The others quickly caught on and in a trice a mattress from one of the beds was flung on the floor of the storeroom. Then the four cadets who had been captured were forced into the place.
“Now you fellows can stay here until morning,” declared Jack. “You didn’t want us to have a decent night’s sleep, so now you can get along in any old way you please. Don’t dare to make a rumpus, or we’ll be after you in a way you least expect.”
“Gee, we’ll smother to death in here this warm night!” declared Morris.
“No, you won’t,” said Spouter. “You can take turns at looking out of the window. But I’d advise you not to crawl out, because it’s about twenty-five feet to the ground.”
“We’ll report this to-morrow, you see if we don’t,” grumbled Shamberg.
“Report and be hanged,” retorted Gif. “If you say a word to Colonel Colby we’ll tell him what you did.” And thereupon the Rovers and their chums withdrew, locking the storeroom door and then locking the door to the corridor.
It was a good quarter of an hour after Gif, Spouter and Fatty had left them that the Rovers were able to rearrange their beds so that they could lie down. All were now thoroughly tired out and Andy could scarcely keep his eyes open. But there was to be little sleep for any of the cadets during that last night at Colby Hall. Half a dozen parties were wandering around, making all the fun possible, and presently Professor Snopper Duke came after some of the boys, trying to quiet them.
“This is disgraceful!” stormed the irate teacher. “I want you boys to keep quiet.”
Then came an alarm from Codfish and Wesley, as several other cadets broke into their room, bent upon bringing the sneak and his chum to terms for something done in the classroom the week before. Into this row Snopper Duke precipitated himself, and as a consequence was struck in the nose by a baseball which one of the lads threw at Codfish.