A parlor-lamp and several others shed light on the scene.
"This looks good!" murmured Roger.
"Wait till you see what we get to eat," answered Sam. "It may be slim--on such short notice."
But he was agreeably mistaken, the spread was all that could be desired. There were oysters on the half-sh.e.l.l, tomato soup, fried chicken, mashed potatoes, lettuce salad, olives, and also coffee, pie, and various cookies. It was served in home style, by the hotel man"s daughter and a hired girl.
"Say, this is fine!" cried Buster, smacking his lips.
"Better, maybe, than if we had stayed at the other place," added Dave.
"Only we haven"t got the music," said Phil. He was glad that matters had taken such a nice turn, but still angry over what had gone before.
As they had already lost so much time, the boys did not dare linger too long over the spread. Horsehair was given something to eat in another room, and then they set out on the return. Songs were sung and jokes cracked, and Shadow was permitted to tell half a dozen of his best stories. Yet, with it all, the edge had been taken off the celebration, and Phil knew this as well as anybody, and was correspondingly chagrined.
"I"ll make that man square up with me, see if I don"t," he said to Dave, as they arrived at the school. "I"m not going to lose all that money."
"Well, be careful of what you do, Phil," warned our hero. "Don"t get into a fight."
The next day the shipowner"s son sent out two sharp letters, one to Jason Sparr and the other to Professor Smuller. He stated that he was not responsible for the trip-up that had taken place, and demanded his money be returned to him, otherwise he would put the matter in the hands of the law.
To these letters came speedy replies. The musical professor said he was sorry a mistake had been made, and he returned the amount paid to him, and he further stated that if he could discover who had played the trick he would make that party settle up.
"That"s decent of him," said Phil. "I am going to send him back five dollars for his trouble." And this he did, much to Professor Smuller"s satisfaction.
The letter from Jason Sparr was entirely different. He berated Phil for the stand taken, and stated that he would pay back nothing. He added that he had learned how the crowd had gone to Rockville to dine, and said he was satisfied that it was all a trick to get patronage away from his hotel. He added that he had had trouble enough with people from Oak Hall school and he wanted no more of it.
"I guess I"ll have to sue him," growled Phil, on showing the letter to Dave and Roger.
"I don"t think I"d bother," answered Dave. "Put it down to Experience, and let it go at that."
"If you sued him it would cost as much as you"d get, and more," added the senator"s son.
"Humph! I don"t feel like swallowing it," growled Phil. "I"ll get it out of him somehow."
"He must have lost something--if he got ready for the spread," said Dave.
"Oh, I don"t think he lost much. He"s a close one--to my way of thinking," responded the shipowner"s son.
CHAPTER XVI
THE BLOWING UP OF THE BRIDGE
"Say, this is something fierce, Dave!"
"I agree with you, Roger. I don"t see how we are going to do such a long lesson."
"Old Haskers is getting worse and worse," growled Phil. "I think we ought to report it to Doctor Clay."
"Just what I think," came from Ben. "He keeps piling it on harder and harder. I think he is trying to break us."
"Break us?" queried our hero, looking up from his book.
"Yes, make us miss entirely, you know."
"Why should he want us to do that?" asked Roger.
"Then we wouldn"t be able to graduate this coming June."
"Would he be mean enough to do that?" asked Dave.
"I think he would be mean enough for anything," responded Phil. "Oh, I am not going to stand it!" he cried.
The boys had just come upstairs, after an extra hard session in their Latin cla.s.s. All were aroused over the treatment received at the hands of Job Haskers. He had been harsh and dictatorial to the last degree, and several times it had looked as if there might be an outbreak.
The next day the outbreak came. Phil sprang up in cla.s.s and denounced the unreasonable teacher, and Ben followed. Then Dave and Roger took a hand, and so did Buster and several others.
"Sit down! Sit down!" cried Job Haskers, growing white in the face.
"Sit down, and keep quiet."
"I won"t keep quiet," answered the shipowner"s son. "You are treating us unfairly, Mr. Haskers, and I won"t stand for it."
"Neither will I," added Ben.
"Sit down, I tell you!" stormed the instructor.
But none of the students obeyed him, and in a minute more the room was in an uproar. One of the under-teachers heard it, and quickly sent for Doctor Clay.
As the master of Oak Hall strode into the cla.s.sroom there was a pause.
He mounted the platform and put up his hand, and soon all became quiet.
"Young gentlemen, be seated," he said, in his strict but kindly fashion, and instantly every student sat down. Then he turned to the teacher. "Mr. Haskers, what is the trouble?" he asked.
"The trouble is that certain students will not learn their lessons,"
answered Job Haskers, sourly. "I had to take them to task for it."
"Who are those students?"
"Lawrence, Ba.s.swood, Porter, Morr, Beggs----"
"That will do for the present. Lawrence, stand up," ordered Doctor Clay.
Phil did as requested, and the eyes of the entire cla.s.s were fastened on the shipowner"s son.
"Now, Lawrence, what have you to say for yourself?" went on the doctor.