The Mystery at Putnam Hall Part 2

"h.e.l.lo, there goes the p.o.r.nell 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."

"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 p.o.r.nell 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 sh.e.l.ls into the p.o.r.nell student's face.

"I'll fix you fellows!" roared Roy Bock in a rage, and catching up a heavy book that was on 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!"

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 p.o.r.nell 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!"

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 sc.r.a.ping, 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.

"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, hoa.r.s.ely.

"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 gra.s.s.

"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 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, ent.i.tled "The Putnam Hall Cadets," the lads left home to become cadets at a new inst.i.tution of learning located on Cayuga Lake. This new school was presided over by Captain Victor Putnam, a retired army officer, who had modeled his inst.i.tution somewhat after the famous military academy at West Point. It was a large school, ideally located on the sh.o.r.e 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 cla.s.srooms, 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.

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.