"That's it! They threw them down recklessly, and also threw down the matches they had lighted."
"If the gym burns down Colonel Colby will hold them responsible for the loss," put in Jack, who had heard what was said.
While this talk was taking place, all of the cadets were rushing down the stairs. Soon they were out on the campus and headed through the fast-falling snow in the direction of the gymnasium building.
A heavy smoke was pouring from a broken-out upper window, and also from the edges of a scuttle on the roof. As the cadets hurried closer, they saw a thin flame show itself for a moment just inside the window.
"It's on fire all right enough, but maybe they can get it under control," announced Jack. "Come on, fellows! Do your duty!"
Warned by the fate which had overtaken Putnam Hall, Colonel Colby had taken every possible precaution against fire. There were several large water towers erected in and near the school buildings, and these were connected with various fire plugs. There were also numerous lengths of hose, with nozzles attached, hung up in the several buildings, and both the cadets and the teachers had been instructed in a fire drill.
Some of the cadets, who had been in the gymnasium when the fire was discovered, had already brought out the hose in that building and attached it to one of the plugs. Now this water was turned on, and a stream of fair size began to play upon the flames, the cadets, aided by one of the teachers, dragging the hose up the narrow stairway for that purpose.
"Get out hose number three and number eight!" directed Colonel Colby, who was on the scene; and the cadets went to work with a will, and soon had two more streams in action.
Despite the thickness of the smoke, two of the teachers and several of the cadets had gone up into the second floor of the building and located the fire.
"It's up near the steam radiator, just between the two windows," announced one of the teachers. "It's in some boxes and barrels that contain straw and excelsior."