Chapter XX: Out in the Cold

It was not long after this that our friends and Captain Putnam reached the main road leading from Top Rock Hill to Cedarville. Scarcely had they done so than they saw a carriage coming along the road, containing Mr. Ringwood, Dan Baxter, and two of the workingmen from the preserve.

"Here they come!" cried Jack, and the captain ran out in the middle of the road and motioned for the carriage to stop.

"Hullo, is that you, Captain Putnam?" called out Mr. Ringwood, in a far from pleasant tone.

"It is, Mr. Ringwood, and I wish to talk to you."

"I've got one of your students here."

"So I see."

"He's a bad egg, captain. I caught him stealing my nuts. After that he was impudent to me."

"I wasn't impudent," grumbled the bully.

"I just heard about it and I came out to meet you," answered Captain Putnam. "Won't you drive over to the Hall, and we'll try to settle this matter."

"If you wish it, captain. I had half a mind to have the young rascal arrested."

"There will be no need to do that, Mr. Ringwood. I think I can punish him sufficiently for what he has done."

"Very well, then; I'll drive over." And in a moment more the carriage was headed for Putnam Hall, and the captain and our friends trudged after it.

"You may go now, young gentlemen," said the master of the Hall. "If I wish you again, I'll call for you."

This was a hint that they were not wanted, and off they went, across the campus and into the school by a side entrance, the others entering by the front way and going directly to Captain Putnam's private office.

It was not until the next day that they learned something of what happened to Dan Baxter. From Peleg Snuggers the information went forth that the bully of the Hall was a close prisoner in a small room at the rear of the Hall. The window to this room was heavily barred, making the apartment a regular prison cell.

"The captain give Baxter a talkin' to which would make your hair curl," said the general utility man. "He laid down the law good an' strong. He said he wasn't goin' to have no pupil a-gittin' the academy in disgrace. Then he made Crabtree put him in a cell, an' he's livin' on bread, soup, an' water fer a week."

"Phew! That's pretty severe punishment!" cried Jack. "The captain must have been mad!"

"You git the cap'n riled up real good an' you'll see a reg'lar cyclone broke loose," went on Snuggers. "I know him, because I worked fer the fam'ly before. He's real tame alongside o' what he was when he was an army officer."

Mumps and Paxton had little or nothing to say. Each was given extra lessons to do, and did them without a murmur. They saw that the captain was much disturbed over what had happened and did not want to do anything to add to his anger.

Two days after the outing for nuts, came a light fall of snow, and then the weather grew steadily colder and colder. As a consequence, many outdoor games came to an end, and the students spent their off time either in the library of the Hall or the gymnasium.

The latter place was a favorite with Dale, who was beyond question the leading all-around athlete of the school. He was graceful on the rings and bars, and could jump and run with the best of them. The only one who could match him at all was Andy, who did things on the flying rings which would have done credit to a professional acrobat or gymnast.

"Andy, you could go into a circus," said Jack, after watching the agile youth.

"Perhaps I will go into a circus some day," answered Andy, seriously. "I've heard that some daring fellows earn two or three hundred dollars per week at it."

"They do," put in Pepper. "But they risk their necks every time they perform."

"I don't see how you can do some of those tricks," put in Joe Nelson. "As you do them, they seem as easy as pie, but when I try them, I can't do them at all."

"I guess I was born to it," answered Andy, with a quiet smile. "Somehow it always came natural to me."

"Must have circus blood in your veins," said Pepper, and then there was a general laugh.

In his cell, Dan Baxter passed day after day in moody silence. He was allowed only his school books, and each day Josiah Crabtree or George Strong visited him to hear him recite. Only once did Coulter manage to see him on the sly.

"Mumps and Paxton can't come," said Gus Coulter. "They are being watched night and day."

"They have deserted me, and they gave me away!" growled the bully.

"No, they haven't deserted you," answered Coulter. "And they didn't tell on you."

"Then who did tell on me?"

"Jack Ruddy, Pepper Ditmore, Andy Snow, and that crowd."

"Are you sure of this, Gus?"

"Positive."

"Then I've got an account to settle with them when I get out," and the bully grated his teeth. He did not stop to consider that those who had informed on him had probably saved him from a term in the Cedarville jail.

During those days spent by Baxter in his cell, Jack, Pepper, and Andy, along with a number of other students, had an exceedingly hard time of it with Josiah Crabtree. For some reason or other, the head teacher was feeling particularly cross, and he vented his anger on those under him, until they could scarcely stand it. He made them do all sorts of extra tasks, and "nagged" at them until some felt like open rebellion.

"It's outrageous!" declared Andy. "Here I've got ten extra examples in algebra for nothing at all!"

"And just because I dropped my history on the floor, old Crabtree made me stay in half an hour," grumbled Pepper.

"I've caught it, too," came from Jack. "I missed in astronomy and had to study five pages extra. Mr. Strong or the captain never treated us that way!"

"I wish we had another teacher in old Crabtree's place," came from Dale.

"Captain Putnam can't discharge him," said Joe. "He's got a contract, so Stuffer was telling me."

"I wish we could duck him in the lake. The cold water might do him good," went on Pepper.

"That's a fine idea!" cried Andy. "It would certainly cool him off!"

One day Captain Putnam was called away to Albany on business. As it chanced, George Strong was also absent, so the Hall was left in sole charge of Josiah Crabtree.

"He will be more dictatorial than ever now," said Pepper, and so it proved. During the day over a dozen students got into "hot water," and at recess they held a secret meeting, to determine what had best be done.

"If we could only get him out of the building we might keep him out," suggested Andy. "It's going to be a cold night, remember."

This idea took like wild-fire, and it was resolved to get Josiah Crabtree out of the building by all means. Only the faithful were let into the secret, and they watched the teacher narrowly after the school session came to an end.

"I know how to do it," said Pepper. And he unfolded his plot, to which the others listened eagerly. They saw Crabtree walk through a side hallway, and immediately hurried to a spot just around the corner from where the teacher was standing.

"Yes, we'll meet at the gym to-night, at exactly ten o'clock," said Pepper in a loud voice. "Be sure and be on hand."

"All right--the gym at ten o'clock," said Andy, in an equally loud voice. "We'll have a fine spread!" And then the boys ran off before Josiah Crabtree could stop them.

The crabbed teacher heard what was said, and as soon as the cadets had vanished his face took on a crafty look.

"The gymnasium at ten o'clock, eh?" he murmured to himself. "A fine spread, eh? Not if I know it! Josiah Crabtree, you must capture them, and make an example of them!"

As the captain and Mr. Strong were away, he enlisted the services of Peleg Snuggers. It may be mentioned here that the other teachers came only during school hours, one living at Cedarville, and others coming but twice a week, to teach music and foreign languages.

At the proper time that night all of the pupils but Pepper and Andy went to bed. The latter hid themselves in the hallway, one near Josiah Crabtree's room, and the other one downstairs.

At a quarter to ten the teacher came forth from his room, wearing his regular school suit. As the gymnasium was only across the campus, he did not feel it necessary to don his overcoat. He slipped to the rear of the school, summoned Peleg Snuggers, and both left the building.

"He has gone!" cried Andy, and rushing forward from his hiding place he locked the door. Then he and Pepper saw to it that all of the other doors and also the windows were secured.

"Wait, I'll fix them better than that," said Jack, and secured small wedges of wood. These were driven under the doors, and alongside of the window sashes, so that they could not be opened without great effort.

By this time fully a dozen of the cadets were out of their dormitories. Pepper and Andy went around summoning the others.

"We want your aid," said Pepper, boldly. "Old Crabtree has gone outside and we mean to keep him out."

"Everybody in favor of keeping him out raise their hands," called out Andy, and fully sixty hands went up.

"Paxton, what do you say?" asked Jack. He knew Nick Paxton was the leader of the Baxter crowd during the absence of the bully.

"I'm not saying anything," growled Paxton.

"Don't you try to let Crabtree in," came from one cadet. "We are going to let him have a regular freeze-out."

As Gus Coulter had had trouble with the teacher, he was willing to keep the man out, and so, after some talk, it was decided that nobody should aid in letting the teacher get into the Hall building.

"If anybody tries it, he'll catch it good and hard," warned Pepper.

"So say we all of us!" shouted a score of others. "No sneak wanted here!" And some glanced at Mumps in a fashion that made that youth slink out of sight in short order.

Going to an upper window, Pepper, Andy, and Jack looked out, and saw Crabtree and Snuggers stealing softly around the gymnasium. After a look into several of the windows, the two men crouched down behind some bushes.

"This is the best yet!" whispered Pepper. "They think we haven't arrived yet."

"Let them wait," returned Jack. "It will cool them off sure. It is nipping cold to-night."