“You may go now, young gentlemen,” said the master of the Hall. “If I wish you again, I’ll call for you.”
This was a hint that they were not wanted, and off they went, across the campus and into the school by a side entrance, the others entering by the front way and going directly to Captain Putnam’s private office.
It was not until the next day that they learned something of what happened to Dan Baxter. From Peleg Snuggers the information went forth that the bully of the Hall was a close prisoner in a small room at the rear of the Hall. The window to this room was heavily barred, making the apartment a regular prison cell.
“The captain give Baxter a talkin’ to which would make your hair curl,” said the general utility man. “He laid down the law good an’ strong. He said he wasn’t goin’ to have no pupil a-gittin’ the academy in disgrace. Then he made Crabtree put him in a cell, an’ he’s livin’ on bread, soup, an’ water fer a week.”
“Phew! That’s pretty severe punishment!” cried Jack. “The captain must have been mad!”
“You git the cap’n riled up real good an’ you’ll see a reg’lar cyclone broke loose,” went on Snuggers. “I know him, because I worked fer the fam’ly before. He’s real tame alongside o’ what he was when he was an army officer.”
Mumps and Paxton had little or nothing to say. Each was given extra lessons to do, and did them without a murmur. They saw that the captain was much disturbed over what had happened and did not want to do anything to add to his anger.
Two days after the outing for nuts, came a light fall of snow, and then the weather grew steadily colder and colder. As a consequence, many outdoor games came to an end, and the students spent their off time either in the library of the Hall or the gymnasium.
The latter place was a favorite with Dale, who was beyond question the leading all-around athlete of the school. He was graceful on the rings and bars, and could jump and run with the best of them. The only one who could match him at all was Andy, who did things on the flying rings which would have done credit to a professional acrobat or gymnast.
“Andy, you could go into a circus,” said Jack, after watching the agile youth.