Edward Stratemeyer - The Putnam Hall Rebellion

“Phew! but he’s a corker!” whispered Pepper to Jack. “I rather think he’ll make us sit up and take notice, eh?”

“Right you are, Pep,” answered the young major. “If I am any judge he’ll be even stricter than old Crabtree.”

“Looks like a chap who would carry out his ideas, once he had made up his mind,” came from Andy.

“Silence in the classroom!” called out Captain Putnam, and then, after a few words more, he left the new teacher and the students alone. Mr. Pluxton Cuddle got to work at once, and that day the boys studied more mathematics, astronomy and physics than ever before. They found that Mr. Cuddle was a regular “slave driver,” as Dale called him. Even Joe Nelson, studious as he was, shook his head.

“He’d want to keep a fellow at it every minute,” he observed. “I don’t mind boning away, but I want a breathing spell now and then.”

In the mess hall Pluxton Cuddle made himself even more disliked than in the classrooms. Hardly had the cadets at his table begun to eat when he commenced to find fault.

“The food is really cooked too much,” he said. “It is not healthy for the human stomach to eat food so well-done. And, boys, do not overload your stomachs. An overloaded stomach befogs the brain. To grow up clear-brained one must eat little and only that which is rare-done.”

“Gracious! does he want to starve us?” cried Pepper.

“He shan’t starve me!” returned Stuffer. He looked up to see the eyes of the new teacher fastened on him and his plateful of victuals.

“I say, you!” cried Pluxton Cuddle, pointing a long finger at poor Stuffer. “Do you mean to eat all that food?”

“Ye – yes, sir,” stammered Singleton.

“It is entirely too much, young man, entirely too much. Why, sir, do you know the capacity of the human stomach?”

“I know what mine can hold,” answered Stuffer, and at this answer a titter arose.

“Half of that food is sufficient for any boy,” went on Pluxton Cuddle, and glared around so sharply that the tittering stopped at once. “You cannot have a clear brain if you stuff yourself.”

“Captain Putnam lets me eat what I please,” grumbled Stuffer.

“Then the captain is making a sad mistake, and I feel it my duty to rectify it. Take a saucedish and put half of the food on it, and then eat what is left on your plate and no more.”

After that there was silence, but many of the cadets looked at each other meaningly. Here was a brand-new experience. When they got out on the campus they gathered to talk it over.

“Cut me off on food!” snorted Stuffer. “Say, if this thing keeps up I’ll go home. Why, I ain’t had half enough to eat!”

“Poor Stuffer!” cried Pepper. “Now see what you get for pampering your stomach!”

“I wanted some more rice pudding but I didn’t dare to ask for it,” said Dale.

“I wanted some more meat,” came from Bart Conners. “But he wouldn’t let the waiter bring me any. I think this is the limit!”

“What made me mad was the way Reff Ritter grinned at me from the next table,” continued Stuffer. “He had all he wanted to eat, for they had Mr. Strong there.”

“Too bad Mr. Strong is going away,” was Jack’s comment. “I hope he doesn’t stay long.”

“When does he go?” inquired another pupil.

“To-morrow.”

“The only thing this Cuddle knows is lessons,” said Dale. “There is no denying he is learned – more so even than old Crabtree. But I must say I like him even less than Crabtree – and that is saying a whole lot.”

“I don’t see how Captain Putnam came to pick him out,” said Henry Lee. “There are plenty of good teachers to be had.”

“He came well recommended,” answered Jack. “I heard Mr. Strong say so.”

“Humph! Wish he had stayed home,” growled Pepper. “If this sort of thing keeps on, I’ll rebel.”

“So will I!” cried Andy.

And several others said the same. Little did they dream then, however, of the rebellion so close at hand, and of the adventures which were to follow.

“I am going out for a sail,” said Jack, on Saturday afternoon. “Will you go along, Pep?”

“Certainly,” was the ready response. “Anybody else going?”

“Yes, Dale and Stuffer. Fred Century is going out in his boat too, and take several others of our crowd.”

“Going to race again?”

“I don’t think so,” answered the young major. “He hasn’t said anything. Of course I’ll race him if he wants to.”

As my old readers know, there had been in the past two races between the Alice , the sloop owned by Jack, and the Ajax , the craft belonging to Fred Century. These had taken place while Fred was a student at Pornell Academy. In the first race a sudden gust of wind capsized the Ajax and Jack and his chums had to go to the rescue of Fred and his friends. In the second race, which included another sloop belonging to a young man who lived near the two schools, the Alice came in ahead, with the Ajax second. On this race Roy Bock and his cronies lost considerable money by betting, and they circulated a story that Fred had “sold out” to the Putnam Hall boys. This caused a great rumpus, and a fight in which Bock and several other Pornell students got a good drubbing. Then Fred had a bitter interview with Doctor Pornell, and left the Academy and came to Putnam Hall.

The two sloops, looking very much alike, now that both flew the colors of the Hall, were soon standing up the lake in a breeze which was just sufficient to fill the sails. Each carried a party of four, and all the boys were in the best of spirits in spite of another “run in” with Pluxton Cuddle over the matter of eating.

“Jack, if you don’t mind, I’ll race you for a couple of miles!” sang out Fred, who was handling the tiller of the Ajax .

“Want to get beat again?” asked the young major, with a grin.

“No, I want to prove to you that the Ajax is just as good a sloop as the Alice .”

“All right, I’ll race if you want to. What’s the course?”

“From here to Borden’s Cove, if you don’t mind.”

“Want to capsize again?” questioned Pepper.

“No, I know enough to take in sail now,” answered Fred.

“All right!” sang out the owner of the Alice . “What’s the prize for winning?”

“A quart of baked ice-cream,” answered Fred merrily.

“Add a dozen stuffed pancakes fried in ice and I’ll go you!” called the young major. “Are you ready?”

“Yes.”

“Then go! And catch me if you can!”

“Catch me, you mean!” yelled Fred, and then both skippers settled down to handle their respective craft as best they knew how. Each had his topsail broken out, and each made his passengers sit so as to make his sloop ride on as even a keel as possible.

It was a beautiful day for a race, warm and clear, with scarcely a cloud in the sky.

“I know what I’d like,” said Pepper, as they bowled along over the course. “I’d like to take a swim. I know the water must be dandy.”

“I’ll be with you – after this race is over,” answered Dale.

Side by side the two sloops kept on the course until Cat Point was rounded. Then the Ajax began slowly to crawl ahead.

“There! What did I tell you!” cried Fred Century. “See how we are going ahead!”

“This race isn’t over yet,” answered Jack.

They had passed the spot where the mishap had occurred to the Ajax and were now heading directly for Borden’s Cove. Soon the Alice began to crawl up and presently passed the Ajax . Those on Jack’s craft gave a cheer.