"He is dead!" murmured Pepper, hoarsely.

"Oh, don't say that!" said Andy, in sudden terror. He had just dropped
to the ground.

"If he ain't dead he's putty badly hurted," said the farmer who owned
the orchard.

Pepper caught his chum in his arms and brought him out and laid him on
the grass.

"He is still breathing!" he cried. "Get some water and we'll bathe his
face. Maybe that will bring him around."

"I'll get the water!" exclaimed Dale, and ran towards a well located at
the side of the orchard.

To those who have read the other volumes in this "Putnam Hall Series,"
the lads already mentioned will need no special introduction. For the
benefit of others, let me state that Jack Ruddy and Pepper Ditmore were
close chums, living, when at home, in the western part of New York
State. Jack was slightly the older of the two and was of rather a
serious turn of mind. Pepper was full of fun, and on that account was
frequently called "The Imp."

As related in my first volume, entitled "The Putnam Hall Cadets," the
lads left home to become cadets at a new institution of learning located
on Cayuga Lake. This new school was presided over by Captain Victor
Putnam, a retired army officer, who had modeled his institution somewhat
after the famous military academy at West Point. It was a large school,