ense.

"All right, sir; we'll drop the matter, Mr. Crabtree," he said.
"Good-morning," and a moment later he quitted his prison and was on his
way to his dormitory.

The cadets had much to talk about that day--the sudden liberation of
Pepper, and the losses Bart Conners and Dan Baxter had suffered. At noon
Captain Putnam came back, and he had the captain of Company B and Dan
Baxter in his office for the best part of an hour. But nothing came of
the conference, excepting that the owner of the Hall said he would pay
all losses and gave Baxter his eleven dollars on the spot. Then he had a
long conference with the new man of all work, who was really a detective
in disguise. But that individual was as much in the dark as anybody. He
had seen nobody prowling around during the night.

"We must get at the bottom of this affair," said Captain Putnam to
George Strong. "If we do not, the school will surely be ruined." He was
told about the affair of the teeth, but paid little attention, knowing
that Josiah Crabtree could be left to manage his own differences with
the students.

Pepper had dropped the matter so far as it concerned Josiah Crabtree,
but he did not drop it so far as it concerned Mumps. He watched the
sneak that day and the next, and managed at last to catch Mumps at the
boathouse.

"Now, I am going to give you the thrashing you deserve!" cried The Imp,
and caught the sneak by the collar.

"Lemme go!" shrieked Mumps. "Lemme go, or I'll tell Captain Putnam on
you!"

"No, you won't!" answered Pepper. "If you do, I'll promise you another
licking at the first chance I get!"

And then and there he boxed the sneak's ears and then threw him down in
the snow, washing his face and shoving a lot of the snow down inside the
lad's shirt. Mumps yelled like a wild Indian, but Pepper did not let up
until he felt that he had given the sneak all he deserved.

"You say a word and I'll give you a double dose the next time!" warned
Pepper. And this so scared Mumps he never once opened his mouth about
the affair.

CHAPTER XXIII

AN ELECTION OF OFFICERS

"Election of officers to-morrow!"

"As if every cadet at the school didn't know it, Pepper."

"Well, Andy, have you made up your mind how you are going to vote?"

"Sure I have," replied the acrobatic youth. "I am going to vote for Bart
Conners for major, since Jack don't want to run again."

"That's the way I am going to vote, too."

"How about the two captain