Chapter IX: What Happened at the Ice House

The next morning Reff Ritter had to excuse himself, and he did not come downstairs all day. Some of the blueing had gotten on his nose and refused to come off. Paxton and Coulter appeared, and they looked “blue” in more ways than one.

“We are going to square up some day!” growled Coulter, when he met Pepper. “Just wait, that’s all!”

“Look out that you don’t burn your fingers doing it,” answered The Imp. “Remember, we can give you as good as you send, every time!”

Coulter and Paxton still had some of the blueing on them and some of the cadets not in the secret wanted to know what was the trouble.

“Oh, we had some blue ink and it got spilled,” answered Paxton, and that was all he and Coulter would say. When Captain Putnam went upstairs to call on Ritter and make sure he was not seriously sick the bully told the same story.

“Well, be careful the next time,” said the master of the Hall, and he left Ritter in deep thought. He felt almost certain some kind of a joke had been played, but he did not wish to investigate, having his hands full with other things. George Strong had departed, having received a special message of importance, and the captain himself had to leave the school the following Monday, to go to Chicago.

In a roundabout way Jack and his chums learned that Reff Ritter, Coulter and Paxton were going to attend the lawn party in spite of the blueing that still showed on their hands and faces, and they at once set to work to see what could be done toward having more fun.

“This is going to be rather a delicate proceeding,” said the young major. “Remember, we have two crowds to deal with—Ritter’s and Roy Bock’s.”

“Perhaps we had better divide our forces?” suggested Dale.

“I’ve got a plan, but I don’t know if it can be carried out,” said Pepper. “To my mind, Ritter and Bock are quite friendly.”

“Yes, it’s a case of one bully loving another,” chimed in Stuffer. “They are thick, and so are Coulter and Gussic and Grimes.”

“Then perhaps I can get this plan to work after all,” went on The Imp, and then he told the others of his scheme. This was nothing more than to send a letter to Bock asking him and his cronies to meet Ritter at a certain ice-house on the lake front, at two o’clock—just an hour before the party was to come off. Another letter was to be sent to Ritter asking him to meet Bock and his crowd at the same place, but a little earlier.

The letters were written without delay and a farm boy of that vicinity was hired to deliver them both at noon on the day the party was to come off. Each letter spoke of “a way to fix Ruddy and his crowd,” and was unsigned.

As Pepper anticipated, Bock and Ritter and their cohorts fell into the trap readily. Each bully was more than anxious to learn of something whereby he might do the young major and his chums injury.

“Ritter is a fine fellow,” said Roy Bock, to his cronies. “He hates Ruddy and those other chaps like poison, too. He must have something great up his sleeve.” And the others agreed this must be so; and all voted to stop at the ice-house on the way to the lawn party.

On the other hand, Ritter was equally enthusiastic, and so were Coulter and Paxton.

“We’ll work with the Pornell fellows in this,” said the Hall bully. “I always liked Bock, and if he will show us how to turn a trick on Ruddy I’ll like him better than ever.”

It was no easy matter for Jack, Pepper and the others to get away early on the day the lawn party was to be held. Yet they managed it by various excuses, and then met back of the gymnasium, and hurried at top speed to the ice house.

The structure was empty, the last of the former winter’s ice having been removed the week before. It was a large and gloomy place, and scattered around were many tons of wet sawdust.

“Now boys, follow my directions and be quick about it!” cried Pepper. “Andy, you keep an eye open and let us know as soon as you see anybody. Jack, here’s your make-up,” and as he finished speaking he handed over a suit of plain clothes and a hat, such as Bock was in the habit of wearing. These the young major donned with all speed, and pulled down his hair over his forehead, in the style Bock affected. This done, at a distance he resembled the bully of Pornell Academy.

The cadets set to work doing various things in the ice house that Pepper suggested. Hardly had they completed their labors when Andy gave a low whistle.

“Ritter and his crowd are coming!” he called, as he came into the building.

It was now that Jack acted. He ran to the doorway, and seeing Ritter at a distance waved his hand wildly.

“Hurry up! You’re late!” he called out, imitating Bock’s voice as much as possible.

Not dreaming that anything was wrong, Reff Ritter and his cronies quickened their pace and soon came up to the ice house.

“Where are you?” called out Coulter.

“Here, inside,” was the muffled answer. “Come in, the place is empty.”

Ritter entered, followed by Coulter and Paxton. They saw somebody move at the rear end of the building and started in that direction. Each had hardly taken a dozen steps when he found himself attacked from behind. A long bag was thrown over his head and pulled to his knees and tied fast there.

“Hi, you! What does this mean?” roared Ritter, trying in vain to clear himself of the bag. Then he commenced to cough, for the bag was full of dust.

“Silence—unless you want to be buried deep in the sawdust,” commanded Jack, in a heavy, unnatural voice.

“Do—don’t!” spluttered Paxton. “If yo—you bury us in that we—we’ll smother to death!”

“Wh—who are you fel—fellows?” gasped Coulter.

“We are the Pornell Academy boys, and we mean to keep you from that party,” answered Andy, in a voice that sounded much like that of Grimes.

“Confound the luck!” growled Reff Ritter. “Say, Bock, this isn’t fair. You said in the letter you would help us to get Jack Ruddy into trouble.”

“Ha! ha! you were nicely fooled!” laughed Jack, still disguising his voice.

“March!” ordered Pepper.

“I won’t budge!” cried Paxton.

Scarcely had he spoken when he felt a whip lash across his legs.

“Ouch! Oh, let up! I’ll march!” he whined. “Don’t lash me again, please!”

As they were absolutely helpless with the strong bags tied down to their knees, Ritter Coulter and Paxton had to do as commanded, and they were marched out of a back door of the ice house and to a grove of trees some distance away.

“Hurry up, boys!” whispered Pepper, to his chums. “Somebody is coming down the road. It must be the Pornell Academy crowd!”

In a twinkling the prisoners were tied with ropes to several trees. Then Jack led the way back to the ice house. Here Pepper went to the front, while the major resumed his uniform.

“Say, you fellows!” cried Pepper, as soon as he was sure of the party approaching. “Don’t be all day! Hurry up!”

“It’s too warm to hurry!” called back Roy Bock. “Do you think I want to get all heated up?” He was faultlessly dressed in his best, and so were his cronies, for nearly all of the Pornell students were rich and spent a good deal upon their attire.

They walked into the ice house just as Ritter and the others had done. It was Dale who called them to the rear, and then the others came up behind with another set of long bags and ropes.

“Let up!” roared Roy Bock, and began to fight with such vigor that he almost broke away. But Jack held fast and both went down into the wet sawdust, much to Bock’s disgust.

“Confound it, you’ve ruined my best suit!” he cried, “I’ll fix you for this, see if I don’t!”

“When you get the chance,” answered Jack in a disguised voice. “Glad you answered my letter,” he added.

“So this is what you were up to, eh?” stormed the Pornell bully, after further resistance was useless. With the bag over him he could, of course, see nothing. “What are you going to do with us?”

“Nothing, only keep you here while we enjoy that lawn party,” answered Pepper, in a disguised voice.

“It’s a plot against us!” groaned Grimes. “I told you to be cautious about coming here.”

“Say, Ritter, I thought I could trust you,” continued Roy Bock. “This isn’t fair at all. I thought we were going to hatch out something against Ruddy, Ditmore, and those fellows.”

“Not to-day,” murmured Dale, and he had all he could do to keep from laughing over the turn of affairs. Andy was in a corner, holding his sides and chuckling, and all of the other cadets were grinning broadly.

The Pornell students wanted to argue, but Jack and his chums would not listen. With strong ropes they tied each of the enemy fast to a beam in the ice house.

“W’ll be back bye and bye,” cried Jack, in an unnatural voice,

“Don’t leave us!” cried Gussic. “This bag is horribly dirty. I’ve got my whole head full of it!”

“Come back!” yelled Ritter, from his bag. “Say, if you’ll let us out we’ll call it square. If you don’t, I’ll——”

“What will you do?” asked Jack, from a distance.

“Report you to Captain Putnam.”

“Do it—I don’t care,” was the young major’s answer, and then he and his chums departed, rolling the ice house door shut as they did so. They waited till they had covered a hundred yards or so and then of a sudden every cadet present burst into a roar of merriment that lasted for several minutes.

“It’s the richest ever!” cried Andy, the tears fairly running down his cheeks. “We’ve got ’em all prisoners and each party thinks the other guilty!”

“Think of Roy Bock reporting to Captain Putnam for this!” said Pepper. “Wouldn’t that make you scream?”

“And maybe Ritter will report Bock and his gang to Doctor Pornell,” suggested Dale.

“Sure, and its the foinest mix-up I ever seen in me life,” was Emerald’s comment. “If only they meet some day an’ fight it out!” And the grin on his broad face spread from ear to ear.

The crowd walked down to the lake shore and then to the place where the lawn party was in progress. They saw a dozen or more girls in the grounds, but only five boys.

“It’s hard luck for the girls,” was Pepper’s comment. “But it can’t be helped.”

“I don’t pity them,” said Andy. “They didn’t invite me,—and I once took two of them rowing, too.”

“Yes, and they didn’t invite me—and I once treated three of them to ice-cream soda,” added Dale.

The boys watched the party from a distance, and then, when it was growing late, started again in the direction of the ice house.

“Hark! what is that?” called Andy suddenly.

“Sounds like somebody fighting,” answered Pepper.

“I think I know what it is,” burst out Jack. “Come, follow me!” And he dove into the bushes lining the roadway.