The Mercer Boys at Woodcrest. Capwell Wyckoff

gets back we aren’t likely to do any of the things we generally do, or have much fun.”

      Vench was defiant about it. “Half the fun of going to school is having dances and picnics,” he said, in study hall. “At all the other schools I’ve been to, they have lots of them. But this stuffy old major vetoes it before we even have a chance to suggest it. I’ll tell you what I’m going to do. I’m going to organize the best dance this school’s ever seen. Something that will go down in the unwritten history of this academy.”

      “Better wait until the colonel gets back before you do, Vench,” advised Don.

      “I will not! I’ll do as I please!”

      “Suit yourself,” said Don, turning away.

      “I generally do. Want to be in on it, Redhead?”

      “Why, I think not,” drawled Terry. “I don’t want to be dismissed from here in my very first year. And referring to the highly disrespectful way in which you speak of my blond locks, don’t you think they might shine out in the darkness and give you and your party away?”

      “You guys make me sick!” growled Vench.

      “Sorry,” said Terry. “Can I show you the way to the doctor’s office?”

      Late in the afternoon Jim and Rhodes got special permission from the Officer of the Day and went to the town to buy some things. Special permission was necessary except on Saturday afternoons, and they lingered in town until the sun had set. The days were growing much shorter and it was dark when they arrived at the gate and walked up the path. None of the cadets were around and they started to cross the lawn when Rhodes pulled Jim suddenly into a clump of high bushes that lined the path.

      “What’s up?” asked Jim, quickly.

      “Somebody just came around Locke Hall and is going toward Clanhammer!” whispered the senior.

      Jim looked in the direction indicated and saw that Rhodes was speaking the truth. A man, his form somewhat indistinct in the twilight, was walking rapidly down the path in the direction of the silent old hall. By peering through the bushes the two cadets could watch him, and they could hear his footsteps on the gravel. The man did not pause or look behind, but walked straight up the stone steps, inserted a key in the lock and opened the door. With a bold and confident step he went inside.

      “Wonder who in the world that is?” breathed Jim.

      “I couldn’t make out,” replied Rhodes. “But whoever it is, he has the key to Clanhammer Hall. There is no light in the place, so he must know his way around.”

      They waited for some time, but no one appeared and the hall remained in total darkness. Rhodes looked at his watch.

      “We’ll have to go,” he announced, regretfully. “We have to be in at six, you know, and it is ten of now. We have to wash for supper, so we haven’t any time to spare. I’d surely like to stay here and see who comes out.”

      “So would I,” agreed Jim. “But we’ll have to go. If we could only see who it was!”

      The two cadets returned to the building, checked in, and went to their rooms. While Jim washed he told the other two of their discovery. Terry went to the window and watched the lawn, but without discovering anything.

      “We’ll see if anyone is missing from the dining hall,” Don suggested. But although they took great care to check up they could learn nothing at the evening meal. Every cadet and officer was in his place at the tables.

      “That leaves us one theory,” decided Rhodes, a little later, as they talked it over in the boys’ room. “Either the man got back before supper or one of the cooks or the janitor went in there. The question is: who, besides the colonel, has a key to Clanhammer Hall?”