"So am I," added Henry, and then the pair shook hands, while a great cheer rolled up from both sides. But the cheer came to an abrupt end when Fred Century cried out:

"Pepper Ditmore is hurt!"

"And so is Major Ruddy!" came from Emerald Hogan.

A crowd quickly gathered around each wounded cadet. Pepper had a nasty cut over the left eye and Jack had a lump behind his right ear.

"They must have been hit with soakers," was Dale's comment, as he bent over Pepper.

"Looks as if Pepper was. .h.i.t with a stone," came from Andy.

"A stone!" cried Bart Field.

"Yes, a stone! That cut was never made by a s...o...b..ll, or a piece of ice, either!"

"Shall I get a doctor?" asked Stuffer, anxiously.

"Oh, are they as bad as that?" asked Bob Grenwood.

"I don't know," answered Bert, soberly. "Wait a minute and we'll see if they come around."

"Oh, what a crack!" murmured Jack, and then he sat up and stared around him. Pepper was also stirring and he slowly put one hand to the cut on his temple.

"Let us carry 'em to the Hall," suggested Bert. "It's getting too cold out here and besides, they are all in a sweat from the s...o...b..lling."

When Pepper was picked up, Andy saw something lying beneath him in the snow. He picked it up.

"h.e.l.lo! look here!" he called out, and held the object up.

"A stone!"

"Where did it come from, Andy?"

"It was under Pepper's body. I believe it was in the s...o...b..ll that hit him!"

"Who would be so mean?"

"I rather guess I know," answered Pepper, and looked around for Ritter and Coulter, but the bully and his crony had disappeared.

Pepper and Jack were carried tenderly into the Hall and placed in easy chairs in the reception room. Presently both had recovered consciousness fully, and each had his head bound up in bandages.

"Phew, but that was a crack I got!" sighed The Imp. "I thought a rock had hit me!"

"It was Coulter who threw that s...o...b..ll," said the young major. "I saw him do it, and I was running to help you up when I got struck myself, and went down."

"And I am pretty sure Ritter hit you, Jack," came from Andy. "Anyway, I saw him aiming for you just before you staggered and fell."

"Andy, those fellows must have hit us with stones!" muttered The Imp.

"I feel sure they did. Ritter struck me with a s...o...b..ll, on the hand, and it left a deep scratch. Now, no ordinary s...o...b..ll would do that.

Besides that, I picked up a sharp stone from where Pepper was lying."

"It was against the rules of the contest to use stones," put in Dale, who was near.

"Sure it was!" cried Stuffer. "If those chaps really used stones they ought to be punished for it."

The news quickly went the rounds, as was to be expected. When Henry Lee heard it he quickly sought out Captain Bart.

"I hope you don't think I allowed any such underhand work," he said anxiously.

"Not for a minute, Henry!" cried the captain of Company B. "If Ritter and Coulter did it, they did it on their own responsibility. I think them just mean enough, too, for they are down on Major Ruddy and Pepper Ditmore."

"If they are guilty, I'd like to have them court-martialed!" muttered the commander of Company A. "Such underhand work is a disgrace to Putnam Hall!"

"Wait and see if it can be proven," answered Bart Conners. "Then, if it is proven, we'll read Ritter and Coulter a lecture they won't forget in a hurry!" he added significantly.

CHAPTER XVI

IN WHICH MORE VALUABLES VANISH

That night it snowed again, and in the morning the storm raged furiously around Putnam Hall, so that the landscape on all sides was completely blotted out. The cadets had to remain indoors, and it was hard work to keep a path clear to the gymnasium and the stables.

"We'll be s...o...b..und and no mistake," observed Andy. "Well, I don't care much; it will give me a chance to catch up in my lessons."

"Very far behind, Andy?" asked Jack.

"More than I like to think about, Jack. I want to graduate with honor, you know."

"Oh, we all want to do that."

"How's the head?"

"Still sore. But I guess I'll be all right again in a few days."

"How about you, Pepper?"

"I'll be all right, too, Andy. But it was a fierce crack!" added Pepper, as his hand went up gingerly to his plastered-up cut.

"Going to lodge a complaint against Ritter and Coulter?"

"What good would it do? We can't actually prove that they used stones?"

"Let it pa.s.s. If we make a complaint it will only stir up more bad blood," said the young major. "But in the future I am going to watch Ritter and Coulter pretty closely."