Chapter XI: What Happened to Andy

“Perhaps Andy had a tumble from his wheel,” suggested Dale. “It might have broken down, you know.”

“Let us walk toward town and find out,” answered Pepper.

To this the others readily consented, and all set off in the direction of Cedarville. They had to go around a long curve, and then came to a spot where the roadway was lined upon either side with thick brushwood and trees.

“Here he is!” called out Jack, and ran forward. “At least, here is his wheel.”

He was right about the bicycle. It rested by the roadside, close to the fallen limb of a tree.

“He certainly took a tumble!” cried Stuffer. “But where is he?”

This question was answered by a groan that made all of the cadets start. They turned, peered into the bushes, and there beheld poor Andy stretched out on some grass. The blood was flowing from a wound in his forehead and from a cut on his hand.

“Andy!” cried the young major. “Are you hurt much?”

“I—I don’t know,” was the gasped-out reply.

“Didn’t you see the tree limb?” asked Pepper, as he got out his handkerchief to wipe away some of the blood on his chum’s face, so he might see the extent of the injury. Fortunately the cut was not deep, and it was easily bound up.

“That limb came down right in front of me,” was Andy’s answer. “If it had been down before I got to it I could have cleared it somehow.”

Stuffer ran to a nearby brook for water, bringing some in a cone he made of a sheet of writing paper, and inside of five minutes the sufferer felt well enough to tell his story.

“I was coming along, guiding the wheel with one hand and holding the ice-cream with the other,” he explained. “All at once the limb came down right in front of me. I crashed into it and landed on some stones in the bushes and then, I guess, I lost consciousness. That’s all I’ve got to tell.”

“What became of the ice-cream?” asked Stuffer, and despite Andy’s plight the lad who loved to eat gazed around rather anxiously.

“Why, it—it—I don’t know, I’m sure,” stammered Andy. “Isn’t it on the road?”

It was not, nor was it anywhere in that vicinity. The cadets looked at each other suggestively.

“Maybe it was a trick,” said Pepper. “A trick to get the cream away from Andy and spoil our little festival.”

“That’s it!” cried Dale. “For look, there is no tree around here where that limb could come from.”

The others looked around and saw that Dale was right. Only small trees were in that vicinity and none of these had lost a branch.

“If it was a trick, it was a mighty mean one,” was the young major’s comment. “Why, the tumble might have killed Andy!”

“Did you see anybody, Andy?” questioned Stuffer.

“No, and I didn’t hear anybody either.”

“Well, it’s too bad. It must have been a trick. I wonder if some of our fellows or some fellows from Pornell Academy played it?”

“That remains for us to find out,” said Pepper. “And when we do find out—well, somebody will suffer, that’s all!”

“Right you are!” answered Jack and Dale.

The other boys helped Andy to his feet. He was still dizzy and they had to support him on either side. It was found that the bicycle had a broken pedal.

“I wish I knew who did this,” grumbled Andy, as he started to limp along between Pepper and Jack. “I’d—Oh!” And he stopped short.

“What’s the matter?” came simultaneously from those who were assisting him.

“It’s gone!”

“What is gone?”

Andy did not answer immediately. He began to search his clothing, going through every pocket several times. Then he started to hunt around on the ground.

“What have you lost, Andy?” asked Jack.

“Was it valuable?” put in Stuffer.

“Was it valuable?” queried Andy. “Well, I just guess yes! It was worth at least two hundred dollars!”

“Two hundred dollars!” exclaimed all of the others in astonishment.

“Yes—and more.”

“What was it?”

“Joe Nelson’s medal.”

“Andy!”

That was all the others said—but it was enough. Every lad at Putnam Hall knew Joe Nelson’s medal, the one left to Joe by his Uncle Richard. It was a beautiful racing medal of gold, set with jewels, and Joe was very proud of it.

“What were you doing with Joe’s medal?” asked Jack, after a pause.

“The pin catch got broken and Joe sent it to the watchmaker to have another put on. He asked me to get it for him—I was with him when he left it at Bright’s shop. I went for it before I went for the cream.”

“And where did you have the medal?” asked Dale.

“In the inside pocket of my jacket, and I had the pocket fastened with a safety pin, too, to keep the medal from jumping out on the road.”

“It must be somewhere around here,” said Stuffer. “Let us make a good search.”

This they did, but it was of no avail. In the midst of it Andy set up another cry.

“My change is gone, and so is my ring!”

“Andy!”

“Boys, I have been robbed!”

“Oh, Andy, can this be true?” burst out Jack.

“What else can it be? I couldn’t lose my ring and everything else, could I, by just tumbling from my bicycle?”

“Andy must be right—the sudden coming down of the tree limb proves it,” declared Pepper. “Were you unconscious long?” he continued.

“I don’t know.”

“But you are sure you were completely knocked out when you hit the rock?” asked Dale.

“Yes—everything got dark and I didn’t know a thing. And, yes, when I came to my senses—just before you arrived—I was in the bushes!”

“Then somebody must have carried you from the road!” declared Jack. “And that somebody robbed you!” he added, bitterly.

After this there was a moment of silence. The others looked at Andy, and the acrobatic lad stared at them blankly.

“Yes, I must have been robbed,” he said slowly. “But who did it?”

“I don’t believe any of our fellows would do it,” answered Dale. “Even Ritter isn’t bad enough for that.”

“Would the Pornell fellows do it?” queried Stuffer.

“I don’t think so,” answered the young major. “Why, this is a prison offence!”

“Andy, who knew you were carrying the medal?” questioned Pepper.

“I don’t know.”

“Did anybody see you get it from the watchmaker’s?”

At this question Andy’s face lit up suddenly.

“Yes, a beggar, who came in and asked Mr. Bright for the price of a meal. Mr. Bright gave him five cents and I gave him the same. He was a tall, hungry looking fellow, with a flat nose, and, I remember now, he looked greedily at the gold medal and at the things in the shop.”

“Then maybe he is the guilty man,” said Dale.

“How would he know enough to come here and strike Andy down?” asked Stuffer.

“He would know, by Andy’s uniform, that he belonged to the Hall,” answered the young major. “He may have taken to this road and laid in wait for Andy.”

“I believe you are right!” cried Andy. “I didn’t like the looks of that chap, even though I did give him five cents. He looked just as if he wanted to get his hands on something of value.”

“And he must have taken the ice-cream too,” came mournfully from Stuffer.

“I hope it poisons him,” muttered Pepper.

“Humph! The idea of ice-cream poisoning anybody! Besides, a fellow like that most likely has the digestion of an ostrich,” returned Stuffer.

It was now growing so dark that to look around further was impossible. Jack and Pepper assisted Andy, and Dale brought along the broken bicycle, and thus the crowd returned to Putnam Hall. At the entrance to the campus they encountered Josiah Crabtree.

“Stop!” called the teacher, harshly. “Where have you been? Did you have permission to leave?”

“Mr. Crabtree, where is Captain Putnam?” asked Jack, without answering the questions put. “Andy had been hurt and robbed. We’ll have to notify the authorities at once.”

“Hurt? Robbed? How?” And Josiah Crabtree was much interested.

“He was knocked off his wheel and robbed of a ring, some money and Joe Nelson’s fine gold medal. Is Captain Putnam in his office?”

“I presume so. But I want to know——”

“Time is valuable here, Mr. Crabtree. We want to catch the thief if we can,” put in Pepper, and then the whole party hurried to the office of the master of the Hall before Josiah Crabtree could detain them further. The teacher’s curiosity was aroused and he stalked after them.

Captain Putnam listened to Andy’s story with keen attention, and then asked all of the boys a number of questions. Nothing was said about ice-cream, nor did the captain ask Andy if he had had permission to go to the village.

“You did not come back at once, after getting the medal?” was the question put.

“No, sir. I went to a couple of stores and posted a letter at the post-office.”

“Then that would give the rascal time enough to get out of the village and make his plans to waylay you,” answered Captain Putnam. “I think the least we can do is to try to catch that beggar and make him give an account of himself. If he can prove he was in Cedarville at the time of the robbery, why then you’ll have to look further for the thief.”

His army experience had taught Captain Putnam to act quickly in a case of emergency, and now, without delay, he had Peleg Snuggers hitch his fast mare to a buggy, and he and Andy drove down to Cedarville. Here the local authorities were interviewed, and two constables and a special policeman went out on a hunt for the beggar. The policeman had seen the man, and remembered how he looked and how he had been dressed.

“He had an upper set of teeth that were false and a flat nose,” said the policeman. “He was dressed in a suit of blue that was too big around for him but not quite long enough. I saw him begging down at the steamboat dock, and I told him if he didn’t clear out he’d be run in.”

A hunt was instituted that very night, and was kept up for several days. But the beggar had disappeared and all efforts to locate him seemed fruitless. A reward was offered by the captain and by Andy’s parents, but brought no results.

“I am afraid he’s gone, and for good,” sighed Andy.

“Well, if the medal is gone it’s gone, and that is all there is to it,” answered Joe Nelson. He felt the loss of his uncle’s gift greatly.

“Joe, my father says he will buy you another medal,” said Andy.

“He doesn’t have to do that, Andy,” was the quick reply. “It wasn’t your fault you were robbed. Besides, I’d like to have that particular medal back.”

“Yes, and I want my ring,” said Andy. “My mother gave me that on my last birthday, and I prized it highly.”

“Well, maybe the medal and the ring will turn up some day,” concluded Joe; and there the subject was dropped.