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

“How delightful!” murmured Flossie. “And where are you going?”

“Up to Lake Caboy, near the river and the falls.”

“Well, of all things!”

“What makes you so surprised?” asked Dale.

“Why, we are going up to Lake Caboy ourselves – up to the new summer hotel there. Papa and mamma thought it would be a change for us.”

“Then we may see something of each other,” said Jack. “That will be fine.”

“We’ll come down to your camp – if you’ll allow visitors,” said Flossie.

“I guess Captain Putnam will have to allow them. Every time we go into camp the country folks come to see us. They like to see the tents and the uniforms, and like to see us drill.”

“Then we’ll be sure to come.”

“We’ll try to arrange for a regular visitors’ day,” said the young major. “Then we can have drills and athletic contests, and a lunch, and all that.”

“Oh, that will be grand!” cried both girls enthusiastically.

“Have you been to Lake Caboy before?” questioned Pepper.

“Yes, we were up there two years ago, for a week,” answered Laura. “We stayed at the old hotel that was burnt down – a place near the old Robertson mill. You’ve heard of that place, haven’t you?”

“No.”

“It is said to be haunted.”

“Haunted!” cried all of the cadets in chorus.

“Yes. We never went very near it, for we were afraid.”

“We’ll have to investigate that mill,” said Dale. “I don’t believe in ghosts.”

“We had almost forgotten about the old mill until yesterday,” went on Flossie. “Then the strangest kind of a boy asked us about it – a tall, thin boy.”

“A tall, thin boy!” cried Pepper. “Did he tell you his name?”

“Yes, Bert Field.”

“Why, we met that boy once,” said Pepper. “But he wasn’t looking for the Robertson mill then. He was looking for – ” And then Pepper stopped short, for he remembered what the strange lad had said – that he wished to find Jabez Trask without that individual being aware he was being sought out.

“What was he looking for?” asked Laura.

“Oh, it doesn’t matter.”

“He did ask us about something else,” said Flossie. “Oh, yes, I remember now. He wanted to know where a man named Trask lived – Jabez Trask.”

“Well, he asked us, too,” said Pepper. “Did you tell him? We never heard of such a person.”

“Yes, we told him. Trask lives between here and Lake Caboy, on the Ritchfield road. We know because papa once had some business dealings with him. He is an old man, and papa says he is a regular miser.”

“Was the boy a relative?”

“I don’t know. But he was certainly a strange fellow. He asked us a great number of questions and seemed to be grateful for the information we gave him. But this morning papa took me across the lake in his boat and when I was in the town over there I met him again, face to face, and he didn’t even recognize me.”

“That is queer,” said Jack thoughtfully. “Maybe he was afraid you’d say something in public he didn’t want you to. He told us he didn’t want this Jabez Trask to know he was asking for him.”

“I told papa about it, and he told me something that makes the matter queerer than ever. He says that the Trask family once had something to do with the old Robertson mill.”

“Humph!” mused Jack. “I’d like to meet that boy again and talk to him. Maybe he knows something about why the old mill is haunted.”

“He is certainly a strange boy!” declared Laura.

The girls wished to know something of the details of the proposed encampment and the cadets told as much as they knew.

“We’ll come over if we can,” promised Laura. “And if you get the chance you must call on us at the new hotel.” And this the cadets readily promised to do. Then the girls turned homeward, and the boys continued their ride.

“They are fine girls,” said Dale. “It was a great feather in your cap to save them from drowning.”

“Oh, let us forget that!” cried Andy, who did not care at any time to pose as a hero.

“There is one thing I regret about this encampment at Lake Caboy,” said Jack, as the four cadets turned in the direction of Putnam Hall. “There is no way of getting our sailboats up to that lake. Some of the rowboats will be taken over on the wagons, but I’ll have to leave the Alice behind, and Fred Century will have to leave the Ajax, too.”

“Well, we’ll have to take our fun on the water out in rowing and swimming and fishing,” said Dale.

“What’s the matter with having a nice sail before we go away?” came from Pepper.

“To be sure, we can do that,” said Jack; and so, later on, it was arranged.

The Alice was a truly beautiful sloop, with graceful lines. Her hull was finely painted and her sails were of snowy whiteness. The Ajax, too, was a good boat, and the youthful owners were justly proud of the two craft.

On the Saturday afternoon previous to the time for the encampment Jack and Fred made up their parties for a sail. The young major carried Pepper, Andy and four others, and the Ajax took on an even greater load. It was decided to go up the lake, and the cadets received permission to remain out from two o’clock to six.

There was a favorable wind blowing, and a cheer went up when the two sloops spread their canvases and stood up the lake shore. Jack and Fred were at the tillers and each handled his craft with care and skill.

“Going to race?” asked one of the cadets, of Fred.

“No, we are just out for the pleasure of it,” said Fred. He knew his boat was a good one, but the young major had beaten him before and he did not, just then, wish to risk another defeat.

Soon the sloops were well on their way up the lake. Pepper and Andy were in particularly good humor, and neither of them dreamed of the remarkable adventure in store for them.

CHAPTER VIII

A REMARKABLE ADVENTURE

“It looks like rain!”

The remark came from Andy, who was in the bow of the boat. He was gazing anxiously at the sky.

“Don’t say rain!” cried Stuffer, who was eating a banana, one of a hand purchased at the Cedarville dock. “I don’t like to be out in the rain.”

“We’ll not get it right away,” answered Jack. “But it looks as if it would come sooner or later,” he added, as he surveyed the clouds over to the westward.

Two hours had been spent in cruising around the lake. A brief stop had been made at Cedarville, where the cadets had purchased some fruit and candy. The Ajax was almost out of sight in the distance.

“If you are going near Parberry Point I’d like to do an errand,” said Pepper. “I want to visit that old basket maker and ask him to make a fancy basket for my Aunt Bess. She has a birthday soon, and I know she would like a new hanging basket, with ferns and flowers in it.”

“All right, we can pass there,” answered Jack. “We’ll drop you and then pick you up later.”

“All right,” answered Pepper. “Anybody want to go to the basket maker’s with me?” he went on, looking around at his chums.

“I’ll go,” answered Andy. “I’ve been eating so much fruit and candy I think it will do me good to walk a little.”

“The errand won’t take more than half an hour,” said Pepper. “We’ll hurry as fast as we can.”

Parberry Point was soon reached and Andy and Pepper leaped ashore.

“I’ll be back here in just half an hour,” cried Jack, consulting his watch. “Don’t keep us waiting, for maybe that rain will come quicker than I thought it would.”

“I’ll hurry all I can,” answered The Imp. “Come on, Andy.” And the pair disappeared up the road from the lake, while the sloop sheered off for the other shore.

Pepper and Andy were both good walkers and they lost no time in getting to the spot where the basket maker had lived. To their dismay the cottage was closed and deserted.

“Must have moved,” said the acrobatic youth. “Too bad! What are you going to do about it?”

“I don’t know, Andy. Wait, here comes a man in a wagon. Maybe he can tell us where the fellow moved to.”

The farmer was consulted and said the basket maker had moved up a side road leading to Lake Caboy.

“It’s only about a quarter of a mile from here,” he explained.

Pepper decided to walk the distance and he and Andy set off. Just as both cadets made a turn in the road they heard a distant rumble of thunder.

“That storm is coming faster than I thought,” said Pepper.

“Right you are, and we’ll have to hurry, unless we want to get wet.”

“Humph! It won’t do any good to get to the sloop. We’ll get wet on her as well as out here, Andy.”

“I suppose that’s so.”

The boys went on, around another bend of the road, and soon came in sight of a second cottage. But to their astonishment, this too was deserted.

“We’ve come on a fool’s errand,” said Pepper. “The basket maker was here but has moved.”

They could see the evidences of basket making in the dooryard, but the cottage was locked up and minus furniture.

“Might as well get back to the Point,” said Andy. “Jack will be waiting for us.”

“I think this side road is shorter than the other,” said Pepper. “It makes a turn toward the lake just above here. We’ll keep on instead of turning back.”

“All right, if you say so, Pep. But it doesn’t look right to me,” answered Andy.

The pair hurried on, for the sky was now growing dark. The rumbling of thunder increased, and presently some large drops of rain came down through the trees bordering the road.

“Might as well run for it!” cried Pepper, and set off on a dog trot. In a few minutes they made a turn and came out on a broad highway. Just beyond was a large white mansion set in a perfect wilderness of trees.

“Why, this isn’t the road I was looking for!” cried Pepper in dismay. “I don’t know where we are now.”

He had hardly spoken when there came a rush of wind through the trees. This was followed by flashes of lightning and cracks of thunder, and then the rain came down in a torrent.

“We can’t stay out here – we’ll be drenched to the skin!” cried the acrobatic youth. “Come on to the house!”

“But we don’t know the folks, Andy.”

“That doesn’t matter. Any port in a storm, as the sailors say.”

Andy started through the trees for the mansion and Pepper followed at his heels. Both ran across a small and badly-kept lawn and up on a broad piazza. Just as they reached the piazza there came a blinding flash of lightning and a peal of thunder that made both jump in fright. Then followed a crash of another kind.

“It struck a tree – out yonder!” exclaimed Pepper, pointing towards the road. “I am glad we weren’t under it!”

“Let us get in the house, where the rain can’t reach us,” answered his chum, and lost no time in ringing the door bell.

There was no answer to the summons, and Andy rang the bell again. Then, of a sudden, the wind increased, and the door of the mansion was blown wide open.

Thinking somebody had unfastened the door and been unable to hold it against the wind, the acrobatic youth entered the hallway beyond, and was followed by Pepper.

“Excuse us, but we came in to get out of the storm,” said Andy, trying to see around him, for with the darkness outside the hallway was pitch black.

To his astonishment nobody answered. A gust of wind came into the hallway and lifting a picture from its nail hurled it to the floor with a crash. Then Pepper caught the door and shut and bolted it.

“Anybody here?” he called out.

Nobody answered, and each of the cadets caught the other by the arm.

“I – I guess the door just blew open,” stammered Andy. The situation was so unusual he knew not what to say. Here they were in a strange house with nobody to speak to them.

The boys could not see a thing, saving when the lightning outside lit up the scene. They felt their way through the hallway to a door and entered what appeared to be a parlor. The apartment had a musty smell, as if it had not been opened for a long time. The blinds were closed but the slats were open and through these faint light showed.

“Looks to me as if this house was deserted, too,” remarked Pepper. “Gracious, the whole neighborhood must be moving out!”

“Somebody lives here, I am sure of that,” answered his chum. “Out in the hall I smelt the odor of fried onions.”

“Let us walk back to the kitchen and find out,” said Pepper.

A flash of lightning made the boys pause for a moment. Then they walked to the end of the hallway and entered a dining room. Here a window was open and through this the rain was sweeping wildly.

“The owner of this place must be away,” said Andy. “Gosh! how it rains!” he added, as he shut the window.

“Look at the quaint silver set!” said Pepper, his eyes catching sight of the service on a sideboard. “That must be pretty old.”

He picked up a silver dish and Andy picked up another. As they were looking at the silver pieces they heard a door open and felt a sudden gust of air.

“Somebody is here – ” commended Pepper, when he fell back in sudden alarm. For from out of a dark corner an old man had appeared. He wore a long, white beard and his straggling hair was of the same color. In his hands he carried a short shotgun and this he had leveled straight ahead of him.

“Burglars! thieves! robbers!” he screamed. “Drop my silver plate or I will shoot you!”

His manner was so stern and wild that the two cadets lost no time in setting down the silver pieces they had picked up. The old man continued to point his shotgun, first at Andy and then at Pepper.

“I heard there were burglars in this vicinity,” he said, in a croaking voice. “But I did not think you would dare to come here.”

“We are not burglars!” answered Pepper.

“Ha! I know better! You cannot deceive me!”

“We are schoolboys and we came in here to get out of the storm,” explained Andy.

“I do not believe it! You are burglars! Those uniforms are merely a disguise. You were after my precious silver plate! The world-renowned Robertson silver plate! But you shan’t have it! Jabez Trask knows how to protect his own!”

At the mention of the old man’s name the cadets started. This then, was the man for whom Bert Field was seeking. Certainly as strange an individual as the tall, thin youth himself.

“Mr. Trask, you are making a mistake,” said Pepper, as calmly as he could. “We did not come here to steal, we – ”

“I will not listen! I shall hand you over to the authorities for entering my house! I saw you sneaking around this morning – one of you at least.”

“No, you didn’t,” answered Andy.

“I know better – I saw you quite plainly.”

To this the boys did not answer. Pepper, however, wondered if the person seen sneaking around had been the mysterious Bert Field.

“I want you fellows to back into the corner,” went on Jabez Trask, after a painful pause.

“But, sir – ” commenced Andy.

“Not another word – until I call an officer of the law!”

“We are not criminals,” cried Pepper stubbornly. “We belong to Putnam Hall military academy.”

“I do not believe it! You came here with the intention of robbing me of my precious plate and other things. But you did not think I’d get after you with my shotgun!” added the old man cunningly. “You thought you would have me at your mercy! But I have outwitted you! Ha! ha! it was well done, not so? Back into the corner, I say, and open the door!”

The command was such a pre-emptory one that the cadets obeyed. Andy opened the door. Beyond was a small storeroom, having a narrow window which was barred from the outside.

“In you go, you young villains!” cried Jabez Trask, and held the muzzle of the shotgun on a line with their breasts. Fearing that in his excitement he would pull the trigger, the two cadets stepped back into the room.

“Now kick the door shut with your foot, and be quick about it,” went on the old man, to Pepper, and aimed the weapon straight at The Imp.

The door was closed as the man desired, and in a twinkling Jabez Trask stepped up close and turned the key in the lock. It was a heavy door, with an equally effective lock, and the cadets knew that they were prisoners.

“Ha! ha! very well done, I do declare!” chuckled the old man, after the door was fastened. “A neat trick, if I do say it myself, a clever trick! It takes a smart man to get the best of Jabez Trask. You thought I’d shoot you, didn’t you? Well, let me tell you that the shotgun isn’t loaded and hasn’t been for a month! But now I am going to load it, and load it well. If you try to break out – well, your blood will be on your head!”

Andy and Pepper did not reply. In the dim light of the little storeroom they looked at each other questioningly. They were in a serious predicament. What would be the outcome of this remarkable adventure?

CHAPTER IX

A SEND-OFF FOR JOSIAH CRABTREE

Andy and Pepper heard the old man leave the dining room and then, excepting for the occasional rumble of thunder in the distance, all became quiet around them. The sudden shower was passing away to the eastward, and soon the rain ceased.

“Well, if this isn’t the worst yet!” exclaimed the acrobatic youth, after looking at the narrow window with its iron bars. “Pep, this is as bad as the lock-up at the school!”

“Right you are, Andy. We are certainly prisoners.”

“And accused of attempted burglary!”

“I don’t believe anybody in Cedarville will believe that charge, after we tell our story.”

“No, but they may think we were up to some trick – especially after that affair of the bell clapper.”

“Wonder if he’ll come back?”

“He’ll come soon enough if we try to break out of here.”

Each of the boys tried to open the door. But the key was still on the other side and they could not turn it.

“Not a thing to smash it down with either,” said Pepper, gazing around the storeroom. The apartment contained nothing but some odds and ends of books and bric-a-brac and an old ice-box which was empty.

Pepper knocked on the door, but for several minutes there was no reply to this summons. Then came the nervous tones of Jabez Trask.

“You keep quiet, or I’ll shoot right through the door!” shrilled the old man. “I’ve got ye! You can’t get away!”

“We want to talk this matter over,” said The Imp.

“Not now. You can do your talking after I have put you in the hands of the law!” And then the old man seemed to walk to another part of the mansion.

“We have got to get out somehow!” said Andy in a low voice.

“I’ve got an idea!” answered Pepper. “Let us examine the floor. Maybe some of the boards are loose.”

Both boys got down and lit matches and examined the floor with care. Pepper moved the old ice-box in doing this, and a long ice-pick fell from it.

“Hurrah, I can use this as a pry!” said the cadet. “Wait till I find a board that looks a little loose.”

Presently he found a board that looked inviting and he managed to get the ice-pick in the crack beside it. By working with care he loosened one end of the board and it came up several inches.

“A coal cellar below,” he said, as he caught sight of some shiny pieces of coal.

“Well, if we can get into that cellar I guess we can get out of the house,” answered his chum.

Making as little noise as possible, the two cadets raised up the board and then took up that next to it. This left an opening just wide enough for them to squeeze through. They looked down and saw that the coal was but a few feet beneath them.

“Here goes!” said Pepper and let himself down with care. As his feet touched the coal some of it slid away, making considerable noise.

“Keep quiet!” whispered Andy. “The old man may be listening.”

“I didn’t mean to make that noise,” was the reply. “Come on, quick!”

Andy dropped down on the coal and both boys left the bin and came out into the cellar proper. It was quite dark and they stumbled over some ironware and crocks. The ironware made a crash that could be heard all through the mansion.

“Hi! hi! Who is that?” they heard the old man yell, and then he came running across the floor overhead.

“Quick, or we’ll be caught again!” exclaimed Pepper. “I see a way out!”

He had espied a back entrance to the cellar. To this he ran, with Andy close behind him. They pushed open a door and ran up a flight of stone steps. Above was the back yard, close to the kitchen of the house.

The cadets did not wait to look around them, but made a straight dash across the yard toward a barn. They skirted this building and as they did so Pepper gave a cry of wonder.

“See, Andy!” he exclaimed.

“What is it?”

“That boy – running through the trees!”

“Who is it?”

“The boy Jack and I met at the church, Bert Field! He must have been spying around here!”

“Perhaps he’s the one the old man said he saw this morning.”

“More than likely.”

They looked and saw the tall, thin youth disappear in a grove of trees lining the main road. Then, a few minutes later, they saw him walking down the road as fast as possible.

“There is certainly something queer about that boy,” was Pepper’s comment.

“And there is something queer about the old man, too,” was the reply. “But, come on, unless you want Jabez Trask to fill you full of shot.”

The old man was now at the door of the mansion and he held his shotgun in his hands. The cadets darted out of sight and took good care to keep out of range of the weapon.

“That’s an adventure for you,” said Pepper, after they had covered quite a distance. “I rather think I’ll keep away from strange houses after this.”

“I wonder if the old man will come to Putnam Hall to make trouble?”

“I hope not.”

The rain had ceased and the sky was brightening. The cadets went on to a fork of the road and then reached a path they knew ran down to the lake front.

“More than likely the Alice had returned to the Hall,” said Andy. “I’d not blame Jack for doing it, in such a rain.”

“Nor I, Andy. But let us look around a little and see. Maybe he tied up at some boathouse during the storm.”

The two boys walked to the edge of the lake and looked up and down the shore.

“There she is!” exclaimed Pepper, and pointed up the lake.

“Sure that’s the Alice?” queried his chum.

“Yes, I’d know her as far as I could see her.” Pepper raised his voice: “Sloop ahoy! On board the Alice!”

At first his cry was not heard. Then Jack caught sight of the pair standing on a rock, and waved his hand in return. The mainsail of the sloop was thrown over, and the Alice came slowly up to the rock and Andy and Pepper leaped on board. Then a straight course was laid for Putnam Hall.

“We tied up at Paul’s boathouse when it started to rain,” said the young major. “It was certainly a heavy shower, eh?”

“Yes, indeed,” returned Pepper.

“I see you managed to keep dry,” came from Stuffer. “Have some peanuts,” he added, diving into a pocket and bringing up a handful.

“Yes, we managed to keep dry,” answered Andy. “But we had a remarkable time doing it.” And then he and Pepper told of their adventure at old Jabez Trask’s mansion. The others listened in wonder to what they had to tell.

“That old man must be a tartar,” was Dale’s comment.

“Sure, an’ mebbe he’ll come to the school to make trouble fer ye,” said Hogan. “But if he does sure yez can have him arristed fer false imprisonment!”

“Somehow, I don’t think he’ll come to the school,” answered Pepper. “I imagine he is the kind of a man to keep by himself – one who hates publicity.” And he was right, Jabez Trask did not come to the school, nor did he report the affair to the Cedarville authorities. There was a reason for this, as we shall learn later.

“Then you didn’t get your basket, Pepper?” said Jack, just as the school dock was reached.

“No, but I’ll get something of the sort in Cedarville, and send it to my aunt,” was the answer, and the lad was as good as his word. He found the basket maker had removed to town, and there procured a basket that pleased his relative very much.

“I know one thing I’d like,” said Pepper to Jack, the next morning. “I’d like to meet that Bert Field and have a talk with him. There is something odd about his wanting to meet such a queer stick as Jabez Trask, and about his wanting to know the location of that haunted mill.”

“Maybe you’ll meet him while we are in camp, Pep.”

“Perhaps.”

Sunday passed quietly in and around Putnam Hall, and on Monday morning the cadets commenced their preparations for going into camp. Each student was allowed to take along a dress-suit case full of clothing, the suit-cases being transported to the camp by wagon, along with the tents, the cooking outfits, and blankets.