The Mystery at Putnam Hall Part 31

"Say, I shouldn't mind earning that reward!" murmured Dale.

"A fellow could have no end of a good time on a hundred dollars!"

murmured Stuffer. "Think what a spread he could give!" And his eyes sparkled in antic.i.p.ation.

"It would be a bad thing for Stuffer to get the reward," came from Andy.

"Why, I'd like to know?" demanded that cadet.

"Because you'd eat yourself into a state of acute indigestion."

"Rats! I don't eat any more than you do," grumbled Stuffer.

"Well, I don't see any chance of your getting the reward," was Jack's comment. "That thief had hidden his tracks well."

With the deep snow on the ground, drills had to be held in the gymnasium, and several contests were also arranged. The cadets got up a tug-of-war between one team headed by Pepper and another headed by Dale, and the excitement over this contest waged so high, that the thefts were, for the time being, forgotten.

The tug-of-war was held late one afternoon in the gymnasium. A line was drawn on the floor and the long rope laid across this. On either side wooden cleats were nailed down, so that the contestants might brace their feet.

The two teams consisted of eight cadets each. With Pepper were Andy, Jack, and Fred Century, while on Dale's side were Bart Field, Bart Conners and some other cadets already introduced.

"Now, then, Pepper!" cried one of his friends. "See what you can do!"

"Don't give him a chance, Dale! Yank him right over the line!" cried one of Dale's friends.

"I'll bet Pepper Ditmore loses," said Nick Paxton, who was present.

Ritter and Coulter had said they did not consider a tug-of-war between such teams worth witnessing.

Frank Barringer was timekeeper and referee, and at the appointed hour he made both teams line up and catch hold of the rope.

"All ready?" he asked.

There was a moment of silence.

"Drop!" was the cry, and on the instant both teams tightened their holds on the rope and dropped down on the wooden cleats.

"Hold them, Pepper!"

"Don't let 'em haul you up, Dale!"

"Glue yourself down, Jack!"

"Stone foundation, Fred! Stone foundation!"

So the cries ran on, as the two tug-of-war teams held on to the long rope like grim death, each team determined not to give in an inch.

For fully five minutes the rope remained as when the teams had first dropped. Then, of a sudden, Dale gave a hiss and up came his men, to haul in on the rope several inches and then drop as before.

"Hurrah! that's the way to do it!"

"Every inch counts, boys!"

"Watch your chance for another!"

"Get it back, Pepper! Get it back!"

There followed another tense strain. Then Dale's team came up once more and brought rope in another six inches.

"That's the way to do it! Now then, a good, stiff pull and you'll have 'em over!"

"Wake up, Pepper! It's time you and your men got on the job!" cried Henry Lee.

"I knew Dale's team would win," said Paxton.

Hardly had Paxton spoken when Dale's team came up for another haul. But this time Pepper and his men were on the alert, and in a twinkling they commenced to haul in--six inches, a foot, a foot and a half and then two feet--and then they dropped, the strain being as much as they could stand.

"Hurrah! Look at that!"

"They got back all they lost and more!"

"Hold 'em, Dale! Stone foundation!"

A great many cries arose. Dale and his supporters braced back as well as they could. Then Dale gave the word to come up for another haul.

Back and forth went the rope, the center knot first on one side of the line and then on the other. For several minutes it looked as if Dale's team might win. But then the tide turned again, and with a strength that was surprising, Pepper's team gave "a long pull, a strong pull, and a pull all together," and brought the center knot over the winning line.

"Hurrah! Pepper Ditmore's team wins!"

"Say, that was a great tug, wasn't it?"

"My foot slipped!" said one of Dale's supporters.

"So did mine," same from a cadet on the other side.

"It was a fair contest," said Frank Barringer. "Pepper Ditmore's team wins. My private opinion is, both sides did well," he added.

"They certainly did," was Mr. Strong's comment. He had watched the contest with interest.

After the tug-of-war came a contest on the flying rings. Here Andy was in his element, and the acrobatic youth easily outdistanced all of his compet.i.tors.

"Very good, indeed, Snow," said the gymnastic instructor. "Really, you go at it as if you were a professional."

"Say, Andy, some day you can join the circus," suggested the young major.

"Maybe his folks came from a circus," sneered Nick Paxton. "It isn't fair to bring in a professional."

"Sour grapes, Paxton!" cried Stuffer. "You know that Andy Snow's father is a business man in the city. Andy just takes to gymnastic exercises, that's all."

"Humph! I don't think such an exhibition much!"