University School of Milwaukee - Trident Yearbook (Milwaukee, WI)

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THE ACADEMY Fifteen bj ' this time I was good and angry, as I thought sure it was a trick of the fellows, to show up my ignorance. The beaters had not put in an appearance and we had not found the fence, and I was inclined to believe that Charley had tried to get me lost in the swamp. As we approached the spot where the man had so mysteriously confronted us I thought I saw, and in this I was con- firmed by Charley, the glimmer of a lan- tern among the trees. I thought it was the beaters and fellows, coming to give us the laugh, so I suggested that we hide and wait until the fellows came nearer and then spring out and give them a scare. As Charley was not in favor of this I went on. I walked on sullenly towards the light as I expected to see the fellows snickering, but much to our — I think I can say our — surprise, it turned out to be another mysterious man. He stuck his lantern into our faces and, evidently satisfied, he grabbed us both by the collar and asked us what we were doing. Charley explained that we were snipe-hunting. The sherifif, as it turned out to be, said that snipe-hunt- ing was against the law, and in a solemn voice arrested us in the name of the law for breaking into a hunter ' s cabin, about ten yards distant, and stealing valuable furs. He had been informed, he said, by the people living in Todd ' s cottage that two boys with a bag and lantern committed the robbery. As we fitted the description, we would have to go to jail. He showed us the cabin and the broken padlock. We told him we were boys from Camp Cranleigh, and had not stolen the furs. He told us that the man at Todd ' s had seen us pass by an hour ago. To make sure we were the boys, he called the man from Todd ' s cottage, who turned out to be the mysterious man of our previous acquaintance. We then set out for camp. Just as we reached the crossroad at Tysson ' s there was a noise in the brush. The sheriff let go of Charley and grabbed me with his two hands. Charley darted into the brush and disappeared. I had been doing some fast thinking from the time that we were arrested. At first I wanted to beat up the sheriff, counting on Charley to help me. But he looked as if he could take about six fellows of our build and walk all over them. Now I decided to bluff the sheriff. This is a fine put up job, I said. Why didn ' t you grab the other fellow ? Never mind the other fellow, we ' ll get him later. The woods are full of my men. You look like the worse of the two anyway. I knew this was not so, as I am of a light build and not very strong, so I came back with : I believe you ' re lying. I ' ll show you whether I ' m lying. Just for that, you stay in the Cooler two more days. It ' s the fresh guys like you, that would try a stunt like this. This took the kink right out of me, and I meekly submitted to being led to camp. When we got to the office, the Colonel was sitting at his desk writing. Col- onel, I ' m arrested for robbery, Charley got away. Who are you anyway? inquired the Colonel. I thought the brat didn ' t belong here, interposed the sheriff, he said he did though. I nearly fell thru the floor. Razz, and Henry, the man of all work, came in and both said they didn ' t know me. When I heard Razz say he didn ' t know me, I gave up hope because, I had taken more stock in Razz than in the Colonel and Henry together. Maybe he ' s from Camp Winnepe, let ' s call up there, Henry suggested. What ' s your name? Everything was so queer and unexpected, that I must have been car- ried along by that atmosphere or else I was crazy, for I answered the first name which came into my head, and that was Paul Jones. Of course, I wasn ' t at Winnepe. While the Colonel was show- ing the sheriff the list of names of the boys at the camp. Razz edged over toward me and whispered, that I should get as close to the door as possible with- out arousing suspicion, and then make ready to run. I could have cried aloud

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Fourteen THE ACADEMY An Experience in Camp. I ran as fast as I could from the office down to the cabin where I bunked. Nothing but stillness greeted me. My first intention was to go to bed, but the cabin was so still that after my night ' s experience, I was quite shaky. Of course, I didn ' t want to let the fellows know I was scared, so I made myself believe that the excitement of my night ' s adventure ought to be shared with my colleagues. Hey, fellows, are you awake? As I look back, now, the an- swers to this query came so fast that anybody could have seen that the fellows were only pretending to sleep. At the time, however, I was so excited and things had happened to me that night that made the too ready reply unnotice- able. Everybody was firing questions at me, so, that I must have started my story backwards, when I espied Charley Garry among the foremost questioners. Well, how in the name of thunder did vou get here? I thought the sheriff ' s deputy got you, I exclaimed. Charley grinned sheeplishly. You know when I beat it from the sheriff I trailed after you, and when he took you into the office I lay on the outside and listened. As soon as you escaped from the office with Razz, I ducked for thp cabin. When the sheriff and his men came to search the cabin, I got in Fred Miller ' s trunk and Fred locked it, and then swore up and down thai he had lost the keys to his trunk. At this point Razz, Colonel Hoare and Mike Knappe entered. Come on and let ' s go in Sam ' s room and there Rusty can tell us the story of his life and a few other jokes. Whereupon we all adjourned Id Sam ' s room. I was a little calmer now and not half so afraid, as there was plenty ,of light and lots of fellows around. I took a deep breath and began : You know when you fellows talked about snipe-hunting I always wanted somebody to take me. Well, tonight right after mess. Razz took Charlev and me up to the office and told us that we were going snipe-hunting. He said there was a little danger as it was against the law, but the sheriff wasn ' t very active, so that was all right. We were to have six fellows as beaters. We were to go to a swamp, the location of which Charley and I knew, and there find a fence. About this time the beaters were supposed to form a circle and with us as the hub, to close in around. The snipe would run along the fence and we were to stand at the end of the fence, one holding a lighted lantern, the other a bur- lap bag. The snipe would be scared and when they came near enough, which was the beaters job, they would be blinded by the light and would run past it into the bag. This may have seemed fishy, but I was a new fellow and coming from the city, I knew nothing of the great north woods. Well, everything went O. K. until we passed Todd ' s cottage, when suddenly a man confronted us. Charley and I were so scared that we didn ' t say anything, and the funny part of it was, that the man didn ' t so much as move a finger ; jUst stood there and stared at us until we were out of sight. It ' s that swamp right in back of the cottage after Todd ' s. You fellows often go down there to get moss to pack fish in. We floundered around in there for about 15 minutes. Every step you take, you sink in up to your hips. Believe me, I was getting hotter every minute, while my temper was rising with my bodily exertion. I began to think it was a put up job and i told Charley so. Charley said he thought we ought to go back, so he started walking west. I told him we would never reach the lake by walking west. He insisted he was right. I had been down in the swamp the day before, so I knew the lay of the land and that the lake was to the east of us. I started walking east and Charley followed. We came to the lake, found the old trail, and

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Sixteen THE ACADEMY for joy, because I did not relish being locked up in jail with a lot of drunkards and town bums. The lantern, which the sheriff had brought, was standing near the door, lighted. I crossed over, turned it out and then sat down, and the sherifT, when he saw me go towards the door, came and sat next to me, Razz looked at me and nodded. I drew my legs up under me, and bolted out through the doorway and off the porch. The sheriff caught my foot as I went out but could not hold it, I had too much momentum to be stopped by that. Razz was right after me, shouting that I had gone toward the kitchen, and pulling me in the opposite direction. In our efforts to put more distance between us and our pursuers, we stumbled and fell many times, before we reached a deserted hut Here Razz produced a flashlight and told me to get up in the loft, which was made of pine boughs, saying that he would teli the Colonel where I was hidden, and to throw the sheriff ' off the trail. Razz left and I shook so from fear, excitement and cold, that I thought any minute I would fall down from my lofty perch and land on the hard floor below. I could hear by attentive listening the hus- tle and bustle that was going on about the camp. I heard such cries as : Watch the boats ; have you counted them? Guard the road. Who ' s there? Surround the camp. The sounds of boats being pushed into the lake and all the other noises that accom- pany a thorough search. But these sounds gradually became dim, and 1 could hear the voices and footsteps of the Colonel and the Sheriff as they ap- proached. I expected they would turn down the hill towards the cabins, but still they came on. They entered the cabin, and the Colonel explained to the Sheriff that the hut was deserted, ex- cept for a few mattresses, in the corner of the loft. The Colonel said there would be no need of looking in the cab- ins, as the boys would turn the culprit over as soon as he appeared, they being as hot on the search as the sheriff ' s deputies. The only place he could be would be here, said the Colonel. Here ' s a chair that you can stand on to look up into the loft. I grew cold all over. I was sure the beating of my heart or the trembling of my body was shown by the rustling of the pine boughs. A cold clammy sweat was all over my body, and I then realized that Razz had failed to reach the Colonel and tell him of the plans he had made. The Sheriff was on the chair, poking up into the loft with the Colonel ' s cane. I had my legs spread apart, and at the first poke, the cane came up between my legs. The Sheriff was poking a second time, when Razz hollered: Colonel, I ' ve got the boy, we found him. But it was too late! The cane hit my leg. The sheriff reached his hand up, grabbed my trousers, and yanked. I came down with a thump. The sheriff lost his balance and came down on top of me. I was up in a flash, only to run full tilt into the Colonel ' s stomach. He caved in with an Vh ! Before I could recover from my second collision, the sheriff ' had me. I was taken down to the office and Razz came in. The Sheriff was mad as a hornet, that the Colonel and Razz had tried to help me escape. He told them he had a good mind to put them in the Cooler too. Razz and the Colonel con- fessed, that I was a member of the camp, and that they tried to help me escape. They put me in a room adjoining and closed the door. I picked up a funny paper, tried to read the jokes, gave up, then started to whistle; that failing, I sat still and listened. Razz told how the camp would get a black name if I was put in jail, how my father and mother would feel, and was all but crying him- self, when the sheriff said, that, if I would pay for the furs that were stolen, and hush money for the sheriff, he would free me. At this point I was brought into the oft ' ice, told of the terms, and asked if my father would pay $350, if I was to be let off. I said father would pay, and after thanking the sheriff for such lenient terms I came down here.