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

“How should I know?” roared Josiah Crabtree. “Take him off! He’ll have my hair out by the roots!”

“What a pretty monkey!” cried Pepper. “Is he your pet, Mr. Crabtree?”

“My pet? Never! Take him away!” And the teacher continued to dance around.

Several darted in to secure the monkey, but like a flash the animal leaped to a fixture suspended from the ceiling, and then swung himself to a hall window and slipped outside.

“He has gone!”

“Let us catch him!”

“Whose monkey is it?”

“He must have come over from the circus,” said Jack. “They said a lot of them had gotten away.”

“I’ll sue the circus proprietor for this!” howled Josiah Crabtree. “It’s an outrage on the public. Oh, my poor head!” And he ran back into his room, banging the door behind him.

“Has the monkey gone?” asked Captain Putnam.

“Went through the window,” answered Joe Nelson.

They looked out of the window, but could see nothing of the animal. Then some went below, but the monkey had disappeared. He was captured in the morning and returned to the circus by Snuggers.

“Young gentlemen, you may retire,” said Captain Putnam, and one after another the cadets did so. Safe in Dormitory No. 4, Pepper told his whole story, and the boys had a laugh that lasted for a long time.

“Old Crabtree won’t get over that right away,” said Andy. “What a sight he did cut, with Mr. Monk on his shoulder pulling his hair!”

“Mum’s the word about this,” came from Pepper. “If he found me out he’d be mad enough to chew my head off.”

“Well, we are not telling on you,” came from one of the others. “We are glad you fixed old Crabtree. He deserves it.”

CHAPTER XIV

ALL ABOUT A TIGER

“Oh, it’s awful, gents, really it is! As soon as I heard the news, it made my knees shake like they was made o’ jelly! Whatever are we goin’ to do, with sech a wild animal as thet roamin’ the roads, I’d like to know?”

It was Peleg Snuggers who was speaking. He had just returned from an early morning trip to Cedarville with the monkey, and was addressing a little knot of cadets standing just outside of the parade ground.

“Better git in the school,” he went on. “It won’t be safe to go outdoor no more. Ain’t it awful, though?” And he shook his head solemnly.

“What is the trouble, Snuggers?” questioned Captain Putnam, who chanced to come up and saw how disturbed his hired man was.

“It’s about thet tagger as was at the circus, sir,” said Snuggers. “Somehow or other, he broke loose last night – knocked some o’ the bars out o’ his cage. An’ they ain’t found him yet.”

“A tiger broke loose?” queried the captain, and now he was intensely interested. “Who told you of this?”

“Mr. Chase, sir – an’ some circus folks. Cedarville is wild with excitement, an’ none o’ the folks dare to go outdoors. They say he’s a powerful tagger an’ mighty ugly.”

“He certainly was a big tiger,” said Jack, who was in the crowd. “I shouldn’t want to fall in with him.”

“Maybe he is coming this way,” suggested one of the smaller students, looking around nervously.

“Excuse me from meeting a tiger,” said Mumps, and without another word he walked into the Hall and to his classroom.

The news spread with the rapidity of lightning, and to be on the safe side, Captain Putnam ordered all of the boys into the school and had all the lower windows and doors closed.

“This is certainly exciting enough,” said Joe Nelson. “Supposing the tiger takes it into his head to camp out around here? None of us will want to go out any more.”

“Oh, they are bound to either catch him or shoot him, sooner or later,” answered Jack. “But just the same, I don’t want to run afoul of that beast. He looked strong enough to kill half a dozen of us.”

The excitement was intense, and nobody dared to venture far from the Hall. The cadets kept a constant watch; but nothing came of it.

“They must have news of the beast by this time,” said Captain Putnam on the following morning. “I’ll drive down to Cedarville and find out.”

“Oh, dear captain don’t do that!” shrieked Mrs. Green, the housekeeper. “If you meet him he’ll eat you up!”

“I’ll risk that,” returned the master of the Hall, grimly. “I’ll take my rifle with me, and also my seven-shooter. If I see the tiger I’ll try to give him a warm reception.”

“You – you – er – don’t want me to drive you, do you?” asked Peleg Snuggers, in a trembling voice. “I – er – I ain’t well this morning. I had a – er – a dreadful backache all night, an’ a headache, an’ – ”

“You won’t have to drive, Snuggers. I’ll take the buggy and drive myself.”

“It’s flyin’ in the face of Providence,” came from Mrs. Green. “Better wait a day or two longer.”

“No, I’m going now. Hitch up Black Bess, Snuggers. She is a steady mare, and won’t run away even if the tiger does show himself.”

The mare was hooked to the buggy, and Captain Putnam looked carefully to his rifle and his old army revolver. The excitement of the occasion was just to his liking. It put him in mind of his days in the wild west, and he half wished the escaped tiger would show itself so that he might get a shot.

“The captain certainly has grit,” remarked Jack, as the master of the Hall drove away.

“I shouldn’t mind going with him,” came from Dale. “I like hunting.”

“Well, this isn’t ordinary hunting,” put in Andy. “It’s the wildest kind of game to bring down.”

As soon as the captain was out of sight all began to wait anxiously for his return. The cadets could scarcely settle themselves to their studies, and more than one failed utterly in his lessons.

“This is wretched!” cried Josiah Crabtree, wrathfully. “I shall keep all of you in after regular hours!” He had not gotten over his adventure with the monkey, and was feeling more sour than ever.

“We can’t forget the tiger,” said Andy.

“The tiger is not here,” snapped the crabbed teacher. “Attend to your lessons.”

“Oh, what a teacher!” murmured Jack.

“I’ll fix him,” whispered Pepper. “Wait till he passes that open window again.”

A moment later Josiah Crabtree walked by the window in question. His back was toward it, and on the instant Pepper arose and pointed at the opening.

“Hi! Is that the tiger?” he cried, shrilly.

At the words Josiah Crabtree sprang a foot into the air and dodged into a corner. All of the cadets leaped to their feet.

“Did – did you – see the tiger?” questioned the teacher, faintly.

“Where’s the tiger?” roared several boys.

“Must be trying to come into the window,” shouted Andy, catching the spirit of the joke.

“Ke – ke – keep him ou – ou – out!” spluttered Josiah Crabtree. “Do – don’t let him get in here!”

“It is gone now,” said Pepper. “Must have been something else!” And he winked broadly at his friends, so that none of them might be alarmed.

“Are you – you sure, Ditmore?”

“Yes, sir.”

“This is awful!” murmured Josiah Crabtree, wiping the cold perspiration from his forehead.

“Oh, we can study anyway,” murmured Pepper.

“Eh?”

“It won’t hurt our studying, Mr. Crabtree. You can watch for the tiger while we do our sums.”

“Silence!” roared the crabbed teacher, but after that he said little about the poor lessons.

By noon Captain Putnam came back, and the cadets at once surrounded him to learn what he might have to tell.

“I saw nothing of the tiger,” said the master of the Hall. “A number of parties went out after him yesterday, and one crowd discovered the beast near the lake. They fired on him and he started to swim away. They think he must have been drowned, although they have not yet located the body.”

“Hope he was drowned,” said Pepper.

The matter was talked over for the balance of that day, and also the next. Then came in news that the circus people were also certain the tiger had gone to the bottom of Cayuga Lake, and everybody breathed easier. The circus moved southward, and soon the excitement died down completely.

Our young friends had not forgotten the Fords, and having received another invitation to call at the mansion at Point View Lodge, they set off one afternoon as soon as they could get away.

“I hope we don’t have another encounter with those Pornell Academy fellows,” said Jack, as they drove along in the buggy the captain had let them have. “One such mix-up was enough.”

“I guess they haven’t forgotten how they fared on that occasion,” returned Andy. “They promised to call it off, if you’ll remember.”

“So they did, but I shouldn’t take their word for it,” put in Pepper.

They arrived at the Ford mansion without mishap, having met absolutely nobody on the road. Laura and Flossie were there, and also Mrs. Ford and a niece from Rochester, and all did what they could to make the time pass pleasantly for the boys. They played croquet and lawn tennis, and went out for a short row.

“You boys can certainly handle the oars,” said Laura, with a sunny smile. “I wish I could row half as well.”

“It’s practice that does it,” answered Jack. “Now, all of you girls can play croquet better than we can.”

The party of girls and cadets was just returning to the house when they heard a loud scream coming from the direction of the road running to Point View Lodge.

“Hullo, what does that mean?” cried Jack, stopping short.

“Somebody is in trouble!” came from Andy.

“Help! save me!” was the cry. “Save me! I’ll be eaten up alive!”

“Something is wrong, fellows. Come on!” ejaculated Jack, and ran forward, catching up an oar as he spoke. The others followed, one with another oar, and Andy with a boathook. They were just in time to see a colored woman, who was the cook at the mansion, flying into a side door.

“I see what’s up!” exclaimed Jack, pointing down the road. “It’s the tiger!”

“The tiger!” echoed Pepper, and all of the girls set up a scream.

“Yes, there he is – crouching by the side of yonder tree.”

“I see him!”

“So do I,” put in Andy. “Quick, girls, get into the house before he comes this way!”

“Come in! Come in!” roared the colored cook. “He’ll eat you all up!”

As fast as they could the girls ran for the mansion, entering by a back door. The cadets followed. Looking back they saw the tiger moving slowly from the vicinity of the tree to a clump of bushes on the lawn.

“He is certainly coming this way,” called out Jack.

“He is moving for the house, too!” put in Pepper. “There he goes around to the kitchen door!”

Pepper spoke the truth. The tiger had reached the back door. Now he bounded up the small stoop, and a second later entered the kitchen of the mansion.

CHAPTER XV

PRISONERS OF A WILD BEAST

As soon as they could do so the three cadets ran into the side door of the mansion. They found the girls on an upper landing, gazing down anxiously.

“Is the tiger coming?” called down Laura.

“Yes, he’s in the kitchen,” answered Jack.

“The kitchen!” gasped Mrs. Ford, who had come out of the library.

“Oh, save me, somebody!” came from the rear of the mansion, and the butler appeared, with his hair almost on end. “A wild beast, mum – roaming the pantry, mum,” he spluttered.

“Better go upstairs, all of you,” said Jack, as he heard the tiger leap upon a table.

“Dat’s where I’m a-goin’,” said the cook, and ran to the top of the house, followed by the butler, where both locked themselves in their rooms.

The girls and Mrs. Ford were soon on the second floor of the mansion, and the three cadets followed.

“Shut all of the doors tight, Mrs. Ford,” said Jack. “For all we know, he may take it into his head to come upstairs.”

Following Jack’s directions, the doors were closed, and the family gathered in a large room in the front of the mansion.

“Whatever are we to do?” questioned Laura, helplessly.

“Well, we can stay here,” answered her sister. “That is what I am going to do for the present.”

“Where is Joseph?” asked Mrs. Ford. The man she mentioned was the gardener.

“He has gone to town to have the lawn mower repaired,” answered Laura. She turned to Jack. “Oh, isn’t this dreadful!”

“Have you got anything in the way of a gun or a pistol, Mrs. Ford?” questioned the young major.

“My husband keeps a pistol in his bedroom. I can get it for you.”

“Please do so.”

“Are you going to risk going after the tiger?” asked Andy.

“A pistol won’t fetch him,” put in Pepper. “He looks as tough as a boarding-house steak.”

“I want to investigate, and I’ll feel safer with the pistol,” answered Jack.

The weapon was soon brought and the young major saw that it was ready for use. It looked as if it might do considerable damage.

“Keep all the doors but this one shut,” said Jack, and then tiptoed his way into the hall once more. He looked down the stairs and along the lower hallway, but could see nothing of the tiger.

“How are you making out?” questioned Pepper, coming out behind him with a bed slat.

“Don’t see anything yet.”

Andy came out into the hallway also, and the three listened intently. All was quiet outside and not a sound came from the lower floor of the mansion.

“Perhaps he went outside again,” whispered Andy. “It wouldn’t be natural for him to stay indoors. Tigers love to roam the forest, and lay in wait for – ”

“I hear him!” interrupted Pepper. “Hark!”

All listened again, and now they could hear the creature moving from the kitchen into the library, and then to the parlor. A discord on the piano followed.

“Hullo, he is trying the piano!” cried Pepper, and grinned. “Maybe he’ll play us a waltz!”

From the parlor the tiger roamed into the library, and then showed his head in the hallway for an instant. But before Jack could take aim the beast had disappeared.

“He is making himself at home,” muttered the young major. “Wish I could get a chance at him.”

“Here he comes again!” cried Pepper, and at that moment the tiger came out into the hall and turned partly around.

Jack had his pistol ready, and taking a quick aim, he pulled the trigger. There was a flash and a report, in the semi-dark hallway, and the tiger gave a snarl of pain. Then he glanced up the stairs, glared at the cadets, and came up four steps at a time.

“Into the room, quick!” yelled Jack, and blazed away twice in rapid succession. The tiger was struck in the fore leg, and came to a pause close to the top of the stairs. Jack fired one more shot, then followed his chums into the room, and the door was closed and locked.

“Did you hit him?” queried several, in concert.

“I certainly did, but I don’t know how badly he is wounded. Mrs. Ford, have you any cartridges for this pistol?”

“Yes,” answered the lady of the mansion, and brought forth a box half full. Without loss of time, Jack filled up the empty chambers of the pistol.

“He is snarling outside of the door!” cried Laura. “Oh, do you think he’ll try to break down the door?”

Before anybody could answer there came a wild snarl, and then a thump on the barrier that almost took the door from its hinges.

“Better get into the next room,” called out Pepper. “He’ll break in here if he can.”

“Let us move the bed against the door,” suggested Andy.

The bed was a large affair, of solid mahogany, and would prove an excellent barrier, but before it could be rolled into position there came a crash, and the tiger’s head appeared through a portion of one of the door panels.

Crack! crack! went the pistol in Jack’s hand, and as quickly as he had appeared the tiger disappeared, with a wound in the jaw and another along the left ear.

“Guess that will teach him to keep his distance,” said the young major.

“He is going to the front of the house,” cried Andy.

“The upper veranda! He is going out on the upper veranda!” cried Mrs. Ford.

“He’ll come through the windows!” burst from Flossie’s lips. “Let us go to another room, mamma!” And the girls and their mother did so. Andy and Pepper looked inquiringly at Jack.

“A few more shots ought to make him tired of living,” said the young major.

“Let me try the pistol on him,” came from Pepper, and having secured the weapon, he peeped out into the hallway. The tiger stood at the front end, gazing at the upper veranda and beyond.

Pepper was not an extra shot, but the bullet took the tiger in the left hind knee, and made him utter a fierce snarl. He leaped out on the veranda, and then made another leap into the branches of a nearby tree.

“He has taken to the tree!”

“Let me give him a shot too,” pleaded Andy, and having received the pistol, he awaited his opportunity, and blazed away, hitting the beast in the side. There was a snarl, and the tiger fell to the grass, rolling over and over in evident pain.

“Good!” cried Jack. “That’s one of the shots that told! Give him another, Andy!” and the cadet did so.

“What’s all this shooting about?” came from the roadway, and Mr. Ford appeared, in company with his gardener. “Gracious! Where did that tiger come from?” he added.

“It’s the one that got away from the circus the other day!” called down Jack. “Look out, there may be some fight left in him yet, although we have peppered him pretty well.”

“Throw down the pistol and I’ll finish him,” said the gentleman.

“Let us finish him, won’t you?” pleaded Pepper.

“All right, you can do so.”

All three of the cadets went down the front stairs with a rush, while the girls and Mrs. Ford came out on the upper balcony. Pepper fired one shot, Jack a second, and Andy a third. The last was too much for his tigership, and with a final quiver he rolled over, stretched out, and lay dead.

“Is he – he dead?” asked the gardener cautiously.

“I think so,” answered Mr. Ford. “But don’t go near him yet – he may be shamming.”

They waited a few minutes, and then Jack went up carefully and made an examination.

“Dead as a barn door!” he called out. “My, what a big fellow he is!”

“Are you certain he is dead?” faltered Laura.

“Yes,” answered her father.

“Are there any more of them?”

“He is the only one that got loose,” answered Pepper.

Thus assured, the girls and Mrs. Ford came downstairs, followed later by the butler and the cook. The latter was still trembling.

“Thought we was goin’ to be eat up suah!” said the cook.

“It was a great happening, sir,” said the butler. “I can’t abide wild beasts, sir, not me!”

“You ought to have the skin of this tiger,” said Jack to Mrs. Ford. “It would make a fine rug.”

“Yes, mamma, let us have the skin by all means,” pleaded Laura. “We can have it fixed up with the head on, and it will look beautiful!”

“I’ll have to see the circus people about it,” came from Mr. Ford. “Tell me how he happened to come here.” And then all told their stories, to which the gentleman listened closely.

“I’m so glad these young men were here,” said Mrs. Ford. “Had we been alone, I do not know what might have happened.”

The tiger was dragged to a carriage shed by the gardener and the boys, and then the cook was sent off to get dinner ready. It was found that outside of eating up some steaks, drinking a pan of milk, and breaking a few dishes, the tiger had done no damage. Every bullet aimed at him had taken effect, and there were also two old wounds on him, in the leg and side.

“He must have gotten these old wounds when he leaped into the lake,” said Mrs. Ford. “But it was a mistake to report him drowned.”

“I don’t know as I ever want to meet another tiger at large,” said Andy. “They are too dangerous!”

“Yes, Snow,” answered Mr. Ford. “You can all be thankful that he did not get at you. If he had, he might have made mince-meat of one or another in no time.”

CHAPTER XVI

OFF ON A LONG MARCH

When the boys returned to Putnam Hall and told about their adventure with the tiger, they were proclaimed genuine heroes.

“You certainly deserve a great deal of credit,” said Captain Putnam. “Just the same, had I known the tiger was still at large, I should have kept you at the Hall.”

Later on, the circus authorities were communicated with, and from them Rossmore Ford obtained the skin of the beast, and had it prepared, with the head on, for a rug; and it is in his mansion on the floor to this day.

The cadets of Putnam Hall were now getting ready for an outing to last several days. Before winter set in, the captain wished to give them a taste of camp life, and so decided to make a march to a beautiful valley some twenty miles away. Here the boys were to go into camp for two nights, returning on the next day.

“That is what I’ll like!” exclaimed Stuffer Singleton. “No lessons to study. Only to march, get up an appetite, and eat!”

“Especially eat!” said Andy. “That hits Stuffer every time.”

“We’re to go on army rations,” put in Pepper, with a wink at his chums. “Pork and beans, and hard-tack.”

“No!” exclaimed Stuffer in alarm. “Who told you that?”

“Why, everybody knows it,” put in Andy.

“We’ll see that you get all the hard-tack you want, Stuffer,” went on Pepper. “The captain won’t want you to go hungry, you know.”

“I don’t want any hard-tack,” growled Stuffer, in disgust. “I thought we’d get the same kind of feed as we get here.” The march had suddenly lost all of its interest for him.

“Better take some private rations along,” suggested another cadet. “A loaf of bread, or some dried herrings, or – ”

“Oh, you’re joking!” exclaimed the boy who loved to eat. “I’m going to ask Mr. Strong,” and off he ran, while the others set up a loud laugh.

It was a cool, crisp morning when the battalion started. The cadets made a fine showing in their clean, neat uniforms, with buttons and buckles polished to the last degree. Major Jack was at the head of the column, and he was certainly proud of his position, and had a right to be.

“Shoulder arms, forward, march!” was the command given, and the drums sounded out, and the column moved off. A few people were present to see them march away, and these gave a cheer.

“Ain’t no nicer school in these United States!” exclaimed Peleg Snuggers, enthusiastically. “Them boys is the real thing, right straight through!”

“An’ nice boys, too,” added Mrs. Green. “God bless ’em, every one!”

For the first mile the route was along the lake shore. Then the battalion turned to the westward, and were soon pursuing a road that wound in and out among the hills. The cadets passed through several small villages, and the inhabitants came out to gaze at them in wonder, while the small boys set up a cheer.

One of the villages had just been left behind, when those in the front of the line of march heard a loud tooting from an automobile horn.

“Here comes one of those big autos,” said Pepper. “Say, it’s coming at a spanking gait, too.”

“Hope it gives us plenty of room,” came from another cadet. “I don’t like to meet those big machines, when they are going at a twenty-mile clip.”

The automobile was coming around a turn of the road, and soon it was almost on top of Company A. The cadets were marching on the right side of the road, but the automobile crowded them closely.

“Hi, there, keep to your side of the road!” shouted Jack.

“Go to Halifax!” growled the man who was running the machine, a big burly fellow, with a red face.

“If you don’t keep to your side of the road there will be trouble,” answered Jack, sharply, and then the young major commanded the battalion to halt. He was in sole charge, Captain Putnam and his assistants having gone ahead to arrange for dinner.

“Look here, young fellow, you can’t bulldoze me, even if you are in soldier clothes!” stormed the man, bringing his machine to a standstill.

“Never mind, Carl!” pleaded a lady who sat on the rear seat of the automobile. “Let us go on.”

“I want him to understand he can’t bulldoze me, Annie.”

“I am not trying to bulldoze you, sir,” answered Jack. “We are entitled to half the roadway, and we are going to have it.”

“Feel big, don’t you?” sneered the automobilist.

“Are you going to give us half the road or not?”

“Give them what they want, Carl!” pleaded the lady.

“I can’t give them half the road,” growled the man. “I’m not going to run my wheels into the soft ground for anybody. I might get stuck.”

“You can give us half the road and not get stuck either,” returned Jack. He knew a little about running an automobile himself.