“Humph!” said the teacher, as he saw the remains of the cigarettes. He said no more, but later on talked the matter over with Captain Putnam.
Saturday night found the cadets back at Putnam Hall, safe and sound. The march back to the school had been without special incident. The walk told on some of the students, and on Sunday many of them were content to do little but rest and eat their meals. By the majority the outing was voted a complete success. Baxter and his cronies did not appreciate it so much and wanted to “get square” with somebody for the tricks that had been played.
Once more the boys settled down to the regular routine. Many of them wanted to make a good showing when it came to the examinations and so applied themselves diligently to their studies. But some, including Reff Ritter and Dan Baxter, cared very little if they came out near the head or not.
“I expect to take a trip with my father before long,” said Dan Baxter. “I hope he takes me out of the school before the examinations come off.”
“Wish I was going away,” grumbled Ritter. “It’s mighty dull these days.”
For some reason Dan Baxter got it into his head that Pepper was responsible for all the troubles he had had, and one afternoon, when in a particularly ugly mood, he followed the Imp to the end of the campus.
“Say, Ditmore, you are getting pretty fresh, ain’t you?” he blustered.
“Thanks, Baxter, but I certainly shouldn’t wish to grow stale,” answered Pepper, coolly.
“I don’t like the way you are talking about me.”
“I don’t know as I have talked about you—at least, not lately.”