“Hurrah! Our friends are on the job,” cried Fred delightedly, as the bundle was slipped from the end of the fishing pole and hauled into the room. Then he looked out of the window and saw at a little distance the face of Dan Soppinger at another window.
“Got it all right, did you?” demanded Dan, as he hauled in the fishing pole.
“We sure did, Dan; and much obliged to you.”
“Has Colonel Colby come back yet?” questioned Jack, looking over his cousin’s shoulder.
“No. And there is no telling when he’ll come back,” answered Dan. “He sent word that his business might keep him away for several days.” Then Dan spoke to some one behind him, and continued in a low voice, “I’ve got to go now, or they’ll catch us. Good-bye.”
The imprisoned cadets closed the window again and then placed the bundle on the table and opened it. They found it contained a rather jumbled collection of buttered bread, cheese, the knuckle of a boiled ham, a small glass full of jelly, a square of pound cake, three bananas, a couple of oranges, several apples, a small bag of lump sugar, and a can of condensed milk.
“Some collection, all right enough,” declared Spouter, as they surveyed it. “I guess they grabbed up anything they could lay their hands on.”
“They must have heard we had black coffee without sugar,” put in Fred. “Too bad we were in such a hurry. We might have feasted in great shape off of this collection.”
“Never mind. The sugar and condensed milk may come in handy later,” answered Jack.
The boys divided some of the fruit, and then made themselves a few sandwiches, and with this topped off the scanty breakfast they had previously consumed. They placed the rest of the things on the top shelf of the closet and folded up the pillow case carefully.