Stratemeyer Edward
The Putnam Hall Rivals

CHAPTER X
FROM CELLAR TO ATTIC

For the moment after Josiah Crabtree made this declaration Jack and Pepper were so amazed that they could not speak. They stared at the teacher as if they had not heard aright.

“Do you mean to say you found such things in our trunks and lockers?” asked the young major, at last.

“I certainly do, Ruddy.”

“It’s a – a trick!” burst out Pepper. “A mean, rascally trick!”

“No, there was no trick about it,” answered Josiah Crabtree.

“But, Mr. Crabtree, there must be some mistake,” faltered Jack. “I do not drink or smoke or play cards, and neither does Pepper. Surely you have made a mistake.”

“No mistake about it, I tell you. I found the things as plain as day, and Captain Putnam saw them too. You had the things hidden pretty well, but our search was thorough. After the fire I suspected you at once, for I saw the evidence of smoking and drinking around the burnt building. You may as well confess. It will do no good to put on an innocent front.”

“Mr. Crabtree, will you listen to me?” asked Pepper, half desperately.

“If you wish to confess, yes.”

“I have nothing to confess.”

“Then I do not care to listen. You are a pair of bad boys, and in the absence of Captain Putnam I am bound to make an example of you.”

“If Captain Putnam was here he would listen to us,” said Jack.

“I am capable of taking charge of this affair,” answered the teacher, coldly. A little brief authority always made him strong-headed.

“I repeat, I am guilty of no wrongdoing,” said Jack, simply. “There is some mistake somewhere.”

“And I am innocent, too,” added Pepper.

“After this, I want you two boys to behave yourselves,” resumed Josiah Crabtree. “If you don’t – ”

“What then?” asked Jack.

“I’ll make you.”

“We don’t want to stay here,” said Pepper. “It’s a beastly place and we’ll catch our death of cold.”

“You shall stay here.”

“I protest!” cried Jack.

“Ruddy, it will do no good, I tell you. And let me tell you something more. Your conduct is unworthy of an officer. After this, you shall be a private, nothing more.”

“You are going to take my majorship away from me!” gasped Jack.

“Yes.”

The boy’s heart sank within him. This was the unkindest cut of all.

“It’s dirt mean!” cried Pepper. “Jack, for two pins I’d write home about this.”

“Yes, and leave Putnam Hall,” added the deposed major.

“You two boys will behave yourselves!” roared Josiah Crabtree. “If you make any more trouble I’ll show you a thing or two!”

With this the teacher went out, banging and locking the door behind him.

Jack and Pepper felt hurt and angry. They had done nothing wrong, and did not consider that they were being treated fairly.

The forenoon dragged by slowly and both boys were chilled. Growing desperate, Pepper began to hammer on the door again and his chum followed suit.

For fully quarter of an hour nobody paid attention to the noise, and they were on the point of stopping the racket when Josiah Crabtree again appeared, followed by Peleg Snuggers and another man, who did occasional jobs around Putnam Hall.

“Hold out your hands,” said the teacher, grimly; and almost before they knew it, Jack and Pepper were handcuffed. Then the teacher slipped the key of the handcuffs into his pocket.

“This, is a high-handed proceeding,” said Jack.

“I believe you objected to the cold,” said the teacher, ignoring the remark.

“We did – I am half frozen,” answered Pepper.

“Then come, and I’ll provide you with a warmer place,” was the answer.

It would have been useless to resist in the presence of the three men, and so the boys marched out of the storeroom and along the hallway. Soon they came to a cellar door.

“Are you going to put us down in the cellar?” cried Jack.

“March, and do not ask any more questions,” said Josiah Crabtree.

The boys tried to argue, but the assistant teacher would not listen. Down into the cellar went the party and walked along until they came to a square stone room that was built close to one of the big heaters.

“You won’t freeze here,” said the teacher, and shoved them inside. “Now, if you make any more noise, you shall not have a mouthful of dinner.”

Again the door was closed and locked on the two unfortunates. They heard the others hurry away, and faced each other in the gloom.

“This is the worst yet,” said Pepper. “It’s a regular dungeon cell!”

“It is an outrage and I shall not stand for it,” was his chum’s comment. “Phew! how hot it is! That furnace is a regular bake-oven!”

“First he freezes us and then he bakes us,” muttered Pepper. “Oh, but he is a hard-hearted wretch!”

“Here is something to make you feel better,” said Jack, when he felt certain nobody was watching them. “Hold out your hands, Pep.”

The Imp did so and Jack commenced to feel of the lock of the handcuffs. Soon Pepper was at liberty.

“However did you do it, Jack?” he questioned.

“I watched my chance and took the key from old Crabby’s pocket.”

“Good for you!”

“Now unfasten my bracelets, will you?”

“Certainly.”

With their hands at liberty, the boys felt a trifle better. But the semi-darkness and the heat did not suit them at all. Besides this, the hot stone room was full of a dry dust that set them to coughing.

“I’d like to put old Crabtree in this place,” muttered Jack.

“I wonder if we can’t get out, Jack?”

“What good will it do?”

“A lot of good. We can remain out of Crabtree’s reach until Captain Putnam gets back. Then we can demand a hearing.”

“I don’t see how you are going to get out.”

“Have you got a match?”

“Nary a one.”

“Let us explore in the dark then. Start at the door. I’ll go to the right and you can go to the left.”

This was done, and they went over the stone walls with care. Nothing in the way of an opening presented itself.

“Now let us try the flooring above,” said Pepper.

“How can we reach it?”

There was a bench in the room, and they turned this up on one end. Then Pepper boosted his chum to the top. Jack felt around with care.

“Here’s a crack in the floor,” said he, presently. “Hullo!”

“What’s up now?” queried the Imp.

“I saw a streak of light and then it suddenly disappeared. I think – There it is again!”

Jack turned his eye upward, and now Pepper saw the light also. It lasted about half a minute and then disappeared, and the boys heard the slamming of a door.

“I know what it is now,” said Jack. “The flooring above is that of some storeroom or closet. Somebody opened the door, letting in some light. Then the door was closed again.”

“Maybe we can get up into the room or closet. Are any of the boards loose?”

“I’ll try them and find out.”

Jack began to press upward and soon found a board that was loose at one end. He worked at it and soon had an opening large enough to admit the passage of his body.

“Give me your hand,” he whispered to Pepper. “Don’t make any noise.”

Soon the Imp was standing beside his chum on the upturned end of the bench. Then both crawled through the opening above. As Pepper followed Jack the bench fell over with a crash.

“Quick, put the board down! Somebody may come!” ejaculated Jack, and they replaced the flooring of the closet in which they now found themselves. It was partly filled with clothing for outdoor wear, and also held rubbers, rubber boots, and umbrellas.

The cadets waited, and as nobody came they gradually breathed more freely. They tried the door to the closet, to find it unlocked.

“Well, what’s the next move?” asked Pepper, after a pause.

“We’ll have to get out of this, that’s certain,” answered Jack.

They tiptoed their way out of the closet and found themselves in the main hallway of the academy. Then they ran up the front stairs and into their dormitory.

“I wish I knew when Captain Putnam will get back,” observed Jack, after they had looked around, to find the sleeping quarters empty.

Below they could hear the students returning to their classrooms, having had their midday meal.

“We’ve lost our dinners, that’s certain,” said Pepper, with a sigh. “If only we had some of Dan Baxter’s stuff here now, it wouldn’t go half bad, eh?”

“Do you know what I think, Pep?”

“Well?”

“I think Dan Baxter put up a job on us.”

“About that liquor, cigarettes, and cards?”

“Yes.”

“Would he be mean enough to do it?”

“I think so. Remember, he was terribly angry over that feast affair.”

“Oh, I know that. If he put up a job on us I’d like to prove it.”

“That may be a hard thing to do. No doubt he covered up his tracks well.”

The boys remained in the dormitory for some time and then stole to the rear of the Hall and down a back stairs. This brought them close to the kitchen.

“If we could only get into the pantry,” whispered Pepper. “I am going to try it!” he added, with sudden determination.

“I am with you,” answered his chum.

Watching their chance, they crossed the kitchen and entered the pantry, on the shelves of which rested a variety of good things. There was a basket handy, and into it they put such things as they desired. Some maids came into the kitchen, but then went back to the mess-hall, in one corner of which they were now having their own dinner.

“Now is our chance!” cried Jack, softly, and once more they crossed the kitchen and made for the stairs. In a few minutes they were on the upper floor, and there they almost ran straight into Dale Blackmore.

“Hullo!” cried Dale, staring as if he saw two ghosts. “I thought you were prisoners.”

“We were, but we escaped,” explained Jack. “You won’t tell on us, will you, Dale?”

“Me tell on you?” said the other cadet, reproachfully. “Not by a jugful!”

“Do you know when Captain Putnam is coming back?”

“Not until to-morrow morning, so I heard.”

Pepper and Jack looked at each other.

“What shall we do next?” asked Pepper.

“Let us stay in hiding until the captain gets back.”

So it was decided, and Dale told them of a vacant room on the top floor where they might make themselves comfortable in the meantime.

“It’s got a bed in it and all,” said he. “You can lock yourselves in and I’ll keep you posted.”

They talked the matter over a few minutes and then went to the room. It contained no heater, but the main chimney of the Hall was at one end, making it fairly comfortable. From a window they could get a view of the road leading to Cedarville.

“Make yourselves at home,” said Dale, on departing. “I’ll try to keep you posted.”

CHAPTER XI
JOSIAH CRABTREE’S TROUBLES

There was a key in the lock of the door, and the two cadets locked themselves in. Then they proceeded to unpack the basket of good things, and sitting on the edge of the bed, began to satisfy their hunger.

“This certainly beats the cellar,” said Jack, munching some cold roast beef and a biscuit.

“Yes, and we can keep our eyes on the road below,” answered his chum. “If the captain comes I believe in reporting to him at once.”

“So do I.”

As they had nothing else to do, they took their time eating, and then placed what was left to one side, for supper and a possible breakfast. Then Pepper strolled to the window and gazed down on the campus below.

“Well, I never!” he cried.

“What’s up now?”

“There are Crabtree and Snuggers looking all around the place! I’ll wager a bun to a bakery that they think we have run away from the Hall!”

Jack looked out also, and both boys saw the teacher and the general-utility man walk all around the campus and then disappear in the direction of the gymnasium.

“I hope they have a good time looking for us,” observed Pepper, with a broad grin.

“Maybe they’ll come up here next.”

“If they do we’ll have to lay low.”

Nearly an hour passed, and then they heard footsteps in the hall outside. Instantly both became quiet as mice.

“They don’t seem to be around here,” they heard Peleg Snuggers remark.

“Let us look in all the rooms,” answered Josiah Crabtree.

The boys almost held their breath as they heard the door tried.

“This is locked up,” said Snuggers.

“Let me see,” answered the assistant teacher, and they heard his hand upon the knob. “Have you a key, Snuggers?”

“No, sir.”

There was a brief pause.

“Boys, are you in there?” called out Josiah Crabtree. “If you are, answer me.”

A deathlike silence followed. Jack and Pepper scarcely dared to breathe.

“They couldn’t git up here nohow, Mr. Crabtree,” said the general-utility man. “Somebody would be sure to see ’em.”

“I don’t know about that. Boys that will crawl through the flooring of a closet will do almost anything,” grumbled the teacher. “Who has the key to this room?”

“Most likely Mrs. Green.”

Mrs. Green was the matron of the Hall, she having charge of all the female help and also doing a great deal for the small boys in the institution. At the mention of her name the hearts of the cadets sank.

“Mr. Crabtree!” called a voice, from the floor below.

“What is it?” returned the assistant teacher.

“You are wanted in the office, sir – a gentleman to see you.”

“Who is it?”

“Gave the name of Simon – Andrew Simon.”

“Really! My old friend Simon!” murmured the teacher. “Snuggers, I will go below at once. We can continue this search at another time.” And down the stairs went Josiah Crabtree and the general-utility man after him.

“Phew! but that was a narrow escape,” murmured Jack. “If they had gotten in here our cake would have been dough.”

After that the boys found the time hanging heavily on their hands. They talked the situation over in a low tone, but could reach no satisfactory conclusion.

Presently it grew darker and began to rain, the storm keeping up far into the night. This made a noise on the roof, so they could talk with but little danger of being heard.

At supper-time they partook of some more of the eatables in the basket and then prepared to make themselves comfortable for the night. They were resting on the bed when they heard a low whistle at the door.

“Hullo!” came in Andy’s voice.

They unlocked the door, and there stood Andy and Stuffer, each with some supper done up in a napkin. Andy also had a candle and some matches. Dale had told them where to come.

“Had a time getting this here,” said Stuffer, after the candle had been lit.

“Old Crabtree is nearly crazy, thinking you have run away from the Hall,” said Andy. “He and Snuggers have been hunting all over for you. They even sent word to Cedarville.”

“Well, let Crabby worry – he deserves it,” grumbled Pepper. “Say, it’s mighty good of you to bring this,” he continued.

“Here are a couple of new magazines, too,” said Stuffer, handing them over. “I got them from the library. They’ll help you to pass away the time.”

Andy and Stuffer did not dare to remain upstairs long, and soon left, and then the door was locked as before and Jack hung his handkerchief over the keyhole. The curtain to the window was drawn down tightly, so that the candlelight might not be seen by anybody outside.

Several hours went by and the academy became quiet. Both boys had read for awhile and also taken several naps. Then Pepper started up.

“Jack, I’ve an idea!”

“What now, Pep?”

“Let us go downstairs after old Crabby is to bed and play some trick on him.”

“That would be all right – if we didn’t get caught. But if he catches us it will go so much harder with us when it comes to a settlement.”

“I don’t care,” said the Imp, recklessly. “We may as well be hung for sheep as lambs.”

They talked the matter over, and at last concluded to go below. The candle was extinguished and the door opened with care. They crawled cautiously to the top of the stairs and looked down.

“Everybody is in bed by this time,” whispered Pepper.

They waited a little, to make certain. Then they crept down and made their way to the door of the apartment which the assistant teacher occupied.

“He’s asleep and snoring,” said Jack, and told the truth.

They tried the door and found it unlocked. With extreme care they entered the room. A dim light was burning in a corner of the apartment, casting shadows in all directions. Covered up on the bed lay Josiah Crabtree, flat on his back and with a nightcap on his head.

Their first move was to transfer the key of the door from the inside to the outside. This done, Pepper got a washbowl of cold water and placed it on the floor beside the bed. Then they took several of the chairs and placed them on the floor sideways, and put down several piles of books near by.

“Now open the window wide,” whispered Pepper. “But be careful or he may wake up.”

The window was opened top and bottom.

“All ready, Jack?”

“Yes.” And the light was put out.

“Then together – quick!”

The boys stood at the foot of the bed. Each took a firm hold of the numerous coverings and gave them a sharp jerk. Off they came, and in a twinkling the lads made for the door, taking the blankets and spread with them. They locked the door from the outside and scooted for the next floor, throwing the things they carried in a corner out of sight.

Josiah Crabtree awoke with a start and uttered a low cry of alarm.

“Hi – er – what does this mean?” he cried, and sat bolt upright. “Where are the covers? Help! Thieves! Robbers!”

He leaped out of bed and down into the cold water went his left foot. He gave a yell of fright and the next instant stumbled over one of the chairs and went headlong among the piles of books. As he was only half awake he was more alarmed than ever.

“Help! Something is wrong here! Thieves! Robbers!” he bawled. “What does this mean! Oh! oh!”

He tried to get up, and fell over a second chair. Then he bumped into a stand and brought down some more books and some photographs. He yelled louder than ever, and finally reaching the door, tried to open it.

“Open the door! Who locked me in? Wake up, somebody! They must be robbing the house! Thieves! Robbers! Help!”

His cries rang out through the Hall, and, soon George Strong and many others, including cadets, were awakened.

“Mr. Crabtree, what is the matter?” asked George Strong, coming to the door, clad in a dressing-gown and carrying a pistol.

“Let me out! There is a – er – I don’t know what is going on! Let me out!”

“There is no key here.”

“My key is also gone. Somebody has locked me in. They – er – a – oh!” And in moving around Josiah Crabtree stumbled again and sat down on the sharp edge of a chair. “This is – er – outrageous!”

By this time George Strong had brought out a bunch of keys. One fitted the lock, and the door was speedily opened. There stood the confused teacher, trembling in every limb.

“Where are they?” he panted.

“Who?”

“The – er – the robbers who visited my room.”

“I have seen no robbers, Mr. Crabtree. What did they steal?”

“Took my bedclothes, for one thing,” growled the assistant teacher. He was recovering somewhat from his fright. “Wait till I make a light.”

He managed to find a match, but not before he had hit his toe on a pile of books and bumped into one of the chairs again. Then the light was lit and Josiah Crabtree put on his bath-robe.

“Look there, and there, and there!” he snarled, pointing to the coverless bed, the washbowl on the floor, and the overturned chairs and other disarranged things. “Doesn’t that look like burglars, – or – something, Mr. Strong?”

“I am afraid some of the students have been playing a trick on you,” said the second assistant teacher, with a faint smile showing on his face.

“A trick?” gasped Josiah Crabtree.

“Where’s the robber!” cried Andy, coming up and realizing at once what had occurred. “Let me catch him!”

“That’s right, catch him by all means,” put in Dale.

“Maybe he tried to murder poor Mr. Crabtree,” put in Stuffer.

“Sure, Mr. Crabtree, did he hurt yez very much?” asked Emerald, with mock sympathy.

“I wonder if there really was a burglar?” said Dan Baxter, coming to the scene.

“Oh, I hope not!” cried Mumps, and the toady began to shiver from fright.

“There he is, Mumps,” said Andy, coming close. “He’s aiming a pistol at you!” and the acrobatic youth pointed down the semi-dark hallway.

“Don’t shoot!” screamed Mumps. “Please don’t shoot me!” And he caught hold of Dan Baxter for protection.

“Let go,” said the bully. “He’s only fooling you. I don’t think there is any burglar.”

“Oh, dear! I wish we were sure,” whined Mumps.

CHAPTER XII
FACING THE MUSIC

“This is outrageous!” stormed Josiah Crabtree.

“It is certainly too bad,” commented George Strong.

“If some of the students played this trick on me they should be – be hung for it!”

“Oh, not quite as bad as that, Mr. Crabtree.”

“It is as bad – it’s worse!” stormed the unreasonable teacher. “I am not going to permit it.”

To this the second assistant teacher said nothing.

“Boys, who did this?” demanded Josiah Crabtree, eyeing the assembled crowd with great severity. “Answer me at once.”

“Didn’t you say it was a burglar?” asked Andy, meekly.

“I thought he called out thieves,” came from Stuffer.

“I – er – I may have done that, but I am now satisfied somebody has been playing tricks,” said Josiah Crabtree. “I intend to discover the offender and punish him severely.”

“Mr. Crabtree, I didn’t do it, I assure you,” piped in Mumps.

“No, Mumpsy dear wouldn’t do such a wicked thing,” came from a student in the rear, and this caused a snicker.

“I demand to know what has been done with the bedclothing,” resumed the irate teacher.

“Hullo, who has Mr. Crabtree’s bedclothes?” sang out Andy. “Come, don’t all speak at once.”

“Here you are!” cried Hogan, and threw the bundle at Andy’s head.

“Where were they?” cried Josiah Crabtree.

“Right here, in the corner,” answered the Irish cadet. “Sure it’s a queer happening entirely, so it is,” he added, soberly, but with a twinkle in his merry eyes.

Try his best Josiah Crabtree could not learn who had been guilty of disturbing him, and at last ordered the cadets to retire. Then he straightened out his room and went to bed again, this time making certain to lock the door and placing a chair against it.

From the upper landing Jack and Pepper saw and heard something of what went on and laughed heartily. Then they too retired, and slept soundly until the morning bell awoke them.

“Well, we haven’t got to hurry, that’s one comfort,” observed the Imp, as he proceeded to dress leisurely. “Jack, our time’s our own.”

“Yes, but we must be ready to go to Captain Putnam as soon as he arrives,” was the answer. “We want him to understand that we are willing to submit to what he does, but not to Crabtree’s harshness.”

They heard the cadets march to the mess-hall for breakfast. A little later a carriage came along the road towards the Hall.

“There is the captain now!” cried Jack, who was on the watch.

“Let us go down and present ourselves as soon as possible – before Crabtree can tell his story,” said Pepper.

Disposing of the basket and what was left of the eating, they stole downstairs and then to the front of the Hall. They were just in time to see Captain Putnam walk towards his office. Beside him was Josiah Crabtree.

“Ran away!” the master of the academy was saying. “You are sure of this?”

“I am, sir,” answered the assistant teacher. “We hunted everywhere for them.”

“What made them do it?”

“They got scared, I imagine.”

“You did not mistreat them in any way, Mr. Crabtree?”

“No! no! On the contrary, I think I used them too good.”

“Oh, listen to that!” whispered Pepper. “What an old fraud he is!”

“Well, I will listen to the story in detail after the school has been opened,” said Captain Putnam, after a pause, and then he entered his office, while Josiah Crabtree passed on to one of the classrooms.

“Now come on, Pep,” said Jack. “Let us put on a bold front and face the music.”

“I’m with you.”

They marched down the stairs and knocked on the door of the office. There was a rustling of papers, and then the voice of Captain Putnam bade them enter.

The master of the Hall was looking over a mass of legal documents. He stared at the boys in considerable astonishment.

“Why, I understood you two students had run away!” he exclaimed.

“No, sir, we did not run away, Captain Putnam,” answered Jack. “We have not been outside of this building.”

“Then where have you been?”

“In one of the vacant rooms at the top, sir,” answered Pepper.

“What made you hide away there?” And the voice of the master of the Hall grew stern.

“We got away and hid because we did not like the way Mr. Crabtree treated us,” said Jack. “At first we were put in a room where we were nearly frozen, and then he put us down in the cellar, close to the big furnace, and nearly baked us.”

“We didn’t come here to be put in the cellar,” put in Pepper. “Especially when we have done no wrong.”

“So you were put in the cellar? I did not know that,” and now the captain’s face softened a little.

“Captain Putnam, I think we are not being treated fairly,” said Jack, earnestly. “We have done no wrong, and is it right to condemn us without a hearing?”

“I expect to listen to your story, Ruddy, and I will also listen to what Ditmore has to say.”

“Will you listen now?”

“I will be at leisure in an hour. You may come to this office then. Have you had breakfast?”

“We had a little,” and Pepper smiled faintly as he answered the question.

“Then go to the mess-room and get the meal. If you see Mr. Crabtree tell him that I said you were to report to me.”

“We will,” answered both cadets, and left a moment later.

“I think we’ll come out all right,” said Jack, on the way to the dining-room. “I don’t think he’ll stand for Crabtree’s putting us down in the cellar.”

“I reckon that’s our strong point.”

Inside of an hour after the boys left the office Josiah Crabtree came in and sat down.

“Now I will listen to what you have to say about Ruddy and Ditmore,” said the master of the Hall.

Josiah Crabtree told his tale, with many exaggerations. According to what he said, Jack and Pepper acted in a most vicious manner.

“They are natural-born young rascals,” said the assistant teacher. “If we can locate them, we must make examples of them, Captain Putnam.”

“Perhaps they are not so bad as you think, Mr. Crabtree.”

“They are every bit as bad – maybe worse. They ran away because they were afraid to face the consequences of their misdoings.”

“But they did not run away.”

“Wha – er – what?”

“They did not run away.”

At this announcement the jaw of the assistant instructor dropped.

“If they didn’t run away where are they?”

At that moment came another knock on the office door.

“Come in,” said the captain, and Jack entered, followed by Pepper.

“Well, I never!” murmured Josiah Crabtree. “Where did you come from, you young villains!”

“Gently, Mr. Crabtree,” interposed the captain.

“Mr. Crabtree, I am not a villain and I don’t want you or anybody else to call me one,” said Jack, hotly.

“Ha! don’t talk to me!” spluttered the assistant teacher.

“Mr. Crabtree, I will examine the two young gentlemen in private,” said Captain Putnam, decisively. “I will thank you to take charge of the classes for the present. I will send word when I wish to see you again.”

This was a strong hint that he was not wanted, and with rather bad grace the assistant teacher retired.

“Now, Ruddy, tell me your story,” went on Captain Putnam. “Tell me the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth.”

“I will, sir,” answered Jack; and in a plain, straightforward manner told how Pepper had come to him with the strange note, and how they had hurried down to the old boathouse. Then he related how they had seen the fire start up and found themselves locked in, and how they had gotten out and given the alarm.

“We saw those cigarette butts there once before, and also an empty liquor bottle,” he added. “But I do not remember that we saw any playing-cards.”

“Have you anything to add to this story?” asked the captain of Pepper.

“No, sir, excepting to say that Jack has told the exact truth, Captain Putnam. We had nothing to do with the fire and nothing to do with the cigarettes or drink.”

“What about the cigarettes, cards, and liquor that were found in your belongings?”

“If they were found there, they were put there by somebody who wanted to do us harm.”

“Most likely the same party who got Pepper to go to the boathouse with me,” added Jack.

“Have you any idea who that party can be?”

“Yes, sir, but I should not like to speak of that,” answered Jack, firmly.