are you going to let the — the young rascal go?" demanded Josiah Crabtree, in amazement.
"I'm not a rascal, Mr. Crabtree."
"Yes, you are!"
"Mr. Crabtree, I have decided to drop the matter," put in Captain Putnam, in a tone which admitted of no dispute, and the head assistant fell back abashed. "Rover says he wishes to make a record for himself, and I am inclined to help him. He starts his term free and clear of all charges against him — and his brother whom you have locked up shall do likewise. Kindly call Mr. Strong."
"It is a — a most unusual proceeding," growled the head assistant.
"Perhaps; but we will talk that matter over at another time."
Josiah Crabtree went out; and in a minute George Strong appeared, and Tom was turned over to him, to sign the roll of the academy and to join Sam, Fred, and the others in the classroom over which Mr. Strong presided.
"Hullo, you're back," whispered Sam, but no more could be said until recess, when Tom told his story in detail. In the meantime Dick was released.
"So you met the fellow who stole my watch!" cried the elder brother. "I wish you had got the timepiece."
"So do I, Dick."
Dick had been captured by Josiah Crabtree just as he was vaulting the iron fence around the guardroom window. The head assistant had locked him up in the apartment Tom had occupied, and there Dick had remained all night.
"Oh, Crabtree is a — a terror!" said Dick, later on. "I hope Dora Stanhope's mother never marries him."
"I'll wager neither of you have heard the last of Crabtree, even if we are not in his classes," remarked Sam. "He will watch for a chance to get even, mark my words."
"I don't doubt it, Sam," answered Tom. "But let him come on. I intend to do my duty as a cadet, and I am not afraid of him."
CHAPTER XI
A ROW IN THE GYMNASIUM
For several days matters moved along smoothly with the Rover boys. In that time their chums, Frank Harrington and Larry Colby, arrived, and these, with Fred, made up the Metropolitan Sextet, as they called themselves — the sole occupants of dormitory No. 6.
Next to this dormitory was apartment five, occupied by Dan Baxter, Mumps, and six others of the bully's cronies. The two apartments were connected by a door, but this was nailed up.
So far there had been no open rupture between Baxter and Dick, but there was trouble "in the air," and it was bound to reach a climax sooner or later.
Fortunately for Dick and his brothers, Captain Putnam had had cadet uniforms to fit them, and the three were now dressed in true military style. The other boys had to wait until uniforms could be made for them.
The first day at Putnam Hall was spent in assigning the newcomers to the various classes, according to their knowledge. On the second day the three Rover boys were placed in the awkward squad, to learn the military drill.
The squad was presided over by Corporal Mark King, a youth who was cut out to be a soldier, although his father was a sea captain.
"Now then, line up!" he called out to the newcomers. "All of you will please toe that crack in the floor; now turn out your toes like this, and put your shoulders back, hands with the palms to the front."
His instructions were followed to the letter, for all were anxious to learn as fast as possible.
"Now the first thing to remember is to say nothing, but obey orders promptly," exclaimed the corporal. "When an order is given the first part is a warning, while the conclusion is the time when that order must be executed. For instance, I tell you 'Eyes right!' I say 'Eyes,' and you get ready to move your eyes; I add 'Right,' and you instantly turn them to the right, and keep them there. Now we'll try it: Eyes — right! Great smoke! number four, you turned them to the left! Now again: Eyes — right! Good! Eyes — front! That's first-class. Now: Eyes — left! Eyes — front! That couldn't be better."
And so it went on for an hour, during which the boys learned not alone how to use their optics, but also to "left face," "right face," "front face," and "about face" — that is, to turn directly to the rear. Then they learned how to "mark time" with their feet, starting with the left foot.
"To-morrow you shall learn how to march," said Corporal King when the drilling was over. "And then each of you will get a gun and go through the manual of arms."
"Will we learn how to shoot?" asked Tom. "I can shoot a little already."
"We have target practice once a month, and during the annual encampment," concluded the corporal.
"I wish that encampment was already at hand!" sighed Sam. He imagined that life under a tent would just suit him.
As soon as the boys "got the run" of the institution they began to feel at home. They made friends rapidly, especially when it became known that Sam was a fine runner and Tom a capital baseball player. There were several baseball teams in the school, and they frequently played matches on Saturday afternoons.
The gymnasium pleased Dick as much as it did his younger brothers, and nearly every day he spent a quarter of an hour or more in the building, using one apparatus or another, for the building was fitted up with rings, parallel bars, wooden horses, pulling machines, and other paraphernalia of athletic usage.
One afternoon Dick had just begun to use a set of parallel bars when Dan Baxter sauntered in, accompanied by Mumps and two other cronies.
There were very few cadets in the building at the time, and Baxter came directly to Dick.
"I guess we can settle that little affair now," muttered the bully, and slapped Dick on the cheek. "That for interfering with my doing on the boat."
Being on the bars, Dick could not ward off the blow, but he immediately sprang down, and with flushed cheeks leaped in front of Baxter.
"You seem very anxious to fight," he said in a low, steady voice. "You can, therefore, take that for a starter!" And hauling off with his right fist, he struck Dan Baxter fairly and squarely upon the nose, causing the blood to spurt and sending the bully to the floor like a shot.
If ever there was an individual taken by surprise it was the bully of Putnam Hall. He had not anticipated such a sudden and determined resistance, and for several seconds he lay still, too dazed to move. In the meantime his friends sprang forward, but Dick waved them off.
"My fight is with Baxter," he said. "I want you to keep your hands out of it."
"You hit him when he wasn't prepared," blustered Mumps.
"And he hit me when I was not prepared. Stand back!"
And Dick made such a show of being ready to attack Mumps that the toady fell back in great alarm.
In the meanwhile Dan Baxter arose, and tried to stop the flow of blood with his handkerchief. "I'll get even with you, Rover!"
