Chapter VIII: A Remarkable Adventure

“It looks like rain!”

The remark came from Andy, who was in the bow of the boat. He was gazing anxiously at the sky.

“Don’t say rain!” cried Stuffer, who was eating a banana, one of a hand purchased at the Cedarville dock. “I don’t like to be out in the rain.”

“We’ll not get it right away,” answered Jack. “But it looks as if it would come sooner or later,” he added, as he surveyed the clouds over to the westward.

Two hours had been spent in cruising around the lake. A brief stop had been made at Cedarville, where the cadets had purchased some fruit and candy. The _Ajax_ was almost out of sight in the distance.

“If you are going near Parberry Point I’d like to do an errand,” said Pepper. “I want to visit that old basket maker and ask him to make a fancy basket for my Aunt Bess. She has a birthday soon, and I know she would like a new hanging basket, with ferns and flowers in it.”

“All right, we can pass there,” answered Jack. “We’ll drop you and then pick you up later.”

“All right,” answered Pepper. “Anybody want to go to the basket maker’s with me?” he went on, looking around at his chums.

“I’ll go,” answered Andy. “I’ve been eating so much fruit and candy I think it will do me good to walk a little.”

“The errand won’t take more than half an hour,” said Pepper. “We’ll hurry as fast as we can.”

Parberry Point was soon reached and Andy and Pepper leaped ashore.

“I’ll be back here in just half an hour,” cried Jack, consulting his watch. “Don’t keep us waiting, for maybe that rain will come quicker than I thought it would.”

“I’ll hurry all I can,” answered The Imp. “Come on, Andy.” And the pair disappeared up the road from the lake, while the sloop sheered off for the other shore.

Pepper and Andy were both good walkers and they lost no time in getting to the spot where the basket maker had lived. To their dismay the cottage was closed and deserted.

“Must have moved,” said the acrobatic youth. “Too bad! What are you going to do about it?”

“I don’t know, Andy. Wait, here comes a man in a wagon. Maybe he can tell us where the fellow moved to.”

The farmer was consulted and said the basket maker had moved up a side road leading to Lake Caboy.

“It’s only about a quarter of a mile from here,” he explained.

Pepper decided to walk the distance and he and Andy set off. Just as both cadets made a turn in the road they heard a distant rumble of thunder.

“That storm is coming faster than I thought,” said Pepper.

“Right you are, and we’ll have to hurry, unless we want to get wet.”

“Humph! It won’t do any good to get to the sloop. We’ll get wet on her as well as out here, Andy.”

“I suppose that’s so.”

The boys went on, around another bend of the road, and soon came in sight of a second cottage. But to their astonishment, this too was deserted.

“We’ve come on a fool’s errand,” said Pepper. “The basket maker was here but has moved.”

They could see the evidences of basket making in the dooryard, but the cottage was locked up and minus furniture.

“Might as well get back to the Point,” said Andy. “Jack will be waiting for us.”

“I think this side road is shorter than the other,” said Pepper. “It makes a turn toward the lake just above here. We’ll keep on instead of turning back.”

“All right, if you say so, Pep. But it doesn’t look right to me,” answered Andy.

The pair hurried on, for the sky was now growing dark. The rumbling of thunder increased, and presently some large drops of rain came down through the trees bordering the road.

“Might as well run for it!” cried Pepper, and set off on a dog trot. In a few minutes they made a turn and came out on a broad highway. Just beyond was a large white mansion set in a perfect wilderness of trees.

“Why, this isn’t the road I was looking for!” cried Pepper in dismay. “I don’t know where we are now.”

He had hardly spoken when there came a rush of wind through the trees. This was followed by flashes of lightning and cracks of thunder, and then the rain came down in a torrent.

“We can’t stay out here—we’ll be drenched to the skin!” cried the acrobatic youth. “Come on to the house!”

“But we don’t know the folks, Andy.”

“That doesn’t matter. Any port in a storm, as the sailors say.”

Andy started through the trees for the mansion and Pepper followed at his heels. Both ran across a small and badly-kept lawn and up on a broad piazza. Just as they reached the piazza there came a blinding flash of lightning and a peal of thunder that made both jump in fright. Then followed a crash of another kind.

“It struck a tree—out yonder!” exclaimed Pepper, pointing towards the road. “I am glad we weren’t under it!”

“Let us get in the house, where the rain can’t reach us,” answered his chum, and lost no time in ringing the door bell.

There was no answer to the summons, and Andy rang the bell again. Then, of a sudden, the wind increased, and the door of the mansion was blown wide open.

Thinking somebody had unfastened the door and been unable to hold it against the wind, the acrobatic youth entered the hallway beyond, and was followed by Pepper.

“Excuse us, but we came in to get out of the storm,” said Andy, trying to see around him, for with the darkness outside the hallway was pitch black.

To his astonishment nobody answered. A gust of wind came into the hallway and lifting a picture from its nail hurled it to the floor with a crash. Then Pepper caught the door and shut and bolted it.

“Anybody here?” he called out.

Nobody answered, and each of the cadets caught the other by the arm.

“I—I guess the door just blew open,” stammered Andy. The situation was so unusual he knew not what to say. Here they were in a strange house with nobody to speak to them.

The boys could not see a thing, saving when the lightning outside lit up the scene. They felt their way through the hallway to a door and entered what appeared to be a parlor. The apartment had a musty smell, as if it had not been opened for a long time. The blinds were closed but the slats were open and through these faint light showed.

“Looks to me as if this house was deserted, too,” remarked Pepper. “Gracious, the whole neighborhood must be moving out!”

“Somebody lives here, I am sure of that,” answered his chum. “Out in the hall I smelt the odor of fried onions.”

“Let us walk back to the kitchen and find out,” said Pepper.

A flash of lightning made the boys pause for a moment. Then they walked to the end of the hallway and entered a dining room. Here a window was open and through this the rain was sweeping wildly.

“The owner of this place must be away,” said Andy. “Gosh! how it rains!” he added, as he shut the window.

“Look at the quaint silver set!” said Pepper, his eyes catching sight of the service on a sideboard. “That must be pretty old.”

He picked up a silver dish and Andy picked up another. As they were looking at the silver pieces they heard a door open and felt a sudden gust of air.

“Somebody is here——” commended Pepper, when he fell back in sudden alarm. For from out of a dark corner an old man had appeared. He wore a long, white beard and his straggling hair was of the same color. In his hands he carried a short shotgun and this he had leveled straight ahead of him.

“Burglars! thieves! robbers!” he screamed. “Drop my silver plate or I will shoot you!”

His manner was so stern and wild that the two cadets lost no time in setting down the silver pieces they had picked up. The old man continued to point his shotgun, first at Andy and then at Pepper.

“I heard there were burglars in this vicinity,” he said, in a croaking voice. “But I did not think you would dare to come here.”

“We are not burglars!” answered Pepper.

“Ha! I know better! You cannot deceive me!”

“We are schoolboys and we came in here to get out of the storm,” explained Andy.

“I do not believe it! You are burglars! Those uniforms are merely a disguise. You were after my precious silver plate! The world-renowned Robertson silver plate! But you shan’t have it! Jabez Trask knows how to protect his own!”

At the mention of the old man’s name the cadets started. This then, was the man for whom Bert Field was seeking. Certainly as strange an individual as the tall, thin youth himself.

“Mr. Trask, you are making a mistake,” said Pepper, as calmly as he could. “We did not come here to steal, we——”

“I will not listen! I shall hand you over to the authorities for entering my house! I saw you sneaking around this morning—one of you at least.”

“No, you didn’t,” answered Andy.

“I know better—I saw you quite plainly.”

To this the boys did not answer. Pepper, however, wondered if the person seen sneaking around had been the mysterious Bert Field.

“I want you fellows to back into the corner,” went on Jabez Trask, after a painful pause.

“But, sir——” commenced Andy.

“Not another word—until I call an officer of the law!”

“We are not criminals,” cried Pepper stubbornly. “We belong to Putnam Hall military academy.”

“I do not believe it! You came here with the intention of robbing me of my precious plate and other things. But you did not think I’d get after you with my shotgun!” added the old man cunningly. “You thought you would have me at your mercy! But I have outwitted you! Ha! ha! it was well done, not so? Back into the corner, I say, and open the door!”

The command was such a pre-emptory one that the cadets obeyed. Andy opened the door. Beyond was a small storeroom, having a narrow window which was barred from the outside.

“In you go, you young villains!” cried Jabez Trask, and held the muzzle of the shotgun on a line with their breasts. Fearing that in his excitement he would pull the trigger, the two cadets stepped back into the room.

“Now kick the door shut with your foot, and be quick about it,” went on the old man, to Pepper, and aimed the weapon straight at The Imp.

The door was closed as the man desired, and in a twinkling Jabez Trask stepped up close and turned the key in the lock. It was a heavy door, with an equally effective lock, and the cadets knew that they were prisoners.

“Ha! ha! very well done, I do declare!” chuckled the old man, after the door was fastened. “A neat trick, if I do say it myself, a clever trick! It takes a smart man to get the best of Jabez Trask. You thought I’d shoot you, didn’t you? Well, let me tell you that the shotgun isn’t loaded and hasn’t been for a month! But now I am going to load it, and load it well. If you try to break out—well, your blood will be on your head!”

Andy and Pepper did not reply. In the dim light of the little storeroom they looked at each other questioningly. They were in a serious predicament. What would be the outcome of this remarkable adventure?