Chapter XXII: Prisoners on the Sloop

A short, sharp fight followed, and Ritter and Coulter were struck over the head with the hockey sticks. But then Andy slipped and fell and Ritter pounced upon him. Then Coulter attacked Pepper from the front and Paxton came up in the rear. Suddenly Paxton pulled the Imp’s legs from under him, and as he went down his head struck on the guard rail and he was momentarily stunned. He was thrown into the cuddy and Andy was thrown after him, and then the tiny door was shut and bolted. To make the temporary prison more secure the Ritter crowd ran a heavy rope around the cuddy, just as one would put a rope around a big box.

“Hi, let us out!” shouted Andy and began to pound on the door loudly. “If you don’t we’ll make it hot for you!”

“You’ve got to stay in there for awhile,” answered Ritter, coolly.

Paxton and Coulter were much excited over the turn affairs had taken and wanted to know what was to be done next.

“Let us talk it over,” said Ritter. “I didn’t expect this any more than you did.” And he rubbed the lump one of the hockey sticks had raised over his left ear. “I’ll pay Ditmore back for that crack, see if I don’t,” he added, bitterly.

“I got one, too, from Snow,” growled Coulter.

“We had better move the sloop from shore,” went on Ritter. “If we don’t some others may come down and make it warm for us.”

The anchor was hoisted and the line attached to the dock cast off. Then they raised the mainsail and stood out into the darkness of the lake. Soon Putnam Hall and the boathouse were lost in the gloom.

“Now lower the sail and let her drift while we talk,” said Ritter.

“She may go on the rocks,” warned Coulter.

“If she does she won’t hit hard enough to hurt. The breeze has about died out.”

In the cuddy Pepper had regained his senses. With the door shut the place was suffocating, and all the two cadets could think of was to get out. They pounded and kicked on the door, but this brought no response.

“We can’t stay in here!” gasped Pepper.

“We’ll have to stay—unless we can break out,” returned his chum. “And I’d hate to damage the sloop to that extent—right before the race, too.”

“But they’ll damage her more yet, Andy!”

“If they dare!”

“I believe Ritter would do anything. He is bound to make the _Alice_ lose that race.”

Several minutes went by, and the two prisoners heard those outside walking from end to end of the sloop. Then came a sudden jar, followed by another.

“Hi! Paxton is overboard!” they heard Coulter yell.

“I didn’t think we’d hit those rocks so hard,” answered Reff Ritter.

“Now is our time to get out—if we can!” cried Pepper. “If we break the door we can have it mended.”

Both boys braced themselves against the walls of the cuddy and put their shoulders to the door. It could not stand this strain and in a few seconds began to crack. Then it flew outward, over the rope with which it had been held in, and the cadets followed. They saw Coulter and Ritter at the bow, bending over to assist Paxton, who was wading in water up to his neck.

“They are loose!” yelled Coulter, but ere he could say more Andy grabbed him and pushed him overboard. Pepper caught Ritter and got that young rascal partly over the rail, but there he clung.

“Help me, Andy!” cried Pepper, and Andy did so by putting his foot on Ritter’s hand. The bully gave a yell, and a moment later went over backward with a loud splash.

The _Alice_ had struck several half-submerged rocks, but had not gone upon them. The craft was now drifting further up the lake, leaving Ritter, Paxton and Coulter behind.

“Ho there!” roared Paxton, “don’t leave us!”

“Come back!” added Ritter and Coulter.

“Not to-night!” answered Pepper, grimly. “Maybe we’ll see you in the morning.”

“If you don’t come back, I’ll get square, remember that!” yelled Ritter, in a rage.

“See you to-morrow,” sang out Andy.

The rocks upon which the sloop had struck were several in number and were backed up by a small island situated a hundred feet or more from the shore. Peering into the gloom those on the craft saw the others wade out of the water to the island.

“They are safe,” said Pepper. “But they are a good mile and a half from Putnam Hall.”

“And they can’t get ashore without swimming,” added Andy. “But as their clothing is already wet, that won’t hurt them much.”

“What scoundrels they are—to want to injure this boat!”

“That’s true. We really ought to report them to Captain Putnam and have them expelled.”

“We might do that if it wasn’t for one thing. Remember, we have no right to be away from the school to-night. We should have obtained permission to watch the sloop.”

“I know it—and that will keep us from reporting Ritter and his cronies. Just the same, we ought to let the others know of this—I don’t mean Jack alone, but every one in our crowd.”

“We will let them know it. See, here is one of the files they brought along.”

“And here is the pot of stuff they were going to put on the rudder, and the drag for the keel. This drag alone would have been enough to make the boat lose—in a close race.”

The boys, while talking, had hoisted the mainsail of the _Alice_, and now they tacked and stood back in the direction of the school dock. They did not go close to shore, however, but anchored at a point quite a distance from the boathouse. They had towed the two rowboats along and left them floating at the stern.

“Do you think they’ll dare to come back?” asked Andy, after his excitement had died down.

“I don’t think so. If they do we can fight them off, or sail the boat away.”

The boys lit a lantern that was on board and by its light inspected the damage done to the cuddy door. Fortunately the hinges had given way and these could be renewed with but little cost. The craft had been mussed up a little, but that was all. Where Ritter and his cronies had gone to work on the ropes the damage was slight.

“They struck on the rocks just in time,” was Pepper’s decision. “Had they kept on, these ropes would soon have been ruined, and it would have been too late to refit the _Alice_ for that race.”

At last the boys settled down for the remainder of the night. They took turns at sleeping and each got a good nap if nothing more. As soon as the first bell rang Andy went ashore, sneaked into the school, and up to his dormitory.

“Any alarm?” asked Jack, who was just getting up.

“I just guess!” answered the acrobatic youth. “If we hadn’t remained on board your cake would have been dough to-day.” And then he related what had occurred. Not only the young major, but all of the others present listened with interest. Then a rush was made downstairs and to the boat dock.

“The villains!” was all the young major could say. “I really ought to expose them. But as you say, it might get you into trouble,” and he turned to Andy and Pepper.

“I know why Ritter and his crowd are so anxious to make you lose,” said Dale. “I wasn’t going to mention it, but now I think it best. That gang have put money into the hands of Crosby, who runs the store in Cedarville, and he is putting it up against Putnam Hall. They want to win a pot of money, I think.”

“Then the bitterest pill you can make them swallow is to win the race,” cried Joe Nelson.

“That’s the way I figure it,” went on Dale. “Do that and you’ll probably break them.”

“A fellow who bets deserves to lose,” said Joe Nelson, who never wagered on anything.

The chums wondered if they would see anything of Ritter, Paxton and Coulter at breakfast, but those unworthies managed to keep out of sight. From Billy Sabine they learned that Ritter had been excused from getting up because of a headache, and the others had asked for permission to make an early trip to Cedarville.

“They are afraid to show themselves,” said Jack, and he was right; none of the trio mingled with the other cadets until it was time for the great race to come off.

It had been decided that each sloop should carry a crew of five, and Jack had selected Andy, Pepper, Dale and Stuffer to accompany him. This crew went out in the _Alice_ during the morning, and learned from the judges of the race just how the contest was to be sailed. The course was a triangular one, exactly twelve miles in length. The start was to be made at exactly two o’clock and if by six o’clock no boat had covered the course the race was to be declared off for the day and was to be sailed the following Saturday, weather permitting.