Chapter XXIII: A Wild Goose Chase

The announcement that Jack made filled the Ritter crowd with alarm, and they showed it.

“Have us arrested?” cried the bully, and he grew somewhat pale.

“That is just what he said,” broke in Pepper. “Fun is fun, but to steal a launch is another story.”

“We didn’t steal the boat,” came from Coulter. “We—er—What do you know about it anyway?” he demanded suddenly.

“We know all we wish to know,” said Andy. “You took Mr. Fales’s boat and did not return it. You can well imagine how angry he is. He looked all around Butterfly Island for it, but with no success.”

“We didn’t leave it at Butterfly Island,” said Paxton. We left it—” He stopped short and looked at his cronies questioningly.

“How did you get away from the island?” asked Ritter.

“A party came along in another launch, the _Spray_,” said Jack, and did not attempt to explain further.

“We—er—we hid the _Emma_ on the shore of another island,” said Coulter. “We didn’t hurt the boat in the least.”

“Well, you better return her before morning, or Mr. Fales may get out warrants for your whole crowd,” said Andy. “After we found the hornets’ nest he wanted to know who you were.”

“Humph! I suppose you told him too,” sneered Ritter.

“Why not? You put us in a hole. But you’d better get the boat. Don’t you know that there are some thieves on this lake? They wouldn’t hesitate to take that launch if they found it, and paint it over and change the name—and then you’d never find the craft.”

“Yes, you’ll get into serious trouble if you don’t return that boat by morning,” said the young major, and then he motioned to his chums and all walked away. Looking back they saw the Ritter crowd get together and commence an earnest conversation.

“I’ll wager they go out after the launch,” said Andy, with a broad grin.

“Won’t they be surprised when they find the boat missing from Hull Island!” came from The Imp. “They’ll think she drifted away or was stolen!”

“If they go out they may get wet,” said Jack. “It certainly looks like rain.”

The chums joined the other cadets, and pretended to pay no further attention to the Ritter faction. But on the sly Dale watched them and after taps saw Ritter, Coulter, Paxton and Sabine steal away in the direction of the lake. They took one of the rowboats with two pairs of oars and rowed away in the darkness.

“There is a wild goose chase for you!” cried Jack, and he and his chums laughed heartily over the matter. The young major was right—it was indeed a wild goose chase. The row to Hull Island was a hard one, and when the spot was reached the search for the launch in the darkness was difficult. To add to the discomfort of the crowd it commenced to rain, and as they had no covering each of the cadets got wet to the skin. They all spent over an hour looking for the _Emma_, but all in vain.

“She must have drifted away, or else she was stolen!” groaned Billy Sabine. “Oh, if we don’t find her, will they really lock us up?”

“She couldn’t drift away, for she was tied up,” said Ritter. “I tied her myself, and I did it good, too.”

“Nobody was around here when we brought the launch in,” came from Paxton. “I looked around good. And I don’t know how any thieves could locate her.”

“Do you know what I am beginning to think?” cried Ritter. “I think they played a trick on us.”

“How?”

“They got the boat back, but made up a plot to get us out on the hunt.”

“We might row down the lake to where they usually keep the launch and find out,” said Paxton. “We better do it. I wouldn’t sleep a wink if I thought I was going to be arrested in the morning.”

“Nor I,” added Sabine, with a shiver. “Let’s have a look.”

“It’s over three miles from here,” grumbled Ritter. Nevertheless, he was as much disturbed as anyone, and in the end the four took up the oars and commenced the tedious task of rowing down the lake in the rain. It was an hour before they reached the dock where the launch was usually kept. They came in rather awkwardly and bumped loudly against the stringpiece.

“Here she is!” cried Ritter, as he made out the _Emma_ tied securely to the dock. “She’s all right, too.”

“Then that Ruddy crowd played a trick on us—getting us to look for her in this rain!” grumbled Coulter.

“Hi! hi! what does this mean? Who are you?” came a call from the darkness.

“Shove off! We don’t want to meet anybody!” said Ritter in a low voice.

The rowboat had drifted in and was now between the launch and the dock, and it was hard work to shove the craft out into the lake. They heard footsteps and a man showed himself.

“Stop!” he called loudly. “Stop, or I’ll fire!” And now he pointed a pistol at the cadets.

“Don’t shoot!” screamed Sabine. “Don’t shoot! We haven’t done anything, mister!”

“Then stop,” called the man. He was a watchman, employed by Able Fales and a number of others, to look after the various craft in that vicinity.

“It’s all right,” Ritter endeavored to assure the watchman. “We only stopped in here to see if a certain boat was safe.”

“Fine time to do it, I must say!” returned the watchman. “It’s half-past one o’clock! What boat were you looking for?”

“The—er—the _Emma_,” stammered Coulter, as Ritter paused before replying.

“Oh, I know now!” said the watchman, and his face took on a grin. He sprang aboard the _Emma_ and so got closer to the quartet of cadets. “You are from that military school, ain’t you? You run off with the boat, and Able sent word he’d have you locked up if you didn’t return her! Ha! ha! Able got the boat all right, and you’ve had a fine time looking for her! It’s a nice night for a long row! No dust, nor nuthin’ like that!” And the watchman laughed again.

“Aw, you dry up!” said Ritter, in deep disgust, “Come on back to camp,” he added to his cronies.

“Don’t you dare to touch any of these boats ag’in!” shouted the watchman. “If you do you’ll git shot!” And then the rowboat started up the lake for the encampment. Ritter and his cronies were wet through and through and thoroughly tired out when they got back, and a more disgusted crowd it would be hard to imagine.

On the following Monday came a tug-of-war between two teams composed of ten cadets each. Dale, Hogan and Andy were on one team, and their side won, after a tug that lasted sixteen minutes. The tug-of-war was followed by a game of hare and hounds, or, as some boys called it, a paper chase. In the paper chase Andy and Pepper were the “hares” and Dale the leader of the “hounds,” which numbered about thirty cadets. The “hares” carried big bags of paper cut into fine pieces which they scattered on the ground as a trail, so the “hounds” could follow them.

“The hares will have just ten minutes start,” announced Jack, who had been chosen umpire and referee. “Now then, Andy and Pepper, are you ready?”

The two cadets looked to their shoe laces, their belts, and their bags of paper, and then announced that they were.

“Then go!” shouted the young major, and off Andy and Pepper bounded, across the camp and into the woods. They took to a road leading westward, but presently came to a trail running southward and switched off to that.

“We ought to get a good start in ten minutes,” remarked Pepper, as they moved along on a dog trot, dropping the fine bits of paper on the way.

“Well, don’t forget that those other fellows can run too,” returned the acrobatic youth. “Say, but it’s a fine day, isn’t it!” he added, and then, coming to a cleared space, his spirits arose and he turned several hand-springs in quick succession.

“Hi, stop that!” called Pepper. “Save your wind for running, Andy.”

“Oh, I couldn’t help it,” was the reply. “I’ve got to do a stunt once in a while or I’ll bust!”

The two cadets presently came to a hill and climbed this and then dropped from a cliff to the gully below. They left paper everywhere, so the trail would be plain.

“They’ll have to get down the cliff one at a time,” said Andy. “That will retard them a little—if they want to keep in a bunch.”

Presently they came to another road and followed this for over a mile. Then they left the road and took to another trail through the woods.

“Here is a river!” cried Andy, presently. “Hark how the water roars!”

“I know this stream,” said Pepper. “It is the Caboy River, and what you hear are the Falls. This is the place where that haunted mill is located.”