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.

"How do you know, Bart?"

"Because he hasn't any. He asked for credit at the store yesterday--to
buy some cigarettes--and the shopkeeper refused, saying Ritter owed him
eighty cents already."

"Humph!" mused Pepper, and said no more.

"Come on--forget it!" cried Jack. "We'll celebrate anyway."

"We've got other barrels," came from Dale.

The cadets rushed out and to the lake-shore, and soon several bonfires
were blazing merrily. Around these the students congregated, and sang
songs and "cut up" generally. Dale had to make a speech, and the boys
caught him up on their shoulders and carried him around the campus.