CHAPTER XXI
A TUG OF WAR
When the Rover boys reached the vicinity of the Staton cottage they found Alice and Helen in the dooryard, watching for them.
"Mamma says you must come in," said Alice. "She wishes to see you."
"And papa wants to see you, too," added Helen.
"Thank you, we won't mind resting a bit," answered Dick. "The sun is rather hot."
They were soon seated on the broad porch, and here Mrs. Staton and her husband were introduced. They proved to be nice people, and both thanked the boys warmly for what they had done on the road.
"I've told Isaac Klem about that bull," said Mr. Staton. "Some day he'll do a whole lot of damage."
"We are going to keep a good lookout for him in the future," put in Alice. "I don't wish to be scared out of my wits again."
Before the boys left Mrs. Staton insisted on treating each to a piece of apple pie and a glass of milk.
"What did I tell you about pie?" whispered Tom. "Say, but it's all right, isn't it?"
"Yes, indeed!" whispered Sam.
The girls had a set of croquet on the lawn and asked the boys to play, but they had to decline for want of time.
All had moved to the rear of the cottage, under a wide-spreading tree, when Dick chanced to look toward the roadway and uttered an exclamation:
"Here come the other fellows now!"
"Yes, and look at the packages they are carrying," added Sam.
"And the bottles," came from Tom significantly.
Dick was about to step forward when Tom caught him by the arm.
"Let us keep shady, Dick."
"All right, Tom, if you say so."
Sam noticed that the faces of the two girls fell when Flapp and his cronies went past.
"Those are some of your chums, I suppose?" Said Helen.
"They are some of the cadets, but no chums of ours," replied Dick.
"Oh!"
"They belong to a little crowd of their own," explained Tom. "We don't hitch very well, so that is why we let them go by unnoticed."
"We met them at the store in Oakville," said Alice.
"Did they speak to you?"
"Yes, but—but we did not want them to."
"Humph!" said Dick, and then the subject was changed.
Having invited the girls to come and look at the camp some pleasant day the Rover boys left the cottage and hurried along the road after Lew Flapp and his cronies.
"I'll wager those fellows made themselves obnoxious to the girls," said Tom. "You could tell that by the way the girls looked."
"What do you think they are going to do with the stuff they are carrying?" came from Sam.
"I believe they intend to smuggle it into camp," replied Dick. "And if that is so, I don't know but what it is my duty to report them."
"If you do that, Flapp will consider you the worst kind of a spy, Dick."
"Perhaps, but as a captain of the command it is my duty to see that such things are kept out of camp."
"Well, do what you think is best."
"Better make sure that the stuff they are carrying isn't all right," said Sam. "They may have nothing but soda in those bottles."
They hurried along faster than ever but, strange to say, failed to catch up to Lew Flapp and his cronies, who were making for the hermit's den with all possible speed.
"Maybe they got scared, thinking we might be spying on them," suggested Tom, and hit upon the exact truth of the matter.
After that nearly a week passed in camp without anything unusual happening. Lew Flapp and his cronies kept their distance, and so strict was the guard set by Captain Putnam and his assistants that hazing became, for the time being, out of the question.
To pass the time more pleasantly some of the cadets organized several tug-of-war teams. This sort of thing pleased Tom very much and he readily consented to act as anchor man on one of the teams. Another team had Pender for an anchor man, with Rockley and seven others on the rope.
"Let us have a regular contest," said one of the cadets, and all was arranged for a match on the following morning after drill.
The students were enthusiastic over the match, some thinking one side would win and others favoring the opponents.
"Tom's crowd will win that match," said Sam.
"What makes you so sure? " questioned Ben Hurdy.
"Oh, Tom knows how to pull and how to manage the others."
"And so does Rockley know how to pull," continued Hurdy. "And what is more, he knows a trick or two that will pull your fellows over the line in no time."
"I don't believe it, Hurdy."
"Want to bet?"
"No, I don't bet. Just the same, I think Rockley's crowd will lose."
Although Sam would not bet, some of the other students did, so that by the time the match was to come off quite a sum was up.
George Strong had been chosen as starter and umpire. On the green a line of white was laid down, and the team pulling the other over this line would be the winner.
For the contest Captain Putnam provided a new rope of proper size. To each end was attached a belt for the anchor men, and there was ample room on each side of the line for the eight cadets on the rope.
"All ready?" questioned George Strong, when the time had come for the contest.
"All ready on this end," replied Tom, seeing to it that each of his team was in his proper posi tion and had a proper hold on the rope.
"All ready here," said Rockley, a few seconds fater.
"Drop!" cried the teacher, and down went the two teams like a flash, each pulling for all it knew how. But neither gained an inch at the fall, so the start-off was perfect.
"Now pull for all you're worth, Rovers!" cried one cadet.
"Haul 'em over, Rockleys!" cried another.
"Steady, boys!" whispered Tom. "Don't get nervous. There is lots of time."
He was almost flat on his back, with both feet braced firmly in the soil. Rockley was also down, and it looked as if it might be well-nigh impossible to budge either.
"This is a dandy tug of war," said Fred Garrison, "Neither has got an inch of advantage."
"The Rovers will beat!"
"The Rockleys will win!"
"I think it will be a tie," said another.
The strain was terrific and soon each member of the two teams was bathed in perspiration.
"Here is where you earn your rations!" cried one cadet, and this caused a general laugh.
"Watch your chances, Tom," whispered Dick, and his brother nodded to show that he understood.
Both sides were glaring at each other. The strain was beginning to tell, but so far nobody had thought of letting up in the least.
But now Tom saw two of Rockley's men "getting their wind" as it is called. They still held on to the rope, but were hardly pulling at all.
"Up!" cried Tom suddenly, and his men went up like a flash. "Down!" came the cry, an instant later, and down they went, before Rockley's men could recover.
"Hurrah! the Rovers have gained four inches!" came the shout. And then those who favored that team set up a cheer.
It was true, the rope had shifted over four inches. Rockley was angry, but could do nothing.
"Mind yourselves, Wilson and Brady!" he whispered. "Don't let up a minute."
"I didn't let up," growled Wilson. "It was Chambers."
"Not much! " growled Chambers. "I wasn't"
"Up!" cried Tom again. "Down! Up! Pull, pull! pull! Down!"
Up and down went the team twice, the second time hauling the rope forward over a foot. Then they went down once more and anchored as firmly as ever.
"Good!" shouted Sam enthusiastically. "You're doing it, boys! Keep it up!"
"Are they?" sneered Lew Flapp. "Just you wait and see."
He had a little roll of paper in his hand, and watching his opportunity he blew the contents into the air, directly over the team led by Tom Rover. The paper contained pepper and it set several of Tom's men to sneezing.
This trick had been arranged between Flapp and Rockley, the latter feeling certain that Tom and his followers could not sneeze and pull at the same time. "Up!" yelled Rockley. "Pull! pull! pull!"
"Stay down!" roared Tom. "Down! Don't give in an inch!"
But the cry could not be obeyed. Half the team was up and sneezing and before order could be restored the rope had gone over to the Rockleys' side a distance of two and a half feet.
"Hurrah, the Rockleys are winning!" yelled Ben Hurdy. "Haul 'em over, boys!"
"Down!" ordered Tom.
"What on earth made the men sneeze?" demanded Dick, gazing around sharply.
"Smells like pepper," replied Major Larry Colby, who was close at hand.
"Would anybody be mean enough to use that?"
"Perhaps."
"Up!" cried Rockley once more. "Pull pull! pull!"
His team gave a savage haul as ordered, and up came Tom's men in spite of themselves. Then began a tug of war in dead earnest, with the rope nearly three feet in the Rockleys' favor.