CHAPTER IV THE BLANK CARTRIDGES
For the moment after Jack spoke so positively there was a silence.Captain Putnam looked at the young officer thoughtfully.
“Huh! that’s all tommy-rot!” observed Reff Ritter. “He missed and thatis all there is to it.”
“Of course he missed,” chimed in Coulter. “He isn’t a crack shot by anymeans.”
“What makes you so certain that the first two shots were blanks, MajorRuddy?” asked the master of the school, somewhat sternly.
“Well, sir, I think my record helps to prove it,” answered Jack. “At thehundred-yard target I made three bull’s-eyes; at the two-hundred-yardtarget I made two bull’s-eyes and a four; now I have made a bull’s-eyeand two blanks. Doesn’t it stand to reason, sir, that if thosecartridges had not been blanks I would at least have made a two or aone?”
“It is probable, yes,” answered the captain, thoughtfully. “But I didnot know any blanks had been brought along, much less dealt out.”
“I brought a case along by mistake,” put in Bob Grenwood. “But as soonas I discovered my mistake I put the case to one side. There it is, sir,on yonder rock.”
“I see. You are sure you didn’t hand any blanks around? That particularbox looks like the real thing.”
“Yes, sir—I was very careful.”
Captain Putnam strode over to the rock and shoved back the lid of thecase.
“Why, the top layer of cartridges is gone!” he cried. “Was the box fullwhen you opened it?”
“Why—er—yes, sir—I think so, sir,” stammered the quartermaster of theschool battalion. “It looked full to me.”
“Young gentlemen,” went on Captain Putnam, raising his voice. “Please tolook over the cartridges you have left.”
There was a hasty examination by over a score of cadets.
“Mine are O. K., sir.”
“So are mine.”
“Here, I’ve got a blank!” cried Andy Snow, rushing forward and holdingit up. “It’s one of the kind we used to have—those that looked so muchlike the ball cartridges.”
“Hum! So it is—one of the kind made to represent ball cartridges,” musedCaptain Putnam.
“I’ve got two of them!” exclaimed Pepper, and held them up. “My otherone is all right,” he added.
“Two blanks and one good one,” said Jack. “That must have been just whatI had!”
“Quartermaster Grenwood, can you explain this?” demanded Captain Putnam,sternly.
“N—no, sir. I—I am sure I didn’t deal out any of the blanks. I was verycareful, sir.”
“Then how do you account for the blanks being in use?”
“I—I don’t account for it, sir. I am sure, though, I didn’t give themout.”
“You gave out all the ammunition, didn’t you?”
“Yes, sir.”
“Then you must have given out the blanks. It was very careless on yourpart.”
“No wonder I missed!” growled one of the cadets.
“I think we ought to shoot over again,” added another.
“It was a mean trick!” cried a third.
“Quartermaster Grenwood, you have been grossly careless, and yourcarelessness has caused a great deal of trouble,” said Captain Putnam,sternly.
“I wasn’t careless, I tell you, I——”
“Silence. I say you were careless, and I now ask you to resign yourposition as quartermaster of the school battalion.”
“Resign!” gasped Bob Grenwood.
“That is what I said. The battalion must have a quartermaster who can berelied upon at all times. Supposing we were going to have a sham battleand you dealt out ball cartridges instead of blanks, what would happen?Why some of the cadets might be killed! Do you resign or not?”
“Captain Putnam, I—I——”
“If you refuse to resign I shall have to take the office away from you.”
“All right, I’ll resign,” cried Bob Grenwood, bitterly. “All the same, Isay you are treating me unjustly.” And with a red face and bowed head hestepped back into the crowd.
“I don’t believe Bob did it,” whispered Stuffer to Hogan.
“Sure, and I thought he was more careful meself,” answered theIrish-American cadet. “It’s a bad mess, so it is!” added.
Captain Putnam now held a consultation with several of the others andthen announced that for every shot fired which had not hit a target thecadet should have another try. In the meantime the blanks were collectedand ball cartridges dealt out instead.
“Now, Jack, show ’em what you can do!” cried Pepper, as his chum walkedto the front once more.
“Confound it, I guess our plan is busted,” whispered Paxton to Ritter.
“Hush! Not a word of it!” whispered the bully, warningly. “If CaptainPutnam ever finds it out,—well, he’ll make it mighty warm for us, that’sall!”
With great care Jack took aim once more. Everybody watched him withinterest, and a wild shout went up when the result was announced.
“A bull’s-eye!”
“There, what did I tell you?” cried Pepper. “I knew he could do it!”
“Now another, Jack!” said Andy, enthusiastically.
And the youthful major did make another bull’s-eye, amid the applause ofhis many friends.
“That’s the highest score yet!”
“Major Ruddy, I must congratulate you,” said Captain Putnam, holding outhis hand. “I am now as convinced as you are that those other shots wereblanks.”
“Jack, that’s the highest score yet,” said Dale. “I rather think youtake the prize.”
“Didn’t know there was a prize, Dale.”
“Well, metaphorically speaking.”
“You’ve bested Reff Ritter and that’s a good deal,” said Andy.
When Pepper came to shoot he made one bull’s-eye and two fours. Thisgave him quite a high score and made him content. Andy and Dale also didwell, while Bart Conners tied Ritter. Mumps and Paxton each made twomisses on the long distance target.
“More blanks, I suppose,” grumbled Paxton, although he knew better.
“No,” said Captain Putnam. “That was only your carelessness did that.You shot too quickly.”
“I—I’m not feeling well to-day,” said the school sneak lamely. “I oughtto have stayed at the Hall.”
After the target practice was at an end the cadets were allowed an hourto themselves.
“Let us take a walk through the woods,” said Pepper. And he and Jack andhalf a dozen went off in one direction while Reff Ritter and his cronieswent off in another. Bob Grenwood felt so bad that he strolled off byhimself.
“I must say, I feel sorry for Bob,” said Jack. “Even if he did deal outthe blanks, I don’t think he meant to do it.”
“He feels all cut up to lose the quartermastership,” said Dale. “Afterthe captain made him resign I saw the tears standing in his eyes.”
“What do you say if we go to Captain Putnam and ask him to reinstateGrenwood?” questioned Pepper, who was always ready to help anybody indistress.
“I’ll do that willingly,” came from several of the others.
“I don’t think we ought to go right away,” said Bart Conners. “Wait afew days—until his temper has a chance to cool. Finding the blanks riledhim all up.”
“By the way, fellows, have you heard the news?” asked Joe Nelson.
“What news?”
“A new teacher is coming.”
“Who told you that?” asked Pepper.
“Nobody. I heard Captain Putnam and Mr. Strong talking about it. Itseems Mr. Strong has got to go away on business, and the new man iscoming during his absence.”
“Who is he, did you hear, Joe?” asked several, for they were alwaysanxious concerning their instructors.
“Hope he isn’t like old Crabtree,” was Pepper’s comment. “If he is I’llfeel like jumping into the lake!”
“I don’t k
now anything about him, excepting that his name is PluxtonCuddle.”
“Pluxton Cuddle!” cried The Imp. “Wonder if he’ll try to cuddle up tous?”
“I did hear that he was quite a scientist,” went on Joe Nelson. “One ofthe kind who does everything by rule.”
“Oh, dear! I can see my finish!” sighed Pepper. “It will be ten minutesfor this, ten minutes for that, and so on, all day long. And find outthe whyforness of the thus of everything in the bargain!”
“Oh, don’t worry beforehand,” answered Jack. “He may be another Mr.Strong.”
“Not much, Jack! Mr. Strong is one teacher out of a hundred, heavenbless him!”
“If all teachers were like Mr. Strong, going to boarding school would bea cinch,” added Andy, slangily. “He’s the dearest man who ever tried toteach a fellow the value of _x_ and _y_, and don’t you forget it!”
“And I firmly believe we learn twice as much under a man like Mr. Strongas we do under old Josiah Crabtree,—although Crabtree may be the greaterscholar,” came from Stuffer.
The cadets spent a pleasant time in the woods, and at the roll of thedrum hastened back to the pasture. When the two companies were formed itwas found Bob Grenwood was missing.
“He got disgusted and said he was going to walk back to the Hall alone,”said one of the students. “I can’t say that I blame him much. It was aterrible thing to be made to resign.”
In a few minutes more the line of march back to Putnam Hall was takenup. To give the cadets a variety of scene, Captain Putnam took toanother road than that pursued in the morning. This was nearly a milelonger, and, consequently, it was after the supper hour when the cadetscame in sight of the school buildings.
As the cadets marched up to the campus a man came rushing out of theschool holding up his hands in horror. It was Josiah Crabtree.
“Captain Putnam! Captain Putnam!” he gasped. “Come quickly! Somethingdreadful has happened!”