CHAPTER XVII MUMPS SEES A GHOST
As luck would have it, Pepper and Andy went on guard from ten o'clock tomidnight, while Mumps had his time set from midnight to two in themorning.
As soon as they came in from guard duty, Pepper and Andy told a few oftheir chums of what was in the air, and they all stole from their tentsto a spot overlooking the ground that Mumps would have to cover duringthe next two hours.
The sneak was already on duty, pacing up and down slowly, with his gun onhis shoulder. He had to march from one tree in the grove to another, adistance of two hundred feet.
As the sneak passed the tree where the white figure was concealed,Pepper, who was close at hand, uttered a low and unearthly groan.
At once Mumps came to a halt.
"Wh--what's that?" he faltered.
For reply Pepper uttered another groan, and Andy followed with a soundlike that of a dying calf.
"I say, what's that?" repeated the sneak. All was so dark and strangearound him that he felt anything but comfortable.
"Murdered!" moaned Pepper. "Murdered!"
"Murdered!" put in Andy, in a solemn tone. "Oh, to be avenged!"
Then when Mumps' back was turned Pepper allowed the white figure to dropto within a foot of the ground. As it was light in weight, the breezemade it sway slowly from side to side.
"Ha! ha! ha!" came from Andy and Pepper together.
At this blood-curdling laugh the sneak of the school turned around onceagain. When he saw the swaying figure in white his teeth began tochatter.
"Oh! Ple--please go--go a--away!" he groaned. "G--go away!"
"Ha! ha! ha!" went on Pepper and Andy. "Down on thy knees, if thouwouldst live!"
"Don't!" screamed Mumps, and fell on his knees. "Oh, please, don't killme! I--I didn't have anything to do with killing that other fellow,indeed I didn't!"
"Thou art doomed!" went on the Imp and his chum.
"Doomed! doomed! doomed!" came from half a dozen. All of the cadets couldscarcely keep from laughing.
"Oh, save me!" yelled Mumps, and sprang to his feet. "Save me! Save mefrom the ghost!" And throwing down his gun he started for the center ofthe camp, with all the speed at his command.
The other cadets set up a laugh, but the sneak was too paralyzed withfear to pay attention to it. Still yelling for help he ran down the mainstreet of the camp, and plunged into the tent occupied by Captain Putnam.
"Hullo, what's the trouble?" came from Captain Putnam.
"Oh, the ghost! Please save me from the ghost, Captain Putnam!" howledMumps, and clutched the master of the Hall by the arm. "Save me! Theghost is going to kill me!"
"Why, Master Fenwick, what is the trouble? Have you a nightmare?"
"No, sir. It's the ghost of the murdered cadet! I--I saw it. It cameafter me! Oh, save me!"
"Nonsense! You have seen no ghost. Be reasonable."
"I did see it, sir. It was all white, and it was going to kill me!" Andthe sneak clung tighter than ever.
"This is some trick." The captain slipped into his clothes, and turned upa lantern hanging on a tent post. "I'll investigate. Come along."
"Oh, I--I'm afraid!" whined Mumps.
"You need not be, Fenwick. I'll protect you. Come along. There are nosuch things as ghosts."
It was fully five minutes before Captain Putnam could get the sneak toaccompany him to the spot where the latter had been doing guard duty. Inthe meantime the whole camp had been aroused, and Pepper and Andy hadfolded up the sheet and put it away, along with the cap and the cord.
"You can see for yourself that there is nothing here, Fenwick," said thecaptain, gazing around.
"But I saw it, Captain Putnam. A tall white figure, right there."
"You must have been dreaming."
"No, sir, I saw it, I am certain."
"Well, where is it now?"
"I don't know, sir."
An investigation was made, but, of course, nothing out of the ordinarywas brought to light.
"You had better go back to your duty, Fenwick," said the master of theHall at last.
"Oh, sir--supposing that ghost comes again?"
"Run up and catch hold of it. You'll likely find it some joke the othercadets have played on you," and Captain Putnam smiled broadly.
"A joke!" Mumps looked interested. "Do you think it was a joke?"
"More than likely."
"Oh, but it looked so real!"
"A ghost can't look real. You have been deceived. Go back to your duty,"and the master of Putnam Hall returned to his tent, and Mumps resumed hisguard duty, with a heart that trembled every time he took a step.
"Gosh! but that was rich!" laughed Andy, when the affair was over.
"Talk about being scared," returned Pepper. "I was afraid he would have aregular fit!"
There was more fun that night. Poor Hogan was tossed in a blanket, andDan Baxter had three frogs placed between the blankets of his cot. Ourfriends did not escape, for in the morning Pepper found a sharp burr inone shoe, and Andy found the sleeves of his coat tied into hard knots.Jack was minus his shoes, which were finally located dangling from thelimb of a tree back of his tent.
"Hullo, Major Ruddy has planted a shoe tree!" cried one of the cadets."Wouldn't mind having some seed, major. I'd like to grow a pair ofslippers."
"Why not try some lady-slipper seed," suggested Pepper.
"I'll slipper the chap that put my shoes up there, if I can find him,"grumbled Jack.
At breakfast there was more fun. Dan Baxter's crowd was preparing a potof coffee when Pepper, watching his chance, dropped a piece of soap intothe pot.
"Phew! but this is rank coffee!" came from Paxton, spitting out amouthful.
"Vilest I ever tasted," came from Coulter. "Say, Dan, did you make thatout of stale glue, or old boots?"
"It's good enough coffee for anybody," grumbled the bully. "If you don'tlike it, make it yourself after this."
Then he took a deep gulp, just to show them he was not afraid to drinkit. A wry face followed.
"Fine, eh?" came from Paxton, sarcastically.
"Regular Waldorf-Astoria brand," put in Coulter.
"Something's got in the pot," cried the bully, and poured the coffee intoa big pan that was handy. "What's this? A cake of soap, I declare! Whoput that there?"
"Excuse me from drinking soap coffee," grunted Paxton.
"Hullo, Dan Baxter's crowd is drinking soap coffee!" shouted one of thecadets.
"How do you like the flavor, Dan?" asked another.
"Better than Java, eh?" came from a third cadet.
"I have heard of all sorts of tastes in coffee, but I never heard of soapbeing used before," was Pepper's comment.
"Baxter's afther wantin' a good wash on th' insoide!" came from Hogan.
"Ah, you fellows shut up!" growled the bully, and taking the chunk ofsemi-soft soap, he hurled it at Pepper. But the Imp dodged, and the soaplanded in Mumps' left eye.
"Oh! oh!" howled the sneak. "Oh! you have put out my eye! Oh!" And hebegan to dance around wildly.
"Didn't mean to hit you, Mumps," said Baxter. "I say," he called out;"who put that soap in the coffee?"
"Here's a riddle," came from Andy. "A lima bean to the one who solves itlast."
"Coffee in the soap is good for warts," said Dale, with a grin, forBaxter's hands were covered with warts.
"Just wait--I'll get square!" growled the bully; and there the talk hadto come to an end.
Breakfast over, there was a long drill, and then the cadets were allowedto do as they pleased for several hours. Some wandered through the woods,while others went to a nearby brook to fish. Half a dozen of Baxter'scrowd went off through the woods by themselves.
"Where are they going?" asked Pepper.
"I don't know--and don't much care," answered Jack.
Baxter's crowd walked through the woods to where there was a farmhouse,and there stopped to get some apples and some milk. W
hile stopping at theplace they got into conversation with the farmer's daughter, apleasant-looking damsel of eighteen.
"She's a beauty," said Coulter.
Baxter followed the farmer's daughter to the dairy, and began to talk toher in a pleasant way. Then he tried to put his arm around her waist.
"Stop that!" she said sharply.
"I'm not going to hurt you," said he. "Won't you give me just one kiss?"
"I'll give you--this!" she answered quickly, and, taking up a can of sourmilk, she threw it directly into his face. Then she ran into the house,shrieking with laughter.
"Dan got it that time!" said Paxton, with a snicker.
"It was real sweet, too!" added Coulter.
Wild with rage, Baxter wiped the sour milk from his face and hair.
"I'll fix you for that!" he roared, and started to go into the house, butthe girl appeared with a broom.
"You keep away!" she cried, shrilly. "If you don't, I'll set our dog onyou!"
"Oh, come on away!" put in Mumps, in alarm. "Come on!" And he hurriedtowards the road.
"I guess we had better go," whispered Coulter. "If the farmer shouldreport us to Captain Putnam, there would be the Old Nick to pay," and hetoo walked off, with Paxton and the sneak beside him. Seeing there was nohelp for it, Baxter withdrew, the girl laughing merrily at him as he didso.