“Went up to the head of the lake,” answered Paxton. “And say, I and Mumps made a discovery,” he added. Mumps was, as my old readers know, a small cadet whose real name was John Fenwick. He was a good deal of a sneak and continually toadying to those bigger than himself. “What did you discover?” “We found a good big hornets’ nest.” “Humph! that’s of no account,” was Coulter’s comment “Isn’t it though! That’s all you know about it,” cried Paxton. “I once found a hornets’ nest and put a big flour bag over it and took it down and brought it to school and had dead loads of fun with it.” “Say, can you handle ’em that way?” queried Ritter, with interest. “Certainly, but you have to be awfully careful.” “Then, it would be a scheme to secure the nest and introduce some of our enemies to the hornets.” “Just what I was thinking,” said Nick Paxton. “When can you get the nest?” “The best time is at night, when the hornets are all inside.” “You’ll want a good, heavy bag, otherwise the hornets will get out and sting you.” “I can make a bag, of paper and paste,” said Paxton. “Well, keep it quiet and we’ll see what we can do with the nest—after we have it,” answered Reff Ritter. “I think I know of a scheme,” he chuckled. “What?” asked the cadet who had made the find. “Sooner or later the Ruddy crowd will have some kind of a feast. When they get together we can watch our chance and throw the hornets’ nest in their midst. I reckon that will wake ’em up!” “It sure will,” said Paxton with a chuckle, and even Coulter had to smile over the prospect of doing such a thing to the enemy. In the meantime, while this talk was going on, Jack and Andy were walking in the woods back of the encampment. Presently they fell in with Mumps. “Hello, Mumps!” cried the young major pleasantly. “Walking out for your health?” “Oh, I’ve been up the lake with Paxton,” answered the little sneak. He liked to be noticed by such a superior as the major of the battalion. “Well, did you see anything worth seeing?” “Oh, lots of things. Saw a hornets’ nest.” “Fall into it?” asked Pepper. “If you did I guess you got out in a hurry.” “No, I didn’t fall into it. Paxton and I found it.” “I’ll wager you threw stones at it,” said Jack. “No, we didn’t touch it. I wanted to throw a stone but Paxton wouldn’t let me. He said—But never mind that now,” added the sneak hastily. “What did he say, Mumps?” demanded Pepper. “Oh, well, if you want to know, he said he might come and get the hornets’ nest some time and play a joke on some of the cadets with it. I guess he wants to get square with some of the fellows.” “Hum, I see,” mused Jack, and he and Pepper looked knowingly at each other. “Where was the hornets’ nest?” “Oh, Paxton said I wasn’t to tell anybody.” “You tell me, Mumps, and I’ll give you my old baseball,” said Pepper. He chanced to know that the sneak wanted a ball. “Well, I’ll tell you, but you musn’t tell Paxton I did so.”