the occasion.

"I am not going to drop it!" retorted Gus Coulter, with spirit. "You
saved my life, and I want everybody to know it, especially Reff Ritter.
He would have left me to drown!"

"Reff had to save himself. He was chilled to the bone when we got him
out," answered Jack.

"If you had been Reff you wouldn't have run away and left me to drown,"
went on Coulter, stubbornly.

At this Jack was silent.

"You don't know it all, Jack Ruddy. Reff and I had a quarrel. He said
he--he didn't want to have anything more to do with me. I believe he--he
would have been glad to have me drown!"

"Oh, don't say that, Gus!" burst out Pepper.

"But I will say it!" flared out Gus Coulter. "After this I am going to
cut Reff Ritter! And I am going to tell what I know about him, too! And
I am going to get Nick Paxton to tell what he knows, too!"

"What do you know about him?" asked Jack, with sudden interest.

"Oh, I know a good deal."

"Coulter, answer me honestly. Do you know anything about his dealings
with a certain man named Cameron Smith?"

"Oh, do you know that fellow?" questioned the other cadet, and he stared
wonderingly at Jack.

"I know a little about him."

"Don't you have anything to do with him, Jack! And don't you have much
to do with Reff! They are both bad! Oh, you don't know how bad!" And Gus
Coulter shook his head to emphasize his words.

"What did you and Reff quarrel about, Gus?" asked Pepper.

"We quarreled about--about---- Oh, I don't know how I can speak of it!
But I suppose I've got to, if I want to remain honest. We quarreled over
something I found one day in his private box. I got suspicious of him,
and when he was taking a nap I took his key and opened the box. And in
the box what do you suppose I found?"

"What?" came simultaneously from Jack and Pepper.

"Your watch and chain, Jack."

CHAPTER XXX

THE MYSTERY EXPLAINED--CONCLUSION

"My watch and chain!" cried the former major of the school battalion.

"Yes."

"What did you do about it? Why didn't you report it to me, or to Captain
Putnam?"

"I was so stunned I didn't know what to do. I couldn't believe that Reff
had taken them, and that he was guilty of the robberies that were going
on. I locked the box up and put the key back in his pocket. That night I
accused him of the theft, and we had a quarrel and almost came to blows.
He said he didn't take the watch and chain, that he found them in the
gymnasium near the loc