Chapter XI: On the Trail of the Wagons

“Where are the wagons?”

“Thought they were going to meet us here!”

“Didn’t they come on the same road we took?”

“If they missed the way, what are we to do for the night? We can’t stay out doors without tents.”

Such were some of the questions asked and remarks made as the cadets came to a halt, broke ranks, and surrounded Captain Putnam and George Strong.

“I cannot understand this,” said the head of the school, his face showing his concern. “I told the wagon men to come straight here.”

“Did they know the road?” asked Mr. Strong.

“They said they did, although none of them had been over it before. It’s straight enough.”

All looked around in perplexity, and while doing so were approached by a farmer who lived in the vicinity. He said he had seen nothing of the wagons, although he had looked for them. To this farmer belonged the field which Captain Putnam had rented for the night.

“We may as well scatter and make a search,” said the young major, after talking the matter over with the master of Putnam Hall. “Perhaps the wagons took to some side road.”

It was agreed that the cadets should look for the wagons, and permission was given to stay away for two hours, no longer. Several parties were formed, one being made up of Jack, Pepper, Andy and Stuffer.

“Say, I’ve got an idea,” said the youth who loved to eat, when the party was out of hearing of the others. “I may be away off, but it won’t do any harm to tell what I think.”

“Well, what is in your brain, Stuffer?” asked the young major.

“I think some of the Pornell Academy students are responsible for the non-appearance of those wagons,” answered Stuffer, as he commenced to chew on some gum in lieu of eating.

“What makes you think that?” demanded Pepper.

“Because I was down to Cedarville last night, and I saw Roy Bock, Bat Sedley, and several others quizzing Peleg Snuggers about where we were going to camp and all that. As I passed them I heard Bock mention the wagons, and he asked who was going to drive ’em.”

“It would be just like the Bock crowd to do such a thing!” cried Andy. “Just to get square with us for the tricks we have played on ’em in the past.”

“But how could they get possession of the wagons?” asked Pepper. “Do you suppose they played highwaymen?”

“I don’t know. Bock and his gang are willing to do anything, I guess, to square old scores. But most likely they directed the drivers to the wrong road. They could easily do that, if the men didn’t know the road in the first place.”

“If that’s the case it is up to us to find those wagons as soon as possible,” cried Jack. “If we had to stay out all night without tents the Pornell students would have the laugh on us.”

The boys were walking along the road by which they had come. They kept their eyes on the ground, and presently saw some tracks that interested them.

“Here is where some wagons turned off into yonder field,” said Andy. “The question is, Were they our wagons or not?”

“Let us follow the tracks and see,” returned Pepper.

They crossed the field and came out on a back road that led through a dense patch of trees. Beyond this were two other roads.

“The wagons took that to the left,” announced Stuffer. “Oh, dear!” he added. “Wish we could find them and get supper! I’m mortally hungry!”

“Were you ever otherwise?” asked Jack “Come on, we’ll not have anything to eat until this mystery is cleared up.”

They walked on for over a mile, and came to a spot where the trees were interspersed with heavy brushwood.

“Here is one of the wagons,” shouted Andy.

“Here is another!” cried the young major.

“The whole four are here,” came, a minute later, from Pepper. “But where are the men and the horses?”

The wagons stood among the trees and bushes. The eight horses that had been hitched to them were missing, and so were the four drivers. The cadets looked around, but the spot appeared to be deserted.

“Well, we’ve found the wagons anyway,” said Jack. “That’s something.”

“But how are we to get them to Hayville without teams?” asked Stuffer.

“I don’t know. Maybe we can borrow horses nearby, although I don’t see any farmhouse.”

“Say, can’t I get something to eat?” went on Stuffer pleadingly. “I am hollow down to my shoes!”

“Go ahead—if you can find anything,” answered the young major, and the cadet who loved to eat lost no time in locating what he wanted on one of the wagons.

The boys walked into the woods a distance, but saw nothing of the horses. Then they came back to the wagons.

“Two of us had better stand guard with our guns while two go back and tell Captain Putnam,” said Jack. “I’ll detail you, Pepper and Stuffer, to stay here.”

“All right,” answered Pepper. “But don’t stay away too long, for it is getting late.”

“We’ll be back as soon as possible. And you, Stuffer, don’t eat too much or you’ll get sick,” added the young major.

“I never get sick from eating,” answered Stuffer, calmly munching on a biscuit, his sixth.

Jack and Andy hurried through the woods, taking a short cut in the direction of Hayville. They had covered less than a quarter of a mile when to their surprise they came to a tumbled-down cottage with a big barn attached.

“What an out-of-the-way place for a building!” cried Andy.

“I guess it was built before the trees grew up,” answered his chum. “Maybe—Wait, get down out of sight!”

Jack dropped behind some bushes and the acrobatic youth followed his example. The young major had seen two boys coming from the old cottage. They were headed for the dilapidated barn.

“Roy Bock and Bat Sedley!” murmured Andy. “Jack, I reckon we are on the right track!”

“That’s what we are!”

“More than likely they have the horses here.”

“I think so myself.”

“But what became of the drivers of the wagons?”

“That remains to be found out.”

“You don’t suppose those fellows would make them prisoners, do you? They’d think they were going to be robbed and would put up a fight.”

“Oh, I reckon the Bock gang played some sort of trick on them. Maybe they got ’em to go into a roadhouse for refreshments and then drove off with the wagons on the sly.”

“What shall we do?”

“I don’t know yet—it depends upon how many of the crowd are here.”

Still keeping out of sight behind the bushes, Jack and Andy watched the two Pornell students closely. They saw the pair enter the barn. Then they came out again and went back to the old cottage.

“Come on—I think they are alone,” said the young major. “And if they are——”

“We’ll get the best of ’em somehow,” finished his chum.

With caution the two cadets sneaked along through the bushes and up to the side of the dilapidated cottage. Looking through a broken-out window they beheld Roy Bock and Bat Sedley seated on benches, smoking cigarettes.

“How soon do you suppose Carey will get back?” Bock was asking.

“Oh, he won’t come for an hour or two,” answered Sedley. “It’s quite a walk.”

“He ought to have taken one of the horses.”

“He didn’t dare, for he had to pass the very roadhouse where we left those drivers.”

“Say, those drivers must have been astonished when they found the wagons gone.”

“Humph! That will teach ’em a lesson not to let strangers treat them. All of them were glad enough to be treated at Plunkett’s expense.”

“Is Plunkett still with ’em?”

“I suppose so. He said he’d stay, so they wouldn’t suspect him of having anything to do with running off with the wagons.”

“Say, how mad those cadets and Captain Putnam must be!”

“Serves ’em right. I haven’t forgotten how we got it in the neck, the last time we tried to play a joke on them.”

So the talk ran on. In the meantime Jack and Andy had heard enough and convinced themselves that Bock and Sedley were alone and that they did not expect anybody else for some time to come.

“It’s a cinch!” whispered the young major. “We’ll make them prisoners! Just wait till I get a strap or two from the harness on the horses.”

He hurried to the barn, and presently came back with several straps. Then he gave his chum a few directions.

A moment later Roy Bock and Bat Sedley were dumbfounded to find themselves confronted by the two cadets, one with a drawn sword and the other with a leveled rifle.

“Hands up, or I’ll shoot!” ordered Andy, in the sternest voice he could command, and this order made Sedley, who was something of a coward, scream in fright.

“Don’t shoot me! Please don’t shoot!”

“Then up with your hands!” And in keen fright Sedley put his hands over his head and kept them there.

“Humph! It’s Jack Ruddy and Andy Snow!” murmured Roy Bock. “How did you get here?”

“Up with those hands, Bock, or I’ll order Snow to fire!” returned Jack. “I want you to understand this is no laughing matter.”

“You won’t dare to shoot us,” said Bock, but his voice showed his uneasiness.

“Don’t you believe it! You are nothing but highway robbers!”

“No, we are not, we——”

“Are you going to put up those hands or not?” demanded Andy. “This is a repeating rifle, and it is fully loaded.” He spoke the truth, for Captain Putnam had allowed the cadets to load up before starting on the search, not knowing what might turn up. The boys, however, had been cautioned to be very careful.

Slowly Roy Bock elevated his hands. He was uneasy, for he did not know what to expect.

“Can’t you take a joke,” he grumbled.

“Maybe you won’t find this a joke when you get through with it,” said Jack. “Stealing horses and wagons is a State’s prison offence.”

He made the statement merely to scare the Pornell students, and his words had their full effect on Sedley if not on Bock.

“Oh, please don’t have us locked up!” cried Sedley. “It was only done in fun, really it was! We didn’t touch anything in the wagons, and the horses are safe in the barn.”

“Are you alone?” asked Bock.

“Alone? All of the cadets are out looking for the wagons,” answered Jack. “Andy, keep them covered, and shoot if I tell you to.”

“I will, Major!” answered the private, with true military precision.

“Hi, what are you going to do?” demanded Bock, as Jack slipped his sword into its scabbard and advanced with the straps.

“You’ll soon find out,” was the cool reply. “Now, no monkey work—unless you want to get shot!”

Sedley was badly scared, and it was an easy matter to bind his hands behind him and tie him fast to a door handle at one side of the room. Bock looked as if he wanted to fight or run away, but having the muzzle of the rifle pointed directly at his head made him waver.

“Have your way,” he muttered. “But we’ll get square sometime, don’t forget that!”

“You are only getting what is coming to you, Bock,” answered Jack, as he tied the Pornell student fast to another door. “Now I reckon you won’t get away until your friends come for you,” he added, and then motioned to Andy to withdraw.

“One thing more,” said Andy. “Where did you leave those drivers?”

“At Maddock’s roadhouse,” said Sedley. “But I reckon they are not there now. Most likely they are out looking for the teams and wagons.”