“Perhaps he didn’t come back after he left us,” said Jack. “Maybe he felt too down-hearted to return. I must say, I feel mighty sorry for Bob.”
There was nothing to do but to straighten out the library, sitting room and classrooms, and then the cadets went to supper. After that some of the boys went out on the campus, some to the lake shore, and others to the gymnasium.
“Well, one thing is certain, some of our school-books are gone,” said Joe Nelson. “Too bad! I had an essay in my history. If it is not found I’ll have to write another paper I suppose.”
“I’d not do it!” cried Stuffer. “It’s not your fault that the paper is gone.”
Jack and his chums were entering the gymnasium when a student who had gone ahead uttered a cry.
“They have been here, too!”
“What did they do?”
“Do? Did everything they could to spoil this place,” was the answer.
When lit up the gymnasium certainly presented “a sight for to see,” as Andy expressed it. The wooden horses had been stacked in a corner, the rings and turning bars had been cut down, and the Indian clubs, pulling machines, and the floor covered with oil and grease. Jack did not notice the grease on the floor until he slipped and fell, and Pepper, who was at his side, came down on top of him.
“This is the worst yet!”