“Halt! What is the meaning of this?” came in ringing tones from Captain Dale, as the military instructor ran swiftly in the direction of the explosion.
“Oh, Captain Dale, we didn’t mean to smash the cannon!” cried Randy quickly. For a brief instant he, as well as the others, had contemplated running away, then had tacitly decided to face the consequences of their ill-advised attempt at fun.
“Did you discharge that cannon?”
“Yes, sir. But we had no idea that it was going to explode,” answered Andy. “We didn’t put anything into it but a small blank charge—not enough to bust up a one-pounder.”
“Was any one seriously hurt?” questioned Fred anxiously.
“I don’t know. Colonel Colby and Professor Grawson are investigating. The colonel sent me up here to question those responsible for the affair. You admit that you did it, do you, Captain Rover?” he added sternly.
“It wasn’t Fred’s fault!” burst out Andy quickly. “I—and my brother—put the charge in the piece and set it off. But really and truly, Captain Dale, we didn’t expect it to do more than make a very small report. All we placed in the cannon was one of those blank charges from the powder house—one of those old ones marked ‘BB 27.’”
“What did you put on top of the blank charge?” demanded the military instructor. “Rammed the cannon full of stones, I suppose?”
“No, sir. We didn’t put in anything but a couple of loose newspapers. We thought the papers would scatter over the campus and make some fun.”