There was little time to say more, for soon more footsteps sounded in the hallway and again the door was opened. This time the prisoner was Fred Century.
“Now, boys, all together!” shouted Jack, and leaped for the half-closed door. “Come on, Fred!” he added. “We are off for Bailey’s old barn.” He spoke the last words softly, so that those outside might not hear.
Then came a wild rush, and blows were freely exchanged between the guards and Pluxton Cuddle and the cadets. One of the guards was thrown down and the other received a kick in the shins that made him roar with pain. Cuddle made a grab for Jack, but Reff Ritter caught him by the ankles and threw him on his back, where he lay for the moment, his wind knocked out of him.
The encounter made considerable noise, and before the cadets could get away Josiah Crabtree and one of the guards from upstairs appeared on the scene. Crabtree held a cane in his hand and struck several lads. Then Jack caught hold of the cane and wrenched it from the teacher’s grasp.
“Don’t—don’t hit me, Ruddy!” gasped the teacher, as he saw the cane go up.
“Then get out of our way!” answered the young major, and Josiah Crabtree shrank back in terror. The next moment Jack was bounding through the hallway, and the other cadets scattered in several directions. Some went into the classrooms and out of the windows while two ran out of a side door. Jack mounted a side stairs, skipped past a guard who looked bewildered and frightened, and then sped for the trunk room. But as he reached the door his heart failed him. He remembered how the door had been barricaded from the inside by a heavy trunk.
“If I can’t shove it back, I can’t get in!” he thought, and tried the door. Just as he did so it came open, and to his surprise he found himself confronted by Pepper.
“Jack!” gasped The Imp. “Where have you been? I was just going on a scouting expedition after you.”
“Shut the door—and push the trunk back into place,” answered the young major. “I’ve got a great story to tell,” he added. “We are now in open rebellion!”