“We sure have, Roy.”
“But this rig——”
“We were going to scare the cadets—if we missed you,” answered Pepper, in a disguised voice.
Some more questions were asked, and then Bock and his crowd agreed to follow the ghostlike figures through the woods. The cadets kept in the dark as much as possible and worked hard to keep their identity a secret. Bock at last concluded the boys belonged to a new batch of Pornell students, who had come to that institution only a short while before. One of these lads had spoken about giving a feast, in honor of his birthday, and Bock thought the feast was now on the way.
Bob Grenwood was something of a hunter, and during his spare hours he had tramped for many miles through the woods, looking for game. On one of these expeditions he had run across a cave in a hillside, bordering a stream that flowed into one of the lakes of that vicinity. He had visited the cave several times and had fixed it up for use, with a rough bench and table, and a rude fireplace.
To this cave the young quartermaster now led the way and all of the others followed. When almost there Bob called a halt.
“I will go ahead and see if all is in readiness,” he said in a deep voice.
Then he ran into the cave and found a candle that was there. He cut the candle into six pieces and lit them all, making quite a light as they were ranged on the table. He covered the center of the table with a cloth, resting on several sticks of wood, so that the cloth would look as if it had things to eat under it.
“Now advance, and prepare for the grand feast!” he called out, and seeing the lights streaming from the cave the Bock crowd ran forward.
“A cave!” cried Sedley.