died away in the distance, and -finally the sun arose in unclouded splendor. The runaways were all -hungry, for they had had no supper, and as their provisions were all -exhausted, some of them began to talk of laying violent hands upon those -in the lockers. - -“There’s no need of doing that,” said Enoch, after he had taken a look -around. “All hands stand by to get ship under way. It doesn’t blow to -hurt anything, and we’ll take the back track without any delay. After a -glorious spin over these waves, we’ll stop for breakfast at the island -where we robbed our last corn-field. It’s only a few miles away, and it -will make the Sylph laugh to run down there with such a breeze as this.” - -The deserters had become accustomed to yield prompt and unquestioning -obedience to Enoch’s orders, but there were some among them who did not -at all like the idea of going out of the cove to face the white caps that -were running in the bay. If there had been any one to propose it and -to direct their movements afterward, a few of them would have refused -duty; but the majority, having confidence in Enoch’s skill and caution, -went to work to get the chain around the little windlass which served -the Sylph in lieu of a capstan, and when they shipped the handspikes, -the timid ones took hold and helped run the vessel up to her anchor. She -was got under way without difficulty, and as long as she remained behind -the island where the wind was light and the sea comparatively smooth, -she made such good weather of it that Lester Brigham and those like -him, began to take courage; and they even struck up: “Here let my home -be, in the waters wide,” to show how happy they were, and how much they -enjoyed the rapid motion. But their song ceased very suddenly when they -rounded the promontory at the foot of the island, and saw what there was -before them. In front, behind and on both sides of them were tumbling, -white-capped billows, whose tops were much higher than the schooner’s -rail, and which came rolling slowly and majestically toward them, but -with dreadful force and power. It seemed as if every one of them were -higher than its predecessor, and that nothing could save the Sylph, which -bounded onward with increased speed. - -“This is something like a sail!” shouted Enoch, who was all excitement -now. “This is what puts life into a fellow. I wish some other schooner -would show up, so that we could have a race with her. How she flies!” - -“Look out or you’ll tip us over,” whined Lester, who was holding on for -life. - -“No fear of that,” replied Enoch. “The Sylph is no ‘skimming-dish.’ She’s -deep as well as wide, and being built for safety instead of speed, I -couldn’t capsize her if I should try.” - -“There’s the boat you were wishing for,” said Jones, suddenly. “Now you -can have a race if you want it.” - -Enoch looked around, and was surprised as well as startled to see a -handsome little yacht scarcely more than a mile distant from them and -following in their wake. She was carrying an immense spread of canvas, -considering the breeze that was blowing and the sea that was running, -but that her captain was not satisfied with the speed she was making -was evident from the fact that while the deserters looked at her, they -saw a couple of her crew mount to the cross-trees to shake out the -gaff-topsails. - -“That’s the most suspicious-looking fellow we have seen yet,” remarked -Enoch, after he had taken a good look at the stranger. “He don’t crack on -in that style for nothing. Hallo! what’s the matter with you?” he added, -as Jones gave a sudden start and came very near dropping the spy-glass -which he had leveled at the yacht. - -“They’re after us, as sure as the world,” exclaimed Jones, in great -excitement. “Those fellows who are going aloft are dressed in uniform.” - -“Then we’re as good as captured,” said Enoch, spitefully. “There isn’t a -single boy in the band who can go up and loosen the topsails, or whom I -dare trust at the wheel while I do it. If I had as good a crew as he has, -I’d beat him or carry something away; but what can I do with a lot of -haymakers.” - -“There’s another boat right ahead of us,” said one of the deserters. - -Enoch was not a little astonished as well as frightened by the sight -that met his gaze when he turned his eyes from the pursuing yacht to the -boat in advance of them. He expected to find that she also was full of -students; but instead of that she was a complete wreck. Her mast had gone -by the board and was now dragging alongside, pounding the doomed yacht -with fearful violence every time a wave rose and fell beneath it. There -was no small boat to be seen, and Enoch thought at first that the sloop -had been abandoned; but when she was lifted on the crest of a billow and -he obtained a better view of her, he was horrified to discover that there -were three men and a woman lashed to the rigging. The sight was a most -unexpected one, and for a minute or two Enoch could not speak. He stood -as if he had grown fast to the deck, and then all the manhood there was -in him came to the surface. Those helpless people must be taken off that -wreck at all hazards. He looked at the pursuing yacht, and then he looked -at the sloop. The former was coming up hand over hand, but she was still -far away, and the sloop might go to the bottom at any moment. Probably -she was kept afloat by water-tight compartments. The spar that was -towing alongside would very soon smash them in, and then she would go -down like a piece of lead, being heavily ballasted and having no buoyant -cargo to sustain her. - -“Jones,” said Enoch, speaking rapidly but calmly, “you have stood by me -like a good fellow so far, and you mustn’t go back on me now. Come here -and take the wheel. I am going to save that lady or go to the bottom -while trying.” - -“Are you going off in the dory?” faltered Jones, as he laid his hands -upon the wheel. - -“Of course. There’s nothing else I can do.” - -“Then you will go to the bottom, sure enough.” - -“I can’t help it if I do,” said Enoch, desperately. “I will throw the -yacht up into the wind before I go, and all you’ve got to do is to hold -the wheel steady and keep her there till I get back—if I ever do. I say, -fellows,” he added, addressing the frightened boys who were gathered -around him, “I am going off in the dory after that lady, and I want one -of you to go with me. Who’ll volunteer?” - -The deserters were so astonished that there was no immediate response. -The dory was small, the waves were high, and it looked like certain -death to venture out among them. After a moment’s indecision one of them -stepped forward and prepared himself for the ordeal by discarding his -coat and hat and kicking off his boots. Who do you suppose it was? It was -Lester Brigham. The boy who had hidden his head under the bed-clothes -when he thought that the rioters were coming to attack the academy, now -showed, to the surprise of everybody, that he was not a coward after -all. Enoch could not have picked out an abler assistant. He was a good -oarsman, he could swim like a duck, and, better than all, his courage -never faltered when he found himself in the dory battling with the waves. -His companions, who dared not go on so perilous a mission themselves, -cheered him loudly as he stepped forward, and Enoch shook him warmly by -the hand, saying in a low tone: - -“We said we would give the academy boys something to talk about, and now -we’re going to do it.” - -The schooner ran on by the wreck, whose crew, seeing that an attempt was -to be made to rescue them, cheered faintly, but made no effort to free -themselves from their lashings. The reason was because they were utterly -exhausted, and they were afraid that if they loosed their bonds, the -first wave that broke over the sloop’s deck would carry them into the sea. - -As soon as the Sylph had been thrown up into the wind, Enoch and Lester, -whose faces were white but resolute, scrambled down into the dory, and -the struggle began. The waves tossed their little craft about like an -egg-shell, but they kept manfully on, and in ten minutes more, they -were alongside the wreck. The lady, who was insensible from fright or -exposure, was the first to be released and placed in the boat, and then -the men were taken care of, one after the other. As Enoch approached -the last one, he saw that the man carried in his arms a bundle that was -wrapped up in a blanket. He held fast to it, too, in spite of the boy’s -efforts to take it from him; but as Enoch assisted him toward the dory, a -wave, higher than the rest, knocked them both off their feet, and as the -man was hauled into the boat Enoch missed the frantic grasp he made at a -life-line, and the water rushing across the deck carried him overboard. -Close in front of him was the bundle which had slipped from the grasp -of the rescued man when he lost his footing. As the wave hurried it -across the deck toward an opening in the bulwarks the blanket fell off, -revealing to Enoch’s astonished gaze the handsome features of a little -four-year-old boy, who turned his blue eyes pleadingly toward him for -an instant, and then disappeared over the side. Enoch made a desperate -clutch at the golden curls, and when he arose to the surface, he brought -his prize with him; but he had to go down again the next moment to -escape destruction from the spar, which the next wave brought toward him -broadside on. It had been torn from its fastenings at last, but it had -done its deadly work. There was a great hole in the sloop’s side, and the -water was pouring into it. - -“I say, Lester!” shouted Enoch, as he came up on the other side of the -spar, shook the water from his face and held the boy aloft so that he -could breathe. “Get away from there.” - -“Oh, my boy!” cried one of the men in the dory, who now discovered that -he had lost the precious burden to which he had so lovingly clung through -long hours of exposure and suffering. - -“He’s all right,” shouted Enoch, encouragingly. “I’ve got a good grip on -him. Lester, I tell you to get away from there! Hold the dory head on to -the waves, and she’ll ride them without shipping a drop of water. If the -Sylph doesn’t make stem-way enough to pick you up, the other yacht will -take care of you.” - -Not knowing just how much of a swirl the sloop would make when she went -to the bottom, Enoch exerted all his powers as a swimmer to get himself -and his burden out of reach of it. He succeeded in his object, and when -the wreck had sunk out of sight and he thought it safe to do so, he swam -back to the spar and laid hold of it. Then he looked around for the dory. -She had been hauled alongside the Sylph by aid of the line that one of -the crew had been thoughtful enough to throw to her, and the sloop’s crew -were being hoisted over the rail one after the other. - -“Hard a starboard! Stand by, everybody,” shouted a voice above him. - -The pursuing yacht came gracefully up into the wind, and as the bold -swimmer was lifted on the crest of a wave strong hands grasped his arms, -and he and his prize were lifted out of the water and over the rail to -the Idlewild’s deck. - - - - -CHAPTER XVI. - -THE ROD AND GUN CLUB. - - -The first southward bound train that passed through Bridgeport on -the morning that Don Gordon so unexpectedly obtained a clue to the -whereabouts of the deserters, took him and all the rest of Captain Mack’s -men to Oxford. Although the young officer had full authority to act in -this way, he did not omit to drop a note into the post-office, telling -the superintendent where he had gone and what he intended to do. - -“He’ll not get it before ten o’clock,” said the captain, gleefully, “and -by that time we shall be so far away that he will not think it worth -while to recall us, or to send a teacher after us.” - -“We don’t want any teacher with us,” said Don. “We can do this work -ourselves.” - -“Of course we can; and what’s more, we’re going to. Now, keep out of -sight, all of us, and don’t go out on the platform when we stop at -the stations. We don’t want to see any despatches. We’re doing this -ourselves, and having begun it, we want to go through with it.” - -The next time the superintendent heard from Captain Mack and his men -they were at Oxford, and ready to continue the pursuit in the Idlewild, -which was lying to in the river when Mack sent the despatch. In fact he -took pains to see that everything was ready for the start before he went -near the telegraph office. He got the yacht, as he knew he would, without -the least trouble (Mr. Shelby laughed heartily when he heard what the -deserters had done, and said he wished he had thought of such a thing -when he was a boy), laid in a stock of provisions and water, and then -turned the management of affairs over to Egan, who selected his crew and -got the yacht under way. When she came abreast of the city (the berth -she usually occupied was about a mile up the river) Mack went ashore in -the dory, and after sending off his despatch, telling the superintendent -where he was and what he intended to do next, he plumed himself on having -done his full duty as a gentleman and an officer. - -“He couldn’t stop us now if he wanted to,” said Mack, as he returned -aboard and the Idlewild filled away for the bay, “for there are no -telegraph offices outside, and if we see a tug after us, we’ll hide from -her. But the superintendent can’t say that I didn’t keep him posted, can -he?” - -The pursuing vessel had a much better crew than the Sylph—of the -twenty-three boys aboard of her there were an even dozen who could go -aloft and stand their trick at the wheel—and if she had once come in -sight of the deserters, she would have overhauled them in short order; -but the trouble was to get on the track of them. There was a good deal -of territory in the bay—it was about a hundred miles long and half -as wide—and there were many good hiding-places to be found among the -numerous islands that were scattered about in it. For five days they -sailed about from point to point, but could gain no tidings of Enoch and -his crowd. The island farmers, of whom they made inquiries, declared -that Captain Mack and his squad were the only academy boys who had been -seen on the bay that summer. If the deserters had left the corn-fields -and melon-patches alone, their pursuers might not have been able to get -on their track at all; but one irate truck-gardener, whom they had -despoiled of nearly a cart-load of fine watermelons which were in prime -condition for the Oxford market, gave them the needed information, and -after that their work was easy. They traced the Sylph from island to -island, gaining on her every hour, and would have overhauled her before -the close of the day on which the storm came up, had they not been -obliged to seek a safe anchorage from the gale. - -During the night of the blow the little vessels were not more than five -miles apart. The Idlewild made the earlier start, and if the Sylph had -remained in the cove an hour longer she would have been captured there, -for it was Egan’s intention to coast along the lee-shore of that very -island. As it was, he did not catch sight of the object of his search -until she rounded the promontory and stood up the bay. Then all was -excitement on the Idlewild’s deck. - -“Hold her to it, Burgess,” said Egan to the boy at the wheel. “The -Sylph’s got the weather-gauge of us now, but we can soon gain the wind of -her. At any rate we’ll make her captain show what he’s made of. Go aloft, -a couple of you, and we’ll set the topsails.” - -“Are you going to lay us alongside of her?” asked Burgess. - -“Not in this sea,” replied Egan. “We’ll keep her company until she gets -into smooth water, and then we’ll bounce her. What do you see, Gordon?” -he added, addressing himself to Bert who was gazing steadily at something -through the glass. - -“I never saw a wreck,” replied Bert, handing the glass to Egan, “but if -that isn’t one, tossing about on the waves just ahead of the Sylph, I’d -like to know what it is.” - -Egan looked, and an exclamation indicative of the profoundest -astonishment fell from his lips. It was a wreck, sure enough, said all -the boys, as the glass was passed rapidly from hand to hand, and there -were people on it, too. Now what was to be done? - -“Stow the topsails and lay down from aloft,” commanded Egan. “We don’t -want any more canvas on her until we have taken care of those castaways.” - -Never before had the Idlewild bore so excited a party as Captain Mack -and his men were at that moment, and never had she carried a more -orderly one. There was not the slightest confusion among them. Those -who understood Egan’s hurried orders obeyed them, and those who did -not, kept out of the way. When they saw that the deserters were making -preparations to board the wreck, their admiration found vent in lusty and -long-continued cheers. - -“Who are those fellows in the dory?” Egan asked of Don, who had the -glass. “They have good pluck, I must say.” - -“One of them is Enoch Williams, and the other is——” - -Don was so utterly amazed by the discovery he had made, that he could go -no further. He wiped both ends of the glass with his handkerchief to make -sure that there was nothing on them to obscure his vision, and then he -looked again. - -“The other is Lester Brigham,” said he. - -His companions could hardly believe it. First one and then another took -the glass, and every one who gazed through it, gave utterance to some -expression of astonishment. - -“I’ll never again be in such haste to pass judgment upon a fellow,” said -Egan, after he had satisfied himself that Enoch’s companion was none -other than the boy who had faltered when his courage was first tested. “I -have been badly mistaken in both those boys. You are going to capture the -deserters, Mack, but Enoch and Lester will go back to Bridgeport with a -bigger feather in their caps than you will.” - -Captain Mack did not feel at all envious of them on that account. He and -the rest watched all their movements with the keenest solicitude, and -cheered wildly every time one of the sloop’s crew was released from his -lashings and put into the dory. When that big wave came and washed Enoch -overboard, their hearts seemed to stop beating, and every boy anxiously -asked his neighbor whether or not Enoch could swim well enough to keep -himself afloat until they could reach him. Their fears on that score were -speedily set at rest and their astonishment was greatly increased when -Egan, who held the glass, said that he could swim like a cork, that he -held a little child in his arms, and that he knew enough to get beyond -the influence of the whirlpool made by the wreck which was now going to -the bottom. - -“He’s a hero!” cried Egan, after he had shouted himself hoarse. “Look out -for that spar, Burgess! Get handspikes, some of you, and stand by to -push her off!” - -But the handspikes were not needed. Being skilfully handled the Idlewild -came up into the wind within easy reach of the spar, but never touching -it, and hung there barely a moment—just long enough to give the eager -boys who were stationed along the weather-rail, time to seize the swimmer -and haul him aboard. He was none the worse for his ducking, while his -burden lay so white and motionless in his arms that everybody thought he -was dead; but he was only badly frightened, and utterly bewildered by the -strange and unaccountable things that were going on around him. - -“Now, then, what does a fellow do in cases like this?” exclaimed Don, who -was at sea in more respects than one. - -“Take the boy below and put him to bed,” commanded Egan. “Pull off those -wet clothes, give him a good rubbing to set his blood in motion, and then -cover him up warmly and let him go to sleep. I suppose his father is -among those whom you and Lester took off the wreck?” - -“I think he is, and his mother too,” replied Enoch, who was wringing the -water out of his coat. - -“His mother!” cried Egan. - -“Yes. The first one we took off was a lady.” - -“Who are they, and where did they come from?” - -“Haven’t the shadow of an idea. I don’t know the name of their vessel, or -whether or not any of the crew were lost. The lady was insensible, and -the men were not much better off.” - -“Then we must run for a doctor!” exclaimed Mack. - -“You can’t get to one any too quick,” answered Enoch. “But first, you had -better send somebody off to take charge of that schooner. Jones is at the -wheel, and he can’t handle her in this wind.” - -Captain Mack lost no time in acting upon this suggestion. While the -Idlewild was taking up a position on the Sylph’s starboard quarter, -her small boat, which had been housed on deck, was put into the water, -half the squad, six of whom were capable of managing the schooner, -were sent off to take charge of the prize, and the majority of the -deserters were transferred to the Idlewild. Bert Gordon, who was the -only non-commissioned officer in the squad, commanded the Sylph, but -Burgess sailed her. All this work was done as soon as possible, and when -it was completed the two vessels filled away for the nearest village, -the Idlewild leading the way. During the run the deserters fraternized -with their captors, and many interesting and amusing stories of the -cruise were told on both sides. The former were treated as honored guests -instead of prisoners, and Mack and his men praised them without stint. - -“We’re all right, fellows,” said Jones, when he had opportunity to -exchange a word with Lester and Enoch in private. “The superintendent -won’t say anything to us. He can’t after what we have done.” - -“But we didn’t all do as well as Enoch did,” said Lester. - -“I know that. He will receive the lion’s share of the honors, but the -rest of us did the best we could, and if one is let off scot free, the -others must be let off too. Those people would have gone to the bottom -with their yacht if we hadn’t sighted them just as we did; and by -rescuing them we have made ample amends for our misdeeds.” - -All the deserters seemed to be of the same opinion, and the boys who, but -a short time before, would have shrunk from meeting the gaze of their -teachers, now looked forward to their return to camp with the liveliest -anticipations of pleasure. There was one thing they all regretted, now -that the fun was over, and that was, that the confiding Coleman had lost -his situation through them. They resolved, if they could gain the ear of -the Sylph’s owner, to make an effort to have him reinstated. Fortunately -for Coleman, this proved to be an easy thing to do. - -It was twenty miles to the nearest village, but the fleet little vessels, -aided by the brisk wind that was blowing, covered the distance in quick -time. The moment the Sylph came within jumping distance of the wharf, -one of her crew sprang ashore and started post-haste for a doctor, and -shortly afterward Burgess and another of Bert’s men boarded the Idlewild. - -“The lady is coming around all right and wants to see her boy,” said the -former. - -The little fellow was fast asleep in one of the bunks, and his clothes -were drying in the galley; so Burgess picked him up, blankets and all, -and carried him off to his mother, while his companion lingered to give -Captain Mack some account of the rescued people who, he said, were able -to talk now, but too weak to sit up. They were from Newport, and they -were all relations of Mr. Packard, the Sylph’s owner. The owner and -captain of the lost sloop was Mr. Packard’s brother, and the little boy -was his nephew. The lady was the captain’s wife. They had been out in -all that storm, and after the men had worked at the pumps until their -strength failed them, they had lashed themselves to the rigging in the -hope that their disabled craft would remain afloat until the waves could -carry her ashore. - -“But she wouldn’t have gone ashore,” said Egan. “She would have missed -the island and been carried out to sea if she had stayed above water.” - -“They know that,” said the student, “and they know, too, that they owe -their lives to the Sylph, for they would have gone down before the -Idlewild could have reached them. They feel very grateful toward the -dory’s crew, and Mr. Packard says he will never forget the gallant fellow -who saved his boy’s life at the risk of his own.” - -These words were very comforting to the deserters. The owner of the -Sylph was one of the prominent men of Bridgeport, and it was not at all -likely that he would neglect to use his influence with the superintendent -in behalf of the boys who had saved his relatives from a watery grave. -Lester Brigham could hardly contain himself. He had won a reputation at -last, and the hated Gordons were nowhere. He believed now that he would -stay at the academy, and Enoch, Jones and the rest of them had about come -to the same conclusion. They all wanted warrants and commissions, and who -could tell but that their recent exploit would give them the favor of the -teachers, who would see that their desires were gratified? - -At daylight the next morning Bert Gordon sent word to Captain Mack that -the doctor thought his patients were now able to continue the journey -to Bridgeport. No time was lost in getting under way, and at dark they -were in Oxford. The Idlewild was turned over to her owner in just as good -condition as she was when she left port, and Captain Mack, after seeing -the rescued people to a hotel, at which they intended to remain for a -day or two in order to obtain the rest they so much needed, and sending -despatches to the superintendent and Mr. Packard, took the first train -for Bridgeport with the deserters and the main body of his men, leaving -Bert, Egan, and six others to bring the Sylph up the river. Before she -was hauled into her berth the camp had been broken, the students had -marched back to the academy, and the examination was going on as if -nothing had happened during the term to draw the students’ attention -from their books. Mr. Packard had responded to Captain Mack’s telegram -by going down to Oxford and bringing his relatives back with him, and -the townspeople were almost as highly excited over what the deserters -had done, as they were when they learned that an academy company had put -down the Hamilton riot. There were some among them who declared that -Enoch and Lester ought to be promoted; but the superintendent was of a -different opinion. He admired their courage, but he could not lose sight -of the fact that in stealing a private yacht and running off in her, -they had done something for which they ought to be expelled from the -academy. In fact that was the sentence that was passed upon them by the -court-martial; but the superintendent set it aside, as everybody knew he -would, and commuted their punishment to deprivation of standing and loss -of every credit mark they had earned during the year, thus destroying -their last chance for promotion. - -The examination came to a close in due time, and the result astonished -everybody. Don Gordon made the longest jump on record, springing from the -ranks to a position “twelve yards in the rear of the file-closers, and -opposite the centre of the left wing” of the battalion. In other words, -he became major; Bert was made a first-lieutenant, and Sam Arkwright, -the New York boot-black, was promoted to a second-lieutenancy. This -was enough to disgust Lester and Enoch, and not even the satisfaction -they felt at being invited to dinner and made much of at Mr. Packard’s -residence, could make them good-natured again. Forgetting that the -position a boy occupied in that academy was determined by his standing -as a student and a soldier, and not by any acts of heroism he might -perform while on a runaway expedition, they laid Don’s rapid promotion to -favoritism, and threatened him and the teachers accordingly. As for Don, -who had simply tried to behave himself, hoping for no higher round than -a lieutenant’s commission, he was fairly stunned; and as soon as he had -somewhat recovered himself, his first thought was to enjoin secrecy upon -his brother. - -“Don’t lisp a word of this in your letters to mother,” said he. “Tell her -that the result of the examination is perfectly satisfactory to both of -us, and let her be content with that until she sees our shoulder-straps.” - -Lester Brigham pursued an entirely different course. The papers were -full of the exploit the deserters had performed on the bay, and whenever -he found an article relating to it that was particularly flattering to -his vanity, he cut it out and sent it to his father. He wanted him and -everybody else about Rochdale to know what a brave boy he was. - -The examination over, two parties of students left the academy and -started off to enjoy their vacation in their own way, Lester and his -friends heading for Mississippi, and Curtis and _his_ friends striking -for the wilds of Maine. The latter had long ago sent for their guns, -which arrived during their first week in camp. Bert, whose highest -ambition was to bag a brace or two of ruffed grouse, carried his little -fowling-piece; Don, who had an eye on the moose and caribou which, -so Curtis told him, were still to be found on the hunting-grounds he -intended to show them, had sent for his muzzle-loading rifle; while Egan -and Hopkins were armed with the same ponderous weapons with which they -had worked such havoc among the ducks and quails about Diamond Lake. To -these outfits were added fly-rods, reels and baskets which they purchased -in Boston, Curtis making their selections for them. The Southern boys -were astonished when they handled the neat implements that were passed -out for their inspection. - -“I don’t want this pole,” said Don, who was holding an elegant -split-bamboo off at arm’s length. “It’s too limber. It isn’t strong -enough to land a minnow.” - -“That isn’t a pole; it’s a rod,” said Curtis. “Of course it is very light -and elastic, and you couldn’t throw a fly with it if it were not; but -it’s strong enough to land any fish you are likely to catch in Maine. -I suppose you have been in the habit of yanking your fish out by main -strength, haven’t you? Well, that’s no way to do. You’d better take it -if you want to see fun.” - -Don took it accordingly, though not without many misgivings, and the -other boys also paid for the rods that Curtis selected for them, carrying -them out of the store as gingerly as though they had been made of glass. -But there proved to be any amount of strength and durability in those -same frail-looking rods, and their owners caught many a fine string of -trout with them before the season closed. - -Their journey from Boston to Dalton, which was the name of the little -town in which Curtis lived, was a pleasant though an uneventful one. -The last fifty miles were made by stage-coach—a new way of traveling to -the Southern boys, who, of course, wanted to ride on the top. About ten -o’clock at night the stage drove into the village, and after stopping at -the post-office to leave the mail, and at the principal hotels to drop -some of its passengers, it kept on to Curtis’s home. Late as the hour -was, they found the house filled with boys who had gathered there to -welcome their friend who had been in a real battle since they last saw -him, and to extend a cordial greeting to the comrades he had brought -with him. They were introduced to the new-comers, one after the other, -as members of _The Rod and Gun Club_, which, according to Curtis’s way -of thinking, could boast of more skillful fishermen, and finer marksmen, -both at the trap and on the range, than any other organization of like -character in the State. There were nearly a score of them in all, and -they seemed to be a jolly lot of fellows. Some of them had performed -feats with the rod and gun that were worth boasting of, and as fast as -Curtis found opportunity to do so, he pointed them out to his guests, and -told what they had done to make themselves famous. That tall, slender, -blue-eyed boy who stood over there in the corner, talking to Mr. Curtis, -had won the club medal by breaking a hundred glass-balls in succession, -when thrown from a revolving trap. He was ready to shoot against any boy -in the country at single or double rises, and Curtis was going to try to -induce Don Gordon to consent to a friendly trial of skill with him. That -fellow over there on the sofa, who looked enough like Hopkins to be his -brother, was the champion fisherman. He had been up in Canada with his -father, and during the sixteen days he was there, he had caught more -than eight hundred pounds of fish with one rod. They were all salmon. One -of them weighed thirty-two pounds, and it took the young fisherman fifty -minutes to bring him within reach of the gaff. The boy who was talking -with Don Gordon was a rifle shot. He could shoot ten balls into the same -hole at forty yards off-hand, and think nothing of it. - -“I’ll just tell you what’s a fact,” said Egan, when he and the rest were -getting ready to go to bed,“we’ve fallen among a lot of experts, and if -we intend to keep up the good name of our section of the United States -we’ve got to do some good work.” - -The other boys thought so too, but they did not lose any sleep on account -of it. - - - - -CHAPTER XVII. - -CASTING THE FLY. - - -“Now, Curtis, bring on your moose.” - -“Don’t be in a hurry. You don’t want to crowd all your sport into the -first day, do you?” - -“By no means. I expect to get a moose every day.” - -“You mustn’t do it. It’s unlawful for one person to kill more than one -moose, two caribou, and three deer in one season.” - -“I wouldn’t live in such a stingy State.” - -“You may have to some day. Wait until Mississippi has been overrun with -greedy hunters, calling themselves sportsmen, from every part of the -Union, as Maine has, and see if your lawmakers do not wake up to the -necessity of protecting the little game they will leave you. If those -pot-hunters were let alone, there wouldn’t be anything for a fellow to -shoot after a while. Our laws are strict.” - -“Are they always obeyed?” - -“Of course not. Last winter a party of Indians camped on the headwaters -of the Brokenstraw, and killed nearly a hundred moose. When the -game-constables got after them, they ran over to Canada. But the worst -destroyers of game are the city sportsmen. They shoot at everything that -comes within range of their guns, throw away the trout they can’t eat, -and the money they pay for food and guides doesn’t begin to cover the -damage they do.” - -It was a pleasant scene that was spread out before the gaze of Don Gordon -and Walter Curtis on that bright September morning. They stood upon the -brink of a high bluff jutting out into one of the Seven Ponds, which, at -that day, were not as widely known among the class of men whom Walter had -just been denouncing as they are at the present time. There was a hotel -at the lower pond, but it was patronized only by adventurous sportsmen -who, as a rule, lived up to the law, and took no more fish and game than -they could dispose of. The men who are willing to endure almost any -hardship, who brave all sorts of weather and the miseries of “buck-board” -traveling over corduroy roads, for the sake of spending a quiet month in -the woods, are not the ones who boast of the number of fish they catch -or the amount of game they kill. A hard fight with a three-pound trout, -or a single deer brought down after a week’s arduous hunting, affords -them more gratification than they would find in a whole creelful of -“finger-lings,” or a cart-load of venison killed on the runways. - -The boys were in the midst of an almost unbroken wilderness. On their -right a noble forest, known only to the hardy lumberman and a few hunters -and trappers, stretched away to the confines of Canada. In front was -the pond (it was larger than Diamond Lake, whose sluggish waters had -once floated a fleet of Union gunboats), and from the glade below them -on their left arose the smoke of the fire over which some of their -companions were cooking a late breakfast. A deep silence brooded over the -woods, broken only by an occasional splash made by a trout as he arose to -the surface of the pond to seize some unwary insect, and snatches of a -plantation melody from Hopkins, who sang as he superintended the frying -of the bacon: - - “Big fish flutter when he done cotch de cricket; - Bullfrog libely when he singin’ in de thicket; - Mule get slicker when de plantin’ time ober; - Colt mighty gaily when you turn him in de clover; - An’ it come mighty handy to de nigger man nater - When he soppin’ in de gravy wid a big yam ’tater!” - -The Southern boys had spent just three days in Dalton, enjoying as much -sport as could be crowded into that short space of time. Everybody -showed them much attention, and the fathers and mothers of the other -members of the club vied with Mr. and Mrs. Curtis in their offers of -hospitality. The guests were elected honorary members of the club, and -hunting and fishing parties were the order of the day. Don caught his -first brook-trout with the little rod whose strength he so much doubted. -Bert knocked over a brace or two of ruffed grouse, and one of the club, -having heard the visitors say that they didn’t know what a corn-husking -was, found a farmer who had some of last year’s crop on hand, and got -up one for their especial benefit. There was a large party of people, -young and old, assembled in the barn in which the husking was done, and -the Southerners, who were not at all bashful or afraid of pretty girls, -had any amount of fun over the red ears of which there seemed to be -an abundant supply. On Saturday there was glass-ball shooting on the -grounds of the club in the presence of invited guests, and although Don -Gordon did not succeed in beating the champion, he did some shooting with -the rifle that made the club open their eyes. Using Curtis’s Stevens -he broke all the spots out of the eight of clubs in eight consecutive -shots, shooting off-hand at the distance of fifty feet and using the -open sights. This was a feat that no one on the grounds had ever seen -accomplished before. Even Curtis, who was the best marksman in the club, -couldn’t do it, but he declared he would before he went back to the -academy again. - -“I tell you plainly that you’ve got a task before you,” said Don. “The -best published record is five spots in five shots, using peep sights. -This is the best use that can be made of playing cards. I always keep a -pack of them on hand, for they are the best kind of targets.” - -And that is all they are good for. If every pack of cards in the world -could be shot to pieces as Don’s were, there would be less swindling -going on, and we should not see so much misery around us. - -Don and his friends made so many agreeable acquaintances in Dalton and -so thoroughly enjoyed themselves among them, that they would have been -content to pass the whole of their month there; but Curtis would not hear -of it. There were only ten days more in September, he said; it would take -three of them to reach their camping grounds, and if they desired to see -any of the hunting and fishing that were to be found in Maine, they must -start at once, for their fine fly-rods would be useless to them after the -first of October. The day which closed the time for trout-fishing, opened -the season for moose-hunting. If Don had revealed all that was passing in -his mind, he would have said that he didn’t care a snap for hunting or -fishing either. He had seen a pair of blue eyes and some golden ringlets -whose fair owner gazed admiringly at the shoulder-straps he had so -worthily won, and who interested him more than all the trout that ever -swam or any lordly moose that ever roamed the forests. But he started -for the camping-ground when the others did, submitted as patiently as -he could to the jolting he was subjected to on the corduroy roads, and -wondered what the girl he left behind him would think if she could see -him now, dressed in a hunting suit that was decidedly the worse for the -hard service it had seen, and wearing a pair of heavy boots, thickly -coated with grease, and a slouch hat that had once been gray, but which -had been turned to a dingy yellow by the smoke and heat of innumerable -camp fires. - -Their party had been increased by the addition of five of the members -of the rod and gun club, but the lodge which Curtis and some of his -friends had erected on the shore of one of the Seven Ponds, and which was -modeled after Don Gordon’s shooting-box, was large enough to accommodate -them all. It took four wagons to transport them and their luggage to -the lodge, at which they arrived on the evening of the third day after -leaving Dalton. They were too tired to do much that night, but they were -up at the first peep of day, and after their luggage had been transferred -from the wagons to the lodge, the beds made up in the bunks, the guns -and fishing-rods hung upon the hooks that had been fastened to the walls -on purpose to receive them, the canoes put into the water (they had -brought three of these handy little crafts with them), a blaze started -in the fire-place, the chest that contained their folding-table and -camp-chairs unpacked—when these things had been done, the little rustic -house, which was a marvel in its way, being constructed of poles instead -of boards, began to assume an air of domesticity. The teamsters who -brought them to the pond took a hasty bite and departed, leaving the club -to themselves. There was no patient, painstaking old cuff with them to -cook their meals and act as camp-keeper, and so the young hunters had -to do their own work. The first morning the lot fell upon Hopkins and -two of the Dalton boys who straightway began preparations for breakfast, -while the rest strolled out to look about them, Don and Curtis bringing -up on the edge of the bluff where we found them at the beginning of this -chapter. - - “Lean hoss nicker when de punkin’-vine spreadin’; - Rabbit back his ear when de cabbage-stalk bendin’; - Big owl jolly when de little bird singin’; - ’Possum’s gwine to climb whar de ripe ’simmons swingin’; - Nigger mighty happy, ef he aint wuf a dollah, - When he startin’ out a courtin’ wid a tall standin’ collah!” - -sang Hopkins, as he stood in the door of the lodge; and when he shouted -out the last line he shook his head at Don in a way that made the -latter’s face turn as red as a beet. Hopkins evidently knew where Don’s -thoughts were. - -“Come down from there, you two,” he exclaimed. “The bacon is done cooked.” - -The cool, invigorating morning air, laden as it was with the -health-giving odors of the balsam and the pine, had bestowed upon the -boys an appetite that would not permit them to disregard this invitation. -They hastened down the bluff, and when they entered the lodge, they -found the cooks putting breakfast on the table. They sat down with the -rest, and while they ate, Curtis, who was the acknowledged leader of the -party, laid out a programme for the day. There were three canoes which -would accommodate two boys each (they could be made to carry four, but -with so many in them there would not be much elbow-room for those who -wanted to fish) and two Falstaffs to be provided for. One of them was -Hopkins and the other was Hutton, the boy who caught the big salmon -in Canada. He would have to go, of course, for he knew all the best -places in the pond, and he was certain to bring luck to the boy who went -with him. Curtis thought he and Bert would look well together, while -Hopkins and Farwell—the latter a light-weight Dalton boy and a clever -fly-fisher—would make another good team. Don and Egan could have the -other canoe to themselves. - -“But we don’t know where to go or what to do,” said Egan. “You go in my -place, and let me stay behind as one of the camp-keepers.” - -“_I_ am laying out this programme,” replied Curtis, speaking in the -pompous tone that Professor Odenheimer always assumed when he wanted to -say something impressive. - -“I know it, but I can’t be of any use to them,” continued Egan. “Some -rioter, on the evening of the 23d of last July, put it out of my power to -handle a paddle or a rod for some time to come.” - -As Egan said this he held up his bandaged hand. His injuries were by no -means so serious as everybody thought they were going to be, but still -the wounded member was not of much use to him. When he found that he was -to be one of Mack’s squad, he frankly told the young officer that he -could not help him; but Mack would have taken him if he had no hands at -all, for he was fond of his company. He was afterward glad that he did -take him, for no one could have handled the Idlewild during the pursuit -with greater skill than Egan did. If they had had much walking to do -Hopkins’ weak ankle would have given out; but he did full duty as a -foremast hand, and proved to be of as much use as anybody. - -“We don’t expect you to do any work,” said Curtis. “Let Don work, and you -sit by and see the fun. Either one of the other boats will lead you to a -good fishing-ground. Then all Don will have to do will be to watch Hutton -or Farwell and do just as he does, and he’ll be sure to get a rise; but -whether or not he will catch a trout I can’t say.” - -Breakfast being over the boys paired off as Curtis had instructed, -launched the canoes and paddled away, Bert and his fat mentor, Hutton, -going toward the lower end of the pond, and the others turning toward -the upper end. The fish were breaking water on all sides of them, but -Farwell did not stop until he and Hopkins had run their canoe into a -little cove at the further end of the pond, which was fed by clear cold -streams that came down from the hills. - -“In warm weather this is the best fishing-ground I know of,” said he, as -he beckoned Don to come alongside, “and I don’t think it is too late in -the season to have a little fun here now. You see, trout like cold water, -and they find plenty of it here. Now, Gordon, if you will let me see your -fly-book, I will make a selection for you while you are putting your rod -together.” - -Don handed over the book which contained about three dozen flies that -Curtis had picked out for him in Boston. He did not know the name of a -single one of them, but Farwell did, and after running his eye over them -he said that Don had a very good assortment. - -“As it is broad daylight we want small flies,” Farwell remarked. “The sun -doesn’t shine very brightly, and neither is it entirely obscured by the -clouds—the weather is rather betwixt and between; so we will take a gaudy -fly, like this scarlet ibis, for a stretcher, and a white miller for the -other. Then the trout can take their choice. Now, where’s your leader—a -cream-colored one. Bright and glistening ones are apt to scare the fish, -and they generally fail when the pinch comes. It’s very provoking to have -your leader break just about the time you are ready to slip your dip-net -under a trout you have worked hard for. I hold that two flies on one -line are enough. They are sometimes more than a novice wants to manage, -especially when he catches a weed or a root with one hook and a trout -with the other, or when two heavy fish take his flies at the same instant -and run off in different directions. Three hooks on a line are allowable -only when you are out of grub, and the trout don’t run over fifty to the -pound. But then we don’t catch such fish in these ponds.” - -The Southerners listened with all their ears and closely watched Farwell, -who, while he was talking, deftly fastened the flies he had selected -upon the leader, bent the leader on to the line, and was about to pass -the fully equipped rod back to its owner, when a large trout shot out of -the water about fifty feet away, giving them a momentary glimpse of his -gleaming sides before he fell back into his native element. Don withdrew -the hand he had extended for the rod and looked at Farwell. - -“Shall I take him for you and show you how it is done?” asked the latter. - -“Yes,” answered all the boys, at once. - -“Well, in order to do it, I shall have to throw the flies right over that -swirl. What are you going to do with that paddle, Hopkins?” - -“I was going to pull the canoe up nearer,” replied the latter. - -“I don’t care to go any nearer.” - -“Why, you can’t reach him from here,” said Egan. - -“And if you hook him he will break the rod into a thousand pieces,” -chimed in Don. “I know I made a mistake when I bought that flimsy little -thing.” - -Farwell smiled but said nothing. Grasping the rod in his right hand -above the reel he drew off as much line as he thought he needed, and -then threw the flexible tip smartly upward and backward, causing the -flies to describe a circle around his head. One would have thought from -his actions that he was going to strike the water with the rod, but he -didn’t. When the rod reached a horizontal position it stopped there, but -the flies had received an impetus that carried them onward almost to the -edge of the weeds, and landed them on the water as lightly as a feather -and right in the center of the swirl. It was neatly and gracefully -done; but before Don and his companions could express their delight and -admiration, the scarlet ibis suddenly disappeared, the line was drawn as -tight as a bow-string and the pliant rod was bent almost half double. -Farwell had hooked his fish, and now the fun began. - -The trout fought hard but he did not break the rod as Don had predicted, -and neither did the boy with whom he was battling show half as much -excitement as did the others who sat by and watched the contest. They -had never dreamed that there was so much sport in fishing, and there -wasn’t in the way they generally fished, with a heavy pole and a line -strong enough to jerk their prize from the water the moment he was -hooked. Don, as we have said, had caught a few trout in the brooks about -Dalton, but he had not done it in any such scientific way as this. Being -distrustful of his rod he had seized the line and lifted the fish out -by main strength—a most unsportsmanlike thing to do. He closely observed -all Farwell’s movements, and when at last the exhausted trout was dipped -out of the water with the landing-net and deposited in the bottom of the -canoe, he thought he had made himself master of the art of fly-fishing. -But when he came to try casting he found he was mistaken. His flies went -almost everywhere except in the direction he desired to throw them, and -annoyed him by catching in his coat-tail when he tried to throw them over -his head; but after patient and careful practice in making short casts -he finally “got the hang of the thing,” as he expressed it, and after -that he did better. The string of fish he took back to the lodge with him -at noon was not a very large one, but the few he caught afforded him an -abundance of sport, and that was just what he wanted. - - - - -CHAPTER XVIII. - -CONCLUSION. - - -Having gained a little insight into the art of casting the fly, Don -and his friends became eager and enthusiastic fishermen. They were on -the pond almost all the time, and as they tried hard to follow the -instructions that were willingly and patiently given them, and would not -allow themselves to become discouraged by their numerous blunders and -failures, they finally became quite expert with their light tackle. They -wound up the season with a glorious catch, and then oiled their rods and -put them into their cases with many sighs of regret. - -“Never mind,” said Curtis, soothingly. “There’s no loss without some -gain, and now we will turn our attention to bigger things than speckled -trout. To-night we will try this.” - -As he spoke, he took from a chest something that looked like a -dark-lantern with a leather helmet fastened to the bottom of it. And -that was just what it was. When Curtis put the helmet on his head, the -lantern stood straight up on top of it. - -“This is a jack,” said he, “and it is used in fire-hunting. As soon as -it grows dark some of us will get into a canoe and paddle quietly around -the pond just outside of the lilies and grass. The fellow who is to do -the shooting will wear this jack on his head. It will be lighted, but -the slide will be turned in front of it, making it dark. When he hears a -splashing in the water close in front of him he will turn on the light by -throwing back the slide, and if he makes no noise about it and is quick -with his gun, he will get a deer, and we shall have venison to take the -place of the trout.” - -This was something entirely new to the Southerners, who carefully -examined the jack and listened with much interest while Curtis and his -friends told stories of their experience and exploits in fire-hunting. -Deer were so abundant about Rochdale that those who hunted them were -not obliged to resort to devices of this kind, and in Maryland, where -Hopkins lived, they were followed with hounds and shot on the runways. -Egan had never hunted deer. He devoted all his spare time to canvas-backs -and red-heads. They spent the forenoon in talking of their adventures, -and after dinner Bert and Hutton, who had become inseparable companions, -strolled off with their double-barrels in search of grouse, and Curtis -and Don pushed off in one of the canoes to make a voyage of discovery to -the upper pond; the former, for the first time, taking his rifle with -him. He was afterward glad that he had done so, for he made a shot before -he came back that gave him something to talk about and feel good over all -the rest of the year. - -Don and his companion paddled leisurely along until they reached the -upper end of the pond, and then the canoe was turned into the weeds, -through which it was forced into a wide and deep brook communicating with -another pond that lay a few miles deeper in the forest. Curtis said there -was fine trapping along the banks of the brook, adding that if Don and -Bert would stay and take a Thanksgiving dinner with him, as he wanted -them to do, they would put out a “saple line.” - -“What’s that?” asked Don. - -“Nothing but a lot of traps,” replied Curtis. “When a man starts out to -see what he has caught, he says he is going to make the rounds of his -saple line. There are lots of mink, marten and muskrats about here, and -now and then one can catch a beaver or an otter; but he’s not always sure -of getting him if he does catch him, for it’s an even chance if some -prowling luciver doesn’t happen along and eat him up.” - -“What’s a luciver?” inquired Don. - -“It’s the meanest animal we have about here, and is as cordially hated by -our local trappers as the wolverine is by the trappers in the west. It’s -a lynx. A full-grown one would scare you if you should happen to come -suddenly upon him in the woods; and after you had killed him and taken -his hide off you would feel ashamed of yourself, for you would find him -to be about half as large as you thought he was. They don’t average over -thirty or forty pounds—one weighing fifty would be a whopper—but they’re -ugly, and would just as soon pitch into a fellow as not. I have heard -some remarkable stories——” - -Curtis did not finish the sentence. He stopped suddenly, looked hard at -the bushes ahead of him, listening intently all the while, and finally -he drew his paddle out of the water and gently poked Don in the back -with the blade. When Don faced about to see what he wanted, Curtis laid -his finger upon his lips, at the same time slowly and silently turning -the bow of the canoe toward the nearest bank. Just then Don heard twigs -snapping in front of him, the sound being followed by a slight splashing -in the water as if some heavy animal were walking cautiously through -it. His lips framed the question: “What is it?” and Curtis’s silent but -unmistakable reply was: “Moose!” - -For the first and only time in his life Don Gordon had an attack of -the “buck-ague.” His nerves, usually so firm and steady, thrilled with -excitement, and his hand trembled as he laid down his paddle and picked -up his rifle. He had not yet obtained the smallest glimpse of the animal, -but his ears told him pretty nearly where he was. - -As soon as he had placed his rifle in position for a shot, Curtis gave -one swift, noiseless stroke with his paddle, sending the canoe away from -the bank again, and up the stream, Don trying hard to peer through -the bushes, and turning his body at all sorts of angles in the hope of -obtaining a view of the quarry; but the alders were thick, and he could -not see a dozen yards in advance of him, until Curtis brought him to a -place where the bank was comparatively clear, and then Don discovered -something through a little opening in the thicket. He raised his hand, -and the canoe stopped. - -“That thing can’t be a moose,” thought Don, rubbing his eyes and looking -again. “It’s too big, and besides it’s black.” - -In twisting about on his seat to obtain a clearer view of the huge -creature, whatever it was, Don accidentally touched the paddle, the -handle of which slipped off the thwart and fell to the bottom of the -canoe. The effect was magical. In an instant the dark, sleek body at -which Don had been gazing through the opening in the bushes gave place to -an immense head, crowned with enormous ears and wide-spreading palmated -antlers, and a pair of gleaming eyes which seemed to be glaring straight -at him. It was a savage looking head, taken altogether, but Don never -took his gaze from it as his rifle rose slowly to his shoulder. He -looked through the sights for an instant, covering one of the eyes with -the front bead, and pressed the trigger. The rifle cracked and so did the -bushes, as the animal launched itself through them toward the bank with -one convulsive spring. Their tops were violently agitated for a moment, -then all was still, and Don turned about and looked at Curtis. - -“You’ve got him,” said the latter, dipping his paddle into the water and -sending the canoe ahead again. - -“I’ve got something,” replied Don, “but it can’t be a moose.” - -“What is it, then?” - -“I think it is an elephant.” - -Curtis laughed until the woods echoed. - -“I don’t care,” said Don, doggedly. “He’s got an elephant’s ears.” - -“Do an elephant’s ears stick straight out from his head, and does he -carry horns?” demanded Curtis, as soon as he could speak. “Elephants -don’t run wild in this country—at least I never heard of any being seen -about here. It’s a moose, easy enough. I saw his horns through the -alders, and I tell you they are beauties. If you were a taxidermist now, -you could provide an ornament for your father’s hall or dining-room that -would be worth looking at.” - -It was a moose, sure enough, as the boys found when they paddled around -the bushes and landed on the bank above them. There he lay, shot through -the brain, and looking larger than he did when he was alive. His shape -was clumsy and uncouth, but his agility must have been something -wonderful; his expiring effort certainly was. He lay fully six feet from -the bank, which was about five feet in height. The place where he had -been feeding, which was pointed out to the boys by the muddy water and by -the trampled lilies and pickerel grass, was thirty feet from the foot of -the bank; so the moose, with a ball in his brain, must have cleared at -least thirty-six feet at one jump. His long, slender legs did not look -as though they were strong enough to support so ponderous a body, to say -nothing of sending it through the air in that fashion. - -“Do you know that I was afraid of him?” said Don, after he had feasted -his eyes upon his prize and entered in his note-book some measurements he -had made. “When he was staring at me through those bushes, I thought I -had never seen so savage a looking beast in all my life.” - -“He was savage, and you had good reason to be afraid of him,” answered -Curtis, quickly. “If you had wounded him he would have trampled us out of -sight in the brook before we knew what hurt us. When his horns are in the -velvet the moose is a timid and retiring animal; but after his antlers -are fully grown, and he has sharpened and polished them by constant -rubbing against the trees, he loses his fear of man and everything else, -and would rather fight than eat. Now you would like to have Bert and the -rest see him, I suppose. Well, if you will stay here and watch him, I -will go down and bring them up. We’ll camp here to-night, for we shall -have to cut the moose up before we can take him away. He’s heavy, and -weighs close to seven or eight hundred pounds.” - -Don agreeing to this proposition, Curtis stepped into the canoe and -paddled toward the pond, not forgetting to leave the axe they had brought -with them so that his companion could start a fire and build a shanty -during his absence. But Don was in no hurry to go to work. He was so -highly elated at his success that he could not bring his mind down -to anything. For a long time he sat on the ground beside the moose, -wondering at his gigantic proportions and verifying the measurements he -had taken, and it was not until he heard voices in the brook below him -that he jumped to his feet and caught up the axe. He had a cheerful fire -going when his friends arrived, but there were no signs of a shanty. - -“Look here,” shouted Bert, as he drew his canoe broadside to the bank. -“You were good, enough to keep your moose until we could have a look at -him, and so I brought my trophies along. You needn’t think you are the -only one who has gained honors to-day. What do you think of _that_?” - -As Bert said this, he and Hutton lifted a queer looking animal from the -bottom of the canoe and threw it upon the bank. It was about as large -as an ordinary dog, rather short and strongly built, with sharp, tufted -ears and feet that were thickly padded with fur. Its claws were long and -sharp, and so were the teeth that could be seen under its upraised lip. -Its back was slightly arched, and as it lay there on the bank it looked -a good deal like an overgrown cat that was about to go into battle. Don -had never seen anything like it before. - -“What in the world is it?” he exclaimed. - -“That’s just the question I asked myself when I stumbled on him and his -mate a little while ago,” said Bert. “It’s a luciver.” - -“Here’s the other,” cried Curtis; and a second lynx, somewhat smaller -than the first, was tossed ashore. “It’s the greatest wonder to me that -they didn’t make mince-meat of Bert, and I believe they would have done -it if he hadn’t been so handy with that pop-gun of his.” - -“Well, that pop-gun had proved itself to be a pretty good shooter,” -returned Bert, complacently. “You see, Don, I was beating a coppice in -which Hutton told me I would be likely to flush a grouse or two, and -Hutton himself was on the other side of the ridge. All on a sudden I felt -a thrill run all through me, and there right in front of me, and not more -than ten feet away, was this big lynx. Of course he heard me coming, but -as he was making a meal off a grouse he had just killed, he didn’t want -to leave it. He humped up his back, spread out his claws, showed his -teeth and _spit_ just like a cat; and believing that he was going to -jump at me, I knocked him over, giving him a charge of number eight shot -full in the face. It killed him so dead that he never stirred out of his -tracks, but he looked so ugly that I was afraid to approach him. While I -was thinking about it, I happened to cast my eyes a little to the right, -and there was his mate looking at me over a log. I gave him the other -barrel, and he came for me.” - -“Good gracious!” exclaimed Don, looking first at his brother’s slender -figure and then at the dead luciver’s strong teeth and claws. Bert was -too frail to make much of a fight against such weapons as those. - -“But the luciver didn’t get him,” chimed in Hutton, “although he made -things lively for him for a little while. I heard the rumpus, and knowing -that Bert had got into trouble, I ran over the ridge to take a hand in -it. When I got into the thicket there was Bert, making good time around -trees, over logs and behind stumps, and the luciver was close at his -heels, following him by scent and hearing, as I afterward learned, and -not by sight, for Bert’s shot had blinded him. While I was watching for -a chance to fire at him, Bert, who was trying his best to load his gun as -he ran, managed to shove in a cartridge, and after that the matter was -quickly settled.” - -“Don got the moose, but I had the excitement,” added Bert. - -The young hunters ate a hearty supper that night, but they slept well -after it, for they did not go to bed till they had cut up the moose, -and hung the quarters out of reach of any prowling lucivu that might -happen to come that way. The habits of this animal and those of the -moose afforded them topics for conversation long after they sought their -blankets, and the sun arose before they did. - -Stowing the heavy carcass in their cranky little canoes and transporting -it to the lodge occupied the better portion of the day, but they were -not too tired to await the return of the fire-hunters, who set out at -dark in quest of deer. They returned at midnight and reported that they -had “shone the eyes” of two which they could have shot if they had been -so disposed; but being sportsmen instead of butchers they could not see -any sense in shooting game they could not use. About the time they -began to look for the teamsters, who had been engaged to return on a -certain day and carry them and their luggage back to Dalton, they would -begin fire-hunting in earnest, and procure a supply of venison for the -club-dinner, which was to be eaten before the Southern boys went home. - -The days passed rapidly, and every one brought with it some agreeable -occupation. Curtis and the other Dalton boys took care to see that the -time did not hang heavily upon the hands of the guests, and were always -thinking up something new for them. The teamsters came as they promised, -and found four fine deer waiting for them. The next morning the wagons -were loaded, the foremost one being crowned by the antlers of Don’s -moose, to show the people along the road that one of their number had -gained renown while they had been in the woods, and the homeward journey -was begun. - -If time would permit we might tell of some interesting incidents that -happened in connection with the club dinner, which came off on the -evening of the last day that Don and his companions spent in Dalton. To -quote from some of the boys who sat down to it, “the spread was fine,” -so were the toasts, speeches and songs, and Don Gordon had abundant -opportunity to talk to the owner of the eyes and the curls that had -haunted him every day of the long month he spent at the lodge. He would -have been glad to stay in Dalton always. He said he was coming back, but -the excuse he gave was that he wanted another trial at glass-balls with -the champion. Perhaps his friends believed that that was his only reason -for desiring to return, and perhaps they didn’t. At any rate they looked -very wise, and exchanged many a significant wink with one another. - -“Good by, boys,” said Egan, when the stage-coach drew up in front of Mr. -Curtis’s door the next morning. “We are indebted to you for a splendid -time, and we should like a chance to reciprocate. Curtis is going to -spend a month with me next fall, and I should be delighted to have you -come with him. Don, Bert and Hop will be there too, and we’ll make it as -pleasant as we can for you.” - -The Southern boys separated in Boston and took their way toward their -respective homes, Don and Bert stopping in Cincinnati long enough to -purchase a couple of revolving-traps and a supply of glass-balls, and -reaching Rochdale in due time without any mishap. Their shoulder-straps -created all the surprise that Don could have desired, and the latter knew -by the way his mother kissed him that she was entirely satisfied with the -way he had conducted himself during his last year at school. They never -grew weary of talking about the fine times they had enjoyed at the lodge, -and Don gave everybody to understand that he was going back to Dalton -some day on purpose to win that medal from the champion. He had a right -to compete for it now, for he was a member of the club. - -“But you will have to win it three times before you can bring it home -with you,” said Bert. - -“So much the better,” answered Don, “for then I can see that handsome -little—ah! I mean the lodge, you know.” - -“Yes, I know,” said Bert, dryly. - -“By the way, has anybody heard anything of Lester Brigham and Jones and -Williams?” exclaimed Don, anxious to change the subject. - -Yes, everybody had heard of them. Mr. Brigham had been industriously -circulating the articles and papers that Lester had sent him, and had -celebrated his son’s return by giving a big supper and a party. The house -was crowded, and Lester and Enoch were lionized to their hearts’ content. - -Don and Bert spent a portion of their next vacation at the homes of Egan -and Hopkins as they had promised, seeing no end of sport and some little -excitement. What they did for amusement, and what Lester and his enemies -did when they returned to Bridgeport in January, shall be narrated in the -third and concluding volume of this series, which will be entitled: “THE -YOUNG WILD-FOWLERS.” - - -THE END. - - - - - -End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of The Rod and Gun Club, by Harry Castlemon - -*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE ROD AND GUN CLUB *** - -***** This file should be named 60838-0.txt or 60838-0.zip ***** -This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: - http://www.gutenberg.org/6/0/8/3/60838/ - -Produced by David Edwards and the Online Distributed -Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net (This file was -produced from images generously made available by The -Internet Archive) - -Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions will -be renamed. - -Creating the works from print editions not protected by U.S. copyright -law means that no one owns a United States copyright in these works, -so the Foundation (and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United -States without permission and without paying copyright -royalties. 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You may copy it, give it away or re-use it under the terms of -the Project Gutenberg License included with this eBook or online at -www.gutenberg.org. If you are not located in the United States, you'll have -to check the laws of the country where you are located before using this ebook. - -Title: The Rod and Gun Club - -Author: Harry Castlemon - -Release Date: December 3, 2019 [EBook #60838] - -Language: English - -Character set encoding: UTF-8 - -*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE ROD AND GUN CLUB *** - - - - -Produced by David Edwards and the Online Distributed -Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net (This file was -produced from images generously made available by The -Internet Archive) - - - - - - -</pre> - - -<div class="figcenter" style="width: 700px;"> -<img src="images/frontispiece.jpg" width="700" height="425" alt="" /> -<p class="caption"><span class="smcap">The Battle with the Strikers.</span></p> -</div> - -<hr /> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_i" id="Page_i">[i]</a></span></p> - -<p class="center"><i>ROD AND GUN SERIES.</i></p> - -<p class="titlepage larger"><span class="smaller">THE</span><br /> -ROD AND GUN CLUB.</p> - -<p class="titlepage"><span class="smcap">By HARRY CASTLEMON</span>,<br /> -<span class="smaller">AUTHOR OF “THE GUNBOAT SERIES,” “BOY TRAPPER SERIES,”<br /> -“ROUGHING IT SERIES,” ETC.</span></p> - -<p class="titlepage">THE JOHN C. WINSTON CO.,<br /> -<span class="smaller">PHILADELPHIA,<br /> -CHICAGO, TORONTO.</span></p> - -<hr /> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_ii" id="Page_ii">[ii]</a></span></p> - -<div class="ad"> - -<p class="center larger">FAMOUS CASTLEMON BOOKS.</p> - -<p><b>GUNBOAT SERIES.</b> By <span class="smcap">Harry Castlemon</span>. 6 vols. 12mo.</p> - -<ul> -<li><span class="smcap">Frank the Young Naturalist.</span></li> -<li><span class="smcap">Frank in the Woods.</span></li> -<li><span class="smcap">Frank on the Lower Mississippi.</span></li> -<li><span class="smcap">Frank on a Gunboat.</span></li> -<li><span class="smcap">Frank before Vicksburg.</span></li> -<li><span class="smcap">Frank on the Prairie.</span></li> -</ul> - -<p><b>ROCKY MOUNTAIN SERIES.</b> By <span class="smcap">Harry Castlemon</span>. 3 vols. 12mo. -Cloth.</p> - -<ul> -<li><span class="smcap">Frank among the Rancheros.</span></li> -<li><span class="smcap">Frank in the Mountains.</span></li> -<li><span class="smcap">Frank at Don Carlos’ Ranch.</span></li> -</ul> - -<p><b>SPORTSMAN’S CLUB SERIES.</b> By <span class="smcap">Harry Castlemon</span>. 3 vols. 12mo. -Cloth.</p> - -<ul> -<li><span class="smcap">The Sportsman’s Club in the Saddle.</span></li> -<li><span class="smcap">The Sportsman’s Club Afloat.</span></li> -<li><span class="smcap">The Sportsman’s Club among the Trappers.</span></li> -</ul> - -<p><b>FRANK NELSON SERIES.</b> By <span class="smcap">Harry Castlemon</span>. 3 vols. 12mo. -Cloth.</p> - -<ul> -<li><span class="smcap">Snowed Up.</span></li> -<li><span class="smcap">Frank in the Forecastle.</span></li> -<li><span class="smcap">The Boy Traders.</span></li> -</ul> - -<p><b>BOY TRAPPER SERIES.</b> By <span class="smcap">Harry Castlemon</span>. 3 vols. 12mo. Cloth.</p> - -<ul> -<li><span class="smcap">The Buried Treasure.</span></li> -<li><span class="smcap">The Boy Trapper.</span></li> -<li><span class="smcap">The Mail-Carrier.</span></li> -</ul> - -<p><b>ROUGHING IT SERIES.</b> By <span class="smcap">Harry Castlemon</span>. 3 vols. 12mo. Cloth.</p> - -<ul> -<li><span class="smcap">George in Camp.</span></li> -<li><span class="smcap">George at the Wheel.</span></li> -<li><span class="smcap">George at the Fort.</span></li> -</ul> - -<p><b>ROD AND GUN SERIES.</b> By <span class="smcap">Harry Castlemon</span>. 3 vols. 12mo. Cloth.</p> - -<ul> -<li><span class="smcap">Don Gordon’s Shooting Box.</span></li> -<li><span class="smcap">The Young Wild Fowlers.</span></li> -<li><span class="smcap">Rod and Gun Club.</span></li> -</ul> - -<p><b>GO-AHEAD SERIES.</b> By <span class="smcap">Harry Castlemon</span>. 3 vols. 12mo. Cloth.</p> - -<ul> -<li><span class="smcap">Tom Newcombe.</span></li> -<li><span class="smcap">Go-Ahead.</span></li> -<li><span class="smcap">No Moss.</span></li> -</ul> - -<p><b>FOREST AND STREAM SERIES.</b> By <span class="smcap">Harry Castlemon</span>. 3 vols. 12mo. -Cloth.</p> - -<ul> -<li><span class="smcap">Joe Wayring.</span></li> -<li><span class="smcap">Snagged and Sunk.</span></li> -<li><span class="smcap">Steel Horse.</span></li> -</ul> - -<p><b>WAR SERIES.</b> By <span class="smcap">Harry Castlemon</span>. 5 vols. 12mo. Cloth.</p> - -<ul> -<li><span class="smcap">True to his Colors.</span></li> -<li><span class="smcap">Rodney the Overseer.</span></li> -<li><span class="smcap">Marcy the Refugee.</span></li> -<li><span class="smcap">Rodney the Partisan.</span></li> -<li><span class="smcap">Marcy the Blockade-Runner.</span></li> -</ul> - -<p class="center"><i>Other Volumes in Preparation.</i></p> - -<p class="center"><span class="smcap">Copyright, 1883, by Porter & Coates.</span></p> - -</div> - -<hr /> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_iii" id="Page_iii">[iii]</a></span></p> - -<h2>CONTENTS</h2> - -<table summary="Contents"> - <tr> - <td></td> - <td class="tdpg smaller">PAGE</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdc" colspan="2"><span class="smcap">Chapter I.</span></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td><span class="smcap">Some Disgusted Boys</span></td> - <td class="tdpg"><a href="#CHAPTER_I">5</a></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdc" colspan="2"><span class="smcap">Chapter II.</span></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td><span class="smcap">Birds of a Feather</span></td> - <td class="tdpg"><a href="#CHAPTER_II">25</a></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdc" colspan="2"><span class="smcap">Chapter III.</span></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td><span class="smcap">Lester Brigham’s Idea</span></td> - <td class="tdpg"><a href="#CHAPTER_III">45</a></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdc" colspan="2"><span class="smcap">Chapter IV.</span></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td><span class="smcap">Flight and Pursuit</span></td> - <td class="tdpg"><a href="#CHAPTER_IV">66</a></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdc" colspan="2"><span class="smcap">Chapter V.</span></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td><span class="smcap">Don’s Encounter with the Tramp</span></td> - <td class="tdpg"><a href="#CHAPTER_V">87</a></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdc" colspan="2"><span class="smcap">Chapter VI.</span></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td><span class="smcap">About Various Things</span></td> - <td class="tdpg"><a href="#CHAPTER_VI">108</a></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdc" colspan="2"><span class="smcap">Chapter VII.</span></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td><span class="smcap">A Test of Courage</span></td> - <td class="tdpg"><a href="#CHAPTER_VII">130</a></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdc" colspan="2"><span class="smcap">Chapter VIII.</span></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_iv" id="Page_iv">[iv]</a></span><span class="smcap">The Fight as Reported</span></td> - <td class="tdpg"><a href="#CHAPTER_VIII">152</a></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdc" colspan="2"><span class="smcap">Chapter IX.</span></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td><span class="smcap">In the Hands of the Mob</span></td> - <td class="tdpg"><a href="#CHAPTER_IX">172</a></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdc" colspan="2"><span class="smcap">Chapter X.</span></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td><span class="smcap">Welcome Home</span></td> - <td class="tdpg"><a href="#CHAPTER_X">194</a></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdc" colspan="2"><span class="smcap">Chapter XI.</span></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td><span class="smcap">Hopkins’ Experience</span></td> - <td class="tdpg"><a href="#CHAPTER_XI">217</a></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdc" colspan="2"><span class="smcap">Chapter XII.</span></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td><span class="smcap">Plans and Arrangements</span></td> - <td class="tdpg"><a href="#CHAPTER_XII">239</a></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdc" colspan="2"><span class="smcap">Chapter XIII.</span></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td><span class="smcap">The Deserters Afloat</span></td> - <td class="tdpg"><a href="#CHAPTER_XIII">261</a></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdc" colspan="2"><span class="smcap">Chapter XIV.</span></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td><span class="smcap">Don Obtains a Clue</span></td> - <td class="tdpg"><a href="#CHAPTER_XIV">284</a></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdc" colspan="2"><span class="smcap">Chapter XV.</span></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td><span class="smcap">Another Test and the Result</span></td> - <td class="tdpg"><a href="#CHAPTER_XV">307</a></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdc" colspan="2"><span class="smcap">Chapter XVI.</span></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td><span class="smcap">The Rod and Gun Club</span></td> - <td class="tdpg"><a href="#CHAPTER_XVI">324</a></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdc" colspan="2"><span class="smcap">Chapter XVII.</span></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td><span class="smcap">Casting the Fly</span></td> - <td class="tdpg"><a href="#CHAPTER_XVII">344</a></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdc" colspan="2"><span class="smcap">Chapter XVIII.</span></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td><span class="smcap">Conclusion</span></td> - <td class="tdpg"><a href="#CHAPTER_XVIII">360</a></td> - </tr> -</table> - -<hr /> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_5" id="Page_5">[5]</a></span></p> - -<h1>THE ROD AND GUN CLUB.</h1> - -<h2 id="CHAPTER_I">CHAPTER I.<br /> -<span class="smaller">SOME DISGUSTED BOYS.</span></h2> - -<p>“Well, young man, I will tell you, for your -satisfaction, that I have got you provided, -for, for four long years to come.”</p> - -<p>The speaker was Mr. Brigham. As he uttered -these words he placed his hat and gloves on the -table, and looked down at his son Lester, who -had just entered the library in obedience to the -summons he had received, and who sat on the -edge of the sofa, twirling his cap in his hands. -The boy looked frightened, while the expression -on his father’s face told very plainly that he was -angry about something.</p> - -<p>“I have had quite enough of your nonsense,” -continued Mr. Brigham, in very decided tones. -“Since we came to Mississippi you have done -nothing but roam about the woods and fields with<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_6" id="Page_6">[6]</a></span> -your gun on your shoulder, and get yourself into -trouble. You made yourself so very disagreeable -that none of the decent boys in the settlement -would have anything to do with you, and consequently -you had to take up with such fellows as -Bob Owens and Dan Evans. After setting fire to -Don Gordon’s shooting-box, and being caught in -the act of stealing David Evans’s quails, you had -to go and mix yourself up in that mail robbery. -Why, Lester, have you any idea where you will -bring up if you do not at once begin to mend your -ways?”</p> - -<p>“Why, father, I had nothing to do with that,” -exclaimed Lester, trying to look surprised and innocent; -“nothing whatever. You know, as well -as I do, that I was at home when those men who -lived in that house-boat waylaid and robbed the -mail-carrier.”</p> - -<p>“I am aware that you took no active part in -the work,” said his father. “If you had, you -would now be confined in the calaboose. But you -told Dan Evans about those checks for five thousand -dollars that my agent sends me every month.”</p> - -<p>“I didn’t,” interrupted Lester.</p> - -<p>“Everything goes to prove that you did,” answered<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_7" id="Page_7">[7]</a></span> -Mr. Brigham. “If you didn’t, how does -it come that Dan knew all about those checks? -He made a full confession to Don Gordon. The -story is all over the country, and the people about -here are very angry at you. Suppose that Dan -had shot Don Gordon, as he tried to do? What -do you suppose would become of you? I really -believe you would have been mobbed before this -time. I wonder if you have any idea of the excitement -you have raised in the settlement?”</p> - -<p>No; Lester had not the faintest conception of -it, for the simple reason that he had held no conversation -with anybody, save the members of -his own family, since the afternoon on which Dan -Evans was overpowered and robbed of his mail-bag. -When the full particulars of the affair came -to his ears, he was as frightened as a boy could be, -and live. He knew that he was in a measure responsible -for the robbery, that it would never have -been committed if he had held his tongue regarding -his father’s money, and the fear that he had -rendered himself liable to punishment at the hands -of the law, nearly drove him frantic. His terror -was greatly increased by his father’s last words. -There had not been so much excitement in the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_8" id="Page_8">[8]</a></span> -settlement since the war—not even when it became -known that Clarence Gordon and Godfrey -Evans had dug up a portion of the general’s potato -patch, in the hope of unearthing eighty thousand -dollars in gold and silver that were supposed -to be buried there. Don Gordon had more friends -than any other boy in the settlement, unless it -was Bert, and the planters were enraged at the -attempt that had been made upon his life. If -Dan Evans’s bullet had found a lodgment in his -body instead of going harmlessly through the roof, -Dan and Lester Brigham, as well as the three -flatboatmen who stole the mail, might have had a -hard time of it.</p> - -<p>Lester’s first care was to hide himself in the -house, as he had done after he and Bob Owens -burned Don’s old shooting-box. He earnestly -hoped that the men would escape with their -plunder; but when he learned that a strong party, -led by General Gordon, had pursued them in Davis’s -sailboat and captured them, he was ready to -give up in despair. Judge Packard would have -to look into the matter now through his judicial -spectacles, and Lester did not want to be summoned -to appear as a witness. Neither did Dan,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_9" id="Page_9">[9]</a></span> -who, disregarding the advice Don Gordon had -given him, took to the woods and hid there, just -as he did after he picked his father’s pocket of the -hundred and sixty dollars that David had made -by trapping quails.</p> - -<p>When Mr. Brigham saw that Lester took to -staying in the house, and that he had suddenly -lost all interest in hunting and shooting, his suspicions -were aroused. He always kept his ears -open when he went to the landing, and by putting -together the disjointed scraps of conversation he -overheard while he was waiting for his mail, he -finally accumulated a mass of evidence against his -son Lester that fairly staggered him.</p> - -<p>“I couldn’t believe this of you until I went to -Gordon and asked him what he knew about it,” -continued Mr. Brigham. “Then the whole story -came out. Lester, you will have to go away from -here.”</p> - -<p>“That’s just what I want to do,” exclaimed the -boy, in joyous tones. “I never did like this place. -It is awful lonely and dull, and there is no one for -me to associate with. If I could only go off somewhere -on a visit——”</p> - -<p>“As I told you, at the start, I have got things<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_10" id="Page_10">[10]</a></span> -fixed for you for four years to come,” said Mr. -Brigham. “You ought to have something to do—something -that will occupy your mind so completely -that you will have no time to be discontented -or to think of anything wrong. I have decided -to send you to school; and I am sorry I -didn’t do it long ago.”</p> - -<p>When Lester heard this he threw his cap spitefully -down upon the floor, planted his elbow viciously -upon the arm of the lounge, and looked -very sullen indeed. School-rooms and school-books -were his pet aversions.</p> - -<p>“I don’t want you to do that,” said he, angrily. -“I would much rather stay here.”</p> - -<p>“Do you want to grow up in ignorance?” demanded -his father.</p> - -<p>If Lester had given an honest response to this -question it would have been: “No, I don’t want -to grow up in ignorance, but I do want to live at -my ease. I desire to go to some place where I can -find plenty to amuse me, and where I shall have -no labor to perform, either mental or manual.” -But he did not quite like to say that, and so he -said nothing.</p> - -<p>“You don’t know a single thing that a boy of<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_11" id="Page_11">[11]</a></span> -your age ought to know,” continued Mr. Brigham. -“I have just had a long conversation with Gordon -and his two boys.”</p> - -<p>Lester looked up with a startled expression on -his face. “You haven’t determined to send me -to Bridgeport, have you?” he exclaimed.</p> - -<p>“I have,” was the decided answer.</p> - -<p>“To the military academy?” asked Lester, in -louder and more incredulous tones.</p> - -<p>“That’s the very place. The systematic drill -and training you will there receive, will be of the -greatest benefit to you, if you are only willing to -profit by them. That school has made men of -Don and Bert Gordon already.”</p> - -<p>“I should say so,” sneered Lester, suddenly recalling -some items of information that had come -to him in a round-about way. “Don has been in -a constant row with the teachers ever since he has -been there.”</p> - -<p>“That is not true. He got himself into trouble -when he first entered the school, and lost his -shoulder-straps by it; but he has toned down -wonderfully under the influence of those three -boys he brought home with him, and he is bound<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_12" id="Page_12">[12]</a></span> -to make his mark before his four years’ course is -completed.”</p> - -<p>“But, father, do you know that the teachers -are awful hard on the boys—that if a student -looks out of the wrong corner of his eye, or breaks -the smallest one of the thousand and more rules -that he is expected to keep constantly in mind, he -is punished for it?” asked Lester, who was almost -ready to cry with vexation. It was bad enough, -he told himself, to be sent away to any school -against his will; but it was worse for his father to -select a military academy, and then to hold that -embodiment of mischief and rebellion, Don Gordon, -up to him as an object worthy of emulation. -Lester had no desire to learn the tactics, and he -dreaded the discipline to which he knew he would -be subjected.</p> - -<p>“I heard all about it during my talk with Don -and Bert,” replied his father. “A strong hand -and plenty of work are just what you need.”</p> - -<p>“But do you know that Bert is first sergeant -of the company to which I shall probably be assigned, -and that one of its corporals is a New -York boot-black? Do you want me to obey the -orders of a street Arab?”</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_13" id="Page_13">[13]</a></span></p> - -<p>“He could not have attained to the position he -holds unless he had proved himself worthy of it. -The majority of the students, however, are the -sons of wealthy men, and they are the ones I want -you to choose for your associates. Make friends -with them and bring some of them home with you, -as Don and Bert did, or go home with them, if -they ask you. My word for it, you will see plenty -of sport there, if you will only do your duty faithfully. -Gordon’s boys are impatient to go back; -and yet there was a time when Don disliked school -as heartily as you do.”</p> - -<p>“When shall we start for Bridgeport?”</p> - -<p>“A week from next Wednesday. New students -are received up to the 13th of the month; so we -must make our application two days before the -school begins.”</p> - -<p>“Of course we’ll not go up on the same boat -with the Gordons?”</p> - -<p>“Why not? Having been there before, they -can save us a great deal of trouble by telling us -just where to go and what to do.”</p> - -<p>“But I don’t like the idea of traveling in their -company. They will snub me every chance they -get.”</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_14" id="Page_14">[14]</a></span></p> - -<p>“You need not borrow any trouble on that -score. They have good reasons for disliking you, -but if you conduct yourself properly, you will have -nothing to fear from them. Now, Lester, promise -me that, if you are admitted to that school, you -will wake up and try to accomplish something. I -will do everything I can to aid and encourage you, -and I will begin by putting it in your power to -hold your own with the richest student there.”</p> - -<p>Lester perfectly understood his father’s last -words, and he was considerably mollified by them. -If there were anything that could reconcile him to -becoming a member of the military academy, it -was the knowledge of the fact that a liberal supply -of spending money was to be placed at his disposal. -Lester’s highest ambition was to be looked -up to as a leader among his companions. He had -failed to accomplish his object so far as the boys -about Rochdale were concerned, but he was pretty -sure that he would not fail at Bridgeport. He -didn’t, either. His money, which Mr. Brigham -might better have kept in his own pocket, brought -him to the notice of some uneasy fellows at the -academy, who joined him in a daring enterprise, -the like of which had never been heard of before.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_15" id="Page_15">[15]</a></span> -It gave the village people something to talk about, -and furnished the law-abiding students with any -amount of fun and excitement. In fact the whole -school term was crowded so full of thrilling incidents, -so many things happened to take their -minds off their books, that when the examination -was held, some of the best scholars narrowly escaped -being dropped from their classes.</p> - -<p>“I will do anything I can for you,” repeated -Mr. Brigham, seating himself in the nearest chair -and taking a newspaper from the table. “If you -will go through the four years’ course with flying -colors, and come out at the head of your class, I -shall be highly gratified, and I assure you that -you will lose nothing by it.”</p> - -<p>Mr. Brigham fastened his eyes upon his paper, -and Lester, taking this as a hint that he had nothing -more to say just then, picked up his cap and -went out. He made his way directly to his own -room, and taking his squirrel rifle down from the -antlers that supported it—purchased antlers they -were, and not trophies of the boy’s own skill—he -buckled a cartridge belt about his waist and left -the house. He wanted to go off in the woods by -himself and think the matter over; but it is hard<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_16" id="Page_16">[16]</a></span> -to tell why he took his rifle with him, for he had -no intention of hunting, and he could not have -killed anything if he had. Perhaps it was because -he had fallen into the habit of carrying a weapon -on his shoulder wherever he went, just as Godfrey -and Dan did.</p> - -<p>“It is some comfort to know that the governor -is not disposed to put me on short allowance,” -thought he, as he sat down on a log and rested his -rifle across his knees, “and perhaps I can manage -to stand it for a while. If I can’t, and father -won’t let me come home, I’ll skip out, as Bob -Owens did; only I’ll not go into the army. But -it can’t be all work and no play up there. There -must be some jolly fellows among the students -who are in for having a good time now and then, -and they are the ones I shall run with. I am sorry -Bert is an officer, for he will tyrannize over me -in every possible way. I feel disgusted whenever -I think of that.”</p> - -<p>Lester Brigham was not the only boy in the -world who felt disgusted that day. There were -three others that we know of. One of them lived -away off in Maryland, and the others lived in -Rochdale. The last were Don and Bert Gordon.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_17" id="Page_17">[17]</a></span></p> - -<p>When their father came into the room in which -they were sitting and told them that Mr. Brigham -was waiting to see them in the parlor, they followed -him lost in wonder, which gave place to a very -different feeling when they learned that this visitor -had come there to make some inquiries regarding -the Bridgeport military academy, with a view of -sending his son there. Bert gave truthful replies -to all his questions, and so did Don, for the matter -of that; but he did not neglect to enlarge -upon the severity of the discipline, or to call Mr. -Brigham’s attention to the fact that no boy need -go to that school expecting to keep pace with his -classes, unless he was willing to study hard. Believing -that Lester would make trouble one way -or another, Don did not want him there, and he -hoped to convince Mr. Brigham that the academy -at Bridgeport would not at all suit Lester; but -he did not succeed. The visitor seemed to believe -that military drill was just what his refractory son -needed, asked the boys when they were going to -start, thanked them for the information they had -given him, and took his leave.</p> - -<p>“Well, now, I am disgusted,” exclaimed Don;<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_18" id="Page_18">[18]</a></span> -while Bert went over to the window and drummed -upon it with his fingers.</p> - -<p>“I don’t see how you are going to help yourselves, -boys,” said the general. “Lester Brigham -has as much right to go to that school as you -have.”</p> - -<p>“I know that,” replied Don. “But I don’t -want him there, all the same.”</p> - -<p>“Neither do I,” said Bert. “He will be in my -company, and if I make him toe the mark, he will -say that I do it because I want to be revenged on -him for burning Don’s shooting-box and getting -Dave Evans into trouble.”</p> - -<p>“Do your duty as a soldier, and let Lester say -what he pleases,” said the general.</p> - -<p>“Oh! he’ll have to,” exclaimed Don. “If he -doesn’t, he will be reported. Bert’s got to walk a -chalk line now, and if he makes a false step, off -come his diamond and <i>chevrons</i>. It’s some consolation -to know that we can’t introduce him to -Egan and the rest. They would snub us in a -minute if we did, and serve us right, too. A plebe -must be content to wait until the upper-class boys -get ready to speak to him.”</p> - -<p>“Having passed four years of my life in that<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_19" id="Page_19">[19]</a></span> -academy I am not ignorant of that fact,” said the -general, after a little pause, during which he recalled -to mind how he had once had his face -washed in a snow-drift by a couple of second-class -boys whom he had presumed to address on terms -of familiarity. “But I hope you will do all you -can for Lester. Remember how lonely you felt -when you first went there, and found yourselves -surrounded by those who were utter strangers to -you.”</p> - -<p>“Oh, we will,” said Bert, while Don scowled -savagely but said nothing. “If he will show us -that he has come there with the determination to -do the best he can, we’ll stand by him; won’t we, -Don?”</p> - -<p>Of course the latter said they would, but he -gave the promise simply because his father desired -it, and not because he had any friendly feeling for -Lester Brigham.</p> - -<p>The other disgusted boy was Egan, who, on this -particular day, was pacing up and down the back -veranda of his father’s house, shaking his fist at -the surf that was rolling in upon the beach, and -acting altogether like one whose reflections were -by no means agreeable. What it was that had<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_20" id="Page_20">[20]</a></span> -happened to annoy him, we will let him tell in his -own way.</p> - -<p>Christmas, with its festivities, was now a memory. -New Year’s day came and went, and Don and -Bert, each in his own way, began making preparations -for their return to Bridgeport. The latter, -who was determined that the close of another -school year should find him with at least one bar -on his shoulder, devoted his morning hours to his -books, while Don, to quote his own language, proceeded -to put himself through a regular course of -training. There was a long siege of hard study -before him, but one would have thought, by the -way he went to work, that he was preparing himself -for a physical rather than an intellectual contest. -He rode hard, hunted perseveringly, kept -up his regular exercise with Indian clubs and -dumb-bells, and looked, as he said he felt, as if he -were good for any amount of work.</p> - -<p>Knowing how valuable a little advice would -have been to them when they first joined the academy, -Don and Bert rode over to see Lester, intending -to give him some idea of the nature of the -examination he would have to pass before he would -be received as a student, and to drop a few hints<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_21" id="Page_21">[21]</a></span> -that would enable him to keep out of trouble; but -they never repeated the experiment. Lester was -surly and not at all sociable; and he was so very independent, -and seemed to have so much confidence -in his ability to make his way without help from -anybody, that his visitors took their leave without -saying half as much to him as they had intended.</p> - -<p>“I know what they are up to,” said Lester, who -stood at the window watching Don and Bert as -they rode away. “They have reasons for wishing -to get on the right side of me. Somebody has -probably told them that I am to have plenty of -money to spend, and they intend that I shall spend -some of it for their own benefit. I am going in -for a shoulder-strap—I am not one to be satisfied -with a sergeant’s warrant—and the first thing I -shall do, after I get it, will be to take those stripes -off Bert Gordon’s arms. He and his boot-black -can’t order <i>me</i> around.”</p> - -<p>This soliloquy will show that Lester had -changed his mind in regard to the school at Bridgeport. -He wanted to go there now. His father, who -knew nothing about the academy beyond what -Don and Bert had told him, and who judged it by -the fashionable boarding-schools at which he had<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_22" id="Page_22">[22]</a></span> -obtained the little knowledge he possessed, had -neglected no opportunity to impress upon Lester’s -mind the fact that a rich man’s son would not be -allowed to remain long in the ranks, and that -there was nothing to prevent him from winning -and wearing an officer’s sword, if he would only -use a little tact in pushing himself forward. After -listening to such counsel as this, it was not at -all likely that anything that Don and Bert could -say would have any influence with him.</p> - -<p>“He thinks he is going to have a walk over,” -said Don, as he stroked his pony’s glossy mane.</p> - -<p>“It looks that way, but there’s where he is mistaken,” -replied Bert. “Lester will be walking an -extra before he has been at the academy a week.”</p> - -<p>“Well, we’ll not volunteer any more advice, no -matter what happens to him,” said Don. “We’ll -let him go as he pleases and see how he will come -out.”</p> - -<p>The day set for their departure came at last, -and Don and Bert, accompanied by Mr. Brigham -and Lester, set out for Bridgeport, which they -reached without any mishap. They rode in the -same hack from the depot to the academy, and when -they alighted at the door, they were surrounded<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_23" id="Page_23">[23]</a></span> -by a crowd of boys who had already reported for -duty, and who made it a point to rush out of the -building to extend a noisy welcome to every newcomer. -School was not yet in session, and the -first-class boys were not above speaking to a plebe.</p> - -<p>Among those who were first to greet Don and -Bert as they stepped out of the hack, were Egan, -Hopkins and Curtis. As these young gentlemen -had already completed the regular academic -course, perhaps the reader would like to know -what it was that brought them back. They -came to take what was called the “finishing -course,” and to put themselves under technical -instruction. After that (it took two years to go -through it) Hopkins was to enter a lawyer’s office -in Baltimore; Egan intended to become assistant -engineer to a relative who was building railroads -somewhere in South America; while Curtis was -looking towards West Point.</p> - -<p>The boys who composed these advanced classes -were privileged characters. They dressed in citizens’ -clothes, performed no military duty, boarded -in the village, and came and went whenever they -pleased. When the students went into camp, -they were at liberty to go with them, or they could<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_24" id="Page_24">[24]</a></span> -stay at the academy and study. If they chose the -camp, they could ask to be appointed aids or orderlies -at headquarters, or they could put on a -uniform, shoulder a musket, and fall into the -ranks. They held no office, and the boy who was -lieutenant-colonel last year, was nothing better -than a private now.</p> - -<p>Don and Bert greeted their friends cordially, -and as soon as the latter could free himself from -their clutches, he beckoned to Mr. Brigham and -Lester, who followed him through the hall and -into the superintendent’s room.</p> - -<hr /> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_25" id="Page_25">[25]</a></span></p> - -<h2 id="CHAPTER_II">CHAPTER II.<br /> -<span class="smaller">BIRDS OF A FEATHER.</span></h2> - -<p>“Which one of these trunks do you belong -to, Gordon?” inquired a young second-lieutenant, -whose duty it was to see that the students -were assigned to rooms as fast as they -arrived.</p> - -<p>“The one with the canvas cover is mine,” replied -Don.</p> - -<p>“Any preference among the boys?” asked the -lieutenant. “You can’t have Bert for a room-mate -this term, you know. The second sergeant -of his company will be chummed on him.”</p> - -<p>Don replied that he didn’t care who he had for -a companion, so long as he was a well-behaved -boy; whereupon the lieutenant beckoned to a -negro porter whom he called “Rosebud,” and -directed him to take Don’s trunk up to No. 45, -third floor.</p> - -<p>“By the way, I suppose that that fellow who<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_26" id="Page_26">[26]</a></span> -has just gone into the superintendent’s room with -Bert is a crony of yours?” continued the young -officer.</p> - -<p>“He is from Mississippi,” said Don. He did -not wish to publish the fact that Lester Brigham -was no friend of his, for that would prejudice the -students against him at once. Lester was likely -to have a hard time of it at the best, and Don did -not want to say or do anything that would make -it harder for him.</p> - -<p>“All right,” said the officer. “I will take pains -to see that he is chummed on some good fellow.”</p> - -<p>“You needn’t put yourself to any trouble for -him on my account,” said Don in a low tone, at -the same time turning his back upon a sprucely-dressed -but rather brazen-faced boy, who persisted -in crowding up close to him and Egan, as if he -meant to hear every word that passed between -them. “He is nothing to me, and I wish he was -back where he came from. He’ll wish so too, before -he has been here many days. I said everything -I could to induce his father to keep him at -home, but he——”</p> - -<p>“Let’s take a walk as far as the gate,” said -Egan, seizing Don by the arm and nodding to<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_27" id="Page_27">[27]</a></span> -Hopkins and Curtis. “You stay here, Enoch,” -he added, turning to the sprucely-dressed boy.</p> - -<p>“What’s the reason I can’t go too?” demanded -the latter.</p> - -<p>“Because we don’t want you,” replied Egan, -bluntly. “I told you before we left home, that -you needn’t expect to hang on to my coat-tails. -Make friends with the members of your own company, -for they are the only associates you will -have after school begins.”</p> - -<p>“But they are all strangers to me, and you -won’t introduce me,” said Enoch.</p> - -<p>“Then pitch in and get acquainted, as I did -when I first came here. You may be sure I’ll not -introduce you,” said Egan, in a low voice, as he -and his three friends walked toward the gate. -“An introduction is an indorsement, and I don’t -indorse any such fellows as you are.”</p> - -<p>“What’s the matter with him?” asked Don, -who had never seen Egan so annoyed and provoked -as he was at that moment.</p> - -<p>“Everything,” replied the ex-sergeant. “He’s -the meanest boy I ever met—I except nobody—and -if he doesn’t prove to be a second Clarence -Duncan, I shall miss my guess.”</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_28" id="Page_28">[28]</a></span></p> - -<p>“The boy who came here with me will make a -good mate for him,” said Don.</p> - -<p>“This fellow’s father has only recently moved -into our neighborhood,” continued Egan. “He -went into ecstasies over my uniform the first time -he saw it, and wanted to know where I got it, and -how much it cost, and all that sort of thing. Of -course I praised the school and everybody and -everything connected with it; but I wish now that -I had kept still. The next time that I met him -he told me that when I returned to Bridgeport -he was going with me. I was in hopes he wouldn’t -stick, but he did.”</p> - -<p>“Mr. Brigham crowded Lester upon Bert and -me in about the same way,” said Don.</p> - -<p>“Was that Lester Brigham?” exclaimed Curtis—“the -boy who burned your old shooting-box -and kicked up that rumpus while we were at -Rochdale? We often heard you speak of him, -but you know we never saw him.”</p> - -<p>“He’s the very one,” replied Don.</p> - -<p>“Then he will make a good mate for Enoch -Williams,” said Egan. “Why, Don, this fellow -has been caught in the act of looting ducks on the -bay.”</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_29" id="Page_29">[29]</a></span></p> - -<p>Egan’s tone and manner seemed to indicate that -he looked upon this as one of the worst offenses -that could be committed, and both he and Hopkins -were surprised because Don did not grow angry -over it.</p> - -<p>“What’s looting ducks?” asked the latter.</p> - -<p>“It is a system of hunting pursued by the pot-hunters -of Chesapeake bay, who shoot for the -market and not for sport. A huge blunderbuss, -which will hold a handful of powder and a pound -or more of shot, and which is kept concealed during -the day-time, is put into the bow of a skiff at -night, and carried into the very midst of a flock -of sleeping ducks; and sometimes the men who -manage it, secure as many as sixty or seventy -birds at one discharge. The law expressly prohibits -it, and denounces penalties against those -who are caught at it.”</p> - -<p>“Then why wasn’t Enoch punished?”</p> - -<p>“Because everybody is afraid to complain of -him or of any one else who violates the law. It -isn’t safe to say anything against these duck-shooters, -and those who do it are sure to suffer. -Their yachts will be bored full of holes, their -oyster-beds dragged at night or filled with sharp<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_30" id="Page_30">[30]</a></span> -things for the dredges to catch on, their lobster-pots -pulled up and destroyed or carried off, their -retrievers shot or stolen—oh, it wouldn’t take -long to raise an excitement down there that would -be fully equal to that which was occasioned in -Rochdale by that mail robbery.”</p> - -<p>If the reader will bear these words in mind, he -will see that subsequent events proved the truthfulness -of them. The professional duck-shooters -who played such havoc with the wild fowl in -Chesapeake bay, were determined and vindictive -men, and it was very easy to get into trouble with -them, especially when there were such fellows as -Enoch Williams and Lester Brigham to help it -along.</p> - -<p>The four friends spent half an hour in walking -about the grounds, talking over the various exciting -and amusing incidents that had happened -while they were living in <i>Don Gordon’s Shooting-Box</i>, -and then Don went to his dormitory -to put on his uniform, preparatory to reporting -his arrival to the superintendent. Every train -that steamed into the station brought a crowd of -students with it, and the evening of the 14th of -January found them all snug in their quarters,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_31" id="Page_31">[31]</a></span> -and ready for the serious business of the term, -which was to begin with the booming of the morning -gun. All play was over now. There had -been guard-mount that morning, sentries were -posted on the grounds and in the buildings, and -the new students began to see how it seemed to -feel the tight reins of military discipline drawn -about them. Of course there were a good many -who did not like it at all. Events proved that there -was a greater number of malcontents in the school -this term than there had ever been before. Bold -fellows some of them were, too—boys who had -always been allowed to do as they pleased at home, -and who proceeded to get up a rebellion before -they had donned their uniforms. One of them, it -is hardly necessary to say, was Lester Brigham. -On the morning when the ceremony of guard-mounting -was gone through with for the first time, -he stood off by himself, muffled up head and ears, -and watching the proceeding. Presently his attention -was attracted by the actions of a boy who -came rapidly along the path, shaking his gloved -fists in the air and talking to himself. He did not -see Lester until he was close upon him, and then -he stopped and looked ashamed.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_32" id="Page_32">[32]</a></span></p> - -<p>“What’s the trouble?” asked Lester, who was -in no very good humor himself.</p> - -<p>“Matter enough,” replied the boy. “I wish I -had never seen or heard of this school.”</p> - -<p>“Here too,” said Lester. “Are you a new -scholar? Then we belong to the same class and -company.”</p> - -<p>“I wouldn’t belong to any class or company if -I could help it,” snapped the boy. “My father -didn’t want me to come here, but I insisted, like -the dunce I was, and now I’ve got to stay.”</p> - -<p>“So have I; but I didn’t come of my own free -will. My father made me.”</p> - -<p>“Get into any row at home?” asked the boy.</p> - -<p>“Well—yes,” replied Lester, hesitatingly.</p> - -<p>“I don’t see that it is anything to be ashamed -of. You look like a city boy; did the cops get -after you?”</p> - -<p>“No; I had no trouble with the police, but I -thought for a while that I was going to have. I -live in the canebrakes of Mississippi, and my name -is Lester Brigham. I used to live in the city, and -I wish I had never left it.”</p> - -<p>“My name is Enoch Williams, and I am from -Maryland,” said the other. “I don’t live in a<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_33" id="Page_33">[33]</a></span> -cane-brake, but I live on the sea-shore, and right -in the midst of a lot of Yahoos who don’t know -enough to keep them over night. Egan is one of -them and Hopkins is another.”</p> - -<p>“Why, those are two of the boys that Don Gordon -brought home with him last fall,” exclaimed -Lester. “Do you know them?”</p> - -<p>“I know Egan very well. His father’s plantation -is next to ours. If he had been anything of a -gentleman, I might have been personally acquainted -with Hopkins by this time; but, although we -traveled in company all the way from Maryland, -he never introduced me. Do you know them?”</p> - -<p>“I used to see them occasionally last fall, but I -have never spoken to either of them,” answered -Lester. “By the way, the first sergeant of our -company is a near neighbor of mine.”</p> - -<p>“Do you mean Bert Gordon? Well, he’s a -little snipe. He throws on more airs than a country -dancing-master. I have been insulted ever -since I have been here,” said Enoch, hotly. “The -boys from my own State, who ought to have -brought me to the notice of the teachers and -of some good fellows among the students, have -turned their backs upon me, and told me in<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_34" id="Page_34">[34]</a></span> -so many words, that they don’t want my company.”</p> - -<p>“Don and Bert Gordon have treated me in -nearly the same way,” observed Lester.</p> - -<p>“But, for all that, I have made some acquaintances -among the boys in the third class, who gave -me a few hints that I intend to act upon,” continued -Enoch. “They say the rules are very strict, -and that it is of no earthly use for me to try to -keep out of trouble. There are a favored few who -are allowed to do as they please; but the rest of -us must walk turkey, or spend our Saturday afternoons -in doing extra duty. Now I say that isn’t -fair—is it, Jones?” added Enoch, appealing to a -third-class boy who just then came up.</p> - -<p>Jones had been at the academy just a year, and -of course he was a member of Don Gordon’s class -and company. He was one of those who, by the -aid of Don’s “Yankee Invention,” had succeeded -in making their way into the fire-escape, and out -of the building. They failed to get by the guard, -as we know, and Jones was court-martialed as well -as the rest. His back and arms ached whenever -he thought of the long hours he had spent in -walking extras to pay for that one night’s fun;<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_35" id="Page_35">[35]</a></span> -and he had made the mental resolution that before -he left the academy he would do something -that would make those who remained bear him in -remembrance. He was lazy, vicious and idle, and -quite willing to back up Enoch’s statement.</p> - -<p>“Of course it isn’t fair,” said he, after Enoch -had introduced him to Lester Brigham. “You -needn’t expect to be treated fairly as long as you -remain here, unless you are willing to curry favor -with the teachers, and so win a warrant or a commission; -but that is something no decent boy will -do. I can prove it to you. Take the case of Don -Gordon: he’s a good fellow, in some respects——”</p> - -<p>“There’s where I differ with you,” interrupted -Lester. “I have known him for a long time, and -I have yet to see anything good about him.”</p> - -<p>“I don’t care if you have. I say he’s a good -fellow,” said Jones, earnestly. “There isn’t a -better boy in school to run with than Don Gordon -would be, if he would only get rid of the notion -that it is manly to tell the truth at all times and -under all circumstances, no matter who suffers by -it. He’s as full of plans as an egg is of meat; he -is afraid of nothing, and there wasn’t a boy in our -set who dared join him in carrying out some<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_36" id="Page_36">[36]</a></span> -schemes he proposed. Why, he wanted to capture -the butcher’s big bull-dog, take him up to the top -of the building, and then kick him down stairs -after tying a tin-can to his tail! He would have -done it, too, if any of the set had offered to help -him; but I tell you, I wouldn’t have taken a hand -in it for all the money there is in America.”</p> - -<p>“He must be a good one,” said Enoch, admiringly.</p> - -<p>“Oh, he is. We had many a pleasant evening -at Cony Ryan’s last winter that we would not -have had if Don had not come to our aid; but -when the critical moment arrived, he failed us.”</p> - -<p>“You might have expected it,” sneered Lester, -who could not bear to hear these words of praise -bestowed upon the boy he so cordially hated.</p> - -<p>“Well, I didn’t expect it. Don was one of the -floor-guards that night, and he allowed a lot of us -to pass him and go out of the building. When -the superintendent hauled him up for it the next -day, he acknowledged his guilt, but he would not -give our names, although he knew he stood a good -chance of being sent down for his refusal. I shall -always honor him for that.”</p> - -<p>“I wish he had been expelled,” said Lester, bitterly.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_37" id="Page_37">[37]</a></span> -“Then I should not have been sent to this -school.”</p> - -<p>“Well, when the examination came off,” continued -Jones, “Don was so far ahead of his class -that none of them could touch him with a ten-foot -pole; and yet he is a private to-day, while -that brother of his, who won the good-will of the -teachers by toadying to them, wears a first sergeant’s -<i>chevrons</i>. Of course such partiality as -that is not fair for the rest of us.”</p> - -<p>“There isn’t a single redeeming feature about -this school, is there?” said Enoch, after a pause. -“A fellow can’t enjoy himself in any way.”</p> - -<p>“Oh yes, he can—if he is smart and a trifle -reckless. He can go to Cony Ryan’s and eat pancakes. -I suppose Egan told you of the high old -times we had here last winter running the guard, -didn’t he?”</p> - -<p>“He never mentioned it,” replied Enoch.</p> - -<p>“Well, didn’t he describe the fight we had with -the Indians last camp?”</p> - -<p>“Indians!” repeated Enoch, incredulously, -while Lester’s eyes opened with amazement.</p> - -<p>“Yes; sure-enough Indians they were too, and -not make-believes. We thought, by the way they<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_38" id="Page_38">[38]</a></span> -yelled at us, that they meant business. Why, -they raised such a rumpus about the camp that -some of our lady guests came very near fainting, -they were so frightened. Didn’t Egan tell you -how he and Don deserted, swam the creek, went -to the show disguised as country boys, and finally -fell into the hands of those same Indians who had -surrounded the camp and were getting ready to -attack us?”</p> - -<p>No, Egan hadn’t said a word about any of these -things to Enoch, and neither had Don or Bert -spoken of them to Lester; although they might -have done so if the latter had showed them a little -more courtesy when they called upon him at his -house. Some of the matters referred to were -pleasant episodes in the lives of the Bridgeport -students, and the reason why Egan had not spoken -of them was because he did not want Enoch to -think there was anything agreeable about the institution. -He didn’t want him there, because he -did not believe that Enoch would be any credit to -the school; and so he did with him just as Don -and Bert did with Lester: he enlarged upon the -rigor of the discipline, the stern impartiality of -the instructors, the promptness with which they<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_39" id="Page_39">[39]</a></span> -called a delinquent to account, and spoke feelingly -of their long and difficult lessons; but he never -said “recreation” once, nor did he so much as -hint that there were certain hours in the day that -the students could call their own.</p> - -<p>“Tell us about that fight,” said Enoch.</p> - -<p>“Yes, do,” chimed in Lester. “If there is any -way to see fun here, let us know what it is.”</p> - -<p>Jones was just the boy to go to with an appeal -of this sort. He was thoroughly posted, and if -there were any one in the academy who was -always ready to set the rules and regulations at -defiance, especially if he saw the shadow of a -chance for escaping punishment, Jones was the -fellow. He gave a glowing description of the battle -at the camp; told how the boys ran the guard, -and where they went and what they did after they -got out; related some thrilling stories of adventure -of which the law-breakers were the heroes; -and by the time the dinner-call was sounded, he -had worked his two auditors up to such a pitch -of excitement that they were ready to attempt -almost anything.</p> - -<p>“You have given me some ideas,” said Enoch, -as they hurried toward their dormitories in obedience<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_40" id="Page_40">[40]</a></span> -to the call, “and who knows but they may -grow to something? I’ve got to stay here—I had -a plain understanding with my father on that -point—and I am going to think up something -that will yield us some sport.”</p> - -<p>“That’s the way I like to hear a fellow talk,” -said Jones, approvingly; “and I will tell you -this for your encouragement: we care nothing for -the risk we shall run in carrying out your scheme, -whatever it may be, but before we undertake it, -you must be able to satisfy us that we can carry -it out successfully. Do that, and I will bring -twenty boys to back you up, if you need so many. -We are always glad to have fellows like you come -among us, for our tricks grow stale after a while, -and we learn new ones of you. Don Gordon can -think up something in less time than anybody I -ever saw; but it would be useless to look to him -for help. Egan and the other good little boys -have taken him in hand, and they’ll make an -officer of him this year; you wait and see if they -don’t.”</p> - -<p>“Jones gave me some ideas, too,” thought Lester, -as he marched into the dining-hall with his -company, and took his seat at the table; “but I<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_41" id="Page_41">[41]</a></span> -must say I despise the way he lauded that Don -Gordon. Don seems to make friends wherever he -goes, and they are among the best, too; while I -have to be satisfied with such companions as I can -get. I am going to set my wits at work and see -if I can’t study up something that will throw that -bull-dog business far into the shade.”</p> - -<p>Unfortunately for Lester this was easy of accomplishment. -He was not obliged to do any very -hard thinking on the subject, for a plan was suggested -to him that very afternoon. There was -but one objection to it: he would have to wait -four or five months before it could be carried out.</p> - -<p>Lester’s room-mate was a boy who spelled his -name Huggins, but pronounced it as though it -were written Hewguns. He had showed but little -disposition to talk about himself and his affairs, -and all Lester could learn concerning him was -that he was from Massachusetts, and that he lived -somewhere on the sea-coast. He and Lester met -in their dormitory after dinner, and while the latter -proceeded to put on his hat and overcoat, -Huggins threw himself into a chair, buried his -hands in his pockets and gazed steadily at the -floor.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_42" id="Page_42">[42]</a></span></p> - -<p>“What’s the matter?” inquired Lester. “You -act as if something had gone wrong with you.”</p> - -<p>“Things never go right with me,” was the surly -response. “There isn’t a boy in the world who -has so much trouble as I do.”</p> - -<p>“I have often thought that of myself,” Lester -remarked. “Come out and take a walk. Perhaps -the fresh air will do you good.”</p> - -<p>“I don’t want any fresh air,” growled Huggins. -“I want to think. I have been trying all the -morning to hit upon something that would enable -me to get to windward of my father, and I guess -I have got it at last.”</p> - -<p>“What do you mean by getting to windward of -him?” asked Lester.</p> - -<p>“Why, getting the advantage of him. If two -vessels were racing, the one that was to windward -would have the odds of the other, especially if the -breeze was not steady, because she would always -catch it first. I guess you don’t know much about -the water, do you?”</p> - -<p>“I don’t know much about boats,” replied Lester; -“but when it comes to hunting, fishing or -riding, I am there. I have yet to see the fellow -who can beat me.”</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_43" id="Page_43">[43]</a></span></p> - -<p>“I am fond of fishing,” said Huggins. “I was -out on the banks last season. We made a very -fine catch, and had a tidy row with the Newfoundland -fishermen before we could get our bait.”</p> - -<p>“What sort of fish did you take?”</p> - -<p>“Codfish, of course.”</p> - -<p>“Do you angle for them from the banks?”</p> - -<p>“I said <i>on</i> the banks—that is, in shoal water.”</p> - -<p>“Oh,” said Lester. “I don’t know anything -about that kind of fishing. Did you ever play a -fifteen pound brook-trout on an eight-ounce fly-rod?”</p> - -<p>“No; nor nobody else.”</p> - -<p>“I have done it many a time,” said Lester. -“I tell you it takes a man who understands his -business to land a fish like that with light tackle. -A greenhorn would have broken his pole or snapped -his line the very first jerk he made.”</p> - -<p>“You may tell that to the marines, but you -needn’t expect me to believe it,” said Huggins, -quietly. “In the first place, a fly-fisher doesn’t -fasten his hook by giving a jerk. He does it by a -simple turn of the wrist. In the second place, the -<i>Salmo fontinalis</i> doesn’t grow to the weight of -fifteen pounds.”</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_44" id="Page_44">[44]</a></span></p> - -<p>Lester was fairly staggered. He had set out -with the intention of giving his room-mate a -graphic account of some of his imaginary exploits -and adventures (those of our readers who are well -acquainted with him will remember that he kept -a large supply of them on hand), but he saw that -it was time to stop. There was no use in trying -to deceive a boy who could fire Latin at him in -that way.</p> - -<p>“The largest brook-trout that was ever caught -was taken in the Rangeley lakes, and weighed a -trifle over ten pounds,” continued Huggins. “And -lastly, the members of the order <i>Salmonidæ</i> don’t -live in the muddy, stagnant bayous you have -down South. They want clear cold water.”</p> - -<p>“Why do you want to get to windward of your -father?” inquired Lester, who thought it best to -change the subject.</p> - -<p>“To pay him for sending me to this school,” -replied Huggins.</p> - -<p>“And you think you know how to do it?”</p> - -<p>“I do.”</p> - -<p>Lester became interested. He took off his hat -and overcoat and sat down on the edge of his bed.</p> - -<hr /> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_45" id="Page_45">[45]</a></span></p> - -<h2 id="CHAPTER_III">CHAPTER III.<br /> -<span class="smaller">LESTER BRIGHAM’S IDEA.</span></h2> - -<p>“If one might judge by the way you talk and -act, you didn’t want to come to this school,” -said Lester.</p> - -<p>“No, I didn’t,” answered Huggins. “I don’t -want to go to any school. The height of my ambition -is to become a sailor. I was born in sight -of the ocean, and have snuffed its breezes and been -tossed about by its waves ever since I can remember. -I live near Gloucester, and my father is -largely interested in the cod-fishery. He began -life as a fisherman, but he owns a good sized fleet -now.”</p> - -<p>“Didn’t he want you to go to sea?” asked -Lester.</p> - -<p>“No. He allowed me to go to the banks now -and then, but when I told him that I wanted to -make a regular business of it, he wouldn’t listen -to me. After I got tired of trying to reason with<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_46" id="Page_46">[46]</a></span> -him, I made preparations to run away from home; -but he caught me at it, and bundled me off here.”</p> - -<p>“What are you going to do about it?”</p> - -<p>“I’m not going to stay. I’ve been to school -before, but I was never snubbed as I have been -since I came to Bridgeport. The idea that a boy -of my age should be obliged to say ‘sir’ to every -little up-start who wears a shoulder-strap! I’ll -not do it.”</p> - -<p>“You’d better. If you don’t you will be in -trouble continually.”</p> - -<p>“Let the trouble come. I’ll get out of its -way.”</p> - -<p>“How will you do it?”</p> - -<p>Huggins shut one eye, looked at Lester with -the other, and laid his finger by the side of his -nose.</p> - -<p>“Oh, you needn’t be afraid to trust me,” said -Lester, who easily understood this pantomime. -“Those who are best acquainted with me will tell -you that I am true blue. I know just how you -feel. I don’t like this school any better than you -do; I was sent here in spite of all I could say to -prevent it. I have been snubbed by the boys in -the upper classes because I spoke to them before<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_47" id="Page_47">[47]</a></span> -they spoke to me, and when I see a chance to -leave without being caught, I shall improve it.”</p> - -<p>“I guess I can rely upon you to keep my -secret,” said Huggins, but it is hard to tell how -he reached this conclusion. One single glance at -that peaked, freckled face, whose every feature -bore evidence to the sneaking character and disposition -of its owner, ought to have satisfied him -that his room-mate was not a boy who could be -confided in.</p> - -<p>“You may depend upon me every time,” said -Lester, earnestly. “I’ll bring twenty good fellows -to help you.”</p> - -<p>“Oh, I can’t take so many boys with me,” said -Huggins, looking up in surprise. “I couldn’t find -berths for them.”</p> - -<p>“Are you going off on a boat?”</p> - -<p>“Of course I am. Some dark night, when all -the rest of the fellows are asleep, I am going to -slip out of here, take my foot in my hand and -draw a bee-line for Oxford; and when I get -there, I am going to ship aboard the first sea-going -vessel I can find.”</p> - -<p>“As a sailor?” exclaimed Lester.</p> - -<p>“Certainly. I shall have to go before the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_48" id="Page_48">[48]</a></span> -mast; but I’ll not stay there, for I can hand, reef -and steer as well as the next man, I don’t care -where he comes from, and I understand navigation, -too.”</p> - -<p>Lester was sadly disappointed. He hoped and -believed that his room-mate was about to propose -something in which he could join him.</p> - -<p>“I am sorry I can’t go with you,” said he; -“but I don’t want to follow the sea.”</p> - -<p>“Of course you don’t, for you belong ashore. I -belong on the water, and there’s where I am going. -Oxford is two hundred miles from Bridgeport, -and that is a long distance to walk through -snow that is two feet deep.”</p> - -<p>“You can go on the cars,” suggested Lester.</p> - -<p>“No, I can’t; unless I steal a ride. My father -is determined to keep me here, and consequently -he does not allow me a cent of money,” said Huggins; -and he proved it by turning all his pockets -inside out to show that they were empty.</p> - -<p>“He is mean, isn’t he?” said Lester, indignantly. -He was about to add that his father had -given him a very liberal supply of bills before he -set out on his return to Rochdale, but he did not<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_49" id="Page_49">[49]</a></span> -say it, for fear that his friend Huggins might want -to borrow a dollar or two.</p> - -<p>“But he will find that I am not going to let -the want of money stand in my way,” added Huggins. -“I saw several nice little yachts in their -winter quarters when I was at the wharf the other -day, and if it were summer we’d get a party of -fellows together, run off in one of them, and go -somewhere and have some fun. When the time -came to separate, each one could go where he -pleased. The rest of you could hold a straight -course for home, if you felt like it, and I would -go to sea.”</p> - -<p>“That’s the very idea,” exclaimed Lester. “I -wonder why some of the boys didn’t think of it -long ago. When you get ready to go, count me -in.”</p> - -<p>“I shall not be here to take part in it,” replied -Huggins. “I hope to be on deep water before -many days more have passed over my head.”</p> - -<p>“I am sorry to hear you say so, for you would -be just the fellow to lead an expedition like that. -But there’s one thing you have forgotten: if you -intend to slip away from the academy, you will -need help.”</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_50" id="Page_50">[50]</a></span></p> - -<p>“I don’t see why I should. I shall not stir until -every one is asleep.”</p> - -<p>“Then you’ll not go out at all. There are sentries -posted around the grounds at this moment, -and as soon as it grows dark, guards will take -charge of every floor in this building. It is easy -enough to get by the sentries—I know, for some -of the boys told me so—but how are you going to -pass these floor-guards when they are watching -your room?”</p> - -<p>“Whew!” whistled Huggins. “They hold a -fellow tight, don’t they?”</p> - -<p>“They certainly do; and it is not a very pleasant -state of affairs for one who has been allowed -to go and come whenever he felt like it. Your -best plan would be to ask for a pass. That will -take you by the guards, and when you get off the -grounds, you needn’t come back.”</p> - -<p>“But suppose I can’t get a pass?”</p> - -<p>“Then the only thing you can do is to wait -until some of your friends are on duty. They will -pass you and keep still about it afterward.”</p> - -<p>“I haven’t a single friend in the school.”</p> - -<p>“You can make some by simply showing the -boys that your heart is in the right place. I must<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_51" id="Page_51">[51]</a></span> -go now to meet an engagement; but I will see -you later, and if you like, I will introduce you to -a few acquaintances I have made since my arrival, -every one of whom you can trust.”</p> - -<p>As Lester said this, he put on his hat and overcoat -and left the room. Huggins had given him -an idea, and he wanted to get away by himself and -think about it. He did not have time to spend a -great deal of study upon it, for as he was about -to pass out at the front door, he met Jones, who -was just the boy he wanted to see. He was in the -company of several members of his class, but a -wink and a slight nod of the head quickly brought -him to Lester’s side.</p> - -<p>“Say, Jones,” whispered the latter, “I understand -that there are a good many yachts owned in -this village, and that they are in their winter -quarters now. When warm weather comes, what -would you say to capturing one of them, and going -off somewhere on a picnic?”</p> - -<p>“Lester, you’re a good one,” exclaimed Jones, -admiringly.</p> - -<p>“Do you think it could be done?”</p> - -<p>“I am sure of it,” replied Jones, who grew enthusiastic -at once. “It’s the very idea, and I<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_52" id="Page_52">[52]</a></span> -know the boys will be in for it hot and heavy. It -takes the new fellows to get up new schemes. I -can see only two objections to it.”</p> - -<p>“What are they?” inquired Lester.</p> - -<p>“The first is, that we can’t carry it out under -four or five months. Couldn’t you think up something -that we could go at immediately?”</p> - -<p>“I am afraid not,” answered Lester. “Where -could we go and what could we do if we were to -desert now? We could not sleep out of doors -with the thermometer below zero, for we would -freeze to death. We must have warm weather for -our excursion.”</p> - -<p>“That’s so,” said Jones, reflectively. “I suppose -we shall have to wait, but I don’t like to, and -neither would you if you knew what we’ve got -to go through with before the ice is all out of the -river. The other objection is, that we have no one -among us who can manage the yacht after we capture -it.”</p> - -<p>“What’s the reason we haven’t?”</p> - -<p>“Can you do it?”</p> - -<p>“I might. I have taken my own yacht in a -pleasure cruise around the great lakes from Oswego -to Duluth,” replied Lester, with unblushing<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_53" id="Page_53">[53]</a></span> -mendacity. “It was while I was in Michigan -that I killed some of those bears.”</p> - -<p>“I didn’t know you had ever killed any,” said -Jones, opening his eyes in amazement.</p> - -<p>“Oh, yes, I have. They are also abundant in -Mississippi, and one day I kept one of them from -chewing up Don Gordon.”</p> - -<p>“You don’t say so. You and Kenyon ought to -be chums; there he is,” said Jones, directing Lester’s -attention to a tall, lank young fellow who -looked a great deal more like a backwoodsman -than he did like a soldier. “He is from Michigan. -His father is a lumberman, and Sam had never -been out of the woods until a year ago, when he -was sent to this school to have a little polish put -on him. But he is one of the good little boys. He -says he came here to learn and has no time to fool -away. Shall I introduce you?”</p> - -<p>“By no means,” said Lester, hastily. He did -not think it would be quite safe. If his friend -Jones made him known to Kenyon as a renowned -bear-hunter, the latter might go at him in much -the same style that Huggins did, and then there -would be another exposure. He could not afford -to be caught in many more lies if he hoped to<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_54" id="Page_54">[54]</a></span> -make himself a leader among his companions. -“Since Kenyon is one of the good boys, I have no -desire to become acquainted with him,” he added. -“And, while I think of it, Jones, don’t repeat -what I said to you.”</p> - -<p>“About the bears? I won’t.”</p> - -<p>“Because, if you do, the fellows will say I am -trying to make myself out to be somebody, and -that wouldn’t be pleasant. After I have been -here awhile they will be able to form their own -opinion of me.”</p> - -<p>“They will do that just as soon as I tell them -about this plan of yours,” said Jones. “They’ll -say you are the boy they have been waiting for. -But you will take command of the yacht, after we -get her, will you not?”</p> - -<p>“Yes; I’ll do that.”</p> - -<p>“It is nothing more than fair that you should -have the post of honor, for you proposed it. I -will talk the matter up among the fellows before I -am an hour older.”</p> - -<p>“Just one word more,” said Lester, as Jones -was about to move off. “My room-mate is going -to desert and go to sea. If I will make you acquainted<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_55" id="Page_55">[55]</a></span> -with him, will you point out to him the -boys who will help him?”</p> - -<p>“I’ll be glad to do it,” said Jones, readily. -“But tell him to keep his own counsel until I can -have a talk with him. If he should happen to -drop a hint of what he intends to do in the presence -of some boys whose names I could mention, -they would carry it straight to the superintendent, -and then Huggins would find himself in a box.”</p> - -<p>“If he runs away, will they try to catch him?” -asked Lester.</p> - -<p>“To be sure they will. Squads of men will be -sent out in every direction, and some of them will -catch him too, unless he’s pretty smart. Tell him -particularly to look out for Captain Mack. He’s -the worst one in the lot. He can follow a trail -with all the certainty of a hound, and no deserter -except Don Gordon ever succeeded in giving him -the slip. Now you take a walk about the grounds, -and I will see what my friends think about this -yacht business. I will see you again in fifteen or -twenty minutes.”</p> - -<p>So saying Jones walked off to join his companions, -while Lester strolled slowly toward the gate.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_56" id="Page_56">[56]</a></span> -The latter was highly gratified by the promptness -with which his idea (Huggins’s idea, rather) had -been indorsed, but he wished he had not said so -much about his ability to manage the yacht. He -knew as much about sailing as he did about shooting -and fishing, that is, nothing at all. He had -never seen a pleasure-boat larger than Don Gordon’s. -If anybody had put a sail into a skiff and -told him it was a yacht, Lester would not have -known the difference.</p> - -<p>“It isn’t at all likely that my plan will amount -to anything,” said Lester, to himself. “I suggested -it just because I wanted the fellows to -know that there are those in the world who are -fully as brave as Don Gordon is supposed to be. -But if Jones and his crowd should take me at my -word, wouldn’t I be in a fix? What in the name -of wonder would I do?”</p> - -<p>It was evident that Lester was sadly mistaken -in the boys with whom he had to deal, and he -received another convincing proof of it before half -an hour had passed. By the time he had taken a -dozen turns up and down the long path, he saw -Jones and Enoch Williams hurrying to meet him. -The expression on their faces told him that they<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_57" id="Page_57">[57]</a></span> -had what they considered to be good news to communicate.</p> - -<p>“It’s all right, Brigham,” said Jones, in a gleeful -voice. “The boys are in for it, as I told you -they would be, and desired us to say to you that -you could not have hit upon anything that would -suit them better. I have been counting noses, and -have so far found fifteen good fellows upon whom -you can call for help any time you want it. They all -agreed with me when I suggested that you ought -to have the management of the whole affair.”</p> - -<p>“Where did you learn yachting, Brigham?” -asked Enoch.</p> - -<p>“On the lakes,” replied Lester.</p> - -<p>“Then you must be posted. I have heard that -they have some hard storms up there occasionally.”</p> - -<p>“You may safely say that. It is almost always -rough off Saginaw bay,” answered Lester; and -that was true, but he did not know it by experience. -He had heard somebody say so.</p> - -<p>“I am something of a yachtsman myself,” continued -Enoch. “I brought my little schooner -from Great South Bay, Long Island, around into -Chesapeake bay. Of course my father laid the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_58" id="Page_58">[58]</a></span> -course for me, and kept his weather eye open to -see that I didn’t make any mistakes; but I gave -the orders myself, and handled the vessel.”</p> - -<p>Lester, who had been on the point of entertaining -his two friends by telling of some thrilling adventures -that had befallen him during his imaginary -cruise from Oswego to Duluth, opened his -eyes and closed his lips when he heard this. He -saw that his chances for making a hero of himself -were growing smaller every hour. He was afraid -to talk about fishing in the presence of his room-mate; -he dared not speak of bears while he was -in the hearing of Sam Kenyon; and it would not -be at all safe for him to enlarge upon his knowledge -of seamanship, for here was a boy at his -elbow who had sailed his own yacht on deep -water. He was doomed to remain in the background, -and to be of no more consequence at the -academy than any other plebe. He could see that -very plainly.</p> - -<p>“There’s a splendid little boat down there near -the wharf,” continued Enoch, who was as deeply -in love with the water and everything connected -with it as Huggins was, although he had no desire -to go before the mast. “I bribed her keeper to<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_59" id="Page_59">[59]</a></span> -let me take a look at her the other day, and I tell -you her appointments are perfect. I should say -that her cabin and forecastle would accommodate -about twenty boys. But this is cutter-rigged, and -I don’t know anything about vessels of that sort; -do you?”</p> - -<p>“I’ve seen lots of them,” answered Lester.</p> - -<p>“I suppose you have; but did you ever handle -one?”</p> - -<p>Lester replied that his own boat was a cutter; -and when he said it, he had as clear an idea of -what he was talking about as he had of the Greek -language.</p> - -<p>“Then we are all right,” said Enoch. “They -look top-heavy to me, and I shouldn’t care to -trust myself out in one during a gale, unless there -was a sailor-man in charge of her. But if we get -her and find that she is too much for us, we can -send the yard down and make a sloop of her. It -wouldn’t pay to have her capsize with us.”</p> - -<p>Lester shuddered at the mere mention of such a -thing; and while Enoch continued to talk in this -way, filling his sentences full of nautical terms, that -were familiar enough to him and quite unintelligible -to Lester, the latter set his wits at work to<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_60" id="Page_60">[60]</a></span> -conjure up some excuse for backing out when the -critical time came. He was not at all fond of the -water, he was afraid to run the risk of capture and -punishment, and he sincerely hoped that something -would happen to prevent the proposed excursion.</p> - -<p>“Of course we can’t decide upon the details -until the time for action arrives,” said Jones, at -length. “But you have given us something to -think of and to look forward to, and we are indebted -to you for that. Now, let’s call upon your -room-mate and see what we can do to help him.”</p> - -<p>Lester led the way to his dormitory, and as he -opened the door rather suddenly, he and his companion -surprised Huggins in the act of making up -a small bundle of clothing. He was startled by -this abrupt entrance, and he must have been -frightened as well, for his face was as white as a -sheet.</p> - -<p>“It’s all right, Huggins,” said Lester, who at -once proceeded with the ceremony of introduction. -“You needn’t be afraid of these fellows.”</p> - -<p>“Of course not,” assented Jones. “We know -that you intend to take French leave, but it is all -right, and if there is any way in which we can<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_61" id="Page_61">[61]</a></span> -help you, we hope you will not hesitate to -say so.”</p> - -<p>Huggins did not seem to be fully reassured by -these words. The pallor did not leave his face, and -the visitors noticed that he trembled as he seated -himself on the edge of his bed.</p> - -<p>“I am obliged to you, but I don’t think I shall -need any assistance. This will see me through -the lines, will it not?” said Huggins, pulling from -his pocket a piece of paper on which was written -an order for all guards and patrols to pass private -Albert Huggins until half-past nine o’clock. The -printed heading showed that it was genuine.</p> - -<p>“Yes, that’s all you need to take you by the -guards,” said Jones. “And when half-past nine -comes, you will be a long way from here, I suppose.”</p> - -<p>“I shall be as far off as my feet can carry me -by that time,” replied Huggins. “But don’t tell -any one which way I have gone, will you?”</p> - -<p>“If you were better acquainted with us you -would know that your caution is entirely unnecessary,” -said Jones. “But you are not going to -walk two hundred miles, are you? Why don’t -you go by rail?”</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_62" id="Page_62">[62]</a></span></p> - -<p>“How can I when I have no money?”</p> - -<p>“Are you strapped?” exclaimed Enoch. “I -can spare you a dollar.”</p> - -<p>“I’ll give you another,” said Jones, looking at -Lester.</p> - -<p>“I’ll—I’ll give another,” said the latter; but -he uttered the words with the greatest reluctance. -He was always ready to spend money, but he -wanted to know, before he parted with it, that it -was going to bring him some pleasure in return. -As he spoke he made a step toward his trunk, but -Huggins earnestly, almost vehemently, motioned -him back.</p> - -<p>“No, no, boys,” said he, “I’ll not take a cent -from any of you. I am used to roughing it, and -I shall get through all right. All I ask of you is -to keep away so as not to direct attention to me. -How soon will my absence be discovered?”</p> - -<p>“That depends upon the floor-guard,” answered -Jones. “If he is one of those sneaking fellows -who is forever sticking his nose into business that -does not concern him, he will report your absence -to the officer of the guard when he makes his -rounds at half-past nine. If the floor-guard keeps -his mouth shut, no one will know you are gone<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_63" id="Page_63">[63]</a></span> -until the morning roll is called. In any event no -effort will be made to find you until to-morrow.”</p> - -<p>“And then I may expect to be pursued, I suppose?”</p> - -<p>“You may; and if you are not caught, it will -be a wonder. Every effort will be made to capture -you, for don’t you see that if you were permitted -to escape, other boys would be encouraged -to take French leave in the same way? Now, -listen to me, and I will give you some advice that -may be of use to you.”</p> - -<p>If his advice, which was given with the most -friendly intentions, had been favorably received, -Jones would have said a good deal more than he -did; but he very soon became aware that his -words of warning were falling on deaf ears. Huggins -was not listening to him. He was unaccountably -nervous and excited, and Jones, believing -that he would be better pleased by their absence -than he was with their company, gave the signal -for leaving by picking up his cap. He lingered -long enough to shake hands with Huggins and -wish him good luck in outwitting his pursuers and -finding a vessel, and then he went out, followed -by Enoch and Lester.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_64" id="Page_64">[64]</a></span></p> - -<p>“How strangely he acted!” said the latter.</p> - -<p>“Didn’t he?” exclaimed Enoch. “He seemed -frightened at our offer to give him a few dollars -to help him along. What was there wrong in -that? If I had been in his place I would not -have refused. Now he can take his choice between -begging his food and going hungry.”</p> - -<p>“I don’t envy him his long, cold walk,” observed -Jones. “And where is he going to find a bed -when night comes? The people in this country -don’t like tramps any too well, and the first time -he stops at a farm-house he may be interviewed by -a bull-dog.”</p> - -<p>Lester did not find an opportunity to talk with -his room-mate again that day. They marched -down to supper together, and as soon as the ranks -were broken, Huggins made all haste to put on his -hat and overcoat, secure his bundle and quit the -room. He would hardly wait to say good-by to -Lester, and didn’t want the latter to go with him -as far as the gate.</p> - -<p>“He’s well out of his troubles, and mine are -just about to begin,” thought Lester, as he stood -on the front steps and saw Huggins disappear in -the darkness. “I would run away myself if I<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_65" id="Page_65">[65]</a></span> -were not afraid of the consequences. It wouldn’t -be safe to try father’s patience too severely, for -there is no telling what he would do to me.”</p> - -<p>Lester strolled about until the bugle sounded -“to quarters,” and then he went up to his room, -where he passed a very lonely evening. No one -dared to come near him, and if he had attempted -to leave his room, he would have been ordered back -by the floor-guard. He knew he ought to study, -but still he would not do it. It would be time -enough, he thought, to take up his books, when -he could see no way to get out of it.</p> - -<p>Lester went to bed long before taps, and slept -soundly until he was aroused by the report of the -morning gun, and the noise of the fifes and -drums in the drill-room. Having been told that -he would have just six minutes in which to dress, -he got into his clothes without loss of time, and -fell into the ranks just as the last strains of the -morning call died away.</p> - -<hr /> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_66" id="Page_66">[66]</a></span></p> - -<h2 id="CHAPTER_IV">CHAPTER IV.<br /> -<span class="smaller">FLIGHT AND PURSUIT.</span></h2> - -<p>“Fourth company. All present or accounted -for with the exception of Private Albert -Huggins,” said Bert Gordon, as he faced about -and raised his hand to his cap.</p> - -<p>“Where is Private Huggins?” demanded Captain -Clayton.</p> - -<p>“I don’t know, sir. He had a pass last night, -and he seems to have abused it. At any rate he -is not in the ranks to answer to his name.”</p> - -<p>Captain Clayton reported to the adjutant, who -in turn reported to the officer of the day, and then -the ranks were broken, and the young soldiers hurried -to their dormitories to wash their hands and -faces, comb their hair, and get ready for morning -inspection. While Bert and his room-mate were -thus engaged, an orderly opened the door long -enough to say that Sergeant Gordon was wanted in -the superintendent’s office.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_67" id="Page_67">[67]</a></span></p> - -<p>“Hallo!” exclaimed Sergeant Elmer—that was -the name and rank of Bert’s room-mate—“you -are going out after Huggins, most likely. If you -have the making up of the detail don’t forget me.”</p> - -<p>Bert said he wouldn’t, and hastened out to obey -the summons. As he was passing along the hall -he was suddenly confronted by Lester Brigham, -who jerked open the door of his room and shouted -“Police! Police!” at the top of his voice.</p> - -<p>“What’s the matter with you?” exclaimed -Bert, wondering if Lester had taken leave of his -senses.</p> - -<p>“I’ve been robbed!” cried Lester, striding up -and down the floor, in spite of all Bert could do to -quiet him. “That villain Huggins broke open my -trunk and took a clean hundred dollars in money -out of it.”</p> - -<p>Lester’s wild cries had alarmed everybody on -that floor, and the hall was rapidly filling with -students who ran out of their rooms to see what -was the matter.</p> - -<p>“Go back, boys,” commanded Bert. “You -have not a moment to waste. If your rooms are -not ready for inspection you will be reported and -punished for it. Go back, every one of you.”</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_68" id="Page_68">[68]</a></span></p> - -<p>He emphasized this order by pulling out his -note-book and holding his pencil in readiness to -write down the name of every student who did not -yield prompt obedience. The boys scattered in -every direction, and when the hall was cleared, -Bert seized Lester by the arm and pulled him into -his room.</p> - -<p>“No yelling now,” said he sternly.</p> - -<p>“Must I stand by and let somebody rob -me without saying a word?” vociferated Lester.</p> - -<p>“By no means; but you can act like a sane boy -and report the matter in a quiet way, can’t you? -Now explain, and be quick about it, for the superintendent -wants to see me.”</p> - -<p>“Why, Huggins has run away—he intended to -do it when he got that pass last night—and he has -taken every dollar I had in the world to help himself -along. Just look here,” said Lester, picking -up the hasp of his trunk which had been broken in -two in the middle. “Huggins did that yesterday, -and I never knew it until a few minutes ago. I -went to my trunk to get out a clean collar, and -then I found that the hasp was broken, and that -my clothes were tumbled about in the greatest<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_69" id="Page_69">[69]</a></span> -confusion. I looked for my money the first thing, -but it was gone.”</p> - -<p>“Don’t you know that it is against the rules -for a student to have more than five dollars in his -possession at one time?” asked Bert. “If you -had lived up to the law and given your money into -the superintendent’s keeping, you would not have -lost it.”</p> - -<p>“What do I care for the law?” snarled -Lester.</p> - -<p>“You ought to care for it. If you didn’t intend -to obey it, you had no business to sign the muster-roll.”</p> - -<p>“Well, who’s going to get my hundred dollars -back for me? That’s what I want to know,” -cried Lester, who showed signs of going off into -another flurry.</p> - -<p>“I don’t know that any one can get it back for -you,” said Bert quietly. “It is possible that you -may never see it again.”</p> - -<p>“Then I’ll see some more just like it, you may -depend upon that,” said Lester, walking nervously -up and down the floor and shaking his fists in the -air. “I was robbed in the superintendent’s house, -and he is bound to make my loss good.”</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_70" id="Page_70">[70]</a></span></p> - -<p>“There’s where you are mistaken. You took -your own risk by disobeying the rules——”</p> - -<p>“The money was mine and the superintendent -had no more right to touch it than you had,” -interrupted Lester. “My father gave it to me -with his own hands, because he wanted I should -have a fund by me that I could draw on without -asking anybody’s permission.”</p> - -<p>“Well, you see what you made by it, don’t -you? How do you know that Huggins has run -away?”</p> - -<p>“He told me he was going to. I offered to give -him a dollar to help him along, and so did Jones -and Williams.”</p> - -<p>“You ought not to have done that.”</p> - -<p>“I don’t care; I did it, and this is the way he -repaid me. I’ll bet he had my money in his -pocket when he refused my offer. I thought he -acted queer, and so did the other boys.”</p> - -<p>“Do you know which way he intended to go?”</p> - -<p>“He said he was going to draw a bee-line for -Oxford, and ship on the first vessel he could find -that would take him to sea. Are you going after -him?” inquired Lester, as Bert turned toward -the door. “Look here: if you will follow him<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_71" id="Page_71">[71]</a></span> -up and get my money back for me, I’ll—I’ll lend -you five dollars of it, if you want it.”</p> - -<p>Lester was about to say that he would <i>give</i> Bert -that amount, but he caught his breath in time, -and saved five dollars by it. He knew very well -that Bert would never be obliged to ask him for -money.</p> - -<p>The sergeant hurried down to the superintendent’s -office, where he found the officer of the day, -who had just been making his report.</p> - -<p>“I understand that Private Huggins abused my -confidence, and that he stayed out all night on the -pass I gave him yesterday,” said the superintendent, -after returning Bert’s salute. “Perhaps -you had better take a corporal with you, and look -around and see if you can find any traces of him.”</p> - -<p>Bert was delighted. Here was an opportunity -for him to win a reputation.</p> - -<p>“Shall I go to Oxford, sir?” said he.</p> - -<p>“To Oxford?” repeated the superintendent, -while the officer of the day looked surprised.</p> - -<p>“Yes, sir. There’s where he has gone.”</p> - -<p>“How do you know?”</p> - -<p>“His room-mate told me so. He has run away -intending to go to sea.”</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_72" id="Page_72">[72]</a></span></p> - -<p>“Well, well! It is more serious than I thought,” -said the superintendent, while an expression of -annoyance and vexation settled on his face. “He -must be brought back. Was he going to walk all -that distance or steal a ride on the cars? He has -no money, and his father took pains to tell me -that none would be allowed him.”</p> - -<p>“He has plenty of it, sir,” replied Bert. “He -broke into Private Brigham’s trunk and took a -hundred dollars from it.”</p> - -<p>The superintendent could hardly believe that he -had heard aright.</p> - -<p>“That is the most disgraceful thing that ever -happened in this school,” said he, as soon as he -could speak. “I didn’t suppose there was a boy -here who could be guilty of an act of that kind. -Sergeant,” he added, looking at his watch, -“you have just fifteen minutes in which to -reach the depot and ascertain whether or not -Huggins took the eight o’clock train for Oxford -last night. Learn all you can, and go with the -squad which I shall at once send in pursuit of -him.”</p> - -<p>“Very good, sir,” replied Bert.</p> - -<p>“Can I go?” asked Sergeant Elmer, as Bert<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_73" id="Page_73">[73]</a></span> -ran into his room and snatched his overcoat and -cap from their hooks.</p> - -<p>“I hope so, but I am afraid not. The superintendent -will make up the detail himself or appoint -some shoulder-strap to do it, and it isn’t likely -that he will take two sergeants from the same -company. You will have to act in my place while -I am gone.”</p> - -<p>“Well, good-by and good luck to you,” said -the disappointed Elmer.</p> - -<p>Bert hastened down the stairs and out of the -building, and at the gate he found the officer of -the day who had come there to pass him by the -sentry. As soon as he had closed the gate behind -him, he broke into a run, and in a few minutes -more he was walking back and forth in front of -the ticket-office, conversing with a quiet looking -man who was to be found there whenever a train -passed the depot. He was a detective.</p> - -<p>“Good morning, Mr. Shepard,” said Bert. -“Were you on duty when No. 6 went down last -night?”</p> - -<p>No. 6 was the first southward bound train that -passed through Bridgeport after Huggins left the -academy grounds.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_74" id="Page_74">[74]</a></span></p> - -<p>“I was,” answered the detective. “Was that -fellow I came pretty near running in last night on -general principles one of your boys?”</p> - -<p>“I can’t tell until you describe him,” said Bert.</p> - -<p>“There was nothing wrong about his appearance, -but I didn’t like the way he acted,” observed -the detective. “He looked as though he had -been up to something. He didn’t buy a ticket, -and he took pains to board the train from the opposite -side. He wore a dark-blue overcoat, Arctic -shoes, seal-skin cap, gloves and muffler, and had -something on his upper lip that looked like a streak -of free-soil, but which, perhaps, on closer examination -might have proved to be a mustache.”</p> - -<p>“That’s the fellow,” said Bert. “Did he go toward -Oxford?”</p> - -<p>“He did. Do you want him? What has he -been doing?”</p> - -<p>“I do want him, for he is a deserter,” replied -Bert. He said nothing about the crime of which -Huggins was guilty. The superintendent had not -told him to keep silent in regard to it, but he knew -he was expected to do it all the same.</p> - -<p>“Then I am glad I didn’t run him in,” said Mr. -Shepard. “You boys always see plenty of fun<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_75" id="Page_75">[75]</a></span> -when you are out after deserters. But you can’t -take that big fellow alone. He’ll pick you up and -chuck you head first into a snow-drift.”</p> - -<p>“There are one or two fellows in that squad whom -he can’t chuck into a snow-drift,” said Bert, pointing -with his thumb over his shoulder toward the door.</p> - -<p>The detective looked, and saw a party of students -coming into the depot at double time. They -were led by Captain (formerly Corporal) Mack, -who, having been permitted to choose his own -men, had detailed Curtis, Egan, Hopkins, and -Don Gordon to form his squad. A long way behind -them came the old German professor, Mr. -Odenheimer, who was very red in the face and -puffing and blowing like a porpoise. The fleet-footed -boys had led him a lively race, and they -meant to do it, too. They didn’t want him along, -for his presence was calculated to rob them of -much of the pleasure they would otherwise have -enjoyed. He was jolly and good-natured when off -duty, but still pompous and rather overbearing, -and if Huggins were captured and Lester Brigham’s -money returned to him, the honor of the -achievement would fall to him, and not to Captain -Mack and his men.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_76" id="Page_76">[76]</a></span></p> - -<p>“Young sheltemans,” panted the professor, -stopping in front of the squad which Captain -Mack had halted and brought to a front preparatory -to breaking ranks,“I use to could go double -quick so good like de pest of you ven I vas in -mine good Brussia fighting mit unser Fritz; but -I peen not a good boy for running not now any -more. Vere is Sergeant Gordon?”</p> - -<p>“Here, sir,” replied Bert, stepping up and saluting.</p> - -<p>“Vell, vere ish dat young rascals—vat you call -him—Hukkins?”</p> - -<p>“He has gone to Oxford, sir,” said Bert, who -then went on to repeat the substance of his conversation -with the detective. Now and then his -eyes wandered toward the boys in the ranks, who -came so near making him laugh in the professor’s -face that he was obliged to turn his back toward -them. They were indulging in all sorts of pranks -calculated to show their utter disapproval of the -whole proceeding. Don was humped up like old -Jordan, the negro he had so often personated; -Hopkins was mimicking the professor; Egan, who -had assumed a very wise expression of countenance, -was checking off Bert’s remarks on his fingers;<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_77" id="Page_77">[77]</a></span> -Curtis was watching for a chance to snatch -an apple from the stand behind him; while Captain -Mack held himself in readiness to drop a piece -of ice down his back the very moment he attempted -it. These boys all liked the professor in spite -of his pomposity and his constant allusions to his -military record, but they would have been much -better satisfied if he had remained at the academy. -If they had taken time to consider the matter, -they would have seen very clearly that the superintendent -had acted for the best, and that he -would not have showed any degree of prudence if -he had left them to pursue and capture the deserter -alone and unaided. There was no play -about this, and besides Huggins was something -worse than a deserter.</p> - -<p>Just then the whistle of an approaching train -was heard; whereupon Captain Mack was ordered -to break ranks and procure tickets for himself and -his party, Bert included. This done they boarded -the cars, and in a few minutes more were speeding -away toward Oxford.</p> - -<p>“I don’t at all like this way of doing business,” -observed Captain Mack, who occupied a seat with -Bert. “I am not personally acquainted with Huggins,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_78" id="Page_78">[78]</a></span> -but if there is any faith to be put in his -appearance, he is nobody’s fool. He’ll not go to -Oxford after stealing that money. If he went this -way, he will stop off at some little station, buy -another suit of clothes and keep dark until he -thinks the matter has had time to blow over.”</p> - -<p>“Perhaps you had better say as much to the -professor,” suggested Bert.</p> - -<p>“Not I!” replied Captain Mack, with a laugh -and a knowing shake of his head. “I have no -desire to give him a chance to turn his battery of -broken English loose on me. He has done it too -many times already. While I am very anxious that -Huggins should be caught and the money recovered, -I can see as much fun in riding about the -country as I can in drilling; and if the professor -wants to spend a week or two on a wild-goose -chase, it is nothing to me. I put in some good -solid time with my books last vacation, and I am -three months ahead of my class.”</p> - -<p>The captain was right when he said that Huggins -did not look like anybody’s fool, and he wasn’t, -either. When he first made up his mind to desert -the academy, he laid his plans just as he told them -to Lester Brigham; but one morning an incident<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_79" id="Page_79">[79]</a></span> -occurred that caused him to make a slight change -in them. He saw Lester go to his trunk and take a -five-dollar bill from a well-filled pocket-book which -he kept hidden under his clothing. The sight of -it suggested an idea to Huggins—one that frightened -him at first, but after he had pondered upon -it for a while and dreamed about it a few times, it -became familiar to him, and he ceased to look -upon it as a crime.</p> - -<p>“It is easier to ride than it is to walk,” he often -said to himself. “Lester doesn’t need the money, -and I do, for I don’t know what I shall have to go -through with before I can find a vessel. Oxford is -a small place, and I may have to stay there a week -or two before I can secure a berth, and how could -I live all that time without money? I am not -going to steal it—I shall borrow it, for, of course, -my father will refund every cent of it. I know he -will not like to do it, but he ought to have let me -go to sea when I asked him.”</p> - -<p>After reasoning with himself in this way a few -times, Huggins finally mustered up courage enough -to make himself the possessor of the coveted -pocket-book. Unfortunately, opportunities were -not wanting. Lester was hardly ever in his room<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_80" id="Page_80">[80]</a></span> -during the day-time, and it was an easy matter for -Huggins to lock the door and break open the trunk -with the aid of a spike he had picked up in the -carpenter-shop. Then he bundled up some of his -clothes, intending to ask for a pass and leave the -academy at once. He got the pass, as we know, -but found, to his great surprise and alarm, that -he could not use it until after supper. It was no -wonder that he showed nervousness and anxiety -when Jones and the rest offered to lend him money -to help him along. If he had not succeeded in -satisfying them that he would not accept assistance -from them, and Lester had gone to his trunk -after the dollar, there would have been trouble -directly. He escaped this danger, however, and -as soon as he could use his pass, he made all haste -to get out of Bridgeport.</p> - -<p>“But I’ll not go to Oxford yet,” said he, when -he found himself safe on board the cars. “The -fellows said they wouldn’t tell where I intended to -go, but when they made that promise they didn’t -know that I had borrowed Brigham’s money.”</p> - -<p>Just then the conductor tapped him on the -shoulder and held out his hand for the boy’s -ticket.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_81" id="Page_81">[81]</a></span></p> - -<p>“What is the fare to the next station?” asked -the latter.</p> - -<p>“One twenty-five,” was the answer.</p> - -<p>Huggins produced the money, and then buttoned -his overcoat, settled back into an easy position on -his seat, and tried to make up his mind what he -should do next. Before he had come to any decision -on this point, the whistle blew again, and the train -came to a stop; whereupon Huggins picked up his -bundle, which he had carried under his coat when -he deserted the academy, and left the car. The few -men he saw upon the platform were running about -as if they were very busy—all except one, who -strolled around with his hands in his pockets. -Huggins drew back out of the glare of the lamps -that were shining from the windows of the depot, -to wait for an opportunity to speak to him. He -had got off at a tank-station, but he did not find -it out until it was too late to go farther.</p> - -<p>Having taken on a fresh supply of coal and -water the engine moved off, dragging its long train -of sleeping-cars behind it, the station agent went -into his office, closing the door behind him, and -Huggins and the unemployed stranger were left -alone on the platform.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_82" id="Page_82">[82]</a></span></p> - -<p>“Good evening to you, pard,” said the latter, -walking up to the boy’s place of concealment.</p> - -<p>“How are you?” replied Huggins, who did not -like the familiar tone in which he had been addressed. -“Can you tell me which way to go to -find a hotel?”</p> - -<p>“Hotel!” repeated the stranger. “There’s -none around here.”</p> - -<p>Huggins started and looked about him. Then -he saw that he had got off in the woods, and that -there were only one or two small buildings within -the range of his vision.</p> - -<p>“Is there no house in the neighborhood at -which I can obtain a night’s lodging?” asked -Huggins, growing alarmed.</p> - -<p>“I don’t suppose there is,” was the encouraging -reply.</p> - -<p>“Where does the station-agent sleep?”</p> - -<p>“In his office.”</p> - -<p>“How far is your house from here?”</p> - -<p>“Well, I can’t say just how many miles it is.”</p> - -<p>“What is your business?” asked Huggins, growing -suspicious of the stranger.</p> - -<p>“I haven’t any just now. I am a minister’s -son, traveling for my health. I’ll tell you what<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_83" id="Page_83">[83]</a></span> -we might do, pard: if you are a good talker -you might coax the agent to let us spend the -night in the waiting-room. There’s a good fire -there——”</p> - -<p>Huggins waited to hear no more. The man -was a professional tramp, there was no doubt -about that, and the idea of passing the night in -the same room with him was not to be entertained -for a moment. He started for the office to have a -talk with the agent, the tramp keeping close at -his heels.</p> - -<p>“I made a mistake in getting off here,” said -Huggins to the agent, “and I would be greatly -obliged if you will direct me to some house where -I can put up until morning.”</p> - -<p>“I should be glad to do it,” was the answer, -“but there is no one right around the depot who -can accommodate you. There is a boarding-house -for the mill-hands about a mile from here, but I -couldn’t direct you to it so that you could find it. -The road runs through the woods, and you might -miss it and get lost.”</p> - -<p>“Why, what in the world am I to do?” asked -Huggins, who, having never been thrown upon his -own resources before, was as helpless as a child<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_84" id="Page_84">[84]</a></span> -would have been in the same situation. “Must I -stay out doors all night?”</p> - -<p>“Not necessarily. Where did you come from?”</p> - -<p>“I came from Bridgeport and paid a dollar and -twenty-five cents to go from there to the next -station.”</p> - -<p>“Well, the next station is Carbondale, which is -three miles from here. There is where you ought -to have stopped.”</p> - -<p>“Could I hire a horse and cutter to take me -there?”</p> - -<p>“I don’t think you could.”</p> - -<p>“I am able and willing to pay liberally -for it.”</p> - -<p>“Oh, you would have to go out to the mills to -find a horse and a man to drive it for you, and -you might as well walk to Carbondale at once as -to do that.”</p> - -<p>“When is the next train due?”</p> - -<p>“The next train won’t help you any, for it is -the lightning express, and she doesn’t stop here. -You can’t go on the next one either, for she is the -fast freight, and doesn’t carry passengers. You’ll -have to wait for the accommodation which goes -through here at six fourteen in the morning.”</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_85" id="Page_85">[85]</a></span></p> - -<p>“Then I suppose I shall have to pass the night -in your waiting-room,” said Huggins, who was -fairly at his wits’ end.</p> - -<p>“Well, I suppose you won’t,” said the agent in -emphatic tones. “I shall have to ask you to go -out now, for I am going to lock up.”</p> - -<p>“Don’t you leave a room open for the accommodation -of passengers?” exclaimed Huggins, -wondering what would become of him if the agent -turned him out in the snow to pass the night as -best he could, while the thermometer was only a -degree or two above zero. If it had been summer -he could have bunked under a tree; but as it was—the -runaway shuddered when he thought of the -long, cold hours that must be passed in some way -before he would see the sun rise again. Here the -tramp, who stood holding his hands over the -stove, put in a word to help Huggins; but he only -made a bad matter worse. The heart of the station -agent was not likely to be moved to pity by -any such advocate as he was. He carried a very -hard-looking face, he was rough and unkempt, -and his whole appearance was against him. Besides, -he did not speak in a way calculated to -carry his point.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_86" id="Page_86">[86]</a></span></p> - -<p>“I don’t see what harm it will do for us to sit -by your fire,” said he, in angry tones.</p> - -<p>“I don’t care whether you see any harm in it -or not,” said the agent, taking a bunch of keys -from his pocket. “I know what my orders are, -and I intend to obey them. Come now, move; -both of you.”</p> - -<p>“I wish you would tell me what to do,” said -Huggins, as he turned toward the door. “I am -not in this man’s company, and neither am I -interceding for him. I am speaking for myself -alone.”</p> - -<p>“I can’t help that. If I let you in I must let -him in too; but my orders are to turn everybody -out when I lock up. The best thing you can do -is to strike out for Carbondale at your best pace. -The night is clear, and you can’t miss the way if -you follow the railroad. There are no bridges or -trestle-works for you to cross, and no cattle-guards -to fall into. If you make haste, you can get there -before the hotels shut up. Go on, now!”</p> - -<p>The agent arose from his chair as he said this, -and Huggins and the tramp opened the door and -went out into the cold.</p> - -<hr /> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_87" id="Page_87">[87]</a></span></p> - -<h2 id="CHAPTER_V">CHAPTER V.<br /> -<span class="smaller">DON’S ENCOUNTER WITH THE TRAMP.</span></h2> - -<p>“You’re not in my company, ain’t you? You -didn’t speak for me but for yourself, did -you? You think you’re too fine a gentleman to be -seen loafing about with such a fellow as I am, -don’t you?” growled the tramp, when he and -Huggins were alone on the platform. “I’ve the -best notion in the world to make you pay for them -words, and I will, too, if I find you hanging -about here after the agent has gone to bed.”</p> - -<p>There was no doubt that the man was in earnest -when he said this. The light from the agent’s window -shone full upon his face and the runaway -could see that there was an evil look in it.</p> - -<p>“If you had stood by me I would have given -you a good place to sleep, for I know where there -is a nice warm hay-mow with plenty of blankets -and buffalo robes to put over you,” continued the -tramp. “I slept there last night, and I’m going<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_88" id="Page_88">[88]</a></span> -there now, after I see you start for Carbondale. -Go on, be off with you!”</p> - -<p>“I’m not going there,” replied Huggins, who -was so badly frightened by the man’s vehemence -that he was afraid to show any of the indignation -he felt at being ordered about in this unceremonious -way. “I shall stay right here on this platform -until daylight.”</p> - -<p>“No, you won’t. I’m not going to have you -staying around here watching for a chance to follow -me to my warm bed. You went back on me, -and now you can look out for yourself.”</p> - -<p>“I have no intention of following you,” said -Huggins.</p> - -<p>“I’ll believe that when I see you dig out for -Carbondale. Go on, I say, or I’ll help you!”</p> - -<p>The man took his hands out of his pockets, and -Huggins believing that he was about to put his -threat into execution, jumped off the platform, -and started up the railroad track at a rapid pace, -the tramp standing in the full glare of the light -from the agent’s window, and keeping a close -watch over his movements.</p> - -<p>“That was a pretty good idea,” said he to himself, -as he saw the boy’s figure growing dim in the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_89" id="Page_89">[89]</a></span> -distance. “He said he was able and willing to -pay liberal for somebody to take him to Carbondale, -and that proves that he’s got money. I’ll -just look into that matter when he gets a little -farther away. I’ll take that fine cap, muffler, -and them gloves of his’n, too. They’ll keep me -warm while I have ’em, and I can trade ’em -off or sell ’em before the police can get wind of -me.”</p> - -<p>So saying the man stepped down from the platform -and moved leisurely up the track in the direction -in which Huggins had disappeared, shuffling -along in a supremely lazy and disjointed way, -that no one ever saw imitated by anybody except -a professional tramp.</p> - -<p>“The insolent fellow!” thought Huggins, looking -back now and then to make sure that the man -was still standing on the platform. “What right -had he to tell me to go on to Carbondale if I -wanted to stay at the depot until morning? He -must think I am hard up for a night’s rest if he -imagines that I would be willing to sleep in a hay-mow. -I’ll have a good bed while I am about it, -for now that I am on the road to Carbondale, I -shall keep moving until I get there. How lonely<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_90" id="Page_90">[90]</a></span> -and still it is out here, and how gloomy the woods -look! I wish I had somebody to talk to.”</p> - -<p>When the darkness had shut the station-house, -the tank, the upright, motionless figure of the -tramp and every thing else except the light in -the agent’s window out from his view, Huggins -broke into a run, and flew along the track at the -top of his speed. He kept up the pace as long -as he could stand it, and then settled down into a -rapid trot which carried him easily over one of the -three miles he had to cover before he could find a -roof to shelter him and a bed to sleep in.</p> - -<p>“I think I am all right now,” soliloquized the -runaway, slackening his pace to a walk and unbuttoning -his heavy muffler, which felt too warm -about his neck. “I tell you I am glad to see the -last of that tramp, for I didn’t at all like the looks -of him. I believe he’d just as soon——”</p> - -<p>The runaway’s heart seemed to stop beating. He -faced quickly about, and there was the tramp -whom he hoped he had seen for the last time, -close behind him. He had easily kept pace with -the boy, stepping so exactly in time with him that -the sound of his feet upon the frosty snow had -not betrayed his presence. He held some object<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_91" id="Page_91">[91]</a></span> -in his hand which he flourished over his head, and -Huggins, believing it to be a pistol, stood trembling -in his tracks and waited for him to come up. -The object was not a pistol, but it was a murderous -looking knife, which made the boy shudder all -over as he looked at it.</p> - -<p>“I’ve concluded to make you pay for going back -on me so fair and square while you were talking to -the agent,” were the tramp’s next words. “Put -your hands above your head while I go through -your pockets and see what you’ve got in ’em.”</p> - -<p>“Do you want my money?” asked Huggins, -who could hardly make himself understood, so -frightened was he. “If you do I will give it to -you, but don’t hurt me.”</p> - -<p>He carried his money in two places. The greater -portion of it was in Lester Brigham’s pocket-book; -and in one of his vest pockets he had the small -amount of change the conductor gave him when -he paid his fare. As it was all in small bills and -made a roll of respectable size, he hoped he could -satisfy the robber by handing it over, but he was -doomed to be disappointed. When he made a -move as if he were about to unbutton his overcoat, -the man raised his knife threateningly.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_92" id="Page_92">[92]</a></span></p> - -<p>“None o’ that!” said he, in savage tones. -“You can’t draw a barker on me while I am -within reach of you, and it will be worse for you -if you try it. Put your hands above your head, -and be quick about it.”</p> - -<p>Huggins was afraid to refuse or to utter a word of -remonstrance. He raised his hands in the air, and -the robber, after dropping the knife into his coat-pocket, -so that it could be readily seized if circumstances -should seem to require it, proceeded -to “go through” him in the most business-like -way. He turned all the boy’s pockets inside out, -and when he had completed his investigations, -Huggins’s money was all gone and he stood shivering -in the tramp’s hat and thread-bare coat, while the -tramp himself looked like another person. He had -appropriated the runaway’s cap, coats, muffler and -gloves, and would have taken his boots and Arctics -too, if they had been big enough for him.</p> - -<p>“Now, then,” said he, as he buttoned the -muffler about his neck and drew on the gloves, “I -believe I am done with you, and you can dig out.”</p> - -<p>“But where can I go?” cried Huggins. “I -have no money to pay for a night’s lodging, and I -am almost a thousand miles from home.”</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_93" id="Page_93">[93]</a></span></p> - -<p>“You are better off than I am, for I have no -home at all,” answered the tramp. “It won’t hurt -you to sleep out of doors; I’ve done it many a time. -Now skip, for I have wasted words enough with -you. Not that way,” he added, as Huggins reluctantly -turned his face toward Carbondale. “Go -back to the station. Step lively now, for if you -don’t, I shall be after you.”</p> - -<p>The boy dared not wait for the command to be -repeated, believing, as he did, that it would be -emphasized by a prod with the knife which the -robber still held in his hand. Scarcely realizing -what he was doing he hurried along the track toward -the station, and when he ventured to look -behind him, the tramp was nowhere in sight.</p> - -<p>“Now what am I going to do?” said Huggins -to himself; and it was a question he pondered all -the way to the station, and which he could not -answer even when daylight came. The station-agent -was just locking up as he stepped upon the -platform, and he resolved to make another effort -to obtain a seat by one of his fires.</p> - -<p>“Won’t you please let me sit in the waiting-room -until morning?” said the boy, in a pleading voice.</p> - -<p>“No, <i>no</i>!” was the angry response. “Clear<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_94" id="Page_94">[94]</a></span> -out! You are the third one who has asked me -that question to-night. I don’t keep a hotel. If -I did, I’d have a sign out.”</p> - -<p>“That man who followed me into your office a -little while ago, has robbed me,” gasped Huggins, -choking back a sob.</p> - -<p>“Well, I should say he had!” exclaimed the -agent, after he had taken a sharp look at Huggins. -“I thought I knew your voice, but I didn’t -recognize you in those clothes. If I had had the -chance I should have told you to shake him as -soon as possible. He has been hanging around -here all day, and I was afraid he would be up to -something before he left. Why didn’t you call -for help?”</p> - -<p>“He was armed and savage and I was afraid to -say a word,” replied the runaway. “Besides it -would have done no good, for I was a long distance -up the track when he overtook me.”</p> - -<p>“Did he take all your money?”</p> - -<p>“Every red cent. He didn’t even leave me my -pocket-knife or note-book.”</p> - -<p>“Your case is a hard one, that’s a fact, and I -will do what I can for you,” said the agent. -“You may sit in this room to-night. That fellow<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_95" id="Page_95">[95]</a></span> -will probably go to Oxford, and if I can get the -operator there to respond to my call, I’ll tell him -to put the police on the look-out. To-morrow I -will send an alarm all along the line.”</p> - -<p>“I am much obliged to you,” said Huggins, -gratefully. “I may some day be able to repay -you for your kindness.”</p> - -<p>“That’s all right. Good night.”</p> - -<p>The agent went out, and the runaway drew one -of the chairs up in front of the stove and sat down -in it. He was provided for for the night, but -what should he do when morning came? Should -he stay there at the tank-station and look for -work, or would it be better for him to start for -Oxford on foot, begging his meals as he went like -any other tramp? That was what he intended -to do when he first made up his mind to desert -the academy, and he could not see that there was -any other course open to him now. While he was -thinking about it, he fell asleep. He did not -know when the lightning express and the fast -freight went through, but he heard the whistle of -the morning train, and hurried to the door to see -the accommodation approaching. He saw something -else, too—something that put life and energy<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_96" id="Page_96">[96]</a></span> -into him, and sent him around the corner of -the building out of sight.</p> - -<p>“They are after me already,” said he, as he -hurried along a road that led from the station into -the woods. “I saw their uniform caps sticking -out of the window.”</p> - -<p>If he had waited a few minutes longer he would -have seen Captain Mack and Sergeant Gordon -step upon the platform and run toward the agent’s -office.</p> - -<p>“Did you say he was a tall young fellow with a -little mustache, and that he wore a dark-blue -overcoat, Arctic shoes and seal-skin furs? He’s -the very chap. Come with me. He was fast -asleep in a chair in the waiting-room not more -than half an hour ago. There is his chair,” said -the agent, as he opened the door, “but he has -skipped out, as sure as the world.”</p> - -<p>“Have you any idea where he is?” asked the -young captain.</p> - -<p>“I think he must have gone to Carbondale,” -replied the agent. “But see here, boys: you -needn’t waste any time in looking for a fellow in -a blue overcoat and seal-skin furs, for the police -will take care of him. You want to keep your<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_97" id="Page_97">[97]</a></span> -eyes open for a chap in a patched and torn broad-cloth -coat and a slouch hat without any brim to -it. You see——”</p> - -<p>Here the agent went on to tell how Huggins -had been robbed and compelled to exchange -clothes with the tramp. The boys listened attentively, -and when the agent finished his story, they -hastened back to the train to report to the professor. -Captain Mack did the talking, and wound -up with the request that he might be permitted -to take a couple of men and go up the wagon-road -toward Carbondale to see if Huggins had -gone that way. To his great surprise as well as -delight the request was granted, the professor adding -that he and the rest of the squad would keep -on with the train until he thought they had got -ahead of the runaway, and then they would get -off and come back on foot.</p> - -<p>“If you seen any dings of Hukkins or de veller -vot robbed him, you will gatch all two of dem -and rebort to me py delegraph,” said the professor, -in concluding his instructions. “I shall pe -somveres along de road, and as lightning can -dravel so much fasder dan shteam, you can easy -gatch me.”</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_98" id="Page_98">[98]</a></span></p> - -<p>“Very good, sir. I wish I could take you with -me, Bert,” he added, in a whisper, “for I am -bound to carry off the honors of this scout; but -you will have to stay and act as lackey to the -professor. Gordon, you and Egan come with -me.”</p> - -<p>The boys obeyed with alacrity, smiling and -kissing their hands to Hopkins and Curtis, who -frowned fiercely and shook their fists at them in -return. They stood upon the platform until the -train moved off, and then Captain Mack said:</p> - -<p>“Business before pleasure, boys. I move that -we go somewhere and get a good, old-fashioned -country breakfast. I speak for a big bowl of -bread and milk.”</p> - -<p>The others were only too glad to fall in with -this proposition. Having left the academy almost -as soon as they got up, they began to feel the -cravings of hunger, and their appetites were -sharpened by the mere mention of bread and milk. -They held a short consultation with the station-agent, -and then started leisurely down the wagon -road in the direction of Carbondale, stopping at -every house along the route with the intention of -asking for a bowl of bread and milk, but always,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_99" id="Page_99">[99]</a></span> -for some reason or other, coming away without -doing it. They were not inclined to be fastidious. -When it came to the pinch they could eat pancakes -or bacon that were seasoned with nothing -but ashes and cinders with as much zest as anybody; -but they had become so accustomed to the -strict and rigidly enforced rules regarding personal -cleanliness, that any violation of these rules -shocked them. To quote from Don Gordon, who -generally expressed his sentiments in the plainest -possible language, they had no use for children -whose faces and hands were covered with molasses, -nor could they see anything to admire in an -unkempt woman who went about her cooking with -a well-blackened clay-pipe in her mouth.</p> - -<p>“There’s the place we are looking for,” said -Egan, directing his companions’ attention to a -neat little farm-house a short distance in advance -of them. “If we can’t find a breakfast there, -we’ll not find it this side of——”</p> - -<p>At that instant the front door of the house was -suddenly opened, and a lady appeared upon the -threshold. She looked anxiously up and down -the road, and, seeing the students approaching, -beckoned to them with frantic eagerness, at the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_100" id="Page_100">[100]</a></span> -same time calling out, “Help! help!” at the -top of her voice.</p> - -<p>“Come on, boys,” cried Captain Mack. “Her -house is on fire.”</p> - -<p>The officer and his men broke into a run, discarding -their heavy overcoats as they went, but -before they had made many steps they discovered -that it was something besides fire that had occasioned -the lady’s alarm. All on a sudden a back -door was jerked violently open, and a man bounded -down the steps and ran across a field toward the -railroad track.</p> - -<p>“He’s been doing something in there,” shouted -Captain Mack. “Take after him, boys.”</p> - -<p>“That’s one of the fellows we want,” observed -Egan. “He’s got Huggins’s overcoat on.”</p> - -<p>“So he has,” said the captain. “Never mind -the lady, for she is safe now. Catch the tramp, -and we’ll find out what he had been doing to -frighten her.”</p> - -<p>Don Gordon, who had already taken the lead of -his companions, cleared the high farm gate as -easily as though he had been furnished with wings, -and ran up the carriage-way. He lingered at a -wood-rack he found in front of the barn long<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_101" id="Page_101">[101]</a></span> -enough to jerk one of the stakes out of it, and -having thus provided himself with a weapon, he -continued the pursuit.</p> - -<p>The tramp, who had about fifty yards the start, -proved himself to be no mean runner. His wind -was good, his muscles had been hardened by many -a long pedestrian tour about the country, and Don -afterward admitted that for a long time it looked -as if the man were going to beat him; but when -the latter got what school-boys are wont to call -his “second wind,” he gained rapidly. Another -hundred yards run brought him almost within -striking distance of the fugitive, and while he was -trying to make up his mind whether he ought to -halt him or knock him down without ceremony to -pay him for frightening the lady, the tramp suddenly -stopped and faced about. Then Don saw -that he carried a knife in his hand.</p> - -<p>“Keep away from me,” said he, in savage tones, -“or I’ll——”</p> - -<p>“You’ll what?” demanded Don, leaning on his -club and casting a quick glance over his shoulder -to see how far his companions were behind.</p> - -<p>“Do you see this?” said the tramp, shaking -the knife threateningly.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_102" id="Page_102">[102]</a></span></p> - -<p>“Yes, I see it,” answered Don, coolly. “You -had better throw it away. You might hurt yourself -with it.”</p> - -<p>The tramp was astonished. Here was a boy -who could not be as easily frightened as Huggins -was, and he began to stand in awe of him. He -was old enough to know that a cool, deliberate -antagonist is much more to be feared than one -who allows himself to go into a paroxysm of rage -and excitement.</p> - -<p>“Drop that knife,” commanded Don, who had -suddenly made up his mind that the tramp ought -to be disarmed before his companions came up; -and as he spoke, he raised his club over his -head.</p> - -<p>A year’s hard drill, added to faithful attention -to the instructions he had received from Professor -Odenheimer, had made Don Gordon very proficient -in the broadsword exercise, but he had never -had an opportunity to test the value of the accomplishment -until this particular morning. Seeing -that the man had no intention of dropping the -knife he proceeded to disarm him, and he did it in -a way that was as surprising to him as it was to the -tramp. Bringing his club to the first position, he<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_103" id="Page_103">[103]</a></span> -made a feint with it as if he were going to give a -No. 1 cut. If the weapon had not been arrested -in its progress through the air, and the tramp had -stood motionless, he would have received a sounding -whack on his left cheek; but seeing the club -coming he ducked his head at the very instant -that Don changed from the first to the third cut, -thus receiving squarely between the eyes the full -force of a terrific blow that was intended for his -right forearm. He fell as if he had been shot. -The knife fell from his grasp, and before he could -recover it, Captain Mack had run up and secured -possession of it.</p> - -<p>Without saying a word Egan proceeded to explore -the tramp’s pockets, and the first thing he -brought to light was Lester Brigham’s money. It -was all there, too, for the tramp had had no opportunity -to spend any of it. He had reasons of -his own for desiring to go to Oxford, but he did -not intend to start immediately. He slept in a -barn that night, and intended, as soon as he had -begged a breakfast, to strike back into the country -and make his way to Oxford by a round-about -course, avoiding the railroad and all the villages -along the route. He hoped in this way to elude<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_104" id="Page_104">[104]</a></span> -the police who, he knew, would be on the watch -for him. When he reached the farm-house from -which he had taken his hurried flight, and found -that the male members of the family were absent, -he began to act as though he had a right there. -He demanded a warm breakfast and a seat at the -table; and when the lady of the house objected -and tried to oppose his entrance into the kitchen, -he frightened her nearly out of her senses by producing -his knife and threatening to do something -terrible with it if his demands were not complied -with on the instant. Some of these things Captain -Mack and his men learned from the tramp -himself, and the rest of the story they heard from -the lady, into whose presence they conducted their -prisoner without loss of time. The latter came -very near meeting with a warm reception. The -farmer and his two stalwart sons had just come in -from the wood-lot where they had spent the morning -in chopping, and it was all the old gentleman, -aided by his wife and Captain Mack and his men, -could do to keep the boys from punching the -tramp’s head.</p> - -<p>“What are you going to do with him?” demanded -the farmer, when quiet had been restored<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_105" id="Page_105">[105]</a></span> -and Captain Mack had told what the tramp had -done to Huggins the night before.</p> - -<p>“I am going to take him back to the station -and telegraph to Professor Odenheimer for orders,” -answered the captain. “Those are my instructions.”</p> - -<p>“Haven’t had any breakfast, I reckon, have -you? I thought not. Well, I haven’t either. -Come in and sit down. It’s all ready.”</p> - -<p>“Thank you,” said Mack. “A bowl of milk -would be——”</p> - -<p>“Oh, we’ve got something better than that.”</p> - -<p>“You haven’t anything that would suit me -better,” said Mack, with refreshing candor. “I -am a city boy.”</p> - -<p>“Oh, ah! Well, you shall have all the milk -you can drink.”</p> - -<p>When Captain Mack and his men had satisfied -their appetites and listened to the grateful words -of the farmer, who thanked them for their prompt -response to his wife’s appeals for assistance, they -put on their overcoats, which one of the boys had -brought in from the road during their absence, -and set out for the station with their prisoner. -The latter’s face began to show the effect of Don’s<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_106" id="Page_106">[106]</a></span> -blow, but the tramp did not seem to mind it. He -ate the cold bread and meat which the farmer’s -wife gave him just as he was about to leave the -house with his captors, and even joined in their -conversation.</p> - -<p>When the students reached the depot they -were met by the agent, who laughed all over when -he saw the tramp, and drew Captain Mack off on -one side.</p> - -<p>“You got him, didn’t you?” said he. “Some -of you must have given him a good pounding, -judging by his countenance. Now, if you are at -all sharp, you can capture the other.”</p> - -<p>“Who? Huggins?”</p> - -<p>“Yes. He went out to the mill and got a job -there at hauling wood. He was in here not ten -minutes ago, and I had a long talk with him. He -saw some of you looking out of the window when -the accommodation came in, and that was the reason -he took himself off in such a hurry. I told -him that you had gone on toward Oxford. He’ll -be back here with another load in less than an -hour, and then you can catch him.”</p> - -<p>“I am much obliged to you,” said Captain -Mack. “Now will you see if you can ascertain<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_107" id="Page_107">[107]</a></span> -where the professor and the rest of the boys -are?”</p> - -<p>The agent said he would; but his efforts to find -them met with no success. The operators of -whom he made inquiries had all seen them, but -couldn’t tell where they were.</p> - -<p>“They haven’t left the train yet,” said he. -“The accommodation will be at Munson in a -quarter of an hour, and then I will try again.”</p> - -<p>Of course the captain could not make his report -until he knew where the professor was, so he and -his men went into the waiting-room, accompanied -by the tramp, and sat down there—all except Don -Gordon, who was ordered to hold himself in readiness -to capture the deserter when he came back -with the next load of wood.</p> - -<hr /> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_108" id="Page_108">[108]</a></span></p> - -<h2 id="CHAPTER_VI">CHAPTER VI.<br /> -<span class="smaller">ABOUT VARIOUS THINGS.</span></h2> - -<p>Don’s first care was to ascertain which way -Huggins would come from when he returned -from the mill with his wood, and his second to keep -behind the depot out of sight. He paced up and -down the platform in front of the door of the -waiting-room, so that he could be at hand to lend -assistance in case the tramp showed a disposition -to make trouble for Mack and Egan, but that -worthy had no more fight in him. He was a -coward and afraid of Don, and he wisely concluded -that the best thing he could do was to keep quiet.</p> - -<p>At the end of twenty minutes the station-agent -came in. He had heard from the professor and -the rest of the squad, who had left the train at -Munson. At Captain Mack’s request he sent off -the following despatch:</p> - -<p>“Have captured the tramp who robbed Huggins,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_109" id="Page_109">[109]</a></span> -and expect to have Huggins himself inside -of an hour.”</p> - -<p>In due time the answer came back:</p> - -<p>“Remain at the station until I come.”</p> - -<p>“And when he comes, which will be about four -o’clock this afternoon, we shall have to go back to -our books and duties,” said the young officer, -stretching his arms and yawning. “I haven’t seen -a bit of fun during this scout, have you, Egan? -I hope the next fellow who makes up his mind to -desert the academy, will lead us a good long chase -and give us some work to do.”</p> - -<p>The captain had his wish. The next time he -was sent in pursuit of a runaway, he did not come -back in one day nor two; and even at the end of -a week he had not completed his work. We shall -tell all about it presently.</p> - -<p>The minutes wore away, and presently Don Gordon, -who stood where he could command a view -of the road for a long distance, saw a load of -wood coming out of the timber. There was somebody -walking beside it and driving the horses, but -Don would not have known it was Huggins had -not the station-agent, who was also on the watch, -at that moment opened his door and called out:</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_110" id="Page_110">[110]</a></span></p> - -<p>“There he is.”</p> - -<p>“Much obliged,” replied Don, who straightway -pulled off his overcoat and dropped it upon the -platform. He knew nothing whatever of Huggins. -The latter might be a good runner or a good -fighter, and if he concluded to make a race of it -or to resist arrest, Don intended to be ready for -him.</p> - -<p>Huggins approached the depot with fear and -trembling. He stopped very frequently to reconnoiter -the building and its surroundings, and -when he drew up to the wood-pile, he threw the -blankets over his steaming horses, and jumped -upon the platform. He wanted to make sure that -the coast was clear before he began throwing off -his load. Don could not see him now, but the -sound of his footsteps told him that the deserter -was approaching his place of concealment. When -he came around the corner of the building, Don -stepped into view and greeted him with the greatest -cordiality.</p> - -<p>“Your name is Huggins, I believe,” said he; -and without giving the runaway time to recover -from his surprise and bewilderment, Don took him -by the arm and led him toward the door of the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_111" id="Page_111">[111]</a></span> -waiting-room. “I am glad to see you,” he continued, -“and you will be glad to know that the -tramp who robbed you last night has surrendered -Lester Brigham’s money, and that your -clothes—— Hallo! What’s the matter?”</p> - -<p>Huggins had been brought to his senses by -Don’s words. He saw that he had run right into -a trap that had been prepared for him, and he -made a desperate attempt to escape. Throwing all -his strength, which was by no means insignificant, -into the effort, he tried to wrench his arm loose -from Don’s grasp, and to trip him up at the same -time; but the vicious kick he aimed at Don’s leg -expended its force in the empty air, and Huggins -turned part way around and sat down on the platform -very suddenly.</p> - -<p>“What are you doing down there?” said Don, -taking the runaway by the collar and lifting him -to his feet. “Come into the waiting-room if you -want to sit down. I was about to say, when you -interrupted me, that you can get your clothes -back now. Mack’s got the money, and all your -property. Here we are. Walk right in and make -yourself at home.”</p> - -<p>Captain Mack and Egan, who had kept a watchful<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_112" id="Page_112">[112]</a></span> -eye on Don and his captive, but who dared not -go out to assist him for fear that the tramp would -improve the opportunity to escape, opened the -door of the waiting-room, and Huggins walked in -without saying a word. In obedience to Captain -Mack’s command an exchange of hats and coats -was made between the new prisoner and the man -who had robbed him, and after that another despatch -was sent to Professor Odenheimer. The -answer that came back was the same as the first.</p> - -<p>The fun, as well as the work, was all over now, -and the students had nothing to do but walk -about the room and wait as patiently as they -could for the train that was to take them back to -Bridgeport. It came at last, and in due time the -tramp was handed over to the authorities to be -tried for highway robbery, while Huggins was -marched to his room to be kept there under guard -until his father came to take him away. He was -expelled from the school in general orders. Lester -Brigham was punished for keeping so large an -amount of money by him in violation of the regulations, -and Don Gordon was looked upon as a -hero. This hurt Lester more than anything else. -He had come there with the fixed determination<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_113" id="Page_113">[113]</a></span> -to supplant Don and Bert in the estimation of -both teachers and students—to build himself up -by pulling them down—and he was not a little -disappointed as well as enraged, when he discovered -that it was not in his power to work them -any injury. He wrote a doleful letter to his father, -complaining of the indignities that were constantly -heaped upon him, and begging to be -allowed to go home; but for once in his life Mr. -Brigham was firm, and Lester was given to understand -that he must make up his mind to stay at -Bridgeport until the four years’ course was completed.</p> - -<p>“I’ll show him whether I will or not,” said -Lester, who was almost beside himself with fury. -“He’ll <i>have</i> to let me go home. If Jones and the -rest will stand by me, I will kick up a row here -that will be talked of as long as the academy -stands. I’ll show the fellows that Don Gordon -isn’t the only boy in the world who has any pluck.”</p> - -<p>In process of time Mr. Huggins came to the -academy to look into the charges that had been -made against his son, and when he went away, the -deserter went with him. It was a long time before -the boys knew what had become of him, for he<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_114" id="Page_114">[114]</a></span> -left not a single friend at the academy, and there -was no one who corresponded with him.</p> - -<p>Things went smoothly after that. Of course -there was some grand running, and a good deal of -extra sentry and police duty to be performed by -the idle and disobedient ones; but there were no -flagrant violations of the rules—no more thefts or -desertions. The malcontents were plucky enough -to do almost anything, but they lacked a leader. -There were no Don Gordons or Tom Fishers or -Clarence Duncans among them. They had expected -great things of Lester Brigham, but when -they became better acquainted with him, they -found that he was a boy of no spirit whatever. He -talked loudly and spent his money freely, and his -liberality brought him plenty of followers who were -quick to discover all the weak points in his character. -His insufferable vanity and self-conceit, his -hatred of Don Gordon, his fondness for telling of -the imaginary exploits he had performed both -afloat and ashore—all these were seized upon by a -certain class of boys who flattered him to his face, -ate unlimited quantities of pancakes and pies at -his expense and laughed at him behind his back. -But the idea he had suggested to them—that of<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_115" id="Page_115">[115]</a></span> -stealing a yacht and going off somewhere and -having a picnic—was not forgotten. They talked -about it at every opportunity; numerous plans for -their amusement were proposed and discussed, -and they had even selected the yacht in which -they intended to make their cruise. Lester was, -of course, the nominal leader, but Jones and -Enoch Williams did all the work and laid all the -plans.</p> - -<p>The winter months passed quietly away, spring -with its trout-fishing and pickerel-spearing came -and went, and summer was upon them almost before -they knew it. Now the students went to work -in earnest, for the season of the annual camp and -the examination that followed it, was close at -hand. Even the lazy boys began to show some -signs of life now, for they had heard much of the -pleasures that were to be enjoyed during their -month under canvas, and they were as anxious as -the others to make a good showing in the presence -of the strangers and friends who would be sure to -visit them.</p> - -<p>Lester Brigham would have looked forward to -the camping frolic with the greatest eagerness and -impatience if he had only had a corporal’s <i>chevrons</i><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_116" id="Page_116">[116]</a></span> -to wear; but he hadn’t, and if we might judge by -his standing in his class, he was not likely to wear -them, either.</p> - -<p>“I’ll have to stand guard and be bossed around -by that little whiffet of a Bert Gordon, who will -throw on more airs than he deserves,” Lester often -said to himself. “But I’ll not go to camp, if I -can help it. If I do, I’ll not stay there long, for I -will do something that will send me back to the -academy under arrest.”</p> - -<p>This was a part of Jones’s programme. The -boys who were to steal the yacht and go to sea -in her—there were twenty-eight of them in all—were -to fall so far behind their classes that they -would be ordered to remain at the academy to -make up for lost time. If they did not succeed -in accomplishing their object and were sent to -camp against their will, they were to commit some -offence that would cause them to be marched back -under arrest. The boys growled lustily when this -programme was marked out for them, and some of -them flatly refused to follow it.</p> - -<p>“As this is my first year at the academy I have -never been in camp, and I should like to see what -they do there,” said one. “Suppose those Mount<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_117" id="Page_117">[117]</a></span> -Pleasant Indians should come in again? I -shouldn’t like to miss that.”</p> - -<p>“I don’t see any sense in waiting so long,” said -another. “Why can’t we go now?”</p> - -<p>“Where’s the yacht?” asked Jones, in reply. -“There isn’t one in the harbor. They have all -gone off on a cruise. The first thing is to make -sure that we can get a boat. As soon as that -matter is settled, I will tell you what to do next. -If you will hold yourselves in readiness to move -when I say the word, I will guarantee that we -will see more fun than those who stay in camp.”</p> - -<p>“What will they do with us after they capture -us?”</p> - -<p>“They will court-martial and expel the last one -of us. That’s a foregone conclusion. If there are -any among us who desire to stay in this school, -they had better back down at once, so that we -may know who they are. But we’ll lead them a -lively race before we are caught; you may depend -upon that.”</p> - -<p>Whenever Jones talked in this way there were -a few of his adherents—and they were the ones -who had exhibited the most enthusiasm when -Lester’s plan was first proposed—who felt their<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_118" id="Page_118">[118]</a></span> -courage oozing out at the end of their fingers. It -was easy enough to talk about capturing and running -off with a private yacht, but as the time for -action drew nearer they began to show signs of -wavering. Unfortunately, however, an incident -happened during the latter part of June, which -did more to unite them, and to bring their runaway -scheme to a head, than almost anything else -could have done.</p> - -<p>Among those who kept a watchful eye over the -interests of the academy, and who took the greatest -pride in its success, were the rank and file of -the 61st regiment of infantry, National Guards, -which was located at Hamilton, a thriving little -city about fifty miles north of Bridgeport. This -regiment was composed almost entirely of veterans, -and a few of them were the fathers, uncles -and older brothers of some of the boys who were -now wearing the academy uniform. Their colonel -and some of their field and line officers were graduated -there, and in the ranks were many bearded -fellows who, in the days gone by, had run the -guards to eat pancakes at Cony Ryan’s, and who -had paid for their fun by spending the next Saturday -afternoon in walking extras with muskets<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_119" id="Page_119">[119]</a></span> -on their shoulders and packed knapsacks on their -backs.</p> - -<p>The regiment had once spent a week in camp -with the academy boys, and this year was the -twenty-fifth anniversary of its organization. The -members intended to celebrate it by giving the -citizens of Hamilton the finest parade they had -witnessed for many a day. Regiments from Rhode -Island, New York and Ohio had given favorable -replies to the invitations that had been sent to -them, others from Virginia and North Carolina, -which had seen service under General Lee at Richmond, -had promised to be present, the firemen and -civic societies were to join in the parade, and the -academy boys were expected to be there in full -force. The line was to be formed after dinner -had been served in a big tent, and the festivities -were to conclude with a grand ball in the -evening.</p> - -<p>When the superintendent read the invitation -before the school and asked the students what -they thought about it, they arose as one boy and -raised such a tumult of “Union cheers” and -“rebel yells” (remember there were a good many -Southern boys among them), that the superintendent,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_120" id="Page_120">[120]</a></span> -after trying in vain to make his signal bell -heard, raised his hand to enforce silence.</p> - -<p>“Young gentlemen, you know that such a demonstration -as this is a direct violation of our rules -and regulations,” said he, when the boys had resumed -their seats; but still he did not seem to be -very much annoyed. He judged that they were -unanimously in favor of accepting the invitation, -and the adjutant would be instructed to reply accordingly. -He hoped that every member of the -academy would be able to join in the parade, <i>but</i> -there were two things that must be distinctly understood: -The first was, that they could not remain -to take part in the festivities of the evening—they -must start for home at six o’clock. The boys, -he said, had all they could do to prepare themselves -for the examination, and pleasure must not be allowed -to interfere with business. If they deserved -it they would have plenty of recreation when they -went into camp. Just then a boy in the back -part of the room raised his hand. The superintendent -nodded to him, and the boy arose and said:</p> - -<p>“Could we not march to and from the city, -camping out on the way, instead of going by -rail?”</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_121" id="Page_121">[121]</a></span></p> - -<p>The flutter of excitement which this proposition -caused in every part of the school-room indicated -that the students were all in favor of it; but it -seems that the superintendent wasn’t. There -would be no objection, he said, if the parade were -to come off immediately; but the 24th of July -was the day that had been set for the celebration; -it would take three days to march there, as many -more to return, and seven days of study taken -from the end of the term would certainly show in -the examination. They were too valuable to be -wasted. One day was all he could allow them.</p> - -<p>The second thing he wished them to understand -was this: The parade would be an event of some -consequence. It would afford them as much -pleasure as the fight with the Mount Pleasant Indians. -They would be surrounded by well-drilled -men who would watch all their movements with -critical eyes, and note and comment upon their -slightest errors or indiscretions. He had no fears -for the majority of the students, for he knew beforehand -that they would act like soldiers while -they were in the ranks, and like young gentlemen -when they were out of them; but there were some -among them, he was sorry to say, whose presence<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_122" id="Page_122">[122]</a></span> -would reflect no honor upon their companies—boys -who could not keep their eyes directed to the -front while they were marching, or hold their -heads still on dress-parade, and whose conduct, -when they were on the streets and out of sight of -their teachers and officers, would not be calculated -to win the respect of the citizens of Hamilton. -He did not want those boys to accompany them, -but still he would give them the same chance he -gave the others.</p> - -<p>They had nearly five weeks of hard study and -drill before them, during which time it was possible -for any studious and attentive boy to run his -standing up to a hundred. Those who did that, -might be sure of a holiday and a general good -time on the 24th of July; but those who allowed -themselves to fall below seventy-five, would be -required to remain at the academy. He left the -matter in their own hands.</p> - -<p>“I say, Don,” whispered Egan, as the students -marched out of the school-room, “if this thing -had happened last year, you and I would have -gone to the hop, wouldn’t we?”</p> - -<p>“I believe we would,” answered Don.</p> - -<p>“Well, what do you say to——”</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_123" id="Page_123">[123]</a></span></p> - -<p>“I’ll not do it,” was the emphatic response. -“If any of the other fellows have a mind to desert -and stay to the roll, they may do it and take -the consequences; but I won’t. I haven’t received -a single reprimand this term, not even from that -old martinet Odenheimer, and what’s more, I -don’t intend to put myself in the way of getting -one.”</p> - -<p>“Good for you, Gordon,” said Egan, approvingly. -“Stick to it, and the day that sees you a -first-class cadet, will see you lieutenant-colonel of -the academy battalion. You hear me?”</p> - -<p>“I hope it will,” replied Don. “It certainly -will not see me a private; you may depend upon -that.”</p> - -<p>That night Lester Brigham and his friend Jones -met in the gymnasium. Their followers came up, -one after the other, and in a few minutes there -was quite a crowd of boys gathered about them. -Some of them spoke with great enthusiasm -regarding the proposed excursion to Hamilton, -while others were sullen, and had but little to say. -Among the latter was Lester Brigham, who, having -wasted his time and fallen behind his class in -everything, saw very plainly that his chances for<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_124" id="Page_124">[124]</a></span> -participating in the celebration were slim indeed. -He grew angry whenever he thought that he would -have to remain a prisoner at the academy while -the other boys in his company were seeing no end -of fun, and when he got that way, he was ready -for almost anything. He saw how his enforced -sojourn at Bridgeport could be turned to account; -but the next thing was to make the rest of the -fellows see it.</p> - -<p>“Things couldn’t have been planned to suit us -better, could they?” said Lester, as the boys -crowded about him.</p> - -<p>“They might have been planned to suit <i>me</i> -better—a good deal better,” growled one, in reply. -“I wish that invitation had been sent a month -ago. Then I should have gone to work in earnest, -and perhaps I would stand some chance of going -to Hamilton with my company.”</p> - -<p>“Why, do you want to go?” exclaimed Lester.</p> - -<p>“Of course I do, and I will, too, if there is anything -to be gained by faithful effort. If you catch -me in any mischief before the result of the next -five weeks’ study is announced, you may shoot -me.”</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_125" id="Page_125">[125]</a></span></p> - -<p>“And me; and me,” chorused several of the -boys.</p> - -<p>“Look here, Brigham,” said Jones. “That -celebration will be the grandest thing you ever -saw, outside of a big city, and we mustn’t miss -it.”</p> - -<p>“I was going to suggest that it would be a -good time to start off on our cruise,” said Lester. -“The boys who will be left here to stand guard -will be fellows after our own hearts, and we can -easily induce them to pass us or to join in with -us.”</p> - -<p>“That’s my idea,” said another.</p> - -<p>“Well, it isn’t mine,” said Jones, in very decided -tones.</p> - -<p>“Don’t you know what the understanding -was?” began Lester.</p> - -<p>“I know all about it,” replied Jones. “I ought -to, for I proposed it. The bargain was, that we -were to be left out of camp, if we could, so that -we could desert the academy when it was not -strongly guarded. Failing that, we were to leave -the camp in a body, capture our boat and go to -sea in her. Wasn’t that the agreement, boys?”</p> - -<p>The students all said it was.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_126" id="Page_126">[126]</a></span></p> - -<p>“I am ready to live up to that agreement,” continued -Jones; “but I wouldn’t miss that parade -for any money. I am going to the ball in the -evening, too.”</p> - -<p>“You can’t,” said Lester. “The superintendent -said you would come home on the six o’clock -train.”</p> - -<p>“Some will and some won’t,” said a boy who -had not spoken before. “It will be an easy matter -for those of us who want to stay, to slip away and -hide until the rest of the boys are gone. If I go -to Hamilton I shall go to the dance.”</p> - -<p>“And I’ll stay here,” said Lester, who was disappointed -as well as enraged. “But when you -return, you will not find me. I am going off on a -cruise if I have to steal a skiff and go alone.”</p> - -<p>“You needn’t go alone,” said one of the boys. -“I will go with you.”</p> - -<p>“Wait until August and we will all go with -you,” said Jones.</p> - -<p>“I can’t and I shan’t. I have waited long -enough already. I have seen quite enough of this -school.”</p> - -<p>These were the sentiments of a good many of -the students, who gradually drew over to Lester’s<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_127" id="Page_127">[127]</a></span> -side, and when the latter had run his eye over -them, he found that there were an even dozen who -were willing to stand by him.</p> - -<p>“Whose side are you on, Enoch?” inquired -Lester.</p> - -<p>He waited with considerable anxiety for the reply, -for he knew that a good deal depended upon -Enoch Williams. He was to be first officer of the -yacht, when they got her (the real commander, in -fact, for Lester, who was to be the captain, didn’t -know the starboard rail from the main truck) and -if Lester could induce him to come over to his side, -the rest of the boys would probably come with -him.</p> - -<p>“I go with the majority,” answered Enoch. -“The most of the fellows have declared against -your plan, and if they are going to the celebration, -I am going too.”</p> - -<p>“By dividing in this way, you act as if you desire -to read us out of your good books,” said -Jones. “If that is the case, all right. If you -will keep still about us and our plans, we will not -blow on you. If you succeed in reaching the bay, -and in eluding the tugs that are sent after you, -we may join you some time during the second week<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_128" id="Page_128">[128]</a></span> -in August, if you will tell us where you are -going.”</p> - -<p>“They are a pack of cowards,” observed Lester, -as Jones and Williams walked away, followed by -their friends. “You fellows did well to side with -me. They had no intention of helping us capture -that yacht, and this is the way they take to get -out of it.”</p> - -<p>“I don’t know whether we have done well or -not,” said one of Lester’s friends, when he saw the -others moving away. “Now that Enoch has deserted -us, who is there to command the boat?”</p> - -<p>“Why, I am to have charge of her,” said Lester, -with a look of surprise. “That was understood -from the very first.”</p> - -<p>“But you are a fresh-water sailor and don’t -know anything about the coast,” said the boy.</p> - -<p>“I know I don’t, and neither does Enoch. But -I never yet got a vessel into a place that I couldn’t -get her out of, and if you will trust to me I will -look out for your safety and insure you lots of fun -besides,” said Lester, confidently; and then he -wondered what he should do if the boys took him -at his word.</p> - -<p>“I must see if I can’t induce Enoch to stand<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_129" id="Page_129">[129]</a></span> -by me,” said he to himself. “If he refuses, the -whole thing is up stump, for I can’t command the -yacht, and I am not foolish enough to try it. I -will wait a few days, and perhaps something will -turn up in my favor.”</p> - -<p>Lester was not disappointed. When each -scholar’s standing for the week was announced -on Friday night, Jones had only fifty marks to -his credit, while Enoch Williams was obliged to -be satisfied with thirty.</p> - -<p>“I’ve done my level best,” said the former, in a -discouraged tone, “and now I believe I’ll give it -up.”</p> - -<p>“Never say die,” said Enoch, hopefully. “I -have better reason for being discouraged than you -have. I shall try harder than ever from this time -on, and if I can get up as high as ninety next -week, and stay there, that will make my average -standing seventy-eight. You <i>must</i> try, old boy, -for I don’t want to go to Hamilton unless you do. -Give me your promise.”</p> - -<p>Jones gave it, but said he didn’t think anything -would come of it.</p> - -<hr /> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_130" id="Page_130">[130]</a></span></p> - -<h2 id="CHAPTER_VII">CHAPTER VII.<br /> -<span class="smaller">A TEST OF COURAGE.</span></h2> - -<p>It was by no means a common occurrence for -the best of the scholars to win a hundred credit -marks in a week, for in order to do it, it was -necessary that they should be perfect in everything. -If their standing and deportment as students -were all they desired them to be, they ran -the risk of falling behind in their record as soldiers. -If they handled their muskets a little too -quickly or too slowly while their company was going -through the manual of arms, if they forgot -that the guide was left when marching in platoon -front, and allowed themselves to fall half an inch -out of line, or if they turned their heads on dress-parade -to watch the band while it “rounded off,” -they were sure to be reported and to lose some of -their hard-earned credit marks.</p> - -<p>Don Gordon worked early and late, and his -average for the first three weeks was ninety—Bert<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_131" id="Page_131">[131]</a></span> -following close behind with eighty-eight. Jones -and Enoch Williams did not do as well, and Lester -was out of the race almost before it was begun. -Enoch made a gallant struggle, and would have -succeeded in winning the required number of -marks if Jones had only let him alone; but at the -end of the third week the latter gave up trying.</p> - -<p>“It’s no use, Williams,” said he. “I’ve made -a bad showing, thanks to the partiality of the instructors, -who don’t intend to let a fellow win on -his merits. I have made just a hundred and forty -altogether, and if I could make a clean score during -the next two weeks, my average would be -sixty-eight—seven points too low. Now what are -you going to do?”</p> - -<p>“You can’t possibly make seventy-five, can -you?” said Enoch, after he had performed a little -problem in mental arithmetic. “Well, if you’ve -got to stay behind, I’ll stay too. How about that -picnic? Lester hasn’t been near me in a long -time. He and his crowd seem to hang together -pretty well, and I shouldn’t wonder if they had -got their plans all laid.”</p> - -<p>“Let’s hunt him up and have a talk with him,” -said Jones. “We have made him mad, and perhaps<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_132" id="Page_132">[132]</a></span> -we shall have hard work to get him good-natured -again.”</p> - -<p>“I don’t care if he never gets good-natured -again,” answered Enoch. “I have long been of -the opinion that we ought to throw that fellow -overboard. We shall certainly see trouble through -him if we do not.”</p> - -<p>“We’ll see trouble if we do,” said Jones, earnestly. -“I have studied him pretty closely, and I -have found out that there is no honor in him. -We’ve gone too far to drop him now. If we -should attempt it, he’d blow on us as sure as the -world.”</p> - -<p>Jones struck pretty close to the mark when he -said this, for Lester had already set his wits to -work to conjure up some plan to keep the boys -who would not side with him at the academy -while he and the rest were off on their cruise. He -had decided that when the proper time came he -would make an effort to induce Enoch to go with -him, and if he refused, he (Lester) would take -care to see that he didn’t go at all. He would -contrive some way to let the superintendent know -what he and Jones and their crowd intended -to do.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_133" id="Page_133">[133]</a></span></p> - -<p>“Brigham is no sailor, and there’s where the -trouble is coming in,” said Enoch.</p> - -<p>“I confess that I have often had my fears on -that point,” replied Jones; “but we mustn’t -think of leaving him behind. Let him act as -leader, if he can, until we are fairly afloat, and -then, if we find he doesn’t know what he is about, -we can easily depose him and put you in his -place.”</p> - -<p>“I don’t care to be captain,” said Enoch. “I’d -just as soon go before the mast, provided there is -somebody on the quarter-deck who understands -his business. These racing boats are cranky -things, and sometimes they turn bottom side up -without any provocation at all. There’s Brigham -now.”</p> - -<p>Lester was delighted to learn that his two old -cronies were ready to side with him, but he did -not show it. He appeared to be quite indifferent.</p> - -<p>“I listened with all my ears when the last -week’s standing was announced, and I know very -well what it was that brought you over to me,” -said he, addressing himself to Jones. “You’re -going to fall below seventy-five in spite of all you -can do, and Enoch doesn’t want to go to Hamilton<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_134" id="Page_134">[134]</a></span> -without you. I’ll have to talk to the boys -about it. Perhaps they will say they don’t want -you, because you went back on us once.”</p> - -<p>“I say we didn’t go back on you or anybody -else,” said Enoch, looking savagely at Lester. -“We are ready to stand by our agreement, and -you are not.”</p> - -<p>Jones and Williams, believing that Lester was -not very favorably disposed toward them, thought -it would be a good plan to talk to the boys about -it themselves. They found that some were glad -to welcome them back, but that those who wanted -to go to Hamilton and who were working hard, -and with a fair prospect of success, to win the -required number of marks, met their advances -rather coldly.</p> - -<p>“Let the celebration go and come with us,” -urged Jones. “I’ll warrant you’ll see more fun on -the bay than you will in marching about the dusty -streets of Hamilton while the mercury is away up -in the nineties.”</p> - -<p>“Sour grapes!” exclaimed one of the boys. -“Look here, Jones. A little while ago this parade -was the grandest thing that ever was thought -of, and you wouldn’t miss it for any amount of<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_135" id="Page_135">[135]</a></span> -money. You tried your best to win a place in the -ranks of your company, but you failed, and now -you want us to fail, too. I can’t see the beauty -of that.”</p> - -<p>There was more than one who couldn’t see it—boys -who spent all their time with their books and -watched themselves closely, in the hope of attaining -to the required standing. Some succeeded and -others did not. Those who failed fell back into -the ranks of Lester’s crowd, angry and discouraged, -and ready for anything that would close the doors -of that school against them forever. The fortunate -ones, turning a deaf ear to the pleadings of their -companions, but promising to keep a still tongue -in their heads regarding the proposed picnic, went -to the city with their company, and we must hasten -on to tell what happened to them while on the -way, and what they did after they got there.</p> - -<p>While these things were going on inside of the -academy, some stirring events, in which a few of -the students finally became personally interested, -were occurring outside of it. The daily papers, to -which many of the boys were subscribers, began -to speak of railroad strikes, and in every issue -there was a column or more of telegrams relating<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_136" id="Page_136">[136]</a></span> -to “labor troubles.” The boys read them, simply -because they wanted to keep themselves posted, as -far as they could, in all that was going on in the -world; but they paid no particular attention to -them. The news came from distant points and -did not affect them in any way, because they were -independent of the railroads and would be until -September. If the hands on the Bordentown -branch, the road that ran from Oxford through -Bridgeport to Hamilton, wanted to strike for -higher wages, they could do it and welcome. -There was no law to prevent them. In fact, the -students hoped they would do it, for then they -could shoulder their muskets and march to the -city, as the majority of them wanted to do.</p> - -<p>Time passed and things began to assume a more -serious aspect. The strike became general and -trouble was feared. The strikers would not work -themselves nor would they allow others to work; -and when men came to take their places they won -them over to their side, or assaulted them with -clubs and stones and drove them away. The lawless -element of the country, the “dangerous -classes,”—the thieves, loafers, tramps and socialists, -who had everything to make and nothing to<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_137" id="Page_137">[137]</a></span> -lose, joined with the strikers; and although the -latter repudiated and denounced them in strong -language, they did not send them away. The police -could do nothing, and finally the National -Guard was called out; but its presence did not -seem to have any effect. The most of the guard -were working men, and the strikers did not believe -they would use their weapons even if ordered to -do so. At Buffalo the mob threw aside the bayonets -that were crossed in front of the door of a machine -shop, and went in and compelled the men -to stop work. Not satisfied with that they attacked -the company that was guarding the shop -and put it to flight. A Chicago paper announced, -with much trepidation, that there were twenty -thousand well-armed socialists in that city, who -were threatening to do all sorts of terrible things; -a Baltimore mob stoned and scattered the soldiers -who had been sent there to preserve order; New -York was like a seething cauldron, almost ready -to boil over; the strikers and their allies had got -beyond control at Pittsburg, and were destroying -the property of the railroad companies; and thus -were ushered in “those dark days in July, 1877, -when the whole land was threatened with anarchy.”</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_138" id="Page_138">[138]</a></span></p> - -<p>“I tell you, boys, this is becoming interesting,” -said Egan, as he and his particular friends met -one morning on the parade ground, each with a -paper in his hand. “Just listen to this despatch -from Pittsburg: ‘A large force of strikers has -captured a train, and is running about the country, -picking up arms and ammunition wherever -they can be found. A regiment is expected from -Philadelphia this evening.’”</p> - -<p>(This regiment didn’t do any good after it -arrived. It was whipped at once, driven out of -the city, and every effort was made by the strikers -and their friends to have its commanding officer -indicted for murder, because he defended himself -when he was attacked.)</p> - -<p>“That’s the worst news I have heard yet,” said -Curtis, anxiously. “We’ve got about four hundred -stand of arms and two thousand ball cartridges -in the armory.”</p> - -<p>“That’s so!” exclaimed the boys, in concert.</p> - -<p>“And if the men who are employed on this railroad -should take it into their heads to come here -and get them—eh?” continued Curtis. “It would -be worse than the fight with the Mount Pleasant -Indians, wouldn’t it?”</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_139" id="Page_139">[139]</a></span></p> - -<p>“I should say so,” cried Hopkins, growing -alarmed. “But these Bordentown fellows are all -right yet.”</p> - -<p>“They’ve struck,” said Don. “My paper says -that Hamilton is in an uproar, that business is virtually -suspended, that the mob is growing bolder -every hour, and that the 61st has been ordered to -hold itself in readiness to march at a moment’s -notice.”</p> - -<p>“I know that,” said Hopkins. “The strikers -have stopped all the freights, but they haven’t yet -interfered with the mail trains, nor have they attempted -any violence.”</p> - -<p>“If they would only stick to that, they would -have a good deal of sympathy,” said Curtis. “But -when they defy the law and trample upon the -rights of other people, they ought to be put down -with an iron hand, and I hope they will be.”</p> - -<p>“You may have a chance to assist at it,” said -Egan.</p> - -<p>“I shouldn’t wonder if he did,” exclaimed Don, -when the other boys smiled incredulously. “Mark -my words: There’s going to be trouble in Hamilton. -There are a good many car-shops and founderies -there, and one regiment, which numbers<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_140" id="Page_140">[140]</a></span> -only four hundred and fifty men, can’t be everywhere.</p> - -<p>“And of those four hundred and fifty men how -many do you suppose there are who do not sympathize -with the strikers?” asked Egan.</p> - -<p>“There are at least two companies—the Hamilton -Tigers and the Sanford Guards,” replied Hopkins. -“You can depend on them every time.”</p> - -<p>“And if the others show a disposition to get -up on their ears, there will be visiting troops -enough to handle them without gloves,” observed -Curtis.</p> - -<p>“I am afraid not,” answered Don. “Rumor -says that the most, if not all, the regiments that -were expected to be there, have been ordered, by -the adjutant-generals of their respective States, to -stay at home.”</p> - -<p>“And some of the firemen have given notice -that they will not turn out,” added Hopkins.</p> - -<p>“That knocks the parade higher than a kite,” -exclaimed Egan. “Well, there’s no loss without -some gain. The prospect of marching with the -61st, had a good effect on me. It made me study -hard and behave myself. Hallo! what’s the -matter with you? Any startling news?”</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_141" id="Page_141">[141]</a></span></p> - -<p>This question was addressed to Sergeants Gordon -and Elmer, who just then hurried up, bringing -with them pale and anxious faces.</p> - -<p>“Oh, fellows!” stammered Bert. “We’re going -to have trouble right here at the academy.”</p> - -<p>“No!” exclaimed all the boys at once.</p> - -<p>“But I say we are,” said Bert; who then went -on to tell what had happened to Elmer and himself -just a few minutes before. They had been -sent to the village on business, and in going and -coming they were obliged to pass the railroad depot. -They noticed that there were a good many -men gathered on the platform and standing -around in little groups, all talking in low and earnest -tones, but no one paid any attention to them -until they came back, and then one of the truck -hands, who was dressed in his Sunday clothes, -stepped out and confronted them.</p> - -<p>“Arrah, me foine gentlemen,” said he, nodding -with his head and winking his eyes vigorously, -“it’s a swate little rod we have in pickle fur yees, -intirely; do yees moind that?”</p> - -<p>The boys made no reply. They turned out and -tried to go by the man, but he spread out his arms -and stopped them both.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_142" id="Page_142">[142]</a></span></p> - -<p>“We’ll have thim foine soldier clothes aff the -back of yees the day,” said he, with a leer.</p> - -<p>“Be good enough to let us pass,” said Bert. -“We have no desire to talk to you.”</p> - -<p>“Haven’t yees now? Well, <i>I’ll</i> spake to <i>yees</i>. -Yer foine lookin’ little b’ys to be takin’ the brid -from the mouth of the wurrukin’ mon an’ his childer, -so ye are. I’ve a moind to knock the hids aff -yees.”</p> - -<p>“Move on there, Mickey,” commanded a policeman.</p> - -<p>“Shure I will; but moind this, the hul of yees: -We have min enough, an’ there’s more comin’ from -Hamilton, to take all the arrums yees have up -there to the school-house beyant, and there’ll not -be a soldier nor a polace lift the night. We’ll -trample them into the ground like the dirt under -our feet; an’ so we will do with all the big min -who want to grind down the wurrukin’ mon; ain’t -that so, me brave b’ys?”</p> - -<p>The “brave boys” who were standing around -did not confirm these words, and neither did they -deny them. They looked sullen and savage, and -the two sergeants were glad to hurry on and leave -them out of sight.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_143" id="Page_143">[143]</a></span></p> - -<p>“He said they were going to clean us out to-night, -did he,” exclaimed Don, when Bert had -finished his story. “Well, they will have a -good time of it. Some of the boys are pretty -fair shots.”</p> - -<p>“Oh, I hope it won’t come to that,” said Sergeant -Elmer.</p> - -<p>“So do I,” said Don. “But there’s only one -way to reason with a mob, and that is to thrash -them soundly.”</p> - -<p>“I don’t see why that man should pitch into -us,” observed Bert. “If he would go to work, he -would get bread enough for himself and his children. -If the working man is ‘ground down’ we -had no hand in it.”</p> - -<p>“Of course not,” said Egan. “But you wear -a uniform and are supposed to be strongly in favor -of law and order.”</p> - -<p>“And we are, too,” said Bert, emphatically.</p> - -<p>“Well, that man knew it, and that was the -reason he talked to you in the way he did,” continued -Egan. “He and his kind hate a soldier as -cordially as they hate the police, because the soldier -is always ready to step in and help the policeman -when the mob gets too strong for him; and<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_144" id="Page_144">[144]</a></span> -when the boys in blue take a hand in the muss, -the rioters generally hear something drop. Now, -Bert, you and Elmer had better go and report to -the superintendent.”</p> - -<p>All that day the excitement at the academy was -intense, and it was no wonder that the lessons -were bad, that such faithful fellows as Mack, Egan, -Curtis and Bert Gordon came in for the sternest -reprimands, or that the teachers looked worried -and anxious—all except Professor Odenheimer. -He was in his element, for he scented the battle -from afar. His lectures were full of fight, and -never had his classes listened to them with so -much interest. When night came the excitement -increased. It was plain that the superintendent -had received information which led him to believe -that it was best to be prepared for any emergency, -for the guards were doubled, mattresses were -issued to the members of the first company who -bunked in the armory, and the boys who went on -post were supplied with ball cartridges.</p> - -<p>Another thing that increased the excitement -and added to the general disquiet and alarm, was -the rumor that all idea of a parade had been abandoned, -and that the brigade commander had asked<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_145" id="Page_145">[145]</a></span> -the superintendent what he could do for him, if -help were needed at Hamilton. There was a mob -there, and it was having things all its own way. -It was growing stronger and bolder all the while, -the police were afraid of it, the majority of the soldiers -sympathized with it, and the only company -that had done anything was the Hamilton Tigers, -which had cleared the depot at the point of the -bayonet.</p> - -<p>“Didn’t I say there would be trouble in the city -before this thing was settled?” asked Don Gordon -of some of his friends whom he met in the -armory when dress parade was over.</p> - -<p>“And didn’t I say that the Tigers would do -their duty every time?” answered Hopkins. “But -do you suppose the superintendent will order any -of us down there?”</p> - -<p>“Why shouldn’t he?” inquired Curtis in his -quiet way.</p> - -<p>“Because we don’t belong to the National -Guard, and there is no precedent for any such -proceeding,” answered Hopkins.</p> - -<p>“There’s where you are mistaken,” said Egan. -“The students at the Champaign Agricultural College -in Illinois didn’t belong to the National<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_146" id="Page_146">[146]</a></span> -Guard, but when Chicago was burned some of -them were ordered up there to protect property, -and I never heard it said that they didn’t do their -duty as well as men could have done it. It will -be no boy’s play, but I shall hold myself in readiness -to volunteer with the company that is ordered -down there.”</p> - -<p>“Well, I won’t,” said a voice.</p> - -<p>The boys looked around and saw Williams, -Jones, Lester Brigham and several of that crowd -standing close by. The faces of the most of them -were very pale, and Lester was trembling visibly. -Under ordinary circumstances they would have -been ordered away at once; but class etiquette -was forgotten now. The young soldiers had something -else to think about.</p> - -<p>“I didn’t come here to fight,” continued Enoch -Williams, “and I won’t do it, either.”</p> - -<p>“How are you going to help yourself?” asked -Curtis. “Will you skip over to Canada? That’s -what some of the Hamilton boys have done.”</p> - -<p>“No; but I’ll refuse to do duty, and stay here -under arrest,” replied Enoch.</p> - -<p>“And be court-martialed for cowardice and disgracefully -dismissed the academy when the trouble<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_147" id="Page_147">[147]</a></span> -is over,” said Egan. “Don’t let the people -down in Maryland hear of it, Enoch. They’ll cut -you, sure.”</p> - -<p>“I don’t care if they do,” was the defiant -response. “I have no desire to be knocked in the -head with a coupling-pin.”</p> - -<p>The other boys didn’t want to be treated that -way either, but they had no intention of shirking -their duty. They didn’t care to talk with Enoch -and his friends, and so they turned away and left -them alone.</p> - -<p>There was little sleeping done in the academy -that night, and those who did slumber kept one -eye and both ears open, and were ready to jump at -the very first note of alarm. It came shortly after -midnight. All on a sudden the clear blast of a -bugle rang through the silent building, being followed -an instant later by the “long roll.” There -was a moment’s hush, and then hasty footsteps -sounded in the different halls, and heavy blows -were showered upon the dormitory doors, mingled -with loud cries of, “Fall in! Fall in!”</p> - -<p>“The mob has come! Now we’ll know how it -seems to engage in a real battle,” were the words -with which each boy encouraged his room-mate,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_148" id="Page_148">[148]</a></span> -as he sprang out of bed and pulled on his clothes. -“The rioters at Hamilton number ten thousand -men; and if they have all come up here, what can -three hundred boys do with them?”</p> - -<p>There were some pale faces among the young -soldiers who jerked open their doors and ran at the -top of their speed towards the armory, but not -one of them was seen to falter. Some of them <i>did</i> -falter, however, but we shall see that they did not -escape detection.</p> - -<p>In a great deal less than the six minutes that -were usually allotted for falling in in the morning, -the majority of the boys were in line and -ready for business. And that there was business -to be done they did not doubt, for no sooner -had the companies been formed than they were -marched down the stairs in double time and out -of the building, which in a few seconds more was -surrounded by a wall of bayonets; but they could -neither see nor hear anything of the mob.</p> - -<p>“I say, Hop,” whispered Don to his fat friend -who stood next to him in the ranks, “this is -another put-up job. There are no cartridges in -my box.”</p> - -<p>“That’s so,” said Hopkins, after he had satisfied<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_149" id="Page_149">[149]</a></span> -himself that his own box was empty. “The -teachers only wanted to test our pluck.”</p> - -<p>Just then the big bell in the cupola was struck -once—half-past twelve—and a few seconds later -the voice of a sentry rang out on the quiet air.</p> - -<p>“No. 1. All’s well!” shouted the guard; and -this assurance removed a heavy burden of anxiety -from the mind of more than one boy in the ranks.</p> - -<p>The whole thing was out now, and as there was -nothing to be gained by standing there in the -dark, the companies were marched back to the -armory and the roll was called. The ranks of the -first and second companies were full, Jones and a -few like him were missing from Don’s, and Bert -found, to his great mortification, that fully a dozen -of his men had failed to respond to their names. -The reports were made through the usual channels, -and when the result was announced to the -superintendent, he ordered details from the third -and fourth companies to hunt up the delinquents. -The rest of the battalion were brought to “parade -rest” and kept there, until the missing boys were -brought in. Some of them had been taken ill as -soon as they heard the order to fall in; others had -sought safety and concealment in the attic; and<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_150" id="Page_150">[150]</a></span> -a few had been found in the cellar and pulled out -of the coal-bins. They looked very crestfallen and -ashamed when they found themselves drawn up in -line in full view of their companions, and expected -to receive the sternest kind of a reprimand; but -the superintendent did not once look toward -them.</p> - -<p>“Young gentlemen,” said he, addressing himself -to the boys who stood in the ranks, “I am -much pleased with the result of my experiment. -I did not expect so prompt a response from so -many of you. The honors belong to the third -company. It was the first to fall in, and Captain -Mack was the first to report himself and his men -ready for duty. I shall bear that company in -mind. You can now return to your respective -dormitories and go to sleep with the full assurance -that there is no mob here and none coming. All -is quiet in the city. The 61st is under arms, but -no trouble is apprehended. Break ranks!”</p> - -<p>“Attention, company! Carry arms! Right -face! Arms port! Break ranks, march!” -shouted the several captains; and the boys scattered -and deposited their muskets in their proper -places, each one congratulating himself and his<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_151" id="Page_151">[151]</a></span> -neighbor on the indefinite postponement of the -fight with the mob, which the most of them believed -would be sure to take place sooner or later. -The members of Don’s company had reason to be -proud of themselves, but there were some among -them who shook their heads dubiously whenever -they recalled the superintendent’s words: “I -shall bear that company in mind.” What did he -mean by that?</p> - -<hr /> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_152" id="Page_152">[152]</a></span></p> - -<h2 id="CHAPTER_VIII">CHAPTER VIII.<br /> -<span class="smaller">THE FIGHT AS REPORTED.</span></h2> - -<p>“It means that if the authorities at Hamilton -need help in putting down that mob, we -third company boys will have to give it,” said -Egan, in reply to a question propounded to him -by Captain Mack.</p> - -<p>“What do you mean by <i>we</i>?” inquired the -captain. “You don’t belong to my company.”</p> - -<p>“Yes, I do, and so do Hop and Curtis,” answered -Egan. “We intend to report for duty in -the morning; and as long as this strike lasts, we -are to stand post and do duty like the rest of the -boys. We asked permission of the superintendent -to-day, and he granted it.”</p> - -<p>Of course he granted it. Faithful students, -like these three boys, were allowed to do pretty -nearly as they pleased. It was the idle and unruly -who were denied privileges.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_153" id="Page_153">[153]</a></span></p> - -<p>“I am glad to welcome such fellows as you are -into my family,” said Captain Mack. “But why -didn’t you go into the first company where you -belong?”</p> - -<p>“We belong wherever it suits us to go,” said -Egan, in reply. “And it suits us to be with you -and Don Gordon. Look here, Mack: If worst -comes to worst, and the superintendent calls for -volunteers, you be the first to jump. Do you -hear? Good night and pleasant dreams.”</p> - -<p>The students hastened back to their rooms, and -feeling secure from an attack by the mob, the -most of them slept; but their dreams, like Captain -Mack’s, were none of the pleasantest. More -than one of them started up in alarm, believing -that he heard the order to fall in. They all expected -it, and it came the next day about eleven -o’clock, but the majority of the boys did not know -it until dinner time; and then Don Gordon, who -had been acting as the superintendent’s orderly -that morning, rushed frantically about the building -looking for Egan and the rest.</p> - -<p>“The time has come, fellows,” said he, when he -found them. “Some of us will have to face the -music now.”</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_154" id="Page_154">[154]</a></span></p> - -<p>“How do you know?” asked Egan and his -friends, in a breath.</p> - -<p>“The superintendent received a despatch from -the city a short time ago.”</p> - -<p>“Do you know what was in it?”</p> - -<p>“I do, for I heard him read it to one of the -teachers. It ran: ‘Hold a company, provided -with ten rounds per man, ready to move at short -notice.’ The answer that went back was: ‘The -company is ready.’”</p> - -<p>“Whew!” whistled Curtis, while the others -looked at one another in blank amazement.</p> - -<p>“But I don’t see how that company is to get to -Hamilton,” said Hopkins, at length. “There are -no trains running to-day. Everything is as quiet -as it is on Sunday.”</p> - -<p>“They will go by special train,” said Don. -“There are a good many passengers and a big -mail that were left at Munson last night when the -engineer of the lightning express was taken by -force from his cab, and the mob has agreed to let -them come on to Hamilton. It was all talked -over in my hearing.”</p> - -<p>“And our boys are to go on that train, are -they?”</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_155" id="Page_155">[155]</a></span></p> - -<p>“Yes; if they get marching orders in time.”</p> - -<p>“Then there’ll be trouble. Remember what I -tell you; there will be the biggest kind of a fuss -down there,” said Curtis, earnestly. “The rioters -didn’t agree to let soldiers into the city, and they -won’t do it, either.”</p> - -<p>“Did it ever occur to you, that very possibly -the wishes of the rabble will not be consulted?” -inquired Hopkins. “I hope that company will go -in if it is needed there, and that the very first -man who fires a stone into its ranks will get hurt.”</p> - -<p>Just then the enlivening notes of the dinner-call -sounded through the building, and the students -made all haste to respond to it. The different -companies formed in their respective halls, but -when they had been aligned and brought to a right -face by their quartermaster-sergeants, the captains -took command, ordered the sergeants to their -posts, and marched their men to the armory instead -of to the dining-hall. They all wondered -what was going to happen now, and they were not -kept long in suspense.</p> - -<p>“Young gentlemen,” said the superintendent, -when all the companies had come into line, “our -friends in Hamilton are in need of assistance, and<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_156" id="Page_156">[156]</a></span> -we, being law-loving and law-abiding men and -boys, and utterly opposed to mob rule, can not -refuse to give it to them. It may be—nay, I am -sure, from what I have heard, that it is a mission -of danger; and therefore I shall not ask any of you -to go to the city against your will. Those of you -who are in favor of the law, and who have the -courage to enforce it if you are called upon to do -so, will step three paces to the front.”</p> - -<p>These words, which were spoken so rapidly that -those who heard them did not have time to think -twice, fairly stunned the boys. Egan, who stood -next the first sergeant of the third company, was -the first to recover himself. Reaching around behind -the sergeant he gave Captain Mack a prod -in the ribs with his fist that fairly knocked him -out of his place in the ranks; but it brought him -to his senses, and raising his hand to his cap the -captain said:</p> - -<p>“I speak for my company, sir.”</p> - -<p>“Your services are accepted,” said the superintendent. -“You are too late, young gentlemen,” he -added, addressing himself to the boys in the first -and second companies who moved forward in a -body, together with the majority of the members<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_157" id="Page_157">[157]</a></span> -of Bert’s company. “You ought to have had an -old first-sergeant in your ranks to wake you up.”</p> - -<p>This was Greek to some of the students, but -Mack understood it and so did Egan. So did the -boys directly behind them, who had seen Egan -strike the captain in the ribs to “wake him up.”</p> - -<p>“If your conduct last night is any criterion, I -shall have reason to be proud of you when you -return,” continued the superintendent, turning -to the third company boys. “I shall expect -you to do your duty regardless of consequences; -and in order that you may work to the best advantage, -I shall make some changes in your <i>personnel</i>.”</p> - -<p>Here the superintendent paused and looked at -the adjutant, who stepped forward and drew his -note-book from his pocket.</p> - -<p>“Mack, you’re a brick,” said Egan, in an -audible whisper.</p> - -<p>“He’s a born fool,” said Jones to the boy who -stood next him. “I didn’t give him authority to -speak for me, and I’ll not stir one step. If he -wants to go down there and be pounded to death -by that mob, he can go and welcome; but he shall -not drag me along with him.”</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_158" id="Page_158">[158]</a></span></p> - -<p>“It is not expected that boys who take refuge -in the attic or hide in coal-bins, or who are seized -with the pangs of sickness at the very first notes -of a false alarm, would be of any use to you if -you should get into trouble,” added the superintendent. -“Consequently those boys will be permitted -to remain at the academy. As fast -as their names are called they will fall out of -the ranks and form a squad by themselves -under command of Sergeant Elmer, who will -have charge of them until their company returns.”</p> - -<p>Some of those who had behaved with so much -timidity the night before, thought this the severest -punishment that could be inflicted upon them. -They were virtually branded as cowards in the -presence of the whole school, and they felt it most -keenly; but the others, those who had determined -to be sent down since their parents would not -allow them to leave the academy, as they wanted to -do, did not seem to mind it at all. They were -perfectly willing to be disgraced. They fell out of -the ranks as their names were called, and after their -places had been supplied by boys from the first -and second companies whom the superintendent<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_159" id="Page_159">[159]</a></span> -knew he could trust, they were all marched down -to the dining-hall.</p> - -<p>There was little dinner eaten that day, for their -excitement took away all their appetites. The -hum of animated conversation arose above the -clatter of knives and forks from all except the -third company boys, who were already looked upon -as heroes by some of their companions. They were -going down to the city to face an infuriated mob, -and who can tell what the result might be? These -boys talked only in whispers, and the all-absorbing -question with them was: What teacher would -be sent in command of them? Everybody seemed -to think it would be Professor Odenheimer, who, -by his fiery lectures, had now the appellation of -“Fighting Jacob,” which the students transformed -into “Viting Yawcop.” Everybody seemed -to think, too, that if he were sent in command, -they would stand a fine chance of getting into a -fight, whether the mob forced it upon them or not.</p> - -<p>The study-call was not sounded that afternoon, -because the teachers knew that there would be no -studying done. The students gathered in little -groups in the building and about the grounds, and -there was an abundance of talk, argument and<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_160" id="Page_160">[160]</a></span> -speculation. They were all anxious for news, and -it did not take long to raise a crowd. If a teacher, -an officer or an orderly stopped for a moment to -exchange a word or two with one of the students, -they were very soon joined by a third, the number -was rapidly augmented, and a large assembly was -quickly gathered. The wildest rumors were freely -circulated as facts, and if the third company boys -had believed half they heard, it is hard to tell -whether or not their courage would have stood the -test. The excitement arose to fever-heat when a -messenger-boy, who had been passed by the sentry -at the gate, ran up the walk with a brown envelope -in his hand.</p> - -<p>“What is it? What is it?” cried the students, -as he dashed through their ranks.</p> - -<p>“It’s for the superintendent,” was the boy’s -reply.</p> - -<p>“But what does it say?”</p> - -<p>“Don’t know; only there’s the very mischief to -pay down at Hamilton. The special is due in fifteen -minutes.”</p> - -<p>“Then we’re off, boys,” said Egan; and so it -proved. A few minutes after the messenger-boy -vanished through the door, a sergeant appeared on<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_161" id="Page_161">[161]</a></span> -the steps and cried out: “Fall in, third company!” -whereupon all the boys made a rush for -the armory. Don and his comrades made all haste -to put on their belts and epaulets and take -their muskets from the racks, while the rest of -the students drew themselves up in line behind -the teachers so that they could see all that was -going on.</p> - -<p>“Fall in!” commanded the first sergeant. -“Left face! Support arms! Listen to roll-call!”</p> - -<p>Each boy in the ranks brought his piece to a -“carry” and then to “order arms,” as his name -was called, and when this ceremony was completed -the company was again brought to a “carry,” -and ordered to “count fours”; after which the -sergeant proceeded to divide it into platoons. -Then he faced about, saluted his commander and -said, with a ring of triumph in his tones:</p> - -<p>“All present, sir.”</p> - -<p>There was no one hiding in the attic or coal-bins -this time.</p> - -<p>“Fix bayonets,” said the captain.</p> - -<p>The sergeant gave the order and moved to his -place on the right of the company, leaving the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_162" id="Page_162">[162]</a></span> -captain in command. His first move was to open -the ranks, and his next to order the quartermaster-sergeant -to supply each man with ten -rounds of ammunition. Candor compels us to say -that the sergeant did not strictly obey this order. -He was careful to put ten cartridges, and no more, -into each box, but he did not scruple to put three -or four extra ones into the hand that was holding -the box open.</p> - -<p>By this time the boys had found out who was to -be their real commander. It was Mr. Kellogg, the -most popular instructor at the academy. He was -a modest, unassuming gentleman, but he was a -soldier all over. He had served in the army of the -Potomac, and had twice been carried to the rear -and laid among the dead. The boys knew he was -going with them, for he was dressed in fatigue -uniform and wore a sword by his side.</p> - -<p>The cartridges having been distributed and the -company brought to close order, it was marched -out of the armory and down the stairs. When -the other students saw it preparing to move, they -rushed out in a body, ran to the gate, and drawing -themselves up in line on each side of the walk, -stood ready to give their friends a good “send off.”<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_163" id="Page_163">[163]</a></span> -When the company marched through their ranks, -led by the band which was to accompany it to the -depot, they broke out into deafening cheers, which -Captain Mack and his men answered with a will. -Don caught just one glimpse of his brother’s face -as he passed. It was whiter than his own.</p> - -<p>The students followed the company as far as -the gate, and then ran along the fence to keep it -in view as long as they could; but all they could -see of it were the bayonets, the young soldiers -themselves being wholly concealed by the crowd of -citizens who had assembled to see them off. The -men cheered them lustily, the ladies waved their -handkerchiefs, and the girls threw flowers at them -until a bend in the road hid them from sight. -Then the boys who were left behind turned away -from the fence, and walked slowly toward the -academy.</p> - -<p>“I’d much rather be here than with them,” said -Jones to his friend Lester, and the latter did not -doubt it, for Jones was one of the boys who had -been found in the cellar. Lester had hidden his -head under the bed-clothes when he heard the -bugle, and pleaded sickness when Bert Gordon and -his squad came to pull him out. “I suppose the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_164" id="Page_164">[164]</a></span> -teachers think I feel very much disgraced because I -was left behind, but I don’t. I didn’t come here -to fight, and when my father hears of this, he will -tell me to start for home at once. But I shan’t -go until I get a good ready, and then I am going -in my own way. I am going to do something that -will make these fellows remember me. I said it -long ago, and I mean it.”</p> - -<p>“It is my opinion that this day’s work will -break up this school,” observed Enoch Williams. -“I know my father will not allow me to stay here -after he hears of it.”</p> - -<p>“Wouldn’t this be a good time to go off on our -cruise?” inquired Lester.</p> - -<p>“I am afraid not,” answered Jones. “I should -like to go this very night; but as things look now, -I am of the opinion that we shall have to wait -until next month. We don’t want to fail when -we make the attempt, for if we do, we shall be -watched closer than we are now.”</p> - -<p>“I don’t want to stay here,” said Lester. -“Suppose they should need more help in the city, -and that my company should be ordered down -there?”</p> - -<p>“You need not waste any time in worrying over<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_165" id="Page_165">[165]</a></span> -that,” was the encouraging reply. “Your company -is composed of nothing but raw recruits; -and even if it should be ordered there, <i>you</i> -wouldn’t go. You would be told to stay behind, -as I was.”</p> - -<p>Lester found some satisfaction in this assurance, -but he found none whatever in being snubbed as -he was. Even the boys in his own company—those -who had promptly responded when ordered -to fall in the night before—would not look at him. -If two of them were talking and Lester came up -to hear what they were saying, they would turn -their backs upon him without ceremony and walk -away. All the boys who had concealed themselves -or played off sick when the false alarm was sounded, -were treated in the same way by their fellows, -and all the companionship they could find was in -the society of students who were as timid as they -were. This had at least one good effect, so Lester -thought. It brought many friends to the boys -who intended to desert the academy and run away -in the yacht, and before the day was over Lester, -Jones and Enoch had revealed their scheme to -half a dozen or more new fellows, who heartily approved -of it and promised to aid them by every<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_166" id="Page_166">[166]</a></span> -means in their power. But after all they did not -take as much interest in, or show as much enthusiasm -for, the scheme, as Lester and the rest -thought they ought to. The strike was the all-absorbing -topic of conversation, and the possible -fate of the boys who had gone down to the city to -confront the mob, made many an anxious face.</p> - -<p>Although all study was over for the day, everything -else was done as usual, but nothing was -done well. The students were thinking of something -beside their duties, and made blunders and -received reprimands without number. As the -hours wore on, the excitement gave place to alarm. -The third company ought to have reached Hamilton -at eight o’clock, if everything had gone well -with them, and now it was long after ten and not -a despatch had been received.</p> - -<p>“I am really afraid something has happened to -them, Sam,” said Sergeant Gordon, as he and -Corporal Arkwright paced up and down the walk -in front of the guard-room in which sat the German -professor, who was deeply interested in his -paper. These two boys were on duty until midnight, -and they wished they were going to stay on -until morning, for they knew they could not sleep<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_167" id="Page_167">[167]</a></span> -if they tried. “My brother promised to telegraph -me just as soon as he reached the city,” continued -Bert, “and he would surely have done so, if something -had not occurred to——”</p> - -<p>“Corporal of the guard, No. 1,” shouted the -sentry at the gate.</p> - -<p>“Zetz auber!” exclaimed the professor, throwing -down his paper. “Go out dere, gorporal. -Mebbe dot ish somedings from Meester Gellock.”</p> - -<p>The corporal went, and Bert went with him. -If there were a messenger-boy at the gate, his despatch -might be from Don instead of Professor -Kellogg; but there was no messenger-boy to be -seen. On the opposite side of the tall, iron gate -were a couple of men who peered through the bars -occasionally, and then looked behind and on both -sides of them as if to make sure that there was no -one watching their movements.</p> - -<p>“These fellows affirm that they are just from -the city,” said the sentry, in a husky and trembling -voice. “They have brought bad news. They -say that our boys were cut all to pieces by the -rioters.”</p> - -<p>Bert’s heart seemed to stop beating. Without -waiting to ask the sentry any questions, he passed<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_168" id="Page_168">[168]</a></span> -on to the gate and waited for the men to speak to -him. He could not have said a word to them to -save his life.</p> - -<p>“We thought we had better come up here and -let you know about it,” said one of the visitors, at -length. “The strikers are awful mad, and declare -they are going to burn the academy.”</p> - -<p>“Who are you?” demanded Bert, after he had -taken time to recover his breath.</p> - -<p>“We’re strikers, but we’re friends,” was the -answer. “We live here in Bridgeport and had to -strike with the rest to escape getting our heads -broken. We saw the fight to-night, but we -didn’t take any part in it.”</p> - -<p>“The fight?” gasped Bert.</p> - -<p>“Yes; and it was a lively one, I tell you. I -didn’t know the boys had so much pluck. But -there were three thousand of the mob and only -about eighty of them, and so they had no show.”</p> - -<p>“Great Scott!” exclaimed Bert. “What became -of our boys?”</p> - -<p>“We don’t know, for we lost no time in getting -out of that when we found that there were bullets -flying through the air; but some of the strikers -told us that they whipped the cadets, and that<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_169" id="Page_169">[169]</a></span> -those of them who could get away ran like -sheep.”</p> - -<p>“Corporal, go into the sentry’s box and get the -key,” said Bert. “I shall have to ask you to -make your report to the officer of the guard.”</p> - -<p>“All right,” said the man who did the talking. -“That’s what we came here for; but we want to -be as sly as we can in getting in and out, for if we -should be seen here, we’d have trouble directly. -Bridgeport is in a tumult of excitement, and there -are lots of spies here. We came up from Town -Line on a hand-car with a lot of them. The lads -must have got in some pretty good work before -they were whipped, or else the strikers would not -be so mad at them.”</p> - -<p>“Was there a fight, sure enough?” said Bert, -as the corporal came up with the key and opened -the gate. He was so astounded and terrified that, -although he heard all the man said to him, he did -not seem to comprehend it.</p> - -<p>“Well, I should say there was a fight. I tell you, -it must have been hot in that car, and I don’t see -how a single boy in it could possibly come out alive!”</p> - -<p>“Then some of our friends must have been -hurt?” faltered Bert.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_170" id="Page_170">[170]</a></span></p> - -<p>“Of course. I don’t believe a dozen of the -whole company came out uninjured.”</p> - -<p>Bert wanted to ask if his informant had heard -the names of any of the wounded, but the words -he would have uttered stuck in his throat. While -he was trying to get them out he reached the -guard-room, and ushered the visitors into the -presence of Professor Odenheimer.</p> - -<p>“These men, sir, desire to make report concerning -a fight that took place between our boys and -the mob at Hamilton,” said the sergeant; and -then he backed off and stood ready to hear what -they had to say in addition to what they had already -told him.</p> - -<p>The excitable Prussian started as if he had been -shot. “Our poys did have a pattle?” he exclaimed.</p> - -<p>“Yes, sir, they did,” answered one of the men.</p> - -<p>“Donder and blixen! I don’t can pelieve dot.”</p> - -<p>“They say they have just come from there, sir,” -interposed Bert.</p> - -<p>The professor jumped to his feet, dashed his -spectacles upon the table, and broke into a -torrent of German ejaculations indicative of the -greatest wonder and excitement. His next question<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_171" id="Page_171">[171]</a></span> -was, not “Were any of the boys injured?” -but—</p> - -<p>“Did dem gadets make good fighting? Dot’s -vot I vant to know.”</p> - -<p>The men replied that they had done wonders.</p> - -<p>“Dot’s all right! Dot’s <i>all</i> right,” exclaimed -Mr. Odenheimer, rubbing his hands gleefully together. -“Zargeant, you and de gorporal vait oudside -and I will hear de rebort of dese men. So -dem gadets make good fighting! I been glad to -hear dot. Seet down in dem chairs and told me -all apout it.”</p> - -<p>The non-commissioned officers reluctantly withdrew, -and the professor was left alone with the -visitors.</p> - -<hr /> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_172" id="Page_172">[172]</a></span></p> - -<h2 id="CHAPTER_IX">CHAPTER IX.<br /> -<span class="smaller">IN THE HANDS OF THE MOB.</span></h2> - -<p>“Dutchy is a hard-hearted old wretch,” said -Corporal Arkwright indignantly. “He -never asked if any of our boys were wounded.”</p> - -<p>“Of course he didn’t,” replied Bert. “He took -it for granted. If the fight was as desperate as -those men say it was, we shall soon have a sorrowful -report from Hamilton. I ought to write to -my mother at once, but I haven’t the courage to -do it.”</p> - -<p>The boys waited outside, as they were told to -do, but they used their best endeavors to overhear -what passed between the professor and his visitors. -They had their trouble for their pains, however. -The men talked in low tones, and beyond -an occasional ebullition of wrath from Mr. Odenheimer, -who invariably spoke in German, they could -hear nothing. Presently the door opened, and the -three came out and hastened toward the academy.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_173" id="Page_173">[173]</a></span></p> - -<p>“It is fully as serious as we thought, Sam,” -said Sergeant Gordon. “They are going in to tell -their story to the superintendent.”</p> - -<p>Bert never slept a wink that night. He was at -the gate at daylight, and was the first to purchase -a paper when the newsboys came around. As he -opened the sheet with trembling hands, his eye -fell upon the following paragraph:</p> - -<p>“<span class="smcap">Wednesday Morning, 3 o’clock.</span>—We have -delayed the issue of our paper until this morning, -hoping to obtain direct information from Hamilton; -but we have heard nothing but vague rumors, -which grew out of all proportion as they traveled. -That the academy boys had a brush with the -strikers is evident. They were met before reaching -the city by an immense mob, and a fight ensued, -in which some of our boys were wounded. The -following despatch, taken from last night’s <i>Town -Line Democrat</i>, despite some inaccuracies, probably -has a few grains of truth in it:</p> - -<p>‘This evening, when the Bridgeport Cadets got -into Hamilton they were stopped by striking -rioters, who shoved their car upon a side track, -and then commenced stoning and shooting them. -The Cadets, after standing the fusillade for some<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_174" id="Page_174">[174]</a></span> -time, opened fire and delivered volley after volley, -wounding thirty persons and killing many. The -rioters finally succeeded in getting upon the car -and overpowering the company, capturing the -guns, and driving the boys out of the city.’</p> - -<p>“Nine members of the academy company, having -become separated from their fellows in the -<i>mêlée</i>, took the back track and are expected -home to-day.”</p> - -<p>After making himself master of everything in -the paper that related to the fight, Bert went into -the academy and handed the sheet to the orderly, -with the request that he would give it to the -superintendent as soon as he got up. It was probable, -he thought, that the latter would want to -do something to assist those nine boys who were -now on their way home. When they arrived he -might be able to learn something about Don; and -in the mean time he could do nothing but wait.</p> - -<p>No study-call was sounded that morning, and -the day promised to be a dark and gloomy one; -but about ten o’clock little rays of sunshine began -breaking through the clouds. The first came when -the word was passed for Bert Gordon. He hurried -into the superintendent’s office and was presented<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_175" id="Page_175">[175]</a></span> -with a despatch. He was about to go out with it -when the superintendent said:</p> - -<p>“Read it here, sergeant. There may be news -in it, and we should like to know what it is, if you -have no objections.”</p> - -<p>Bert tore open the envelope and read aloud the -following from Don, who had telegraphed at the -very earliest opportunity:</p> - -<p>“Got in this morning after a night of trouble. -No violence offered in the city. I am all right, -and so is Curtis, but our unlucky friend Hop is -missing, and Egan is wounded.”</p> - -<p>Every one present drew a long breath of relief -when Bert read these words. This was the first -reliable news they had received, and it removed a -heavy burden of anxiety from their minds.</p> - -<p>“So it seems that the company was not cut -to pieces after all,” said the superintendent. “It -is probable that the boys were roughly handled, -but that didn’t keep them from going into the -city. I feel greatly encouraged.”</p> - -<p>And so did everybody. Bert would have felt -quite at his ease if he could have got over worrying -about Hopkins and Egan. He feared the -worst. But then his fat crony was fortunate in<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_176" id="Page_176">[176]</a></span> -some respects even if he were unlucky in others, -and it was possible that he might yet turn up safe -and sound and as jolly as ever, and that Egan’s -wound might not be a serious one.</p> - -<p>After that despatches came thick and fast. As -soon as they were received they were read aloud -to the students, who made the armory ring with -their yells of delight when one came from Professor -Kellogg stating that Captain Mack and his -men had behaved with the utmost gallantry. -Thirty-two of the company were fit for duty, although -they had but seventeen guns among them, -eight were slightly wounded, but, having good -care, were doing well, and the rest were missing. -They had whipped the mob twice and carried -their wounded off the field.</p> - -<p>“I tell you it makes a good deal of difference -where the news comes from—from your own side -or from the enemy’s,” said Bert. “Things don’t -look as dark as they did. I wish those nine boys -who are now on the way home would hurry up. I -am impatient to talk to them.”</p> - -<p>“They will soon be here,” replied one of the -students. “I heard the superintendent say that -the citizens have sent carriages after them.”</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_177" id="Page_177">[177]</a></span></p> - -<p>While those at the academy are waiting for these -boys, let us go back to the third company and see -what really happened to them, and how they acted -when they found themselves surrounded by the -mob. Of course they did not know what was in -store for them, but the majority made up their -minds that they would be called upon to face something -decidedly unpleasant when they reached -Hamilton, for their train had hardly moved away -from the depot before it was whispered from one boy -to another that some one on the platform had been -heard to say that they (the students) were going -into a hotter place than they ever dreamed of. -Still they kept up a good heart, although they did -not at all like the looks of the crowds of men and -boys who were assembled at every station along -the road. They did not know that two unhanged -villains, Michael Lynch, the fireman of their train, -and William Long, the Western Union operator -at Bridgeport, had conspired to make their reception -at Hamilton a warmer one than they had -bargained for, by sending a despatch announcing -their departure to an office in the lower -part of the city that was in the hands of the -strikers.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_178" id="Page_178">[178]</a></span></p> - -<p>For a while it looked as though the ball would -be set in motion at Town Line; for the large depot -through which their train passed was literally -packed with strikers and their aids and sympathizers, -who had a good deal to say about the -young soldiers and their object in going to the city. -But they went through without any trouble, and -when they reached a little station a few miles -beyond, Professor Kellogg telegraphed for orders. -These having been received the train moved on -again, and Captain Mack came and perched himself -upon the arm of the seat in which Don and -Egan were sitting.</p> - -<p>“I tell you, fellows, this begins to look like war -times,” said he.</p> - -<p>“Where are we going, and what are we to do -when we get there?” inquired Egan.</p> - -<p>“We are not going into the city to-night,” -answered the captain. “We are sent down here -simply to act as guards, and if there is any fighting -to be done, the 61st will have to do it. Our -orders read in this way: ‘You will leave the train -at Hamilton creek and guard the railroad property -there during the night. Use such cars as you can, -and keep all the guards out that may be necessary.’<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_179" id="Page_179">[179]</a></span> -There are no signs of a gathering at the -creek, but in order to be on the safe side the professor -has ordered the conductor to let us out at -least a quarter of a mile from the bridge. If a -mob appears anywhere along the road, we are to -get off and form before we go up to it.”</p> - -<p>There was nothing in these plans with which any -military man could have found fault. They would -have met the requirements of the case in every -particular, had it not been for the fact that Professor -Kellogg had to deal with men who were as -treacherous as the plains Indians are said to be. -There <i>was</i> a mob at the bridge, and the engineer -saw it long before he reached it. In fact he ran -through a part of it, and did not stop his train -until he was right in the midst of it. The first -thing the boys knew their car was standing still, -hoarse yells and imprecations which disturbed -their dreams for many a night afterward were -arising on all sides of them, and the rioters were -crowding upon the platforms.</p> - -<p>“Lave this kyar open; we’re strong,” said a -man, in a voice which proclaimed his nationality; -and as he spoke he threw open the rear door and -placed one end of his heavy cane against it, at the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_180" id="Page_180">[180]</a></span> -same time drawing himself back out of sight as -much as he could.</p> - -<p>“Attention!” shouted Captain Mack, prompted -by the professor; whereupon the young soldiers -arose and stood in front of their seats. Their bayonets -were fixed, they had loaded their guns when -they left the station at which they had stopped -for orders, and if they had been commanded to act -at once, the mob never would have gained a footing -in the car. But Mr. Kellogg did just what he -ought not to have done—he stood in the front -door, blocking the way as well as he could, and -trying to reason with the leaders of the rabble, -who demanded to know why he had come down -there, and what he was going to do. The professor -told them in reply that he was not going into -the city that night, that he had been ordered to -stop at the bridge and guard the railroad property -there, and this seemed to satisfy the mob, who -might have dispersed or gone back to Hamilton, -as their leaders promised, had it not been for one -unfortunate occurrence.</p> - -<p>The attention of everybody in the car was directed -toward the men who were gathered about -the front door, and no one seemed to remember<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_181" id="Page_181">[181]</a></span> -that there was a rear door at which no guard had -been stationed. The rioters at that end of the car -did not at first make themselves very conspicuous, -for they did not like the looks of the muskets the -young soldiers held in their hands; but in a very -few minutes they grew bold enough to move across -the platform in little squads, stopping on the way -to take a hasty glance at the interior, and finally -some of the reckless ones among them ventured to -come in. These were followed by others, and in -less time than it takes to tell it the aisle was -packed with strikers, who even forced their way -into the seats, crowding the boys out of their -places. About this time Mr. Kellogg happened -to look behind him, and seeing that he and his -men were at the mercy of the mob—there were -more strikers than soldiers in the car now—he -called out to the conductor, who stood on the front -platform, to go ahead with the train.</p> - -<p>“I can’t do it,” was the reply. “The strikers -are in full possession of it.”</p> - -<p>“Well, then, cut loose from us and go ahead -with your passengers,” said Professor Kellogg. -“This is as far as I want to go anyhow.”</p> - -<p>“And you couldn’t go any farther if you wanted<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_182" id="Page_182">[182]</a></span> -to,” said a loud-mouthed striker. “We’ll have -the last one of you hung up to the telegraph poles -before morning.”</p> - -<p>“Who said that?” exclaimed one of the leaders -at the front door. “Knock that man down, somebody, -or make him keep his tongue still.”</p> - -<p>“Shove the car on to the switch,” yelled somebody -outside.</p> - -<p>“Yes; run ’em into the switch!” yelled a -whole chorus of hoarse voices. “Dump ’em over -into the creek.”</p> - -<p>Some idea of the strength of the mob may be -gained from the fact that the car, heavily loaded -as it was, began to move at once, and in a few -minutes it was pushed upon a side-track, and -brought to a stand-still on the edge of a steep -bank. While the car was in motion Don, who -had grown tired of being squeezed, sought to obtain -an easier position by stepping into his seat -and sitting down on the back of it. As he did so -he nearly lost his balance; whereupon a burly -striker, who had stepped into his place as soon as -he vacated it, reached out his hand and caught -him, in the most friendly manner.</p> - -<p>“Thanks,” said Don, placing his hand on the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_183" id="Page_183">[183]</a></span> -striker’s broad shoulder and steadying himself -until he was fairly settled on his perch. “Now, -since you have showed yourself to be so accommodating, -perhaps you wouldn’t mind telling me -where those fellows on the outside are shoving us -to, and what they intend to do with us.”</p> - -<p>“They are going to throw you into the creek, -probably.”</p> - -<p>“I don’t see any sense in that,” observed Don. -“What’s the meaning of this demonstration, anyhow?”</p> - -<p>“It means bread!” said the man so firmly that -Don thought it best to hold his peace.</p> - -<p>There were few in the mob who seemed inclined -to talk. They answered all the questions that -were asked them, but gave their entire attention -to what was going on in the forward end of the -car. Their recognized leaders were there, talking -with Professor Kellogg, and they were waiting to -see how the conference was going to end. Those -who spoke for the strikers seemed to be intelligent -men, fully sensible of the fact that Professor Kellogg -and his company had not come to the city to -trample upon the rights of the workingman, and -for a time the prospect for a peaceful settlement<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_184" id="Page_184">[184]</a></span> -of the points under discussion looked very bright -indeed. But there were some abusive and violent -ones in the mob who could not be controlled, and -they always spoke up just at the wrong time.</p> - -<p>“Take the bayonets off the guns!” piped a forward -youngster, who ought to have been at home -and in bed. “That’s the way we did with the 61st.”</p> - -<p>“I’ll tell you how to settle it,” said a shrill -voice, that was plainly audible in spite of the -tumult in the car and the continuous yells of the -mob outside. “If they’re friendly toward us, as -they say they are, let them give up their guns. -We’ll see that nobody harms them.”</p> - -<p>“Yes; that’s the way to settle it,” yelled the -mob. “Let them give up their guns.”</p> - -<p>This proposition startled the young soldiers. -If they agreed to it they would be powerless to defend -themselves, and what assurance had they -that the strikers would not wreak vengeance upon -them? Nothing but the word of half a dozen -men who could not have controlled the turbulent -ones among their followers, even if they had been -disposed to try. But fortunately Mr. Kellogg was -not the man they took him for. As soon as the -yells of approval had subsided so that he could<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_185" id="Page_185">[185]</a></span> -make himself heard, his answer came clear and -distinct;</p> - -<p>“I shall not disarm my men; you may depend -upon that.”</p> - -<p>“Let’s run ’em back to Bridgeport, where they -belong,” shouted a striker.</p> - -<p>“That’s the idea,” shouted the mob. “We -don’t want ’em here. Run ’em back where they -came from. We can easy find an engine.”</p> - -<p>“I am not going back,” replied the undaunted -professor. “I was ordered to come here, and now -that I got here, I am going to stay.”</p> - -<p>“Well, you shan’t stay with these guns in your -hands,” said the shrill-voiced man. “All of us -who are in favor of disarming them say ‘I.’”</p> - -<p>“I! I!” was the almost unanimous response.</p> - -<p>If there were any present who were opposed to -disarming the boys, they were not given an opportunity -to say so. Encouraged by their overwhelming -numbers, and by the fact that the mass of the -soldiers were mere striplings to be strangled with -a finger and thumb, the rioters went to work to -secure the muskets, and then there was a scene to -which no pen could do justice.</p> - -<p>The fight, if such it could be called, was a most<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_186" id="Page_186">[186]</a></span> -unequal one. That portion of the mob which had -possession of the car, was composed almost entirely -of rolling-mill hands, and not of “lazy, ragged -tramps and boys,” as a Hamilton paper afterward -declared. They were powerful men, and the young -soldiers were like infants in their grasp. But, -taken at every disadvantage as they were, the -most of the boys gave a good account of themselves. -A few, terrified by the sight of the revolvers -and knives that were flourished before their -eyes, surrendered their weapons on demand, and -even allowed their cartridge-boxes to be cut from -their persons; but the others fought firmly to -retain possession of their guns, and gave them up -only when they were torn from their grasp. Among -the latter was Don Gordon.</p> - -<p>When the proposition to disarm the boys was -put and carried, the man who was standing in -Don’s seat, and who had caught him when he -came so near losing his balance, faced about, seized -the boy’s musket, and, in spite of all Don could -do to prevent it, forced it over toward his friends -in the aisle. A dozen hands quickly laid hold of -it, but Don would not give it up. He held to it -with all his strength, until one of the mob, enraged<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_187" id="Page_187">[187]</a></span> -at his determined resistance, gave a sudden jerk, -pulling the weapon out of his hands and compelling -Don to turn a somerset over the back of his -seat.</p> - -<p>One thing that encouraged Don to make so desperate -a struggle for the possession of his piece, -was the heroic conduct of a little pale-faced fellow, -Will Hovey by name, who occupied the seat in -front of him. Will didn’t look as though he had -any too much courage, but his actions proved that -he had plenty of it. He was confronted by a ruffian -big enough to eat him up, who was trying to -disarm him with one hand, while in the other he -had a formidable looking knife with a blade that -was a foot long.</p> - -<p>“Give it up, I tell you,” Don heard the striker -say.</p> - -<p>“I’ll not do it,” was Will’s reply. “I’ll die -first.”</p> - -<p>The knife descended, and Don expected to see -the brave boy killed before his eyes; but he -dodged like a flash, just in the nick of time, and -the glittering steel passed over his shoulder, cutting -a great hole in his coat and letting out the -lining. Will lost his gun in the end, but he wore<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_188" id="Page_188">[188]</a></span> -that coat to the city, and was as proud of that -rent as he would have been of a badge of honor. -He was a soldier all over, and proved it by stealing -a gun to replace the one the strikers had taken -from him.</p> - -<p>When Don was pulled over the back of his seat, -he fell under the feet of a party of struggling men -and boys, who stepped upon and knocked him -about in the most unceremonious way, and it was -only after repeated efforts that he succeeded in -recovering his perpendicular. No sooner had he -arisen to an upright position than he fell into the -clutches of a striker who seized his waist-belt with -one hand and tried to cut it from him with a knife -he held in the other, being under the impression -that if he succeeded, he would gain possession of the -boy’s cartridge-box. But there’s where he missed -his guess, for the cartridge-box which hung on one -side and the bayonet scabbard that hung on the -other, were supported by breast belts; and the -waist belt was simply intended to hold them close -to the person, so that they would not fly about -too much when the wearer was moving at double -time. Don, however, did not want that belt cut, -and he determined that it should not be if he<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_189" id="Page_189">[189]</a></span> -could prevent it. The striker was larger and -much stronger than he was, but Don fought him -with so much spirit that the man finally became -enraged, and turned the knife against him. If he -had had any chance whatever to use his weapon, -he would certainly have done some damage; but -he and Don were packed in so tightly among the -strikers and the students, who were all mixed up -together now, that neither one of them had an -inch of elbow-room. The struggling crowd was -gradually working its way toward the rear door, -and Don saw that he must do something very -quickly or be dragged out of the car into the -hands of the outside mob. After trying in vain -to disarm his assailant, and to free himself from -his grasp by breaking the belt, he set to work to -unhook it; but he was knocked about so promiscuously -by the combatants on all sides of him, -that he couldn’t even do that.</p> - -<p>How long the fight over the guns and cartridge-boxes -continued no one knows; and the reports in -our possession, which are full and explicit on all -other points, are silent on this. But it took the -strikers a long time to disarm the boys, and even -then they had to leave without getting all the guns.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_190" id="Page_190">[190]</a></span></p> - -<p>Up to this time not a shot had been fired or a -stone thrown. The mob outside could not bombard -the car for fear of injuring some of their own -men, and the students could not shoot for the same -reason. Besides, the order not to pull a trigger -until they were told to do so was peremptory, and -in his report Professor Kellogg takes pains to say -that this command was strictly obeyed. The -order to fire on the mob would have been given -before it was but for one thing: The only officer -who had the right to give it was being choked so -that he could not utter a sound. The strikers -were quick to see that Professor Kellogg was the -head and front of the company, and believing that -if they could work their will on him, they could -easily frighten the boys into submission, they laid -hold of him and tried to drag him out of the car; -and failing in that, the door being blocked by their -own men, who were anxious to crowd in and take -a hand in the fracas, they bent the professor backward -over the arm of a seat and throttled him. -The students in his immediate vicinity defended -him with the utmost obstinacy and courage, and -a sword, and at least one bayonet, which went into -the fight bright and clean, came out stained. At<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_191" id="Page_191">[191]</a></span> -any rate the rioters did not succeed in killing the -professor, as they fully intended to do, or in dragging -him out of the door. After a desperate struggle -he succeeded in freeing himself from their -clutches, and as soon as he could speak, he called -out:</p> - -<p>“Clear the car! Clear the car!”</p> - -<p>This was the order the students were waiting -for, and if the order had not been so long delayed -their victory would have been more complete than -it was, for they would have had more guns to use. -They went to work at once, and the way those -rioters got out of that car must have been a surprise -to their friends on the outside. Swords, -bayonets and the butts of the muskets were freely -used, and when the last rioter had jumped from -the platform, the real business of the night commenced. -All on a sudden the windows on both -sides were smashed in, and stones, chunks of coal, -coupling-pins, bullets and buck-shot rattled into -the car like hail.</p> - -<p>“Come on, me brave lads!” yelled a voice on -the outside. “Let’s have the last one of ’em out -of there an’ hang them to the brudge.”</p> - -<p>A simultaneous rush was made for both the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_192" id="Page_192">[192]</a></span> -doors, but the maddened mob had no sooner appeared -than a sheet of flame rolled toward them, -and they retreated with the utmost precipitancy. -Forbearance was no longer a virtue. His own life -and the lives of the boys under his charge were -seriously threatened now, and with the greatest -reluctance Professor Kellogg gave the order to -fire. It was obeyed, and with the most telling -effect. After repulsing three charges that were -made upon the car, the boys turned their guns -out of the windows, and firing as rapidly as they -could reload, they drove the mob over the railroad -track and forced them to take refuge behind the -embankment.</p> - -<p>Although the students had full possession of -the car, their position was one of extreme danger. -They were surrounded by a rabble numbering -more than three thousand men, sixty of whom -were armed with their own muskets, while the -students had only seventeen left with which to -oppose them; the rioters were securely hidden -behind the embankment, while the car was brilliantly -lighted, and if a boy showed the top of his -cap in front of a window, somebody was sure to -see and shoot at it; and worse than all, some of<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_193" id="Page_193">[193]</a></span> -the mob, being afraid to run the gauntlet of the -bullets which were flying through the air from -both sides, had taken refuge under the car, and -were now shooting through the bottom of it. One -of the lieutenants was the first to discover this. -He reported it to Captain Mack, and the latter -reported it to the professor.</p> - -<p>“That will never do,” said Mr. Kellogg. “We -must get out of here. Attention!”</p> - -<p>The boys, who were crouched behind the seats -and firing over the backs and around the sides of -them, jumped to their feet and stepped out into -the aisle, while Don opened the door so that they -could go out.</p> - -<p>“Where’s your gun, Gordon?” demanded the -professor.</p> - -<p>“It was taken from me, sir,” replied Don. -“But I’ll have another before many minutes.”</p> - -<p>Don knew very well that somebody would get -hurt when they got out on the railroad, and if he -were not hit himself, he wanted to be ready to -take the gun from the hands of the first boy who -<i>was</i> hit, provided that same boy had a gun. He -secured a musket in this way, and he did good -service with it, too.</p> - -<hr /> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_194" id="Page_194">[194]</a></span></p> - -<h2 id="CHAPTER_X">CHAPTER X.<br /> -<span class="smaller">WELCOME HOME.</span></h2> - -<p>Don Gordon’s assailant kept him exceedingly -busy in warding off the thrusts of -the knife, and the boy had a lively time of it -before he could escape from his clutches. When -the students went to work to clear the car, Don -hoped that the man would become frightened and -let go his hold; but instead of that, he seemed all -the more determined to pull his captive out of the -door. In spite of his resistance Don was dragged -as far as the stove, and there he made a desperate -and final effort to escape. Placing his foot against -the side of the door he threw his whole weight -upon the belt, jerked it from the man’s grasp and -fell in the aisle all in a heap. When he scrambled -to his feet the car was clear of strikers, his antagonist -being the last to jump from the platform. -Don was surprised to see how few there were left -of the students. When they left Bridgeport there<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_195" id="Page_195">[195]</a></span> -were more of them than the seats could accommodate; -but there were only a handful of them -remaining, and they were gathered in the forward -end of the car. Where were the others? While -Don stood in the aisle debating this question, two -or three boys arose from their hiding-places under -the seats and hurried past him.</p> - -<p>“Come on, Gordon,” said one. “The way is -clear now.”</p> - -<p>“Where are you going?” asked Don.</p> - -<p>“Anywhere to get out of the mob. Lots of our -fellows have left the car and taken to their heels. -Come on.”</p> - -<p>“Don’t go out there,” cried Don. “You will -be safer if you stay with the crowd.”</p> - -<p>The boys, who were so badly frightened that -they hardly knew what they were doing, paid no -attention to him. They ran out of the car, and a -minute later the rioters made their first charge, -and the order was given to fire. This put life into -Don, who lost no time in getting out of the range -of the bullets in his companions’ muskets. Stepping -out of the aisle he made his way toward the -forward end of the car, by jumping from the back -of one seat to the back of another. As he was<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_196" id="Page_196">[196]</a></span> -passing a window a coupling-pin, or some other -heavy missile, came crushing through it, barely -missing him and filling his clothing with broken -glass. If it had hit him, it would probably have -ended his career as a military student then and -there.</p> - -<p>Reaching the forward end of the car in safety -the first thing Don saw, as he dropped to his knee -by Egan’s side, was a loaded musket; and the -second was one of the Bridgeport students lying -motionless under a seat. His face was too pale and -his wide-open eyes were too void of expression to -belong to a living boy, and Don straightway came -to the conclusion that he was dead.</p> - -<p>“Poor fellow,” was his mental comment. -“There’ll be a sad home somewhere when the particulars -of this night’s work get into the papers. -He doesn’t need his musket any more, so I will -use it in his stead.”</p> - -<p>Don secured his musket in time to assist in -repulsing every charge the mob made upon the -car, and then, like the others, he began firing from -the windows. While he was thus engaged one of -the lieutenants passed along the aisle, and discovering -a student lying prone under a seat, he bent<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_197" id="Page_197">[197]</a></span> -down and looked at him. Like Don, he thought, -at first, that the boy was dead; but upon closer -examination he found that there was plenty of life -in him.</p> - -<p>“What are you doing there?” demanded the -young officer, indignantly. “Get up and go to -work. Where’s your gun?”</p> - -<p>“Gordon’s got it,” was the faint reply.</p> - -<p>The lieutenant looked around and saw Don in -the act of firing his piece out of the window. -After he made his shot, the officer asked him -whose gun he was using.</p> - -<p>“I don’t know,” answered Don. “I found it -on the floor, and thought it might as well take -part in this fight as to lie idle there.”</p> - -<p>“That’s all right; but it belongs to this man. -Hand it over.”</p> - -<p>Don was glad to know that his comrade was not -injured, but he was reluctant to surrender the -musket into the hands of one who had showed no -disposition to use it when he had it. He gave it -up, however, and then crouched behind a seat and -passed out cartridges to Egan and Curtis, who -fired as fast as they could load. Both these boys -had won the marksman’s badge at five hundred<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_198" id="Page_198">[198]</a></span> -yards, and it was not likely that all their shots -were thrown away.</p> - -<p>About this time report was made that some of -the rioters had taken refuge under the car and -were shooting up through the floor, and the professor -determined to abandon his position. The company -was called to attention, Don Gordon opened -the door, as we have recorded, and when the order -was given they left the car on a run, Don being -the fourth to touch the ground. After moving -down the track a short distance they came to a -halt and faced toward the rioters, who arose from -their places of concealment and rushed over the -embankment in a body, evidently with the intention -of annihilating the students. In fact they -told the boys as they came on that they were going -to “wipe the last one of ’em out,” but they -did not do it. The young soldiers were as steady -as veterans, and one volley was enough to scatter -the rioters, and send them in confusion to their -hiding-places. But the students did not escape -unscathed. As Don stood there on the track offering -a fair target to the rifles of the mob, and -unable to fire a single bullet in response to those -that whistled about his ears, he heard a suppressed<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_199" id="Page_199">[199]</a></span> -exclamation from somebody, and turned quickly -about to see the boy who stood on his left, bent -half double and clasping both his hands around -his leg.</p> - -<p>“I’ve got it,” said he, as Don sprang to his -assistance.</p> - -<p>“Well, you take it pretty coolly,” replied the -other. “Come down out of sight. You’ve no -business up here now that you are shot.”</p> - -<p>After leading his injured comrade to a place of -safety behind the embankment, Don returned to -the track just in time to receive in his arms the -boy who stood on his right and who clapped his -hand to his breast and reeled as if he were about -to fall. That was the narrowest escape that Don -ever had. If he had been in line, where he -belonged, the bullet which struck this boy’s breast-plate -and made an ugly wound in his chest, would -have hit Don squarely in the side.</p> - -<p>The wounded boy had a gun, and Don lost no -time in taking possession of it. After seeing that -the owner was cared for by some of the unarmed -students, Don went back to his place in line, where -he remained just long enough to fire one round, -when the company was ordered off the track<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_200" id="Page_200">[200]</a></span> -behind the embankment, and an inspection of -boxes was held. To their great astonishment the -young soldiers found that they had not more than -two or three cartridges remaining. As it was impossible -for them to hold their ground with so -small a supply of ammunition, Mr. Kellogg -thought it best to draw off while he could. The -wounded were sent to the rear in charge of -the boys who had lost their guns in the car, after -which the company climbed the fence and struck -off through an oat-field toward the road. Seeing -this retrograde movement the mob made another -charge, but one volley sufficed to check it. If the -boys were whipped (as a Hamilton paper, which -was cowardly enough to pander to the mob -and to extol its heroism afterward declared they -were) they did not know it, and neither did the -rioters, who took pains after that to keep out of -sight. They remained by the car, which they -afterward used to carry their wounded to the -city, and the students saw them no more that -night.</p> - -<p>It was during this short halt that Don Gordon, -after firing his single round, was approached by -Curtis and Egan, one of whom held a musket in<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_201" id="Page_201">[201]</a></span> -each hand, while the other had his fingers tightly -clasped around his wrist. The latter was Egan, -and his left hand was covered with blood.</p> - -<p>“Have you got a spare handkerchief about you, -Gordon?” said he. “I’m hit.”</p> - -<p>“Great Scott!” exclaimed Don. “When did -you get it?”</p> - -<p>“Just now. Curtis had a loud call too,” said -Egan, nodding toward his friend. “His plume -was shot out of his cap.”</p> - -<p>“Let me look at your hand,” said Don, drawing -a couple of handkerchiefs from his pocket.</p> - -<p>“Oh, there’s no artery cut, for the blood comes -out in drops and not in jets,” answered Egan. -“But I am afraid my little finger has gone up. -I have bled for my country and you haven’t.”</p> - -<p>“And what’s more, I don’t want to,” said Don.</p> - -<p>The latter bandaged the wounded hand as well -as he could, and the line moved on across the oat-field. -On the way the boy who had been shot -through the leg, gave out and had to be carried. -The other held up bravely, making frequent and -clamorous demands for his gun, and announcing -his readiness, severely wounded as he was, to whip -the boy who stole it from him. Don kept a still<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_202" id="Page_202">[202]</a></span> -tongue in his head. He had the gun, and being -in a better condition to use it than the owner was, -he determined to hold fast to it.</p> - -<p>When they reached the road they tore a panel -or two of the fence to pieces to make a litter for -the boy who had given out, and here they were -joined by ten or a dozen of their comrades who -had left the car by the rear door. By some extraordinary -streak of good luck, such as might not -have fallen to them again in a thousand years, -they had succeeded in escaping the mob and finding -refuge in a culvert under the railroad. They -brought two wounded boys with them, one of -whom had been struck in the eye with a buck-shot, -while the other had had his scalp laid open -by a vicious blow from the butt of a musket as he -was jumping from the car.</p> - -<p>“When we heard you going across the field we -came out,” said one of the new-comers, who was -delighted to find himself among friends once more. -“There were strikers in the culvert, too, but they -didn’t bother us, for they were as badly frightened -as we were. If they had known that there was -going to be a fight they wouldn’t have come near -the bridge. They said so.”</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_203" id="Page_203">[203]</a></span></p> - -<p>“Seen anything of Hop?” asked Don, as soon -as he had satisfied himself that his fat friend was -not with the party.</p> - -<p>“Not lately,” was the reply, “but I guess he’s -all right. The last time I put eyes on him he was -going up the track toward Bridgeport, beating the -time of Maud S. all to pieces. If he kept on he’s -at the academy by this time. I always had an -idea that I could outrun Hop, but when he passed -me I thought I was standing still.”</p> - -<p>“Were there any strikers after him?”</p> - -<p>“There wasn’t one in sight. When you fellows -in the car got fairly to work, you kept such a -fusillade that they were afraid to show their -heads.”</p> - -<p>By this time the litter was completed, and the -wounded boy being placed upon it, the students -resumed their march, stopping at the first house -they came to, which proved to be a little German -inn. The hospitable proprietor gave up his house -to them; guards were posted at once; a good -Samaritan, who was also a surgeon, promptly -made his appearance; the wounded were tenderly -cared for; and one of the corporals exchanged his -uniform for a citizen’s suit, went into the city, reported<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_204" id="Page_204">[204]</a></span> -the fight, and in due time returned with -orders for the company to march in and report at -the railroad depot.</p> - -<p>When morning came the good Samaritan came -also, accompanied by a liberal supply of hot coffee -and a substantial breakfast, which were served -out to the boys while they were sitting in the -shade of the trees opposite the inn. The doctor -took the wounded home with him to be cared for -until they could be sent back to Bridgeport; and -the others, having broken their fast, shouldered -their guns and set out for Hamilton.</p> - -<p>Don Gordon afterward said that his courage -had never been so severely tested as it was that -morning. On their way to the depot the students -passed through the lower portion of the city and -through the coal-yards in which the hands had just -struck. Thousands of tons of coal were piled on -each side of the narrow street, and on the top of -these piles stood the striking workmen, who, outnumbering -the boys more than twenty to one, and -having every advantage of them in position, could -have annihilated them in a minute’s time if they -had made the attempt. It required all the nerve -Don possessed to march through there with his<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_205" id="Page_205">[205]</a></span> -eyes straight to the front, and his hair seemed to -rise on end whenever he heard one of the men call -out to his comrades:</p> - -<p>“Thim’s the fellers, b’ys. Have a bit of coal -at thim.”</p> - -<p>Some of the men held chunks of coal in their -hands, but they did not throw them. No doubt -there were those among them who had been in the -fight the night before, and who knew that the -boys would defend themselves if they were crowded -upon. They passed the coal-yards in safety, and -marched into the depot, where they found a portion -of the 61st under arms, together with several -companies of militia, which had been sent there -from the neighboring towns. When they stacked -arms in the rear of one of the companies which -held the left of the line, every boy drew a long -breath of relief, and Don hurried off to find a telegraph -office.</p> - -<p>But little duty was imposed upon the students -that day, partly because of their rough experience -of the previous night, and partly for the reason -that the mob had threatened vengeance upon -them—particularly upon Professor Kellogg, who -conducted the defence, and upon Captain Mack<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_206" id="Page_206">[206]</a></span> -and the boy with the stained bayonet who had so -gallantly defended their leader when the rioters -tried to kill him. As one of the students afterward -remarked, they loafed about like a lot of -tramps, eating and sleeping as they do, and looking -quite as dirty. As the hours wore away the -mob began gathering in front of the depot, and once -when Don looked out, he could see nothing but -heads as far as his eyes could reach. There were -between eight and ten thousand of them, and opposed -to them there were less than three hundred -muskets. They were kept in check by double -lines of sentries which they could have swept away -like chaff if they had possessed the courage to attempt -it.</p> - -<p>With the night came more excitement. Reinforcements -began to arrive. Squads of men who -had been sent off on detached duty came in, followed -by strong delegations from the Grand Army. -There were three false alarms, the last of which -created some confusion. Some uneasy sleeper, -while rolling about on his hard bed, managed to -kick over a stack of muskets. One of them, which -its careless owner had not left at a half-cock, as -he ought to have done, exploded with a ringing<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_207" id="Page_207">[207]</a></span> -report that brought the different companies to -their feet and into the ranks in short order. The -company that created the confusion was stationed -directly in front of the Bridgeport boys. Some -of its members, believing that the mob was upon -them, ran for dear life, deserting their arms and -rushing pell-mell through the ranks of the students, -knocking them out of their places as fast as -they could get into them.</p> - -<p>This was an opportunity that was too good to be -lost. Here were guns, scattered about over the floor, -and no one to use them. To snatch them up and -remove and throw away the slings that belonged -to them, thus making their identification a matter -of impossibility, was the work of but a few seconds. -Will Hovey was the one who set the example, -others were quick to follow it, and no one -noticed what they were doing. When order had -been restored and the ranks formed, there were -eight men in one company who could not find -their weapons, and as many boys in another who -held in their hands muskets that did not belong -to them.</p> - -<p>“Humph!” said Don to himself. “If our -company gets into another tight place, I hope we<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_208" id="Page_208">[208]</a></span> -shall have somebody besides these men to back us. -They are very pretty fellows, well up in the school -of the company, and all that, but they don’t seem -to have much pluck.”</p> - -<p>The night passed without further trouble, the -forenoon came and went, and at three o’clock the -49th, of Auburn, came in. The train that brought -them to the city was stopped by the strikers, -who refused to allow it to go any further. The -colonel said he didn’t care—that he had just as -soon walk as ride—and ordered his men to disembark.</p> - -<p>If the rioters had never before been fully satisfied -that their day was passed, they must have seen -it now. Instead of one company there were several -that got out of the cars—four hundred and ninety -men, in fact, who stood there with their bayonets -fixed and their pieces loaded, all ready for a fight -if the rioters wanted it. But they didn’t. Having -been so severely handled by only seventeen -boys, that they dared not pursue them when they -left the field, it was not likely that they were -anxious for a collision with this splendid body of -men, many of whom were veterans. The leaders -held a consultation, and seeing that they could<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_209" id="Page_209">[209]</a></span> -not help themselves, they finally concluded that -the regiment might proceed.</p> - -<p>A short time after it came into the depot, the -Bridgeport boys and two other companies marched -out, directing their course toward the Arsenal, -which was located on one of Hamilton’s principal -business streets. Now came another test of their -courage. The sound of the drums served as a -signal to the mob, which congregated in immense -numbers, and marched with the troops to their -destination. Some of them carried clubs and stones -in their hands, and loud threats were made against -the students, who were repeatedly assured that not -one of them would ever leave the city alive. If -they had been alone they would probably have had -another fight on their hands; but they had a hundred -and sixty men to back them, and that number, -added to their own, made a larger force than -the mob cared to face in battle.</p> - -<p>They took supper at the Arsenal, where they -remained until midnight, when they were ordered -to fall in without the least noise. They obeyed, -lost in wonder, leaving the drill-room so silently -that the men who were slumbering on each side of -them did not know they were gone until daylight<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_210" id="Page_210">[210]</a></span> -came to reveal the fact, and when they reached -the gate they found an immense police-van waiting -for them. Into this they crowded and were -driven slowly up the street, Professor Kellogg and -Captain Mack going on ahead to see that the way -was clear.</p> - -<p>“Where are you taking us?” whispered Don to -the driver.</p> - -<p>“To the Penitentiary,” was the guarded response.</p> - -<p>“Going to lock us up there?”</p> - -<p>“Yes, sir; the last one of you.”</p> - -<p>“What for?”</p> - -<p>“To punish you for shooting at the mob last -night.”</p> - -<p>“They’ll give us plenty to eat, I suppose?”</p> - -<p>“Oh, yes; all you want.”</p> - -<p>“Do they look for any trouble among the prisoners?”</p> - -<p>“I think so; at any rate you are sent up there -at the mayor’s request. He said he wanted men -there who were not afraid to shoot, and such men -he wanted well fed.”</p> - -<p>This was a compliment to the company, and a -decided indorsement of the manner in which they<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_211" id="Page_211">[211]</a></span> -had conducted themselves during the fight with -the mob. To quote from some of the members, they -had a “soft thing” while they remained at the -Penitentiary. There were about four hundred -convicts there, but they knew better than to attempt -an outbreak, and all the boys had to do was -to keep themselves clean, eat, sleep, and stand -guard. Having made themselves famous they -received many calls during their two days’ stay at -the prison, and these visitors did not come empty-handed. -The stockings, handkerchiefs, collars, -lemons and other needful things they were -thoughtful enough to bring with them, were -gratefully accepted by the young soldiers, who -begged for papers, and wanted to know all that -was going on outside. They were gratified to -learn that the back-bone of the riot was broken; -that the strikers were anxious to go to work; that -trains were running on some of the roads; and -that the hour of their release was close at hand.</p> - -<p>It came early on Saturday morning, when they -were ordered to draw cartridges and fall in for a -march to the skating-rink, which was now used as -military headquarters, and which they reached -without any mishap, the streets being free from<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_212" id="Page_212">[212]</a></span> -any thing that looked like a mob. As they -marched into the rink a soldier called out: “Three -cheers for the Bridgeport boys!” and the lusty -manner in which they were given proved that their -comrades were entirely satisfied with what they -had done.</p> - -<p>Their departure from Hamilton, which was ordered -at eleven o’clock, was in keeping with the -treatment they had received from all the officers -and military during their entire stay. They were -escorted to the depot by two companies, which -formed in line and saluted them as they passed -by. After taking leave of many new-made friends -they boarded the car which had been set apart for -them (it was guarded at both doors this time, although -there was no necessity for it) and were -whirled away toward home, their journey being enlivened -by songs, speeches and cheers for everybody -who had borne his part in the fight. When the -whistle sounded for Bridgeport one of the students -thrust his head out of a window, but almost -instantly pulled it back again to exclaim:</p> - -<p>“Great Moses! What a crowd!”</p> - -<p>But it was one the boys were not afraid of. As -soon as the train came to a stand-still they left<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_213" id="Page_213">[213]</a></span> -the car, and marching in columns of fours, moved -through long lines of firemen and students who -had assembled to welcome them home, the firemen -standing with uncovered heads and the students -presenting arms. The cross-roads, as well as the -roads leading from the depot to the village, were -crowded with carriages, all filled to their utmost -capacity with ladies and gentlemen, who waved -their handkerchiefs and hats, and greeted them -with every demonstration of delight.</p> - -<p>“Halt here, captain,” said the marshal of the -day, when the boys reached the head of the line.</p> - -<p>“Where’s Professor Kellogg?” asked Mack, -looking around.</p> - -<p>“I don’t know. Halt here, and come to a left -face.”</p> - -<p>When the order was obeyed, the spokesman of -a committee of reception, which had been appointed -by the citizens, mounted upon a chair -and took off his hat; whereupon Captain Mack -brought his men to parade rest to listen to his -speech. It was short but eloquent, and went -straight to the hearts of those to whom it was addressed, -with the exception, perhaps, of Captain -Mack. He knew that somebody would be expected<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_214" id="Page_214">[214]</a></span> -to respond, and while he pretended to be listening -with all his ears, he was looking nervously around -to find Mr. Kellogg. But that gentleman was -seated in the superintendent’s carriage a little distance -away, looking serenely on, and Mack was -left to his own resources, which, so far as speech-making -was concerned, were few indeed. When -the speaker had complimented them in well-chosen -words for the gallantry they had displayed in the -fight, and told them how proud his fellow-citizens -were to say that the company that struck the first -blow in defence of law and order in Hamilton -came from their little town, he got down from his -chair, and everybody looked at Captain Mack.</p> - -<p>The young officer blushed like a girl as he -stepped out of the ranks with his cap in his hand. -He managed to make those of the crowd who -could hear him understand that he and his company -were much gratified by their reception, -which was something they had not dreamed of, -and delighted to know that their conduct as soldiers -was approved by their friends at home; and -then, not knowing what else to say, he broke out -with—</p> - -<p>“I can’t make a speech, gentlemen of the committee,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_215" id="Page_215">[215]</a></span> -but my boys can holler, and I’ll prove it. -Three cheers and a tiger for the gentleman who -has so cordially greeted us, for the other gentlemen -composing the committee, and for every man, -woman and <i>baby</i> who has come out to welcome us -home.”</p> - -<p>The cheers were given with a will, and the -citizens replied with “three times three.” When -the band struck up, the line was formed under -direction of the marshal and moved toward the -park. The church bells were rung, the solitary -field-piece of which the village could boast, and -which was brought out only on state occasions, -thundered out a greeting every minute, and the -crowds that met them at every turn cheered themselves -hoarse. Mottoes and bunting were lavishly -displayed, and Main-street was spanned by two -large flags, to which was attached a white banner -having an inscription that sent a thrill of pride to -the breasts of the boys, who now read it for the -first time—</p> - -<p class="center">“<span class="smcap">Welcome!</span></p> - -<p class="center"><i>We honor those who do their duty.</i>”</p> - -<p>On arriving at the park the arms were stacked, -the ranks broken, and fifteen minutes were taken<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_216" id="Page_216">[216]</a></span> -for hand-shaking; and cordial as the formal reception -was, it bore no comparison to the hearty -personal welcome that was extended to each and -every one of the third company boys, who never -knew until that moment how many warm friends -they had in Bridgeport. Among those who came -up to shake hands with Don Gordon and Curtis -was a fellow who was dressed in the academy uniform, -who walked with a cane and wore a slipper -on his left foot. It was Courtland Hopkins.</p> - -<hr /> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_217" id="Page_217">[217]</a></span></p> - -<h2 id="CHAPTER_XI">CHAPTER XI.<br /> -<span class="smaller">HOPKINS’S EXPERIENCE.</span></h2> - -<p>“Boys, I am delighted to see you home again, -safe and sound,” said Hopkins, putting his -cane under his arm and shaking hands with both -his friends at once. “I tell you we have been -troubled about you, for some of us who returned -the second day after the fight, heard the rioters -say that you would never leave the city alive.”</p> - -<p>“We heard them say so, too,” replied Curtis. -“But we’re here all the same. Hallo, Bert. And -there’s Egan. How’s your hand, old fellow? -Lost that little finger yet?”</p> - -<p>“No; and I don’t think I’ll have to. Why -didn’t you let us know that you were coming?”</p> - -<p>“You did know it, or else you couldn’t have -met us at the depot,” answered Don, after he had -returned his brother’s greeting.</p> - -<p>“I mean that you ought to have sent us word -this morning,” said Egan. “The ladies would<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_218" id="Page_218">[218]</a></span> -have got up a good supper for you if they had had -time to do it.”</p> - -<p>“We should have done full justice to it, for we -had an early breakfast and no dinner,” Curtis remarked. -“But you have not yet told us what is the -matter with you, Hop. I hope you were not shot.”</p> - -<p>“Oh, no. It is nothing more serious than a -sprained ankle,” replied Hopkins.</p> - -<p>“And ‘thereby hangs a tale,’” added Egan. -“I’ll tell you all about it when we get up to the -academy. Hop showed himself a hero if he did -run out of the back door.”</p> - -<p>“How did you get back to Bridgeport?” inquired -Don.</p> - -<p>“I went home with the doctor on the morning -that you fellows started for Hamilton, you know,” -replied Egan. “Well, as soon as he had dressed -my hand and the wounds of some of the other -boys who were able to walk, we went up the track -to the next station, and there we telegraphed for -a carriage. To tell the truth I never expected to -get home, for the rioters were scouring the country -in search of us. We heard of them at every -house along the road, and everybody cautioned us -to look out for ourselves.”</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_219" id="Page_219">[219]</a></span></p> - -<p>During a hurried conversation with their friends, -Don and Curtis learned that the people of Bridgeport -knew as much about the fight as they did -themselves. Perhaps they knew more, for they -had heard both sides of the story. The students -who came home the day after the fight—the missing -ones had all reported with the exception of -three, whose wounds were so severe that they -could not be brought from the city—had given a -correct version of the affair and described the part -that every boy took in it. All those who had done -their duty like men were known to the citizens, -and so were those who gave up their guns when -the strikers demanded them. The boys who did -the fighting, however, had not a word to say regarding -the behavior of their timid comrades. -They had an abundance of charity for them.</p> - -<p>“We don’t blame them for being frightened,” -Don and Curtis often said. “There isn’t a boy in -the company who wouldn’t have been glad to get -out of that car if he could. When you have been -placed in just such a situation yourselves, you will -know how we felt; until then, you have no business -to sit in judgment upon those who are said to -have shown the white feather.”</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_220" id="Page_220">[220]</a></span></p> - -<p>The fifteen minutes allotted for hand-shaking -having expired, the students fell in and set out -for the academy. As they marched through the -gate the bell in the cupola rung out a joyful greeting, -the artillery saluted them, and the boys in the -first, second and fourth companies presented arms. -They moved at once to the armory, and after listening -to a stirring speech from the superintendent -the ranks were broken, and their campaign -against the Hamilton rioters was happily ended.</p> - -<p>“And I, for one, never want to engage in -another,” said Captain Mack, as he and Don and -Curtis set out in search of Egan and Hopkins. -“Have you heard some of the fellows say that -they wish they had been there?”</p> - -<p>Yes, they and all the returned soldiers had heard -a good deal of such talk from boys who would have -died before giving up their guns, and who were -loud in their criticisms of Mr. Kellogg, who ought -to have stopped the train at least half a mile from -the mob, and fired upon it the moment it appeared. -What a chance this would have been for Lester -Brigham, if he had only been in a situation to improve -it! If he had never known before that he -made a great mistake by feigning illness on the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_221" id="Page_221">[221]</a></span> -night the false alarm was sounded, he knew it -now. He could not conceal the disgust he felt -whenever he saw a third-company boy surrounded -by friends who were listening eagerly to his description -of the fight. Such sights as these made -him all the more determined to get away from the -academy where he had always been kept in the -background in spite of his efforts to push himself -to the front. And worse than all, there was Don -Gordon, who had come home with the marks of a -rioter’s knife on his coat and belt, who had behaved -with the coolness of a veteran, and showed -no more fear than he would have exhibited if he -had been engaged in a game of snow-ball.</p> - -<p>“I’ll bet he was under a seat more than half -the time, and that nobody noticed him,” said Lester, -spitefully.</p> - -<p>“Oh, I guess not,” said Jones. “Gordon isn’t -that sort of a fellow. Well, they have had their -fun, and ours is yet to come. There will be a jolly -lot of us sent down at the end of the term. What -do you suppose your governor will say to you?”</p> - -<p>“Not a word,” replied Lester, confidently. “He -didn’t send me here to risk life and limb by fighting -strikers who have done nothing to me, and<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_222" id="Page_222">[222]</a></span> -when he gets the letters I have written him, he -will tell me to start for home at once.”</p> - -<p>“But you’ll not go?” said Jones.</p> - -<p>“Not until we have had our picnic,” replied -Lester.</p> - -<p>“Perhaps your father won’t care to have Jones -and me visit you,” remarked Enoch.</p> - -<p>“Oh, yes he will. He told me particularly to -invite a lot of good fellows home with me, and he -will give you a cordial welcome. I haven’t got -a shooting-box, but I own a nice tent, and that -will do just as well. I will show you some duck-shooting -that will make you open your eyes.”</p> - -<p>“All right,” said Enoch. “I’ll go, according -to promise, and you must be sure and visit me in -my Maryland home next year. Both the Gordons -and Curtis will visit Egan at that time, and unless -I am much mistaken, we can make things lively -for them.”</p> - -<p>“Nothing would suit me better,” returned Lester. -“I hate all that crowd. Don and Bert went -back on me as soon as they got me here, and I’ll -never rest easy until I get a chance to square yards -with them.”</p> - -<p>(Lester learned this from Enoch. He remembered<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_223" id="Page_223">[223]</a></span> -all the nautical expressions he heard, and -used them as often as he could, and sometimes -without the least regard for the fitness of things. -He hoped in this way to make his companions believe -that he was a sailor, and competent to command -the yacht during their proposed cruise.)</p> - -<p>The conversation just recorded will make it -plain to the reader that Lester and some of his -particular friends, following in the lead of Don -and Bert Gordon and <i>their</i> friends, had made arrangements -to spend a portion of their vacation in -visiting one another. They carried out their -plans, too, and perhaps we shall see what came -of it.</p> - -<p>When Mack and the rest found Hopkins and -Egan, they went up to the latter’s room, where -they thought they would be allowed to talk in -peace; but some of the students saw them go in -there, and in less time than it takes to write it, -the little dormitory was packed until standing-room -was at a premium. The boys were full of -questions. What one did not think of another -did, and it was a long time before Don could say -a word about Hopkins’s experience, which Egan -related substantially as follows:</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_224" id="Page_224">[224]</a></span></p> - -<p>To begin with, Hopkins did not leave the car because -he wanted to, but because he couldn’t help -himself. When the rioters voted to disarm the -young soldiers, half a dozen pairs of ready hands -were laid upon his musket, but Hopkins wouldn’t -give it up. Threats, and the sight of the revolvers -and knives that were brandished before his face, had -no effect upon him; but he could not contend -against such overwhelming odds, with the least -hope of success. He was jerked out into the aisle -in spite of all he could do to prevent it, and -dragged toward the door. When the students -turned their bayonets and the butts of their pieces -against their assailants, the latter made a frantic -rush for the door, and Hopkins was wedged in so -tightly among them, that he could not get out. -His gun was pulled from his grasp, and Hopkins, -finding his hands at liberty, seized the arm of -the nearest seat in the hope of holding himself -there until the mob had passed out of the car; -but the pressure from the forward end was too -great for his strength. He lost his hold, was carried -out of the door by the rush of the rioters, -who, intent on saving themselves, took no notice -of him, and crowded him off the platform.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_225" id="Page_225">[225]</a></span></p> - -<p>“But before I went, I was an eye-witness to a -little episode in which our friend Egan bore a -part, and which he seems inclined to omit,” interrupted -Hopkins.</p> - -<p>“Now, Hop, I’ve got the floor,” exclaimed Egan, -who was lying at his ease on his room-mate’s bed.</p> - -<p>“I don’t care if you have. There’s no gag-law -here.”</p> - -<p>“Go on, Hop,” shouted the boys.</p> - -<p>“It will take me but a moment,” said Hopkins, -while Egan settled his uninjured hand under his -head with a sigh of resignation. “When the mob -went to work to disarm us, one big fellow stepped -up to Egan and took hold of his gun. ‘Lave me -this; I’m Oirish,’ said he. ‘I’m Irish too,’ said -Egan. ‘Take that with me compliments and lave -me the gun;’ and he hit the striker a blow in the -face that lifted him from his feet and would have -knocked him out of the front door, if there hadn’t -been so many men and boys in the way. That -fellow must have thought he had been kicked by -a mule. At any rate he did not come back after -the gun, and Egan was one of the few who got -out of the car as fully armed as he was when he -went in.”</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_226" id="Page_226">[226]</a></span></p> - -<p>Hopkins could be irresistibly comical when he -tried, and his auditors shouted until the room -rang again. They knew that his story was exaggerated, -but it amused them all the same. Egan -<i>did</i> say that he was Irish (Hopkins often told him -that if he ever denied his nationality his name -would betray him), and it was equally true that -he floored the man who demanded his gun, and -with him one or two of his own company boys -who happened to be in the way; but he said nothing -about “compliments” nor did he imitate the -striker’s way of talking. Among those who felt -some of the force of that blow, was Captain -Mack.</p> - -<p>“That explains how I got knocked down,” said -he. “The rioters were trying to drag the professor -out of the car, and we were doing all we could -to protect him, when all at once some heavy body -took me in the back, and the first thing I knew I -was sprawling on the floor. I thought I should -be trampled to death before I could get up.”</p> - -<p>When Hopkins struck the ground he stood still -and waited for some of the mob to come and -knock him on the head; but seeing that they -were looking out for themselves, and that some of<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_227" id="Page_227">[227]</a></span> -his comrades were making good time up the track -in the direction of Bridgeport, he started too, -doing much better running than he did when -he stole farmer Hudson’s jar of buttermilk, and -passing several of the company who were in full -flight. The bullets sang about his ears and -knocked up the dirt before and behind him, and -Hopkins began looking about for a place of concealment. -Seeing that some of his company ran -down from the track and disappeared very suddenly -when they reached a certain point a short -distance in advance of him, Hopkins stopped to -investigate. He found that they had sought -refuge in a culvert, which afforded them secure -protection from the bullets; but Hopkins was inclined -to believe that in fleeing from one danger -they had run plump into another. There were -strikers as well as students in there; and as he -halted at the mouth of the culvert he heard a -hoarse voice say:</p> - -<p>“You soldier boys had better not stop here. -You have made the mob mad, and as soon as they -get through with those fellows in the car, they are -going to spread themselves through the country -and make an end of everybody who wears the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_228" id="Page_228">[228]</a></span> -academy uniform. I heard some of them say so, -and I am talking for your good.”</p> - -<p>“And I will act upon your advice,” said Hopkins -to himself. “It is a dangerous piece of business -to go along that railroad-track, but I don’t -see how I am going to help it.”</p> - -<p>It proved to be a more dangerous undertaking -than the boy thought it was. Death by the bullets -which constantly whistled over the track, was -not the only peril that threatened him now. Believing -that the main body of their forces could -keep the professor and his handful of students -in the car until their cartridges were expended, -after which it would be an easy matter to drag -them out and hang them as they fully meant -to do, the rioters had sent off a strong detachment -to look after the boys who had escaped -from the rear of the car. Hopkins could see -them running through the fields with the intention -of getting ahead of the fugitives and surrounding -them.</p> - -<p>“That’s a very neat plan, but I don’t think it -will work,” said Hopkins, as he drew himself together -and prepared for another foot-race. “I -wish I had known this before I left the culvert so<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_229" id="Page_229">[229]</a></span> -that I could have told—I’ll go back and tell them -if I lose my only chance for escape by it.”</p> - -<p>Hopkins turned quickly about, but saw at a -glance that there was no need that he should -waste valuable time by going back to the culvert. -The boys were leaving it in a body and making -their way across a field. They were going to join -their comrades who had left the car, but Hopkins -did not know it, for he could not see the company, -it being concealed from his view by some thick -bushes which grew on that side of the track.</p> - -<p>“They’re all right,” said Hopkins, “but it -seems to me they are taking a queer way to get -home. I’ll stick to the track, because it leads to -Bridgeport by the most direct route. Now then -for a run! Hallo, here! What’s the matter with -you, Stanley?”</p> - -<p>While Hopkins was talking in this way to himself, -he was flying up the track at a rate of speed -which promised to leave the fleetest of the flanking -party far behind; but before he had run a -hundred yards, he came upon a student who was -sitting on the end of one of the ties with his head -resting on his hands. As Hopkins drew nearer he -saw that the boy had bound his handkerchief<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_230" id="Page_230">[230]</a></span> -around his leg just above his knee, and that it was -stained with blood.</p> - -<p>“What’s the matter?” repeated Hopkins.</p> - -<p>“I’m shot and can’t go any farther,” was the -faint reply.</p> - -<p>“When did you get it?”</p> - -<p>“Just as I jumped from the car.”</p> - -<p>“Well, get up and try again. You must go -on, for if you stay here you are done for. Look -there,” said Hopkins, directing the boy’s attention -to the rioters who were trying to surround them.</p> - -<p>“I can’t help it. I ran till I dropped, and I -couldn’t do more, could I? I am afraid my leg -is broken. Take care of yourself.”</p> - -<p>“I will, and of you, too,” replied Hopkins. -“Get up. Now balance yourself on one foot, -throw your arms over my shoulders and I will -carry you.”</p> - -<p>The wounded boy, who had given up in despair, -began to take heart now. He did just as Hopkins -told him, and the former walked off with him -on his back as if his weight were no incumbrance -whatever. He did not run, but he moved with a -long, swinging stride which carried him and his -burden over the ground as fast as most boys would<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_231" id="Page_231">[231]</a></span> -care to walk with no load at all. The mob followed -them until they came to the creek which was -too wide to jump and too deep to ford, and there -they abandoned the pursuit. At all events Hopkins -and Stanley saw no more of them that night.</p> - -<p>“Look out,” said Stanley, suddenly. “There’s -one of them right ahead of us.”</p> - -<p>Hopkins looked up and saw a man standing on -the track. The manner of his appearance seemed -to indicate that he had been hidden in the bushes -awaiting their approach.</p> - -<p>“You had better put me down and save yourself,” -whispered Stanley, as Hopkins came to a -halt wondering what he was going to do now. -“If you get into a fight with him I can’t help you.”</p> - -<p>“I didn’t pick you up to drop you again at the -first sign of danger,” was the determined reply. -“I wish I had a club or a stone. You don’t see -one anywhere, do you?”</p> - -<p>“Say, boss,” said the man, in guarded tones.</p> - -<p>“Bully for him; he’s a darkey,” exclaimed -Hopkins. “We have nothing to fear.”</p> - -<p>“Say, boss,” said the man again, as he came -down the track, “Ise a friend. Don’t shoot.”</p> - -<p>“All right, uncle. Come on.”</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_232" id="Page_232">[232]</a></span></p> - -<p>“What’s de matter wid you two?”</p> - -<p>“There’s nothing the matter with me,” answered -Hopkins, “but this boy is shot. Can you -do anything for him?”</p> - -<p>“Kin I do sumpin fur de soldiers?” exclaimed -the negro. “’Course I kin, kase didn’t dey do a -heap fur me when de wah was here? I reckon -mebbe I’d best take him down to de house whar -de women folks is.”</p> - -<p>“Handle him carefully,” said Hopkins. “He’s -got a bad leg.”</p> - -<p>The negro, who was a giant in strength as well -as stature, raised the wounded boy in his arms as -easily as if he had been an infant, and carried him -up the track until he came to a road which led -back into the woods where his cabin was situated. -Here they found several colored people of both -sexes who had gathered for mutual protection, and -who greeted the boys with loud exclamations of -wonder and sympathy.</p> - -<p>“Hush yer noise dar,” commanded the giant, -who answered to the name of Robinson. “Don’t -yer know dat dem strikers is all fru de country, -an’ dat some of ’em was hyar not mor’n ten minutes -ago?”</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_233" id="Page_233">[233]</a></span></p> - -<p>“Not here at this house?” exclaimed Hopkins, -in alarm.</p> - -<p>Yes, they had been there at the house, and in it -and all over it, so Robinson said, looking for the -boys who had escaped by the rear door. They -might return at any moment, but he (Robinson) -would do the best he could for them. He couldn’t -fight the mob, as he would like to, but perhaps he -could keep the boys concealed.</p> - -<p>“What do you think they would do with us if -they found us?” inquired Stanley.</p> - -<p>Robinson couldn’t say for certain, but the men -who came to his house were angry enough to do -almost anything. They were all armed, and some -of them carried ropes in their hands. This proved -that their threat to hang the young soldiers was -no idle one.</p> - -<p>The first thing Robinson did was to look at -Stanley’s wound. A bullet had plowed a furrow -through the back of his leg just below his knee, -and although the artery had not been cut and the -bone was uninjured, everybody saw at a glance -that it was impossible for him to go any farther. -Hopkins inquired where he could find a surgeon, -but the negro wouldn’t tell him, declaring that if<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_234" id="Page_234">[234]</a></span> -he set out in search of one he would never see his -friends again.</p> - -<p>While Hopkins was trying to make up his mind -what he ought to do, he suddenly became aware -that there was something the matter with himself. -One of his boots seemed to be growing tighter, -and he limped painfully when he tried to walk -across the floor.</p> - -<p>“I declare, I believe I have sprained my ankle,” -said he; and an examination proved that he had. -His ankle was badly swollen and inflamed, and -after he took his boot off he could not bear the -weight of his foot upon the floor.</p> - -<p>“I reckon you’ns has got to put up at my hotel -dis night, bofe of you,” said Robinson. “You -can’t go no furder, dat’s sho’.”</p> - -<p>“Perhaps you had better let us lie out in the -woods,” said Hopkins. “If the strikers should -return and find us here, they might do you some -injury.”</p> - -<p>The negro said he didn’t care for that. Soldiers -had more than once put themselves in danger for -him, and it was a pity if he couldn’t do something -for them. At any rate he would take the risk. -He bustled about at a lively rate while he was<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_235" id="Page_235">[235]</a></span> -talking, and in five minutes more the disabled -boys had been carried up the ladder that led to -the loft and stored away there on some hay that -had been provided for them. After that Stanley’s -leg was dressed with cold coffee, which Robinson -declared to be the best thing in the world for gunshot -wounds. Hopkins’s ankle was bound up in -cloths wet with hot water, a plain but bountiful -supper was served up to them, and they were left -to their meditations. Of course they did not sleep -much, for they couldn’t. They suffered a good -deal of pain, but not a word of complaint was -heard from either of them. Hopkins acted as -nurse during the night, and shortly after daylight -sunk into an uneasy slumber, from which he was -aroused by a gentle push from Stanley, who shook -his finger at him to keep him quiet.</p> - -<p>“They’ve come,” whispered his companion.</p> - -<p>“They! Who?” said Hopkins, starting up.</p> - -<p>“The mob. Don’t you hear them?”</p> - -<p>Hopkins listened, and his hair seemed to rise on -end when he caught the low hum of conversation -outside, which grew louder and more distinct as a -party of men approached the house. Enjoining -silence upon his companion Hopkins drew himself<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_236" id="Page_236">[236]</a></span> -slowly and painfully over the hay to the end of -the loft, and looked out of a convenient knot hole. -Stanley, who watched all his movements with the -keenest interest, trembled all over when Hopkins -held up all his fingers to indicate that there were -ten of them. He also made other motions signifying -that the rioters were armed and that they -had brought ropes with them. Just then there -was a movement in the room below, and Robinson -opened the door and stepped out to wait the mob.</p> - -<p>“Say, nigger,” exclaimed one of the leaders, -“where are those boys who were here last night?”</p> - -<p>Robinson replied that he didn’t know where -they were. They had been taken to the city early -that morning, and he thought they were in the -hospital.</p> - -<p>“Were they both hurt?” asked one of the -rioters.</p> - -<p>“Yes; one had a bullet through his leg, and the -other had been shot in the foot.”</p> - -<p>“We wish those bullets had been through their -heads,” said the leader. “It’s well for them that -they got away, for we came here on purpose to -hang them.”</p> - -<p>“Dat would serve ’em just right,” said Robinson.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_237" id="Page_237">[237]</a></span> -“Dey ain’t got no call to come down hyar -an’ go to foolin’ wid de workin’ man when he -wants his bread an’ butter. No, sar, dey ain’t.”</p> - -<p>The boys in the loft awaited the result of this -conference with fear and trembling. They fully -expected that the rioters would search the house -and drag them from their place of concealment, -but the negro answered all their questions so -readily and appeared to be so frank and truthful, -that their suspicions were not aroused. When -Stanley, who kept a close watch of his friend, saw -him kiss his hand toward the knot-hole, he drew -a long breath of relief, for he knew that the rioters -were going away.</p> - -<p>This visit satisfied both them and their sable -host that they were not safe there, and Robinson -at once sent his oldest boy to the nearest farm-house -to borrow a horse and wagon. When the -vehicle arrived the boys were put into it, and -Robinson took the reins and drove away with all -the speed he could induce the horse to put forth.</p> - -<p>“How do you suppose those men knew that we -were at your house?” said Hopkins.</p> - -<p>“One of dem no account niggers dat was dar -las’ night done went an’ tol’ ’em,” replied Robinson,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_238" id="Page_238">[238]</a></span> -angrily. “I’ll jest keep my eye peeled fur -dat feller, an’ when I find him, I’ll make him -think he’s done been struck by lightnin’. I will -so.”</p> - -<p>Robinson took the boys to the house of the -nearest surgeon, who received and treated them -with the greatest kindness and hospitality. As -Hopkins and Stanley were boys who never spent -their money foolishly they always had plenty of it, -and consequently they were able to bestow a liberal -reward upon the negro, who volunteered to -drive to the nearest station and sent off a despatch -for them. The next day a carriage arrived from -Bridgeport and Hopkins went home in it, but -Stanley, much to his regret, was ordered to remain -behind, the surgeon refusing to consent to his removal; -but he could not have been in pleasanter -quarters or under better care.</p> - -<p>There were half a dozen other boys in the room -who told stories of escapes that were fully as interesting -as this one. They could have talked all -night, but the supper-call sounded, and that broke -up the meeting.</p> - -<hr /> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_239" id="Page_239">[239]</a></span></p> - -<h2 id="CHAPTER_XII">CHAPTER XII.<br /> -<span class="smaller">PLANS AND ARRANGEMENTS.</span></h2> - -<p>“I say, fellows,” exclaimed Egan, the next -time he found all his friends together, -“there’s something going to happen during this -camp that never happened before. The paymaster -is coming here to settle with us.”</p> - -<p>“What do you mean by that?”</p> - -<p>“I mean that we are entitled to a dollar a day -for the work our company did at Hamilton,” -replied Egan. “As we were under orders five days -we have five dollars apiece coming to us from the -State.”</p> - -<p>“Do the wounded come in for that much?” -inquired Hopkins.</p> - -<p>“They belong to the company, do they not?” -demanded Egan. “They are not to blame for -getting hurt, are they? They will get just as -much as the others.”</p> - -<p>We may here remark that the Legislature gave<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_240" id="Page_240">[240]</a></span> -them more. Hopkins received a hundred dollars -to pay him for his sprained ankle; the boy who -was hit in the eye with a buck-shot, and who stood -a fair chance of going blind from the effects of it, -got eleven hundred; Stanley received six hundred, -and so did each of the boys who were shot at Don -Gordon’s side when the company was ordered out -of the car.</p> - -<p>“I’ll never spend those five dollars,” said Don.</p> - -<p>“Neither will I,” chimed in Hopkins. “If I -get the money all in one bill, I’ll have it framed -and hang it up in my room beside a fox-brush -which I won at the risk of my neck.”</p> - -<p>“I wonder how mine would look hung around -the neck of that white swan that led me such a -race two winters ago,” said Egan. “I think they -will go well together, and every time I look at -them, they will remind me of the most exciting -incident of my life. Gordon, you’ll have to make -yours into a rug and spread it on the floor beside -the skin of that bear that came so near making an -end of Lester Brigham.”</p> - -<p>The boys had only three days more to devote to -study during the school term, and much lost time -to make up. The work was hard, they found it<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_241" id="Page_241">[241]</a></span> -almost impossible to keep their minds upon their -books, and everybody, teachers as well as students, -was glad when the first day of August arrived, -and the battalion took up its line of march for its -old camping ground. The students were hardly -allowed time to become settled in their new quarters -before their friends began to flock into the -camp. A few fathers and guardians came there -with the intention of taking their sons and wards -from the school at once—they did not want them -to remain if they were expected to risk their lives -in fighting rioters. Some of the timid ones were -glad to go; but the others, who were full of military -ardor, begged hard to be permitted to complete -the course, and pleaded their cause with so -much ability that their fathers relented, and even -took the trouble to hunt up Professor Kellogg and -congratulate him on having “broken the back-bone” -of the Hamilton riot.</p> - -<p>Lester Brigham’s father and mother were among -the visitors, and so were General Gordon and his -wife. The former were very indignant when they -left Rochdale. Mr. Brigham repeatedly declaring -that it was a sin and an outrage for the superintendent -to send boys like those under his care into<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_242" id="Page_242">[242]</a></span> -battle, and after he had told him, in plain language, -what he thought of such a proceeding, he -was going to take Lester out of that school without -any delay or ceremony. But when he reached -the camp, he did not feel that way. General Gordon -reasoned with him, and when he shook hands -with Lester, he said he was sorry the boy hadn’t -been in the fight, so that he could praise him for -his gallant conduct. Mr. Brigham didn’t know -that Lester had hidden his head under the bed-clothes -when the bugle sounded.</p> - -<p>“I was afraid you would want me to leave the -school,” faltered Lester, as soon as he had somewhat -recovered from his surprise.</p> - -<p>“By no means,” said his father, earnestly. -“You boys will have full control of this government -some day—did you ever think of that?—and -now is the time for you to learn your duty as -citizens. What are you going to be when this -examination comes off? A captain, I hope.”</p> - -<p>“I shan’t be anything,” replied Lester, who -could scarcely conceal his rage. “I shall never be -an officer, because I can’t see the beauty of toadying -to the teachers. I’ll not stay here to fight -strikers, either.”</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_243" id="Page_243">[243]</a></span></p> - -<p>“I sincerely hope your company will never be -called upon to perform any duty so hazardous,” -said Mr. Brigham; “but if it is, I want to hear -that you are in the front rank. If you do not obtain -promotion this examination, I shall think you -have wasted your time.”</p> - -<p>“I have invited a couple of my friends to go -home with me,” said Lester, who wanted to make -sure of a cordial reception for Jones and Williams, -even if he and they were expelled from the academy -for misconduct.</p> - -<p>“I am glad to hear it,” said Mr. Brigham. -“Your mother and I will endeavor to make their -visit so agreeable that they will want to come -again.”</p> - -<p>“And Williams has invited me to go home with -him next year,” added Lester. “He lives down in -Maryland, a short distance from Egan and Hopkins. -May I go?”</p> - -<p>“Certainly. Make all the friends you can, but -be sure that they are the right sort.”</p> - -<p>“I’ve got his promise,” said Lester to himself, -as he paced his lonely beat that night, “and he’ll -not break it. But I must say he’s a nice father -for any fellow to have. I thought sure he had<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_244" id="Page_244">[244]</a></span> -come here to take me home with him. He talks -very glibly about my risking life and limb in defence -of law and order, but would he take it so -easy if he were in my place? I’ll not stay here -another year, and that’s flat.”</p> - -<p>Contrary to his expectations Lester Brigham, -although he fell far behind his class in both -deportment and studies, had not been left at the -academy under arrest, and now he was glad of it. -It was easier to get out of the camp than it was -to leave the academy grounds, and he and his fellow-conspirators -could hold a consultation every -day. They began to exhibit some activity now, -and among those who had agreed to accompany -Lester on his “picnic” there was not one who -showed any signs of backing out, or who even -thought of it, with the exception of Lester himself. -Three of their number had been taken -home by their angry parents, but those who -remained held to their purpose, and urged their -leaders to decide upon a plan of operations. -Lester, who had been rendered almost desperate -by the extraordinary behavior of his father, was -anxious that something should be done at once, -and he and his two right-hand men had many an<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_245" id="Page_245">[245]</a></span> -earnest conference, the result of which was the -promulgation of an order to the effect that none -of the “band,” as they called themselves, should -ask for a pass until they were told to do so.</p> - -<p>“That will keep us together, you know,” said -Lester and his lieutenants. “If one of us asks -for a pass to-day and another to-morrow—why, -when the time for action comes those who have already -been out will be refused, and consequently -not more than half of us will get away. Williams -will have to go out to do a little scouting so as to -ascertain when and where we can get a boat, but -the rest of us must be content to stay in.”</p> - -<p>Their first week under canvas was a busy one, -as it always was. The fortifications, which had -been thrown up the year before in anticipation of -that fight with the Mount Pleasant Indians, must -be repaired and camp routine established before -liberty was granted to anybody. Before this -work was completed many of their visitors took -their departure. Among these were General and -Mrs. Gordon, who wished Don and Bert a pleasant -visit with their friend Curtis in his northern home, -and Lester’s father and mother, who did not -forget to give the boy a good supply of spending<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_246" id="Page_246">[246]</a></span> -money before they went, and to assure Jones and -Williams that they looked forward to their visit to -Rochdale with many pleasurable anticipations.</p> - -<p>“That money is intended for the use of yourself -and your friends,” said Mr. Brigham. “If it is -stolen from you, or if the superintendent finds out -that I gave it to you, it will be your own fault. -If you will come home with a strap on your shoulder, -I will give you as much more.”</p> - -<p>During the second week passes were freely -granted, and one of the first to go out was Enoch -Williams, whose duty it was to find a suitable -boat and lay plans for seizing it at a specified -time. He was gone all day, and when he came -back he was full of enthusiasm, some of which he -communicated to Jones, who was the first boy he -met after reporting his return. They exchanged -a few whispered words, and then hurried off to -find Lester.</p> - -<p>“It’s all right, Brigham,” said Jones, gleefully. -“Enoch has done his full duty, and deserves the -thanks of every fellow in the band. We’re off to-morrow -night.”</p> - -<p>Somehow Lester did not feel as highly elated -over this piece of news as his friends thought he<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_247" id="Page_247">[247]</a></span> -would. He wanted to desert and do something -that would make the academy boys talk about him -after he was gone, but he wished from the bottom -of his heart that he had never said a word about -running away in a boat.</p> - -<p>“I think myself that I have planned things -better than any other boy in the band could have -done it,” said Enoch, with no little satisfaction in -his tones. “I’ve got the boat, and now you must -assess every fellow in the band five dollars.”</p> - -<p>“What for?” demanded Lester.</p> - -<p>“To pay for her, and to buy our provisions.”</p> - -<p>“To pay for her,” echoed Lester. “I thought -we were going to steal her.”</p> - -<p>“So we are—after a while. Now I will begin -at the beginning and tell you just what I have -done: When I got down to the river I found that -the cutter I wanted to take on account of her superior -accommodations, had gone off on a cruise, -and that there was only one yacht in port. But -she’s a beauty, and I wouldn’t be afraid to go to -Europe in her. She was anchored out in the -stream, and while I was wondering how I could -get aboard of her, her keeper came off in a dory -and told me that if I wanted to take a look at the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_248" id="Page_248">[248]</a></span> -schooner he would be glad of my company, for he -was alone there. I went, and in less than an hour -I had everything arranged. His owner is going -on a cruise with a party of friends next Monday, -and it took but little urging on my part to induce -the keeper to agree to give the band a ride down -the river to-morrow night, provided we would -promise to come back when he said the word, so -that he could have the schooner in her berth at -daylight.”</p> - -<p>“You didn’t promise that, of course,” said -Lester, when Enoch paused to take breath.</p> - -<p>“Of course I did,” answered Enoch.</p> - -<p>“Well, you’re a good one,” exclaimed Lester, -in deep disgust. “I’ll not go on any such expedition. -A night ride on the river! There would -be lots of fun in that, wouldn’t there? When I -start on this picnic I don’t intend to come back to -Bridgeport until I have had sport enough to pay -me for the trouble of deserting, or I am captured -and brought back.”</p> - -<p>“Neither do we,” said Jones, as soon as he saw a -chance to crowd a word in edgewise. “Let Enoch -finish his story, and then see if you don’t think -more of his plans.”</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_249" id="Page_249">[249]</a></span></p> - -<p>“I promised that he could come back with his -vessel before daylight, so that his owner wouldn’t -suspect that he had been doing a little cruising on -his own hook,” continued Enoch, “but I didn’t -say that we would come back with him.”</p> - -<p>“You might as well have said so,” snapped -Lester. “Where are we going to stay and what -are we going to do without a boat to sail about -in?”</p> - -<p>“Wait until I have had my say, and then you -may talk yourself blind for all I care,” retorted -Enoch, who was beginning to get angry.</p> - -<p>“Go easy, Williams,” Jones interposed. “We -don’t want a row before we get out of camp. If -we go to quarreling among ourselves there’s an -end of all our fun.”</p> - -<p>“I don’t want to quarrel,” said Lester, who did -not like the way Enoch glared at him.</p> - -<p>“Then wait till I get through before you pass -judgment upon the arrangements I have made,” -exclaimed Enoch. “I didn’t promise Coleman—that’s -the boat-keeper’s name—that we would return -to Bridgeport with him, and neither did I -say that he could bring the yacht back, for I don’t -intend that he shall do anything of the kind.”</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_250" id="Page_250">[250]</a></span></p> - -<p>“How are you going to prevent it?” inquired -Lester.</p> - -<p>“That’s the best part of the plan,” said Jones. -“Go on, Enoch.”</p> - -<p>“This is the way we will prevent it,” continued -the latter. “We’ll go with him as far as Windsor, -and then we will stop and make an excuse to -get him ashore. As soon as we are rid of him -we’ll fill away for the bay. If the wind is at all -brisk he can’t catch us.”</p> - -<p>“What do you say to that?” demanded -Jones.</p> - -<p>“I say it looks like business,” answered Lester, -who now, for the first time, began to take some -interest in his scheme. “It’s all right, Enoch; -you couldn’t have done better, and I couldn’t have -done as well. There’s my hand.”</p> - -<p>“I thought you would like it after you had -given me a chance to explain,” said Enoch, growing -good-natured again.</p> - -<p>“So did I,” chimed in Jones. “We want to -do something daring and reckless, you know; -something that will make the good little boys open -their eyes.”</p> - -<p>“There’s only one objection to it,” continued<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_251" id="Page_251">[251]</a></span> -Enoch. “When we send Coleman ashore we shall -lose our small boat, but we can easily stop at one -of the islands in the bay and borrow another.”</p> - -<p>“So we can,” exclaimed Lester, with great enthusiasm. -“Say, boys, what’s the use of buying -any provisions? Let’s turn pirates and forage on -the farmers for our grub?”</p> - -<p>“That’s the very idea,” said Enoch.</p> - -<p>“I am in favor of foraging and have been all -the while,” said Jones. “But we must be careful -and not try to carry things with too high a hand. -If we get the farmers down on us, they will help -our pursuers all they can, and that will bring our -cruise to an end very speedily. We must buy the -most of our provisions and we must speak to the -boys about it now, so that when they ask for a -pass they can draw on the superintendent for five -dollars apiece.”</p> - -<p>“But how will you get out of the lines, -Enoch?” inquired Lester. “The superintendent -will not grant you liberty for two days in succession.”</p> - -<p>“I’ll get out; don’t you worry about that,” -replied Enoch, confidently. “Now let’s separate -and post the other boys, and see who they want<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_252" id="Page_252">[252]</a></span> -for treasurer. That’s an official we have never -had any use for before.”</p> - -<p>“Tell them that I am a candidate,” said Lester, -who thought he would be a little better satisfied -if he could keep his five dollars in his own hands.</p> - -<p>“That won’t do at all,” said Jones, quickly.</p> - -<p>“Of course not,” chimed in Enoch. “You’ll -have enough to do to manage the yacht. I shall -push Jones for the office.”</p> - -<p>“By the way, how much did you agree to pay -Coleman for giving us a ride down the river?” -asked Lester.</p> - -<p>“Twenty-five dollars,” replied Enoch.</p> - -<p>“That’s a good deal of money to pay out for -nothing. The understanding was that we were to -capture our vessel. If we had held to that, we -could have got her for nothing.”</p> - -<p>“And had a tug after us as soon as she could -get up steam,” replied Enoch. “As I said before, -this schooner is the only yacht in port. We -couldn’t capture her without getting into a fight -with Coleman, and if we had alarmed anybody, we -should have had to run a race with the telegraph -as well as with the tug. Now, remember what I -say, Lester: We shall be in danger as long as we<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_253" id="Page_253">[253]</a></span> -are this side of Oxford. Coleman knows that we -are going to take French leave, and has promised -to be as sly as he can in taking us on board the -schooner; but no matter how carefully we cover -up our trail, some sharp fellow like Mack will be -sure to find it, and telegraph the authorities at -Oxford to be on the look-out for us.”</p> - -<p>“And Coleman himself will raise an outcry just -as soon as he finds out that we have given him the -slip,” added Jones.</p> - -<p>“To be sure he will. I tell you, Brigham, we’re -going to have a time of it, and you will have a -chance to show just how smart you are. After we -get the schooner everything will depend upon you. -If you can take us safely past Oxford and out into -the bay, you will be a leader worth having, and the -boys will feel so much confidence in you that they -will do anything you say.”</p> - -<p>“And if I fail in my efforts to do that, they -will lose what little confidence they have in me -now, and put somebody else in my place,” said -Lester to himself, as he and his friends moved off -in different directions to hunt up the rest of the -band and tell them of the plans that had been determined -upon. “What am I to do now?”</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_254" id="Page_254">[254]</a></span></p> - -<p>There was a time when Don Gordon would -have been delighted with such a prospect as this. -The responsibility resting upon the captain of the -schooner, and which was much too heavy a burden -for Lester to bear, would have aroused all the -combativeness in his nature, and made him determined -to succeed in spite of every obstacle that -could be thrown in his way. Lester, however, felt -like backing out, and he would have done so if -he had received the least encouragement from a -single one of the band to whom he spoke that -night. They were all strongly in favor of Enoch’s -plan, and promised to be on hand at the appointed -time with their money in their pockets.</p> - -<p>“If you don’t want to go, now is the time to -say so,” Lester ventured to suggest, hoping that -some timid boy would take the hint and give him -an excuse for staying behind himself; but the invariable -reply was:</p> - -<p>“I do want to go. I didn’t agree to this thing -just to hear myself talk. If you fellows are going, -I am going too.”</p> - -<p>“Whom have you seen, Brigham?” asked -Jones, as the two met again just before the supper -call was sounded. “All right. Enoch and I have<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_255" id="Page_255">[255]</a></span> -seen the rest, and have found them all true blue. -There’s not a single weak-kneed one among them. -We mustn’t leave the camp in a body, you know, -for that might excite suspicion; but we’ll see -them in Bridgeport to-morrow afternoon, and tell -them to be at Haggert’s dock at dark.”</p> - -<p>They were all going, that was evident, and Lester -did not see how he could refuse to accompany -them. If he feigned illness or neglected to ask for -a pass, he would surely be found out and accused -of cowardice, and then the boys would have nothing -more to do with him. There were few outside -the band who ever took the trouble to speak to -him, and if they deserted him he would be lonely -indeed.</p> - -<p>“And more than all, Williams and Jones would -refuse to go home with me, and that would knock -my visit to Maryland in the head,” said Lester to -himself. “That wouldn’t be at all pleasant. I -shall have a harder time at Rochdale than I ever -had before. Don and Bert Gordon will be sure to -tell all the people there how I have acted ever -since I came to the academy, and what a coward -I was on the night the false alarm was given, and -they will make it so disagreeable for me that I<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_256" id="Page_256">[256]</a></span> -can’t stay. I must stick to those boys, for they -are the only friends I have. I believe I’ll turn -the command of the yacht over to Enoch. He -wants it and I don’t; and if I give it up to him -of my own free will, perhaps it will increase his -friendship for me.”</p> - -<p>Lester breathed easier after he made this resolution, -and, although he did not enjoy his sleep -that night, he did not look forward with so many -gloomy forebodings. He received his pass and his -money when he asked for them, and in company -with Jones set out for Bridgeport. They directed -their course toward Haggert’s dock, and when -they reached it Lester obtained his first view of a -sea-going yacht. One glance at her was enough -to satisfy him that he could do nothing with her, -and he suddenly thought of an excuse for saying -so.</p> - -<p>“Is that the schooner?” he asked, as he and -his companion seated themselves on a spar that -was lying on the dock.</p> - -<p>“Why, of course she’s a schooner,” exclaimed -Jones, looking up in surprise. “A vessel of that -size wouldn’t be square-rigged, would she? Can’t -you see that she is a fore-and-after?”</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_257" id="Page_257">[257]</a></span></p> - -<p>“Not being blind I can,” replied Lester, loftily. -“I inquired if she was <i>the</i> schooner—the one we -are going to take.”</p> - -<p>“Oh!” replied Jones. “Yes, I suppose she is, -but I can very soon find out,” he added, as he -drew his handkerchief from his pocket. “If that -man who is lounging in the cockpit is Coleman, I -can bring him ashore.”</p> - -<p>“Having always been used to plenty of sea-room, -I am not sure that I can handle the schooner -in this narrow river,” said Lester.</p> - -<p>“We are not going to stay in the river, you -know,” answered Jones. “We shall get out of it -as soon as we can.”</p> - -<p>“I know that; but Enoch said last night that -we shall be in danger as long as we remain this -side of Oxford, and the boy who takes us down -the river ought to be one who knows how to handle -boats in close places. I don’t know much -about schooners, for, as I told you long ago, my -yacht was a cutter.”</p> - -<p>“What’s the difference?” asked Jones.</p> - -<p>“There is a good deal of difference the first -thing you know,” exclaimed Lester; and fearing -that he might be asked to tell what it was, he<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_258" id="Page_258">[258]</a></span> -hastened to say: “Williams is a good fellow and -a good sailor too, if I am any judge, and I think I -will ask him to take command. Of course I could -manage the schooner, and perhaps I will take her -in hand after Enoch gets her out of the river.”</p> - -<p>“All right,” said Jones. “I guess Enoch will -take her if you ask him. That’s Coleman.”</p> - -<p>“How do you know?”</p> - -<p>“Because he waved his hand in reply to my -signal, and is now coming off in his boat.”</p> - -<p>In a few minutes Coleman rowed up to the -wharf in his dory. He did not get out, but stood -up in his boat and kept it in its place by holding -fast to a ring-bolt.</p> - -<p>“I wanted to make sure that everything is just -as it should be,” said Jones, who saw that the -boat-keeper was waiting to hear what he had to -say. “Can we go on our cruise to-night?”</p> - -<p>“Are you one of the deserters?” asked Coleman.</p> - -<p>“I am; and my friend here, is another. One -of our fellows was down here yesterday and talked -the matter over with you. Has anything occurred -to interfere with the arrangements you and he -made?”</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_259" id="Page_259">[259]</a></span></p> - -<p>“Not that I know of. How many of you are -there?”</p> - -<p>“Just twenty-five,” replied Jones.</p> - -<p>“That will be a dollar a piece,” said Coleman. -“Can you raise so much money? Then it’s all -right; but there’s one thing I want understood before -we start: I must be back here before daylight.”</p> - -<p>“There’s nothing to prevent it,” answered -Jones; “that is, if you can walk back from Windsor -by that time,” he added, mentally.</p> - -<p>“I am doing this thing without my owner’s -knowledge,” continued Coleman. “If he should -come down here early in the morning and find the -yacht gone, I’d lose my situation.”</p> - -<p>“We know that. All we ask of you is to take -us as far as Windsor, where we intend to go -ashore for an hour or two. You don’t object to -that, I suppose.”</p> - -<p>“Oh, no. If you don’t want to go any farther -than that, I can easily get back in time to avoid -suspicion. Anything going on at Windsor?”</p> - -<p>“A party,” replied Jones.</p> - -<p>After a little more conversation the two boys -got up and walked away, and Coleman went back -to the schooner.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_260" id="Page_260">[260]</a></span></p> - -<p>“There is that much done,” said Jones. “We -have paved the way for getting him ashore. After -we get him up in town we will lose him, and then -we’ll have the schooner to ourselves. Now let’s -separate and look out for the rest of the fellows. -Tell them about the party that isn’t going to -come off in Windsor, and give them to understand -that they may talk about it as much as they please -in Coleman’s hearing. Urge upon them the necessity -of being on the dock at dusk, so as not to run -the risk of being left behind, but caution them -against forming a crowd there. We don’t want -anybody to see us off, and consequently we must -be careful not to attract attention. Williams and -I will meet you at noon at Cony Ryan’s.”</p> - -<p>“Well, don’t bring any other fellows with you,” -said Lester, who knew that this meant pies, pancakes -and milk for three, and that he would have -to foot the bill.</p> - -<p>Jones said he wouldn’t, and the two boys gave -each other a farewell salute, and set out in different -directions in search of the other members of -the band.</p> - -<hr /> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_261" id="Page_261">[261]</a></span></p> - -<h2 id="CHAPTER_XIII">CHAPTER XIII.<br /> -<span class="smaller">THE DESERTERS AFLOAT.</span></h2> - -<p>If the deserters had had the ordering of things -themselves they could not have made them -work more to their satisfaction. There was not a -single hitch anywhere; but there was just enough -excitement to put them on their mettle, and give -them an idea of what was before them. In less -than twenty minutes after Lester Brigham parted -from his friend Jones, he ran against Captain -Mack and Don Gordon. The latter wore a bayonet -by his side to show that he was on duty. If -they had not been so close to him, Lester would -have taken to his heels. Although he had not yet -deserted, and carried a paper in his pocket that -would protect him, the sight of these two boys -made him feel guilty and anxious.</p> - -<p>“Hallo, Brigham,” exclaimed the young captain, -as he returned Lester’s salute. “If I didn’t<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_262" id="Page_262">[262]</a></span> -know better, I should say that you were out on -French leave.”</p> - -<p>“Oh, I am not,” answered Lester, with more -earnestness than the circumstances seemed to warrant. -“I have a pass.”</p> - -<p>“I know it, for I was in the superintendent’s -marquee when it was given to you,” said the captain. -“But I must say that you look rather -queer for an innocent boy. Seen anything of -Enoch Williams?”</p> - -<p>“No, I haven’t,” replied Lester, who now began -to prick up his ears. “Is he out?”</p> - -<p>The captain laughed and said he was.</p> - -<p>“Has he got a pass?”</p> - -<p>“Of course not. If he had we wouldn’t be -looking for him, would we? He followed Egan’s -example and Gordon’s, and ran the guard in broad -daylight. We’ve traced him to the village, and -we’re going to catch him if we have to stay here -for a week. The boy who was on post at the time -Enoch went out said he ran like the wind, and if I -can get Don after him, I expect to see a race -worth looking at. My men are scattered all over -the village, and if you see Enoch I wish you would -post some of them.”</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_263" id="Page_263">[263]</a></span></p> - -<p>“I will,” answered Lester.</p> - -<p>“He won’t,” said Don, as he and the captain -moved on.</p> - -<p>“I know that very well,” returned Mack. -“Brigham is up to something himself, or else his -face belies him.”</p> - -<p>“He and Jones and Williams are cronies, you -know,” continued Don, “and I believe that the -surest way to find our man is to keep an eye on -Lester.”</p> - -<p>“I believe so myself,” said the captain, giving -his companion a hearty slap on the back. -“That’s a bright idea, Gordon, and we’ll act -on it.”</p> - -<p>“Mack thinks he’s smart, but he may find out -that there are some boys in the world who are -quite as smart as he is,” soliloquized Lester, as he -moved on up the street. “I don’t know whether -I want Enoch to command that schooner after all. -His running the guard in daylight shows that he -is inclined to take too many risks.”</p> - -<p>Lester began to be alarmed now; the village -seemed to be full of Captain Mack’s men. He -met them at nearly every corner, and they, as in -duty bound, asked to see his pass, and made inquiries<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_264" id="Page_264">[264]</a></span> -concerning the deserter. Every one of them -declared that there was something afoot.</p> - -<p>“Williams didn’t run the guard in that daring -way and come to town for nothing,” said they. -“There’s no circus here, nor is there anything interesting -going on that we can hear of; but -there’s a scheme of some kind in the wind, and we -know it.”</p> - -<p>Lester’s fears increased every time Captain -Mack’s men talked to him in this way, and he -began looking about for Jones. He wanted to -know what the latter thought about it; but he -could not find him, nor could he see any of the -band. They had all disappeared very suddenly -and mysteriously, and now the only academy boys -he met were those who wore bayonets. Eleven -o’clock came at last, and Lester was on the point -of starting for Cony Ryan’s, when he heard his -name pronounced in low and guarded tones, and -looked quickly around to see Jones standing in a -dark doorway.</p> - -<p>“Don’t come in here,” whispered the latter, as -Lester stepped toward the door. “Stand in front -of that window and pretend to be looking at the -pictures, and then I’ll talk to you.”</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_265" id="Page_265">[265]</a></span></p> - -<p>Lester wonderingly obeyed, and Jones continued:</p> - -<p>“We’re suspected already.”</p> - -<p>“I know it,” answered Lester, in the same cautious -whisper. “Mack’s men all believe that -Enoch had some object in deserting as he did, and -one of them said they wouldn’t go home until -they caught him if they had to stay here a week.”</p> - -<p>“That’s just what they said to me,” returned -Jones. “The thing is getting interesting already, -isn’t it?”</p> - -<p>“Almost too much so. What do you suppose -the teachers would do to us if Mack should hear -of our plans?”</p> - -<p>“They wouldn’t do anything but stop our -liberty,” replied Jones. “Some of the best fellows -in the school make it a point to desert every camp, -and there’s nothing done to them. Stealing the -schooner is what is going to do the business for us. -We’ll be sent down for that, and it’s just what we -want.”</p> - -<p>“Have you seen anything of Enoch?”</p> - -<p>“Yes; he’s all right. He’s gone down to -Ryan’s to order dinner for us.”</p> - -<p>“Where are the rest of the fellows?”</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_266" id="Page_266">[266]</a></span></p> - -<p>“Some of them are hiding about the village, -and the others have gone down to Ryan’s. Enoch -and I thought it best to tell them, one and all, to -keep out of sight. If Mack and his men should -hear of our plan, the fat would all be in the fire.”</p> - -<p>“Would they arrest us?”</p> - -<p>“You’re right.”</p> - -<p>“Why, we haven’t done anything.”</p> - -<p>“No, but we’re going to do something, and if -they knew it, it would be their duty to stop us.”</p> - -<p>“Well, why don’t you come out, or why can’t -I go in there?” demanded Lester. “There’s no -one, except village people, in sight.”</p> - -<p>“There’s where you are mistaken,” replied Jones. -“Look across the street. Do you see that fellow on -the opposite sidewalk who appears to be so deeply -interested in something he sees in the window of -that dry-goods store?”</p> - -<p>Yes, Lester saw him. He had seen him before, -and took him for just what he appeared to be—a -country boy out for a holiday. His tight black -trowsers would not come more than half-way down -the legs of his big cowhide boots; his felt hat was -perched on the top of a thick shock of hair which -looked like a small brush-heap; his short coat<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_267" id="Page_267">[267]</a></span> -sleeves revealed wrists and arms that were as -brown as sole-leather; and the coarse red handkerchief -which was tied around his face seemed to -indicate that he was suffering from the toothache. -But if he was, it did not prevent him from -thoroughly enjoying his lunch—a cake of ginger-bread -and an apple which he had purchased at a -neighboring stand, and which he devoured with -so much eagerness, as he stood there in front of -the window, that everybody who saw him laughed -at him.</p> - -<p>“I see some gawky over there,” said Lester, -after he had taken a glance at the boy.</p> - -<p>“That’s no gawky,” replied Jones. “It’s Don -Gordon.”</p> - -<p>Lester was profoundly astonished. He faced -about and looked again. There was nothing about -that awkward clown, who did not know what to -do with his big feet, that looked like the neat and -graceful Don Gordon he had met a short time -before.</p> - -<p>“You’re certainly mistaken,” said Lester. -“Don’s pride wouldn’t let him appear in the -public street in any such rig as that.”</p> - -<p>“It wouldn’t, eh? You don’t know that boy.”</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_268" id="Page_268">[268]</a></span></p> - -<p>“Besides, Gordon couldn’t look and act so -clumsy if he tried,” continued Lester, who had -striven in vain to imitate Don’s soldierly carriage. -“Why, he is making a laughing-stock of himself.”</p> - -<p>“I know it, and so does he; and he enjoys it. -I don’t know where he procured his disguise, but -if he didn’t borrow it, he bought it. He’s got -more money than he can spend, and he will stick -at nothing that will help him gain his point. Now, -can you see Mack anywhere?”</p> - -<p>Lester looked up and down the street and -replied that he could not.</p> - -<p>“Well, he’s somewhere around, and you may -be sure of it,” Jones went on. “He is keeping -Don in sight, and Don has disguised himself so -that he can keep <i>you</i> in sight. They have been -following you around the streets for two hours, -and this is the first chance I have had to tell you -of it. Have you let anything slip?”</p> - -<p>“No,” replied Lester, indignantly.</p> - -<p>“You’re spotted, any way; and I can’t, for the -life of me, see why you should be if you have -kept a still tongue in your head,” said Jones, in -deep perplexity. “Now, our first hard work must -be to shake those fellows, and then we’ll draw a<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_269" id="Page_269">[269]</a></span> -bee-line for Cony’s. When I say the word, come -into the hall and go up those stairs as if all the -wolves in Mississippi were close at your heels; but -don’t make any noise.”</p> - -<p>Lester braced himself for a jump and a run, -and Jones took up a position in the hall from -which he could observe Don’s movements without -being seen himself. The amateur detective—it -really was Don Gordon—having disposed of his -lunch and growing tired of waiting for Lester to -make a move in some direction, shuffled rather than -walked over to the other window, not neglecting, -as he made this change, to take a good look at the -boy he had “spotted.” As soon as he was fairly -settled before the other window, Jones whispered -“<i>Now!</i>” whereupon Lester darted through the -door and went up the stairs three at a jump. -Jones lingered a minute or two and then followed -him.</p> - -<p>“It’s just as I expected,” said he, hurriedly, -when he joined Lester at the top of the stairs. -“Captain Mack was concealed somewhere down -the street. He saw you when you ran through -the door and signaled to Don, who is now -coming across the street. Follow me and run<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_270" id="Page_270">[270]</a></span> -on your toes. Stick to me, and ask no questions.”</p> - -<p>So saying Jones broke into a run and led the -way through a long hall to another flight of stairs, -which he descended with headlong speed, Lester -keeping close at his heels. On reaching the sidewalk -they slackened their pace to a walk, and -Jones suddenly turned into a shoe-store, with the -proprietor of which he was well acquainted.</p> - -<p>“Mr. Smith,” said he, addressing the man who -stood behind the counter, “may I go in your back -room long enough to take something out of my -boot?”</p> - -<p>Time was too precious to wait for the reply, -which they knew would be a favorable one, so -Jones and Lester kept on to the back-room. -When they got there the former took his foot out -of his boot—there was nothing else in it—while -his companion, acting in obedience to some whispered -instructions, concealed himself and kept an -eye on those who passed the store.</p> - -<p>“There he goes!” he exclaimed suddenly, as -Don Gordon walked rapidly by, peering sharply -through the glass doors as he went. “He must -have followed us through the hall.”</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_271" id="Page_271">[271]</a></span></p> - -<p>“Of course he did, and consequently there is no -need that I should tell you why I came in here. -Now we’ll start for Cony’s.”</p> - -<p>As Jones said this he opened a back door which -gave entrance into a narrow alley, and conducted his -companion through a long archway that finally -brought them to a cross-street. After making -sure that there were none of Captain Mack’s men -in sight, they came out of their concealment and -walked rapidly away toward the big pond. When -they reached Cony Ryan’s house and entered the -little parlor which had been the scene of so many -midnight revels, they found it in possession of -their friends, who greeted them in the most boisterous -manner and inquired anxiously for Enoch -Williams. A few of them had had opportunity to -exchange a word or two with him, all knew how -he had run the guard, but none of them could -tell where he was now.</p> - -<p>“He is safe enough,” said Jones, knowingly. -“Of course you don’t expect him to show himself -openly, as we can who have passes in our -pockets. If you will be on Haggert’s dock at -dark—and those who are not there will stand a -good chance of being left, for when we get ready<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_272" id="Page_272">[272]</a></span> -to start we shall wait for nobody—you will find -him. In the meantime be careful how you act, -and keep out of sight as much as you can. Mack -knows that we haven’t come down here for -nothing.”</p> - -<p>The boys said they were well aware of that fact, -and Jones went on to tell how closely Don Gordon -and Captain Mack had watched Lester in the -hope of finding out what it was that had brought -him and his friends to town that day, and described -how he and Lester had managed to elude -them. While the boys were laughing over the -success of their stratagem, Jones disappeared -through a back door, but presently returned and -beckoned to Lester, who followed him into the -kitchen. Cony Ryan was there, and he had just -placed upon the table two large buckets covered -with snow-white napkins.</p> - -<p>“That’s your dinner,” said he, as he shook -hands with Lester, who had put many a dollar -into his pocket that term. “They tell me that -you are getting to be a very bad boy, Brigham. -You have put the fellows up to stealing a yacht.”</p> - -<p>“It’s a pretty good scheme, isn’t it?” said -Jones.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_273" id="Page_273">[273]</a></span></p> - -<p>“I never heard of such a thing,” said Cony. -“I know every boy who has been graduated at -this academy during the last half century, and -although there were some daring ones among -them, there were none who had the hardihood to -do a thing like this. I have about half made up -my mind that if Captain Mack comes here, I will -report the last one of you.”</p> - -<p>“Well, so long as you don’t wholly make up -your mind to it, we don’t care,” replied Jones, -who knew their host too well to be alarmed by -any such threats as this. “I’ll take one basket, -Brigham, and you can take the other. Cony, you -keep your eyes open and give us the signal at the -very first sign of danger.”</p> - -<p>“Where are you going?” inquired Lester, as -Jones, with one of the baskets on his arm, led the -way out of the door toward a grove that stood a -little distance off on the shore of the big pond.</p> - -<p>“To find Enoch,” answered Jones. “I know -right where he is. I say, Lester, you did something -to be proud of when you got up this scheme. -When Cony Ryan praises a fellow, the praise is -well deserved.”</p> - -<p>“I am very well satisfied with it,” said Lester,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_274" id="Page_274">[274]</a></span> -complacently. “You said something about a signal -of danger; what is it?”</p> - -<p>“Did you ever hear Cony’s greyhound sing?” -asked Jones in reply. “Well, if Cony sees any of -Mack’s men approaching his house, he’ll tell his -hound to ‘sing,’ and the animal will set up the -most dismal howling you ever heard. If Enoch -hears that, you will see him dig out for dear life.”</p> - -<p>After walking a short distance into the grove, -the two boys came to a little creek, whose banks -were thickly lined with bushes. Here Jones stopped -and put down his basket, and hardly had he -done so when Enoch Williams made his appearance. -He had been concealed in the bushes, -awaiting their arrival. This was the first time -Lester had seen the deserter that day, and one -would have thought by the way he complimented -Enoch, that the latter, when he ran by the guard, -had performed an exploit that no other boy in -the academy dare attempt.</p> - -<p>“I am glad to see you two,” said Enoch, nodding -his head toward the baskets, “for I am -hungry.”</p> - -<p>“Any news?” asked Jones, as he spread the lunch -on one of the napkins.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_275" id="Page_275">[275]</a></span></p> - -<p>“Not a word,” replied the deserter. “I -haven’t seen Mack or any of his squad for a long -time.”</p> - -<p>“We have,” said Lester. “We’ve just had -some fun in getting away from them.”</p> - -<p>Of course Enoch wanted to know all about it, -and Jones told the story while they were eating -their lunch. The good things that Cony had put -up for them rapidly disappeared before their attacks, -but busy as they were, they did not neglect -to keep their eyes and ears open. They depended -upon Cony and his hound to guard one side of the -grove, and upon themselves to detect the presence -of any danger that might threaten them from -other directions; but Mack and his men never -came near them. Being well acquainted with -Cony Ryan, they knew it would be a waste of -time to look for a deserter about his premises. -The old fellow was a staunch and trustworthy -friend. He could not be bribed, coaxed or flattered -into betraying a boy’s confidence.</p> - -<p>It seemed as if the day never would draw to a -close. As Enoch did not think it safe to venture -near the house, Jones and Lester kept him company -in the grove, where they rolled about on the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_276" id="Page_276">[276]</a></span> -grass, consulting their watches every few minutes -and laying out a programme for their cruise. By -this time it was understood that Enoch was to -command the schooner. He was delighted when -Lester proposed it, accepted the responsibility -without the least hesitation, and spoke confidently -of his ability to make the cruise a lively one and -to give their pursuers a long chase, if he could -only succeed in getting the yacht out into the -bay.</p> - -<p>The hours wore away, and when six o’clock -came the deserter and his friends finished what -was left of their lunch and began to bestir themselves. -Jones and Lester returned to Cony Ryan’s -house, which they found deserted by all save -the proprietor and his family, the members of the -band having formed themselves into little squads -and strolled off toward the dock. Having made -sure that the coast was clear, Jones went out on -the back porch and gave a shrill whistle, to which -the deserter responded in person.</p> - -<p>“Now, Lester,” said Jones, when Enoch entered -the house, “you stay here and act as look-out for -Williams, and I will take a scout about the village -and see how things look there. It will be<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_277" id="Page_277">[277]</a></span> -dark by the time I come back, and then we will -make a start.”</p> - -<p>Jones was gone a long while, but the report he -brought was a favorable one. The members of the -band were all hidden about the dock, awaiting -Enoch’s appearance with much anxiety and impatience, -and Coleman was ready to carry out his -part of the contract. The sails were cast loose, -and all they had to do was to slip the anchor, and -let the current carry them down the river. He -had seen nothing of Captain Mack or his men, nor -had he been able to find any one who could tell -him what had become of them. He believed they -had gone back to camp.</p> - -<p>“Mack rather plumes himself on his success in -capturing deserters, I believe,” said Enoch, as he -arose from the sofa on which he had been lounging -and put on his cap. “He fails sometimes, -doesn’t he?”</p> - -<p>“Don’t shout until you are out of the woods,” -replied Jones, who knew that his friend was congratulating -himself on his cunning. “The pursuit -has not fairly begun. He may gobble you -yet and all the rest of us into the bargain.”</p> - -<p>“Well, it will not cost him anything to try,”<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_278" id="Page_278">[278]</a></span> -said Enoch, confidently. “I am more at home on -the water than I am on land, and the boy who -beats me handling a yacht must get up in the -morning.”</p> - -<p>“But they will follow us in tugs,” said Lester.</p> - -<p>“Then we’ll hide among some of the islands in -the bay and let them hunt for us,” replied Enoch. -“I tell you it will be a cold day when we get left.”</p> - -<p>After Lester had paid for the lunch they had -eaten in the grove, he and his companions left -Cony Ryan’s hospitable roof and set out for the -dock, neglecting no precautions on the way. Jones -and Lester went ahead, stopping at every corner -and looking into every doorway, and Enoch, who -followed a short distance behind them, did not -advance until they notified him, by a peculiar -whistle, that he had nothing to fear.</p> - -<p>By keeping altogether on the back streets and -giving the business thoroughfares a wide berth, -they managed to reach the dock without meeting -anybody. There was no one in sight when they -got there, but Jones’s low whistle was answered -from a dozen different hiding places.</p> - -<p>“Ahem!” said Enoch, looking toward the -schooner.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_279" id="Page_279">[279]</a></span></p> - -<p>“Ahem!” came the answer through the darkness. -“Who is it?”</p> - -<p>“The band,” replied Enoch; and then there -came a few minutes of silence and impatient waiting, -during which Coleman got into his dory and -shoved off toward the dock. Another whistle -from Jones brought several students from their -places of concealment, and when the dory was -filled to its utmost capacity, it was pulled back to -the schooner. Coleman was obliged to make three -trips in order to take them all off, and when -Jones, who was the last to leave the dock, sprang -over the schooner’s rail, he announced that not a -single one of the band was missing.</p> - -<p>“Keep silence fore and aft,” commanded Coleman, -as he made the dory’s painter fast to the -stern and went forward to slip the chain. “Wait -until we get under way before you do any -talking.”</p> - -<p>The boys were careful to obey. With a single -exception they were highly elated over the success -of their plans, and now that the schooner was -moving off with them, they were determined that -she should not come back to her berth again until -she had taken them on a good long cruise. That<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_280" id="Page_280">[280]</a></span> -exception was, of course, Lester Brigham. He -became timid when he found himself at the mercy -of the current which was carrying him off through -darkness so intense that he could scarcely see the -vessel’s length ahead of him, and took himself to -task for his foolishness in proposing such an expedition. -But when he found that the schooner -was seaworthy, and that Enoch knew how to keep -her on top of the water and to get a good deal of -speed out of her besides, these feelings gradually -wore away, and he even told himself that he was -seeing lots of fun.</p> - -<p>When the current had taken the little vessel so -far down the river that there was no longer any -danger to be apprehended, Coleman came up to -Enoch, whom he recognized as one of the leaders -of the band, and inquired:</p> - -<p>“Are there any among you who know a halliard -from a down-haul?”</p> - -<p>Enoch replied that there were.</p> - -<p>“Then send a couple of them forward to run up -the jib, while I take the wheel,” said Coleman. “I -want to throw her head around. No singing, now.”</p> - -<p>“What did he mean by that?” asked Lester, -speaking before he thought.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_281" id="Page_281">[281]</a></span></p> - -<p>“Why, have you never heard sailors sing when -they were hoisting the sails?” exclaimed Enoch. -“It makes the work easier, you know, and helps -them pull together.”</p> - -<p>“Why, of course it does,” said Lester. “What -was I thinking of?”</p> - -<p>“I don’t know, I am sure. Come with me -and lend a hand at the jib. Jones, you had better -attend to Coleman now.”</p> - -<p>“Shall I give him his money?” asked Jones, -who, we forgot to say, had been elected treasurer -of the band without one dissenting voice.</p> - -<p>“Yes; hand it over, and perhaps he will want -to go ashore and spend some of it. You see,” -added Enoch, as he and Lester went forward, -“our first hard work must be to get rid of Coleman -without raising any fuss, and Jones is going -to try to induce him to go off with us at -Windsor; so keep away from him and let him -talk.”</p> - -<p>It was so very dark and there were so many -ropes leading down the foremast that Lester didn’t -see how Enoch could find the one he wanted; but -he laid his hand upon it without the least hesitation, -and when he began pulling at it, Lester knew<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_282" id="Page_282">[282]</a></span> -enough to take hold and help him. The schooner -swung around as the wind filled the sail, and -when her bow pointed down the river the fore and -main sails were hoisted, and in a few minutes -more she was bowling along right merrily. Enoch -superintended the work, all the boys lending willing -but awkward assistance, and Coleman complimented -him by saying that he was quite a -sailor.</p> - -<p>“And I am the only one on board,” said he, as -soon as he found opportunity to speak to Jones -in private. “Brigham is a fraud of the first -water. There are lots of fellows aboard who -make no pretensions, but who know more about -a boat in five minutes than he does in a -month.”</p> - -<p>“His yacht was a cutter, you know,” suggested -Jones.</p> - -<p>“Oh, get out!” exclaimed Enoch. “He -doesn’t know a cutter from a full-rigged ship.”</p> - -<p>Lester, who was painfully aware that his ignorance -of all things pertaining to a yacht had been -fully exposed, was leaning against the weather-rail, -heartily wishing himself back at the academy.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_283" id="Page_283">[283]</a></span> -He then and there resolved that he would -never again attempt to win a reputation among -his fellows by boasting. It is a bad thing to do; -and the boy who indulges in it is sure to bring -himself into contempt sooner or later.</p> - -<hr /> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_284" id="Page_284">[284]</a></span></p> - -<h2 id="CHAPTER_XIV">CHAPTER XIV.<br /> -<span class="smaller">DON OBTAINS A CLUE.</span></h2> - -<p>“How have you succeeded with Coleman?” -continued Enoch. “Are we going to get -rid of him as easily as we hoped?”</p> - -<p>“Coleman is all right,” was Jones’s encouraging -reply. “I laid a neat little trap for him, and he -fell into it just as easy! I told him that we had -been followed nearly all day, and he said he knew -it, for he had seen Mack and some of his squad on -the dock. I told him, too, that Mack knew all -about the party at Windsor, and that I was afraid -he would go down there and lie in wait for us; -and Coleman offered to go ashore in the dory and -reconnoiter.”</p> - -<p>“Good!” exclaimed Enoch. “Just the minute -he is out of sight we’ll fill away for the bay. Now -let’s post the other boys, so that they may know -just what is expected of them.”</p> - -<p>The deserters did not at all enjoy their ride<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_285" id="Page_285">[285]</a></span> -down the river, for they were thinking about -something else. They were impatient to see the -last of Coleman, and trembling for fear that something -would happen to excite his suspicions. -They were strong enough to take the schooner -from him by force, and there were some reckless -ones in the band who openly advocated it; but -the majority would not listen to them. They had -enough to answer for already, they said, and they -would not countenance any such high-handed proceeding. -While they were talking about it they -sighted Windsor.</p> - -<p>“I guess I had better run in and tie up to the -wharf,” said Coleman, who stood at the wheel.</p> - -<p>“Don’t do that,” said Enoch, quickly. He -wanted to keep the schooner out in the river so -that when the proper time came he could fill away -without the loss of a moment. If she were made -fast to the wharf and the sails were lowered, it -would be a work of some difficulty to get under -way again, and if Coleman were the active and -quick-witted man they took him for, he would upset -all their plans in an instant.</p> - -<p>“That wouldn’t do at all,” chimed in Jones. -“How do we know but that Mack and his men<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_286" id="Page_286">[286]</a></span> -are hidden there on the wharf all ready to board -us as soon as we come alongside?”</p> - -<p>“Couldn’t you fight ’em off?” inquired Coleman.</p> - -<p>“We might, but we’ll not try it,” said Enoch. -“There’s no law that prevents a deserter from -hiding or taking to his heels, but if he should resist -arrest, they’d snatch him bald-headed. We -don’t want to fight, for we’re deep enough in the -mud already.”</p> - -<p>“What will the superintendent do to you when -you go back?” asked Coleman.</p> - -<p>“Oh, he’ll court-martial us and stop our liberty,” -replied Jones. “But we don’t care for -that, you know. We intend to have so much fun -to-night at the party that we can afford to stay in -camp during the rest of the month.”</p> - -<p>Jones did not think it best to tell Coleman that -he and his companions stood a fine chance of being -expelled from the academy to pay for this -night’s work. He was afraid that if he did, the -man would refuse to assist them in their scheme, -and that he would come about and take them -back to Bridgeport. If he had tried that, there -would have been trouble beyond a doubt, for his<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_287" id="Page_287">[287]</a></span> -passengers were bound to make themselves famous -before they went back. They succeeded beyond -their most sanguine expectations. It is true that -they were taken to the academy under arrest, but -they were looked upon as heroes and not as culprits -who were deserving of punishment. They -gave the students and everybody else something -to talk about, but not in the way they had anticipated.</p> - -<p>“The safest plan you can pursue is to leave the -schooner out here in the river, and go ashore in -the dory and see that the way is clear,” continued -Jones.</p> - -<p>“I don’t know of but one house in Windsor -that is big enough for a party, and that’s Dr. -Norton’s,” said Coleman.</p> - -<p>“There’s right where we’re going,” said Enoch, -at a venture. “We want you to go out there and -look carefully about his grounds to make sure -that Mack and his men are not in hiding there.”</p> - -<p>“Why, it’s a mile from the village!” exclaimed -Coleman.</p> - -<p>“What of that?”</p> - -<p>“It would take me an hour to go there and -come back,” replied the man, “and to tell the truth,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_288" id="Page_288">[288]</a></span> -I am afraid to trust the yacht in your hands for -that length of time. You might beach her, or a -steamer might run her down in the dark.”</p> - -<p>“You needn’t be afraid of that,” replied Jones. -“Williams can take care of her. He owned and -sailed a yacht years ago.”</p> - -<p>“And here’s another thing,” said Enoch. “You -ought to remember that you are as deeply interested -in this matter as we are. If Mack and his -men should capture us now, wouldn’t they find -out that you are using your owner’s yacht without -his knowledge, and wouldn’t they get you into -trouble by speaking of it?”</p> - -<p>“So they would,” answered Coleman. “I didn’t -think of that. I must help you now whether I -want to or not. Well, I’ll go ashore, as I agreed. -Who’s going to manage the schooner while I am -gone?”</p> - -<p>Enoch answered that he was.</p> - -<p>“All right. Take the wheel, and let me see -you throw the yacht up into the wind.”</p> - -<p>Enoch complied, and Coleman had no fault to -find with the way in which he executed the maneuver. -As soon as the schooner lost her headway, -the man clambered down into the dory and<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_289" id="Page_289">[289]</a></span> -pushed off toward the dock, not forgetting to tell -Enoch that he left the yacht entirely in his hands, -and that he (Enoch) would be responsible for her -safety.</p> - -<p>“Don’t be uneasy,” was the boy’s reassuring -reply. “I know just what I want to do; and -I’m going to do it,” he added, in a lower tone. -“Go for’ard, Jones, and keep an eye on him as -long as you can. When you see him go up the -street that leads from the wharf, let me know.”</p> - -<p>The impatient boys watched Coleman as he -rowed toward the dock, and presently they saw -his head bobbing up and down in front of the -lights in the store windows. As soon as he disappeared -up the road that led to Dr. Norton’s house, -Jones carried the news to Enoch, who filled away -and stood down the river again. The deserters -were so delighted at the success of their stratagem -that they danced hornpipes, and could with difficulty -restrain themselves from shouting aloud.</p> - -<p>“Brigham, tell those fellows to keep still,” -commanded the new captain. “Now, Jones, the -next thing is something else. We’ve got the -schooner easy enough, but what shall we do with -her?”</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_290" id="Page_290">[290]</a></span></p> - -<p>“Let’s crack on and get into the bay as soon as -we can,” suggested Jones.</p> - -<p>“I should like to, for I know we are not safe as -long as we are in the river, but I am afraid to put -any more canvas on her. Not being familiar with -the channel I am going it blind, and I don’t want -to knock a hole in her, or run her high and dry -on a sand-bar before I know it. I think it would -be safest to stay here for a while, and let our pursuers -get ahead of us, so that we will be in their -wake instead of having them in ours. Perhaps -you had better talk it up among the boys and see -what they think of it. While you are about it, -find out if there is any one in the band who knows -the river. If there is, send him to me.”</p> - -<p>Jones hurried away to obey this order, and presently -returned with a boy who lived in Oxford, -and who had often piloted his father’s tugs up -and down the river. The information he gave the -captain was contained in a very few words, but it -proved to be of great value to him. The boy told -him that he had better keep as close to the bluff -banks as he could, for there was where the channel -was; but when he came to a place where the -banks were low on both sides, he would find the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_291" id="Page_291">[291]</a></span> -deepest water pretty near the middle of the -river.</p> - -<p>“That’s all I want to know about that,” said -Enoch. “It is eleven o’clock, isn’t it, and we are -about thirty-five miles from Bridgeport? Very -well. How much farther down the river ought the -current and this wind to take us by daylight?”</p> - -<p>“I should think it ought to take us past Mayville, -and that is seventy miles from Bridgeport,” -replied the boy.</p> - -<p>“Do you know of any little creeks around there -that we could hide in during the day?”</p> - -<p>The boy said there were a dozen of them.</p> - -<p>“All right,” answered Enoch. “Perhaps you -had better stay on deck with me to-night, and to-morrow -we will sleep. Now Jones, divide the crew -into two equal watches, and send one of them -below if they are sleepy and want to go. Then -bring up a couple of lanterns and hang them to -the catheads. If we don’t show lights we may -get run over.”</p> - -<p>Jones proved to be an invaluable assistant, and -it is hard to tell how Enoch would have got on -without him. He hung out the lamps, set the -watch, and then he and some of the band went<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_292" id="Page_292">[292]</a></span> -below to take a look at their floating home. He -peeped into all the state-rooms, glanced at the -forecastle, examined all the lockers as well as the -galley and pantry, and was delighted with everything -he saw.</p> - -<p>“I didn’t know there was so much elbow-room -on one of these little boats,” said he, after he had -finished his investigations. “There are provisions -enough in the store-rooms to last us a week, and -the owner has left his trunk and his hunting and -fishing traps on board.”</p> - -<p>“That must not be touched,” said Enoch, decidedly.</p> - -<p>“It wouldn’t do any harm to take out one of -those fine breech-loaders and knock over a mess of -squirrels with it,” said Jones.</p> - -<p>“Yes, it would. Most men are very particular -about their guns and don’t want strangers to use -them. We must return all this property in just -as good order as it was when it came into our -hands. We’ve got money enough to buy our own -grub, and I’ll raise a row with the first fellow -who dips into those provisions, I don’t care who -he is. We’re not mean, if we did run away with -the schooner.”</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_293" id="Page_293">[293]</a></span></p> - -<p>Perhaps Egan would have been astonished to -have heard such sentiments as these expressed by -the boy whom he believed to be the “meanest -fellow that ever lived.” Enoch could be manly so -long as he was good-natured, and so could Lester -Brigham. It was when they got angry that they -showed themselves in their true characters. It -may be that the fear of a rigorous prosecution by -the angry owner of the yacht had something to do -with the stand Enoch took in regard to the provisions -and hunting outfit.</p> - -<p>Of course none of the band wanted to go below, -inviting as the berths looked, and Enoch, who -liked company, did not insist upon it. They -showed a desire to sing, but that was something -the captain opposed. The noise they made would -be sure to attract the attention of some of the -people living along the banks, and put it in their -power to aid Captain Mack and his men when -they came in pursuit. He wanted to cover up -their trail so as to mystify everybody.</p> - -<p>“You need not expect to do that,” said one of -the band. “Coleman will blow the whole thing -as soon as he gets home.”</p> - -<p>“But I don’t think he will go home and face<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_294" id="Page_294">[294]</a></span> -his owner after what he has done,” said Enoch. -“I know I shouldn’t want to do it if I were in his -place. If he keeps away from Bridgeport, so -much the better for us. Wait till we get out of -danger, and then you can sing to your hearts’ -content.”</p> - -<p>Enoch stood at the wheel all night, and the boy -who lived in Oxford kept him company to see that -he gave the sand-bars a wide berth. Some of the -band managed to sleep a little, but the majority -of the members lounged about the deck and wondered -what they were going to do for excitement -during their cruise.</p> - -<p>The schooner passed Mayville shortly after daylight, -and the deserters could not see that there -was any one stirring. About half an hour afterward -Enoch’s companion directed his attention to -a wide creek which he said would afford an excellent -hiding-place for their vessel during the day, -and the schooner was accordingly turned into it. -After she had run as far up the stream as the -wind would carry her, the sails were hauled down, -a dory they found in the creek was manned, a line -got out, and the yacht was towed around the -bend out of sight, and made fast to the bank.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_295" id="Page_295">[295]</a></span></p> - -<p>And where were Captain Mack and his men all -this time, and did they succeed in finding the -trail of the deserters in spite of all Enoch’s efforts -to cover it up? They spent the night in their -quarters, and struck a hot scent the first thing in -the morning. It came about in this way:</p> - -<p>When Lester Brigham, with Jones’s assistance, -succeeded in eluding Don Gordon, the latter became -firmly settled in the belief that there was -“something up.” He and Captain Mack used -their best endeavors to get on Lester’s track again, -looking in every place except the one in which -they would have been sure to find him. That -was at Cony Ryan’s house. As we said before, -they did not go there because they knew it would -be time wasted.</p> - -<p>“It’s no use, Gordon,” said Captain Mack, after -he and his squad had searched all the streets and -looked into every store in the village. “They’re -safe at Cony’s, and we might as well go home. I -hope they will stay out all night so that we can -have another chance to-morrow. I don’t like to -give up beaten.”</p> - -<p>Captain Mack knew where to find every one of -his men, and in half an hour’s time they were all<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_296" id="Page_296">[296]</a></span> -marching back to camp. The young officer reported -his return and his failure to capture the -boy who had run the guard, adding that he had a -strong suspicion that Enoch, Lester and the rest -had some plan in their heads, and that they did -not intend to return to camp of their own free -will.</p> - -<p>“Very well,” said the superintendent. “If -they do not return to-night, you had better take a -squad and go down to the village in the morning -and make inquiries. If they can get away from -you they are pretty smart.”</p> - -<p>“Thank you, sir. I will do my best, but I -can’t hope for success if I am to be hampered by -orders.”</p> - -<p>“No, I suppose not,” said the superintendent, -with a laugh. “You would rather waste your -time in running about the country than stay here -in camp and attend to your business.”</p> - -<p>“I am ahead of my class, sir,” said Mack.</p> - -<p>“I know it. Well, stay out until you learn -all about their plans, if they have any, and capture -them if you know where they have gone. I -presume that is the order you want.”</p> - -<p>“Yes, sir; that’s the very one,” said Mack,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_297" id="Page_297">[297]</a></span> -with so much glee in his tones that the superintendent -and all the teachers laughed heartily. -“May I select my own men and take as many as -I want?”</p> - -<p>“Certainly, provided you leave enough to do -camp duty.”</p> - -<p>“I will, sir. I’ll take a man for every deserter.”</p> - -<p>Captain Mack made his salute and hurried out, -laughing all over. His first care was to go to the -officer of the guard and find out just how many -boys there were in Lester’s party (he took it for -granted that they were all together and that they -intended to desert and go off somewhere to have a -good time), and his next to make out a list of the -boys who were to comprise his squad. It is hardly -necessary to say that the names of Don and Bert -Gordon, Egan, Curtis and Hopkins appeared on -that list. The captain meant to have a good time -himself, and he wanted some good fellows to help -him enjoy it.</p> - -<p>“I have a roving commission, fellows,” he said -to the boys, as fast as he found them. “If I can -find out where those deserters have gone, I shall -not come back without them. Stick a pin -there.”</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_298" id="Page_298">[298]</a></span></p> - -<p>“Good for you, Mack,” was the universal verdict.</p> - -<p>“I tell you it pays for a fellow to mind his -business,” continued the delighted captain. “I -never would have been allowed so great a privilege -if I hadn’t behaved myself pretty well this term. -Say nothing to nobody, but hold yourselves in -readiness to leave camp at daylight. We’ll get -breakfast in the village. If you haven’t plenty of -money, perhaps you had better ask for some; and -while you are about it, you might as well get ten -dollars apiece. The superintendent is not very -particular about financial matters during camp, -you know.”</p> - -<p>That was true, but still he looked surprised -when more than twenty boys came to him that -night and asked for ten dollars each. He handed -over the money, however, without asking any -questions, and when the last one went out he said -to the teachers who had gathered in his marquee:</p> - -<p>“This looks as if Captain Mack were up to -something himself. Well, he’s a good boy, he -associates with none but good boys, and we can -trust him with the full assurance that any privileges -we grant him will not be abused.”</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_299" id="Page_299">[299]</a></span></p> - -<p>Captain Mack and his chosen men did not get -much sleep that night. Although they firmly -believed that a large party of students had -deserted the camp they had no positive proof of -the fact, and they were in a state of great uncertainty -and suspense. They hoped from the bottom -of their hearts that Lester and the rest would not -come in, for if they did, that was the end of the -fun. Some of them ran out of their tents every -time a sentry challenged, and always breathed -easier when they found that none of the suspected -parties had returned. At ten o’clock the challenges -ceased, and after that no one came through the -lines. Captain Mack went to the guard tent and -found that none of Lester’s crowd had returned, -and then he knew that his scout was an assured -thing. The band was gone sure enough, and the -next thing was to find it. All the members of -his squad reported for duty promptly at daylight -(not one of them waited to be called), and in five -minutes more they were on their way to the village.</p> - -<p>“Now, boys,” said the captain, as he halted the -squad in front of the post-office, “scatter out, and -take a look about the streets for half an hour, and<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_300" id="Page_300">[300]</a></span> -then report for breakfast at the International, -which will be our headquarters as long as we stay -here. I will go down there and tell them that we -want something to eat as soon as they can dish it -up.”</p> - -<p>The boys “scattered out” in obedience to their -order, and a short time afterward Don Gordon -drew up at Haggert’s dock, where he found a -portly old gentleman who seemed to be greatly excited -about something, for he was striding back -and forth, talking to himself and flourishing his -cane in the air. This was Mr. Packard—the one -to whom Don and Bert presented their letter of -introduction on the night they got into trouble -with the guard, and saved Sam Arkwright from -being ducked in the big pond by Tom Fisher and -his followers.</p> - -<p>“I declare I don’t understand this thing at all,” -said Mr. Packard, shaking his cane at Don, as the -latter came up and wished him a hearty good -morning.</p> - -<p>“Neither do I,” replied Don, who knew that -the angry old gentleman expected him to say -something.</p> - -<p>“Now there’s that villain, Coleman,” continued<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_301" id="Page_301">[301]</a></span> -Mr. Packard, bringing the iron ferrule of his heavy -stick down upon the dock to give emphasis to his -words. “I’ve done everything I could for that -man. I’ve footed his doctor bill when he was ill, -paid him more wages than he demanded, given -him employment when I didn’t really need him, -and now he’s gone and run off with my boat. I -say hanging is too good for such an ingrate. Come -up to the house and take breakfast with me, Don. -We haven’t seen you and Bert there in a long -time. What are you doing here at this hour in -the morning? Have you deserted again, you -young scamp?”</p> - -<p>“No, <i>sir</i>,” said Don, emphatically. “I haven’t -been in a single scrape this term.”</p> - -<p>“You were in that fight at Hamilton, and I -call that something of a scrape. Everybody says -you behaved with the greatest coolness. I am -proud of you, do you hear me?” said Mr. -Packard, again shaking his cane at Don.</p> - -<p>“Thank you, sir,” was the reply. “What I -meant to say was, that I have broken none of the -rules, and don’t mean to, either. Do you see this -bayonet? I am on duty, and consequently, I -am obliged, much to my regret, to decline your<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_302" id="Page_302">[302]</a></span> -kind invitation. I am out after a lot of deserters.”</p> - -<p>“I hope you’ll not catch them,” exclaimed Mr. -Packard. “Let them enjoy themselves while they -are young, for old age comes all too soon—too soon. -I haven’t forgotten that I was a boy once myself. -Come up to the house as often as you can—you -and Bert. We are always glad to see you.”</p> - -<p>The old gentleman walked quickly away, and -then he as quickly stopped and shook his cane at -the anchor buoy which marked the berth in which -his schooner lay the last time he visited the dock.</p> - -<p>“Now there’s that Coleman,” said he. “I’ll -give him till dark to bring that boat back, and if -he doesn’t do it, I’ll have the police after him. I -will, for I can’t stand any such nonsense.”</p> - -<p>“I have an idea,” said Don; and he also left -the dock, performing a little problem in mental -arithmetic as he hurried away. Given a five-knot -breeze and a three-mile current, how far could a -vessel like the Sylph (that was the name of Mr. -Packard’s missing yacht) go in a narrow and -crooked channel in nine or ten hours? That was -the question he was trying to solve. While he -was working at it, he entered a telegraph office<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_303" id="Page_303">[303]</a></span> -and found the operator dozing in his chair. He -held a few minutes’ consultation with him, which -must have resulted in something that was entirely -satisfactory to Don, for when the latter came out -of the office and hurried toward the hotel, his face -wore an excited and delighted look. He found the -squad at breakfast, he being the last to report.</p> - -<p>“What kept you?” demanded the captain, as -Don entered and took his seat at the table.</p> - -<p>“Business,” was the laconic reply. “Have any -of you got a clue?”</p> - -<p>No, they hadn’t. With all their trying they -had not been able to gain any tidings of the deserters, -who had disappeared in some mysterious way -and left no trace behind. Their leader, whoever -he was, had shown considerable skill in conducting -their flight so as to baffle pursuit.</p> - -<p>“You’re a wise lot,” said Don. “I have a clue.”</p> - -<p>A chorus of exclamations arose on all sides, and -the captain laid down his knife and fork and -settled back in his chair.</p> - -<p>“I know right where they were about the time -we left camp this morning,” continued Don.</p> - -<p>“Where were they?” exclaimed all the boys at -once.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_304" id="Page_304">[304]</a></span></p> - -<p>“A long way from here. I tell you, Mack, the -superintendent didn’t dream of this when he gave -you your roving commission. Is it necessary that -you should report to him for further orders?”</p> - -<p>“No. He told me to catch those fellows if I -could learn where they were, and that’s the only -order I want.”</p> - -<p>“All right. What do you say to a sail on the -bay?”</p> - -<p>The students raised a shout that made the spacious -dining-room echo. “Have they gone that -way?” asked the captain.</p> - -<p>“They have, and this is the way I found it out,” -answered Don, who, having worked his auditors -up to the highest pitch of excitement, went on to -repeat the conversation he had held with Mr. -Packard, and wound up by saying: “Somehow I -couldn’t help connecting the deserters with the -disappearance of that yacht; so I dropped into a -telegraph office, and the operator, at my request, -spoke to Mayville, who, after taking about fifteen -minutes to gain information, replied that the -Sylph had gone down the river at daylight with a -lot of students aboard.”</p> - -<p>“Hurrah!” shouted Captain Mack; while his<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_305" id="Page_305">[305]</a></span> -men broke out into a yell, pounded the table, -clapped their hands, and acted altogether so unlike -orderly guests of a first-class hotel, that the proprietor -came in to see what was the matter.</p> - -<p>“Break all the dishes,” said he, swinging his -arms around his head. “Turn the house out of -doors, if you want to; it’s paid for!”</p> - -<p>“We’ll try to stop before we do any damage, -Mr. Mortimer,” said Captain Mack, with a laugh. -“Now pitch in everybody, so that we can take the -first train.”</p> - -<p>“Where are we going, Mack,” inquired Curtis.</p> - -<p>“To Oxford. Egan is a sailor-man, and—you -know Mr. Shelby, of course.”</p> - -<p>These words enabled the students to see through -Mack’s plan at once, and they made another boisterous -demonstration of delight and approval. -They knew Mr. Shelby, who owned the finest and -swiftest yacht in Oxford. He was an academy -boy, and had once been famous as a good runner. -He was a soldier as well as a sailor, as full of fun -and mischief as any boy in Mack’s squad, and just -the man to help Lester and his band with one -hand, while giving their pursuers a lift with the -other. Of course he would lend them his yacht<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_306" id="Page_306">[306]</a></span> -and take as deep an interest in the race as any -student among them.</p> - -<p>Breakfast over, Don asked and obtained permission -to run up to Mr. Packard’s and let him know -what had become of the Sylph. To his great surprise -the old gentleman took it as a huge joke, -and laughed heartily over it. He warned Don -that the schooner was a hard boat to beat when -Coleman was at the helm, and declared that if the -deserters would return her safe and sound, they -might keep her a month and welcome. He would -never make them any trouble on account of it. -He was sorry to give up his cruise, but then his -brother had just left Newport in his yacht, and -when he arrived, he (Mr. Packard) would go off -somewhere with him. It was plain that his sympathies -were all with the runaways, although he -knew nothing of the great service they were going -to render him and others. If it hadn’t been for -those same deserters, Mr. Packard would never -again have seen his brother alive.</p> - -<hr /> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_307" id="Page_307">[307]</a></span></p> - -<h2 id="CHAPTER_XV">CHAPTER XV.<br /> -<span class="smaller">ANOTHER TEST AND THE RESULT.</span></h2> - -<p>“Keep her away, Burgess! If the ragged -end of that spar hits us it may send us to -the bottom. Slack away the fore-sheet! Stand -by, everybody, and don’t let him go by for your -lives! He looks as though he couldn’t hold on -another minute.”</p> - -<p>It was Egan who issued these hurried orders. -He was standing on the weather-rail of Mr. Shelby’s -yacht, the Idlewild, which was sailing as near -into the wind’s eye as she could be made to go, -now and then buoying her nose in a tremendous -billow that broke into a miniature cataract on her -forecastle and deluged her deck with water. He -was drenched to the skin, and so were the boys -who were stationed along the rail below him, -trembling all over with excitement, and watching -with anxious faces one of the most thrilling scenes -it had ever been their lot to witness.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_308" id="Page_308">[308]</a></span></p> - -<p>There had been a terrible storm along the coast. -It was over now, the clouds had disappeared and -the sun was shining brightly; but the wind was -still blowing half a gale, there was a heavy sea -running, and the waves seemed to be trying their -best to complete the work of destruction that had -been commenced by the storm. Two points off -the weather-bow there had been, a few minutes -before, a little water-logged sloop, over which the -waves made a clean breach; but she was gone now. -All on a sudden her bow arose in the air, her stern -settled deep in the water, and the yacht, which -had set sail from Newport a few days before with -a merry party of excursionists on board, went -down to the bottom of the bay. Broad on the -Idlewild’s beam was the Sylph, the deserters working -like beavers to rescue the crew of the sunken -yacht, heedless or ignorant of the fact that they -were in jeopardy themselves, their vessel being so -badly handled by the frightened and inexperienced -boy at her wheel, that she was in imminent danger -of broaching to. Tossed about by the waves which -rolled between the Idlewild and the Sylph was a -broken spar to which a student, with a pale but -determined face, clung desperately with one arm,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_309" id="Page_309">[309]</a></span> -while in the other he supported the inanimate form -of a little boy. The student was Enoch Williams, -and the boy was Mr. Packard’s nephew.</p> - -<p>The last time we saw the Sylph she was hiding -in the creek a short distance below Mayville. -That was a week ago, and her persevering and -determined pursuers had but just come up with -her. During the day the deserters purchased a -small supply of provisions from the neighboring -farmers, fished a little, slept a good deal, and when -darkness came to conceal their movements they -got under way again, and stood down the river, -taking the stolen dory with them. At daylight -they found another hiding-place, and before dawn -the next morning they ran by Oxford, a bustling -little city situated at the mouth of the river. If -they were pursued they did not know it. They -made cautious inquiries as often as they had opportunity, -but no one could give them any information, -because Captain Mack and his men had -escaped observation by going from Bridgeport to -Oxford on the cars.</p> - -<p>When the Sylph ran out into the bay, the deserters -began to feel perfectly safe. They shouted -and sung themselves hoarse, and told one another<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_310" id="Page_310">[310]</a></span> -that they were seeing no end of sport; but in -their hearts they knew better. How was their -cruise going to end? was the unwelcome question -that forced itself into their minds every hour in the -day, and none of them could answer it satisfactorily. -It might be a daring exploit to run off with -a private yacht, but they didn’t think so now that -the mischief was done, and there was not one -among them who did not wish that he had taken -some other way to get out of the academy. Enoch -very soon became disgusted. The wind being brisk -he was obliged to be at the wheel nearly all the -time, and he couldn’t see the fun of working so -steadily while the rest of the band were lying -around doing nothing.</p> - -<p>“I’ll tell you what’s a fact,” said he to Jones, -one day. “There’s too much of a sameness about -this thing to suit me. I have the best notion in -the world to desert the yacht the next time we go -ashore, and strike a straight course for home.”</p> - -<p>“I have been thinking seriously of the same -thing,” answered Jones.</p> - -<p>“It’s a cowardly thing to do,” continued Enoch, -“but when I fall to thinking of the settlement -that’s coming, I can’t sleep, it troubles me so.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_311" id="Page_311">[311]</a></span> -Suppose the man who owns this yacht is one who -can’t take a joke! Do you know that we have -rendered ourselves liable to something worse than -expulsion from the academy?”</p> - -<p>“I didn’t think of that until it was too late,” -said Jones.</p> - -<p>“Neither did I; nor did I think to ask myself -what my father would say and do about it. I -believe our best plan would be to go back and put -the schooner in her berth. It will take us four or -five days to do that, and during that time each -fellow can decide for himself how he will act -when we get to Bridgeport—whether he will -go home, or return to the academy and face the -music.”</p> - -<p>“That’s a good idea,” exclaimed Jones. “I -know what I shall do. I shall get into camp, -if I can, without being caught, and report for -duty. Let’s all do that, and if we return the -schooner in as good order as she was when we -found her, we shall escape the disgrace of being -sent down, and at the same time have the satisfaction -of knowing that we have done something -that no other crowd ever attempted. After we -get home we can tell our fathers that we don’t<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_312" id="Page_312">[312]</a></span> -want to come back to school, and perhaps we can -induce them to listen to us. That fight with -the mob will be in our favor, for after our folks -have had time to think it over calmly, they’ll -not willingly put us in the way of getting into -another. That’s the best plan, and you may -depend upon it.”</p> - -<p>“I think so myself,” said Enoch. “Call the -boys aft and ask them what they think about it.”</p> - -<p>It is hardly necessary to say that the runaways -were delighted with the prospect of escaping the -consequences of their folly. Their cruise among -the islands of the bay had been almost entirely -devoid of interest. It is true that they had raided -a few melon-patches and corn-fields, and that a -little momentary excitement had been occasioned -by the discovery of suspicious sails behind them; -but their foraging had been accomplished with -small difficulty and without detection, and the -sails belonged to coasters which held their course -without paying any attention to the schooner. -Without giving Jones, who did the talking, time to -enter fully into an explanation, the deserters broke -into cheers, and some of them urged the captain to -turn the schooner’s bow toward Oxford at once.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_313" id="Page_313">[313]</a></span></p> - -<p>“I am afraid to do it,” said Enoch, as soon as -he could make himself heard. “Just turn your -eyes in that direction for a moment.”</p> - -<p>The boys looked, and saw a milk-white cloud, -followed by one as black as midnight, rapidly rising -into view above the horizon. Underneath, the -sea was dark and threatening.</p> - -<p>“There’s wind in those clouds, and plenty of it, -too,” continued the captain. “If we are caught -in it we are gone deserters. Our only chance for -safety is to make the lee of that island you see -ahead of us.”</p> - -<p>The runaways watched the clouds with a good -deal of anxiety. Up to this time the wind had -been fair and the weather all they could have -desired; but now it looked as though the Storm -King were about to show them what he could do -when he got into a rage. The clouds came up -with startling rapidity; the lightning began playing -around their ragged edges, the mutterings of -distant thunder came to their ears, and their -haven of refuge seemed far away; but fortunately -the breeze held out, and just a few minutes before -the wind changed with a roar and a rush, and the -storm burst forth in all its fury, the Sylph dropped<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_314" id="Page_314">[314]</a></span> -her spare anchor in a sheltered nook under the lee -of the island, and with everything made snug, was -prepared to ride it out. The rain fell in torrents, -driving the boys below and keeping them there -until long after midnight. The wind blew as -they had never heard it blow before, but the anchor -held, and shortly before daylight the thunder -died away in the distance, and finally the sun -arose in unclouded splendor. The runaways were -all hungry, for they had had no supper, and as -their provisions were all exhausted, some of them -began to talk of laying violent hands upon those -in the lockers.</p> - -<p>“There’s no need of doing that,” said Enoch, -after he had taken a look around. “All hands -stand by to get ship under way. It doesn’t blow -to hurt anything, and we’ll take the back track -without any delay. After a glorious spin over -these waves, we’ll stop for breakfast at the island -where we robbed our last corn-field. It’s only a -few miles away, and it will make the Sylph laugh -to run down there with such a breeze as this.”</p> - -<p>The deserters had become accustomed to yield -prompt and unquestioning obedience to Enoch’s -orders, but there were some among them who did<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_315" id="Page_315">[315]</a></span> -not at all like the idea of going out of the cove to -face the white caps that were running in the bay. -If there had been any one to propose it and to -direct their movements afterward, a few of them -would have refused duty; but the majority, having -confidence in Enoch’s skill and caution, went -to work to get the chain around the little windlass -which served the Sylph in lieu of a capstan, -and when they shipped the handspikes, the timid -ones took hold and helped run the vessel up to her -anchor. She was got under way without difficulty, -and as long as she remained behind the -island where the wind was light and the sea comparatively -smooth, she made such good weather -of it that Lester Brigham and those like him, -began to take courage; and they even struck up: -“Here let my home be, in the waters wide,” to -show how happy they were, and how much they -enjoyed the rapid motion. But their song ceased -very suddenly when they rounded the promontory -at the foot of the island, and saw what there was -before them. In front, behind and on both sides -of them were tumbling, white-capped billows, -whose tops were much higher than the schooner’s -rail, and which came rolling slowly and majestically<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_316" id="Page_316">[316]</a></span> -toward them, but with dreadful force and -power. It seemed as if every one of them were -higher than its predecessor, and that nothing -could save the Sylph, which bounded onward -with increased speed.</p> - -<p>“This is something like a sail!” shouted -Enoch, who was all excitement now. “This is -what puts life into a fellow. I wish some other -schooner would show up, so that we could have a -race with her. How she flies!”</p> - -<p>“Look out or you’ll tip us over,” whined Lester, -who was holding on for life.</p> - -<p>“No fear of that,” replied Enoch. “The -Sylph is no ‘skimming-dish.’ She’s deep as well -as wide, and being built for safety instead of -speed, I couldn’t capsize her if I should try.”</p> - -<p>“There’s the boat you were wishing for,” said -Jones, suddenly. “Now you can have a race if -you want it.”</p> - -<p>Enoch looked around, and was surprised as well -as startled to see a handsome little yacht scarcely -more than a mile distant from them and following -in their wake. She was carrying an immense -spread of canvas, considering the breeze that was -blowing and the sea that was running, but that<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_317" id="Page_317">[317]</a></span> -her captain was not satisfied with the speed she -was making was evident from the fact that while -the deserters looked at her, they saw a couple of -her crew mount to the cross-trees to shake out the -gaff-topsails.</p> - -<p>“That’s the most suspicious-looking fellow we -have seen yet,” remarked Enoch, after he had -taken a good look at the stranger. “He don’t -crack on in that style for nothing. Hallo! what’s -the matter with you?” he added, as Jones gave -a sudden start and came very near dropping the -spy-glass which he had leveled at the yacht.</p> - -<p>“They’re after us, as sure as the world,” exclaimed -Jones, in great excitement. “Those fellows -who are going aloft are dressed in uniform.”</p> - -<p>“Then we’re as good as captured,” said Enoch, -spitefully. “There isn’t a single boy in the band -who can go up and loosen the topsails, or whom I -dare trust at the wheel while I do it. If I had as -good a crew as he has, I’d beat him or carry something -away; but what can I do with a lot of -haymakers.”</p> - -<p>“There’s another boat right ahead of us,” said -one of the deserters.</p> - -<p>Enoch was not a little astonished as well as<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_318" id="Page_318">[318]</a></span> -frightened by the sight that met his gaze when -he turned his eyes from the pursuing yacht to the -boat in advance of them. He expected to find -that she also was full of students; but instead of -that she was a complete wreck. Her mast had -gone by the board and was now dragging alongside, -pounding the doomed yacht with fearful violence -every time a wave rose and fell beneath it. -There was no small boat to be seen, and Enoch -thought at first that the sloop had been abandoned; -but when she was lifted on the crest of a -billow and he obtained a better view of her, he -was horrified to discover that there were three -men and a woman lashed to the rigging. The -sight was a most unexpected one, and for a minute -or two Enoch could not speak. He stood as if he -had grown fast to the deck, and then all the manhood -there was in him came to the surface. Those -helpless people must be taken off that wreck at -all hazards. He looked at the pursuing yacht, -and then he looked at the sloop. The former was -coming up hand over hand, but she was still far -away, and the sloop might go to the bottom at -any moment. Probably she was kept afloat by -water-tight compartments. The spar that was<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_319" id="Page_319">[319]</a></span> -towing alongside would very soon smash them in, -and then she would go down like a piece of lead, -being heavily ballasted and having no buoyant -cargo to sustain her.</p> - -<p>“Jones,” said Enoch, speaking rapidly but -calmly, “you have stood by me like a good fellow -so far, and you mustn’t go back on me now. -Come here and take the wheel. I am going to -save that lady or go to the bottom while trying.”</p> - -<p>“Are you going off in the dory?” faltered -Jones, as he laid his hands upon the wheel.</p> - -<p>“Of course. There’s nothing else I can do.”</p> - -<p>“Then you will go to the bottom, sure enough.”</p> - -<p>“I can’t help it if I do,” said Enoch, desperately. -“I will throw the yacht up into the wind -before I go, and all you’ve got to do is to hold the -wheel steady and keep her there till I get back—if -I ever do. I say, fellows,” he added, addressing -the frightened boys who were gathered around -him, “I am going off in the dory after that lady, -and I want one of you to go with me. Who’ll -volunteer?”</p> - -<p>The deserters were so astonished that there was -no immediate response. The dory was small, the -waves were high, and it looked like certain death<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_320" id="Page_320">[320]</a></span> -to venture out among them. After a moment’s -indecision one of them stepped forward and prepared -himself for the ordeal by discarding his coat -and hat and kicking off his boots. Who do you -suppose it was? It was Lester Brigham. The -boy who had hidden his head under the bed-clothes -when he thought that the rioters were coming -to attack the academy, now showed, to the surprise -of everybody, that he was not a coward after -all. Enoch could not have picked out an abler -assistant. He was a good oarsman, he could swim -like a duck, and, better than all, his courage -never faltered when he found himself in the dory -battling with the waves. His companions, who -dared not go on so perilous a mission themselves, -cheered him loudly as he stepped forward, and -Enoch shook him warmly by the hand, saying in -a low tone:</p> - -<p>“We said we would give the academy boys -something to talk about, and now we’re going to -do it.”</p> - -<p>The schooner ran on by the wreck, whose crew, -seeing that an attempt was to be made to rescue -them, cheered faintly, but made no effort to free -themselves from their lashings. The reason was<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_321" id="Page_321">[321]</a></span> -because they were utterly exhausted, and they -were afraid that if they loosed their bonds, the -first wave that broke over the sloop’s deck would -carry them into the sea.</p> - -<p>As soon as the Sylph had been thrown up into -the wind, Enoch and Lester, whose faces were -white but resolute, scrambled down into the dory, -and the struggle began. The waves tossed their -little craft about like an egg-shell, but they kept -manfully on, and in ten minutes more, they were -alongside the wreck. The lady, who was insensible -from fright or exposure, was the first to be -released and placed in the boat, and then the men -were taken care of, one after the other. As Enoch -approached the last one, he saw that the man carried -in his arms a bundle that was wrapped up in -a blanket. He held fast to it, too, in spite of the -boy’s efforts to take it from him; but as Enoch -assisted him toward the dory, a wave, higher than -the rest, knocked them both off their feet, and as -the man was hauled into the boat Enoch missed -the frantic grasp he made at a life-line, and the -water rushing across the deck carried him overboard. -Close in front of him was the bundle -which had slipped from the grasp of the rescued<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_322" id="Page_322">[322]</a></span> -man when he lost his footing. As the wave -hurried it across the deck toward an opening in -the bulwarks the blanket fell off, revealing to -Enoch’s astonished gaze the handsome features of -a little four-year-old boy, who turned his blue eyes -pleadingly toward him for an instant, and then -disappeared over the side. Enoch made a desperate -clutch at the golden curls, and when he arose -to the surface, he brought his prize with him; -but he had to go down again the next moment to -escape destruction from the spar, which the next -wave brought toward him broadside on. It had -been torn from its fastenings at last, but it had -done its deadly work. There was a great hole in -the sloop’s side, and the water was pouring into it.</p> - -<p>“I say, Lester!” shouted Enoch, as he came -up on the other side of the spar, shook the water -from his face and held the boy aloft so that he -could breathe. “Get away from there.”</p> - -<p>“Oh, my boy!” cried one of the men in the -dory, who now discovered that he had lost the -precious burden to which he had so lovingly -clung through long hours of exposure and suffering.</p> - -<p>“He’s all right,” shouted Enoch, encouragingly.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_323" id="Page_323">[323]</a></span> -“I’ve got a good grip on him. Lester, I tell you -to get away from there! Hold the dory head on -to the waves, and she’ll ride them without shipping -a drop of water. If the Sylph doesn’t make -stem-way enough to pick you up, the other yacht -will take care of you.”</p> - -<p>Not knowing just how much of a swirl the sloop -would make when she went to the bottom, Enoch -exerted all his powers as a swimmer to get himself -and his burden out of reach of it. He succeeded -in his object, and when the wreck had -sunk out of sight and he thought it safe to do so, -he swam back to the spar and laid hold of it. -Then he looked around for the dory. She had been -hauled alongside the Sylph by aid of the line that -one of the crew had been thoughtful enough to -throw to her, and the sloop’s crew were being -hoisted over the rail one after the other.</p> - -<p>“Hard a starboard! Stand by, everybody,” -shouted a voice above him.</p> - -<p>The pursuing yacht came gracefully up into the -wind, and as the bold swimmer was lifted on the -crest of a wave strong hands grasped his arms, and -he and his prize were lifted out of the water and -over the rail to the Idlewild’s deck.</p> - -<hr /> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_324" id="Page_324">[324]</a></span></p> - -<h2 id="CHAPTER_XVI">CHAPTER XVI.<br /> -<span class="smaller">THE ROD AND GUN CLUB.</span></h2> - -<p>The first southward bound train that passed -through Bridgeport on the morning that -Don Gordon so unexpectedly obtained a clue to -the whereabouts of the deserters, took him and all -the rest of Captain Mack’s men to Oxford. Although -the young officer had full authority to act -in this way, he did not omit to drop a note into -the post-office, telling the superintendent where -he had gone and what he intended to do.</p> - -<p>“He’ll not get it before ten o’clock,” said the -captain, gleefully, “and by that time we shall be -so far away that he will not think it worth while -to recall us, or to send a teacher after us.”</p> - -<p>“We don’t want any teacher with us,” said -Don. “We can do this work ourselves.”</p> - -<p>“Of course we can; and what’s more, we’re -going to. Now, keep out of sight, all of us, and -don’t go out on the platform when we stop at the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_325" id="Page_325">[325]</a></span> -stations. We don’t want to see any despatches. -We’re doing this ourselves, and having begun it, -we want to go through with it.”</p> - -<p>The next time the superintendent heard from -Captain Mack and his men they were at Oxford, -and ready to continue the pursuit in the Idlewild, -which was lying to in the river when Mack sent -the despatch. In fact he took pains to see that -everything was ready for the start before he went -near the telegraph office. He got the yacht, as -he knew he would, without the least trouble (Mr. -Shelby laughed heartily when he heard what the -deserters had done, and said he wished he had -thought of such a thing when he was a boy), laid -in a stock of provisions and water, and then turned -the management of affairs over to Egan, who -selected his crew and got the yacht under way. -When she came abreast of the city (the berth she -usually occupied was about a mile up the river) -Mack went ashore in the dory, and after sending -off his despatch, telling the superintendent where -he was and what he intended to do next, he -plumed himself on having done his full duty as a -gentleman and an officer.</p> - -<p>“He couldn’t stop us now if he wanted to,”<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_326" id="Page_326">[326]</a></span> -said Mack, as he returned aboard and the Idlewild -filled away for the bay, “for there are no telegraph -offices outside, and if we see a tug after us, we’ll -hide from her. But the superintendent can’t say -that I didn’t keep him posted, can he?”</p> - -<p>The pursuing vessel had a much better crew -than the Sylph—of the twenty-three boys aboard -of her there were an even dozen who could go -aloft and stand their trick at the wheel—and if -she had once come in sight of the deserters, she -would have overhauled them in short order; but -the trouble was to get on the track of them. -There was a good deal of territory in the bay—it -was about a hundred miles long and half as wide—and -there were many good hiding-places to be -found among the numerous islands that were -scattered about in it. For five days they sailed -about from point to point, but could gain no tidings -of Enoch and his crowd. The island farmers, -of whom they made inquiries, declared that Captain -Mack and his squad were the only academy -boys who had been seen on the bay that summer. -If the deserters had left the corn-fields and melon-patches -alone, their pursuers might not have been -able to get on their track at all; but one irate<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_327" id="Page_327">[327]</a></span> -truck-gardener, whom they had despoiled of nearly -a cart-load of fine watermelons which were in -prime condition for the Oxford market, gave them -the needed information, and after that their work -was easy. They traced the Sylph from island to -island, gaining on her every hour, and would have -overhauled her before the close of the day on which -the storm came up, had they not been obliged to -seek a safe anchorage from the gale.</p> - -<p>During the night of the blow the little vessels -were not more than five miles apart. The Idlewild -made the earlier start, and if the Sylph had -remained in the cove an hour longer she would -have been captured there, for it was Egan’s intention -to coast along the lee-shore of that very -island. As it was, he did not catch sight of the -object of his search until she rounded the promontory -and stood up the bay. Then all was excitement -on the Idlewild’s deck.</p> - -<p>“Hold her to it, Burgess,” said Egan to the -boy at the wheel. “The Sylph’s got the weather-gauge -of us now, but we can soon gain the wind -of her. At any rate we’ll make her captain show -what he’s made of. Go aloft, a couple of you, -and we’ll set the topsails.”</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_328" id="Page_328">[328]</a></span></p> - -<p>“Are you going to lay us alongside of her?” -asked Burgess.</p> - -<p>“Not in this sea,” replied Egan. “We’ll keep -her company until she gets into smooth water, -and then we’ll bounce her. What do you see, -Gordon?” he added, addressing himself to Bert -who was gazing steadily at something through the -glass.</p> - -<p>“I never saw a wreck,” replied Bert, handing -the glass to Egan, “but if that isn’t one, tossing -about on the waves just ahead of the Sylph, I’d -like to know what it is.”</p> - -<p>Egan looked, and an exclamation indicative of -the profoundest astonishment fell from his lips. -It was a wreck, sure enough, said all the boys, as -the glass was passed rapidly from hand to hand, -and there were people on it, too. Now what was -to be done?</p> - -<p>“Stow the topsails and lay down from aloft,” -commanded Egan. “We don’t want any more -canvas on her until we have taken care of those -castaways.”</p> - -<p>Never before had the Idlewild bore so excited a -party as Captain Mack and his men were at that -moment, and never had she carried a more orderly<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_329" id="Page_329">[329]</a></span> -one. There was not the slightest confusion among -them. Those who understood Egan’s hurried -orders obeyed them, and those who did not, kept -out of the way. When they saw that the deserters -were making preparations to board the wreck, -their admiration found vent in lusty and long-continued -cheers.</p> - -<p>“Who are those fellows in the dory?” Egan -asked of Don, who had the glass. “They have -good pluck, I must say.”</p> - -<p>“One of them is Enoch Williams, and the -other is——”</p> - -<p>Don was so utterly amazed by the discovery he -had made, that he could go no further. He wiped -both ends of the glass with his handkerchief to -make sure that there was nothing on them to obscure -his vision, and then he looked again.</p> - -<p>“The other is Lester Brigham,” said he.</p> - -<p>His companions could hardly believe it. First -one and then another took the glass, and every one -who gazed through it, gave utterance to some expression -of astonishment.</p> - -<p>“I’ll never again be in such haste to pass -judgment upon a fellow,” said Egan, after he had -satisfied himself that Enoch’s companion was none<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_330" id="Page_330">[330]</a></span> -other than the boy who had faltered when his -courage was first tested. “I have been badly -mistaken in both those boys. You are going -to capture the deserters, Mack, but Enoch and -Lester will go back to Bridgeport with a bigger -feather in their caps than you will.”</p> - -<p>Captain Mack did not feel at all envious of -them on that account. He and the rest watched -all their movements with the keenest solicitude, -and cheered wildly every time one of the sloop’s -crew was released from his lashings and put into -the dory. When that big wave came and washed -Enoch overboard, their hearts seemed to stop beating, -and every boy anxiously asked his neighbor -whether or not Enoch could swim well enough to -keep himself afloat until they could reach him. -Their fears on that score were speedily set at -rest and their astonishment was greatly increased -when Egan, who held the glass, said that he could -swim like a cork, that he held a little child -in his arms, and that he knew enough to get -beyond the influence of the whirlpool made by -the wreck which was now going to the bottom.</p> - -<p>“He’s a hero!” cried Egan, after he had -shouted himself hoarse. “Look out for that spar,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_331" id="Page_331">[331]</a></span> -Burgess! Get handspikes, some of you, and -stand by to push her off!”</p> - -<p>But the handspikes were not needed. Being -skilfully handled the Idlewild came up into the -wind within easy reach of the spar, but never -touching it, and hung there barely a moment—just -long enough to give the eager boys who were -stationed along the weather-rail, time to seize the -swimmer and haul him aboard. He was none the -worse for his ducking, while his burden lay so -white and motionless in his arms that everybody -thought he was dead; but he was only badly -frightened, and utterly bewildered by the strange -and unaccountable things that were going on -around him.</p> - -<p>“Now, then, what does a fellow do in cases like -this?” exclaimed Don, who was at sea in more -respects than one.</p> - -<p>“Take the boy below and put him to bed,” -commanded Egan. “Pull off those wet clothes, -give him a good rubbing to set his blood in motion, -and then cover him up warmly and let him -go to sleep. I suppose his father is among those -whom you and Lester took off the wreck?”</p> - -<p>“I think he is, and his mother too,” replied<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_332" id="Page_332">[332]</a></span> -Enoch, who was wringing the water out of his -coat.</p> - -<p>“His mother!” cried Egan.</p> - -<p>“Yes. The first one we took off was a lady.”</p> - -<p>“Who are they, and where did they come -from?”</p> - -<p>“Haven’t the shadow of an idea. I don’t know -the name of their vessel, or whether or not any of -the crew were lost. The lady was insensible, and -the men were not much better off.”</p> - -<p>“Then we must run for a doctor!” exclaimed -Mack.</p> - -<p>“You can’t get to one any too quick,” answered -Enoch. “But first, you had better send somebody -off to take charge of that schooner. Jones -is at the wheel, and he can’t handle her in this -wind.”</p> - -<p>Captain Mack lost no time in acting upon this -suggestion. While the Idlewild was taking up a -position on the Sylph’s starboard quarter, her small -boat, which had been housed on deck, was put -into the water, half the squad, six of whom were -capable of managing the schooner, were sent off -to take charge of the prize, and the majority of -the deserters were transferred to the Idlewild.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_333" id="Page_333">[333]</a></span> -Bert Gordon, who was the only non-commissioned -officer in the squad, commanded the Sylph, but -Burgess sailed her. All this work was done as -soon as possible, and when it was completed the -two vessels filled away for the nearest village, the -Idlewild leading the way. During the run the -deserters fraternized with their captors, and many -interesting and amusing stories of the cruise were -told on both sides. The former were treated as -honored guests instead of prisoners, and Mack and -his men praised them without stint.</p> - -<p>“We’re all right, fellows,” said Jones, when he -had opportunity to exchange a word with Lester -and Enoch in private. “The superintendent won’t -say anything to us. He can’t after what we have -done.”</p> - -<p>“But we didn’t all do as well as Enoch did,” -said Lester.</p> - -<p>“I know that. He will receive the lion’s share -of the honors, but the rest of us did the best we -could, and if one is let off scot free, the others -must be let off too. Those people would have gone -to the bottom with their yacht if we hadn’t -sighted them just as we did; and by rescuing them -we have made ample amends for our misdeeds.”</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_334" id="Page_334">[334]</a></span></p> - -<p>All the deserters seemed to be of the same -opinion, and the boys who, but a short time before, -would have shrunk from meeting the gaze of their -teachers, now looked forward to their return to -camp with the liveliest anticipations of pleasure. -There was one thing they all regretted, now that -the fun was over, and that was, that the confiding -Coleman had lost his situation through them. -They resolved, if they could gain the ear of the -Sylph’s owner, to make an effort to have him reinstated. -Fortunately for Coleman, this proved -to be an easy thing to do.</p> - -<p>It was twenty miles to the nearest village, but -the fleet little vessels, aided by the brisk wind -that was blowing, covered the distance in quick -time. The moment the Sylph came within jumping -distance of the wharf, one of her crew sprang -ashore and started post-haste for a doctor, and -shortly afterward Burgess and another of Bert’s -men boarded the Idlewild.</p> - -<p>“The lady is coming around all right and wants -to see her boy,” said the former.</p> - -<p>The little fellow was fast asleep in one of the -bunks, and his clothes were drying in the galley; -so Burgess picked him up, blankets and all, and<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_335" id="Page_335">[335]</a></span> -carried him off to his mother, while his companion -lingered to give Captain Mack some account of the -rescued people who, he said, were able to talk now, -but too weak to sit up. They were from Newport, -and they were all relations of Mr. Packard, the -Sylph’s owner. The owner and captain of the -lost sloop was Mr. Packard’s brother, and the -little boy was his nephew. The lady was the captain’s -wife. They had been out in all that storm, -and after the men had worked at the pumps until -their strength failed them, they had lashed themselves -to the rigging in the hope that their disabled -craft would remain afloat until the waves -could carry her ashore.</p> - -<p>“But she wouldn’t have gone ashore,” said -Egan. “She would have missed the island and -been carried out to sea if she had stayed above -water.”</p> - -<p>“They know that,” said the student, “and -they know, too, that they owe their lives to the -Sylph, for they would have gone down before the -Idlewild could have reached them. They feel -very grateful toward the dory’s crew, and Mr. -Packard says he will never forget the gallant fellow -who saved his boy’s life at the risk of his own.”</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_336" id="Page_336">[336]</a></span></p> - -<p>These words were very comforting to the deserters. -The owner of the Sylph was one of the -prominent men of Bridgeport, and it was not at -all likely that he would neglect to use his influence -with the superintendent in behalf of the boys -who had saved his relatives from a watery grave. -Lester Brigham could hardly contain himself. He -had won a reputation at last, and the hated Gordons -were nowhere. He believed now that he -would stay at the academy, and Enoch, Jones and -the rest of them had about come to the same conclusion. -They all wanted warrants and commissions, -and who could tell but that their recent -exploit would give them the favor of the teachers, -who would see that their desires were gratified?</p> - -<p>At daylight the next morning Bert Gordon sent -word to Captain Mack that the doctor thought -his patients were now able to continue the journey -to Bridgeport. No time was lost in getting under -way, and at dark they were in Oxford. The Idlewild -was turned over to her owner in just as good -condition as she was when she left port, and Captain -Mack, after seeing the rescued people to a -hotel, at which they intended to remain for a day -or two in order to obtain the rest they so much<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_337" id="Page_337">[337]</a></span> -needed, and sending despatches to the superintendent -and Mr. Packard, took the first train for -Bridgeport with the deserters and the main body -of his men, leaving Bert, Egan, and six others to -bring the Sylph up the river. Before she was -hauled into her berth the camp had been broken, -the students had marched back to the academy, -and the examination was going on as if nothing -had happened during the term to draw the students’ -attention from their books. Mr. Packard -had responded to Captain Mack’s telegram by -going down to Oxford and bringing his relatives -back with him, and the townspeople were almost -as highly excited over what the deserters had -done, as they were when they learned that an -academy company had put down the Hamilton -riot. There were some among them who declared -that Enoch and Lester ought to be promoted; -but the superintendent was of a different opinion. -He admired their courage, but he could not lose -sight of the fact that in stealing a private yacht -and running off in her, they had done something -for which they ought to be expelled from the -academy. In fact that was the sentence that was -passed upon them by the court-martial; but the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_338" id="Page_338">[338]</a></span> -superintendent set it aside, as everybody knew he -would, and commuted their punishment to deprivation -of standing and loss of every credit mark -they had earned during the year, thus destroying -their last chance for promotion.</p> - -<p>The examination came to a close in due time, -and the result astonished everybody. Don Gordon -made the longest jump on record, springing -from the ranks to a position “twelve yards in the -rear of the file-closers, and opposite the centre of -the left wing” of the battalion. In other words, -he became major; Bert was made a first-lieutenant, -and Sam Arkwright, the New York boot-black, -was promoted to a second-lieutenancy. -This was enough to disgust Lester and Enoch, -and not even the satisfaction they felt at being -invited to dinner and made much of at Mr. Packard’s -residence, could make them good-natured -again. Forgetting that the position a boy occupied -in that academy was determined by his -standing as a student and a soldier, and not by -any acts of heroism he might perform while on a -runaway expedition, they laid Don’s rapid promotion -to favoritism, and threatened him and the -teachers accordingly. As for Don, who had simply<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_339" id="Page_339">[339]</a></span> -tried to behave himself, hoping for no higher -round than a lieutenant’s commission, he was -fairly stunned; and as soon as he had somewhat -recovered himself, his first thought was to enjoin -secrecy upon his brother.</p> - -<p>“Don’t lisp a word of this in your letters to -mother,” said he. “Tell her that the result of -the examination is perfectly satisfactory to both -of us, and let her be content with that until she -sees our shoulder-straps.”</p> - -<p>Lester Brigham pursued an entirely different -course. The papers were full of the exploit the -deserters had performed on the bay, and whenever -he found an article relating to it that was -particularly flattering to his vanity, he cut it out -and sent it to his father. He wanted him and -everybody else about Rochdale to know what a -brave boy he was.</p> - -<p>The examination over, two parties of students -left the academy and started off to enjoy their -vacation in their own way, Lester and his friends -heading for Mississippi, and Curtis and <i>his</i> friends -striking for the wilds of Maine. The latter had -long ago sent for their guns, which arrived during -their first week in camp. Bert, whose highest<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_340" id="Page_340">[340]</a></span> -ambition was to bag a brace or two of ruffed -grouse, carried his little fowling-piece; Don, who -had an eye on the moose and caribou which, so -Curtis told him, were still to be found on the -hunting-grounds he intended to show them, had -sent for his muzzle-loading rifle; while Egan and -Hopkins were armed with the same ponderous -weapons with which they had worked such havoc -among the ducks and quails about Diamond Lake. -To these outfits were added fly-rods, reels and -baskets which they purchased in Boston, Curtis -making their selections for them. The Southern -boys were astonished when they handled the neat -implements that were passed out for their inspection.</p> - -<p>“I don’t want this pole,” said Don, who was -holding an elegant split-bamboo off at arm’s -length. “It’s too limber. It isn’t strong enough -to land a minnow.”</p> - -<p>“That isn’t a pole; it’s a rod,” said Curtis. -“Of course it is very light and elastic, and you -couldn’t throw a fly with it if it were not; but it’s -strong enough to land any fish you are likely to -catch in Maine. I suppose you have been in the -habit of yanking your fish out by main strength,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_341" id="Page_341">[341]</a></span> -haven’t you? Well, that’s no way to do. You’d -better take it if you want to see fun.”</p> - -<p>Don took it accordingly, though not without -many misgivings, and the other boys also paid for -the rods that Curtis selected for them, carrying -them out of the store as gingerly as though they -had been made of glass. But there proved to be -any amount of strength and durability in those -same frail-looking rods, and their owners caught -many a fine string of trout with them before the -season closed.</p> - -<p>Their journey from Boston to Dalton, which -was the name of the little town in which Curtis -lived, was a pleasant though an uneventful one. -The last fifty miles were made by stage-coach—a -new way of traveling to the Southern boys, who, -of course, wanted to ride on the top. About ten -o’clock at night the stage drove into the village, -and after stopping at the post-office to leave the -mail, and at the principal hotels to drop some of -its passengers, it kept on to Curtis’s home. Late -as the hour was, they found the house filled with -boys who had gathered there to welcome their -friend who had been in a real battle since they -last saw him, and to extend a cordial greeting to<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_342" id="Page_342">[342]</a></span> -the comrades he had brought with him. They -were introduced to the new-comers, one after the -other, as members of <i>The Rod and Gun Club</i>, -which, according to Curtis’s way of thinking, -could boast of more skillful fishermen, and finer -marksmen, both at the trap and on the range, -than any other organization of like character in -the State. There were nearly a score of them in -all, and they seemed to be a jolly lot of fellows. -Some of them had performed feats with the rod -and gun that were worth boasting of, and as fast -as Curtis found opportunity to do so, he pointed -them out to his guests, and told what they had -done to make themselves famous. That tall, -slender, blue-eyed boy who stood over there in the -corner, talking to Mr. Curtis, had won the club -medal by breaking a hundred glass-balls in succession, -when thrown from a revolving trap. He -was ready to shoot against any boy in the country -at single or double rises, and Curtis was going to -try to induce Don Gordon to consent to a friendly -trial of skill with him. That fellow over there on -the sofa, who looked enough like Hopkins to be -his brother, was the champion fisherman. He -had been up in Canada with his father, and during<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_343" id="Page_343">[343]</a></span> -the sixteen days he was there, he had caught -more than eight hundred pounds of fish with one -rod. They were all salmon. One of them weighed -thirty-two pounds, and it took the young fisherman -fifty minutes to bring him within reach of -the gaff. The boy who was talking with Don -Gordon was a rifle shot. He could shoot ten balls -into the same hole at forty yards off-hand, and -think nothing of it.</p> - -<p>“I’ll just tell you what’s a fact,” said Egan, -when he and the rest were getting ready to go to -bed,“we’ve fallen among a lot of experts, and if -we intend to keep up the good name of our section -of the United States we’ve got to do some -good work.”</p> - -<p>The other boys thought so too, but they did not -lose any sleep on account of it.</p> - -<hr /> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_344" id="Page_344">[344]</a></span></p> - -<h2 id="CHAPTER_XVII">CHAPTER XVII.<br /> -<span class="smaller">CASTING THE FLY.</span></h2> - -<p>“Now, Curtis, bring on your moose.”</p> - -<p>“Don’t be in a hurry. You don’t want -to crowd all your sport into the first day, do -you?”</p> - -<p>“By no means. I expect to get a moose every -day.”</p> - -<p>“You mustn’t do it. It’s unlawful for one person -to kill more than one moose, two caribou, and -three deer in one season.”</p> - -<p>“I wouldn’t live in such a stingy State.”</p> - -<p>“You may have to some day. Wait until Mississippi -has been overrun with greedy hunters, -calling themselves sportsmen, from every part of -the Union, as Maine has, and see if your lawmakers -do not wake up to the necessity of protecting -the little game they will leave you. If those -pot-hunters were let alone, there wouldn’t be anything<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_345" id="Page_345">[345]</a></span> -for a fellow to shoot after a while. Our -laws are strict.”</p> - -<p>“Are they always obeyed?”</p> - -<p>“Of course not. Last winter a party of Indians -camped on the headwaters of the Brokenstraw, -and killed nearly a hundred moose. When -the game-constables got after them, they ran over -to Canada. But the worst destroyers of game are -the city sportsmen. They shoot at everything -that comes within range of their guns, throw -away the trout they can’t eat, and the money they -pay for food and guides doesn’t begin to cover the -damage they do.”</p> - -<p>It was a pleasant scene that was spread out -before the gaze of Don Gordon and Walter Curtis -on that bright September morning. They stood -upon the brink of a high bluff jutting out into one -of the Seven Ponds, which, at that day, were not -as widely known among the class of men whom -Walter had just been denouncing as they are at -the present time. There was a hotel at the lower -pond, but it was patronized only by adventurous -sportsmen who, as a rule, lived up to the law, and -took no more fish and game than they could dispose -of. The men who are willing to endure<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_346" id="Page_346">[346]</a></span> -almost any hardship, who brave all sorts of -weather and the miseries of “buck-board” traveling -over corduroy roads, for the sake of spending -a quiet month in the woods, are not the ones who -boast of the number of fish they catch or the -amount of game they kill. A hard fight with a -three-pound trout, or a single deer brought down -after a week’s arduous hunting, affords them more -gratification than they would find in a whole -creelful of “finger-lings,” or a cart-load of venison -killed on the runways.</p> - -<p>The boys were in the midst of an almost unbroken -wilderness. On their right a noble forest, -known only to the hardy lumberman and a few -hunters and trappers, stretched away to the confines -of Canada. In front was the pond (it was -larger than Diamond Lake, whose sluggish waters -had once floated a fleet of Union gunboats), and -from the glade below them on their left arose the -smoke of the fire over which some of their companions -were cooking a late breakfast. A deep -silence brooded over the woods, broken only by an -occasional splash made by a trout as he arose to -the surface of the pond to seize some unwary -insect, and snatches of a plantation melody from<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_347" id="Page_347">[347]</a></span> -Hopkins, who sang as he superintended the frying -of the bacon:</p> - -<div class="poetry-container"> -<div class="poetry"> -<div class="verse">“Big fish flutter when he done cotch de cricket;</div> -<div class="verse">Bullfrog libely when he singin’ in de thicket;</div> -<div class="verse">Mule get slicker when de plantin’ time ober;</div> -<div class="verse">Colt mighty gaily when you turn him in de clover;</div> -<div class="verse">An’ it come mighty handy to de nigger man nater</div> -<div class="verse">When he soppin’ in de gravy wid a big yam ’tater!”</div> -</div> -</div> - -<p>The Southern boys had spent just three days in -Dalton, enjoying as much sport as could be -crowded into that short space of time. Everybody -showed them much attention, and the -fathers and mothers of the other members of the -club vied with Mr. and Mrs. Curtis in their offers -of hospitality. The guests were elected honorary -members of the club, and hunting and fishing -parties were the order of the day. Don caught -his first brook-trout with the little rod whose -strength he so much doubted. Bert knocked over -a brace or two of ruffed grouse, and one of the -club, having heard the visitors say that they -didn’t know what a corn-husking was, found a -farmer who had some of last year’s crop on hand, -and got up one for their especial benefit. There<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_348" id="Page_348">[348]</a></span> -was a large party of people, young and old, -assembled in the barn in which the husking -was done, and the Southerners, who were not at -all bashful or afraid of pretty girls, had any -amount of fun over the red ears of which there -seemed to be an abundant supply. On Saturday -there was glass-ball shooting on the grounds of -the club in the presence of invited guests, and -although Don Gordon did not succeed in beating -the champion, he did some shooting with the rifle -that made the club open their eyes. Using Curtis’s -Stevens he broke all the spots out of the -eight of clubs in eight consecutive shots, shooting -off-hand at the distance of fifty feet and using the -open sights. This was a feat that no one on the -grounds had ever seen accomplished before. Even -Curtis, who was the best marksman in the club, -couldn’t do it, but he declared he would before he -went back to the academy again.</p> - -<p>“I tell you plainly that you’ve got a task before -you,” said Don. “The best published record is -five spots in five shots, using peep sights. This -is the best use that can be made of playing cards. -I always keep a pack of them on hand, for they -are the best kind of targets.”</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_349" id="Page_349">[349]</a></span></p> - -<p>And that is all they are good for. If every -pack of cards in the world could be shot to pieces -as Don’s were, there would be less swindling going -on, and we should not see so much misery around -us.</p> - -<p>Don and his friends made so many agreeable -acquaintances in Dalton and so thoroughly enjoyed -themselves among them, that they would -have been content to pass the whole of their -month there; but Curtis would not hear of it. -There were only ten days more in September, he -said; it would take three of them to reach their -camping grounds, and if they desired to see any -of the hunting and fishing that were to be found -in Maine, they must start at once, for their fine -fly-rods would be useless to them after the first -of October. The day which closed the time for -trout-fishing, opened the season for moose-hunting. -If Don had revealed all that was passing in -his mind, he would have said that he didn’t care -a snap for hunting or fishing either. He had seen -a pair of blue eyes and some golden ringlets whose -fair owner gazed admiringly at the shoulder-straps -he had so worthily won, and who interested him -more than all the trout that ever swam or any<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_350" id="Page_350">[350]</a></span> -lordly moose that ever roamed the forests. But -he started for the camping-ground when the -others did, submitted as patiently as he could to -the jolting he was subjected to on the corduroy -roads, and wondered what the girl he left behind -him would think if she could see him now, dressed -in a hunting suit that was decidedly the worse for -the hard service it had seen, and wearing a pair -of heavy boots, thickly coated with grease, and a -slouch hat that had once been gray, but which -had been turned to a dingy yellow by the smoke -and heat of innumerable camp fires.</p> - -<p>Their party had been increased by the addition -of five of the members of the rod and gun club, -but the lodge which Curtis and some of his friends -had erected on the shore of one of the Seven -Ponds, and which was modeled after Don Gordon’s -shooting-box, was large enough to accommodate -them all. It took four wagons to transport -them and their luggage to the lodge, at -which they arrived on the evening of the third -day after leaving Dalton. They were too tired to -do much that night, but they were up at the first -peep of day, and after their luggage had been -transferred from the wagons to the lodge, the beds<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_351" id="Page_351">[351]</a></span> -made up in the bunks, the guns and fishing-rods -hung upon the hooks that had been fastened to -the walls on purpose to receive them, the canoes -put into the water (they had brought three of -these handy little crafts with them), a blaze started -in the fire-place, the chest that contained their -folding-table and camp-chairs unpacked—when -these things had been done, the little rustic house, -which was a marvel in its way, being constructed -of poles instead of boards, began to assume an air -of domesticity. The teamsters who brought them -to the pond took a hasty bite and departed, leaving -the club to themselves. There was no patient, -painstaking old cuff with them to cook -their meals and act as camp-keeper, and so the -young hunters had to do their own work. The -first morning the lot fell upon Hopkins and two -of the Dalton boys who straightway began preparations -for breakfast, while the rest strolled out -to look about them, Don and Curtis bringing up -on the edge of the bluff where we found them at -the beginning of this chapter.</p> - -<div class="poetry-container"> -<div class="poetry"> -<div class="verse">“Lean hoss nicker when de punkin’-vine spreadin’;</div> -<div class="verse">Rabbit back his ear when de cabbage-stalk bendin’;</div> -<div class="verse">Big owl jolly when de little bird singin’;</div><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_352" id="Page_352">[352]</a></span> -<div class="verse">’Possum’s gwine to climb whar de ripe ’simmons swingin’;</div> -<div class="verse">Nigger mighty happy, ef he aint wuf a dollah,</div> -<div class="verse">When he startin’ out a courtin’ wid a tall standin’ collah!”</div> -</div> -</div> - -<p class="noindent">sang Hopkins, as he stood in the door of the -lodge; and when he shouted out the last line he -shook his head at Don in a way that made the -latter’s face turn as red as a beet. Hopkins evidently -knew where Don’s thoughts were.</p> - -<p>“Come down from there, you two,” he exclaimed. -“The bacon is done cooked.”</p> - -<p>The cool, invigorating morning air, laden as it -was with the health-giving odors of the balsam -and the pine, had bestowed upon the boys an appetite -that would not permit them to disregard -this invitation. They hastened down the bluff, -and when they entered the lodge, they found -the cooks putting breakfast on the table. They -sat down with the rest, and while they ate, -Curtis, who was the acknowledged leader of the -party, laid out a programme for the day. There -were three canoes which would accommodate two -boys each (they could be made to carry four, but -with so many in them there would not be much -elbow-room for those who wanted to fish) and two -Falstaffs to be provided for. One of them was<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_353" id="Page_353">[353]</a></span> -Hopkins and the other was Hutton, the boy who -caught the big salmon in Canada. He would -have to go, of course, for he knew all the best -places in the pond, and he was certain to bring -luck to the boy who went with him. Curtis -thought he and Bert would look well together, -while Hopkins and Farwell—the latter a light-weight -Dalton boy and a clever fly-fisher—would -make another good team. Don and Egan could -have the other canoe to themselves.</p> - -<p>“But we don’t know where to go or what to -do,” said Egan. “You go in my place, and let -me stay behind as one of the camp-keepers.”</p> - -<p>“<i>I</i> am laying out this programme,” replied -Curtis, speaking in the pompous tone that Professor -Odenheimer always assumed when he -wanted to say something impressive.</p> - -<p>“I know it, but I can’t be of any use to -them,” continued Egan. “Some rioter, on the -evening of the 23d of last July, put it out of my -power to handle a paddle or a rod for some time -to come.”</p> - -<p>As Egan said this he held up his bandaged -hand. His injuries were by no means so serious -as everybody thought they were going to be, but<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_354" id="Page_354">[354]</a></span> -still the wounded member was not of much use to -him. When he found that he was to be one of -Mack’s squad, he frankly told the young officer -that he could not help him; but Mack would -have taken him if he had no hands at all, for he -was fond of his company. He was afterward glad -that he did take him, for no one could have -handled the Idlewild during the pursuit with -greater skill than Egan did. If they had had -much walking to do Hopkins’ weak ankle would -have given out; but he did full duty as a foremast -hand, and proved to be of as much use as -anybody.</p> - -<p>“We don’t expect you to do any work,” said -Curtis. “Let Don work, and you sit by and see -the fun. Either one of the other boats will lead -you to a good fishing-ground. Then all Don will -have to do will be to watch Hutton or Farwell -and do just as he does, and he’ll be sure to get a -rise; but whether or not he will catch a trout I -can’t say.”</p> - -<p>Breakfast being over the boys paired off as Curtis -had instructed, launched the canoes and paddled -away, Bert and his fat mentor, Hutton, going -toward the lower end of the pond, and the others<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_355" id="Page_355">[355]</a></span> -turning toward the upper end. The fish were -breaking water on all sides of them, but Farwell -did not stop until he and Hopkins had run their -canoe into a little cove at the further end of the -pond, which was fed by clear cold streams that -came down from the hills.</p> - -<p>“In warm weather this is the best fishing-ground -I know of,” said he, as he beckoned Don -to come alongside, “and I don’t think it is too -late in the season to have a little fun here now. -You see, trout like cold water, and they find -plenty of it here. Now, Gordon, if you will let -me see your fly-book, I will make a selection for -you while you are putting your rod together.”</p> - -<p>Don handed over the book which contained -about three dozen flies that Curtis had picked out -for him in Boston. He did not know the name -of a single one of them, but Farwell did, and after -running his eye over them he said that Don had a -very good assortment.</p> - -<p>“As it is broad daylight we want small flies,” -Farwell remarked. “The sun doesn’t shine very -brightly, and neither is it entirely obscured by the -clouds—the weather is rather betwixt and between; -so we will take a gaudy fly, like this scarlet<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_356" id="Page_356">[356]</a></span> -ibis, for a stretcher, and a white miller for the -other. Then the trout can take their choice. -Now, where’s your leader—a cream-colored one. -Bright and glistening ones are apt to scare the -fish, and they generally fail when the pinch comes. -It’s very provoking to have your leader break just -about the time you are ready to slip your dip-net -under a trout you have worked hard for. I hold -that two flies on one line are enough. They are -sometimes more than a novice wants to manage, -especially when he catches a weed or a root with -one hook and a trout with the other, or when two -heavy fish take his flies at the same instant and -run off in different directions. Three hooks on a -line are allowable only when you are out of grub, -and the trout don’t run over fifty to the pound. -But then we don’t catch such fish in these -ponds.”</p> - -<p>The Southerners listened with all their ears and -closely watched Farwell, who, while he was talking, -deftly fastened the flies he had selected upon -the leader, bent the leader on to the line, and was -about to pass the fully equipped rod back to its -owner, when a large trout shot out of the water -about fifty feet away, giving them a momentary<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_357" id="Page_357">[357]</a></span> -glimpse of his gleaming sides before he fell back -into his native element. Don withdrew the hand -he had extended for the rod and looked at Farwell.</p> - -<p>“Shall I take him for you and show you how -it is done?” asked the latter.</p> - -<p>“Yes,” answered all the boys, at once.</p> - -<p>“Well, in order to do it, I shall have to throw -the flies right over that swirl. What are you -going to do with that paddle, Hopkins?”</p> - -<p>“I was going to pull the canoe up nearer,” -replied the latter.</p> - -<p>“I don’t care to go any nearer.”</p> - -<p>“Why, you can’t reach him from here,” said -Egan.</p> - -<p>“And if you hook him he will break the rod -into a thousand pieces,” chimed in Don. “I -know I made a mistake when I bought that flimsy -little thing.”</p> - -<p>Farwell smiled but said nothing. Grasping the -rod in his right hand above the reel he drew off as -much line as he thought he needed, and then -threw the flexible tip smartly upward and backward, -causing the flies to describe a circle around -his head. One would have thought from his actions<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_358" id="Page_358">[358]</a></span> -that he was going to strike the water with -the rod, but he didn’t. When the rod reached a -horizontal position it stopped there, but the flies -had received an impetus that carried them onward -almost to the edge of the weeds, and landed them -on the water as lightly as a feather and right in -the center of the swirl. It was neatly and gracefully -done; but before Don and his companions -could express their delight and admiration, the -scarlet ibis suddenly disappeared, the line was -drawn as tight as a bow-string and the pliant rod -was bent almost half double. Farwell had hooked -his fish, and now the fun began.</p> - -<p>The trout fought hard but he did not break the -rod as Don had predicted, and neither did the boy -with whom he was battling show half as much -excitement as did the others who sat by and -watched the contest. They had never dreamed -that there was so much sport in fishing, and there -wasn’t in the way they generally fished, with a -heavy pole and a line strong enough to jerk their -prize from the water the moment he was hooked. -Don, as we have said, had caught a few trout in -the brooks about Dalton, but he had not done it -in any such scientific way as this. Being distrustful<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_359" id="Page_359">[359]</a></span> -of his rod he had seized the line and lifted the -fish out by main strength—a most unsportsmanlike -thing to do. He closely observed all Farwell’s -movements, and when at last the exhausted -trout was dipped out of the water with the landing-net -and deposited in the bottom of the canoe, -he thought he had made himself master of the art -of fly-fishing. But when he came to try casting -he found he was mistaken. His flies went almost -everywhere except in the direction he desired to -throw them, and annoyed him by catching in his -coat-tail when he tried to throw them over his -head; but after patient and careful practice in -making short casts he finally “got the hang of the -thing,” as he expressed it, and after that he did -better. The string of fish he took back to the -lodge with him at noon was not a very large one, -but the few he caught afforded him an abundance -of sport, and that was just what he wanted.</p> - -<hr /> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_360" id="Page_360">[360]</a></span></p> - -<h2 id="CHAPTER_XVIII">CHAPTER XVIII.<br /> -<span class="smaller">CONCLUSION.</span></h2> - -<p>Having gained a little insight into the art of -casting the fly, Don and his friends became -eager and enthusiastic fishermen. They were on -the pond almost all the time, and as they tried -hard to follow the instructions that were willingly -and patiently given them, and would not allow -themselves to become discouraged by their numerous -blunders and failures, they finally became -quite expert with their light tackle. They wound -up the season with a glorious catch, and then -oiled their rods and put them into their cases -with many sighs of regret.</p> - -<p>“Never mind,” said Curtis, soothingly. -“There’s no loss without some gain, and now we -will turn our attention to bigger things than -speckled trout. To-night we will try this.”</p> - -<p>As he spoke, he took from a chest something -that looked like a dark-lantern with a leather helmet<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_361" id="Page_361">[361]</a></span> -fastened to the bottom of it. And that was -just what it was. When Curtis put the helmet -on his head, the lantern stood straight up on top -of it.</p> - -<p>“This is a jack,” said he, “and it is used -in fire-hunting. As soon as it grows dark some -of us will get into a canoe and paddle quietly -around the pond just outside of the lilies and -grass. The fellow who is to do the shooting will -wear this jack on his head. It will be lighted, -but the slide will be turned in front of it, making -it dark. When he hears a splashing in the water -close in front of him he will turn on the light by -throwing back the slide, and if he makes no noise -about it and is quick with his gun, he will get a -deer, and we shall have venison to take the place -of the trout.”</p> - -<p>This was something entirely new to the -Southerners, who carefully examined the jack and -listened with much interest while Curtis and his -friends told stories of their experience and exploits -in fire-hunting. Deer were so abundant about -Rochdale that those who hunted them were not -obliged to resort to devices of this kind, and in -Maryland, where Hopkins lived, they were followed<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_362" id="Page_362">[362]</a></span> -with hounds and shot on the runways. -Egan had never hunted deer. He devoted all his -spare time to canvas-backs and red-heads. They -spent the forenoon in talking of their adventures, -and after dinner Bert and Hutton, who had become -inseparable companions, strolled off with their -double-barrels in search of grouse, and Curtis and -Don pushed off in one of the canoes to make a -voyage of discovery to the upper pond; the former, -for the first time, taking his rifle with him. He -was afterward glad that he had done so, for he -made a shot before he came back that gave him -something to talk about and feel good over all the -rest of the year.</p> - -<p>Don and his companion paddled leisurely along -until they reached the upper end of the pond, and -then the canoe was turned into the weeds, through -which it was forced into a wide and deep brook -communicating with another pond that lay a few -miles deeper in the forest. Curtis said there was -fine trapping along the banks of the brook, adding -that if Don and Bert would stay and take a -Thanksgiving dinner with him, as he wanted -them to do, they would put out a “saple line.”</p> - -<p>“What’s that?” asked Don.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_363" id="Page_363">[363]</a></span></p> - -<p>“Nothing but a lot of traps,” replied Curtis. -“When a man starts out to see what he has -caught, he says he is going to make the rounds of -his saple line. There are lots of mink, marten -and muskrats about here, and now and then one -can catch a beaver or an otter; but he’s not -always sure of getting him if he does catch him, -for it’s an even chance if some prowling luciver -doesn’t happen along and eat him up.”</p> - -<p>“What’s a luciver?” inquired Don.</p> - -<p>“It’s the meanest animal we have about here, -and is as cordially hated by our local trappers as -the wolverine is by the trappers in the west. It’s -a lynx. A full-grown one would scare you if you -should happen to come suddenly upon him in the -woods; and after you had killed him and taken -his hide off you would feel ashamed of yourself, -for you would find him to be about half as large -as you thought he was. They don’t average over -thirty or forty pounds—one weighing fifty would -be a whopper—but they’re ugly, and would just -as soon pitch into a fellow as not. I have heard -some remarkable stories——”</p> - -<p>Curtis did not finish the sentence. He stopped -suddenly, looked hard at the bushes ahead of him,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_364" id="Page_364">[364]</a></span> -listening intently all the while, and finally he -drew his paddle out of the water and gently poked -Don in the back with the blade. When Don -faced about to see what he wanted, Curtis laid his -finger upon his lips, at the same time slowly and -silently turning the bow of the canoe toward the -nearest bank. Just then Don heard twigs snapping -in front of him, the sound being followed by -a slight splashing in the water as if some heavy -animal were walking cautiously through it. His -lips framed the question: “What is it?” and -Curtis’s silent but unmistakable reply was: -“Moose!”</p> - -<p>For the first and only time in his life Don Gordon -had an attack of the “buck-ague.” His -nerves, usually so firm and steady, thrilled with -excitement, and his hand trembled as he laid -down his paddle and picked up his rifle. He had -not yet obtained the smallest glimpse of the animal, -but his ears told him pretty nearly where he -was.</p> - -<p>As soon as he had placed his rifle in position -for a shot, Curtis gave one swift, noiseless stroke -with his paddle, sending the canoe away from the -bank again, and up the stream, Don trying hard<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_365" id="Page_365">[365]</a></span> -to peer through the bushes, and turning his body -at all sorts of angles in the hope of obtaining a -view of the quarry; but the alders were thick, -and he could not see a dozen yards in advance of -him, until Curtis brought him to a place where -the bank was comparatively clear, and then Don -discovered something through a little opening in -the thicket. He raised his hand, and the canoe -stopped.</p> - -<p>“That thing can’t be a moose,” thought Don, -rubbing his eyes and looking again. “It’s too -big, and besides it’s black.”</p> - -<p>In twisting about on his seat to obtain a clearer -view of the huge creature, whatever it was, Don -accidentally touched the paddle, the handle of -which slipped off the thwart and fell to the bottom -of the canoe. The effect was magical. In -an instant the dark, sleek body at which Don had -been gazing through the opening in the bushes -gave place to an immense head, crowned with -enormous ears and wide-spreading palmated antlers, -and a pair of gleaming eyes which seemed to -be glaring straight at him. It was a savage looking -head, taken altogether, but Don never took -his gaze from it as his rifle rose slowly to his<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_366" id="Page_366">[366]</a></span> -shoulder. He looked through the sights for an -instant, covering one of the eyes with the front -bead, and pressed the trigger. The rifle cracked -and so did the bushes, as the animal launched -itself through them toward the bank with one -convulsive spring. Their tops were violently agitated -for a moment, then all was still, and Don -turned about and looked at Curtis.</p> - -<p>“You’ve got him,” said the latter, dipping his -paddle into the water and sending the canoe ahead -again.</p> - -<p>“I’ve got something,” replied Don, “but it -can’t be a moose.”</p> - -<p>“What is it, then?”</p> - -<p>“I think it is an elephant.”</p> - -<p>Curtis laughed until the woods echoed.</p> - -<p>“I don’t care,” said Don, doggedly. “He’s -got an elephant’s ears.”</p> - -<p>“Do an elephant’s ears stick straight out from -his head, and does he carry horns?” demanded -Curtis, as soon as he could speak. “Elephants -don’t run wild in this country—at least I never -heard of any being seen about here. It’s a moose, -easy enough. I saw his horns through the alders, -and I tell you they are beauties. If you were a<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_367" id="Page_367">[367]</a></span> -taxidermist now, you could provide an ornament -for your father’s hall or dining-room that would -be worth looking at.”</p> - -<p>It was a moose, sure enough, as the boys found -when they paddled around the bushes and landed -on the bank above them. There he lay, shot -through the brain, and looking larger than he did -when he was alive. His shape was clumsy and -uncouth, but his agility must have been something -wonderful; his expiring effort certainly -was. He lay fully six feet from the bank, which -was about five feet in height. The place where -he had been feeding, which was pointed out to the -boys by the muddy water and by the trampled -lilies and pickerel grass, was thirty feet from -the foot of the bank; so the moose, with a ball -in his brain, must have cleared at least thirty-six -feet at one jump. His long, slender legs did -not look as though they were strong enough to -support so ponderous a body, to say nothing of -sending it through the air in that fashion.</p> - -<p>“Do you know that I was afraid of him?” said -Don, after he had feasted his eyes upon his prize -and entered in his note-book some measurements -he had made. “When he was staring at me<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_368" id="Page_368">[368]</a></span> -through those bushes, I thought I had never seen -so savage a looking beast in all my life.”</p> - -<p>“He was savage, and you had good reason to -be afraid of him,” answered Curtis, quickly. “If -you had wounded him he would have trampled us -out of sight in the brook before we knew what -hurt us. When his horns are in the velvet the -moose is a timid and retiring animal; but after -his antlers are fully grown, and he has sharpened -and polished them by constant rubbing against -the trees, he loses his fear of man and everything -else, and would rather fight than eat. Now you -would like to have Bert and the rest see him, I -suppose. Well, if you will stay here and watch -him, I will go down and bring them up. We’ll -camp here to-night, for we shall have to cut the -moose up before we can take him away. He’s -heavy, and weighs close to seven or eight hundred -pounds.”</p> - -<p>Don agreeing to this proposition, Curtis stepped -into the canoe and paddled toward the pond, not -forgetting to leave the axe they had brought with -them so that his companion could start a fire and -build a shanty during his absence. But Don was -in no hurry to go to work. He was so highly<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_369" id="Page_369">[369]</a></span> -elated at his success that he could not bring his -mind down to anything. For a long time he sat -on the ground beside the moose, wondering at his -gigantic proportions and verifying the measurements -he had taken, and it was not until he heard -voices in the brook below him that he jumped to -his feet and caught up the axe. He had a cheerful -fire going when his friends arrived, but there -were no signs of a shanty.</p> - -<p>“Look here,” shouted Bert, as he drew his -canoe broadside to the bank. “You were good, -enough to keep your moose until we could have a -look at him, and so I brought my trophies along. -You needn’t think you are the only one who has -gained honors to-day. What do you think of -<i>that</i>?”</p> - -<p>As Bert said this, he and Hutton lifted a queer -looking animal from the bottom of the canoe and -threw it upon the bank. It was about as large as -an ordinary dog, rather short and strongly built, -with sharp, tufted ears and feet that were thickly -padded with fur. Its claws were long and sharp, -and so were the teeth that could be seen under its -upraised lip. Its back was slightly arched, and -as it lay there on the bank it looked a good deal<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_370" id="Page_370">[370]</a></span> -like an overgrown cat that was about to go into -battle. Don had never seen anything like it -before.</p> - -<p>“What in the world is it?” he exclaimed.</p> - -<p>“That’s just the question I asked myself when -I stumbled on him and his mate a little while -ago,” said Bert. “It’s a luciver.”</p> - -<p>“Here’s the other,” cried Curtis; and a second -lynx, somewhat smaller than the first, was tossed -ashore. “It’s the greatest wonder to me that -they didn’t make mince-meat of Bert, and I believe -they would have done it if he hadn’t been so -handy with that pop-gun of his.”</p> - -<p>“Well, that pop-gun had proved itself to be a -pretty good shooter,” returned Bert, complacently. -“You see, Don, I was beating a coppice in which -Hutton told me I would be likely to flush a -grouse or two, and Hutton himself was on the -other side of the ridge. All on a sudden I felt a -thrill run all through me, and there right in front -of me, and not more than ten feet away, was this -big lynx. Of course he heard me coming, but as -he was making a meal off a grouse he had just -killed, he didn’t want to leave it. He humped up -his back, spread out his claws, showed his teeth<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_371" id="Page_371">[371]</a></span> -and <i>spit</i> just like a cat; and believing that he -was going to jump at me, I knocked him over, -giving him a charge of number eight shot full in -the face. It killed him so dead that he never -stirred out of his tracks, but he looked so ugly -that I was afraid to approach him. While I was -thinking about it, I happened to cast my eyes a -little to the right, and there was his mate looking -at me over a log. I gave him the other barrel, -and he came for me.”</p> - -<p>“Good gracious!” exclaimed Don, looking first -at his brother’s slender figure and then at the -dead luciver’s strong teeth and claws. Bert was -too frail to make much of a fight against such -weapons as those.</p> - -<p>“But the luciver didn’t get him,” chimed in -Hutton, “although he made things lively for him -for a little while. I heard the rumpus, and knowing -that Bert had got into trouble, I ran over the -ridge to take a hand in it. When I got into the -thicket there was Bert, making good time around -trees, over logs and behind stumps, and the luciver -was close at his heels, following him by scent and -hearing, as I afterward learned, and not by sight, -for Bert’s shot had blinded him. While I was<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_372" id="Page_372">[372]</a></span> -watching for a chance to fire at him, Bert, who -was trying his best to load his gun as he ran, -managed to shove in a cartridge, and after that -the matter was quickly settled.”</p> - -<p>“Don got the moose, but I had the excitement,” -added Bert.</p> - -<p>The young hunters ate a hearty supper that -night, but they slept well after it, for they did not -go to bed till they had cut up the moose, and -hung the quarters out of reach of any prowling -lucivu that might happen to come that way. The -habits of this animal and those of the moose -afforded them topics for conversation long after -they sought their blankets, and the sun arose before -they did.</p> - -<p>Stowing the heavy carcass in their cranky little -canoes and transporting it to the lodge occupied -the better portion of the day, but they were -not too tired to await the return of the fire-hunters, -who set out at dark in quest of deer. They -returned at midnight and reported that they had -“shone the eyes” of two which they could have -shot if they had been so disposed; but being -sportsmen instead of butchers they could not see -any sense in shooting game they could not use.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_373" id="Page_373">[373]</a></span> -About the time they began to look for the teamsters, -who had been engaged to return on a certain -day and carry them and their luggage back to -Dalton, they would begin fire-hunting in earnest, -and procure a supply of venison for the club-dinner, -which was to be eaten before the Southern -boys went home.</p> - -<p>The days passed rapidly, and every one brought -with it some agreeable occupation. Curtis and the -other Dalton boys took care to see that the time -did not hang heavily upon the hands of the -guests, and were always thinking up something -new for them. The teamsters came as they -promised, and found four fine deer waiting for -them. The next morning the wagons were loaded, -the foremost one being crowned by the antlers of -Don’s moose, to show the people along the road -that one of their number had gained renown while -they had been in the woods, and the homeward -journey was begun.</p> - -<p>If time would permit we might tell of some -interesting incidents that happened in connection -with the club dinner, which came off on the evening -of the last day that Don and his companions -spent in Dalton. To quote from some of the boys<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_374" id="Page_374">[374]</a></span> -who sat down to it, “the spread was fine,” so were -the toasts, speeches and songs, and Don Gordon -had abundant opportunity to talk to the owner of -the eyes and the curls that had haunted him every -day of the long month he spent at the lodge. -He would have been glad to stay in Dalton -always. He said he was coming back, but the -excuse he gave was that he wanted another trial -at glass-balls with the champion. Perhaps his -friends believed that that was his only reason for -desiring to return, and perhaps they didn’t. At -any rate they looked very wise, and exchanged -many a significant wink with one another.</p> - -<p>“Good by, boys,” said Egan, when the stage-coach -drew up in front of Mr. Curtis’s door the -next morning. “We are indebted to you for a -splendid time, and we should like a chance to -reciprocate. Curtis is going to spend a month -with me next fall, and I should be delighted to -have you come with him. Don, Bert and Hop -will be there too, and we’ll make it as pleasant as -we can for you.”</p> - -<p>The Southern boys separated in Boston and -took their way toward their respective homes, Don -and Bert stopping in Cincinnati long enough to<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_375" id="Page_375">[375]</a></span> -purchase a couple of revolving-traps and a supply -of glass-balls, and reaching Rochdale in due time -without any mishap. Their shoulder-straps created -all the surprise that Don could have desired, -and the latter knew by the way his mother kissed -him that she was entirely satisfied with the way -he had conducted himself during his last year -at school. They never grew weary of talking -about the fine times they had enjoyed at the lodge, -and Don gave everybody to understand that he was -going back to Dalton some day on purpose to win -that medal from the champion. He had a right -to compete for it now, for he was a member of the -club.</p> - -<p>“But you will have to win it three times before -you can bring it home with you,” said Bert.</p> - -<p>“So much the better,” answered Don, “for -then I can see that handsome little—ah! I mean -the lodge, you know.”</p> - -<p>“Yes, I know,” said Bert, dryly.</p> - -<p>“By the way, has anybody heard anything of -Lester Brigham and Jones and Williams?” exclaimed -Don, anxious to change the subject.</p> - -<p>Yes, everybody had heard of them. Mr. Brigham -had been industriously circulating the articles<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_376" id="Page_376">[376]</a></span> -and papers that Lester had sent him, and had -celebrated his son’s return by giving a big supper -and a party. The house was crowded, and Lester -and Enoch were lionized to their hearts’ content.</p> - -<p>Don and Bert spent a portion of their next -vacation at the homes of Egan and Hopkins as -they had promised, seeing no end of sport and -some little excitement. What they did for amusement, -and what Lester and his enemies did when -they returned to Bridgeport in January, shall be -narrated in the third and concluding volume of -this series, which will be entitled: “<span class="smcap">The Young -Wild-Fowlers.</span>”</p> - -<p class="titlepage">THE END.</p> - - - - - - - - -<pre> - - - - - -End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of The Rod and Gun Club, by Harry Castlemon - -*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE ROD AND GUN CLUB *** - -***** This file should be named 60838-h.htm or 60838-h.zip ***** -This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: - http://www.gutenberg.org/6/0/8/3/60838/ - -Produced by David Edwards and the Online Distributed -Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net (This file was -produced from images generously made available by The -Internet Archive) - -Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions will -be renamed. - -Creating the works from print editions not protected by U.S. copyright -law means that no one owns a United States copyright in these works, -so the Foundation (and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United -States without permission and without paying copyright -royalties. 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