“If we stick together he is bound to side with us,” added Fred.
“Now, don’t make such a mistake as that,” said Jack, to the last speaker. “Captain Putnam will not be influenced by our sticking together, even if it breaks up his school. He will decide this case solely on its merits. But I hope he will see that we were in the right—at least, that we were not as much in the wrong as Josiah Crabtree and Pluxton Cuddle.”
Among the boys to be placed on guard when the cadets retired was Fred Century. He was stationed at the east side of the camp, not far from where the wagon stood and the horse was tethered. In the wagon were a goodly part of the provisions, covered with a tarpaulin that had been brought along.
Fred had not slept well the night before and was consequently sleepy. He tramped around for a while and then sat down on a rock to rest.
He had been sitting still for several minutes, with his eyes partly closed, when he heard a slight noise behind him. Before he could move a cloth was clapped around his mouth and his hands were caught and held. Then a rope was brought into play, and he was made a close prisoner and carried away into the woods.
CHAPTER XXVI
AFTER THE STOLEN CAMP OUTFIT
“Hi, fellows, get up! Something has happened!”
It was Pepper who aroused the others, and he made such a noise that the cadets who were asleep sprang up without delay.
“What’s wrong?”
“Have the enemy discovered us?”