Chapter XII: Facing the Music

“This is outrageous!” stormed Josiah Crabtree.

“It is certainly too bad,” commented George Strong.

“If some of the students played this trick on me they should be—be hung for it!”

“Oh, not quite as bad as that, Mr. Crabtree.”

“It is as bad—it’s worse!” stormed the unreasonable teacher. “I am not going to permit it.”

To this the second assistant teacher said nothing.

“Boys, who did this?” demanded Josiah Crabtree, eyeing the assembled crowd with great severity. “Answer me at once.”

“Didn’t you say it was a burglar?” asked Andy, meekly.

“I thought he called out thieves,” came from Stuffer.

“I—er—I may have done that, but I am now satisfied somebody has been playing tricks,” said Josiah Crabtree. “I intend to discover the offender and punish him severely.”

“Mr. Crabtree, I didn’t do it, I assure you,” piped in Mumps.

“No, Mumpsy dear wouldn’t do such a wicked thing,” came from a student in the rear, and this caused a snicker.

“I demand to know what has been done with the bedclothing,” resumed the irate teacher.

“Hullo, who has Mr. Crabtree’s bedclothes?” sang out Andy. “Come, don’t all speak at once.”

“Here you are!” cried Hogan, and threw the bundle at Andy’s head.

“Where were they?” cried Josiah Crabtree.

“Right here, in the corner,” answered the Irish cadet. “Sure it’s a queer happening entirely, so it is,” he added, soberly, but with a twinkle in his merry eyes.

Try his best Josiah Crabtree could not learn who had been guilty of disturbing him, and at last ordered the cadets to retire. Then he straightened out his room and went to bed again, this time making certain to lock the door and placing a chair against it.

From the upper landing Jack and Pepper saw and heard something of what went on and laughed heartily. Then they too retired, and slept soundly until the morning bell awoke them.

“Well, we haven’t got to hurry, that’s one comfort,” observed the Imp, as he proceeded to dress leisurely. “Jack, our time’s our own.”

“Yes, but we must be ready to go to Captain Putnam as soon as he arrives,” was the answer. “We want him to understand that we are willing to submit to what he does, but not to Crabtree’s harshness.”

They heard the cadets march to the mess-hall for breakfast. A little later a carriage came along the road towards the Hall.

“There is the captain now!” cried Jack, who was on the watch.

“Let us go down and present ourselves as soon as possible—before Crabtree can tell his story,” said Pepper.

Disposing of the basket and what was left of the eating, they stole downstairs and then to the front of the Hall. They were just in time to see Captain Putnam walk towards his office. Beside him was Josiah Crabtree.

“Ran away!” the master of the academy was saying. “You are sure of this?”

“I am, sir,” answered the assistant teacher. “We hunted everywhere for them.”

“What made them do it?”

“They got scared, I imagine.”

“You did not mistreat them in any way, Mr. Crabtree?”

“No! no! On the contrary, I think I used them too good.”

“Oh, listen to that!” whispered Pepper. “What an old fraud he is!”

“Well, I will listen to the story in detail after the school has been opened,” said Captain Putnam, after a pause, and then he entered his office, while Josiah Crabtree passed on to one of the classrooms.

“Now come on, Pep,” said Jack. “Let us put on a bold front and face the music.”

“I’m with you.”

They marched down the stairs and knocked on the door of the office. There was a rustling of papers, and then the voice of Captain Putnam bade them enter.

The master of the Hall was looking over a mass of legal documents. He stared at the boys in considerable astonishment.

“Why, I understood you two students had run away!” he exclaimed.

“No, sir, we did not run away, Captain Putnam,” answered Jack. “We have not been outside of this building.”

“Then where have you been?”

“In one of the vacant rooms at the top, sir,” answered Pepper.

“What made you hide away there?” And the voice of the master of the Hall grew stern.

“We got away and hid because we did not like the way Mr. Crabtree treated us,” said Jack. “At first we were put in a room where we were nearly frozen, and then he put us down in the cellar, close to the big furnace, and nearly baked us.”

“We didn’t come here to be put in the cellar,” put in Pepper. “Especially when we have done no wrong.”

“So you were put in the cellar? I did not know that,” and now the captain’s face softened a little.

“Captain Putnam, I think we are not being treated fairly,” said Jack, earnestly. “We have done no wrong, and is it right to condemn us without a hearing?”

“I expect to listen to your story, Ruddy, and I will also listen to what Ditmore has to say.”

“Will you listen now?”

“I will be at leisure in an hour. You may come to this office then. Have you had breakfast?”

“We had a little,” and Pepper smiled faintly as he answered the question.

“Then go to the mess-room and get the meal. If you see Mr. Crabtree tell him that I said you were to report to me.”

“We will,” answered both cadets, and left a moment later.

“I think we’ll come out all right,” said Jack, on the way to the dining-room. “I don’t think he’ll stand for Crabtree’s putting us down in the cellar.”

“I reckon that’s our strong point.”

Inside of an hour after the boys left the office Josiah Crabtree came in and sat down.

“Now I will listen to what you have to say about Ruddy and Ditmore,” said the master of the Hall.

Josiah Crabtree told his tale, with many exaggerations. According to what he said, Jack and Pepper acted in a most vicious manner.

“They are natural-born young rascals,” said the assistant teacher. “If we can locate them, we must make examples of them, Captain Putnam.”

“Perhaps they are not so bad as you think, Mr. Crabtree.”

“They are every bit as bad—maybe worse. They ran away because they were afraid to face the consequences of their misdoings.”

“But they did not run away.”

“Wha—er—what?”

“They did not run away.”

At this announcement the jaw of the assistant instructor dropped.

“If they didn’t run away where are they?”

At that moment came another knock on the office door.

“Come in,” said the captain, and Jack entered, followed by Pepper.

“Well, I never!” murmured Josiah Crabtree. “Where did you come from, you young villains!”

“Gently, Mr. Crabtree,” interposed the captain.

“Mr. Crabtree, I am not a villain and I don’t want you or anybody else to call me one,” said Jack, hotly.

“Ha! don’t talk to me!” spluttered the assistant teacher.

“Mr. Crabtree, I will examine the two young gentlemen in private,” said Captain Putnam, decisively. “I will thank you to take charge of the classes for the present. I will send word when I wish to see you again.”

This was a strong hint that he was not wanted, and with rather bad grace the assistant teacher retired.

“Now, Ruddy, tell me your story,” went on Captain Putnam. “Tell me the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth.”

“I will, sir,” answered Jack; and in a plain, straightforward manner told how Pepper had come to him with the strange note, and how they had hurried down to the old boathouse. Then he related how they had seen the fire start up and found themselves locked in, and how they had gotten out and given the alarm.

“We saw those cigarette butts there once before, and also an empty liquor bottle,” he added. “But I do not remember that we saw any playing-cards.”

“Have you anything to add to this story?” asked the captain of Pepper.

“No, sir, excepting to say that Jack has told the exact truth, Captain Putnam. We had nothing to do with the fire and nothing to do with the cigarettes or drink.”

“What about the cigarettes, cards, and liquor that were found in your belongings?”

“If they were found there, they were put there by somebody who wanted to do us harm.”

“Most likely the same party who got Pepper to go to the boathouse with me,” added Jack.

“Have you any idea who that party can be?”

“Yes, sir, but I should not like to speak of that,” answered Jack, firmly.