"Say, Jackson, don't speak my name, please," cried the tall boy in alarm.
"Oh, what's the odds," put in Pender. "Rover is dead to the world.
Rockley knew just how to fix those doses."
"That's right, Gus," came from Rockley.
"We had better not lose time here," went on Flapp presently. "Let us tell Captain Putnam without delay. He'll have Rover brought back to camp just as he is, and that will disgrace him forever."
"Wait till I put the empty bottle near him," said Rockley, and this was done.
Then the crowd of masked cadets left the den, leaving the door wide open behind them.
CHAPTER XXVIII
DICK'S MIDNIGHT ADVENTURE
A minute after the last of Lew Flapp's crowd left the hermit's den Dick leaped to his feet, went to the doorway, and listened intently. It was quite dark, so he could see little or nothing.
At a distance he heard the masked cadets stealing swiftly along through the woods. They had put out the lantern, knowing the road fairly well through repeated excursions to the den. Soon the crowd was completely out of hearing.