The Putnam Hall Encampment: or, The Secret of the Old Mill

“I’ve got a notion that Jabez Trask is at the mill,” whispered Bert, when they came within view of the place. “I’ve been watching around his house all afternoon, but he was nowhere in sight.”

They did not go very close to the old mill, but halted at the foot of the trees before mentioned. Andy boosted the others into a tree and then climbed up himself. Then the acrobatic youth led the way, from one tree to another. All moved closer to the mill without making any noise.

There was no moon, but the stars were shining brightly, and by the light they saw the building loom up before them. Not a light was to be seen, and the only sound that reached their ears was the roaring of the Falls some distance away.

“Now then, be careful!” whispered Andy, as he moved out on the end of a limb. “Don’t make a noise when you drop on the roof.”

As he went out the limb bent beneath his weight until it rested on the shingles of the roof. He alighted on the top of the mill with ease, and one after another the others followed.

The roof was of the low, gabled sort, with several windows at either end of the building, just below the top. Andy crawled over the shingles with the ease of a trained athlete and looked over the edge. One of the windows was within three feet of him and he noted with satisfaction that one of the sashes was completely gone and the other was minus its panes of glass.

“I’d hate to break any glass – it would make such a noise,” said he. “Now then, the rope.”

This was quickly made fast and Andy went down and crawled through the window into the loft of the mill. The others came after him. Then the five boys stood in a circle, almost holding their breath, and wondering what they had best do next.

“Well, we are in the place anyway,” murmured Pepper.

“Yes, and they haven’t dropped us into the river either,” added Andy.

It must be admitted that the hearts of the four cadets thumped wildly in their bosoms. They realized that they were in a dangerous situation, and there was no telling what would happen next. Bert Field was strangely self-possessed, even though his nerves were at a high tension.

“I’ll go first,” said he. “I think it is my place to do so.”

“Well, we’ll watch out, and do all we can to protect you, and ourselves, in case of trouble,” answered Jack.

Having listened for several minutes, the boys grew bolder and Bert Field lit a small bullseye lantern he had brought along. By the aid of the light, they tiptoed their way across the loft floor and down a narrow pair of stairs.

“Listen!” said Bert, suddenly, and came to a halt. He shut off the light, and all came to a halt and strained their ears.

From a distance came a murmur of voices. Three men were talking in one of the rooms of the old mill. Then the boys saw a ray of light shining under a closed door.

“They are in that room,” said Bert. “I’m going to the door and listen to what they have to say.”

He moved on and so did the cadets, all anxious to listen to the conversation. Now the boys were certain they had only human beings to deal with they felt better.

“I want you, Vidder, to go out on the road and watch,” came in the voice of Jabez Trask. “Put on that cowhide with the horns to-night.”

“All right, – but I am pretty tired,” croaked the voice of an old man.

“Never mind – you can sleep all day to-morrow,” answered Jabez Trask. “You, Jepson, guard all the doors. If anybody comes, why – the trap – you know!”

“Indeed I do!” answered another voice, shrill and harsh.

“I am going to make another hunt to-night,” went on Jabez Trask. “I must find that will. That boy is watching me and I don’t like it.”

“Wish you would find the will,” growled the old man called Vidder. “Then we’d get our money.”

“Right you are. Now begone, so I can get to work,” went on Jabez Trask.

The men in the room began to move, and the cadets and Bert crouched out of sight behind some boxes and barrels. Then two of the men came out and left the mill. A moment later Jabez Trask appeared, lantern in hand.

“I’ll follow up that new clue to-night,” the boys heard the miser mutter. “Let me see, what was it? Third stone from the top, sixth stone from the left. William Robertson wrote that in the note-book, and it must mean something. If I can get that will, and destroy it, the fortune will be mine, all mine!”

Lantern in hand, Jabez Trask crossed the room and entered another apartment. The boys heard him going down a flight of stone steps.

“I am going after him,” whispered Bert, excitedly. “He thinks he is going to locate that will! Maybe I got here just in time!”

CHAPTER XXX

A FIND OF IMPORTANCE – CONCLUSION

“Don’t make a noise – or you may spoil it all,” whispered Jack.

He caught Bert by the arm, and as silently as shadows the pair followed the old miser down the flight of stone steps, and the others came after them. They saw that Jabez Trask had entered a room that was almost a vault, being built of stone and about ten feet square. The miser had placed his lantern on the floor and was counting the stones on one of the walls.

“That’s not right,” the boys heard him mutter to himself. “This wall has eighty-six stones in it. I want the one with seventy-six – seventy-six, like the Revolutionary year. Let me see,” and he commenced to count the stones in another of the four walls.

This, too, was a disappointment, and then he went at the third. Then he gave a chuckle of satisfaction.

“Seventy-six, clean and clear!” he muttered. “This must be the wall. Now then, sixth stone from the left, third stone from the top. Ha! here it is! Now to find out what is behind it!”

He brought forth a chisel and commenced to pry on the stone. It came from the wall with ease, revealing an opening behind it.

“The box! The box at last!” almost shrieked the miser, and putting his arm into the opening he drew forth a black, metal box, covered with dirt and mildew.

Bert Field uttered a cry, he could not help it But in his excitement Jabez Trask did not notice the noise. The miser fell on his knees on the dirt floor and commenced to fumble with the opening of the box. Then the lid flew back and out tumbled half a dozen legal-looking documents.

“The will! At last!” almost shrieked the man, and fairly kissed one of the papers. “I’ll read it over first, to make sure it is the one, and then I’ll burn it. Then the Robertson fortune will be mine, all mine!”

“You scoundrel! Give me that will!” cried Bert Field, and before the others could stop him, even had they wished to do so, he was on top of Jabez Trask and had hurled the miser on his back. The man clung to the paper desperately.

“Stop!” he bawled. “Help! help!”

“Give me that will!” repeated Bert. “It is mine, – I have a right to it!”

“No! no!” screamed Jabez Trask. “Vidder! Jepson! Where are you? Help!”

He continued to struggle, and the will was in danger of being torn to pieces, when Jack and Pepper rushed forward and caught Jabez Trask by the arms. Then Bert got a good hold on the legal document and twisted it free.

“Don’t take that! It is mine – all mine!” moaned the miser, and suddenly his eyes commenced to roll, as if he was going to have a fit.

“Take the box and the other papers!” cried the young major to Bert. “I’ll see if there is anything more in that opening.”

He ran forward and felt into the opening, only to find it empty. By this time footsteps were sounding overhead.

“Those men are coming!” cried Andy. “If you’ve got what you want we had better get out of here, unless you want to fight.”

“I don’t want to stay, now I have the will and the other private papers,” answered Bert. “Come on – they may try to take the papers away from me!”

The boys ran from the vault and across the lower floor of the old mill. Then an outer door opened and the man called Vidder appeared.

He presented a comical appearance and under ordinary circumstances the boys would have laughed at him. Over one shoulder dangled a cow’s hide and over the other a pair of fearful looking horns. In one hand he carried a light, placed in an object formed to represent a large human skull.

“What does this mean?” he asked, when Bert ran full tilt into him, hurling him flat. Then the youth ran through the doorway, and the cadets followed him.

“Beware of traps!” sang out Pepper. “Let us keep in a string and join hands.”

This was done, Bert forming one end of the line and Dale the other. Once they stepped on a platform that threatened to go down with them, but they were on the alert and got off in a hurry. Then they dashed straight into the woods, where they knew the men would have difficulty in following them.

“Well, I guess we have accomplished what we set out to do,” said Jack, when they finally came to a halt.

“Yes, indeed!” cried Bert. “And I do not know how to thank you enough,” he added, warmly.

“Don’t you want to read that will over and see if it is really in favor of your mother?” asked Dale.

“Yes.”

A light was made, and all of the boys looked over the document with care. The will left small sums of money to various servants and employees and then the bulk of the Robertson estate went to Bert’s mother and her heirs – the only heir now being Bert himself.

“I’ll tell you what I would advise,” said Jack. “You come to camp with us, Bert. You can sleep with me. In the morning we’ll lay this whole matter before Captain Putnam and ask his advice. I am sure he will tell you what is best to do.”

“I ought to have Jabez Trask arrested.”

“Perhaps. But it will be punishment enough for that miser if he has to let go his hold on the property.”

Bert agreed to follow the advice of the young major, and before long they reached the camp, and Jack took the strange lad to his tent with him, and gave him the use of a vacant cot.

It was certainly a meeting of importance that occurred in Captain Putnam’s headquarters the next morning, after breakfast and drill. Bert told his story in full, and the cadets had their say, and then the will and the other documents were brought forth and looked over with care.

“What you need is a good lawyer,” said the master of the school to Bert. “This Jabez Trask is undoubtedly a scheming rascal who will do all in his power to keep you out of your own. If you wish I’ll take you to Rochester and introduce you to a legal gentleman who will take care of all your interests and have the courts mete out to Trask the punishment he deserves.”

This suited Bert, and the journey to Rochester was taken the next day, Jack and Pepper accompanying the captain and the Robertson heir. A long conference with a first-class lawyer was held, and immediate steps were taken to place Bert in possession of his own.

When efforts to locate Jabez Trask were made there was a surprise. The miser had closed up his mansion and fled. Nor could the two men, Vidder and Jepson, be found.

“It is evidence of their guilt,” said the lawyer to Bert. “I do not think you will have any difficulty in establishing your claim to the fortune.” And the legal gentleman was right. Bert obtained the fortune with but little trouble, and he was correspondingly happy. The courts appointed a well-known business man of Ithaca as his guardian, and this guardian told Bert the best thing he could do would be to go to some first-class school and finish his education.

“That is just what I want to do,” said Bert. “And the school I want to go to is Putnam Hall.”

“A good selection,” was his guardian’s reply. “A fine school.”

“And one in which I have some warm friends,” added Bert earnestly.

Bert’s coming to Putnam Hall pleased Jack and his chums, and they gave him a royal welcome. Before this time the repairs to the school building were finished, and the encampment at Lake Caboy came to an end.

“Well, we had a dandy time camping out,” said Jack to his chums.

“And lots of adventures,” added Pepper. “Wonder if we’ll ever have any more?” They did have more adventures, and what they were I shall relate in another volume, to be called “The Putnam Hall Mystery; or, The School Chums’ Strange Discovery.” In that book we shall meet all our old friends again, and also learn something more of the doings of Reff Ritter and his cronies.

It was an ideal day when the cadets marched back to Putnam Hall. The sun shone brightly overhead, and most of the lads were in the best of spirits. The Fords came over to the camp to see our friends take up the march.

“Well, are you glad to go back?” asked Laura, of the young major.

“Rather,” was Jack’s answer. “Putnam Hall seems like home, you know.”

Then Captain Putnam gave the order to break camp. The drums rolled and the boys set up a cheer. The young major stepped in front of the two companies.

“Battalion, attention!” he called out. “Shoulder arms! Forward march!”

The drums sounded, the flag floated out on the breeze, and the march for the Hall was begun. The visitors gave a shout of farewell, and the girls waved their handkerchiefs. And here for the present we will leave the Putnam Hall cadets, and say good-bye.

THE END