rry about their chum.

"It's a shame to keep him in that cold room," said the young major.

"Wonder if we can get him out on the sly?" returned the acrobatic youth.
"I'd be willing to run quite a risk to set him free, so he could sleep
in his own bed to-night."

"Let us sneak down after dark and see what we can do," suggested Jack.

Of course the fact that Pepper was a prisoner was known throughout the
whole school. Many who had laughed over the teeth affair thought it too
bad that The Imp should be locked up in a cold room. But others,
including Reff Ritter and Gus Coulter, said it served him right.

"He was too fresh," growled Coulter.

"Let him stay there a week; it will do him good," added Ritter.

"You leave things to old Crabtree," said Dan Baxter. "He knows how to
put the screws on a cadet."

"Right you are," came from Ritter.

The one boy who had little to say was Mumps. The sneak was scared almost
to death, feeling certain that Pepper would square up with him as soon
as liberated. The others did not know how Mumps had acted, or Jack and
Andy might have given the sneak a sound thrashing.

The young major and the acrobatic youth talked the affair over, and were
joined in the discussion by Bert Field, Dave Kearney, and one or two
others. They were on the point of going below, when Fred Century came
in.

"Crabtree is certainly going to make sure of keeping Pepper a prisoner,"
said he.

"How do you know that?" asked Jack, quickly.

"He has placed a guard in front of the door, so nobody can open it."

"A guard?"

"Yes."

"Who?"

"Two cadets--Crane and Barlow. They are to remain on guard three hours
and then some others are to relieve them."

"Then we can't do a thing!" groaned Andy. "We might bribe Crane, but
nobody could bribe Barlow. He's a sticker on everything he does."

Jack went below and found that the report about the guard was true. The
cadets were on duty, and he was not allowed to even speak to Pepper.

"It's too bad," he said, on returning to the dormitory. "I guess poor
Pepper will have to remain where he is."

"We might protest to Mr. Strong?" suggested Bart Conners.

"It wouldn't do any good. Crabtree is in charge during Captain Putnam's
absence."

One after another the cadets went to bed. Jack was the last to retire,
and it was a long while before he dropped off to sleep. Then he dreamed
about Pepper up in the far North, sitting on a cake of ice in a
bathing-suit, which s