Reff Ritter was still disturbed, thinking that Crabtree might find out that he was guilty of throwing the inkwell, and he went around, “sounding” various cadets and getting them to promise not to mention the matter. He was chagrined to think that he had not been chosen leader in the rebellion, and was half inclined to draw away from Jack’s friends and form a party of his own.
“Ruddy wants to lead in everything,” he growled to Coulter. “It makes me sick!”
“Well, you can’t afford to go back on him now,” was the answer. “If you do he may take it in his head to let old Crabtree know about the inkwell, and then——”
“Oh, he can lead if he wants the job so bad,” interrupted the bully hastily.
At the proper time the bell rang for the afternoon session and all of the cadets marched to their various classrooms as if nothing out of the ordinary had occurred. Lessons were taken up where they had been dropped, but the boys found it hard to concentrate their minds on what they were studying or reciting. All felt that a storm—and a big one at that—was brewing.
Josiah Crabtree did not come into the classroom occupied by Jack and his chums, and Reff Ritter and his crowd. Instead he sent an under teacher, a meek man who did just what he was told, no more and no less. With this teacher the boys got along very well.
“Wish we could have him right along,” observed Stuffer.
“If you did have him you wouldn’t make much progress,” answered Jack. “He’s good enough for the lower classes, but that’s all. He doesn’t know half as much as Mr. Strong.”
When the cadets were dismissed for the day they hurried out on the campus, and here Jack asked all who were interested in what had occurred to attend a meeting at the boathouse. About three-quarters of the cadets responded, those holding back being the smaller lads and a few timid ones like Mumps.
At this meeting it came out that every class in the school had “caught it,” either from Josiah Crabtree or Pluxton Cuddle. Sharp words and almost blows had been exchanged in the classrooms, and every cadet had some fault to find with the food served for dinner.