“Ha! I understand! A flag and a cannon indeed! This must be some of Captain Putnam’s work—to pay me back for the loss of his cannon and his flagstaff,” stormed Doctor Pornell. “I’ll see about it! I’ll have somebody in jail before night!”
The news soon spread, and great was the indignation among the students and especially among those who had helped to win the trophies.
“Well, we have only been paid back for what we did,” said one pupil, who had aided Roy Bock in the removal of the cannon and the flagstaff. “Those who play with fire mustn’t complain if they get their fingers burnt.”
“We must find those trophies,” declared another.
A hunt was made that day and also the next. In the meantime Doctor Pornell sent a decidedly sarcastic letter to Captain Putnam. This angered the master of Putnam Hall exceedingly, and he sent an equally sarcastic letter in return; and there, for the time being, the matter rested,—so far as the Putnam Hall students were concerned.
But it did not rest with Roy Bock and his immediate cronies. In some manner Doctor Pornell learned that Bock had concocted the scheme to take away the cannon and the flagstaff, and consequently he considered Bock responsible for the removal of the trophies.
“You and your friends who took part in this disgraceful affair must get back those trophies,” said the doctor to Bock. “If you do not I shall punish you severely.”
“I—I will do what I can,” stammered Bock, who was so chagrined over being found out that he knew not what to say. That afternoon he and his cronies went out on another hunt for the missing things, but without result. They passed the deserted house, but did not go inside. Had they done so they might have seen something which would have amazed them exceedingly, for the old building now had strange visitors.
Some days after the trophies were removed from Pornell Academy Jack and Pepper were out in the Alice when they saw a youth in a rowboat pulling up the shore.
“That is Will Carey,” cried Pepper. “Let us sail over to him and find out if he has done anything about Flossie Ford’s bracelet.”