Читать книгу The Putnam Hall Rebellion - Stratemeyer Edward - Страница 2

“Boys, we are to have target practice to-morrow.”

“Good!” cried Pepper Ditmore. “That suits me exactly. Just wait, Jack, and see me make half a dozen bull’s-eyes, handrunning.”

“Why don’t you make it a dozen, Pep, while you are at it?” answered Major Jack Ruddy, with a smile.

“If Pep makes one bull’s-eye he will be lucky,” came from another of the cadets gathered on the Putnam Hall campus. “The last time we had practice, instead of hitting the target he almost killed a cow in the next field.”

“Hold on, Andy Snow!” cried Pepper. “I shot straight enough, but the wind blew so hard it sent the bullet the wrong way. Now if – ”

“What a pity the wind didn’t shift the target to meet the bullet,” cried Paul Singleton. “Now when I shoot – ”

“You’re too fat to shoot, Stuffer,” interrupted a youth who spoke with a strong Irish accent. “Sure, if you had to crawl up on the inimy, like in war, you’d tip over on your nose!” And at this sally from Joseph Hogan a laugh arose.

“I’d rather be fat than skinny,” retorted Paul, whose waist measurement exceeded that of any other cadet of the Hall.

“Where are we to do the practicing?” asked another boy, who was somewhat of a newcomer, having been a pupil at the Military Academy for less than a term.

“I understand we are to go to Rawling’s pasture, Fred,” answered Jack Ruddy. “Captain Putnam is going to make the test a very thorough one, too, for he says all of the students here ought to be first-class marksmen.”

“Well, I’d certainly like to know how to handle a rifle,” answered Fred Century. “I’ve used a shotgun, in the woods, but never a rifle. I’m afraid I’ll make a rather poor showing at first.”

“Many of the fellows will,” returned the young major. “It isn’t given to everybody to become a good shot, no matter how hard a fellow tries.”

While the others were talking, a big, broad-shouldered youth joined the gathering. He was Dale Blackmore, the captain of the Putnam Hall football team, and a general leader in all kinds of athletic sports.

“Talking about the rifle practice, eh,” said Dale. “I just heard the other fellows talking of it, too. One of ’em said he was going to show your crowd how to shoot,” and he nodded toward Jack Ruddy.

“Who was it?” questioned the young major.

“Reff Ritter.”

“Oh, that bully makes me tired!” cried Pepper Ditmore. “Every time anything is going on he tries to push himself to the front – and nobody wants him – at least I don’t want him.”

“Nor I,” came from Andy Snow and Paul Singleton.

“Sure, an’ I doubt if he’s any better shot nor Major Jack,” remarked Hogan.

“Not half as good, Emerald,” interposed Pepper quickly. “Jack’s a soldier through and through. If he wasn’t the fellows wouldn’t have elected him major.”

“Perhaps Reff Ritter is a good marksman,” said Jack. “He has made some fair scores and he may have been practicing up for this contest. Who was he talking to, Dale?”

“Oh, his usual crowd of hangers-on, Gus Coulter, Nick Paxton, Billy Sabine, and that bunch. Coulter thinks, too, that he can make a big score.”

“Well, I’ll bank on Jack – and on Bart Conners,” said Pepper. “Bart is a good shot and always was.”

“Say, here comes Reff Ritter now,” whispered Andy, as a youth with a somewhat sour-looking countenance put in an appearance. “Gus Coulter is with him.”

“Hello, Reff!” sang out one of the boys, Dave Kearney by name. “I hear you are going to wax us all at target practice to-morrow.”

“Who told you?” demanded Reff Ritter, coming to a halt.

“Oh, I heard it.”

“Yes, Reff and I are going to make star records,” came from Gus Coulter.

“Perhaps you think you can shoot better than Major Ruddy and Captain Conners?” questioned Andy Snow.

“We can,” came from Reff Ritter promptly. “When it comes to handling a rifle I don’t take a back seat for anybody.”

“Must have been practicing a tremendous lot lately,” was Pepper’s comment.

“Never mind what I’ve been doing,” growled Reff Ritter. “I’m willing to bet anybody here a new hat that I come out ahead to-morrow.” And he gazed around with a “you don’t dare to take me up” look.

“I’d take that bet,” answered Pepper dryly. “Only a new hat would do me no good – since I have to wear the regulation cap here. Just the same, Reff, my boy, you won’t come out ahead of Jack and Bart, and I know it – and neither will you, Gus.”

“Huh! just wait and see,” grumbled Coulter.

“You fellows think that because you have won a few races and things like that you can win everything,” said Reff Ritter, sourly. “Well, to-morrow you’ll find out differently. After the shooting is over you’ll see where I and Gus and Nick Paxton stand.” And with this remark he strutted off, arm in arm with Coulter.

“Say, but he is in a bad humor,” observed Andy Snow. “Somebody must have brushed his fur the wrong way.”

“He has been behind in his lessons for over a week,” answered a boy named Joe Nelson, a quiet and studious lad. “Yesterday Captain Putnam called him into the office for a talk. When Reff came out he looked pretty glum.”

“Must have gotten a strong lecture,” said Pepper. “And lectures don’t agree with such fellows as Ritter.”

“Do they agree with you, Pep?” asked the young major of the school battalion, with a twinkle in his eye.

“Me? Not much! I’d rather write a composition in Latin than face the captain for a lecture! But, just the same, you can be sure Ritter didn’t get it harder than he deserved.”

“There is nothing like blowing one’s own horn,” observed Fred Century. “And certainly Reff Ritter knows how to do that to perfection.”

“Time for drill, boys!” cried Jack Ruddy, as a bell rang out. “Now, do your best on the parade ground, even if you don’t know how to hit the target.” And off he ran to get ready to assume command of the Putnam Hall battalion.

The bell had hardly ceased to ring when there followed the rolling of a drum, and out on the school campus poured the students, in their neat military uniforms, and with their guns and swords polished to the highest degree. Major Jack Ruddy was at the head of the battalion, which consisted of Companies A and B, under the commands of Bart Conners and a youth named Henry Lee.

“Battalion attention!” commanded Major Jack, after the rattle of the drum had ceased. “Shoulder arms! Forward, march!” And then the drums beat, the fifes struck up a lively air, and the cadets began a march around the school grounds.

To those who have read the previous volumes of this “Putnam Hall Series,” the lads mentioned above will need no special introduction. For the benefit of others let me state that Putnam Hall Military Academy was a fine institution of learning, located on the shore of Cayuga Lake, in New York State. It was owned by Captain Victor Putnam, a retired army officer, who, in days gone by, had seen strenuous military service in the far West. It was modeled somewhat after West Point, our great national school for soldiery, but, of course, on far less pretentious proportions. The school building proper, located not far from the lake, was of brick and stone, and contained many classrooms, a big mess hall, a business office, library and sitting room, and, on the upper floors, many dormitories. Besides this building there were a gymnasium, a boathouse, a barn, and half a dozen minor structures. The location was ideal, exactly suited to such a school as Captain Putnam had established.

Jack Ruddy and Pepper Ditmore were chums, hailing from the western part of New York State. Jack was a little the older of the two and was inclined to be studious. Pepper was full of fun, and on this account was often called The Imp, a nickname that did not bother him in the least.

When Jack and Pepper first arrived at the school, as related in the initial volume of this series, called “The Putnam Hall Cadets,” they found that no regular military organization had yet been effected. After some time spent in drilling and studying, the cadets were permitted to ballot for their own officers, with the result that Jack became the major of the battalion, Henry Lee captain of Company A, and Bart Conners captain of Company B. Jack wanted Pepper to try for an official position, but The Imp declined, stating he thought he could have more fun as a private.

At that time there was an overbearing lad at the school named Dan Baxter. He bribed Coulter and some others to vote for him, but nevertheless was defeated. Baxter was now away on a vacation, and Jack and his chums wished he would never come back.

It was not long before Jack and Pepper made many friends, including Andy Snow, who was an acrobatic youth, used to doing marvellous “stunts” in the gymnasium; Dale Blackmore, of football fame; Hogan, whose Irish wit was delightful to listen to; Stuffer Singleton, who much preferred eating to studying, and Joe Nelson, the best scholar the Hall possessed.

But if Jack and Pepper made many friends, they also made many rivals and not a few enemies. Baxter was gone, but Reff Ritter remained, and what sort of a fellow he was we have already seen. As Andy Snow said, Ritter frequently imagined that he “was the whole show.” His particular cronies were Gus Coulter and Nick Paxton, while he had something of an admirer in a small lad named Fenwick, usually known as “Mumps,” who was a contemptible sneak, as had been proved on more than one occasion.

The organizing of the school had been followed by hard studying, yet not a few adventures had fallen to the lot of Major Jack and Pepper, and some of their chums. In the middle of one of the terms George Strong, the second assistant teacher, disappeared. He was found a prisoner in a hut, being kept there by two insane relatives, and to rescue him proved no easy task.

The assistant teacher’s ancestry dated back to Revolutionary times, and he told the boys of a treasure buried in that vicinity by some relatives. How the treasure was unearthed had been told in detail in “The Putnam Hall Rivals.”

With the coming of summer, the attention of the cadets was given largely to sports in the field and on the water. Jack’s uncle presented him with a fine sloop, the Alice, and in this the young major sailed several races, as related in the third volume of this series, entitled “The Putnam Hall Champions.” The cadets also held a great bicycle race and a hill climbing contest, and they likewise had a bowling match with the team of a rival school, Pornell Academy. At that time Fred Century was a student at Pornell, but he became disgusted at the way his fellow students acted, and at the treatment he received from Doctor Pornell, and left that institution of learning and came to Putnam Hall.

As the time went on Reff Ritter became more and more jealous of Major Jack’s popularity. A contest in the gymnasium was arranged between the two, and then Ritter, with a wickedness which he was wise enough to keep to himself, dosed the young major with some French headache powders, putting the stuff in Jack’s drinking water. As a consequence, Jack, while on the flying rings, became dizzy and then unconscious, and would have hurt himself seriously had he not been caught as he fell. He was put to bed and was sick for some time. It was discovered that he had been dosed, but, so far, the perpetrator of the vile deed had managed to keep his identity a secret. Jack and Pepper suspected Ritter, but not being able to prove the rascal guilty, could do nothing.