“We weren’t doing anything,” growled Gus Coulter.
Meekly Ritter and Coulter marched into the Hall and to the office. They knew not what to say. They had not dreamed of being locked in the store-room, and the table with the glassware had been knocked over by Ritter in an endeavor to get the window open in the dark.
“Well, young men, what have you to say for yourselves?” demanded Captain Putnam, sternly, as he confronted the pair.
“We broke the glassware by mistake, sir,” answered Reff Ritter. “I will pay for the damage done.”
“But what were you doing in the store-room at this time of night?”
“We—er—we came down to get—er—to get some lemons,” faltered Coulter. “I—er—I had a pain in the stomach, and I thought sucking on a lemon would cure it.”
“Humph! Did you have a pain, too?” and the master of the Hall turned to Ritter.
“No, sir, but—er—Gus was so sick I thought I had best come down with him,” answered Ritter.
“Why—er—the pain seems better now, sir. I guess I scared it away!” And the guilty cadet smiled faintly.
“Indeed! Well, why did you leave the store-room by way of the window?”
“Because while we were inside somebody came and locked the door on us.”
“Yes, sir. It was too dark for us to see who they were.”
“And you went down for nothing but lemons, eh?”
“Well, you go straight to bed, and after this, if you want any lemons you call one of the servants or teachers; do you hear?”
“Wait just a moment. What was that noise upstairs?”
“Maybe it was made by the boys who locked us in,” was Reff Ritter’s comment.
“I see. Well, go to bed. If I hear any more noise, or learn of any more prowling around in the dark, I’ll make an example of somebody,” added Captain Putnam, and with that the two cadets were dismissed, and they lost no time in making for their dormitory. There they learned from Mumps how the sneak had been treated by Pepper and Hogan.
“That chunk of ice was as cold as—as Greenland!” said the sneak, dismally. “It melted right on my backbone, so how could I help but make a noise. There are the two pitchers. I wish I could fire them at somebody’s head!”
“Put them out in the hall—away from our door,” ordered Ritter. “If they are found here they will make more trouble—and we’ve had enough for one night.”