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| author | Roger Frank <rfrank@pglaf.org> | 2025-10-15 04:40:36 -0700 |
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| committer | Roger Frank <rfrank@pglaf.org> | 2025-10-15 04:40:36 -0700 |
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diff --git a/.gitattributes b/.gitattributes new file mode 100644 index 0000000..6833f05 --- /dev/null +++ b/.gitattributes @@ -0,0 +1,3 @@ +* text=auto +*.txt text +*.md text diff --git a/12730-0.txt b/12730-0.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..d6e670b --- /dev/null +++ b/12730-0.txt @@ -0,0 +1,7096 @@ +*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 12730 *** + +The High School Boys Fishing Trip +or +Dick & Co. in the Wilderness + +By H. Irving Hancock + + + + + + + +CONTENTS + +CHAPTERS + I. Tom Reade has a "Brand-New One" + II. Dodge and Bayless Hear Something + III. Dick & Co. Driven Up a Tree + IV. Stalling the Red Smattach + V. Bert Dodge Hears the Battle Cry + VI. Paid in Full---To Date + VII. The Box That Set Them Guessing + VIII. The Man With the Haunting Face + IX. The Start of a Bad Night + X. Powder Mills, or Just What! + XI. In a Fever "To Find Out" + XII. Dick Makes a Find + XIII. Perhaps Ten Thousand Years Old + XIV. More Mystery in the Air + XV. The Scream That Started a Race + XVI. The Camp Invaded and Captured + XVII. Dick Makes Fish Talk + XVIII. A Kettle of Hot Water for Someone + XIX. Bert Dodge Hears Frightful News + XX. A Frenzied Ride to Safety + XXI. Real News and "Punk Heroes" + XXII. Tom Tells the Big Secret + XXIII. "Four of Us are Pin-Heads!" + XXIV. Conclusion + + + + + +CHAPTER I + +TOM READE HAS A "BRAND-NEW ONE" + + +"Hello, Timmy!" + +"'Lo, Reade." + +"Warm night," observed Tom Reade, as he paused not far from the +street corner to wipe his perspiring face and neck with his handkerchief. + +"Middling warm," admitted Timmy Finbrink. + +Yet the heat couldn't have made him extremely uncomfortable, for +Tom Reade, amiable and budding senior in the Gridley High School, +smiled good naturedly as he stood surveying as much as he could +make out of the face of Timmy Finbrink in that dark stretch of +the street. + +Timmy was merely a prospective freshman, having been graduated +a few days before from the North Grammar School in Gridley. + +Tom, himself, had been graduated, three years before, from the +fine old Central Grammar, whence, in his estimation, all the "regular" +boys came. As a North Grammar boy, Timmy was to be regarded only +with easygoing indifference. Yet a tale of woe quickly made Tom +Reade his young fellow citizen's instant ally. + +"Aren't you out pretty late, Timmy, for a boy who isn't even a +regular high school freshman as yet?" inquired Reade, with another +smile. "It's almost nine-thirty, you know." + +"Don't I know?" wailed Timmy Finbrink, with something of a shiver. +"It's getting later every minute, too, and I'm due for a trouncing +when I do go in, so what's the odds?" + +"Who's going to give you that trouncing?" Tom demanded. + +"My father," replied Timmy Finbrink. + +"What have you been doing?" + +"Pop told me to be upstairs and in bed by nine o'clock, without +fail," Timmy explained. "I came along just five minutes ago, +and found that pop has the house planted for me. I can't slip +in without his knowing it." + +"Oho! So your father has the other members of the family stationed +where they can see you, whichever way you go into the house?" +asked Reade, with genuine interest in the unfortunate Timmy. + +"Nope," explained Timmy, with another shiver. "Mother and sister +are away visiting, and pop is all alone in the house." + +"But he can't watch both the front and back doors at the same +time," Reade suggested hopefully. + +"Can't he do just that, though?" sputtered Timmy. "I've been +scouting on tip-toe around the house to get the lay of the land. +Pop is smoking his pipe, and has placed his chair so that he +can see both the back and the front doors, for he has the room +doors open right through. There isn't a ghost of a show to get +in without being seen---and pop has the strap on a chair beside +him!" finished Timmy, with an anticipatory shiver. + +"Timmy, you're a fearfully slow boy," Tom drawled. + +"What do you mean?" + +"I can fix it so you can get into the house while your father +is doing something else," Tom declared. + +"Can you? How? Ring the front door bell, while I slip in at +the back door?" + +"Nothing as stale as that," scoffed Tom Reade. "That wouldn't +call for any brains, you see. Come along and we'll look over +the lay of the land. Cheer up, Timmy! You'll have plenty of +chance to slip into the house, get upstairs, undressed and be +in bed before your father has time to get over the surprise that's +coming to him." + +"What are you going to-----" Timmy began breathlessly, but Tom +interrupted him with: + +"Keep quiet, and be ready to follow orders fast." + +As they gained the front gate of the Finbrink yard Tom's keen +eyes noted a brick lying on the grass. As that was just what +he wanted, he pounced upon it. + +"Now, Timmy, do you know where you can find a fairly good-sized +bottle---without going into the house or taking the risk of being +seen by your father?" + +"Yes; there's one back of the house, with the ashes," Timmy answered +eagerly. + +"Go and get it, and don't make any noise." + +Timmy disappeared in the darkness beyond, but soon returned carrying +an empty quart bottle. + +"Good enough!" whispered Reade, eyeing the bottle with cordial +interest. Then he noiselessly approached the house, laying the +brick on the grass under one of the front windows. + +"Now, Timmy, you slip around to the back of the house," whispered +the young schemer. "Just as soon as you hear a crash you watch +your swiftest chance to slip into the house and upstairs to bed. +Understand?" + +"Sure! What you-----" + +"Don't stop to ask questions. Get on your mark and look out for +your own best interests!" + +Rejoicing in the possession of such a valuable ally as Tom Reade, +Timmy vanished in the darkness. Tom Reade waited until he judged +that the youngster must be in position near the back door. Now +Tom gripped the bottle in his left hand, crouching over the brick. + +With his felt hat in his right hand, Tom reached up, hitting a +window pane smartly with the hat. At the same instant he brought +the bottle crashing down over the brick. + +As the bottle smashed against the brick Mr. Finbrink, in the dining +room of the house, jumped up so quickly that he dropped his pipe. + +"Some young rascal has smashed a front window!" he gasped, as +he bolted into the parlor. + +That was just what the noise had sounded like, and Tom Reade had +intended that it should do so. + +"I'll catch the young scamp!" gasped Mr. Finbrink, making a rush +for the front door, which he pulled open. + +Pausing an instant, he heard the sound of running feet in the +distance. + +"The young scoundrel went west, and he has a good start," grunted +Mr. Finbrink, as he gave chase in that direction. "Hang it, I +don't believe I can catch him!" + +That guess proved well founded. After running a short distance +Mr. Finbrink halted. He had not caught sight of the fugitive, +nor could he now hear the running steps. + +"I wonder how many panes of glass the young scamp broke?" muttered +the irate Mr. Finbrink. + +Retracing his steps quickly, Mr. Finbrink halted in front of his +house, scanning the windows. Not a crack in a window pane could +he discern, which was not remarkable, in view of the fact that +no panes of glass had been broken. + +"I need a lantern," Mr. Finbrink said to himself, and went inside +the house. Soon afterwards he came out with a lighted lantern, +and began his inspection. Three windows showed no sign of damage. +Nor did the fourth. Then Mr. Finbrink chanced to glance down +at the ground. There rested the brick, the fragments of the broken +bottle lying around it. + +"Say, what's that? What's that?" ejaculated Mr. Finbrink, much +puzzled. Soon, however, he began to see light on the riddle. +His lips parted in a grin; the grin became a chuckle. + +"Humph! That goes ahead of anything I ever had the brains to +think up when I was a boy," laughed the man. "That's a good one! +It sounded for all the world as though someone had smashed one +of my windows with a brick-bat. Ha, ha, ha! That's an all right +one! I'd be willing to shake hands with the boy who put up that +joke on me. How about my own Timmy, I wonder? No; Timmy wouldn't +be smart enough for this one---but he may have smart friends. +I'll look up that young hopeful of mine!" + +With that purpose in view, the lantern still in his hand, Mr. +Finbrink passed into the house and then up the back stairs. On +the next floor he pushed open the door of a room, holding the +lantern high as he scanned the bed. + +There lay Master Timmy, covered only with a sheet, his head sunk +in the depths of a pillow, eyes tightly closed, and breathing +with almost mechanical rhythm. + +"Oh, you're asleep, aren't you?" demanded his father, in a low, +ironical voice. "How long have you been asleep, Tim?" + +But Timmy's only answer was the beginning of a snore. + +"Are you very tired, Timmy?" continued his father craftily. + +Still no answer. + +Mr. Finbrink held the lantern so that the rays shone fully against +the boy's closed eyelids. Any youngster genuinely asleep would +have opened his eyes instantly, and Mr. Finbrink knew it. But +Timmy began to snore in earnest. + +"I'm glad you sleep so soundly," went on Mr. Finbrink. "It shows, +boy, what a clear conscience you have! No guile in your heart! +But I wish you'd wake up and tell me who broke the bottle against +the brick and made me sprint down the street." + +Still young Master Timmy snored. + +"In your sleeve you're laughing, to think how you fooled your +father, aren't you?" murmured Mr. Finbrink. "Well, it was a good +joke, and I admit it, young man, so I'm not going to trounce you +this time. But I'd be glad if you'd wake up and tell me who put +you up to that game." + +Master Timmy, however, was disobliging enough to slumber on. + +"All right, then," nodded the father. "I say again, it was a +good joke. Good night!" + +Only a little louder snore served as the son's answer. Mr. Finbrink +went out, closed the door and his footsteps sounded down the hallway. + +"Whew!" gasped Master Timmy, opening his eyes presently. "That +was a mighty narrow squeak! But I got out of it this time. +That Tom Reade is a sure enough wonder!" + +Mr. Finbrink, however, had slipped back, catfooted, and was now +outside the door, where he could hear the barely audible mutterings +of his son and heir. + +"So it was Tom Reade, eh?" murmured Mr. Finbrink, as he started +for the stairs in earnest this time. "I might have guessed it +was Tom Reade. He has genius enough for even greater things than +that. But Timmy has certainly helped, at least, to earn a right +not to be strapped this time." Then the father returned to his +chair downstairs, to resume his interrupted smoke. Within the +next half hour Mr. Finbrink chuckled many a time over the remembrance +of the pranks of his boyhood days. + +"But we had no Tom Reade in _our_ crowd in those good old days," +he repeated to himself several times. "If we had had a Tom Reade +among us, I think we would have beaten any crowd of boys of to-day!" + +Meanwhile Tom's love of mischief was speeding him into other experiences +ere he reached his bed that night. Some of the consequences of +his mischievous prank were to be immediate, others more remote. + +"Humph! But that did sound just like a window breaking," Tom +chuckled as he slowed down to a walk. "Whee! I'd like to show +that one to Dick Prescott. I wonder if he is up yet?" + +Whereupon Tom walked briskly over to the side street, just off +Main Street, whereon stood the book store of Prescott, Senior, +with the Prescotts' living rooms overhead. + +"Good evening, Mr. Prescott. Good evening, Mrs. Prescott," was +Tom's greeting as he walked into the store. "Is Dick up yet?" + +"He went upstairs not more than two minutes ago," Mrs. Prescott +replied. "He can't be asleep yet. Shall I call upstairs to see?" + +"On second thought, perhaps not," Tom replied. "Thank you, just +as much. But I've something new that I'd like to show Dick. +Do you mind if I slip out around the back of the store and try +a new trick on him? It won't hurt anyone; there'll be a crash +of glass, but it won't break any good glass---merely a bottle." + +"I think that perhaps our son needs a little enlivening," smiled +Mr. Prescott. + +"Thank you," answered Tom. "You won't be startled, will you, +Mrs. Prescott?" + +"I don't see how I can possibly be startled, when I've been so +kindly warned," laughed Mrs. Prescott. + +Then, as Reade darted from the store, Mrs. Prescott added, to +her husband: + +"I think the back of Tom Reade's head contains more pranks than +that of any other boy I ever knew." + +"I don't imagine our own son is any too far behind him," replied +Mr. Prescott dryly. + +A minute or two passed. Then there sounded under one of the store's +rear windows a most realistic crash of glass. With it mingled +another sound, not so easy to determine, followed by a loud yell +and the noise of running feet. Now, out in the street the cry +sounded: + +"There he goes! Get him!" + +"Throw him down and hold him!" yelled another voice. + +"Mercy!" gasped Mrs. Prescott. + +"Don't be alarmed, my dear," smiled Mr. Prescott. "It's only +the natural aftermath of Tom Reade's newest startler." + +Was it? + +Dick Prescott, after yawning twice, and before starting to disrobe, +had decided that his adjustable screen was not fixed in the window +of his bedroom as securely as it should be. In endeavoring to +fix it he found it necessary to remove the screen from the window. +Hardly had he done so when, gazing down into the darkness, he +saw a dimly visible figure flitting over the ground below. + +"Who's that?" murmured Dick to himself. "What's up?" + +Whoever the prowler was, he was flitting over to the ash cans +set out by a neighbor. One can contained ashes only, the other +contained various kinds of rubbish. It took the prowler but a +moment to find an empty bottle in the second can. Then he came +straight over toward the rear window of the store, which was +situated directly under Dick's own window. + +"There's some mischief afloat," murmured Dick, unable to recognize +his chum in the darkness. "I can't get down in time to catch +him, but I'll mark him so that I'll know him when I overtake him." + +Tip-toeing over to his washstand, Dick quickly picked up the water +pitcher. He returned to his window just as Tom crouched under +the store window with a bottle in his left hand and his felt hat +in his right. + +Then Tom struck the harmless blow against the window, at the same +time breaking the bottle. + +Smash! + +Splash! + +"Gracious!" gasped Dick, believing that the store window had been +broken. + +A yell from Tom arose as the contents of the pitcher deluged him. + +Reade was up and away like a shot, reaching the street only to +cause a hue and cry to be started after him as he ran. + +So swiftly had Tom moved, that by the time Dick Prescott reached +the street both pursuers and pursued were a block away and going +fast. Dick was about to join the chase when his father called +after him: + +"Dick! Dick! Come back here!" + +"Yes, sir," replied young Prescott, halting, wheeling, then springing +back. "But that scoundrel smashed the rear store window!" + +"No, he didn't," laughed Mr. Prescott. "That was Tom Reade, and +he was playing a trick on you---with our permission. Now he's +being chased. Do you want to go out and aid that crowd in capturing +him?" + +"Of course I don't, sir," replied Dick, who knew full well that +such a sturdy high school athlete as Tom Reade was in very little +danger of being caught by any citizen runners to be found on the +street at that time of night. "But what did Tom do, Dad?" + +"I don't just know," admitted the bookseller. "Reade told us +there would be a smash of glass, but that it would be harmless. +He warned your mother, Dick, so that she wouldn't he startled +when it came. Tom did the right thing in warning your mother. +I wish all boys could realize that only cowards and fools go +about frightening women." + +"But something else happened," insisted Mrs. Prescott. "I wonder +what it was?" + +"Suppose we take a lantern and go out in the back yard and see," +proposed Dick. + +While Dick was finding the lantern the elder Prescott closed the +front of the store, also drawing down the shades for the night. + +Dick's mother followed him into the rear yard. The fragments +of the bottle under one of the store windows told the whole story +to one as experienced in jokes as Dick Prescott. + +"But see how wet the ground is," Mrs. Prescott remarked after +Dick had explained the trick. + +"That was because I didn't recognize the joker, and emptied the +contents of my water pitcher on him just as he broke the bottle," +Dick smiled. "Poor old Tom. That was really a shame!" + +"But why did you pour the water on him?" asked Mrs. Prescott. + +"Because I felt sure that the prowler was up to some mischief, +and I wanted to mark him for identification, mother," Dick explained. +"If we had found a fellow on the street looking as though he +had just come out of the river, we'd have known our man, wouldn't +we? Poor Tom! I don't blame him for letting out that yell when +that drenching splash hit him." + +"I hope he didn't get caught by the men who started after him," +sighed Mrs. Prescott. + +"Don't worry about Tom, mother," urged Dick. "No one about here +could catch him, unless he happened to be a member of the Gridley +High School Eleven!" + +But was it true that Tom Reade had escaped without disaster? +That remained to be seen. + + + + +CHAPTER II + +DODGE AND BAYLISS HEAR SOMETHING + + +"If we start to-morrow we must hustle all day long to-day," declared +Dave Darrin. + +"That's true," agreed Greg Holmes, as the two boys stood on a +side street not far from Main Street in Gridley. + +"I wish the rest of the fellows would hurry along," Dave went +on impatiently. + +"At all events, I wish Dick would hurry up, as he has charge of +the arrangements," Greg made answer. "Oh, my! But I'm getting +anxious to see the fish nibble." + +"I thought you didn't care especially about fishing," Dave murmured, +regarding his friend. + +"Probably, as far as mere fishing goes, I don't care so very much," +young Holmes assented. "But when fishing means weeks of outdoor +life, free from the noise and dust of the town---then I'm simply +wild about fishing as an excuse for getting away. Probably at +the end of our fun we'll all be so sick of fish, from having had +to eat so much of it, that any one of us will run away and hide +when we suspect that the home folks are planning to send us on +errands to a fish store. It would be all the same to me if we +were going clamming, or hunting, or on any other kind of expedition, +as long as it brought us to life under canvas and sleeping in +the very place where pure, fresh air is made. Here comes Dick +now!" + +Young Prescott came swiftly up to his friends. + +"Well, I think I've gotten about everything fixed," Dick announced. + +"Tell us all the plans," urged Greg eagerly. + +"What's the matter with waiting until all the other fellows show +up?" Prescott inquired. "That will save me from having to go +twice over the same ground. While we're waiting I'll tell you +Tom Reade's latest one." + +"A funny trick?" queried Greg. + +"Needless question!" rebuked Dave Darrin. "Tell us about the +latest one, Dick." + +Thereupon the leader of Dick & Co. told of Tom's scheme for making +people think one of their windows broken. + +"Did it sound real?" Dave demanded. + +"Did it?" inquired Dick. "It fooled me. I thought surely that +our rear store window had been smashed to pieces. The sound is +as natural as any joker could wish. But I haven't told you the +other half of the story." + +Thereupon Dick told about the pitcher of water dumped so unerringly +on Tom, and of Reade's flight with the crowd pursuing him. + +"I'd like to have been near enough to hear just what Tom said +when the water struck him," laughed Darrin. + +"Did the people running after him catch him?" asked Greg. + +"I don't believe so," Dick Prescott smiled. "When Tom gets under +way in earnest, his middle name, as you may have observed, is +Double Speed---and then a bit more." + +"Who's talking about me?" gruffly demanded Reade, coming up behind +the group. "Dick, you old rascal! That was a mean trick you +played upon me when you hurled that water down on me last night! +But say, didn't it sound just like a three dollar pane of glass +going to pieces?" + +"It certainly did," laughed Prescott. "And by the way, Tom, did +the water, when it struck, make you think at all about what you've +read of Niagara Falls?" + +"Hang you!" grumbled Tom, shaking a fist. "Why did you pour the +wet stuff on me like that?" + +"Because I was fooled myself," Dick promptly rejoined. "I thought +some rascal was plotting mischief to the store. I wanted to mark +that rascal with a suit of wet clothes, then run down in the street +and collar him with his wet clothes on as a marker. But Dad called +me back, and so I missed you. I heard the crowd after you, however. +Did you get caught, Tom?" + +Reade's answer was something of a growl. + +"What happened between you and the crowd?" pressed Darrin, scenting +some news from Reade's mysterious, half-sulky manner. + +"Never you mind," Tom growled. + +"Don't tell us," Dick urged. "We can guess a few things, anyway. +You've a bruised spot over your left cheek bone that looks like +the mark of a punch on the face." + +"Go ahead and tell us what happened, Tom," urged Greg. + +Reade only scowled. + +"Anyway, you must have avenged yourself," Dick smiled. "Just +look at the way the knuckles of your right hand are skinned. +You certainly hit someone hard." + +Tom flushed quickly as he glanced at the knuckles in question, +then thrust his right hand into his pocket with an air of indifference. + +"Be a good fellow and tell us the finish of the adventure," begged +Darrin. + +"Certainly," grinned Reade. "The end of my adventure was-----" + +"Yes, yes!" pressed Greg, as Tom hesitated. + +"The end of the adventure came," Tom continued maliciously, "when +I turned out the gas in my little room and hopped into bed. I +slept like a top, thank you." + +"Now, now, now!" Dick warned him. "Thomas, you're hiding something +from us!" + +"If I am, it's my own business, and I've a right to hide it," +retorted Tom, smiling once more, though still uncommunicative. + +At this moment Hazelton and Dan Dalzell, otherwise known as Danny +Grin, came up. They, too, had to hear all about the bottle-breaking +trick. + +"How did you ever come to think of a thing like that, Tom?" asked +Harry Hazelton. + +"I thought of it before I tried it out at Dick's," Reade rejoined, +and explained how he had helped Timmy Finbrink out of a scrape. + +"What did you say the fellow's name is, Tom?" Dick asked. + +"His name is Timmy Finbrink," Reade rejoined, "and he looks the +part. Just one glance at Timmy, and you know that he's all that +the name implies." + +Then followed, for the benefit of the two latest arrivals, the +story of Tom's attempt in the rear of the Prescott bookstore. + +Harry and Dalzell duly admired the bruise on Tom's face. + +"Now, be a gentleman, Tom," urged Harry mischievously, "and let +us have a good, satisfying look at your skinned knuckles." + +"Umph!" grunted Reade. + +"Or, at least," pursued Harry relentlessly, "tell us just what +it was into which you ran to get such a mark on your face." + +"Umph!" retorted Reade once more. "Danny, in the name of mercy, +take that grin of yours around the corner and lose it!" + +"I'll try," promised Dan, "provided you'll tell us who caught +you last night, and why he punched your face." + +But Tom, knowing that he had them all wild with curiosity, refused +to reveal the secret. + +"Now, let's get back to the big fishing trip," begged Greg Holmes. +"Dick, what's the plan?" + +"We start to-morrow," Prescott rejoined. + +"Humph!" grunted Holmes. "We knew that all along. What we want +are the particulars in detail." + +"In the next place, then," Dick replied, "we shall devote a good +deal of our time, while away, to the pleasurable excitement of +fishing." + +"Perhaps you won't be able to get away," Greg retorted, "if you +go on stringing us in that fashion. I warn you that we're becoming +impatient." + +"That's right," nodded Dave Darrin. "Get down to actual particulars, +Dick." + +"Well, then," Prescott resumed, "we meet at the same old grocery +store in the morning. There we stock up with food." + +"Are we going to hire a horse and wagon for transporting our tent, +cots, bedding and food?" Dan asked. + +"No," Dick replied. "I've been thinking that over, and the funds +won't stand it. So I've rented a push cart for two dollars. +We can keep it as long as we need it. The tent, folding cots, +blankets, pillows and kitchen utensils will go on the cart." + +"Do we have to push that cart?" demanded Danny Grin, looking displeased. + +"We do, if we want the cart to go along with us," Dick admitted. + +Danny Grin groaned dismally as he remarked: + +"That one detail of the arrangements just about spoils all the +pleasure of the trip, then." + +"No, it won't," Dick reported promptly. "I've looked into that. +The wheels are well greased---the axles, I mean. I've loaded +the cart with more weight than we shall put on it, and it pushes +along very easily. If we come to a bad stretch of road, then +two fellows can manage the cart at a time. The scheme saves us +a lot of expense, fellows." + +"Will all the food go on the cart, tool" asked Dave. + +"Each one of us can carry some of the food," Dick replied. + +Then his eye, roving from face to face, took in the fact that +his chums were not impressed with the proposed method of +transportation. + +"Cheer up, fellows," he begged. "You'll find that it will be +pretty easy, after all." + +"I'd rather believe you, Dick, than have it proved to me," was +Tom Reade's dejected answer. "I thought we were going away for +pleasure and rest, but I suppose we can work our way if we have to." + +None of these high school boys are strangers to our readers. +Everyone remembers the first really public appearance of Dick +& Co., as set forth in the first volume of the "_Grammar School +Boys Series_." Then we met them again in the first volume of +the "_High School Boys Series_," entitled, "_The High School Freshmen_." +That stormy first year of high school life was one that Dick +& Co. could never forget. In the second volume, "_The High School +Pitcher_," we found Dick & Co. actively engaged in athletics, +though in their sophomore year they did not attempt to make the +eleven, but waited until the spring to try for the baseball nine. +In the third volume, "_The High School Left End_," Dick & Co. +were shown in their struggles to make the eleven, against some +clever candidates, and also in the face of bitter opposition from +a certain clique of high school boys who considered themselves +to be of better social standing than Dick and his chosen comrades. + +In the "_High School Boys' Vacation Series_" our readers have +followed Dick & Co. through their summer pleasures and sports. +In the first volume of this present series, "_The High School +Boys' Canoe Club_," the adventures are described that fell to +the lot of Prescott, Darrin, Reade and the others in the summer +following their freshman high school year. In the second volume, +"_The High School Boys In Summer Camp_," our readers found an +absorbing narrative of the startling doings of Dick & Co. in the +summer following their sophomore year. And now, in this present +volume, we at last come upon our young friends at the beginning +of their vacation season after the completion of their junior +year, with its football victories. Now they are budding seniors, +ready to enter the final, graduating class of Gridley High School +in the coming autumn. + +As Dick looked into the faces of his chums he laughed. + +"So you don't like the push-cart idea, eh?" he demanded. "All +right; if you fellows would rather loaf than eat-----" + +"We can hire a horse, and still have money enough left to eat," +protested Tom. "See here, Dick, although fishing is great fun +while it lasts, we shan't be out all summer on a fishing trip. +We don't need such a lot of money for, say, only a two or three +weeks' trip." + +"Yes; I think two or three weeks will see us in from our fishing +trip," Prescott admitted. "But if we do come back early, fellows, +then we shall need some other kind of a trip for August, won't we?" + +"Say, that's right!" cried Dave Darrin, his eyes glistening. +"Fellows, we are troubled with wooden heads. While we've been +thinking of nothing but a fishing trip in July, Dick has actually +had the brains to figure out that we might like to go away on +some other kind of outing in August." + +"Such an idea did occur to me," replied Dick. + +"What's the scheme for August, Dick?" demanded Greg eagerly. + +"Out with it!" insisted Hazelton. + +Dick shook his head. + +"Now, don't be mean," insisted Danny Grin. "Dick, you owe it +to us, almost, to let us get a little look at the machinery that's +moving in the back of your head." + +"I haven't an August plan---at least, not one that is clear enough +for me to submit it and put it to vote before you," Dick went +on. "Fellows, let's set about this present fishing trip, for +this month, and then, while we're away, talk up the proper scheme +for August. Whatever we do in the way of fun, next month, will +be sure to be better planned if we wait a little before talking +it over." + +"All right, then," agreed Tom Reade with a sigh. "But I warn +you, Dick, and all you fellows, that if Prescott is too stingy +with news about his August plan, I shall put forth one of my own." + +"What's your August plan, Tom?" demanded Greg. + +"I'm not going to tell you---yet," Reade rejoined, shaking his +head mysteriously. + +"There are a lot of things that you're not telling us," Dave reminded +him. "Just for one little thing, you're not telling us what happened +to you last night after you let a lot of strange men chase you +out of Dick's street." + +"They didn't chase me off the street!" declared Tom indignantly. + +"Then what did happen?" quizzed Danny Grin. + +"They all tried to beat me in a foot race," Tom declared, "and +I put it all over them!" + +"Yet someone must have passed you, or got in front of you," teased +Greg. "Look at the bruise on your face, and your knuckles." + +"Oh, that happened when-----" began Tom, then paused abruptly. + +"Yes, yes," pressed Danny Grin. "Tell us about it." + +"All right," agreed Tom, "I will. You see, when I got home and +into bed, I had a sort of nightmare. Just suppose, for instance, +that the mark on my face is where the nightmare kicked me and +that I skinned my knuckles against the bedstead when I tried to +jump over the bed to return the nightmare's kick." + +"Tom Reade," called Dave sternly, "hold up your right hand!" + +"Look out, Darry! You're not going to ask Tom to swear to the +truth of a yarn like that, are you?" asked Dick anxiously. + +"You may let your hand down again, young man," decided Dave, and +Tom, as his hand reached his side, heaved a sigh expressive of +great relief. + +"Now, have you fellows got your tackle all ready?" Dick went on. +"Remember the different things in the way of tackle that each +of us was to bring." + +The others assured their leader that the matter of tackle had +been attended to. + +"Then your bedding and your clothing are the only other matters +to be considered," Dick went on, "as we're to travel light." + +"As we don't take a horse along," suggested Tom, "then I take +it that we are not going to carry any planking for a tent floor." + +"We can't very well do that," Dick answered him. "Fellows, the +real thing for us to do, on this trip, is to learn how to move +fast and light. We must learn how to do without many things and +yet have just as good a time." + +"I think that's good sense," murmured Dave. "At the same time, +I'll admit, at first blush, that I don't care particularly for +the motion of the push cart. That means a lot of extra work for +us, if we change camping sites often." + +"Then let's put it to a vote whether to hire a horse and wagon, +and give up the idea of an August trip," proposed Dick. + +"No need whatever of taking any vote," broke in Tom. "All of +us want that August trip, too, and we know that we haven't purses +as big as a bank's vault." + +And that opinion prevailed, without dissent. + +"Greg's house ought to be the best place to keep the push cart +over night," Dick continued. "I'll have the cart there at four +this afternoon. Suppose you fellows meet us there, with your +bedding and clothing for the trip?" + +This also was agreed upon. + +While the boys stood there chatting not one of them suspected +how eagerly they were being watched by two pairs of eyes. + +On the same side of the street, only a door below them, was an +unrented cottage. One of the windows of this cottage, upstairs, +was open, though closed blinds concealed the fact. Between these +blinds peered two young men. + +That cottage was the property of Mr. Dodge, vice-president of +one of Gridley's banks. + +Readers of "_The High School Left End_" have good reason to remember +the banker's son, Bert Dodge. He and his friend, Bayliss, also +the scion of a wealthy family, had been members of the notorious +"sorehead" group in the last year's football squad at Gridley +High School. + +As our readers well remember, Dodge and Bayliss had carried their +opposition to Dick & Co. to such dishonorable extent that they +had been given the "silence" by the boys and girls attending the +Gridley High School. + +Dodge and Bayliss had thereupon left home to attend a private +school, and they had gone away from Gridley with bitter hatred +of Dick & Co. rankling in their hearts. + +Just at this present moment Dodge and Bayliss were back in the +home town. Deeply and properly humiliated by the contempt with +which they were regarded in Gridley, these two "soreheads" had +concealed from all but members of their families the fact that +they were in town. + +Bert had secured from his father the keys of the cottage. Two +cots had been placed in a front room. Late the night before +Dodge had brought food supplies to the cottage. Here the two +youngsters were to remain secretly for a few days until Bayliss +received from his family, then abroad, the money needed for his +summer outing. What the elder Dodge did not know or even suspect, +was that his son and Bayliss had returned with some half-formed +plans of paying back old scores against Dick & Co. + +"I knew this cottage was the place for us," Bert whispered. "As +I told you, Bayliss, this corner is a favorite meeting place for +Prescott and his fellow muckers." + +"From what I hear, they're going to leave town for a few weeks," +replied Bayliss. + +"Yes; going out into the wilds on some sort of fishing jaunt." + +"I wish we knew their plans better than we do," murmured Bayliss. + +"Don't believe they know 'em themselves any too well," sneered +Bert Dodge. "However, we don't need to know where they're going. +We can follow 'em, can't we?" + +"Yes; and get jolly well thumped for our pains, maybe," retorted +Bayliss dryly. + +"Well, if you're afraid, we'll let 'em depart in peace," mocked +Bert. + +"Who's afraid?" demanded Bayliss irritably. + +"I hope you're not," retorted Bert Dodge. + +"If you're not afraid---if you're as thoroughly game as I am---then +we'll have some satisfaction out of those fellows." + +"Lead me to it!" ordered Bayliss hotly. + +"I will, to-morrow morning," promised Bert Dodge. "If you stick +to me, we'll make those muckers sorry they ever knew us!" + +"We must be under way by nine o'clock," the listeners heard Dick +say. "We go west, over Main Street. We must start promptly, +for we have sixteen miles to go to our first camp at the second +lake in the Cheney Forest." + +"Do you hear that?" whispered Bert. "The idiots have given us +their full route! We can leave at four in the morning, and won't +have to follow 'em at all. We can be there ahead of time, and +have all the lines laid." + +"Somehow," sounded Dave Darrin's voice, "I have a hunch, fellows, +that we're going to have the finest time we ever had in our lives." + +"We would have," sighed Tom Reade, "if it weren't for that push +cart." + +"At four o'clock this afternoon, then, and be prompt," called +Dick, preparing to leave the others. + +"Wait a moment," urged Dave. + +"What's the matter?" inquired Dick, halting. + +"Tom's just on the point of telling us what really happened to +him last night," smiled Darry. + +"Humph!" grunted Reade, walking briskly away. + +"I can tell what's going to happen to 'em all on some other nights," +whispered Bert Dodge in his friend's ear. + +"To get square with those muckers, who drove us out of Gridley +High School and out of town is my only excuse for living at present," +sniffed Bayliss. + + + + +CHAPTER III + +DICK & CO. DRIVEN UP A TREE + + +"Dick!" + +"Yes?" replied Prescott, turning and looking back at Tom, whose +turn it now was to furnish motive power to the loaded cart. + +"How far did you say it was from Gridley to the second lake?" +asked Reade. + +"Sixteen miles." + +"I've pushed the cart more than that far already," grunted Tom. +"I'm willing to wager that the lake is more than a hundred and +twenty miles from Gridley." + +"Suppose it is," scoffed Dave, falling back beside the cart "Tom, +just think of the fine training your back muscles are getting +out of this work!" + +"I'll tell you all about that, Darry," grumbled Reade, "when you've +had your turn for ten minutes. How much longer does my turn run, +Dick?" + +"Five minutes," replied Prescott, after glancing at his watch. +"Are you going to be able to hold out that long?" + +"Yes; if I live that long," sighed Tom. + +Dick and Hazelton had each taken their fifteen minute turns at +pushing the cart. The boys had already put some distance between +themselves and Gridley. Dick & Co. were tramping down a well-shaded +road bounded by prosperous-looking farms. Two miles further on +the boys would branch off through a long stretch of woods where +the road was rougher. Here two youngsters would be needed for +the work, one pushing, while the other hauled on a rope made fast +to the front of the cart. + +Five of the boys were well laden with miscellaneous packages of +food. Tom, on account of pushing the cart, had been permitted +to place his load on the already well-packed cart. + +"Time's up," called Dick. "Dave to the bat." + +Smiling, Darry packed his own parcels in the cart. + +"Whew! But it's good to get away from that thing," grunted Reade, +mopping his forehead, as he stalked on ahead. + +"Here, you, Tom!" called Danny Grin. "Take your personal pack +off the cart and tote it like the rest of us." + +Reade turned a comically scowling face to Dalzell. + +"Danny," he demanded rebukingly, "why couldn't you hold your tongue?" + +"Because, when I'm working hard, I don't like to see you shirk," +replied Dalzell with a complacent grin. + +"But consider Darry," urged Reade. "Note how strong, lithe and +supple he is. Boy, he is much better fitted for pushing my personal +pack on the cart than I am for carrying it." + +"Stick a pin in the chat, Tom," advised Darrin briefly, "and take +your truck off the cart. I want to begin enjoying myself." + +"I'd carry twice as much as I have to, just for the sheer joy +of hearing you kick like a Texas maverick by the time you've had +the cart handles for two minutes," laughed Tom, as he took his +own parcels off the cart. "Now, David, little giant, let us see +you buckle down to your task---like a real or imitation man!" + +Darry braced himself, gave a hitch, then started forward briskly. + +"Get out of the way, you loiterers!" called Dave, overtaking Tom +and Greg and shoving the front end of the cart against them. +"Don't block the road!" + +"That's what comes of hitching an express engine to a freight +load," grunted Reade, as he made for the side of the road, brushing +his clothes. + +There was bound to be a lot of "kicking" over the work of handling +the push cart, but Dick & Co. were in high spirits this hot July +morning. + +Weeks before, when first planning this trip, all had begun to +"save up" toward outfits of khaki, leggings and all, and blue +flannel shirts. These khaki clothes made the most serviceable +of all camping costumes. + +"I begin to feel like a soldier," laughed Dick contentedly. + +"So do I," agreed Tom Reade. "I feel like a poor dub of a soldier +who has been sent to march across a continent on the line of +the equator. I believe eggs would cook in any of my pockets!" + +"Cut out all the grumbling and the discomfort talk," warned Dave +Darrin. + +"Well, I don't know that I need to grumble, if you can feel contented +behind that old cart," laughed Reade. "How does it go, Darry?" + +"I haven't begun to notice, as yet," replied Dave coolly. + +Tom eyed him suspiciously. + +"Darry," he remarked presently, "you're talented." + +"In what way?" Dave inquired. + +"You're one of the most talented fibbers I ever encountered. +You've been pushing that cart all of four minutes, and you pretend +that you don't notice the work." + +"I expected to work when I left home," Darrin informed him. "If +I hadn't felt that I could endure a little fatigue, then I'd have +remained at home and looked for a job sleeping in a mattress factory's +show-room." + +Tom subsided after that. Dave's fifteen minutes were up presently, +but he declined to accept relief at the push cart until they reached +the point where their road branched off on to the rougher highway. +Now, Greg and Hazelton took the cart, Greg at the handles, Hazelton +pulling ahead on the rope. + +Thus they went along, for some five minutes, when Dick, who was +in the lead, reached a small covered bridge over a noisy, rushing +creek. + +Just as Dick gained the entrance to the bridge his gaze fell upon +a large white sheet of paper tacked there. The word "Notice," +written in printing characters, stared him in the face. + +Dick read, then called back quietly: + +"Halt! Here's something we've got to look into at once." + +The cart handlers willingly enough dropped their burden. All +hands crowded forward to read what was written underneath on the +sheet of paper. It ran thus: + +"All passers-by are cautioned that a mad dog, frothing at the +mouth, has passed this way, going west. Officers have gone in +pursuit of the animal, but passers-by may encounter the dog before +the officers do. The dog is a huge English mastiff, without collar. +Turn back unless armed!" + +"Fine and cheery!" exclaimed Tom Reade, looking rather startled +despite his light comment. + +"And, just as it happens, this is the only road in the country +that we want to use just at present," commented Dick Prescott. + +"Shall we go ahead, keeping a sharp lookout?" asked Dave. + +"I don't know," Dick muttered. "We'll have to think that over +a bit." + +"There are six of us, and we can cut good, stout clubs before +we proceed farther," suggested Greg Holmes. + +"Yes, and probably, if attacked, we could finish the dog," Dick +went on. "Yet, most likely, before we did kill the brute, he'd +have bitten at least one of us." + +"I'll go on, if the rest of you fellows want to," observed Danny +Grin. "At the same time, it looks like taking a big chance, doesn't +it?" + +"It's taking a chance, of course," Dick admitted. "The dog may +be running yet, and we might never get within ten, or even twenty, +miles of him. Or, the officers may have caught and killed the +brute by this time. Or, the mastiff might bound at us from the +woods at any moment now." + +"Whether we go back or keep on, we're fairly likely to meet the +mad dog," suggested Tom. "Mr. Chairman, I rise to move, sir, +that we cut clubs at once, and do the rest of our talking afterwards!" + +"The motion is seconded and carried," called Dick, darting into +the woods. "Come on and find the clubs." + +Less than forty seconds afterwards each of the six boys was cutting +a stout sapling, which he forthwith trimmed. + +"I believe I could kill anything but an ox with this," observed +Reade, eyeing his bludgeon. + +"Look out!" called Danny Grin, as if in alarm. + +In a twinkling Tom dropped his club, dashed at a young oak tree +and began to climb, thinking that the dog had suddenly appeared. + +"Stop that nonsense, Dan---and everyone of you!" called Dick sharply. +"Let no one knowingly give any false alarms, or we might disregard +a real warning when it comes." + +Tom sheepishly dropped to the ground, picked up his cudgel, then +gazed at Dalzell with a look that had "daggers" in it. + +"I'll owe you one for that, Danny Grin," Reade remarked, "and +I'm always careful about paying my debts." + +"Now that we have our clubs," suggested Dick, "let's get back +to the road and discuss what we're going to do." + +"Surely," hinted Dave, "we can find some other road and keep on +our way." + +"Undoubtedly," Greg nodded. "But the mad dog might cross through +the woods and be found waiting for us on that other road. Or, +he may now be headed for the second lake, or even be there now." + +"Let's vote on what we're going to do," urged Hazelton. "Dick, +what do you say?" + +"I don't know what to say," their young leader answered. "I don't +like to see our party cheated out of our vacation. Neither do +I care to take too many chances of having our vacation changed +into a tragedy. I've never had hydrophobia, but I've a strong +notion that it wouldn't be pleasant. I know just how you fellows +feel. You hate to lose your fun." + +"We do hate to lose our fun," agreed Darry. + +"And yet you don't want to have an encounter with a dog that has +hydrophobia." + +"We don't," approved Tom Reade. "Dick, you have a truly wonderful +intellect when it comes to successful guessing." + +"There's a cloud of dust up the road to the west," discovered +Greg Holmes. + +In an instant all eyes were turned that way. + +"Can that be the dog?" asked Darry. "Something is traveling this +way and stirring up a lot of dust." + +Whatever the moving object was, it appeared to be half a mile +away up the straight, dust-covered road. + +"Until we find out what it is," Dick suggested, "I believe that +tree climbing will prove healthful exercise." + +Quickly they moved the push cart a little to one side of the road. +Then they ran for trees, but every member of Dick & Co. retained +his hold on his bludgeon. + +The dust cloud was coming nearer. From the elevation of his perch +in a tree Dick soon discovered and announced: + +"It's a horse and wagon coming this way." + +"Maybe it's the officers returning from the hunt," suggested Reade, +who was on a lower limb of the next tree. + +"There's only one man in the wagon, and he's whipping up the horse," +Dick announced. + +"There are good enough reasons for the man wanting his horse to +hurry," chuckled Danny. + +"Maybe the dog is in pursuit now," hinted Darrin. + +Dick, who had the best view of the road to the westward, peered +carefully. + +"I don't see anything to suggest a pursuing dog," Prescott made +answer. "If the dog is near, he must be running under the trees +along the side of the road." + +Greg climbed up beside his leader. + +"Why, that man has stopped whipping the horse," young Holmes declared. +"And is lighting his pipe. That doesn't look as though he were +very much scared about anything." + +"We'll stay where we are until we've talked with the man," Dick +decided. + +Just before reaching the other end of the covered bridge the driver, +a farmer, and with what looked like a light load of farm produce +in the body of the wagon, slowed his horse down to a walk, at +which gait he drove over the bridge. Then, sighting the boys +up in the trees, and each with a club, he reined up. + +"Hello, boys!" he called drawlingly. "Who's been a-chasing you? +What scared you?" + +"Read that notice, sir, tacked up at the bridge entrance," urged +Dick. + +Alighting, and drawing a pair of spectacles from a vest pocket, +the farmer complied. + +"Mad dog, eh?" he drawled. "Sho!" + +"Did you see anything of the brute?" called Darry. + +"No; I didn't," answered the farmer. "Don't believe there is +any mad dog along the way, either. I've reined up and talked +with neighbors during the last hour and a half along the way. +They didn't mention nothin' 'bout any peevish dogs. Now, it +stands to reason that the officers would have stopped and warned +folks along the road, don't it? And the neighbors would have +passed the gossip with me, wouldn't they?" + +"Didn't you see any officers coming from this way?" asked Dick. + +"Nary one," rejoined the farmer. "Only fellers that passed me, +coming from this direction, was two young dudes---I sh'd say about +your ages. They was in a high-toned speed wagon-----" + +"Automobile?" asked Reade. + +"Said so, didn't I?" drawled the farmer. "Them dudes looked mighty +tickled about something. They was laughin' a whole lot and looked +mighty well pleased with themselves. Do you reckon they was +any friends of your'n, trying to have fun with you?" + +"I can't recall any friends who would try to put up such a pleasant +surprise for us," said Dick dryly, as he slipped down to the ground. +"What did the fellows in the automobile look like, sir?" + +That farmer possessed well-developed powers of observation, as +was proved by the minute descriptions he gave of the two young +men. + +Dick's chums, who had now joined him at the roadside, looked puzzled. +Then light dawned in Tom's eyes. + +"Jupiter!" cried Reade. "If it weren't that they're not in this +part of the country, I'd say that the pair were Dodge and Bayliss!" + +"How do you know they're not in this part of the country?" asked +Prescott dryly. Then, of the farmer, he further inquired: + +"What kind of a car were they driving, sir?" + +"A red Smattach, last year's model," answered the man. + +"That's just what the Dodge automobile runabout is, and Smattach +cars are not common in this section," muttered Prescott. Then +he went over to take a keener look at the written notice on the +sheet of white paper. + +"This looks like disguised handwriting; it's backhanded," Dick +mused aloud. "But I notice one thing peculiar. Who makes a funny +little quirl at the beginning of a letter 'm,' such as you see +in this writing?" + +"Bert Dodge!" flashed Dave Darrin, an indignant light flashing +in his eyes. "So we're six simpletons, held up by his shady tricks, +are we? If Bert Dodge is anywhere ahead of us on the road, then +I hope we have the good luck to meet him under conditions where +he can't jam on the speed and get away from us!" + +"Joke on you all, is it?" asked the farmer, grinning quizzically. + +"It looks like it," admitted Dick sheepishly. "You're sure that +none of the folks west of here heard anything of a mad dog, are +you?" + +"Pretty sure," nodded the farmer. + +"Then this notice isn't really needed up here," replied Dick, +carefully pulling the tacks, after which he folded the paper and +tucked it in one of his pockets. "We're mightily obliged to you, +sir." + +"Oh, you're welcome," grinned the farmer, as he gathered up the +reins over his horse. "I've got to be getting along. I'm late +in Gridley now." + +"If that man is too talkative in Gridley, folks will hear how +we got sold," yawned Tom, gazing after the farm wagon. "Then---my! +Won't folks be laughing at us?" + +"It's a mean trick," cried Dave indignantly. "I wish I had that +Dodge fellow here, right now! I believe that I'm master of enough +English to convey to him an idea of just what I think of him!" + +"I wouldn't waste any of my carefully acquired English on him," +growled Tom Reade. + +"What would you do---skin your other knuckles?" inquired Danny +Grin innocently. + +"We're wasting too much time punishing a fellow who isn't here," +Dick broke in. "Let's get forward. After another mile Dalzell +and I will take the cart and get it over some of the ground. +Now, forward, march!" + +It was noticed that Dave Darrin walked with clenched-fists. Tom +took long strides that carried him in advance of the others. +Dick Prescott was mostly silent, yet in his eyes there was a steady +light, and a grim look about his mouth, that bespoke the possibility +of some inconvenience to Bert Dodge and his friend, should that +pair fall into the hands of Dick & Co. within the next hour. + +At noon Dick & Co. halted. Under the shade of a group of trees, +close to a roadside spring, they built two small fires. Over +one they made coffee; over the other, they fried bacon and eggs. +This, with bread, constituted the meal. A brief rest, then on +they went once more. + +It was toward five o'clock when Dick and Tom, who knew the road +from having tramped over it before, announced that they were less +than half a mile from the point where they would turn in to go +to the second lake. + +At this time Greg and Dan were managing the push cart. Tom and +Dick strode on ahead, watching for the first sign of the path +that should lead down to their intended camp site. + +Suddenly, however, Prescott seized Reade by the arm, halting him. + +"What's the matter?" asked Tom. + +"Sh!---" Dick piloted his friend in behind a line of bushes, then +went cautiously ahead. + +"Look over there!" whispered Dick. + +Tom Reade gave a start when he found himself gazing at a red +runabout that stood just off the road and apparently deserted. + +"Humph! That's a Smattach, too," declared Tom. "It must be the +Dodge car. Bert and Bayliss must be somewhere about." + +Dick stood surveying the car with speculative eyes. + +"I know what you're thinking about," Tom whispered. "Wait; I'll +go back and halt the fellows and bring Dave forward with me." + +In a few moments this had been done. Darry gazed at the red Smattach +with gleaming eyes. + +"This is surely our chance!" he muttered. "Now, what can we do?" + +All three were silent for a few moments. Then Tom Reade smote +his thigh with one hand. + +"I have it," he muttered excitedly. + +"Then don't be stingy with your secret," urged Dave. "Out with +at least a part of it." + +For some moments Dick, Dave and Tom remained engaged in a rapid +interchange of whispers, all the time glancing about them. + + + + +CHAPTER IV + +STALLING THE RED "SMATTACH" + + +"That's the very thing!" muttered Tom Reade at last. + +"It can't get us into any scrape with the law, can it?" queried +Dave Darrin, with almost unwonted caution. + +"I don't see how it can," smiled Dick Prescott. "I'm no lawyer, +but I can't see how our trick, the way we intend to play it, can +be called a breach of the law." + +"Let's not lose any time with the game," urged Reade. "Let's +get in and do it before Dodge and Bayliss come back. I wonder +where they are, anyway?" + +"I don't care where they are," said Dave, "as long as they keep +away from here until we're through with what we intend to do." + +From its place in the runabout car Tom drew forth a wheel-jack. +This he and Dave fitted under an axle, raising the wheel half +aft inch off the ground. Dick rapidly remove the tire from that +front wheel. + +By the time he had finished Tom ran with the jack around to the +other front wheel, removing the tire from it also. + +As the red runabout carried no extra tires the little car was +now hopelessly stalled until relief was brought to the scene. + +"Now, I'll slip back and bring the fellows on," Dick whispered. +"Tom, you take Dave down to the camp site. I'll be right along +with the other fellows." + +Tom and Dave started along the forest path, each carrying a tire +slung over one shoulder. + +Dick, darting back, brought up the other fellows. All took a +gleeful look at the red Smattach as they passed, then hurried on. + +Down to a level bit of ground at the lakeside Dick led the last +of his friends. Tom and Dave were already there, the two pneumatic +tires standing against the trunk o a tree. + +Dick's first move was to take a rope from the cart. This, after +being passed through the rubber tires, was tied between two trees, +clothesline fashion. + +"Now, let's rustle all the stuff off the cart," urged Dick. "Be +quick about it. We want the tent up in good shape before darkness +falls." + +It is not much of a trick to raise a tent twelve feet by twenty, +when there are six pairs of hands to do it. The two centre poles +were adjusted to the ridge-pole, and all three were pushed in +under the canvas. + +"Up with her," called Dick. + +As the tent was raised, Tom and Greg were left holding the centre +poles in place. With a sledge Dick drove a corner stake, and +a guy-rope was made fast to it. One after another the remaining +corner stakes were quickly driven and the ropes made fast. The +tent would now stand by itself. + +Dick and Dave, Tom and Greg now attended to two stakes at a time, +making the other guy-ropes fast. + +"Danny, you may set in all the wall-pegs," said Dick, standing +back to survey the really neat job. + +"I've been thinking-----" began Dalzell. + +"Then let Hazelton do the wall-pegging," retorted Dick tersely. + +"I've been thinking-----" Dalzell went on, "that it would be awfully +funny, wouldn't it, if that red Smattach belonged, not to Dodge, +but to some fellow we've never seen before?" + +"It would be inexpressibly funny!" growled Tom Reade. "And what +would be funnier than anything else would be our frantic efforts +to make a satisfactory explanation." + +"We could be arrested for theft, couldn't we?" asked Greg, glancing +up apprehensively from the side wall pegging. + +"Hardly that," replied Dick, with a shake of his head. "Theft, +as I understand it, usually carries with it the sale of the plunder, +or its concealment. We have hung up the tires where anyone who +is interested may see them. Still, it would be awkward making +explanations to strangers, and we'd all feel mighty cheap." + +"Then maybe we'll have our chance to feel that way," suggested +Danny Grin, his mouth opening still wider. + +"Don't waste your time on pleasant thoughts, like that," grunted +Reade. "Try to think of something sad." + +"If it's the Dodge car, could Bert make any trouble for us?" Darrin +wanted to know. + +"Hardly," answered young Prescott. "We've simply played a clever +trick on Dodge and Bayliss. As our excuse we could point out +a trick they palmed off on us earlier in the day. We'd be quits. +You needn't fear Dodge. Never, since that time when he got so +awfully beaten over the assault charge he made against me, has +he felt that he wanted to face me in court again." + +"You fellows wait here, and don't be worried if I don't come back +soon," interposed Darry suddenly. + +"What are you going to do?" demanded Tom Reade. + +But Dave had slipped away. When he chose to be as mysterious +as that, Dick Prescott knew better than to question his chum. + +Rapidly the work of straightening camp proceeded. Dave was back +in a little more than half an hour. Yet he returned so noiselessly +that he was in camp before the others realized his presence. + +"Well-----?" asked Dick eagerly. + +"Come into the tent, fellows," whispered Dave. + +When Darrin had them inside he went on, in a low voice: + +"It's the Dodge car, all right. I hid behind a tree nearby the +car and waited until they returned. When they found the front +tires missing they were furious. Bayliss said we fellows had +done it, but Bert said he didn't believe we were anywhere near +here as yet. I slipped away and left them arguing. Dodge wants +Bayliss to walk to the nearest place where he can telephone to +a garage to send a man out with new tires. Bayliss says it's +the Dodge car, and Bert can do the walking. It looks as though +they would come to blows, and, as I've been gently reared, with +a distaste for fighting, I slipped away." + +"If they want to come down and look along the edge of this lake, +they'll soon find out where their tires are," Dick Prescott chuckled. +"But they'll have to come right in here to camp and ask for their +property." + +"Which they won't greatly care about doing," laughed Reade. + +"Let them stay away until their nerves improve, then," said Dick +briefly. "Now, let's see; we've got to set up the cots and bedding, +and get the two lanterns filled and trimmed for the evening. +That ought not to take many minutes." + +Nor did it. When this had been done, Dick asked: + +"Fellows, you know what we came here to do? Fish wouldn't taste +bad for supper, would it? Which two of you want to go and try +your luck for perch? They'll bite, even after dark." + +Tom and Hazelton made a hasty selection of tackle, also producing +a can of bait that had been brought along from Gridley. + +Then Tom and Harry disappeared, taking with them one of the lanterns. +A quarter of a mile below the camp were the ruins of an old pier +from which they could cast their lines. + +Where the perch are plentiful there is little skill involved in +such fishing. Perch will bite after dark. The hook is baited +and dropped in. The fish take hold greedily, rarely falling from +the hook afterward. + +While Tom and Harry were still fishing darkness fell. The two +Gridley boys fished on in silence, adding frequently to the two +crotched stick "strings" that flopped on the end of the pier. + +"We've thirty-nine perch. That's enough, even for a hungry crowd +like ours," said Tom at last, after lighting the lantern. + +"Here is the fortieth, then," called Hazelton, as he felt a tug +at his line. He landed a pound perch almost under Tom's nose. + +"Good enough business, this," declared Tom contentedly. "I hope +the fellows have everything else ready." + +Tom carried the lantern; each boy carried a string of fish. As +they neared camp, Danny Grin espied them, and ran forward to +see the size of the catch. + +"Here they are!" called Dalzell. "They've fish enough to feed +a fat men's boarding house!" + +"Bring them here," called Dick from a board beside which he and +Greg crouched, each with a knife in hand. + +One after another the fish were scaled and cleaned with a speed +known only to old campers. Dave had two frying pans hot over +a fire. In went the perch, sputtering in the fat and giving forth +appetizing odors. + +"My, but they're going to taste good!" declared Danny Grin. + +Leaving Greg to finish with the cleaning of the fish Dick passed +to another campfire, throwing into a hot pan the material for +fried potatoes. + +Ere long the meal was on the table---two boards placed across +the tops of two boxes. It was a low table, but it served the +purpose. + +"My, but this fish tastes good!" murmured Tom Reade, as he picked +a piece of fried perch free of the backbone and began eating it. + +"We'll all of us find it the best meal ever, just because we've +tramped far enough and worked hard enough to make any kind of +decent food taste great," Dick smiled. + +The supper over, and one of the campfires replenished, all six +of the youngsters took the dishes down to the lake, carrying along +two kettles of hot water, where a general dish-washing ensued. +With so many to do the work, the camp was spick and span within +twenty minutes. + +"Now, I'm going to enjoy one thing that I haven't had all day, +and that's some real rest," Prescott declared, throwing himself +down upon the grass. "I don't believe I shall move until bedtime." + +But he did. Already trouble was hovering over the camp. From +out of the darkness beyond three pairs of eyes studied the campers +in silence. One pair belonged to Bert Dodge, another the young +Bayliss, and the third to a man of about middle age. + +Dodge and Bayliss were thoroughly angry. + + + + +CHAPTER V + +BERT DODGE HEARS THE BATTLE CRY + + +Ten minutes after Dick had thrown himself on the grass a rustling +was heard above the camp. Then down the slope strode three figures. + +Dick sat up, regarding the visitors in silence until they came +within the fringe of the light of the campfire. + +"Hello, Dodge," was Prescott's ready greeting. "I didn't hear +you knock." + +"Then maybe you will, before long," retorted Bert, in a voice +of barely suppressed fury. "Prescott, you sneak, how long since +you have added grand larceny to your other bad habits?" + +"Try that over again," requested Dick calmly. "I don't believe +I quite catch you." + +"Yes, you do," Dodge retorted. "Come now, no lying about it." + +"The nearest that I come to understanding you, as yet," Dick answered +in an unruffled voice, "is that you appear to be trying to be +offensive." + +"I'll be more than offensive with you, before I get through!" +cried Bert, his temper rising. + +The third member of the visiting party was a man of about forty +years, of sandy complexion and with a stubby, bristling red moustache. +He looked like a man who had been born a fighter, though his +face expressed keen attention rather than a desire to be quarrelsome. +In dress this man looked as though he might be a farmer. Dick +and his friends judged the man to be a rustic constable. + +"A nice trick you played on us!" Bert went on angrily. "You took +our front tires off the wheels of the car and ran away with them." + +"Easy! Careful!" Dick smilingly advised. "Did anyone see us +take the tires off and run away with them?" + +Bert looked astonished, then gulped chokingly. Did Prescott and +his friends intend to deny the charge? + +"No one had to see you take the tires," Bert went on angrily. +"All that is necessary is for us to discover the merchandise +on you!" + +"Then you have missed some tires, and you think I'm wearing them?" +Dick chuckled. + +"Don't try to sneak, lie or equivocate" commanded Bert Dodge, +his face flushing with anger. "Those are my tires hanging from +that line!" + +"Are they?" Prescott inquired, in a tone of the mildest curiosity. + +"You know they are!" + +"Then, if the tires are your property, just help yourself!" Dick +coolly answered. "If they are your tires, I will even offer to +forego making any storage charges for the time they have been. +hanging there." + +"Hang you!" choked Bert + +Then he turned to the man with them, demanding: + +"Don't you see a pretty clear case of grand larceny here?" + +"I can't sa-ay that I do---yet," drawled the stranger. + +"You'll never see a clearer case!" quivered young Dodge. + +To this the stranger did not reply. He had been looking over +this sextette of high school boys, and if one might judge from +his face, the man seemed to be rather favorably impressed by Dick +& Co. + +"If these are your tires," Dick went on smoothly, "would you mind +removing them from our camp?" + +"I won't," Bert answered hotly. "You fellows, who stole the tires, +will take them back to the car from which you stole them, and +there you will put the tires on again." + +"You've missed some part of the idea in your haste," declared +young Prescott. + +"What do you mean?" gasped Dodge. + +"I mean simply that we'll have nothing whatever to do with taking +back the tires, or putting them on your wheels." + +"Then I'll see what I can do to punish you all!" flared Bert hotly. +"You're none of you any better than a lot of low-lived thieves!" + +The situation was growing too warm for Dave Darrin, though Dick +was still smiling. + +Darry jumped to his feet, advancing upon Bert Dodge, who retreated +a couple of steps. + +"Dodge," Dave began, "you want to put a halter on your tongue. +You can't come here to this camp and call too many names. You +don't amount to much, of course, and nothing that you know how +to say should be treated very seriously. It would be hard for +a rascal like yourself to be really insulting to anyone possessed +of the average degree of honor. But we came up here for pleasure +and rest. Both your face and your voice---not particularly your +words---are disturbing. If those are your tires, kindly take +them and get out of camp!" + +"You fellows will carry the tires back to the road, and you'll +put them on the wheels," retorted Dodge hoarsely. + +"As Dick has already told you, we'll do nothing of the sort," +Dave flashed back at him. "All we want, Dodge, is for you to +get out of this camp. Incidentally, if you want the tires, we +shall offer no objections to your taking them with you." + +"What have you to say to that?" demanded Bert hotly, turning to +the man with the stubby red mustache. + +"It seems to me like good judgment," replied the stranger. + +"You say that?" screamed Bert, going into a blind passion. "Is +that what we brought you here for?" + +"I don't really know what you did bring me here for," replied +the stranger. "All I know is that you stopped me, when I was +driving past with my load of produce for the Gridley markets, +and you offered me two dollars to come down here and not say much +unless I was spoken to. I didn't come until you paid me the money. +It was good pay, and I'll stay here an hour longer if you really +think I owe you that much time." + +"You're not a constable, or a sheriff's officer, are you, sir?" +asked Dick pleasantly. + +"Not unless someone made me one when I wasn't looking," replied +the stranger, with a shrewd smile. + +"I understand," nodded Prescott. "This fellow Dodge hired you +to come down with him for more than one reason. In the first +place, he and Bayliss were afraid to come here without backing. +For another thing, Dodge thought that we'd guess you to be a +constable, and I'll admit that I did mistake you for an officer +at the outset. Dodge thought your presence would frighten us. +You look like a decent man, sir, and I'm sorry to see you in +such company. These two fellows were chased out of the Gridley +High School just because they were considered unfit to associate +with the members of the student body." + +"That's a lie!" sputtered young Dodge. + +"If you want to find out, sir, whether I'm speaking the truth," +Dick went on, looking at the stranger, "just ask any well-informed +citizen of Gridley whether Bert Dodge and his chum, Bayliss, were +really chased out of the Gridley High School. You'll soon discover +who the liar is---Dodge or myself." + +"Hang you!" roared Bert, advancing with fists clenched. "I'll +punch your head off your shoulders!" + +"Wait one moment, though," advised the stranger, stepping between +Dick and Bert. "Here, young man!" + +"What's this?" Bert demanded, as the stranger forced something +into one of his hands. + +"It's the two-dollar bill you handed me," replied he of the stubby +moustache. "I reckon that I made a mistake in taking it." + +"Aren't you on my side any longer?" gasped Bert, in utter +astonishment. + +"I reckon not," was the crisp answer. "I didn't realize that +I was in such bad company." + +"But you've only that mucker's word against mine!" cried Bert, +flying into another rage. + +"I've watched you both, and I'm a pretty good judge of human nature," +replied the farmer. "I prefer to believe this young man that +you seem to dislike so much." + +"You're a nice one---you are!" uttered Bert, glaring in disgust +at the ally on whom he had counted. + +"Perhaps you can calm down, Dodge, long enough to listen to reason," +Dick suggested. "First of all, I am going to admit that we did +remove the front tires of your car and that we brought the tires +here and hung them on that line." + +"Do you hear that?" demanded Dodge eagerly, turning once more +to the farmer. "They admit stealing my tires." + +"I didn't quite notice that the young man went as far as to admit +theft," the farmer replied. "What I heard was that these young +men took your tires. As yet I haven't heard their reason for +removing the tires of your car." + +"The reason for doing so was," Dick went on coolly, "that we had +some questions to ask of this fellow Dodge. We knew that if he +had to come here to look up his tires, we'd have a chance to ask +the questions. Dodge, you thought you were having fun with us +when you decorated the entrance to that covered bridge with your +notice about a rabid mastiff at large in that part of the country, +didn't you? You thought that a mad-dog scare would send us +helter-skelter home. If it gives you any satisfaction, I'll admit +that the notice did startle us for a brief time. But we soon got +at the truth of the matter, and learned that posting the notice was +your act." + +"Can you prove it?" sneered Dodge. + +Ignoring the question, Dick went on: + +"Perhaps, had your trick affected only ourselves, then the trick +would have been only a piece of meanness without any very serious +results. But are you sure, Bert Dodge, that no one but ourselves +was alarmed by that notice? Do you know whether any woman traveling +over the road may have seen that notice, and then, noticing any +strange dog trotting in her direction was frightened, into convulsions, +or actually frightened to death? Do you know whether some man, +traveling along the road on really important business, read the +notice and was afraid to continue on his errand, thereby losing +a good deal of money through your foolish trickery? Do you know, +for certain, that twenty serious consequences to other people +have not followed on the heels of your stupid, senseless joke? +Have you any way of being certain that the sheriffs officers +are not already searching industriously for the two foolish young +fellows who took so many desperate chances in attempting such +a 'joke' as that of which you two fellows were guilty?" + +"Who's going to prove that Bayliss or I put up that notice?" sneered +young Dodge. + +"There's at least one witness," Dick answered, "who would testify, +at any time, that he passed by you on the road when you were both +laughing loudly over a joke you had played. Then there's the +notice itself. A handwriting expert could swear that it was done +with a pen held by your hand." + +"Where's the notice?" asked Bayliss suddenly. + +"It's where we can produce it at any time that it's wanted," Prescott +made reply. "If anyone has been injured, Dodge, in health or +in business, by your stupid, brainless bit of horse play and meanness, +then I imagine that you'll find yourself in for a serious time +of it. So now you know why we took the tires off your automobile. +We knew that our campfire would show you the way to our camp, +and that you'd surely be here to hear what we had to say to you. +Dodge, we don't care particularly for you, or for Bayliss, either, +but if the warning I've given you about pasting up such lying +notices to scare people traveling over a public highway is of +any use to you, then you're welcome to what you've learned." + +The coolness of this proposition was such as to take Bert's breath +away for a few seconds. When he recovered, he turned to the +red-moustached farmer, sputtering: + +"Well, what do you---you think of that cast-iron nerve and cheek?" + +"If the facts have been correctly stated," replied the farmer, +"I believe these young men have done you a service, and that you'd +show more of the spirit of a man if you admitted it." + +"Humph!" muttered Dodge. + +"Humph!" echoed Bayliss. + +Then, enraged at the tantalizing smile on Prescott's face, Bert +lost all control of himself. + +Striding over, he shook his fist before Dick's face, at the same +time shouting: + +"All you need is a trimming with fists, and I'm going to give +you one---you hound!" + + + + +CHAPTER VI + +PAID IN PULL TO DATE + + +Then, struck by a sudden consideration of prudence, Bert stepped +back two or three feet, looking appealingly at the farmer. + +"Will you stay here long enough to see fair play done?" Dodge +demanded of the farmer. + +"If there is going to be a boxing exhibit, with plenty of science, +and all fair play," grinned the farmer, "I don't believe there +are enough of you young fellows here to chase me away. Start +things moving as soon as you like." + +With that the stranger drew out a pipe, which he proceeded to +fill and light. + +"Get yourself in shape, you mucker!" breathed Bert fiercely, pulling +off his coat and tossing his motoring cap after it to the ground. +"Come on---get ready!" + +"I'm no rowdy," Dick declared coolly, making no move to put himself +in readiness. + +"No; you're a coward, with a long line of talk, but no spirit +in you!" jeered young Dodge. + +"If I'm a coward, what possible glory would there be in your fighting +me?" Dick smiled. + +"Let me have the sneak!" begged Dave, stepping forward, but Dick +pushed his churn back. Tom Reade took tight hold of Dave's right +arm. + +With the prospects of an encounter vanishing, Bert Dodge's valor +went up tenfold. + +"Get up your guard!" he roared. "I've been taking boxing lessons +and I want to teach you one or two things." + +"I haven't been taking any boxing lessons lately," Dick remarked +with composure. + +"Oh, that's why you're afraid to act at all like a man, is it?" +scoffed Bert in his harshest voice. + +"No; my main reason for not caring to fight you, Dodge, is that +I don't like the idea of soiling my hands." + +"What's that?" screamed Bert in added fury. "You insult +me---you---you mucker?" + +"If I'm a mucker, then you don't need to feel insulted at my opinion +of you," Dick suggested, with a smile. + +But this hesitancy on the part of Prescott was filling Bert Dodge +with more valor every instant. + +"Prescott, I've owed you something for a mighty long time," quivered +Bert. "And now it's coming! Here it is!" + +He aimed a savage blow at Dick. Young Prescott, who had really +doubted that Dodge had courage enough to invite a fight, was not +expecting it. The blow landed on Dick's chin, sending the leader +of Dick & Co to the ground. + +"Now, get up and answer that---you---you sneak!" dared Bert exultantly. + +Dick was on his feet fast enough, side-stepping just in time to +dodge a follow-up punch. + +"Dodge," Dick remarked, as he threw up his guard, "there, is still +time for you to beat it out of here if you don't want to take +the consequences of that blow." + +"You put me out of here!" Bert retorted defiantly. + +Though Dick was quivering with indignation, he still hesitated +to spring at Dodge. Dick didn't want to fight, on the sole ground +that he felt too much contempt for his opponent. + +"Come, on, you mucker!" challenged Bert, dancing about Prescott. +Then Dodge delivered two swift, straight-from-the-shoulder blows. + +Of a sudden Dick jumped into the fray. + +"Good!" quivered Darry, his eyes flashing. To Dave's way of thinking, +Dick's swift vigorous defence should have followed that first +knock-down. + +"Come on, you mucker!" taunted Bert, while the interchange of +blows now became fast and furious. "If there's anything you know +how to do in this game, let us see what it is! Trot it out!" + +"I'll attend to my side of this match," said Dick quietly. "My +advice to you is that you keep quiet and save your wind for your +own protection." + +"Bosh! You can't do anything to anyone in my class!" sneered +Bert. Indeed, young Dodge's address to his task opened up +particularly well. Dodge was rather heavy for his years, and he had +been doing some good training work through the spring and early +summer. + +Dick, who was lighter and not noticeably quicker, confined himself, +at the outset, to his old tactics of allowing his opponent to +tire himself. + +Bert, however, was soon quick to discover this. He moderated +the savagery of his own attack somewhat, sparring cleverly for +a chance to feint and then land a face blow. + +Dick gave ground readily when it served his purpose, though he +did not run. + +"Keep back, fellows!" called Tom Reade. "Don't get near enough +to interfere with either man." + +"Don't interfere with either the man or the thing, you mean," +interposed Danny Grin. + +"Shut up, Dalzell!" ordered Reade with generous roughness. "Remember +that you're not fighting Dodge, and that it's unfair to say anything +to anger him. Be fair!" + +Though Dick's chums followed the fighters, at a generous distance, +they would have noticed, had they been less intent on the work +of the combatants, that Bayliss kept well on the outskirts of +the crowd. Bayliss didn't want to attract any dangerous notice +to himself, nor was he at all sure that the farmer would interfere +to see fair play for Dodge's side. In this, however, he really +wronged the farmer. + +In giving ground Prescott stepped backward, his feet becoming +entangled with a vine running along the ground. + +Down went Dick, just in time to save himself from a savage blow +in the face. + +"Stand up to the fight, like a man!" roared Dodge, for he felt +that he was winning. + +Dick drew himself to his knees. Ere he could gain his feet Bert +landed a smashing blow on his left cheek. Down went Dick again. + +"Stop that sort of thing, Dodge!" flared Dave Darrin. "Either +man who goes down must have safety until he's on his feet again." + +"Shut up!" flared Bert, but this time he waited, afraid to try +to hit his opponent until Dick was on his feet. + +"Can't Dodge run his own fight, hang you?" Bayliss demanded. +This was the first word he had had the courage to utter. + +Quick as a flash Dave wheeled, running toward Dodge's companion. + +"This isn't wholly Dodge's fight, Bayliss," Darry cried, his anger +at a white heat. "Prescott has some rights in the game, and you +know it, too." + +"You're too fresh!" snapped Bayliss. + +"You're no good, Bayliss," Darry remarked contemptuously. + +"You're a sneak and a liar, and so-----" + +"And so I shall claim some of your time just as soon as Dick and +Dodge have finished," retorted Darry coldly. "Don't forget that, +Bayliss, and don't show yourself up by trying to run away." + +With that Darrin stalked back to watch the finish of the present +affair. + +Dick, on his feet again, renewed the battle in earnest. He found +Dodge a really worthy opponent. Both boys soon had bruised faces +to show. + +Smash! That blow, delivered by Bert, almost ended the fight. +Dick staggered backward, the blood beginning to flow from his +nose. + +Dodge followed it up, driving in another hard blow. The pain +stung Dick, not to madness, but into a more resolute defense, +with more of offense in it. + +Then Dick so manoeuvred that he had Dodge between himself and +the shore of the lake. This advantage gave young Prescott slightly +higher ground on the gentle slope toward the lake. Bert tried +to manoeuvre for a more level footing, but Prescott drove him +slowly backward. + +Suddenly one of Dick's blows landed, with staggering force, on +the tip of Dodge's chin. Bert went to earth, rolling over as +he struck, and lying face downward. He was not knocked out, +but he had had enough. + +For a moment or two Dick glanced down at his adversary in cold +contempt. Then suddenly, without a word, he bent over, seizing +Dodge by the shirt collar and belt, and threw him sprawling out +into the lake. + +Young Dodge landed some distance from the bank. There was a loud +splash and a yell from the vanquished one, then a gurgling noise +as Bert's mouth went under water. He disappeared under the black +surface of the lake. + +Dick waited calmly, ready to go to Dodge's assistance if needed. +Bert, however, rose quickly, the water not much above his knees. + +"You loafer!" hissed Dodge, dashing the water from his face. + +"Haven't you had enough?" asked Prescott mildly. "Didn't the +water cool you off?" + +Dodge didn't reply, but he walked a few steps away before attempting +to step on dry land, thus avoiding his late opponent. + +"That little business is all over," declared Tom Reade coolly. +"Bend down by the water, Dick, and I'll wash your nose with my +handkerchief. Greg, bring one of the lanterns here." + +"Now, I guess it's time for our practice, Bayliss," Dave announced, +stepping over to Bert's companion. + +"I've got to look after Dodge," mumbled Bayliss. + +"No, you don't!" Dave warned him. "After the kind of language +you have used to me you can't slip out of trouble quite so easily +as all that. Get ready." + +"Quit---can't you?" protested Bayliss. + +"No; not unless you'll admit that you lied when you applied +disagreeable names to me," said Dave Darrin firmly. "Bayliss, +are you ready to admit that you are a liar?" + +"You bet I'm not!" cried the other hoarsely. "Then back up your +words! Ready! Here's something coming!" + +That "something" arrived. Bayliss fairly gasped as Darrin started +in on him. + +But Dave drew back, holding up his fists. + +"You didn't get started fairly, Bayliss," Darry declared. "I +want you to have as fair a show as possible. Draw in a deep breath. +Fill your lungs with air. Plant your feet firmly. Put up your +hands." + +Patiently Darry waited for perhaps three quarters of a minute. + +"Now!" he said at last. + +Then the fight went on, but it was one sided. Had Bayliss done +himself justice, it might have resulted in a draw, at least, for +Bayliss was strong and quick. But he lacked courage. + +Presently Bayliss, considerably battered, though not as severely +punished as Dodge had been, went down to his knees, nor would +he rise. + +"Going to get up and go on?" demanded Darry, pausing before him. +"Or do you quit?" + +Bayliss, breathing hard, did not answer. + +"What you need here," declared the farmer, stepping forward and +puffing slowly at his pipe, "is a referee. I'll take the job. +Bayliss, if you believe that you can do anything more, then the +place for you is on your feet. I'll give you until I count five." + +Deliberately the farmer counted, but Bayliss remained on his knees. + +"Bayliss loses," announced the farmer. "Not that I believe he +ever had much in the fighting line to lose, but he loses." + +"I'll wait five minutes for him," offered Darry. "By that time +he'll be in shape to go on again." + +"He's in good enough shape now," declared the self-appointed referee. +"The point is that Mr. Bayliss hasn't any liking for boxing. +He's the kind of young man that finds croquet strenuous enough!" + +The four recent combatants now had some repairing to do. Dick +and Dave were attended by their own friends. The farmer offered +to help Bert Dodge ease his bruises. Greg made a tender of his +services to Bayliss, but was gruffly repulsed. + +"Everything is over," called the farmer at last. "I must wake +up my horses and get on to Gridley. Young gentlemen, I'm much +obliged for the rest that my horses have had, and also for my +entertainment. Dodge, I don't believe you're really worth an +ounce of soda crackers, but I realize that you don't feel as bright +as usual, so I'm going to help you get the tires on your car." + +Reaching up, the farmer untied one end of the line on which the +tires hung. Letting the tubes fall at his feet. The man then +drew a card out of his pocket and handed it to Reade. + +"That will tell you who I am, if you ever want to find me," suggested +the farmer. + +"George Simpson," said Tom, reading the card. "Mr. Simpson, we're +certainly glad of having had the pleasure of meeting you." + +Reade thereupon gravely introduced the other members of Dick & +Co. + +"Glad to have met you, boys," said Simpson, picking up the tires. +"Now, come along, Dodge and Bayliss, if you want my help, for +I really must be moving." + +"This hasn't been such a dull evening, after all," jovially commented +Tom Reade, after the late visitors had vanished into the darkness +surrounding the camp. + +"I'm sorry for the fighting, though," mused Dick aloud. "I don't +enjoy anything that makes bad blood, or more bad blood, between +human beings." + +"You couldn't do anything else but fight," retorted Greg sharply. + +"That's the only reason why I fought," Prescott rejoined. + +Half or three quarters of an hour later two resonant honks sounded +from the red Smattach automobile up at the roadside. Dick & Co. +rightly judged that Simpson had taken this means of signaling +them that the Smattach car was ready to go on its way again. + +"What's the matter with Mr. Simpson?" Tom demanded at the top +of his voice. + +From the throats of all of Dick & Co. came the ready response! + +"He's all right!" + +Honk! honk! honk! Mr. Simpson had heard this tribute to himself. +Then the chugging of a starting car was heard. The noise soon +sounded fainter, then died away. + +"That's the last of the firm of Dodge and Bayliss for this season!" +chuckled Dave Darrin. + +In this conclusion, however, it was wholly probable that Darry +was wrong. He would have been sure of it, himself, had he been +privileged to hear the talk of Bert Dodge and his companion as +the enraged and humiliated pair drove swiftly over the rough road +on their way back to Gridley. + +"I can't think of anything bad enough to call Dick Prescott," +growled Bert, who sat at the steering wheel. + +"Don't try to," grumbled Bayliss. "It would poison your mind." + +"The mucker!" + +"The sneak!" + +"The coward! He fights only when he has his gang with him." + +"I don't see what the high school fellows can find to admire in +that crowd," quivered Bayliss, tenderly fingering his damaged +eye. + +"Never mind what anyone thinks of them!" raged Bert Dodge. "We've +nothing but our own side of the affair to settle!" + +"What do you mean?" asked Bayliss curiously. + +"Bayliss, what do you think I am?" + +"Oh, I guess you're a pretty good sort of fellow, Bert." + +"Do you think I'd let business like to-night's go by without +resenting it?" + +"Are you going to try to take Prescott on again?" Bayliss asked +wonderingly. + +"I'm not a fool!" retorted Dodge indignantly. "Prescott might +thrash me again. Bayliss, I'm going to hit him with the kind +of club that he can't beat!" + +"Is the club big enough to take care of Darrin, too?" + +"I'm after the whole Prescott gang, for good measure!" Bert raged. + +"What are you going to do?" + +"I'll let you in on it, Bayliss, when I have all the details +planned---if you've nerve enough to do a man's part---of which I'm +not too sure," Dodge finished under his breath. + +"You may count on me for anything---anything that is prudent!" +Bayliss declared. + + + + +CHAPTER VII + +THE BOX THAT SET THEM GUESSING + + +"Look at that!" cried Tom Reade, leaping up from the breakfast +table so precipitately that he overturned his cup of coffee. + +"What?" demanded Greg. + +"Didn't you see that---out on the lake?" Tom demanded. + +"I didn't see anything," Greg admitted. + +"There it goes again!" cried Tom. + +"Oh, I saw something rise from the water and fall back again," +continued Greg. + +"Do you know what it was?" Reade insisted. + +"No." + +"That was a black bass!" declared Reade, as though it were one +of the seven wonders of the world. + +"Keep cool, Reade," chaffed Danny Grin. "We all knew, that there +are fish in the lake." + +"But black bass-----" choked Tom. + +"Are they any better eating than any other fish?" asked Hazelton. + +"Not so much better," Reade confessed. "But black bass are gamey, +and hard fish to land when you hook 'em!" + +"They're no better food, but it's harder work to get them," laughed +Greg. "Sit down, Tom, and keep cool" + +"No real fisherman would ever talk that way," Tom insisted indignantly. +"The greatest charm about fishing comes in hooking and landing +the really good fighting fish!" + +"How much does a black bass weigh?" asked Greg. + +"That one probably weighed four pounds. Look! look! There he +goes again. Did you fellows see him?" + +"There isn't any four pound fish in water that can give me a fight," +Danny Grin asserted solemnly. "I'd be ashamed to talk about having +a fight with a four pound fish. It looks small and mean to me." + +"Well, go after some bass, if they're so easy to catch," urged +Greg. "I'll look on and see if you've over estimated your ability +as a fisherman." + +"You're a fine fisherman, aren't you?" demanded Tom scornfully. + +"No fisherman at all," Holmes promptly confessed. + +"If you knew the A-B-C of fishing," Reade continued, "you'd know +that one must have a boat in order to go after bass." + +"Don't they ever come near enough to shore to be caught without +the aid of a boat?" Danny Grin demanded. + +Tom snorted. + +"Tell me," insisted Dalzell. + +"You're stringing me," protested Tom. + +"No; I'm after information," Dan asserted. + +"If you really don't know," Tom resumed, "I'll tell you that +black bass are generally caught only by trolling for them. That +is, if I fish for bass I've got to keep playing my line over the +stern while someone else rows the boat." + +"You've a positive genius for picking out the easy half of the +job," Danny Grin murmured admiringly. + +"The trolling part of the job merely looks easy," Tom went on, +good-humoredly. "The fellow who is doing the fisherman act must +have all the brains, while the fellow at the oars may be a real +dolt, for all he has to know. I'll take you out with me after +black bass, Danny, if we can get hold of a boat one of these days." + +"Who'll do the rowing?" asked Dalzell suspiciously. + +"Naturally you will," was Reade's answer. + +"Can't we find a boat somewhere about here?" asked Hazelton eagerly. + +"I haven't seen one on any part of the lake that is visible from +here," Prescott put in. "I don't know why, but this so called +second lake doesn't seem to be a popular spot. There isn't a +house to be seen anywhere along the shore on either side, and +I doubt if there's a boat on this sheet of water." + +"I don't believe there is a boat, either---and just look at that!" +cried Reade, as three distinct splashes about an eighth of a mile +out showed how frequently the bass were leaping. + +"It's tough---not to have a chance at good sport!" declared Dave +Darrin impatiently. "We fellows ought to search this old shore, +anyway, to see if we can't find some sort of craft." + +"Come along, then!" urged Tom, leaping to his feet. "I can't +stand this state of affairs much longer. Look at that, out there. +Four bass jumping within fifteen seconds. This is cruelty to +fishermen!" + +"Tom, you take Dan and Harry, and go up along the shore," proposed +Dick. "I'll take the others with me, and we'll go down along +the shore. Each party will walk and search for half an hour, +and then return, unless we find a boat sooner." + +"Aren't you going to leave someone to watch the camp?" asked Danny +Grin. + +"It is hardly necessary," decided Prescott. + +"But Bert Dodge-----" suggested Greg. + +"For Dodge to be out here so early he'd have to be up by five +in the morning, and make an early start," Dick rejoined. "I don't +believe he's industrious enough for that." + +"The camp will be all right," Dave agreed. + +"Of course," Tom assented. "Anyway, there's nothing here worth +stealing that would be small enough to carry away." + +"Except the food," hinted Danny Grin. + +"This is too far off the main roads for tramps to come this way," +Dick replied. + +So Dalzell, with a sigh, rose to accompany Reade and Hazelton. + +Dick and his two companions thoroughly explored the shore as far +as they went on the lower part of the lake. From time to time +Prescott consulted his watch. In all the time that they were +out they passed only one building, a tumble-down, weather-beaten +shack that looked as though it had not been inhabited in twenty +years. Not even a vestige of a craft was found. + +"It's time to go back," said Dick at last. "Too bad we couldn't +find anything." + +"There must have been boats on this lake at one time," hinted +Dave, "or else there wouldn't be that broken-down old pier near +the camp." + +"I guess there was a time when this lake was a fishing ground +to supply the Gridley and other near-by markets," Dick went on. +"But, fellows, there's a curious thing about these fish markets +that I don't know whether you've noticed. There are several fish +stores in Gridley, and yet in all of them you couldn't buy a pound +of fish except the kinds that are caught in salt water. I wonder +if there are any fish markets in this part of the country that +make a specialty of fresh-water fish?" + +More slowly, Dick, Dave and Greg retraced their steps. + +"Hoo-hoo! Hoo-hoo!" signaled Dick as they neared their camp. + +From away up the shore the answering "hoo hoo!" came faintly. + +"Tom didn't give up the search as easily as we did," commented +Dave. "Poor old chap, he will be seriously disappointed if he +hasn't found something that will float. He's the one sincere +fisherman of the crowd, and the bass certainly have hypnotized +him." + +"Race you back to camp," offered Dick. + +"Come back," laughed Dave, "and make a fair start." + +But Dick kept on, laughing back at his distanced comrades. Prescott +ran like a deer, as was to be expected from one who had played +left end on the invincible Gridley High School eleven. + +Just as he bounded on to the camp ground Dick's glance fell on +a packing box some four feet long. + +"This doesn't belong here," he muttered, bounding forward, then +dropping on one knee beside the box. + +In amazed wonder he read the following inscription, from a card +tacked to the box: + +"Will Dick Prescott accept the enclosed and keep it as trustee +for Dick & Co.? From a most appreciative friend---two of them, +in fact!" + +"Now, what on earth can this be?" Dick demanded, as Dave reached +his side. + +Darry read the message on the card with growing wonder. + +"Greg," directed Dick, "trot into the camp and get a hammer and +the cold chisel. Hustle!" + +Full of curiosity, Greg Holmes carried out the order at a run. + +"Here you are!" panted Holmes. + +Dick took the cold chisel, placed the edge against one side of +the lid, and was about to strike the first blow when Darry snatched +the hammer from his hand. + +"What ails you?" Prescott demanded. + +"Suspicion," Dave replied dryly. "In fact, I've a bad case of +suspiciousness." + +"What are you talking about?" Dick insisted. + +"I don't know," Dave admitted. "But I've something of a shivery +hunch that perhaps we'd better not open that box." + +"What, then? Toss it into the lake?" + +"Even that might not be as foolish as it sounds to you," Darry +went on. "How do we know what that box contains!" + +"We never will know until we open it," declared Greg impatiently. + +"And then we might be mighty sorry that we opened it," Dave continued. + +"You think that there is something suspicious about the box?" +queried Prescott. + +"Oh, the box looks all right," Dave laughed. "But the contents +might prove more than a disappointment. A real danger, for instance." + +"Do you really think so?" Dick mused wonderingly. + +"Well, let's not be too rash," Darrin urged. "When I try to think +of the friends who might take the trouble to come away out here +to leave something for us, about the dearest friends I can think +of are---Dodge and Bayliss." + +"And what would they leave in the box for us?" pondered Prescott. + +"Anything from a nest of rattlesnakes to an infernal machine," +Greg Holmes suggested. + +"That doesn't sound quite reasonable," Dick replied slowly. "Neither +Dodge nor Bayliss amount to much, and both fellows are pretty +mean; but do you imagine they would dare do anything that might +come very close to murder? I don't." + +"Oh, well, open the box, then," Dave agreed. "Whatever may be +in it of a dangerous nature, I'll stand by and take my share of it." + +"A few minutes won't make any difference," said Dick, rising and +dropping hammer and chisel. "We'll wait until the rest of the +fellows come in, and then we'll hold a pow-wow and vote on what's +to be done." + +"Tom! Oh, Tom! Fellows! Hoo-hoo!" roared Greg, making a megaphone +of his hands. + +"Wha-at's wa-anted?" came Reade's hail, still from a distance. + +"Hurry up!" yelled Greg. "Hustle. Big doings here!" + +"Have you found a boat?" came Tom's query. + +"No! But---hustle! Run!" + +Greg was alive with curiosity. He could not wait. If the box +were to be opened only after a pow-wow, then the sooner the council +were held the sooner the mystery of the box's contents would be +solved. + +Tom, Dan and Harry came in at a trot. + +"What's all the row about?" Reade demanded. + +"That," stated Greg, pointing to the packing case. + +"What's in it?" asked Reade. + +"We don't know," said Dick. + +"I fail to see what's to hinder you from knowing," retorted Reade. +"I see that you have the tools for opening the case at hand. +What were you waiting for---my strong arm on the hammer? If +so-----" + +While speaking Tom had been glancing at the inscription on the +card. + +"I don't know just whether we ought to open it," Dave declared. +"That box may come from Dodge and Bayliss, and we may be sorry +that we meddled with it." + +"There may be something in that," agreed Reade, laying down hammer +and chisel and rising. "But I wish we knew." + +"We all wish that," said Greg. + +"Well, what are we going to do?" inquired Hazelton. "Are we going +to remain afraid of the box and shy away from it?" + +"I'm not afraid," replied Darrin, his color rising. "I'm willing +to open it if you fellows say so." + +"Then what has kept you back so far?" Tom wanted to know. + +"If it's a job put up by Dodge and Bayliss, then I don't just +like to be caught napping by them," Dave replied. "However, you +fellows all get back a few rods---and here goes for little David +to solve the box mystery." + +"Not!" advised Reade with emphasis. "I suppose we'll have to +do something with this box, sometime, but I, for one, am in favor +of considering the matter for a little while before we go any +further. Dave, you are a foxy one, but I'm glad you are. It +may save us all trouble." + +So the box lay there through the forenoon, and Dick & Co. did +little else but wonder and guess as to its contents. + +Any member of Dick & Co. would have taken the risk of opening +it, had he been chosen by his comrades to do so; but not one of +them wanted one of the other fellows to take the risk. + +In the meantime Greg Holmes could scarcely curb his rising curiosity. + + + + +CHAPTER VIII + +THE MAN WITH THE HAUNTING FACE + + +The noon meal had been eaten, and the camp put to rights. The +water before them and the woods behind them called to nature-loving +Dick & Co., yet the invitations were ignored. + +What could be in the innocent-looking box? That was the question +that held six minds in the thraldom of curiosity. + +"I can't stand this suspense any longer!" muttered Reade towards +three o'clock in the afternoon. + +"Open the box yourself," prompted Danny Grin. + +"I will," offered Reade, advancing toward the box. "I don't care +if it's a ton of dynamite, all fixed up with clock work and automatic +fuses. I want to find it out." + +But Greg Holmes sprang forward. + +"Wait just a little longer, Tom," he urged. "Dick will be back +in a few minutes and then we'll get him to agree to it." + +"Dick Prescott doesn't open the box," Tom retorted. + +"It's addressed to him, anyway," said Greg firmly. + +"I guess that's right," interposed Dave, nodding. "And Dick will +be here soon." + +Dick reappeared within five minutes. He had taken two buckets +and had gone to a spring at some distance from camp for water. + +"Dick," said Greg, "there's Tom on the ground on the other side +of that tree. He's growling like a Teddy bear because no one +has opened the box." + +"I think we'd better open it," nodded Prescott, after glancing +at the faces of the others, for he saw that their curiosity was +at fever heat. + +"Hooray!" yelled Greg. "Come on, fellows!" + +There was a rush for the hammer and cold chisel, but young Holmes +won. + +"You pry the lid up on one side, and then give me a chance at +the other side," proposed Tom Reade. + +But Greg, smiling quietly, soon had the entire lid off the box. + +Nothing but a lot of multi-colored, curly packing paper met their +gaze. + +"The world destroyer must be underneath this ton of rubbish," +grunted Darry, kneeling and prying the strings of paper out. + +At last he delved down to a parcel wrapped in stout manila paper +and securely tied with cord. + +"Cut the strings," advised Reade, passing Dave a pocket knife +with one blade open. + +Darrin, however, had lifted the parcel out to lay it on the ground. +It was fairly heavy, but Dave handled it with ease. Now he +cut the strings. As the papers were pushed aside he and the others +saw nothing at first but a lot of khaki-colored canvas. + +"Fellows," declared Dick, "I don't believe this is a practical +joke, at all. It looks to me as though someone had sent us something +very much like a cook tent." + +All thought of danger having now passed, Prescott and his comrades +unfolded the canvas. At the bottom of the package they found +something that caused them to send up a wild hurrah. + +Two daintily modeled white maple paddles lay there. There were +two other objects made of wood that looked like seats. + +"Fellows," gasped Dick, "don't you understand what this is?" + +"I do," nodded Tom huskily. "I do, if not another soul in the +world does. Fellows, it's a collapsible canoe, all ready to set +up and run into the water. It's our boat, that we've been wanting +so badly. It's a beauty! Oh, shake it out! Lay it and let's +put the braces in! I shan't be able to breathe again until I +see this thing of beauty floating on the water!" + +Yet Tom was no more excited than were the other members of Dick +& Co. All took a hand, and all tried to work so nimbly that they +got considerably in the way of one another. Yet at last the canoe +was ready to be picked up and carried to the lake's edge. + +"Here's even a painter to tie it to a tree with," shouted Dave. +"Say! Whoever bought this canoe knew all about one!" + +"Don't anyone try to get into the craft yet," ordered Dick, as +the canoe was slid out upon the water, Prescott holding the painter, +which he tied around a sapling growing near the water's edge. +"We want to make sure that this canoe is waterproof. If it stands +twenty minutes without taking in water we'll know it's all right." + +Since they couldn't board the canoe, these delighted boys joined +hands, dancing about in a ring. Then, suddenly, they started +off in burlesqued figures of an Indian war-dance, whooping like +mad. + +While the excitement was at its height, Reade suddenly seized +Hazelton by his collar, rushing him to the lake. Into it went +both boys, Tom ducking Harry's head under the water. + +"Wha-a-at's that for?" sputtered Hazelton as soon as he could +talk. + +"Because you needed it," replied Tom soberly. "Will you kindly +do as much for me? We were all such chumps that we cheated ourselves +out of the best black bass fishing to-day that ever mortal saw. +So we all ought to be ducked." + +Harry stared at his friend in some astonishment. + +"On second thought, though," concluded Reade, "you needn't duck +me. You may postpone it. I'm going bass fishing the very instant +that the canoe is judged to be safe." + +"And I'll be the bass-hunting pin-head who merely does the paddling," +proposed Danny Grin meekly. + +"I guess you're the biggest pin-head in camp, all right---after +myself," nodded Reade. "So we ought to hit it off as bass fishermen, +Danny boy." + +"Fellows," hinted Dick judicially, "I think we had better turn +the canoe over to Tom for the first trip. His craze to go bass +fishing is so acute that it fairly pains him. Tom can have the +first trip, can't he?" + +There was a general assent. Tom darted away to overhaul such +tackle as he had for bass fishing. He came back with a small +but tough jointed rod, some very long lines, and some flashily, +bright spoons. + +"Danny, get a shovel and dig for some grubs," Tom ordered, as +he sorted tackle. "When you can't fool black bass with one thing +you must try another. If you fellows see any tiny chubs swimming +about in the little coves here, try to get a lot of them. We +can keep them in a bucket of water. Perch? Bah! The real fishing +is about to begin now!" + +"Do you really expect to get any bass today, Tom?" Dick inquired. + +"Hard to say," replied Reade, shaking his head as he glanced up +from the tackle he was overhauling to look out upon the lake. +"I haven't seen a single bass jump in five hours now. But I +may get two or three. I certainly will, if the bass are sportsmanlike +enough to give me any show at 'em." + +By the time that Tom had his tackle in shape Dick and Dave pronounced +the canoe wholly water tight. Dan Dalzell, equipped with one +of the paddles, took a kneeling position just back of the bow +seat. Tom got in next, squatting with his face to the stern of +the canoe. None of the others were to go. At a pinch this ten-foot +canoe might hold three, but fishermen as a rule do not care to +have extra passengers in their boats. + +"Give 'em a cheer, boys!" cried Darry, as Danny Grin, with a few +deft strokes of the paddle, propelled the craft away from the +shore. + +"And let that cheer be the last," called back Tom, in a low voice +that nevertheless traveled backward over the water. "Don't frighten +my bass from coming up to take a look at me." + +"Tom surely is the sincere old bass fisher, isn't he?" demanded +Harry Hazelton. + +"I don't know," Dick made answer. "We can tell better when we've +seen him hook and land a few fish." + +"Paddle slowly right across the lake, Danny," begged Tom, watching +his trolling line. + +From the camp the boys watched until they grew tired of the monotony. +Reade did not seem destined to secure a single "strike" from +bass that afternoon. + +"At half-past four o'clock," proposed Darrin, "I'll go down to +the old pier and see what I can do toward catching a string of +perch for to-night." + +"I'll go with you," nodded Hazelton. + +"All right," agreed Dick. "Greg and I will get in the water and +wood, and see to whatever else we're to have for supper. I don't +believe Tom will bring us anything." + +Nor did Reade himself believe it. For two solid hours Dan Dalzell +paddled lazily wherever his skipper told him to. The nearest +that Tom seemed destined to get a "strike" was when his hook caught +in the weeds. + +At last they were some distance out on the lake, perhaps a hundred +and fifty yards from shore. Reade, wholly discouraged, was about +to give the order to make for camp. + +Turning about in the canoe, Reade discovered that Dalzell was +in a brown study, slowly lifting his paddle and lifting it out +again, but without watching his course. + +"Look out, Danny boy," cautioned Tom, "or you'll scratch the sides +of the canoe on those bushes right ahead." + +Dan glanced up with a start, backing water. They had now passed +in under the shadow of trees, for the sun was low, and it was +somewhat dark and gloomy in there. + +"It's queer for bushes to be growing so far out from shore," muttered +Tom, "and it shows how shallow the water must be about here. +You had better back water out of here, Danny." + +Dalzell was about to do so when his glance fell on something that +halted his arm. + +In the same moment Tom Reade saw the object that had arrested +Dan's attention. + +From between the bushes peered a pair of deep-set, frightened +eyes that looked out from the haggard, despairing face of a man +whose head alone was visible. + +Just for the moment neither Tom nor Dalzell could really guess +whether the face belonged to the living or the dead. The sight +caused cold shivers to run up and down their spines, for that +face was ghastly and haunting in the extreme. + +But quickly Tom Reade found his voice sufficiently to ask huskily: + +"What's your trouble, my friend?" + + + + +CHAPTER IX + +THE START OF A BAD NIGHT + + +Without noise, leaving barely a ripple behind, that head sank +from view. It had vanished in an instant before the eyes of the +two thoroughly startled high school boys. + +"He's drowning now!" gasped Dan, as the head failed to bob up +again into view. "Oh, Tom, we must save him!" + +"Wait!" said Reade, in a quivering voice. His eyes expressed +uncertainty as to how he should act. + +"But he's drowning. You see, he hasn't come up again!" Dalzell +insisted. + +"Drowning---in water shallow enough for small bushes to grow from +the bottom?" demanded Reade. "Of course not! But what does it +mean---and why didn't the fellow speak?" + +"Perhaps---i---i---it was a---dead man," suggested Dalzell. + +"That's what I'm trying to figure out," replied Reade. "I---I +almost thought I saw the man's eyelids move." + +"I thought so, too," agreed Dan, "but now I'm inclined to believe +that we didn't. Wait! I'm going to get close to the bushes." + +Dan drove the paddle into the water a few times, bringing the +canoe up alongside the bushes, when it was seen that these were +standing up from a square framework of wood. + +"Now, what do you think of that?" asked Reade in perplexity. +"These are freshly cut bushes, that have been fastened to this +frame to-day. The frame will float wherever wind or current may +take it. I thought this was shallow water. I'll soon know." + +Tom had, among his tackle, a line with a sinker attached. He +tossed the sinker over the side of the canoe, paying out the line +until the sinker touched bottom. Then he pulled the line in again, +carefully measuring by his arm as much of the line as was wet. + +"Danny," he announced solemnly, "at this point the water is from +twenty-seven to thirty feet deep." + +"Then that man did drown!" breathed Dalzell, his face as white +as chalk. + +"Of course he did," Tom agreed, "provided he was alive when we +saw him." + +"But he had to be alive," protested Dan, "or else he couldn't +have nailed the framework together and decorated it with branches +from bushes." + +"That is, if the man we saw made the frame," propounded Reade +in a very solemn voice. + +It was a shock to both of them. The whole incident had been uncanny +and unreal, but the horror of that haggard, haunting face was +still strong upon both of the beholders. + +"Tom, we simply must get off our clothes and dive to see what +we can do to find that poor fellow," urged Dalzell. + +"All right," assented Reade. "I'll do all the diving myself, +Danny, if you'll take command and give your orders. Where shall +I dive? The bushes have already shifted position. We're floating +away from the spot, too. Just where do you want me to make the +first dive?" + +"I don't know," Dan Dalzell confessed. "The whole affair has +given me the creeps, I think." + +"I know it has done that to me," smiled Tom unsteadily. "Whew! +I'll dream of that face to-night---all night long! Dan, there +seems to be just about one chance in a thousand that that man +will reach shore. Let's keep the craft headed to the shore, and +watch for some minutes to come. At the same time, if we see a +sign of the poor fellow, we'll swim to him, or paddle to him as +fast as we know how." + +Both boys knew, inwardly, that they would be heartily glad to +get away from what seemed plainly to them to be a haunted spot. +Yet neither cared to admit his dread to the other. So, talking +rather busily, they remained on the spot for fully another ten +minutes. + +"We won't see anything come out of the water now," Tom asserted +at last. "Even if we do, it will be a drowned man." + +"I guess we may as well get back to camp," Danny agreed. "Yet +it is going to be an awfully creepy night for all of us, with +this weird mystery of the lake on our minds." + +"Don't paddle yet," begged Tom. "I'll give a hail, and see if +that brings any answer." + +Raising his voice, Reade shouted lustily: + +"Hello, there, friend? Are you safe? Want any help?" + +"Anything we can do for you, friend?" bawled Dan Dalzell, in his +most resonant tone. + +Only the mocking echoes of their own questions came back to them. + +"Beat the water with the paddle. Danny," advised Reade after +they had waited for some moments. "We've more than a mile to +go. Whip up the water. If you get tired, pass the paddle back +to me." + +"I'm not sorry to get away from that place," breathed Dalzell, +after at least a hundred lusty strokes. + +"Nor I," confessed Reade. "I'm beginning to get a headache already +from trying to figure out what it all meant. Danny, describe +that haunting face just as you saw it." + +"Ugh! I hate to think about it again," protested Dalzell. + +"You'll think about it more than once," retorted Tom. "You won't +be able to help that, I promise you. So go ahead and describe +the face as you saw it." + +Dan did so, Tom listening attentively. + +"Then that wasn't a case of imagination," Tom declared gravely. +"If we had imagined it, each would have seen a different face. +But the face that you describe, Danny, is the one that I also +saw. Pass back the paddle, please. I want a little exercise." + +Tom still had the paddle when he shot the canoe in close to the +camp. + +"Any luck?" called Dave, who had already returned with a string +of perch. + +"Catch any bass?" was Dick's question. + +"Did you even see anything?" laughed Greg Holmes. + +"Did we see anything?" groaned Tom, as he sent the canoe's prow +to land. + +"Danny looks as though he had been seeing all sorts of things," +chuckled Hazelton, as Dalzell stepped ashore. + +"Don't ask me," gasped Danny Grin, with a shudder. + +At this the faces of those who had remained behind sobered instantly. + +"You won't eat any supper, if we tell you," Tom declared, as he +came ashore while Dave held the painter of the canoe. + +"I'll accept that challenge," laughed Prescott, as Dave and Tom +drew the collapsible canoe up on shore. "Fire away as soon as +you're ready, Mr. Reade." + +Perch and potatoes were frying, coffee bubbling and Dick had been +mixing some kind of boiled pudding that he had learned to make +so that it would not cause acute indigestion. + +"Better wait until after supper," Reade advised. + +"No; we want the story now," Prescott declared firmly. + +So Reade told of the strange apparition they had seen, with many +additions to the tale from Danny. + +"I decline to shudder," asserted Dave. + +"That's just because you've only heard about the face, instead +of seeing it," Tom muttered. + +"Dick, what do you make of the whole affair?" asked Greg. + +"I only wish I could guess the answer," Prescott made answer solemnly, +"but I can't." + +"What are we going to do about it?" asked Tom Reade. + +"Let it alone," proposed Harry Hazelton. + +"No, we won't," said Dick promptly. "Not unless we have to, just +because of inability to find out anything. Fellows, it's too +late to try to do anything in the darkness to-night. If the man +were drowned, we couldn't help him, anyway. But we'll go over +there to-morrow and try to find out whether there is any other +answer to the riddle." + +"You won't need any supper to-night, anyway," declared Reade, +in a tone of grim triumph. + +"That is where you lose," Prescott answered quietly. "You'll +be hungry, too, Tom, when the food goes on the table." + +However, neither Reade nor Danny Grin ate very heartily that evening. +Every few moments the haunting face rose before their memories. +It proved a dull evening, too, in camp. The sky became overcast. +It looked so much like rain that Dick & Co. voted in favor of +retiring early. + +First of all, however, the canoe was hauled into the tent for +safety. Then, with only one lantern burning dimly, six sturdy +but wondering high school boys rolled themselves in their blankets. + +Just as five of them were dozing off uneasily Dave Darrin's voice +sounded quietly: + +"That thing couldn't have been a joke rigged up on us, could it?" + +"A joke?" rumbled Reade. "No, sir! That face was real enough +to suit the most particular individual. No, sir; that face wasn't +a joke, nor did the face look as though the man to whom it belonged +had ever heard a joke in all his life." + +"Suppose you fellows shut up until the sun is shining again," +proposed Danny Grin, who had been fidgeting restlessly in his +blanket. + +"That's right," agreed Dick blandly. "All ghost stories ought +to be told in the broad daylight." + +"Just the same-----" Tom began. + +"Shut up---_please_!" came a chorus of protest. + +All was quiet after that. Hours must have passed. All the boys +were sleeping at least fairly well when air and earth shook with +a mighty explosion. + +Instantly six bewildered high school boys leaped to their feet +in alarm. + + + + +CHAPTER X + +POWDER MILLS, OR JUST WHAT? + + +"If that's a thunderstorm," muttered Greg Holmes, barely half +awake, "then it's going to be a dandy!" + +But Dick seized him by one arm and shook him. + +"Come to your senses, Greg! That wasn't thunder." + +"No; but what was it?" wondered Dave. + +"I'm going to dress and find out," rejoined Dick sturdily. He +sat on the edge of his canvas cot and began to pull on his clothing. + +BANG! All were awake enough now to appreciate fully the force +of this second jarring explosion. + +"I wonder if there are any powder works off in this wilderness?" +asked Danny Grin. + +But Dick, who had now dressed as fully as he intended to do, save +for the lacing of his shoes, now came back from the doorway of +the tent with the lantern, the wick of which he was turning up. + +"No powder mills in this part of the world," he declared. "But, +gracious! The explosion seemed big enough." + +Tom Reade stepped over to Prescott, whispering in the latter's +ear: + +"What if this is another chapter in the lake mystery that we struck +this afternoon?" + +"That's possible," nodded Dick. + +"What are you two fellows whispering about?" called Hazelton. + +"We're using whispers in case there's anyone else near enough +to hear speaking voices," Prescott explained in a low tone. + +That was enough to fan the curiosity of the others, who, partially +dressed, crowded about Prescott and Reade. + +Leaving the lantern in the tent, Dick & Co. gathered in the darkness +in the open air. + +"What do you make of it, Dick?" Dave asked. + +"Just as much as you fellows do---no more," came the reply. + +"If it isn't anything that carries danger to us," proposed Darrin, +"we may as well go back and to bed." + +"All who are sleepy enough may go back and turn in," Prescott +suggested. "I'll stay up and watch for a while." + +"So will I," promised Reade. + +But it turned out that none of the party wanted to sleep. Even +Darrin said he was interested enough in this newest mystery to +stay up and try to fathom it. + +"Whatever it is," smiled Dick, "it hasn't done us any harm." + +"Oh, yes; there has been one casualty, at least," protested Holmes. +"The explosion has caused a compound fracture in my bump of curiosity." + +"There don't seem to be any more explosions," suggested Dick Prescott, +after a few moments had passed, and some of the boys were yawning. +"Anyone want to turn in?" + +No one wished to do so, however. + +"If we can't find out anything to-night," murmured Dick, in a +low voice, "we'll at least make a strong effort in that direction +after breakfast to-morrow morning." + +"We have the lake mystery on for after breakfast," urged Hazelton. + +"There's probably a connection between the lake mystery and the +big explosions," whispered Tom Reade wisely. "Fellows, I've a +notion that Danny Grin and I unintentionally bumped into someone +else's business of some queer kind. Now the people who are peevish +with us are trying to chase us out of these woods. At least, +that's my idea." + +"It will take something more than noise to chase us," smiled Dick +coolly. "Our ear drums are as sound as the next fellow's. Just +the same, I wish we might find out something about this mystery. +If there's another explosion like that last one, then some of +us ought to travel straight in the direction of the noise." + +"And run straight into the hard, swift punch that is behind that +noise!" muttered Danny Grin, with one of those facial contortions +that had earned him his nickname. + +"Whoever starts to playing with a boy's curiosity must be ready +to abide by the consequences," chuckled Prescott. "Now, if anyone +has started something against us, then we'll run the rascal to +the earth." + +"You don't suppose it's Dodge's work?" whispered Greg. + +Before Dick could answer Darrin broke in with an emphatic: + +"Not much! The lake mystery affair is one of too large calibre +for Bert Dodge's poor, anaemic brain. There's something bigger +and smarter than a mere Dodge behind the doings of this night." + +"It's one o'clock, fellows," said Dick, after walking over to +the lantern for a glimpse at his watch. "Tom, Greg and I will +stay up until three o'clock and be ready to jump out together +at the first sign of anything happening. The rest of you turn +in and get some sleep. We'll call you at three o'clock and then +take our turn at the pillow." + +"You'll call us, of course, if anything happens?" asked Dave. + +"If another powder mill blows up," chuckled Tom, "you won't need +to be called. You'll be out here on the jump." + +Dave, Dan and Harry thereupon turned in. Knowing that others +were on watch the trio in the tent were all sound asleep within +five minutes. + +Only the sighing of the wind through the trees, the occasional +splash of a leaping fish in the lake, and the subdued, musical +hum of tiny night insects came to the ears of Dick and his fellow +watchers. + +Greg was soon yawning. Tom, for want of something better to do, +began describing all over again the strange apparition he and +Dalzell had seen that afternoon. Greg, finding the "creeps" in +Tom's narration to be stronger than the interest, shivered and +withdrew to a spot beyond the reach of Tom's whispers. + +Not long after Greg, his back propped against a tree trunk, was +sound asleep. + +Tom liked to talk. Prescott was a good listener, putting in a +question now and then. + +So at least another hour passed. Then----- + +Boo-oom! + +That crash was so close at hand that it seemed as though the earth +must open. + +Tom's first startled glance was at the sky. Then, with a whisking +sound, several fragments of something passed over their heads. + +"We're being bombarded?" gasped Tom inquiringly. + +"This is getting too noisy to be interesting," protested Greg, +waking and leaping over to the place where his chums stood. + +"I thought you fellows were going to put a stop to that racket!" +complained Darry from the tent. + +Dick Prescott's whole thought and effort had been centered on +the task of placing the location of that latest explosion. + +"You fellows look after the camp," Dick called in a low voice +to those in the tent. "Come on, Tom and Greg!" + +His two chums hurried to overtake him as the young leader rushed +off in the darkness. Prescott was traveling up the slope in a +direction that ran in an oblique line from the lake front. + +"Are you sure it was just exactly in this direction?" whispered +Reade, as he reached Dick's side. + +"In this direction as nearly as I could judge," Dick affirmed. + +For some moments they traveled onward. Then they halted to listen. + +"I don't know whether I'm any good at judging distances," Dick +whispered, "but it seemed to me that whatever exploded was not much +more than three hundred yards from camp." + +"About that distance, I should say," Tom agreed. + +"Then we've gone about as far as the place of the explosion. +Suppose we keep very quiet and listen." + +"Ugh!" grunted Greg. "I hope the earth doesn't blow up under +our feet." + +"Go back to camp, if you're nervous," smiled Dick, but Greg remained +where he was. + +"I'm going out a little way and prowl," whispered Dick, pointing +in the direction he had chosen. "Tom, why don't you travel in +about the opposite direction?" + +Reade nodded. + +"Where shall I go?" asked Greg. + +"You had better remain right here," Prescott whispered. "If you +should hear either of us yell for help then you could start in +the direction of the sound." + +"Then I'll get into those bushes," whispered Greg. "When you +come back, come straight to the bushes, so I'll know that it's +one of my own crowd. If any strangers appear, I'll listen to +'em if they halt near here, or trail them if they try to go past +here." + +Dick nodded. This seemed about the best that could be done. +Of course, back in camp, he had three more good and courageous +fellows to draw upon as added forces, but with such strange doings +afoot in the night it didn't seem wise to call the others away +from the camp. Above all, the camp had to be watched and guarded. + +In half an hour Dick returned. He had found nothing to throw +light on the puzzle of the night. Tom was back already, having +beaten Dick to Greg's hiding place by about two minutes. + +"We may as well go back to camp," whispered Greg. + +"Not much!" Prescott retorted. "If anyone is trying to do anything +to us, then we want to run the mystery down and put an end to +it. My idea is that the best thing we can do is to get up to +the road, post ourselves at fair intervals and watch to see if +anyone should pass." + +"Correct!" clicked Reade. "And I think that would have been the +best plan in the first instance." + +"If the powder-mill explosions are to keep up through the night," +hinted Tom, "then there ought to be another one due within a few +minutes. In that case our tormentors may be getting ready to +plan something now. So let's hike for the road at once." + +Dick led the way, all three boys moving as noiselessly as they +could. Prescott posted his friends, then chose his own post, +so that they were stationed at intervals of about a hundred yards. +All had hiding places within plain view of this rough country +road. + +Now the time dragged again. Strain their ears as they might, +none of these young outposts of Dick & Co. could hear a single +suspicious sound. They must have remained there all of three +quarters of an hour. + +Bang! sounded a terrific crash. Tom and Greg, without showing +themselves in the road, hurriedly, silently reached their leader. + +"Pshaw!" uttered Prescott in disgust. "With all our care we were +on the wrong side of camp to be near the explosion. Come along, +now, but don't make any noise if you can help it, and don't step +out into the road. We'll go straight toward that latest noise. +If it takes all summer we're simply bound to find out who is +trying to blow up these woods just to scare out a few little rabbits +like ourselves!" + + + + +CHAPTER XI + +IN A FEVER "TO FIND OUT" + + +Our trio had nearly reached what they judged to be the scene of +the latest explosion when Dick suddenly gave a low, sharp "hist," +at the same time bending over to the ground while still peering +ahead. + +Palpitating with excitement, Tom and Greg halted, also looking. + +Out of the shadow ahead emerged something only vaguely outlined +in the dark. Whether wild animal or human being it would be hard +to say there in the darkness. Indeed, the slight sound caused +by its progress close to the road had more to do with warning +Dick and his friends than anything their eyes saw at first. + +"Come on!" whispered Dick, heading suddenly for the road. In +a jiffy Tom and Greg were also in hot pursuit, though young Prescott +managed to keep somewhat in the lead. + +But the object of their pursuit took alarm, too, and gaining the +road, flew like the wind. + +"Hold on there, you!" challenged Dick. "We want a little conversation +with you at once." + +At that vocal warning the fugitive put on an even better burst +of speed. + +"It must be a man!" exclaimed Dick. "He evidently understood me." + +"No use for you to try to get away!" shouted Reade. "We intend +to get you if we have to chase you all the way to the seaboard." + +That was enough to make the fugitive veer suddenly and dart in +under the trees. Tom vented an exclamation of disappointment, +for he knew the chances were easy for escape in the deep shadows +of the forest. + +At that instant Dick raised his right hand. In it he held a small +stone that he had picked up at the first instant of discovering +the presence of the stranger. + +Now Dick threw the stone, with the best judgment that he could +command in the darkness. + +Ahead there went up a cry, as though of pain. Then all three +pursuers distinctly heard an angry voice say! + +"Hang him! He hit me in the heel!" + +If there were any reply to this from a confederate of the injured +fugitive neither Dick nor his chums heard it. + +After a minute all three stopped at a low uttered order from young +Prescott. + +"Hush!" whispered Dick. + +"Sh!" confirmed Tom Reade. + +As they stood there in the forest not a sound of another human +being was audible. + +For some five minutes the trio of high school boys stood without +stirring from their tracks. + +"We've lost the trail," whispered Dick at last. "We could remain +here, of course, waiting for more things to happen, but my belief +is that daylight would find us still standing here, like so many +foiled dummies. We might as well return to camp. What do you +think?" + +"Yes; we'd better go back to camp," assented Tom. + +"I'm agreeable," murmured Greg + +So back to camp they went, going by the open road as much of the +way as served their purpose. + +"There's the camp," muttered Tom, as they caught sight of a light +between the trees. "Why the fellows have started a campfire." + +"What do you say if we slip up on them and give them something +to jump about?" laughed Greg. + +"That might work with some people," negatived Dick, "but Darry +is there, and he's impulsive. He might half kill us before he +discovered his mistake. O-o-o-h, Dave!" + +"Hello!" answered Darrin, coming away from the campfire. Then +he waited until the trio were close at hand before he went on: + +"I judge you didn't have any luck." + +"We got close to one of the scamps," muttered Tom, "whom Dick +seems to have hit on the heel with a stone, but he slipped away +from us under the trees." + +"It's only half an hour to dawn," yawned Dave, looking at his +watch. "We can turn in, now, I guess, for the rascals must be +about through with the guessing match they've put up for us." + +"We could turn in now," suggested Danny Grin. "We don't have +to go to sleep, you know, but we could lie in our blankets and +talk the time away until dawn. The campfire will keep going until +after daylight comes on." + +That seemed rather a sensible course. Dick nodded, and all hands, +after Darry had thrown a few more sticks on the fire, went into +the tent, undressed, donned pajamas and slipped in under a single +thickness of blanket apiece, and lay there talking. + +Yet it proved to be a case of gape and yawn. One after another +their eyes closed and more regular breathing started. + +Dick Prescott was the last one to drop off. Yet he had barely +more than lost himself in slumberland when there came a blast +so close at hand that, to the boys, it seemed as though they must +have been blown from their cots. + +"That was right up toward the road!" panted Dave Darrin, leaping +from his cot barefooted and clad only in pajamas. "Don't stop +to dress. Come on! Chase 'em!" + +"Go as far as you like!" chuckled Dick, stopping to pull on his +shoes and fasten them, as did most of the others. Hazelton went +only to the doorway of the tent, but Danny Grin followed Darrin, +keeping at the latter's heels. + +Prescott and Reade were hardly sixty seconds later in heading +up the slope toward the road, Greg and Harry remaining at the +camp. + +As they came out from under the trees and into the road Dick discovered +that the first signs of dawn were appearing. In a few minutes +more it would be possible to see clearly over a stretch of road +more than half a mile in length. Already objects were beginning +to take shape. Dave was coming back, followed by Dan. Both were +limping slightly, for neither boy was accustomed to traveling +barefoot and both had picked up slight stone bruises in their +progress. + +"Did you sight anything or anyone?" called Dick. + +"No," grumbled Darrin, in deep disgust. "The odds are all against +us, anyway. The scoundrels know which way they are going; we +can only guess at their course." + +"One thing looks rather certain, at any rate," yawned Dick, covering +his mouth with his hand. "Whoever the unknowns are, they were +trying only to bother us. Or, if they were trying to injure us, +they were rank amateurs at the destructive game. + +"But what was it that blew up, anyway?" queried Dave. + +"It sounded like a keg of gunpowder each time," Tom declared. +"Yet to carry around five kegs of gunpowder would call for a +lot of muscular work." + +"I'm going back to camp to put on my shoes," Dave declared. + +"So am I," Danny Grin added. + +"We'll wait here for you," said Dick. "When you come back there +may be light enough for us to look into matters a little." + +Dave and Dan returned in a little more than five minutes afterwards. +The daylight was now becoming stronger. + +"Are Greg and Harry keeping awake?" was Prescott's first question. + +"They are," nodded Darrin. + +"Then they can be trusted to look after the camp," Dick continued. + +"And to look after the canoe," Reade amended. + +"Now, we'll explore the woods a bit," Prescott went on. "We know +about where we heard the explosions, and we'll look for whatever +evidence we can find." + +For this purpose each explorer went by himself. Ten minutes later +Dave Darrin set up a loud hello. This brought the others to him +on the run. + +"Give us another call," demanded Dick. + +"Here!" called Dave, from the depths of the woods. + +Dick went in, followed by Tom and Dan. + +"I've found this much," Dave announced, holding up a scorched +bit of colored paper. It was such paper as is used for the outer +wrapping of fireworks. + +Dick took the fragment of paper, reading therefrom the title, +"The Sploderite Pyrotechnic Co." + +"Nothing but fireworks, after all," ejaculated Danny Grin in great +contempt, now that it was broad daylight. + +"But I would like to have seen the fireworks before they blew +up," retorted Tom Reade. "They were surely the loudest I ever +heard. I don't believe anything but the heaviest cannon could +make as much noise." + +"Whoever touched off fireworks like these," uttered Dave, "didn't +care a hang whether or not he set the woods on fire." + +"There was no fire danger," Dick rejoined. "The grass and everything +in these forests is as green as can be. But let's look about +and see if we can't find evidences of the explosion at this point." + +"There ought to be a good-sized hole in the ground right under +where this piece of fireworks exploded," Tom guessed. "We ought +to find, not far from here, some evidences of what explosives +can do in ripping up the ground." + +"Now I remember that one of the explosions in the night sent something +whizzing through the air over our heads." + +"Pieces of the pasteboard enclosing the mine, bomb or whatever +kind of fireworks it was," Dick suggested. "But let's look for +other debris around here." + +That single bit of scorched paper, however, was all that any of +them could find. + +Tom discovered a spot where he thought the ground had been blackened, +but Dave thought the blackened appearance due to humus soil, and +so nothing came of the argument. + +"I think," yawned Dick, "this search will lead to the same result +that the others did during the night. About all we can do is +to go back to camp." + +The sun was up by the time that all six members of Dick & Co. +were once more gathered about the remains of their campfire. + +"I don't know what you fellows are going to do," yawned Tom Reade. +"As for me, at present a nap looks better than any shower bath +or breakfast that was ever invented. No matter how much objection +I hear, I'm going to get an hour or two more of sleep." + +That idea met with rather a hearty reception. Within three minutes +all six high school boys were lying between blankets again, composed +for sleep. + +No more explosions came to disturb their slumbers, which were +deep and broken only when at last Dick Prescott called out: + +"Fellows, we're regular Rip Van Winkles! It's half-past nine +o'clock!" + +"And we've that lake mystery to solve today!" uttered Greg Holmes, +leaping up. + + + + +CHAPTER XII + +DICK MAKES A FIND + + +"Now, I don't know how it is going to hit the rest of you," remarked +Tom Reade, as he put down his coffee cup at the end of the hasty +breakfast, "but I'll confess that I'm not wholly keen about solving +the puzzle of the lake mystery." + +"Why not?" challenged Dave in astonishment. + +"It's just like this," Tom went on. "Solving human riddles is +all right in the daytime, but it's likely to spoil our rest at +night. I can't help feeling that last night's Sploderite function +was a mark of displeasure over our unwelcome interest in the lake +mystery." + +"Suppose we grant that," Dick answered, "yet how would last night's +rascals expect us to connect the bang concert with Tom and Dan's +canoe trip and discovery yesterday afternoon?" + +"There's something in that idea," Reade admitted. "The unknowns +might hardly expect us to show as much human reasoning power as +all that. Yet I'm of the opinion that we'll continue to rest +badly at night as long as we continue to feel any unhealthy curiosity +about the lake mystery. In other words, my belief is that our +interest in the affairs of perfect strangers is regarded by the +unknowns as rudeness that must be rebuked." + +"I don't care a hang about the lake mystery, anyway," gaped Dan, +who was giving forth a series of yawns, his mouth only partially +hidden by his right hand. + +"There's just one strong point to the other side of the question," +Dick argued. "There's a very fair amount of reason to believe +that a man may have been drowned late yesterday afternoon, and +that Tom and Dan saw him go down for the last time. That probability +existing, I believe we are bound, as good citizens, to see if +we can find any trace of a drowned man. If we can, then as good +citizens it is clearly our further duty to report the matter to +the authorities. If we can't find the remains of the drowned +man, then I am under the impression that, at the least, Tom and +Dan must report to some county officer just what they did see, +and the county can then take up the question in any way it pleases. +First of all, however, we ought to look for the body of a drowned +man." + +This view prevailing, Tom and Dan launched the canoe, Dick entering +as passenger, while the other two handled the paddles. + +Some brisk work took the canoe over, as nearly as Tom could judge, +to the spot where the haunting face had been seen so briefly on +the afternoon before. + +Under the bright morning sun the waters were clear here, though +the bottom could not be seen. + +"Paddle half a mile up the lake, then down," Dick ordered. + +This was done, Prescott and the paddlers keeping a sharp lookout. +No body of a drowned man was seen, however, either on the surface +or under the water. + +"I don't believe anyone was drowned," re marked Dick at last. +"There is no wind today, and hardly any such thing as current +on this placid water. Whoever the man was, he got ashore." + +"That's my belief," agreed Reade. + +"Where's that brush arrangement?" asked Dan suddenly. "That frame +all trimmed with green boughs." + +Nor was this to be seen, either, though an object of that size +would have been visible at any point on the water within half +a mile. + +"The man got ashore, all right, and he took care of the bush-trimmed +frame as well," was Prescott's conclusion. "Whoever the man was, +whatever happened, I don't believe that anything tragic happened +in the water. For that matter, fellows, isn't it possible that, +in the gathering gloom, and with the sky somewhat overcast, you +were deceived about the ghastly, haunted look in that face? Isn't +it likely that the look you thought you saw in the man's face +was merely an effect of the unusual light of late yesterday afternoon?" + +Tom shook his head emphatically. + +"Why don't you ask us," demanded Dan ironically, "if it weren't +just imagination on our part that we saw the face at all?" + +"I don't doubt your having seen the face," Dick replied. "That +wasn't anything that the light supplied." + +"Then where is the man?" quizzed Dalzell. + +"Safe on shore somewhere, beyond a doubt," Dick answered + +"Then the chase takes us ashore, doesn't it?" asked Dan. + +"Yes; if we're going to follow up the matter any further," Dick +replied. + +"We ought to follow it up," Reade insisted. + +"Why?" asked Prescott. + +"For one thing," smiled Tom, "it will give us something interesting +to do." + +"Should we find our interest in meddling with other folks' business?" +wondered their leader. + +"We've a right to, when those people come around and spoil our +night's rest for us," Tom retorted. + +"It was a bit like a challenge, wasn't it?" Dick laughed. + +"Besides," Dan urged, "we certainly saw enough yesterday afternoon +to show us that there is something tragic in the air around this +sleepy old lake. If anyone is in trouble we ought to try to help +that one out of trouble. And there was real, aching trouble in +that face if ever I saw evidences of trouble." + +"I guess we'll put in part of the day looking into the matter," +Dick assented. + +"Where shall we land?" asked Dalzell. + +"As nearly as possible opposite the exact spot where you saw the +man's head," Prescott made answer. + +"Over there where that bent birch shows between the two chestnut +trees," announced Reade, pointing with his paddle. + +"Pull for that place," Dick ordered. + +In a few minutes the canoe was drawn up along the shore so that +Dick could step on land. + +"You'd better come with me, Tom," said Prescott. + +"And I'm the nifty little boat-tender who stays here and dozes +in the shade?" asked Danny Grin, with a grimace. + +"Are you good and strong this morning?" queried Dick, with a smile. + +"Strong enough to walk, anyway," Dan retorted. + +"Then perhaps you're strong enough to paddle back across the lake +and bring over two more fellows. Then, when you get back here, +leave one of the pair here in the canoe, and we will get them +to keep it a hundred feet or more off shore. We don't want our +craft destroyed. And be sure, Dan, that the fellow who stays +behind on the other side of the lake understands that he's to +stick right by the camp and watch it for all he's worth." + +"I've got my orders," clicked Danny Grin, with a mock salute. + +"Then let's see how well you can paddle alone." + +Dalzell gave a few swift, strong turns of the paddle that sent +the light canvas canoe darting over the water. + +"Now, come along," urged Tom. "I'm anxious to get busy this morning." + +First of all, the two high school boys walked up the lake shore +for some distance, keeping their eyes wide open and all their +senses on the alert. Then, returning, they walked for a considerable +distance down the shore. + +"There are our reinforcements coming," announced Tom, pointing +across the lake. "Danny and his load will be here within fifteen +minutes." + +"We'll wait for the other fellows, before going away from the +shore," Dick proposed. "If we started now they wouldn't know +where to find us." + +Returning to the landing place, Dick silently waved his hat until +he caught the attention of Dave Darrin, seated in the bow of the +canoe, who answered the signal just as silently. + +Presently the craft came up to the shore. + +"Who's going to stay in the canoe?" Dick inquired. + +"I am," Harry Hazelton declared dolefully. "We drew lots on the +other side. Greg drew the shortest twig, so he had to stay at +the camp. I got the next shortest twig, so my job is boat-tender." + +Dave and Dan stepped ashore. Heaving a sigh, Harry paddled out +on the lake some hundred and fifty feet from land. + +"Now, how are we going to beat up the country on this fine July +morning?" Tom wanted to know. + +Dick stood looking at the surrounding ground. + +"I think I know as good a plan as any," he announced, after a +pause. "Dave, you and I will walk down the lake, using our eyes +and ears. Tom and Dan will go in the opposite direction. Each +pair will keep along until our watches show that we've been going +ten minutes. Then we will walk up the slope a hundred steps and +turn toward the centre, meeting probably about the end of the +second ten minutes. After that, if we decide to do so, we can +go further inland from the lake. If there's a house or hut, or +any fellow camping out in this neighborhood we ought to find him +without much trouble. What do you fellows say to my plan?" + +"It's about as systematic as anything could be," Dave agreed. +"But what if one pair of us find something?" + +"We'll try our best to communicate with the other pair," Dick +rejoined. "Suppose, Dave, that you and I run into something interesting +and don't want to leave it? Tom and Dan, not meeting us at the +appointed place, will know enough to keep right on over our course +until they find us." + +"That looks plain enough," nodded Reade thoughtfully. + +"All right, then," Dick declared. "Now we'll start." + +He and Dave started off at a swinging gait. The first time Prescott +turned to look behind him Reade and Danny Grin had already vanished. + +Dick kept close to the shore, Dave moving in a parallel line a +few steps up the slope. + +"There isn't any hut, lodge or camp down there," Dave called softly, +"or else we'd have seen it from our camp on the other side of +the lake." + +"I know it," Dick nodded. "What I'm trying to do is to see if +I can find any hint, on the shore, of how that fellow landed yesterday, +without Tom or Danny catching sight of him. Of course, a very +clever swimmer could have gone quite a distance under water. +and I want to see if I can find any sign of anything that would +have hidden his landing from the fellows in the canoe." + +"Oh!" nodded Dave understandingly. + +The full ten minutes of searching passed without the slightest +trace of a discovery. + +"Halt," Dick called up smilingly. "Now, join me, Darry, while +I count off the hundred steps up the slope." + +This done, the chums started backward, keeping a course as nearly +parallel with the shore as was possible. + +"Now, try to be keener than ever," Dick urged, as Dave paced off +another twenty steps higher up. "We're in a growth of deeper +forest, with a bigger tangle of underbrush and it will be easy +enough to overlook something." + +The two boys trudged on. They were five minutes on their way +back, perhaps, when Dick heard a sudden scrambling in the underbrush +not far away. Then Prescott caught sight of a human figure, yet +so fleetingly that he could have given no description of it. + +"Is that you, Darry?" he called sharply. + +But it wasn't, for no answer came back, save for the slight sound +of someone going through the brush farther on. + +"Dave! Darry!" shouted Prescott. "Here! Quickly!" + +Then Dick dashed on in pursuit, calling again and again until +Dave came in sight and joined in the chase. + +"What was it?" panted Dave, as he came within hailing distance. + +"Someone running away from me," Dick explained. + +"What did he look like?" + +"I didn't have a chance to see. Let's travel hot-foot." + +Yet presently Dick halted. Dave stopped beside him. + +"We've passed him; he has doubled on us," uttered Darrin in a +tone of intense chagrin. "We belong in the primary class in wood +lore." + +Then, suddenly, they heard a slight noise again. Forward they +dashed. Now they came out to a place where the ground was more +open. Before the two high school boys rose a great boulder of +rock, its front sloping backward, and running up to a height of +fifty feet or more. They had already seen this boulder from the +water. + +"That fellow ran into the open, but he didn't have time to cross +it," announced Dick in a tone of conviction, as the pair halted +at the foot of the boulder. "He could have gone up this side; +there are crevices enough for foothold. But in that case we'd +have seen him." + +Dave stood plucking absent-mindedly at the leaves of a bush in +a clump that grew at the foot of the boulder. Suddenly Dick glanced +down, noting that his feet were on boggy ground, though the surrounding +soil was firm enough. + +"Is there a spring running out of the solid rock?" wondered Dick, +reaching out and pulling one of the bushes forward. + +Then he gave a sudden shout of discovery: + +"Look here, Dave! We're on the track of it! These bushes conceal +the mouth of a cave! This is where our fugitive has gone!" + + + + +CHAPTER XIII + +PERHAPS TEN THOUSAND YEARS OLD + + +"By Jove!" gasped Dave, also bending back a bush and glaring down, +his eyes wide open with interest. + +"That's where our man went," Dick whispered. + +"Not a doubt of it," Dave assented. "We'll signal the other fellows, +and then get him at our leisure." + +"Unless there are other openings to this cave," Dick hinted. + +"That's so! The fellow may be a quarter of a mile away from here +already," Darrin quivered. "Let's not lose any time. I'll go +in there first." + +Dave was on his knees, quivering with eagerness, dominated by +purpose, when Dick grabbed him, hauling him back. + +"Let me alone," growled Dave. "Don't interfere with me!" + +"But you don't know what you might run into in there, Darry," +Prescott insisted firmly. "For one thing, you have no idea how +many villains may have their secret home in there." + +"Then, what are you going to do?" Darry demanded, looking up. + +"I'm going to watch, right here, while you go forward and find +Tom and Dan. Bring them here, and then we'll decide what ought +to be done." + +"That's rather slow," hot-headed Darry objected. + +"It is, and a heap safer," Dick contended. "Hot-foot it after +Tom and Dan. I'll stay right here and see to it that the mouth +of the cave doesn't run away. Start---at once, Darry, please! +Don't let us waste time." + +Knowing how stubborn Dick could be when he knew that he was wholly +right, Dave lost no time in argument. He sprinted away, and presently +Dick heard faint echoes of Darry's signaling, "hoo-hoo!" + +A few minutes later the trio came up at a dog trot. + +Not one of them spoke, as all had lost their breath in their haste. +Tom, now in the lead, dashed up to where Dick stood on guard +a few yards away from the bushes. + +"Over there," nodded Dick, pointing to the bushes. + +Tom and Dan pulled the bushes aside curiously. + +"If we're going into that cave we may as well cut the bushes down," +murmured Reade, producing a pocket knife. "Any objections, Chief?" + +"No," smiled Dick, "and I'm not the Big Chief, either. Cut the +bushes down, if you want. Move over, and I'll give you some help." + +Within a short time the bushes had been cut down close to the +ground, revealing an irregular shaped opening in the cave. This +aperture was about three feet high and some five feet in width. + +"Did you bring that pocket flash lamp, Tom?" asked Dick suddenly. + +"Thank goodness, I did," replied Reade, producing the lamp. + +Dick took it and crawled a few feet into the hole. + +"There's water all along on the floor here," he called, "but just +a dribble. Come in here and you'll find that you can stand up." + +It needed no urging to induce the other boys to follow. Then +they stood up, in almost complete darkness, save when the flashlight +showed them their surroundings. + +Some parts of the cave rose to a height of perhaps sixteen feet. +Twelve feet was about the average height. From what the boys +could see as they moved along, the cave extended for some sixty +feet. + +"I don't believe there's anyone in here except ourselves," muttered +Darry in disgust, peering all around him. "In that case, we are +wasting our time in this cave. Phew! How cold it is in here!" + +"And well it might be," laughed Dick. "Do you see that mass just +ahead of us?" + +"What is it?" asked Dan. "Flash the light on it." + +"Come over and look at it," Dick went on. "No one could live +in this cold place. It is chilling me to the bone, just to stand +here. And now you see why that little trickle of water keeps +moving out through the mouth of the cave. Fellows, we're in one +of nature's icehouses." + +"But we're not after ice," Dave protested. + +"We won't turn down ice in the wilderness, when we can find it +in July," Dick rejoined. + +"Not much!" answered practical Tom Reade. "Why, fellows, ice is +just what we need at the camp. Let's get a closer look at it +and make plans for an ice-box over at the camp." + +"But I want to follow that man of mystery," protested Dave. + +"Go ahead, David, little giant," Dick laughed. "We won't stop +you. But we've lost our man of mystery, anyway, and this cave +contains something that we really do want. Tom, you're the +mathematician of the party. How much ice is there here?" + +"If I could see better I could tell you better," sniffed Reade. +"Hundreds of tons of it, anyway." + +"How did the stuff get here?" asked Dan wonderingly. + +Dick was now at the edge of the ice pile, and flashed the light +at the roof of the cavern. + +"See the rifts in the rock up there?" he asked. "Water must have +leaked in here during the heavy winter rains. It was cold water, +too. Then, in extra cold spells, such as this country experiences, +the water must have frozen. As heat doesn't get in here in warm +weather the ice may have been here for generations. Fellows, +we may be looking upon ice that was here when George Washington +was a boy." + +"I've read, somewhere," declared Tom soberly, "that icebergs that +float down from the polar regions in spring often represent ice +that is at least ten thousand years old. Fellows, some of this +very ice may have been here in this cave long, long before Julius +Caesar went into the soldiering business!" + +That thought had somewhat of an awesome effect upon Dick & Co. +The four high school boys felt as though they were in the presence +of great antiquity. + +"But the practical side of it," declared Tom, "is that we must +devise the best way of cutting some of this ice and getting it +across the lake to the camp." + +"Oh, you can break off enough for making ice water," replied Dave +Darrin impatiently, "and take it over in the canoe, though the +spring water is cold enough for anybody." + +"All of Dave's thoughts are still on the man of mystery," Dick +declared, with a chuckle. + +"It's much more interesting than standing here figuring on how +to get ice that we don't need," retorted Darry. + +"Now, as to moving this stuff to the camp," Tom went on, "it seems +to me-----" + +"Of course," laughed Dick. "It has already struck you that we +can fell a few small trees and build a raft on which we can tow +a few hundred pounds of ice at a time." + +"Oh, pshaw!" fidgeted Dave. "I am anxious to find the man of +mystery." + +"That isn't anything practical," scoffed Tom Reade, "while in +hot weather a good supply of ice is eminently practical." + +"You'll think there's a practical side to the man of mystery and +his cronies when to-night comes, and there's so much noise about +the camp that we miss another night's rest," hinted Darry sagely. + +"Humph!" was Tom's greeting to that assertion. "I don't know +but you're right." + +"Well, we know where the ice is," remarked Dick. "We can get +it at our convenience. Darry, we'll follow you in pursuit of +your man of mystery. Come out of here, fellows." + +Dick led the way out of the cave, flashing the light as he walked. +All four blinked when they found themselves out in the sunlight. + +"Now, which way are we going, David, little giant?" demanded Tom +good-humoredly. + +Now that he was put to it, Dave had to confess that he didn't +know. + +"Let's make a swift, thorough search all around here, and see +if we can find any footprints not made by ourselves," Dave suggested +rather weakly, at last. + +This was done, and faithfully, for, now that they were out in +the sunlight again, the interest in the mystery began to return. +It grew stronger as they searched. At last, however, after more +than an hour of fruitless effort that offered not an atom of promise, +even Darry was willing to give it up for the time, at any rate. + +"Let's keep on walking along the slope, then," Dick suggested, +"until we come in sight of the canoe." + +As they walked along they came to a brook that, at this point, +was nearly the width of a creek. The water ran noisily down over +the stones, save here and there where there were deep pools. + +"It's narrow enough, at one point below here, to jump over," Dave +volunteered. + +"Thank you," replied Dick, "but just at present I'm not for jumping +over this brook." + +"Well, then, what on earth does interest you?" Dan asked. "This +isn't the first time you've seen this stream. You passed it +down by the lake, though down there it runs more smoothly." + +"I know," Dick nodded. "I remember the fallen tree we used for +a bridge, and I'm simply ashamed of myself that I didn't think +more about this stream at the time---but my head was then too +full of the lake mystery and the chap with the haunting face. +But now-----" + +"Well?" demanded Tom impatiently. + +"Reade, old fellow," Dick answered solemnly, turning back from +peering at one of the quiet pools in the creek, "you're a wonder +at black bass fishing, no doubt. My tastes ran to another form +of sport. Mr. Morton taught me trout fishing; he lent me his +tackle before we started, and I have it over at the camp now. +Fellows, I believe, from the looks of things, that this stream +is well stocked with trout. At all events, I mean to have a try +at it." + +"To-morrow?" asked Dave. + +"No, siree! This afternoon----just as soon as possible! A little +while ago we were talking about ferrying ice over to the camp. +Instead, we'll ferry the camp over here, and keep the cave just +as it is for our ice-house. Do you fellows know that brook trout +make the most delicious eating to be had when the cook knows his +business? I do, for Mr. Morton has cooked trout for me in the +woods. Besides, brook trout are growing scarce these days. If +we can make a good haul, we can get a pretty big price per pound +for them! We have ice, now, and we could carry a lot of trout +to market on our push cart, on top of enough ice to keep them. +Come on! Back to camp! We'll shift it to this side of the lake +at once. This crowd can't do better than to work out this trout +stream. I know the trout are there! I can smell 'em! Tom, I've +got an important job for you!" + + + + +CHAPTER XIX + +MORE MYSTERY IN THE AIR + + +It was nearly dark, after an afternoon of hard work for five members +of the party, and an afternoon of wonderful sport for Dick Prescott. + +A crude raft had been built. That part of the work had been easy, +and it was swiftly performed. But three trips with the small +raft had been needed to bring over the tent, the supplies, the +push cart and everything belonging to the old camp. + +Now the new camp stood pitched at a short distance from the cave, +but near to the edge of the lake. The tent had been put up in +a natural clearing, behind a line of timber, so that the canvas +was not visible from the other side of the lake. + +At trout fishing Dick had proved himself more than an expert. + +Now that darkness was coming, Dick was bending over a low fire, +watching a frying pan in which four speckled beauties, well dipped +in batter, were sizzling merrily. + +"This is the finest food I've ever had," declared Greg Holmes, +swallowing another mouthful of trout and leaning back with a contented +sigh. + +"It certainly is great," agreed Dave Darrin. "Fellows, I've wasted +some of my life in the past, for I never before knew the taste +of brook trout." + +"I tried 'em once," said Reade, "but they didn't taste as fine +as these. With trout, I've heard, a tremendous lot depends upon +the way they're cooked." + +"Of course the cooking has a lot to do with bringing out the full +flavor," Dick admitted modestly. "But, Tom, perhaps you hadn't +done any hard work before eating trout that time. Exercise brings +hunger, and hunger is the best sauce that food can have---as we +all ought to know." + +"Exercise?" repeated Tom, with a laugh. "Yes; I've had that this +afternoon, all right. You had me guessing when you told me you +had such an important job for me. I didn't know, then, that you +wanted me to boss the raft building and transporting the camp +over here. It was exercise, all right. We ought to have taken +an entire day to it." + +Dick rose with the frying pan, dropping hot trout on four plates +in turn, omitting only Holmes. + +"You shall have a trout out of the next serving, Greg," Dick promised. + +"I'm not worrying about myself," Greg returned. "But are you +going to have anything left for yourself, Dick?" + +"I'm not worrying about that, either," laughed Prescott. "It +was mighty nice of you fellows to do all the work this afternoon, +and leave me to enjoy myself all the time at sport. So the trout +belong to you fellows." + +"I don't suppose you worked at all, Dick," said Tom quizzically. +"Of course whipping up and down a stream in rubber boots, over +stones and all sorts of obstacles, isn't anything like work." + +"It would be pretty hard work for a fellow who didn't like trout +fishing, I suppose," Dick answered. "But, to me, it was only +so much glorious sport. Here's your trout, Greg. Who else wants +some more?" + +"Don't ask foolish questions," chuckled Danny Grin. + +But at last the five boys had to admit that they had eaten their +fill out of the splendid result of Dick's afternoon of sport. +There were still several trout left, all cleaned and ready to +be dipped in the batter. + +"Now, you sit down at the table, and let us wait on you," urged +Greg, going over to Dick. + +Dave took hold of one of young Holmes' suspender straps, pulling +him back. + +"You simpleton," expostulated Darry, "are you going to spoil Dick's +reward by letting a chump cook attend to the trout? Dick wants +to cook his trout for himself, but we'll do everything else. +I'll appoint myself to make the coffee for all hands." + +Dick soon had a pan full of trout ready for his own plate. As +he seated himself at the table he was fully conscious of how tired +and sore he was from the afternoon of whipping up and down stream +after these handsome, speckled fish, but he was careful not to +admit his fatigue to the others, who, also, were very tired. + +Dick had to fry a second pan of trout, eating the last one of +the lot he had caught, ere he found his appetite satisfied. + +Then, with only the light of a lantern on the table, the boys +sat about sipping their coffee and feeling supremely contented +with their day of effort and its results. + +"There are not so many mosquitoes over here," Tom announced. + +"They haven't found us out yet," chuckled Danny Grin. "They will +do so, later." + +"I'm ready for bed any time the word comes," confessed Harry Hazelton. + +"But, see here, fellows," suggested Dave soberly, "we're now right +in the enemy's country. That is to say, we're on the same side +of the lake with the man of mystery and his companions, if he +has any. I don't doubt that resentful eyes have watched the erecting +of this camp on its present site." + +"Sorry to have hurt anyone's feelings," yawned Tom. "Still, I +guess we've as much right here as anyone else." + +"But the point is this," Dave went on. "Last night some persons +must have crossed the lake in order to annoy us. To-night we're +on the same side of the lake with them. We'll be much more accessible +to the people who object so strenuously to our presence." + +"Where did these unknown people find a boat for crossing the lake?" +queried Reade. "We couldn't find one anywhere until the canoe +was left at our camp." + +"Anyone might have a boat or canoe here, and keep it hidden easily +enough when not in use," Dave asserted. "Just as we---have brought +our canoe up here and hidden it in the tent, for instance. Now, +we'll all have to admit that we're extremely likely to have unwelcome +visitors here to-night? Are we going to keep a guard?" + +"It might not be a bad idea to keep someone on watch through the +night," Dick suggested. + +"I'll stand the first watch trick," proposed Dave. "It need be +only an hour long. I'll drink some more coffee, and then walk +a while, so as to be sure to keep awake." + +"I'll take the second trick," nodded Dick. + +The schedule for watch tricks was quickly made up. Then all but +Dave hastily sought their cots. Darkness was not an hour old +when Dave was the only member of the camp awake. Had the high +school boys been less healthy and sturdy their hearty suppers +might have summoned the nightmare, but they slept on soundly. + +Dick, however, stretched, gaped, then sprang up when Darry called +him. Some of the others, when their turns came, did not respond +as readily, and had to be dragged from their cots and stood upright +before they were thoroughly awake. + +It was shortly after one o'clock in the morning when Tom Reade, +then on watch, stepped lightly into the tent, passing through +the round of the cots, shaking each sleeper in turn. + +"Those of you who want to listen to something interesting, get +up instantly!" Tom exclaimed in a low voice. + +Three boys drowsily rolled over, going immediately back into sound +slumber. Dick and Dave, however, got up, pulling on their shoes. + +"What's all that racket across the lake?" was Dick's prompt question +as he stood in the doorway of the tent. + +"That comes from the former camp site," chuckled Tom. + +"Guns!" cried Dave Darrin in amazement. + +"It sounds like a big fusillade," Dick cried, as he stepped out +into the night. + +"But surely no one can be trying to attack our camp, thinking +we are still there," Tom protested. "We don't know any people +who are wicked enough to plan an attack upon our camp." + +"No," Dick agreed. "But this much is sure. There are those who +dislike us enough to try to spoil our rest night after night." + +Dave began to laugh merrily. + +"I half believe it's Dodge and Bayliss," he remarked quietly. + +"I don't," Reade objected. "Both of them are too lazy to motor +up into the wilderness each night, over such rough roads, all +the way from Gridley. No, no! It's someone else, though who +it is I can't imagine. If it were the man of the lake mystery, +or any of his people, they'd be likely to know that we're on this +side of the lake." + +From the edge of the timber line near by came the sound of a crackling +twig, followed by a groan as of a soul in torment. + +Wheeling like a flash, Tom Reade produced the pocket flash lamp. + +Staring toward the boys, his face outlined between the close-growing +trunks of two spruce trees, were the startling features of a man. + +"That's he---the Man of the Haunting Face!" came from Tom Reade +in a hoarse whisper. + +"Then we'll get him!" cried Dick Prescott, leaping forward. "Hold +the light on him!" + + + + +CHAPTER XV + +THE SCREAM THAT STARTED A RACE + + +Yet even as the three boys dashed toward the two spruce trees +the light went out. + +Tom pressed frantically on the spring of the lamp as he ran, but +the lamp gave forth a flickering gleam that was little better +than no light at all. + +The long use of the lamp in the cave had weakened the storage +battery. + +"Give us the light!" called Dave, as they reached the tree. + +"Can't! The battery's on a strike," answered Reade grimly. + +Dick Prescott, who was ahead of his companions, now halted, whispering +to the others to do the same. + +The man they sought had vanished. No betraying sounds came to +indicate where he had gone. + +"Dave and I'll stay here," whispered Dick. "Tom, run back for +a lantern. Hustle!" + +Fifteen minutes of eager searching, after the lantern was brought, +failed to give any clue to the whereabouts of the man whom they +sought. + +"This is more ghostly than human," laughed young Prescott. + +They felt compelled to give up the search. As they returned to +the camp the firing on the opposite side of the lake broke out +anew. At the distance, however, it was not loud enough to disturb +the other three, who still slept in the tent. Dick flashed the +lantern inside to make sure that the sleepers were safe. + +At intervals the racket across the lake broke out anew. + +"It's my turn to go on watch again," said Darry, glancing at his +watch by the light of the lantern. "You two might as well turn +in." + +"We'll dress and bring our cots out into the open," Dick proposed. +"You might as well have us, Dave, where you can get us instantly, +and ready for action, by just touching us on the shoulder." + +But the night passed, without any further disturbances than the +occasional distant firing, and the rousing, every hour, of a new +watchman for the camp. + +It was past seven in the morning when Dick finally turned out, +to find Greg and Harry busy preparing breakfast, while Darrin +still slumbered. + +"Where are Tom and Dan?" Prescott asked. + +"Look through the trees, and presently you'll discover them out +in the canoe," answered Greg. "Tom simply couldn't wait any longer +to go out after bass." + +"I'm going trout fishing, if I can do it without shirking," said +Dick, as he rose and stretched. + +"And if no one kicks I'm going with you," added Darrin, opening +his eyes. "How about it, Greg? Are you and Harry willing to +do the camp watch this morning?" + +Greg had turned around eagerly, seeing which, Hazelton broke in: + +"Go right along with 'em, Holmesy, if they'll take you. There +won't be much to do in camp after, the dishes are washed." + +"But it's rather a shame to leave you alone," hinted Greg wistfully. +He wanted, with all his heart, to see some of the rare sport +that Dick had described, but he didn't want to be unfair to anyone. + +"I won't be lonesome," protested Hazelton. "We have some good +books along, and I can read one of them." + +"But what if the camp should be molested?" asked Greg. "You know, +there is at least the Man with the Haunting Face, and there may +be others." + +"Whoever tries to molest this camp will be molested in his turn, +I promise you," laughed Harry. "I'm no weakling, so run right +along, Holmesy. Even if serious trouble should arise, I have +this, you know." + +He produced a long-barreled fish horn that he had used in celebrating +the night before the Fourth of July. + +"Two or three loud blasts on this bugle would carry a long way, +and you fellows would know what I wanted," finished Hazelton. + +"All right, then, I'll go," said Greg, his face beaming. + +"We've trout flies in plenty, you know," Dick went on, "but we've +only two poles that are suited to trouting, so we'll have to take +turns." + +"You may keep one pole all the time. Dick," suggested Darry. +"Greg and I can take turns with the other pole." + +"That will hardly be fair to you two," replied Dick, with a shake +of his head. + +"It wouldn't be fair to the whole crowd to take your pole away +from you any part of the time," retorted Greg. "Remember, Dick, +you are the expert trout fisherman of the party, and all the fellows +want some more trout. We'll never forget those of last night." + +Greg and Hazelton now had breakfast ready. It was eaten rather +hastily, after which all hands fell to setting things to rights. + +"Here, come out of the tent," called Hazelton, as Dick started +inside to use a broom there. "You fellows are the providers, +and I can do the little housework that's left to do." + +So Dick, Dave and Greg brought out their long-legged rubber boots +and got into them with little delay. Then there came a sorting +of flies, and the rigging of lines and reels. Within a few minutes +the three were ready to start out. + +As they went up the stream Dick cut and trimmed two crotched sticks +on which to string the fish they might catch. + +"That looks almost boastful," chuckled Dave. "It looks as though +we thought it a cinch that we're going to get a lot of trout." + +"It all depends on us," Prescott rejoined. "The brook is simply +full of trout, that we can catch if we display the requisite amount +of skill. The mystery to me is that this brook has escaped the +knowledge of the trout fishermen in Gridley. Not even Mr. Morton +ever heard of this stream." + +"Well, Mr. Morton can't be expected to know everything," argued +Greg. "He's already the most capable sub-master in Gridley High +School and the finest coach the Gridley football squad ever had." + +"He's also an A No.1 trout fisherman," Dick went on. "Fellows, +we mustn't tell everyone about this trout stream, but Mr. Morton +is such an all around fine fellow that I think we owe it to him +to tell him, when we see him, just how to reach this brook." + +"If the real estate men of Gridley knew of this place," laughed +Greg, "they'd buy up the ground around here and then sell bungalows +at fancy prices to amateur fishermen of means." + +"And then the brook would soon cease to be a trout stream," retorted +young Prescott. "A large proportion of the trout would be caught +within a few days, and the rest of 'em scared away to safer breeding +grounds. The only way to keep a trout stream in working order +is not to let many people know about it. It sounds selfish, but +it's good sportsmanship." + +Dick soon halted, eyeing a pool so deep that its bottom could +not be seen. + +"This looks like a good place to start in," he announced. "I +believe I'll go a little way up stream, and then whip down past +this pool and below. Now, talk only in whispers, if you can remember, +fellows. Trout are shy creatures. Has either of you ever fished +for trout before?" + +Both Dave and Greg shook their heads. + +"Then I think you had better watch me for a while, and catch some +of the knack of it," their leader advised. "Notice particularly +how I whip. If I get a nibble, then note, particularly, that +I don't make an immediate effort to land the trout. I play the +line out a bit and let him play with the fly, and beat about and +get himself better imbedded on the hook. When I am sure I have +him well hooked, then you'll see the peculiar motion with which +I bring him out of the water and throw him on the ground. That +landing trick is one that you need to get just so. Study it, +and develop it. Don't be disappointed if you lose quite a few +trout. You will lose them often until you get the hang of the +thing." + +Some distance above the pool Dick stepped into the water. He +walked along slowly, not stirring up much dirt from the bottom. +All the time he kept his line behind him, frequently lifting +it and whipping it into the water again. The gayly colored flies +and the glistening spoon just above the hook flashed in the sunlight +every time he made a whipping cast. + +Not twenty feet had Dick gone when he felt a sudden, violent tug. +With the true patience of the trout fisherman, Dick didn't become +at all excited. His hand on the reel, he let the line fly out +as the finny captive darted up stream. + +Presently Dick played the fish in gently, then suddenly gave it +plenty of slack line. These tactics were repeated, while Dave +and Greg almost danced in their eagerness. + +Suddenly Dick flipped his pole sharply. There was a swish of +line in the air. Something speckled and glistening dropped on +the ground at least ten feet from the brook, where it lay floundering +and gasping. + +"Hoo-ray!" yelled Greg, with all his pent-up enthusiasm. + +"Do that again, Holmesy, and I'll chase you back into camp," warned +Dick, with his patient smile. Then he stepped ashore, took the +trout from the line and impaled it on a stick, which he gave Greg +to carry. + +Within two minutes there was another strike. The same patient +tactics, and Dick had another trout---this time a two-pounder +as against about three quarters of a pound for the weight of the +first trout. + +The third trout got away, despite the most careful handling, but +the fourth and fifth biters were soon landed. + +"I can't stand this any longer," quivered Dave. "I've got to +start in. Where do you want me to go, Dick?" + +"Better go about a quarter of a mile upstream," Prescott suggested, +"and then work down this way. Greg can go along with you and +carry the stick for your string. I'll look out for my own string." + +For nearly half an hour Prescott saw nothing of his friends. +Then Dave and Greg came in sight. Dick held up a string now numbering +eleven trout, some of them unusually large. + +For answer Greg held up a crotched stick with not a single trout +dangling therefrom. + +"There's more knack to this game than I can catch," muttered Darry +disconsolately, "but I'd give a good deal to get the knack of it." + +"No man save the first trout fisherman of all ever learned without +a teacher," Dick assured his chum. "Greg, you take a place farther +down the stream, and I'll stay with Dave and try to show him some +of the tricks. You may have my pole and line, Greg, for I shall +be busy watching Dave." + +Many a pull at his line had Darrin, and many a fish was lost ere, +under Prescott's patient instruction, he managed to land a trout +weighing about a pound. + +"Whew!" muttered Dave, mopping his brow. "At this moment I believe +I feel prouder than any general who ever captured a city." + +"You'll soon have the hang of it, now, Dave," was his chum's encouraging +assurance. "Now, I'm going to hunt up Holmesy, and see if I can +show him some of the knack." + +Greg proved a grateful though not very clever pupil. He was all +enthusiasm, but the art of landing a trout appeared to him to +be one of the most difficult feats in the world. + +"I don't believe I'll ever land enough to fill a frying pan," +he said dejectedly. "Dick, the fellows are depending upon you. +Take this pole and use it for the next hour." + +Later in the forenoon Greg had one small trout on a stick he had +cut and trimmed for himself. Dave Darrin looked almost triumphant +as he displayed three of the speckled ones. Both stared in envy +at Dick's string of thirty-four trout. + +"Of course it'll take a few days of patient study of the game +to enable you to make big catches," was Dick's consoling assurance. + +"I'd put in all summer, if I were sure I could master the trick +in the end," said Dave. + +Greg said nothing, but felt less resolute about it than Darrin +did. + +"Why, it's only fifteen minutes before noon," cried Dave, glancing +at his watch. + +"Then it's high time to be going back," nodded Dick, "in case +the fellows are depending upon us for their meal. If Tom has +a lot of bass, though, we can store these trout in our new ice +box---the cave." + +"And let the Man with the Haunting Face slip in there, after dark, +and help himself!" grumbled Darry. "Somehow that idea doesn't +make any hit with me." + +"Then we'll have to put in the afternoon," proposed Prescott, +"in building a log-lined pit in the ground and moving ice from +the cave to fill it. Then we can keep our fish supplies right +up under our noses in front of the tent." + +"That's a little more satisfactory in the way of an idea," nodded +Darry. + +For the purpose of taking a short cut they soon left the brook, +going through a stretch of woods on their way to camp. + +Hardly had these high school boys entered the woods when they +halted, for an instant, in intense consternation. + +On the air there came to them a sudden scream. + +"That was a girl's voice!" gasped Greg. + +"Or a woman's," nodded Dick. "We've got to-----" + +Again a piercing scream, then more screams in two voices. + +"Hustle!" finished Dick, as the three boys broke into a run in +the direction whence the sound of the voices came to them. + + + + +CHAPTER XVI + +THE CAMP INVADED AND CAPTURED + + +Clad in their long fishing boots, none of the boys made anything +like his usual speed in running. + +Grumbling inwardly at their clumsy gait, all three hurried as +fast as they could into the near-by stretch of forest. + +There, in a path, they came upon a middle-aged woman accompanied +by four girls, all of whom showed signs of unusual alarm. + +"Oh, Dave," called Belle Meade, "I'm so glad to see you!" + +"You usually are," laughed Darrin, "but I never knew you to make +so much noise about it before." + +"What's the trouble?" Dick inquired, after a hasty greeting to +Mrs. Bentley, Laura Bentley, Belle Meade, Fannie Upham and Margery +White, the latter four all Gridley High School girls. + +"A man---he must have been crazy!" replied Laura. Her voice shook +slightly, and she was still trembling, though the color was beginning +to return to her face. + +"Did he offer to molest you?" flared Dick. + +"No, indeed!" replied Mrs. Bentley promptly and laughing nervously. +"In fact, I think we must have frightened the man, for his desire +seemed to be to get away from us as fast as he could." + +"But that face!" cried Miss Fanny. "I never want to see it again." + +"It must have been our Man of the Haunting Face," murmured Dick, +turning to his chums. + +"That was he---just who it was!" declared Belle, with emphasis. +"I don't know whom you're talking about, but 'haunting face' +just describes the man who frightened us." + +"It was so silly of us!" murmured Laura Bentley. "It was clear +nonsense for us to be so frightened, but when, we saw that face +peering at us from behind a tree we simply couldn't help screaming." + +"Are you alone?" demanded Prescott in some astonishment, for these +were carefully brought-up girls, and it was not like their parents +to let them go into the woods without other guard than that of +a chaperon. + +At that instant Dick's question was answered by the appearance +of Dr. Bentley, who, on account of his weight, panted somewhat +as he ran. + +"Did---these---young men frighten---you so badly---that you---made +such a commotion---and caused me nearly to breathe---my last in +running to---your aid?" demanded the good doctor gaspingly, his +eyes twinkling. + +"No, sir; we came, like yourself, when we heard the girls scream," +Dick Prescott explained. + +Then, amid much talking, and with as many as three people speaking +at once, the story was quickly recounted for Dr. Bentley. + +"We've seen the fellow before," Dick explained, "but he always +fakes alarm and vanishes. We call him our man of mystery---the +Man with the Haunting Face." + +"Some poor, simple-minded fellow," suggested Dr. Bentley. "Probably +one whose mild mania leads him to prefer to live in the woods, +a regular hermit. My dears, I'm surprised that any of you should +be so easily startled and make such noisy testimony to your alarm." + +"I'm indignant with myself now---when there are men standing by," +laughed Belle. "But I wish you had seen that man's strange face, +Doctor." + +"I would like to see it, and punch it, too!" muttered Dave. + +"Not a bit of it!" objected Dr. Bentley heartily. "No doubt the +poor fellow is sadly afflicted mentally. He's what the Arabs +call a 'simple,' and the Arabs have a beautiful faith that all +'simples' are under the direct protection of Allah. So, woe to +him who offends one of Allah's 'simples.'" + +"How do you boys come to be here?" asked Laura. + +"I might ask the same question of your party," smiled Dick. "As +for us, we are away on a vacation fishing and camping trip." + +"I knew you were going away," said Dr. Bentley, "but I didn't +know just where. We are touring again, in my seven-passenger +car. We are headed for the St. Clair Lake House, eight miles +below here. But the roads are so bad that the chauffeur said +it would take us more than an hour to get through. So I proposed +to Mrs. Bentley and the girls that we leave the car at the road +and cross over here to have our luncheon on the shore of this +second lake. I have been here before, and remember it as a beautiful +spot. Mrs. Bentley and the girls started on ahead, and I brought +up the rear with the baskets of food. But they got further ahead +of me than I thought. Now I must go back after the baskets, which +I set down before I started to run here. Greg, will you go back +with me and help me bring the baskets?" + +Greg at once accompanied the physician. When they came to the +spot, however, they found but one basket, and that nearly empty. +The second basket had disappeared altogether. + +"Fine!" grunted Dr. Bentley. "Greg, our committee of two must +go back and report the disquieting news." + +"Not so very disquieting, sir," smiled young Holmes. "We have +a camp full of food to offer you." + +That invitation Dick and Dave very quickly seconded when the doctor +rejoined the party. + +"Especially if you can eat trout, sir," Dick went on. + +"Don't! Don't be cruel!" remonstrated Dr. Bentley. "I used to +eat trout when I was a boy, but they are now an extinct fish." + +"Are they, sir?" inquired Dick, unwrapping a paper from around +part of the morning's heavy catch, while Dave exhibited the contents +of a similar bundle. + +Dr. Bentley rubbed his eyes. + +"Bless me, these are a fine imitation of brook trout as I recall +them," he murmured. + +"What did you mean by saying that trout were an extinct fish?" +asked Laura. + +"They're extinct for all but the wealthy," replied the physician. +"Brook trout, in these days, generally cost all of a dollar and +a half a pound, and I've heard of as high as two dollars a pound +being paid for them." + +"There are plenty hereabouts, just now," Dick replied. "But we +may take them all out of the water before we move from here." + +"Of course," nodded Laura's father. "That's what trout are for. +They won't do anyone any good as long as they remain in the water." + +"Let's hurry back, please," urged Dick. "I am anxious to see +your luncheon under way." + +"Yes," teased Belle, "the sooner you have satisfied our appetites +the sooner you may expect to see us gone and be able to enjoy +yourselves and your comfortable solitude once more." + +"Now, just for saying that, Belle," uttered Dick reproachfully, +"I'm going to consider the revenge of burning two of your trout +in the pan." + +"Mercy!" cried Belle Meade. "Are you going to cook the trout?" + +"After you've eaten a trout cooked and served up by Dick Prescott," +Dave declared, "you won't want them cooked by anyone else. Dick +is the one trout chef in this part of the country." + +"Where did he learn?" teased Belle with a pretense of suspicion. + +"Mr. Morton---Coach Morton, of our high school eleven---taught +Dick how to do it," Dave explained. + +"Right here, young ladies---attention!" called Dr. Bentley, holding +up a warning finger. "If brook trout are as fine eating as they +used to be when I was a boy, then you simply won't be able to +keep it a secret that you've eaten some recently. Yet on one +point I must insist. None of you must be dishonorable enough +to name any spot within fifty miles of here as the scene of your +trout luncheon. If you let the secret out all the trout fishermen +in four counties will be swarming here to destroy all the fun +your young men friends are having. So, please remember! Utter, +dark, uncompromising secrecy!" + +"Is it as bad as that?" asked Belle. + +"Every real trout fisherman knows enough to keep his own secrets +as to the streams that contain trout," Dave nodded. + +By this time they came within sight of the camp. Nor was it long +before Tom, Dan and Harry caught sight of the visitors and ran +forward to meet them. + +"Our friends have come just in time to have a trout feast," Dick +announced. + +"I shall be jealous if they eat the trout," Tom retorted. + +"Or envious?" laughed Belle. + +"No; jealous," Tom assured her. "Dan and I have been fishing, +too. Come and see what we caught." + +Tom led the way to where he had cleaned more than a dozen black +bass, while in buckets of water lay nearly thirty more fine, +sleek-looking fish. + +"Didn't you catch anything but bass?" Dave asked. + +"A few other fish," Tom admitted, "but we threw the inferior fish +back into the water. Now, girls, which are you going to have---trout +or bass?" + +"Both---if we may," ventured Laura, with a smile. + +And both were served at the meal. Motherly Mrs. Bentley laid +aside her motoring dust coat and marshaled the girls for the various +tasks to which she assigned them. + +What a hubbub there was in preparing the feast! + +Dick built two small fires for his own exclusive use. Tom built +two more, while Dan and Greg skirmished for more wood. Dr. Bentley, +his coat off and shirt sleeves rolled up, constructed a "warm +oven" with stones topped by a large baking tin. Then he built +another. + +Dick fried the trout, while Dr. Bentley started low fires under +the two crude warming ovens. As fast as trout were fried they +were dropped into one oven, Tom's bass being dropped into the +other. Potatoes were boiling in one pot, tinned peas in another, +and tinned string beans in still another. Tinned pudding was +set in another pot of water to heat, while Mrs. Bentley made a +sauce, and the girls set the table and made the other necessary +preparations for the luncheon. + +Presently the meal was ready, though the boys did not seat themselves +until they had seen their welcome guests served. + +"Daddy," murmured Laura, "I don't blame you for regretting your +boyhood, if you had many trout feasts." + +"How's the bass?" asked Tom, almost jealously. + +"Just splendid," replied Laura, sampling her first fork full. + +"You boys are camping in a fisherman's paradise," declared Dr. +Bentley. "I don't blame you for liking this life. When I was +a boy fresh water fish were almost as plentiful as salt water +fish. Now, we rarely find any fresh water fish in the markets. +I can't understand how this choice retreat for fishermen has +escaped notice, unless it is because of the almost total lack +of inhabitants in this section, and the miserable apologies for +roads. Once again I must caution all of you young women not to +be indiscreet and spoil this fisherman's paradise for your young +friends by talking about it to anyone." + +All four of the girls promised absolute secrecy. + +After they had all satisfied their hunger, Dick asked Dr. Bentley +all about the St. Clair Lake House. He learned that it was a +fine, modern hotel, accommodating about one hundred and fifty +guests. It was just on the edge of the good roads, Dr. Bentley +explained; this side of the hotel no roads worthy of the name +existed. Dick was very thoughtful after receiving the information, +for he had something on his mind. + +"How about that chauffeur of yours, doctor?" asked Dave suddenly. + +"Oh, we left him with a comfortable luncheon," replied Dr. Bentley. +"He can't leave the car, you know." + +"Will you take him two or three trout, sir?" urged Dick. + +"And a bass, sir?" added Reade. + +"We'll wait for him to eat them in the car," replied the physician, +"provided the poor fellow hasn't gorged himself on plainer food +and has no room left for real fare like this." + +When the time came that the guests must really leave, five of +the boys accompanied the party to the road. Hazelton remained +to watch the camp. + +"Now, let's hustle!" urged Dick, as the car rolled out of sight. +"When we get back to camp we have many long hours of work to do." + +"Work of what kind?" inquired Tom. + +"First of all," replied Prescott, with his most mysterious air, +"we are going to build, close to camp, a make-believe ice-box. +Then we're going to fill the box with ice." + +"And what will all that be for?" Dave wanted to know. + +"If you can't guess now," smiled young Prescott, his eyes gleaming, +"you'll soon begin to see daylight through my plan! I don't know---but +I believe that the plan I have in mind is going to work out in +great shape!" + + + + +CHAPTER XVII + +DICK MAKES FISH TALK + + +"That's the longest eight miles I've ever done," muttered Hazelton. + +"The map is wrong. It's a hundred and eight," affirmed Dave. + +"No matter, if the trip turns out to have been wisely planned," +remarked Dick, a wistful look coming into his eyes. "Of course, +I may have overshot the mark." + +"That's a chance we had to take," declared Dave promptly. "We +won't be disappointed if we find that we haven't made such a big +move, after all." + +The three high school boys had halted in the shade of some trees +by the highway. A quarter of a mile away, around the head of +the body of water known as the third lake, stood a handsome hotel, +the St. Clair Lake House. + +It was now nearly nine o'clock in the morning. Dick and his two +comrades had been on the way, over the rough road, propelling +the heavily laden push cart, from which water now dripped from +melting ice. The boys had built their ice-house, or ice-box, +whichever one preferred to call it, and they had stocked it with +ice from the cave. Dick, Dave and Greg had whipped up and down +the stream in turn; Tom and Dan had trolled the lake for bass. +As fast as the fish were brought in they were stored on the ice. +After two days of hard fishing the boys arose before four o'clock +in the morning, for Dick was now ready to test his venture. + +"Stay close by that box, Harry," warned Dick, as he took hold +of the handles of the push cart. + +"Won't I, though?" Hazelton demanded. + +Dick and Dave trudged onward, taking brief turns at the cart. +Thus they entered the hotel grounds at the rear, continuing until +they were close up to the rear porch. Then Dick ascended the +steps and knocked at the door. As no one answered, he stepped +into the corridor. + +"What do you want here?" asked a well-dressed, portly man of fifty, +who stepped out of a nearby room. + +"I would like to see the manager, or steward, sir," Prescott replied. + +"We don't want any help," replied the man. + +"I haven't any help to offer, sir," Dick smiled. "Can I see the +steward, or the manager?" + +"I'm the proprietor, if that will do," answered the man, giving +Dick a sharp look. He saw that his youthful visitor was evidently +a well-bred boy, but that did not prove that Dick was not looking +for work. College boys often serve as bell-boys or waiters at +summer hotels. + +"If you will step outside then, a moment, sir," Prescott continued, +"I think I can show you the nicest lot of black bass you ever saw." + +"A string of bass, eh?" + +"No, sir; quite a load." + +"I'll look at them," said the proprietor briefly. + +When he saw the quantity of bass, and noted the plumpness of the +fish, the proprietor was more interested. It is always a problem, +with a summer hotel, to serve enough novel food. But the proprietor +offered less than half the price Dick named. The high school +boy, however, stuck to his price. + +"I can't deal with you, then," said the owner, with a shake of +the head, starting to reenter the hotel. + +"The Kelway House is about a mile and a half below here, isn't +it, sir?" asked Prescott, preparing to push the cart along. + +"Yes; but they won't buy fish at that price." + +"I'll try them, anyway, sir. Thank you for the trouble you've +taken for me. Good morning, sir." + +"Hold on, there," interrupted the hotel proprietor. "Perhaps +I can offer you a little more." + +In his own mind the hotel man was determined that the rival Kelway +House should not have the chance to serve these bass. + +More haggling followed, but Dick stuck to his price. In the end +he got it. Scales were brought and the fish weighed. The total +came to eighteen dollars and thirty-three cents. + +"I suppose an even eighteen dollars will satisfy you?" asked the +hotel man. + +"Yes, sir," admitted the greatly delighted Prescott. + +While the money was being counted over, Dave slipped away with +the push cart. + +"In about ten minutes, sir," said Dick, after he had pocketed +the money and had thanked the hotel man, "I'll have something +else to show you." + +"What?" asked the man, eyeing Dick keenly. + +"Now, if you don't mind, sir," coaxed Dick, with a smile, "I'd +rather not destroy, in advance, the keen delight you're going +to feel when you see the next cartload." + +"How many of these cartloads have you lying around?" asked the +proprietor quickly. + +"The next one will be also the last, sir. May I call you out +when my friends get here with it?" + +"I---I guess so," assented the hotel man, and then went inside. +Dick found a seat on a nearby bench and waited. + +Dave and Harry presently came along with the cart. Dick once +more went after his prospective purchaser. + +"What have you now---more bass?" asked the hotel man, eyeing the +heavy box on the cart. Water was dripping from the ice and running +to the ground. + +"No, sir; just look!" begged Prescott, lifting some jute bagging +from the top of the box, then digging down through the top layer +of cracked ice. + +"Brook trout?" cried the hotel man. "Where on earth did you get +them?" + +"We have a factory where we turn 'em out nights, sir," volunteered +Dave, with a grin. + +"What do you want for them---same price as for the bass?" demanded +the proprietor. + +"We could hardly afford to do that, you know," Prescott replied. +"Down in a town like Gridley these brook trout ought to retail +for a dollar and a half a pound. We'll offer them to you, sir, +at sixty cents a pound---flat." + +"Take 'em away!" ordered the hotel man, with an air of finality. +This time it was plain that he did not propose to purchase. + +"You won't be sorry after we're gone, will you?" asked Dick politely. + +"I can't afford to put sixty-cents-a-pound fish on my bill of +fare," said the hotel man. + +At this moment two well-dressed, prosperous-looking, middle-aged +men came strolling around the corner of the building. As Dick +was about to cover his fish one of them caught sight of the speckled +beauties, and stopped short. + +"Hello! Aren't these fine, Johnson?" the man demanded of the +proprietor. "Going to buy these trout for the hotel?" + +"I can't afford to put such costly fish on the bill of fare," +replied Johnson candidly. + +"Man, you don't have to," replied the other. "Send these trout +to the grill-room ice-box. Let guests who want brook trout order +them as extras. Why, I'll eat a few of these myself, if you serve +'em." + +"Certainly," nodded the other man. + +Proprietor Johnson had caught a new idea from the suggestion of +serving the trout as an "extra" in the grill-room of the hotel. +All of a sudden he began to scent a profit. + +"All right, young man," smiled Mr. Johnson. "Begin to unload. +I'll have the scales brought out again." + +The weight proved to be a little over one hundred pounds. Dick +accepted an even sixty dollars, while Harry Hazelton nearly strangled +himself in his efforts to keep from cheering lustily. + +This money, too, was counted out. + +"Are you going to bring any more fish this way?" asked Mr. Johnson. + +"I can hardly say as to that, sir," Dick hesitated. + +"If you do, I can't agree positively to buy, but I'll be glad, +anyway, if you'll give me the first chance. I will see how these +trout 'go' in the grill-room in the meantime." + +"We'll give you the first call, sir," Dick nodded. "Thank you +very much for this morning's business." + +"That boy is a budding merchant," thought Johnson, staring after +Dick as the three high school boys trundled their cart away. +But in this estimate the hotel man chanced to be wrong. + +"Let's hurry up and get away from the hotel---a long way off," +urged Hazelton. + +"Why?" asked Dave. "It was a fine place---for us." + +"Yes; but I want to yell, with all my might," Darry declared. +"Seventy-eight dollars---think of it!" + +"Nothing to get excited about," Dick declared calmly. + +"When did we ever make so much money in life same time before?" +blurted Hazelton. + +"Never, perhaps," Prescott admitted. "We made money, this time, +because we had something that everyone wants, and the supply of +which isn't large. We would have made far more money if we had +had a cart full of diamonds in the rough." + +"What are you talking about?" demanded Hazelton. "We don't know +where to find diamonds." + +"I didn't say that we did," Dick rejoined. "But we had something +that is rare, and in demand. The rarer a thing is that everyone +wants the better price can be had for it. The bass didn't bring +anywhere near as much money as the trout, just because people +don't call for black bass as much as they will for brook trout." + +They were entering the little village beyond the hotel. They +had to go there in order to mail their letters, for all the boys +had taken advantage of this opportunity to write home. + +"We'll be nervous with this seventy-eight dollars in camp, in +addition to the few other dollars we have," Dave suggested. + +"We won't keep a lot of money in camp," Dick replied. "I'm going +to buy a money order for seventy-five dollars, payable to myself, +and send it to my father to hold for me until we get back. Then +I'll cash the order in Gridley and turn the money into our common +fund." + +"And we'll add to that fund," proposed Hazelton eagerly. + +"If the bass and the trout hold out," supplemented Dick. + +"Say, wouldn't it be mighty nice if only we could get some home +letters here?" asked Hazelton, as the three left the cart at the +curb and turned to enter the post-office. + +"We can look for home letters on our next trip here," Dick suggested. +"On Tom's, Greg's and Dan's letters I'm going to add a note on +the outside of the envelope to the effect that letters may be +sent to this office for us. And I'm going to add a postscript +to my letter to my father and mother. You fellows had better +do the same thing." + +Dick's first move was to get a money order blank and fill out +his application. Then all hands attended to their postscripts. + +This done they went outside. + +"There's a little grove down that street," said Dave, pointing. +"Why not go down there and take a brief nap?" + +"I want a long one," Dick laughed. "Traveling over that road +was harder work than I've ever done on the football field." + +Their nap lasted until a little after noon. + +"Whee! But I'm hungry," grumbled Hazelton. + +"I think we may feel justified in finding a restaurant, and getting +a good meal," assented Dick. + +"I want a steak for mine," proposed Darry. "It seems a year since +we've had one." + +"Great idea!" nodded Dick. "And, while we're about it, we'll +get steaks and some stewing meat the last thing before we leave +town and take it back to the fellows. We've had so much fish +that red meat will hit a tender spot with all the fellows." + +"It will make a big hit with Tom Reade, I know," laughed Hazelton. + +Pushing the cart through the street, the high school boys found +a restaurant that looked as though it would be within reach of +their purses. The boys put their cart in a back yard, then went +in and asked permission to wash up. This being granted, they +soon after took seats at a table in the restaurant. + +It was an odd little place, equipped with several booths, each +containing a table and seats for four persons. + +"We'll take the booth away down at the end of the room, where +we won't be seen by better-dressed people," proposed Dave. + +Accordingly they occupied the last booth in the row. There they +ordered a meal that made their mouths water in advance. + +Hazelton, poking his head out of the booth as he heard some one +enter, hastily drew it in again. + +"Guess who's coming!" he whispered. + +"Can't," replied Dick. + +"Dodge and Bayliss," replied Harry. + +"Keep out of sight, and don't talk," ordered Prescott. + +Bert Dodge and his chum came down the room, taking the booth next +to that of the high school boys, yet without seeing Dick and his +chums. + +When the waiter appeared Dodge ordered two ice creams. + +"Queer what became of the mucker gang," observed Bayliss, after +the waiter had departed. + +"Not a bit queer," retorted Bert. "That was why I wanted to meet +you here this morning. I've found out where they are." + +"How did you find out?" demanded Bayliss. + +"Do you see this post card?" demanded Bert, laying a card on the +table. "It was written by Laura Bentley to Susie Sharp, and mentions +their having had lunch at the camp of the high school muckers. +And this message gives a clear enough idea of where their camp +is, too. Laura must have dropped the card in the street, for +that's where I found it." + +"Say, that's a great find!" chuckled Bayliss. + +"You may wager that it is," grinned Dodge. "We broke up one night +of sleep for the muckers with those bombs, but I've an idea that +the night we shot off sixty rounds of blank shotgun shells that +they had already moved. But now I have a brand-new one that we +can use and make them break camp and run for home as fast as they +can go. Then we'll pass the story of their scare all around Gridley, +and they'll never hear the last of the laugh against them." + +"I'm all attention, old fellow!" Bayliss protested eagerly. + +"So are we!" thought Dick grimly, as he glanced at Dave and Harry. + + + + +CHAPTER XVIII + +A KETTLE OF HOT WATER FOR SOMEONE + + +It was a wonderfully elaborate scheme to which the high school +boys were privileged to listen. Such a scheme, really showed +Dodge, in a way, to be possessed of more brains than people in +Gridley commonly credited him with possessing. + +But Dick smiled at Dave Darrin's scowl as the plot was unfolded +in the next booth. + +Fortunately for Dick and his chums the steak order was delayed +in the serving. Thus Dodge and Bayliss finished their ice cream +and left the place without discovering the presence of their intended +victims. + +"Say, aren't that pair just going to enjoy themselves at our expense?" +chuckled Hazelton, after the plotters had left. + +"Unless I miss my guess, they're going to dance to our music to-night," +laughed Dick gleefully. + +Their meal was served soon after, and eaten with relish. As soon +as it had been finished Dick asked the waiter for a sheet of paper +and envelope. + +"Don't worry about any weird doings you may hear of from our camp," +Prescott wrote his mother. "We've just learned of a big scare +Dodge and Bayliss are planning to spring on us up at our camp. +We're going to turn the tables on them---that's all. But I write +this for fear you may hear some awful tales when that pair reach +Gridley." + +As they left the restaurant, Dick returned to the post-office, +mailing this second letter to his mother. + +"Now, we must buy a few things here," Dick explained to his friends. +"Then we must get out of this village by a back road, and we +must make sure that we don't run into that pair of ex-soreheads." + +The "sorehead" reference, as readers of our "_High School Boys +Series_" will recall, had to do with Dodge and Bayliss, ere they +had been chased out of Gridley High School. These boys had belonged +to the notorious "sorehead faction" in the high school football +squad. + +Going in different directions, Dick, Dave and Harry were able +to make all their needed purchases in a short time. Right after +that, they got out of the village, and back upon the rough trail +for camp without having met their enemies. + +It was nearly seven o'clock when the three travelers, all but +fagged out, pushed their cart in sight of camp and gave a hail +that brought the other chums running to meet them. + +First of all, word was passed as to the successful outcome of +the fish-selling expedition. + +"I thought you fellows would bring us some fresh meat," Tom cried, +when Dave unloaded the cart. "Fresh vegetables, too? Wow! Won't +we live? I told the fellows not to try to get supper until you +got back, as you'd be sure to bring something that would make +us sorry we had eaten. We've the fires all ready." + +"And now, listen!" commanded Dick Prescott, after the first preparations +had been made for supper. + +Thereupon the young leader of Dick & Co. repeated the plot they +had heard Dodge and Bayliss unfold that noon. + +"Hang those two heathens!" sputtered Tom Reade indignantly. + +"Oh, I'm glad they're coming," laughed Dick. "All I hope is that +nothing will happen to keep them from coming to-night." + +Then Dick outlined his plan. Tom Read, after listening for a +few moments, lay on the ground, rolling over and over in his glee. + +"Wow! But won't that be great?" demanded Greg, laughing until +the tears ran from his eyes. + +"Say, we mustn't talk any more now. We must eat supper, and then +get ready if we're to play the reception committee successfully +tonight." + +At a very early hour, considering the lateness of the evening +meal, Reade, with his knack in woodwork, and with no other tool +than his jackknife, had fashioned the stocks for two "rifles." +These Hazelton carefully treated with mud from the lake so as +to give them a dark color. + +"If the guns are seen by the light of the campfire, the stocks +and barrels ought to be of different colors," Dick explained. + +Dave was now fashioning two straight sticks into semblance of +rifle barrels. These were lightly treated with mud and fastened +to the two stocks. Then two additional "rifles" were to be manufactured. + +Other work was performed, and all was gotten in readiness. Prescott +had a number of mysterious-looking little packages that he had +bought in the village. + +"Oh, dear, but I hope nothing happens to keep Dodge and Bayliss +from coming to-night," breathed Tom, as he labored fast. "David, +little giant, hurry up with those barrels. There can be no telling +how soon we shall have to defend ourselves with these 'Quaker' +guns!" + +As they worked, the high school boys indulged in many a chuckle. + +"It takes something like this to keep me awake to-night," Dick +yawned. "If there were no excitement coming, I'm so dead sleepy +that I could go right into dreamland standing up." + +"So could I," chirped Dave. "But I manage to keep awake by enjoying +the thought of how thoroughly we'll wake up someone else tonight!" + +"If our plans don't miscarry," warned Dick. + +"Please don't croak about failure or disappointment," begged Tom +tragically. "My warm, impulsive young heart won't stand any +disappointment to-night." + +So they toiled on, their preparations all along the line taking +shape rapidly. + +By ten o'clock they had everything completed, including the +manufacture of the "Quaker" rifles. + +"Now, to our posts," chuckled Dick, after a rapid distribution +of things from the packages brought up from the village. + +The campfire was allowed to burn low. Some light was still needed +for the full success of their plans. + +Tom and Dan took up their stand in front of the tent, each armed +with a "Quaker" gun. + + + + +CHAPTER XIX + +BERT DODGE HEARS FRIGHTFUL NEWS + + +Half an hour passed. At last there came the long-drawn, doleful +note of the screech owl. + +It was but an amateurish imitation; an Indian would have treated +it with contempt, but it was well enough done to deceive untrained +ears. + +Tom glanced at Danny Grin, smiling quietly. The imitation note +of the screech owl was a signal from Dick that Dodge and Bayliss +had arrived, and were starting their nonsense. + +Still Tom did not speak of this to Dan. There could be no telling +whether Dodge or Bayliss might be within hearing already. So +Tom and Dan, gripping their quite harmless weapons, became more +alert in appearance. + +It was true enough that Dodge and Bayliss were now on the scene. +They had hidden their car off at the side of the road, a mile +or more below, and had crept forward with their outfit for the +night's big scare. + +Dodge carried half a dozen large hot-air balloons, which he had +made for the purpose. Under the other arm be carried a package +that looked as though it had come from a department store. + +Bayliss, a broad grin on his face, carried the working parts of +a new style siren whistle, intended for automobiles, but a machinist +had succeeded in flutting some new notes and effects into the +screech of this ear-splitter. + +"I hope they won't take the noise of this siren for the cry of +a screech owl," whispered Bayliss, as the pair stole stealthily +along. + +"If they do, they'll soon get over that idea, and find their real +fright up in the air," Bert Dodge whispered in response. + +"I wonder how much further on their camp is, or whether we're +anywhere near it?" Bayliss asked. + +"We'll soon know how close we are, for the lake can't be much +further on. I just caught sight of the water in the starlight," +Bert answered. + +How astounded both mischief makers would have been had they known +that certain members of Dick & Co. were even now trailing them. + +"There's the tent!" whispered Dodge suddenly, checking his Companion, +as they came to a spot on the slope where they could see the white +of the canvas faintly displayed by the glow from a dying campfire. + +"Two of them are about, too!" muttered Bayliss disgustedly. + +"Then they're all the more certain to see what they're going to +see soon," chuckled his companion. "Only we must work quickly." + +Bayliss separated one of the balloons from the string held by +Bert. The package was opened and from it Bayliss took and fitted +over the balloon enough filmy gauze to cover it to a length of +six or seven feet. Tying a longer string to the balloon, Bayliss +allowed the white, filmy mass to soar upward. When the balloon +had reached a height of twenty feet above the near-by tree tops, +Bayliss made it fast to a tree trunk. Then he and Dodge skipped +hastily to a point some eighty yards away, where they speedily +sent up another. In a very short time all six balloons were flying +on the night air, each with its trail of white fleecy stuff hanging +therefrom. + +"They do look like ghosts flying in the air, don't they?" demanded +Bayliss exultantly. + +"Not to me," muttered Bert. "But that's because I know what they're +made of." + +"Let's hustle now with the rest," urged Bayliss. + +"Right you are," agreed Bert. + +They hurried along, going a bit nearer to the camp, until Dodge +pointed to a tangle of bushes. + +"That'll be a good place to hide with the siren. You get in there +with it, but don't start it until about sixty seconds after you +hear the big noise. Then I'll hustle right back here to you." + +"Don't let any of Dick Prescott's friends catch you," urged Bayliss, +who would have gasped had he known that at that moment two of +them crouched close enough to hear every word. + +Now Bert hastened down the slope, carrying a fireworks' bomb very +much like those that he and Bayliss had set off on the opposite +side of the lake on another evening long to be remembered. + +Treading cautiously, Bert reached a point not far distant from +the doorway of the camp tent. Here, crouching in the screening +bushes, Bert placed the bomb in position. It was only a fireworks' +bomb of the kind used on Fourth of July nights. It was harmless +enough to one who stood more than thirty feet from it. + +"The fuse will burn a minute before it goes off," murmured Bert +to himself. "That will give me almost time to reach Bayliss before +the big noise comes. The noise will bring them all out of the +tent. Then the remainder of our programme will do the rest." + +But, even as Bert reached for the match with which to touch off +the fuse he heard Dalzell call in a voice audible at the distance: + +"Look at those things up in the air, Tom!" + +"He has sighted our 'ghosts,'" laughed Bert to himself. + +"They must be some sort of signal kites, flown by the moonshiners," +answered Reade in an interested tone. + +"Kites! Is that what he takes our ghosts for?" wondered Bert +Dodge in deep disgust. + +But the mention of the word "moonshiners" gave the listener a +start. In a general way he knew that "moonshiner" is the term +applied to men who try to cheat the United States Revenue Service +by distilling liquors on which they pay no tax. Bert had heard +that moonshiners are deadly men, indeed, and that they make little +of shooting down the government officers who are sent to ferret +out their hiding places and arrest them. + +"I wish we hadn't run into those moonshiners," said Danny, rather +dolefully. "And I wish Dick hadn't thought it necessary to go +and send word to the United States authorities. I'm afraid there's +going to be an awful row here to-night." + +"What's that?" wondered Bert, pricking up his ears. + +"I rather wish Dick hadn't been in such an awful rush," Tom admitted +slowly. "Anyway, we fellows should have gotten out of here and +left it to the marshals to have it all their own way. I'm afraid +there is going to be a big fight to-night, and these old woods +may be full of humming bullets. And I'm worried about Dick, too, +going off as guide to the marshals. There were only eight of +the marshals, and, even with four of our fellows, they still have +to face nearly twenty of the moonshiners---and I'll wager that +the moonshiners are all desperate fighters." + +"Oh, dear!" wailed Danny Grin. + +Bert Dodge's face was a study. With the prospect of a running +fight between United States' marshals and desperate moonshiners +about to take place, these woods seemed likely to be anything +but a safe place. + +"At least, the marshals did a decent thing in leaving us rifles +here to protect ourselves with," Dan Dalzell continued. + +Raising his head, Bert took a long look at the camp. Not far +away stood Tom Reade, the outlines of a rifle in his grasp showing +very distinctly. Dalzell was over nearer the shadow of the tent, +yet Bert made sure that Dalzell had a rifle also. + +"Gracious! There is likely to be real enough trouble in the woods +to-night!" muttered Bert. "Those boys didn't have guns when they +left Gridley. The authorities have probably furnished them." + +Just then a popping fire rang out further up the lake slope. + +"There it goes!" almost yelled Danny Grin. "The marshals have +run into the moonshiners. The fight is on. Oh, I hope none of +our fellows are being hit!" + +Certainly the firing continued briskly. Dodge forgot all about +lighting the fuse of the fireworks' bomb. + +Instead, he crouched low, then darted from the bushes, running +as fast as he could to the point where he had left his companion. + +"In here!" chuckled Bayliss gleefully. "I didn't know you had +anything with you but the bomb, Bert." + +"That's all I did have," whispered Dodge, white-faced. "Hustle +out of here, Bayliss!" + +"What's the matter?" + +"Hear that firing?" + +"I thought you had been setting off fire crackers, Bert." + +"Fire crackers nothing!" ejaculated Bert, his face ghastly. "Man +alive, that's a fight going on up the slope between United States +officers and a lot of desperate moonshiners! There goes the firing +again." + +Bayliss heard it; he couldn't help that. + +Then still nearer rang out the firing. + +"We've got to get out of here as fast as our legs will take us," +Bert insisted. "Hustle before the bullets reach us." + +At that moment Dave Darrin broke from cover, running as fast as +his legs could carry him. As he raced toward camp Darrin called: + +"Reade! Danny! This is Darrin. Get ready to run or fight. +It's a fearful affair. Four of the marshals were down when I +left, and Dick Prescott is done for, too! Oh, it's fearful! +There won't be any of the government party left!" + +Apparent terror rang in Darrin's voice as he ran forward flourishing +his "Quaker" rifle. + +"Great Scott!" groaned Bayliss, trying to rise and run, though +his legs shook under him. + +"Buck up! Don't be a coward!" hissed Dodge, seizing his companion +by the arm. "Come on! Run for it---before we're hit." + +Thus the two made their escape, running, stumbling through the +woods, heading blindly for the spot where they had left their +car. + +Back of them fresh sounds of firing rang out. How could the frightened, +dazed fugitives know that it was Dick Prescott, pursuing, and +dropping lighted strings of fire crackers as he ran? + +"It's a running fight, and coming right our way!" gasped Bert. + +"Let's drop down and crawl to safety!" almost screamed Bayliss. + +"No, you don't!" retorted Dodge angrily. "Our only safety lies +in getting into that car and throwing the engine wide open. I +don't care if we wreck the car if only we can cover a couple of +miles of ground first. Run! Hustle!" + +Had he suffered from a little keener fear, Bayliss would have +collapsed utterly. As it was, fear lent him extra speed. He +fairly tore over the ground, darting through bushes, plunging +on in headlong haste. Bert kept with him. + +"We'll soon be all right," cried Dodge encouragingly. "Now, +jump right across the road. Our car is in there, and headed the +right way." + +Just as they reached the car and Bert's pale face showed right +in front of the headlights a third figure dashed up. + +Harry Hazelton, his head swathed in a red-stained bandage, and +what appeared to be blood dripping from his left arm, sprang at +them, the butt of his rifle showing, but its barrel wrapped in +his jacket. + + + + +CHAPTER XX + +A FRENZIED RIDE TO SAFETY + + +"Wait!" gasped Hazelton. "You've got to take me, too." + +"Not much," hissed Bayliss, his voice trembling. "This car is +built only for two." + +"You've got to take me, I tell you," Harry insisted, his voice +trembling. "Do you think I'm going to be left behind?" + +"This car is built for-----" Bayliss started to insist again. + +"Then you will stay behind, Bayliss, at that rate," Harry retorted. +"Remember, I am able to enforce my wishes. Do I go, too?" + +Bert had started the engine, and now sprang in at the wheel. +Hazelton leaped in also, taking the other seat. + +Bayliss, quivering in every muscle, leaped in, crouching between +them. + +"I see that you've decided to come along with us," mocked Harry. + +"Hang you!" snarled Bayliss. "If you didn't have that gun we'd +see about it." + +"Start her, fast, Dodge!" ordered Harry. + +With a roar of the engine the car lurched forward. + +"What happened to the others in your crowd?" asked Bert in a weak +voice, as he steered carefully down the rough road. + +"All flat---all five of 'em!" affirmed Harry, but be neglected +to state that his five chums were lying on the ground, rolling +over in their mirth. + +"None of 'em got away, then, but you?" chattered Bayliss. + +"Do you think I'd let you take this car away from here?" demanded +Hazelton indignantly, "if there were any more of our fellows to +get away from here? What would you fellows count for if it were +necessary to save more of my friends?" + +"It must have been a fearful fight," shivered Dodge. + +"It was," said Harry grimly, striving with all his might to keep +from bursting out in laughter. "I never had any idea that a gun +fight was such an awful thing!" + +"Prescott got his, then?" asked Bayliss. + +"All five of my friends," replied Hazelton, in a choking voice. +"And I've some traces of the fight to show myself." + +"How badly bit are you?" demanded Dodge. + +"I'll last all right until I get to Gridley," Harry predicted, +"if you fellows don't keep me talking too much." + +"I didn't intend going to Gridley to-night," Dodge replied. + +"Yes, you will," Hazelton replied firmly. "I must go to Gridley. +You drive straight there. I'll hold you responsible, if you +don't." + +Bert began to believe that he _would_ be held accountable if he +failed to take Hazelton to Gridley, so he gave in without protest. +At any rate, both Dodge and Bayliss wanted to get as far as possible +from the recent "horror," and as speedily as they could do it. + +"There's no chance of our being attacked on the road to Gridley?" +asked Bayliss by and by, in a quavering voice. + +"No," replied Hazelton. "The lake will be between us and the +trouble makers." + +It was rough going most of the way. Hazelton was disinclined +to talk. Bayliss' nerves were too shattered for him to feel like +indulging in conversation. Dodge, white-faced, his cap pulled +well down over his eyes, showed all that he knew about running +a car carefully and as speedily as was possible over such rough +roads. + +It was after two o'clock in the morning when the car turned into +the stretch of Main Street, Gridley. + +"We'll go to the police station with the fearful news," proposed +Bert Dodge. + +"No, we won't," retorted Hazelton. "We'll go to the 'Blade' office. +Mr. Pollock, the editor, is one of Dick's best friends, and he'll +know better than anyone else in town what ought to be done." + +So with hands that trembled Bert drove the car up in front of +the "Morning Blade" office. All three leaped out, Dodge and Bayliss +eager to get into the glow of lights and among human beings. + +As Harry's feet struck the sidewalk he remembered his character +as a wounded man and tried to totter up the steps in a realistic +fashion. + +In the "Blade" building the press was rumbling busily as the inside +pages of the paper were being run off. + +Mr. Pollock, all alone in the editorial part of the plant, looked +up in astonishment as the ghastly-hued Dodge and Bayliss appeared. +The editor's feeling turned to consternation when he saw Hazelton's +seemingly pitiable condition. + +"Hazelton, what can have happened?" gasped the editor, leaping +to his feet. + +"Take me into another room!" pleaded Harry. "You two fellows," +indicating Bert and his chum, "stay out here." + +Though he didn't guess the answer, Mr. Pollock led young Hazelton +into the mailing room and turned on the light there. + +"Sh-h-h!" warned Hazelton, his face lighting up impishly. "Dodge +and Bayliss tried to play a trick on Dick & Co. and Prescott has +turned the laugh on them." + +"But these blood-stained bandages?" questioned the astounded editor. + +"It's stuff that is used for coloring strawberry ice cream. Dick +bought it at a store. Looks like the real thing, doesn't it?" + +"It looked real enough to give me a bad turn," admitted the editor +dryly. + +Then, in whispers, Harry told the story as rapidly as he could. +Mr. Pollock's face took on a broader grin as he listened. + +"I'd hate to have young Prescott for my enemy," confessed the +"Blade's" editor. "But this is the most atrocious joke I've ever +known him to put up." + +"We had to put a stop to Dodge and Bayliss," Harry smiled. "Perhaps +you'd better go back to Dodge and Bayliss, now---but please don't +let 'em know that it's all a joke." + +"I won't spoil the thing," promised the editor, and hastened out. + +"I'll be with you in just a minute, gentlemen," nodded Mr. Pollock +to Dodge and Bayliss, as he entered the editorial room, then sprang +into the telephone closet, closing the door after him. + +Mr. Pollock telephoned the sheriff of the county, and also the +officer in charge at the Gridley police station, giving the officials +a hint of the joke at the second lake, so they wouldn't rush away +on a fool's errand in case the wild story reached their ears. + +"Now I'll listen to what you two may have to tell me," announced +Mr. Pollock, coming out of the telephone closet. "Then I'll have +to ask you to hurry away, as Hazelton will have to be attended +to and many things done. Talk fast, if you please." + +Dodge and Bayliss poured out what they knew of the night's business. + +"And how did you two happen to be there?" inquired Mr. Pollock. + +"Oh, we---we---we were touring in that part of the country, and +were fixing a break-down when Hazelton came running up," stammered +Bert Dodge. + +"It was fortunate, indeed, for Hazelton, that you had that break-down," +replied the editor. Then his manner showed Dodge and Bayliss +that it was time for them to go. Both were glad to get out of +the "Blade" office, for they feared to stand too much questioning +from one as keen as the newspaper man. + + + + +CHAPTER XXI + +REAL NEWS AND "PUNK HEROES" + + +"Bayliss, no matter what happens," whispered Dodge, as the two +young men climbed into the car outside, "don't you ever let it +be found out that we went to the camp of Dick & Co. to play a +joke on Prescott and the others. The awful way this night's work +has turned out would make the town too hot for us." + +"Don't you be afraid of my becoming loose-tongued," chattered +Bayliss. "Ugh! I don't believe I'll ever want to talk to anyone +again. Bert, do you really believe that all of the fellows but +Hazelton were really wiped out?" + +"They---they must have been," gasped Dodge. + +"It's fearful!" + +"It is," Dodge assented, as he threw on the speed. "I never liked +Prescott, but to-night's awful work is something that I'd have +been willing to have saved him from if there had been a way to +do it. + +"Which way are you heading?" asked Bayliss suddenly. + +"To Dr. Bentley's. If he's at home, I want to hustle him to the +'Blade' office. I believe he's the Hazelton family's physician. +Bayliss, any sign of attention to Hazelton on our part will look +well for us at a time when we're likely to be asked many questions +about how we came to be so near to their camp. We've got to be +mighty careful, or in the excitement that will follow the awful +fate of Prescott and his friends the town might grow so hot for +us that we'd be all but lynched. Now, no one can prove that we +weren't on a trip, and that our car broke down on the road; that +we heard the fire of rifles, and the next thing we knew Hazelton, +badly wounded, came rushing up to us, and that we brought him +in as fast as we could. Now, let's make up a story as to just +what trip we were taking when we broke down on the road a mile +from their camp." + +The two plotters quickly planned out their story. + +"Here's Dr. Bentley's office," said Dodge, as they turned a corner. +"You stay in the car, Bayliss. I can attend to this better." +So Dodge was soon pouring a tale of woe and tragedy up through +the night speaking tube into the astounded, half-suspicious ears +of Dr. Bentley. + +Then Bert Dodge drove with Bayliss to the latter's home, after +which Bert quakingly drove the car around to his own home, where +he roused his father to hear the strange news. Nor was it long +ere the whole Dodge family was listening, awe struck. + +In the meantime Hazelton was exhibiting to Mr. Pollock, with many +a chuckle, the "Quaker" rifle that he had brought into the office +wrapped in his jacket. Harry also displayed the bottle of strawberry +coloring for ice cream that had supplied the color to his head +bandage. + +Ting-a-ling! rang the telephone. It was Dr. Bentley on the wire, +inquiring whether Dodge had been guilty of a hoax in calling him +up to go to the "Blade" office in order to attend Hazelton. + +With many a chuckle Mr. Pollock told Dr. Bentley, under injunction +of secrecy, the story of the night's doings. When Dr. Bentley +heard the story of this latest "outrage" by Dick & Co. he laughed +heartily. "Well, well," he mused, "what will Dick and his friends +be up to next?" + +"Hazelton," ordered Mr. Pollock, "you take the old overcoats you'll +find in that closet and arrange them on top of one of these long +tables. Get some sleep. I'll call you in time for you to get +word to the parents of Dick & Co. after six in the morning. As +for me, I shall expect to get no sleep until I've put this big +news story in shape." + +Yet that morning's issue of the "Blade" didn't contain a word +on the subject. Mr. Pollock was wise enough to write the story, +then save it for appearance at the proper time. + +By six o'clock Harry was aroused. A closed cab, its driver pledged +to secrecy, was at the door to carry Harry on his rounds. He +visited the parents of all the members of Dick & Co., informing +them that the story they might soon hear was not based on any +facts that need alarm them. + +Before seven o'clock that morning Dodge and Bayliss, wild-eyed +and haggard looking, met at Bert's home. Mr. Dodge took them, +soon after, down onto Main Street with him. + +The first public whisper of the news sent it flying fast over +Gridley. + +By nine o'clock Main Street was unwontedly crowded. Groups of +men, women and young people everywhere discussed the "awful news." +Those who had been privileged to hear Dodge and Bayliss tell +the story were looked upon as most interesting people. + +Of course a few Gridleyites tried to find the parents of the "slain" +boys and express their sympathy, but the parents of the members +of Dick & Co., strangely enough, could not be found. + +With many repetitions of the story, Dodge and Bayliss almost +unintentionally began to picture themselves as heroes, who had risked +their lives in order to bring the single survivor away to safety. + +"There's some good in young Dodge and Bayliss, after all," was +a not infrequent comment that morning. + +"It must have taken real nerve, anyway, for them to make that +thrilling rescue of Hazelton," said others. + +So Dodge and Bayliss, much to their astonishment and not a little +to their delight, found themselves somewhat in the hero class. +Their exhausted, wild-eyed, haggard appearance gave more color +to the story of the harrowing experience they claimed to have +undergone in rescuing Hazelton from that awful field of carnage +up by the second lake. + +At ten o'clock Mr. Pollock's automobile drew up at the rear door +of the "Blade" building. Hazelton slipped out, crouching low +in the car, that he might not be seen and recognized, while Mr. +Pollock and his star reporter, Len Spencer, openly entered and +drove away. They made straight for the wilderness camp of Dick +& Co. Once out of the town Harry rose to a comfortable seat, +and made up some of his lost sleep during the trip. + +One thing that puzzled the excited citizens of Gridley was the +placid way in which the chief of police and the sheriff of the +county appeared to take the sad news. + +Mr. Pollock drove his car as close to camp as he could, after +which he and his companions hurried over the uneven ground until +they came upon five high school boys seated outside. + +"How did it all work out, Harry?" shouted Dick, leaping up as +soon as he saw his approaching comrade. + +"It is working in great shape, you young scoundrel!" roared Editor +Pollock, gripping Dick Prescott's hand. "And the yarn is going +to make the biggest and best midsummer sensation that the 'Blade' +has ever had!" + +Mr. Pollock and Len Spencer remained at camp for something like +an hour and a half, enjoying a trout luncheon before they left. + +It was four o'clock in the afternoon when editor and reporter +reached the "Blade" office. + +At five o'clock the "Blade" put out a bulletin, around which a +crowd collected in no time. The crowd grew to such proportions +that the policeman on the beat tried in vain to make it "move +on." + +That bulletin read: + +"Lake Tragedy All a Tremendous Hoax: Read the 'Blade's' six o'clock +extra." + +At a few minutes before six o'clock Len Spencer began to arrange +one of the street windows of the "Blade" office. + +First of all, from hooks, he suspended Dodge and Bayliss' "ghosts" +of the night before. + +"What does that mean?" asked the wondering onlookers. + +Then an unexploded bomb bearing the trademark of the Sploderite +Company was put in the window. It was followed by the _siren_ whistle +that Bayliss had dropped in his flight. Then four "Quaker" wooden +guns, a red-stained bandage and a partly used bottle of strawberry +ice cream coloring appeared. + +Promptly at six o'clock newsboys appeared on the street with the +exciting announcement: + +"Extree! Extree 'Bla-ade'! All about Dick & Co.'s latest! The +best joke of the season!" + +Papers went off like hot cakes. Before the evening was over more +than two thousand copies of that edition had been sold. Many +more than two thousand people had crowded to the "Blade's" show +window to catch a glimpse of the exhibits described in the rollicking +news story. + +"Pshaw! Dodge and Bayliss, the heroes!" shouted one man in the +crowd, as he ran his eye through the story. + +"Punk heroes!" answered someone else in the crowd. + +The story was cleverly told. Dodge and Bayliss were not mentioned +by name, but described only as a pair of amateur jokers whose +plans had miscarried. Yet the plain, unvarnished story cast complete +ridicule over Bert and his friend. + +While the fever of the reading crowd was at its height someone +shouted: + +"Here they come now!" + +Bert and Bayliss had just driven around the corner in the car. +During the last three hours both had slept at Bert's, but now +they were out and abroad again in order to hear the latest +developments. + +Suddenly a hush fell over the crowd. Bert and Bayliss were allowed +to drive in silence to the curb. + +Then, just as suddenly, a dozen men leaped at the car, dragging +both youths to the sidewalk. + +"Wha-a-at's wrong?" faltered Bert Dodge. + +"We'll soon show you!" came the jeering answer of the captors. + +Then a mighty shout of derision went up from the crowd. + + + + +CHAPTER XXII + +TOM TELLS THE BIG SECRET + + +"Take 'em to the horse trough!" roared more than one voice. + +So Dodge and Bayliss, the centre---of a jeering, resolute crowd, +were dragged down the street a short distance. The crowd swelled +in numbers. + +"Stand Dodge on the edge of the trough, and make him read the +paper!" shouted one man. + +That was accordingly done. Bert was shaking so that he had to +be supported in the place chosen for him. + +Bayliss was whimpering in abject terror. + +"Now, read this in the 'Blade,' Dodge," ordered a tormentor, shoving +a paper forward. "Read it aloud." + +Bert began, in a wavering voice. + +"Louder!" yelled a score of voices from different points in the +crowd. + +Bert tried to obey, but his voice was shaky. + +However, he read the article through to the end, while the crowd +waited ominously. + +"Heroes, weren't you?" jeered many voices when white-faced Bert +had finished the reading. + +"Duck him!" came the answer. + +Bert was well splashed in the water of the trough. Then Bayliss +shared the same fate. + +"Now---git! Travel fast---both of you!" came the order. + +Nor did Bert or Bayliss need any further commands. Frightened +as they were, they nevertheless summoned the strength to run +desperately. No one struck them, even in fun. Only jeers assailed +them. Neither boy made any effort to get back to the automobile, but +both kept on until they had turned a corner and vanished from +sight. + +"Pity we didn't have some rifle fire to tie to their coat tails," +laughed one citizen. For the "Blade" had made it plain that +firecrackers, exploded in packs, had provided the sounds of gun fire +up at the camp on the second lake. + +"Oh, we'll make somebody sweat for this outrage!" quivered Bert, +his face dark and scowling, as he and Bayliss slowed up on a quiet +side street. "There are laws in this land! We might even get +damages out of someone!" + +"I feel as if I had collected about all the damage I want for +a few days," muttered Bayliss, gazing down ruefully at his drenched +clothing and water-logged shoes. + +"I wonder who'll take this car home?" asked one of the men in +front of the "Blade" office. + +"Where is my son?" inquired Mr. Dodge, pushing his way through +the crowd without any suspicion of what had lately happened. +"Isn't my son here to take this car home?" + +"I doubt if he'll come back," replied one man, with a twinkle +in his eyes. + +"'Blade'? Extree 'Blade'?" demanded a newsboy, holding out a paper. + +"Better take one, Mr. Dodge," advised a man in the crowd. "Mighty +interesting reading in this extra!" + +Almost mechanically the banker paid for a paper, folded it, then +stepped into the automobile. + +On his arrival home, and after having turned the car over to his +chauffeur, Mr. Dodge went to his library, despite the fact that +he knew his dinner was waiting. + +There he spread out the extra "Blade" on a table and began to +read the featured news story. + +As he read the elder Dodge flushed deeply. Though the names of +Bert and Bayliss were not mentioned, he had no difficulty in +connecting them with the ludicrous story. + +Turning, Mr. Dodge rang. A man servant answered. + +"Mrs. Dodge wishes to know, sir, when you are coming to dinner," +said the man. + +"Ask Mrs. Dodge, from me kindly to let the dinner go on, and say +that I am busy, now, but will come to the table as soon as I am +at leisure. Then ask Mr. Bert to come here to me at once." + +Bert entered. He had removed his wet garments, and put on fresh +clothing. He had been at dinner when interrupted by his father's +message. + +"This extraordinary story in the 'Blade' refers to you, does it +not?" inquired the banker, shoving the paper before the young +man. + +"Yes, sir," Bert admitted sulkily. + +"You and your friend, Bayliss, have been making fools of yourselves, +have you?" + +"No, sir," cried Bert. "We were made fools of by others." + +"When it comes to making a fool of yourself, Bert, no one else +is swift enough to get ahead of you," replied his father witheringly. +"So, you have succeeded in making the entire family objects of +ridicule once more? I had hoped that that sort of thing had ceased +when I sent you away to a private school." + +"We were imposed on," flushed Bert angrily. "Nor has the outrage +stopped there. Bayliss and I were seized in front of the 'Blade' +office, and taken over to the horse trough and ducked!" + +"Was it done thoroughly?" inquired the banker ironically. + +"A thorough ducking?" gasped his son and heir. "I should say +it was thorough, sir!" + +"Then I wish that the incident would make sufficient impression +on you to last you a few days," went on Mr. Dodge bitterly. "I +doubt it, however." + +"Father, I want you to back me in having some of my assailants +arrested for that ducking!" + +"I shall do nothing of the sort," rejoined the banker. "The ridicule +that this affair has brought upon my family has gone far enough +already. You are my son, but a most foolish one, if not worse, +and I feel that I am under obligations to the men or boys who +carried you to the horse trough and endeavored to cure you of +some of your folly." + +"I had hoped, sir, that you would stand back of your own son better +than that. I am positive that Mr. Bayliss will not allow the +outrage to pass unnoticed. I believe that Mr. Bayliss will take +stern measures to avenge the great insult to his son." + +"What Mr. Bayliss may do is Mr. Bayliss' affair, not mine," replied +the banker coolly. "Is young Bayliss in this house at present?" + +"Yes, sir; he's at the dinner table." + +"Then I won't urge you to be inhospitable, Bert, let him finish +his dinner in peace. After dinner, however, the sooner young +Bayliss returns to his home, or at least, goes away from here, +the better I shall be pleased. As for you, young man, I have +had enough of your actions. I have a nice, and very quiet, summer +place in mind where I am going to send you to-morrow. You will +stay there, too, unless you wish to incur my severe displeasure. +I will tell you about your new plans for the summer after breakfast +to-morrow, young man." + +"You're always hard on me," grumbled Bert sullenly. "But what +do you think about Dick Prescott and his friends?" + +"As for young Prescott," replied the banker, "he is altogether +above your class, Bert. You should leave him severely alone. +Don't allow yourself to attempt anything against Prescott, Reade, +Darrin, or any of that crowd. You will find that any one of them +has too much brains for you to hope to cope with. I repeat that +you are not at all in their class as to brains, and it is quite +time that you recognize the fact. Now, you may return to your +dinner. Be good enough to tell your mother that I will be at +table within fifteen minutes. Present my apologies to your mother +for not having been more prompt. Now---go!" + +Bert Dodge left his father with the feeling that he resembled +an unjustly whipped dog. + +"So I've got to go away and rusticate somewhere for the summer, +have I?" wondered Bert angrily. "And all on account of such a +gang of muckers as the fellows who call themselves Dick & Co.!" + +Nor did young Bayliss fare any better on his return home that +night. He, too, was ordered away for the remainder of the summer +by his father, who had just returned from abroad, nor was he allowed +to accompany Bert Dodge. + +What of Dick & Co. during all this time? + +They had gone away on an avowed fishing trip and they were making +the most of it. + +Harry Hazelton attended to perch fishing, when any of those fish +were wanted. Tom Reade and Dan made the most of the black bass +sport, while Dick, with Dave and Greg as under-studies, went after +trout. + +Several trips were made down to the St. Clair Lake House, and +on each occasion large quantities of bass and trout were sold +to the proprietor. He took all their offerings. + +As a result of the sales of trout and bass some substantial money +orders were forwarded to the elder Prescott, to be cashed by Dick +on his return. + +One afternoon Dick, who had gone trout fishing alone, returned +with so small a string of the speckled ones that some of Tom's +bass had to be added to the supper that night. + +"I've been doing rather an unsportsmanlike thing, I fear," admitted +Dick. + +"Then 'fess up!" ordered Tom Reade. + +"The trout are beginning to bite poorly," Prescott went on. "The +fact is, we've all but cleaned up the stream." + +"There must be a few hundred pounds left there yet," guessed Dave. + +"There may be, and I hope there are," Prescott went on, "but I've +decided not to take any more trout out of the stream this year. +Whatever are now left in the stream we must leave for next summer. +No good sportsman would ever deplete a stream of all its trout." + +"The bass are still biting fairly well," mused Tom aloud. "However, +they're not as easy to catch as they were. Had we better leave +the bass alone, also?" + +"We might take out what bass we want to eat," Dick suggested, +"but not attempt to catch any more than that this summer." + +"Too bad," muttered Tom. "I was in hopes that we were going to +put by a big stake in the bank, to be divided later on." + +"We already have money enough for our purpose," Dick suggested. +"We have sufficient funds to take us all away on a fine jaunt +during August, and these are the last days of July, now. + +"I hate to go away from this lake," muttered Dave. + +"It has been very pleasant here," Prescott agreed, "and if the +rest of you vote for it, I'll agree to put in the rest of our +summer vacation hereabouts." + +"No," dissented Tom. "I reckon change of scene and air is as +good for us as it is for other folks." + +"Tom wants to get where he can find more bass fishing," Greg laughed. + +"I've had enough of that sport to last me for one summer," retorted +Reade. + +The day was closing in a gorgeous sunset. In fifteen minutes +more the sun would be down, but there would still be left the +long July twilight. + +"Did any of you ever see a more beautiful summer day than this +has been?" asked Harry Hazelton presently. + +"I haven't anything to offer in the line of such experience," +Tom confessed. + +"There are some days," Hazelton went on half dreamily, "that somehow +makes a fellow feel thoroughly contented with himself." + +"That's the way I feel to-night," Tom admitted, with an indolent air. + +"I'd be contented if I knew one thing, and I suspect that you +fellows might be able to tell me, if you only would." + +None noticed the twinkle in Prescott's eyes as he spoke. + +"I'll offer!" cried Tom good-humoredly. "If it's anything I can +tell you, I'll do it." + +"S-t-u-n-g!" spelled Dick slowly. + +Tom suddenly sat up, glaring suspiciously at his chum. + +"Now, what have I let myself in for?" demanded Reade. + +"You gave your word you'd tell me, if you could, Tom," Dick went +on, "and no one else can tell me nearly as well as you can. What +I want to know is this: What happened to you, that night a few +weeks ago, when you broke a bottle under my window, and then started +down the street as fast as you could go with a crowd of Gridley +folks behind you?" + +"You promised!" chorused the other four boys. + +"Well, if that isn't a low-down way to dig out of me what is purely +my own business!" exclaimed Tom Reade, with a scowl. + +Nevertheless Tom, like the other members of Dick & Co., had a +high idea of the sacredness of his word, so, after a sigh, he +went on: + +"When I ran away from your window, Dick, with that pack of people +behind me, I dashed into a full-fledged scrape that was none of +mine. You know that Mr. Ritchie, whom some of the Central Grammar +boys plague so fearfully, just because he always gets so mad and +makes such threats against all boys in general? + +"Well, it seems that, while I was helping Timmy Finbrink out of +his difficulties, and afterwards tried to fool you with the fake +window-breaking, some of the Central fellows had been down at +Ritchie's playing tick-tack on one of his front windows. Tick-tack +is a stupid game, and it got me into a mess that night. + +"It seems that Mr. Ritchie had already been bothered that evening +before the Central fellows began, and he had telephoned to a friend +down the street who had two college boys visiting him. So the +friend and the two college fellows went out, on their way to Mr. +Ritchie's. Then he heard the tapping on his window again, and +Mr. Ritchie ran out through the front door. The fellows who had +been doing the trick had just time to drop behind a flower bed. + +"I had shaken off the crowd that started after me from Main Street, +and had turned the corner down that side street. As luck would +have it, I had just passed the Ritchie gate when Mr. Ritchie opened +his front door. He thought I was the offender, and started after +me, yelling to me to stop. Just for the exercise I kept on running, +though not so fast, for I wanted to see how far Mr. Ritchie would +chase me. And then I ran straight into the friend and the two +college boys. + +"Those college boys tried to collar me. I was foolish enough +to stop and tackle. I had one of them on his back, and was doing +nicely with the other, when the two men joined in. I was down +and being held hard, while Mr. Ritchie was threatening to have +me sent to jail for life---for something I hadn't done, mind you! + +"As I ran by the Ritchie yard I saw the three Central Grammar +School boys hiding behind the flower bed. It made me mad, I suppose, +to think that college boys, who aren't real men, anyway, should +stoop so low as to try to catch a lot of grammar school prankers, +so I fought back at my captors with some vim. Of course I got +the worst of it, including the bruise on my cheek, but I mussed +those two college boys up a bit, too. Then, when I got on my +feet, the two college boys still holding me, I demanded virtuously +to know what it was all about. Mr. Ritchie explained hot-headedly. +I told him I could prove that I had just come from Main Street, +but my captors didn't let go of me until we came to Mr. Ritchie's. +Then I saw at a glance that the Central fellows had made a good +get-away, so then I told Mr. Ritchie how the trick had been done +against him. I showed him just how the string had been rigged, +and pointed out the spot where the Central boys had flopped down +behind the flower bed. Their footprints were there in the soil +to show it. By this time all hands were ready to believe that +a high school senior hadn't been up to such baby stuff, and Mr. +Ritchie apologized to me. I was pretty stiff about it, though, +and told Mr. Ritchie that I would consult with my parents before +I'd decide to let such an outrageous assault pass without making +trouble for my assailants." + +"What did your folks say about it?" pressed Danny Grin eagerly. + +"Dalzell, aren't you the little innocent?" asked Reade, with +good-humored scorn. "Of course I never said anything to my folks +about such a foolish adventure as that. But I'll wager that I left +Mr. Ritchie worried for just the next few days. Now, you fellows +know the whole yarn---and I don't think much of Dick's way of +buncoing me out of it, either." + +"Don't all turn at once," said Dave in a very low tone, "but, +behind you, through the fork in the cleft rock, the Man with the +Haunting Face is staring this way. Be careful, and we may-----" + +But, as if shot from spring guns, all five of the others were +up on their feet and running fast toward that strange man who +had furnished their lake mystery without solving it. + + + + +CHAPTER XXIII + +"FOUR OF US ARE PIN-HEADS!" + + +"Oh, you fellows have spoiled it!" groaned Dave as he joined last +of all in the chase. + +From the tent to the cleft rock was perhaps a hundred and twenty +yards. + +For such sprinters as these members of the Gridley High School +eleven it did not require much time to cover the distance. Yet, +by the time that Danny Grin, in the lead, had reached the further +side of the rock there was no sign of the presence of the Man +with the Haunting Face. + +"You dreamed it, Dave," charged Greg Holmes. + +"No, I didn't, either," muttered Darrin, joining the group of +puzzled youngsters. "I saw the face as plainly and positively +as I see any of your faces." + +"It's hard to believe that," muttered Tom, shaking his head. + +"I was wide awake, and my eyesight is good," Darry insisted. + +"Then where has your man gone?" asked Dick. "If he had run to +any point near here we would have found him." + +Dave Darrin began to pry about, looking for some concealed opening +near the base of the cleft, rock. He explored diligently, but +could find no such clue as he had hoped. + +"Nonsense! I'm going back to camp," declared Tom Reade. + +"So'm I," Hazelton agreed. + +"Dave can't have been mistaken," offered Greg. + +"Thank you for one trusting soul," said Dave gratefully. + +"But one thing I do know," Greg went on. + +"What?" asked Darry. + +"Even if our strange fellow was here, he is here no longer, and +moreover, he has succeeded in getting away without leaving any +trace," young Holmes continued. "So I'm going to join the delegation +that returns to camp." + +Only Dick and Dave were left standing there by the cleft rock. + +The sun had sunk below the horizon, but the light was still strong. + +"If you fellows had taken it easily, as I asked," complained Dave, +"we might have gotten hold of that elusive chap. To me he looked +hungry. I thought he was eyeing our camp longingly, as though +he'd like to stroll down and ask us for food. But that startling +charge of the light brigade must have bewildered or frightened +him---and so he went up in smoke, as he has always done when we've +sighted him. + +"It wouldn't surprise me if we could find which way he has gone," +whispered Prescott. + +"What do you mean?" + +"Look where I'm pointing with the toe of my boot," Dick went on. + +"I'm looking." + +"Do you see anything?" + +"The earth." + +"Look harder!" + +Down went Darry to his knees. + +"Look out," warned Dick, "or you'll obliterate it." + +"And I was bragging of my good eyesight," grunted Darry. "Why, +this is a footprint, and none of our crowd saw it." + +"Besides, it's the print of a bare foot," Prescott went on. "You +see the way in which it is pointing?" + +"Yes; toward that patch of low bushes yonder. But our chap couldn't +have run through those low bushes, or we'd have seen him." + +"Yes; if he had been holding himself erect." + +"Or even had he crouched and run," Dave affirmed. + +"Dave Darrin, you've played baseball, if my recollection serves +me correctly." + +"Of course." + +"Did you ever slide for a base?" + +"What-----" + +"Or see anyone else slide for base?" + +"Then our man-----" + +"He held himself low and ran as far as the bushes," Dick went +on. "Then he fell and slid for it through the low bushes. See, +here's the second print of a bare foot, and the direction is the +same." + +"Don't tell our mutton-head chums about it," Darrin begged. "Let's +follow it up ourselves." + +"All right," nodded Dick; "but if we find our fellow, don't let +him suspect that we've reached his hiding place and know it. +We'll just see what we can find out, and not give ourselves away." + +"Go ahead," begged Darry. + +"Remember, I'm not certain that we can find the fellow's hiding +place before dark. It may be some distance from here. We'll +try, though, and hope for luck." + +Dick sauntered easily along in the direction indicated by the +two footprints. + +As they entered the patch of low bushes both boys noted the fact +that the ground had been slightly disturbed, as it might have +been by the sliding of a human body over it. + +Dick, whose eyes were keener, easily followed the marks on the +ground. Indeed, he did so without appearing to pay much heed +to the earth under his feet. + +Then the trailers passed three trees, behind which the escaping +man might have found good cover. + +A hundred yards further on Dave and Dick entered the edge of a +grove of trees. Here there were also several rather thick tangles +of brush and bush. + +Well inside of one clump Dave, with a start, fancied he saw something +that looked like a wall woven of green leaves. But Dick was trudging +on ahead. Prescott continued in the lead for another quarter +of a mile before he turned. + +"You passed the one real sign," murmured Darry at last. + +"I know I did," agreed Dick, "and we're going back wide of that +place. You mean the jungle where you saw a bit of what looked +like the brush-woven wall of a bush hut?" + +"Yes," assented Darrin. + +"It's a well-hidden place," declared Dick, "and I don't so much +wonder that we didn't find it before. But now we'll go back to +camp." + +"And what next?" + +"I don't know," Prescott confessed, looking puzzled. "We really +haven't any right to pounce on the man unless we catch him doing +something. Anyone has a right to lead the wild life in the woods, +unless he's a criminal or a lunatic." + +"My vote is that our chap is a lunatic," suggested Darry. + +"If he is, then he's a harmless one, anyway. Let's go back, by +a roundabout way, and tell the fellows." + +"There are four pin-heads in this camp," was Tom Reade's decision, +when he heard the report brought back by the others. "Only two +of us have brains enough to see anything that's written right +on the face of the earth." + +"But what are we going to do about our man?" asked Greg. + +"That's what we must figure out," Dick replied. "I don't see +that we can do anything except send word to the authorities down +in the village, and let them act as they see fit." + +"What authorities are there in the village?" Dave inquired. + +"I don't know. That we'll have to find out. We-----" + +Dick paused suddenly, listening keenly. + +"Do you fellows hear that?" he whispered. + +"I hear a rumble of wheels off in the distance," replied Greg. +"The air is so wonderfully still that sound carries a long way +this evening." + +Dick ran into the tent, returning with an envelope and a pad of +paper. + +"Come along, Dave," Dick requested. "And you'd better bring Tom's +flashlight. It will be dark before we get back." + +The battery of the flashlight having had a good rest, now furnished +an excellent light again. + +As the two chums set off at a trot Greg inquired: + +"Now what are that pair up to?" + +"Being one of the four pin-heads belonging to this outfit," Tom +made solemn reply, "I can only guess." + +"Then what's your guess?" quizzed Danny Grin. + +"From the sound that wagon makes rolling over the rough road," +Tom answered, "I judge that it's headed for the village. If it +is, Dick is going to send in a note by the driver, and thus save +one or two of us the tiresome sixteen-mile round trip." + +Which proved to be a very correct guess, for Prescott and Darrin, +returning three quarters of an hour later, informed the others +that Dick had halted the driver, asking the farmer to wait while +the note was being written. + +"I sent the note to the post-master," Dick. went on. "If he +and the other folks in the village take enough interest in the +matter, I imagine a constable will be sent up to-morrow." + +"Perhaps to-night," hinted Dalzell. + +"If you were a constable," asked Tom, "would you want to be pulled +out of your bed and sent on such a trip in the night time?" + +"I'll tell you one thing that we fellows want to do," hinted Darrin, +a few minutes later. "When we go to bed we want to take pains +to leave some food where it can be easily borrowed by our man +of mystery. I've an idea that he has been making night trips +down here once in a while to obtain something to eat." + +"Two or three times I've thought I missed food in the morning," +nodded Greg. "Yet, if our man has been getting all his food here, +then he is a very light eater." + +"And welcome to the little he borrowed," Dick finished. + +"Drowsiness is overcoming curiosity for me," yawned Reade, as +he rose and strolled toward the tent. "Any of you other fellows +going to turn in?" + +"I will," yawned Dalzell, "if you'll permit me to sleep in the +same tent with you." + +Fifteen minutes later all of the high school boys were sound asleep. +They all dreamed that night of the Man with the Haunting Face. + + + + +CHAPTER XXIV + +CONCLUSION + + +"Where's that man you wanted us to look at?" demanded a farmer +whose trousers were tucked into his boots. + +It was about ten o'clock the next forenoon when this man, accompanied +by another man with the same kind of boottops, strode into the +camp of Dick & Co. + +"Are you a constable from the village, sir?" inquired young Prescott. + +"No; we haven't any constable in the village," replied the farmer, +chewing at a straw. "I'm the Overseer of the Poor." + +"We'll take you to where we think the man is hiding," Dick replied. +"Tom and Dave, suppose you two hurry ahead of us, around the +woods, and stand where you can head our man of mystery off in +case he tries to run the other way. Dave knows where the place is." + +Reade and Darrin promptly departed. + +"We can start in two or three minutes from now, after they get +in position, if that suits you, sir," Dick suggested. + +"Suits me," nodded the Overseer of the Poor. "I'm in no great +hurry. Snug camp you boys have here." + +"We've enjoyed ourselves greatly," Dick admitted. + +"Going to stay here long?" + +"No, sir; we're due back in Gridley soon." + +After a little more chat Dick stated that he believed it was time +to go forward to the hut in the woods. + +He and Greg went, accompanied by the two farmers. All four trod +stealthily. Prescott, in advance, went straight to the bushes +that surrounded the brush hut. Still in the lead, Dick, found +the doorway, screened by a tattered blanket, pushed it aside and +peered in. + +On the floor of earth lay the Man with the Haunting Face. He +was so still that at first Dick thought him dead. Dick motioned +to the others to come forward. + +"Humph!" grunted the Overseer of the Poor. "That's Ed Hoskins, +who lives over Pelham way." + +At sound of the voice the sleeping man quivered, opened his eyes, +then, with a scream, sat up, trembling violently. + +"You've got me!" he screamed. "You've found me---and I'm not +yet fit to go!" + +Dick stepped aside to let the farmers in, while Darrin and Reade +approached the spot at a run. + +"Keep quiet, Hoskins," ordered the Overseer of the Poor. "Quiet, +man; I tell you!" + +"Oh, I didn't mean to do it!" moaned the unhappy captive. "I +didn't mean to do it, I tell you! And now I must lose my life +before I'm fit to go." + +"'Touched' here," murmured Prescott, tapping his forehead. + +"What are you making such a fuss about, Ed Hoskins?" demanded +the Overseer of the Poor. + +"I never meant to harm my wife!" screamed Hoskins in an agony +of fear. "We had had words, and I meant nothing but to push her +aside so I could pass. But she fell downstairs. It wasn't my +fault that her neck was broken!" + +"Whose neck was broken?" demanded the farmer. + +"My wife's. But I never meant to do it." + +"Humph!" remarked the Overseer of the Poor. "If your wife broke +her neck, Ed Hoskins, she doesn't know it yet. She's doing some +pretty husky work. She's the hired help over at St. Ingram's. +She went there to work after you went away." + +"Don't try to fool me," trembled Hoskins. "Don't! My wife's +dead, and now I've got to go and pay the penalty of a crime I +never meant to commit." + +"What you need, Ed," observed the Overseer of the Poor, "is a +bath, a couple of square meals, a little daylight, and a freight +load of common horse sense. Come out of this place. We'll take +you to your wife, and you'll find that she's very much alive, +and heart-broken over your running away from her. She's fretting +because she thinks her own conduct made you run away from her." + +"I guess we don't belong here," murmured Dick to his chums. "Suppose +we hurry down to the camp." + +Five minutes later the two farmers also reached camp, holding +Hoskins between them. + +"It all shows what a man's fool way of reasoning---or, rather, +not reasoning---can bring him to," explained the Overseer of the +Poor in a low voice to the boys. "Ed Hoskins isn't exactly one +of life's heavyweights, but he was always a good enough fellow, +and industrious. He married a good-hearted, simple-minded girl, +and they were mighty devoted to each other. But, back the last +of May, Ed and his wife had a little bit of a tiff. They were +standing near the top of the stairs in their house. Ed, according +to his own story, went to push her aside so he could go downstairs, +when his wife lost her balance and fell half way down the stairs. +She fainted, I reckon, and Ed, in a great fright, thought she +had broken her neck. So he ran down the stairs past her, got +out of the house with a pair of blankets, a little food and a +hatchet, and started up this miserable road in the night time. +He says he knew he'd have to go to the electric chair some day +for his deed, but he wanted to come up here and prepare his soul +before he gave up his life. He says he got along all right until +you boys came up here on purpose to find him and run him down +for the law. He tells me that the first time some of you crossed +the lake in a canoe he rigged up some bushes to a wooden frame, +and swam, with his head inside the frame, hoping to get close +to you and hear what you had to say about him. Then, he tells +me, you moved your camp across the lake, and he knew you were +here on the law's business. He says he has known, for certain, +all along, that you'd get him sooner or later, but he couldn't +get up the strength of mind to leave here. What I told Ed about +his wife was true. She got nothing worse out of her fall than +a bruise on one elbow. Gosh! Ed's wife will be as tickled to +see him alive as he'll be to see her strong and well." + +"Hoskins is a little touched in the upper story, isn't he?" Dick +asked. + +"Maybe he has been lately," replied the Overseer of the Poor. +"But when he finds I haven't lied to him he'll be O.K. right +away. Ed was never too strong in his mental works, but he's a +good fellow, just the same, and he's bright enough for his +trade---blacksmith's helper. Now, I guess I'd better be going back +with him, for Ed will be all excitement and dread till he gets the +first word from his wife. Miss. Hoskins wife be terribly obliged +to you young men. I am, too, 'cause I'll be glad to see that couple +together again. They're so fond of each other that they've no +business apart. So I reckon, Master Prescott and the rest of you +young men, we'll be a-going now." + +The visitors had soon left the camp behind them. The last seen +of Hoskins, he was walking with the dazed air of a man who knows +he's dreaming and is mortally afraid to wake up. + +But that same day Mr. and Mrs. Hoskins were reunited and began +life anew together. + +"It all goes to show," the Overseer of the Poor afterwards explained +philosophically, "what a fool a fellow is to be afraid to go +back and look at his work. It's the same spirit that makes automobile +cowards afraid to stop the machine and go back to look at the +child they've hit. Any fellow that's afraid to go back and look +at his mistake is bound to be mainly unhappy in life." + +A very few days afterwards Dick & Co., still propelling the push +cart by turns, arrived in Gridley toward dark one late July evening. + +They had so much to tell their relatives and friends that none +of them got to bed very early on that occasion. + +However, the month of August lay before them. These boys now +planned the greatest summer vacation trip that they had ever enjoyed. +Part of the trail of this vacation lay over in Tottenville. + +So, by ten o'clock the next morning, Dick Prescott, alone, hurried +up the side street on which he lived. Just as he neared the Main +Street corner he beheld a trolley car labeled "Tottenville" pass +the corner. Dick's shrill whistle rang out, but the conductor +failed to hear it. + +Away raced Dick in the wake of the speeding trolley car. Down +the street for two blocks he dashed after it. + +At first it looked as though the high school boy would overtake +the car. But when he saw the car turn a corner and go off on +the Tottenville road, young Prescott slowed down, panting and +wiping his perspiring face. + +"Hey!" called a man standing in a group of others on the curbstone. +"Were you trying to catch that car." + +"Was I trying to catch the car?" echoed Dick Prescott, his eyes +opening wide in amazement. "No, sir! I made a wager that I could +chase that car right off of Main Street! And I won the bet," +Dick added proudly. "You all saw me do it!" + +Then, while the man who had asked the question reddened under +the laughter of his companions, Prescott strolled slowly back +up Main Street to watch for the next car bearing the "Tottenville" +sign. + +"Good morning, Prescott," came a greeting from Lawyer Ripley, +just then coming out of a store. "How did you young men enjoy +that collapsible canoe?" + +"That canoe, sir? It made the vacation trip a perfect one. But +were you the one who sent it, Mr. Ripley?" + +"Yes," assented the lawyer, "though acting as agent for another. +You remember how much Mr. Page wanted to do for you boys, after +your splendid work for him last summer? Mr. Page wanted to do +something for you this summer, and he and I hit upon the collapsible +canoe as a remembrance so simple and inexpensive that you young +men were quite likely to accept it." + +"Mr. Ripley," begged Dick earnestly, "will you accept the very +best thanks of us all for that canoe? And will you please convey +our deepest gratitude to Mr. Page? We couldn't have had anything +that would have delighted us as much." + +Readers of the preceding volume of this series are well aware +of the reason of Mr. Page's great gratitude to Dick & Co. + +The next Tottenville car that came along had Dick Prescott for +one of its passengers. + +This narrative, however, has been finished. That trolley, to +Tottenville really belongs to the next and final volume in this +series, which is published under the title, "_The High School +Boys' Training Hike; Or, Making Themselves 'Hard as Nails_." + +This new story will be found to contain the full record of a most +wonderful vacation jaunt taken by six young champions of the Gridley +High School football squad. + +Yet this jaunt did not consist wholly of training work, for Dick +& Co. fell in with a lot of tremendously exciting adventures. + +What these were and how Dick & Co. acted under amazingly strange +circumstances will be set forth fully in that volume. + +*** END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 12730 *** diff --git a/LICENSE.txt b/LICENSE.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..6312041 --- /dev/null +++ b/LICENSE.txt @@ -0,0 +1,11 @@ +This eBook, including all associated images, markup, improvements, +metadata, and any other content or labor, has been confirmed to be +in the PUBLIC DOMAIN IN THE UNITED STATES. + +Procedures for determining public domain status are described in +the "Copyright How-To" at https://www.gutenberg.org. + +No investigation has been made concerning possible copyrights in +jurisdictions other than the United States. Anyone seeking to utilize +this eBook outside of the United States should confirm copyright +status under the laws that apply to them. diff --git a/README.md b/README.md new file mode 100644 index 0000000..73b47e3 --- /dev/null +++ b/README.md @@ -0,0 +1,2 @@ +Project Gutenberg (https://www.gutenberg.org) public repository for +eBook #12730 (https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/12730) diff --git a/old/12730.txt b/old/12730.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..fbfeaaf --- /dev/null +++ b/old/12730.txt @@ -0,0 +1,7487 @@ +The Project Gutenberg eBook, The High School Boys' Fishing Trip, by H. +Irving Hancock + + +This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with +almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + + + + + +Title: The High School Boys' Fishing Trip + +Author: H. Irving Hancock + +Release Date: June 25, 2004 [eBook #12730] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: US-ASCII + + +***START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE HIGH SCHOOL BOYS' FISHING +TRIP*** + + +E-text prepared by Jim Ludwig + + + +The High School Boys Fishing Trip +or +Dick & Co. in the Wilderness + +By H. Irving Hancock + + + + + + + +CONTENTS + +CHAPTERS + I. Tom Reade has a "Brand-New One" + II. Dodge and Bayless Hear Something + III. Dick & Co. Driven Up a Tree + IV. Stalling the Red Smattach + V. Bert Dodge Hears the Battle Cry + VI. Paid in Full---To Date + VII. The Box That Set Them Guessing + VIII. The Man With the Haunting Face + IX. The Start of a Bad Night + X. Powder Mills, or Just What! + XI. In a Fever "To Find Out" + XII. Dick Makes a Find + XIII. Perhaps Ten Thousand Years Old + XIV. More Mystery in the Air + XV. The Scream That Started a Race + XVI. The Camp Invaded and Captured + XVII. Dick Makes Fish Talk + XVIII. A Kettle of Hot Water for Someone + XIX. Bert Dodge Hears Frightful News + XX. A Frenzied Ride to Safety + XXI. Real News and "Punk Heroes" + XXII. Tom Tells the Big Secret + XXIII. "Four of Us are Pin-Heads!" + XXIV. Conclusion + + + + + +CHAPTER I + +TOM READE HAS A "BRAND-NEW ONE" + + +"Hello, Timmy!" + +"'Lo, Reade." + +"Warm night," observed Tom Reade, as he paused not far from the +street corner to wipe his perspiring face and neck with his handkerchief. + +"Middling warm," admitted Timmy Finbrink. + +Yet the heat couldn't have made him extremely uncomfortable, for +Tom Reade, amiable and budding senior in the Gridley High School, +smiled good naturedly as he stood surveying as much as he could +make out of the face of Timmy Finbrink in that dark stretch of +the street. + +Timmy was merely a prospective freshman, having been graduated +a few days before from the North Grammar School in Gridley. + +Tom, himself, had been graduated, three years before, from the +fine old Central Grammar, whence, in his estimation, all the "regular" +boys came. As a North Grammar boy, Timmy was to be regarded only +with easygoing indifference. Yet a tale of woe quickly made Tom +Reade his young fellow citizen's instant ally. + +"Aren't you out pretty late, Timmy, for a boy who isn't even a +regular high school freshman as yet?" inquired Reade, with another +smile. "It's almost nine-thirty, you know." + +"Don't I know?" wailed Timmy Finbrink, with something of a shiver. +"It's getting later every minute, too, and I'm due for a trouncing +when I do go in, so what's the odds?" + +"Who's going to give you that trouncing?" Tom demanded. + +"My father," replied Timmy Finbrink. + +"What have you been doing?" + +"Pop told me to be upstairs and in bed by nine o'clock, without +fail," Timmy explained. "I came along just five minutes ago, +and found that pop has the house planted for me. I can't slip +in without his knowing it." + +"Oho! So your father has the other members of the family stationed +where they can see you, whichever way you go into the house?" +asked Reade, with genuine interest in the unfortunate Timmy. + +"Nope," explained Timmy, with another shiver. "Mother and sister +are away visiting, and pop is all alone in the house." + +"But he can't watch both the front and back doors at the same +time," Reade suggested hopefully. + +"Can't he do just that, though?" sputtered Timmy. "I've been +scouting on tip-toe around the house to get the lay of the land. +Pop is smoking his pipe, and has placed his chair so that he +can see both the back and the front doors, for he has the room +doors open right through. There isn't a ghost of a show to get +in without being seen---and pop has the strap on a chair beside +him!" finished Timmy, with an anticipatory shiver. + +"Timmy, you're a fearfully slow boy," Tom drawled. + +"What do you mean?" + +"I can fix it so you can get into the house while your father +is doing something else," Tom declared. + +"Can you? How? Ring the front door bell, while I slip in at +the back door?" + +"Nothing as stale as that," scoffed Tom Reade. "That wouldn't +call for any brains, you see. Come along and we'll look over +the lay of the land. Cheer up, Timmy! You'll have plenty of +chance to slip into the house, get upstairs, undressed and be +in bed before your father has time to get over the surprise that's +coming to him." + +"What are you going to-----" Timmy began breathlessly, but Tom +interrupted him with: + +"Keep quiet, and be ready to follow orders fast." + +As they gained the front gate of the Finbrink yard Tom's keen +eyes noted a brick lying on the grass. As that was just what +he wanted, he pounced upon it. + +"Now, Timmy, do you know where you can find a fairly good-sized +bottle---without going into the house or taking the risk of being +seen by your father?" + +"Yes; there's one back of the house, with the ashes," Timmy answered +eagerly. + +"Go and get it, and don't make any noise." + +Timmy disappeared in the darkness beyond, but soon returned carrying +an empty quart bottle. + +"Good enough!" whispered Reade, eyeing the bottle with cordial +interest. Then he noiselessly approached the house, laying the +brick on the grass under one of the front windows. + +"Now, Timmy, you slip around to the back of the house," whispered +the young schemer. "Just as soon as you hear a crash you watch +your swiftest chance to slip into the house and upstairs to bed. +Understand?" + +"Sure! What you-----" + +"Don't stop to ask questions. Get on your mark and look out for +your own best interests!" + +Rejoicing in the possession of such a valuable ally as Tom Reade, +Timmy vanished in the darkness. Tom Reade waited until he judged +that the youngster must be in position near the back door. Now +Tom gripped the bottle in his left hand, crouching over the brick. + +With his felt hat in his right hand, Tom reached up, hitting a +window pane smartly with the hat. At the same instant he brought +the bottle crashing down over the brick. + +As the bottle smashed against the brick Mr. Finbrink, in the dining +room of the house, jumped up so quickly that he dropped his pipe. + +"Some young rascal has smashed a front window!" he gasped, as +he bolted into the parlor. + +That was just what the noise had sounded like, and Tom Reade had +intended that it should do so. + +"I'll catch the young scamp!" gasped Mr. Finbrink, making a rush +for the front door, which he pulled open. + +Pausing an instant, he heard the sound of running feet in the +distance. + +"The young scoundrel went west, and he has a good start," grunted +Mr. Finbrink, as he gave chase in that direction. "Hang it, I +don't believe I can catch him!" + +That guess proved well founded. After running a short distance +Mr. Finbrink halted. He had not caught sight of the fugitive, +nor could he now hear the running steps. + +"I wonder how many panes of glass the young scamp broke?" muttered +the irate Mr. Finbrink. + +Retracing his steps quickly, Mr. Finbrink halted in front of his +house, scanning the windows. Not a crack in a window pane could +he discern, which was not remarkable, in view of the fact that +no panes of glass had been broken. + +"I need a lantern," Mr. Finbrink said to himself, and went inside +the house. Soon afterwards he came out with a lighted lantern, +and began his inspection. Three windows showed no sign of damage. +Nor did the fourth. Then Mr. Finbrink chanced to glance down +at the ground. There rested the brick, the fragments of the broken +bottle lying around it. + +"Say, what's that? What's that?" ejaculated Mr. Finbrink, much +puzzled. Soon, however, he began to see light on the riddle. +His lips parted in a grin; the grin became a chuckle. + +"Humph! That goes ahead of anything I ever had the brains to +think up when I was a boy," laughed the man. "That's a good one! +It sounded for all the world as though someone had smashed one +of my windows with a brick-bat. Ha, ha, ha! That's an all right +one! I'd be willing to shake hands with the boy who put up that +joke on me. How about my own Timmy, I wonder? No; Timmy wouldn't +be smart enough for this one---but he may have smart friends. +I'll look up that young hopeful of mine!" + +With that purpose in view, the lantern still in his hand, Mr. +Finbrink passed into the house and then up the back stairs. On +the next floor he pushed open the door of a room, holding the +lantern high as he scanned the bed. + +There lay Master Timmy, covered only with a sheet, his head sunk +in the depths of a pillow, eyes tightly closed, and breathing +with almost mechanical rhythm. + +"Oh, you're asleep, aren't you?" demanded his father, in a low, +ironical voice. "How long have you been asleep, Tim?" + +But Timmy's only answer was the beginning of a snore. + +"Are you very tired, Timmy?" continued his father craftily. + +Still no answer. + +Mr. Finbrink held the lantern so that the rays shone fully against +the boy's closed eyelids. Any youngster genuinely asleep would +have opened his eyes instantly, and Mr. Finbrink knew it. But +Timmy began to snore in earnest. + +"I'm glad you sleep so soundly," went on Mr. Finbrink. "It shows, +boy, what a clear conscience you have! No guile in your heart! +But I wish you'd wake up and tell me who broke the bottle against +the brick and made me sprint down the street." + +Still young Master Timmy snored. + +"In your sleeve you're laughing, to think how you fooled your +father, aren't you?" murmured Mr. Finbrink. "Well, it was a good +joke, and I admit it, young man, so I'm not going to trounce you +this time. But I'd be glad if you'd wake up and tell me who put +you up to that game." + +Master Timmy, however, was disobliging enough to slumber on. + +"All right, then," nodded the father. "I say again, it was a +good joke. Good night!" + +Only a little louder snore served as the son's answer. Mr. Finbrink +went out, closed the door and his footsteps sounded down the hallway. + +"Whew!" gasped Master Timmy, opening his eyes presently. "That +was a mighty narrow squeak! But I got out of it this time. +That Tom Reade is a sure enough wonder!" + +Mr. Finbrink, however, had slipped back, catfooted, and was now +outside the door, where he could hear the barely audible mutterings +of his son and heir. + +"So it was Tom Reade, eh?" murmured Mr. Finbrink, as he started +for the stairs in earnest this time. "I might have guessed it +was Tom Reade. He has genius enough for even greater things than +that. But Timmy has certainly helped, at least, to earn a right +not to be strapped this time." Then the father returned to his +chair downstairs, to resume his interrupted smoke. Within the +next half hour Mr. Finbrink chuckled many a time over the remembrance +of the pranks of his boyhood days. + +"But we had no Tom Reade in _our_ crowd in those good old days," +he repeated to himself several times. "If we had had a Tom Reade +among us, I think we would have beaten any crowd of boys of to-day!" + +Meanwhile Tom's love of mischief was speeding him into other experiences +ere he reached his bed that night. Some of the consequences of +his mischievous prank were to be immediate, others more remote. + +"Humph! But that did sound just like a window breaking," Tom +chuckled as he slowed down to a walk. "Whee! I'd like to show +that one to Dick Prescott. I wonder if he is up yet?" + +Whereupon Tom walked briskly over to the side street, just off +Main Street, whereon stood the book store of Prescott, Senior, +with the Prescotts' living rooms overhead. + +"Good evening, Mr. Prescott. Good evening, Mrs. Prescott," was +Tom's greeting as he walked into the store. "Is Dick up yet?" + +"He went upstairs not more than two minutes ago," Mrs. Prescott +replied. "He can't be asleep yet. Shall I call upstairs to see?" + +"On second thought, perhaps not," Tom replied. "Thank you, just +as much. But I've something new that I'd like to show Dick. +Do you mind if I slip out around the back of the store and try +a new trick on him? It won't hurt anyone; there'll be a crash +of glass, but it won't break any good glass---merely a bottle." + +"I think that perhaps our son needs a little enlivening," smiled +Mr. Prescott. + +"Thank you," answered Tom. "You won't be startled, will you, +Mrs. Prescott?" + +"I don't see how I can possibly be startled, when I've been so +kindly warned," laughed Mrs. Prescott. + +Then, as Reade darted from the store, Mrs. Prescott added, to +her husband: + +"I think the back of Tom Reade's head contains more pranks than +that of any other boy I ever knew." + +"I don't imagine our own son is any too far behind him," replied +Mr. Prescott dryly. + +A minute or two passed. Then there sounded under one of the store's +rear windows a most realistic crash of glass. With it mingled +another sound, not so easy to determine, followed by a loud yell +and the noise of running feet. Now, out in the street the cry +sounded: + +"There he goes! Get him!" + +"Throw him down and hold him!" yelled another voice. + +"Mercy!" gasped Mrs. Prescott. + +"Don't be alarmed, my dear," smiled Mr. Prescott. "It's only +the natural aftermath of Tom Reade's newest startler." + +Was it? + +Dick Prescott, after yawning twice, and before starting to disrobe, +had decided that his adjustable screen was not fixed in the window +of his bedroom as securely as it should be. In endeavoring to +fix it he found it necessary to remove the screen from the window. +Hardly had he done so when, gazing down into the darkness, he +saw a dimly visible figure flitting over the ground below. + +"Who's that?" murmured Dick to himself. "What's up?" + +Whoever the prowler was, he was flitting over to the ash cans +set out by a neighbor. One can contained ashes only, the other +contained various kinds of rubbish. It took the prowler but a +moment to find an empty bottle in the second can. Then he came +straight over toward the rear window of the store, which was +situated directly under Dick's own window. + +"There's some mischief afloat," murmured Dick, unable to recognize +his chum in the darkness. "I can't get down in time to catch +him, but I'll mark him so that I'll know him when I overtake him." + +Tip-toeing over to his washstand, Dick quickly picked up the water +pitcher. He returned to his window just as Tom crouched under +the store window with a bottle in his left hand and his felt hat +in his right. + +Then Tom struck the harmless blow against the window, at the same +time breaking the bottle. + +Smash! + +Splash! + +"Gracious!" gasped Dick, believing that the store window had been +broken. + +A yell from Tom arose as the contents of the pitcher deluged him. + +Reade was up and away like a shot, reaching the street only to +cause a hue and cry to be started after him as he ran. + +So swiftly had Tom moved, that by the time Dick Prescott reached +the street both pursuers and pursued were a block away and going +fast. Dick was about to join the chase when his father called +after him: + +"Dick! Dick! Come back here!" + +"Yes, sir," replied young Prescott, halting, wheeling, then springing +back. "But that scoundrel smashed the rear store window!" + +"No, he didn't," laughed Mr. Prescott. "That was Tom Reade, and +he was playing a trick on you---with our permission. Now he's +being chased. Do you want to go out and aid that crowd in capturing +him?" + +"Of course I don't, sir," replied Dick, who knew full well that +such a sturdy high school athlete as Tom Reade was in very little +danger of being caught by any citizen runners to be found on the +street at that time of night. "But what did Tom do, Dad?" + +"I don't just know," admitted the bookseller. "Reade told us +there would be a smash of glass, but that it would be harmless. +He warned your mother, Dick, so that she wouldn't he startled +when it came. Tom did the right thing in warning your mother. +I wish all boys could realize that only cowards and fools go +about frightening women." + +"But something else happened," insisted Mrs. Prescott. "I wonder +what it was?" + +"Suppose we take a lantern and go out in the back yard and see," +proposed Dick. + +While Dick was finding the lantern the elder Prescott closed the +front of the store, also drawing down the shades for the night. + +Dick's mother followed him into the rear yard. The fragments +of the bottle under one of the store windows told the whole story +to one as experienced in jokes as Dick Prescott. + +"But see how wet the ground is," Mrs. Prescott remarked after +Dick had explained the trick. + +"That was because I didn't recognize the joker, and emptied the +contents of my water pitcher on him just as he broke the bottle," +Dick smiled. "Poor old Tom. That was really a shame!" + +"But why did you pour the water on him?" asked Mrs. Prescott. + +"Because I felt sure that the prowler was up to some mischief, +and I wanted to mark him for identification, mother," Dick explained. +"If we had found a fellow on the street looking as though he +had just come out of the river, we'd have known our man, wouldn't +we? Poor Tom! I don't blame him for letting out that yell when +that drenching splash hit him." + +"I hope he didn't get caught by the men who started after him," +sighed Mrs. Prescott. + +"Don't worry about Tom, mother," urged Dick. "No one about here +could catch him, unless he happened to be a member of the Gridley +High School Eleven!" + +But was it true that Tom Reade had escaped without disaster? +That remained to be seen. + + + + +CHAPTER II + +DODGE AND BAYLISS HEAR SOMETHING + + +"If we start to-morrow we must hustle all day long to-day," declared +Dave Darrin. + +"That's true," agreed Greg Holmes, as the two boys stood on a +side street not far from Main Street in Gridley. + +"I wish the rest of the fellows would hurry along," Dave went +on impatiently. + +"At all events, I wish Dick would hurry up, as he has charge of +the arrangements," Greg made answer. "Oh, my! But I'm getting +anxious to see the fish nibble." + +"I thought you didn't care especially about fishing," Dave murmured, +regarding his friend. + +"Probably, as far as mere fishing goes, I don't care so very much," +young Holmes assented. "But when fishing means weeks of outdoor +life, free from the noise and dust of the town---then I'm simply +wild about fishing as an excuse for getting away. Probably at +the end of our fun we'll all be so sick of fish, from having had +to eat so much of it, that any one of us will run away and hide +when we suspect that the home folks are planning to send us on +errands to a fish store. It would be all the same to me if we +were going clamming, or hunting, or on any other kind of expedition, +as long as it brought us to life under canvas and sleeping in +the very place where pure, fresh air is made. Here comes Dick +now!" + +Young Prescott came swiftly up to his friends. + +"Well, I think I've gotten about everything fixed," Dick announced. + +"Tell us all the plans," urged Greg eagerly. + +"What's the matter with waiting until all the other fellows show +up?" Prescott inquired. "That will save me from having to go +twice over the same ground. While we're waiting I'll tell you +Tom Reade's latest one." + +"A funny trick?" queried Greg. + +"Needless question!" rebuked Dave Darrin. "Tell us about the +latest one, Dick." + +Thereupon the leader of Dick & Co. told of Tom's scheme for making +people think one of their windows broken. + +"Did it sound real?" Dave demanded. + +"Did it?" inquired Dick. "It fooled me. I thought surely that +our rear store window had been smashed to pieces. The sound is +as natural as any joker could wish. But I haven't told you the +other half of the story." + +Thereupon Dick told about the pitcher of water dumped so unerringly +on Tom, and of Reade's flight with the crowd pursuing him. + +"I'd like to have been near enough to hear just what Tom said +when the water struck him," laughed Darrin. + +"Did the people running after him catch him?" asked Greg. + +"I don't believe so," Dick Prescott smiled. "When Tom gets under +way in earnest, his middle name, as you may have observed, is +Double Speed---and then a bit more." + +"Who's talking about me?" gruffly demanded Reade, coming up behind +the group. "Dick, you old rascal! That was a mean trick you +played upon me when you hurled that water down on me last night! +But say, didn't it sound just like a three dollar pane of glass +going to pieces?" + +"It certainly did," laughed Prescott. "And by the way, Tom, did +the water, when it struck, make you think at all about what you've +read of Niagara Falls?" + +"Hang you!" grumbled Tom, shaking a fist. "Why did you pour the +wet stuff on me like that?" + +"Because I was fooled myself," Dick promptly rejoined. "I thought +some rascal was plotting mischief to the store. I wanted to mark +that rascal with a suit of wet clothes, then run down in the street +and collar him with his wet clothes on as a marker. But Dad called +me back, and so I missed you. I heard the crowd after you, however. +Did you get caught, Tom?" + +Reade's answer was something of a growl. + +"What happened between you and the crowd?" pressed Darrin, scenting +some news from Reade's mysterious, half-sulky manner. + +"Never you mind," Tom growled. + +"Don't tell us," Dick urged. "We can guess a few things, anyway. +You've a bruised spot over your left cheek bone that looks like +the mark of a punch on the face." + +"Go ahead and tell us what happened, Tom," urged Greg. + +Reade only scowled. + +"Anyway, you must have avenged yourself," Dick smiled. "Just +look at the way the knuckles of your right hand are skinned. +You certainly hit someone hard." + +Tom flushed quickly as he glanced at the knuckles in question, +then thrust his right hand into his pocket with an air of indifference. + +"Be a good fellow and tell us the finish of the adventure," begged +Darrin. + +"Certainly," grinned Reade. "The end of my adventure was-----" + +"Yes, yes!" pressed Greg, as Tom hesitated. + +"The end of the adventure came," Tom continued maliciously, "when +I turned out the gas in my little room and hopped into bed. I +slept like a top, thank you." + +"Now, now, now!" Dick warned him. "Thomas, you're hiding something +from us!" + +"If I am, it's my own business, and I've a right to hide it," +retorted Tom, smiling once more, though still uncommunicative. + +At this moment Hazelton and Dan Dalzell, otherwise known as Danny +Grin, came up. They, too, had to hear all about the bottle-breaking +trick. + +"How did you ever come to think of a thing like that, Tom?" asked +Harry Hazelton. + +"I thought of it before I tried it out at Dick's," Reade rejoined, +and explained how he had helped Timmy Finbrink out of a scrape. + +"What did you say the fellow's name is, Tom?" Dick asked. + +"His name is Timmy Finbrink," Reade rejoined, "and he looks the +part. Just one glance at Timmy, and you know that he's all that +the name implies." + +Then followed, for the benefit of the two latest arrivals, the +story of Tom's attempt in the rear of the Prescott bookstore. + +Harry and Dalzell duly admired the bruise on Tom's face. + +"Now, be a gentleman, Tom," urged Harry mischievously, "and let +us have a good, satisfying look at your skinned knuckles." + +"Umph!" grunted Reade. + +"Or, at least," pursued Harry relentlessly, "tell us just what +it was into which you ran to get such a mark on your face." + +"Umph!" retorted Reade once more. "Danny, in the name of mercy, +take that grin of yours around the corner and lose it!" + +"I'll try," promised Dan, "provided you'll tell us who caught +you last night, and why he punched your face." + +But Tom, knowing that he had them all wild with curiosity, refused +to reveal the secret. + +"Now, let's get back to the big fishing trip," begged Greg Holmes. +"Dick, what's the plan?" + +"We start to-morrow," Prescott rejoined. + +"Humph!" grunted Holmes. "We knew that all along. What we want +are the particulars in detail." + +"In the next place, then," Dick replied, "we shall devote a good +deal of our time, while away, to the pleasurable excitement of +fishing." + +"Perhaps you won't be able to get away," Greg retorted, "if you +go on stringing us in that fashion. I warn you that we're becoming +impatient." + +"That's right," nodded Dave Darrin. "Get down to actual particulars, +Dick." + +"Well, then," Prescott resumed, "we meet at the same old grocery +store in the morning. There we stock up with food." + +"Are we going to hire a horse and wagon for transporting our tent, +cots, bedding and food?" Dan asked. + +"No," Dick replied. "I've been thinking that over, and the funds +won't stand it. So I've rented a push cart for two dollars. +We can keep it as long as we need it. The tent, folding cots, +blankets, pillows and kitchen utensils will go on the cart." + +"Do we have to push that cart?" demanded Danny Grin, looking displeased. + +"We do, if we want the cart to go along with us," Dick admitted. + +Danny Grin groaned dismally as he remarked: + +"That one detail of the arrangements just about spoils all the +pleasure of the trip, then." + +"No, it won't," Dick reported promptly. "I've looked into that. +The wheels are well greased---the axles, I mean. I've loaded +the cart with more weight than we shall put on it, and it pushes +along very easily. If we come to a bad stretch of road, then +two fellows can manage the cart at a time. The scheme saves us +a lot of expense, fellows." + +"Will all the food go on the cart, tool" asked Dave. + +"Each one of us can carry some of the food," Dick replied. + +Then his eye, roving from face to face, took in the fact that +his chums were not impressed with the proposed method of +transportation. + +"Cheer up, fellows," he begged. "You'll find that it will be +pretty easy, after all." + +"I'd rather believe you, Dick, than have it proved to me," was +Tom Reade's dejected answer. "I thought we were going away for +pleasure and rest, but I suppose we can work our way if we have to." + +None of these high school boys are strangers to our readers. +Everyone remembers the first really public appearance of Dick +& Co., as set forth in the first volume of the "_Grammar School +Boys Series_." Then we met them again in the first volume of +the "_High School Boys Series_," entitled, "_The High School Freshmen_." +That stormy first year of high school life was one that Dick +& Co. could never forget. In the second volume, "_The High School +Pitcher_," we found Dick & Co. actively engaged in athletics, +though in their sophomore year they did not attempt to make the +eleven, but waited until the spring to try for the baseball nine. +In the third volume, "_The High School Left End_," Dick & Co. +were shown in their struggles to make the eleven, against some +clever candidates, and also in the face of bitter opposition from +a certain clique of high school boys who considered themselves +to be of better social standing than Dick and his chosen comrades. + +In the "_High School Boys' Vacation Series_" our readers have +followed Dick & Co. through their summer pleasures and sports. +In the first volume of this present series, "_The High School +Boys' Canoe Club_," the adventures are described that fell to +the lot of Prescott, Darrin, Reade and the others in the summer +following their freshman high school year. In the second volume, +"_The High School Boys In Summer Camp_," our readers found an +absorbing narrative of the startling doings of Dick & Co. in the +summer following their sophomore year. And now, in this present +volume, we at last come upon our young friends at the beginning +of their vacation season after the completion of their junior +year, with its football victories. Now they are budding seniors, +ready to enter the final, graduating class of Gridley High School +in the coming autumn. + +As Dick looked into the faces of his chums he laughed. + +"So you don't like the push-cart idea, eh?" he demanded. "All +right; if you fellows would rather loaf than eat-----" + +"We can hire a horse, and still have money enough left to eat," +protested Tom. "See here, Dick, although fishing is great fun +while it lasts, we shan't be out all summer on a fishing trip. +We don't need such a lot of money for, say, only a two or three +weeks' trip." + +"Yes; I think two or three weeks will see us in from our fishing +trip," Prescott admitted. "But if we do come back early, fellows, +then we shall need some other kind of a trip for August, won't we?" + +"Say, that's right!" cried Dave Darrin, his eyes glistening. +"Fellows, we are troubled with wooden heads. While we've been +thinking of nothing but a fishing trip in July, Dick has actually +had the brains to figure out that we might like to go away on +some other kind of outing in August." + +"Such an idea did occur to me," replied Dick. + +"What's the scheme for August, Dick?" demanded Greg eagerly. + +"Out with it!" insisted Hazelton. + +Dick shook his head. + +"Now, don't be mean," insisted Danny Grin. "Dick, you owe it +to us, almost, to let us get a little look at the machinery that's +moving in the back of your head." + +"I haven't an August plan---at least, not one that is clear enough +for me to submit it and put it to vote before you," Dick went +on. "Fellows, let's set about this present fishing trip, for +this month, and then, while we're away, talk up the proper scheme +for August. Whatever we do in the way of fun, next month, will +be sure to be better planned if we wait a little before talking +it over." + +"All right, then," agreed Tom Reade with a sigh. "But I warn +you, Dick, and all you fellows, that if Prescott is too stingy +with news about his August plan, I shall put forth one of my own." + +"What's your August plan, Tom?" demanded Greg. + +"I'm not going to tell you---yet," Reade rejoined, shaking his +head mysteriously. + +"There are a lot of things that you're not telling us," Dave reminded +him. "Just for one little thing, you're not telling us what happened +to you last night after you let a lot of strange men chase you +out of Dick's street." + +"They didn't chase me off the street!" declared Tom indignantly. + +"Then what did happen?" quizzed Danny Grin. + +"They all tried to beat me in a foot race," Tom declared, "and +I put it all over them!" + +"Yet someone must have passed you, or got in front of you," teased +Greg. "Look at the bruise on your face, and your knuckles." + +"Oh, that happened when-----" began Tom, then paused abruptly. + +"Yes, yes," pressed Danny Grin. "Tell us about it." + +"All right," agreed Tom, "I will. You see, when I got home and +into bed, I had a sort of nightmare. Just suppose, for instance, +that the mark on my face is where the nightmare kicked me and +that I skinned my knuckles against the bedstead when I tried to +jump over the bed to return the nightmare's kick." + +"Tom Reade," called Dave sternly, "hold up your right hand!" + +"Look out, Darry! You're not going to ask Tom to swear to the +truth of a yarn like that, are you?" asked Dick anxiously. + +"You may let your hand down again, young man," decided Dave, and +Tom, as his hand reached his side, heaved a sigh expressive of +great relief. + +"Now, have you fellows got your tackle all ready?" Dick went on. +"Remember the different things in the way of tackle that each +of us was to bring." + +The others assured their leader that the matter of tackle had +been attended to. + +"Then your bedding and your clothing are the only other matters +to be considered," Dick went on, "as we're to travel light." + +"As we don't take a horse along," suggested Tom, "then I take +it that we are not going to carry any planking for a tent floor." + +"We can't very well do that," Dick answered him. "Fellows, the +real thing for us to do, on this trip, is to learn how to move +fast and light. We must learn how to do without many things and +yet have just as good a time." + +"I think that's good sense," murmured Dave. "At the same time, +I'll admit, at first blush, that I don't care particularly for +the motion of the push cart. That means a lot of extra work for +us, if we change camping sites often." + +"Then let's put it to a vote whether to hire a horse and wagon, +and give up the idea of an August trip," proposed Dick. + +"No need whatever of taking any vote," broke in Tom. "All of +us want that August trip, too, and we know that we haven't purses +as big as a bank's vault." + +And that opinion prevailed, without dissent. + +"Greg's house ought to be the best place to keep the push cart +over night," Dick continued. "I'll have the cart there at four +this afternoon. Suppose you fellows meet us there, with your +bedding and clothing for the trip?" + +This also was agreed upon. + +While the boys stood there chatting not one of them suspected +how eagerly they were being watched by two pairs of eyes. + +On the same side of the street, only a door below them, was an +unrented cottage. One of the windows of this cottage, upstairs, +was open, though closed blinds concealed the fact. Between these +blinds peered two young men. + +That cottage was the property of Mr. Dodge, vice-president of +one of Gridley's banks. + +Readers of "_The High School Left End_" have good reason to remember +the banker's son, Bert Dodge. He and his friend, Bayliss, also +the scion of a wealthy family, had been members of the notorious +"sorehead" group in the last year's football squad at Gridley +High School. + +As our readers well remember, Dodge and Bayliss had carried their +opposition to Dick & Co. to such dishonorable extent that they +had been given the "silence" by the boys and girls attending the +Gridley High School. + +Dodge and Bayliss had thereupon left home to attend a private +school, and they had gone away from Gridley with bitter hatred +of Dick & Co. rankling in their hearts. + +Just at this present moment Dodge and Bayliss were back in the +home town. Deeply and properly humiliated by the contempt with +which they were regarded in Gridley, these two "soreheads" had +concealed from all but members of their families the fact that +they were in town. + +Bert had secured from his father the keys of the cottage. Two +cots had been placed in a front room. Late the night before +Dodge had brought food supplies to the cottage. Here the two +youngsters were to remain secretly for a few days until Bayliss +received from his family, then abroad, the money needed for his +summer outing. What the elder Dodge did not know or even suspect, +was that his son and Bayliss had returned with some half-formed +plans of paying back old scores against Dick & Co. + +"I knew this cottage was the place for us," Bert whispered. "As +I told you, Bayliss, this corner is a favorite meeting place for +Prescott and his fellow muckers." + +"From what I hear, they're going to leave town for a few weeks," +replied Bayliss. + +"Yes; going out into the wilds on some sort of fishing jaunt." + +"I wish we knew their plans better than we do," murmured Bayliss. + +"Don't believe they know 'em themselves any too well," sneered +Bert Dodge. "However, we don't need to know where they're going. +We can follow 'em, can't we?" + +"Yes; and get jolly well thumped for our pains, maybe," retorted +Bayliss dryly. + +"Well, if you're afraid, we'll let 'em depart in peace," mocked +Bert. + +"Who's afraid?" demanded Bayliss irritably. + +"I hope you're not," retorted Bert Dodge. + +"If you're not afraid---if you're as thoroughly game as I am---then +we'll have some satisfaction out of those fellows." + +"Lead me to it!" ordered Bayliss hotly. + +"I will, to-morrow morning," promised Bert Dodge. "If you stick +to me, we'll make those muckers sorry they ever knew us!" + +"We must be under way by nine o'clock," the listeners heard Dick +say. "We go west, over Main Street. We must start promptly, +for we have sixteen miles to go to our first camp at the second +lake in the Cheney Forest." + +"Do you hear that?" whispered Bert. "The idiots have given us +their full route! We can leave at four in the morning, and won't +have to follow 'em at all. We can be there ahead of time, and +have all the lines laid." + +"Somehow," sounded Dave Darrin's voice, "I have a hunch, fellows, +that we're going to have the finest time we ever had in our lives." + +"We would have," sighed Tom Reade, "if it weren't for that push +cart." + +"At four o'clock this afternoon, then, and be prompt," called +Dick, preparing to leave the others. + +"Wait a moment," urged Dave. + +"What's the matter?" inquired Dick, halting. + +"Tom's just on the point of telling us what really happened to +him last night," smiled Darry. + +"Humph!" grunted Reade, walking briskly away. + +"I can tell what's going to happen to 'em all on some other nights," +whispered Bert Dodge in his friend's ear. + +"To get square with those muckers, who drove us out of Gridley +High School and out of town is my only excuse for living at present," +sniffed Bayliss. + + + + +CHAPTER III + +DICK & CO. DRIVEN UP A TREE + + +"Dick!" + +"Yes?" replied Prescott, turning and looking back at Tom, whose +turn it now was to furnish motive power to the loaded cart. + +"How far did you say it was from Gridley to the second lake?" +asked Reade. + +"Sixteen miles." + +"I've pushed the cart more than that far already," grunted Tom. +"I'm willing to wager that the lake is more than a hundred and +twenty miles from Gridley." + +"Suppose it is," scoffed Dave, falling back beside the cart "Tom, +just think of the fine training your back muscles are getting +out of this work!" + +"I'll tell you all about that, Darry," grumbled Reade, "when you've +had your turn for ten minutes. How much longer does my turn run, +Dick?" + +"Five minutes," replied Prescott, after glancing at his watch. +"Are you going to be able to hold out that long?" + +"Yes; if I live that long," sighed Tom. + +Dick and Hazelton had each taken their fifteen minute turns at +pushing the cart. The boys had already put some distance between +themselves and Gridley. Dick & Co. were tramping down a well-shaded +road bounded by prosperous-looking farms. Two miles further on +the boys would branch off through a long stretch of woods where +the road was rougher. Here two youngsters would be needed for +the work, one pushing, while the other hauled on a rope made fast +to the front of the cart. + +Five of the boys were well laden with miscellaneous packages of +food. Tom, on account of pushing the cart, had been permitted +to place his load on the already well-packed cart. + +"Time's up," called Dick. "Dave to the bat." + +Smiling, Darry packed his own parcels in the cart. + +"Whew! But it's good to get away from that thing," grunted Reade, +mopping his forehead, as he stalked on ahead. + +"Here, you, Tom!" called Danny Grin. "Take your personal pack +off the cart and tote it like the rest of us." + +Reade turned a comically scowling face to Dalzell. + +"Danny," he demanded rebukingly, "why couldn't you hold your tongue?" + +"Because, when I'm working hard, I don't like to see you shirk," +replied Dalzell with a complacent grin. + +"But consider Darry," urged Reade. "Note how strong, lithe and +supple he is. Boy, he is much better fitted for pushing my personal +pack on the cart than I am for carrying it." + +"Stick a pin in the chat, Tom," advised Darrin briefly, "and take +your truck off the cart. I want to begin enjoying myself." + +"I'd carry twice as much as I have to, just for the sheer joy +of hearing you kick like a Texas maverick by the time you've had +the cart handles for two minutes," laughed Tom, as he took his +own parcels off the cart. "Now, David, little giant, let us see +you buckle down to your task---like a real or imitation man!" + +Darry braced himself, gave a hitch, then started forward briskly. + +"Get out of the way, you loiterers!" called Dave, overtaking Tom +and Greg and shoving the front end of the cart against them. +"Don't block the road!" + +"That's what comes of hitching an express engine to a freight +load," grunted Reade, as he made for the side of the road, brushing +his clothes. + +There was bound to be a lot of "kicking" over the work of handling +the push cart, but Dick & Co. were in high spirits this hot July +morning. + +Weeks before, when first planning this trip, all had begun to +"save up" toward outfits of khaki, leggings and all, and blue +flannel shirts. These khaki clothes made the most serviceable +of all camping costumes. + +"I begin to feel like a soldier," laughed Dick contentedly. + +"So do I," agreed Tom Reade. "I feel like a poor dub of a soldier +who has been sent to march across a continent on the line of +the equator. I believe eggs would cook in any of my pockets!" + +"Cut out all the grumbling and the discomfort talk," warned Dave +Darrin. + +"Well, I don't know that I need to grumble, if you can feel contented +behind that old cart," laughed Reade. "How does it go, Darry?" + +"I haven't begun to notice, as yet," replied Dave coolly. + +Tom eyed him suspiciously. + +"Darry," he remarked presently, "you're talented." + +"In what way?" Dave inquired. + +"You're one of the most talented fibbers I ever encountered. +You've been pushing that cart all of four minutes, and you pretend +that you don't notice the work." + +"I expected to work when I left home," Darrin informed him. "If +I hadn't felt that I could endure a little fatigue, then I'd have +remained at home and looked for a job sleeping in a mattress factory's +show-room." + +Tom subsided after that. Dave's fifteen minutes were up presently, +but he declined to accept relief at the push cart until they reached +the point where their road branched off on to the rougher highway. +Now, Greg and Hazelton took the cart, Greg at the handles, Hazelton +pulling ahead on the rope. + +Thus they went along, for some five minutes, when Dick, who was +in the lead, reached a small covered bridge over a noisy, rushing +creek. + +Just as Dick gained the entrance to the bridge his gaze fell upon +a large white sheet of paper tacked there. The word "Notice," +written in printing characters, stared him in the face. + +Dick read, then called back quietly: + +"Halt! Here's something we've got to look into at once." + +The cart handlers willingly enough dropped their burden. All +hands crowded forward to read what was written underneath on the +sheet of paper. It ran thus: + +"All passers-by are cautioned that a mad dog, frothing at the +mouth, has passed this way, going west. Officers have gone in +pursuit of the animal, but passers-by may encounter the dog before +the officers do. The dog is a huge English mastiff, without collar. +Turn back unless armed!" + +"Fine and cheery!" exclaimed Tom Reade, looking rather startled +despite his light comment. + +"And, just as it happens, this is the only road in the country +that we want to use just at present," commented Dick Prescott. + +"Shall we go ahead, keeping a sharp lookout?" asked Dave. + +"I don't know," Dick muttered. "We'll have to think that over +a bit." + +"There are six of us, and we can cut good, stout clubs before +we proceed farther," suggested Greg Holmes. + +"Yes, and probably, if attacked, we could finish the dog," Dick +went on. "Yet, most likely, before we did kill the brute, he'd +have bitten at least one of us." + +"I'll go on, if the rest of you fellows want to," observed Danny +Grin. "At the same time, it looks like taking a big chance, doesn't +it?" + +"It's taking a chance, of course," Dick admitted. "The dog may +be running yet, and we might never get within ten, or even twenty, +miles of him. Or, the officers may have caught and killed the +brute by this time. Or, the mastiff might bound at us from the +woods at any moment now." + +"Whether we go back or keep on, we're fairly likely to meet the +mad dog," suggested Tom. "Mr. Chairman, I rise to move, sir, +that we cut clubs at once, and do the rest of our talking afterwards!" + +"The motion is seconded and carried," called Dick, darting into +the woods. "Come on and find the clubs." + +Less than forty seconds afterwards each of the six boys was cutting +a stout sapling, which he forthwith trimmed. + +"I believe I could kill anything but an ox with this," observed +Reade, eyeing his bludgeon. + +"Look out!" called Danny Grin, as if in alarm. + +In a twinkling Tom dropped his club, dashed at a young oak tree +and began to climb, thinking that the dog had suddenly appeared. + +"Stop that nonsense, Dan---and everyone of you!" called Dick sharply. +"Let no one knowingly give any false alarms, or we might disregard +a real warning when it comes." + +Tom sheepishly dropped to the ground, picked up his cudgel, then +gazed at Dalzell with a look that had "daggers" in it. + +"I'll owe you one for that, Danny Grin," Reade remarked, "and +I'm always careful about paying my debts." + +"Now that we have our clubs," suggested Dick, "let's get back +to the road and discuss what we're going to do." + +"Surely," hinted Dave, "we can find some other road and keep on +our way." + +"Undoubtedly," Greg nodded. "But the mad dog might cross through +the woods and be found waiting for us on that other road. Or, +he may now be headed for the second lake, or even be there now." + +"Let's vote on what we're going to do," urged Hazelton. "Dick, +what do you say?" + +"I don't know what to say," their young leader answered. "I don't +like to see our party cheated out of our vacation. Neither do +I care to take too many chances of having our vacation changed +into a tragedy. I've never had hydrophobia, but I've a strong +notion that it wouldn't be pleasant. I know just how you fellows +feel. You hate to lose your fun." + +"We do hate to lose our fun," agreed Darry. + +"And yet you don't want to have an encounter with a dog that has +hydrophobia." + +"We don't," approved Tom Reade. "Dick, you have a truly wonderful +intellect when it comes to successful guessing." + +"There's a cloud of dust up the road to the west," discovered +Greg Holmes. + +In an instant all eyes were turned that way. + +"Can that be the dog?" asked Darry. "Something is traveling this +way and stirring up a lot of dust." + +Whatever the moving object was, it appeared to be half a mile +away up the straight, dust-covered road. + +"Until we find out what it is," Dick suggested, "I believe that +tree climbing will prove healthful exercise." + +Quickly they moved the push cart a little to one side of the road. +Then they ran for trees, but every member of Dick & Co. retained +his hold on his bludgeon. + +The dust cloud was coming nearer. From the elevation of his perch +in a tree Dick soon discovered and announced: + +"It's a horse and wagon coming this way." + +"Maybe it's the officers returning from the hunt," suggested Reade, +who was on a lower limb of the next tree. + +"There's only one man in the wagon, and he's whipping up the horse," +Dick announced. + +"There are good enough reasons for the man wanting his horse to +hurry," chuckled Danny. + +"Maybe the dog is in pursuit now," hinted Darrin. + +Dick, who had the best view of the road to the westward, peered +carefully. + +"I don't see anything to suggest a pursuing dog," Prescott made +answer. "If the dog is near, he must be running under the trees +along the side of the road." + +Greg climbed up beside his leader. + +"Why, that man has stopped whipping the horse," young Holmes declared. +"And is lighting his pipe. That doesn't look as though he were +very much scared about anything." + +"We'll stay where we are until we've talked with the man," Dick +decided. + +Just before reaching the other end of the covered bridge the driver, +a farmer, and with what looked like a light load of farm produce +in the body of the wagon, slowed his horse down to a walk, at +which gait he drove over the bridge. Then, sighting the boys +up in the trees, and each with a club, he reined up. + +"Hello, boys!" he called drawlingly. "Who's been a-chasing you? +What scared you?" + +"Read that notice, sir, tacked up at the bridge entrance," urged +Dick. + +Alighting, and drawing a pair of spectacles from a vest pocket, +the farmer complied. + +"Mad dog, eh?" he drawled. "Sho!" + +"Did you see anything of the brute?" called Darry. + +"No; I didn't," answered the farmer. "Don't believe there is +any mad dog along the way, either. I've reined up and talked +with neighbors during the last hour and a half along the way. +They didn't mention nothin' 'bout any peevish dogs. Now, it +stands to reason that the officers would have stopped and warned +folks along the road, don't it? And the neighbors would have +passed the gossip with me, wouldn't they?" + +"Didn't you see any officers coming from this way?" asked Dick. + +"Nary one," rejoined the farmer. "Only fellers that passed me, +coming from this direction, was two young dudes---I sh'd say about +your ages. They was in a high-toned speed wagon-----" + +"Automobile?" asked Reade. + +"Said so, didn't I?" drawled the farmer. "Them dudes looked mighty +tickled about something. They was laughin' a whole lot and looked +mighty well pleased with themselves. Do you reckon they was +any friends of your'n, trying to have fun with you?" + +"I can't recall any friends who would try to put up such a pleasant +surprise for us," said Dick dryly, as he slipped down to the ground. +"What did the fellows in the automobile look like, sir?" + +That farmer possessed well-developed powers of observation, as +was proved by the minute descriptions he gave of the two young +men. + +Dick's chums, who had now joined him at the roadside, looked puzzled. +Then light dawned in Tom's eyes. + +"Jupiter!" cried Reade. "If it weren't that they're not in this +part of the country, I'd say that the pair were Dodge and Bayliss!" + +"How do you know they're not in this part of the country?" asked +Prescott dryly. Then, of the farmer, he further inquired: + +"What kind of a car were they driving, sir?" + +"A red Smattach, last year's model," answered the man. + +"That's just what the Dodge automobile runabout is, and Smattach +cars are not common in this section," muttered Prescott. Then +he went over to take a keener look at the written notice on the +sheet of white paper. + +"This looks like disguised handwriting; it's backhanded," Dick +mused aloud. "But I notice one thing peculiar. Who makes a funny +little quirl at the beginning of a letter 'm,' such as you see +in this writing?" + +"Bert Dodge!" flashed Dave Darrin, an indignant light flashing +in his eyes. "So we're six simpletons, held up by his shady tricks, +are we? If Bert Dodge is anywhere ahead of us on the road, then +I hope we have the good luck to meet him under conditions where +he can't jam on the speed and get away from us!" + +"Joke on you all, is it?" asked the farmer, grinning quizzically. + +"It looks like it," admitted Dick sheepishly. "You're sure that +none of the folks west of here heard anything of a mad dog, are +you?" + +"Pretty sure," nodded the farmer. + +"Then this notice isn't really needed up here," replied Dick, +carefully pulling the tacks, after which he folded the paper and +tucked it in one of his pockets. "We're mightily obliged to you, +sir." + +"Oh, you're welcome," grinned the farmer, as he gathered up the +reins over his horse. "I've got to be getting along. I'm late +in Gridley now." + +"If that man is too talkative in Gridley, folks will hear how +we got sold," yawned Tom, gazing after the farm wagon. "Then---my! +Won't folks be laughing at us?" + +"It's a mean trick," cried Dave indignantly. "I wish I had that +Dodge fellow here, right now! I believe that I'm master of enough +English to convey to him an idea of just what I think of him!" + +"I wouldn't waste any of my carefully acquired English on him," +growled Tom Reade. + +"What would you do---skin your other knuckles?" inquired Danny +Grin innocently. + +"We're wasting too much time punishing a fellow who isn't here," +Dick broke in. "Let's get forward. After another mile Dalzell +and I will take the cart and get it over some of the ground. +Now, forward, march!" + +It was noticed that Dave Darrin walked with clenched-fists. Tom +took long strides that carried him in advance of the others. +Dick Prescott was mostly silent, yet in his eyes there was a steady +light, and a grim look about his mouth, that bespoke the possibility +of some inconvenience to Bert Dodge and his friend, should that +pair fall into the hands of Dick & Co. within the next hour. + +At noon Dick & Co. halted. Under the shade of a group of trees, +close to a roadside spring, they built two small fires. Over +one they made coffee; over the other, they fried bacon and eggs. +This, with bread, constituted the meal. A brief rest, then on +they went once more. + +It was toward five o'clock when Dick and Tom, who knew the road +from having tramped over it before, announced that they were less +than half a mile from the point where they would turn in to go +to the second lake. + +At this time Greg and Dan were managing the push cart. Tom and +Dick strode on ahead, watching for the first sign of the path +that should lead down to their intended camp site. + +Suddenly, however, Prescott seized Reade by the arm, halting him. + +"What's the matter?" asked Tom. + +"Sh!---" Dick piloted his friend in behind a line of bushes, then +went cautiously ahead. + +"Look over there!" whispered Dick. + +Tom Reade gave a start when he found himself gazing at a red +runabout that stood just off the road and apparently deserted. + +"Humph! That's a Smattach, too," declared Tom. "It must be the +Dodge car. Bert and Bayliss must be somewhere about." + +Dick stood surveying the car with speculative eyes. + +"I know what you're thinking about," Tom whispered. "Wait; I'll +go back and halt the fellows and bring Dave forward with me." + +In a few moments this had been done. Darry gazed at the red Smattach +with gleaming eyes. + +"This is surely our chance!" he muttered. "Now, what can we do?" + +All three were silent for a few moments. Then Tom Reade smote +his thigh with one hand. + +"I have it," he muttered excitedly. + +"Then don't be stingy with your secret," urged Dave. "Out with +at least a part of it." + +For some moments Dick, Dave and Tom remained engaged in a rapid +interchange of whispers, all the time glancing about them. + + + + +CHAPTER IV + +STALLING THE RED "SMATTACH" + + +"That's the very thing!" muttered Tom Reade at last. + +"It can't get us into any scrape with the law, can it?" queried +Dave Darrin, with almost unwonted caution. + +"I don't see how it can," smiled Dick Prescott. "I'm no lawyer, +but I can't see how our trick, the way we intend to play it, can +be called a breach of the law." + +"Let's not lose any time with the game," urged Reade. "Let's +get in and do it before Dodge and Bayliss come back. I wonder +where they are, anyway?" + +"I don't care where they are," said Dave, "as long as they keep +away from here until we're through with what we intend to do." + +From its place in the runabout car Tom drew forth a wheel-jack. +This he and Dave fitted under an axle, raising the wheel half +aft inch off the ground. Dick rapidly remove the tire from that +front wheel. + +By the time he had finished Tom ran with the jack around to the +other front wheel, removing the tire from it also. + +As the red runabout carried no extra tires the little car was +now hopelessly stalled until relief was brought to the scene. + +"Now, I'll slip back and bring the fellows on," Dick whispered. +"Tom, you take Dave down to the camp site. I'll be right along +with the other fellows." + +Tom and Dave started along the forest path, each carrying a tire +slung over one shoulder. + +Dick, darting back, brought up the other fellows. All took a +gleeful look at the red Smattach as they passed, then hurried on. + +Down to a level bit of ground at the lakeside Dick led the last +of his friends. Tom and Dave were already there, the two pneumatic +tires standing against the trunk o a tree. + +Dick's first move was to take a rope from the cart. This, after +being passed through the rubber tires, was tied between two trees, +clothesline fashion. + +"Now, let's rustle all the stuff off the cart," urged Dick. "Be +quick about it. We want the tent up in good shape before darkness +falls." + +It is not much of a trick to raise a tent twelve feet by twenty, +when there are six pairs of hands to do it. The two centre poles +were adjusted to the ridge-pole, and all three were pushed in +under the canvas. + +"Up with her," called Dick. + +As the tent was raised, Tom and Greg were left holding the centre +poles in place. With a sledge Dick drove a corner stake, and +a guy-rope was made fast to it. One after another the remaining +corner stakes were quickly driven and the ropes made fast. The +tent would now stand by itself. + +Dick and Dave, Tom and Greg now attended to two stakes at a time, +making the other guy-ropes fast. + +"Danny, you may set in all the wall-pegs," said Dick, standing +back to survey the really neat job. + +"I've been thinking-----" began Dalzell. + +"Then let Hazelton do the wall-pegging," retorted Dick tersely. + +"I've been thinking-----" Dalzell went on, "that it would be awfully +funny, wouldn't it, if that red Smattach belonged, not to Dodge, +but to some fellow we've never seen before?" + +"It would be inexpressibly funny!" growled Tom Reade. "And what +would be funnier than anything else would be our frantic efforts +to make a satisfactory explanation." + +"We could be arrested for theft, couldn't we?" asked Greg, glancing +up apprehensively from the side wall pegging. + +"Hardly that," replied Dick, with a shake of his head. "Theft, +as I understand it, usually carries with it the sale of the plunder, +or its concealment. We have hung up the tires where anyone who +is interested may see them. Still, it would be awkward making +explanations to strangers, and we'd all feel mighty cheap." + +"Then maybe we'll have our chance to feel that way," suggested +Danny Grin, his mouth opening still wider. + +"Don't waste your time on pleasant thoughts, like that," grunted +Reade. "Try to think of something sad." + +"If it's the Dodge car, could Bert make any trouble for us?" Darrin +wanted to know. + +"Hardly," answered young Prescott. "We've simply played a clever +trick on Dodge and Bayliss. As our excuse we could point out +a trick they palmed off on us earlier in the day. We'd be quits. +You needn't fear Dodge. Never, since that time when he got so +awfully beaten over the assault charge he made against me, has +he felt that he wanted to face me in court again." + +"You fellows wait here, and don't be worried if I don't come back +soon," interposed Darry suddenly. + +"What are you going to do?" demanded Tom Reade. + +But Dave had slipped away. When he chose to be as mysterious +as that, Dick Prescott knew better than to question his chum. + +Rapidly the work of straightening camp proceeded. Dave was back +in a little more than half an hour. Yet he returned so noiselessly +that he was in camp before the others realized his presence. + +"Well-----?" asked Dick eagerly. + +"Come into the tent, fellows," whispered Dave. + +When Darrin had them inside he went on, in a low voice: + +"It's the Dodge car, all right. I hid behind a tree nearby the +car and waited until they returned. When they found the front +tires missing they were furious. Bayliss said we fellows had +done it, but Bert said he didn't believe we were anywhere near +here as yet. I slipped away and left them arguing. Dodge wants +Bayliss to walk to the nearest place where he can telephone to +a garage to send a man out with new tires. Bayliss says it's +the Dodge car, and Bert can do the walking. It looks as though +they would come to blows, and, as I've been gently reared, with +a distaste for fighting, I slipped away." + +"If they want to come down and look along the edge of this lake, +they'll soon find out where their tires are," Dick Prescott chuckled. +"But they'll have to come right in here to camp and ask for their +property." + +"Which they won't greatly care about doing," laughed Reade. + +"Let them stay away until their nerves improve, then," said Dick +briefly. "Now, let's see; we've got to set up the cots and bedding, +and get the two lanterns filled and trimmed for the evening. +That ought not to take many minutes." + +Nor did it. When this had been done, Dick asked: + +"Fellows, you know what we came here to do? Fish wouldn't taste +bad for supper, would it? Which two of you want to go and try +your luck for perch? They'll bite, even after dark." + +Tom and Hazelton made a hasty selection of tackle, also producing +a can of bait that had been brought along from Gridley. + +Then Tom and Harry disappeared, taking with them one of the lanterns. +A quarter of a mile below the camp were the ruins of an old pier +from which they could cast their lines. + +Where the perch are plentiful there is little skill involved in +such fishing. Perch will bite after dark. The hook is baited +and dropped in. The fish take hold greedily, rarely falling from +the hook afterward. + +While Tom and Harry were still fishing darkness fell. The two +Gridley boys fished on in silence, adding frequently to the two +crotched stick "strings" that flopped on the end of the pier. + +"We've thirty-nine perch. That's enough, even for a hungry crowd +like ours," said Tom at last, after lighting the lantern. + +"Here is the fortieth, then," called Hazelton, as he felt a tug +at his line. He landed a pound perch almost under Tom's nose. + +"Good enough business, this," declared Tom contentedly. "I hope +the fellows have everything else ready." + +Tom carried the lantern; each boy carried a string of fish. As +they neared camp, Danny Grin espied them, and ran forward to +see the size of the catch. + +"Here they are!" called Dalzell. "They've fish enough to feed +a fat men's boarding house!" + +"Bring them here," called Dick from a board beside which he and +Greg crouched, each with a knife in hand. + +One after another the fish were scaled and cleaned with a speed +known only to old campers. Dave had two frying pans hot over +a fire. In went the perch, sputtering in the fat and giving forth +appetizing odors. + +"My, but they're going to taste good!" declared Danny Grin. + +Leaving Greg to finish with the cleaning of the fish Dick passed +to another campfire, throwing into a hot pan the material for +fried potatoes. + +Ere long the meal was on the table---two boards placed across +the tops of two boxes. It was a low table, but it served the +purpose. + +"My, but this fish tastes good!" murmured Tom Reade, as he picked +a piece of fried perch free of the backbone and began eating it. + +"We'll all of us find it the best meal ever, just because we've +tramped far enough and worked hard enough to make any kind of +decent food taste great," Dick smiled. + +The supper over, and one of the campfires replenished, all six +of the youngsters took the dishes down to the lake, carrying along +two kettles of hot water, where a general dish-washing ensued. +With so many to do the work, the camp was spick and span within +twenty minutes. + +"Now, I'm going to enjoy one thing that I haven't had all day, +and that's some real rest," Prescott declared, throwing himself +down upon the grass. "I don't believe I shall move until bedtime." + +But he did. Already trouble was hovering over the camp. From +out of the darkness beyond three pairs of eyes studied the campers +in silence. One pair belonged to Bert Dodge, another the young +Bayliss, and the third to a man of about middle age. + +Dodge and Bayliss were thoroughly angry. + + + + +CHAPTER V + +BERT DODGE HEARS THE BATTLE CRY + + +Ten minutes after Dick had thrown himself on the grass a rustling +was heard above the camp. Then down the slope strode three figures. + +Dick sat up, regarding the visitors in silence until they came +within the fringe of the light of the campfire. + +"Hello, Dodge," was Prescott's ready greeting. "I didn't hear +you knock." + +"Then maybe you will, before long," retorted Bert, in a voice +of barely suppressed fury. "Prescott, you sneak, how long since +you have added grand larceny to your other bad habits?" + +"Try that over again," requested Dick calmly. "I don't believe +I quite catch you." + +"Yes, you do," Dodge retorted. "Come now, no lying about it." + +"The nearest that I come to understanding you, as yet," Dick answered +in an unruffled voice, "is that you appear to be trying to be +offensive." + +"I'll be more than offensive with you, before I get through!" +cried Bert, his temper rising. + +The third member of the visiting party was a man of about forty +years, of sandy complexion and with a stubby, bristling red moustache. +He looked like a man who had been born a fighter, though his +face expressed keen attention rather than a desire to be quarrelsome. +In dress this man looked as though he might be a farmer. Dick +and his friends judged the man to be a rustic constable. + +"A nice trick you played on us!" Bert went on angrily. "You took +our front tires off the wheels of the car and ran away with them." + +"Easy! Careful!" Dick smilingly advised. "Did anyone see us +take the tires off and run away with them?" + +Bert looked astonished, then gulped chokingly. Did Prescott and +his friends intend to deny the charge? + +"No one had to see you take the tires," Bert went on angrily. +"All that is necessary is for us to discover the merchandise +on you!" + +"Then you have missed some tires, and you think I'm wearing them?" +Dick chuckled. + +"Don't try to sneak, lie or equivocate" commanded Bert Dodge, +his face flushing with anger. "Those are my tires hanging from +that line!" + +"Are they?" Prescott inquired, in a tone of the mildest curiosity. + +"You know they are!" + +"Then, if the tires are your property, just help yourself!" Dick +coolly answered. "If they are your tires, I will even offer to +forego making any storage charges for the time they have been. +hanging there." + +"Hang you!" choked Bert + +Then he turned to the man with them, demanding: + +"Don't you see a pretty clear case of grand larceny here?" + +"I can't sa-ay that I do---yet," drawled the stranger. + +"You'll never see a clearer case!" quivered young Dodge. + +To this the stranger did not reply. He had been looking over +this sextette of high school boys, and if one might judge from +his face, the man seemed to be rather favorably impressed by Dick +& Co. + +"If these are your tires," Dick went on smoothly, "would you mind +removing them from our camp?" + +"I won't," Bert answered hotly. "You fellows, who stole the tires, +will take them back to the car from which you stole them, and +there you will put the tires on again." + +"You've missed some part of the idea in your haste," declared +young Prescott. + +"What do you mean?" gasped Dodge. + +"I mean simply that we'll have nothing whatever to do with taking +back the tires, or putting them on your wheels." + +"Then I'll see what I can do to punish you all!" flared Bert hotly. +"You're none of you any better than a lot of low-lived thieves!" + +The situation was growing too warm for Dave Darrin, though Dick +was still smiling. + +Darry jumped to his feet, advancing upon Bert Dodge, who retreated +a couple of steps. + +"Dodge," Dave began, "you want to put a halter on your tongue. +You can't come here to this camp and call too many names. You +don't amount to much, of course, and nothing that you know how +to say should be treated very seriously. It would be hard for +a rascal like yourself to be really insulting to anyone possessed +of the average degree of honor. But we came up here for pleasure +and rest. Both your face and your voice---not particularly your +words---are disturbing. If those are your tires, kindly take +them and get out of camp!" + +"You fellows will carry the tires back to the road, and you'll +put them on the wheels," retorted Dodge hoarsely. + +"As Dick has already told you, we'll do nothing of the sort," +Dave flashed back at him. "All we want, Dodge, is for you to +get out of this camp. Incidentally, if you want the tires, we +shall offer no objections to your taking them with you." + +"What have you to say to that?" demanded Bert hotly, turning to +the man with the stubby red mustache. + +"It seems to me like good judgment," replied the stranger. + +"You say that?" screamed Bert, going into a blind passion. "Is +that what we brought you here for?" + +"I don't really know what you did bring me here for," replied +the stranger. "All I know is that you stopped me, when I was +driving past with my load of produce for the Gridley markets, +and you offered me two dollars to come down here and not say much +unless I was spoken to. I didn't come until you paid me the money. +It was good pay, and I'll stay here an hour longer if you really +think I owe you that much time." + +"You're not a constable, or a sheriff's officer, are you, sir?" +asked Dick pleasantly. + +"Not unless someone made me one when I wasn't looking," replied +the stranger, with a shrewd smile. + +"I understand," nodded Prescott. "This fellow Dodge hired you +to come down with him for more than one reason. In the first +place, he and Bayliss were afraid to come here without backing. +For another thing, Dodge thought that we'd guess you to be a +constable, and I'll admit that I did mistake you for an officer +at the outset. Dodge thought your presence would frighten us. +You look like a decent man, sir, and I'm sorry to see you in +such company. These two fellows were chased out of the Gridley +High School just because they were considered unfit to associate +with the members of the student body." + +"That's a lie!" sputtered young Dodge. + +"If you want to find out, sir, whether I'm speaking the truth," +Dick went on, looking at the stranger, "just ask any well-informed +citizen of Gridley whether Bert Dodge and his chum, Bayliss, were +really chased out of the Gridley High School. You'll soon discover +who the liar is---Dodge or myself." + +"Hang you!" roared Bert, advancing with fists clenched. "I'll +punch your head off your shoulders!" + +"Wait one moment, though," advised the stranger, stepping between +Dick and Bert. "Here, young man!" + +"What's this?" Bert demanded, as the stranger forced something +into one of his hands. + +"It's the two-dollar bill you handed me," replied he of the stubby +moustache. "I reckon that I made a mistake in taking it." + +"Aren't you on my side any longer?" gasped Bert, in utter +astonishment. + +"I reckon not," was the crisp answer. "I didn't realize that +I was in such bad company." + +"But you've only that mucker's word against mine!" cried Bert, +flying into another rage. + +"I've watched you both, and I'm a pretty good judge of human nature," +replied the farmer. "I prefer to believe this young man that +you seem to dislike so much." + +"You're a nice one---you are!" uttered Bert, glaring in disgust +at the ally on whom he had counted. + +"Perhaps you can calm down, Dodge, long enough to listen to reason," +Dick suggested. "First of all, I am going to admit that we did +remove the front tires of your car and that we brought the tires +here and hung them on that line." + +"Do you hear that?" demanded Dodge eagerly, turning once more +to the farmer. "They admit stealing my tires." + +"I didn't quite notice that the young man went as far as to admit +theft," the farmer replied. "What I heard was that these young +men took your tires. As yet I haven't heard their reason for +removing the tires of your car." + +"The reason for doing so was," Dick went on coolly, "that we had +some questions to ask of this fellow Dodge. We knew that if he +had to come here to look up his tires, we'd have a chance to ask +the questions. Dodge, you thought you were having fun with us +when you decorated the entrance to that covered bridge with your +notice about a rabid mastiff at large in that part of the country, +didn't you? You thought that a mad-dog scare would send us +helter-skelter home. If it gives you any satisfaction, I'll admit +that the notice did startle us for a brief time. But we soon got +at the truth of the matter, and learned that posting the notice was +your act." + +"Can you prove it?" sneered Dodge. + +Ignoring the question, Dick went on: + +"Perhaps, had your trick affected only ourselves, then the trick +would have been only a piece of meanness without any very serious +results. But are you sure, Bert Dodge, that no one but ourselves +was alarmed by that notice? Do you know whether any woman traveling +over the road may have seen that notice, and then, noticing any +strange dog trotting in her direction was frightened, into convulsions, +or actually frightened to death? Do you know whether some man, +traveling along the road on really important business, read the +notice and was afraid to continue on his errand, thereby losing +a good deal of money through your foolish trickery? Do you know, +for certain, that twenty serious consequences to other people +have not followed on the heels of your stupid, senseless joke? +Have you any way of being certain that the sheriffs officers +are not already searching industriously for the two foolish young +fellows who took so many desperate chances in attempting such +a 'joke' as that of which you two fellows were guilty?" + +"Who's going to prove that Bayliss or I put up that notice?" sneered +young Dodge. + +"There's at least one witness," Dick answered, "who would testify, +at any time, that he passed by you on the road when you were both +laughing loudly over a joke you had played. Then there's the +notice itself. A handwriting expert could swear that it was done +with a pen held by your hand." + +"Where's the notice?" asked Bayliss suddenly. + +"It's where we can produce it at any time that it's wanted," Prescott +made reply. "If anyone has been injured, Dodge, in health or +in business, by your stupid, brainless bit of horse play and meanness, +then I imagine that you'll find yourself in for a serious time +of it. So now you know why we took the tires off your automobile. +We knew that our campfire would show you the way to our camp, +and that you'd surely be here to hear what we had to say to you. +Dodge, we don't care particularly for you, or for Bayliss, either, +but if the warning I've given you about pasting up such lying +notices to scare people traveling over a public highway is of +any use to you, then you're welcome to what you've learned." + +The coolness of this proposition was such as to take Bert's breath +away for a few seconds. When he recovered, he turned to the +red-moustached farmer, sputtering: + +"Well, what do you---you think of that cast-iron nerve and cheek?" + +"If the facts have been correctly stated," replied the farmer, +"I believe these young men have done you a service, and that you'd +show more of the spirit of a man if you admitted it." + +"Humph!" muttered Dodge. + +"Humph!" echoed Bayliss. + +Then, enraged at the tantalizing smile on Prescott's face, Bert +lost all control of himself. + +Striding over, he shook his fist before Dick's face, at the same +time shouting: + +"All you need is a trimming with fists, and I'm going to give +you one---you hound!" + + + + +CHAPTER VI + +PAID IN PULL TO DATE + + +Then, struck by a sudden consideration of prudence, Bert stepped +back two or three feet, looking appealingly at the farmer. + +"Will you stay here long enough to see fair play done?" Dodge +demanded of the farmer. + +"If there is going to be a boxing exhibit, with plenty of science, +and all fair play," grinned the farmer, "I don't believe there +are enough of you young fellows here to chase me away. Start +things moving as soon as you like." + +With that the stranger drew out a pipe, which he proceeded to +fill and light. + +"Get yourself in shape, you mucker!" breathed Bert fiercely, pulling +off his coat and tossing his motoring cap after it to the ground. +"Come on---get ready!" + +"I'm no rowdy," Dick declared coolly, making no move to put himself +in readiness. + +"No; you're a coward, with a long line of talk, but no spirit +in you!" jeered young Dodge. + +"If I'm a coward, what possible glory would there be in your fighting +me?" Dick smiled. + +"Let me have the sneak!" begged Dave, stepping forward, but Dick +pushed his churn back. Tom Reade took tight hold of Dave's right +arm. + +With the prospects of an encounter vanishing, Bert Dodge's valor +went up tenfold. + +"Get up your guard!" he roared. "I've been taking boxing lessons +and I want to teach you one or two things." + +"I haven't been taking any boxing lessons lately," Dick remarked +with composure. + +"Oh, that's why you're afraid to act at all like a man, is it?" +scoffed Bert in his harshest voice. + +"No; my main reason for not caring to fight you, Dodge, is that +I don't like the idea of soiling my hands." + +"What's that?" screamed Bert in added fury. "You insult +me---you---you mucker?" + +"If I'm a mucker, then you don't need to feel insulted at my opinion +of you," Dick suggested, with a smile. + +But this hesitancy on the part of Prescott was filling Bert Dodge +with more valor every instant. + +"Prescott, I've owed you something for a mighty long time," quivered +Bert. "And now it's coming! Here it is!" + +He aimed a savage blow at Dick. Young Prescott, who had really +doubted that Dodge had courage enough to invite a fight, was not +expecting it. The blow landed on Dick's chin, sending the leader +of Dick & Co to the ground. + +"Now, get up and answer that---you---you sneak!" dared Bert exultantly. + +Dick was on his feet fast enough, side-stepping just in time to +dodge a follow-up punch. + +"Dodge," Dick remarked, as he threw up his guard, "there, is still +time for you to beat it out of here if you don't want to take +the consequences of that blow." + +"You put me out of here!" Bert retorted defiantly. + +Though Dick was quivering with indignation, he still hesitated +to spring at Dodge. Dick didn't want to fight, on the sole ground +that he felt too much contempt for his opponent. + +"Come, on, you mucker!" challenged Bert, dancing about Prescott. +Then Dodge delivered two swift, straight-from-the-shoulder blows. + +Of a sudden Dick jumped into the fray. + +"Good!" quivered Darry, his eyes flashing. To Dave's way of thinking, +Dick's swift vigorous defence should have followed that first +knock-down. + +"Come on, you mucker!" taunted Bert, while the interchange of +blows now became fast and furious. "If there's anything you know +how to do in this game, let us see what it is! Trot it out!" + +"I'll attend to my side of this match," said Dick quietly. "My +advice to you is that you keep quiet and save your wind for your +own protection." + +"Bosh! You can't do anything to anyone in my class!" sneered +Bert. Indeed, young Dodge's address to his task opened up +particularly well. Dodge was rather heavy for his years, and he had +been doing some good training work through the spring and early +summer. + +Dick, who was lighter and not noticeably quicker, confined himself, +at the outset, to his old tactics of allowing his opponent to +tire himself. + +Bert, however, was soon quick to discover this. He moderated +the savagery of his own attack somewhat, sparring cleverly for +a chance to feint and then land a face blow. + +Dick gave ground readily when it served his purpose, though he +did not run. + +"Keep back, fellows!" called Tom Reade. "Don't get near enough +to interfere with either man." + +"Don't interfere with either the man or the thing, you mean," +interposed Danny Grin. + +"Shut up, Dalzell!" ordered Reade with generous roughness. "Remember +that you're not fighting Dodge, and that it's unfair to say anything +to anger him. Be fair!" + +Though Dick's chums followed the fighters, at a generous distance, +they would have noticed, had they been less intent on the work +of the combatants, that Bayliss kept well on the outskirts of +the crowd. Bayliss didn't want to attract any dangerous notice +to himself, nor was he at all sure that the farmer would interfere +to see fair play for Dodge's side. In this, however, he really +wronged the farmer. + +In giving ground Prescott stepped backward, his feet becoming +entangled with a vine running along the ground. + +Down went Dick, just in time to save himself from a savage blow +in the face. + +"Stand up to the fight, like a man!" roared Dodge, for he felt +that he was winning. + +Dick drew himself to his knees. Ere he could gain his feet Bert +landed a smashing blow on his left cheek. Down went Dick again. + +"Stop that sort of thing, Dodge!" flared Dave Darrin. "Either +man who goes down must have safety until he's on his feet again." + +"Shut up!" flared Bert, but this time he waited, afraid to try +to hit his opponent until Dick was on his feet. + +"Can't Dodge run his own fight, hang you?" Bayliss demanded. +This was the first word he had had the courage to utter. + +Quick as a flash Dave wheeled, running toward Dodge's companion. + +"This isn't wholly Dodge's fight, Bayliss," Darry cried, his anger +at a white heat. "Prescott has some rights in the game, and you +know it, too." + +"You're too fresh!" snapped Bayliss. + +"You're no good, Bayliss," Darry remarked contemptuously. + +"You're a sneak and a liar, and so-----" + +"And so I shall claim some of your time just as soon as Dick and +Dodge have finished," retorted Darry coldly. "Don't forget that, +Bayliss, and don't show yourself up by trying to run away." + +With that Darrin stalked back to watch the finish of the present +affair. + +Dick, on his feet again, renewed the battle in earnest. He found +Dodge a really worthy opponent. Both boys soon had bruised faces +to show. + +Smash! That blow, delivered by Bert, almost ended the fight. +Dick staggered backward, the blood beginning to flow from his +nose. + +Dodge followed it up, driving in another hard blow. The pain +stung Dick, not to madness, but into a more resolute defense, +with more of offense in it. + +Then Dick so manoeuvred that he had Dodge between himself and +the shore of the lake. This advantage gave young Prescott slightly +higher ground on the gentle slope toward the lake. Bert tried +to manoeuvre for a more level footing, but Prescott drove him +slowly backward. + +Suddenly one of Dick's blows landed, with staggering force, on +the tip of Dodge's chin. Bert went to earth, rolling over as +he struck, and lying face downward. He was not knocked out, +but he had had enough. + +For a moment or two Dick glanced down at his adversary in cold +contempt. Then suddenly, without a word, he bent over, seizing +Dodge by the shirt collar and belt, and threw him sprawling out +into the lake. + +Young Dodge landed some distance from the bank. There was a loud +splash and a yell from the vanquished one, then a gurgling noise +as Bert's mouth went under water. He disappeared under the black +surface of the lake. + +Dick waited calmly, ready to go to Dodge's assistance if needed. +Bert, however, rose quickly, the water not much above his knees. + +"You loafer!" hissed Dodge, dashing the water from his face. + +"Haven't you had enough?" asked Prescott mildly. "Didn't the +water cool you off?" + +Dodge didn't reply, but he walked a few steps away before attempting +to step on dry land, thus avoiding his late opponent. + +"That little business is all over," declared Tom Reade coolly. +"Bend down by the water, Dick, and I'll wash your nose with my +handkerchief. Greg, bring one of the lanterns here." + +"Now, I guess it's time for our practice, Bayliss," Dave announced, +stepping over to Bert's companion. + +"I've got to look after Dodge," mumbled Bayliss. + +"No, you don't!" Dave warned him. "After the kind of language +you have used to me you can't slip out of trouble quite so easily +as all that. Get ready." + +"Quit---can't you?" protested Bayliss. + +"No; not unless you'll admit that you lied when you applied +disagreeable names to me," said Dave Darrin firmly. "Bayliss, +are you ready to admit that you are a liar?" + +"You bet I'm not!" cried the other hoarsely. "Then back up your +words! Ready! Here's something coming!" + +That "something" arrived. Bayliss fairly gasped as Darrin started +in on him. + +But Dave drew back, holding up his fists. + +"You didn't get started fairly, Bayliss," Darry declared. "I +want you to have as fair a show as possible. Draw in a deep breath. +Fill your lungs with air. Plant your feet firmly. Put up your +hands." + +Patiently Darry waited for perhaps three quarters of a minute. + +"Now!" he said at last. + +Then the fight went on, but it was one sided. Had Bayliss done +himself justice, it might have resulted in a draw, at least, for +Bayliss was strong and quick. But he lacked courage. + +Presently Bayliss, considerably battered, though not as severely +punished as Dodge had been, went down to his knees, nor would +he rise. + +"Going to get up and go on?" demanded Darry, pausing before him. +"Or do you quit?" + +Bayliss, breathing hard, did not answer. + +"What you need here," declared the farmer, stepping forward and +puffing slowly at his pipe, "is a referee. I'll take the job. +Bayliss, if you believe that you can do anything more, then the +place for you is on your feet. I'll give you until I count five." + +Deliberately the farmer counted, but Bayliss remained on his knees. + +"Bayliss loses," announced the farmer. "Not that I believe he +ever had much in the fighting line to lose, but he loses." + +"I'll wait five minutes for him," offered Darry. "By that time +he'll be in shape to go on again." + +"He's in good enough shape now," declared the self-appointed referee. +"The point is that Mr. Bayliss hasn't any liking for boxing. +He's the kind of young man that finds croquet strenuous enough!" + +The four recent combatants now had some repairing to do. Dick +and Dave were attended by their own friends. The farmer offered +to help Bert Dodge ease his bruises. Greg made a tender of his +services to Bayliss, but was gruffly repulsed. + +"Everything is over," called the farmer at last. "I must wake +up my horses and get on to Gridley. Young gentlemen, I'm much +obliged for the rest that my horses have had, and also for my +entertainment. Dodge, I don't believe you're really worth an +ounce of soda crackers, but I realize that you don't feel as bright +as usual, so I'm going to help you get the tires on your car." + +Reaching up, the farmer untied one end of the line on which the +tires hung. Letting the tubes fall at his feet. The man then +drew a card out of his pocket and handed it to Reade. + +"That will tell you who I am, if you ever want to find me," suggested +the farmer. + +"George Simpson," said Tom, reading the card. "Mr. Simpson, we're +certainly glad of having had the pleasure of meeting you." + +Reade thereupon gravely introduced the other members of Dick & +Co. + +"Glad to have met you, boys," said Simpson, picking up the tires. +"Now, come along, Dodge and Bayliss, if you want my help, for +I really must be moving." + +"This hasn't been such a dull evening, after all," jovially commented +Tom Reade, after the late visitors had vanished into the darkness +surrounding the camp. + +"I'm sorry for the fighting, though," mused Dick aloud. "I don't +enjoy anything that makes bad blood, or more bad blood, between +human beings." + +"You couldn't do anything else but fight," retorted Greg sharply. + +"That's the only reason why I fought," Prescott rejoined. + +Half or three quarters of an hour later two resonant honks sounded +from the red Smattach automobile up at the roadside. Dick & Co. +rightly judged that Simpson had taken this means of signaling +them that the Smattach car was ready to go on its way again. + +"What's the matter with Mr. Simpson?" Tom demanded at the top +of his voice. + +From the throats of all of Dick & Co. came the ready response! + +"He's all right!" + +Honk! honk! honk! Mr. Simpson had heard this tribute to himself. +Then the chugging of a starting car was heard. The noise soon +sounded fainter, then died away. + +"That's the last of the firm of Dodge and Bayliss for this season!" +chuckled Dave Darrin. + +In this conclusion, however, it was wholly probable that Darry +was wrong. He would have been sure of it, himself, had he been +privileged to hear the talk of Bert Dodge and his companion as +the enraged and humiliated pair drove swiftly over the rough road +on their way back to Gridley. + +"I can't think of anything bad enough to call Dick Prescott," +growled Bert, who sat at the steering wheel. + +"Don't try to," grumbled Bayliss. "It would poison your mind." + +"The mucker!" + +"The sneak!" + +"The coward! He fights only when he has his gang with him." + +"I don't see what the high school fellows can find to admire in +that crowd," quivered Bayliss, tenderly fingering his damaged +eye. + +"Never mind what anyone thinks of them!" raged Bert Dodge. "We've +nothing but our own side of the affair to settle!" + +"What do you mean?" asked Bayliss curiously. + +"Bayliss, what do you think I am?" + +"Oh, I guess you're a pretty good sort of fellow, Bert." + +"Do you think I'd let business like to-night's go by without +resenting it?" + +"Are you going to try to take Prescott on again?" Bayliss asked +wonderingly. + +"I'm not a fool!" retorted Dodge indignantly. "Prescott might +thrash me again. Bayliss, I'm going to hit him with the kind +of club that he can't beat!" + +"Is the club big enough to take care of Darrin, too?" + +"I'm after the whole Prescott gang, for good measure!" Bert raged. + +"What are you going to do?" + +"I'll let you in on it, Bayliss, when I have all the details +planned---if you've nerve enough to do a man's part---of which I'm +not too sure," Dodge finished under his breath. + +"You may count on me for anything---anything that is prudent!" +Bayliss declared. + + + + +CHAPTER VII + +THE BOX THAT SET THEM GUESSING + + +"Look at that!" cried Tom Reade, leaping up from the breakfast +table so precipitately that he overturned his cup of coffee. + +"What?" demanded Greg. + +"Didn't you see that---out on the lake?" Tom demanded. + +"I didn't see anything," Greg admitted. + +"There it goes again!" cried Tom. + +"Oh, I saw something rise from the water and fall back again," +continued Greg. + +"Do you know what it was?" Reade insisted. + +"No." + +"That was a black bass!" declared Reade, as though it were one +of the seven wonders of the world. + +"Keep cool, Reade," chaffed Danny Grin. "We all knew, that there +are fish in the lake." + +"But black bass-----" choked Tom. + +"Are they any better eating than any other fish?" asked Hazelton. + +"Not so much better," Reade confessed. "But black bass are gamey, +and hard fish to land when you hook 'em!" + +"They're no better food, but it's harder work to get them," laughed +Greg. "Sit down, Tom, and keep cool" + +"No real fisherman would ever talk that way," Tom insisted indignantly. +"The greatest charm about fishing comes in hooking and landing +the really good fighting fish!" + +"How much does a black bass weigh?" asked Greg. + +"That one probably weighed four pounds. Look! look! There he +goes again. Did you fellows see him?" + +"There isn't any four pound fish in water that can give me a fight," +Danny Grin asserted solemnly. "I'd be ashamed to talk about having +a fight with a four pound fish. It looks small and mean to me." + +"Well, go after some bass, if they're so easy to catch," urged +Greg. "I'll look on and see if you've over estimated your ability +as a fisherman." + +"You're a fine fisherman, aren't you?" demanded Tom scornfully. + +"No fisherman at all," Holmes promptly confessed. + +"If you knew the A-B-C of fishing," Reade continued, "you'd know +that one must have a boat in order to go after bass." + +"Don't they ever come near enough to shore to be caught without +the aid of a boat?" Danny Grin demanded. + +Tom snorted. + +"Tell me," insisted Dalzell. + +"You're stringing me," protested Tom. + +"No; I'm after information," Dan asserted. + +"If you really don't know," Tom resumed, "I'll tell you that +black bass are generally caught only by trolling for them. That +is, if I fish for bass I've got to keep playing my line over the +stern while someone else rows the boat." + +"You've a positive genius for picking out the easy half of the +job," Danny Grin murmured admiringly. + +"The trolling part of the job merely looks easy," Tom went on, +good-humoredly. "The fellow who is doing the fisherman act must +have all the brains, while the fellow at the oars may be a real +dolt, for all he has to know. I'll take you out with me after +black bass, Danny, if we can get hold of a boat one of these days." + +"Who'll do the rowing?" asked Dalzell suspiciously. + +"Naturally you will," was Reade's answer. + +"Can't we find a boat somewhere about here?" asked Hazelton eagerly. + +"I haven't seen one on any part of the lake that is visible from +here," Prescott put in. "I don't know why, but this so called +second lake doesn't seem to be a popular spot. There isn't a +house to be seen anywhere along the shore on either side, and +I doubt if there's a boat on this sheet of water." + +"I don't believe there is a boat, either---and just look at that!" +cried Reade, as three distinct splashes about an eighth of a mile +out showed how frequently the bass were leaping. + +"It's tough---not to have a chance at good sport!" declared Dave +Darrin impatiently. "We fellows ought to search this old shore, +anyway, to see if we can't find some sort of craft." + +"Come along, then!" urged Tom, leaping to his feet. "I can't +stand this state of affairs much longer. Look at that, out there. +Four bass jumping within fifteen seconds. This is cruelty to +fishermen!" + +"Tom, you take Dan and Harry, and go up along the shore," proposed +Dick. "I'll take the others with me, and we'll go down along +the shore. Each party will walk and search for half an hour, +and then return, unless we find a boat sooner." + +"Aren't you going to leave someone to watch the camp?" asked Danny +Grin. + +"It is hardly necessary," decided Prescott. + +"But Bert Dodge-----" suggested Greg. + +"For Dodge to be out here so early he'd have to be up by five +in the morning, and make an early start," Dick rejoined. "I don't +believe he's industrious enough for that." + +"The camp will be all right," Dave agreed. + +"Of course," Tom assented. "Anyway, there's nothing here worth +stealing that would be small enough to carry away." + +"Except the food," hinted Danny Grin. + +"This is too far off the main roads for tramps to come this way," +Dick replied. + +So Dalzell, with a sigh, rose to accompany Reade and Hazelton. + +Dick and his two companions thoroughly explored the shore as far +as they went on the lower part of the lake. From time to time +Prescott consulted his watch. In all the time that they were +out they passed only one building, a tumble-down, weather-beaten +shack that looked as though it had not been inhabited in twenty +years. Not even a vestige of a craft was found. + +"It's time to go back," said Dick at last. "Too bad we couldn't +find anything." + +"There must have been boats on this lake at one time," hinted +Dave, "or else there wouldn't be that broken-down old pier near +the camp." + +"I guess there was a time when this lake was a fishing ground +to supply the Gridley and other near-by markets," Dick went on. +"But, fellows, there's a curious thing about these fish markets +that I don't know whether you've noticed. There are several fish +stores in Gridley, and yet in all of them you couldn't buy a pound +of fish except the kinds that are caught in salt water. I wonder +if there are any fish markets in this part of the country that +make a specialty of fresh-water fish?" + +More slowly, Dick, Dave and Greg retraced their steps. + +"Hoo-hoo! Hoo-hoo!" signaled Dick as they neared their camp. + +From away up the shore the answering "hoo hoo!" came faintly. + +"Tom didn't give up the search as easily as we did," commented +Dave. "Poor old chap, he will be seriously disappointed if he +hasn't found something that will float. He's the one sincere +fisherman of the crowd, and the bass certainly have hypnotized +him." + +"Race you back to camp," offered Dick. + +"Come back," laughed Dave, "and make a fair start." + +But Dick kept on, laughing back at his distanced comrades. Prescott +ran like a deer, as was to be expected from one who had played +left end on the invincible Gridley High School eleven. + +Just as he bounded on to the camp ground Dick's glance fell on +a packing box some four feet long. + +"This doesn't belong here," he muttered, bounding forward, then +dropping on one knee beside the box. + +In amazed wonder he read the following inscription, from a card +tacked to the box: + +"Will Dick Prescott accept the enclosed and keep it as trustee +for Dick & Co.? From a most appreciative friend---two of them, +in fact!" + +"Now, what on earth can this be?" Dick demanded, as Dave reached +his side. + +Darry read the message on the card with growing wonder. + +"Greg," directed Dick, "trot into the camp and get a hammer and +the cold chisel. Hustle!" + +Full of curiosity, Greg Holmes carried out the order at a run. + +"Here you are!" panted Holmes. + +Dick took the cold chisel, placed the edge against one side of +the lid, and was about to strike the first blow when Darry snatched +the hammer from his hand. + +"What ails you?" Prescott demanded. + +"Suspicion," Dave replied dryly. "In fact, I've a bad case of +suspiciousness." + +"What are you talking about?" Dick insisted. + +"I don't know," Dave admitted. "But I've something of a shivery +hunch that perhaps we'd better not open that box." + +"What, then? Toss it into the lake?" + +"Even that might not be as foolish as it sounds to you," Darry +went on. "How do we know what that box contains!" + +"We never will know until we open it," declared Greg impatiently. + +"And then we might be mighty sorry that we opened it," Dave continued. + +"You think that there is something suspicious about the box?" +queried Prescott. + +"Oh, the box looks all right," Dave laughed. "But the contents +might prove more than a disappointment. A real danger, for instance." + +"Do you really think so?" Dick mused wonderingly. + +"Well, let's not be too rash," Darrin urged. "When I try to think +of the friends who might take the trouble to come away out here +to leave something for us, about the dearest friends I can think +of are---Dodge and Bayliss." + +"And what would they leave in the box for us?" pondered Prescott. + +"Anything from a nest of rattlesnakes to an infernal machine," +Greg Holmes suggested. + +"That doesn't sound quite reasonable," Dick replied slowly. "Neither +Dodge nor Bayliss amount to much, and both fellows are pretty +mean; but do you imagine they would dare do anything that might +come very close to murder? I don't." + +"Oh, well, open the box, then," Dave agreed. "Whatever may be +in it of a dangerous nature, I'll stand by and take my share of it." + +"A few minutes won't make any difference," said Dick, rising and +dropping hammer and chisel. "We'll wait until the rest of the +fellows come in, and then we'll hold a pow-wow and vote on what's +to be done." + +"Tom! Oh, Tom! Fellows! Hoo-hoo!" roared Greg, making a megaphone +of his hands. + +"Wha-at's wa-anted?" came Reade's hail, still from a distance. + +"Hurry up!" yelled Greg. "Hustle. Big doings here!" + +"Have you found a boat?" came Tom's query. + +"No! But---hustle! Run!" + +Greg was alive with curiosity. He could not wait. If the box +were to be opened only after a pow-wow, then the sooner the council +were held the sooner the mystery of the box's contents would be +solved. + +Tom, Dan and Harry came in at a trot. + +"What's all the row about?" Reade demanded. + +"That," stated Greg, pointing to the packing case. + +"What's in it?" asked Reade. + +"We don't know," said Dick. + +"I fail to see what's to hinder you from knowing," retorted Reade. +"I see that you have the tools for opening the case at hand. +What were you waiting for---my strong arm on the hammer? If +so-----" + +While speaking Tom had been glancing at the inscription on the +card. + +"I don't know just whether we ought to open it," Dave declared. +"That box may come from Dodge and Bayliss, and we may be sorry +that we meddled with it." + +"There may be something in that," agreed Reade, laying down hammer +and chisel and rising. "But I wish we knew." + +"We all wish that," said Greg. + +"Well, what are we going to do?" inquired Hazelton. "Are we going +to remain afraid of the box and shy away from it?" + +"I'm not afraid," replied Darrin, his color rising. "I'm willing +to open it if you fellows say so." + +"Then what has kept you back so far?" Tom wanted to know. + +"If it's a job put up by Dodge and Bayliss, then I don't just +like to be caught napping by them," Dave replied. "However, you +fellows all get back a few rods---and here goes for little David +to solve the box mystery." + +"Not!" advised Reade with emphasis. "I suppose we'll have to +do something with this box, sometime, but I, for one, am in favor +of considering the matter for a little while before we go any +further. Dave, you are a foxy one, but I'm glad you are. It +may save us all trouble." + +So the box lay there through the forenoon, and Dick & Co. did +little else but wonder and guess as to its contents. + +Any member of Dick & Co. would have taken the risk of opening +it, had he been chosen by his comrades to do so; but not one of +them wanted one of the other fellows to take the risk. + +In the meantime Greg Holmes could scarcely curb his rising curiosity. + + + + +CHAPTER VIII + +THE MAN WITH THE HAUNTING FACE + + +The noon meal had been eaten, and the camp put to rights. The +water before them and the woods behind them called to nature-loving +Dick & Co., yet the invitations were ignored. + +What could be in the innocent-looking box? That was the question +that held six minds in the thraldom of curiosity. + +"I can't stand this suspense any longer!" muttered Reade towards +three o'clock in the afternoon. + +"Open the box yourself," prompted Danny Grin. + +"I will," offered Reade, advancing toward the box. "I don't care +if it's a ton of dynamite, all fixed up with clock work and automatic +fuses. I want to find it out." + +But Greg Holmes sprang forward. + +"Wait just a little longer, Tom," he urged. "Dick will be back +in a few minutes and then we'll get him to agree to it." + +"Dick Prescott doesn't open the box," Tom retorted. + +"It's addressed to him, anyway," said Greg firmly. + +"I guess that's right," interposed Dave, nodding. "And Dick will +be here soon." + +Dick reappeared within five minutes. He had taken two buckets +and had gone to a spring at some distance from camp for water. + +"Dick," said Greg, "there's Tom on the ground on the other side +of that tree. He's growling like a Teddy bear because no one +has opened the box." + +"I think we'd better open it," nodded Prescott, after glancing +at the faces of the others, for he saw that their curiosity was +at fever heat. + +"Hooray!" yelled Greg. "Come on, fellows!" + +There was a rush for the hammer and cold chisel, but young Holmes +won. + +"You pry the lid up on one side, and then give me a chance at +the other side," proposed Tom Reade. + +But Greg, smiling quietly, soon had the entire lid off the box. + +Nothing but a lot of multi-colored, curly packing paper met their +gaze. + +"The world destroyer must be underneath this ton of rubbish," +grunted Darry, kneeling and prying the strings of paper out. + +At last he delved down to a parcel wrapped in stout manila paper +and securely tied with cord. + +"Cut the strings," advised Reade, passing Dave a pocket knife +with one blade open. + +Darrin, however, had lifted the parcel out to lay it on the ground. +It was fairly heavy, but Dave handled it with ease. Now he +cut the strings. As the papers were pushed aside he and the others +saw nothing at first but a lot of khaki-colored canvas. + +"Fellows," declared Dick, "I don't believe this is a practical +joke, at all. It looks to me as though someone had sent us something +very much like a cook tent." + +All thought of danger having now passed, Prescott and his comrades +unfolded the canvas. At the bottom of the package they found +something that caused them to send up a wild hurrah. + +Two daintily modeled white maple paddles lay there. There were +two other objects made of wood that looked like seats. + +"Fellows," gasped Dick, "don't you understand what this is?" + +"I do," nodded Tom huskily. "I do, if not another soul in the +world does. Fellows, it's a collapsible canoe, all ready to set +up and run into the water. It's our boat, that we've been wanting +so badly. It's a beauty! Oh, shake it out! Lay it and let's +put the braces in! I shan't be able to breathe again until I +see this thing of beauty floating on the water!" + +Yet Tom was no more excited than were the other members of Dick +& Co. All took a hand, and all tried to work so nimbly that they +got considerably in the way of one another. Yet at last the canoe +was ready to be picked up and carried to the lake's edge. + +"Here's even a painter to tie it to a tree with," shouted Dave. +"Say! Whoever bought this canoe knew all about one!" + +"Don't anyone try to get into the craft yet," ordered Dick, as +the canoe was slid out upon the water, Prescott holding the painter, +which he tied around a sapling growing near the water's edge. +"We want to make sure that this canoe is waterproof. If it stands +twenty minutes without taking in water we'll know it's all right." + +Since they couldn't board the canoe, these delighted boys joined +hands, dancing about in a ring. Then, suddenly, they started +off in burlesqued figures of an Indian war-dance, whooping like +mad. + +While the excitement was at its height, Reade suddenly seized +Hazelton by his collar, rushing him to the lake. Into it went +both boys, Tom ducking Harry's head under the water. + +"Wha-a-at's that for?" sputtered Hazelton as soon as he could +talk. + +"Because you needed it," replied Tom soberly. "Will you kindly +do as much for me? We were all such chumps that we cheated ourselves +out of the best black bass fishing to-day that ever mortal saw. +So we all ought to be ducked." + +Harry stared at his friend in some astonishment. + +"On second thought, though," concluded Reade, "you needn't duck +me. You may postpone it. I'm going bass fishing the very instant +that the canoe is judged to be safe." + +"And I'll be the bass-hunting pin-head who merely does the paddling," +proposed Danny Grin meekly. + +"I guess you're the biggest pin-head in camp, all right---after +myself," nodded Reade. "So we ought to hit it off as bass fishermen, +Danny boy." + +"Fellows," hinted Dick judicially, "I think we had better turn +the canoe over to Tom for the first trip. His craze to go bass +fishing is so acute that it fairly pains him. Tom can have the +first trip, can't he?" + +There was a general assent. Tom darted away to overhaul such +tackle as he had for bass fishing. He came back with a small +but tough jointed rod, some very long lines, and some flashily, +bright spoons. + +"Danny, get a shovel and dig for some grubs," Tom ordered, as +he sorted tackle. "When you can't fool black bass with one thing +you must try another. If you fellows see any tiny chubs swimming +about in the little coves here, try to get a lot of them. We +can keep them in a bucket of water. Perch? Bah! The real fishing +is about to begin now!" + +"Do you really expect to get any bass today, Tom?" Dick inquired. + +"Hard to say," replied Reade, shaking his head as he glanced up +from the tackle he was overhauling to look out upon the lake. +"I haven't seen a single bass jump in five hours now. But I +may get two or three. I certainly will, if the bass are sportsmanlike +enough to give me any show at 'em." + +By the time that Tom had his tackle in shape Dick and Dave pronounced +the canoe wholly water tight. Dan Dalzell, equipped with one +of the paddles, took a kneeling position just back of the bow +seat. Tom got in next, squatting with his face to the stern of +the canoe. None of the others were to go. At a pinch this ten-foot +canoe might hold three, but fishermen as a rule do not care to +have extra passengers in their boats. + +"Give 'em a cheer, boys!" cried Darry, as Danny Grin, with a few +deft strokes of the paddle, propelled the craft away from the +shore. + +"And let that cheer be the last," called back Tom, in a low voice +that nevertheless traveled backward over the water. "Don't frighten +my bass from coming up to take a look at me." + +"Tom surely is the sincere old bass fisher, isn't he?" demanded +Harry Hazelton. + +"I don't know," Dick made answer. "We can tell better when we've +seen him hook and land a few fish." + +"Paddle slowly right across the lake, Danny," begged Tom, watching +his trolling line. + +From the camp the boys watched until they grew tired of the monotony. +Reade did not seem destined to secure a single "strike" from +bass that afternoon. + +"At half-past four o'clock," proposed Darrin, "I'll go down to +the old pier and see what I can do toward catching a string of +perch for to-night." + +"I'll go with you," nodded Hazelton. + +"All right," agreed Dick. "Greg and I will get in the water and +wood, and see to whatever else we're to have for supper. I don't +believe Tom will bring us anything." + +Nor did Reade himself believe it. For two solid hours Dan Dalzell +paddled lazily wherever his skipper told him to. The nearest +that Tom seemed destined to get a "strike" was when his hook caught +in the weeds. + +At last they were some distance out on the lake, perhaps a hundred +and fifty yards from shore. Reade, wholly discouraged, was about +to give the order to make for camp. + +Turning about in the canoe, Reade discovered that Dalzell was +in a brown study, slowly lifting his paddle and lifting it out +again, but without watching his course. + +"Look out, Danny boy," cautioned Tom, "or you'll scratch the sides +of the canoe on those bushes right ahead." + +Dan glanced up with a start, backing water. They had now passed +in under the shadow of trees, for the sun was low, and it was +somewhat dark and gloomy in there. + +"It's queer for bushes to be growing so far out from shore," muttered +Tom, "and it shows how shallow the water must be about here. +You had better back water out of here, Danny." + +Dalzell was about to do so when his glance fell on something that +halted his arm. + +In the same moment Tom Reade saw the object that had arrested +Dan's attention. + +From between the bushes peered a pair of deep-set, frightened +eyes that looked out from the haggard, despairing face of a man +whose head alone was visible. + +Just for the moment neither Tom nor Dalzell could really guess +whether the face belonged to the living or the dead. The sight +caused cold shivers to run up and down their spines, for that +face was ghastly and haunting in the extreme. + +But quickly Tom Reade found his voice sufficiently to ask huskily: + +"What's your trouble, my friend?" + + + + +CHAPTER IX + +THE START OF A BAD NIGHT + + +Without noise, leaving barely a ripple behind, that head sank +from view. It had vanished in an instant before the eyes of the +two thoroughly startled high school boys. + +"He's drowning now!" gasped Dan, as the head failed to bob up +again into view. "Oh, Tom, we must save him!" + +"Wait!" said Reade, in a quivering voice. His eyes expressed +uncertainty as to how he should act. + +"But he's drowning. You see, he hasn't come up again!" Dalzell +insisted. + +"Drowning---in water shallow enough for small bushes to grow from +the bottom?" demanded Reade. "Of course not! But what does it +mean---and why didn't the fellow speak?" + +"Perhaps---i---i---it was a---dead man," suggested Dalzell. + +"That's what I'm trying to figure out," replied Reade. "I---I +almost thought I saw the man's eyelids move." + +"I thought so, too," agreed Dan, "but now I'm inclined to believe +that we didn't. Wait! I'm going to get close to the bushes." + +Dan drove the paddle into the water a few times, bringing the +canoe up alongside the bushes, when it was seen that these were +standing up from a square framework of wood. + +"Now, what do you think of that?" asked Reade in perplexity. +"These are freshly cut bushes, that have been fastened to this +frame to-day. The frame will float wherever wind or current may +take it. I thought this was shallow water. I'll soon know." + +Tom had, among his tackle, a line with a sinker attached. He +tossed the sinker over the side of the canoe, paying out the line +until the sinker touched bottom. Then he pulled the line in again, +carefully measuring by his arm as much of the line as was wet. + +"Danny," he announced solemnly, "at this point the water is from +twenty-seven to thirty feet deep." + +"Then that man did drown!" breathed Dalzell, his face as white +as chalk. + +"Of course he did," Tom agreed, "provided he was alive when we +saw him." + +"But he had to be alive," protested Dan, "or else he couldn't +have nailed the framework together and decorated it with branches +from bushes." + +"That is, if the man we saw made the frame," propounded Reade +in a very solemn voice. + +It was a shock to both of them. The whole incident had been uncanny +and unreal, but the horror of that haggard, haunting face was +still strong upon both of the beholders. + +"Tom, we simply must get off our clothes and dive to see what +we can do to find that poor fellow," urged Dalzell. + +"All right," assented Reade. "I'll do all the diving myself, +Danny, if you'll take command and give your orders. Where shall +I dive? The bushes have already shifted position. We're floating +away from the spot, too. Just where do you want me to make the +first dive?" + +"I don't know," Dan Dalzell confessed. "The whole affair has +given me the creeps, I think." + +"I know it has done that to me," smiled Tom unsteadily. "Whew! +I'll dream of that face to-night---all night long! Dan, there +seems to be just about one chance in a thousand that that man +will reach shore. Let's keep the craft headed to the shore, and +watch for some minutes to come. At the same time, if we see a +sign of the poor fellow, we'll swim to him, or paddle to him as +fast as we know how." + +Both boys knew, inwardly, that they would be heartily glad to +get away from what seemed plainly to them to be a haunted spot. +Yet neither cared to admit his dread to the other. So, talking +rather busily, they remained on the spot for fully another ten +minutes. + +"We won't see anything come out of the water now," Tom asserted +at last. "Even if we do, it will be a drowned man." + +"I guess we may as well get back to camp," Danny agreed. "Yet +it is going to be an awfully creepy night for all of us, with +this weird mystery of the lake on our minds." + +"Don't paddle yet," begged Tom. "I'll give a hail, and see if +that brings any answer." + +Raising his voice, Reade shouted lustily: + +"Hello, there, friend? Are you safe? Want any help?" + +"Anything we can do for you, friend?" bawled Dan Dalzell, in his +most resonant tone. + +Only the mocking echoes of their own questions came back to them. + +"Beat the water with the paddle. Danny," advised Reade after +they had waited for some moments. "We've more than a mile to +go. Whip up the water. If you get tired, pass the paddle back +to me." + +"I'm not sorry to get away from that place," breathed Dalzell, +after at least a hundred lusty strokes. + +"Nor I," confessed Reade. "I'm beginning to get a headache already +from trying to figure out what it all meant. Danny, describe +that haunting face just as you saw it." + +"Ugh! I hate to think about it again," protested Dalzell. + +"You'll think about it more than once," retorted Tom. "You won't +be able to help that, I promise you. So go ahead and describe +the face as you saw it." + +Dan did so, Tom listening attentively. + +"Then that wasn't a case of imagination," Tom declared gravely. +"If we had imagined it, each would have seen a different face. +But the face that you describe, Danny, is the one that I also +saw. Pass back the paddle, please. I want a little exercise." + +Tom still had the paddle when he shot the canoe in close to the +camp. + +"Any luck?" called Dave, who had already returned with a string +of perch. + +"Catch any bass?" was Dick's question. + +"Did you even see anything?" laughed Greg Holmes. + +"Did we see anything?" groaned Tom, as he sent the canoe's prow +to land. + +"Danny looks as though he had been seeing all sorts of things," +chuckled Hazelton, as Dalzell stepped ashore. + +"Don't ask me," gasped Danny Grin, with a shudder. + +At this the faces of those who had remained behind sobered instantly. + +"You won't eat any supper, if we tell you," Tom declared, as he +came ashore while Dave held the painter of the canoe. + +"I'll accept that challenge," laughed Prescott, as Dave and Tom +drew the collapsible canoe up on shore. "Fire away as soon as +you're ready, Mr. Reade." + +Perch and potatoes were frying, coffee bubbling and Dick had been +mixing some kind of boiled pudding that he had learned to make +so that it would not cause acute indigestion. + +"Better wait until after supper," Reade advised. + +"No; we want the story now," Prescott declared firmly. + +So Reade told of the strange apparition they had seen, with many +additions to the tale from Danny. + +"I decline to shudder," asserted Dave. + +"That's just because you've only heard about the face, instead +of seeing it," Tom muttered. + +"Dick, what do you make of the whole affair?" asked Greg. + +"I only wish I could guess the answer," Prescott made answer solemnly, +"but I can't." + +"What are we going to do about it?" asked Tom Reade. + +"Let it alone," proposed Harry Hazelton. + +"No, we won't," said Dick promptly. "Not unless we have to, just +because of inability to find out anything. Fellows, it's too +late to try to do anything in the darkness to-night. If the man +were drowned, we couldn't help him, anyway. But we'll go over +there to-morrow and try to find out whether there is any other +answer to the riddle." + +"You won't need any supper to-night, anyway," declared Reade, +in a tone of grim triumph. + +"That is where you lose," Prescott answered quietly. "You'll +be hungry, too, Tom, when the food goes on the table." + +However, neither Reade nor Danny Grin ate very heartily that evening. +Every few moments the haunting face rose before their memories. +It proved a dull evening, too, in camp. The sky became overcast. +It looked so much like rain that Dick & Co. voted in favor of +retiring early. + +First of all, however, the canoe was hauled into the tent for +safety. Then, with only one lantern burning dimly, six sturdy +but wondering high school boys rolled themselves in their blankets. + +Just as five of them were dozing off uneasily Dave Darrin's voice +sounded quietly: + +"That thing couldn't have been a joke rigged up on us, could it?" + +"A joke?" rumbled Reade. "No, sir! That face was real enough +to suit the most particular individual. No, sir; that face wasn't +a joke, nor did the face look as though the man to whom it belonged +had ever heard a joke in all his life." + +"Suppose you fellows shut up until the sun is shining again," +proposed Danny Grin, who had been fidgeting restlessly in his +blanket. + +"That's right," agreed Dick blandly. "All ghost stories ought +to be told in the broad daylight." + +"Just the same-----" Tom began. + +"Shut up---_please_!" came a chorus of protest. + +All was quiet after that. Hours must have passed. All the boys +were sleeping at least fairly well when air and earth shook with +a mighty explosion. + +Instantly six bewildered high school boys leaped to their feet +in alarm. + + + + +CHAPTER X + +POWDER MILLS, OR JUST WHAT? + + +"If that's a thunderstorm," muttered Greg Holmes, barely half +awake, "then it's going to be a dandy!" + +But Dick seized him by one arm and shook him. + +"Come to your senses, Greg! That wasn't thunder." + +"No; but what was it?" wondered Dave. + +"I'm going to dress and find out," rejoined Dick sturdily. He +sat on the edge of his canvas cot and began to pull on his clothing. + +BANG! All were awake enough now to appreciate fully the force +of this second jarring explosion. + +"I wonder if there are any powder works off in this wilderness?" +asked Danny Grin. + +But Dick, who had now dressed as fully as he intended to do, save +for the lacing of his shoes, now came back from the doorway of +the tent with the lantern, the wick of which he was turning up. + +"No powder mills in this part of the world," he declared. "But, +gracious! The explosion seemed big enough." + +Tom Reade stepped over to Prescott, whispering in the latter's +ear: + +"What if this is another chapter in the lake mystery that we struck +this afternoon?" + +"That's possible," nodded Dick. + +"What are you two fellows whispering about?" called Hazelton. + +"We're using whispers in case there's anyone else near enough +to hear speaking voices," Prescott explained in a low tone. + +That was enough to fan the curiosity of the others, who, partially +dressed, crowded about Prescott and Reade. + +Leaving the lantern in the tent, Dick & Co. gathered in the darkness +in the open air. + +"What do you make of it, Dick?" Dave asked. + +"Just as much as you fellows do---no more," came the reply. + +"If it isn't anything that carries danger to us," proposed Darrin, +"we may as well go back and to bed." + +"All who are sleepy enough may go back and turn in," Prescott +suggested. "I'll stay up and watch for a while." + +"So will I," promised Reade. + +But it turned out that none of the party wanted to sleep. Even +Darrin said he was interested enough in this newest mystery to +stay up and try to fathom it. + +"Whatever it is," smiled Dick, "it hasn't done us any harm." + +"Oh, yes; there has been one casualty, at least," protested Holmes. +"The explosion has caused a compound fracture in my bump of curiosity." + +"There don't seem to be any more explosions," suggested Dick Prescott, +after a few moments had passed, and some of the boys were yawning. +"Anyone want to turn in?" + +No one wished to do so, however. + +"If we can't find out anything to-night," murmured Dick, in a +low voice, "we'll at least make a strong effort in that direction +after breakfast to-morrow morning." + +"We have the lake mystery on for after breakfast," urged Hazelton. + +"There's probably a connection between the lake mystery and the +big explosions," whispered Tom Reade wisely. "Fellows, I've a +notion that Danny Grin and I unintentionally bumped into someone +else's business of some queer kind. Now the people who are peevish +with us are trying to chase us out of these woods. At least, +that's my idea." + +"It will take something more than noise to chase us," smiled Dick +coolly. "Our ear drums are as sound as the next fellow's. Just +the same, I wish we might find out something about this mystery. +If there's another explosion like that last one, then some of +us ought to travel straight in the direction of the noise." + +"And run straight into the hard, swift punch that is behind that +noise!" muttered Danny Grin, with one of those facial contortions +that had earned him his nickname. + +"Whoever starts to playing with a boy's curiosity must be ready +to abide by the consequences," chuckled Prescott. "Now, if anyone +has started something against us, then we'll run the rascal to +the earth." + +"You don't suppose it's Dodge's work?" whispered Greg. + +Before Dick could answer Darrin broke in with an emphatic: + +"Not much! The lake mystery affair is one of too large calibre +for Bert Dodge's poor, anaemic brain. There's something bigger +and smarter than a mere Dodge behind the doings of this night." + +"It's one o'clock, fellows," said Dick, after walking over to +the lantern for a glimpse at his watch. "Tom, Greg and I will +stay up until three o'clock and be ready to jump out together +at the first sign of anything happening. The rest of you turn +in and get some sleep. We'll call you at three o'clock and then +take our turn at the pillow." + +"You'll call us, of course, if anything happens?" asked Dave. + +"If another powder mill blows up," chuckled Tom, "you won't need +to be called. You'll be out here on the jump." + +Dave, Dan and Harry thereupon turned in. Knowing that others +were on watch the trio in the tent were all sound asleep within +five minutes. + +Only the sighing of the wind through the trees, the occasional +splash of a leaping fish in the lake, and the subdued, musical +hum of tiny night insects came to the ears of Dick and his fellow +watchers. + +Greg was soon yawning. Tom, for want of something better to do, +began describing all over again the strange apparition he and +Dalzell had seen that afternoon. Greg, finding the "creeps" in +Tom's narration to be stronger than the interest, shivered and +withdrew to a spot beyond the reach of Tom's whispers. + +Not long after Greg, his back propped against a tree trunk, was +sound asleep. + +Tom liked to talk. Prescott was a good listener, putting in a +question now and then. + +So at least another hour passed. Then----- + +Boo-oom! + +That crash was so close at hand that it seemed as though the earth +must open. + +Tom's first startled glance was at the sky. Then, with a whisking +sound, several fragments of something passed over their heads. + +"We're being bombarded?" gasped Tom inquiringly. + +"This is getting too noisy to be interesting," protested Greg, +waking and leaping over to the place where his chums stood. + +"I thought you fellows were going to put a stop to that racket!" +complained Darry from the tent. + +Dick Prescott's whole thought and effort had been centered on +the task of placing the location of that latest explosion. + +"You fellows look after the camp," Dick called in a low voice +to those in the tent. "Come on, Tom and Greg!" + +His two chums hurried to overtake him as the young leader rushed +off in the darkness. Prescott was traveling up the slope in a +direction that ran in an oblique line from the lake front. + +"Are you sure it was just exactly in this direction?" whispered +Reade, as he reached Dick's side. + +"In this direction as nearly as I could judge," Dick affirmed. + +For some moments they traveled onward. Then they halted to listen. + +"I don't know whether I'm any good at judging distances," Dick +whispered, "but it seemed to me that whatever exploded was not much +more than three hundred yards from camp." + +"About that distance, I should say," Tom agreed. + +"Then we've gone about as far as the place of the explosion. +Suppose we keep very quiet and listen." + +"Ugh!" grunted Greg. "I hope the earth doesn't blow up under +our feet." + +"Go back to camp, if you're nervous," smiled Dick, but Greg remained +where he was. + +"I'm going out a little way and prowl," whispered Dick, pointing +in the direction he had chosen. "Tom, why don't you travel in +about the opposite direction?" + +Reade nodded. + +"Where shall I go?" asked Greg. + +"You had better remain right here," Prescott whispered. "If you +should hear either of us yell for help then you could start in +the direction of the sound." + +"Then I'll get into those bushes," whispered Greg. "When you +come back, come straight to the bushes, so I'll know that it's +one of my own crowd. If any strangers appear, I'll listen to +'em if they halt near here, or trail them if they try to go past +here." + +Dick nodded. This seemed about the best that could be done. +Of course, back in camp, he had three more good and courageous +fellows to draw upon as added forces, but with such strange doings +afoot in the night it didn't seem wise to call the others away +from the camp. Above all, the camp had to be watched and guarded. + +In half an hour Dick returned. He had found nothing to throw +light on the puzzle of the night. Tom was back already, having +beaten Dick to Greg's hiding place by about two minutes. + +"We may as well go back to camp," whispered Greg. + +"Not much!" Prescott retorted. "If anyone is trying to do anything +to us, then we want to run the mystery down and put an end to +it. My idea is that the best thing we can do is to get up to +the road, post ourselves at fair intervals and watch to see if +anyone should pass." + +"Correct!" clicked Reade. "And I think that would have been the +best plan in the first instance." + +"If the powder-mill explosions are to keep up through the night," +hinted Tom, "then there ought to be another one due within a few +minutes. In that case our tormentors may be getting ready to +plan something now. So let's hike for the road at once." + +Dick led the way, all three boys moving as noiselessly as they +could. Prescott posted his friends, then chose his own post, +so that they were stationed at intervals of about a hundred yards. +All had hiding places within plain view of this rough country +road. + +Now the time dragged again. Strain their ears as they might, +none of these young outposts of Dick & Co. could hear a single +suspicious sound. They must have remained there all of three +quarters of an hour. + +Bang! sounded a terrific crash. Tom and Greg, without showing +themselves in the road, hurriedly, silently reached their leader. + +"Pshaw!" uttered Prescott in disgust. "With all our care we were +on the wrong side of camp to be near the explosion. Come along, +now, but don't make any noise if you can help it, and don't step +out into the road. We'll go straight toward that latest noise. +If it takes all summer we're simply bound to find out who is +trying to blow up these woods just to scare out a few little rabbits +like ourselves!" + + + + +CHAPTER XI + +IN A FEVER "TO FIND OUT" + + +Our trio had nearly reached what they judged to be the scene of +the latest explosion when Dick suddenly gave a low, sharp "hist," +at the same time bending over to the ground while still peering +ahead. + +Palpitating with excitement, Tom and Greg halted, also looking. + +Out of the shadow ahead emerged something only vaguely outlined +in the dark. Whether wild animal or human being it would be hard +to say there in the darkness. Indeed, the slight sound caused +by its progress close to the road had more to do with warning +Dick and his friends than anything their eyes saw at first. + +"Come on!" whispered Dick, heading suddenly for the road. In +a jiffy Tom and Greg were also in hot pursuit, though young Prescott +managed to keep somewhat in the lead. + +But the object of their pursuit took alarm, too, and gaining the +road, flew like the wind. + +"Hold on there, you!" challenged Dick. "We want a little conversation +with you at once." + +At that vocal warning the fugitive put on an even better burst +of speed. + +"It must be a man!" exclaimed Dick. "He evidently understood me." + +"No use for you to try to get away!" shouted Reade. "We intend +to get you if we have to chase you all the way to the seaboard." + +That was enough to make the fugitive veer suddenly and dart in +under the trees. Tom vented an exclamation of disappointment, +for he knew the chances were easy for escape in the deep shadows +of the forest. + +At that instant Dick raised his right hand. In it he held a small +stone that he had picked up at the first instant of discovering +the presence of the stranger. + +Now Dick threw the stone, with the best judgment that he could +command in the darkness. + +Ahead there went up a cry, as though of pain. Then all three +pursuers distinctly heard an angry voice say! + +"Hang him! He hit me in the heel!" + +If there were any reply to this from a confederate of the injured +fugitive neither Dick nor his chums heard it. + +After a minute all three stopped at a low uttered order from young +Prescott. + +"Hush!" whispered Dick. + +"Sh!" confirmed Tom Reade. + +As they stood there in the forest not a sound of another human +being was audible. + +For some five minutes the trio of high school boys stood without +stirring from their tracks. + +"We've lost the trail," whispered Dick at last. "We could remain +here, of course, waiting for more things to happen, but my belief +is that daylight would find us still standing here, like so many +foiled dummies. We might as well return to camp. What do you +think?" + +"Yes; we'd better go back to camp," assented Tom. + +"I'm agreeable," murmured Greg + +So back to camp they went, going by the open road as much of the +way as served their purpose. + +"There's the camp," muttered Tom, as they caught sight of a light +between the trees. "Why the fellows have started a campfire." + +"What do you say if we slip up on them and give them something +to jump about?" laughed Greg. + +"That might work with some people," negatived Dick, "but Darry +is there, and he's impulsive. He might half kill us before he +discovered his mistake. O-o-o-h, Dave!" + +"Hello!" answered Darrin, coming away from the campfire. Then +he waited until the trio were close at hand before he went on: + +"I judge you didn't have any luck." + +"We got close to one of the scamps," muttered Tom, "whom Dick +seems to have hit on the heel with a stone, but he slipped away +from us under the trees." + +"It's only half an hour to dawn," yawned Dave, looking at his +watch. "We can turn in, now, I guess, for the rascals must be +about through with the guessing match they've put up for us." + +"We could turn in now," suggested Danny Grin. "We don't have +to go to sleep, you know, but we could lie in our blankets and +talk the time away until dawn. The campfire will keep going until +after daylight comes on." + +That seemed rather a sensible course. Dick nodded, and all hands, +after Darry had thrown a few more sticks on the fire, went into +the tent, undressed, donned pajamas and slipped in under a single +thickness of blanket apiece, and lay there talking. + +Yet it proved to be a case of gape and yawn. One after another +their eyes closed and more regular breathing started. + +Dick Prescott was the last one to drop off. Yet he had barely +more than lost himself in slumberland when there came a blast +so close at hand that, to the boys, it seemed as though they must +have been blown from their cots. + +"That was right up toward the road!" panted Dave Darrin, leaping +from his cot barefooted and clad only in pajamas. "Don't stop +to dress. Come on! Chase 'em!" + +"Go as far as you like!" chuckled Dick, stopping to pull on his +shoes and fasten them, as did most of the others. Hazelton went +only to the doorway of the tent, but Danny Grin followed Darrin, +keeping at the latter's heels. + +Prescott and Reade were hardly sixty seconds later in heading +up the slope toward the road, Greg and Harry remaining at the +camp. + +As they came out from under the trees and into the road Dick discovered +that the first signs of dawn were appearing. In a few minutes +more it would be possible to see clearly over a stretch of road +more than half a mile in length. Already objects were beginning +to take shape. Dave was coming back, followed by Dan. Both were +limping slightly, for neither boy was accustomed to traveling +barefoot and both had picked up slight stone bruises in their +progress. + +"Did you sight anything or anyone?" called Dick. + +"No," grumbled Darrin, in deep disgust. "The odds are all against +us, anyway. The scoundrels know which way they are going; we +can only guess at their course." + +"One thing looks rather certain, at any rate," yawned Dick, covering +his mouth with his hand. "Whoever the unknowns are, they were +trying only to bother us. Or, if they were trying to injure us, +they were rank amateurs at the destructive game. + +"But what was it that blew up, anyway?" queried Dave. + +"It sounded like a keg of gunpowder each time," Tom declared. +"Yet to carry around five kegs of gunpowder would call for a +lot of muscular work." + +"I'm going back to camp to put on my shoes," Dave declared. + +"So am I," Danny Grin added. + +"We'll wait here for you," said Dick. "When you come back there +may be light enough for us to look into matters a little." + +Dave and Dan returned in a little more than five minutes afterwards. +The daylight was now becoming stronger. + +"Are Greg and Harry keeping awake?" was Prescott's first question. + +"They are," nodded Darrin. + +"Then they can be trusted to look after the camp," Dick continued. + +"And to look after the canoe," Reade amended. + +"Now, we'll explore the woods a bit," Prescott went on. "We know +about where we heard the explosions, and we'll look for whatever +evidence we can find." + +For this purpose each explorer went by himself. Ten minutes later +Dave Darrin set up a loud hello. This brought the others to him +on the run. + +"Give us another call," demanded Dick. + +"Here!" called Dave, from the depths of the woods. + +Dick went in, followed by Tom and Dan. + +"I've found this much," Dave announced, holding up a scorched +bit of colored paper. It was such paper as is used for the outer +wrapping of fireworks. + +Dick took the fragment of paper, reading therefrom the title, +"The Sploderite Pyrotechnic Co." + +"Nothing but fireworks, after all," ejaculated Danny Grin in great +contempt, now that it was broad daylight. + +"But I would like to have seen the fireworks before they blew +up," retorted Tom Reade. "They were surely the loudest I ever +heard. I don't believe anything but the heaviest cannon could +make as much noise." + +"Whoever touched off fireworks like these," uttered Dave, "didn't +care a hang whether or not he set the woods on fire." + +"There was no fire danger," Dick rejoined. "The grass and everything +in these forests is as green as can be. But let's look about +and see if we can't find evidences of the explosion at this point." + +"There ought to be a good-sized hole in the ground right under +where this piece of fireworks exploded," Tom guessed. "We ought +to find, not far from here, some evidences of what explosives +can do in ripping up the ground." + +"Now I remember that one of the explosions in the night sent something +whizzing through the air over our heads." + +"Pieces of the pasteboard enclosing the mine, bomb or whatever +kind of fireworks it was," Dick suggested. "But let's look for +other debris around here." + +That single bit of scorched paper, however, was all that any of +them could find. + +Tom discovered a spot where he thought the ground had been blackened, +but Dave thought the blackened appearance due to humus soil, and +so nothing came of the argument. + +"I think," yawned Dick, "this search will lead to the same result +that the others did during the night. About all we can do is +to go back to camp." + +The sun was up by the time that all six members of Dick & Co. +were once more gathered about the remains of their campfire. + +"I don't know what you fellows are going to do," yawned Tom Reade. +"As for me, at present a nap looks better than any shower bath +or breakfast that was ever invented. No matter how much objection +I hear, I'm going to get an hour or two more of sleep." + +That idea met with rather a hearty reception. Within three minutes +all six high school boys were lying between blankets again, composed +for sleep. + +No more explosions came to disturb their slumbers, which were +deep and broken only when at last Dick Prescott called out: + +"Fellows, we're regular Rip Van Winkles! It's half-past nine +o'clock!" + +"And we've that lake mystery to solve today!" uttered Greg Holmes, +leaping up. + + + + +CHAPTER XII + +DICK MAKES A FIND + + +"Now, I don't know how it is going to hit the rest of you," remarked +Tom Reade, as he put down his coffee cup at the end of the hasty +breakfast, "but I'll confess that I'm not wholly keen about solving +the puzzle of the lake mystery." + +"Why not?" challenged Dave in astonishment. + +"It's just like this," Tom went on. "Solving human riddles is +all right in the daytime, but it's likely to spoil our rest at +night. I can't help feeling that last night's Sploderite function +was a mark of displeasure over our unwelcome interest in the lake +mystery." + +"Suppose we grant that," Dick answered, "yet how would last night's +rascals expect us to connect the bang concert with Tom and Dan's +canoe trip and discovery yesterday afternoon?" + +"There's something in that idea," Reade admitted. "The unknowns +might hardly expect us to show as much human reasoning power as +all that. Yet I'm of the opinion that we'll continue to rest +badly at night as long as we continue to feel any unhealthy curiosity +about the lake mystery. In other words, my belief is that our +interest in the affairs of perfect strangers is regarded by the +unknowns as rudeness that must be rebuked." + +"I don't care a hang about the lake mystery, anyway," gaped Dan, +who was giving forth a series of yawns, his mouth only partially +hidden by his right hand. + +"There's just one strong point to the other side of the question," +Dick argued. "There's a very fair amount of reason to believe +that a man may have been drowned late yesterday afternoon, and +that Tom and Dan saw him go down for the last time. That probability +existing, I believe we are bound, as good citizens, to see if +we can find any trace of a drowned man. If we can, then as good +citizens it is clearly our further duty to report the matter to +the authorities. If we can't find the remains of the drowned +man, then I am under the impression that, at the least, Tom and +Dan must report to some county officer just what they did see, +and the county can then take up the question in any way it pleases. +First of all, however, we ought to look for the body of a drowned +man." + +This view prevailing, Tom and Dan launched the canoe, Dick entering +as passenger, while the other two handled the paddles. + +Some brisk work took the canoe over, as nearly as Tom could judge, +to the spot where the haunting face had been seen so briefly on +the afternoon before. + +Under the bright morning sun the waters were clear here, though +the bottom could not be seen. + +"Paddle half a mile up the lake, then down," Dick ordered. + +This was done, Prescott and the paddlers keeping a sharp lookout. +No body of a drowned man was seen, however, either on the surface +or under the water. + +"I don't believe anyone was drowned," re marked Dick at last. +"There is no wind today, and hardly any such thing as current +on this placid water. Whoever the man was, he got ashore." + +"That's my belief," agreed Reade. + +"Where's that brush arrangement?" asked Dan suddenly. "That frame +all trimmed with green boughs." + +Nor was this to be seen, either, though an object of that size +would have been visible at any point on the water within half +a mile. + +"The man got ashore, all right, and he took care of the bush-trimmed +frame as well," was Prescott's conclusion. "Whoever the man was, +whatever happened, I don't believe that anything tragic happened +in the water. For that matter, fellows, isn't it possible that, +in the gathering gloom, and with the sky somewhat overcast, you +were deceived about the ghastly, haunted look in that face? Isn't +it likely that the look you thought you saw in the man's face +was merely an effect of the unusual light of late yesterday afternoon?" + +Tom shook his head emphatically. + +"Why don't you ask us," demanded Dan ironically, "if it weren't +just imagination on our part that we saw the face at all?" + +"I don't doubt your having seen the face," Dick replied. "That +wasn't anything that the light supplied." + +"Then where is the man?" quizzed Dalzell. + +"Safe on shore somewhere, beyond a doubt," Dick answered + +"Then the chase takes us ashore, doesn't it?" asked Dan. + +"Yes; if we're going to follow up the matter any further," Dick +replied. + +"We ought to follow it up," Reade insisted. + +"Why?" asked Prescott. + +"For one thing," smiled Tom, "it will give us something interesting +to do." + +"Should we find our interest in meddling with other folks' business?" +wondered their leader. + +"We've a right to, when those people come around and spoil our +night's rest for us," Tom retorted. + +"It was a bit like a challenge, wasn't it?" Dick laughed. + +"Besides," Dan urged, "we certainly saw enough yesterday afternoon +to show us that there is something tragic in the air around this +sleepy old lake. If anyone is in trouble we ought to try to help +that one out of trouble. And there was real, aching trouble in +that face if ever I saw evidences of trouble." + +"I guess we'll put in part of the day looking into the matter," +Dick assented. + +"Where shall we land?" asked Dalzell. + +"As nearly as possible opposite the exact spot where you saw the +man's head," Prescott made answer. + +"Over there where that bent birch shows between the two chestnut +trees," announced Reade, pointing with his paddle. + +"Pull for that place," Dick ordered. + +In a few minutes the canoe was drawn up along the shore so that +Dick could step on land. + +"You'd better come with me, Tom," said Prescott. + +"And I'm the nifty little boat-tender who stays here and dozes +in the shade?" asked Danny Grin, with a grimace. + +"Are you good and strong this morning?" queried Dick, with a smile. + +"Strong enough to walk, anyway," Dan retorted. + +"Then perhaps you're strong enough to paddle back across the lake +and bring over two more fellows. Then, when you get back here, +leave one of the pair here in the canoe, and we will get them +to keep it a hundred feet or more off shore. We don't want our +craft destroyed. And be sure, Dan, that the fellow who stays +behind on the other side of the lake understands that he's to +stick right by the camp and watch it for all he's worth." + +"I've got my orders," clicked Danny Grin, with a mock salute. + +"Then let's see how well you can paddle alone." + +Dalzell gave a few swift, strong turns of the paddle that sent +the light canvas canoe darting over the water. + +"Now, come along," urged Tom. "I'm anxious to get busy this morning." + +First of all, the two high school boys walked up the lake shore +for some distance, keeping their eyes wide open and all their +senses on the alert. Then, returning, they walked for a considerable +distance down the shore. + +"There are our reinforcements coming," announced Tom, pointing +across the lake. "Danny and his load will be here within fifteen +minutes." + +"We'll wait for the other fellows, before going away from the +shore," Dick proposed. "If we started now they wouldn't know +where to find us." + +Returning to the landing place, Dick silently waved his hat until +he caught the attention of Dave Darrin, seated in the bow of the +canoe, who answered the signal just as silently. + +Presently the craft came up to the shore. + +"Who's going to stay in the canoe?" Dick inquired. + +"I am," Harry Hazelton declared dolefully. "We drew lots on the +other side. Greg drew the shortest twig, so he had to stay at +the camp. I got the next shortest twig, so my job is boat-tender." + +Dave and Dan stepped ashore. Heaving a sigh, Harry paddled out +on the lake some hundred and fifty feet from land. + +"Now, how are we going to beat up the country on this fine July +morning?" Tom wanted to know. + +Dick stood looking at the surrounding ground. + +"I think I know as good a plan as any," he announced, after a +pause. "Dave, you and I will walk down the lake, using our eyes +and ears. Tom and Dan will go in the opposite direction. Each +pair will keep along until our watches show that we've been going +ten minutes. Then we will walk up the slope a hundred steps and +turn toward the centre, meeting probably about the end of the +second ten minutes. After that, if we decide to do so, we can +go further inland from the lake. If there's a house or hut, or +any fellow camping out in this neighborhood we ought to find him +without much trouble. What do you fellows say to my plan?" + +"It's about as systematic as anything could be," Dave agreed. +"But what if one pair of us find something?" + +"We'll try our best to communicate with the other pair," Dick +rejoined. "Suppose, Dave, that you and I run into something interesting +and don't want to leave it? Tom and Dan, not meeting us at the +appointed place, will know enough to keep right on over our course +until they find us." + +"That looks plain enough," nodded Reade thoughtfully. + +"All right, then," Dick declared. "Now we'll start." + +He and Dave started off at a swinging gait. The first time Prescott +turned to look behind him Reade and Danny Grin had already vanished. + +Dick kept close to the shore, Dave moving in a parallel line a +few steps up the slope. + +"There isn't any hut, lodge or camp down there," Dave called softly, +"or else we'd have seen it from our camp on the other side of +the lake." + +"I know it," Dick nodded. "What I'm trying to do is to see if +I can find any hint, on the shore, of how that fellow landed yesterday, +without Tom or Danny catching sight of him. Of course, a very +clever swimmer could have gone quite a distance under water. +and I want to see if I can find any sign of anything that would +have hidden his landing from the fellows in the canoe." + +"Oh!" nodded Dave understandingly. + +The full ten minutes of searching passed without the slightest +trace of a discovery. + +"Halt," Dick called up smilingly. "Now, join me, Darry, while +I count off the hundred steps up the slope." + +This done, the chums started backward, keeping a course as nearly +parallel with the shore as was possible. + +"Now, try to be keener than ever," Dick urged, as Dave paced off +another twenty steps higher up. "We're in a growth of deeper +forest, with a bigger tangle of underbrush and it will be easy +enough to overlook something." + +The two boys trudged on. They were five minutes on their way +back, perhaps, when Dick heard a sudden scrambling in the underbrush +not far away. Then Prescott caught sight of a human figure, yet +so fleetingly that he could have given no description of it. + +"Is that you, Darry?" he called sharply. + +But it wasn't, for no answer came back, save for the slight sound +of someone going through the brush farther on. + +"Dave! Darry!" shouted Prescott. "Here! Quickly!" + +Then Dick dashed on in pursuit, calling again and again until +Dave came in sight and joined in the chase. + +"What was it?" panted Dave, as he came within hailing distance. + +"Someone running away from me," Dick explained. + +"What did he look like?" + +"I didn't have a chance to see. Let's travel hot-foot." + +Yet presently Dick halted. Dave stopped beside him. + +"We've passed him; he has doubled on us," uttered Darrin in a +tone of intense chagrin. "We belong in the primary class in wood +lore." + +Then, suddenly, they heard a slight noise again. Forward they +dashed. Now they came out to a place where the ground was more +open. Before the two high school boys rose a great boulder of +rock, its front sloping backward, and running up to a height of +fifty feet or more. They had already seen this boulder from the +water. + +"That fellow ran into the open, but he didn't have time to cross +it," announced Dick in a tone of conviction, as the pair halted +at the foot of the boulder. "He could have gone up this side; +there are crevices enough for foothold. But in that case we'd +have seen him." + +Dave stood plucking absent-mindedly at the leaves of a bush in +a clump that grew at the foot of the boulder. Suddenly Dick glanced +down, noting that his feet were on boggy ground, though the surrounding +soil was firm enough. + +"Is there a spring running out of the solid rock?" wondered Dick, +reaching out and pulling one of the bushes forward. + +Then he gave a sudden shout of discovery: + +"Look here, Dave! We're on the track of it! These bushes conceal +the mouth of a cave! This is where our fugitive has gone!" + + + + +CHAPTER XIII + +PERHAPS TEN THOUSAND YEARS OLD + + +"By Jove!" gasped Dave, also bending back a bush and glaring down, +his eyes wide open with interest. + +"That's where our man went," Dick whispered. + +"Not a doubt of it," Dave assented. "We'll signal the other fellows, +and then get him at our leisure." + +"Unless there are other openings to this cave," Dick hinted. + +"That's so! The fellow may be a quarter of a mile away from here +already," Darrin quivered. "Let's not lose any time. I'll go +in there first." + +Dave was on his knees, quivering with eagerness, dominated by +purpose, when Dick grabbed him, hauling him back. + +"Let me alone," growled Dave. "Don't interfere with me!" + +"But you don't know what you might run into in there, Darry," +Prescott insisted firmly. "For one thing, you have no idea how +many villains may have their secret home in there." + +"Then, what are you going to do?" Darry demanded, looking up. + +"I'm going to watch, right here, while you go forward and find +Tom and Dan. Bring them here, and then we'll decide what ought +to be done." + +"That's rather slow," hot-headed Darry objected. + +"It is, and a heap safer," Dick contended. "Hot-foot it after +Tom and Dan. I'll stay right here and see to it that the mouth +of the cave doesn't run away. Start---at once, Darry, please! +Don't let us waste time." + +Knowing how stubborn Dick could be when he knew that he was wholly +right, Dave lost no time in argument. He sprinted away, and presently +Dick heard faint echoes of Darry's signaling, "hoo-hoo!" + +A few minutes later the trio came up at a dog trot. + +Not one of them spoke, as all had lost their breath in their haste. +Tom, now in the lead, dashed up to where Dick stood on guard +a few yards away from the bushes. + +"Over there," nodded Dick, pointing to the bushes. + +Tom and Dan pulled the bushes aside curiously. + +"If we're going into that cave we may as well cut the bushes down," +murmured Reade, producing a pocket knife. "Any objections, Chief?" + +"No," smiled Dick, "and I'm not the Big Chief, either. Cut the +bushes down, if you want. Move over, and I'll give you some help." + +Within a short time the bushes had been cut down close to the +ground, revealing an irregular shaped opening in the cave. This +aperture was about three feet high and some five feet in width. + +"Did you bring that pocket flash lamp, Tom?" asked Dick suddenly. + +"Thank goodness, I did," replied Reade, producing the lamp. + +Dick took it and crawled a few feet into the hole. + +"There's water all along on the floor here," he called, "but just +a dribble. Come in here and you'll find that you can stand up." + +It needed no urging to induce the other boys to follow. Then +they stood up, in almost complete darkness, save when the flashlight +showed them their surroundings. + +Some parts of the cave rose to a height of perhaps sixteen feet. +Twelve feet was about the average height. From what the boys +could see as they moved along, the cave extended for some sixty +feet. + +"I don't believe there's anyone in here except ourselves," muttered +Darry in disgust, peering all around him. "In that case, we are +wasting our time in this cave. Phew! How cold it is in here!" + +"And well it might be," laughed Dick. "Do you see that mass just +ahead of us?" + +"What is it?" asked Dan. "Flash the light on it." + +"Come over and look at it," Dick went on. "No one could live +in this cold place. It is chilling me to the bone, just to stand +here. And now you see why that little trickle of water keeps +moving out through the mouth of the cave. Fellows, we're in one +of nature's icehouses." + +"But we're not after ice," Dave protested. + +"We won't turn down ice in the wilderness, when we can find it +in July," Dick rejoined. + +"Not much!" answered practical Tom Reade. "Why, fellows, ice is +just what we need at the camp. Let's get a closer look at it +and make plans for an ice-box over at the camp." + +"But I want to follow that man of mystery," protested Dave. + +"Go ahead, David, little giant," Dick laughed. "We won't stop +you. But we've lost our man of mystery, anyway, and this cave +contains something that we really do want. Tom, you're the +mathematician of the party. How much ice is there here?" + +"If I could see better I could tell you better," sniffed Reade. +"Hundreds of tons of it, anyway." + +"How did the stuff get here?" asked Dan wonderingly. + +Dick was now at the edge of the ice pile, and flashed the light +at the roof of the cavern. + +"See the rifts in the rock up there?" he asked. "Water must have +leaked in here during the heavy winter rains. It was cold water, +too. Then, in extra cold spells, such as this country experiences, +the water must have frozen. As heat doesn't get in here in warm +weather the ice may have been here for generations. Fellows, +we may be looking upon ice that was here when George Washington +was a boy." + +"I've read, somewhere," declared Tom soberly, "that icebergs that +float down from the polar regions in spring often represent ice +that is at least ten thousand years old. Fellows, some of this +very ice may have been here in this cave long, long before Julius +Caesar went into the soldiering business!" + +That thought had somewhat of an awesome effect upon Dick & Co. +The four high school boys felt as though they were in the presence +of great antiquity. + +"But the practical side of it," declared Tom, "is that we must +devise the best way of cutting some of this ice and getting it +across the lake to the camp." + +"Oh, you can break off enough for making ice water," replied Dave +Darrin impatiently, "and take it over in the canoe, though the +spring water is cold enough for anybody." + +"All of Dave's thoughts are still on the man of mystery," Dick +declared, with a chuckle. + +"It's much more interesting than standing here figuring on how +to get ice that we don't need," retorted Darry. + +"Now, as to moving this stuff to the camp," Tom went on, "it seems +to me-----" + +"Of course," laughed Dick. "It has already struck you that we +can fell a few small trees and build a raft on which we can tow +a few hundred pounds of ice at a time." + +"Oh, pshaw!" fidgeted Dave. "I am anxious to find the man of +mystery." + +"That isn't anything practical," scoffed Tom Reade, "while in +hot weather a good supply of ice is eminently practical." + +"You'll think there's a practical side to the man of mystery and +his cronies when to-night comes, and there's so much noise about +the camp that we miss another night's rest," hinted Darry sagely. + +"Humph!" was Tom's greeting to that assertion. "I don't know +but you're right." + +"Well, we know where the ice is," remarked Dick. "We can get +it at our convenience. Darry, we'll follow you in pursuit of +your man of mystery. Come out of here, fellows." + +Dick led the way out of the cave, flashing the light as he walked. +All four blinked when they found themselves out in the sunlight. + +"Now, which way are we going, David, little giant?" demanded Tom +good-humoredly. + +Now that he was put to it, Dave had to confess that he didn't +know. + +"Let's make a swift, thorough search all around here, and see +if we can find any footprints not made by ourselves," Dave suggested +rather weakly, at last. + +This was done, and faithfully, for, now that they were out in +the sunlight again, the interest in the mystery began to return. +It grew stronger as they searched. At last, however, after more +than an hour of fruitless effort that offered not an atom of promise, +even Darry was willing to give it up for the time, at any rate. + +"Let's keep on walking along the slope, then," Dick suggested, +"until we come in sight of the canoe." + +As they walked along they came to a brook that, at this point, +was nearly the width of a creek. The water ran noisily down over +the stones, save here and there where there were deep pools. + +"It's narrow enough, at one point below here, to jump over," Dave +volunteered. + +"Thank you," replied Dick, "but just at present I'm not for jumping +over this brook." + +"Well, then, what on earth does interest you?" Dan asked. "This +isn't the first time you've seen this stream. You passed it +down by the lake, though down there it runs more smoothly." + +"I know," Dick nodded. "I remember the fallen tree we used for +a bridge, and I'm simply ashamed of myself that I didn't think +more about this stream at the time---but my head was then too +full of the lake mystery and the chap with the haunting face. +But now-----" + +"Well?" demanded Tom impatiently. + +"Reade, old fellow," Dick answered solemnly, turning back from +peering at one of the quiet pools in the creek, "you're a wonder +at black bass fishing, no doubt. My tastes ran to another form +of sport. Mr. Morton taught me trout fishing; he lent me his +tackle before we started, and I have it over at the camp now. +Fellows, I believe, from the looks of things, that this stream +is well stocked with trout. At all events, I mean to have a try +at it." + +"To-morrow?" asked Dave. + +"No, siree! This afternoon----just as soon as possible! A little +while ago we were talking about ferrying ice over to the camp. +Instead, we'll ferry the camp over here, and keep the cave just +as it is for our ice-house. Do you fellows know that brook trout +make the most delicious eating to be had when the cook knows his +business? I do, for Mr. Morton has cooked trout for me in the +woods. Besides, brook trout are growing scarce these days. If +we can make a good haul, we can get a pretty big price per pound +for them! We have ice, now, and we could carry a lot of trout +to market on our push cart, on top of enough ice to keep them. +Come on! Back to camp! We'll shift it to this side of the lake +at once. This crowd can't do better than to work out this trout +stream. I know the trout are there! I can smell 'em! Tom, I've +got an important job for you!" + + + + +CHAPTER XIX + +MORE MYSTERY IN THE AIR + + +It was nearly dark, after an afternoon of hard work for five members +of the party, and an afternoon of wonderful sport for Dick Prescott. + +A crude raft had been built. That part of the work had been easy, +and it was swiftly performed. But three trips with the small +raft had been needed to bring over the tent, the supplies, the +push cart and everything belonging to the old camp. + +Now the new camp stood pitched at a short distance from the cave, +but near to the edge of the lake. The tent had been put up in +a natural clearing, behind a line of timber, so that the canvas +was not visible from the other side of the lake. + +At trout fishing Dick had proved himself more than an expert. + +Now that darkness was coming, Dick was bending over a low fire, +watching a frying pan in which four speckled beauties, well dipped +in batter, were sizzling merrily. + +"This is the finest food I've ever had," declared Greg Holmes, +swallowing another mouthful of trout and leaning back with a contented +sigh. + +"It certainly is great," agreed Dave Darrin. "Fellows, I've wasted +some of my life in the past, for I never before knew the taste +of brook trout." + +"I tried 'em once," said Reade, "but they didn't taste as fine +as these. With trout, I've heard, a tremendous lot depends upon +the way they're cooked." + +"Of course the cooking has a lot to do with bringing out the full +flavor," Dick admitted modestly. "But, Tom, perhaps you hadn't +done any hard work before eating trout that time. Exercise brings +hunger, and hunger is the best sauce that food can have---as we +all ought to know." + +"Exercise?" repeated Tom, with a laugh. "Yes; I've had that this +afternoon, all right. You had me guessing when you told me you +had such an important job for me. I didn't know, then, that you +wanted me to boss the raft building and transporting the camp +over here. It was exercise, all right. We ought to have taken +an entire day to it." + +Dick rose with the frying pan, dropping hot trout on four plates +in turn, omitting only Holmes. + +"You shall have a trout out of the next serving, Greg," Dick promised. + +"I'm not worrying about myself," Greg returned. "But are you +going to have anything left for yourself, Dick?" + +"I'm not worrying about that, either," laughed Prescott. "It +was mighty nice of you fellows to do all the work this afternoon, +and leave me to enjoy myself all the time at sport. So the trout +belong to you fellows." + +"I don't suppose you worked at all, Dick," said Tom quizzically. +"Of course whipping up and down a stream in rubber boots, over +stones and all sorts of obstacles, isn't anything like work." + +"It would be pretty hard work for a fellow who didn't like trout +fishing, I suppose," Dick answered. "But, to me, it was only +so much glorious sport. Here's your trout, Greg. Who else wants +some more?" + +"Don't ask foolish questions," chuckled Danny Grin. + +But at last the five boys had to admit that they had eaten their +fill out of the splendid result of Dick's afternoon of sport. +There were still several trout left, all cleaned and ready to +be dipped in the batter. + +"Now, you sit down at the table, and let us wait on you," urged +Greg, going over to Dick. + +Dave took hold of one of young Holmes' suspender straps, pulling +him back. + +"You simpleton," expostulated Darry, "are you going to spoil Dick's +reward by letting a chump cook attend to the trout? Dick wants +to cook his trout for himself, but we'll do everything else. +I'll appoint myself to make the coffee for all hands." + +Dick soon had a pan full of trout ready for his own plate. As +he seated himself at the table he was fully conscious of how tired +and sore he was from the afternoon of whipping up and down stream +after these handsome, speckled fish, but he was careful not to +admit his fatigue to the others, who, also, were very tired. + +Dick had to fry a second pan of trout, eating the last one of +the lot he had caught, ere he found his appetite satisfied. + +Then, with only the light of a lantern on the table, the boys +sat about sipping their coffee and feeling supremely contented +with their day of effort and its results. + +"There are not so many mosquitoes over here," Tom announced. + +"They haven't found us out yet," chuckled Danny Grin. "They will +do so, later." + +"I'm ready for bed any time the word comes," confessed Harry Hazelton. + +"But, see here, fellows," suggested Dave soberly, "we're now right +in the enemy's country. That is to say, we're on the same side +of the lake with the man of mystery and his companions, if he +has any. I don't doubt that resentful eyes have watched the erecting +of this camp on its present site." + +"Sorry to have hurt anyone's feelings," yawned Tom. "Still, I +guess we've as much right here as anyone else." + +"But the point is this," Dave went on. "Last night some persons +must have crossed the lake in order to annoy us. To-night we're +on the same side of the lake with them. We'll be much more accessible +to the people who object so strenuously to our presence." + +"Where did these unknown people find a boat for crossing the lake?" +queried Reade. "We couldn't find one anywhere until the canoe +was left at our camp." + +"Anyone might have a boat or canoe here, and keep it hidden easily +enough when not in use," Dave asserted. "Just as we---have brought +our canoe up here and hidden it in the tent, for instance. Now, +we'll all have to admit that we're extremely likely to have unwelcome +visitors here to-night? Are we going to keep a guard?" + +"It might not be a bad idea to keep someone on watch through the +night," Dick suggested. + +"I'll stand the first watch trick," proposed Dave. "It need be +only an hour long. I'll drink some more coffee, and then walk +a while, so as to be sure to keep awake." + +"I'll take the second trick," nodded Dick. + +The schedule for watch tricks was quickly made up. Then all but +Dave hastily sought their cots. Darkness was not an hour old +when Dave was the only member of the camp awake. Had the high +school boys been less healthy and sturdy their hearty suppers +might have summoned the nightmare, but they slept on soundly. + +Dick, however, stretched, gaped, then sprang up when Darry called +him. Some of the others, when their turns came, did not respond +as readily, and had to be dragged from their cots and stood upright +before they were thoroughly awake. + +It was shortly after one o'clock in the morning when Tom Reade, +then on watch, stepped lightly into the tent, passing through +the round of the cots, shaking each sleeper in turn. + +"Those of you who want to listen to something interesting, get +up instantly!" Tom exclaimed in a low voice. + +Three boys drowsily rolled over, going immediately back into sound +slumber. Dick and Dave, however, got up, pulling on their shoes. + +"What's all that racket across the lake?" was Dick's prompt question +as he stood in the doorway of the tent. + +"That comes from the former camp site," chuckled Tom. + +"Guns!" cried Dave Darrin in amazement. + +"It sounds like a big fusillade," Dick cried, as he stepped out +into the night. + +"But surely no one can be trying to attack our camp, thinking +we are still there," Tom protested. "We don't know any people +who are wicked enough to plan an attack upon our camp." + +"No," Dick agreed. "But this much is sure. There are those who +dislike us enough to try to spoil our rest night after night." + +Dave began to laugh merrily. + +"I half believe it's Dodge and Bayliss," he remarked quietly. + +"I don't," Reade objected. "Both of them are too lazy to motor +up into the wilderness each night, over such rough roads, all +the way from Gridley. No, no! It's someone else, though who +it is I can't imagine. If it were the man of the lake mystery, +or any of his people, they'd be likely to know that we're on this +side of the lake." + +From the edge of the timber line near by came the sound of a crackling +twig, followed by a groan as of a soul in torment. + +Wheeling like a flash, Tom Reade produced the pocket flash lamp. + +Staring toward the boys, his face outlined between the close-growing +trunks of two spruce trees, were the startling features of a man. + +"That's he---the Man of the Haunting Face!" came from Tom Reade +in a hoarse whisper. + +"Then we'll get him!" cried Dick Prescott, leaping forward. "Hold +the light on him!" + + + + +CHAPTER XV + +THE SCREAM THAT STARTED A RACE + + +Yet even as the three boys dashed toward the two spruce trees +the light went out. + +Tom pressed frantically on the spring of the lamp as he ran, but +the lamp gave forth a flickering gleam that was little better +than no light at all. + +The long use of the lamp in the cave had weakened the storage +battery. + +"Give us the light!" called Dave, as they reached the tree. + +"Can't! The battery's on a strike," answered Reade grimly. + +Dick Prescott, who was ahead of his companions, now halted, whispering +to the others to do the same. + +The man they sought had vanished. No betraying sounds came to +indicate where he had gone. + +"Dave and I'll stay here," whispered Dick. "Tom, run back for +a lantern. Hustle!" + +Fifteen minutes of eager searching, after the lantern was brought, +failed to give any clue to the whereabouts of the man whom they +sought. + +"This is more ghostly than human," laughed young Prescott. + +They felt compelled to give up the search. As they returned to +the camp the firing on the opposite side of the lake broke out +anew. At the distance, however, it was not loud enough to disturb +the other three, who still slept in the tent. Dick flashed the +lantern inside to make sure that the sleepers were safe. + +At intervals the racket across the lake broke out anew. + +"It's my turn to go on watch again," said Darry, glancing at his +watch by the light of the lantern. "You two might as well turn +in." + +"We'll dress and bring our cots out into the open," Dick proposed. +"You might as well have us, Dave, where you can get us instantly, +and ready for action, by just touching us on the shoulder." + +But the night passed, without any further disturbances than the +occasional distant firing, and the rousing, every hour, of a new +watchman for the camp. + +It was past seven in the morning when Dick finally turned out, +to find Greg and Harry busy preparing breakfast, while Darrin +still slumbered. + +"Where are Tom and Dan?" Prescott asked. + +"Look through the trees, and presently you'll discover them out +in the canoe," answered Greg. "Tom simply couldn't wait any longer +to go out after bass." + +"I'm going trout fishing, if I can do it without shirking," said +Dick, as he rose and stretched. + +"And if no one kicks I'm going with you," added Darrin, opening +his eyes. "How about it, Greg? Are you and Harry willing to +do the camp watch this morning?" + +Greg had turned around eagerly, seeing which, Hazelton broke in: + +"Go right along with 'em, Holmesy, if they'll take you. There +won't be much to do in camp after, the dishes are washed." + +"But it's rather a shame to leave you alone," hinted Greg wistfully. +He wanted, with all his heart, to see some of the rare sport +that Dick had described, but he didn't want to be unfair to anyone. + +"I won't be lonesome," protested Hazelton. "We have some good +books along, and I can read one of them." + +"But what if the camp should be molested?" asked Greg. "You know, +there is at least the Man with the Haunting Face, and there may +be others." + +"Whoever tries to molest this camp will be molested in his turn, +I promise you," laughed Harry. "I'm no weakling, so run right +along, Holmesy. Even if serious trouble should arise, I have +this, you know." + +He produced a long-barreled fish horn that he had used in celebrating +the night before the Fourth of July. + +"Two or three loud blasts on this bugle would carry a long way, +and you fellows would know what I wanted," finished Hazelton. + +"All right, then, I'll go," said Greg, his face beaming. + +"We've trout flies in plenty, you know," Dick went on, "but we've +only two poles that are suited to trouting, so we'll have to take +turns." + +"You may keep one pole all the time. Dick," suggested Darry. +"Greg and I can take turns with the other pole." + +"That will hardly be fair to you two," replied Dick, with a shake +of his head. + +"It wouldn't be fair to the whole crowd to take your pole away +from you any part of the time," retorted Greg. "Remember, Dick, +you are the expert trout fisherman of the party, and all the fellows +want some more trout. We'll never forget those of last night." + +Greg and Hazelton now had breakfast ready. It was eaten rather +hastily, after which all hands fell to setting things to rights. + +"Here, come out of the tent," called Hazelton, as Dick started +inside to use a broom there. "You fellows are the providers, +and I can do the little housework that's left to do." + +So Dick, Dave and Greg brought out their long-legged rubber boots +and got into them with little delay. Then there came a sorting +of flies, and the rigging of lines and reels. Within a few minutes +the three were ready to start out. + +As they went up the stream Dick cut and trimmed two crotched sticks +on which to string the fish they might catch. + +"That looks almost boastful," chuckled Dave. "It looks as though +we thought it a cinch that we're going to get a lot of trout." + +"It all depends on us," Prescott rejoined. "The brook is simply +full of trout, that we can catch if we display the requisite amount +of skill. The mystery to me is that this brook has escaped the +knowledge of the trout fishermen in Gridley. Not even Mr. Morton +ever heard of this stream." + +"Well, Mr. Morton can't be expected to know everything," argued +Greg. "He's already the most capable sub-master in Gridley High +School and the finest coach the Gridley football squad ever had." + +"He's also an A No.1 trout fisherman," Dick went on. "Fellows, +we mustn't tell everyone about this trout stream, but Mr. Morton +is such an all around fine fellow that I think we owe it to him +to tell him, when we see him, just how to reach this brook." + +"If the real estate men of Gridley knew of this place," laughed +Greg, "they'd buy up the ground around here and then sell bungalows +at fancy prices to amateur fishermen of means." + +"And then the brook would soon cease to be a trout stream," retorted +young Prescott. "A large proportion of the trout would be caught +within a few days, and the rest of 'em scared away to safer breeding +grounds. The only way to keep a trout stream in working order +is not to let many people know about it. It sounds selfish, but +it's good sportsmanship." + +Dick soon halted, eyeing a pool so deep that its bottom could +not be seen. + +"This looks like a good place to start in," he announced. "I +believe I'll go a little way up stream, and then whip down past +this pool and below. Now, talk only in whispers, if you can remember, +fellows. Trout are shy creatures. Has either of you ever fished +for trout before?" + +Both Dave and Greg shook their heads. + +"Then I think you had better watch me for a while, and catch some +of the knack of it," their leader advised. "Notice particularly +how I whip. If I get a nibble, then note, particularly, that +I don't make an immediate effort to land the trout. I play the +line out a bit and let him play with the fly, and beat about and +get himself better imbedded on the hook. When I am sure I have +him well hooked, then you'll see the peculiar motion with which +I bring him out of the water and throw him on the ground. That +landing trick is one that you need to get just so. Study it, +and develop it. Don't be disappointed if you lose quite a few +trout. You will lose them often until you get the hang of the +thing." + +Some distance above the pool Dick stepped into the water. He +walked along slowly, not stirring up much dirt from the bottom. +All the time he kept his line behind him, frequently lifting +it and whipping it into the water again. The gayly colored flies +and the glistening spoon just above the hook flashed in the sunlight +every time he made a whipping cast. + +Not twenty feet had Dick gone when he felt a sudden, violent tug. +With the true patience of the trout fisherman, Dick didn't become +at all excited. His hand on the reel, he let the line fly out +as the finny captive darted up stream. + +Presently Dick played the fish in gently, then suddenly gave it +plenty of slack line. These tactics were repeated, while Dave +and Greg almost danced in their eagerness. + +Suddenly Dick flipped his pole sharply. There was a swish of +line in the air. Something speckled and glistening dropped on +the ground at least ten feet from the brook, where it lay floundering +and gasping. + +"Hoo-ray!" yelled Greg, with all his pent-up enthusiasm. + +"Do that again, Holmesy, and I'll chase you back into camp," warned +Dick, with his patient smile. Then he stepped ashore, took the +trout from the line and impaled it on a stick, which he gave Greg +to carry. + +Within two minutes there was another strike. The same patient +tactics, and Dick had another trout---this time a two-pounder +as against about three quarters of a pound for the weight of the +first trout. + +The third trout got away, despite the most careful handling, but +the fourth and fifth biters were soon landed. + +"I can't stand this any longer," quivered Dave. "I've got to +start in. Where do you want me to go, Dick?" + +"Better go about a quarter of a mile upstream," Prescott suggested, +"and then work down this way. Greg can go along with you and +carry the stick for your string. I'll look out for my own string." + +For nearly half an hour Prescott saw nothing of his friends. +Then Dave and Greg came in sight. Dick held up a string now numbering +eleven trout, some of them unusually large. + +For answer Greg held up a crotched stick with not a single trout +dangling therefrom. + +"There's more knack to this game than I can catch," muttered Darry +disconsolately, "but I'd give a good deal to get the knack of it." + +"No man save the first trout fisherman of all ever learned without +a teacher," Dick assured his chum. "Greg, you take a place farther +down the stream, and I'll stay with Dave and try to show him some +of the tricks. You may have my pole and line, Greg, for I shall +be busy watching Dave." + +Many a pull at his line had Darrin, and many a fish was lost ere, +under Prescott's patient instruction, he managed to land a trout +weighing about a pound. + +"Whew!" muttered Dave, mopping his brow. "At this moment I believe +I feel prouder than any general who ever captured a city." + +"You'll soon have the hang of it, now, Dave," was his chum's encouraging +assurance. "Now, I'm going to hunt up Holmesy, and see if I can +show him some of the knack." + +Greg proved a grateful though not very clever pupil. He was all +enthusiasm, but the art of landing a trout appeared to him to +be one of the most difficult feats in the world. + +"I don't believe I'll ever land enough to fill a frying pan," +he said dejectedly. "Dick, the fellows are depending upon you. +Take this pole and use it for the next hour." + +Later in the forenoon Greg had one small trout on a stick he had +cut and trimmed for himself. Dave Darrin looked almost triumphant +as he displayed three of the speckled ones. Both stared in envy +at Dick's string of thirty-four trout. + +"Of course it'll take a few days of patient study of the game +to enable you to make big catches," was Dick's consoling assurance. + +"I'd put in all summer, if I were sure I could master the trick +in the end," said Dave. + +Greg said nothing, but felt less resolute about it than Darrin +did. + +"Why, it's only fifteen minutes before noon," cried Dave, glancing +at his watch. + +"Then it's high time to be going back," nodded Dick, "in case +the fellows are depending upon us for their meal. If Tom has +a lot of bass, though, we can store these trout in our new ice +box---the cave." + +"And let the Man with the Haunting Face slip in there, after dark, +and help himself!" grumbled Darry. "Somehow that idea doesn't +make any hit with me." + +"Then we'll have to put in the afternoon," proposed Prescott, +"in building a log-lined pit in the ground and moving ice from +the cave to fill it. Then we can keep our fish supplies right +up under our noses in front of the tent." + +"That's a little more satisfactory in the way of an idea," nodded +Darry. + +For the purpose of taking a short cut they soon left the brook, +going through a stretch of woods on their way to camp. + +Hardly had these high school boys entered the woods when they +halted, for an instant, in intense consternation. + +On the air there came to them a sudden scream. + +"That was a girl's voice!" gasped Greg. + +"Or a woman's," nodded Dick. "We've got to-----" + +Again a piercing scream, then more screams in two voices. + +"Hustle!" finished Dick, as the three boys broke into a run in +the direction whence the sound of the voices came to them. + + + + +CHAPTER XVI + +THE CAMP INVADED AND CAPTURED + + +Clad in their long fishing boots, none of the boys made anything +like his usual speed in running. + +Grumbling inwardly at their clumsy gait, all three hurried as +fast as they could into the near-by stretch of forest. + +There, in a path, they came upon a middle-aged woman accompanied +by four girls, all of whom showed signs of unusual alarm. + +"Oh, Dave," called Belle Meade, "I'm so glad to see you!" + +"You usually are," laughed Darrin, "but I never knew you to make +so much noise about it before." + +"What's the trouble?" Dick inquired, after a hasty greeting to +Mrs. Bentley, Laura Bentley, Belle Meade, Fannie Upham and Margery +White, the latter four all Gridley High School girls. + +"A man---he must have been crazy!" replied Laura. Her voice shook +slightly, and she was still trembling, though the color was beginning +to return to her face. + +"Did he offer to molest you?" flared Dick. + +"No, indeed!" replied Mrs. Bentley promptly and laughing nervously. +"In fact, I think we must have frightened the man, for his desire +seemed to be to get away from us as fast as he could." + +"But that face!" cried Miss Fanny. "I never want to see it again." + +"It must have been our Man of the Haunting Face," murmured Dick, +turning to his chums. + +"That was he---just who it was!" declared Belle, with emphasis. +"I don't know whom you're talking about, but 'haunting face' +just describes the man who frightened us." + +"It was so silly of us!" murmured Laura Bentley. "It was clear +nonsense for us to be so frightened, but when, we saw that face +peering at us from behind a tree we simply couldn't help screaming." + +"Are you alone?" demanded Prescott in some astonishment, for these +were carefully brought-up girls, and it was not like their parents +to let them go into the woods without other guard than that of +a chaperon. + +At that instant Dick's question was answered by the appearance +of Dr. Bentley, who, on account of his weight, panted somewhat +as he ran. + +"Did---these---young men frighten---you so badly---that you---made +such a commotion---and caused me nearly to breathe---my last in +running to---your aid?" demanded the good doctor gaspingly, his +eyes twinkling. + +"No, sir; we came, like yourself, when we heard the girls scream," +Dick Prescott explained. + +Then, amid much talking, and with as many as three people speaking +at once, the story was quickly recounted for Dr. Bentley. + +"We've seen the fellow before," Dick explained, "but he always +fakes alarm and vanishes. We call him our man of mystery---the +Man with the Haunting Face." + +"Some poor, simple-minded fellow," suggested Dr. Bentley. "Probably +one whose mild mania leads him to prefer to live in the woods, +a regular hermit. My dears, I'm surprised that any of you should +be so easily startled and make such noisy testimony to your alarm." + +"I'm indignant with myself now---when there are men standing by," +laughed Belle. "But I wish you had seen that man's strange face, +Doctor." + +"I would like to see it, and punch it, too!" muttered Dave. + +"Not a bit of it!" objected Dr. Bentley heartily. "No doubt the +poor fellow is sadly afflicted mentally. He's what the Arabs +call a 'simple,' and the Arabs have a beautiful faith that all +'simples' are under the direct protection of Allah. So, woe to +him who offends one of Allah's 'simples.'" + +"How do you boys come to be here?" asked Laura. + +"I might ask the same question of your party," smiled Dick. "As +for us, we are away on a vacation fishing and camping trip." + +"I knew you were going away," said Dr. Bentley, "but I didn't +know just where. We are touring again, in my seven-passenger +car. We are headed for the St. Clair Lake House, eight miles +below here. But the roads are so bad that the chauffeur said +it would take us more than an hour to get through. So I proposed +to Mrs. Bentley and the girls that we leave the car at the road +and cross over here to have our luncheon on the shore of this +second lake. I have been here before, and remember it as a beautiful +spot. Mrs. Bentley and the girls started on ahead, and I brought +up the rear with the baskets of food. But they got further ahead +of me than I thought. Now I must go back after the baskets, which +I set down before I started to run here. Greg, will you go back +with me and help me bring the baskets?" + +Greg at once accompanied the physician. When they came to the +spot, however, they found but one basket, and that nearly empty. +The second basket had disappeared altogether. + +"Fine!" grunted Dr. Bentley. "Greg, our committee of two must +go back and report the disquieting news." + +"Not so very disquieting, sir," smiled young Holmes. "We have +a camp full of food to offer you." + +That invitation Dick and Dave very quickly seconded when the doctor +rejoined the party. + +"Especially if you can eat trout, sir," Dick went on. + +"Don't! Don't be cruel!" remonstrated Dr. Bentley. "I used to +eat trout when I was a boy, but they are now an extinct fish." + +"Are they, sir?" inquired Dick, unwrapping a paper from around +part of the morning's heavy catch, while Dave exhibited the contents +of a similar bundle. + +Dr. Bentley rubbed his eyes. + +"Bless me, these are a fine imitation of brook trout as I recall +them," he murmured. + +"What did you mean by saying that trout were an extinct fish?" +asked Laura. + +"They're extinct for all but the wealthy," replied the physician. +"Brook trout, in these days, generally cost all of a dollar and +a half a pound, and I've heard of as high as two dollars a pound +being paid for them." + +"There are plenty hereabouts, just now," Dick replied. "But we +may take them all out of the water before we move from here." + +"Of course," nodded Laura's father. "That's what trout are for. +They won't do anyone any good as long as they remain in the water." + +"Let's hurry back, please," urged Dick. "I am anxious to see +your luncheon under way." + +"Yes," teased Belle, "the sooner you have satisfied our appetites +the sooner you may expect to see us gone and be able to enjoy +yourselves and your comfortable solitude once more." + +"Now, just for saying that, Belle," uttered Dick reproachfully, +"I'm going to consider the revenge of burning two of your trout +in the pan." + +"Mercy!" cried Belle Meade. "Are you going to cook the trout?" + +"After you've eaten a trout cooked and served up by Dick Prescott," +Dave declared, "you won't want them cooked by anyone else. Dick +is the one trout chef in this part of the country." + +"Where did he learn?" teased Belle with a pretense of suspicion. + +"Mr. Morton---Coach Morton, of our high school eleven---taught +Dick how to do it," Dave explained. + +"Right here, young ladies---attention!" called Dr. Bentley, holding +up a warning finger. "If brook trout are as fine eating as they +used to be when I was a boy, then you simply won't be able to +keep it a secret that you've eaten some recently. Yet on one +point I must insist. None of you must be dishonorable enough +to name any spot within fifty miles of here as the scene of your +trout luncheon. If you let the secret out all the trout fishermen +in four counties will be swarming here to destroy all the fun +your young men friends are having. So, please remember! Utter, +dark, uncompromising secrecy!" + +"Is it as bad as that?" asked Belle. + +"Every real trout fisherman knows enough to keep his own secrets +as to the streams that contain trout," Dave nodded. + +By this time they came within sight of the camp. Nor was it long +before Tom, Dan and Harry caught sight of the visitors and ran +forward to meet them. + +"Our friends have come just in time to have a trout feast," Dick +announced. + +"I shall be jealous if they eat the trout," Tom retorted. + +"Or envious?" laughed Belle. + +"No; jealous," Tom assured her. "Dan and I have been fishing, +too. Come and see what we caught." + +Tom led the way to where he had cleaned more than a dozen black +bass, while in buckets of water lay nearly thirty more fine, +sleek-looking fish. + +"Didn't you catch anything but bass?" Dave asked. + +"A few other fish," Tom admitted, "but we threw the inferior fish +back into the water. Now, girls, which are you going to have---trout +or bass?" + +"Both---if we may," ventured Laura, with a smile. + +And both were served at the meal. Motherly Mrs. Bentley laid +aside her motoring dust coat and marshaled the girls for the various +tasks to which she assigned them. + +What a hubbub there was in preparing the feast! + +Dick built two small fires for his own exclusive use. Tom built +two more, while Dan and Greg skirmished for more wood. Dr. Bentley, +his coat off and shirt sleeves rolled up, constructed a "warm +oven" with stones topped by a large baking tin. Then he built +another. + +Dick fried the trout, while Dr. Bentley started low fires under +the two crude warming ovens. As fast as trout were fried they +were dropped into one oven, Tom's bass being dropped into the +other. Potatoes were boiling in one pot, tinned peas in another, +and tinned string beans in still another. Tinned pudding was +set in another pot of water to heat, while Mrs. Bentley made a +sauce, and the girls set the table and made the other necessary +preparations for the luncheon. + +Presently the meal was ready, though the boys did not seat themselves +until they had seen their welcome guests served. + +"Daddy," murmured Laura, "I don't blame you for regretting your +boyhood, if you had many trout feasts." + +"How's the bass?" asked Tom, almost jealously. + +"Just splendid," replied Laura, sampling her first fork full. + +"You boys are camping in a fisherman's paradise," declared Dr. +Bentley. "I don't blame you for liking this life. When I was +a boy fresh water fish were almost as plentiful as salt water +fish. Now, we rarely find any fresh water fish in the markets. +I can't understand how this choice retreat for fishermen has +escaped notice, unless it is because of the almost total lack +of inhabitants in this section, and the miserable apologies for +roads. Once again I must caution all of you young women not to +be indiscreet and spoil this fisherman's paradise for your young +friends by talking about it to anyone." + +All four of the girls promised absolute secrecy. + +After they had all satisfied their hunger, Dick asked Dr. Bentley +all about the St. Clair Lake House. He learned that it was a +fine, modern hotel, accommodating about one hundred and fifty +guests. It was just on the edge of the good roads, Dr. Bentley +explained; this side of the hotel no roads worthy of the name +existed. Dick was very thoughtful after receiving the information, +for he had something on his mind. + +"How about that chauffeur of yours, doctor?" asked Dave suddenly. + +"Oh, we left him with a comfortable luncheon," replied Dr. Bentley. +"He can't leave the car, you know." + +"Will you take him two or three trout, sir?" urged Dick. + +"And a bass, sir?" added Reade. + +"We'll wait for him to eat them in the car," replied the physician, +"provided the poor fellow hasn't gorged himself on plainer food +and has no room left for real fare like this." + +When the time came that the guests must really leave, five of +the boys accompanied the party to the road. Hazelton remained +to watch the camp. + +"Now, let's hustle!" urged Dick, as the car rolled out of sight. +"When we get back to camp we have many long hours of work to do." + +"Work of what kind?" inquired Tom. + +"First of all," replied Prescott, with his most mysterious air, +"we are going to build, close to camp, a make-believe ice-box. +Then we're going to fill the box with ice." + +"And what will all that be for?" Dave wanted to know. + +"If you can't guess now," smiled young Prescott, his eyes gleaming, +"you'll soon begin to see daylight through my plan! I don't know---but +I believe that the plan I have in mind is going to work out in +great shape!" + + + + +CHAPTER XVII + +DICK MAKES FISH TALK + + +"That's the longest eight miles I've ever done," muttered Hazelton. + +"The map is wrong. It's a hundred and eight," affirmed Dave. + +"No matter, if the trip turns out to have been wisely planned," +remarked Dick, a wistful look coming into his eyes. "Of course, +I may have overshot the mark." + +"That's a chance we had to take," declared Dave promptly. "We +won't be disappointed if we find that we haven't made such a big +move, after all." + +The three high school boys had halted in the shade of some trees +by the highway. A quarter of a mile away, around the head of +the body of water known as the third lake, stood a handsome hotel, +the St. Clair Lake House. + +It was now nearly nine o'clock in the morning. Dick and his two +comrades had been on the way, over the rough road, propelling +the heavily laden push cart, from which water now dripped from +melting ice. The boys had built their ice-house, or ice-box, +whichever one preferred to call it, and they had stocked it with +ice from the cave. Dick, Dave and Greg had whipped up and down +the stream in turn; Tom and Dan had trolled the lake for bass. +As fast as the fish were brought in they were stored on the ice. +After two days of hard fishing the boys arose before four o'clock +in the morning, for Dick was now ready to test his venture. + +"Stay close by that box, Harry," warned Dick, as he took hold +of the handles of the push cart. + +"Won't I, though?" Hazelton demanded. + +Dick and Dave trudged onward, taking brief turns at the cart. +Thus they entered the hotel grounds at the rear, continuing until +they were close up to the rear porch. Then Dick ascended the +steps and knocked at the door. As no one answered, he stepped +into the corridor. + +"What do you want here?" asked a well-dressed, portly man of fifty, +who stepped out of a nearby room. + +"I would like to see the manager, or steward, sir," Prescott replied. + +"We don't want any help," replied the man. + +"I haven't any help to offer, sir," Dick smiled. "Can I see the +steward, or the manager?" + +"I'm the proprietor, if that will do," answered the man, giving +Dick a sharp look. He saw that his youthful visitor was evidently +a well-bred boy, but that did not prove that Dick was not looking +for work. College boys often serve as bell-boys or waiters at +summer hotels. + +"If you will step outside then, a moment, sir," Prescott continued, +"I think I can show you the nicest lot of black bass you ever saw." + +"A string of bass, eh?" + +"No, sir; quite a load." + +"I'll look at them," said the proprietor briefly. + +When he saw the quantity of bass, and noted the plumpness of the +fish, the proprietor was more interested. It is always a problem, +with a summer hotel, to serve enough novel food. But the proprietor +offered less than half the price Dick named. The high school +boy, however, stuck to his price. + +"I can't deal with you, then," said the owner, with a shake of +the head, starting to reenter the hotel. + +"The Kelway House is about a mile and a half below here, isn't +it, sir?" asked Prescott, preparing to push the cart along. + +"Yes; but they won't buy fish at that price." + +"I'll try them, anyway, sir. Thank you for the trouble you've +taken for me. Good morning, sir." + +"Hold on, there," interrupted the hotel proprietor. "Perhaps +I can offer you a little more." + +In his own mind the hotel man was determined that the rival Kelway +House should not have the chance to serve these bass. + +More haggling followed, but Dick stuck to his price. In the end +he got it. Scales were brought and the fish weighed. The total +came to eighteen dollars and thirty-three cents. + +"I suppose an even eighteen dollars will satisfy you?" asked the +hotel man. + +"Yes, sir," admitted the greatly delighted Prescott. + +While the money was being counted over, Dave slipped away with +the push cart. + +"In about ten minutes, sir," said Dick, after he had pocketed +the money and had thanked the hotel man, "I'll have something +else to show you." + +"What?" asked the man, eyeing Dick keenly. + +"Now, if you don't mind, sir," coaxed Dick, with a smile, "I'd +rather not destroy, in advance, the keen delight you're going +to feel when you see the next cartload." + +"How many of these cartloads have you lying around?" asked the +proprietor quickly. + +"The next one will be also the last, sir. May I call you out +when my friends get here with it?" + +"I---I guess so," assented the hotel man, and then went inside. +Dick found a seat on a nearby bench and waited. + +Dave and Harry presently came along with the cart. Dick once +more went after his prospective purchaser. + +"What have you now---more bass?" asked the hotel man, eyeing the +heavy box on the cart. Water was dripping from the ice and running +to the ground. + +"No, sir; just look!" begged Prescott, lifting some jute bagging +from the top of the box, then digging down through the top layer +of cracked ice. + +"Brook trout?" cried the hotel man. "Where on earth did you get +them?" + +"We have a factory where we turn 'em out nights, sir," volunteered +Dave, with a grin. + +"What do you want for them---same price as for the bass?" demanded +the proprietor. + +"We could hardly afford to do that, you know," Prescott replied. +"Down in a town like Gridley these brook trout ought to retail +for a dollar and a half a pound. We'll offer them to you, sir, +at sixty cents a pound---flat." + +"Take 'em away!" ordered the hotel man, with an air of finality. +This time it was plain that he did not propose to purchase. + +"You won't be sorry after we're gone, will you?" asked Dick politely. + +"I can't afford to put sixty-cents-a-pound fish on my bill of +fare," said the hotel man. + +At this moment two well-dressed, prosperous-looking, middle-aged +men came strolling around the corner of the building. As Dick +was about to cover his fish one of them caught sight of the speckled +beauties, and stopped short. + +"Hello! Aren't these fine, Johnson?" the man demanded of the +proprietor. "Going to buy these trout for the hotel?" + +"I can't afford to put such costly fish on the bill of fare," +replied Johnson candidly. + +"Man, you don't have to," replied the other. "Send these trout +to the grill-room ice-box. Let guests who want brook trout order +them as extras. Why, I'll eat a few of these myself, if you serve +'em." + +"Certainly," nodded the other man. + +Proprietor Johnson had caught a new idea from the suggestion of +serving the trout as an "extra" in the grill-room of the hotel. +All of a sudden he began to scent a profit. + +"All right, young man," smiled Mr. Johnson. "Begin to unload. +I'll have the scales brought out again." + +The weight proved to be a little over one hundred pounds. Dick +accepted an even sixty dollars, while Harry Hazelton nearly strangled +himself in his efforts to keep from cheering lustily. + +This money, too, was counted out. + +"Are you going to bring any more fish this way?" asked Mr. Johnson. + +"I can hardly say as to that, sir," Dick hesitated. + +"If you do, I can't agree positively to buy, but I'll be glad, +anyway, if you'll give me the first chance. I will see how these +trout 'go' in the grill-room in the meantime." + +"We'll give you the first call, sir," Dick nodded. "Thank you +very much for this morning's business." + +"That boy is a budding merchant," thought Johnson, staring after +Dick as the three high school boys trundled their cart away. +But in this estimate the hotel man chanced to be wrong. + +"Let's hurry up and get away from the hotel---a long way off," +urged Hazelton. + +"Why?" asked Dave. "It was a fine place---for us." + +"Yes; but I want to yell, with all my might," Darry declared. +"Seventy-eight dollars---think of it!" + +"Nothing to get excited about," Dick declared calmly. + +"When did we ever make so much money in life same time before?" +blurted Hazelton. + +"Never, perhaps," Prescott admitted. "We made money, this time, +because we had something that everyone wants, and the supply of +which isn't large. We would have made far more money if we had +had a cart full of diamonds in the rough." + +"What are you talking about?" demanded Hazelton. "We don't know +where to find diamonds." + +"I didn't say that we did," Dick rejoined. "But we had something +that is rare, and in demand. The rarer a thing is that everyone +wants the better price can be had for it. The bass didn't bring +anywhere near as much money as the trout, just because people +don't call for black bass as much as they will for brook trout." + +They were entering the little village beyond the hotel. They +had to go there in order to mail their letters, for all the boys +had taken advantage of this opportunity to write home. + +"We'll be nervous with this seventy-eight dollars in camp, in +addition to the few other dollars we have," Dave suggested. + +"We won't keep a lot of money in camp," Dick replied. "I'm going +to buy a money order for seventy-five dollars, payable to myself, +and send it to my father to hold for me until we get back. Then +I'll cash the order in Gridley and turn the money into our common +fund." + +"And we'll add to that fund," proposed Hazelton eagerly. + +"If the bass and the trout hold out," supplemented Dick. + +"Say, wouldn't it be mighty nice if only we could get some home +letters here?" asked Hazelton, as the three left the cart at the +curb and turned to enter the post-office. + +"We can look for home letters on our next trip here," Dick suggested. +"On Tom's, Greg's and Dan's letters I'm going to add a note on +the outside of the envelope to the effect that letters may be +sent to this office for us. And I'm going to add a postscript +to my letter to my father and mother. You fellows had better +do the same thing." + +Dick's first move was to get a money order blank and fill out +his application. Then all hands attended to their postscripts. + +This done they went outside. + +"There's a little grove down that street," said Dave, pointing. +"Why not go down there and take a brief nap?" + +"I want a long one," Dick laughed. "Traveling over that road +was harder work than I've ever done on the football field." + +Their nap lasted until a little after noon. + +"Whee! But I'm hungry," grumbled Hazelton. + +"I think we may feel justified in finding a restaurant, and getting +a good meal," assented Dick. + +"I want a steak for mine," proposed Darry. "It seems a year since +we've had one." + +"Great idea!" nodded Dick. "And, while we're about it, we'll +get steaks and some stewing meat the last thing before we leave +town and take it back to the fellows. We've had so much fish +that red meat will hit a tender spot with all the fellows." + +"It will make a big hit with Tom Reade, I know," laughed Hazelton. + +Pushing the cart through the street, the high school boys found +a restaurant that looked as though it would be within reach of +their purses. The boys put their cart in a back yard, then went +in and asked permission to wash up. This being granted, they +soon after took seats at a table in the restaurant. + +It was an odd little place, equipped with several booths, each +containing a table and seats for four persons. + +"We'll take the booth away down at the end of the room, where +we won't be seen by better-dressed people," proposed Dave. + +Accordingly they occupied the last booth in the row. There they +ordered a meal that made their mouths water in advance. + +Hazelton, poking his head out of the booth as he heard some one +enter, hastily drew it in again. + +"Guess who's coming!" he whispered. + +"Can't," replied Dick. + +"Dodge and Bayliss," replied Harry. + +"Keep out of sight, and don't talk," ordered Prescott. + +Bert Dodge and his chum came down the room, taking the booth next +to that of the high school boys, yet without seeing Dick and his +chums. + +When the waiter appeared Dodge ordered two ice creams. + +"Queer what became of the mucker gang," observed Bayliss, after +the waiter had departed. + +"Not a bit queer," retorted Bert. "That was why I wanted to meet +you here this morning. I've found out where they are." + +"How did you find out?" demanded Bayliss. + +"Do you see this post card?" demanded Bert, laying a card on the +table. "It was written by Laura Bentley to Susie Sharp, and mentions +their having had lunch at the camp of the high school muckers. +And this message gives a clear enough idea of where their camp +is, too. Laura must have dropped the card in the street, for +that's where I found it." + +"Say, that's a great find!" chuckled Bayliss. + +"You may wager that it is," grinned Dodge. "We broke up one night +of sleep for the muckers with those bombs, but I've an idea that +the night we shot off sixty rounds of blank shotgun shells that +they had already moved. But now I have a brand-new one that we +can use and make them break camp and run for home as fast as they +can go. Then we'll pass the story of their scare all around Gridley, +and they'll never hear the last of the laugh against them." + +"I'm all attention, old fellow!" Bayliss protested eagerly. + +"So are we!" thought Dick grimly, as he glanced at Dave and Harry. + + + + +CHAPTER XVIII + +A KETTLE OF HOT WATER FOR SOMEONE + + +It was a wonderfully elaborate scheme to which the high school +boys were privileged to listen. Such a scheme, really showed +Dodge, in a way, to be possessed of more brains than people in +Gridley commonly credited him with possessing. + +But Dick smiled at Dave Darrin's scowl as the plot was unfolded +in the next booth. + +Fortunately for Dick and his chums the steak order was delayed +in the serving. Thus Dodge and Bayliss finished their ice cream +and left the place without discovering the presence of their intended +victims. + +"Say, aren't that pair just going to enjoy themselves at our expense?" +chuckled Hazelton, after the plotters had left. + +"Unless I miss my guess, they're going to dance to our music to-night," +laughed Dick gleefully. + +Their meal was served soon after, and eaten with relish. As soon +as it had been finished Dick asked the waiter for a sheet of paper +and envelope. + +"Don't worry about any weird doings you may hear of from our camp," +Prescott wrote his mother. "We've just learned of a big scare +Dodge and Bayliss are planning to spring on us up at our camp. +We're going to turn the tables on them---that's all. But I write +this for fear you may hear some awful tales when that pair reach +Gridley." + +As they left the restaurant, Dick returned to the post-office, +mailing this second letter to his mother. + +"Now, we must buy a few things here," Dick explained to his friends. +"Then we must get out of this village by a back road, and we +must make sure that we don't run into that pair of ex-soreheads." + +The "sorehead" reference, as readers of our "_High School Boys +Series_" will recall, had to do with Dodge and Bayliss, ere they +had been chased out of Gridley High School. These boys had belonged +to the notorious "sorehead faction" in the high school football +squad. + +Going in different directions, Dick, Dave and Harry were able +to make all their needed purchases in a short time. Right after +that, they got out of the village, and back upon the rough trail +for camp without having met their enemies. + +It was nearly seven o'clock when the three travelers, all but +fagged out, pushed their cart in sight of camp and gave a hail +that brought the other chums running to meet them. + +First of all, word was passed as to the successful outcome of +the fish-selling expedition. + +"I thought you fellows would bring us some fresh meat," Tom cried, +when Dave unloaded the cart. "Fresh vegetables, too? Wow! Won't +we live? I told the fellows not to try to get supper until you +got back, as you'd be sure to bring something that would make +us sorry we had eaten. We've the fires all ready." + +"And now, listen!" commanded Dick Prescott, after the first preparations +had been made for supper. + +Thereupon the young leader of Dick & Co. repeated the plot they +had heard Dodge and Bayliss unfold that noon. + +"Hang those two heathens!" sputtered Tom Reade indignantly. + +"Oh, I'm glad they're coming," laughed Dick. "All I hope is that +nothing will happen to keep them from coming to-night." + +Then Dick outlined his plan. Tom Read, after listening for a +few moments, lay on the ground, rolling over and over in his glee. + +"Wow! But won't that be great?" demanded Greg, laughing until +the tears ran from his eyes. + +"Say, we mustn't talk any more now. We must eat supper, and then +get ready if we're to play the reception committee successfully +tonight." + +At a very early hour, considering the lateness of the evening +meal, Reade, with his knack in woodwork, and with no other tool +than his jackknife, had fashioned the stocks for two "rifles." +These Hazelton carefully treated with mud from the lake so as +to give them a dark color. + +"If the guns are seen by the light of the campfire, the stocks +and barrels ought to be of different colors," Dick explained. + +Dave was now fashioning two straight sticks into semblance of +rifle barrels. These were lightly treated with mud and fastened +to the two stocks. Then two additional "rifles" were to be manufactured. + +Other work was performed, and all was gotten in readiness. Prescott +had a number of mysterious-looking little packages that he had +bought in the village. + +"Oh, dear, but I hope nothing happens to keep Dodge and Bayliss +from coming to-night," breathed Tom, as he labored fast. "David, +little giant, hurry up with those barrels. There can be no telling +how soon we shall have to defend ourselves with these 'Quaker' +guns!" + +As they worked, the high school boys indulged in many a chuckle. + +"It takes something like this to keep me awake to-night," Dick +yawned. "If there were no excitement coming, I'm so dead sleepy +that I could go right into dreamland standing up." + +"So could I," chirped Dave. "But I manage to keep awake by enjoying +the thought of how thoroughly we'll wake up someone else tonight!" + +"If our plans don't miscarry," warned Dick. + +"Please don't croak about failure or disappointment," begged Tom +tragically. "My warm, impulsive young heart won't stand any +disappointment to-night." + +So they toiled on, their preparations all along the line taking +shape rapidly. + +By ten o'clock they had everything completed, including the +manufacture of the "Quaker" rifles. + +"Now, to our posts," chuckled Dick, after a rapid distribution +of things from the packages brought up from the village. + +The campfire was allowed to burn low. Some light was still needed +for the full success of their plans. + +Tom and Dan took up their stand in front of the tent, each armed +with a "Quaker" gun. + + + + +CHAPTER XIX + +BERT DODGE HEARS FRIGHTFUL NEWS + + +Half an hour passed. At last there came the long-drawn, doleful +note of the screech owl. + +It was but an amateurish imitation; an Indian would have treated +it with contempt, but it was well enough done to deceive untrained +ears. + +Tom glanced at Danny Grin, smiling quietly. The imitation note +of the screech owl was a signal from Dick that Dodge and Bayliss +had arrived, and were starting their nonsense. + +Still Tom did not speak of this to Dan. There could be no telling +whether Dodge or Bayliss might be within hearing already. So +Tom and Dan, gripping their quite harmless weapons, became more +alert in appearance. + +It was true enough that Dodge and Bayliss were now on the scene. +They had hidden their car off at the side of the road, a mile +or more below, and had crept forward with their outfit for the +night's big scare. + +Dodge carried half a dozen large hot-air balloons, which he had +made for the purpose. Under the other arm be carried a package +that looked as though it had come from a department store. + +Bayliss, a broad grin on his face, carried the working parts of +a new style siren whistle, intended for automobiles, but a machinist +had succeeded in flutting some new notes and effects into the +screech of this ear-splitter. + +"I hope they won't take the noise of this siren for the cry of +a screech owl," whispered Bayliss, as the pair stole stealthily +along. + +"If they do, they'll soon get over that idea, and find their real +fright up in the air," Bert Dodge whispered in response. + +"I wonder how much further on their camp is, or whether we're +anywhere near it?" Bayliss asked. + +"We'll soon know how close we are, for the lake can't be much +further on. I just caught sight of the water in the starlight," +Bert answered. + +How astounded both mischief makers would have been had they known +that certain members of Dick & Co. were even now trailing them. + +"There's the tent!" whispered Dodge suddenly, checking his Companion, +as they came to a spot on the slope where they could see the white +of the canvas faintly displayed by the glow from a dying campfire. + +"Two of them are about, too!" muttered Bayliss disgustedly. + +"Then they're all the more certain to see what they're going to +see soon," chuckled his companion. "Only we must work quickly." + +Bayliss separated one of the balloons from the string held by +Bert. The package was opened and from it Bayliss took and fitted +over the balloon enough filmy gauze to cover it to a length of +six or seven feet. Tying a longer string to the balloon, Bayliss +allowed the white, filmy mass to soar upward. When the balloon +had reached a height of twenty feet above the near-by tree tops, +Bayliss made it fast to a tree trunk. Then he and Dodge skipped +hastily to a point some eighty yards away, where they speedily +sent up another. In a very short time all six balloons were flying +on the night air, each with its trail of white fleecy stuff hanging +therefrom. + +"They do look like ghosts flying in the air, don't they?" demanded +Bayliss exultantly. + +"Not to me," muttered Bert. "But that's because I know what they're +made of." + +"Let's hustle now with the rest," urged Bayliss. + +"Right you are," agreed Bert. + +They hurried along, going a bit nearer to the camp, until Dodge +pointed to a tangle of bushes. + +"That'll be a good place to hide with the siren. You get in there +with it, but don't start it until about sixty seconds after you +hear the big noise. Then I'll hustle right back here to you." + +"Don't let any of Dick Prescott's friends catch you," urged Bayliss, +who would have gasped had he known that at that moment two of +them crouched close enough to hear every word. + +Now Bert hastened down the slope, carrying a fireworks' bomb very +much like those that he and Bayliss had set off on the opposite +side of the lake on another evening long to be remembered. + +Treading cautiously, Bert reached a point not far distant from +the doorway of the camp tent. Here, crouching in the screening +bushes, Bert placed the bomb in position. It was only a fireworks' +bomb of the kind used on Fourth of July nights. It was harmless +enough to one who stood more than thirty feet from it. + +"The fuse will burn a minute before it goes off," murmured Bert +to himself. "That will give me almost time to reach Bayliss before +the big noise comes. The noise will bring them all out of the +tent. Then the remainder of our programme will do the rest." + +But, even as Bert reached for the match with which to touch off +the fuse he heard Dalzell call in a voice audible at the distance: + +"Look at those things up in the air, Tom!" + +"He has sighted our 'ghosts,'" laughed Bert to himself. + +"They must be some sort of signal kites, flown by the moonshiners," +answered Reade in an interested tone. + +"Kites! Is that what he takes our ghosts for?" wondered Bert +Dodge in deep disgust. + +But the mention of the word "moonshiners" gave the listener a +start. In a general way he knew that "moonshiner" is the term +applied to men who try to cheat the United States Revenue Service +by distilling liquors on which they pay no tax. Bert had heard +that moonshiners are deadly men, indeed, and that they make little +of shooting down the government officers who are sent to ferret +out their hiding places and arrest them. + +"I wish we hadn't run into those moonshiners," said Danny, rather +dolefully. "And I wish Dick hadn't thought it necessary to go +and send word to the United States authorities. I'm afraid there's +going to be an awful row here to-night." + +"What's that?" wondered Bert, pricking up his ears. + +"I rather wish Dick hadn't been in such an awful rush," Tom admitted +slowly. "Anyway, we fellows should have gotten out of here and +left it to the marshals to have it all their own way. I'm afraid +there is going to be a big fight to-night, and these old woods +may be full of humming bullets. And I'm worried about Dick, too, +going off as guide to the marshals. There were only eight of +the marshals, and, even with four of our fellows, they still have +to face nearly twenty of the moonshiners---and I'll wager that +the moonshiners are all desperate fighters." + +"Oh, dear!" wailed Danny Grin. + +Bert Dodge's face was a study. With the prospect of a running +fight between United States' marshals and desperate moonshiners +about to take place, these woods seemed likely to be anything +but a safe place. + +"At least, the marshals did a decent thing in leaving us rifles +here to protect ourselves with," Dan Dalzell continued. + +Raising his head, Bert took a long look at the camp. Not far +away stood Tom Reade, the outlines of a rifle in his grasp showing +very distinctly. Dalzell was over nearer the shadow of the tent, +yet Bert made sure that Dalzell had a rifle also. + +"Gracious! There is likely to be real enough trouble in the woods +to-night!" muttered Bert. "Those boys didn't have guns when they +left Gridley. The authorities have probably furnished them." + +Just then a popping fire rang out further up the lake slope. + +"There it goes!" almost yelled Danny Grin. "The marshals have +run into the moonshiners. The fight is on. Oh, I hope none of +our fellows are being hit!" + +Certainly the firing continued briskly. Dodge forgot all about +lighting the fuse of the fireworks' bomb. + +Instead, he crouched low, then darted from the bushes, running +as fast as he could to the point where he had left his companion. + +"In here!" chuckled Bayliss gleefully. "I didn't know you had +anything with you but the bomb, Bert." + +"That's all I did have," whispered Dodge, white-faced. "Hustle +out of here, Bayliss!" + +"What's the matter?" + +"Hear that firing?" + +"I thought you had been setting off fire crackers, Bert." + +"Fire crackers nothing!" ejaculated Bert, his face ghastly. "Man +alive, that's a fight going on up the slope between United States +officers and a lot of desperate moonshiners! There goes the firing +again." + +Bayliss heard it; he couldn't help that. + +Then still nearer rang out the firing. + +"We've got to get out of here as fast as our legs will take us," +Bert insisted. "Hustle before the bullets reach us." + +At that moment Dave Darrin broke from cover, running as fast as +his legs could carry him. As he raced toward camp Darrin called: + +"Reade! Danny! This is Darrin. Get ready to run or fight. +It's a fearful affair. Four of the marshals were down when I +left, and Dick Prescott is done for, too! Oh, it's fearful! +There won't be any of the government party left!" + +Apparent terror rang in Darrin's voice as he ran forward flourishing +his "Quaker" rifle. + +"Great Scott!" groaned Bayliss, trying to rise and run, though +his legs shook under him. + +"Buck up! Don't be a coward!" hissed Dodge, seizing his companion +by the arm. "Come on! Run for it---before we're hit." + +Thus the two made their escape, running, stumbling through the +woods, heading blindly for the spot where they had left their +car. + +Back of them fresh sounds of firing rang out. How could the frightened, +dazed fugitives know that it was Dick Prescott, pursuing, and +dropping lighted strings of fire crackers as he ran? + +"It's a running fight, and coming right our way!" gasped Bert. + +"Let's drop down and crawl to safety!" almost screamed Bayliss. + +"No, you don't!" retorted Dodge angrily. "Our only safety lies +in getting into that car and throwing the engine wide open. I +don't care if we wreck the car if only we can cover a couple of +miles of ground first. Run! Hustle!" + +Had he suffered from a little keener fear, Bayliss would have +collapsed utterly. As it was, fear lent him extra speed. He +fairly tore over the ground, darting through bushes, plunging +on in headlong haste. Bert kept with him. + +"We'll soon be all right," cried Dodge encouragingly. "Now, +jump right across the road. Our car is in there, and headed the +right way." + +Just as they reached the car and Bert's pale face showed right +in front of the headlights a third figure dashed up. + +Harry Hazelton, his head swathed in a red-stained bandage, and +what appeared to be blood dripping from his left arm, sprang at +them, the butt of his rifle showing, but its barrel wrapped in +his jacket. + + + + +CHAPTER XX + +A FRENZIED RIDE TO SAFETY + + +"Wait!" gasped Hazelton. "You've got to take me, too." + +"Not much," hissed Bayliss, his voice trembling. "This car is +built only for two." + +"You've got to take me, I tell you," Harry insisted, his voice +trembling. "Do you think I'm going to be left behind?" + +"This car is built for-----" Bayliss started to insist again. + +"Then you will stay behind, Bayliss, at that rate," Harry retorted. +"Remember, I am able to enforce my wishes. Do I go, too?" + +Bert had started the engine, and now sprang in at the wheel. +Hazelton leaped in also, taking the other seat. + +Bayliss, quivering in every muscle, leaped in, crouching between +them. + +"I see that you've decided to come along with us," mocked Harry. + +"Hang you!" snarled Bayliss. "If you didn't have that gun we'd +see about it." + +"Start her, fast, Dodge!" ordered Harry. + +With a roar of the engine the car lurched forward. + +"What happened to the others in your crowd?" asked Bert in a weak +voice, as he steered carefully down the rough road. + +"All flat---all five of 'em!" affirmed Harry, but be neglected +to state that his five chums were lying on the ground, rolling +over in their mirth. + +"None of 'em got away, then, but you?" chattered Bayliss. + +"Do you think I'd let you take this car away from here?" demanded +Hazelton indignantly, "if there were any more of our fellows to +get away from here? What would you fellows count for if it were +necessary to save more of my friends?" + +"It must have been a fearful fight," shivered Dodge. + +"It was," said Harry grimly, striving with all his might to keep +from bursting out in laughter. "I never had any idea that a gun +fight was such an awful thing!" + +"Prescott got his, then?" asked Bayliss. + +"All five of my friends," replied Hazelton, in a choking voice. +"And I've some traces of the fight to show myself." + +"How badly bit are you?" demanded Dodge. + +"I'll last all right until I get to Gridley," Harry predicted, +"if you fellows don't keep me talking too much." + +"I didn't intend going to Gridley to-night," Dodge replied. + +"Yes, you will," Hazelton replied firmly. "I must go to Gridley. +You drive straight there. I'll hold you responsible, if you +don't." + +Bert began to believe that he _would_ be held accountable if he +failed to take Hazelton to Gridley, so he gave in without protest. +At any rate, both Dodge and Bayliss wanted to get as far as possible +from the recent "horror," and as speedily as they could do it. + +"There's no chance of our being attacked on the road to Gridley?" +asked Bayliss by and by, in a quavering voice. + +"No," replied Hazelton. "The lake will be between us and the +trouble makers." + +It was rough going most of the way. Hazelton was disinclined +to talk. Bayliss' nerves were too shattered for him to feel like +indulging in conversation. Dodge, white-faced, his cap pulled +well down over his eyes, showed all that he knew about running +a car carefully and as speedily as was possible over such rough +roads. + +It was after two o'clock in the morning when the car turned into +the stretch of Main Street, Gridley. + +"We'll go to the police station with the fearful news," proposed +Bert Dodge. + +"No, we won't," retorted Hazelton. "We'll go to the 'Blade' office. +Mr. Pollock, the editor, is one of Dick's best friends, and he'll +know better than anyone else in town what ought to be done." + +So with hands that trembled Bert drove the car up in front of +the "Morning Blade" office. All three leaped out, Dodge and Bayliss +eager to get into the glow of lights and among human beings. + +As Harry's feet struck the sidewalk he remembered his character +as a wounded man and tried to totter up the steps in a realistic +fashion. + +In the "Blade" building the press was rumbling busily as the inside +pages of the paper were being run off. + +Mr. Pollock, all alone in the editorial part of the plant, looked +up in astonishment as the ghastly-hued Dodge and Bayliss appeared. +The editor's feeling turned to consternation when he saw Hazelton's +seemingly pitiable condition. + +"Hazelton, what can have happened?" gasped the editor, leaping +to his feet. + +"Take me into another room!" pleaded Harry. "You two fellows," +indicating Bert and his chum, "stay out here." + +Though he didn't guess the answer, Mr. Pollock led young Hazelton +into the mailing room and turned on the light there. + +"Sh-h-h!" warned Hazelton, his face lighting up impishly. "Dodge +and Bayliss tried to play a trick on Dick & Co. and Prescott has +turned the laugh on them." + +"But these blood-stained bandages?" questioned the astounded editor. + +"It's stuff that is used for coloring strawberry ice cream. Dick +bought it at a store. Looks like the real thing, doesn't it?" + +"It looked real enough to give me a bad turn," admitted the editor +dryly. + +Then, in whispers, Harry told the story as rapidly as he could. +Mr. Pollock's face took on a broader grin as he listened. + +"I'd hate to have young Prescott for my enemy," confessed the +"Blade's" editor. "But this is the most atrocious joke I've ever +known him to put up." + +"We had to put a stop to Dodge and Bayliss," Harry smiled. "Perhaps +you'd better go back to Dodge and Bayliss, now---but please don't +let 'em know that it's all a joke." + +"I won't spoil the thing," promised the editor, and hastened out. + +"I'll be with you in just a minute, gentlemen," nodded Mr. Pollock +to Dodge and Bayliss, as he entered the editorial room, then sprang +into the telephone closet, closing the door after him. + +Mr. Pollock telephoned the sheriff of the county, and also the +officer in charge at the Gridley police station, giving the officials +a hint of the joke at the second lake, so they wouldn't rush away +on a fool's errand in case the wild story reached their ears. + +"Now I'll listen to what you two may have to tell me," announced +Mr. Pollock, coming out of the telephone closet. "Then I'll have +to ask you to hurry away, as Hazelton will have to be attended +to and many things done. Talk fast, if you please." + +Dodge and Bayliss poured out what they knew of the night's business. + +"And how did you two happen to be there?" inquired Mr. Pollock. + +"Oh, we---we---we were touring in that part of the country, and +were fixing a break-down when Hazelton came running up," stammered +Bert Dodge. + +"It was fortunate, indeed, for Hazelton, that you had that break-down," +replied the editor. Then his manner showed Dodge and Bayliss +that it was time for them to go. Both were glad to get out of +the "Blade" office, for they feared to stand too much questioning +from one as keen as the newspaper man. + + + + +CHAPTER XXI + +REAL NEWS AND "PUNK HEROES" + + +"Bayliss, no matter what happens," whispered Dodge, as the two +young men climbed into the car outside, "don't you ever let it +be found out that we went to the camp of Dick & Co. to play a +joke on Prescott and the others. The awful way this night's work +has turned out would make the town too hot for us." + +"Don't you be afraid of my becoming loose-tongued," chattered +Bayliss. "Ugh! I don't believe I'll ever want to talk to anyone +again. Bert, do you really believe that all of the fellows but +Hazelton were really wiped out?" + +"They---they must have been," gasped Dodge. + +"It's fearful!" + +"It is," Dodge assented, as he threw on the speed. "I never liked +Prescott, but to-night's awful work is something that I'd have +been willing to have saved him from if there had been a way to +do it. + +"Which way are you heading?" asked Bayliss suddenly. + +"To Dr. Bentley's. If he's at home, I want to hustle him to the +'Blade' office. I believe he's the Hazelton family's physician. +Bayliss, any sign of attention to Hazelton on our part will look +well for us at a time when we're likely to be asked many questions +about how we came to be so near to their camp. We've got to be +mighty careful, or in the excitement that will follow the awful +fate of Prescott and his friends the town might grow so hot for +us that we'd be all but lynched. Now, no one can prove that we +weren't on a trip, and that our car broke down on the road; that +we heard the fire of rifles, and the next thing we knew Hazelton, +badly wounded, came rushing up to us, and that we brought him +in as fast as we could. Now, let's make up a story as to just +what trip we were taking when we broke down on the road a mile +from their camp." + +The two plotters quickly planned out their story. + +"Here's Dr. Bentley's office," said Dodge, as they turned a corner. +"You stay in the car, Bayliss. I can attend to this better." +So Dodge was soon pouring a tale of woe and tragedy up through +the night speaking tube into the astounded, half-suspicious ears +of Dr. Bentley. + +Then Bert Dodge drove with Bayliss to the latter's home, after +which Bert quakingly drove the car around to his own home, where +he roused his father to hear the strange news. Nor was it long +ere the whole Dodge family was listening, awe struck. + +In the meantime Hazelton was exhibiting to Mr. Pollock, with many +a chuckle, the "Quaker" rifle that he had brought into the office +wrapped in his jacket. Harry also displayed the bottle of strawberry +coloring for ice cream that had supplied the color to his head +bandage. + +Ting-a-ling! rang the telephone. It was Dr. Bentley on the wire, +inquiring whether Dodge had been guilty of a hoax in calling him +up to go to the "Blade" office in order to attend Hazelton. + +With many a chuckle Mr. Pollock told Dr. Bentley, under injunction +of secrecy, the story of the night's doings. When Dr. Bentley +heard the story of this latest "outrage" by Dick & Co. he laughed +heartily. "Well, well," he mused, "what will Dick and his friends +be up to next?" + +"Hazelton," ordered Mr. Pollock, "you take the old overcoats you'll +find in that closet and arrange them on top of one of these long +tables. Get some sleep. I'll call you in time for you to get +word to the parents of Dick & Co. after six in the morning. As +for me, I shall expect to get no sleep until I've put this big +news story in shape." + +Yet that morning's issue of the "Blade" didn't contain a word +on the subject. Mr. Pollock was wise enough to write the story, +then save it for appearance at the proper time. + +By six o'clock Harry was aroused. A closed cab, its driver pledged +to secrecy, was at the door to carry Harry on his rounds. He +visited the parents of all the members of Dick & Co., informing +them that the story they might soon hear was not based on any +facts that need alarm them. + +Before seven o'clock that morning Dodge and Bayliss, wild-eyed +and haggard looking, met at Bert's home. Mr. Dodge took them, +soon after, down onto Main Street with him. + +The first public whisper of the news sent it flying fast over +Gridley. + +By nine o'clock Main Street was unwontedly crowded. Groups of +men, women and young people everywhere discussed the "awful news." +Those who had been privileged to hear Dodge and Bayliss tell +the story were looked upon as most interesting people. + +Of course a few Gridleyites tried to find the parents of the "slain" +boys and express their sympathy, but the parents of the members +of Dick & Co., strangely enough, could not be found. + +With many repetitions of the story, Dodge and Bayliss almost +unintentionally began to picture themselves as heroes, who had risked +their lives in order to bring the single survivor away to safety. + +"There's some good in young Dodge and Bayliss, after all," was +a not infrequent comment that morning. + +"It must have taken real nerve, anyway, for them to make that +thrilling rescue of Hazelton," said others. + +So Dodge and Bayliss, much to their astonishment and not a little +to their delight, found themselves somewhat in the hero class. +Their exhausted, wild-eyed, haggard appearance gave more color +to the story of the harrowing experience they claimed to have +undergone in rescuing Hazelton from that awful field of carnage +up by the second lake. + +At ten o'clock Mr. Pollock's automobile drew up at the rear door +of the "Blade" building. Hazelton slipped out, crouching low +in the car, that he might not be seen and recognized, while Mr. +Pollock and his star reporter, Len Spencer, openly entered and +drove away. They made straight for the wilderness camp of Dick +& Co. Once out of the town Harry rose to a comfortable seat, +and made up some of his lost sleep during the trip. + +One thing that puzzled the excited citizens of Gridley was the +placid way in which the chief of police and the sheriff of the +county appeared to take the sad news. + +Mr. Pollock drove his car as close to camp as he could, after +which he and his companions hurried over the uneven ground until +they came upon five high school boys seated outside. + +"How did it all work out, Harry?" shouted Dick, leaping up as +soon as he saw his approaching comrade. + +"It is working in great shape, you young scoundrel!" roared Editor +Pollock, gripping Dick Prescott's hand. "And the yarn is going +to make the biggest and best midsummer sensation that the 'Blade' +has ever had!" + +Mr. Pollock and Len Spencer remained at camp for something like +an hour and a half, enjoying a trout luncheon before they left. + +It was four o'clock in the afternoon when editor and reporter +reached the "Blade" office. + +At five o'clock the "Blade" put out a bulletin, around which a +crowd collected in no time. The crowd grew to such proportions +that the policeman on the beat tried in vain to make it "move +on." + +That bulletin read: + +"Lake Tragedy All a Tremendous Hoax: Read the 'Blade's' six o'clock +extra." + +At a few minutes before six o'clock Len Spencer began to arrange +one of the street windows of the "Blade" office. + +First of all, from hooks, he suspended Dodge and Bayliss' "ghosts" +of the night before. + +"What does that mean?" asked the wondering onlookers. + +Then an unexploded bomb bearing the trademark of the Sploderite +Company was put in the window. It was followed by the _siren_ whistle +that Bayliss had dropped in his flight. Then four "Quaker" wooden +guns, a red-stained bandage and a partly used bottle of strawberry +ice cream coloring appeared. + +Promptly at six o'clock newsboys appeared on the street with the +exciting announcement: + +"Extree! Extree 'Bla-ade'! All about Dick & Co.'s latest! The +best joke of the season!" + +Papers went off like hot cakes. Before the evening was over more +than two thousand copies of that edition had been sold. Many +more than two thousand people had crowded to the "Blade's" show +window to catch a glimpse of the exhibits described in the rollicking +news story. + +"Pshaw! Dodge and Bayliss, the heroes!" shouted one man in the +crowd, as he ran his eye through the story. + +"Punk heroes!" answered someone else in the crowd. + +The story was cleverly told. Dodge and Bayliss were not mentioned +by name, but described only as a pair of amateur jokers whose +plans had miscarried. Yet the plain, unvarnished story cast complete +ridicule over Bert and his friend. + +While the fever of the reading crowd was at its height someone +shouted: + +"Here they come now!" + +Bert and Bayliss had just driven around the corner in the car. +During the last three hours both had slept at Bert's, but now +they were out and abroad again in order to hear the latest +developments. + +Suddenly a hush fell over the crowd. Bert and Bayliss were allowed +to drive in silence to the curb. + +Then, just as suddenly, a dozen men leaped at the car, dragging +both youths to the sidewalk. + +"Wha-a-at's wrong?" faltered Bert Dodge. + +"We'll soon show you!" came the jeering answer of the captors. + +Then a mighty shout of derision went up from the crowd. + + + + +CHAPTER XXII + +TOM TELLS THE BIG SECRET + + +"Take 'em to the horse trough!" roared more than one voice. + +So Dodge and Bayliss, the centre---of a jeering, resolute crowd, +were dragged down the street a short distance. The crowd swelled +in numbers. + +"Stand Dodge on the edge of the trough, and make him read the +paper!" shouted one man. + +That was accordingly done. Bert was shaking so that he had to +be supported in the place chosen for him. + +Bayliss was whimpering in abject terror. + +"Now, read this in the 'Blade,' Dodge," ordered a tormentor, shoving +a paper forward. "Read it aloud." + +Bert began, in a wavering voice. + +"Louder!" yelled a score of voices from different points in the +crowd. + +Bert tried to obey, but his voice was shaky. + +However, he read the article through to the end, while the crowd +waited ominously. + +"Heroes, weren't you?" jeered many voices when white-faced Bert +had finished the reading. + +"Duck him!" came the answer. + +Bert was well splashed in the water of the trough. Then Bayliss +shared the same fate. + +"Now---git! Travel fast---both of you!" came the order. + +Nor did Bert or Bayliss need any further commands. Frightened +as they were, they nevertheless summoned the strength to run +desperately. No one struck them, even in fun. Only jeers assailed +them. Neither boy made any effort to get back to the automobile, but +both kept on until they had turned a corner and vanished from +sight. + +"Pity we didn't have some rifle fire to tie to their coat tails," +laughed one citizen. For the "Blade" had made it plain that +firecrackers, exploded in packs, had provided the sounds of gun fire +up at the camp on the second lake. + +"Oh, we'll make somebody sweat for this outrage!" quivered Bert, +his face dark and scowling, as he and Bayliss slowed up on a quiet +side street. "There are laws in this land! We might even get +damages out of someone!" + +"I feel as if I had collected about all the damage I want for +a few days," muttered Bayliss, gazing down ruefully at his drenched +clothing and water-logged shoes. + +"I wonder who'll take this car home?" asked one of the men in +front of the "Blade" office. + +"Where is my son?" inquired Mr. Dodge, pushing his way through +the crowd without any suspicion of what had lately happened. +"Isn't my son here to take this car home?" + +"I doubt if he'll come back," replied one man, with a twinkle +in his eyes. + +"'Blade'? Extree 'Blade'?" demanded a newsboy, holding out a paper. + +"Better take one, Mr. Dodge," advised a man in the crowd. "Mighty +interesting reading in this extra!" + +Almost mechanically the banker paid for a paper, folded it, then +stepped into the automobile. + +On his arrival home, and after having turned the car over to his +chauffeur, Mr. Dodge went to his library, despite the fact that +he knew his dinner was waiting. + +There he spread out the extra "Blade" on a table and began to +read the featured news story. + +As he read the elder Dodge flushed deeply. Though the names of +Bert and Bayliss were not mentioned, he had no difficulty in +connecting them with the ludicrous story. + +Turning, Mr. Dodge rang. A man servant answered. + +"Mrs. Dodge wishes to know, sir, when you are coming to dinner," +said the man. + +"Ask Mrs. Dodge, from me kindly to let the dinner go on, and say +that I am busy, now, but will come to the table as soon as I am +at leisure. Then ask Mr. Bert to come here to me at once." + +Bert entered. He had removed his wet garments, and put on fresh +clothing. He had been at dinner when interrupted by his father's +message. + +"This extraordinary story in the 'Blade' refers to you, does it +not?" inquired the banker, shoving the paper before the young +man. + +"Yes, sir," Bert admitted sulkily. + +"You and your friend, Bayliss, have been making fools of yourselves, +have you?" + +"No, sir," cried Bert. "We were made fools of by others." + +"When it comes to making a fool of yourself, Bert, no one else +is swift enough to get ahead of you," replied his father witheringly. +"So, you have succeeded in making the entire family objects of +ridicule once more? I had hoped that that sort of thing had ceased +when I sent you away to a private school." + +"We were imposed on," flushed Bert angrily. "Nor has the outrage +stopped there. Bayliss and I were seized in front of the 'Blade' +office, and taken over to the horse trough and ducked!" + +"Was it done thoroughly?" inquired the banker ironically. + +"A thorough ducking?" gasped his son and heir. "I should say +it was thorough, sir!" + +"Then I wish that the incident would make sufficient impression +on you to last you a few days," went on Mr. Dodge bitterly. "I +doubt it, however." + +"Father, I want you to back me in having some of my assailants +arrested for that ducking!" + +"I shall do nothing of the sort," rejoined the banker. "The ridicule +that this affair has brought upon my family has gone far enough +already. You are my son, but a most foolish one, if not worse, +and I feel that I am under obligations to the men or boys who +carried you to the horse trough and endeavored to cure you of +some of your folly." + +"I had hoped, sir, that you would stand back of your own son better +than that. I am positive that Mr. Bayliss will not allow the +outrage to pass unnoticed. I believe that Mr. Bayliss will take +stern measures to avenge the great insult to his son." + +"What Mr. Bayliss may do is Mr. Bayliss' affair, not mine," replied +the banker coolly. "Is young Bayliss in this house at present?" + +"Yes, sir; he's at the dinner table." + +"Then I won't urge you to be inhospitable, Bert, let him finish +his dinner in peace. After dinner, however, the sooner young +Bayliss returns to his home, or at least, goes away from here, +the better I shall be pleased. As for you, young man, I have +had enough of your actions. I have a nice, and very quiet, summer +place in mind where I am going to send you to-morrow. You will +stay there, too, unless you wish to incur my severe displeasure. +I will tell you about your new plans for the summer after breakfast +to-morrow, young man." + +"You're always hard on me," grumbled Bert sullenly. "But what +do you think about Dick Prescott and his friends?" + +"As for young Prescott," replied the banker, "he is altogether +above your class, Bert. You should leave him severely alone. +Don't allow yourself to attempt anything against Prescott, Reade, +Darrin, or any of that crowd. You will find that any one of them +has too much brains for you to hope to cope with. I repeat that +you are not at all in their class as to brains, and it is quite +time that you recognize the fact. Now, you may return to your +dinner. Be good enough to tell your mother that I will be at +table within fifteen minutes. Present my apologies to your mother +for not having been more prompt. Now---go!" + +Bert Dodge left his father with the feeling that he resembled +an unjustly whipped dog. + +"So I've got to go away and rusticate somewhere for the summer, +have I?" wondered Bert angrily. "And all on account of such a +gang of muckers as the fellows who call themselves Dick & Co.!" + +Nor did young Bayliss fare any better on his return home that +night. He, too, was ordered away for the remainder of the summer +by his father, who had just returned from abroad, nor was he allowed +to accompany Bert Dodge. + +What of Dick & Co. during all this time? + +They had gone away on an avowed fishing trip and they were making +the most of it. + +Harry Hazelton attended to perch fishing, when any of those fish +were wanted. Tom Reade and Dan made the most of the black bass +sport, while Dick, with Dave and Greg as under-studies, went after +trout. + +Several trips were made down to the St. Clair Lake House, and +on each occasion large quantities of bass and trout were sold +to the proprietor. He took all their offerings. + +As a result of the sales of trout and bass some substantial money +orders were forwarded to the elder Prescott, to be cashed by Dick +on his return. + +One afternoon Dick, who had gone trout fishing alone, returned +with so small a string of the speckled ones that some of Tom's +bass had to be added to the supper that night. + +"I've been doing rather an unsportsmanlike thing, I fear," admitted +Dick. + +"Then 'fess up!" ordered Tom Reade. + +"The trout are beginning to bite poorly," Prescott went on. "The +fact is, we've all but cleaned up the stream." + +"There must be a few hundred pounds left there yet," guessed Dave. + +"There may be, and I hope there are," Prescott went on, "but I've +decided not to take any more trout out of the stream this year. +Whatever are now left in the stream we must leave for next summer. +No good sportsman would ever deplete a stream of all its trout." + +"The bass are still biting fairly well," mused Tom aloud. "However, +they're not as easy to catch as they were. Had we better leave +the bass alone, also?" + +"We might take out what bass we want to eat," Dick suggested, +"but not attempt to catch any more than that this summer." + +"Too bad," muttered Tom. "I was in hopes that we were going to +put by a big stake in the bank, to be divided later on." + +"We already have money enough for our purpose," Dick suggested. +"We have sufficient funds to take us all away on a fine jaunt +during August, and these are the last days of July, now. + +"I hate to go away from this lake," muttered Dave. + +"It has been very pleasant here," Prescott agreed, "and if the +rest of you vote for it, I'll agree to put in the rest of our +summer vacation hereabouts." + +"No," dissented Tom. "I reckon change of scene and air is as +good for us as it is for other folks." + +"Tom wants to get where he can find more bass fishing," Greg laughed. + +"I've had enough of that sport to last me for one summer," retorted +Reade. + +The day was closing in a gorgeous sunset. In fifteen minutes +more the sun would be down, but there would still be left the +long July twilight. + +"Did any of you ever see a more beautiful summer day than this +has been?" asked Harry Hazelton presently. + +"I haven't anything to offer in the line of such experience," +Tom confessed. + +"There are some days," Hazelton went on half dreamily, "that somehow +makes a fellow feel thoroughly contented with himself." + +"That's the way I feel to-night," Tom admitted, with an indolent air. + +"I'd be contented if I knew one thing, and I suspect that you +fellows might be able to tell me, if you only would." + +None noticed the twinkle in Prescott's eyes as he spoke. + +"I'll offer!" cried Tom good-humoredly. "If it's anything I can +tell you, I'll do it." + +"S-t-u-n-g!" spelled Dick slowly. + +Tom suddenly sat up, glaring suspiciously at his chum. + +"Now, what have I let myself in for?" demanded Reade. + +"You gave your word you'd tell me, if you could, Tom," Dick went +on, "and no one else can tell me nearly as well as you can. What +I want to know is this: What happened to you, that night a few +weeks ago, when you broke a bottle under my window, and then started +down the street as fast as you could go with a crowd of Gridley +folks behind you?" + +"You promised!" chorused the other four boys. + +"Well, if that isn't a low-down way to dig out of me what is purely +my own business!" exclaimed Tom Reade, with a scowl. + +Nevertheless Tom, like the other members of Dick & Co., had a +high idea of the sacredness of his word, so, after a sigh, he +went on: + +"When I ran away from your window, Dick, with that pack of people +behind me, I dashed into a full-fledged scrape that was none of +mine. You know that Mr. Ritchie, whom some of the Central Grammar +boys plague so fearfully, just because he always gets so mad and +makes such threats against all boys in general? + +"Well, it seems that, while I was helping Timmy Finbrink out of +his difficulties, and afterwards tried to fool you with the fake +window-breaking, some of the Central fellows had been down at +Ritchie's playing tick-tack on one of his front windows. Tick-tack +is a stupid game, and it got me into a mess that night. + +"It seems that Mr. Ritchie had already been bothered that evening +before the Central fellows began, and he had telephoned to a friend +down the street who had two college boys visiting him. So the +friend and the two college fellows went out, on their way to Mr. +Ritchie's. Then he heard the tapping on his window again, and +Mr. Ritchie ran out through the front door. The fellows who had +been doing the trick had just time to drop behind a flower bed. + +"I had shaken off the crowd that started after me from Main Street, +and had turned the corner down that side street. As luck would +have it, I had just passed the Ritchie gate when Mr. Ritchie opened +his front door. He thought I was the offender, and started after +me, yelling to me to stop. Just for the exercise I kept on running, +though not so fast, for I wanted to see how far Mr. Ritchie would +chase me. And then I ran straight into the friend and the two +college boys. + +"Those college boys tried to collar me. I was foolish enough +to stop and tackle. I had one of them on his back, and was doing +nicely with the other, when the two men joined in. I was down +and being held hard, while Mr. Ritchie was threatening to have +me sent to jail for life---for something I hadn't done, mind you! + +"As I ran by the Ritchie yard I saw the three Central Grammar +School boys hiding behind the flower bed. It made me mad, I suppose, +to think that college boys, who aren't real men, anyway, should +stoop so low as to try to catch a lot of grammar school prankers, +so I fought back at my captors with some vim. Of course I got +the worst of it, including the bruise on my cheek, but I mussed +those two college boys up a bit, too. Then, when I got on my +feet, the two college boys still holding me, I demanded virtuously +to know what it was all about. Mr. Ritchie explained hot-headedly. +I told him I could prove that I had just come from Main Street, +but my captors didn't let go of me until we came to Mr. Ritchie's. +Then I saw at a glance that the Central fellows had made a good +get-away, so then I told Mr. Ritchie how the trick had been done +against him. I showed him just how the string had been rigged, +and pointed out the spot where the Central boys had flopped down +behind the flower bed. Their footprints were there in the soil +to show it. By this time all hands were ready to believe that +a high school senior hadn't been up to such baby stuff, and Mr. +Ritchie apologized to me. I was pretty stiff about it, though, +and told Mr. Ritchie that I would consult with my parents before +I'd decide to let such an outrageous assault pass without making +trouble for my assailants." + +"What did your folks say about it?" pressed Danny Grin eagerly. + +"Dalzell, aren't you the little innocent?" asked Reade, with +good-humored scorn. "Of course I never said anything to my folks +about such a foolish adventure as that. But I'll wager that I left +Mr. Ritchie worried for just the next few days. Now, you fellows +know the whole yarn---and I don't think much of Dick's way of +buncoing me out of it, either." + +"Don't all turn at once," said Dave in a very low tone, "but, +behind you, through the fork in the cleft rock, the Man with the +Haunting Face is staring this way. Be careful, and we may-----" + +But, as if shot from spring guns, all five of the others were +up on their feet and running fast toward that strange man who +had furnished their lake mystery without solving it. + + + + +CHAPTER XXIII + +"FOUR OF US ARE PIN-HEADS!" + + +"Oh, you fellows have spoiled it!" groaned Dave as he joined last +of all in the chase. + +From the tent to the cleft rock was perhaps a hundred and twenty +yards. + +For such sprinters as these members of the Gridley High School +eleven it did not require much time to cover the distance. Yet, +by the time that Danny Grin, in the lead, had reached the further +side of the rock there was no sign of the presence of the Man +with the Haunting Face. + +"You dreamed it, Dave," charged Greg Holmes. + +"No, I didn't, either," muttered Darrin, joining the group of +puzzled youngsters. "I saw the face as plainly and positively +as I see any of your faces." + +"It's hard to believe that," muttered Tom, shaking his head. + +"I was wide awake, and my eyesight is good," Darry insisted. + +"Then where has your man gone?" asked Dick. "If he had run to +any point near here we would have found him." + +Dave Darrin began to pry about, looking for some concealed opening +near the base of the cleft, rock. He explored diligently, but +could find no such clue as he had hoped. + +"Nonsense! I'm going back to camp," declared Tom Reade. + +"So'm I," Hazelton agreed. + +"Dave can't have been mistaken," offered Greg. + +"Thank you for one trusting soul," said Dave gratefully. + +"But one thing I do know," Greg went on. + +"What?" asked Darry. + +"Even if our strange fellow was here, he is here no longer, and +moreover, he has succeeded in getting away without leaving any +trace," young Holmes continued. "So I'm going to join the delegation +that returns to camp." + +Only Dick and Dave were left standing there by the cleft rock. + +The sun had sunk below the horizon, but the light was still strong. + +"If you fellows had taken it easily, as I asked," complained Dave, +"we might have gotten hold of that elusive chap. To me he looked +hungry. I thought he was eyeing our camp longingly, as though +he'd like to stroll down and ask us for food. But that startling +charge of the light brigade must have bewildered or frightened +him---and so he went up in smoke, as he has always done when we've +sighted him. + +"It wouldn't surprise me if we could find which way he has gone," +whispered Prescott. + +"What do you mean?" + +"Look where I'm pointing with the toe of my boot," Dick went on. + +"I'm looking." + +"Do you see anything?" + +"The earth." + +"Look harder!" + +Down went Darry to his knees. + +"Look out," warned Dick, "or you'll obliterate it." + +"And I was bragging of my good eyesight," grunted Darry. "Why, +this is a footprint, and none of our crowd saw it." + +"Besides, it's the print of a bare foot," Prescott went on. "You +see the way in which it is pointing?" + +"Yes; toward that patch of low bushes yonder. But our chap couldn't +have run through those low bushes, or we'd have seen him." + +"Yes; if he had been holding himself erect." + +"Or even had he crouched and run," Dave affirmed. + +"Dave Darrin, you've played baseball, if my recollection serves +me correctly." + +"Of course." + +"Did you ever slide for a base?" + +"What-----" + +"Or see anyone else slide for base?" + +"Then our man-----" + +"He held himself low and ran as far as the bushes," Dick went +on. "Then he fell and slid for it through the low bushes. See, +here's the second print of a bare foot, and the direction is the +same." + +"Don't tell our mutton-head chums about it," Darrin begged. "Let's +follow it up ourselves." + +"All right," nodded Dick; "but if we find our fellow, don't let +him suspect that we've reached his hiding place and know it. +We'll just see what we can find out, and not give ourselves away." + +"Go ahead," begged Darry. + +"Remember, I'm not certain that we can find the fellow's hiding +place before dark. It may be some distance from here. We'll +try, though, and hope for luck." + +Dick sauntered easily along in the direction indicated by the +two footprints. + +As they entered the patch of low bushes both boys noted the fact +that the ground had been slightly disturbed, as it might have +been by the sliding of a human body over it. + +Dick, whose eyes were keener, easily followed the marks on the +ground. Indeed, he did so without appearing to pay much heed +to the earth under his feet. + +Then the trailers passed three trees, behind which the escaping +man might have found good cover. + +A hundred yards further on Dave and Dick entered the edge of a +grove of trees. Here there were also several rather thick tangles +of brush and bush. + +Well inside of one clump Dave, with a start, fancied he saw something +that looked like a wall woven of green leaves. But Dick was trudging +on ahead. Prescott continued in the lead for another quarter +of a mile before he turned. + +"You passed the one real sign," murmured Darry at last. + +"I know I did," agreed Dick, "and we're going back wide of that +place. You mean the jungle where you saw a bit of what looked +like the brush-woven wall of a bush hut?" + +"Yes," assented Darrin. + +"It's a well-hidden place," declared Dick, "and I don't so much +wonder that we didn't find it before. But now we'll go back to +camp." + +"And what next?" + +"I don't know," Prescott confessed, looking puzzled. "We really +haven't any right to pounce on the man unless we catch him doing +something. Anyone has a right to lead the wild life in the woods, +unless he's a criminal or a lunatic." + +"My vote is that our chap is a lunatic," suggested Darry. + +"If he is, then he's a harmless one, anyway. Let's go back, by +a roundabout way, and tell the fellows." + +"There are four pin-heads in this camp," was Tom Reade's decision, +when he heard the report brought back by the others. "Only two +of us have brains enough to see anything that's written right +on the face of the earth." + +"But what are we going to do about our man?" asked Greg. + +"That's what we must figure out," Dick replied. "I don't see +that we can do anything except send word to the authorities down +in the village, and let them act as they see fit." + +"What authorities are there in the village?" Dave inquired. + +"I don't know. That we'll have to find out. We-----" + +Dick paused suddenly, listening keenly. + +"Do you fellows hear that?" he whispered. + +"I hear a rumble of wheels off in the distance," replied Greg. +"The air is so wonderfully still that sound carries a long way +this evening." + +Dick ran into the tent, returning with an envelope and a pad of +paper. + +"Come along, Dave," Dick requested. "And you'd better bring Tom's +flashlight. It will be dark before we get back." + +The battery of the flashlight having had a good rest, now furnished +an excellent light again. + +As the two chums set off at a trot Greg inquired: + +"Now what are that pair up to?" + +"Being one of the four pin-heads belonging to this outfit," Tom +made solemn reply, "I can only guess." + +"Then what's your guess?" quizzed Danny Grin. + +"From the sound that wagon makes rolling over the rough road," +Tom answered, "I judge that it's headed for the village. If it +is, Dick is going to send in a note by the driver, and thus save +one or two of us the tiresome sixteen-mile round trip." + +Which proved to be a very correct guess, for Prescott and Darrin, +returning three quarters of an hour later, informed the others +that Dick had halted the driver, asking the farmer to wait while +the note was being written. + +"I sent the note to the post-master," Dick. went on. "If he +and the other folks in the village take enough interest in the +matter, I imagine a constable will be sent up to-morrow." + +"Perhaps to-night," hinted Dalzell. + +"If you were a constable," asked Tom, "would you want to be pulled +out of your bed and sent on such a trip in the night time?" + +"I'll tell you one thing that we fellows want to do," hinted Darrin, +a few minutes later. "When we go to bed we want to take pains +to leave some food where it can be easily borrowed by our man +of mystery. I've an idea that he has been making night trips +down here once in a while to obtain something to eat." + +"Two or three times I've thought I missed food in the morning," +nodded Greg. "Yet, if our man has been getting all his food here, +then he is a very light eater." + +"And welcome to the little he borrowed," Dick finished. + +"Drowsiness is overcoming curiosity for me," yawned Reade, as +he rose and strolled toward the tent. "Any of you other fellows +going to turn in?" + +"I will," yawned Dalzell, "if you'll permit me to sleep in the +same tent with you." + +Fifteen minutes later all of the high school boys were sound asleep. +They all dreamed that night of the Man with the Haunting Face. + + + + +CHAPTER XXIV + +CONCLUSION + + +"Where's that man you wanted us to look at?" demanded a farmer +whose trousers were tucked into his boots. + +It was about ten o'clock the next forenoon when this man, accompanied +by another man with the same kind of boottops, strode into the +camp of Dick & Co. + +"Are you a constable from the village, sir?" inquired young Prescott. + +"No; we haven't any constable in the village," replied the farmer, +chewing at a straw. "I'm the Overseer of the Poor." + +"We'll take you to where we think the man is hiding," Dick replied. +"Tom and Dave, suppose you two hurry ahead of us, around the +woods, and stand where you can head our man of mystery off in +case he tries to run the other way. Dave knows where the place is." + +Reade and Darrin promptly departed. + +"We can start in two or three minutes from now, after they get +in position, if that suits you, sir," Dick suggested. + +"Suits me," nodded the Overseer of the Poor. "I'm in no great +hurry. Snug camp you boys have here." + +"We've enjoyed ourselves greatly," Dick admitted. + +"Going to stay here long?" + +"No, sir; we're due back in Gridley soon." + +After a little more chat Dick stated that he believed it was time +to go forward to the hut in the woods. + +He and Greg went, accompanied by the two farmers. All four trod +stealthily. Prescott, in advance, went straight to the bushes +that surrounded the brush hut. Still in the lead, Dick, found +the doorway, screened by a tattered blanket, pushed it aside and +peered in. + +On the floor of earth lay the Man with the Haunting Face. He +was so still that at first Dick thought him dead. Dick motioned +to the others to come forward. + +"Humph!" grunted the Overseer of the Poor. "That's Ed Hoskins, +who lives over Pelham way." + +At sound of the voice the sleeping man quivered, opened his eyes, +then, with a scream, sat up, trembling violently. + +"You've got me!" he screamed. "You've found me---and I'm not +yet fit to go!" + +Dick stepped aside to let the farmers in, while Darrin and Reade +approached the spot at a run. + +"Keep quiet, Hoskins," ordered the Overseer of the Poor. "Quiet, +man; I tell you!" + +"Oh, I didn't mean to do it!" moaned the unhappy captive. "I +didn't mean to do it, I tell you! And now I must lose my life +before I'm fit to go." + +"'Touched' here," murmured Prescott, tapping his forehead. + +"What are you making such a fuss about, Ed Hoskins?" demanded +the Overseer of the Poor. + +"I never meant to harm my wife!" screamed Hoskins in an agony +of fear. "We had had words, and I meant nothing but to push her +aside so I could pass. But she fell downstairs. It wasn't my +fault that her neck was broken!" + +"Whose neck was broken?" demanded the farmer. + +"My wife's. But I never meant to do it." + +"Humph!" remarked the Overseer of the Poor. "If your wife broke +her neck, Ed Hoskins, she doesn't know it yet. She's doing some +pretty husky work. She's the hired help over at St. Ingram's. +She went there to work after you went away." + +"Don't try to fool me," trembled Hoskins. "Don't! My wife's +dead, and now I've got to go and pay the penalty of a crime I +never meant to commit." + +"What you need, Ed," observed the Overseer of the Poor, "is a +bath, a couple of square meals, a little daylight, and a freight +load of common horse sense. Come out of this place. We'll take +you to your wife, and you'll find that she's very much alive, +and heart-broken over your running away from her. She's fretting +because she thinks her own conduct made you run away from her." + +"I guess we don't belong here," murmured Dick to his chums. "Suppose +we hurry down to the camp." + +Five minutes later the two farmers also reached camp, holding +Hoskins between them. + +"It all shows what a man's fool way of reasoning---or, rather, +not reasoning---can bring him to," explained the Overseer of the +Poor in a low voice to the boys. "Ed Hoskins isn't exactly one +of life's heavyweights, but he was always a good enough fellow, +and industrious. He married a good-hearted, simple-minded girl, +and they were mighty devoted to each other. But, back the last +of May, Ed and his wife had a little bit of a tiff. They were +standing near the top of the stairs in their house. Ed, according +to his own story, went to push her aside so he could go downstairs, +when his wife lost her balance and fell half way down the stairs. +She fainted, I reckon, and Ed, in a great fright, thought she +had broken her neck. So he ran down the stairs past her, got +out of the house with a pair of blankets, a little food and a +hatchet, and started up this miserable road in the night time. +He says he knew he'd have to go to the electric chair some day +for his deed, but he wanted to come up here and prepare his soul +before he gave up his life. He says he got along all right until +you boys came up here on purpose to find him and run him down +for the law. He tells me that the first time some of you crossed +the lake in a canoe he rigged up some bushes to a wooden frame, +and swam, with his head inside the frame, hoping to get close +to you and hear what you had to say about him. Then, he tells +me, you moved your camp across the lake, and he knew you were +here on the law's business. He says he has known, for certain, +all along, that you'd get him sooner or later, but he couldn't +get up the strength of mind to leave here. What I told Ed about +his wife was true. She got nothing worse out of her fall than +a bruise on one elbow. Gosh! Ed's wife will be as tickled to +see him alive as he'll be to see her strong and well." + +"Hoskins is a little touched in the upper story, isn't he?" Dick +asked. + +"Maybe he has been lately," replied the Overseer of the Poor. +"But when he finds I haven't lied to him he'll be O.K. right +away. Ed was never too strong in his mental works, but he's a +good fellow, just the same, and he's bright enough for his +trade---blacksmith's helper. Now, I guess I'd better be going back +with him, for Ed will be all excitement and dread till he gets the +first word from his wife. Miss. Hoskins wife be terribly obliged +to you young men. I am, too, 'cause I'll be glad to see that couple +together again. They're so fond of each other that they've no +business apart. So I reckon, Master Prescott and the rest of you +young men, we'll be a-going now." + +The visitors had soon left the camp behind them. The last seen +of Hoskins, he was walking with the dazed air of a man who knows +he's dreaming and is mortally afraid to wake up. + +But that same day Mr. and Mrs. Hoskins were reunited and began +life anew together. + +"It all goes to show," the Overseer of the Poor afterwards explained +philosophically, "what a fool a fellow is to be afraid to go +back and look at his work. It's the same spirit that makes automobile +cowards afraid to stop the machine and go back to look at the +child they've hit. Any fellow that's afraid to go back and look +at his mistake is bound to be mainly unhappy in life." + +A very few days afterwards Dick & Co., still propelling the push +cart by turns, arrived in Gridley toward dark one late July evening. + +They had so much to tell their relatives and friends that none +of them got to bed very early on that occasion. + +However, the month of August lay before them. These boys now +planned the greatest summer vacation trip that they had ever enjoyed. +Part of the trail of this vacation lay over in Tottenville. + +So, by ten o'clock the next morning, Dick Prescott, alone, hurried +up the side street on which he lived. Just as he neared the Main +Street corner he beheld a trolley car labeled "Tottenville" pass +the corner. Dick's shrill whistle rang out, but the conductor +failed to hear it. + +Away raced Dick in the wake of the speeding trolley car. Down +the street for two blocks he dashed after it. + +At first it looked as though the high school boy would overtake +the car. But when he saw the car turn a corner and go off on +the Tottenville road, young Prescott slowed down, panting and +wiping his perspiring face. + +"Hey!" called a man standing in a group of others on the curbstone. +"Were you trying to catch that car." + +"Was I trying to catch the car?" echoed Dick Prescott, his eyes +opening wide in amazement. "No, sir! I made a wager that I could +chase that car right off of Main Street! And I won the bet," +Dick added proudly. "You all saw me do it!" + +Then, while the man who had asked the question reddened under +the laughter of his companions, Prescott strolled slowly back +up Main Street to watch for the next car bearing the "Tottenville" +sign. + +"Good morning, Prescott," came a greeting from Lawyer Ripley, +just then coming out of a store. "How did you young men enjoy +that collapsible canoe?" + +"That canoe, sir? It made the vacation trip a perfect one. But +were you the one who sent it, Mr. Ripley?" + +"Yes," assented the lawyer, "though acting as agent for another. +You remember how much Mr. Page wanted to do for you boys, after +your splendid work for him last summer? Mr. Page wanted to do +something for you this summer, and he and I hit upon the collapsible +canoe as a remembrance so simple and inexpensive that you young +men were quite likely to accept it." + +"Mr. Ripley," begged Dick earnestly, "will you accept the very +best thanks of us all for that canoe? And will you please convey +our deepest gratitude to Mr. Page? We couldn't have had anything +that would have delighted us as much." + +Readers of the preceding volume of this series are well aware +of the reason of Mr. Page's great gratitude to Dick & Co. + +The next Tottenville car that came along had Dick Prescott for +one of its passengers. + +This narrative, however, has been finished. That trolley, to +Tottenville really belongs to the next and final volume in this +series, which is published under the title, "_The High School +Boys' Training Hike; Or, Making Themselves 'Hard as Nails_." + +This new story will be found to contain the full record of a most +wonderful vacation jaunt taken by six young champions of the Gridley +High School football squad. + +Yet this jaunt did not consist wholly of training work, for Dick +& Co. fell in with a lot of tremendously exciting adventures. + +What these were and how Dick & Co. acted under amazingly strange +circumstances will be set forth fully in that volume. + + + +***END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE HIGH SCHOOL BOYS' FISHING TRIP*** + + +******* This file should be named 12730.txt or 12730.zip ******* + + +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: +https://www.gutenberg.org/1/2/7/3/12730 + + + +Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions +will be renamed. + +Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no +one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation +(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without +permission and without paying copyright royalties. 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