The Putnam Hall Cadets: or, Good Times in School and Out

“Silence, I say!” thundered the first assistant. “I will have silence!” And he looked around the board so fiercely that hardly anybody dared to say another word.

At the next table sat Dan Baxter and Mumps, the sneak. The former scowled darkly at Jack and Andy, while the sneak put his tongue into his cheek at them.

“I’m going to fix Mumps,” whispered Pepper, who had been told of the occurrence in the school yard, and watching his chance, he leaned back in his chair and dropped a bit of sharp fish-bone down inside the sneak’s collar.

At first the sneak did not notice what had been done, but then he made a side turn and of a sudden uttered a yell of pain.

“Hi! who’s sticking me with a pin?” he roared. “Drop it!”

He glanced around, but the boys on both sides of him were busy with their eating.

“What is it, Master Fenwick?” questioned George Strong, the second assistant.

“Somebody stuck me with a – Oh, I’m stuck again! Oh! oh! Something is down my back!” And the sneak began to wiggle from side to side. “Oh, dear me!”

“You had better leave the room and find out what is the matter,” said the teacher, and still twisting and squirming, Mumps left the mess-hall in a hurry.

“Baxter, do you know anything of this?”

“No, sir.”

“It is strange; what could be the matter?”

There were a few minutes of silence, and then the sneak came back and dropped into his chair.

“It was a fish-bone – awfully sharp, too,” he said. “Somebody must have dropped it down my back, sir.”

There was a titter, in which our friends joined. Pepper winked at Jack, Andy, and Joe Nelson, and they understood.

As soon as the meal was over, the cadets rushed off to the library of Putnam Hall and to the gymnasium, to scan the list of names the master had mentioned.

“Bart Conners is at the head,” said Andy. “Harry Blossom comes next, Jack is third, Henry Lee fourth, myself fifth, Dave Kearney sixth, Stuffer Singleton next, and Dan Baxter next.”

“And those are the ones who may be made major,” came from a cadet named Dale Blackmore, one of the leading athletes of the academy.

“You are up next, Dale,” returned Jack. “That means you may become a captain.”

“I’d rather be captain of the football team,” answered Dale, with a smile.

As soon as the list was scanned, an animated discussion took place regarding the merits of the different candidates. As among men, and especially politicians, there was a good bit of “log-rolling” and electioneering.

“I think Henry Lee ought to be major,” said Jack. “He is one of our best soldiers.”

“He is no better soldier than you are, Jack,” returned Andy.

“Just what I say,” came from Pepper. “Jack ought to be major, and Henry one of the captains.”

“Dan Baxter is working hard to become major,” came from a cadet who had just strolled in. “Somebody told me he was actually trying to buy votes!”

“Buy them? Do you mean with money?” queried Jack.

“So somebody told me.”

“Oh, that can’t be true, Jerry. Why, who in this school would be mean enough to sell his vote?”

“Well, Baxter has got a wad of rocks all right enough. I saw the money myself.”

“I’m going to watch him,” came from Pepper, and he motioned for Andy Snow to go along.

“What will you do, if you learn he is really offering money for votes?” questioned Andy, as they hurried away.

“I don’t know yet, Andy. But it would be a mean piece of business. Why, in politics that is bribery, and they can arrest a man for it.”

“I know that – but it’s seldom a briber is caught.”

It was not difficult to trace Dan Baxter. From a small cadet they learned he was down by the lake, back of the row of bathing-houses.

By going down to the boathouse first, and then stealing along a fringe of bushes skirting the lake shore, they reached the bath-houses without being seen. As it was past the bathing season, the houses were supposed to be “out of commission,” and locked up, but one of them – the largest – stood wide open.

“Well, that is the chance of your life, if you only know it,” reached their ears, in the voice of Dan Baxter. “Besides, you know well enough that I would make as good a major as anybody in the school.”

“That’s a fine way to blow one’s own horn,” murmured Pepper.

“And what will you give me, Baxter, if I work for you?” came from a big boy named Gus Coulter. He, too, was a bully, and, coming from humble parentage, had very little spending money.

“I’ll give you five dollars, Gus.”

“Will you give it to me now?”

“Yes, if you’ll promise to do all you can to elect me major.”

“All right, then, hand over the money,” answered Gus Coulter. “I’d just as soon work for you as anybody.”

“Why can’t I have a fiver, too?” put in Mumps, who was present. “I’ll work as hard as Gus.”

“I’ll give you two dollars, Mumps,” said the bully. “I can’t afford any more.”

“Where do I come in on this?” came from a lad named Paxton.

“I’ll give you two dollars, too, Nick, if you’ll vote for me and try to get others to do so, too.”

“Humph! Aren’t my services worth as much as Gus Coulter’s?” demanded Nick Paxton.

“Well, if I’m elected I’ll give you two dollars more.”

“Very well, hand over the dough, Dan. As Gus says, I’d just as soon work for you as for anybody.”

“What a barefaced thing to do!” whispered Andy Snow. “Baxter can’t have a bit of honor about him!”

“The others are just as bad – to take his money,” whispered Pepper in return. “If they – who’s this?”

“Hullo, what are you doing here?” demanded a rough voice behind them, and a cadet named Sabine appeared on the scene.

“Who is there?” cried Dan Baxter, and rushed from the bath-house. “Humph! Pepper Ditmore and Andy Snow! So you’ve been spying on us, eh? That’s a nice business to be into, I must say!”

CHAPTER IV

ELECTING A MAJOR

“Have they been spying on us?” queried Mumps, and turned slightly pale.

“Yes, they have been spying – I caught them at it,” came from Billy Sabine. “What have you fellows been up to here?” he added, anxiously.

“Never mind just now,” answered Dan Baxter. He looked much disconcerted. “Just step in here a minute, will you?” he requested, of Pepper and Andy.

“What do you want of us?” asked Pepper, cautiously, while Andy also held back.

“Have you been listening to our talk?”

“Yes.”

“It was a mean piece of business, Pepper Ditmore!”

“Not half as mean as what you were up to, Dan Baxter!”

“What was I up to?”

“You were bribing these fellows to vote for you.”

“No, I wasn’t. I – er – that is – we were talking about something else. It’s a – er – a secret society,” stammered the bully. He did not know what to say.

“Bosh!” came from Andy. “You were bribing them to vote for you for major, – paying them from two to five dollars apiece.”

“You shut up!” roared Baxter, rushing up to Andy and catching him by the arm. “I know what I’m doing. I don’t want any talk from you!”

He ran Andy against the side of the bath-house, but as said before, Andy was a good deal of an acrobat, and in a twinkling he had slipped from Baxter’s grasp.

“Let us get out of here, Andy,” said Pepper. “We have seen and heard enough.”

“Are you going to blab on us?” demanded Gus Coulter.

“That depends upon what you do,” retorted Pepper, bravely. “We are not going to stand for such underhanded work as has been going on here.”

“If you dare to say a word I’ll – I’ll thrash you within an inch of your life!” hissed Dan Baxter, rushing forward and catching Pepper by the throat. “Don’t you dare to do it! Don’t you dare!”

“Le – let up, Baxter!” gasped Pepper. He pushed the bully back with his hand. “You won’t, eh? Then take that!”

So speaking, he landed a blow that took Dan Baxter full in the face and sent him staggering back several paces.

“What’s going on here?” came the cry from the parade ground, and half a dozen cadets appeared, including Joe Nelson and Jack.

“Perhaps Baxter will tell you,” said Andy.

“I – er – I haven’t anything to say!” stammered the bully.

“But I have something to say!” cried Pepper, boldly. “Boys, take care that he doesn’t try to bribe you to vote for him. He has just bribed Coulter, Paxton, and Mumps. I saw him pay over his money, and so did Andy Snow.”

“It’s a – a – falsehood!” stormed Dan Baxter. He was beside himself with rage.

“It’s the truth,” came from Andy. “It was the most disgraceful thing I ever witnessed in my life. We don’t want such a chap for a major, or even for a captain.”

“Maybe we don’t want him even for a high private,” came from somebody in the crowd.

Gus Coulter whispered to Baxter, and then to Paxton and to Mumps.

“That’s the way to talk!” whispered Mumps. “Our word is as good as theirs!”

“What these fellows say is not true,” came from Gus Coulter. “I was never bribed in my life.”

“I wouldn’t accept a bribe,” put in Paxton, loftily. “I’m not that sort, and my friends know it.”

“We all belong to a secret society, and we were counting up the money in the treasury,” said Mumps. “In the midst of it Ditmore and Snow rushed up and intimated that Dan was bribing us. They ought to have their heads punched for it!”

“Well, you’ll never punch them, Mumps,” said Pepper. “And Baxter won’t punch them, either.”

“Don’t be so sure about that,” growled Dan Baxter. “You may get more than you expect!”

“I am not afraid of you,” answered Pepper.

Further talk was cut short by the ringing of the school bell, calling the cadets into the Hall. Baxter and his cronies went off in one bunch, while Pepper, Andy, and Jack went off in another.

Among so many cadets opinions were necessarily divided. Some thought Baxter guilty, while others believed in his protestations of innocence. Yet with it all, the bully had only a limited circle of friends and hangers-on, as later events proved.

During the evening the air was filled with subdued excitement. All of the candidates for the officers’ positions were discussed, and it was generally admitted that Jack, Bart Conners, Henry Lee, and Dan Baxter stood equal chances of winning the majorship, or at least one of the captaincies.

“I hope you win the majorship, Jack,” said Andy. “You are just suited for that position.”

“I’d like it, Andy, I must confess. But I’m afraid I’m not well enough known. Big Bart Conners has a host of friends – and he is a staving good chap in the bargain.”

During the following morning it was easily to be seen that Dan Baxter had been working hard to win the cadets over to him. The bully and his cronies had done a good deal of talking, and in a few cases it looked as if he had been doing additional bribing.

During the recess electioneering became warm once more, and the students gathered in little knots to discuss the situation. Jack, Pepper, and several others were talking together when Dan Baxter strolled up, with a dark look on his face.

“Say, I want this talk about bribery stopped,” he said, savagely. “I won’t stand it – do you understand? I won’t stand it!” And he shook his fist at the crowd.

“If you won’t stand it, sit down on it, Baxter,” retorted Pepper.

“It ain’t fair,” roared the bully, for the benefit of the crowd.

“I believe Pepper tells the truth,” came from Jack, eying Baxter boldly. “He caught you in the act.”

“Of course you’d say so, Jack Ruddy, you’re so anxious to be elected!”

“Well, I don’t want to be elected,” came from Pepper.

“And neither do I,” put in Andy. “I saw it as well as Pepper.”

“It’s false! Absurd!” roared Baxter, and then, as there seemed nothing more to say, he walked off with his head held high in the air.

“He makes me tired,” came from Dale Blackmore. “I’d never vote for him, even if he hadn’t started to bribe the fellows.”

The voting began directly after dinner. There was a large ballot box, and the cadets were given slips of paper and pencils, so that they might put down the names of their candidates.

“There are seventy-seven students present,” said Captain Putnam. “Consequently it will take thirty-nine votes for a choice. We will now take the vote for the majorship.”

There was a moment of silence, during which the students put down the names of their candidates, and then the line filed past the ballot-box, and each youth deposited his ballot. Without delay the captain and George Strong tabulated the vote.

“I will now read the result of the first ballot,” announced Captain Putnam, and at once the cadets became silent.

“Number of votes cast, 77;

Necessary to a choice, 39;

Bart Conners has 21,

John Ruddy has 21,

Henry Lee has 14,

Harry Blossom has 9,

Daniel Baxter has 7,

David Kearney has 3,

Andrew Snow has 1,

Paul Singleton has 1.”

“Hullo, Bart and Jack are a tie!” exclaimed Pepper.

“And I’ve got one vote,” put in Andy.

“Guess you must have voted for yourself,” put in Gus Coulter, sarcastically.

“If I did, I didn’t have to bribe myself to do it,” retorted Andy. He raised his voice: “Whoever voted for me, will kindly vote for Jack Ruddy on the next ballot.”

“I also wish to withdraw in favor of Jack Ruddy,” came from Dave Kearney. “I don’t believe I can fill the position of major just yet,” he added, by way of explanation.

“Please cross me off the list,” sang out Paul Singleton, a fat youth, who went by the nickname of Stuffer because he was always hungry.

After this came a little more electioneering, and Henry Lee said he would withdraw and give Jack his support if Jack’s friends would vote for him for captain.

“Yes, we’ll do that, Henry,” cried Andy.

The second ballot was soon cast, and resulted as follows:

Number of votes cast, 77;

Necessary to a choice, 39;

For John Ruddy, 48;

For Bart Conners, 20;

For Harry Blossom, 5;

For Daniel Baxter, 4.

“Hurrah! Jack is elected!” cried Pepper, and rushing forward he caught his chum by the hand.

“I congratulate you, Major Ruddy,” said Captain Putnam, with a smile.

“I move we make the election of Jack Ruddy unanimous!” called out Bart Conners. “I voted for him, and I want all of you to do the same.”

“Hurrah! That’s the way to talk!” sang out a student. “Bart, you’re a good fellow.”

“Three cheers for Major Ruddy, Captain Putnam, and Bart Conners!” came the cry, and the cheers were given with a will. But Dan Baxter and his cronies did not join in.

“They sold me out!” muttered the bully to Mumps. “Some of the fellows who said they’d vote for me didn’t vote for me at all.”

“I’d square up with them for it,” returned the sneak.

“I shall – and I’ll square up with Jack Ruddy too,” added Dan Baxter, bitterly.

CHAPTER V

OFF ON A PICNIC

As soon as the excitement attending Jack’s election had subsided, Captain Putnam announced that they would proceed next to the election of two captains, one for Company A, and one for Company B. For this purpose each student was allowed to put down two names, making the total number of votes cast one hundred and fifty-four.

True to their promise, many who had supported Jack voted in favor of Henry Lee, and as a consequence he was made captain of the first company. Bart Conners became captain of Company B. Later still, Harry Blossom became first lieutenant, and Dave Kearney a second lieutenant. For all of these positions Dan Baxter received not more than six votes, much to his disgust.

“It’s a put-up job,” he growled. “But just wait – I’ll fix them!” And then he and his cronies said no more.

After the voting was over, Captain Putnam called the newly elected officers together and gave them their instructions.

“I shall leave the battalion in your hands from now on,” he said to them. “On parade and during drill you must see to it that every cadet does his duty. Of course, during school hours and off hours, you will have no more authority than any of your fellow pupils.”

“I understand,” said Jack, “and I don’t want any authority excepting on parade and during drill.”

That evening the battalion celebrated on the campus of the Hall, with a big bonfire and singing. There was also a fancy drill and a short parade, and all enjoyed it excepting Baxter and his cronies. As soon as possible the latter sneaked off in a little crowd by themselves.

“I’m satisfied that Ruddy and his crowd cooked this whole thing up against you, Dan,” said Coulter. “Look at Lee. He sold out the majorship just to get a captaincy.”

“And Dave Kearney sold out so he could be sure of becoming a lieutenant,” put in Paxton. “It makes me sick.”

“Well, some of the others sold me out,” growled the bully. “I know twelve fellows who said they’d vote for me, and the most votes I got were seven!”

“Jack Ruddy must have bought them up,” put in Mumps. “He’s a slippery one, he is!”

The majority of the cadets, however, were well satisfied over Jack’s election, and they told the newly elected major so. All shook him by the hand, and wished him the best of success in his position. He was called on to speak and made a neat speech.

“I thank you all for electing me,” said he. “I trust we shall all be friends, and that our relations with one another will be pleasant from beginning to end. I am going to try to do my duty, and I know you will try to do yours. And because you have made me major, don’t forget that – during school hours and off hours – I am one of you anyway.”

“That’s the way to talk!” called out a cadet. “Jack’s the right kind of a major.”

“Three cheers for Major Ruddy,” was the cry, and they were given loudly, and a tiger followed.

A number of the boys, including Pepper and Andy, had worked hard to elect Jack and he felt that he ought to do something for them in return. He thought the matter over carefully and then decided to ask a dozen of the cadets to go off on a picnic with him on the following Saturday afternoon, which would be a half-holiday.

“Just the thing, Jack,” said Pepper, when the thing was mentioned. “We can have a jolly time, in the woods and along the lake shore.”

“Do we take any grub along?” came from Stuffer Singleton, anxiously. “It’s no picnic without grub.”

“Trust Stuffer to remember about food!” laughed Andy.

“To be sure we shall take something to eat along,” answered Jack. “I’ll arrange it with the captain and Mrs. Green, and I’ll buy some extras at Cedarville.”

As soon as the picnic, as it was called, was announced those to take part became enthusiastic. Not to make the other cadets feel bad, it was kept a secret among those concerned. Captain Putnam allowed the housekeeper to have two baskets of provisions packed for Jack, and the young major took Andy and Pepper with him to town, where they purchased some extra dainties.

“This is going to be the dandiest of all picnics,” declared Pepper. “A red-letter day for Putnam Hall.”

“Don’t you want to invite Dan Baxter?” said Andy, with a sly grin.

“Not on your life, Andy!” cried Jack.

“Oh, I was only joking.”

“He wouldn’t come,” put in Henry Lee. “He is as mad as hops because he wasn’t elected an officer.”

“I don’t want any such bully as he is to be an officer over me,” came from Stuffer Singleton.

There were signs of rain in the air on Friday and the students to participate in the picnic grew anxious, fearing they would have bad weather. But by the next morning the sun was shining as brightly as ever, and soon all were ready for the start, which was to be made at one o’clock.

“Say, what do you think?” cried Mumps, coming up to where Baxter and Paxton were standing. “Jack Ruddy is going to take some of the fellows out to the woods for a spread.”

“Who told you?” queried the bully of Putnam Hall.

“I overheard them talking about it in the gym. They’re going to take two or three baskets of good things with them.”

“That’s a shame!” cried Paxton.

“We ought to spoil their game,” suggested Gus Coulter. “Can’t we do it, Dan?”

“I don’t know.” Baxter became thoughtful. “Where are they going, Mumps?”

“Up to Gerry’s Point, on the lake. It’s about two miles from here.”

“We might row up in one of the boats and see what we can do,” answered the bully. So it was arranged, and Baxter, Paxton, and Mumps set off without delay. Coulter wished to go along but could not because he had an extra lesson to do, he having missed several times during the week.

Jack and his friends started in high glee. They had three baskets filled with good things to eat and to drink, and each basket was carried by two boys, the handle having a stick passed through it for that purpose.

“I’m going to have a swim,” declared Andy. “I know it’s a little late in the season, but the water is pretty warm.”

“I’m with you,” said Pepper. “I shan’t mind the cold water. Why, I take a cold bath two or three times a week, in the bathtub.”

“Cold baths are very healthy,” came from another of the crowd. “My father used to be quite weak, but now he takes a cold bath every morning and it is wonderful how strong he is getting.”

The path led back of the Hall grounds and then through a dense woods fronting the lake, where the shore made a sweeping turn. As the boys were all good walkers, they covered the two miles with ease, reaching Gerry’s Point inside of an hour after starting.

“Now then for a rest and a swim,” cried Pepper.

“And then we’ll sample some of the good things Jack has provided,” added Stuffer, smacking his lips.

“Say, Stuffer, you could eat about all the time, couldn’t you?” queried Andy.

“No, not all the time – he must sleep,” put in Jack, and this brought forth a laugh.

“I caught myself eating once in my sleep,” said Stuffer. “I began to cough and woke up with a piece of pie in my hand. I had had the nightmare, gone down to the kitchen pantry, and helped myself. After that ma locked the pantry up and hid the key.” And at this tale there was another laugh.

After a short rest the boys went in bathing, placing their baskets in a secluded spot behind some bushes. Not far away was a small stream of water, and they did not know that in this one of the Hall rowboats was hidden, containing Baxter, Paxton, and Mumps, who had watched their arrival.

“Now is our chance!” cried Baxter, when all but two of the boys had gone in bathing. “Let us take their baskets and make off with them. We can go up the lake shore and have a dandy time on the good things!”

“Right you are,” put in Paxton. “And won’t Jack Ruddy and the others be mad!”

“Be careful, or they’ll spot you!” whispered Mumps, in a trembling tone.

“Oh, don’t get scared, Mumps,” said Baxter. “They can’t see us – the bushes are too thick.”

Leaving the rowboat, the party of three stole to the spot where the baskets were resting.

“Say but they are heavy,” remarked Paxton in a low voice.

“Hush!” came warningly from the bully, and then nothing further was said. Each took a basket, and started back for the rowboat as fast as he could carry the load.

Baxter and Paxton had just placed their baskets in the boat when there came a crash. Mumps, who was bringing up the rear, had slipped and let his basket fall, breaking a drinking glass and a bottle of ginger ale.

“Hi, there, what’s that?” came from Jack, who was standing in the water up to his waist. “Who’s breaking glass?”

“I’m not,” answered one of the cadets on shore. “It was – ”

“Hullo, there is Dan Baxter!” yelled Pepper. “He’s got one of our baskets!”

“They are running off with our things!” broke in Andy. “Hi, stop, Baxter! Stop, Paxton!”

“Go to grass!” roared the bully of Putnam Hall. He flung himself into the rowboat. “Quick, Paxton; quick, Mumps!”

Paxton leaped in, basket in hand. But Mumps, becoming frightened, let his load remain where it had fallen and scrambled in headlong. Then the oars were taken up and the craft shoved out into the stream.

“Stop them! Stop them!” came from Jack. “Don’t let them get away, boys!”

“Swim for the boat,” said another cadet. “Come on!”

“Baxter, stop your rowing!” called a cadet on shore. “Stop, or I’ll throw this!” And he held up a large and sharp stone.

“Ain’t going to stop!” muttered the bully. “Clear the track, you fellows!” And he shook his head at those in the water. “If you don’t get out of the way, I’ll run over you!” And then he began to pull with might and main, while Paxton did the same.