Academy Boys in Camp Read online

  Produced by Al Haines.

  "One dive, and then you must come out."]

  *THE ACADEMY BOYS IN CAMP*

  *BY S. F. SPEAR*

  LONDON, EDINBURGH, DUBLIN, & NEW YORK THOMAS NELSON AND SONS 1909

  *CONTENTS.*

  I. The Roll-call II. A Costly "Yes" III. Off for Whaleback IV. In Camp V. The Swimming-pool VI. The Fog-storm VII. The Wreck VIII. Anemone Pool IX. A Day of Freedom X. Boys in a Trap XI. The Escape XII. The Missing Boys XIII. On Board the "Una" XIV. Tribulations XV. The Little Cabin XVI. A Wretched Night XVII. A Surprise XVIII. The Greeting XIX. Improving the Time XX. The Two Matches XXI. A Full Day XXII. Tents Down

  *LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS.*

  "One dive, and then you must come out" . . . . . . _Frontispiece_

  "It was a fellow about your size"

  He pushed open the door and fell upon Joe

  Away went the basket to the wreck

  "There, Ben, how does that sound?" he asked

  The two boys watched the sport

  Ralph put his hand in the outstretched palm of the teacher

  "Now! All together!" (missing from book)

  *THE ACADEMY BOYS IN CAMP.*

  *CHAPTER I.*

  *THE ROLL-CALL.*

  Groups of excited boys were gathered in the school-room of MassillonAcademy one morning in June, near the end of the term.

  So busy were they with their conversation that the bell had soundedtwice before they began to disperse, and even then the last words wereexchanged as they went to their seats.

  "Order!" was the stern command from the teacher's desk.

  Quiet at once followed, and the roll was called as usual, followed bymorning devotions.

  Then Mr. Bernard came forward to the edge of the platform, and saidquietly, "The leaves containing the lesson for the day have been tornfrom my 'Anabasis,' and a rumour has reached me that all the class-bookshave been similarly mutilated. Let those who have thus lost portions oftheir books stand up."

  Fifteen boys, the entire class, sprang to their feet as if they had beenwaiting for the signal--some with a laugh, as if they considered it agood joke; others indignant; and all with an air of excitement andexpectation, knowing that the offender was sure to be called to account.

  Mr. Bernard glanced from face to face with short, sharp scrutiny, andsaid, without further comment, "Be seated."

  Taking the large school ledger from the desk, he said, "I will call theroll. Let each boy answer on his honour. If you say 'No,' I shallunderstand that you had nothing to do with planning or executing thismischief."

  There were eighty-five boys in the Academy; and as their names werecalled, each and all, from Adams to Warden, answered with a ringing"No!" After the last name there was a silence.

  Mr. Bernard put aside the ledger, and surveyed the school. A slow,sweeping glance of the keen gray eyes searched every boyish face.

  The most guilty-looking lad in the room was Joe Chester--"Little Joe" asevery one called him; and Joe Chester was above suspicion.

  Mr. Bernard did not for a moment suspect that Joe's confusion was theresult of guilt; but knowing the boy so well, he felt sure that he hadsome knowledge of the offender, and that the knowledge was a burden.

  After another glance along the seats where the older boys sat, theteacher said, very soberly, and with a peculiar look in his searchingeyes: "Is it possible that we have a liar amongst us? A LIAR!"

  The boys shrank visibly from this plain speaking, but the teacherrepeated it slowly, "A LIAR!"

  A lie was a deadly sin with Mr. Bernard, and the boy who would tell adeliberate falsehood he considered mean enough and bad enough for anywickedness.

  He was a "liar," and no other word would describe him, even if he worethe finest broadcloth, or stood at the head of the class. The word hadbeen spoken almost in a whisper, but with such emphasis that it seemedto ring through the school-room, and to come echoing back from the fourwalls.

  Every honest boy felt thankful that the word could not apply to him; andsome who had never considered an untruth a very shocking thing felt theywould never be guilty of another.

  To the astonishment of all, after another silence, in which the echo ofthe terrible word seemed still sounding through the room, Mr. Bernardsaid quietly, "You are dismissed."

  The matter was surely a serious one when they were dismissed so early inthe day with lessons unheard. The boys passed out in silence, most ofthem forgetting to be glad of a holiday.

  Not till they were out of the building did any boy venture even towhisper to his neighbour.

  Some retired at once to their rooms; but most of the pupils gathered inknots on the playground, to talk over the subject uppermost in the mindsof all.

  Joe Chester was not ready to discuss the question, and was not intendingto join the crowd of talkers; but as he passed there was a cry:"Chester! Ho there, Chester!"

  He waved his hand towards them, and was passing on, when one of theolder boys seized him roughly by the collar, and straightway pulled himinto one of the groups.

  Joe struggled bravely to release himself; but being one of the smallestboys in the class, he stood small chance of escaping his assailant; solaughing good-naturedly, he allowed himself to be drawn into the centreof the crowd of eager talkers.

  "That's right! Don't let him off till he gives a guess as to thescamp!" shouted several boys.

  "Perhaps he did it himself," said the tall youth who had appointedhimself policeman to collar Joe and bring him to the conclave.

  "See here, Ralph Drayton, if I had been mean enough to play such amiserable trick with the books, I wouldn't be mean enough to deny it,"said Joe stoutly, throwing his head back proudly, and looking the otherstraight in the eye.

  Drayton laughed derisively, and said with a sneer, "Oh, I forgot; he is'Saint Bernard's' pet billy-goat. _He_ never would do anything bad,would he? Oh no." Then in a change of tone, he added in a conciliatoryway, "Never mind me, Chester; of course I am funning. No one suspects_you_."

  "No, I suppose not," said Joe coolly.

  This he said with his honest blue eyes fastened searchingly on RalphDrayton's small black ones.

  The black eyes fell beneath the glance, but Drayton quickly recoveredhimself, and loosing his grasp on Joe's collar, said with a laugh, "I'llbet anything that the janitor did it!"

  "Oh, pooh! The janitor!" said a half-dozen boys derisively.

  "What did _he_ care about the lesson?"

  "Well, who then could it be? If I could find out, I'd thrash him forspoiling my book. I'll get a lecture from father at home when he seesthat torn book. You see my brother Nelson is coming next year, and hewill take my books as I leave them. My copy was new too!" and Ralph'stone was one of righteous indignation.

  Joe Chester was too impatient to listen longer, and turned to go; butDrayton shouted, "Hold on, Chester! where are you going?"

  "In," answered Joe shortly, motioning with his head towards the commons.

  "Wait for me; I am going in too. It's no use to stand here and guesswho did the mischief."

  Joe Chester walked straight on, but Ralph Drayton overtook him withthree strides.

  As soon as they were out of hearing of the group on the playground,Drayton turned suddenly and said, "See here, Joe Chester, what do youknow about this fuss?"

  Joe walked on and m
ade no answer.

  "You know something. I saw it in your eye just now back there, and Isaw it in your red face when old Bernard called the roll. You can'tcheat me!"

  "Well, Drayton, I am sure I don't want to cheat you. Yes, I do knowsomething about it."

  "What! do you know who tore the books?"

  "Yes."

  This Joe said steadily, with his eyes upon Ralph's face.

  Both boys paused in their walk; and Joe, leaning back against the fence,folded his arms.

  "Who was it?"

  "You want to know, really?"

  "To be sure I want to know."

  "Well, Drayton, it was a fellow about your size; and the sooner he goesto Mr. Bernard and owns it, the better for him and for all the rest ofus."

  "It was a fellow about your size."]

  Drayton turned pale, and said, "Chester, do you mean that I did it?"

  "I do mean just that."

  Drayton's fists doubled up threateningly, and he was about to assume afighting attitude, when he changed his plan, and tried to coax Joe.

  "Oh come, Joe, you know better. You are only chaffing. I thought atfirst that you were in earnest."

  "You thought right then," added Joe dryly.

  Drayton made no reply, but tried to stare indignantly at Joe.

  The effort failed; his own eyes dropped before the steady, honest eyesthat looked him through.

  "How do you know?--what made you think I did it?" added Draytonhurriedly, fearing that he had admitted his guilt.

  "I saw you burning paper in the garden last evening, and although I hadno idea then that you were up to mischief, I felt sure of it as soon asI found the fellows all complaining about their books."

  "Pooh! those were letters I was burning--some I didn't want to carryhome."

  "They were not letters, they were book-leaves. I saw them plainly."

  "Spy!" hissed Drayton furiously. "You hung around and watched."

  "I did not. I was passing along that way because I left my geometryunder the big tree, and I had to finish my lesson before bedtime."

  "Oh yes," sneered Drayton. "You had time to take special notice of thesize of the paper. You'd no business there; and I have a good mind tothrash you within an inch of your life."

  Joe laughed at this furious threat. "I didn't know you owned thegarden, or I would have kept out of it. As for thrashing, you know Idon't thrash easy, even by a boy of your size. You tried it once. Ifyou think it will help you out of your scrape, you can try it again."

  Drayton looked amazed. Here was little Joe Chester not only defyinghim, but actually laughing at his threat as if it were a joke.

  "Well, I'll tell you what it is, Chester: if you breathe a word aboutthis I will have my revenge somehow."

  Chester began to look fierce now himself. "Come, Drayton, you haveblustered and fumed long enough. You had better change your course. Iam not easily frightened."

  Drayton had reached the same conclusion, and, changing his tone, saidalmost pleadingly,--

  "Chester, if I am found out in this I'll be sent home, and my fatherwould be awfully cut up if I had to leave this school. He is in a hurryto get me into college, and this would put me back if I get expelled.Don't you tell what you know, will you, Joe?" Then he added hurriedly,"I was an idiot to do it! I knew it as soon as I tore out the firstleaf, which happened to be from Mr. Bernard's book. After that was gone,I was in for the business, and I just rushed it through."

  "What put such a silly joke into your head?" asked Joe, curious to havethat explained.

  "Oh, Ben Carver and I planned it together. We thought it would be funto get up a fuss over the books; but Ben backed out."

  "Then Ben Carver knows it too?" asked Joe, with a sigh of relief, as ifhis burden were lightened by this assurance that some one else sharedthe secret.

  "Yes, Carver knows, but I can trust him. He will just as soon lie asnot, though he hadn't the pluck to carry out the plan. It all restswith you, Chester: if you will stand by me I shall come through allright."

  "Well, Drayton, I'll do anything I can, except lie, for you. Youneedn't ask that."

  "What if Bernard asks if you know?"

  "If he asks me that question plump and fair, I shall have to say yes."

  Drayton looked frightened and pale.

  "Then it is all up with me, for he _will_ ask as sure as fate."

  "Now, Ralph, take my advice," said Joe, putting his arm over Drayton'sshoulder. "Go and tell Mr. Bernard the truth. It isn't too late.Come; I will go with you."

  The boy shook off Joe's arm, and said, "Nonsense, Joe; he might forgivethe mischief, but he never would overlook the lie. I would be expelledat once. No, Joe, my only hope is in you. If you won't lie for me--"

  "And you do not expect me to do that?" interrupted Joe proudly.

  "No. I suppose you wouldn't lie to save yourself, and I can't expectyou to for me, but I hate to go home in disgrace. The fact is, though Ihave been bragging around here, my father has pretty hard work to giveus boys an education. Oh, such an idiot as I was!"

  "Well, Drayton, I am sorry for you. I really am; and you may depend onme never to expose you. I'll let you do that yourself."

  Drayton brightened up.

  "Then you will keep mum?"

  "Of course I will."

  "Lie or no lie?"

  "I didn't say that at all. If Mr. Bernard asks if I know, I shall beobliged to say yes, but he can't make me tell who did it."

  "Not if he should threaten to expel you?"

  Joe hesitated for a moment, and then said, "He would hardly do that, butif he should,--no, not even then."

  "Joe Chester, you are a good fellow! Give us your hand! Now mum is theword!"