Chapter XXII: A Night of Fun

“Hullo, what’s this?”

“Well, I never saw such a thing before in my life!”

“Where did the balloon come from?”

“Will somebody show me the way out of this circus tent?”

“Everybody lift!” cried Jack.

The cadets did as ordered, some standing their guns up. The guns acted like short tent-poles, and the bag of the balloon was thus kept a short distance from the ground. Slowly one student after another crawled forth into the open air.

“Is anybody hurt?” asked Captain Putnam, anxiously.

“I was knocked down,” came from Gus Coulter, and he showed where he had been rolled over in the dust.

“I was nearly smothered,” said Mumps.

Nobody had been hurt, although not a few had been frightened when the weight of the monstrous bag first settled down upon them. The balloon was rolled up and placed on one side of the road and the loose guns picked up.

“Guess it must be a runaway balloon,” suggested Pepper.

“I believe it has been used for exhibition purposes,” said Captain Putnam. “See there is a trapeze. Probably the performer jumped from the balloon and used a parachute for reaching the ground.”

“Was there to be an exhibition around here?” asked Jack.

“I believe one was advertised to take place at Menville. The wind is blowing from that direction.”

There was nothing to do but to leave the balloon by the roadside, and after a brushing up and a readjustment of equipments the battalion moved on once more. Half a mile was covered when they were halted by two men in a long farm-wagon.

“Excuse me!” shouted one of the men. “But have you seen anything of a balloon around here?”

“I should say we had,” answered Captain Putnam, who was marching by Jack’s side. “It came down in the roadway, directly on our heads.”

“What! I reckon you were scared,” and the man grinned.

“We shouldn’t care to repeat the experiment,” said the captain, coldly. “Some of my students were knocked down, and if they had not held up the balloon with their guns they might have been smothered.”

“Guess that’s right,” said the other man in the wagon. “I am sorry for you.”

“So am I sorry,” said the first man who had spoken. “Where is the balloon?”

“About half a mile back on the road.”

“Thanks; we’ll get it.”

“Whose balloon is it?” asked Jack, curiously.

“It belongs to Professor Aireo,” was the answer. “He made an ascension about an hour ago at Menville and came down with his parachute. I hope the balloon is all right.”

“It appeared to be,” answered Jack, and then the two men drove off and the battalion proceeded on its way.

The road was rather rough, and two hours later the cadets came to another halt. A farm-house was handy and they procured a drink at a fine old well where the water was both pure and cold. The farmer, who was present, told them to help themselves, and as he had a crate of strawberries ready to take to market, the captain purchased them and took them along, for use at the camp.

It was nightfall when Smalley Lake was reached. Some large flatboats were at hand, and on these the boys were rowed over to the island, and the camping outfit followed, the wagons and horses being left at a farm running down to the lake.

“What a fine spot for a camp!” cried Dale, on reaching the island.

It certainly was a nice place. The island was some acres in extent, containing a small grove of trees, a fine patch of grass, and a bit of smooth, sandy beach which would be very fine for bathing.

The tents were pitched on the grass, and after a rest Captain Putnam allowed some of the boys to take a dip in the lake. Then campfires were lit and supper cooked, to which the boys did full justice, topping off the meal with the strawberries that had been brought along.

“I don’t think we’ll have any fun to-night,” said Andy. “Everybody is too tired.” And he was right. The cadets were glad to rest and went to sleep without a murmur, only the guards remaining active. Each cadet had to go on guard two hours each night, in true military style.

“Oh, pshaw! It’s raining!” cried Pepper, on rising the following morning. “Isn’t that too bad!”

“I don’t think it will last,” said Jack, and he was right. By eight o’clock the rain stopped and soon after the sun came out good and strong, drying the grass rapidly. Breakfast was had, followed by a short drill, and then the cadets were told that they could do as they pleased until dinner-time. Some went bathing, others fishing, and a few just lolled around, taking it easy. Baxter and his crowd strolled off by themselves, to smoke some cigarettes Reff Ritter had purchased at the cross-roads hotel on the sly.

“Let us take a walk,” suggested Dale to Pepper and some of the others, and soon they were on the way, going first along the shore and then into the wood. Here it was cool and pleasant, and they enjoyed it thoroughly.

“Couldn’t a fellow have a fine time here if there wasn’t a big crowd?” said Dale. “Just think of six or seven of us with the whole island to ourselves!”

“It would be dandy,” answered Andy.

Having rested awhile in the woods, they moved on, until they came to a sort of shelter among the rocks. Looking through the bushes they saw Reff Ritter moving around.

“It’s the Ritter crowd,” said Jack, in a low voice.

“Wonder what they are up to?” said Pepper. “I am going to see.” And the Imp moved forward before anybody could stop him.

When Pepper was close enough he made out six boys seated in a circle. They were smoking cigarettes and talking in low but earnest voices.

“We can do it,” Dan Baxter was saying.

“Maybe we’ll get caught,” put in Mumps.

“No, we won’t,” came from Reff Ritter. “It’s a boss plan. We’ll carry it out to-night, and make somebody feel sick.”

“Better see if anybody is around,” cried Gus Coulter, and leaped up. Pepper had just time enough to regain his companions when the whole party was discovered. At once the Baxter crowd put away their cigarettes.

“Hullo, are you following us?” demanded Reff Ritter, striding forward.

“I guess you are following us,” said Pepper, quickly.

“Why should we follow you?” asked Jack.

At this Ritter and Baxter muttered something the others could not understand. Then the bully of the Hall and his cronies walked away to another part of the island.

“They are up to something,” said Pepper to his friends, and told what he had heard.

“It will pay to watch out to-night,” said Dale.

That afternoon the boys had a swimming match, in which over twenty cadets participated. The match was won by Harry Blossom, with Andy second, Bart third, Hogan fourth, and Gus Coulter fifth. Reff Ritter was in the match, but dropped out when he saw he could not win.

“I got a cramp in my big toe,” he said, but nobody believed him.

In the evening a happy time was had around the campfires and at ten o’clock the cadets turned in. Hogan and Stuffer were on guard, along with a number of others. Each guard had to walk up and down on his post, and that was all.

Pepper was dozing away when Andy pulled him by the arm.

“Something is doing,” whispered the acrobatic youth.

The Imp was wide-awake on the instant, and so were Dale and Harry, who were sleeping close by. Jack, as major, was in another tent.

Some shadows were moving around, and presently Andy and Pepper saw three cadets steal into the tent and lift up some uniforms and equipments. Instantly they leaped up, and caught two of the intruders.

“No, you don’t!” cried Andy. “Drop those uniforms!”

“Let me go!” muttered the other fellow, and Andy recognized Dan Baxter’s voice. Pepper had Reff Ritter, while Dale got hold of Nick Paxton. The latter slipped flat on his back and Dale came down upon him heavily.

“Oh! Get off of me!” grunted Paxton. “You are smashing in my ribs!”

“What does this mean?” demanded Dale, and caught his prisoner by the arm.

“It’s only a joke,” grumbled Paxton.

“What kind of a joke?”

“We—we were going to hide your uniforms, that’s all!”

“Oh, that’s it!” said Pepper. “Well, it didn’t work, and out you go!” And he gave Reff Ritter a shove that sent him headlong on the ground outside of the tent. Dan Baxter was also pushed out, and Paxton was flung on top of the bully. All three picked themselves up as quickly as they could and sneaked off.

“Coulter wasn’t with them,” whispered Pepper. “He and Mumps and Sabine must be trying the trick elsewhere. Let us go out and investigate.”

The others agreed, and slipping on some clothing they sallied forth in the darkness. Only a few stars were shining, so they had to pick their way with care among the tents.

“Wait, there is somebody—coming from Jack’s tent!” whispered Pepper, and the next moment the Imp had a fellow by the collar, while Andy and Dale caught the second cadet. They were Coulter and Sabine, and they had Jack’s uniform, his hat, shoes, and likewise the young major’s sword.

“Let us alone, will you?” growled Coulter, in a cowed tone.

“Sure, we will!” cried Pepper. “Dale, put those things back, will you?”

While Dale did so, Pepper and Andy held Coulter and Sabine. Jack slept on, totally unconscious of what was taking place.

Despite their protests, Coulter and Sabine were made to march back to the tent from which the other cadets had come. Then they were blindfolded.

“We’ll put them through the forty-fourth degree,” said Pepper.

The others understood what this meant, and in a twinkling the prisoners had their hands bound behind them.

“Let me go!” whined Billy Sabine. “Please don’t hurt me!”

“We won’t hurt you. Keep still.”

“If you don’t let us go, we’ll raise an alarm,” said Coulter.

“If you do we’ll tell how you tried to steal Major Ruddy’s things.”

“We weren’t going to steal them. We were only going to hide them.”

“It amounts to the same thing. March!” said the Imp.

“Where to?”

“You’ll soon find out.”

The prisoners were marched to one end of the camp where there were some low bushes. Then Pepper began to whisper, but in a voice so that Coulter and Sabine could hear.

“Fix the bayonets all around, and don’t forget to set the traps. That’s it, now set that trap too. If they dare to move, well, they’ll wish they hadn’t, that’s all.”

“You don’t want to kill them,” whispered Dale, entering into the spirit of the fun.

“They won’t get killed. It will only nip ’em pretty bad—if they move,” answered Pepper.

He opened and shut his pocketknife several times with sharp clicks. Then he announced that all was ready.

“Now don’t move—don’t budge—unless you want to fall into a sharp trap,” said the Imp, to the two prisoners.

“Ho—how long must we stay here?” asked Sabine, in a trembling voice.

“We’ll be back before sunrise and fix it so you can get away,” answered Andy.

Then the three boys withdrew and left the two prisoners alone.

Neither Coulter nor Sabine dared to move, thinking they would run into some sharp steel-trap, or sword point, and hurt themselves.

“This is awful!” groaned Coulter. “Hang the luck anyway!”

“If we get cut with a rusty trap we may get lockjaw,” groaned Sabine. “I heard of a boy who got caught in a bear-trap once and he died from blood-poisoning.”

Andy, Pepper, and Dale watched the prisoners for a while and then went back to their tent. Here they were joined by Hogan and Stuffer, coming in from guard duty.

There was a brief consultation of war, and it was decided that Baxter, Ritter, and the others must be paid back for what they had attempted to do.