“I want an answer!” cried Captain Putnam, sternly.  “Who started that fire?”

He looked around from one cadet to another.  But nobody spoke.

CHAPTER XI

A MYSTERIOUS HAPPENING

It was a rule of honor among the cadets of Putnam Hall that no student should tell on another.  To do that would have been to put one’s self down as a sneak, and none of our friends wanted such a reputation.

“I ask again, who started that fire?” went on Captain Putnam, with increased sternness.

“I rather think I know the guilty parties,” said George Strong, who had walked away on an errand and had just returned, “Ritter and Coulter, what have you to say?”

The two culprits started, and Coulter turned pale.

“Why, I—­er——­” stammered Gus.  “I—­that is——­” He did not know how to proceed.  He did not dare deny his guilt, not knowing but what the assistant teacher might have seen him and his crony light the tar-barrels.

“Well, if you—­er—­want to know the truth, Captain Putnam, we—­er—­started the fire,” stammered Reff Ritter.  “But it was an accident.”

“An accident?”

“Yes, sir.  We were—­er—­going to roll the barrels down to the lake—­going to hide ’em so that Ditmore and his friends couldn’t find ’em, you know.  Well, we didn’t want to get the tar on our hands, so we—­er—­started a little fire to see by—­it was dark under the trees.  All of a sudden the barrels blazed up.  We—­er—­didn’t expect such a big blaze.”

“That’s it,” cried Coulter, eagerly.  “We just made the fire at first to see by.”

“Then you didn’t really want to fire the barrels under the trees?”

“No, sir,” came from both of the guilty ones.

“It was a rash thing to do, to start such a blaze.  In this wind you might have burnt down the whole woods and endangered the school buildings.”

“I don’t believe Ritter and Coulter,” whispered Andy to Pepper.

“Neither do I,” was the reply.

“Ditmore, you said the barrels belonged to you?” went on the owner of the school.

“Yes, sir.  I bought them from the tar-roofer in Cedarville and he delivered them.  We were going to have a great bonfire—­and we did!” And The Imp said this so dryly that even Captain Putnam had to smile.

“Well, I presume I shall have to drop the matter,” said the captain, after a few more questions.  “But let me warn you all about fires in those woods in the future.  If a fire gained headway here we might burn everything down to the ground.”

So, from an official standpoint, the matter was dropped.  Ritter beckoned to Coulter, and they hurried away, followed by Nick Paxton and one or two others.

“Well, that ends the tar-barrel celebration,” said Pepper, rather mournfully.  “I really ought to make Ritter and Coulter pay for the barrels.”

“You won’t get any money out of Ritter,” remarked Bart Conners.