The Mercer Boys' Mystery Case

Early one February morning a committee of ladies and gentlemen waited on Colonel Morrell. He saw them come up the drive, and was surprised to note that the group was made up of...

A group of pleasant-looking young men, neatly dressed in the spruce, gray uniforms of the cadet corps of Woodcrest Military Institute, stood at ease in one of the halls downstai...

Don allowed Sunday to go by without saying anything to the colonel about the cup and the story attached to it. He had already told it all to his brother and Terry, and they spen...

With the cup in their possession and the task to which they had set themselves almost successfully completed it was little short of heartbreaking to miss the mark in this fashio...

Mr. Terry Mackson chuckled and looked over the edge of his blanket at the other two beds in the room. In the farthest bed Jim Mercer was sleeping with just a bit of noise procee...

A low, gray ceiling of clouds hung over the field at Woodcrest when the cadet team came out to play that November afternoon. Stands were crowded, and as the team entered the fie...

That night Don settled himself in his chair to study. Jim was across the room intent on history and Terry was visiting down the hall. The redheaded boy was unusually bright in h...

But Jim finally realized that no one was close to them and he came to a halt, calling to Terry in a low tone. The red-headed boy stopped and joined him.

“It seems that a lot is coming out concerning that man all at once,” the genial headmaster remarked, running his hand through his gray hair. “Unfortunately, it does not happen t...

“That’s right,” the colonel agreed. “But now I find that Woodcrest didn’t win the interscholastic scholarship contest at all. In time the truth will have to be made known and th...

Looking out of the window of the hut the cadets saw three men coming down the swamp pathway toward the hut. They were apparently laborers. Two of them were big men, the third wa...

Mr. Vench had passed the ball more than once to Don without anything spectacular having happened, but he was willing to do it once more. One look at the flushed face of his frie...

The cadets looked astonished and interested and waited in respectful silence as the headmaster thought for a moment to refresh his memory. Then, with the facts in his mind, he r...

“Goodness knows they have it coming to them,” mused Don. “I’d hate to go around for a number of years with a cloud like that hanging over me. If I met an old fellow student I’d...

A number of cadets, clad in the regulation football pants, and blue and white jerseys of Woodcrest football team ran swiftly around the track back of the school. It was the cust...

There was no sound from the one who had called out a few moments ago, but the boys had the direction in mind, so they struck off into the tangle of the woods without further del...

There was nothing more said until they reached the house, where Don was quickly ushered into the presence of Arthur Gates. The man was seated in the library when they entered, w...

On the following morning Don sought out the colonel and asked for a few minutes to talk over an important matter. At the colonel’s invitation he sat down and came at once to the...

The Mercers and Terry had returned to Maine, separating for a brief week to be with their own families. The Mercer brothers thoroughly enjoyed the week at home, visiting friends...

Douglas was playing the piano and Don, Terry, Vench and Hudson were standing around listening. Jim had been at Inslee Hall visiting a friend and had just popped into the recreat...

Jim whispered it cautiously and the two shadows with him nodded silently. Don and Terry crouched down beside him behind the high wall which ran back of the home of Arthur Gates.

At the colonel’s suggestion they had read the entire thing, taking the responsibility upon themselves in view of the fact that every effort to clear George Long was justifiable....

The following day Don decided to walk to town and see if there was a letter for him at the postoffice. He expected one from his father. The others were studying so Don went alon...

Saturday evening, the telephone in Colonel Morrell’s office rang. After a short conversation he sent an orderly in quest of Don and Jim, as well as Douglas and Hudson. When they...

“I guess we’ll just have to go without knowing what was on that cup that made it worth while for Gates to steal,” the colonel admitted. “Now, the only thing for me to do is to h...