CONTENTS.
CHAPTER PAGE [I. Out on the Campus] 1 [II. Pepper Plays a Joke] 11 [III. At Target Practice] 21 [IV. The Blank Cartridges] 32 [V. A “Rough House” at Putnam Hall] 41 [VI. The New Teacher] 51 [VII. An Encounter on the Lake] 60 [VIII. Starching and Blueing] 71 [IX. What Happened at the Ice House] 81 [X. A Mix-up on the Road] 91 [XI. What Happened to Andy] 101 [XII. The Beginning of a Rebellion] 111 [XIII. Pluxton Cuddle’s Proposition] 121 [XIV. In Which the Storm Gathers] 131 [XV. Words and Blows] 141 [XVI. Prisoners in the Dormitories] 151 [XVII. Andy Snow’s Discovery] 159 [XVIII. On a Foraging Expedition] 167 [XIX. What Happened to Jack Ruddy] 175 [XX. The Escape from the Guardroom] 183 [XXI. How the Cadets Ran Away] 191 [XXII. Josiah Crabtree Is Worried] 199 [XXIII. A Discovery in the Woods] 207 [XXIV. The Rival Runaways] 215 [XXV. News of Interest] 222 [XXVI. After the Stolen Camp Outfit] 229 [XXVII. A Case of Tit for Tat] 236 [XXVIII. After the Tramps] 243 [XXIX. Something of a Confession] 250 [XXX. Back to School—Conclusion] 262
INTRODUCTION
My Dear Boys:
This story is complete in itself, but forms the fourth in a line known under the general title of “Putnam Hall Series.”
As I have said before, this series was started at the request of numerous boys and girls who had read some volumes of my “Rover Boys Series,” and who wanted to know what had taken place at Putnam Hall Military Academy previous to the arrival there of the three Rover brothers.
In the first volume of this series, called “The Putnam Hall Cadets,” I related how Captain Putnam came to found the institution and also told of the doings of Jack Ruddy, Pepper Ditmore and their chums. The young cadets were whole-souled and full of fun, and enjoyed themselves to the utmost.
In the second volume, entitled “The Putnam Hall Rivals,” more of the doings of the cadets were chronicled, and the particulars were given of a queer balloon ride, and of an odd discovery in the woods.
The third volume, “The Putnam Hall Champions,” brought Jack and Pepper once again to the front, in a series of stirring athletic contests. They had some bitter rivals, and one of these played Jack a most foul trick, which came close to having a serious ending.
Ever since the opening of the school the scholars had had much trouble with an overbearing teacher named Josiah Crabtree. When the Hall was left in charge of Crabtree and a new instructor named Cuddle, matters rapidly grew worse, until there seemed nothing for the lads to do but to rebel. How this was done, and what the rebellion led to, I leave for the pages which follow to relate.