for a time things went on as usual at woodcrest. the major kept to himself and had almost nothing to do with the cadet corps. he led the morning services and looked briefly on at drill times, but aside from that he paid no attention to them. his attitude, the new boys were told, was directly opposite to that of the colonel, who mixed in with them and shared their life in a spirit of comradeship. the major was not popular and his absence was not greatly mourned.
once or twice strange men came and talked with the major, men who had the look of police detectives, but evidently nothing new had been learned of the missing headmaster’s whereabouts. the four friends kept a close watch on their own account and several times passed close to clanhammer hall purposely to see if there was anything to be learned. but they did not find out anything until cadet vench broke his long silence.
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the little cadet was growing more and more popular with the corps and was himself astonished at the change in his own life. he had never before realized that to be respected and liked meant everything in the world, and he was slowly learning what it was to have real friends. he had abandoned his over-wise attitude, was now devoting himself to his studies, and on the whole was living a vastly improved life. the mercers and their own immediate friends helped him all that they could without being tactless about it, and it was to this circumstance that they owed the fact that vench told his story.
he found the four of them back of the boathouse one late afternoon enjoying the declining sun and discussing sports. they were seated on the boat runway and the little cadet sat down beside them. they greeted him genially.
“well, what’s on your mind, kid?” said terry.
“i want to tell you guys something,” returned vench.
“fire away,” invited don.
“i want to tell you what i saw in clanhammer hall that night!” said vench, unexpectedly.
they sat up in genuine interest. “i wish you would,” said rhodes. “when you get through we’ll tell you why we are so anxious to know. perhaps you can help us more than you realize.”
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“i hope i can,” returned vench, looking around to see that no one was within earshot. “well, listen, here is the story. as you know, i said i was going to put on a dance that would make history in this school. we were going to start fixing the place up that night when that business came up in the library, the slashing of the picture and all that. we knew that there would be guards around the school and that it would be even harder to try a stunt like that, but i was determined to put it over, so i went ahead and made plans. and my biggest plan was to have it in clanhammer hall.
“at first i had planned to have it in the gym, the usual way, you know. but just about then i got the idea that it would add to the romance or thrill or whatever you want to call it by having it in clanhammer hall. some of the fellows told me that it was strictly against the rules to go into that place, it was a sort of mysterious shrine, they said, but that made me all the more anxious to have it there. so we planned it that way and i asked if anybody knew anything about the outlay of the old place. no one did, so i decided to go in myself and look it over.
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“don was patrolling up and down when i slipped out of the side door and i waited until he got out of sight down along the lake front. then i sneaked to the back of the old building and pried open a cellar window. i dropped down into the place and looked around—i had a flashlight with me—and i saw that it was an ordinary basement with old ash cans and a big furnace and coal bins, and whatever else goes to make up a basement. after a couple of minutes i found the stairs and went up to the top, where i didn’t have any trouble breaking open the door and getting into the hall. i flashed the light into a room or two downstairs, one an old office and one a classroom that was mighty small, and i decided that upstairs would be the better place to go. we’d be safer, i thought, and so i went up the stairs to the second floor. the thing that puzzled me was this, i smelled cooking in that old place!”
“what!” cried the others, in a breath.
“yes, real cooking, something with plenty of grease in it. i don’t know just what it was,” said vench.
“well, i’ll be darned!” gasped terry. “i saw evidence of the same thing. somebody is making a regular hotel of that place!”
“i had half a notion to go down and investigate,” continued vench. “but i thought i’d take a look around the upstairs before i did. i thought i had a lot of courage to go into the place alone to begin with, but when i got to the upper floor i felt my courage ooze away. one look, i thought, and then i’d go down again and come back with the fellows. there was a small room right off of the staircase and i walked in there. once inside i turned on the flash, and found to my dismay that it was going out. but in the feeble light that came from it i could see dimly around the room, which seemed to be a small study, with a faded carpet, a desk and a couple of chairs. there was just one small window in that room, rather high up, and as i stood there looking around my light went out.
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“i snapped it a couple of times to see if it would go on again, but nothing happened. the room was pitch black, and i was wondering how the devil i was going to get back to the cellar window. at the time i was bending over the useless flashlight, and then i felt the hair on my head begin to crinkle up and pull. there was a faint light coming from somewhere, and a minute later i saw a beam of yellow light in the hall. it was the light of a candle, and it was coming down the hall toward the room i was in. although my legs seemed stiff as boards i did manage to somehow drop down behind that desk and watch.
“after what seemed an age someone came to the door. the light had been moving toward me all the time, but i hadn’t heard a sound. now a candle in a tin holder was thrust around the edge of the door and a minute later an old man looked into the room. his face was long, his hair all straggly and his eyes were narrow and close together!”
“the same man i saw!” breathed terry.
“he looked around the room but did not come in. i guess he was only suspicious, for after a little while he went away, as noiselessly as he had come. he went up to the third floor, judging by the way the light went, and i waited until i was sure he had gone before i left that room. and i assure you i left it in a hurry. i found the stairs all right and got to the cellar, where i got another scare when i saw don looking in the window. that’s what i saw in clanhammer hall, and of course we didn’t have our dance.”
“so that’s what you saw there!” exclaimed jim, drawing a deep breath.
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“yes, and i’ve been puzzled over it ever since. i kept it to myself and no one else knows it. now let’s hear what you have to tell me.”
terry told his part and the others filled in. vench was impressed. “something very wrong with that old school,” he commented.
“do you think we ought to tell major tireson?” asked don, of rhodes. the senior thought it over and then shook his head.
“no, i don’t,” he said. “that might clear things up and then again it might not. what i do think is this, we ought to go through clanhammer hall some day ourselves!”
“but not at night!” objected jim.
“no, that would be foolish. in the first place, we wouldn’t be able to see anything, and in the second place i am no more keen to prowl around there after dark than you are. we’ll simply break in some afternoon, perhaps tomorrow, and look around ourselves. if we are caught there we can simply tell our story and say that we wanted to investigate. they can’t do much to us for that.”
“no, i don’t think they can. do you want to go through tomorrow afternoon?” asked don.
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after some more talk they all agreed to break into clanhammer hall on the following afternoon and then they prepared for supper. the evening passed as usual and they went to bed. how long they had been asleep they did not know, but they were aroused by the furious ringing of the fire gong. with one accord they leaped from their beds.
“now what is going on?” began jim, but terry, who had raced to the window, interrupted him.
“it’s a sure enough fire this time,” he called. “and, by george, it’s clanhammer hall!”
they rushed to the window. one corner of the old school building could be seen from there and terry had spoken the truth. the back of the place was on fire and the flames could be seen curling up against the sky. already the campus was dotted here and there with cadets who had run out, scantily clothed.
“come on!” shouted don, leaping for his clothes. “let’s get out there! we’ll find out something important now!”
in a few minutes the boys were out on the campus and running rapidly across the wet grass toward the old building. the flames were mounting higher and they could see that a shed in the back, which was joined to the main building, was burning briskly. the roof was on fire and there was no time to be lost.
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the major had arrived on the scene and had taken charge. some of the cadets ran down to the boathouse and dragged out the fire-fighting equipment, consisting of a hose reel and some axes. there was a fire hydrant at the corner of clinton hall, and before long a solid stream of water was playing on the roof of the shed. some of the cadets had started to form a bucket brigade, but seeing that the hose would do the work much more efficiently they stopped and all stood around watching. rhodes held the hose and under his direction the fire was speedily put out.
don, jim and terry watched the old building with interest, hoping to see someone show themselves at the windows, but there was no sign of life and soon darkness fell over the landscape. the major, who seemed anxious about the fire, saw to it that the rear portion of the building was well soaked before he allowed the cadets to turn off the water. rhodes offered to go inside and see if there was any fire inside.
“never mind, mr. rhodes,” said the major. “i’ll attend to that.” he took out a bunch of keys and went around to the front, where he let himself in. some of the cadets, finding it quite cold outside, went back to bed, but several stayed to see if there were any further developments. in less than five minutes the major was back with them.
“no fire inside,” he announced. “i thank you for your prompt work, boys. i would have felt very badly indeed if anything had happened to the dear old school building. you may put the hose reel away.”
some of the cadets put the hose reel away and the major, on the plea that they would catch cold, ordered the rest of the young soldiers to their rooms. rhodes stopped just outside their door and talked in low tones to terry and the brothers.
“i’m afraid this puts our projected search off a bit,” he said.
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“you think it wouldn’t be wise to go in there right away?” questioned don.
“yes, that’s it. i am afraid the major will keep a pretty close watch on the place from now on, simply to see that no one does go in there out of curiosity.”
“you noticed that the major had a key, didn’t you?” whispered jim.
“yes, but that, in itself, isn’t so very suspicious. there must be some sort of key in the office here. but this is the suspicious part, i wanted to go in with the major. he wouldn’t allow me to go. and he never asked how it got on fire or made any fuss about it. now i’m more than ever glad that we didn’t take our story to him.”
before any more could be said captain chalmers appeared in the hall. “all in bed, boys,” said the instructor pleasantly, and rhodes hurried off to his own room.
