ARTHUR M. WINFIELD

(Edward Stratemeyer)

[Pg ii]

BOOKS FOR BOYS

By Arthur M. Winfield

THE PUTNAM HALL CADET SERIES

THE FIRST ROVER BOYS SERIES

THE SECOND ROVER BOYS SERIES

[Pg iii]

INTRODUCTION

This story is complete in itself, but forms the sixth volume in a line issued under the general title of "Putnam Hall Series."

As mentioned several times, this line was started because many young folks wanted to know what happened at Putnam Hall Military School previous to the arrival at that institution of the Rover boys, as already related in my "Rover Boys Series."

To gratify this curiosity I wrote the first volume of this series, called "The Putnam Hall Cadets," showing how Captain Putnam organized his famous school, and how it was Jack Ruddy and Pepper Ditmore came to be among his first pupils.

In the second book, entitled "The Putnam Hall Rivals," I gave the particulars of several contests on the field of sports, and also told about a thrilling balloon ride and of an odd discovery in the woods.

Following the second book came a third, "The Putnam Hall Champions," with more bitterly-[Pg vi]contested games, in one of which young Major Ruddy's enemies played him a foul trick.

From the opening of the school there had been dissatisfaction with one of the teachers, and when another was engaged who proved to be a man of peculiar whims, the boys went into open revolt, as related in another volume, called "The Putnam Hall Rebellion." The cadets literally ran away, and did not return to the Hall until Captain Putnam came upon the scene to straighten matters out.

The rebellion was followed by a grand outing, as related in "The Putnam Hall Encampment." The cadets marched far away from the school, to the shore of a beautiful lake, and there our heroes managed to have a good time in spite of the mean work of several of their enemies.

In the present volume are related the particulars of a most puzzling mystery which at one time threatened to bring disaster to the whole school. How the mystery was at last solved I leave for the pages which follow to explain.

Again I thank both young and old for all the nice things they have said about my books. I hope the reading of the volumes affords all both pleasure and profit.

[Pg 1]

CHAPTER I

AN ENCOUNTER ON THE ROAD

"Here we are again, as the clown says in the circus!"

"Right you are, Pepper. And I'll be glad to get back to Putnam Hall once more," responded Major Jack Ruddy, as he followed his chum from the lake steamer to the Cedarville dock.

"Hello, there is Andy!" cried Pepper Ditmore, as he caught sight of a familiar face in the crowd of cadets, "Andy, where have you been? Why didn't you come on the boat with us?"

"I got in last night," answered Andy Snow. "How are you, anyway?" And he shook hands cordially.

"Oh, I'm as fine as a new-tooth comb," answered Pepper Ditmore, with a grin. "Ready for study and fun."[Pg 2]

"Especially fun, I'll wager. How about it, Jack?"

"Oh, Pepper usually manages to get his share," came from the young major of the Putnam Hall battalion. "But, Andy, did you—— Hi, look where you are going, will you, Ritter!" cried Jack, rather angrily.

A tall youth, carrying a big dress-suit case, had forced his way through the crowd, hitting Jack in the knee with his baggage.

"What do you want to block the way for?" demanded Reff Ritter, sourly. "Think you own the dock?"

"I've got as much right here, Ritter, as you have!" retorted the young major, sharply. "Don't you knock me again like that."

"I will—if you get in my way."

"If you do, you'll take the consequences."

"Bah! Don't you try to dictate to me, Jack Ruddy!" growled Reff Ritter. "You got the best of me last term, but you'll not get the best of me this term, I'll tell you that!"

"Phew! Ritter is somewhat peppery!" whispered Andy Snow.

"I guess I know the reason," came from a student named Dale Blackmore.

"What is it?"[Pg 3]

"I'll tell you later—too much of a crowd here," rejoined Dale.

About twenty cadets, all bound for Putnam Hall Military Academy, had arrived on the boat from Ithaca, and these, along with some others who had come down to the dock to see the boat come in, gathered around Jack Ruddy and Reff Ritter to see the outcome of the unexpected encounter.

Jack Ruddy had good cause to consider Reff Ritter his enemy. But he had hoped that during the term now opening at the school the bully of Putnam Hall would keep his distance.

"I am not trying to dictate to you, Ritter," answered Jack, as calmly as he could. "But I don't propose to let you hit me with your suitcase."

"Huh! It was an accident!" growled Reff.

"Oh, come on, Reff!" put in Gus Coulter, the bully's close crony. "Let us get good seats in the carryall."

"That's the talk! Let us get in before the others take the seats!" came from Nick Paxton, another crony.

He pushed ahead, and his elbow caught Pepper Ditmore directly in the ribs.

"Not quite so swift, Paxton!" cried Pepper, and he gave the cadet a quick shove backwards. Pax[Pg 4]ton bumped into Reff Ritter, lost his footing, and fell over the dress-suit case in the bully's hand.

"Hurrah! One down!" cried Andy Snow. "How many yards to gain for a touchdown, Nick?"

"What do you mean by knocking me down!" roared Nick Paxton, as he scrambled to his feet. "I'll not stand for it."

"Then sit down again," answered Pepper, merrily. "And next time keep your elbow out of my ribs," he added. "Come on, we don't want to get left!" he added to his chums.

A bolt was made by many of the cadets for the Putnam Hall carryall, and soon a crowd was inside and on the front seat, talking, joking and cheering, as suited the mood of each individual. Jack, Pepper, Andy and Dale managed to crowd inside throwing their suitcases on the top. Gus Coulter got in also, but when he saw that Reff Ritter and Nick Paxton had been left, he scrambled out again, and his place was taken by Fred Century, another student.

"Hello, Peleg, old sport!" cried Pepper, gaily, to the driver of the turnout. "How have you been for the past fifty years?"

"Oh, I'm very well, thank you," responded Peleg Snuggers.

"Heard you had a fortune left to you," went on[Pg 5] Pepper, with a wink at his chums. "Old uncle died and left you half a million."

"Three-quarters of a million," put in Andy Snow, scenting fun. "All in gold, too."

"Isn't that fine!" said Jack. "Peleg, how about lending me ten or fifteen dollars?"

"I could use a five-spot myself," added Dale.

"I'd like to borrow about fifty for a new bicycle," came from Fred Century.

"Don't be modest about lending us the cash," went on Pepper. "Just hand it out as if you had always had it."

"I ain't had no fortune left to me!" burst out the general utility man, desperately. "Who said I had?"

"Why, everybody knows it, Peleg," responded Pepper. "Come, don't be modest about it. Was it really three-quarters of a million?"

"Maybe it was more," suggested Jack.

"If I were you, Peleg, I'd not carry so much around in my pockets," said Dale.

"I ain't had a cent left to me!" shouted the driver of the carryall. "This is some of your jokes, an' I want you to stop it! Oh, dear, now the school's opened ag'in I suppose there won't be no rest fer nobuddy!" And he heaved a mountainous sigh.

"Oh, Peleg! Don't be angry with me!" mur[Pg 6]mured Pepper, with a trace of tears in his voice. "If you get angry I'll die!"

"You behave yourself, Pepper Ditmore, or I won't drive you to the Hall."

"Peleg, don't you want me to drive?" asked Andy, who was on the front seat. "I'm a cracker-jack at driving."

"Not much! Don't you tech them hosses!" shouted the general utility man in alarm. "That off hoss is a new one an' he's mighty skittish, I can tell you. This mornin' when I was hookin' him up he nigh kicked the leg off o' me!"

"Say, how are we going to get to the Hall?" came in ugly tones from Reff Ritter. He, with six other boys, was standing beside the carryall.

"Captain Putnam said he'd send down some carriages," answered Peleg Snuggers. "There they come now," and he pointed to the turnouts.

"Pshaw! I wanted to go in the carryall," grumbled Ritter.

"So did I," added Gus Coulter.

"Well, this is full, so you'll have to take the carriages," answered Peleg Snuggers. "Everybody hold fast!" he shouted, as he took up the reins.

"We are off!" shouted Pepper, gaily. "Farewell to Cedarville and ho! for Putnam Hall!"[Pg 7]

"Wish I had room, I'd turn a handspring for you," came from Andy, who was quite an acrobat.

"Now don't you cut up any monkey-shines," pleaded the driver of the carryall. "That new hoss won't stand for 'em."

"All right, Peleg, I'll keep as quiet as a lamb without a tail."

"Why is a lamb without a tail quiet?" asked Fred Century, quickly.

"Give it up, Fred. Why?"

"Because he has no tale to tell."

"Wow!"

"What a joke!"

"Throw him out!"

"Give him some cotton to eat!"

"Say, do keep quiet!" pleaded Peleg Snuggers, as the boys in the carryall commenced to push Fred from one seat to another. "Want these hosses to ran away with you?"

"Better draw it mild," suggested Major Jack. "We don't want any accident on the way to the Hall." He looked back at the crowd left on the dock. "Has anybody seen Bert Field?" he asked.

"Yes, I saw him last week," answered a student named Paul Singleton. "He'll be here to-morrow."

"How about Emerald?" asked Pepper.

"Coming to-night," answered Andy. "He went [Pg 8]to Ireland this summer, and his brogue is worse than ever."

"Never mind, Emerald is a good fellow," said Major Jack. "His heart is as big as a barrel."

"Say, but wasn't Reff Ritter mad!" came from Dale.

"Oh, he makes me tired," answered Pepper. "After all that happened last term wouldn't you think he'd behave himself better?"

"It isn't in him to behave himself," answered Fred Century. "He is a bully and always will be."

"Well, he has got to keep his distance this term," said Major Jack, with a firm look on his face. "I am not going to stand for what I have in the past."

"Nor I," added Pepper. "If he doesn't keep his distance he'll suffer for it."

The carryall was now leaving the little village of Cedarville. Soon it came out on a country road that ran in the direction of Putnam Hall.

It was an ideal day in early September, and the cadets returning to the school were in high spirits. One started to sing and the others joined in.

"Hello, there goes the Pornell Academy stage!" cried Pepper, presently.

"And there are some fellows we know!" returned Jack, as the turnout belonging to a rival school came closer. "Roy Bock and Bat Sedley."[Pg 9]

"I'll bet they are sore over what happened last June," cried Pepper.

"It was their own fault that they suffered," came from Andy.

"Look out!" sang out Dale, and dodged down in the carryall.

Spat! A half-decayed apple struck the side of the turnout. Spat! came one through the open window. Then the skin of a banana followed, landing in Jack's lap.

"Stop that, Bock!"

"Don't throw things in here, Sedley!"

"Something to remember us by!" shouted Roy Bock, the bully of Pornell Academy, and he threw another soft apple into the carryall. It landed on Pepper's arm, leaving quite a mess there.

"All right, if that's your game!" cried Pepper, and feeling in his pocket he brought forth an orange he had purchased on the boat. Taking careful aim, he let fly with all force. The orange landed fairly and squarely on Roy Bock's nose.

"Ouch!" roared Roy Bock, and clapped his hand to his nose, which began to bleed.

"Here's something for you, Sedley!" cried Andy, and sent a handful of peanut shells into the Pornell student's face.

"I'll fix you fellows!" roared Roy Bock in a rage, and catching up a heavy book that was on [Pg 10]the seat beside him he started to throw the volume at Jack and Pepper.

But the volume slipped and went sailing in the air in another direction, catching poor Peleg Snuggers on the cheek. The driver of the carryall was so startled that he let go the reins and fell from his seat into the dust of the road.

As the reins dropped at their heels, one of the horses—the new one—threw up his head in sudden fright. Then he made a mad lunge forward, dragging his mate with him. The carryall gave a lurch and a bound that sent the occupants flying into each other's laps.

"Stop the team!" was the cry.

"The horses are running away!"[Pg 11]

CHAPTER II

THE CADETS OF PUTNAM HALL

It was true, the team was running away. One of the horses was a spirited animal and he now had the bit in his teeth. The boys in the rear of the turnout looked back, to see Peleg Snuggers still lying in the highway. The stage belonging to Pornell Academy had turned down a side road.

"Can't you stop them, Andy?" asked Jack Ruddy.

"I don't see how," was the answer from the youth on the front seat. "I can't get hold of the lines."

"We must stop 'em somehow!" cried Fred Century. "Otherwise we'll have a smash-up, sure!"

"Whoa! whoa!" yelled half a dozen, but these cries only served to scare the team more, and away they shot along the country road, sending the carryall swaying from side to side.

"Look! look!" yelled Andy, suddenly. "The regular road is shut off! They are repairing it!"[Pg 12]

The boys gazed ahead and saw that some wooden horses and planking had been placed across the highway. This side of the barrier some bars had been taken from a fence, so that those using the road might drive around, through an orchard belonging to a farmer named Darrison.

"We are going to strike those planks!" cried Dale Blackmore.

"Maybe the team will try to jump them!" came from Fred.

"If they do, they'll smash the carryall sure!" answered Pepper. "Perhaps we had better drop out at the rear."

"Look out!" sang out somebody, and just then the carryall left the highway and turned into the orchard. Then came a scraping, as the top of the turnout hit the low-hanging branches of some apple trees.

"Whoa! stop that wagon!" yelled a man's voice, and Amos Darrison appeared from among the trees. He made a leap for the team, but they swerved to one side. Then came a crash, as one of the wheels caught in a stump. Over went the carryall, with the boys in it. Andy, quick to act, used his acrobatic abilities by leaping into the branches of a nearby tree. Then the farmer caught the team and stopped them.[Pg 13]

"Anybody hurt?" was Pepper's question, as he crawled out of the wreck.

"I'm all right," answered Fred.

"I got a twisted ankle, that's all," came from Dale, as he limped out.

"Look at Jack!" cried several. "He's hurt!"

All looked and saw the young major of the school battalion lying flat on his back in the front of the carryall. He had a nasty cut on the temple and his eyes were closed.

"He is dead!" murmured Pepper, hoarsely.

"Oh, don't say that!" said Andy, in sudden terror. He had just dropped to the ground.

"If he ain't dead he's putty badly hurted," said the farmer who owned the orchard.

Pepper caught his chum in his arms and brought him out and laid him on the grass.

"He is still breathing!" he cried. "Get some water and we'll bathe his face. Maybe that will bring him around."

"I'll get the water!" exclaimed Dale, and ran towards a well located at the side of the orchard.

To those who have read the other volumes in this "Putnam Hall Series," the lads already mentioned will need no special introduction. For the benefit of others, let me state that Jack Ruddy and Pepper Ditmore were close chums, living, when at home, in the western part of New York[Pg 14] State. Jack was slightly the older of the two and was of rather a serious turn of mind. Pepper was full of fun, and on that account was frequently called "The Imp."

As related in my first volume, entitled "The Putnam Hall Cadets," the lads left home to become cadets at a new institution of learning located on Cayuga Lake. This new school was presided over by Captain Victor Putnam, a retired army officer, who had modeled his institution somewhat after the famous military academy at West Point. It was a large school, ideally located on the shore of the lake, and had attached to it a gymnasium, a boathouse, and several other buildings. On the lower floor of the main building were the classrooms, the mess-hall, and the offices, and upstairs were the dormitories.

Arriving at the school, Jack and Pepper soon made a host of friends, including the acrobatic Andy Snow; Dale Blackmore, who was a great football player; Paul Singleton, who was usually called "Stuffer" because of his constant desire to eat; Joseph Hogan, commonly addressed as "Emerald" because of his Irish blood, and Joe Nelson, who was one of the best scholars the school ever had. They also made some enemies, the greatest of them being Reff Ritter, the big bully, and Gus Coulter and Nick Paxton, his cronies.[Pg 15]

Not long after the students learned how to drill and to march they were allowed to ballot for officers. A bitter contest was waged, which resulted in Jack being chosen major of the Hall battalion. A bully named Dan Baxter had wanted to be major, and he bribed Gus Coulter and some others to vote for him, but without avail. It may be added here that Baxter was now away on a vacation, but had written that he was going to return to the school before long.

During their first term at Putnam Hall the chums had several adventures, not the least of which was one in the woods, where they rescued George Strong, one of the teachers, from two of his relatives who were insane.

Mr. Strong's ancestry dated back to the Revolution, and he told the cadets about a family treasure buried in the vicinity of the lake. How the boys went in search of the treasure, and how they had numerous other adventures, was related in the second volume of this series, called "The Putnam Hall Rivals."

With the coming of the next summer, the thoughts of the students turned to various sports, and in the third volume, "The Putnam Hall Champions," I told how the chums entered several contests, both on land and on the lake, and won out. At that time Fred Century was a pupil at[Pg 16] Pornell Academy, but Fred became so disgusted at the actions of Roy Bock, Bat Sedley, and some others, that he quit the rival institution of learning and came to Putnam Hall, where he was given a warm welcome.

The encounters that Jack and his chums had with Reff Ritter and his cronies were numerous, and more than once Ritter did his best to get the young major into serious trouble. Once he drugged Jack with some French headache powders, and when he was exposed Captain Putnam would have expelled him had not Jack very generously asked that he be given another chance. For this any ordinary youth would have been grateful, but gratitude did not appear to be a part of Reff Ritter's make-up, and he soon showed himself to be as mean as ever.

For some time matters ran along smoothly at Putnam Hall, but then came trouble of an entirely new kind. Once, during the absence of Captain Putnam and George Strong, the school was left in charge of two other teachers—Josiah Crabtree and Pluxton Cuddle. Crabtree was dictatorial to a degree and Cuddle was a man of queer ideas, one being that boys ate entirely too much.

As told in the volume called "The Putnam Rebellion," the two teachers sought to subdue the boys by starving them and locking them in their [Pg 17]dormitories. They rebelled, left the school by stealth, and marched away, to camp in the woods. There the rebels split up, one party under Major Jack and the other under Ritter. At last Captain Putnam put in an appearance, and Major Jack explained matters. As a consequence, the cadets went back to the Hall, and then Josiah Crabtree and Pluxton were called on to explain. Crabtree was retained, after a stern lecture from the master of the school, but Cuddle was discharged.