“Oh, I wrote in a disguised hand and stated that I knew the cadets had banded together to keep mum about the bell clapper and the only way for Captain Putnam to get at the bottom of the affair was to ask each officer and private, starting from the major down. I put the note on the captain’s desk and he must have it by now.” “Good!” chuckled Paxton. “If he starts in by questioning Ruddy he’ll soon get at the bottom of the matter, for the major won’t dare to tell a falsehood.” “And more than likely he’ll lose his position,” put in Coulter. “I hope he does.” “He ought to lose it,” answered Reff Ritter. Not for a moment did he give Jack credit for the good turn he had done him. While the three lads were talking Captain Putnam had entered his office and taken up the note. He read it with interest and his brow contracted. He was much disturbed, for since the open rebellion of the cadets, when they had refused to be starved into submission by Pluxton Cuddle, he had made the students promise not to band together in secret against the discipline of the school. Ritter knew this, and this was why he sent the note. “I cannot permit this,” murmured the head of the school to himself. “I must make a complete investigation to-morrow,—and the guilty parties must be made to suffer.” And then he held a conference with Josiah Crabtree and George Strong. Crabtree was in favor of punishing nearly everybody, but George Strong, with his usual goodheartedness, counseled moderation. “It most likely was merely a thoughtless prank,” said Mr. Strong. “The cadets meant no harm. Bell clappers, as you know, have been taken by students from times immemorial.” And at this Captain Putnam had to turn away with a smile, for in his younger days he himself had assisted at the removal of, not a clapper, but the bell of the boarding school he had attended. “We’ll see in the morning,” said Captain Putnam, and there for the time being the matter rested. It must be confessed that Jack, Pepper and their chums were somewhat worried that night, and the young major slept but little. Fred and Dale had reported the interview with Deacon Pelham and had seen to it that the note got into Captain Putnam’s hands. Early in the morning Pepper was out on the campus when he saw Captain Putnam appear. A moment later one of the stablemen brought up the captain’s black horse and the head of the Hall vaulted into the saddle in true military style and was off. “He’s in a hurry,” thought Pepper, and he wondered where the master of the school was going. He watched the captain turn into the lake road and then uttered a low whistle. “I’ll bet a button he is going to visit Deacon Pelham!” he murmured. “Maybe he wants to learn if that note was genuine.”