“This looks a good deal like a cell,” he mused as he gazed around.  Suddenly his eyes caught some writing on the wall in lead pencil.  He stepped over to read it.

“Josiah Crabtree put me here,
And I am feeling very queer;
He boxed my ears and pulled my hair
Oh, when I’m free won’t I get square!”

“Somebody else has been here before me,” thought Tom.  “I rather reckon I’ll get square too.  Hullo, here’s another Whittier or Longfellow: 

“In this lock-up I’m confined;
If I stay long I’ll lose my mind. 
Two days and nights I’ve paced the floor,
As many others have before.”

“I hope I don’t stay two days and nights,” said Tom half aloud.  Then he walked to the single window of the apartment to find that it was heavily barred.

“No escaping that way,” he went on to read another inscription, this time in blank verse: 

“And I And I am jugged,
Alone in solitude, and by myself
Alone.  I sit and think, and think,
And think again.  Old Crabtree,
Base villain that he is, hath put me here! 
And why?  Ah, thereby hangs a tale, Horatio! 
His teeth, the teeth that chew the best of steak
Set on our table —­ those I found and hid;
And Mumps, the sneak, hath told on me!  Alas! 
When will my martyrdom end?”

“Good for the chap who hid the teeth!” continued Tom, and smiled as he thought of the rage Crabtree must have been in when he discovered that his false teeth were gone.  A rattle in the keyhole disturbed him, and he dropped onto a chair just as the head assistant again appeared.

“I want the keys to your trunk and your satchel,” he said.

“What for, sir?”

“Didn’t I tell you before not to ask questions?”

“But my keys are my own private property, and so is what is in the trunk and the satchel.”

“All pupils’ baggage is examined, Rover, to see that nothing improper is introduced into the Hall.”

“Want to see if I’ve got any more firecrackers?”

“We do not allow dime novels, or, eatables, or other things that might harm our pupils.”

“Eating never harmed me, sir.”

“Sometimes parents load up their boys with delicacies which are decidedly harmful.  Come, the keys.”

Josiah Crabtree’s tones were so harsh that Tom’s heart rebelled on the moment.

“I shan’t give them to you, Mr. Crabtree.  You have no right to place me here.  I wish to see the proprietor, Captain Putnam, at once.”

“Do you — er —­ refuse to recognize my authority over you?” cried Josiah Crabtree passionately.

“I do, sir.  When I have met Captain Putnam and been enrolled as a cadet it may be different.  But at present I am not a cadet and not under your authority.”

“We’ll see, boy, we’ll see!” came hotly from the head assistant.  “Before I am done with you, you will be sorry that you have defied me!”