The Rover Boys Under Canvas Or The Mystery of the Wrecked Submarine Part 12

"Hi you! what you mean by knockin' me down that way?" shrilled the janitor, when he could regain his breath.

"I--I didn't mean to do it," stammered the sneak, as he arose to his feet. "I was in a hurry."

"You ain't got no right to race through these halls like a crazy horse," went on Plunger. "I ought to report you."

"I told you I was in a hurry," explained Codfish.

"Worry?" queried Plunger, not hearing aright. "Ain't I got a right to worry if a feller like you sends me sprawlin'?"

"I didn't say worry--I said I was in a hurry. A snapping turtle had me by the finger, and I wanted to get rid of it."

"Rappin'! Well, you ain't goin' to rap me. I'll let you know that!"

growled the deaf janitor.

"I said snapping--not rapping--a snapping turtle!" Codfish put his mouth close to the janitor's ear. "_A snapping turtle!_"

"What's that? No, I ain't got no snappin' turtle. What would I be doin' with a snappin' turtle?" queried Plunger blankly.

"I said I had one here--on my thumb!" cried Codfish. "It's gone now. I guess my fall knocked it off," and he looked around in the rather dim corridor to see what had become of the turtle, but without locating the creature.

"I'm off, am I?" snarled Plunger, who had been asked that day to do a large amount of extra work by the cadets, and was consequently in no good humor. "I ain't half as much off as you are, you young rascal!"

He grabbed Codfish by the arm. "You jest pick up them magazines and put 'em in my arms ag'in, or I'll report you."

At this the sneak muttered something under his breath. But he was afraid of the deaf janitor, and so he began to pick up the various magazines that had been scattered around and piled them high in Plunger's arms. While he was doing this, he continued to look around for the snapping turtle, but the little creature had disappeared.

"Now you be careful after this," said Plunger, when the task of gathering up the scattered magazines had been completed. "After this when you want to run through the halls, you walk!" And then he continued on his way.

The Rovers and their chums had witnessed the scene in the corridor, but as soon as Stowell turned to come back to his room they ran off and down a side stairs, carrying the packing cases with them.

"Say, but that was rich--the way he thumped into Shout," was Andy's comment.

"Yes, and the way Shout took him up for what he said," returned Randy.

"Gos.h.!.+ it seems to me as if poor old Shout is getting deafer every day."

"I wonder what became of the snapping turtle," said Fred.

"If they fell on it, they must have crushed the poor creature,"

returned Jack.

The boxes were soon placed on the various bonfires, and then the boys mingled with the other students in having a good time generally. The cadets sang songs and danced around the fires, and then organized an impromptu parade up and down the river front and around the Hall.

"How about that little feast we were going to have before we went to bed?" questioned Randy presently.

"Just what I was thinking about," answered Fred. "I'd like to have it first rate; but where are we going to get the eats?"

"Perhaps we can get something from the Hall pantry," suggested Jack.

"Nothing doing in that direction," came from Ned Lowe, who was present.

"What makes you say that?" questioned Spouter.

"Bart White and I tried it a little while ago, and everything is locked up as tight as a drum. I guess the head cook and the head waiter got on to the fact that we might make a raid."

"Then there is only one other thing to do," said Randy quickly. "And that is to go down to town for something."

"That would be easy enough, especially if we could get some one on the road to give us a lift," said Jack.

The Rovers and their chums talked the matter over for several minutes, and then it was decided that Jack, Fred, Spouter, and Gif would pay a hurried visit to Haven Point, bringing back with them such good things as they could pick up quickly in the stores and carry back. A cap was pa.s.sed around, and eight dollars was collected for the proposed feast.

The cadets who had been selected as a committee lost no time in leaving the school grounds, and then hurried off down the road leading to the town.

"Let's watch our chance for a ride," said Jack. "We don't want to waste any time on this trip."

He had scarcely spoken when they heard the rumble of a truck approaching. It was a motor truck belonging to a dairy company doing business in Haven Point and other towns around the lake.

"h.e.l.lo there! Give us a ride into town, will you?" questioned Fred of the driver, as the truck came to a halt at their signal.

"Sure! Climb on board," said the good-natured driver. He had only a small load and was glad of their company, feeling sure that they would treat him well for the accommodation.

By means of the truck it did not take the cadets long to reach the town, and there they left the driver, Jack tossing him a quarter for his kindness. Then the lads hurried to such of the stores as were still open.

They had already made up their minds as to what they wanted if the things could be obtained. At a delicatessen store they purchased a pasteboard box lined with waxed paper and filled with chicken salad, and also some ham and tongue sandwiches. Then they rushed into a bakeshop, the proprietor of which was just closing, and purchased several layer cakes and also a generous supply of ginger snaps. Then they hurried to a confectionery, and there obtained some bottled soda water and ginger ale, and likewise several quarts of ice-cream.

"Now I guess we're pretty well fixed for a little spread," declared Jack, when they were once more on the street, each loaded with several bundles.

"I hope we can get a ride back to the school," said Fred. "These bundles are pretty heavy."

"I've got an idea," said Andy. "See that automobile yonder? Well, that belongs to the man who owns the moving-picture theater. There he is in front of his place. I wonder if he wouldn't let his chauffeur run us down to the Hall? He knows all the boys at the Hall are pretty good customers at his show place."

"It wouldn't do any harm to ask him, Andy," answered his cousin.

The crowd crossed the street and was soon interviewing the owner of the moving-picture theater. He had seen the boys there a number of times, and remembered them, and was keenly alive to anything that might aid his business.

"Sure, my man can run you down to the school," he said readily. "Here he is now." He turned to his colored chauffeur. "Joe, take these young gentlemen to Colby Hall and then come back here just as soon as you can."

The run to Colby Hall in the automobile took but a few minutes, and the driver very condescendingly agreed to take them around to the rear entrance of the building. The cadets paid him for his trip, and then lost no time in sneaking what they had bought up a back stairway and into the rooms occupied by the Rovers.

By this time the celebration over the defeat of Hixley High had about come to an end. The cadets were disappearing in all directions, some going to their rooms and others to the library of the school, a large room which was often used as a general meeting place.

Word had been pa.s.sed around to a number of others, so that a crowd of about a dozen a.s.sembled in the Rovers' rooms to take part in the feast.

"I'll tell you one thing we ought to do," said Randy. "We ought to square ourselves somehow with Codfish. Otherwise he may be just mean enough to give us away."

"I guess I can fix it for you," said Ned Lowe, who in the past had been a bit more friendly with the sneak than any of the others present. "Just give me a plate of ice-cream and a piece of cake, and I'll go and smooth it over with the little sneak."

"Go ahead and do it, by all means, Ned," answered Andy quickly. "I don't begrudge the little sneak a bit of something good. It will make him forget how his thumb hurts."

Ned soon departed with the ice-cream and cake, and then the others pa.s.sed around the food which had been provided. They had brought along some paper dishes and paper drinking cups, and likewise a few tin spoons, and the boys made themselves comfortable on various chairs and on the beds.