CHAPTER VIII
WHAT HAPPENED TO THE GIRLS
“My gracious, I wonder if you can be right!” said Fred.
“I guess he is right,” answered Randy, “for the letter says that Andy and I are not to mention the place to anybody, nor are we to talk about it in public. Especially, are we not to let the girls know a thing about it. And, as I said before, we are to hide this letter or destroy it.”
“Then I’m sure I’m right,” said the young major. “Your father doesn’t want to run the slightest risk of having Davenport find out where we are going on our vacation.”
“I guess that demand for fifty thousand dollars scared the folks at home a whole lot,” was Fred’s comment. “It looks to me as if they imagined Davenport was watching us every minute, trying to figure out what he could do to injure us.”
“But we haven’t seen or heard of the man since the day we saw him—or Jack thought he did—in that roadster.”
“Just the same, he may be in this vicinity watching every move we make,” said Randy, and his face was serious.
The twins read the letter again, and then, to make sure that no one else might know of its contents, they burnt it up.
“No use of taking any chances,” said Andy grimly.
“To tell the truth, that letter got on my nerves,” confessed his twin. “Dad wouldn’t write so seriously unless there was something in the wind.”
“Perhaps Davenport—or some of those other rascals—has been threatening the folks at home again. Gosh! I wonder if they would dare threaten my mother or Aunt Dora or Aunt Nellie?”
“If Davenport or any of his pals did that he ought to be shot!” answered Jack. “I’m sorry now my dad didn’t have Davenport arrested the first time he showed up. Such fellows ought to be in prison. They ought never to be given their liberty.”
When the boys telephoned to Clearwater Hall they found that the girls had gone out for a walk with one of the teachers. They were to be back in less than an hour, however, so the lads concluded to walk over to the girls’ school and wait for them.
The four Rovers, accompanied by Gif and Spouter, had just reached a side entrance of the Clearwater Hall grounds when they heard a cry behind them. Looking up, they saw Mary, Martha and Ruth hurrying from a patch of woods with a teacher behind them.
“Oh, we’ve had such a scare!” burst out Martha, in excitement.
“If only you boys had been on hand perhaps you might have helped us!” wailed Mary.
“What sort of a scare—wild animals, or a ghost, or what?” queried Andy.
“No, it was a man—two men.”
“What did they do?” demanded Jack quickly.
“They didn’t do anything. I didn’t give them a chance,” said the teacher, a tall, angular woman who carried a stout walking stick and who looked amply able to defend herself.
“The men were in a closed car, and they drove up right alongside of Martha and me,” explained Mary. “Ruth was walking ahead with Miss Lambert. One of the men opened a door of the car and asked us if we didn’t want to ride. Then he jumped out and acted just as if he wanted to make us get into the car, even if we didn’t want to.”
“I called for Miss Lambert and Ruth,” said Martha, “and as soon as the men saw the teacher they went off in the car just as fast as they could go.”
“How did the man who jumped out look?” asked Fred.
“He was a tall man, with black hair and real black eyes that seemed to look right through me,” said Martha, and shivered a little as she spoke. “Oh, he was a perfectly horrid man!”
“That was Carson Davenport, I’ll bet a dollar!” exclaimed her brother. “Davenport is tall and has black hair and black eyes.”
“What about the fellow who stayed in the car?” asked Randy.
“We couldn’t see him very well. He had his coat collar turned up and his cap pulled down over his eyes.”
“I told Martha and Mary to stay close to us,” said Miss Lambert, who evidently felt that she must say something in her own defense. “But they dropped behind, and this was the result. However, I don’t think the men would have dared to carry them off in such a high-handed fashion.”
“You wouldn’t say that if you knew this man Davenport as we do,” answered Jack. “The fellow has done time in prison and is a thorough rascal and the associate of rascals.”
The girls were so excited that it was not until they had entered Clearwater Hall and reported to Miss Garwood, the head of the establishment, that they could tell a clear and connected story. No one had taken down the car number of the automobile, nor had any one recognized the make of the machine.
“All I can say is that it was a very fine car—nothing cheap, like a Ford,” said Mary.
“If only we had the number it might help a whole lot,” returned Fred.
“I think you two young ladies had better remain within the school grounds until you start for home,” said Miss Garwood at the conclusion of the interview. “I cannot afford to have anything happen to you while you are under my care.” So it was arranged that Mary and Martha should not go away from the school grounds until they started for home.
“And then we’ll come and get you,” said Jack. “And if Carson Davenport shows up we’ll give him what is coming to him.”
“You bet we will!” added Fred. “And we’ll give it to him with interest, too!”
In the excitement of the occasion the visitors had almost forgotten to congratulate the girls on their success in the examinations. It was plain to be seen that Mary and Martha were both exceedingly nervous, and Ruth was scarcely less affected.
“Oh, Jack, do watch out that that man doesn’t get you,” said Ruth to the young major, on parting.
“Well, you keep your eyes open while you girls are here at school,” answered Jack. “If you see the least sign of that rascal call somebody and have him arrested.”
“Don’t you think it would be a good idea to set a detective on his trail?”
“Perhaps, Ruth. But I think now that he has failed in this new move of his he’ll keep under cover for a while. He’ll probably wait until we start for New York and then maybe follow us.”
“Martha and Mary want me to come down to New York and spend a week or two there.”
“That would be fine, Ruth,” and Jack’s face showed his satisfaction.
It was a rather sober group of cadets that returned to Colby Hall. The Rovers had very little to say.
“It’s a confounded shame!” was the way Gif expressed himself. “Why should the authorities let such a man out of prison? He ought to serve every day of his sentence.”
“That’s just the way I look at it,” returned Spouter. “What is the use of building prisons and having them finely equipped if they are not to be used? The whole trouble lies with those soft-hearted individuals in every community who think prisoners ought to be treated with every sort of consideration. Just look at some of them—carrying fruit and flowers to murderers, and weeping over people found guilty of kidnaping, and all that sort of mush! Now, if I were in authority, I’d give every man who was guilty of a crime to understand that he must serve his sentence to the last minute. And I’d give the public to understand that——”
“Say, Spouter, are you only talking or are you delivering a lecture?” broke in Randy.
“Well, it makes me mad!” went on the cadet who loved to talk. “Don’t you agree with what I’ve said?”
“I certainly do,” answered Jack. “There is altogether too much soft-heartedness about this criminal business.”
The final parade at Colby Hall was a formal affair and attended by many people from Haven Point and other places. Every uniform was brushed and pressed and every rifle and sword polished to the last degree. As a consequence the three companies composing the school battalion presented a well-nigh perfect appearance when inspected by Colonel Colby and Captain Dale.
“I must congratulate you on the fine showing you have made,” said the master of the Hall, in addressing the cadets. “I am proud of you. You have done very well.”
“Three cheers for Colonel Colby!” called out Jack, and the cheers were given with a will. Then came another cheer for Captain Dale and the other instructors.
“Three cheers for Major Rover!” called out Captain Dale, and once again the cheering was renewed. Then came cheers for the captains of the three commands and the other officers, after which there was a final parade around the campus, and then those who were to graduate from the Hall discarded their arms for the last time.
“I’m going to take my sword home with me. Colonel Colby said I might,” said Jack.
“I’m to take my sword, too,” answered Fred.
“What are Randy and I to take home?” demanded Andy.
“Oh, you can take an arithmetic or a grammar,” answered Fred.
“Not on your tintype!” came from the fun-loving Rover.
“We might take our guns,” suggested Randy jokingly. “Then we’d be fully prepared to meet Davenport and his pals.”
The dinner held by those who were to graduate from the Hall was one long to be remembered. The mess hall was decorated especially for the occasion and the spread was one of the most elaborate ever prepared at that institution.
“I want you boys to remember Colby Hall as long as you live,” said Colonel Colby, addressing a number of the cadets but looking squarely at the Rover boys as he spoke. He did not say so, but the lads knew he was thinking of his own school days at Putnam Hall with their fathers.
“I couldn’t forget Colby Hall if I tried,” answered Major Jack feelingly. “I am sure it’s one of the best schools on earth.”
“So say we all of us!” cried Andy, and then the crowd broke into prolonged cheering for Colonel Colby and for everybody else connected with the institution. There followed a number of speeches and then a number of songs, and the dinner did not break up until nearly midnight.
“I’ll tell you what, boys, that was a grand wind-up, and no mistake,” declared Fred, when they were going upstairs to their rooms. “Colonel Colby certainly deserves a medal for the way he’s treated us.”
“It actually makes me sad to think I’m not coming back here next fall,” remarked Jack. “And I won’t be a major any more, either.”
“And I won’t be a captain.”
“Well, it’s one satisfaction,” said Andy, with a grin. “You two highbrows have got to come down to the level of us poor nobodies. Isn’t that so, Randy?”
“That’s right. No more Major This or Captain That.”
“Oh, I won’t mind that,” answered Jack. “Sometimes I think being major of the battalion kept me out of some fun. A fellow holding such an important office can’t do lots of things that an ordinary cadet can.”
“Well, I’m tired,” yawned Andy. “I’ll be glad after all this hubbub to hit the hay and get a sound sleep.”
“That’s the talk!” said Fred, as he threw open one of the doors leading to the connecting rooms which the cousins occupied.
The boys entered the rooms and then one after another turned on the lights. Then came a sudden exclamation from Jack.
“Great Cæsar! Who did this?”
“Who did what?” questioned Randy, and then gave a swift look at the bed to which Jack was pointing. “Why, all the bedclothes are gone!” he added in dismay.
“All my bedclothing is gone too!” came from Andy.
Then the four Rovers made a swift inspection of the rooms. Each bed was destitute of its sheets, pillowcases and blankets. Only the bare pillows and mattresses remained.
“You don’t suppose the housekeeper has cleared these things away already?” questioned Fred.
“Not a bit of it!” cried Randy. “This is a trick, and I’m going after the fellows who did it!”