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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/12731-0.txt b/12731-0.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..1bb6070 --- /dev/null +++ b/12731-0.txt @@ -0,0 +1,6981 @@ +*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 12731 *** + +The High School Boys' Training Hike +or +Making Themselves "Hard as Nails" + +By H. Irving Hancock + + + + + + + +CONTENTS + +CHAPTERS + I. Mr. Titmouse Doesn't Know Dick + II. The Deed of a Hero + III. The Peddler and the Lawyer's Half + IV. Peddler Hinman's Next Appearance + V. Dave Does Some Good Work + VI. The No-Breakfast Plan + VII. Making the Tramps Squirm + VIII. When the Peddler Was "Frisked" + IX. Dick Imitates a Tame Indian + X. Reuben Hinman Proves His Mettle + XI. Tom Idealizes Working Clothes + XII. Trouble With the Rah-Rah-Rahs + XIII. A Snub and the Quick Retort + XIV. Dick & Co Make an Apple "Pie" + XV. Making Port in a Storm + XVI. Home, Hospital and Almshouse + XVII. Two Kinds of Hobo +XVIII. Dick Prescott, Knight Errant + XIX. "I'll Fight Him for This Man!" + XX. In the Milksop Class? + XXI. The Revenge Talk at Miller's + XXII. Under the Sting of the Lash +XXIII. Timmy, the Gentleman, at Home + XXIV. Conclusion + + + + + +CHAPTER I + +MR. TITMOUSE DOESN'T KNOW DICK + + +"We thought ten dollars would be about right," Dick Prescott announced. + +"Per week?" inquired Mr. Titmouse, as though he doubted his hearing. + +"Oh, dear, no! For the month of August, sir." + +Mr. Newbegin Titmouse surveyed his young caller through half-closed +eyelids. + +"Ten dollars for the use of that fine wagon for a whole month?" +cried Mr. Titmouse in astonishment. "Absurd!" + +"Very likely I am looking at it from the wrong point of view," +admitted Prescott, who fingered a ten dollar bill and was slowly +smoothing it out so that Mr. Titmouse might see it. + +"That wagon was put together especially for the purpose," Mr. +Titmouse resumed. "It has seats that run lengthwise, and eight +small cupboards and lockers under the seats. There is a place +to secure the cook stove at the rear end of the wagon, and the +stove rests on zinc. Though the wagon is light enough for one +horse to draw it, it will hold all that several people could require +for camping or for leading a regular gipsy life. There is a special +awning that covers the wagon when needed, so that on a rainy day +you can travel without using umbrellas or getting wet. You can +cook equally well on the stove whether in camp or on the road. +There are not many vehicles in which you can cook a full meal +when traveling from one point to another." + +"Nor is it every stewpan or kettle that would refrain from slipping +off the stove when driving the wagon over rough roads," laughed +Dick good-humoredly. + +"Well---er---of course, one has to choose decent roads when touring +with a wagon of that sort," admitted the owner. + +"Then you don't think ten dollars a fair price?" Dick Prescott +inquired thoughtfully. + +"For a month's use of the wagon? I do not," replied Mr. Newbegin +Titmouse with emphasis. + +"And so you decline our offer of ten dollars?" Prescott asked, +looking still more thoughtful. + +"I certainly do," replied Mr. Titmouse. + +Then the owner of the wagon began to descant glowingly upon the +many advantages of going on a road hike aided by the service that +such a specially constructed wagon would give. In fact, Mr. Titmouse +dwelt so enthusiastically upon the value of his wagon that Dick +shrewdly told himself: + +"He's very anxious---unusually so---to rent us that wagon. I've +already found out that he hasn't used the wagon in two years, +nor has he succeeded in renting it to anyone else. The wagon +is so much useless lumber in his stable." + +"I wouldn't rent that wagon to everyone," Mr. Titmouse wound up. + +"No, sir," Dick agreed heartily, yet with a most innocent look +in his face. "Not everyone would want the wagon." + +"I---I don't mean that!" Mr. Titmouse exclaimed. + +"In fact, sir," Dick went on very smoothly, "I have learned that +you have been offering the wagon for sale or hire during the last +two summers, without getting any customers." + +"Eh?" demanded Mr. Titmouse in some astonishment. + +"Naturally, sir," Dick went on, "before coming here to see you +I made a few inquiries in Tottenville. I discovered that in this +vicinity the wagon is something of a joke." + +"What's that?" questioned the other sharply. "My camping wagon +a joke? Nothing of the sort. And, if it is a joke, why did you +want to get it?" + +"Oh, all of our fellows can stand a joke," laughed young Prescott +"So I came over to see just what terms we could make for the use +of your wagon during the month of August." + +"Well, I'll be as fair with you as I can," Mr. Titmouse replied. +"From men---grown men---I would want at least thirty dollars +a month for the wagon---probably thirty-five. Of course I know +that money is not as plentiful with boys. I'll let you have the +wagon for the month of August at the bottom price of twenty-five +dollars." + +Dick smilingly shook his head. + +"I've named the best price I could think of taking," insisted +Mr. Titmouse. "Come into the wagon shed and have another look +at it." + +"Thank you, sir, but there is no use in looking at the wagon again, +when such a price as twenty-five dollars is asked for a month's +hire," Dick answered promptly. + +"Come inside and look at it again, anyway," urged Mr. Titmouse. + +"Thank you, sir, but I must get back to Gridley at the earliest +possible moment." + +"If you didn't want to hire the wagon," asked Mr. Titmouse testily, +"what was the use of taking up my time?" + +"I do want to hire it," Dick admitted, "but since hearing your +price I have realized that I don't want the wagon half as much +as I did at the outset." + +It was notable about Mr. Titmouse that he would gladly talk for +three hours in order to gain a dollar's advantage in any trade +in which he was interested. He was a small man, with small features +and very small eyes which, somehow, suggested gimlets. He bore +about with him always an air of injury, as though deeply sensitive +over the supposed fact that the whole world was concerned in getting +the better of him. + +Though Mr. Titmouse had acquired, through sharp dealing, usury +and in many other ways a considerable sum of money and property +in the course of his life, yet he was not the man to part with +any of it needlessly. + +The special wagon now resting in the wagon shed at his home place +in Tottenville had been designed by him at a time when people +all through the state had been much interested in outdoor life. +The Titmouse wagon had been built as the result of much thought +on the part of its designer. It certainly was a handy kind of +wagon for campers to use on the road. Mr. Titmouse had spent +four weeks of wandering life, going from point to point and trying +to talk up the merits of his wagon. He had hoped to establish +a small factory, there to build such wagons to order at high prices. + +For some reason he had met with no success in that enterprise. +After his realization of failure Newbegin Titmouse had felt that +he would be content if he could sell the wagon at anything like +a good price. Failing to sell it, he hoped to be able to get +his money back through renting the wagon. + +Now he stood watching this high school boy from Gridley, wondering +just how much rental he could extort from this wiry, athletic-looking +football player. + +"There will be a car along in about five minutes," mused Dick +aloud. "I must try to take that car. Thank you very much for +your kindness, Mr. Titmouse." + +"But we haven't come to any understanding yet," cried the wagon's +owner as Dick turned and walked away. + +"Why, yes, we have, sir," Prescott answered pleasantly over his +shoulder. "We have come to the understanding that you can't afford +to come down to our price, and that we can't go up to yours. +So I'm going back to make some other arrangements for a wagon." + +"Wait a minute!" interjected Newbegin Titmouse, stepping after +the boy from Gridley. "Maybe I can drop off a dollar or so on +the price." + +"Much obliged, sir; but it wouldn't help us any, and it's almost +time for the car," was Prescott's answer. + +"What's your best offer? Make it!" urged Mr. Titmouse restlessly. + +"Seven dollars for the wagon for the month of August," Prescott +replied. + +"Seven? Why, only a minute or two ago you offered me ten dollars!" + +"I know it, sir," said Dick coolly. "You will recall that you +declined that offer, so I am at liberty to make a new offer." + +"You'll have to make a better-----" + +"If you decline seven dollars," Dick smiled pleasantly, "my next +offer, if I make one, will not go above six." + +Mr. Titmouse felt, of a sudden, very certain that the high school +boy would stand by that threat. + +"Seven dollars doesn't land me clear for the season," complained +Newbegin Titmouse. "I've spent nine dollars already in advertising +the wagon." + +"Then, if you don't take my seven dollars," Prescott proposed, +"you'll be out quite a bit of money, Mr. Titmouse. I see my car +coming in the distance. So good-----" + +"I'll take ten!" called Mr. Titmouse, as Dick once more turned +away. + +"Six," smiled Dick significantly. "But I haven't time to stay +here and dicker, sir. Good-----" + +"Hold on!" fairly screamed Mr. Titmouse, as Dick, nodding at him, +started to run to the corner. + +"Then I'll stop and talk it over with you, sir," answered Prescott, +going back. "But I don't say that I'll agree to take the wagon." + +"Now, don't you try to work the price down any lower," exclaimed +Mr. Titmouse, looking worried. + +"No, sir; I won't do that," Dick promised. "I won't say, yet, +that I'll take the wagon, but I will agree that I'll either take +it at six dollars or refuse the chance altogether. I've just +happened to think of something that I want to make sure about" + +"What is it?" asked Mr. Titmouse apprehensively. + +"I forgot to look at the tires on the wheels," Prescott went on. +"I want to make sure that they're sound, so that we fellows won't +have to take the chance of paying a blacksmith to make new ones +before we've been out a week." + +The tires were in excellent condition, so the little man had no +objection whatever to showing them. + +"Good, so far," nodded Prescott. "Now, next, I'd enjoy looking +at the axles and the hub-nuts." + +"You're not the lad who is going to allow himself to be cheated," +laughed Mr. Titmouse admiringly. "The hubs and axles are all +right, so I've no objection to showing them to you." + +"I'm satisfied with the wagon," Dick declared, a few minutes later. +"Now, Mr. Titmouse, I'll pay you the six dollars if you'll make +out a satisfactory receipt for the money." + +"Come into the office and tell me what you want me to say in the +receipt," urged Newbegin Titmouse, leading the way across the +stable into a little room in the furthermost corner. + +The receipt was soon made out, the money paid and the receipt +in Dick's pocket. + +"I'll either come for the wagon myself, or send one of the other +fellows," Dick promised. "If I send for it I'll also send a written +order." + +"I hope you boys will have a pleasant time this summer," chirped +Mr. Titmouse, who, though he had been badly out-generaled in the +trade, had at least the satisfaction of knowing that there was +some money in his pocket that had come to him by sheer good luck. + +"We're going to try to have the finest good time that a crowd +of fellows ever had," Dick replied, after nodding his thanks. +"I've missed that car, and shall have quite a little wait." + +"Perhaps you'd like to sit under a tree and eat a few apples," +suggested Mr. Titmouse. + +Dick was about to accept the invitation with thanks when Mr. Titmouse +added: + +"I've a lot of fine summer apples I gathered yesterday. I'll +let you have three for five cents." + +This attempt at petty trade, almost in the guise of hospitality, +struck Dick as being so utterly funny that he could not help laughing +outright. + +"Thank you, Mr. Titmouse," he replied. "I don't believe I'll +eat any apples just now." + +"I might make it four for a nickel," coaxed the little man, "if +you agree not to pick out the largest apples." + +"Thank you, but I don't believe I'll eat any apples at all just +now," Dick managed to reply, then made his escape in time to avoid +laughing in Mr. Titmouse's face. + +Once out on the street, and knowing that he had some twenty minutes +to wait for the next car, Dick strolled slowly along. + +"I didn't know that boy," muttered Newbegin Titmouse, looking +after Prescott with a half admiring gaze, "and I didn't size him +up right. He offered me ten dollars, and then got the wagon for +six. Whew! I don't believe I ever before got off so badly as +that in a trade. But I really did spend five-fifty in advertising +the wagon in the Tottenville and Gridley papers this summer, +so I'm fifty cents ahead, anyway, and a fifty-cent piece is always +equivalent to half a dollar!" + +With which sage reflection Mr. Newbegin Titmouse went out into +his small orchard to see whether he had overlooked any summer +apples that were worth two dollars a barrel. + +Dick sauntered down the street for a few blocks ere he heard the +whirr of a Gridley-bound trolley car behind him. He quickened +his pace until he reached the next corner. There he signaled +to the motorman. + +As the car slowed down Dick swung himself on nimbly, remarking +to the conductor: + +"Don't make a real stop for me. Drive on!" + +As Prescott passed inside the car he was greeted by a pleasant-faced, +well-dressed young man. It was Mr. Luce, one of the sub-masters +of Gridley High School. Dick dropped into a seat beside him. + +"Been tramping a bit, Prescott?" inquired the sub-master. + +"No, sir; I've been over here on a little matter of business, +but I expect to start, in a day or two, on a few weeks of tramping." + +Thereupon young Prescott fell to describing the trip that he, +Dave Darrin, Greg Holmes, Dan Dalzell, Tom Reade and Harry Hazelton +had mapped out for themselves. + +"Just for pleasure?" asked Mr. Luce. + +"No, sir; for training. We all hope to make the football team +this fall. We're all of us in pretty good shape, too, I think, +sir; but we're going out on this training hike to see if we can't +work ourselves down as hard as nails." + +"I'd like to go with you," nodded the sub-master. + +"Can't you do it, sir?" asked Dick eagerly, for Mr. Luce was a +favorite with all the boys. + +"Unfortunately, I can't," replied the submaster. "I'm expected +at home. My mother and sister claim me for this month. But I +wish I could go, just the same." + +"You would be most welcome I assure you, sir," replied Dick warmly. + +"Thank you, Prescott," returned Mr. Luce with a smile. "I appreciate +your invitation and regret that I cannot accept it." + +The conversation again turned to the subject of the coming football +season, and an animated discussion ensued, as Sub-master Luce +was an enthusiastic advocate of football. + +Suddenly, Dick, glancing ahead out of the window, turned pale. +Without a word of explanation he sprang from his seat and made +a bound for the nearer car door, the rear one. + +"Everyone off! Stop the car! Hustle!" shouted the high school +boy. "Mr. Luce! Come on. Quick!" + +By the time the last words were uttered Dick had made a flying +leap from the car platform. + +By good luck, rather more than by expert work, he landed on his +feet. Not an instant did he lose, but dashed along at full speed. + +John Luce, though he had no inkling of what had caused the excitement, +sprang after Dick. + +Dick, however, had not waited to see if the sub-master had followed +him. His horror-filled eyes, as he ran, were turned straight +ahead. + +It needed but a few steps to carry him across the road. He bounded +into a field where a loaded hay wagon stood near an apple tree. + +The horses had been led away to be fed. Seated on the top of +the hay were a boy of barely six and a girl not more than four +years old. They were awaiting the return of the farmer. + +Down below a six-year-old boy, barefooted and brown as a gipsy, +had appeared on the scene during the farmer's absence. + +"For fun" this youngster had been lighting match after match, +making believe to set the hay afire. As he held the matches as +close to the dried hay as he dared, this urchin on the ground +called to the two babies above that he would "burn 'em up." + +Not all of this did Dick Prescott know, but his glance through +the car window had shown him the boy on the ground just as that +tiny fellow had lighted another match, shouting tantalizingly +to the two children on top of the load of hay. + +Just as he called up to them the mischievous youngster tripped +slightly. Throwing out his right hand to save himself the boy +accidentally touched the bottom of the load at one side with the +lighted match. + +At this fateful instant it was out of the question to think of +putting out the flame that leaped from wisp to wisp of the dried +grass. + +"Jump!" shouted the young match-burner, but the children above +did not hear, or else did not realize their plight. + +"Fire! Fire!" screamed the little incendiary, as he ran panic-stricken +toward the farm house. + +And now Dick was racing as he had never done before, even over +the football gridiron. On his speed depended the lives of the +two children. + + + + +CHAPTER II + +THE DEED OF A HERO + + +At the moment of Dick's leap from the car, Sub-master Luce did +not know what had happened. He realized in an instant what was +the matter, and made frantic efforts to reach the scene at the +same moment with Prescott. + +Dick, however, kept the lead. + +As the flames shot up through the hay the children on top of the +hay began to gather a sense of their awful danger. + +Seconds---fractions of seconds---were of priceless value now---if +lives were to be saved. + +There was still time for the two children to jump over the side +on which the flames had not yet appeared, but they were too badly +frightened to know what to do. + +If they should jump where the flames were leaping up they were +almost certain to have their clothing catch fire, with fatal burns +as a result. + +Dick felt that he did not have time to shout to the frightened +children. Besides, his commands would likely serve only to confuse +them the more. + +Terror-stricken the two little ones clasped each other and stood +screaming with fear on the top of the load. + +Dick's quick eye had taken in the only chance in this terrifying +situation. + +Straight for the apple tree he bounded, his first leap carrying +him into a crotch in the tree a few feet above the ground. + +Out he sprang, now, on a limb of the tree that most nearly overhung +the load of hay. + +That limb sagged under him---creaked---threatened to snap off +under his weight. + +But young Prescott, wholly heedless of his own safety, and with +only one object in mind, scrambled out on the creaking limb as +far as he could; then, with a prayer on his lips, he made a wild, +strenuous leap. + +Sub-master Luce turned white as he saw what Dick had attempted +to do. Had he been made of more timorous stuff the high school +teacher would have closed his eyes for that awful instant. + +As it was, John Luce saw young Prescott land at the rear end of +the load. + +Dick felt himself slipping. For one frenzied second, he feared +that he had failed. Young Strongheart that he was, he braced +all his muscles for the supreme effort---and drew himself up to +safer footing on the hay. + +Then, like an eagle, he swooped down upon the children. The little +girl he snatched from her tiny brother's clasp. + +"Here!" called Sub-master Luce from the further side. + +Brief as the time was Dick Prescott calculated the distance like +lightning. There was no time to call back to Mr. Lucen---nor +need to do so. + +Aiming with all the precision at his command, Dick threw the child +from him. + +His aim splendidly true, he had the joy of seeing the child land +in Mr. Luce's arms. + +Without a moment's loss of time Prescott now snatched up the shrieking +boy. + +"Ready!" shouted Dick, and a second little body was thrown through +the air. + +Again did John Luce do credit to his college baseball training, +for, hurriedly placing the girl baby on the ground he put up his +hands to receive the boy. + +"Jump yourself, Prescott!" bawled the submaster hoarsely. + +But Dick was already in the air. With the flames shooting up +and seeming fairly to lick his face, Dick had had no time to calculate +his jump. + +On the ground, some feet beyond the wagon, Prescott landed, sprawling +on all fours. + +He leaped up, however, his face twitching yet with a laugh on +his lips. + +Behind him the whole load of hay now flared up, crackling and +hissing. + +"Hurry back out of the heat!" yelled John Luce, leaping forward, +seizing young Prescott and dragging him several yards away. + +Dick turned in time to see the whole glowing mass cave in. + +Had he arrived on the scene a few seconds later than he did both +children would have perished miserably. + +Now, from the house came a white-faced man, running as though +some demon animated him. Behind him came a woman even paler. + +Toward father and mother ran the pair of little tots, wholly unmindful +of their rescuers. + +As for the older, match-burning boy, that youngster half scared +to death, had dashed away into hiding to escape the wrath that +he knew must soon seek him. + +"That was simply magnificent, Prescott!" said the sub-master +enthusiastically. "But I honestly believed that it would be your +last good deed." + +While the sub-master spoke he was running both hands up and down +over the high school boy's clothing, putting out many glowing +sparks that had found lodgment in the cloth. + +"It was easy," smiled Dick. "Thank goodness I saw the trouble +in time!" + +"There are others who are thankful that you saw it in time," uttered +John Luce, as he looked toward the parents, now coming up as fast +as they could, each with a child clasped in arms. + +From the road went up a loud cheer. The trolley car had been +halted and backed down to the scene. Though there were few people +on the car, they made up amply in enthusiasm for their lack of +numbers. + +As for the farmer and his wife, though they tried to thank Dick +and Mr. Luce, they were too completely overcome with emotion to +express themselves intelligibly. + +The wagon that had held the hay was now blazing fiercely. As +for the hay, that had already burned to a fine powder. + +"How---how did you ever get here in time?" cried the rejoicing +mother brokenly. + +It was the conductor of the trolley car, just reaching the spot, +who told how Dick Prescott and Mr. Luce had leaped from the moving +car. The sub-master described Dick's feat in climbing the apple +tree and leaping from the limb of the tree to the top of the loaded +hay wagon. + +"It was a nervy thing for any man to do!" choked the farmer, tears +of joy running down his cheeks. + +"It was just like Dick Prescott," replied John Luce simply. + +As soon as possible Dick and the sub-master made their escape +from the earnest protestations of gratitude of the farmer and +his wife, though they did not go until Mr. Luce had persuaded +the parents not to whip the mischievous match-burner, but to content +themselves with pointing out to the little rascal the dreadful +possibilities of such pranks. + +At last, however, Dick and Mr. Luce returned to the car followed +by the other passengers. The conductor gave the go-ahead signal, +and the motor-man started in to try to make up some of the time +lost from his schedule. + +Dick, as soon as he reached Gridley, went up to Greg Holmes' house, +where he knew his chums would be waiting to learn the result of +his Tottenville trip. + +That evening Sub-master Luce chanced to take a stroll up Main +Street. As the offices of the "Morning Blade" were lighted up, +Mr. Luce stepped inside, seeking Editor Pollock in the editorial +room. + +"Is Prescott about?" asked Mr. Luce, for Dick, as our readers +know, earned many a dollar as a "space-writer"; that is, he was +paid so much a column for furnishing and writing up local news. + +"Dick went out about ten minutes ago," replied Mr. Pollock. + +"Was he here long?" + +"About fifteen minutes." + +"By the way, Mr. Pollock," the sub-master went on, "what do you +think of Dick's latest feat?" + +"Which one?" + +"His fine work over on the Tottenville road this afternoon?" + +"I haven't heard of it," replied Mr. Pollock, opening his eyes. + +"Come to think of it," rejoined John Luce, "and knowing young +Prescott as I do, I don't suppose you have heard of it---not from +Prescott, at all events." + +Then the sub-master told the story of the burning load of hay +in a way that made the "Blade's" editor reach hastily for pencil +and paper that he might take notes. + +"That's just the kind of story that Dick Prescott never could +be depended upon to bring in here---if he was the central character +in it," observed the editor quietly. + +Despite the failure of Dick to bring in this particular story, +however, the "Blade," the next morning, printed more than a column +from the data furnished by Mr. Luce. + +Dick, however, didn't hear of it---in Gridley. It was Harry Hazelton, +who, at four o'clock, mounted a horse he had hired for the trip +and rode over to Tottenville, where the camp wagon was obtained +from Mr. Newbegin Titmouse. Hazelton wasted no time on the road, +but drove as fast as the horse could comfortably travel. + +It was but a few minutes after six o'clock, that August morning, +when Dick Prescott and his five chums, collectively famous as +Dick & Co., drove out of Gridley. + +Harry Hazelton was now the driver, the other five high school +boys walking briskly just ahead of the wagon. + +Mr. Titmouse's special vehicle carried all that Dick & Co. would +need in the near future, and the six boys were setting out on +what was destined to be their most famous vacation jaunt. + + + + +CHAPTER III + +THE PEDDLER AND THE LAWYER'S HALF + + +Just before leaving Gridley, Greg Holmes had bought a copy of +the "Blade" from a newsboy. + +Three miles out, the chums enjoyed their first halt. + +"Ten minutes' rest under this tree," Dick announced, for already +the August morning sun was beating down upon them. + +Greg drew out his copy of the newspaper, unfolding it. + +"Say!" he yelled suddenly. + +"Stop that," commanded Tom Reade, "or you'll make the horse run +away and wreck our outfit." + +"But this paper says-----" + +"Stop it," ordered Tom with a scowl. "I know what you're going +to do. You'll read us some exciting stuff, and get us all worked +up, and then in the last paragraph you'll stumble on the fact +that some well-known Tottenville man was cured of all his ailments +by Brown's Blood Bitters." + +"Can you hold your tongue a minute?" demanded Greg ironically. + +"Not when I see you headed that way," retorted Reade. "I've been +fooled by the same style of exciting item, and I know how cheap +it makes a fellow feel when he comes to the name of the Bitters, +the Pills or the Sarsaparilla. Holmesy, I want to save your face +for you with this crowd." + +"Will you keep quiet, for a moment, and let the other fellows +hear, even if you have to take a walk in order to save your own +ears?" demanded Greg, with sarcasm. "This piece is about Dick +Prescott, and he doesn't sign patent medicine test-----" + +"Dick Prescott?" demanded Darrin. "Whoop! Let's have it!" + +"It isn't a roast, is it?" demanded Danny Grin solemnly. + +"No; it isn't," Greg went on. "Listen, while I read the headlines." + +It was a four-line heading, beginning with "Dick Prescott's Fine +Nerve." + +"There! I was afraid it was a roast, after all," sighed Danny +Grin. + +"Take that fellow away and muzzle him," ordered Greg, then proceeded +to read the other sections of the headlines. + +By this time Greg had a very attentive audience. Even Tom Reade +had ceased to scoff. + +"Oh, bosh!" gasped Dick, when Greg was about one third of the +way through the column article. + +"Isn't it true?" demanded Dave. + +"After a fashion," Dick admitted. + +"Then hold off and be good while the rest of us hear about yesterday's +doings." + +So Dick stood by, his face growing redder and redder as the reading +proceeded. + +"That's what I call a dandy story," declared Greg as he finished +reading. + +"Dick, why didn't you tell us something about it last night?" +demanded Hazelton. + +"What was the use?" asked Prescott. "And, though I've always +thought the 'Blade' a fine local newspaper, I don't quite approve +of Mr. Pollock's judgment of news values in this instance. I +suspect that Mr. Pollock must have been away, and that Mr. Bradley, +the news editor, ran this in." + +"It sounds like some of Len Spencer's stuff," guessed Dave. "He's +great on local events." + +"If they had to print the yarn, eight or ten lines would have +covered it," Dick declared. "Fellows, we've used up eighteen +minutes for our halt, instead of ten. Come on!" + +Greg, however, after rising, and before starting, was careful +to fold the "Blade" neatly and to tuck it away in a pocket. He +meant to save that news story. + +All of our readers are familiar with the lives and doings of Dick +Prescott and his friends up to date. + +"Dick & Co.," as the boys styled their unorganized club of chums, +was made up of the six boys, who had been fast friends back in +their days of study at the Central Grammar School of Gridley. + +They had been together in everything, and notably so in athletics +and sports. All that befell them in their later days at Central +Grammar School is told fully in the four volumes of the "_Grammar +School Boys Series_." + +Yet it was when these same boys entered Gridley High School that +they came into the fullest measure of their local fame and popularity. +Even as freshmen they found a chance to accomplish far more for +school athletics than is usually permitted to freshmen. It was +due to their efforts that athletics were put on a sound financial +basis in the Gridley High School. All this and more is described +in the first volume of the "_High School Boys Series_," entitled +"_The High School Freshmen_." + +But it was in the second volume of that series, "_The High School +Pitcher_," that our readers found Dick & Co. entered fully in +the training squads of one of the most famous of American high +schools. As described in the third volume, "_The High School +Left End_," Dick & Co. were transferred from the baseball nine +to the gridiron eleven, and by this time had become the undisputed +athletic leaders of Gridley High School. These honors they had +not won without tremendous opposition, especially by the formation +of the notorious "Sorehead Squad" to oppose their hard earned +supremacy in football. Yet Dick & Co. ever went strenuously forward, +in manly, clean-cut fashion, working unceasingly for the furthering +of honest American sport. Between the plottings of their enemies +and a host of adventures on all sides, the school life of Dick +& Co. proved exciting indeed. + +In the "_High School Boys' Vacation Series_" our readers have +followed the summer doings of Dick & Co. as distinguished from +the doings of their crowded school years. The first volume devoted +to the vacations of Dick & Co., "_The High School Boys' Canoe +Club_," describes the adventures of our lads in an Indian war +canoe which even their slender financial resources enabled them +to buy at an auction sale of the effects of a stranded Wild West +Show. In the second volume of this series, "_The High School +Boys In Summer Camp_," our readers came upon an even more exciting +narrative of keenly enjoyed summer doings, replete with lively +adventures. In that volume the activities of Tag Mosher, a strangely +odd character, kept Dick & Co. continually on the alert. In the +third volume of the vacation series, entitled "_The High School +Boys' Fishing Trip_," were chronicled the things that befell Dick +& Co. while away on a fishing expedition that became famous in +the annals of Gridley school days. This third volume was full +to the brim with the sort of adventures that boys most love. +Some old enemies of Dick & Co. appeared; how they were put to +rout is well known to all our readers. How Dick & Co. played +a huge joke, and several smaller ones upon their enemies, is described +in that volume. + +In this present volume will be recounted all that befell Dick +& Co. in August after completing their junior year in Gridley +High School, just as the preceding or third volume dealt with +the happenings of July of that same summer. + +After that first halt Dick & Co. plodded on for another hour. +But Prescott, noting that Hazelton was still on the driver's +seat of the camp wagon, blandly inquired: + +"Harry, if you sit up there, lazily holding the reins, how do +you expect to get your share of the training work of this hike?" + +"Perhaps I'd rather have the comfort than the training work," +laughed Hazelton. + +"That will never do!" smiled Dick. "Suppose you climb down and +let Danny Grin take your place at the reins until the next halt. +I suspect that Danny boy already has a few pebbles in his shoes, +and that he'll be glad enough to look over the world from the +driver's seat." + +"I'm willing to sacrifice myself for the good of the expedition, +anyway," sighed Dalzell, as Harry drew rein. "Come down with +you, Hazy, and begin to share the delights of this walking match!" + +The change of drivers made, Dick & Co. plodded on again. + +"It seems to me that we ought to put on more speed," suggested +Dave Darrin. + +"Are you in a hurry to get somewhere, Darry?" drawled Tom Reade. + +"No," Dave replied, "but, if we're out for training, it seems +to me that we had better do brisker walking than we're doing now, +even if the horse can't keep up with us." + +"We're making about three miles and a half an hour," Dick responded. + +"But will that be work enough to make us as hard as nails?" persisted +Darry. + +"We're getting over the ground as fast as the troops of the regular +army usually travel," Prescott rejoined. "I believe our regulars +are generally regarded as rather perfect specimens in the walking +line. We might move along at a speed of six miles, and might +keep it up for an hour. Then we'd be footsore, and all in. If +the first hour didn't do it, the second hour would. But if we +plug along in this deliberate fashion, and get over fifteen, eighteen +or twenty miles a day, and keep it up, I don't believe any one +of you fellows will complain, September first, that he isn't as +hard and solid as he wants to be---even for bucking the football +lines, of other high schools." + +"I know that I can be satisfied with this gait," murmured Reade. + +"If Darry wants to move faster," suggested Hazelton, "why not +tell him where to wait for us, and let him gallop ahead?" + +"I'll stay with the rest of you," Darry retorted. "All I want +to make sure of is that we're going to get the most out of our +training work this summer." + +"I'll tell you what you might do, Dave, by way of extra exercise +and hardening," offered Tom. + +"What?" asked Dave suspiciously. + +"I believe we're going to halt every hour for a brief rest" + +"Yes." + +"While the five of us are resting under the trees, Darry, you +might climb the trees, swinging from limb to limb and leaping +from tree to tree. Of course you'll select trees that are not +directly over our heads." + +"Humph!" retorted Dave. + +"Try it, anyway," urged Tom, "it's fine exercise, even if you +give it up after a while." + +"I'll try it as often as you do," Darrin agreed with a grin. + +Their second halt found the high school boys more than six miles +from their starting point. + +On this trip they were not heading in the direction they had followed +on their fishing trip. Instead, they were traveling in the opposite +direction from Gridley, through a fairly populous farming region. + +At a quarter-past ten o'clock Dick called for another halt. The +road map that the boys had brought along showed them that they +were now eleven miles from Gridley. + +"Pretty fair work," muttered Tom, "considering that these roads +were built by men who had never seen any better kind." + +"We can more than double the distance," suggested Dave, "before +we go into camp for the night." + +"If we hike a couple more miles this morning, then halt, get the +noon meal and rest until two o'clock," replied young Prescott, +"I think we shall do better." + +"If we've gone only eleven miles," protested Darrin, "then I'm +certainly good for twenty-five miles in all to-day, and I believe +the rest of you are, too." + +"Wait until we've done eighteen or twenty miles," Prescott proposed. +"Then we can take a vote about making it twenty-five." + +"For one thing," Darry objected, "none of us actually walks twenty-five +miles when we cover that distance. We take turns riding on the +wagon, and, as there are six of us, that means that each fellow +rides something like four miles of the distance covered." + +"What Darry is driving at," proposed Danny Grin, "is that he wants +to devote himself wholly to walking hereafter. He doesn't care +about driving the horse." + +"I'm big enough and cranky enough to do my own talking, when there +is any reason for my entering into the conversation," smiled Dave. + +At a little after eleven that morning, when thirteen and a half +miles had been covered, all hands were willing enough to halt +and rest, prepare luncheon and rest again. + +"But I still hope we shall cover the twenty-five miles to-day," +Darry insisted. + +"No difficulty about that, either," declared Harry Hazelton. +"Darry, while we are swapping stories over the campfire this evening +you can take a lantern and do an extra five miles by way of an +evening walk. Then you'll be tired enough to sleep." + +"I'll see about it," Darrin laughed. + +"And that's the last we'll hear about it," Tom predicted dryly. + +"It is the experience of every military commander, so I've read," +Dick went on, "that a long march the first day of a big hike is +no especially good sign of how the soldiers will hold out to the +end. On the contrary, military men have found that it's better +to march a shorter distance on the first day and to work up gradually +to a good standard of performance." + +"All right," agreed Hazelton. "For one, I'm willing to take a +rest after eating, and then take the afternoon for getting acquainted +with this pretty grove." + +"We won't quite do that, either, if I have my way," Prescott laughed. +"We ought to do a few miles this afternoon, but not set out to +do any record-breaking or back-breaking stunt." + +"There goes hazy's dream up in the air," laughed Greg. "I just +knew that Hazy was planning how to spend the afternoon napping." + +"I'll volunteer to drive all the way, this afternoon," Harry offered. +"That will give all of you fellows a chance to harden yourselves +more on the first day." + +"If you want to know a good definition of 'generosity,' then ask +Hazy," snorted Dalzell. + +"Come on!" cried Dick good-humoredly. "Scatter. Some for wood, +some for water. Tom and I will get the kitchen kit ready for +a meal. But we must have the wood and water before we can prepare +luncheon." + +At that suggestion of something to eat there was a general rush +to get things in readiness. As soon as a fire was going in the +stove in the wagon, Dick put on a frying pan. Into this he dropped +several slices of bacon. Tom, over a fire built on the ground, +set the coffee-pot going. In a pot on the stove Dick put potatoes +to cook. + +Now Dave rattled out the dishes, as soon as Greg and Hazy had +set up the folding table. Dan placed the chairs. + +"Get ready!" called Dick, as soon as he had fried two platters +full of bacon and eggs. Tom, will you try the potatoes?" + +"Done," responded Reade, after prodding the potatoes with a fork. + +"What shall we do with the food that's left over?" asked Danny +Grin, as he began to eat. + +"There isn't going to be any food left over," Dick laughed. "You +fellows will be lucky, indeed, if you get as much as you want." + +Everyone was satisfied, however, by the time that the meal was +finished. + +"Greg and Harry may have the pleasure of washing the dishes," +Dick suggested. + +"Oh, dear!" grunted Hazy, but he went at his task without further +remarks. + +Before one o'clock everything was in readiness for going forward +again, save for putting the horse between the shafts of the wagon. +Prescott, however, put a proposition to rest until two o'clock +before his chums. It was unanimously carried. + +Despite his desire for a walking record that day, Darry proved +quite willing to lie off at full length in the shade of the trees +and doze as much as the flies would permit. + +Dick and Tom strolled slowly down toward the road, halting by +a couple of trees. + +"There's something you don't often see, nowadays," spoke up Tom +after a while. + +He nodded back up the road. Coming in the same direction that +the boys themselves had traveled was a faded, queer-looking old +red wagon, much decorated on the outside by a lot of hanging, +swinging tin and agate ware. + +"That's the old-fashioned tin-peddler that I've heard a good deal +about as being a common enough character some forty years ago," +said Prescott. "Our grandmothers used to save up meat-bones, +rags and bottles and trade them off to the peddler, receiving +tinware in return." + +"The man on that wagon was doing business forty years ago," remarked +Tom. "In fact, judging by his appearance, he must have been quite +a veteran at the business even forty years ago." + +A bent, little old man it was who was perched upon the seat of +the red wagon. Once upon a time his hair had been tawny. Now +it was streaked liberally with gray. He was smoking a black +little wooden pipe and paying small attention to the sad-eyed, +bony horse between the shafts. There was a far-away, rather dull +look in the old peddler's eyes. + +Just before he reached the boys, whom he had not seen, he took +a piece of paper from his pocket, pulled his spectacles down from +his forehead and read the paper. + +"I don't understand it," muttered the peddler, aloud. "I can't +understand it. I wish I had someone to give me the right of it." + +"Could we be of any service, sir?" Reade inquired. + +Hearing a human voice so close at hand the peddler started for +an instant. Then he pulled in the horse. + +"I dunno whether you can be of much use to me," answered the peddler +slowly. "You don't look old enough to know much about business." + +"Still, I know more than anyone would think, from just looking +at me," volunteered Reade, reddening a bit as he saw the laughter +in Dick Prescott's eyes. + +"Maybe you can explain this riddle," went on the peddler, extending +the sheet of white paper. "It can't do any harm to give you a +chance. You see, I had a bill of twenty dollars against Bill +Peterson. The bill had been running three years, and I couldn't +get anything out of Bill but promises without any exact dates +tied to 'em. I needed the money as bad as Bill did, so at last +I went to Lawyer Stark to see what could be done about it. Lawyer +Stark said he'd tackle the job if I'd give him half. I agreed +to that, for half a loaf is better'n nothing at all, as you may +have heard. Then weeks went by, and I heard nothing from Squire +Stark. So the other night I writ a letter, asking him how the +collection of the bill was coming on. This is the answer he sends +me." + +So Tom read aloud, from the typewritten sheet, the following +remarkably brief communication: + +"Dear Sir: Answering your letter of yesterday's date, I have to +advise you that I have collected my half of the Peterson bill. +Your half I regard as extremely doubtful." + +This was signed with the name of Lawyer Stark. + +Tom Reade glanced through the note again, then gave vent to a +shout of laughter. + +"Eh?" asked the peddler looking puzzled. + +"I beg your pardon, sir," replied Reade instantly. "I shouldn't +have laughed, but this struck me, at first, as one of the funniest +letters I ever saw. So the lawyer has collected his half of the +twenty and regards the collection of your half as exceedingly +doubtful!" + +"Shouldn't Lawyer Stark give me half of the ten he got from Bill +Peterson?" asked the peddler anxiously. + +"Undoubtedly he should," Tom assented, "and just as undoubtedly +he hasn't any idea of doing so." + +"What do you say, young man?" inquired the peddler, turning to +young Prescott. + +"Why, sir, if you are asking about your legal chance of getting +half of that ten dollars from the lawyer," Dick answered, "then +I'm afraid you stand a poor show. If the lawyer won't pay you +the money, then you would have to sue him. Even if you won the +suit, the fight would cost you a good deal more than the amount +you would recover. And the lawyer might beat you, even if you +sued him." + +"Then---what's the answer?" demanded the peddler slowly. + +"I know the answer," said Tom confidently, "but it would be a +shame to tell you, sir." + +"Just the same, I wish you would," replied the peddler coaxingly. + +"The answer," replied Reade, "is that you have been cheated." + +"But it looks to me like a mean trick," Dick went on. + +"What am I going to do about it?" asked the peddler wonderingly. + +"I don't believe you can do anything about it, sir," Prescott +answered, "unless you are willing to sue the lawyer, or can make +him agree to fair play. But I certainly would drop in to see +him and tell him that you expect just half of what he has so far +collected." + +"I believe I'll do that," replied Peddler Hinman, judging from +the address on the letter, that was his name. "I don't like +to be made a fool of by any man---especially when I need money +as badly as any other man on my route." + +Dick took a sweeping glance at the peddler's shabby attire. While, +of course, the size of a man's bank account cannot be judged from +his wardrobe, Mr. Hinman had the appearance of needing money as +much as he declared. The horse, too, looked as though a generous +feed of oats would do him good. + +"And to think of all the things I know about Squire Stark, too," +murmured Mr. Hinman, apparently speaking to himself and not realizing +that his words carried to the boys' ears. "If he had a little +more judgment, Silas Stark would treat me with more fairness." + +"I'm very sorry if I seemed too much amused," Tom apologized earnestly, +"but that letter, apart from its meaning to you, really is funny." + +"I---I suppose so," assented Reuben Hinman sighing, and the far-away +look returning to his eyes. "But I---I need the money!" + +"And both of us hope that you will get it, sir, the whole of your +half," said Dick Prescott heartily. + +"Anyway, I'm much obliged to both of you boys," said the peddler. +"Giddap, Prince!" + +Somehow, both boys thought that Reuben Hinman drooped more on +the seat of his wagon than before. He drove off slowly, evidently +doing a lot of hard thinking. + +"Poor old man!" muttered Tom sympathetically. + +"He looks a bit slow-witted," Prescott suggested. "I'm afraid +he has always been going through life wondering at the doings +of others, and especially at the success of unprincipled men he +has had to deal with." + +"Do you know," remarked Reade, gazing after the bent, huddled +little figure, "I've a notion that there has been a lot in that +poor fellow's life that has been downright tragic." + +Tragic? Without doubt! Moreover, though Dick could not guess +it, he and his friends were soon to be mixed up in the tragic +side of Peddler Hinman's life. + + + + +CHAPTER IV + +PEDDLER HINMAN'S NEXT APPEARANCE + + +Camp was made at half-past four that afternoon, nineteen miles +having been covered. The tent was pitched in a bit of woods, +not far from the road, permission from the owner having been secured. + +Dave had asked the owner if they might picket the horse out to +graze, but Dick had instantly objected. + +"We don't want to feed our hired horse on green grass if we're +going to work him hard." + +"That's right," agreed the farmer, so twenty cents' worth of hay +was purchased, to be added to the feed of oats. + +"It's some fun to travel this way when we know we have money enough +to pay our way like men," Tom Reade remarked exultingly. + +For Dick & Co. were well supplied with funds. As told in the +preceding volume in this series, they had, during July, realized +enough from the sale of black bass and brook trout to enable them +to have a thoroughly good time during this present month of August. + +"Oh, Hazy!" called Reade, when it became time to think of supper. + +"Here," reported Harry, rising from a cot in the tent and coming +outside. + +"It's time for you and Dan to rustle the firewood and bring in +more water," Reade went on. + +"All right," agreed Hazelton. "Where's Dan?" + +Where, indeed, was Dalzell? That soon became a problem for all five +of the other boys. Danny Grin was nowhere in sight. + +"Dan! Oh, Dan!" Dave shouted. + +"Where is that grinning monkey of a football player?" demanded +Tom in disgust. "Did any of you fellows see him go away from +camp?" + +It turned out that none of them had. + +"It isn't like Dalzell to run away from his share of the work, +either," added Greg Holmes. + +"If he won't stay and do his share toward getting supper, then +he ought to be passed up at table," grumbled Darrin. + +"Before we pass sentence," proposed Dick, "won't it be better +to wait and find out whether he's guilty of shirking this time?" + +"I suppose it would be better," Darrin admitted. + +So the boys continued their preparations. + +"What shall we have for the main thing to eat to-night?" Dick +inquired, after supper preparations were well under way. + +"Canned corned beef?" suggested Greg. + +"That would be about as good as anything," Tom nodded. "It means +two salted meats in one day, but this country is well supplied +with water." + +"We can't ask Danny Grin's preference this evening," Dick laughed. +"I wonder what Dan would like, anyway?" + +"Who's taking my name in vain?" demanded a laughing voice, as +Dalzell appeared between the trees. + +"Oh, you-----" + +"Shirk!" Reade had been about to add, when Danny held up a fat +string of fish. These were horned-pouts, sometimes called "bull-heads." + +"How many?" asked Dick promptly. + +"Nineteen---one for every mile we made in getting close to the +creek," Dan rejoined. + +"Great!" cried Greg. "We haven't had any fish, either, since +we returned from our trip to the second lake." + +"How do you cook bull-heads?" Dave wondered aloud. + +"With the aid of fire," Hazy informed him with an air of superior +knowledge. + +"But I mean---I mean------" uttered Darry disgustedly, "how do +you prepare bull-heads for cooking?" + +"First of all, you clean 'em, as in the case of any other fish," +proclaimed Tom Reade. "I defy any fellow to dispute me on that +point." + +"And then you wet the bull-head and roll him in corn meal, next +dropping him into the pan and frying him to a fine brown," Dick +supplemented. + +"But we haven't any corn meal," objected Hazy. + +"Yes, we have," Prescott corrected. "I saw to that last night. +You fellows jump in and clean these fish, fast, while I get out +the corn meal and put a pan on the fire." + +These boys knew much more about cooking than falls to most boys +in their teens. Frequent camping since their good old days in +Central Grammar School had made them able to cook like veteran +woodsmen. + +Within two minutes, fat was sputtering in a hot pan, and Dick +was shaking corn meal onto a plate. + +"Bring 'em up!" he ordered. "We'll start this thing going." + +Twenty minutes later, using two pans, all the bull-heads had been +cooked, and now lay on platters in the oven of the stove. + +"Three apiece, and one left over," Greg discovered. "Who gets +the odd one?" + +"Shame on you!" muttered Reade. "The horse gets the odd one, +of course." + +"A horse won't eat fish," Holmes retorted. + +"Didn't you ever see a horse eat fish?" Tom challenged. + +"I never did." + +"Well, I don't know that I ever did, either," Reade admitted. +"So we'll give the odd one to Danny Grin." + +"Maybe we'll be glad to," laughed Dave. "I'm not sure that all +these bull-heads were alive when Dalzell picked them up." + +"Huh!" snorted Dan. + +Nothing spoiled their appetite for the fish, however, which were +cooked to a turn and of fine flavor. Tom Reade, however, got +the odd fish as being the only one whose appetite was large enough +to permit of the feat of adding it to three other fish. + +"And now, what are we going to do?" asked Dave, after the meal +was finished and the dishes had been washed. + +"Who has sore feet?" called Dick. + +Not one of the six boys would plead guilty to that charge. + +"Then we won't have to heat water," Dick announced. "Each fellow +can bathe his feet in cold water before turning in. But, when +one's feet ache, or are blistered, then a wash in piping hot water +is the thing to take out the ache." + +By nine o'clock all hands began to feel somewhat drowsy, for the +day had been warm, and, at last, these youngsters were willing +to admit that their road work had been as strenuous as they needed. + +"But to-morrow we'll do twenty-five miles," Dave insisted. + +"My opinion is that we'll do well if we make twenty miles to-morrow," +Dick rejoined. + +"But what are we going to do now?" yawned Hazy, as they sat about +under the light of two lanterns. + +"Go to bed," declared Greg. + +"Hooray! That's the ticket that I vote," announced Hazy. + +"I was just thinking of that mean lawyer we heard about to-day," +Reade remarked. + +"I was thinking of the same matter, but more about the poor old +peddler," Dick stated. "That poor old fellow! I'll wager he +has had a hard time all through life, and that he's still wondering +why it all had to happen. How old would you say Mr. Hinman is, Tom?" + +"He'll never have a seventieth birthday again," replied Reade +thoughtfully. "My! A man at that age ought not to have to bother +with working. It's pitiful. It's a shame!" + +"Maybe he finds his only happiness in work," Darrin suggested. +"I have known old people like that." + +By this time Dan had taken one of the lanterns into the tent, +and was undressing. Dave soon followed, then Greg and Hazelton. + +"Do you want to take a little walk down to the road, where we +can get a better look at the sky?" Dick proposed to Reade. "We +ought to take a squint at the weather." + +"That will suit me," Tom nodded, so away they strolled toward +the road. + +"If you fellows stay away from camp long, don't you be mean enough +to talk, or make any other noise when you get back to the tent," +Darrin called after them. + +Down by the road there was a breeze blowing, and it was cooler. + +"I'd like to bring my cot down this way," Tom suggested. + +"There's no law against it," Dick smiled. "The owner's permission +extended in a general way to all the land right around here." + +"Will you bring your cot, too?" Tom asked. + +"Certainly." + +So, before any of the other fellows were asleep, Dick and Tom +reentered the tent to get their folding cots and bedding. + +"Cooler down by the road, is it?" asked Darrin wistfully. "Then +I'm sorry you didn't find it out before I undressed." + +"We'll sleep in our clothes," Dick replied. "Come along, Tom, +and give the infant class a chance to get to sleep." + +After lying, fully dressed on their cots, which they placed within +ten feet of the road, Dick and Tom found themselves so wide awake +that they lay chatting for some moments. + +At last Reade mumbled his answers; next his unmistakably deep +breathing indicated that he was asleep. Prescott thereupon turned +over on his side and dozed off. + +It was shortly after their first few moments of sleep had passed +that a noise in the road close by awoke both boys. + +Dick sat up leaning on one elbow, listening. Someone was coming +toward them. + +As the stranger came closer, Dick, his eyes seeing well in the +dark, made out the unmistakable form of Reuben Hinman, the peddler. + +"What's he doing out here at this hour of the night, and on foot?" +wondered Dick Prescott half aloud. + +"Eh? What?" asked Reade in a low, drowsy voice, as he opened +his eyes. + +"It's Mr. Hinman, the peddler," Prescott whispered to his chum. +"But I wonder what's wrong with him?" + +"I wonder, too," Reade assented. "One thing is certain; something +has happened to him." + +For Reuben Hinman half-lurched, half-staggered along, yet his +gait did not suggest intoxication. He moved, rather, as one who +is dazed with trouble. + +The old man was sobbing, too, with a sound that was pitiful to +hear; as though some great grief were clutching at his heart. + + + + +CHAPTER V + +DAVE DOES SOME GOOD WORK + + +"Good evening, Mr. Hinman!" called Dick softly. + +The old man started, affrighted. + +"Who---who calls?" he quavered. + +"One of the boys you talked with, this noon." + +"Where are you?" + +"Here," answered Dick, throwing his blanket aside, rising and +stepping toward the old man, who, more bent than ever, was shaking +as though from fright. "Don't be afraid of us, sir. Can we help +you in anything?" + +"I am afraid not," replied the peddler, then leaned against a +tree-trunk, staring, as he tried to stifle his sobs. + +"What has happened, sir?" asked Tom Reade, also stepping forward. + +"I've been robbed!" replied the old man, in a broken voice. + +"Robbed?" repeated Dick. "Do you mean that some villains have +stolen the goods from your wagon?" + +"No, no!" replied the old man, with sudden, unlooked for vehemence. +"I've been robbed, I tell you---my money stolen!" + +"Money?" asked Tom in surprise. "How much was taken from you?" + +"Four hundred and eighteen dollars," replied the old man, with +a lack of reserve that testified to his confidence in these unknown +but respectful and sympathetic high school boys. + +"All that money?" cried Dick. "How did you ever come to have +so much about you?" + +"I owe some bills for goods, over at Hillsboro," replied Reuben +Hinman, "and this trip was to take me toward Hillsboro. But now-----" + +He broke off, the strange, rending sobbing returning. + +"Perhaps we can help you, bad as the case looks," Tom suggested. +"Try to tell us all about it, sir." + +"Where did you have the money?" inquired Dick. + +"In a wallet, in this inside coat pocket," replied the peddler, +holding his frayed coat open at the right side. + +"You carried your wallet as conspicuously as that when traveling +over lonely country roads?" cried Prescott in amazement. + +"I had a lot of letters and papers in front of the wallet, so +that no one would suspect that I had the wallet or the money," +explained Reuben Hinman. + +"I don't see any papers there now," Tom interposed. + +"They're gone," replied Mr. Hinman. "Probably the thief thought +the papers valuable, also, but they weren't.-----" + +"You were robbed---when?" asked Dick. + +"When I was sleeping." + +"At some farm house?" Reade inquired. + +"No; I slept on a pile of old rags that I had taken in trade." + +"In the wagon?-----" from Prescott. + +"Yes." + +"But why did you sleep in the wagon? And where did you have the +wagon?" Dick pressed. + +"The wagon was off the road, two miles below here," the peddler +explained brokenly. "It would cost me fifty cents for a bed at +a farm house, so, when the night is fine, I sleep outdoors on +the wagon and save the money. It's cheaper with the horse, too, +as I have to pay only for his feed." + +"But the money?" Tom pressed the old man. Reuben Hinman groaned, +but did not take to sobbing again. + +"I woke up to-night, and found it gone," he answered. + +"Did you feel or hear anyone prowling about, or searching your +clothing?" + +"No; if I had discovered anyone robbing me," shivered the peddler, +"I would have caught and held on to him. I have strong hands. +I have strong hands. Do you see?" + +Holding up his wiry, claw-like hands, the old peddler worked the +fingers convulsively. + +"Then how do you know you were robbed, Mr. Hinman?" Dick insisted. + +"Because the money is gone," replied the old man simply. + +"You searched the rags, and the surrounding parts of your wagon?" +Reade asked. + +"Young man, you may be sure that I did." + +"And where were you going when we stopped you?" + +"For help." + +"Whose help?" Dick inquired. + +"I don't know," replied the old man blankly. "Perhaps to a lawyer." + +"Lawyers don't recover stolen property," rejoined Reade. + +"Perhaps not," assented the peddler. "The people whom you should +see are the local officers," Dick assured the old man. "Probably +they couldn't recover your money, though, since you have no idea +who robbed you." + +Reuben Hinman groaned helplessly. It was plain to the two high +school boys that the peddler had started out, thus, in the middle +of the night simply because his misery was too great to permit +of inaction on his part. + +"I wish we could help you," Prescott went on earnestly. + +"Why can't you?" eagerly demanded the peddler, as one who clutches +at the frailest straw. + +"Call Dave, Tom. Try not to wake the others," murmured Dick. +Then, while Reade was gone, Prescott asked: + +"Mr. Hinman, why on earth didn't you keep your money in a bank, +and then pay by check?" + +"No, no, no! No banks for me!" cried the old man tremulously. + +"Are you afraid to trust banks with your money?" demanded Dick +incredulously. + +"No, no! It isn't that," protested the peddler confusedly. "The +banks are all right, and honest men run them. But-----" + +Whatever was in his mind he checked himself. It was as though +he had been on the verge of uttering words that must not be spoken. + +Dick Prescott found himself obliged to turn his eyes away. It +was altogether too pitiful, the look in old Reuben Hinman's shriveled +face. In his misery the small, stooped peddler looked still smaller +and more bent. + +Tom soon came along, carrying a lantern and followed by Dave, +the latter yawning every step of the way. + +"Now, which way are we going to look first?" Reade inquired. + +"I've been thinking that over," Dick replied. "It seems to me +that the sanest course will be to start right at the scene of +the robbery. From there we may get a clue that we can follow +somewhere." + +"Yes, that's as good a course as any," nodded Darrin, who had +received some of the particulars of the affair from Reade. + +So the three high school boys started off down the road together, +old Reuben Hinman trudging tirelessly along with them, acting +like a man in a trance. + +At last they came to the old, red wagon. The tethered horse, +disturbed, rose to its feet. + +"Now, the rest of you keep away," requested young Prescott, "until +I've had time to look all around the wagon with the lantern. +I want to see if I can discover any footprints that will help." + +For a considerable radius around the wagon the high school athlete +scanned the ground. He could find no footprints, other than those +of Reuben Hinman, and the fresher ones made by himself. + +"Nothing doing in the footprint line, boys," Dick called at last. +"Now, come along and we'll search the wagon." + +"Let me have the first chance," begged Dave, taking the lantern. + +Reuben Hinman showed where he had slept on the pile of rags, but +this was hardly necessary, the impression made by his slight body +being still visible. + +Dave began to rummage. At last he got down into the body of the +wagon. With the rays of the lantern thus concealed, the other +three stood in darkness. + +"Hooray!" gasped Dave at last. Then rising, leaning over the +side of the wagon, he called: + +"Mr. Hinman, I've found a wallet, with a lot of greenbacks inside. +How much I don't know. Please count it and see if all the money +is there intact." + +With an inarticulate cry the old peddler seized the wallet that +was handed down to him. He shook like a leaf as Tom held the +lantern for him to count the money. Now that the strain was over, +Mr. Hinman's legs became suddenly too weak to support him. He +sank to the ground, Tom squatting close so that the lantern's +rays would fall where they would be most useful. Thus the old +peddler counted his money with trembling fingers. + +"Where did you find the wallet?" young Prescott asked Darrin. + +"Up against the side of the wagon, under a partly tilted, upsidedown +feed-pail," Dave answered. "I can understand why Mr. Hinman didn't +find it. He was too much upset---too nervous, and it certainly +didn't look like a likely place." + +"It must have fallen out of his pocket as he slept," Prescott +guessed correctly. "Did you find any papers down there on the +floor of the wagon?" + +"Yes; some sort of paper stuff," nodded Dave. "I took it for +rubbish." + +"The money is all here!" cried the old peddler, in a frenzy of +joy. "Oh, how can I thank you young men? You don't know what +your blessed help means for me!" + +"Was it all the money you had?" Dick asked feelingly. + +"Yes; all except for few loose dollars that I have in a little +sack in my trousers pocket," replied Mr. Hinman. + +"Then it was all you had in the world, outside of your peddling +stock and your horse and cart?" Prescott continued. + +"All except a little house and barn that I own, and the small +piece of ground they stand on," said the peddler. "If I had not +found my money I would have been obliged to mortgage my little +home to a bank---and then I am afraid I could not have repaid +the bank, and my home would be taken from me." + +"But you would have found the money in the wagon some day soon," +suggested Dick. + +"Perhaps," replied the peddler. "Who knows? Perhaps someone +else would have rummaged the wagon and found it before I did. +Oh! It might have been taken a little while ago, even when I +was toiling down the road, or talking with you boys at your camp!" +he added, with a sudden wave of fright over the thought. + +"One thing is certain, anyhow, Mr. Hinman," Dick concluded. "Someone +may have overheard you talking with us about this money. You +will hardly be safe here. I urge you to come to our camp, and +there spend the night with boys who know how to take care of +themselves, and who can look after you at need. You will not be +attacked in our camp." + +Reuben Hinman eagerly agreeing, Dave harnessed the bony horse +into the wagon. After a while the red wagon rested within the +confines of the camp of Dick & Co. + +In the bright light of the morning, Harry Hazelton was the first +to be astir. He saw Prescott asleep on the floor of the tent, +rolled up in a blanket, while another blanket rested on Dick's +cot, brought back to the tent, as though some stranger had slept +there. + +Outside, attached to the seat of their camp wagon, Hazy found +a note that mystified him a good deal at first. It read: + +_"The sun is now well up. I shall go at once to Hillsboro, and +then my great worry will be over. Boys, you will ever be remembered +in the prayers of R.H."_ + +"Now, that's mighty nice of R.H., whoever he is," smiled Harry +Hazelton, not immediately connecting the initials with the name +of the little, old peddler. + +Nor was it until Prescott and Reade were astir that Harry was +fully enlightened as to the meaning of the words scrawled in pencil +on the sheet of paper. + +"You boys call me Hazy, and I must look and act the part," laughed +Hazelton shamefacedly, "when we can have such an invasion of the +camp, and such an early get-away with a loaded wagon, and all +without my stirring." + +Reuben Hinman was on his way, and, all unknown to himself nearer +the hour when he would meet the high, school boys under vastly +more exciting circumstances. + + + + +CHAPTER VI + +THE NO-BREAKFAST PLAN + + +"Let's get the tent down, fellows," Dick called. "Greg is loading +the bedding on to the wagon now." + +"Haven't, you forgotten something?" Danny Grin asked. + +"What?" challenged Dick smilingly. + +"Well, a little thing like breakfast, for instance?" + +"We don't get that until after we've had our swim," Prescott rejoined +cheerily. + +"I suppose that's all right," observed Tom, his jaw dropping. +"Still, in that case, Mr. Trainer, why didn't you camp nearer +to a stream?" + +"The nearest stream fit for swimming is two miles from here," +Dick replied. "At least, that's what I judge from the map." + +"There's the creek the bull-heads came from," suggested Hazelton +hopefully. "That's close at hand." + +"I know it is," Dick replied, "but I've had a look at it. That +creek is both shallow and muddy. No sort of place for swimming." + +One thing these Gridley High School boys had learned in the football +squad, and that was discipline. So, though there were some gloomy +looks, all remembered that Dick had been chosen trainer during +the hike, and that his word, in training matters, was to be their +law. So the tent came down, in pretty nearly record time, and +was loaded on the wagon. The horse was harnessed, also without +breakfast, and the party started down the road with Harry Hazelton +holding the reins. + +"I hope it's a short two miles," growled Reade to Darrin. + +"Humph! A fine Indian you'd make, Tom!" jibed Dave. "An Indian +is trained in being hungry. It's a part of the work that he has +to undergo before he is allowed to be one of the men of the tribe." + +"That's just the trouble with me," Tom admitted. "I've never +been trained to be an Indian, and I am inclined to think that +it requires training, and a lot of it." + +Outwardly Tom didn't "grump" any, but he made a resolve that, +hereafter, his voice would be strong for halting right on the +bank of a swimming place. + +"Can't we hit up the pace a bit?" asked Tom. + +"Yes," nodded Dick. "All who want to travel fast can hike right +ahead. Just keep on the main road." + +Tom, Greg and Dan immediately forged ahead, taking long, rapid +steps. + +"But don't go in the water until we come up," Dick called after +them. "Remember, the morning is hot, and you'll be too overheated +to go in at once." + +"Eh?" muttered Tom, with a sidelong look at his two fast-time +companions. "Humph!" + +Then they fell back with the wagon again. + +"There doesn't seem to be any way to beat the clock to breakfast," +observed Dan, after he had walked several rods down the road. + +"I've talked with old soldiers," Dick went on, "who have told +me all sorts of tales of war time, about the commissary train +not catching up with the fighting line for four days at a stretch. +Yet here you fellows feel almost ill if you have to put off breakfast +half an hour. What kind of men would you boys make if it came +to the stern part of life?" + +"If going without breakfast is part of the making of a man," said +Danny Grin solemnly, "then I'd rather be a child some more." + +"You always will be a child," Dave observed dryly. "Birthdays +won't make any great difference in your real age, Danny boy." + +"After that kind of a roast," grinned Reade, "I believe I'll take +a reef in a few of the bitter things I was about to say." + +Dick laughed pleasantly. Somehow, with the walk, all soon began +to feel better. That first fainting, yearning desire for food +was beginning to pass. + +"Do you know what the greatest trouble is with the American people?" +asked Dick, after they had covered a mile. + +"I don't," Tom admitted. "Do you, Dick?" + +"I've been forming an idea," Prescott went on. "Our fault, if +I can gather it rightly from what I've been reading, is that we +Americans are inclined to be too babyish." + +"Tell that to the countries we've been at war with in the past," +jeered Tom Reade. + +"Oh, I guess it's a different breed of Americans that we send +to the front in war time," Prescott continued. "But, take you +fellows; some of you have been almost kicking because breakfast +is put off a bit. Most Americans are like that. Yet, it isn't +because we have such healthy stomachs, either, for foreigners +know us as a race of dyspeptics. Take a bit of cold weather in +winter---really cold, biting weather and just notice how Americans +kick and worry about it. Take any time when we have a succession +of rainy days, and notice how Americans growl over the continued +wet. Whatever happens that is in the least disagreeable, see +what a row we Americans raise about it." + +"I imagine it's a nervous vent for the race," advanced Dave Darrin. + +"But why must Americans have a nervous vent?" Dick inquired. +"In other words, what business have we with diseased nerves! +Don't you imagine that all our kicking, many times every day of +our lives, makes the need of nervous vent more and more pronounced?" + +"Oh, I don't know about that," argued Tom. "I hate to hear any +fellow talk disparagingly about his own country or its people. +It doesn't sound just right. In war time, or during any great +national disaster or calamity, the Americans who do things always +seem to rise to the occasion. We're a truly great people, all +right. But I don't make that claim because I consider myself +ever likely to be one of the great ones." + +"Why are we a great people?" pursued Prescott. + +"We are the richest nation in the world," argued Reade. "That +must show that we are people capable of making great successes." + +"Is our greatness due to ourselves, or to the fact that the United +States embraces the greatest natural resources in the world?" +demanded Dick Prescott. + +"It's partly due to the people, and partly due to the resources +of the country," Dave contended. + +Dick kept them arguing. Harry Hazelton, as driver, remained silent, +but the others argued against Dick, trying to overthrow all his +disparaging utterances against the American people. + +Finally Reade grew warm, indeed. + +"Cut it out, Dick---do!" he urged. "This doesn't really sound +like you. I hate to hear a fellow go on running down his own +countrymen. I tell you, it isn't patriotic." + +"But just stop to consider this point," Prescott urged, and started +on a new, cynical line of argument. + +"I still contend that we're the greatest people on earth," Reade +insisted almost angrily. "We ought to be, anyway, for Americans +don't come of any one line of stock. We're descended from +pioneers---the pick and cream of all the peoples of Europe." + +But Dick kept up his line of discussion until they came to the +river for which he had headed them. They followed the winding +stream into the woods where the trees partially hid them from +the observation of passers-by on the road, From this point they +could easily keep a watch on the wagon while in the water. + +"Now, let's sit down and cool off for five minutes," proposed +Dick, as he filled the feed bag for the horse. "After that we'll +be ready for a swim." + +"But, with regard to what you were saying about frayed American +nerves, poor stomachs and all-around babyishness-----" Tom began +all over again. + +"Stop it!" laughed Dick. "We don't need that line of talk any +longer." + +"Then why did you start it?" asked Dave. + +"We've covered the two miles that you all thought such a hardship," +chuckled Prescott. + +"Then you-----" began Reade, opening his eyes wider as a dawning +light came into them. "Come on, Dave! Catch him! The water's +handy!" + +But Dick, with a light laugh, bounded away, shinned up a tree, +and, sitting in a crotch, swung his feet toward the faces of +Tom, Dave and Harry as they tried to get him and drag him down. + +"You've got a strategic position, just now," growled Reade. "But +just you wait until we catch you down on the ground again!" + +"You fellows must feel pretty well sold," Greg taunted them. +"I kept out of the row, for I saw, at the outset, that Dick was +going to start something for the sole purpose of keeping us arguing +until we forgot all about our breakfasts." + +"That's just like Dick Prescott!" uttered Tom ruefully. "We never +get to know him so well that he can't start us all on a new tack +and have more fun with us." + +"Well, you forgot your supposed starvation, didn't you?" chuckled +Dick from his tree. + +Two or three minutes later he swung down from the tree to the +ground, rapidly removing his clothing and donning swimming trunks. +He was not molested; the other five were too busy preparing for +the bath. + +"The water's great to-day!" shouted Dick, rising and "blowing" +after a shallow dive from a tree trunk at the shore. + +In a moment they were all in the water. + +"Come on! Follow your leader!" shouted Tom Reade, striking out +lustily upstream. + +"Come back and give us a handicap!" roared Dave. "How do you +expect us to catch you when you get the lead over us with your +long legs and arms?" + +But Tom dived under water, swimming there. The others followed +suit, each remaining under as long as possible, for, in this "stunt," +there was no way of knowing when the leader came up. Tom remained +under less than fifteen seconds. Then, showing his head, and +with rapid overhand strokes he made for the nearer bank, slipping +ashore and hiding behind some bushes. + +It was Hazy who had to come up first after Tom. + +"Whew! Tom must have met someone he knows on the bottom," called +Harry, as Greg's head rose above the surface. + +Dave came up next, then Dick, and then Dan. + +"Tom ought to be a fish!" uttered Darrin admiringly. "I stayed +under water as long as I could." + +Yet after going a few yards further up stream Dick Prescott turned, +gazing anxiously down stream. + +"Fellows," he suggested, "something must have happened to old Tom." + +"Or else he's playing a joke on us," hinted Danny Grin, suspiciously. + +"It's some joke to remain under water four times as long as the +average swimmer can do it," retorted Prescott. + +"But Tom may not be under water," spoke up Greg. + +"He didn't have time to get anywhere else," Dave declared. + +"It may be a joke, but I don't want to take any chances," Dick +said earnestly. "Let's go down stream. Spread out, and every +now and then bob under and take as near a look at the bottom as +you can." + +"It doesn't look right," Dave admitted as they all started back. + +Several times they went under water, the best swimmers among them +getting close to bottom. So they continued on down the stream +for some distance. + +"Now, all together. Go under water all at the same time," ordered +Dick. + +Below the surface of the river they went. One after another their +heads presently appeared above the surface once more. + +"Have you fellows lost anything?" quizzed Reade, suddenly appearing +on the bank. + +"That's what I call a mean trick on us!" cried Dave, flushing +slightly. + +"You fellows were in for a swim, weren't you?" Reade drawled. +"You have been having it." + +With that he took to the water himself. There was something so +jovial and harmless about Reade that, despite their recent anxiety +concerning him, they made no effort to duck him. + +"The water is fine this morning," called Tom presently, as they +all swam about. + +"Then why didn't you stay in?" demanded Darry rather cuttingly. + +"Say, I'm beginning to feel glad that I waited breakfast for the +swim," Reade announced. + +"Stick to the truth!" mocked Dick. + +"But I really am beginning to feel that a little exercise is the +best course before breakfast," Tom declared. + +"The next thing we hear," scoffed Hazy, "you'll be telling us +that you really don't want any breakfast." + +"I'll tell you fellows what I'll do," Tom called. "I'll agree +to put off eating until noon if you'll all stick to the idea." + +But that suggestion did not prove popular. + +"I mean it," Reade insisted. "I hardly care, now, whether I eat +any breakfast or not." + +"What's that noise below? Come on!" called Prescott, landing +and running along the bank. Tom was close behind him, the others +following. + +In their search for Tom they had gotten farther away from the +wagon than they realized. During their brief absence from the +spot two tramps had come upon the camp wagon and the piles of +discarded clothing. It was plain that the wagon contained all +that was needed for several meals---and the tramps were hungry. + +Yet the only safe way to enjoy that food would be to partake of +it at a safe distance from the rightful owners. + +For that reason, after a few whispered words, the tramps hastily +gathered up all the clothing of the high school swimmers, dumping +it in the wagon. Then they mounted to the seat. + +Just as Dick Prescott and his chums broke from cover they beheld +the tramps in the act of driving from the woods out on the road. + +Once in the road the tramps urged the horse to a gallop. It was +out of the question for the boys, clad as they were in only swimming +trunks to pursue the thieves. + +"I---I---take back all I said about not wanting any breakfast!" +gasped Tom Reade, turning to his dismayed chums. + + + + +CHAPTER VII + +MAKING THE TRAMPS SQUIRM + + +"You come back here!" screamed Danny Grin desperately. + +"Haven't time now," called one of the tramps jeeringly, while +his companion laid the whip over the startled horse. + +With such a start as the tramps had they might be able to drive +a mile ere the running boys could overtake them. + +Besides, both law and custom forbade six boys clad only in bathing +trunks from running along the highway. + +"You'll find the wagon a few miles from here!" jeered the tramp +who held the reins. "We'll leave it when we're through with it. +We-----" + +But further words could not be heard for the wagon had vanished +from view at a turn in the road between the trees. + +"We're in a bad pickle, now!" gasped Tom Reade. + +But Dick, studying the lay of the land with swift glances, saw +just one chance. If the tramps turned the horse in the right +direction on gaining the highway----- + +Dick broke off his thoughts there. + +"Tom, you and Dave pursue a little way and travel like lightning," +ordered young Prescott. "The rest of you pick up stones! Fast! +Come along now." + +On reaching the highway the driver was forced to make a little +turn in order to cross the bridge, in case he decided to travel +in the direction that the boys had been going. So Dick dashed +ahead, hoping to profit by the one chance he saw. + +Just as luck would have it, the tramps turned in the right direction. +The horse, galloping fast under the lash, struck his forefeet +on the bridge. + +Whack! clatter! plug! Four high school boys, all of them baseball +players and proud of their straight throwing, sent a small shower +of rocks whizzing through the air. + +These struck the bridge planks well ahead of the horse. + +"Stop---or the next ones will hit you!" shouted young Prescott. + +Just by way of suggestion he threw one stone that flew by within +a foot of the nearer tramp's head. Holmes duplicated the throw. + +"Stop that!" yelled one of the tramps, but he brought the horse +to a standstill. + +"Don't you throw any more stones!" yelled the tramp, as he saw +the four ball players poised ready for more work in that line. + +"Then hold the horse where he is until we come and take him," +ordered Dick. + +"We won't, and don't you throw any more stones," ordered the tramp. +"Jerry, turn your pistol loose on the young cubs if they throw +another stone. Giddap!" + +"That's a bluff. You haven't any pistol," Dick called to the +tramps coolly. "Just start that horse, and we'll knock both your +heads off with stones. We know how to throw 'em." + +Splash! Greg Holmes had taken to the narrow river. Now he was +striking out lustily for the other side. In case the horse was +started Holmes would be there, with a handful of stones with which +to bombard the fugitives in passing. + +"You fellers quit throwing stones, or you're going to get hurt!" + +But the pause had accomplished the very thing for which Dick had +waited. + +"Throw another stone," repeated the tramp, "and you'll get-----" + +"Oh, tell it to the Senate!" broke in Tom Reade, climbing into +the wagon and seizing the speaker. Dave, who had crept up with +him, had gripped the other tramp by the collar. + +Both tramps were thrown from the seat. Ere they could recover +from their astonishment, Reade and Darrin had leaped down upon +their tormentors. + +"In with them!" ordered Dick. + +Two splashes, occurring almost in the same second, testified to +the tackling skill that Reade and Darrin had acquired on the gridiron. + +Dick and his friends stood by to rescue the tramps, in case either +of them could not swim. + +Both could, however, and struck out for the shore, abusing the +boys roundly as they swam. + +Dave had seized the horse's bridle, and was now turning the animal +about. Tom walked on the other side of the wagon. + +"Look out, Greg!" called Dick suddenly, as the tramps, gaining +the opposite shore, made a sudden rush at Holmes, who stood alone. + +"I can take care of myself!" chuckled Greg gleefully, as dodging +backward, he poised his right hand to throw a stone. "Look out, +friends, unless you want to get hurt!" + +Both tramps halted in a good deal of uncertainty. They wanted +to thrash this high school boy, but they didn't like the risk +of having their heads hurt by flying stones. + +Two splashes on the other side of the river heralded the fact +that Dan and Harry had started to Greg's aid. The instant they +saw this, both men turned away from Greg, making a dash for the +highway. + +Laughing, young Holmes followed them up with all the missiles +he had left. Not one dropped further than three feet from the +flying heels of the fugitives, yet not one struck either of the +tramps or was meant to do so. + +"Come across, you three fellows," laughed young Prescott, when +the enemy had vanished in flight. You've all earned your breakfast +now, and you shall have it." + +"As for me," spoke Tom from the wagon, as he drove into the forest +path, "I'm strong for putting on my clothes before I sit down +to dally with food." + +Reade did not wait until he had driven the wagon where he and +his friends could dress away from the view of people on the road. + +"The cast-iron cheek of those scoundrels!" vented Dave Darrin +indignantly. + +"I rather think we are their debtors," smiled Dick quietly, as +he drew his shirt over his head. + +"You do!" demanded Darry incredulously. + +"Yes; just think of all the zest they've put into our morning, +and they didn't harm us, either." + +"But just think of what it would have been like if we hadn't stopped +'em!" gasped Danny Grin solemnly. "We couldn't have chased 'em. +It wouldn't have been decent for us to go along the road, making +four miles to every five covered by the horse. No, sir! We'd +have had to remain hidden in the forest until we could signal +some farmer to send to our folks for clothes to put on. Wouldn't +it have been great, staying in the woods two or three days, with +nothing to eat, waiting for the proper clothing to enable us to +go out into the world again!" + +"It was a mean trick!" cried Darry hotly; and then he began to +laugh as the ridiculous features of the situation appealed to him. + +"But nothing serious happened," laughed Dick, "so we owe that +pair of tramps for a pleasant touch to the morning's sport." + +"I wonder how many years since either of them has had a bath, +until this morning," grinned Reade, as he began to lace his shoes. + +As Reade was dressed first, Dick called to him: "Take the horse +out of the shafts, Tom, and let him feed in comfort." + +"You may," laughed Reade. "As for me, I've flirted with my breakfast +so long this morning, and have taken so many chances of not having +any, that now I'm going to make sure of that first of all." + +So Dick himself attended to the horse. Dan was already gathering +firewood, which Dave piled into the stove in the wagon. + +Soon water was boiling, coffee was being ground, tins opened, +and a general air of comfort and good fellowship prevailed in +that forest. + +"We'll have to give you the palm for being a good trainer, Dick," +declared Tom, taking a bite out of a sandwich and following it +with a sip of coffee, "but you have one short-coming. You're +no fortune teller. So, as you can't foretell the future, I vote +that, after this, we breakfast in the morning and swim later in +the day. It would affect my heart in time, if we had to battle +every morning for our breakfast in this fashion." + +"I can't get over the impudence of those tramps," muttered Darry, +as he set his coffee cup down. "They couldn't hope to get away +with the horse and wagon and sell them in these days of the rural +telephone. They couldn't use our clothing for themselves. And +yet they stole all we had in order to get hold of our food. At +that, they didn't care what became of us, or how long we had +to travel about in these woods without food or clothing." + +"The tramps must be optimists," laughed Prescott. "Probably they +had an abiding faith that all would turn out well with us, and +so proposed to help themselves to what they needed." + +"I wonder whether they'll fool with our outfit again," pondered +Tom grimly, "if they come across it in our absence." + +"I don't know," said Dick gravely. "As you've already reminded +me, I am no foreteller of the future." + + + + +CHAPTER VIII + +WHEN THE PEDDLER WAS "FRISKED" + + +It was a hot and dusty road that lay before them when they again +took up their march that day. + +Yet Dick Prescott insisted that, despite the late start, they +must count upon covering twenty miles for that second day. + +At night they halted on the edge of woods so far from the nearest +farm house that Prescott did not consider it necessary to hunt +up the owner and ask permission. + +"Now, we'll have to see if we can find water here," Dick proposed. +"Let's scatter, and the fellow who finds drinkable water must +let out a yell to inform the others." + +"I'll save you some trouble," Reade offered. "You fellows needn't +hunt water at all. Give me the buckets and I'll go and get it." + +"Have you been in this part of the country before?" asked Dick. + +"No; and I don't need to have been here before in order to know +that this ground is full of water," replied Reade, who was full +of practical knowledge of that sort. "If I were a civil engineer, +out with a field party, I'd mark this section 'water' on the map. +Look at the ground here under the trees. It's as moist as can +be." + +Tom departed, but barely two minutes had elapsed when he was back +with two pailfuls of water as clear as crystal. + +"It's nearly as cold as ice water," Tom announced. "There's a +bully big spring just a few steps back in the woods." + +"Then I'm going to use some of this to wash up," Darrin declared. +"I'll go with you on the next trip, Tom, and help carry the water." + +"You'd better wait until we get the tent up before we wash," suggested +Prescott. "Then you'll need it more." + +Quick work was made of the encamping. Dan and Greg, from the +wagon, passed down the tent itself, the floor boards and joists, +the cots and bedding and some of the food supplies. + +Then all hands quickly put up the tent. Reade and Hazelton had +the flooring down in a jiffy. Dan and Greg put up the cots, while +Dick and Dave set up the folding camp table and started the fire +in the stove with a bundle of fagots brought in by Hazelton. + +"Now, get busy with the wash-up," Dick called. + +Within thirty minutes after halting, supper was on the table. + +"How far from a swimming place this time?" Tom asked. + +"Three miles, if I've studied the map right," replied Prescott, +taking the road map from his pocket and passing it over. + +"To-morrow," said Dave, "some of us will swim in plain sight of +the outfit all the time." + +"Do you think you can hike three miles and swim before breakfast +in the morning?" asked Dick. + +"The way I feel now," said Tom, pushing his campstool back from +the table, "I shan't need anything to eat to-morrow." + +"You must feel ill, then," declared Danny Grin. + +"No; I feel just filed up enough to last for two or three days," +sighed Reade contentedly. + +Harry and Greg were a bit footsore, but the other boys claimed +to feel all right. + +"Do any of you feel like taking an evening walk?" asked Dick with +a smile. + +"I do," Darrin declared promptly. + +"Not I," replied Tom. "At least not so soon after supper." + +"Shall we try the walk?" Dick asked Darrin. + +"I'm ready," Dave agreed. "Come along, then." Though it was +dark, the two boys decided not to take a lantern with them. + +"We don't need one on a public highway," said Dick as they plunged +off down the dark road. + +"How far shall we go?" Darrin asked. + +"I think two miles away from camp and two miles back, ought to +be far enough," Dick replied. + +"If we feel like going farther, we can tackle it when the time +comes," Darrin answered. "But how shall we judge the distance?" + +"We'll walk briskly for thirty-five to thirty-eight minutes," +Prescott suggested. "Then we'll turn back. While we're out we +may get some idea of whether there's a swimming place nearer than +three miles from camp." + +Neither felt in the least footsore. Indeed, these two hardy high +school boys thoroughly enjoyed their tramp in this cooler part +of the twenty-four hours. + +"I wish we could live outdoors all the time," murmured Darrin, +as he filled his lungs with the fine night air. + +"A lot of folks have felt that way," smiled Dick. "The idea is +all right, too, only the work of the civilized world couldn't +be carried on by a lot of tramps without homes or places of business." + +"I've heard, or read," Darry went on, "that a tramp, after one +season on the road, is rarely ever reclaimed to useful work. +I think I can understand something of the fascination of the life." + +"I can't see any fascination about being a tramp," Prescott replied +judicially. "First of all, he becomes a vagabond, who prefers +idleness to work. Then, too, he becomes dirty, and I can't see +any charm in a life that is divorced from baths. From mere idleness +the tramp soon finds that petty thieving is an easy way to get +along. If I were going to be a thief at all, I'd want to be an +efficient one. No stealing of wash from a clothes-line, or of +pies from a housekeeper's pantry, when there are millions to be +stolen in the business world." + +"Now, you're laughing at me," uttered Dave. + +"No; I'm not." + +"But you wouldn't steal money if you had millions right under +your hand where you could get away with the stuff," protested +Darry. + +"I wouldn't," Dick agreed promptly. "I wouldn't steal anything. +Yet it's no worse, morally, to steal a million dollars from a +great bank than it is to steal a suit of clothes from a house +whose occupants are absent. All theft is theft. There are no +degrees of theft. The small boy who would steal a nickel or a +dime from his mother would steal a million dollars from a stranger +if he had the chance and the nerve to commit the crime. All tramps, +sooner or later, become petty thieves. Thieving goes with the +life of idleness and vagabondage." + +"I don't know about that," argued Dave. "A lot of men become +tramps just through hard luck. I don't believe all of them steal, +even small stuff." + +"I believe they do, if they remain tramps," Dick insisted. "No +man is safe who will deliberately go through life without earning +his way. The man who starts with becoming idle ends with becoming +vicious. This doesn't apply to tramps alone. Any day's newspaper +will furnish you with stories of the vicious doings of the idle +sons of rich men. Unless a man has an object in life, and works +directly toward it all the time, he is in danger." + +"I'd hate to believe that every ragged tramp I meet is a criminal," +Dave muttered. + +"He is, if he remains a tramp long enough," Dick declared with +emphasis. "Take the tramps we met this morning. Look at all +the trouble they were taking to rob us of food for a meal or two." + +"There may have been an element of mischief in what they did," +Dave hinted. "They may have done it just as a lark." + +"They were thieves by instinct," Dick insisted. "They would have +stolen anything that they could get away with safely. Hello! +There's a light over there in the woods." + +"Another camping party?" Dave wondered. + +"Tramps, more likely. Suppose we speak low and advance with caution +until we know where we are and whom we're likely to meet." + +In silence the high school boys drew nearer. The light proved +to come from a campfire that had been lighted some fifty feet +from the road. + +"Yes, you have!" insisted a harsh voice, as the boys drew nearer. +"Don't try to fool with us. Turn over your money, or we'll make +you wish you had!" + +"Why, it's our tramps of this morning," whispered Dave. + +"And look at that wagon---the peddler's!" Dick whispered in answer. + +"Come, now, old man! Turn over your money, unless you want us +to frisk you for it!" continued a voice. + +"There are your honest tramps, Dave," Prescott whispered. + +Then his eyes flashed, for, by the light of the campfire the lads +saw the tramps seize frightened Reuben Hinman on either side and +literally turn him upside down, the old man's head hitting the +ground. + +"Don't make any noise," whispered Prescott, "but we won't stand +for that!" + +"We surely won't!" Darry agreed with emphasis. + +"Come on, now---soft-foot!" + +As the tramps jostled Mr. Hinman, upside down and yelling with +fright, a sack containing the peddler's money rolled from one +of the peddler's trousers pockets. + +"Shake him again! There'll be more than that coming!" jeered +one of the tramps. + +But just then they let go their hold of the old man, for Dick +Prescott and Dave Darrin rushed in out of the darkness, dealing +blows that sent the tramps swiftly to earth. + +Yet the two high school boys were now doomed to pay the penalty +of not having scouted a bit before rushing in. + +For the two tramps were not the only ones of their kind at hand. +Out of the shadows under the surrounding trees came a rush of +feet, accompanied by hoarse yells. + +Then, before they had had time fully to realize just what was +happening, Prescott and Darrin found themselves suddenly in the +midst of the worst fight they had ever seen in their lives. + +"Beat 'em up!" yelled the man whom Dick had knocked down. "I +know these young fellers! They put up a bad time for us this +morning. Beat 'em up and make a good job of it, too." + +There was no use whatever in contending with such odds. Yet Dick +and Dave fought with all their might, only to be borne to the +ground, where they received severe punishment. + + + + +CHAPTER IX + +DICK IMITATES A TAME INDIAN + + +"Hello! hello!" yelled Tom Reade, pacing up and down the road +with his lantern, holding his watch in the other hand. "Oh, Dick! +Dave!" + +But up the road there sounded no answer. Looking utterly worried, +Reade came back into camp. + +"I don't like the looks of this, fellows," he announced. "There's +something wrong. Something has happened to one or both of the +fellows. They left here before eight o'clock, and now it's twenty +minutes of eleven. If everything had been all right, they'd have +been back here by half-past nine o'clock at the latest." + +"Suppose we haul down the tent, pack the outfit and move on down +the road, looking for some trace of them," proposed Greg. + +"No; that would delay the start too much," Tom replied, with a +shake of his head. "Whoever goes out to hunt for Dick and Dave +must move fast and not be tied to a horse and wagon. I'm going, +for one. Who will go with me?" + +"I will," promptly answered Dan, Harry and Greg, all in one breath. + +"We'll have to leave one fellow to watch the camp," Reade answered, +with a shake of his head. "Hazy, I'm afraid the lot will have +to fall to you." + +"I'd rather go with you," Hazelton declared. + +"Of course you would," Tom assented. "But at least one good man +must stay here and look after our outfit. So you stay, Harry, +and Dan and Greg will go with me." + +"Going to take the lantern?" asked Greg, jumping up. + +"Yes," Tom nodded, "but we won't light it unless we need it. +Just for finding our footing at some dark part of the road the +electric flash light will do." + +Full of anxiety the trio set out on their search. + +But in the meantime, what of Dick and Dave? + +Theirs had been a busy evening. After the first rough pummeling, +which left them breathless and sore, the tramp who had directed +the rough work turned to his friends of the road. + +"These young gents have furnished us with some exercise," he grinned +wickedly. "Now, suppose we make 'em supply us with a little amusement?" + +"It's risky, close to the road," returned one of the tramps who +had been back in the shadows. "We don't know when someone will +come along and butt in on our sport." + +"Two of our crowd can go out as scouts," replied the ringleader. + +"They'd better," nodded the adviser, "and even then we'd better +take the cart, the old man and these young gents further back +into the woods." + +Neither Dick nor Dave had said anything so far, for they were +too sore, and too much exhausted. + +At the leader's command two men went down to the road, to watch +in both directions. + +"Give the whistle---you know the one---if anyone comes along that's +likely to spoil the fun," was the ringleader's order. + +Reuben Hinman had been deprived of the last dollar in money that +he had with him. Quaking and subdued, the old man obeyed the +order to mount his cart and drive the rig farther into the woods. + +"Take the young gents along, and see that they behave themselves," +directed the ringleader. + +Dick and Dave did not yet feel in condition to offer any resistance +or defiance. Even with the two "scouts" out on the road there +were still six of the tramps left to take care of them. + +The odds looked too heavy for another fight it when the last one +had been so unsuccessful. + +As Dick and Dave got to their feet and started along, followed +and watched by the tramps, Dick tottered closer to his companion, +managing to whisper: + +"We've got to gain time, Dave. Pretend to be weak---crippled---badly +hurt." + +That was all. Prescott fell away again without his whisper having +been detected by their captors. + +Before quitting the spot near the road the ringleader had scattered +the campfire so effectually that the embers would soon die out. + +A full eighth of a mile back from the road the order was given +to Hinman to rein in his horse. + +"We're far enough from the road, now, so that we ain't likely +to be spotted," said the boss tramp. "Now, let's see what these +young gents can do to amuse us. Maybe they know how to sing and +dance." + +But Dick had sunk wearily to the ground, forcing his breath to +come in rapid gasps. + +"Get up there, younker," ordered the boss tramp. + +"You've hurt me," moaned Dick, speaking the truth, though trying +to convey a stronger impression than the facts would warrant. + +"And we may hurt you more if you don't get cheerful and help make +the evening pass pleasantly," sneered the boss tramp harshly. + +"Wait till I---get so---I can get my breath---easier," begged +Dick pantingly. + +The boss turned to Darrin. + +"Young fellow, wot can you do in the entertaining line?" demanded +the fellow leeringly. + +"Nothing," Dave retorted sulkily. "After you've kicked a fellow +so that he's so sore he can scarcely move, do you expect him to +do a vaudeville turn right away?" + +"Get 'em on their feet," ordered the boss tramp. "We'll show +'em a few things!" + +But Dick protested dolefully, sinking back to the ground as soon +as the tramp who had hold of him showed a little compassion by +letting go of his arm. + +"Give me time, I tell you," Dick insisted in a weak voice. "Don't +try to kill us, on top of such a thrashing as you gave us." + +"Let go of me," urged Darry still speaking sulkily. "If you want +anything better than a sob song you'll have to give me time to +get my breath back." + +As though satisfied that they could get no sport out of the high +school boys for the present, the tramps allowed them to lie on +the ground, breathing fitfully and groaning. + +Dick was watching his chance to get up and bolt, depending upon +his speed as a football player to take him out of this dangerous +company. Darrin was equally watchful---but so were the tramps. +Plainly the latter did not intend to let their prey get away +from them easily. + +As for Reuben Hinman, obeying a command, the peddler had alighted +from his wagon and now sat with his back against a tree. He had +no thought of trying to get away, well knowing that his aged legs +would not carry him far in a dash for freedom. The peddler's +wearied horse stood and dozed between the shafts. + +"It's about time for you younkers to be doing something," urged +the boss tramp, after some minutes had slipped away. + +"If you'll find the strength for me to stand up," urged Dick, +"maybe I can dance, or do something." + +"Did we muss you up as much as that?" demanded the boss tramp. +"It serves you right, then. You shouldn't have meddled in our +pastimes. Maybe it was all right for you fellers to get your +horse and wagon back this morning, but you shouldn't have meddled +to-night." + +"I guess maybe that's right," nodded Darrin sulkily, "but you +went in too strong in getting even. You had no call to cripple +us for life." + +"Oh, I guess it ain't as bad as that," muttered the boss tramp, +though there was uneasiness in his voice. + +So the tramps sat and smoked about a fire that one of their number +had lighted. Another fifteen minutes went by. + +"Come, it's time for you fellers to get busy, and give us +something---songs, dances, comic recitations, or something like that. +That's what we brought you here for," declared the boss, rising and +prodding Darrin with one foot. + +But Dave gave forth no sign. His eyes were half open, yet he +appeared to see nothing. + +"Here, what have you been doing to my friend?" demanded Dick, +crawling as if feebly over to where Darry lay. "Great Scott! +You haven't injured him, have you?" + +Dick acted his part as well as Dave did, but the boss tramp was +not inclined to be nervous. + +"No," he retorted shortly. "We haven't done much to either of +you young fellers not a quarter as much as we're going to do if +you don't both of you quit your nonsense soon. Help 'em up, now." + +Dick allowed himself to be lifted to his feet and supported in +a standing position by one of the most powerful-looking of the +tramps. Darrin, however, continued to act as if he were almost +lifeless. + +"Give him the water cure," ordered the boss tramp, in an undertone +to one of his confederates. + +Going to the peddler's wagon the one so directed took down a pail. +He went off in the darkness, but soon came back with a pail of +water. Slipping up slyly, he dashed the water full in Darry's +face. + +With a gasping cry of rage Dave Darrin started to spring to his +feet. Then, remembering his part, he sank back again to the ground. + +"Raise him," directed the boss tramp. "He'll find his legs and +stand on 'em. We are not going to let this show wait any longer!" + +So Dave was roughly jerked to his feet. He swayed with pretended +dizziness, next tottered to a tree, throwing his arms around it. + +"You start something!" ordered the boss tramp of Prescott. + +Feeling that now the chance might come for both of them to make +a break for liberty, Dick answered, with a sheepish grin: + +"If I can get wind enough I'll see if I can do an Indian war song +and dance." + +"Go ahead with it," ordered the boss. "It sounds good." + +Once, three or four years ago, Dick had heard and seen such a +war song and dance done at an Indian show in the summer time. + +"I'll see if I can remember it," he replied. + +Crooning in guttural tones, he started a swaying motion of his +body. Gradually the unmelodious noise rose in volume. Brandishing +his hands as though they contained weapons, he circled about the +tree, gradually drawing nearer to Darrin. + +"That song is mighty poor stuff," growled one of the tramps. + +"Ready, Dave! Make a swift break for it!" whispered Prescott. + + + + +CHAPTER X + +REUBEN HINMAN PROVES HIS METTLE + + +Uttering a loud whoop, Dick pushed Dave lightly. + +At the same instant both young football players gathered for the +spring, then started to speed away. + +But they had had no chance to be quick enough, for some of the +tramps had moved closer. + +Both fugitives were seized, and now the battle was on again---two +boys against overwhelming odds. + +Right at the outset, however, a new note sounded. + +"Go into it!" roared Tom Reade's voice. "Give 'em an old-fashioned +high school drubbing." + +Three more figures hurled themselves into the fray. And now, +indeed, the battle raged. On the part of the high school boys +there was no longer any thought of retreat, though it was still +a matter of six men against five lads. + +In the excitement of their friends' arrival, Dick and Dave were +able to wrench themselves free. + +Though those on the defense were boys, they were boys of good +size, whose muscles had been hardened by regular training, as +well as by grilling work on the football field. + +Reade, in his first onset, hit one of the tramps such a blow that +the fellow went to earth, where, though conscious, he preferred +to remain for a while. Then it was five against five. But Dan +soon got in a belt-line blow that put another tramp out of the +fight. + +From the road the two scouts ran up. When they saw, however, +how the fight was going, they slunk off. + +It was soon all but over. The boss tramp, however, armed with +a club, crept up behind Prescott, aiming a savage blow at his +head. + +The blow would have landed, but for a new interruption. + +With a cry that was more of a scream of alarm, old Reuben Hinman +threw himself forward into the fray. Both his lean arms were +wrapped around the tramp's legs. + +Down came the tramp, just as Dick wheeled, falling heavily across +Reuben Hinman, knocking the breath from the peddler. + +Tom and Dave seized the boss tramp, as he tried to get up, hurling +him back to the earth and sitting upon him. + +"Let me up! Lemme go!" yelled the tramp. + +"Keep cool," advised Tom. "You're likely to stay with us a while." + +"Don't let him go," cried Prescott. "That wretch has all of Mr. +Hinman's money in his pockets." + +"He'll give it up, then," guessed Reade. + +"Come back here, you men!" roared the boss tramp, finding that +all his fellows had fled. + +"Call 'em all you want," mocked Reade. "They won't come back. +They're too wise for that." + +Dick, having given the order for the holding of the one tramp +who remained, now gave all his attention to Reuben Hinman. + +"The poor old man must be rather badly hurt," Prescott declared. +"I can't get him to talk. Did you fellows bring a lantern with +you?" + +The lantern was lit and brought forward. + +"I don't know what the matter is with him," said Dick at last. +"But that's all the more reason why we must get him where he +can have attention. The village of Dunfield is four miles below +here. We must get him there at once. And we'll march the hobo +there, too, in the hope that the village has a lock-up." + +"It hasn't," snarled the tramp. + +"Oh, we wouldn't take your word on a vital point like that," jeered +Darry. + +"The first thing you'll do will be to give back this poor old +man's money," Dick went on, eyeing the tramp. + +"I haven't got it," came the prompt denial. "I turned it over +to Joe and Bill, and they've got away with it." + +"You're not going to like us a bit, my man," smiled Prescott. +"We are not the kind of fellows to take your word for anything. +We're going to see whether or not you have the money. We're +going through your clothing for it. Poor old Mr. Hinman will +need it for the care that I am afraid he is going to require. +Search the fellow, Tom." + +Greg now aided Dave in holding the vagabond. The tramp made such +a commotion during the search that Dick and Greg added their help +in holding him. + +Out of a trousers' pocket Tom dragged the peddler's money sack. +It was still tied. + +"Let me have it," said Dick, and took it over by the campfire, +where he untied the sack and peered into it. + +"There's a roll of bills and at least ten, dollars in change in +the sack," Dick announced, "so I think that none of the money +has been taken." + +"That's my money you've got," snarled the tramp. + +"Tell that to the Senate!" Tom suggested. + +Greg and Dan now aided Dick in lifting Mr. Hinman to the floor +of his wagon, where they laid him on a pile of rags. Mr. Hinman +was breathing, and his pulse could be distinctly felt. + +"Dave, I guess you and I had better go along with the wagon," +Dick suggested. "Now, see here, Tom, you and the other fellows +go back to camp and act just as if we were all there. Start in +the morning, as usual. You ought to be in Fenton by noon to-morrow. +If Dave and I don't join you before that time, then you'll find +us at Fenton." + +"What are you going to do with the hobo?" Reade wanted to know. + +"Roll him over on his face and tie his hands. Then we'll hitch +him to the back of Mr. Hinman's wagon, and I'll walk with him +and see that he goes along without making trouble, while Dave +drives." + +At this moment Reade alone was occupied in sitting on the captive, +Dave having risen when it was suggested that he go with Dick to +Dunfield. + +"Here---quick!" yelled Reade, as the boss tramp gave a sudden +heave. + +But like a flash the hobo sprang up and darted off through the +darkness. Tom, Dave and Dan started in swift pursuit, but the +tramp soon doubled on his pursuers in the darkness and got away. + +"Let him go," counseled Dick. "We've enough else to occupy our +attention." + +So Greg ran out to pass the word to the pursuers to discontinue +the chase. Tom, when he returned, was very angry. + +"You'd no business to leave the fellow like that, Darry," he growled, +"and I was a big fool not to be better on my guard. That fellow +will make trouble for us yet---see if he doesn't." + +"There was no use in chasing him any further, if he eluded you +in the darkness," Dick remarked. "Dave, you get up on the wagon +beside Mr. Hinman. I'll drive his horse." + +Only as far as the road did Tom Reade, Dan and Greg accompany +them, going ahead with the lantern to show the way. + +"Now, you know the plan, Tom," Dick called quietly. "Fenton---at +noon to-morrow." + +"Good luck to you two!" called Reade. "And keep your eyes open +for trouble." + +"It will be someone else's trouble, if we meet any," laughed Darrin +gayly. + +"I wonder how it was that Tom and the other fellows didn't run +into one of the scouts that the tramps had out," said Dick, after +they had driven a short distance. + +"Tom told me that they did catch a glimpse of a scout prowling +by the road side, so they went around him," Darrin replied. "They +slipped past the fellow without his seeing them." + +As Dick held the reins he also eyed the dark road closely as they +went along. He was not blind to the fact that the tramps might +reassemble and rush the wagon, for these vagabonds would want +both the peddler's money and what they would consider suitable +revenge on the high school boys, for their part in the night's +doings. + +However, the village of Dunfield was reached without further adventure. +Dave woke up the head of a family living in one of the cottages, +and from him learned where to find the local physician. Then +Dick drove to the medical man's house. + +Dr. Haynes came downstairs at the first ring of the door bell, +helping the boys to bring the still unconscious peddler inside. + +There, under a strong light, with the peddler stretched on an +operating table, the physician looked Reuben Hinman over. + +"I can't find evidence of any bones being broken," said the physician. +"It's my opinion that shock and exhaustion have done their work. +Reuben is a very hard-working old man." + +"Then you know him?" Dick asked. + +"Everyone in this part of the country knows Reuben," replied the +doctor. "He's one of our characters." + +"He must have a hard life of it, and make rather a poor living," +Prescott suggested. + +"I guess he would make a good enough living, if-----" began the +physician, then checked himself. + +"Are you going to bring the man to consciousness, doctor?" asked +Dave. + +"Yes; after I get a few things ready. I don't believe we'll have +much trouble with him, though we'll have to get Reuben home and +make him rest for a few days." + +"Where does he live?" Dick inquired. + +"In Fenton. Reuben has a queer little old home of his own there." + +"Has he a wife?" Dick asked. + +"She died fifteen years ago." + +"Are there any children to look after Mr. Hinman?" Darry asked. + +"He has children, but---well, they don't live with him," replied +Dr. Haynes, as though not caring to discuss the subject. + +Then the physician went to work over the peddler, who presently +opened his eyes. + +"Drink some of this," ordered the physician. "Now, you begin +to feel better, don't you, Reuben?" + +"Yes; and I've got to get up right away and see what I can do +about getting back my money," cried the peddler. + +"Don't try to get up just yet," ordered Dr. Haynes. + +"If your money is worrying you, Mr. Hinman, I have it," Dick broke +in, showing the sack. + +A cry of joy escaped the peddler. He sank back, murmuring: + +"You're good boys! I knew you were good boys!" + +"You take the money, Doctor, if you please, and turn it over to +Mr. Hinman when he's able to count it," urged Prescott, handing +the sack to their host. + +"Now, Mr. Hinman will want to sleep a little while, so we'll go +outside and chat, if you've nothing pressing to do," suggested +the physician. + +Dick and Dave thought they might learn more about the odd peddler, +but Reuben Hinman's affairs was one subject that the physician +did not seem inclined to talk about. + +"Now, if you young men want to take Reuben over to Fenton," said +Dr. Haynes, at last, "I'll telephone Dr. Warren from here, and +he'll be expecting you. It'll take you about two hours to get +over to Fenton at the gait that old Reuben's horse travels." + +This time a mattress was placed on top of the pile of rags, and +the peddler was made as comfortable as possible for the trip. + +"Remember, Reuben, you've got to stay in the house and take care +of yourself for three or four days," was Dr. Haynes' parting injunction. + +"I can't spare the time from my business," groaned the old man. + +"You'll have to, this time, Reuben, as the means of being ready +to do more business. So be good about it. You have two fine +lads taking care of you to-night." + +"I know that, Doctor." + +It was five o'clock in the morning when Dick and Dave drove into +the main street of Fenton. Yet they found an automobile in the +road, and Dr. Warren, a very young man, hailed them. + +"Drive right along, boys. I'll show you the way to the house," +called the Fenton physician. + +It was a very small and very plain little house of five rooms +into which Reuben was carried, but it was a very neatly kept little +house. + +Reuben Hinman was put to bed and made as comfortable as possible. + +"Are there any relatives to take care of this man?" Dick asked. + +"There are relatives," replied Dr. Warren, with an odd smile, +"but I guess we won't ask any of them to care for Reuben. There +are a couple of good women among the neighbors, and I'll call +them to come over here soon." + +It was after six in the morning when Dr. Warren left the peddler, +with two motherly looking women to take care of him. + +Dr. Warren, after some conversation with the boys, returned to +his home. + +"As this is where we're going to meet Tom and the other fellows," +said Dick, "I propose that we see if we can find a restaurant +and have something to eat. Then we'll try to hire a couple of +beds and leave a call for noon. I'm both hungry and fagged out." + +They found the restaurant without difficulty, and also succeeded +in hiring two cots in an upstairs room over the restaurant. + +"Reuben Hinman is becoming a good deal of a puzzle to me," murmured +Dave Darrin, as the chums ate their breakfast. + +"He's almost a man of mystery," agreed Dick, "though not quite, +except to us. I imagine that these Fenton people know all about +our peddler friend." + +"Both doctors seemed to know a lot about the old man," remarked +Dave thoughtfully. "Yet it was strange; neither of them would +really tell us anything definite about Mr. Hinman." + +"If doctors told all they know about people." smiled Dick, "I +believe that life would become exciting for a while, but before +long there would be fewer doctors in the world than there are now." + +At just twelve o'clock Dick and Dave were called. They sprang +up, somewhat drowsy, yet on the whole greatly refreshed. After +washing they dressed and went forth in search of their camp outfit +and friends. + + + + +CHAPTER XI + +TOM IDEALIZES WORKING CLOTHES + + +After the reunion at Fenton the high school boys enjoyed many +days of "hiking" and of all-around good times, yet nothing happened +in that interval that requires especial chronicling. + +Nor in that time did Dick & Co. hear any more of Reuben Hinman, +as they were now some distance from Fenton. + +"We'll make Ashbury to-night," Dick announced one morning. "We'll +go about two miles past the town, halt there for two or three +days' rest, and then---back to good old Gridley for ours." + +"Gridley's all right. Fine old town," Tom declared. "But as +for me, I wish we didn't have to go back there for another two +months, instead of feeling that we have to be there in a fortnight +from now." + +"This has been a great hike," Dick agreed, "and a fortnight of +life of a kind that has had nothing but joy in it. Yet we've +the years ahead to think of, haven't we?" + +"What has that got to do with going back to Gridley?" demanded +Danny Grin. + +"Well, what are we going to the high school for?" questioned Dick +Prescott. + +"I'm going because the folks send me," Dan declared. "Can't help +myself." + +"Don't you want to get anywhere in life?" + +"I suppose I do," Dalzell assented half dubiously. + +"Danny boy, I'm ashamed of you," Dick exclaimed, though his eyes +were smiling. "Are you content, Dan, to grow up and use your +fine muscles in performing the duties of a day laborer?" + +"Not exactly," Dan answered. + +"You'd rather be president of a big railroad company?" + +"Yes, if I had to choose between the two jobs." + +"Then perhaps you can get a glimmering of why you're in high school," +Dick went on. "When you compare the railway president and the +laborer, the difference between them lies a good deal in the difference +in their natural abilities. Yet a lot depends, too, upon the +difference in their training. You don't find many college graduates +wielding the pick and shovel for a living, nor many high school +graduates doing so, either. By the way, Dan, what are you going +to do in life?" + +Dalzell shook his head. + +"Then within the next year you had better go after the problem +and make your decision hard and fast. Fasten your gaze on something +in life that you want, and then don't stop traveling until you +get it, and it's all yours! A boy of seventeen, without an idea +of what he intends to do in life has already turned down the lane +that leads to the junk heap. Get out of that road, Danny!" + +"What are you going to do in life yourself?" challenged Danny Grin. + +"I'm going to West Point if there's any possible chance of my +winning the nomination from our home district. There's a vacancy +to be competed for next spring." + +"Some smarter boy may win it away from you," Danny Grin retorted. + +"He'll have to hustle, then," Dick rejoined, his eyes flashing. + +"But suppose you do lose the nomination and can't go to West +Point---what will you do then?" + +"I have plans, in case I can't get to West Point," Prescott answered +quietly. "However, as yet I won't admit the defeat of my West +Point ambition." + +"I'd try for West Point myself, if it weren't for Dick being in +the way," Greg declared. "But I never could get past Dick in +an exam." + +"If you want it, come on and try," begged Dick. "Our Congressman +gives the nomination to the boy in the district who can stand +up best under an exam. Go in and try for it, Greg! Work like +a horse when high school opens. You might get it." + +"And take it away from you?" blurted Holmes. + +"If you can get it from me, you ought to do it, Holmesy. The +best men are needed in every walk of life. I'll promise, in +advance, not to be 'sore' if you can win it away from me." + +"Yes! I'd try all winter," scoffed Greg, "and then in the end +some sad-eyed fellow from a back-country village would bob up +and win it away from us both." + +"Let the sad-eyed fellow have it, if he is the better man," Dick +agreed heartily. "But fear of defeat isn't going to hold me back. +Don't let it stop you, either, Greg!" + +"It's going to be Annapolis for mine---the United States Naval +Academy and a commission in the United States Navy!" Darry declared, +his eyes snapping. + +"I'd rather like that, too," Danny Grin declared. + +"Then go after it," urged Dick Prescott. "Get some real plan +in your mind of what you're going to do in life, and then follow +that plan, night and day, until you either win or drop from exhaustion." + +"Wouldn't I be a funny-looking lamb in a midshipman's uniform?" +queried Dalzell blinking fast. + +"No funnier looking than any of the rest of us," Dick retorted. +"Now, Tom isn't talking much, but we all know what he's going +to do, for he has already been working at it. He has been studying +surveying, for he means to make a great civil engineer of himself +one of these days." + +"And I'm going into the game with him," declared Hazelton. + +"That's because you've always had Tom about to tell you what to +do, and to keep you from butting your head into things in the +dark," jeered Danny Grin. "Hazy, you're going to become an engineer +just because you shiver at the thought of trying to do anything +in life without having old Tommy Long-legs to advise you when +to wash your face or come in out of the rain." + +"Harry is a pretty bright surveyor already," Tom declared. "He +has been keeping mum about it, but Harry can go out into the country +with a transit and run up the field notes for a map about as handily +as the next kid in his teens." + +"I should think you'd like the Army or the Navy, Tom," mused Dalzell +aloud. + +"Nothing doing," Reade retorted. "I want to be one of the big +and active men of the world, who do big things. I want to map +out the wilderness. I want to dam the raging flood and drive +the new railroad across the desert. I want to construct. I want +to work day and night when the big deeds are to be done. That's +why I wouldn't care for the Army or Navy; it's too idle a life." + +"An idle life!" exclaimed Dick and Dave in the same breath. + +"Yes," Tom went on dryly. "Did you ever see an Army or a Navy +officer?" + +"I've seen several of them," Dick replied, "and have talked with +some of them." + +"Same here," added Darrin. + +"Did you see the officers in uniform?" Reade pressed. + +"Yes, of course-----" said Prescott. + +"Their uniforms were nice and neat, weren't they?" Tom asked. + +"Of course," Prescott answered. + +"Then that was because your Army or Navy officers hadn't been +doing any hard work that would ruffle the neatness of their uniforms," +finished Tom triumphantly, "and there you are! I can dress up +on Sundays or holidays, but on the work days, when I'm a civil +engineer, I want to wear clothes that show that I'm not afraid +to tackle the rough and hard things of life." + +"Then you might join Dan in being a day laborer," teased Dick +laughingly. + +"Oh, no! I want to use my brain along with my muscles, and that's +why I'm going to be a civil engineer." + +"Army a Navy officers may have had an easy time of it once," Dave +went on warmly, but times have changed. Our fighting men, to-day, +are obliged to hustle all the time to keep up with the march and +progress of science. I asked an Army officer, once, what he did +in his spare time. He looked at me rather queerly, then replied, +'I sleep.'" + +"He was lazy as well as offensively neat, then," laughed Tom. +"As for me, I enjoy my old clothes, and that is one of the reasons +why I'm having so much fun out of this trip. I don't have to +dress up!" + +"You'd feel first rate if you could be dressed up for a few hours, +go into a hotel dining room, have a good meal and then slip into +a ballroom for a dance," laughed Prescott. + +"Bosh!" flared Tom. "I'm no dandy, and all I want is to be a +man." + +"How do you stand, Harry?" grinned Dave Darrin. "Do you agree +with Tom that dirt is the best stuff with which to decorate one's +clothing?" + +"I never said that," broke in Tom hotly. "I'm as ready for a +bath and clean clothing as any of you. I like to wear old +clothes---not soiled ones!" + +"If anyone happens to overhear us talking," laughed Hazy, "he'll +think that we're all planning to take up prize fighting as our +work in life." + +"I don't like to hear the officers of the Army and Navy scoffed +at as a lot of idling, time-wasting dandies," Darry asserted. + +"And I don't like to be accused of liking dirt on my clothes, +just because I am going to be a civil engineer," Tom explained +in a milder voice. + +An ideal bit of green forest, at the edge of a limpid lake, appealed +to Dick & Co. as the noon stopping place. + +"I've a good mind to fish," remarked Danny Grin. + +"Go ahead, if you want to," Dick assented, "but we've got a lot +of fresh meat that we simply must cook this noon, for it may not +keep until night." + +"It would take you an hour or more, even though the fish bit readily, +to catch enough fish to feed this little multitude," Tom remarked. + +"I don't want to wait that long for my meal to-day." + +"I don't believe I want to wait, either," Dalzell agreed, and +gave up the idea of fishing. + +Luncheon went on in record time that morning. It was not later +than half-past eleven o'clock when they sat down to the meal, +and but a few minutes past noon when the dishes were stacked up, +ready to be washed. + +"Whizz-zz!" whistled Dave, as the sounds made by a swiftly driven +automobile reached their ears. "Someone is hurrying to get his +noon meal. Just hear that old spurt wagon throb!" + +The boys sat some hundred feet in from the highway. The automobile +did not interest them much until----- + +Bang! + +Then the car stopped with a scraping sound. + +"Gracious!" exclaimed Danny Grin, jumping up at the sound of the +explosion. Then he sat down once more, looking sheepish. + +"Give up the Annapolis bee, Danny boy," laughed Tom. "That was +nothing but a tire blowing out. If you got into the Navy, and +a fourteen-inch gun went off when you weren't expecting it, you'd +be half way to the planet Neptune before your comrades could call +you back." + +"How easily we make light of other people's troubles," mused Prescott. + +"What makes you say that?" asked Darrin. + +"Why, for instance, that party down in the road has been stopped +by a blown-out tire. Probably they were in a hurry to get somewhere, +too. Now, they're delayed perhaps a half an hour, but it doesn't +give us a flicker of concern." + +"It interests me, anyway," Reade announced, rising. "Anything +in the mechanical line does. It may even be that the man driving +that car doesn't know just how to put on a new tire. I'm going +to saunter down and see." + +Five members of Dick & Co. didn't take the trouble even to glance +keenly at the halted car. + +Tom took a dozen steps, then suddenly shouted back: + +"Fellows, your indifference will vanish, now. Look who's here!" + + + + +CHAPTER XII + +TROUBLE WITH THE RAH-RAH-RAHS + + +A broad-shouldered man, his back to Dick & Co., was assisting +a middle-aged woman to alight from the car. + +As Tom's voice reached their ears five girls exclaimed in delight, +then began to wave their hands in most friendly fashion. + +Dick & Co. were on the run by this time, for the broad-shouldered +man was Dr. Bentley, the woman Mrs. Bentley, and the five girls +Laura Bentley, Belle Meade, Susie Sharp, Clara Marshall and Anita +Murray. + +"Hm! Young men, I'm beginning to feel annoyed," remarked Dr. +Bentley with pretended severity, though he shook hands pleasantly +enough with the boys. "Whenever Mrs. Bentley and I take some +of Laura's friends for a spin anywhere you appear to have our +route and you bob up on the map." + +"Then we'll withdraw, sir, at once," Dick suggested. + +"No, you won't," retorted the doctor. "Young Reade is engaged, +on the spot, to help me fit on a new tire. Perhaps Hazelton will +help. The rest of you may disappear, and take the ladies with +you, if you will. Yet, really, it looks as though you learn our +route and follow it." + +"That isn't fair, doctor," Dave rejoined. "We're on foot, and +have been away from Gridley for something over a fortnight. It +is you who must have been following us, with that seven-passenger +automobile of yours. And may I remind you, sir, that you wouldn't +have bursted the tire if you hadn't been driving at something +under a hundred and eighty miles an hour in the effort to overtake +us?" + +"I'm beaten", laughed Dr. Bentley. "I take it all back. I agree +that the appearances are all against me. But I didn't know that +you young scions of Gridley were on the road. I was driving fast +in order to bring the ladies to Ashbury in time for luncheon. +And now, they won't get it." + +"Small loss to them, and great gain to us," smiled Dick. "We +have provisions enough in our wagon to offer all the luncheon +that your party can possibly care to eat." + +"No, no! We've encroached upon your hospitality too often in +the past," replied Dr. Bentley, with a shake of his head. "We +won't be delayed long. Just how long, Reade, do you think it +is going to take us to fit on the new tire?" + +"The car ought to be ready to run again in fifteen minutes," Tom +answered truthfully. + +"And we can make Ashbury in another fifteen minutes," Laura's +father continued. "So we won't rob the pantry of Dick & Co. to-day." + +Dick and three of his chums conducted Mrs. Bentley and the five +high school girls in under the trees. Of course the girls wanted +to see the outfit, though it was now packed on the wagon. + +"Are you going far, this trip?" Dick inquired. + +"Ashbury will be the end of our run," Mrs. Bentley answered. + +"And of ours, too," Dick nodded. "We agreed to that this morning." + +"But we are to stay at Ashbury two or three days," Laura added. +"Dad has been making arrangements for us at the hotel there, +and he calls it a fine summer place. We know some people who +are stopping there now, so we are going to have a pleasant little +time of it, I expect. When do you reach Ashbury, Dick?" + +"To-night," Prescott answered. + +"Mother," Laura went on, "aren't you going to invite the boys +to luncheon at the hotel tomorrow?" + +"I shall be delighted to do so, if they will accept," replied +Mrs. Bentley smiling. + +"We'd cause a sensation in the hotel, wouldn't we?" laughed Danny +Grin, looking down ruefully at his dusty "hike clothes." + +"You have other clothing with you, haven't you?" asked Susie Sharp. + +"Nothing better than what we're wearing now," Greg replied. + +"Come, just the same, anyway," urged Mrs. Bentley. "You boys +are on a rough trip, and you're not expected to have large wardrobes +with you. So I shall expect you all at the Ashbury Terraces by +noon to-morrow." + +"And there's to be a dance there to-morrow night," Belle continued, +a trifle mischievously. "Of course, you will come to the dance." + +"Yes---if you invite us!" Dick took up the challenge thus unexpectedly. + +"Then you're surely invited," laughed Susie Sharp. "Aren't they, +Mrs. Bentley?" + +"Yes; if they promise to come," agreed the doctor's wife. "And, +perhaps, they would rather dine than lunch with us, and then they +can attend the dance after dinner." + +"That would be much better, thank you," Dick replied gratefully. + +But the other fellows eyed him askance, in wondering amazement. +What on earth could Dick mean by accepting for himself and chums +a dinner and dance invitation when they had nothing to wear save +their road-worn and travel-stained hiking clothes? + +"Dick is getting careless---making such an engagement for us for +to-morrow evening," Tom confided to Hazelton, when the news was +related to him. + +"Well, you won't need to mind, anyway," laughed Harry gleefully. +"You, of all fellows, can't kick, Tom, after the way you've been +glorifying life in one's working clothes." + +Dr. Bentley was delighted to have such capable young men as Reade +and Hazelton on hand to put on the new tire, for the man of medicine, +though a clever surgeon in some lines, was but little of a machinist. +He worked with finer tools than those that his repair box carried. + +Twenty minutes later the new tire was on and had been pumped up. + +"All ready!" sang out Tom. + +"You might have dallied longer on that job," Dick answered reproachfully. + +"Are you anxious to keep us hungry girls away from our luncheon +that much longer?" cried Susie Sharp. + +"Well, whose fault is it that you are not having your luncheon, +here and now?" smiled Prescott. "You didn't like our cooking, +though." + +"Don't I?" chirped Miss Sharp. "If it weren't for making you +vainer than you are, Dick Prescott, I'd tell you that the trout +luncheon you gave us at the second lake still lingers in our memories." + +Regretfully, the boys escorted the high school girls down to the +road, assisting them and Mrs. Bentley into the car. + +"To-morrow evening, then!" called Mrs. Bentley. "Be at the hotel +by half-past five o'clock, won't you?" + +"Without fail," Dick smiled back, "unless circumstances beyond +our control prevent us." + +Good-byes were eagerly called, Dr. Bentley warmly expressing his +thanks to Reade and Hazelton for their assistance. Then, with +a warning honk, the big car started away. + +Then all hands turned upon Dick. "Prescott, why on earth did +you let us in for a dinner and dance to-morrow night?" quivered +Greg. + +"Look at us---the only outside clothes we have with us!" exploded +Danny Grin. + +"We're frights!" chimed in Dave. + +"We'll disgrace the girls," blurted Tom, "unless in the meantime +we can find some real tramps with whom to trade clothes." + +"We'll feel ashamed enough to drop, when we get among civilized +folks," moaned Harry. + +"This is a fine chance to prove or disprove Tom's theory that +a fellow ought to feel most at home in his old working clothes," +chuckled Dick. + +"Was that why you did it---accepted that dinner and dance invitation?" +gasped Dave. + +"Partly," laughed Prescott. + +"I won't go!" flared Reade, his face showing red under its heavy +coat of tan. + +"Oh, yes, you will," Dick insisted, "or else admit that you perjured +yourself when you idealized your working duds this morning." + +"And are you really going to-morrow night?" Greg insisted. + +"I certainly am," young Prescott affirmed. + +That was too much of a poser for the other members of Dick & Co. +Nothing more was said on the subject, though the five boys did +considerable thinking. + +Toward five o'clock they came in sight of Ashbury. A few minutes +later they had reached a point where the highway turned into one +of the streets of the town. + +Here a uniformed bell-boy from the Ashbury Terraces Hotel approached +them. + +"Is Mr. Prescott in this party?" he inquired. + +"That's my name," Dick answered. + +"Then I am requested by Dr. Bentley to guide you to a camping place +inside the Terraces' grounds," replied the bell-boy. "Dr. Bentley +has arranged it with the manager." + +This was a surprise, indeed, but Dick & Co. followed their guide, +who turned in through a gate at some distance from the handsome +summer hotel. Their guide led them to a grove on a broad terrace, +from which the high school lads had an excellent view of one of +the porches of the hotel. + +"Look at the smartly dressed people over there!" groaned Greg, +as soon as the bell-boy had left them. "Look at those girls, +in their gowns of white lace! Look at the fellows over there, +in flannels and white duck! Look at-----" + +"Shut up!" commanded Tom hoarsely. "Don't rub it in." + +"Dick," suggested Darry, with some bitterness, "we'll feel like +princes in our flannel shirts and khaki leggings, won't we?" + +"I've an idea," offered Danny Grin. "By way of dressing up we +can leave off our khaki leggings and give our trousers an extra +brushing all around. We'll look quite respectable, after all!" + +"Gentlemen," remarked Tom Reade solemnly, "I have the honor to +make a motion to the effect that Messrs. Darrin, Holmes and Dalzell +be appointed a committee of three to take Dick Prescott away and +drown him in the nearest sizable body of water!" + +"Carried!" proclaimed Hazelton. + +Instead, however, all hands fell to work putting up the tent and +preparing for supper. + +"Rah, rah, rah!" rose joyously on the air. Then, out of the woods +behind the camp appeared eight young men in multi-colored raiment. +Gorgeous bands surrounded their straw hats; their blazer coats +resembled so many rainbows. Yet, apart from their coats of many +colors, these young men were smartly dressed, and it was plain +that they carried with them considerable of an estimate of their +own importance. Their average age appeared to be about twenty-one +years. + +"Rah, rah, rah!" rang the chorus again. Then one of the eight, +moving in advance of The others, called back: + +"Fellows, what have we here?" + +"Gipsies!" called another. + +"Plain hoboes!" from a third. + +"It's a gang of juvenile desperadoes escaped from some reformatory," +declared a fourth. + +"Rah, rah, rah!" + +With noisy yells the eight young men descended upon the camp. + +"Don't you think you'd better steer off?" called Dave, putting +himself as much as he could in their way. + +"Why, it talks!" cried one of the rah-rah-rah fellows, in mock +astonishment. + +"Just like a human being!" added a third. + +"Wonder what these animals are doing here?" propounded another. + +So they invaded the camp, poking their heads in at the tent entrance, +examining the wagon with a good deal of curiosity, and poking +into the boxes containing the food that Dick and Greg had just +laid out with a view to starting preparations for supper. + +"Now, gentlemen," called Dick, "if you think your curiosity has +been sufficiently gratified, do you mind clearing out and letting +us alone?" + +A variety of mocking replies greeted that proposition. + +"We don't like to be disagreeable, you understand," Dave hinted, +"but, really, we begin to feel that we have had a great sufficiency +of your company, gentlemen." + +"What are you going to do about it?" demanded one of the eight +intruders rather aggressively. + +Dave Darrin doubled his fists, ready to fight, now, at any further +provocation. Even good-natured Tom looked about for some sort +of club. But Dick answered, coolly: + +"What are we going to do? First of all, we are merely going to +suggest for your consideration the idea that gentlemen don't remain +where they're not wanted." + +"Freshie!" yelled one of the eight contemptuously. + +"Toss him in a blanket," advised another. + +"We don't mind your presence as much as your bad manners," Dick +remarked coldly. "Will you kindly take your leave?" + +"No!" shouted three or four of their tormentors derisively. + +Dave, his fists still clenched, bounded forward. One chap, in +an especially brilliant blazer, reached out to box Darry on the +ear. + +That blow never landed, but the tormentor did---on the earth. + +_"Eight rainbow hoboes, +Looking for life's leaven, +One bumped his eyelash, +And then there were but seven!"_ + +improvised Danny Grin joyously. + +"Clean out this camp!" yelled one of the others. + +"Come on and do it, then!" yelled Tom Reade, losing all patience +at last. + +Dick & Co. suddenly presented a solid fighting rank that had +accomplished great things on the gridiron. In this formation they +advanced toward their tormentors. + +There might have been an ugly clash, but one of the eight shouted: + +"Come on, fellows! Don't tease the babies. They haven't had +their warm milk yet." + +Away darted the rainbow eight, Darrin's victim being on his feet +by this time and foremost in the retreat. + +"Rah, rah, rah!" came back on the air as the high school boys +broke a formation for which they had no further need at present. + +"Those fellows are plainly guests at the hotel, and we're going +to have trouble with them yet," Prescott predicted wisely. + + + + +CHAPTER XIII + +A SNUB AND THE QUICK RETORT + + +At half-past five o'clock the next day, Dick & Co. strolled up +to the porch of the Ashbury Terraces Hotel. + +From one of the parlors a cry of recognition in a girlish voice +floated out. Then appeared the Gridley High School girls, with +Susie Sharp in the lead. + +"I thought you told us you didn't have any other than your hike +clothing with you!" Susie cried accusingly to Tom Reade. + +"We didn't. We told you the truth," Reade rejoined. + +"Then these-----" + +"These new clothes were bought with money from the treasury," +Reade informed her. + +"Does our appearance suit you, ladies?" Greg asked smiling. + +"You look like so many tailor's models," replied Belle Meade, +adding, sweetly: "If that is any praise." + +Certainly Dick & Co., clad in well-fitting white duck suits, presented +a creditable appearance. + +"We've been preparing our friends at the Terraces for a different +looking lot of young men," laughed Susie. "We have told them +that a number of high school boy friends of ours were coming +over to dinner and the hop attired in the same clothes they have +been wearing in camp and on the road. Now we must apologize to +them for presenting fashion plates." + +The explanation, as Dick presently furnished it to Laura Bentley, +was a simple one. Dick had been handling the funds of the six +boys on this expedition, which had held out much longer than any +of his chums had known. At the time of accepting the invitation +young Prescott had felt sure that an Ashbury clothier would be +able to furnish proper clothes for his party, and his guess had +proved a correct one. Moreover, the treasury of Dick & Co. had +been easily able to endure the drain, for these white clothes +had not been costly. + +Mrs. Bentley presently joined the little Gridley group of young +people on the veranda. That good lady noted, with secret pleasure, +the well-groomed appearance of her young guests. + +"Rah, rah, rah!" came boisterously up the veranda, as the camp +visitors of the evening before suddenly appeared. "Rah, rah, +rah!" + +Then, halting in a compact group midway on the veranda, they shouted +in chorus: + +"S-A-U-N-D-E-R-S! Saunders! Saunders! Siss-boom-a-a-ah! Rah, +rah, rah!" + +"College boys!" exclaimed Susie Sharp in an impatient undertone. +"College boys, and the worst of their kind. They're noisy nuisances!" + +"So far as any other guest has been able to discover they haven't +any manners," Belle added. + +Then, espying the girls and their guests the rah-rah-rah boys +came briskly up the veranda. + +"Good evening, Miss Meade!" called one of them, lifting his hat. +"Glorious evening, isn't it? How many dances may I have the +honor of claiming at the hop to-night?" + +Belle Meade blushed slightly and drew back a step, resenting the +young man's familiarity. + +In front of the presumptuous youth stepped Dave Darrin, with eyes +flashing. + +"Kindly keep your distance, young man!" Dave advised, in a tone +of dangerous quiet. + +"Who asked you to speak?" inquired the rah-rah youth mockingly. + +"I am a friend of the young lady, and she finds your presence +an intrusion," replied Darry, controlling himself by a mighty +effort. + +"All guests of the hotel are supposed to be acquainted," urged +the rah-rah youth, reddening a trifle. + +"These young ladies do not wish to recognize you and your friends +as acquaintances," replied Dave. "Kindly efface yourselves!" + +"Don't make your lack of breeding too conspicuous," Dick advised, +in a quiet undertone, to another of the intruders who had pushed +forward to join in the conversation. + +A sudden sense of discomfort seemed to sweep over the eight presuming +young men. They turned and moved away, though muttering among +themselves. + +"That is the kind of young men I thought they were," Laura observed. +"I am glad that you boys sent them off about their own affairs." + +Dr. Bentley joined the young people last of all. + +"I have just returned from a long walk," he explained. "I have +to make the most of these brief summer vacations of mine." + +When dinner was announced, Dr. and Mrs. Bentley and the young +people took seats at a long table reserved for their party. + +It was a pleasant meal in the midst of an animated scene. + +Over at another table the rah-rah boys made a good deal of noise +until the head waiter went to them, uttering a few words in low +tones. After that the rah-rah youngsters quieted down considerably. + +A delightful half-hour stroll on the verandas followed the dinner. +Then, like most of the guests, the Gridley young people drifted +into the hotel ballroom where the musicians were playing a march. + +Dick secured Mrs. Bentley for the first dance, as the doctor preferred +to remain on the veranda. Then, after the first dance, a general +change of partners was made. + +But the Gridley boys were too well bred to claim all the dances +with their girl friends. Laura and her friends had other acquaintances +at the hotel. Dick & Co. stood back to give these other young +men a fair opportunity of securing some dances with the girls. + +It was eleven o'clock when the hop had finished. For a few moments +Dick & Co. chatted with the Gridley High School girls on the porch. +Then they prepared to take their leave. + +"We've had a splendid time, for which we must thank you all," +Dick declared. "We did not look for any such pleasant evening +as this has been when we left home on our hike." + +"We are indebted to you all for the most delightful time of our +lives," Tom stated formally with a very low bow. + +"We couldn't have had a nicer time under any circumstances. Thank +you all," Dave Darrin said, on taking leave. + +The other boys found words in which to fitly express their pleasure +and gratitude. + +Then, as Mrs. Bentley and the girls went in side the hotel, the +Gridley High School boys wheeled to march back to camp. + +"I wonder what the head waiter said to the rah-rah boys?" asked +Reade curiously. + +"I don't know, but I can guess the meaning of what he said," laughed +Darry. "Did you ever see such an ill-bred lot of fellows before!" + +"They're not college boys," Dick declared quietly. "I don't know +where they came from, but certainly none of them have ever been +through as much as a year in any real college." + +"They're about as frisky as some college boys," retorted Danny +Grin. + +"College boys may be full of mischief, at times," Dick returned, +"but at least they know how to behave well when they should do +so. College men never think it funny to be rude with women, for +instance. College men are usually the sons of well-bred parents, +and they also acquire additional finish at college. Moreover, +the English language is one of the subjects taught in colleges. +These cheeky rah-rah boys were very slip-shod in their speech. +I don't know who these fellows are, but they're not real college +men." + +"Say, it must be nice," remarked Hazelton, "to be able to travel +about the country, stopping at such nice hotels. Laura and her +friends manage to have pretty good times." + +"Their families are all better off than ours, in a worldly sense," +Dick replied. "When you stop to think of it, there are far more +girls than boys in our good old high school who come from comfortable +homes. Perhaps two dozen of our high school fellows come from +homes of considerable wealth. The rest of us don't. More than +half of the Gridley High School girls come from families where +servants are kept. I wonder if it is that way, generally, in +the United States?" + +Prescott had unwittingly stumbled upon a fact often noted. The +homes of plain American wage earners send more boys than girls +to high school. The well-to-do families send more of their boys +to private schools, while their girls are more likely to attend +high school. + +However, as the boys neared their camp, all other thoughts were +driven from their minds. + +Tom Reade, who was leading, stopped abruptly, holding up one hand. + +"Now, what do you think of anyone who would do a trick like that?" +he demanded with a sharp in-drawing of his breath. + +"The sneaks!" breathed Darry fiercely. + +"Who could have done it?" gasped Greg. + +For the tent was down---flat. The wagon lay on its side, nor +was the horse anywhere in sight. + +"Did those rascally tramps follow us and watch their chance?" +demanded Dave Darrin hotly. + +"I don't believe the tramps did it," spoke Prescott, in a very +quiet voice, though an angry flush rose to his face. "I believe +that we must look in a different direction for the offenders." + +"The rah-rah hoodlums?" gasped Greg Holmes. + +"Yes," Dick nodded. + + + + +CHAPTER XIV + +DICK & CO. MAKE AN APPLE "PIE" + + +"Then I wish we had 'em here!" sputtered Tom Reade vengefully. +"I could eat two of them at this moment, and without salt!" + +"They need salting badly!" growled Dave Darrin angrily. + +The tent was not only down. Each guy rope had been cut in the +middle, so that the cordage could not be used again. + +"I never saw anything more sneaking!" cried Reade in rage and +disgust. + +"Unless it will be the way that we shall sneak up behind the rah-rah +crowd and square matters!" remarked Darry meaningly. + +"First of all, we must be sure of their guilt," warned Dick. +"It won't do to try to even up a score that's based only on suspicion. +Wait until I get a lantern out of the wreck, and then we'll explore +the ground to see if we can discover any real proof against the +rascals." + +"Let's get into our working clothes first," proposed Reade. "We +might want to wear these white clothes again before we get home." + +So Tom and Dave held up a part of the canvas while Dick slipped +in under the folds of the tent to find the box in which they had +left their hike clothing. + +"The box isn't here," Dick called. "Neither can I see any of +the bedding." + +"Get hold here, fellows, and lift up more of the canvas," Reade +called. + +"There isn't anything in the tent. All the stuff has been cleaned +out." Prescott announced in a voice of disgust. + +"It was the tramps, then," Dave declared. "The rah-rah boys wouldn't +take the risk of stealing anything." + +"Hold on! I've found a lantern," called Prescott. "I'll come +out with that." + +He appeared a moment later, lighting the lantern. + +"Now, let's see what we can find," he urged. Not far away the +high school boys came upon the prints of sharp-toed shoes. + +"The tramps didn't wear shoes that would make these prints," declared +Dick. "Neither do any of our crowd. Fellows, we owe our surprise +to the rah-rah humorists." + +"Then we'll pay 'em back in good measure," cried Darry in exasperation. + +After some searching Dick & Co. came upon their clothes chest, +at a distance of some hundred yards from camp. The chest had +not been rifled, for it was locked and the key rested in Dick's +pocket. + +"Help me with it, Tom, and we'll carry it back," said Prescott +in a low, hard tone. "We need our working clothes at once, for +there is work to be done to-night!" + +The needed change of costume was quickly made. Off came the white +suits, which were carefully folded and put away. Then on went +the khaki and flannel clothing. + +"Dan, you stay with the tent," Dick ordered, with the air of a +general. "Greg, you and Harry make it your main business to see +if you can find the horse. The rest of us will concern ourselves +with finding out whether the rah-rah fellows are still outside +the hotel." + +"Here's the horse---grazing," shouted Greg, two minutes later. + +"Run back, Dave, and pilot Greg and Harry here, after they've +staked the horse down," Prescott suggested. "We don't want to +make too much noise, for our tormentors may yet be about somewhere." + +"Hazy stumbled upon some of the blankets," Greg announced, when +he and Harry joined Dave. "I don't believe any of our stuff has +been carried off, Dick. It has just been scattered." + +"Perhaps we'd better gather in all our camp stuff first, then," +Dick decided. "We can't afford to lose any of our camp outfit." + +Ten or fifteen minutes of searching, with the aid of the lantern, +resulted in recovering all of their scattered possessions, even +to the last of the cots, pillows and blankets. + +"Now, let's make a sweep of the dark parts of the hotel grounds, +and we may happen upon the rah-rahs, still chuckling over the +fun they've had with us." + +But the five boys had not gone far when they were stopped by a +well-dressed young stranger of about twenty. + +"Mr. Prescott?" asked the stranger. + +"Yes," nodded Dick. + +"I am one of the bell-boys at the hotel. When I went off duty +I asked the manager's permission to change my uniform for citizen's +clothing and watch those eight noisy fellows." + +"The college boys?" asked Harry quickly. + +"They're not college boys!" returned the young stranger. "They've +been giving a fake Saunders yell, and that was what made me dislike +them, for I've just finished the sophomore year at Saunders myself. +I'm working at the Terraces as bell-boy to help pay next year's +tuition at Saunders. The manager permitted me to watch those +fellows, but somehow they got away from me. I got track of them +again near to your camp. Just as I came along they were scooting +away, but a glance showed me the mischief they had worked, so +I followed them." + +"Do you know where they are now?" Dick asked eagerly. + +"I know where they were ten minutes ago," replied the bell-boy. + +"Then please take us to them as quickly as you can," begged Darry +vehemently. "I'm fairly aching to pass the time of night with them!" + +"I'll do it," agreed the bell-boy. "Follow me, please." + +"I wonder why they went to all that trouble to be so disagreeable +to us," Prescott muttered, as the little party strode along. + +"You had some dispute with that crowd, on the hotel porch to-night, +didn't you?" asked the bell-boy. + +"Yes; they tried to address some of our girl friends, whom they +didn't know and we objected to their insolence." + +"That was what made the rah-rah boys sore," went on the bell-boy. +"I heard them talking about it before I left them. It seems, +too, that the manager sent the head waiter to stop their nonsense +in the dining room to-night. For some reason these sham college +boys blame you fellows for that humiliation also. So they're +chuckling over what they've done to your outfit to teach you to +mind your own business, as they put it." + +"I hope we catch up with 'em before they get back to the hotel," +uttered Tom fervently. "But warn us, please, whenever we get +so close that they're likely to hear our voices." + +The bell-boy now led them through an orchard. + +"There seem to be a lot of apples on the ground," remarked Prescott, +halting. + +"Green ones---they're no good," replied the bell-boy. + +"Then they are good---just what we want!" ejaculated Prescott. +"Hold on, fellows! Fill your hats with these apples." + +"What are you going to do when you come upon these fellows?" asked +the bell-boy. + +"Scuttle 'em---the way they did our tent!" Tom retorted. + +"I hope you pay them back generously," muttered the bell-boy. +"I've a score to settle with them for trying to blacken good +old Saunders! But see here! Up to date, at least, they're guests +of the hotel, and I'm an employe there. Now, if they get too +much the better of matters in a scrimmage, I'll sail in with you +boys, even though I have to resign my hotel job. But, if I see +that you can handle 'em all right, I shall just stand by without +taking any part in the fight" + +"We understand your position, and appreciate it," Dick replied. +"We thank you, too, but we believe that we can take care of them +all by ourselves. If we can't, then we'll take our drubbing." + +"You boys have done some things in athletics, haven't you?" asked +the bell-boy, noting the way that each of the five present members +of Dick & Co. carried himself. + +"Gridley High School football team last season," Dick replied, +a trace of justifiable pride in his voice. + +"You were?" demanded the bell-boy eagerly. "Then shake! My name +is Gerard. We know a lot about the Gridley High School brand +of football at Saunders." + +Introductions were quickly passed. + +"Now, I'd like to feel that I'm really one of you, and I'll fight +shoulder to shoulder with you!" chuckled Gerard. + +"Please don't try to take a hand in any fight that may occur," +Prescott begged. "If you're working your way through college, +just keep your eye on your job. Don't mix up in any trouble with +the guests." + +"We'll soon be at the spot where I left the bunch," said Gerard, +a few moments later. + +Over a rise of ground the bell-boy led Dick & Co. Then he pointed +to a little grove of chestnut trees. + +"There is the rah-rah crowd," he whispered. "You see, they have +one of your lanterns, and they're lunching on some of your food +supplies that they brought along with them." + +"I wonder what those freshies are saying now," came in a laughing +voice, from the rah-rah group under the chestnut trees. + +"Their potted chicken is all right, anyway," laughed another. +"Cut me off another slice of the bread. Whee! This college +mischief on a dark night gives one an appetite." + +Dick gave whispered instructions to his own forces, then signed +to Gerard, who drew back into the shadow. + +"I'd like to see the fresh kids now," jeered another rah-rah youth. + +"May all your wishes in life be as promptly fulfilled!" muttered +Tom Reade under his breath. + +"We might have had a nice time to-night dancing with the girls +from Gridley if their kid friends hadn't stepped in and spoiled +it all in their juvenile way," grumbled another. + +"We've finished up all the borrowed food," said another. "What +shall we do next?" + +"For 'next,'" roared Dick Prescott, "you fake collegians will +stand up and take your medicine!" + +There was instant consternation in the group under the chestnut +trees. All the rah-rah boys leaped to their feet, but, ere they +could stir, there was a whizzing sound on the air. + +Plunk! Plunk! Ker-plunk! Missiles were flying through the air +and the rah-rahs were stopping a good many of them with their +own persons. + +"Hey! Stop that!" bellowed one of the rah-rahs. "You---wow!" + +For his utterance had been for the moment stopped by a large-sized +green apple that had struck him full in the mouth. + +"Hey! Let up!" + +But nothing could stay the fast and furious volley of green apples +until Dick & Co. had exhausted their ammunition. Most of the +shots found targets, too. + +Once they had had time to recover from their bewilderment the +rah-rahs turned in full, inglorious flight, without attempting +to strike a single blow in their own defense. Who was going to +be fool enough, anyway, to run blindly into a storm of flying +green apples? + +Dick and his chums expended the last of their ammunition while +chasing the rah-rahs. Their missiles gone, the Gridley boys put +on full speed, ran after and overhauled some of their late foes +and drubbed them well. + +But at last, by common consent, Dick & Co. came to a halt. + +"I reckon we paid the score," laughed Prescott. "They ought to +let us alone hereafter." + +"No doubt they will," replied Gerard grimly, coming up with the +Gridley boys. "I haven't a doubt that the manager will order +them to leave the hotel in the morning." + +After extending their heartiest thanks to Gerard, the Gridley +boys returned to their camp. There, from their supplies, they +rigged new guy-ropes and erected their tent. Soon after, all +hands turned in, feeling quite secure against another visitation +that night. + +The manager, at first, the next morning, said nothing whatever +to the rah-rah youths. But, at about ten o'clock a constable +appeared and gathered in all of them on a charge of disturbing +the peace. + +Dick & Co. were not even asked to go the justice's court. The +hotel manager and bell-boy were on hand, but the crest-fallen +lot of rah-rah youths all pleaded guilty. They paid fines of +ten dollars apiece. + +Then, on their return to the hotel, they were informed that their +rooms were wanted at once. + +The manager and Gerard personally escorted the rah-rah boys off +the grounds of the Ashbury Terraces, and they were seen no more +thereabouts. Who they were was not learned, but Gerard's word +was accepted that the rah-rah boys had no connection with Saunders +College. + +Dick & Co. had two more pleasant meetings with their high school +friends before an about-face was made, and the return hike to +Gridley started. + +Their liveliest adventures were yet ahead of them. + + + + +CHAPTER XV + +MAKING PORT IN A STORM + + +"Did you ever see a blacker, more peculiar looking cloud coming +than that one?" demanded Tom Reade, as the high school boys emerged +from the gloom of a long, narrow forest road into comparatively +open country. + +"Is it a coming storm, or an optical delusion?" pondered Dick, +halting and staring hard. + +"It looks like pictures I've seen of water spouts," Greg declared. + +"That's what it is," Dick replied quietly. "Though I've never +seen one before, it's hard to be fooled, for that chap looks just +like his published photographs. And look at that queer, brownish, +half-yellowish sky back of it. It certainly looks forbidding." + +"And we're going to have a stormy afternoon of it!" muttered Dave. + +"The waterspout will go by to the north," Reade conjectured, studying +the oddly-shaped, rapidly moving and twisting blackish cloud, +"but we're going to be right in line with the main storm that +is traveling with it." + +"And we've got to prepare against the weather, too!" Dick cried, +with sudden realization. "Fellows, the storm that is coming down +on us isn't going to be any toy zephyr!" + +After leaving Ashbury the boys had decided to return to Gridley +by a different road. + +"There's the place for us, if we can make it!" cried Dick an instant +later, pointing toward the slope. + +"Dave, whip up the horse. He has to travel fast for his own safety. +Tom and Greg, you get behind and push the wagon up the slope. +We'll all help in turn. But hustle!" + +The crest of the rise of ground being made, the boys found themselves +entering another forest. Dick here found the ground as favorable +to his purpose as he had hoped it would be, for on the further +side the land sloped downward again, and was well-wooded. + +"Drive in there!" called Prescott, pointing, then ran ahead to +find the best spot for pitching the tent. + +"Whoa!" yelled Prescott, when he had reached the spot that he +judged would do best for camp purposes. "Now, Dave, go over to +the other side of the horse! Help me to get him out of the shafts. +The poor animal must be our first consideration, for he can't +help himself. The rest of you unload all the stuff from the wagon +as fast as you can move." + +Slipping the harness from the horse, Dick fastened a halter securely, +then ran the horse down into a little gully where the animal would +be best protected from the force of the wind that would come with +the storm. + +Driving a long iron stake into the ground, Dick tethered the animal +securely. Then he ran back to help his chums. + +"Here's the best site for the tent," Prescott called, snatching +up a stick and marking the site roughly. "Now, hustle! No; don't +use the wooden stakes for the tent ropes. Drive the long iron +stakes, and drive them deep!" + +Then Prescott ran back with oats and corn for the horse, leaving +a generous feed for the animal. + +"You'll need plenty to eat, old fellow, for the storm is going +to be a long and cold one." + +Then Prescott ran back at full speed to his chums who were erecting +the tent. + +First, the four corner stakes were driven, and the guy-ropes made +fast. + +"Greg and Dan can drive all the other pins, if they hustle," Dick +announced. "Tom, you and Dave get the floor planks down, and +rig up the stove---inside the tent." + +"There won't be time to lay the flooring," Reade objected, taking +a hurried squint at the now more threatening sky. + +"There's got to be time to lay the flooring, unless you all want +to sleep in water to-night," Dick insisted. "Harry, just break +your back with the loads of wood that you bring in. I'll fill +all the buckets with water." + +In ten minutes more everything had been carried inside the tent. +Big drops of rain were beginning to patter down. + +"We've everything ready just in time to the minute," Tom Reade +observed with a satisfied chuckle. + +"Not everything quite ready," Prescott retorted. "Tom, if you're +going to grow up to be an engineer there's one thing more you +should see the need of." + +"What?" challenged Reade blankly. + +"Get the pick and shovel! You and I will do it. Let the rest +get in under shelter!" + +Standing in the rain, Tom and Dick hastily dug two ditches at +either end of the tent. These ditches were no creditable engineering +jobs, but they would, at need, carry a good deal of water down +the slope. + +By this time the rain was falling heavily. In the distance heavy +thunder volleyed, and the sky was growing blacker every minute. + +"One more job," called Dick. "Dave and Greg, tumble out with +the shelter flap!" + +This was a great sheet of canvas that had to be fastened in place +over the tent roof, and at a different pitch. + +"We'll be drowned before we get the shelter flap in place," grumbled +Tom. + +"And we might as well be out in the rain, if we don't have it +up," Dick retorted. "Open her up! Now, then---up with it!" + +The shelter flap was placed with difficulty, for now the wind +was driving across the country, blowing everything before it. +The other two boys leaped out to help their chums. The shelter +flap was made secure at last, the ropes being made fast to the +surrounding trees. + +By this time the wind was blowing at the rate of fifty miles an +hour. The sky was nearly as black as on a dark night, while the +rain was coming down "like another Niagara," as Harry Hazelton +put it. + +"We don't care whether we have a dry tent or not, now," laughed +Dan Dalzell, as the six boys made a break for cover. "We're soaking, +anyway, and a little more water won't hurt." + +"I'll get a fire going in the stove," Dick smiled. "Soon after +that we'll be dry enough---if the tent holds." + +The stove was already in place, a sheet-iron pipe running up one +of the tent walls and out through a circular opening in the canvas +of the side wall opposite from the wind. + +While Dick was making the fire, Tom Reade filled, trimmed and +lighted the two lanterns. + +"Listen to the storm!" chuckled Prescott. "But we're comfy and +cheery enough. Now, peel off your outer clothes and spread them +on the campstools to dry by the fire. We'll soon be feeling as +cheery as though we were traveling in a Pullman car." + +Within a short time all six were dry and happy. The lightning +had come closer and closer, until now it flashed directly overhead, +followed by heavy explosions of thunder. + +Not one of the boys could remember a time when it had ever rained +as hard before. It seemed to them as though solid sheets of water +were coming down. Yet the position of the tent, aided by the +ditches, kept their floor dry. Dan, peering out through the canvas +doorway, reported that the ditches were running water at full +capacity. + +"This will all be over in an hour," hazarded Greg. + +"It may, and it may not be," Dick rejoined. "My own guess is +that the storm will last for hours." + +As the howling wind gained in intensity it seemed as though the +tent must be blown to ribbons, but stout canvas will stand +considerable weather strain. + +"If we had driven the wooden pins for the guy-ropes," muttered +Greg, "everyone of them would have been washed loose by this time." + +"They would have been," Dick assented, "and the tent would now +be down upon our heads, a drenched wreck. As it is, I think we +can pull through a night of bad weather." + +In an hour the flashes of lightning had become less frequent. +The wind had abated slightly, but there was no cessation of the +downpour. + +"I pity anyone who has to travel the highway in this storm," muttered +Dave. "This isn't weather for human beings." + +"Yet every bird of the air has to weather it," observed Hazelton. + +"Yes," muttered Tom, "and a good many of the birds of the air +will be killed in this storm, too." + +Night came down early. The wind and rain had sent the temperature +down until it seemed to the high school boys more like an October +night. The warmth and light in the tent were highly gratifying +to all. + +"As long as the tent holds I can't think of a blessed thing we +have to go outside for," sighed Reade contentedly. + +"We don't have to," laughed Dick. "Fellows, we're away off in +the wilderness, but we're as happy as we could be in a palace. +How about supper?" + +That idea was approved instantly. + +"We'll have two suppers to-night," proposed Tom. "That will be +the visible proof and expression of the highest happiness that +can be reached on a night like this." + +Even by ten o'clock that night there was no abatement in the volume +of rain falling. The wind still howled. + +"Are we going to turn in, soon?" inquired Dave. + +"My vote," announced Tom indolently, "is for another supper, and +turn in at perhaps two o'clock in the morning." + +"I second the motion---as far as another supper goes," chimed +in Danny Grin. + +"It wants to be a supper of piping hot stuff, too," declared Greg. +"It's warm here in the tent, but the surrounding world is chill +and drear. Nothing but hot food will serve us." + +Preparations for the meal were quickly under way. + +"I hope everyone within the reach of this storm is as comfortable +as we are," murmured Hazelton. + +"Why, we're so happy, we could entertain company with a relish," +laughed Reade. + +"Say, what was that?" demanded Greg. + +From outside came a faint sound as of someone stealthily groping +about outside in the storm. + +"Bring a lantern, quickly!" called Dick, going toward the tent +door. + +As Greg played the rays of light against the darkness outside, +Dick suddenly sprang forth into the dark. Then he returned, bearing +in his arms the pitiful little figure of old Reuben Hinman, the +peddler. + +"Look at his head!" gasped Reade, in horror, as Prescott entered +with the burden. + +From a gash over the peddler's left temple blood was flowing, +leaving its dark trail over the peddler's light brown coat. + +Dick carried the stricken old man straight to his own cot, laying +him there gently. + +"Who can have done this deed?" gasped Greg, throbbing with sympathy +for the poor old man. + +Outside other approaching steps sounded. Dave and Tom, snatching +up sticks of firewood, sprang forward. + + + + +CHAPTER XVI + +HOME, HOSPITAL AND ALMSHOUSE + + +Greg flashed the lantern on four hulking, bedraggled ragged men. + +"Hello! It's the same kids!" cried a hoarse voice out in the +storm. "They'll be glad to see us." + +"You keep out of here!" ordered Reade, thrusting his stick at +the face of the first tramp---the boss tramp---who tried to enter. + +"No!" countermanded Dick Prescott. "Let even the hoboes come +in. Let anyone come in on a night like this." + +"Now, that's decent of you," admitted the boss tramp, as he sloshed +heavily in, followed by three companions. Two of these tramps +had been with the "boss" on another well remembered occasion. +The third was a stranger to Dick & Co. + +"My, but you've got a real house in here a true port in a storm," +observed the boss tramp, as he halted to stare about him. "Friends, +this is the best thing we've seen today." + +"It is," agreed the other tramps solemnly. + +The glance of the newcomers did not rest upon the face of Reuben +Hinman, for Prescott had gently spread a blanket so that it effectually +concealed the little old peddler. + +"What have you men been doing?" asked Dick, straightening up and +eyeing them coldly, steadily. + +"Drowning in the woods," replied the boss, "for we knew we couldn't +find a house or barn within two miles, and the road is like a +river you need a boat for travel to-night. When the storm came +we men made a brush lean-to and kept as dry as we could under +it. But it got worse and worse. But at last we caught sight +of your light shining through the trees. So we headed for it. +We hoped you'd have a stove with a fire in it, and you have---so +we're all right, and much obliged." + +"Keep back there a bit," ordered Dick, so firmly that the tramps +obeyed. "Dave, help me to lift this cot over within a few feet +of the stove. Be as gentle as you can." + +Four tramps looked on in solemn curiosity as they saw Darrin and +Prescott lift a cot on which lay something completely covered +by a blanket. + +Then Dick turned down the blanket, revealing the bruised, bleeding +head of Reuben Hinman. + +"What do you men know about this?" Prescott demanded, eyeing them +compellingly. + +But the tramps' look was one of such astonished innocence that +Prescott began to wonder whether he had wrongly suspected these +knights of the highway. + +"Why did you do---this?" Prescott sternly insisted. + +"We---we didn't do it!" exclaimed the boss tramp fervently. "We +didn't even know that this old party was anywhere out in the storm. +We-----" + +Moaning, Reuben Hinman stirred slightly then opened his eyes dreamily. + +"Mr. Hinman, can you talk?" asked Dick gently. + +"Ye-es," faintly admitted the peddler. + +"Then how were you hurt, sir?" Dick pressed in the same gentle voice. + +"I---I saw the light. Tried---to drive my horse---in. Wagon +turned over. Fell off---and hurt my head," replied the peddler, +whispering hoarsely. + +"You're fully conscious, Mr. Hinman, and know just what you're +saying?" Dick pressed. + +"Yes, Prescott. I know." + +"Then no one else assaulted you to-night, sir." + +"No---one." + +"I feel like saying 'thank heaven' for that!" exclaimed Dick in +a quiet voice, as he straightened up, his eyes a trifle misty. +"I hate to think that the earth holds men vile enough to strike +down a weak old man like this!" + +"And on such a night," added Tom Reade. + +"Oh, we're pretty bad," said the boss tramp, huskily, "but we +didn't do anything like that." + +"At first," Dick went on, "I thought you hoboes had done the deed. +That was why I asked my friend to let you come in. I wanted +to keep you here until we could find someone who would take care +of you." + +"We didn't do it," replied the boss tramp, "and the old man says +we didn't." + +"No; no man struck me---I fell," chimed in the peddler weakly. + +"We'll help you take care of the old man," offered the boss tramp. + +"If you mean what you say," Prescott proposed, "then take one +of these lanterns and go down by the road to see what you can +find out about Mr. Hinman's horse and wagon. Or did you see them +as you came up?" + +"No, for we came through the woods," replied the boss tramp. +"I'll take the lantern. Come with me, Joe." + +Out into the dark plunged the two tramps, to face the heavily +falling rain. For once, at any rate, they were doing something +useful. + +At a signal from Dick, Greg put some water on the stove to heat. +Prescott found some clean cloth in their wardrobe box and bathed +the wound on Mr. Hinman's temple, then washed his entire face. +The wound proved to be broad, rather than deep, and was such +as might have been caused by falling on sharp pebbles. Then Dick +bound up the wound. + +Next, Dick and Greg undressed Mr. Hinman and rubbed him down, +then rolled him in dry blankets and laid him on another cot not +far from the stove. + +"Come out, you other hoboes," called the boss tramp's voice. +"Come and help us right the peddler's wagon and bring that and +the horse up here." + +The other two tramps went reluctantly out into the storm. + +A bottle full of hot water, wrapped in a towel, was placed at +the peddler's feet. + +In the meantime the tramps got the wagon into a sheltered position, +then staked the horse out close to the place where the Gridley +horse was tethered. This having been accomplished, they came +back to the camp, to find a new aroma on the air. + +"That stuff smells good. What is it?" asked the boss tramp. + +"Ginger tea. We've made some to give to Mr. Hinman." + +"Will you give us some, too?" asked the tramp. "We're all of +us chilled and hoarse." + +"I will," Dick nodded, "if you men will undertake to fill the +buckets before you try to dry yourselves. Otherwise, we shall +run out of water." + +Grunting, the boss tramp and one of his companions listened while +Dick directed them where to find running water. Out again into +the storm they lurched, and soon had all the water buckets filled +and in the tent. + +While the tramps dried their clothing, Prescott kept his word +about making ginger tea. + +"This seems like the best stuff I've had since I was a baby," +remarked the boss tramp, in a somewhat grateful voice. + +"Maybe that's because you've worked for it," suggested Reade thoughtfully. + +"I wonder," grunted the hobo. "I wonder." + +Later on Dick and his chums prepared a supper, of which all partook +except the peddler, who needed sleep and warmth more. + +The tramps slept on the floor, later on. Tom, Dave and Harry +slept on their cots, while the other three high school boys remained +awake. + +Toward two o'clock in the morning Dick found Reuben Hinman's skin +becoming decidedly feverish, and began to administer nitre. + +"I'd mount our horse, and try to ride for a doctor, if I thought +I could get one," murmured Greg. + +"You couldn't get one here to-night," volunteered the boss tramp, +who had awakened and had risen on one elbow. "Neither an automobile +nor a buggy could be driven over this wild road to-night. The +water is three feet deep in spots---worse in some others." + +Though the deluge outside still continued, all would have been +cheery inside had it not been for the alarm Dick & Co. felt over +the increasing fever of the poor old peddler. His breathing +became more and more labored. + +Dave awoke and came over to listen and look on. + +"I'll try to go for a doctor," he whispered. + +"You might even reach one," Dick replied. "I'd be willing to +try myself, but we couldn't get a physician through on a night +like this." + +"At least I'll go down and have a look at the road," muttered +Reade, rising, wrapping himself up as best he could, and taking +a lantern. + +Tom presently returned, looking like a drowned rat. + +"It's no go," he announced gloomily. "The road is a river." + +"Sure it is," muttered the boss tramp, "or---as you lads have been +so decent to me---I'd go myself and try to find a doctor." + + + + +CHAPTER XVII + +TWO KINDS OF HOBO + + +Toward daylight the rain ceased. Dawn came in heavy and misty, +but after an hour the sun shone forth, dispelling the low-lying +clouds. + +Dick was sound asleep at this time, Tom and Harry having relieved +the other watchers. All of the tramps lay stretched on the hard +wooden floor, since none of the high school boys cared to have +one of these fellows lying on his cot even when it was not in +use. + +"Go down and take a look at the road, Hazy," Tom desired, after +the sun had been out for an hour. + +"The water's running out of the road, or drying off, pretty fast" +Hazelton reported on his return. "Still, a doctor would have +a hard job getting over the road as yet." + +"Did you see anyone trying to get over the road with a vehicle?" +Reade inquired. + +"Not a soul or a wheel," Harry answered. "As far as travel goes +the road might as well be a strip of the Sahara Desert." + +Reuben Hinman's breathing was so labored that it disturbed the +watchers a good deal. + +"We're doing all we can for you, and we'll get better care for +you, just as soon as we can," Tom explained, resting a hand on +the fever-flushed face. + +"I know," wheezed the old man painfully. "Good boy!" + +By eight o'clock all hands were astir. + +"Are we going to get any breakfast to-day?" asked the tramp known +as Joe. + +"Yes," nodded Dick, choking back the temptation to say something +caustic. + +By nine o'clock the meal had been eaten. The stove now made the +tent so hot that Mr. Hinman's cot had to be moved to the farther +end and the tent flaps thrown open to admit cooler air. + +Greg had attended to feeding both of the horses, which had gotten +through the dismal night without very much discomfort. + +Now Dick went down to look at the road. + +"I'm going to mount our horse, bareback, and keep straight on +up the road," he announced, coming back. "I will not have to +go very far before I find a physician." + +"No, you're not going, either," broke in the boss tramp. "I am +going." + +"But, see here, I can't very well let a stranger like you go off +with our horse," Dick objected smilingly. + +"You don't have to," retorted the other. "I'll go on foot, and +I'll make the trip as fast as I can, too. But maybe you'd better +give me a note to the doctor. He might not pay much attention +to a sick call from a fellow who looks as tough as I do." + +"If I let you go, can I depend upon you to keep right on going +straight and fast, until you deliver a note to a doctor?" asked +Prescott, eyeing the boss tramp keenly. + +"Yes!" answered the tramp, returning the glance with one so +straightforward that Dick felt he could really trust the man. +"And if the first doctor won't or can't come, I'll keep on going +until I find one who will take the call." + +"Good for you!" cried Tom Reade heartily. "And if it weren't +for fear of startling you, I'd say that the next thing you'll +be doing will be to find and accept a job, and work again like +a useful man!" + +"That would be startling," grinned the fellow, half sullenly. + +Dick wrote the note. Away went his ill-favored looking messenger. +Dick turned to administer more nitre to the peddler. + +"Do you expect to move on at all to-day?" Dave asked of Dick. + +"It wouldn't be really wise, would it?" Dick counter-queried. +"Our tent and shelter flap are pretty wet to take down and fold +away in a wagon. We'd find it wet going, too. Hadn't we better +stay here until to-morrow, and then break camp with our tent properly +dry?" + +All hands voted in favor of remaining---except the hoboes, who +weren't asked. They would remain indefinitely, anyway, if permitted, +and if the food held out. + +But Dick soon set them to work. One was despatched for water, +the other two set to gathering wet firewood and spreading it in +the sun to dry out. Nor did the trio of remaining tramps refuse +to do the work required of them, though they looked reluctant +enough at first. + +Two more hours passed. + +"I'm afraid our friend, Hustling Weary, is having a hard time +to get a doctor who'll come down the road," Dick remarked to Darrin. + +"Oh, the doctor will come, if Weary has found him," Dave replied. +"Doctors always come. They have to, or lose their reputations." + +Half an hour later a business-like honk! was heard. Then, through +the trees Dick & Co. saw an automobile halt down at the side of +the road. A tall, stout man, who looked to be about sixty-five +years old, but who displayed the strength and speed of a young +man, leaped from the car, followed by the tramp messenger. + +"Mr. Prescott?" called the big stranger. + +"Yes, sir," bowed Dick. + +"Dr. Hewitt. Let me see your patient." + +For some minutes the physician bent over the peddler, examining +and questioning the old man, who answered with effort. + +"I must get Hinman to a hospital some miles from here," the physician +explained, aside, to Dick. "The poor old man is going to have +pneumonia, and he'd die without hospital care. Probably he'll +die, anyway. I'll give him a hypodermic injection in the arm, +then wait for him to become quiet. After that we'll move him +to the tonneau of my car and I'll take him to the hospital. I +telephoned Hinman's son, over at Fenton, telling him where his +father and his wagon are. The son ought to come over and take +charge of the outfit." + +It was three quarters of an hour later when Dr. Hewitt examined +his patient, then remarked: + +"He can be moved now, as well as at any time." + +"There's someone coming," announced Reade, as the sound of a horse's +hoofs were heard. Tom went out to look at the new arrival. + +A man of forty, rather flashily dressed, though somewhat mud-spattered, +rode up on a horse that looked much the worse for being abroad +on the bad roads. + +"I understand that Mr. Hinman is here, ill," began the stranger. + +"He is," Tom nodded. "Have you any interest in him?" + +"Mr. Hinman is my father." + +"Come right in," Tom invited, throwing open the flap of the tent. + +"Hold my horse, will you?" + +Something in the younger Hinman's way of making the request caused +Reade's backbone to stiffen. + +"I see that you have a piece of halter rope," Tom replied. "You +may tie your horse to any one of the trees. They don't belong +to me." + +The son frowned, but led his mount to a tree, hitching it there. +Then he turned and entered the tent. + +"How are you, father?" asked the younger Hinman, crossing to the +cot and bending over the old man. + +"Better, already, I think," replied Reuben Hinman feebly. + +"I should hope so," replied Timothy Hinman, looking more than +a trifle annoyed. "You had no business to be out in that storm." + +"I couldn't help-----" began the old man slowly, but Dr. Hewitt +broke in almost fiercely: + +"Your father is in no condition to talk, Mr. Hinman. I telephoned +you so that you might come over and take charge of the horse and +wagon. There is quite a bit of stock on the wagon, too, I believe." + +"My father must have considerable money with him," the young man +hinted. + +"He has some," Dick replied. "I do not know how much." + +"I will take charge of his money for him," offered young Hinman. + +"You will do nothing of the sort," broke in Dr. Hewitt, scowling. +"Hinman, your father will be some time at the hospital, and he +will want to be able to pay his bills there. He will also want +to be able to purchase some comforts for himself while convalescing. +So your father will take his money with him to the hospital." + +"He can turn it over to me, if he has a mind to do so," insisted +the younger man. + +"You get out of here!" ordered the doctor, speaking decisively, +though in a low tone. At the same time he pointed to the doorway +of the tent. Just then the doctor looked as though he might rather +enjoy the opportunity of throwing young Hinman out into the open +air. The peddler's son walked outside of the tent with an air +of offended dignity. + +"Now, will four of you young men take hold of that cot, gently, +and carry it out to my car?" asked Dr. Hewitt. + +Dick, Dave, Tom and Greg served as the litter bearers. Then, +under Dr. Hewitt's instructions, they lifted the old man into +the tonneau of the car as though he had been an infant. The boss +tramp had already taken his place in the tonneau of the machine. +After blankets brought by the physician had been wrapped about +the peddler the tramp contrived to rest the old man against his +own broad shoulder. + +"Good-bye, father," said the younger Hinman, who had looked on +with a frown on his face. "I hope you'll be all right soon." + +Reuben Hinman tried to smile. He also moved as though trying +to stretch out a hand to his son, but the folds of the blankets +prevented. + +Dr. Hewitt went back to the tent to get his medicine case, which +he had intentionally left behind. As he went he signed to Dick +& Co. to accompany him. + +"You young men haven't done anything for the old man for which +I am going to commend you," said the physician bluntly. "You've +simply done what any upright, humane, decent people would have +done for a stricken old man, and you've done it well. But by +contrast you noticed the younger Hinman's conduct. He is not +worried that his father is ill, but hopes that the old man will +soon be back at his work. Of course, he hopes that his father +will be at work, soon; for when the old man stops working the +younger man will very likely have to go to work himself." + +"You don't mean, doctor, that that big, healthy-looking fellow +is supported by his father?" gasped Dick Prescott. + +"That's just what I mean," nodded the man of medicine. + +"Why, I didn't suppose that old Mr. Hinman earned much." + +"In the tin-peddler's business it's nearly all profit except the +wear and tear on horse and wagon," smiled the physician. "One +who isn't fitted for that line of work would starve to death at +it, but Reuben Hinman has always been a shrewd, keen dealer in +his own line of work. Strange as it may seem, Reuben is believed +to make more than three hundred dollars a month. He gives it +all to that son and two daughters. He wanted to bring his children +up to be ladies and gentlemen---and they are! They are all three +of them too shiftless to do any work. They take the old man's +money, but they won't live with him. They are too busy in 'society' +to bother with the old man. On what he is able to turn over to +his children every month they keep a rather pretentious home in +Fenton, though they live a full mile away from their father. They +never go near him, except for more money. If they meet him on +his wagon, or when he is walking in his old clothes, they refuse +to recognize him. Yet, though Reuben Hinman isn't a fool in anything +else, he is very proud of the fact that his son is a 'gentleman,' +and that his daughters are 'ladies.' Now, in a nutshell, you know +the tragedy of the old man's life. Young Tim Hinman would, if +he could, take the old man's money away from him at once and let +him go to the hospital as a charity patient." + +"Humph!" muttered Dick, and then was silent. + +Timothy Hinman, when Dr. Hewitt and the boys stepped outside the +tent, was inspecting the dingy old red wagon with a look of contempt +on his face. + +"What am I going to do with this crazy old rattle-trap?" inquired +young Hinman plaintively. "Would one of you boys accept a dollar +to drive this over to Fenton, and put the horse up in my father's +barn? The trip can be made in two days of good driving." + +Dick Prescott shook his head in order that he might avoid speaking. + +"I came by train, within five miles of here, then hired a horse +and rode over here," the younger Hinman went on. "So I've got +to take the horse back to where I got it, and then return by train. +So I'll pay a dollar and a half to the boy who will drive this +rig back to Fenton." + +This time there was no response to the magnificent offer. + +"See here," muttered young Hinman half savagely, "it's more than +the job is worth, but I'll pay two dollars to have this rig driven +home. Will you take the job?" + +He looked directly at Dick Prescott, who replied bluntly: + +"Thank you; I won't." + +"But what on earth am I going to do with the horse and wagon, +then?" demanded Timothy Hinman, as though he found Prescott's +refusal preposterous. + +"I would suggest," offered Dick coolly, "that you drive your father's +rig home yourself." + +"I drive it?" gasped the son. + +"Certainly." + +"But it's no job for a gentleman!" protested the younger Mr. Hinman, +looking very much aghast. + +"Then I don't know whether or not the owner of these woods would +consent to your leaving your father's property here," replied +Prescott, as he turned on his heel. + +Dr. Hewitt had watched the scene with a good deal of amusement. +Now the physician turned to see whether his patient were as comfortable +as possible. + +"My man," said the doctor, to the boss tramp, "you hold my patient +as comfortably and skillfully as though you had once been a nurse. +Were you ever one?" + +"No, sir," replied the tramp. "It just comes natural." + +"I've been looking for a man to work for me," continued Dr. Hewitt, +regarding the tramp with calculating eyes. "I believe that you've +got in you the making of a real man if you'd only stop being a +tramp. How would you like to try it out?" + +"I dunno," replied the boss tramp, looking a bit staggered. + +"If you go to work for me, I don't want you to take it up as a +casual experiment," went on the man of medicine. "I haven't any +time for experiments. But, if you'll declare positively that +you're going to make a useful man of yourself, and that you'll +live up to what I expect of you, I'll take you on. I won't have +an idler about my place, and I won't tolerate any use of alcohol. +If you shirk or drink---even once out you go. But I'll start +you at ten dollars a month and board, and raise you---if I keep +you---two dollars a month until you're getting thirty dollars +a month and board as a steady thing. Are you man enough to take +me up, and to make it worth my while to take you on?" + +"Yes," replied the boss tramp huskily, after a struggle with himself. + +"All right, then, we'll see how much a man you are. By the way, +what's your name?" + +"Jim Joggers," replied the tramp. + +Dr. Hewitt eyed the fellow keenly for a few seconds, before he +replied, with a slight smile: + +"All right; we'll let it go at Joggers until you've put yourself +far enough forward so that you'll be willing to use your own name." + +Honk! honk! The car was under way. + +When Dick and his three friends turned back to the tent they found +all three of the remaining tramps in there, smoking vile pipes +and playing with a greasy, battered pack of cards. "The weather's +fine again," announced Dick, "and you'll find us the most hospitable +fellows you ever met. My friends, we take pleasure in offering +you the whole outside world in which to play!" + +"Talk United States!" growled one of the tramps, without looking +up from the game. + +"Tom," laughed Prescott, turning to Reade, "strange dialects are +your specialty. Kindly translate, into 'United States,' what +I have just said to these men." + +"I will," agreed Tom. "Attention, hoboes! Look right at me! +That's right. Now---git!" + +"You might let us stay on a bit longer," grumbled one of the tramps. +"We ain't bothering you folks any." + +"Only eating us out of house and home," snapped Dave. + +"And delaying the time when we must wash up the tent after you," +added Danny Grin. + +But the tramps played on, smoked on. + +"Did you fellows ever hear of that famous man, Mr. A. Quick Expediter?" +Tom asked the tramps. + +"No," growled one of them. + +"Expediter was a truly great man," Tom continued. "He had a motto. +It was a short one. One word, and that word was---'git'!" + +"We are famed for our courtesy," remarked Darry. "We'd hate to +lose even a shred of our reputation in that line. But in these +present years of our young lives we are football players by training, +and high school boys merely for pleasure. We know some of the +dandiest tackles you ever saw. Shall we show you a few of them? +If you object to observing our tackles---and sharing in the +effects---then signify your wishes by placing yourselves at a safe +distance from such enthusiastic football wranglers as we are." + +Greg, Danny Grin and Harry were already crouching as though for +a spring. Dave took his place in an imaginary football line-up, +leaning slightly forward. Tom Reade sighed, then advanced to +the line. All were waiting for the battle signal from Dick Prescott. + +By this time the most talkative of the three tramps noted the +signs of a gathering squall. + +"Come on, mates," he urged, with a sulky growl, "let's get out +of here. These young fellows want their place all to themselves. +They're just like all of the capitalistic class that are ruining +the country to-day! Things in this country are coming to a pass +where there's nothing for the fellow who-----" + +"Who won't work hard enough to get the place in the world that +he wants," Tom Reade finished for the tramp, as he ushered the +three of them through the doorway. + + + + +CHAPTER XVIII + +DICK PRESCOTT, KNIGHT ERRANT + + +That day of enforced tie-up was followed by three days of hard +hiking. The Gridley High School boys showed the fine effects +of their two vigorous, strenuous outings. Each had taken on weight +slightly, though there was no superfluous flesh on any of the +six. They were bronzed, comparatively lean-looking, trim and +hard. Their muscles were at the finest degree of excellence. + +"We set out to get ourselves as hard as nails," remarked Dave, +as the boys bathed in a secluded bit of woodland through which +a creek flowed. It was, the morning of their fourth day of renewed +hiking. After the swim and breakfast that was to follow, there +were twenty miles of rural roads to be covered before the evening +camp was pitched. + +"I guess we've won all we set out to get, haven't we?" inquired +Reade, squaring his broad shoulders with an air of pride. "I +feel equal to anything that a fellow of my size and years could +do." + +"I think, without boasting, we may consider ourselves the six +most valuable candidates for Gridley High School football this +year," Prescott declared. "We ought to be the best men for the +team; we've worked hard to get ourselves in the pink of physical +condition." + +"I wouldn't care to be any stronger than I am," laughed Danny +Grin. "If I were any stronger folks would be saying that I ought +to go to work." + +"You will have to go to work within another year," Dick laughed, +"whatever that work may be. But you must work with your brain, +Danny boy, if you're to get any real place in life. Your muscles +are intended only as a sign that your body is going to be equal +to all the demands that your brain may make on that body." + +"If my mental ability were equal to my physical strength I wouldn't +have to work at all," grinned Dalzell. + +Splash! His dive carried him under the surface of the water. +Presently he came up, blowing, then swimming with strong strokes. + +"Danny boy seems to have the same idea so many people have," laughed +Prescott. "They think that a man who does all his real work with +his brain isn't working at all, just because he doesn't get into +a perspiration and wilt his collar." + +Splash! splash! Reade and Darrin were in the water racing upstream. + +"I don't know when I've ever found so much happiness in a summer," +asserted Greg, as he poised himself for a dive into the water. + +"I wonder if Timmy Hinman ever had the nerve to stick to his father's +wagon long enough to get it back to Fenton," said Dave, as he +swam beside Reade. + +"If he ever took that wagon home, I'll wager that he drove the +last few miles late at night, so that his 'society' friends wouldn't +have the shock of seeing him drive the peddling outfit that sustains +him," Reade replied. + +"I'll never forget the younger Hinman's disgusted look when he +tried to drive the outfit from our camp, the other morning, with +his saddle mount tied behind and balking on the halter," grinned +Darry. + +"I wonder why such fellows as Timothy Hinman were ever created," +Tom went on. "Every time I think about the gentlemanly Timmy +I feel as though I wanted to kick something." + +Only the day before, stopping at a postoffice on the route, as +had been arranged with Dr. Hewitt, Dick & Co. had received word +that the peddler was seriously ill with pneumonia, with all the +chances against his recovery. + +"If the peddler should die," suggested Dave soberly, "do you believe +that Timmy Hinman will be able to face the thought of going to +work for a living?" + +"It would be an awful fate," Tom declared grimly. "Timmy might +try to work, but I don't know whether he would be able to live +through the shock and shame of having to earn the money for paying +his own bills in life." + +"There's that irrepressible Dick again!" called Greg five minutes +later. + +"What's he up to now?" asked Tom, from further up the creek. + +"He has had his rub-down, got his clothing on and is now at work +frying bacon and eggs." + +"Then don't disturb him," begged Reade, "or he might fry short +of the quantity of food that is really going to be required." + +Five minutes more, however, saw the last of the boys out of water +and rapidly getting themselves in shape to perform their own required +duties. There could be no idlers in the party when Dick & Co. +were away from home on a hike. + +Yet, once breakfast had been disposed of, and the dishes washed, +there seemed something in the August air that made them all disinclined +to break camp and move on. + +"I wish we could stay here all day, and move on to-morrow," murmured +Hazy, thus voicing the thought of some of the others. + +"And then blame the tramps for loafing!" exclaimed Dick. + +"Do we look as though we had loafed this summer?" challenged Dalzell. + +"No; but one or two of you would have done a good deal of it if +you hadn't been afraid of the contempt of the others," smiled +Prescott. + +"Honestly, now," demanded Hazy, "wouldn't you enjoy just staying +here and lounging today, Dick Prescott?" + +"I would," Dick assented. + +"There, now!" + +"But that isn't what we left home to do, so we won't do it." + +"Eh?" queried Hazy. + +"Attention, Lazybones Squad!" called Prescott, springing up. +"Hazy, harness the horse and hitch him to the wagon. Tom, Dave +and Greg, take down the tent. I'll pack the bedding. Dan, load +the kitchen stuff on the wagon." + +This occupied a few minutes. + +"Now, all hands turn to and load on the floor planks, bedding +and the tent," called Dick. + +This, too, was quickly accomplished, though all six were now perspiring. + +"Greg, I believe it's your turn to drive first to-day," Prescott +announced. "Up with you! Forward---march!" + +Dick led the way out of camp, at a brisk four-mile-an-hour stride. +The long hike was started, at last. After that there was no +grumbling, even during the hourly halt of ten minutes. + +The noon halt found them with eleven and a half miles covered +out of the twenty. Five o'clock brought Dick & Co. to the outskirts +of Fenton, a town of some twenty-five hundred inhabitants. + +"Whoa!" called Tom, reining up half a mile from the town. "There +are woods here, Dick. If we go any closer to Fenton, we'll either +have to keep on traveling to the other side of the town, or ask +the authorities for permission to camp on the common. Don't you +believe we had better stop here?" + +"These are the woods that Dave and I had just picked out," Prescott +replied. "We were going to keep on traveling until we found out +who owns the woods. This isn't quite in the wilderness, Tom, +and we must begin again to seek permission to make our camp from +owners of property." + +"If these are the woods," grunted Tom, "there can be no use in +going farther. You and Dave trot on ahead, and bring us back +word." + +"All right," sang out the young leader, "but don't drive onto +the ground, or unpack, until we are back with word about the owner's +permission." + +Three minutes of walking brought them to a farmhouse that looked +like the abode of prosperous people. + +"Well, what is it?" demanded a stout man, with a good-humored +face, as he stepped out from a barn. + +"We wish to know, sir," Dick explained, "if you can tell us who +owns the woods about a quarter of a mile back, at the right hand +side of the road?" + +"I think I can," nodded the man. "Will you describe the woods +a little more particularly?" + +As Prescott complied the farmer broke in: + +"Those are my woods, all right. What do you want of them?" + +Dick explained the desire of himself and his friends to camp there +for the night. + +"Who are you boys?" asked the farmer, keenly eyeing Dick and Dave. + +"Gridley High School boys, out on a vacation jaunt." + +"You won't do any damage to my woods, will you?" + +"Certainly not, sir," Dick promised. + +"Then go right ahead and pitch your camp, young man. Enjoy +yourselves." + +"We shall have to gather and use quite a bit of firewood, sir," +Prescott continued. + +"Well, there's considerable dead wood lying about there." + +"May we pay you a proper price for the use of the firewood, sir?" +Prescott went on. + +"If you try to," laughed the farmer, "I'll chase you out of the +woods. Make yourselves at home, boys. Have as good a time as +you can." + +"Thank you, sir." + +"And---have you had any fresh milk lately?" + +"Not a lot of it, sir." + +"Would you like some?" + +"Why, if we may pay-----" + +"You may pay me," promptly agreed the farmer, "by bringing the +pail back when you pass this way in the morning." + +With that remark he went into another building, soon coming out +with an eight-quart pail filled with milk. + +"This sort of stuff isn't much good, except when you haven't had +any for a long time," laughed the farmer. "Enjoy yourselves. +Say, you don't play football with the Gridley High School eleven, +do you?" + +"All of us do," Dick admitted. + +"Thought so," chuckled the farmer. "That's why I was interested +in you. I saw the Thanksgiving game at Gridley last year. Great +game nervy lot of boys, with all their sand about them. There +was one fellow in particular, I remember, who broke doctor's orders +and jumped into the game at the last minute. He saved the game +for Gridley, I heard. I'd like to shake hands with him." + +"Then here's your chance, sir," laughed Dave, shoving Dick forward. +"Mr. Dick Prescott, Gridley High School." + +"My name's Dobbins," smiled the farmer, extending his hand. "Glad +to meet you, Prescott. I thought it was you all the time. Mebbe +the young man with you is Darrin." + +"Yes," laughed Dick, and there was more handshaking. + +"I hope I'll see the rest of your friends when you pass in the +morning," said the farmer cordially. + +"Hiram---supper!" called a shrill voice from The doorway. + +"Coming, mother! Boys, it does one good to meet the right sort +of fellows once in a while. Enjoy the woods in your own way, +won't you?" + +"That man is right. As he says, it does one good to meet the +right sort of fellow once in a while---and he's the right sort," +declared Darry fervently, as the chums trudged back to their outfit. + +Camp was pitched, and supper was soon under way. When it was +all over, and everything cleaned up, Dick looked about him at +his friends. + +"I wonder if any of you fellows feel the way I do to-night?" he +asked. "We still have our white clothes, and Fenton is something +of a town. We've been in the woods for so long that I feel just +like dressing up in white and taking a stroll into town." + +Tom, Dan and Dave voted in the affirmative. Greg and Hazy averred +that they had walked enough for one day. So the four boys donned +white, while the other two remained behind in flannel and khaki. + +Dick and the three companions of his stroll when almost in Fenton, +were passing through a street of pretty little cottages when a +tiny figure, clad in white ran out of the darkness, bumping into +Dick's knees. + +"Hello, little one!" cried Prescott, cheerily, picking up a wee +little girl of four and holding her at arm's length. "Hello, +you're crying. What's the matter? Lost mother?" + +"No; lost papa," wailed the little one. + +"Perhaps we can find him for you," offered Tom, readily. + +"Mollie! Mollie, where are you?" came a woman's voice out of +the darkness. + +"Is this your little girl, madam?" called Prescott. "We'll bring +her to you." + +In another moment the woman, young and pretty, also dressed in +white, had reached the child and was holding her by the hand. + +"Oh, you little runaway!" chided Dave, smilingly, as he bent over, +wagging a finger at the child. + +"No; it's papa that runned away," gasped the little one, in a +frightened voice. "He ran away to a saloon." + +"Oh, said Dave, straightening up and feeling embarrassed as he +caught the humiliated look in the young woman's face. + +"Pa---runned away and made mama cry," the little one babbled on, +half sobbing. "I must go after him and bring him home." + +"Be quiet, Mollie," commanded her mother. + +"Papa comes, if he knows you want him," insisted the child. "I +tell him you want him---that you cry because he went to saloon." + +For an instant the mother caught her breath. Then she began to +cry bitterly. Dick and his friends wished themselves almost anywhere +else. + +"It's too bad when the children get old enough to realize it," +said the woman, brokenly. Then, of a sudden, she eyed Dick and +his chums bravely. + +"Boys," she said, "I hope the time will never come when you'll +feel that it's manly to go out with the crowd and spend the evening +in drinking." + +"The way we feel about it now," spoke Dick, sympathetically, "we'd +rather be dead than facing any degradation of the sort." + +They were only boys, and they were strangers to the woman. Moreover, +little Mollie was looking pleadingly towards Dick, as if loath +to let him go. In her misery the young wife poured out her story +to her sympathetic listeners. Her husband had been a fine young +fellow---was still young. His drinking had begun only three months +before. + +"We have our own home, more than half paid for," added the woman, +pointing to a pretty little cottage. "Tom has always been a good +workman, never out of a job. But lately he has been spending +his wages for drink. Last month we didn't make our payment on +the house. Today he got his month's pay, and promised not to +drink any more. He was going to take us into town to-night for +a good time, and we were happy, weren't we, baby? Then two of +his saloon cronies passed the house. Tom went with them, but +said he would come right back for us. He hasn't come yet, and +he won't come now until midnight. The month's pay will be gone, +and that means that the home will be gone, after a little. Boys, +I shall never see you again, and it has seemed a help to me to +talk to you. Remember, don't ever-----" + +"Madam," asked Dick, suddenly, in a husky tone, "do you mind telling +us your husband's name, and the name of the place where he has +gone?" + +"His name is Tom Drake, and he has gone up to Miller's place," +answered Mrs. Drake. "But why do you ask? What-----" + +"Mrs. Drake," Dick continued, earnestly, "we don't want to be +meddlers, and we'll keep out of this, if you request it. But +the child has given me an inspiration that I could help you. +If you authorize me, I'll go to Miller's and see if I can't help +your husband to know that his happiness is right here, not in +a saloon." + +"I---I fear that will be a big undertaking," quivered Mrs. Drake. + +A big undertaking, indeed, it was bound to be! + + + + +CHAPTER XIX + +"I'LL FIGHT HIM FOR THIS MAN!" + + +"It's wonderfully kind of you!" breathed the woman, gratefully. +"But it really won't do any good. When a man has begun to drink +nothing can reclaim him from it. My only hope is to be able to +have a talk with Tom when his money is gone." + +"Of course if you dislike to have us try, Mrs. Drake-----" Dick +began. + +"I don't dislike to have you try!" cried the woman, quickly. +"All I am thinking about is the hopelessness of your undertaking. +You simply can't get Tom out of Miller's to-night until the owner +of that awful place turns him out at closing time. I know! This +has happened before." + +Dick stood in an uncertain attitude, his cap in hand. The appealing +face of the child, looking eagerly up at him, made him wish with +all his heart to try to do a good act here, yet he couldn't think +of going on such an errand without the young wife's permission. + +"Let him go, mama," urged the child. "He'll bring papa back." + +Dick looked questioningly at the woman. + +"All right, then, go," she acquiesced. "Oh, I hope you have good +luck, and that you don't make Tom ugly, either. I'll say, for +him, that he has never been ugly yet." + +"Mrs. Drake, we all four accept your commission---or permission, +whichever it is," replied Dick, bowing. "We'll try to use tact +and judgment, and we'll try to bring Mr. Drake back with us." + +Dick asked a few questions as to where Miller's place might be +found. Then he set off, he and his chums walking abreast. + +"Bring him back!" Mollie said plaintively. "Then mama won't cry, +and I won't, either." + +"I feel like a fool!" muttered Tom Reade, when they were out of +earshot of the waiting mother and child. + +"If you don't like the undertaking, you might keep in the background," +Dick suggested. + +"It's likely I'd back out of anything that's moving, isn't it?" +Reade demanded, offended. "I don't mind any disagreeable business +that we may run into. But I feel like a fool when I think of +the message we'll have to take back to that poor woman and baby." + +"Tom Drake will deliver the message to them," replied Dick, firmly. + +"If he's sober even now," murmured Danny Grin, uneasily. + +"I'm strong for the task!" declared Dave Darrin, with enthusiasm. + +"So would I be," Tom defended himself, "if I thought that even +a night of fighting would result in anything like success. But-----" + +"Better stop right here, then," Prescott, suggested, smiling earnestly. +But neither of Dick's companions stopped. + +They were walking briskly, now. As they had been told, Miller's +was the first place on the right hand side, where the business +street of Fenton began. It had been a tavern in the old days, +and was still a big and roomy structure. + +Yet there was no mistaking the room in which the object of their +quest was to be found. The door of the saloon opened repeatedly +while the boys stood regarding the place. + +Dick stepped over to a man who had just come out. + +"Is Tom Drake in there?" Dick asked. + +"Yes." + +"Is he sober?" Dick pressed. + +"Yes; so far," answered the man. + +"Will you do me a great favor? Just step inside and tell him +that there is a man outside who wants to see him. Just tell him +that, and nothing more." + +"Are you from Drake's wife?" asked the man, looking Dick over +shrewdly. + +"Yes," Dick admitted, candidly. + +"I'll do it," nodded the man. "Drake has been making a fool of +himself. He'll go to pieces and find himself without a job before +the year is out. You wait here. I'll find a way to coax him +out for you." + +Soon the door opened again, and there came out Prescott's messenger +followed by a clean-cut, well-built young man of not more than +twenty-eight years of age. + +"There's the young man who says he wants to see you," the citizen +explained, pointing to Dick. + +Tom Drake walked steadily enough. He certainly was not yet much +under the influence of liquor. + +"You wanted to see me?" he asked, looking somewhat puzzled as +he eyed young Prescott. + +"Yes," Dick admitted. + +"What about?" + +"Will you take a short walk with me," Dick went on, "and I'll +explain my business to you." + +"I don't believe I can take a walk with you," Drake answered. +"I'm with some friends in there." + +He nodded over his shoulder at the door through which he had just +come. + +"But my business is of a great deal of importance," Dick went on. + +"Can't you see me to-morrow?" asked Drake, eager to get back to +his companions. + +"To-morrow will be altogether too late," Dick replied. + +"Then state your business now." + +"I'd much rather explain it you as you walk with me," Prescott +urged, earnestly. + +"Are---are you from the building loan people?" asked Tom Drake, +suddenly. + +"No, I am not from them," Prescott replied, then added, truthfully +enough: "But it's partly about that building loan matter that +I wish to talk with you." + +"Who sent you here?" asked Drake, half-suspiciously. + +"A child," Dick replied. "At least, it was a child's face that +gave me the resolution to come here and have a few words with you." + +"A child?" repeated Drake. "What child?" + +"Yours." + +"A child?" echoed the young man. "Mine? Do you mean Mollie?" + +"Yes," Dick went on, rapidly. "The child wanted to come here +herself to get you, and I came in her stead. It was better that +I should come than that little tot. Don't you think so?" + +"I'm afraid I don't understand you," returned Tom Drake, beginning +to look offended. + +"Mr. Drake, do you know that your wife and child are all dressed +up---in their prettiest white gowns, waiting for you to come +back to bring them into town to-night for the promised treat? +Don't you understand the pain that you're giving them by showing +that you prefer a lot of red-nosed loafers in Miller's to your +own wife and child? The unhappiness that you're causing them +to-night isn't a circumstance to all the misery that you're piling +up for them in the years to come. Switch off! Switch off, while +you're yet man enough to be able to do it! Won't you do it---please? +You must know just how happy that little kid will be when she +sees you come swinging down the street to bring her and her mother +into town. You know how that little tot's eyes will shine. Can't +you hear her saying, `Here's papa! He's come.' Isn't that baby +worth a twenty-mile walk for any man to see when he knows she's +his own kiddie and waiting for him? Come along, now; they're +both waiting for you; they will be the happiest pair you've seen +in a long time." + +"I don't know but I will toddle along home," said Drake, rather +shame-facedly. "I---I didn't realize how time was slipping by. +Yes; I guess I'll go home. Much obliged to you for letting me +know the time." + +But at that moment the door opened, and a voice called out: + +"Drake! Oh, Drake. Come here; we want you." + +"Can't, now," the young man called back. "I'm due at home." + +"Home?" came in two or three jeering voices. + +Then several men came out of the saloon, laughing boisterously. + +"Come back, Drake! We can't let you slip off like that. You're +too good a fellow to play the sneak with us. Come on back!" + +"I---I tell you, I'm due at home," insisted Drake, though he spoke +more weakly. + +"Hey! Here's Drake---says he's going to slip home on us!" called +one of the tormentors. + +More men came out of the place, some of them staggering. With +the new arrivals came one whom Dick and his friends rightly guessed +to be Miller---a thickset man, with swaggering manner, insolent +expression and rough voice. + +"What's this about your going home, Drake?" demanded one of the +new arrivals. + +"I---I really ought to go home," Drake tried to explain. + +"Cut that out," ordered Miller roughly. "You're booked to spend +the evening with us, and the evening has hardly begun." + +"I promised this young fellow I'd go home," said Drake slowly, +"so I guess I will." + +"And what has this young feller got to say or do about it?" demanded +Miller angrily, as He pushed his way to Drake's side, then glared +at Dick Prescott. + +"And what have you got to say about his not going home?" Dick +asked hotly. "Isn't this a free country, where a man may go +home when he chooses?" + +"It's a free country, and a man has a right to spend his evening +in my place when he's invited," Miller asserted roughly. + +"Yes; your invitation will hold until his month's pay is gone +from his pocket," Dick flashed back. "That's all you want. Drake +has sense enough to see that, and he's leaving you." + +"He isn't going home for three hours yet, or anywhere else!" snorted +Miller, whose breath proclaimed the fact that he had been using +some of his own goods. + +Dick laughed contemptuously as he turned to Tom Drake with: + +"You see! That fellow thinks he can give you your orders. That +fellow begins to believe that he owns you already." + +"Who are you calling 'that feller'?" demanded Miller, dropping +a heavy hand on Dick's shoulder. + +"I referred to you," replied Prescott, pushing the man's hand +from his shoulder. + +"If you get too funny with me I'll hit you a crack that will carry +your head off with it!" snarled the saloon keeper. + +"Pshaw!" Prescott answered cuttingly. "You aren't big enough, +or man enough, either!" + +"What's that?" + +Miller aimed a vicious, open-hand blow at young Prescott's face. +It didn't land, but, instead, Dick's right hand went up smack! +against the fellow's cheek. + +"Hang your impudence!" roared Miller, angrily. "I'll pay you +for that! I'll teach you!" + +He made a rush at Dick, but two men who had been attracted by +the commotion jumped in between them. + +"Hold on, Miller!" objected one of these passers-by. "You can't +pummel a boy!" + +"I'll make him howl for hitting me!" roared Miller, doubling his +big, powerful fists. "Get out of my way, or I'll run over you!" + +"Get out of his way, please!" cried Dick suddenly. "Let Miller +at me, if he wants. I'm willing to fight him. I'll fight him +for Tom Drake's right to be a man!" + + + + +CHAPTER XX + +IN THE MILKSOP CLASS? + + +"Good! And I'll hold the stakes!" cried Tom Reade jovially, as +he took light hold of Drake's arm. + +"Let Miller at the boy!" howled one of the bystanders. "He'll +show the boy something. The kid is getting big enough to learn, +and he ought to be taught." + +"I'll fight Miller, if he has the sand!" proclaimed Dick, who +now had his own reasons for wanting to sting the liquor seller +into action. "I'll fight the bully, but not here in a saloon +yard. There is a vacant lot the other side of the fence. We'll +go in there and see how much of a fighter he is." + +More citizens had gathered by this time, and there was every sign +of an intention to stop further trouble. But Dave Darrin sprang +into the crowd, saying, almost in an undertone: + +"The respectable men here don't want to try to stop this affair. +A lot of useful manhood depends upon the issue. Don't worry +about my friend, if he does look rather young. He can take care +of himself, all right, and he is calling for a fight that ought +to be fought. You respectable men in the crowd keep still, and +just come along and see fair play---that's all." + +Dave's earnest eloquence won over many of the men representing +the better element of the crowd. + +"Jove! He's a plucky boy!" cried one man. + +"But Miller will pound him to a pulp!" + +"Come along, everyone, and see whether rum or water is the best +drink for fighting men!" insisted Tom Reade. + +There was a general movement toward the vacant lot. Miller was +muttering angrily, while some of his red-nosed victims were jeering. + +In the field Dick took off his hat and coat, then his tie, and +passed them to Dan Dalzell. + +"Dave," whispered Prescott, "you stand by as my second, but don't +make any too stiff claims of foul. This will have to be rough +work, from the start." + +Miller, already in his shirt sleeves, did not feel that he had +any need of special preparation. Prescott looked altogether too +easy. Not that Miller lacked experience in such matters. In +other years he had been a prize-fighter of minor rank, and had +been considered, in his class, a fairly hard man to beat. + +"Now, stand up, boy," ordered the saloon keeper, advancing. "And +take back the crack you passed to me." + +"Let's have it," taunted Dick, throwing himself on the defensive. + +Miller aimed a vicious blow but did not land. Instead, Prescott +hit him on the short ribs. + +"If you're going to fight, stand up and take your medicine!" roared +Miller, in a rage. + +"Handle your own foot-work to suit yourself!" Dick retorted. +"I'll do the same. But you can't fight, anyway!" + +That taunt threw the liquor seller into a still greater rage. +With a yell he sprang at Prescott. But again Dick failed to +be there. + +The high school boy was not having an easy time, however. Miller's +strength was formidable, and Dick knew that he could not stop +many straight blows from his opponent without disaster. + +Two merely glancing blows scraped the lad, who had landed four +blows on Miller. The big fellow, however, seemed able to endure +a lot of punishment. + +"I didn't come out here to run a race!" Miller insisted, as he +tried hard to corner the boy. + +"Then stand still, and I won't hit you so hard!" mocked Prescott, +as he struck the man again on the short ribs. + +Then, of a sudden, Prescott hit the earth. He had miscalculated, +and Miller's left fist had landed on his nose. + +With a hoarse laugh Miller started to follow up the advantage +with a kick. + +"Here! Come back! None of that!" shouted a citizen, throwing +his arms around Miller's neck. "Let the boy get to his feet. +Fight fair or---we'll lynch you when it's over!" + +But Dick was up, the blood flowing freely from his nose. Yet +he was hardly less cool as Miller was released and the two again +faced each other. + +"Finish him up, Miller, and we'll get back to pleasure!" laughed +one of the drunkards in maudlin glee. + +"The boy has no show. This is an outrage!" protested an indignant +citizen. "It ought to be stopped." + +As the two sparred Dick suddenly saw his chance to get in under +the powerful guard of his antagonist and landed a hard blow on +his solar plexus. + +"Umph!" grunted Miller, as he partly doubled up under the force +of the blow. + +That instant was enough for Prescott to drive in a blow that nearly +closed one of the big fellow's eyes. + +"Stop this fight!" yelled the same citizen. + +"Don't you do it!" warned another. "The boy is taking care of +himself all right. Let him wind the bruiser up." + +Now Miller, smarting and fearing accidental defeat, forgot caution +and tried to rush in for a clinch. But this was the kind of attack +that Prescott was skilled in dodging. + +Dick gave ground before the furious assault, but he did so purposely. +Back he went, step by step. + +"Miller's got him!" cheered the liquor seller's friends. + +At last Dick found what he wanted, the opportunity to drive in +again on the big fellow's wind. Miller gave vent to another grunt, +followed by a howl, as he felt a stinging fist land against his +other eye. + +Now, Dick had his man blinded, ready for the finish. A high school +fist landed on the side of the big fellow's throat, sending him +to his knees. Dick took but half a step backward as he waited +for the big fellow to get to his feet. The instant that Miller +rose Dick darted in, landing his right fist with all his strength +on the tip of the man's chin. + +This time the work was complete. Miller went down. Dick, smiling, +though breathing quickly, stood over his fallen opponent, counting +slowly to ten. + +Then, in a moment, those who had favored the boy's side in the +fight realized just what had happened. + +Loud cheers arose from the crowd. Tom Drake was one of the first +to dart in and seize young Prescott's right hand briefly before +another man wanted to shake it. Dick was fairly made to run a +gauntlet of handshaking. + +Most of Miller's "friends" retreated in sulky bad humor. Three +of the liquor seller's followers, however, picked the big man +up, staggering under his weight, and bore him behind the door +that had closed on more than one man's career. + +"What do you think of that, Mr. Drake?" demanded Tom Reade jubilantly. +"Do you put Dick Prescott in the milk-sop class?" + + + + +CHAPTER XXI + +THE REVENGE TALK AT MILLER'S + + +"Let's get out of this place," whispered Dick in Dave's ear as +Darry helped him to staunch the flow of blood from his nose. + +"There, the bleeding has stopped," muttered Dave. "Now, put on +your coat and button it up. Then the blood stains on your shirt +won't show." + +Tom Drake had very little to say, but he kept close to Prescott. + +"Shall we walk down the road a bit, Mr. Drake?" asked Dick, as +soon as he had his coat on. + +"I'm in a hurry to get home," nodded the young workman. "I shall +know where I belong, after this. No more of Miller's for me! +For that matter," the young man added, with a hearty laugh, "I +don't believe Miller would ever let me in his place again. Of +course, in his own mind, he will blame me for what happened to-night." + +"I hope he didn't get much of your money before it happened," +murmured Prescott, as be and Drake, followed by Dave, Tom and +Dan, got clear of the crowd and down into a quieter part of the +road. + +"He got less than a dollar of my wages," replied Drake. "I'm +sorry he has that much, but he'll never get any more. Say, Prescott, +but you are a fighter! I can imagine how 'sore' Miller will +be, to-morrow, over having been whipped by such a stripling as +you are." + +"I've one great advantage over Miller," Dick rejoined. "I've +never tasted alcohol, and Miller has saturated himself with it +for years." + +"I used to have an idea that liquor was strengthening," murmured +Tom Drake. "I know quite a good many men who take it to keep +up their strength." + +"They're fools, then," Dick retorted tersely. "You could see, +in Miller to-night, what alcohol does toward making one strong. +That man is still powerful, but I'm satisfied that he was once +a great deal stronger. Miller's muscles have grown flabby since +he began to drink. His speed is less than it must have been formerly. +Even his nerve---his grit---has been impaired by the stuff he +has been drinking. Did you notice how early in the fight his +wind left him? The man has very little of his former strength, +and the blame belongs to the liquor he has used." + +"Here's my gate," said Tom Drake, at last, as they halted before +the little cottage. "Come in. I've got to tell my wife about +you. I wonder where my two girls are?" + +Dick and his friends tried to get out of going into the yard, +but their new friend would not have it that way, so silently they +followed Drake up the path. Then, through a front window, Tom +Drake saw his girls. + +His wife sat at a table, her head resting on her arms. On the +floor sat the toddler, Mollie, still in her white dress. She +had two broken dolls, pretending to play with them, but the woebegone +look in her little face showed that her thoughts were elsewhere. + +Tom Drake choked as he looked in at the window. Then, throwing +up his head resolutely, he lifted the latch, entering the room +with firm tread. + +"I'm a bit late, girls, but come on up in the village!" he invited. +"Here, Hattie, you take charge of this little roll," he added, +thrusting his money into his wife's hand. + +Not more than three minutes later the three Drakes issued from +the house, Mollie enjoying a "ride" on her father's shoulder. + +"Why, where are the boys?" he demanded. "I left them here." + +"Gone, like all good angels, when their work is done," smiled +his wife. + +"It's all right, anyway, girls," Tom Drake answered cheerily. +"We're pretty sure to find 'em up in the village, where we're +going." + +In the first place that the Drakes entered they came upon Dick +and his three friends. The Gridley boys, after dodging a crowd +that wanted to lionize young Prescott, had taken refuge, unseen, +in the back of an otherwise deserted ice cream saloon. + +"There they are!" cried Mollie, running the length of the shop, +as fast as her chubby little legs could take her. She ran straight +to Dick who bent over to give her a gentle hug. + +"I don't know what to say to you young men," cried Mrs. Drake, +halting beside the boys, her voice breaking a little, her eyes +moist. + +"Then, if you'll permit me to offer a suggestion," Dick smiled +back, as he rose, "it seems to me that conversation might spoil +several good things. Won't you all sit down and be our guests +in a little ice cream feast that we have started?" + +It was almost an hour before the little party broke up. A few +interested citizens, however, found the hiding place of the Gridley +High School boys and insisted on coming in to shake hands with +the boys. + +"Take your family and slip out through the back door," Dick whispered +to Tom Drake. + +"I don't know that I'll ever see you again," murmured Drake huskily, +"so I want to say-----" + +"Don't say anything," Dick smiled back. "You're all right, from +now on. And we've all learned something to-night. We'll let +it rest there. Good-bye, and the best of good luck for you and +yours." + +So the Drakes escaped from what would have been an embarrassing +scene. Nor were Dick and his friends long in getting away from +the too-enthusiastic citizens. + +"It's late enough for us to go back to camp and turn in, isn't +it?" suggested Tom Reade. + +"I was thinking of that myself," Dick admitted. + +"You must be tired, anyway," Dave hinted. "You whipped Miller +all right, but he was a tiring brute, and I'll wager that you're +both sore and exhausted." + +"I'll plead guilty to a little bit of both," Dick Prescott assented, +laughing at the recollection of Miller at the time when that brute's +second eye was closed. + +Yet it was more than half an hour after their return to camp when +slumber finally began to assert its claim upon the Gridley boys. +For Greg and Harry, as soon as they had heard a few words as +to the evening's adventure, insisted upon hearing all of it before +they would let Dick turn in. + +"I'll bet they're sore in Miller's place tonight," chuckled Greg, +just before be extinguished the second lantern. + +Certainly anger did reign in Miller's place for the rest of that +evening. + +Miller had been brought to consciousness, after considerable effort. +He was even able to be up and about his place, but his swollen +features looked like a caricature of a face. + +"The schoolboy that was able to do that to you, Miller, must have +been eight feet high and as wide as a gate," remarked one of the +red-nosed patrons of the place. + +"Shut up!" was Miller's gracious response. + +There were other drinking places in Fenton, and to these the news of +the big fellow's drubbing quickly spread. + +Indeed, the fight seemed to be the one topic of the talk of Fenton +that evening. + +As it happened, it wasn't very long before word was brought to +Miller that Dick and his friends were camping down on Andy Hartshorn's +place. + +"It's queer that Hartshorn will let such young toughs stop on +his land!" growled Miller. + +"They ought to be chased out of town---that's what!" growled a +patron of the place. + +More of this talk was heard, until finally someone demanded thickly: + +"Well, why can't we chase 'em out of town?" + +At first, the idea met with instant favor among the dozen or more +worthless men gathered in Miller's saloon. The plan grew in favor +until one man, slighter than the rest, observed: + +"Say! Stop and think of one thing. We know what one of the boys +did to Miller, and there are six of those boys down at the camp!" + +That rather cast a damper over the enthusiasm until one blear-eyed +man of fifty observed, knowingly: + +"Well, we don't need to go alone. There are other men in Fenton +who think the way we do. We can go down to the woods in force, +and pretend that what we want to do comes as a rebuke administered +by the citizens of Fenton." + +"Hurrah!" cheered one man who seemed in danger of falling asleep. + +"Miller, let us use your telephone," urged the former speaker. + +"No, you can't," retorted the liquor seller quickly. "It's all +right for you men to do whatever you think is right, but you've +got to remember that I've got to be kept out of whatever happens." + +Well enough did the wretch know that half-hearted opposition from +him would only fan the flame hotter among the men who considered +themselves his friends. + +So the messengers were sent to the other drinking places in town. +Word was passed for a night raid "by representative citizens," +as these topers called themselves. + +Men of the same turn of mind soon came flocking in from other +drinking resorts. + +"Don't talk here about what you're going to do for the good of +the town," Miller ordered. "Remember, I've got to be kept out +of this. My position is a delicate one, you understand." + +Soon after midnight the disreputable army of vengeance seekers +was straggling down the road. Talking had ceased. These drink-driven +wretches were hunting for the camp of Dick & Co. and they were +going to attack it in force. + + + + +CHAPTER XXII + +UNDER THE STING OF THE LASH + + +When the crowd reached the camp of the high school boys all was +silent there. From within the tent came the sounds of the heavy +breathing of the sleepers. + +"Everything is ready, and there isn't even a dog on the place!" +was the exultant word passed back. + +"Bunch up! Get in close and surround the tent," ordered another +voice. "We want some of you men behind the tent, so that none +of the youngsters can slip away from us. Come along, now. Don't +talk! Don't make so much noise. Easy, now!" + +Thus the figures continued to gather, like so many evil spirits +of the night. + +Here and there one of the rabble fell over something in the dark, +or tripped over a root or stone as he moved about among the shadows. + +In the intervals of absolute silence the steady breathing of the +six Gridley High School boys could still be heard, until one man +in the rabble, less sober than the others, fell over a packing-case, +barking his shins and giving vent to a yell of pain. + +"What was that?" asked Greg Holmes, waking and rising on one elbow. + +Outside all was quiet again. + +"Hey, Dave, get up!" Holmes called, shaking the arm of Darry, +who lay asleep on the adjoining cot. "I heard something going +on outside. We'll both get up, light a lantern, and-----" + +"Yes! Get up and come out!" jeered a voice near the tent door. +"Come out and have a look at us. The reputable citizens of Fenton +are to chase you out of town---and we'll do it, after we get through +with teaching you manners!" + +"Fellows! Hustle!" shouted Greg, leaping from his cot. "Get +ready for trouble. All the topers and loafers who ever knew Miller +are outside to avenge the beating that Miller received from Dick!" + +"We'll show you!" came a hoarse yell, and then the foremost ruffians +in the crowd surged in through the tent door. + +But Dave had succeeded in lighting a lantern, and this he took +time to hang from a hook on the nearest pole. + +Five boys clad only in their pajamas faced this angry rabble. +Dan Dalzell slept through the confusion until Reade, in passing +him, hauled him from bed. + +"What are you men doing here?" thundered Reade, striding to the +head of the little group of defenders. + +Dick was now beside him like a flash. + +"You fellows get out of here!" Prescott ordered, his eyes flaming. + +"We'll get out when we get ready!" came the hoarse answer. "Now, +friends, show these young imps-----" + +But that speaker got no further, for a blow from Tom's fist brought +him to the ground. + +All six of Dick & Co. were now on the fistic firing line. + +For a few moments they carried all but consternation to their +opponents. As they were forced back from the doorway, however, +more and more of the mob poured in. + +The very weight of numbers was bound to count against Dick & Co. +who were likely to suffer severely at the hands of the miscreants. + +Just then there came a flash across the canvas of the tent. The +light had been thrown by a swiftly-moving automobile. There was +another automobile directly behind it. Both cars came to a stop +at the roadside, while from them leaped more than a dozen men. + +These men were armed---each with a horsewhip. In an instant the +invaders found them selves assailed from behind. + +Whish! slash! zip! + +In another instant all was uproar. Yells of pain from the mob +rent the air, for these latest arrivals were laying about them +with their horsewhips with an energy worthy of a good cause. + +"Here, you, Andy Hartshorn. Stop that! Don't you hit me! I +know you, and I'll have the law on you!" shrieked one of the +frightened wretches. + +"He who goes to law should have his own hands clean," quoth Farmer +Hartshorn, as he dealt the fellow a stinging blow on the legs. + +Those of the crowd outside the tent fled in every direction, hotly +pursued, and again and again they were stung by the lashes. + +Those of the invaders still in the tent were now in a panic to +get out and away. As they dashed through the doorway they felt +the slashing of horsewhips, while Dick Prescott and his chums +hammered them from the rear. + +In less than thirty seconds the invaders had been cleared away. +They fled in screaming panic, scattering in all directions, some +of them being pursued and lashed for a distance of many rods up +or down the road. + +On all sides the fleeing wretches threatened their persecutors +with the law, but these threats did not stop the punishment. + +"I guess it's all right now, boys!" called Farmer Hartshorn grimly, +as he strode up to the place where Dick & Co. had gathered just +beyond their tent. + +"What was that mob, anyway?" Dick asked. + +"A gang that came after revenge for what you did to Miller to-night," +laughed the farmer. + +"I thought as much," muttered Dick. + +"They've been gathering at Miller's, and other like places, for +a couple of hours," Mr. Hartshorn went on. "But, as is the case +with all such movements, some news of it leaked outside. We got +word a bit late, or we'd have been here before that crowd came +along. When we knew the word was straight some of us telephoned +to others, and our crowd was gotten together, but as it is, we +got here in season. Are any of you boys hurt?" + +"No, sir; not one of us," Dick declared. "But some of us might +have been seriously injured if you gentlemen had been delayed +for another minute." + +"We'll know the rascals to-morrow," spoke up another of the rescuers. +"If they appear on the streets at all they'll be recognized. +We have marked them up pretty well. They've gone off vowing +to have the law on us." + +"All they'll do will be to put arnica on themselves," declared +Mr. Hartshorn. "And they will send friends to the drugstore for +the arnica. They won't take the risk of being recognized on the +streets. They'll be a shame-faced lot in the morning." + +"It was mighty good of you men to come down and help us out," +murmured Dick Prescott gratefully. "We would have had a pretty +tough time if we had been left to ourselves." + +"We'd go further than we've traveled tonight, to help out boys +like you," declared another man present. "Prescott, that was +a fine thing you did to Miller to-night, and Tom Drake will be +grateful as long as he lives." + +"If Drake keeps away from drink in the future," Dick answered, +"he will have reason to congratulate himself." + +"Oh, Drake will keep away from the stuff after this," said one +of the citizens. "Young Drake has a head of his own, and we'll +see that he uses it. We'll keep a friendly eye over him. Don't +worry. Young Tom Drake will never associate with any of Miller's +kind again." + +"Whenever any of you boys want to go to sleep, just say so," urged +Mr. Hartshorn, "and we'll run along." + +"Why, I believe we're a bit waked up, at present," smiled young +Prescott, as he turned to glance at the others in the light thrown +by the automobile lamps. + +"I don't feel as though I needed any more sleep," laughed Tom +Reade. + +"If you boys are thinking of sitting up to watch against another +surprise, don't bother about it," advised Mr. Hartshorn. "You've +seen the very last that you'll see of those rascals. Men of that +sort never have nerve enough to attempt a risky thing twice." + +"I'm going to put some wood in the stove and make coffee," Danny +Grin announced. + +"Can't we offer you a cup of coffee, gentlemen?" proposed Prescott. +"And sandwiches? We have plenty of the fixings for sandwiches." + +The idea prevailed to such an extent that Dalzell put on a kettle +of water to boil, while Tom and Dave began to slice bread and +open tinned meats. + +"I'm going to sit down on the ground and be comfortable," declared +one of the Fentonites, when coffee and food were passed around. + +"Do you know, gentlemen," said Tom Reade, as he munched a sandwich, +"I'm beginning to like Fenton next to our own town of Gridley." + +"Fenton isn't anywhere near as large a place as Gridley," replied +one of the guests. + +"No; but for its size Fenton is a lively place," Reade went on. +"There seems to be something happening here every minute." + +"That is when young fellows like you come along and start the +ball rolling," chuckled Farmer Hartshorn. "There has been more +excitement to-night in Fenton than I can remember during the last +five years. I've seen you play football, Prescott, and you're +a wonder at the game. Yet what you did to-night for young Tom +Drake is a bigger thing than winning a whole string of the greatest +football games of the year." + +"Football is more exciting, though," smiled Dick. + +"Is it?" demanded Mr. Hartshorn. "More exciting than what you've +been through tonight? Then I'll never play football! More excitement +than you've had to-night isn't healthful for any growing young +fellow!" + +For fully an hour these men of Fenton remained at the camp, talking +with their young hosts, and, incidentally, picking up a lot of +information about the sports and pastimes that most interest wide-awake +boys of to-day. + +At last, however, disclaiming the thanks offered by Dick & Co., +the guests went away in the automobiles that had brought them, +while Dick Prescott and his chums prepared to finish out the night's +rest. + + + + +CHAPTER XXIII + +TIMMY, THE GENTLEMAN, AT HOME + + +"Oh, won't life seem stale when we get back into the land of crowded +business streets and schoolhouses?" grumbled Reade, as, perched +on the seat of the camp wagon, he drove out onto the highway the +next morning, followed by the other members of Dick & Co. on foot. + +"No, sir!" Darry retorted. "Life won't seem stale on that account. +Instead, it will be brightened by the pleasant recollection of +this summer's fun, which is now so soon to be ended." + +"You're not going through Fenton, are you, Dick?" asked Greg. + +"I guess we'll have to. We were pretty well cleaned out of some +of our provisions last night. We shall have to replenish our +food supply, and Fenton is the only real town along our route +to-day. The rest are small farming villages." + +"But we'll attract a lot of attention," declared Holmes. + +"You won't," laughed Darry. "You didn't go to town with us last +night, and consequently you're not known there." + +"I'd rather not go through the town myself," Dick explained, "but +it seems to me that as long as we must purchase supplies we ought +to make a stop in the town that's likely to have the best stores." + +Fenton's principal street had rather a sleepy look this hot August +morning. There were but few people abroad as Dick & Co. turned +into the main thoroughfare. + +At Miller's place there was not a sign of life. "I'll wager that +brute is applying raw beef to his eyes this morning," muttered +Tom, somewhat vindictively. + +Prescott's watchful glance soon discovered a provision store that +looked more than usually promising. At a word from him Tom reined +in the horse, while Prescott and Darrin went inside to make purchases. + +When they came out they found Farmer Hartshorn and another man +talking with Tom Reade. + +"You young men of Gridley don't look any the worse, this morning, +for the excitement you had last night," said Mr. Hartshorn, after +a cordial greeting. "Reade tells me that you left the milk-pail +at my house as you came along." + +"Yes, sir," Dick nodded. "And with it, we left our very best +thanks for the fine treat that milk proved to be to us." + +"Prescott, shake hands with Mr. Stark. He's our leading lawyer +in this little place." + +"I've heard a good deal about you this morning," said the lawyer, +as he shook hands. + +Mr. Stark was a tall, thin man, of perhaps forty-five years of +age. Warm as was the day he was attired wholly in black, a bit +rusty, and wore a high silk hat that was beginning to show signs +of age. He belonged to a type of rural lawyer that is now passing. + +"I think we've heard of you, too," smiled Prescott innocently. + +"Have you?" asked the lawyer, looking somewhat astonished. + +"Yes," Dick went on. "I think it must have been your letter that +Mr. Reuben Hinman showed us one day. It was in regard to a bill +he had given you to collect. Mr. Hinman is in the hospital and +must need quite a bit of money just at present so I beg to express +the hope that you have been able to collect the other half of +the debt---the half that belongs to him." + +Lawyer Stark reddened a good deal, despite his sallow skin. + +"Why, what about that other half? What's the story?" questioned +Mr. Hartshorn, his eyes, twinkling as though he scented something +amusing. + +"Oh---er---just a matter of business between a client and myself," +the lawyer explained, in some confusion. + +"And poor old Hinman was the client, eh?" asked the farmer. + +"We don't know very much about the matter," Dave Darrin broke +in, a trifle maliciously, for he fell that it might be a good +thing to show up this lawyer's tricky work. "Mr. Hinman gave +Mr. Stark a bill of twenty dollars to collect, and-----" + +"It was---er---all a matter of business between a client and myself, +and therefore of a confidential nature," Lawyer Stark broke in, +reddening still more. + +But Dave was in no mood, just then, to be headed off so easily, +so he went on: + +"Mr. Hinman showed us the letter, and asked us what we thought +of it, so that rather broke the confidential nature of the matter. +You see," turning to Mr. Hartshorn, "the bill was for twenty +dollars, and it seems that. Mr. Stark was to have half for his +trouble in collecting it. Now the letter that Mr. Hinman showed +us-----" + +"I protest, young man!" exclaimed the lawyer. + +"The letter," Darry went on calmly, "was to the effect that Mr. +Stark had collected his own half of the twenty dollars, and that +the collection of Mr. Hinman's half of the money seemed doubtful." + +"Now, now, Stark!" exclaimed the farmer, looking sharply at the +lawyer. "Surely, that isn't your way of doing business with a +poor and aged client like Hinman!" + +"I have collected the remainder of the bill, and am going to mail +a settlement to Mr. Hinman to-day," muttered the lawyer, trying +to look unconcerned. "All just a matter of routine office business, +Mr. Hartshorn." + +But the lawyer felt wholly uncomfortable. He was thinking, at +that moment, that he would heartily enjoy kicking Darrin if the +latter didn't look so utterly healthy and uncommonly able to take +care of himself. + +"Do I hear you discussing money that is due my father?" inquired +a voice behind them. "If so, my father is very ill, as you doubtless +know, and I would take pleasure in receiving the money on his +behalf." + +Timothy Hinman, looking wholly the man of fashion, made this offer. +He had come up behind the group, and there was a look in his +eyes which seemed to say that the handling of some of the family +money would not be distasteful to him just then. + +"I'll walk along with you to your office, Mr. Stark, and receipt +for the money, if you're headed that way," suggested the younger +Hinman again. + +"Unless you hold a regular power of attorney from your father, +you could hardly give me a valid receipt," replied the lawyer +sourly, as he turned away from Mr. Hartshorn and the boys and +started down the street. + +"Won't my receipt do until my father is up and about once more?" +pressed Timothy Hinman. + +"No, sir; it won't," snapped the lawyer. + +"Have you heard, this morning, how your father is?" Dick inquired. + +"Just heard, at the post-office," Hinman answered. "My father +had a very bad day yesterday. Er---in fact, the chances, I am +sorry to say, appear to be very much against his recovery." + +"He must feel the strain of his father's illness," observed Dave +sarcastically. + +"He does!" retorted Mr. Hartshorn, with emphasis. "If old Reuben +dies young Timothy must go to work for a living. The disgrace +of toil will almost kill him. His two sisters are as bad as he +is. They've never done a stroke of work, either. All three have +lived on the poor old peddler's earnings all their lives, though +not one of the three would be willing to keep the old man's house +for him. There are a lot of sons and daughters like them to-day. +Perhaps there always have been." + +Mr. Hartshorn waited until Dick and Dave had finished with the +purchases and had loaded them on the wagon. + +Then the farmer shook hands with each member of Dick & Co. + +"I'm coming up to Gridley to see the football game this Thanksgiving," +he promised. "I hope I'll see as good a game as I did last year. +Anyway, I'll see the work of a mighty fine lot of young fellows." + +Prescott expressed again the heartiest thanks of himself and friends +for the timely aid given them during the trouble in camp. + +"We've lost so much time this morning that we'll have to hustle +for the rest of the day," Tom called down from the wagon seat, +as he started the horse. + +An hour later they were more than three miles past Fenton. + +"Get out of the way, Tom!" called Dave. "Drive up into someone's +yard like lightning. Here comes a whizz wagon that wants the +whole highway." + +Behind them, its metal trimmings flashing in the sun, and leaving +a trail of dust in its wake, came an automobile traveling at least +sixty miles an hour. + +Yet, fast as the car was going when it passed them, the speed +did not prevent one occupant from recognizing them and calling +out derisively. Then, half a mile ahead, the car stopped, turned, +and came slowly back toward the wondering Gridley boys. + + + + +CHAPTER XXIV + +CONCLUSION + + +Five rather contemptuous pairs of youthful eyes surveyed Dick +& Co. as their outfit plodded on its way. + +"Aren't they a mucker looking outfit?" demanded one voice from +the car. + +Then the automobile shot ahead again. + +"Phin Drayne! Humph!" said Darry rather scornfully. + +Phin Drayne is no stranger to the readers of the "_High School +Boys Series_," who will recall Phin as the "kicker" who, at the +game on the Thanksgiving before, had sulked and refused to go +on the field, hoping to induce the other members of the Gridley +High School gridiron team to coax him to play. Thus Dick, though +suffering at that time from injuries, and forbidden to play, had +been forced out onto the field to help win the great game of the +season. Of course a kicker like Drayne did not like Prescott. +Dick worried but little on that account. + +"There! they are coming back," Greg announced. "They are grinning +at us again." + +"If they keep on grinning," threatened Darry, "we'll sic Danny +Grin onto them. When it comes to grinning our own Danny boy can +grin down anything on earth." + +As if to verify that claim, Dalzell began to grin broadly. Besides +this, he turned his face toward the occupants of the automobile +as it once more passed Dick & Co. + +Just at this point the car slowed down. Phin Drayne looked as +though he were exhibiting his fellow students of Gridley High +School as so many laughable freaks. + +"That's what I call a vacation on the cheap," Drayne remarked +to his friends, in a tone wholly audible to Dick & Co. + +"It is 'on the cheap,'" Dick called out pleasantly. "And yet, +our trip hasn't been such a very cheap one, either, and we've +earned all the money ourselves. I don't suppose, Drayne, you +ever earned as much money in your life." + +"I don't have to," scoffed Phin Drayne. "My father is able to +supply me with whatever money I need." + +"Why!" uttered Dan Dalzell. "Our old Drayne is just another Timmy +Hinman of the regular kind, isn't he?" + +Dan looked so comical when he made this observation that his five +chums burst into a shout of gleeful laughter. + +Phin Drayne didn't relish that very sincere laughter. Though +he didn't understand the allusion, he suspected that he was being +made the butt of a joke by Dick & Co. + +"Drive on, George," he requested his friend at the wheel. "One +hates to be seen in the company of such fellows." + +The car's speed was let out several notches, and shot down the +road ahead of Dick & Co.'s plain little caravan. + +"Now that I think of it," Dick declared, "Phin is just another +edition of Timmy Hinman, isn't he? And so are quite a good many +of the fellows we know. The world must be nearly as full of Timmy +Hinmans as it is of fathers either wealthy or well-to-do. I'd +hate to belong to the Timmy Hinman crowd!" + +"As for me," sighed Tom comically, "I don't see any chance of +my becoming a Timmy until I'm able to do it on money accumulated +for myself." + +As Phin Drayne was still in Gridley High School, and had an overweening +idea of himself as a football player, it is extremely likely that +we shall hear of him again, for which reason, if for no other, +we may as well dismiss him from these present pages. + +A few more days of earnest hiking, followed by restful sleep in +camp at night, brought Dick & Co., one fine afternoon toward the +end of August, in sight of the spires of Gridley. + +"There's the good old town!" called Dick, first to reach the rise +of ground from which the view of Gridley was to be had. + +"Good old town, indeed!" glowed Dave Darrin. + +"Whoop!" shouted Tom Reade irrepressibly. "Whoop! And then---whoop!" + +Dalzell, as he stood still for a few moments, gazing ahead, grinned +broadly. + +"He thinks his native town is a joke!" called Greg Holmes reproachfully. + +"No," replied Dalzell, with a solemn shake of his head. "I am +the joke, and it's on Gridley for being my native town." + +"I'm glad to be back---when I get there," announced Hazy. "I +shall be glad, even if for nothing more than the chance to rest +my feet." + +"Nonsense!" Dick retorted. "You'll be out on Main Street, to-night, +ready to tramp miles and miles, if anything amusing turns up." + +At the first shade by the roadside Dick &. Co. halted for fifteen +minutes to rest. + +"Now, each one of you do a little silent thinking," Prescott urged. + +"Give us the topic, then," proposed Reade. + +"Fellows," Dick went on, mounting a stump and thrusting one hand +inside his flannel shirt, in imitation of the pose of an orator, +"the next year will be an eventful one for all of us. In that +time we shall wind up our courses at the Gridley High School. +From the day that we set forth from Gridley High School we shall +be actively at work creating our careers. We are destined to +become great men, everyone of us!" + +"Tell that to the Senate!" mocked Tom Reade. + +"Well, then," Dick went on, accepting the doubt of their future +greatness, "we shall, at least, if we are worth our salt, become +useful men in the world, and I don't know but that is very close +to being great. For the man who isn't useful in the world has +no excuse for living. Now, in a little more than another hour, +we shall be treading the pavements of good old Gridley. Let us +do it with a sense of triumph." + +"Triumph?" quizzed Tom soberly. "What about?" + +"The sense of triumph," Dick retorted, "will arise from the fact +that this is to be the last and biggest year in which we are to +give ourselves the final preparation for becoming either great +or useful men. I'm not going to say any more on this subject. +Perhaps you fellows think I've been talking nonsense on purpose. +I haven't. Neither have I tried to preach to you, for preaching +is out of my line. But, fellows, I hope you all feel, as solemnly +as I do myself, just what this next year must mean to us in work, +in study---in a word, in achievement. It won't do any of us any +harm, once in a while to feel solemn, for five seconds at a time, +over what we are going to do this year to assure our futures." + +For once Tom Reade didn't have a jest ready. For once Dalzell +forgot to grin. + +The march was taken up again. The next halt was made in Gridley, +thus ending their long training hike, the boys going to their +respective homes. + +"Just give three silent cheers, and we won't startle anyone," +Tom proposed. + +"We went out on the trip to harden ourselves," murmured Dave, +"and I must admit that we have all done it." + +That evening Dick and Harry Hazelton drove the horse and wagon +over to Tottenville, where the camp wagon was returned to its +owner, Mr. Newbegin Titmouse. + +"You young men have worn this wagon quite: a bit," whined Mr. +Titmouse, after he had painstakingly inspected the wagon by the +light of a lantern. + +"I think we've brought it back in fine condition, sir," replied +Dick, and he spoke the truth. "The wagon looks better, Mr. Titmouse, +than you had expected to see it." + +"You owe me about five dollars for extra wear and tear," insisted +the money-loving Mr. Titmouse. + +But he didn't get the money. Again Dick Prescott turned out to +be an excellent business man. Dick was most courteous, but he +refuted all of Mr. Titmouse's claims for extra payment, in the +end even such a money-grubber as Mr. Newbegin Titmouse gave up +the effort to extort more money for the use of his wagon than +was his due. He even used his lantern to light the boys through +the dark side alley to the street where the trolley car ran. + +Two or three times after this Dick and his friends heard from +Tom Drake. That young workman never repeated his earlier error. +In time he paid for his home, then began the saving of money +for other purposes. To-day Drake owns his own machine shop and +is highly prosperous. + +Old Reuben Hinman lingered many days between life and death. +At last he recovered, and in time was discharged from the hospital. + +However, his first attempts to run the peddler's wagon again revealed +the fact that the peddler's days on the road were over. He was +no longer strong enough for the hard outdoor life. + +Timothy Hinman and his sisters came forward when the Overseers +of the Poor began to look into the peddler's affairs. These dutiful +children wanted to be sure to obtain whatever might be their share +of their father's belongings. + +Timothy and his sisters obtained their full shares---nothing. + +The Overseers of the Poor found that they could effect an arrangement +by which the peddler's home, his horse and wagon, stock and good +will could be sold for four thousand dollars. + +This was done. With half the money Reuben Hinman was able to +purchase his way into a home for old men. Here he will be maintained, +without further expense, as long as he lives, and he will live +in a degree of comfort amounting, with this simple-minded ex-peddler, +to positive luxury. + +The other two thousand dollars, at the suggestion of the Overseers +of the Poor, was spent in buying an annuity from a life insurance +company. This annuity provides ample spending money for Reuben +Hinman whenever, in fine weather, he wishes to go forth from the +home and enjoy himself in the world at large. + +Timothy has been forced to go to work as a valet. The daughters +tearfully support themselves as milliners. Reuben Hinman long +ago spent the ten dollars received from Lawyer Stark. + +The tramp who accepted work from Dr. Hewitt made good in every +sense of the word. In fact he did so well that, in time, he took +unto himself a wife and is now the head of a family, which lives +in a little cottage built on Dr. Hewitt's estate. The name of +"Jim Joggers" has given way to the real name of that former knight +of the road. However, as the man is sensitive about his idle +past, we prefer to remember him as "Joggers." + +And now we come to the end of the "_High School Boys Vacation +Series_." + +It is to be hoped that these four little volumes have not dwelt +so much upon fun as to make it appear that pleasure is all there +is in the world that is worth while. + +Dick Prescott and his friends were destined to discover that +all the pleasure in the world that is worth anything at all comes +only as the reward of continuous, hard and useful endeavor. + +The further adventures that befell Dick Prescott and his chums +while they were still Gridley High School boys will be found in +the fourth volume of the "_High School Boys Series_," which is published +under the title, "_The High School Captain of the Team; Or, Dick +& Co. Leading the Athletic Vanguard_." + +In that volume, the last dealing with Dick Prescott's high school +days, the value of sports and the worth of honor and faithful +work will be set forth as strongly as lies within the power of +the narrator of these events. + +*** END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 12731 *** 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..42e5dca --- /dev/null +++ b/README.md @@ -0,0 +1,2 @@ +Project Gutenberg (https://www.gutenberg.org) public repository for +eBook #12731 (https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/12731) diff --git a/old/12731.txt b/old/12731.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..0d19cdf --- /dev/null +++ b/old/12731.txt @@ -0,0 +1,7373 @@ +The Project Gutenberg eBook, The High School Boys' Training Hike, 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' Training Hike + +Author: H. Irving Hancock + +Release Date: June 25, 2004 [eBook #12731] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: US-ASCII + + +***START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE HIGH SCHOOL BOYS' TRAINING +HIKE*** + + +E-text prepared by Jim Ludwig + + + +The High School Boys' Training Hike +or +Making Themselves "Hard as Nails" + +By H. Irving Hancock + + + + + + + +CONTENTS + +CHAPTERS + I. Mr. Titmouse Doesn't Know Dick + II. The Deed of a Hero + III. The Peddler and the Lawyer's Half + IV. Peddler Hinman's Next Appearance + V. Dave Does Some Good Work + VI. The No-Breakfast Plan + VII. Making the Tramps Squirm + VIII. When the Peddler Was "Frisked" + IX. Dick Imitates a Tame Indian + X. Reuben Hinman Proves His Mettle + XI. Tom Idealizes Working Clothes + XII. Trouble With the Rah-Rah-Rahs + XIII. A Snub and the Quick Retort + XIV. Dick & Co Make an Apple "Pie" + XV. Making Port in a Storm + XVI. Home, Hospital and Almshouse + XVII. Two Kinds of Hobo +XVIII. Dick Prescott, Knight Errant + XIX. "I'll Fight Him for This Man!" + XX. In the Milksop Class? + XXI. The Revenge Talk at Miller's + XXII. Under the Sting of the Lash +XXIII. Timmy, the Gentleman, at Home + XXIV. Conclusion + + + + + +CHAPTER I + +MR. TITMOUSE DOESN'T KNOW DICK + + +"We thought ten dollars would be about right," Dick Prescott announced. + +"Per week?" inquired Mr. Titmouse, as though he doubted his hearing. + +"Oh, dear, no! For the month of August, sir." + +Mr. Newbegin Titmouse surveyed his young caller through half-closed +eyelids. + +"Ten dollars for the use of that fine wagon for a whole month?" +cried Mr. Titmouse in astonishment. "Absurd!" + +"Very likely I am looking at it from the wrong point of view," +admitted Prescott, who fingered a ten dollar bill and was slowly +smoothing it out so that Mr. Titmouse might see it. + +"That wagon was put together especially for the purpose," Mr. +Titmouse resumed. "It has seats that run lengthwise, and eight +small cupboards and lockers under the seats. There is a place +to secure the cook stove at the rear end of the wagon, and the +stove rests on zinc. Though the wagon is light enough for one +horse to draw it, it will hold all that several people could require +for camping or for leading a regular gipsy life. There is a special +awning that covers the wagon when needed, so that on a rainy day +you can travel without using umbrellas or getting wet. You can +cook equally well on the stove whether in camp or on the road. +There are not many vehicles in which you can cook a full meal +when traveling from one point to another." + +"Nor is it every stewpan or kettle that would refrain from slipping +off the stove when driving the wagon over rough roads," laughed +Dick good-humoredly. + +"Well---er---of course, one has to choose decent roads when touring +with a wagon of that sort," admitted the owner. + +"Then you don't think ten dollars a fair price?" Dick Prescott +inquired thoughtfully. + +"For a month's use of the wagon? I do not," replied Mr. Newbegin +Titmouse with emphasis. + +"And so you decline our offer of ten dollars?" Prescott asked, +looking still more thoughtful. + +"I certainly do," replied Mr. Titmouse. + +Then the owner of the wagon began to descant glowingly upon the +many advantages of going on a road hike aided by the service that +such a specially constructed wagon would give. In fact, Mr. Titmouse +dwelt so enthusiastically upon the value of his wagon that Dick +shrewdly told himself: + +"He's very anxious---unusually so---to rent us that wagon. I've +already found out that he hasn't used the wagon in two years, +nor has he succeeded in renting it to anyone else. The wagon +is so much useless lumber in his stable." + +"I wouldn't rent that wagon to everyone," Mr. Titmouse wound up. + +"No, sir," Dick agreed heartily, yet with a most innocent look +in his face. "Not everyone would want the wagon." + +"I---I don't mean that!" Mr. Titmouse exclaimed. + +"In fact, sir," Dick went on very smoothly, "I have learned that +you have been offering the wagon for sale or hire during the last +two summers, without getting any customers." + +"Eh?" demanded Mr. Titmouse in some astonishment. + +"Naturally, sir," Dick went on, "before coming here to see you +I made a few inquiries in Tottenville. I discovered that in this +vicinity the wagon is something of a joke." + +"What's that?" questioned the other sharply. "My camping wagon +a joke? Nothing of the sort. And, if it is a joke, why did you +want to get it?" + +"Oh, all of our fellows can stand a joke," laughed young Prescott +"So I came over to see just what terms we could make for the use +of your wagon during the month of August." + +"Well, I'll be as fair with you as I can," Mr. Titmouse replied. +"From men---grown men---I would want at least thirty dollars +a month for the wagon---probably thirty-five. Of course I know +that money is not as plentiful with boys. I'll let you have the +wagon for the month of August at the bottom price of twenty-five +dollars." + +Dick smilingly shook his head. + +"I've named the best price I could think of taking," insisted +Mr. Titmouse. "Come into the wagon shed and have another look +at it." + +"Thank you, sir, but there is no use in looking at the wagon again, +when such a price as twenty-five dollars is asked for a month's +hire," Dick answered promptly. + +"Come inside and look at it again, anyway," urged Mr. Titmouse. + +"Thank you, sir, but I must get back to Gridley at the earliest +possible moment." + +"If you didn't want to hire the wagon," asked Mr. Titmouse testily, +"what was the use of taking up my time?" + +"I do want to hire it," Dick admitted, "but since hearing your +price I have realized that I don't want the wagon half as much +as I did at the outset." + +It was notable about Mr. Titmouse that he would gladly talk for +three hours in order to gain a dollar's advantage in any trade +in which he was interested. He was a small man, with small features +and very small eyes which, somehow, suggested gimlets. He bore +about with him always an air of injury, as though deeply sensitive +over the supposed fact that the whole world was concerned in getting +the better of him. + +Though Mr. Titmouse had acquired, through sharp dealing, usury +and in many other ways a considerable sum of money and property +in the course of his life, yet he was not the man to part with +any of it needlessly. + +The special wagon now resting in the wagon shed at his home place +in Tottenville had been designed by him at a time when people +all through the state had been much interested in outdoor life. +The Titmouse wagon had been built as the result of much thought +on the part of its designer. It certainly was a handy kind of +wagon for campers to use on the road. Mr. Titmouse had spent +four weeks of wandering life, going from point to point and trying +to talk up the merits of his wagon. He had hoped to establish +a small factory, there to build such wagons to order at high prices. + +For some reason he had met with no success in that enterprise. +After his realization of failure Newbegin Titmouse had felt that +he would be content if he could sell the wagon at anything like +a good price. Failing to sell it, he hoped to be able to get +his money back through renting the wagon. + +Now he stood watching this high school boy from Gridley, wondering +just how much rental he could extort from this wiry, athletic-looking +football player. + +"There will be a car along in about five minutes," mused Dick +aloud. "I must try to take that car. Thank you very much for +your kindness, Mr. Titmouse." + +"But we haven't come to any understanding yet," cried the wagon's +owner as Dick turned and walked away. + +"Why, yes, we have, sir," Prescott answered pleasantly over his +shoulder. "We have come to the understanding that you can't afford +to come down to our price, and that we can't go up to yours. +So I'm going back to make some other arrangements for a wagon." + +"Wait a minute!" interjected Newbegin Titmouse, stepping after +the boy from Gridley. "Maybe I can drop off a dollar or so on +the price." + +"Much obliged, sir; but it wouldn't help us any, and it's almost +time for the car," was Prescott's answer. + +"What's your best offer? Make it!" urged Mr. Titmouse restlessly. + +"Seven dollars for the wagon for the month of August," Prescott +replied. + +"Seven? Why, only a minute or two ago you offered me ten dollars!" + +"I know it, sir," said Dick coolly. "You will recall that you +declined that offer, so I am at liberty to make a new offer." + +"You'll have to make a better-----" + +"If you decline seven dollars," Dick smiled pleasantly, "my next +offer, if I make one, will not go above six." + +Mr. Titmouse felt, of a sudden, very certain that the high school +boy would stand by that threat. + +"Seven dollars doesn't land me clear for the season," complained +Newbegin Titmouse. "I've spent nine dollars already in advertising +the wagon." + +"Then, if you don't take my seven dollars," Prescott proposed, +"you'll be out quite a bit of money, Mr. Titmouse. I see my car +coming in the distance. So good-----" + +"I'll take ten!" called Mr. Titmouse, as Dick once more turned +away. + +"Six," smiled Dick significantly. "But I haven't time to stay +here and dicker, sir. Good-----" + +"Hold on!" fairly screamed Mr. Titmouse, as Dick, nodding at him, +started to run to the corner. + +"Then I'll stop and talk it over with you, sir," answered Prescott, +going back. "But I don't say that I'll agree to take the wagon." + +"Now, don't you try to work the price down any lower," exclaimed +Mr. Titmouse, looking worried. + +"No, sir; I won't do that," Dick promised. "I won't say, yet, +that I'll take the wagon, but I will agree that I'll either take +it at six dollars or refuse the chance altogether. I've just +happened to think of something that I want to make sure about" + +"What is it?" asked Mr. Titmouse apprehensively. + +"I forgot to look at the tires on the wheels," Prescott went on. +"I want to make sure that they're sound, so that we fellows won't +have to take the chance of paying a blacksmith to make new ones +before we've been out a week." + +The tires were in excellent condition, so the little man had no +objection whatever to showing them. + +"Good, so far," nodded Prescott. "Now, next, I'd enjoy looking +at the axles and the hub-nuts." + +"You're not the lad who is going to allow himself to be cheated," +laughed Mr. Titmouse admiringly. "The hubs and axles are all +right, so I've no objection to showing them to you." + +"I'm satisfied with the wagon," Dick declared, a few minutes later. +"Now, Mr. Titmouse, I'll pay you the six dollars if you'll make +out a satisfactory receipt for the money." + +"Come into the office and tell me what you want me to say in the +receipt," urged Newbegin Titmouse, leading the way across the +stable into a little room in the furthermost corner. + +The receipt was soon made out, the money paid and the receipt +in Dick's pocket. + +"I'll either come for the wagon myself, or send one of the other +fellows," Dick promised. "If I send for it I'll also send a written +order." + +"I hope you boys will have a pleasant time this summer," chirped +Mr. Titmouse, who, though he had been badly out-generaled in the +trade, had at least the satisfaction of knowing that there was +some money in his pocket that had come to him by sheer good luck. + +"We're going to try to have the finest good time that a crowd +of fellows ever had," Dick replied, after nodding his thanks. +"I've missed that car, and shall have quite a little wait." + +"Perhaps you'd like to sit under a tree and eat a few apples," +suggested Mr. Titmouse. + +Dick was about to accept the invitation with thanks when Mr. Titmouse +added: + +"I've a lot of fine summer apples I gathered yesterday. I'll +let you have three for five cents." + +This attempt at petty trade, almost in the guise of hospitality, +struck Dick as being so utterly funny that he could not help laughing +outright. + +"Thank you, Mr. Titmouse," he replied. "I don't believe I'll +eat any apples just now." + +"I might make it four for a nickel," coaxed the little man, "if +you agree not to pick out the largest apples." + +"Thank you, but I don't believe I'll eat any apples at all just +now," Dick managed to reply, then made his escape in time to avoid +laughing in Mr. Titmouse's face. + +Once out on the street, and knowing that he had some twenty minutes +to wait for the next car, Dick strolled slowly along. + +"I didn't know that boy," muttered Newbegin Titmouse, looking +after Prescott with a half admiring gaze, "and I didn't size him +up right. He offered me ten dollars, and then got the wagon for +six. Whew! I don't believe I ever before got off so badly as +that in a trade. But I really did spend five-fifty in advertising +the wagon in the Tottenville and Gridley papers this summer, +so I'm fifty cents ahead, anyway, and a fifty-cent piece is always +equivalent to half a dollar!" + +With which sage reflection Mr. Newbegin Titmouse went out into +his small orchard to see whether he had overlooked any summer +apples that were worth two dollars a barrel. + +Dick sauntered down the street for a few blocks ere he heard the +whirr of a Gridley-bound trolley car behind him. He quickened +his pace until he reached the next corner. There he signaled +to the motorman. + +As the car slowed down Dick swung himself on nimbly, remarking +to the conductor: + +"Don't make a real stop for me. Drive on!" + +As Prescott passed inside the car he was greeted by a pleasant-faced, +well-dressed young man. It was Mr. Luce, one of the sub-masters +of Gridley High School. Dick dropped into a seat beside him. + +"Been tramping a bit, Prescott?" inquired the sub-master. + +"No, sir; I've been over here on a little matter of business, +but I expect to start, in a day or two, on a few weeks of tramping." + +Thereupon young Prescott fell to describing the trip that he, +Dave Darrin, Greg Holmes, Dan Dalzell, Tom Reade and Harry Hazelton +had mapped out for themselves. + +"Just for pleasure?" asked Mr. Luce. + +"No, sir; for training. We all hope to make the football team +this fall. We're all of us in pretty good shape, too, I think, +sir; but we're going out on this training hike to see if we can't +work ourselves down as hard as nails." + +"I'd like to go with you," nodded the sub-master. + +"Can't you do it, sir?" asked Dick eagerly, for Mr. Luce was a +favorite with all the boys. + +"Unfortunately, I can't," replied the submaster. "I'm expected +at home. My mother and sister claim me for this month. But I +wish I could go, just the same." + +"You would be most welcome I assure you, sir," replied Dick warmly. + +"Thank you, Prescott," returned Mr. Luce with a smile. "I appreciate +your invitation and regret that I cannot accept it." + +The conversation again turned to the subject of the coming football +season, and an animated discussion ensued, as Sub-master Luce +was an enthusiastic advocate of football. + +Suddenly, Dick, glancing ahead out of the window, turned pale. +Without a word of explanation he sprang from his seat and made +a bound for the nearer car door, the rear one. + +"Everyone off! Stop the car! Hustle!" shouted the high school +boy. "Mr. Luce! Come on. Quick!" + +By the time the last words were uttered Dick had made a flying +leap from the car platform. + +By good luck, rather more than by expert work, he landed on his +feet. Not an instant did he lose, but dashed along at full speed. + +John Luce, though he had no inkling of what had caused the excitement, +sprang after Dick. + +Dick, however, had not waited to see if the sub-master had followed +him. His horror-filled eyes, as he ran, were turned straight +ahead. + +It needed but a few steps to carry him across the road. He bounded +into a field where a loaded hay wagon stood near an apple tree. + +The horses had been led away to be fed. Seated on the top of +the hay were a boy of barely six and a girl not more than four +years old. They were awaiting the return of the farmer. + +Down below a six-year-old boy, barefooted and brown as a gipsy, +had appeared on the scene during the farmer's absence. + +"For fun" this youngster had been lighting match after match, +making believe to set the hay afire. As he held the matches as +close to the dried hay as he dared, this urchin on the ground +called to the two babies above that he would "burn 'em up." + +Not all of this did Dick Prescott know, but his glance through +the car window had shown him the boy on the ground just as that +tiny fellow had lighted another match, shouting tantalizingly +to the two children on top of the load of hay. + +Just as he called up to them the mischievous youngster tripped +slightly. Throwing out his right hand to save himself the boy +accidentally touched the bottom of the load at one side with the +lighted match. + +At this fateful instant it was out of the question to think of +putting out the flame that leaped from wisp to wisp of the dried +grass. + +"Jump!" shouted the young match-burner, but the children above +did not hear, or else did not realize their plight. + +"Fire! Fire!" screamed the little incendiary, as he ran panic-stricken +toward the farm house. + +And now Dick was racing as he had never done before, even over +the football gridiron. On his speed depended the lives of the +two children. + + + + +CHAPTER II + +THE DEED OF A HERO + + +At the moment of Dick's leap from the car, Sub-master Luce did +not know what had happened. He realized in an instant what was +the matter, and made frantic efforts to reach the scene at the +same moment with Prescott. + +Dick, however, kept the lead. + +As the flames shot up through the hay the children on top of the +hay began to gather a sense of their awful danger. + +Seconds---fractions of seconds---were of priceless value now---if +lives were to be saved. + +There was still time for the two children to jump over the side +on which the flames had not yet appeared, but they were too badly +frightened to know what to do. + +If they should jump where the flames were leaping up they were +almost certain to have their clothing catch fire, with fatal burns +as a result. + +Dick felt that he did not have time to shout to the frightened +children. Besides, his commands would likely serve only to confuse +them the more. + +Terror-stricken the two little ones clasped each other and stood +screaming with fear on the top of the load. + +Dick's quick eye had taken in the only chance in this terrifying +situation. + +Straight for the apple tree he bounded, his first leap carrying +him into a crotch in the tree a few feet above the ground. + +Out he sprang, now, on a limb of the tree that most nearly overhung +the load of hay. + +That limb sagged under him---creaked---threatened to snap off +under his weight. + +But young Prescott, wholly heedless of his own safety, and with +only one object in mind, scrambled out on the creaking limb as +far as he could; then, with a prayer on his lips, he made a wild, +strenuous leap. + +Sub-master Luce turned white as he saw what Dick had attempted +to do. Had he been made of more timorous stuff the high school +teacher would have closed his eyes for that awful instant. + +As it was, John Luce saw young Prescott land at the rear end of +the load. + +Dick felt himself slipping. For one frenzied second, he feared +that he had failed. Young Strongheart that he was, he braced +all his muscles for the supreme effort---and drew himself up to +safer footing on the hay. + +Then, like an eagle, he swooped down upon the children. The little +girl he snatched from her tiny brother's clasp. + +"Here!" called Sub-master Luce from the further side. + +Brief as the time was Dick Prescott calculated the distance like +lightning. There was no time to call back to Mr. Lucen---nor +need to do so. + +Aiming with all the precision at his command, Dick threw the child +from him. + +His aim splendidly true, he had the joy of seeing the child land +in Mr. Luce's arms. + +Without a moment's loss of time Prescott now snatched up the shrieking +boy. + +"Ready!" shouted Dick, and a second little body was thrown through +the air. + +Again did John Luce do credit to his college baseball training, +for, hurriedly placing the girl baby on the ground he put up his +hands to receive the boy. + +"Jump yourself, Prescott!" bawled the submaster hoarsely. + +But Dick was already in the air. With the flames shooting up +and seeming fairly to lick his face, Dick had had no time to calculate +his jump. + +On the ground, some feet beyond the wagon, Prescott landed, sprawling +on all fours. + +He leaped up, however, his face twitching yet with a laugh on +his lips. + +Behind him the whole load of hay now flared up, crackling and +hissing. + +"Hurry back out of the heat!" yelled John Luce, leaping forward, +seizing young Prescott and dragging him several yards away. + +Dick turned in time to see the whole glowing mass cave in. + +Had he arrived on the scene a few seconds later than he did both +children would have perished miserably. + +Now, from the house came a white-faced man, running as though +some demon animated him. Behind him came a woman even paler. + +Toward father and mother ran the pair of little tots, wholly unmindful +of their rescuers. + +As for the older, match-burning boy, that youngster half scared +to death, had dashed away into hiding to escape the wrath that +he knew must soon seek him. + +"That was simply magnificent, Prescott!" said the sub-master +enthusiastically. "But I honestly believed that it would be your +last good deed." + +While the sub-master spoke he was running both hands up and down +over the high school boy's clothing, putting out many glowing +sparks that had found lodgment in the cloth. + +"It was easy," smiled Dick. "Thank goodness I saw the trouble +in time!" + +"There are others who are thankful that you saw it in time," uttered +John Luce, as he looked toward the parents, now coming up as fast +as they could, each with a child clasped in arms. + +From the road went up a loud cheer. The trolley car had been +halted and backed down to the scene. Though there were few people +on the car, they made up amply in enthusiasm for their lack of +numbers. + +As for the farmer and his wife, though they tried to thank Dick +and Mr. Luce, they were too completely overcome with emotion to +express themselves intelligibly. + +The wagon that had held the hay was now blazing fiercely. As +for the hay, that had already burned to a fine powder. + +"How---how did you ever get here in time?" cried the rejoicing +mother brokenly. + +It was the conductor of the trolley car, just reaching the spot, +who told how Dick Prescott and Mr. Luce had leaped from the moving +car. The sub-master described Dick's feat in climbing the apple +tree and leaping from the limb of the tree to the top of the loaded +hay wagon. + +"It was a nervy thing for any man to do!" choked the farmer, tears +of joy running down his cheeks. + +"It was just like Dick Prescott," replied John Luce simply. + +As soon as possible Dick and the sub-master made their escape +from the earnest protestations of gratitude of the farmer and +his wife, though they did not go until Mr. Luce had persuaded +the parents not to whip the mischievous match-burner, but to content +themselves with pointing out to the little rascal the dreadful +possibilities of such pranks. + +At last, however, Dick and Mr. Luce returned to the car followed +by the other passengers. The conductor gave the go-ahead signal, +and the motor-man started in to try to make up some of the time +lost from his schedule. + +Dick, as soon as he reached Gridley, went up to Greg Holmes' house, +where he knew his chums would be waiting to learn the result of +his Tottenville trip. + +That evening Sub-master Luce chanced to take a stroll up Main +Street. As the offices of the "Morning Blade" were lighted up, +Mr. Luce stepped inside, seeking Editor Pollock in the editorial +room. + +"Is Prescott about?" asked Mr. Luce, for Dick, as our readers +know, earned many a dollar as a "space-writer"; that is, he was +paid so much a column for furnishing and writing up local news. + +"Dick went out about ten minutes ago," replied Mr. Pollock. + +"Was he here long?" + +"About fifteen minutes." + +"By the way, Mr. Pollock," the sub-master went on, "what do you +think of Dick's latest feat?" + +"Which one?" + +"His fine work over on the Tottenville road this afternoon?" + +"I haven't heard of it," replied Mr. Pollock, opening his eyes. + +"Come to think of it," rejoined John Luce, "and knowing young +Prescott as I do, I don't suppose you have heard of it---not from +Prescott, at all events." + +Then the sub-master told the story of the burning load of hay +in a way that made the "Blade's" editor reach hastily for pencil +and paper that he might take notes. + +"That's just the kind of story that Dick Prescott never could +be depended upon to bring in here---if he was the central character +in it," observed the editor quietly. + +Despite the failure of Dick to bring in this particular story, +however, the "Blade," the next morning, printed more than a column +from the data furnished by Mr. Luce. + +Dick, however, didn't hear of it---in Gridley. It was Harry Hazelton, +who, at four o'clock, mounted a horse he had hired for the trip +and rode over to Tottenville, where the camp wagon was obtained +from Mr. Newbegin Titmouse. Hazelton wasted no time on the road, +but drove as fast as the horse could comfortably travel. + +It was but a few minutes after six o'clock, that August morning, +when Dick Prescott and his five chums, collectively famous as +Dick & Co., drove out of Gridley. + +Harry Hazelton was now the driver, the other five high school +boys walking briskly just ahead of the wagon. + +Mr. Titmouse's special vehicle carried all that Dick & Co. would +need in the near future, and the six boys were setting out on +what was destined to be their most famous vacation jaunt. + + + + +CHAPTER III + +THE PEDDLER AND THE LAWYER'S HALF + + +Just before leaving Gridley, Greg Holmes had bought a copy of +the "Blade" from a newsboy. + +Three miles out, the chums enjoyed their first halt. + +"Ten minutes' rest under this tree," Dick announced, for already +the August morning sun was beating down upon them. + +Greg drew out his copy of the newspaper, unfolding it. + +"Say!" he yelled suddenly. + +"Stop that," commanded Tom Reade, "or you'll make the horse run +away and wreck our outfit." + +"But this paper says-----" + +"Stop it," ordered Tom with a scowl. "I know what you're going +to do. You'll read us some exciting stuff, and get us all worked +up, and then in the last paragraph you'll stumble on the fact +that some well-known Tottenville man was cured of all his ailments +by Brown's Blood Bitters." + +"Can you hold your tongue a minute?" demanded Greg ironically. + +"Not when I see you headed that way," retorted Reade. "I've been +fooled by the same style of exciting item, and I know how cheap +it makes a fellow feel when he comes to the name of the Bitters, +the Pills or the Sarsaparilla. Holmesy, I want to save your face +for you with this crowd." + +"Will you keep quiet, for a moment, and let the other fellows +hear, even if you have to take a walk in order to save your own +ears?" demanded Greg, with sarcasm. "This piece is about Dick +Prescott, and he doesn't sign patent medicine test-----" + +"Dick Prescott?" demanded Darrin. "Whoop! Let's have it!" + +"It isn't a roast, is it?" demanded Danny Grin solemnly. + +"No; it isn't," Greg went on. "Listen, while I read the headlines." + +It was a four-line heading, beginning with "Dick Prescott's Fine +Nerve." + +"There! I was afraid it was a roast, after all," sighed Danny +Grin. + +"Take that fellow away and muzzle him," ordered Greg, then proceeded +to read the other sections of the headlines. + +By this time Greg had a very attentive audience. Even Tom Reade +had ceased to scoff. + +"Oh, bosh!" gasped Dick, when Greg was about one third of the +way through the column article. + +"Isn't it true?" demanded Dave. + +"After a fashion," Dick admitted. + +"Then hold off and be good while the rest of us hear about yesterday's +doings." + +So Dick stood by, his face growing redder and redder as the reading +proceeded. + +"That's what I call a dandy story," declared Greg as he finished +reading. + +"Dick, why didn't you tell us something about it last night?" +demanded Hazelton. + +"What was the use?" asked Prescott. "And, though I've always +thought the 'Blade' a fine local newspaper, I don't quite approve +of Mr. Pollock's judgment of news values in this instance. I +suspect that Mr. Pollock must have been away, and that Mr. Bradley, +the news editor, ran this in." + +"It sounds like some of Len Spencer's stuff," guessed Dave. "He's +great on local events." + +"If they had to print the yarn, eight or ten lines would have +covered it," Dick declared. "Fellows, we've used up eighteen +minutes for our halt, instead of ten. Come on!" + +Greg, however, after rising, and before starting, was careful +to fold the "Blade" neatly and to tuck it away in a pocket. He +meant to save that news story. + +All of our readers are familiar with the lives and doings of Dick +Prescott and his friends up to date. + +"Dick & Co.," as the boys styled their unorganized club of chums, +was made up of the six boys, who had been fast friends back in +their days of study at the Central Grammar School of Gridley. + +They had been together in everything, and notably so in athletics +and sports. All that befell them in their later days at Central +Grammar School is told fully in the four volumes of the "_Grammar +School Boys Series_." + +Yet it was when these same boys entered Gridley High School that +they came into the fullest measure of their local fame and popularity. +Even as freshmen they found a chance to accomplish far more for +school athletics than is usually permitted to freshmen. It was +due to their efforts that athletics were put on a sound financial +basis in the Gridley High School. All this and more is described +in the first volume of the "_High School Boys Series_," entitled +"_The High School Freshmen_." + +But it was in the second volume of that series, "_The High School +Pitcher_," that our readers found Dick & Co. entered fully in +the training squads of one of the most famous of American high +schools. As described in the third volume, "_The High School +Left End_," Dick & Co. were transferred from the baseball nine +to the gridiron eleven, and by this time had become the undisputed +athletic leaders of Gridley High School. These honors they had +not won without tremendous opposition, especially by the formation +of the notorious "Sorehead Squad" to oppose their hard earned +supremacy in football. Yet Dick & Co. ever went strenuously forward, +in manly, clean-cut fashion, working unceasingly for the furthering +of honest American sport. Between the plottings of their enemies +and a host of adventures on all sides, the school life of Dick +& Co. proved exciting indeed. + +In the "_High School Boys' Vacation Series_" our readers have +followed the summer doings of Dick & Co. as distinguished from +the doings of their crowded school years. The first volume devoted +to the vacations of Dick & Co., "_The High School Boys' Canoe +Club_," describes the adventures of our lads in an Indian war +canoe which even their slender financial resources enabled them +to buy at an auction sale of the effects of a stranded Wild West +Show. In the second volume of this series, "_The High School +Boys In Summer Camp_," our readers came upon an even more exciting +narrative of keenly enjoyed summer doings, replete with lively +adventures. In that volume the activities of Tag Mosher, a strangely +odd character, kept Dick & Co. continually on the alert. In the +third volume of the vacation series, entitled "_The High School +Boys' Fishing Trip_," were chronicled the things that befell Dick +& Co. while away on a fishing expedition that became famous in +the annals of Gridley school days. This third volume was full +to the brim with the sort of adventures that boys most love. +Some old enemies of Dick & Co. appeared; how they were put to +rout is well known to all our readers. How Dick & Co. played +a huge joke, and several smaller ones upon their enemies, is described +in that volume. + +In this present volume will be recounted all that befell Dick +& Co. in August after completing their junior year in Gridley +High School, just as the preceding or third volume dealt with +the happenings of July of that same summer. + +After that first halt Dick & Co. plodded on for another hour. +But Prescott, noting that Hazelton was still on the driver's +seat of the camp wagon, blandly inquired: + +"Harry, if you sit up there, lazily holding the reins, how do +you expect to get your share of the training work of this hike?" + +"Perhaps I'd rather have the comfort than the training work," +laughed Hazelton. + +"That will never do!" smiled Dick. "Suppose you climb down and +let Danny Grin take your place at the reins until the next halt. +I suspect that Danny boy already has a few pebbles in his shoes, +and that he'll be glad enough to look over the world from the +driver's seat." + +"I'm willing to sacrifice myself for the good of the expedition, +anyway," sighed Dalzell, as Harry drew rein. "Come down with +you, Hazy, and begin to share the delights of this walking match!" + +The change of drivers made, Dick & Co. plodded on again. + +"It seems to me that we ought to put on more speed," suggested +Dave Darrin. + +"Are you in a hurry to get somewhere, Darry?" drawled Tom Reade. + +"No," Dave replied, "but, if we're out for training, it seems +to me that we had better do brisker walking than we're doing now, +even if the horse can't keep up with us." + +"We're making about three miles and a half an hour," Dick responded. + +"But will that be work enough to make us as hard as nails?" persisted +Darry. + +"We're getting over the ground as fast as the troops of the regular +army usually travel," Prescott rejoined. "I believe our regulars +are generally regarded as rather perfect specimens in the walking +line. We might move along at a speed of six miles, and might +keep it up for an hour. Then we'd be footsore, and all in. If +the first hour didn't do it, the second hour would. But if we +plug along in this deliberate fashion, and get over fifteen, eighteen +or twenty miles a day, and keep it up, I don't believe any one +of you fellows will complain, September first, that he isn't as +hard and solid as he wants to be---even for bucking the football +lines, of other high schools." + +"I know that I can be satisfied with this gait," murmured Reade. + +"If Darry wants to move faster," suggested Hazelton, "why not +tell him where to wait for us, and let him gallop ahead?" + +"I'll stay with the rest of you," Darry retorted. "All I want +to make sure of is that we're going to get the most out of our +training work this summer." + +"I'll tell you what you might do, Dave, by way of extra exercise +and hardening," offered Tom. + +"What?" asked Dave suspiciously. + +"I believe we're going to halt every hour for a brief rest" + +"Yes." + +"While the five of us are resting under the trees, Darry, you +might climb the trees, swinging from limb to limb and leaping +from tree to tree. Of course you'll select trees that are not +directly over our heads." + +"Humph!" retorted Dave. + +"Try it, anyway," urged Tom, "it's fine exercise, even if you +give it up after a while." + +"I'll try it as often as you do," Darrin agreed with a grin. + +Their second halt found the high school boys more than six miles +from their starting point. + +On this trip they were not heading in the direction they had followed +on their fishing trip. Instead, they were traveling in the opposite +direction from Gridley, through a fairly populous farming region. + +At a quarter-past ten o'clock Dick called for another halt. The +road map that the boys had brought along showed them that they +were now eleven miles from Gridley. + +"Pretty fair work," muttered Tom, "considering that these roads +were built by men who had never seen any better kind." + +"We can more than double the distance," suggested Dave, "before +we go into camp for the night." + +"If we hike a couple more miles this morning, then halt, get the +noon meal and rest until two o'clock," replied young Prescott, +"I think we shall do better." + +"If we've gone only eleven miles," protested Darrin, "then I'm +certainly good for twenty-five miles in all to-day, and I believe +the rest of you are, too." + +"Wait until we've done eighteen or twenty miles," Prescott proposed. +"Then we can take a vote about making it twenty-five." + +"For one thing," Darry objected, "none of us actually walks twenty-five +miles when we cover that distance. We take turns riding on the +wagon, and, as there are six of us, that means that each fellow +rides something like four miles of the distance covered." + +"What Darry is driving at," proposed Danny Grin, "is that he wants +to devote himself wholly to walking hereafter. He doesn't care +about driving the horse." + +"I'm big enough and cranky enough to do my own talking, when there +is any reason for my entering into the conversation," smiled Dave. + +At a little after eleven that morning, when thirteen and a half +miles had been covered, all hands were willing enough to halt +and rest, prepare luncheon and rest again. + +"But I still hope we shall cover the twenty-five miles to-day," +Darry insisted. + +"No difficulty about that, either," declared Harry Hazelton. +"Darry, while we are swapping stories over the campfire this evening +you can take a lantern and do an extra five miles by way of an +evening walk. Then you'll be tired enough to sleep." + +"I'll see about it," Darrin laughed. + +"And that's the last we'll hear about it," Tom predicted dryly. + +"It is the experience of every military commander, so I've read," +Dick went on, "that a long march the first day of a big hike is +no especially good sign of how the soldiers will hold out to the +end. On the contrary, military men have found that it's better +to march a shorter distance on the first day and to work up gradually +to a good standard of performance." + +"All right," agreed Hazelton. "For one, I'm willing to take a +rest after eating, and then take the afternoon for getting acquainted +with this pretty grove." + +"We won't quite do that, either, if I have my way," Prescott laughed. +"We ought to do a few miles this afternoon, but not set out to +do any record-breaking or back-breaking stunt." + +"There goes hazy's dream up in the air," laughed Greg. "I just +knew that Hazy was planning how to spend the afternoon napping." + +"I'll volunteer to drive all the way, this afternoon," Harry offered. +"That will give all of you fellows a chance to harden yourselves +more on the first day." + +"If you want to know a good definition of 'generosity,' then ask +Hazy," snorted Dalzell. + +"Come on!" cried Dick good-humoredly. "Scatter. Some for wood, +some for water. Tom and I will get the kitchen kit ready for +a meal. But we must have the wood and water before we can prepare +luncheon." + +At that suggestion of something to eat there was a general rush +to get things in readiness. As soon as a fire was going in the +stove in the wagon, Dick put on a frying pan. Into this he dropped +several slices of bacon. Tom, over a fire built on the ground, +set the coffee-pot going. In a pot on the stove Dick put potatoes +to cook. + +Now Dave rattled out the dishes, as soon as Greg and Hazy had +set up the folding table. Dan placed the chairs. + +"Get ready!" called Dick, as soon as he had fried two platters +full of bacon and eggs. Tom, will you try the potatoes?" + +"Done," responded Reade, after prodding the potatoes with a fork. + +"What shall we do with the food that's left over?" asked Danny +Grin, as he began to eat. + +"There isn't going to be any food left over," Dick laughed. "You +fellows will be lucky, indeed, if you get as much as you want." + +Everyone was satisfied, however, by the time that the meal was +finished. + +"Greg and Harry may have the pleasure of washing the dishes," +Dick suggested. + +"Oh, dear!" grunted Hazy, but he went at his task without further +remarks. + +Before one o'clock everything was in readiness for going forward +again, save for putting the horse between the shafts of the wagon. +Prescott, however, put a proposition to rest until two o'clock +before his chums. It was unanimously carried. + +Despite his desire for a walking record that day, Darry proved +quite willing to lie off at full length in the shade of the trees +and doze as much as the flies would permit. + +Dick and Tom strolled slowly down toward the road, halting by +a couple of trees. + +"There's something you don't often see, nowadays," spoke up Tom +after a while. + +He nodded back up the road. Coming in the same direction that +the boys themselves had traveled was a faded, queer-looking old +red wagon, much decorated on the outside by a lot of hanging, +swinging tin and agate ware. + +"That's the old-fashioned tin-peddler that I've heard a good deal +about as being a common enough character some forty years ago," +said Prescott. "Our grandmothers used to save up meat-bones, +rags and bottles and trade them off to the peddler, receiving +tinware in return." + +"The man on that wagon was doing business forty years ago," remarked +Tom. "In fact, judging by his appearance, he must have been quite +a veteran at the business even forty years ago." + +A bent, little old man it was who was perched upon the seat of +the red wagon. Once upon a time his hair had been tawny. Now +it was streaked liberally with gray. He was smoking a black +little wooden pipe and paying small attention to the sad-eyed, +bony horse between the shafts. There was a far-away, rather dull +look in the old peddler's eyes. + +Just before he reached the boys, whom he had not seen, he took +a piece of paper from his pocket, pulled his spectacles down from +his forehead and read the paper. + +"I don't understand it," muttered the peddler, aloud. "I can't +understand it. I wish I had someone to give me the right of it." + +"Could we be of any service, sir?" Reade inquired. + +Hearing a human voice so close at hand the peddler started for +an instant. Then he pulled in the horse. + +"I dunno whether you can be of much use to me," answered the peddler +slowly. "You don't look old enough to know much about business." + +"Still, I know more than anyone would think, from just looking +at me," volunteered Reade, reddening a bit as he saw the laughter +in Dick Prescott's eyes. + +"Maybe you can explain this riddle," went on the peddler, extending +the sheet of white paper. "It can't do any harm to give you a +chance. You see, I had a bill of twenty dollars against Bill +Peterson. The bill had been running three years, and I couldn't +get anything out of Bill but promises without any exact dates +tied to 'em. I needed the money as bad as Bill did, so at last +I went to Lawyer Stark to see what could be done about it. Lawyer +Stark said he'd tackle the job if I'd give him half. I agreed +to that, for half a loaf is better'n nothing at all, as you may +have heard. Then weeks went by, and I heard nothing from Squire +Stark. So the other night I writ a letter, asking him how the +collection of the bill was coming on. This is the answer he sends +me." + +So Tom read aloud, from the typewritten sheet, the following +remarkably brief communication: + +"Dear Sir: Answering your letter of yesterday's date, I have to +advise you that I have collected my half of the Peterson bill. +Your half I regard as extremely doubtful." + +This was signed with the name of Lawyer Stark. + +Tom Reade glanced through the note again, then gave vent to a +shout of laughter. + +"Eh?" asked the peddler looking puzzled. + +"I beg your pardon, sir," replied Reade instantly. "I shouldn't +have laughed, but this struck me, at first, as one of the funniest +letters I ever saw. So the lawyer has collected his half of the +twenty and regards the collection of your half as exceedingly +doubtful!" + +"Shouldn't Lawyer Stark give me half of the ten he got from Bill +Peterson?" asked the peddler anxiously. + +"Undoubtedly he should," Tom assented, "and just as undoubtedly +he hasn't any idea of doing so." + +"What do you say, young man?" inquired the peddler, turning to +young Prescott. + +"Why, sir, if you are asking about your legal chance of getting +half of that ten dollars from the lawyer," Dick answered, "then +I'm afraid you stand a poor show. If the lawyer won't pay you +the money, then you would have to sue him. Even if you won the +suit, the fight would cost you a good deal more than the amount +you would recover. And the lawyer might beat you, even if you +sued him." + +"Then---what's the answer?" demanded the peddler slowly. + +"I know the answer," said Tom confidently, "but it would be a +shame to tell you, sir." + +"Just the same, I wish you would," replied the peddler coaxingly. + +"The answer," replied Reade, "is that you have been cheated." + +"But it looks to me like a mean trick," Dick went on. + +"What am I going to do about it?" asked the peddler wonderingly. + +"I don't believe you can do anything about it, sir," Prescott +answered, "unless you are willing to sue the lawyer, or can make +him agree to fair play. But I certainly would drop in to see +him and tell him that you expect just half of what he has so far +collected." + +"I believe I'll do that," replied Peddler Hinman, judging from +the address on the letter, that was his name. "I don't like +to be made a fool of by any man---especially when I need money +as badly as any other man on my route." + +Dick took a sweeping glance at the peddler's shabby attire. While, +of course, the size of a man's bank account cannot be judged from +his wardrobe, Mr. Hinman had the appearance of needing money as +much as he declared. The horse, too, looked as though a generous +feed of oats would do him good. + +"And to think of all the things I know about Squire Stark, too," +murmured Mr. Hinman, apparently speaking to himself and not realizing +that his words carried to the boys' ears. "If he had a little +more judgment, Silas Stark would treat me with more fairness." + +"I'm very sorry if I seemed too much amused," Tom apologized earnestly, +"but that letter, apart from its meaning to you, really is funny." + +"I---I suppose so," assented Reuben Hinman sighing, and the far-away +look returning to his eyes. "But I---I need the money!" + +"And both of us hope that you will get it, sir, the whole of your +half," said Dick Prescott heartily. + +"Anyway, I'm much obliged to both of you boys," said the peddler. +"Giddap, Prince!" + +Somehow, both boys thought that Reuben Hinman drooped more on +the seat of his wagon than before. He drove off slowly, evidently +doing a lot of hard thinking. + +"Poor old man!" muttered Tom sympathetically. + +"He looks a bit slow-witted," Prescott suggested. "I'm afraid +he has always been going through life wondering at the doings +of others, and especially at the success of unprincipled men he +has had to deal with." + +"Do you know," remarked Reade, gazing after the bent, huddled +little figure, "I've a notion that there has been a lot in that +poor fellow's life that has been downright tragic." + +Tragic? Without doubt! Moreover, though Dick could not guess +it, he and his friends were soon to be mixed up in the tragic +side of Peddler Hinman's life. + + + + +CHAPTER IV + +PEDDLER HINMAN'S NEXT APPEARANCE + + +Camp was made at half-past four that afternoon, nineteen miles +having been covered. The tent was pitched in a bit of woods, +not far from the road, permission from the owner having been secured. + +Dave had asked the owner if they might picket the horse out to +graze, but Dick had instantly objected. + +"We don't want to feed our hired horse on green grass if we're +going to work him hard." + +"That's right," agreed the farmer, so twenty cents' worth of hay +was purchased, to be added to the feed of oats. + +"It's some fun to travel this way when we know we have money enough +to pay our way like men," Tom Reade remarked exultingly. + +For Dick & Co. were well supplied with funds. As told in the +preceding volume in this series, they had, during July, realized +enough from the sale of black bass and brook trout to enable them +to have a thoroughly good time during this present month of August. + +"Oh, Hazy!" called Reade, when it became time to think of supper. + +"Here," reported Harry, rising from a cot in the tent and coming +outside. + +"It's time for you and Dan to rustle the firewood and bring in +more water," Reade went on. + +"All right," agreed Hazelton. "Where's Dan?" + +Where, indeed, was Dalzell? That soon became a problem for all five +of the other boys. Danny Grin was nowhere in sight. + +"Dan! Oh, Dan!" Dave shouted. + +"Where is that grinning monkey of a football player?" demanded +Tom in disgust. "Did any of you fellows see him go away from +camp?" + +It turned out that none of them had. + +"It isn't like Dalzell to run away from his share of the work, +either," added Greg Holmes. + +"If he won't stay and do his share toward getting supper, then +he ought to be passed up at table," grumbled Darrin. + +"Before we pass sentence," proposed Dick, "won't it be better +to wait and find out whether he's guilty of shirking this time?" + +"I suppose it would be better," Darrin admitted. + +So the boys continued their preparations. + +"What shall we have for the main thing to eat to-night?" Dick +inquired, after supper preparations were well under way. + +"Canned corned beef?" suggested Greg. + +"That would be about as good as anything," Tom nodded. "It means +two salted meats in one day, but this country is well supplied +with water." + +"We can't ask Danny Grin's preference this evening," Dick laughed. +"I wonder what Dan would like, anyway?" + +"Who's taking my name in vain?" demanded a laughing voice, as +Dalzell appeared between the trees. + +"Oh, you-----" + +"Shirk!" Reade had been about to add, when Danny held up a fat +string of fish. These were horned-pouts, sometimes called "bull-heads." + +"How many?" asked Dick promptly. + +"Nineteen---one for every mile we made in getting close to the +creek," Dan rejoined. + +"Great!" cried Greg. "We haven't had any fish, either, since +we returned from our trip to the second lake." + +"How do you cook bull-heads?" Dave wondered aloud. + +"With the aid of fire," Hazy informed him with an air of superior +knowledge. + +"But I mean---I mean------" uttered Darry disgustedly, "how do +you prepare bull-heads for cooking?" + +"First of all, you clean 'em, as in the case of any other fish," +proclaimed Tom Reade. "I defy any fellow to dispute me on that +point." + +"And then you wet the bull-head and roll him in corn meal, next +dropping him into the pan and frying him to a fine brown," Dick +supplemented. + +"But we haven't any corn meal," objected Hazy. + +"Yes, we have," Prescott corrected. "I saw to that last night. +You fellows jump in and clean these fish, fast, while I get out +the corn meal and put a pan on the fire." + +These boys knew much more about cooking than falls to most boys +in their teens. Frequent camping since their good old days in +Central Grammar School had made them able to cook like veteran +woodsmen. + +Within two minutes, fat was sputtering in a hot pan, and Dick +was shaking corn meal onto a plate. + +"Bring 'em up!" he ordered. "We'll start this thing going." + +Twenty minutes later, using two pans, all the bull-heads had been +cooked, and now lay on platters in the oven of the stove. + +"Three apiece, and one left over," Greg discovered. "Who gets +the odd one?" + +"Shame on you!" muttered Reade. "The horse gets the odd one, +of course." + +"A horse won't eat fish," Holmes retorted. + +"Didn't you ever see a horse eat fish?" Tom challenged. + +"I never did." + +"Well, I don't know that I ever did, either," Reade admitted. +"So we'll give the odd one to Danny Grin." + +"Maybe we'll be glad to," laughed Dave. "I'm not sure that all +these bull-heads were alive when Dalzell picked them up." + +"Huh!" snorted Dan. + +Nothing spoiled their appetite for the fish, however, which were +cooked to a turn and of fine flavor. Tom Reade, however, got +the odd fish as being the only one whose appetite was large enough +to permit of the feat of adding it to three other fish. + +"And now, what are we going to do?" asked Dave, after the meal +was finished and the dishes had been washed. + +"Who has sore feet?" called Dick. + +Not one of the six boys would plead guilty to that charge. + +"Then we won't have to heat water," Dick announced. "Each fellow +can bathe his feet in cold water before turning in. But, when +one's feet ache, or are blistered, then a wash in piping hot water +is the thing to take out the ache." + +By nine o'clock all hands began to feel somewhat drowsy, for the +day had been warm, and, at last, these youngsters were willing +to admit that their road work had been as strenuous as they needed. + +"But to-morrow we'll do twenty-five miles," Dave insisted. + +"My opinion is that we'll do well if we make twenty miles to-morrow," +Dick rejoined. + +"But what are we going to do now?" yawned Hazy, as they sat about +under the light of two lanterns. + +"Go to bed," declared Greg. + +"Hooray! That's the ticket that I vote," announced Hazy. + +"I was just thinking of that mean lawyer we heard about to-day," +Reade remarked. + +"I was thinking of the same matter, but more about the poor old +peddler," Dick stated. "That poor old fellow! I'll wager he +has had a hard time all through life, and that he's still wondering +why it all had to happen. How old would you say Mr. Hinman is, Tom?" + +"He'll never have a seventieth birthday again," replied Reade +thoughtfully. "My! A man at that age ought not to have to bother +with working. It's pitiful. It's a shame!" + +"Maybe he finds his only happiness in work," Darrin suggested. +"I have known old people like that." + +By this time Dan had taken one of the lanterns into the tent, +and was undressing. Dave soon followed, then Greg and Hazelton. + +"Do you want to take a little walk down to the road, where we +can get a better look at the sky?" Dick proposed to Reade. "We +ought to take a squint at the weather." + +"That will suit me," Tom nodded, so away they strolled toward +the road. + +"If you fellows stay away from camp long, don't you be mean enough +to talk, or make any other noise when you get back to the tent," +Darrin called after them. + +Down by the road there was a breeze blowing, and it was cooler. + +"I'd like to bring my cot down this way," Tom suggested. + +"There's no law against it," Dick smiled. "The owner's permission +extended in a general way to all the land right around here." + +"Will you bring your cot, too?" Tom asked. + +"Certainly." + +So, before any of the other fellows were asleep, Dick and Tom +reentered the tent to get their folding cots and bedding. + +"Cooler down by the road, is it?" asked Darrin wistfully. "Then +I'm sorry you didn't find it out before I undressed." + +"We'll sleep in our clothes," Dick replied. "Come along, Tom, +and give the infant class a chance to get to sleep." + +After lying, fully dressed on their cots, which they placed within +ten feet of the road, Dick and Tom found themselves so wide awake +that they lay chatting for some moments. + +At last Reade mumbled his answers; next his unmistakably deep +breathing indicated that he was asleep. Prescott thereupon turned +over on his side and dozed off. + +It was shortly after their first few moments of sleep had passed +that a noise in the road close by awoke both boys. + +Dick sat up leaning on one elbow, listening. Someone was coming +toward them. + +As the stranger came closer, Dick, his eyes seeing well in the +dark, made out the unmistakable form of Reuben Hinman, the peddler. + +"What's he doing out here at this hour of the night, and on foot?" +wondered Dick Prescott half aloud. + +"Eh? What?" asked Reade in a low, drowsy voice, as he opened +his eyes. + +"It's Mr. Hinman, the peddler," Prescott whispered to his chum. +"But I wonder what's wrong with him?" + +"I wonder, too," Reade assented. "One thing is certain; something +has happened to him." + +For Reuben Hinman half-lurched, half-staggered along, yet his +gait did not suggest intoxication. He moved, rather, as one who +is dazed with trouble. + +The old man was sobbing, too, with a sound that was pitiful to +hear; as though some great grief were clutching at his heart. + + + + +CHAPTER V + +DAVE DOES SOME GOOD WORK + + +"Good evening, Mr. Hinman!" called Dick softly. + +The old man started, affrighted. + +"Who---who calls?" he quavered. + +"One of the boys you talked with, this noon." + +"Where are you?" + +"Here," answered Dick, throwing his blanket aside, rising and +stepping toward the old man, who, more bent than ever, was shaking +as though from fright. "Don't be afraid of us, sir. Can we help +you in anything?" + +"I am afraid not," replied the peddler, then leaned against a +tree-trunk, staring, as he tried to stifle his sobs. + +"What has happened, sir?" asked Tom Reade, also stepping forward. + +"I've been robbed!" replied the old man, in a broken voice. + +"Robbed?" repeated Dick. "Do you mean that some villains have +stolen the goods from your wagon?" + +"No, no!" replied the old man, with sudden, unlooked for vehemence. +"I've been robbed, I tell you---my money stolen!" + +"Money?" asked Tom in surprise. "How much was taken from you?" + +"Four hundred and eighteen dollars," replied the old man, with +a lack of reserve that testified to his confidence in these unknown +but respectful and sympathetic high school boys. + +"All that money?" cried Dick. "How did you ever come to have +so much about you?" + +"I owe some bills for goods, over at Hillsboro," replied Reuben +Hinman, "and this trip was to take me toward Hillsboro. But now-----" + +He broke off, the strange, rending sobbing returning. + +"Perhaps we can help you, bad as the case looks," Tom suggested. +"Try to tell us all about it, sir." + +"Where did you have the money?" inquired Dick. + +"In a wallet, in this inside coat pocket," replied the peddler, +holding his frayed coat open at the right side. + +"You carried your wallet as conspicuously as that when traveling +over lonely country roads?" cried Prescott in amazement. + +"I had a lot of letters and papers in front of the wallet, so +that no one would suspect that I had the wallet or the money," +explained Reuben Hinman. + +"I don't see any papers there now," Tom interposed. + +"They're gone," replied Mr. Hinman. "Probably the thief thought +the papers valuable, also, but they weren't.-----" + +"You were robbed---when?" asked Dick. + +"When I was sleeping." + +"At some farm house?" Reade inquired. + +"No; I slept on a pile of old rags that I had taken in trade." + +"In the wagon?-----" from Prescott. + +"Yes." + +"But why did you sleep in the wagon? And where did you have the +wagon?" Dick pressed. + +"The wagon was off the road, two miles below here," the peddler +explained brokenly. "It would cost me fifty cents for a bed at +a farm house, so, when the night is fine, I sleep outdoors on +the wagon and save the money. It's cheaper with the horse, too, +as I have to pay only for his feed." + +"But the money?" Tom pressed the old man. Reuben Hinman groaned, +but did not take to sobbing again. + +"I woke up to-night, and found it gone," he answered. + +"Did you feel or hear anyone prowling about, or searching your +clothing?" + +"No; if I had discovered anyone robbing me," shivered the peddler, +"I would have caught and held on to him. I have strong hands. +I have strong hands. Do you see?" + +Holding up his wiry, claw-like hands, the old peddler worked the +fingers convulsively. + +"Then how do you know you were robbed, Mr. Hinman?" Dick insisted. + +"Because the money is gone," replied the old man simply. + +"You searched the rags, and the surrounding parts of your wagon?" +Reade asked. + +"Young man, you may be sure that I did." + +"And where were you going when we stopped you?" + +"For help." + +"Whose help?" Dick inquired. + +"I don't know," replied the old man blankly. "Perhaps to a lawyer." + +"Lawyers don't recover stolen property," rejoined Reade. + +"Perhaps not," assented the peddler. "The people whom you should +see are the local officers," Dick assured the old man. "Probably +they couldn't recover your money, though, since you have no idea +who robbed you." + +Reuben Hinman groaned helplessly. It was plain to the two high +school boys that the peddler had started out, thus, in the middle +of the night simply because his misery was too great to permit +of inaction on his part. + +"I wish we could help you," Prescott went on earnestly. + +"Why can't you?" eagerly demanded the peddler, as one who clutches +at the frailest straw. + +"Call Dave, Tom. Try not to wake the others," murmured Dick. +Then, while Reade was gone, Prescott asked: + +"Mr. Hinman, why on earth didn't you keep your money in a bank, +and then pay by check?" + +"No, no, no! No banks for me!" cried the old man tremulously. + +"Are you afraid to trust banks with your money?" demanded Dick +incredulously. + +"No, no! It isn't that," protested the peddler confusedly. "The +banks are all right, and honest men run them. But-----" + +Whatever was in his mind he checked himself. It was as though +he had been on the verge of uttering words that must not be spoken. + +Dick Prescott found himself obliged to turn his eyes away. It +was altogether too pitiful, the look in old Reuben Hinman's shriveled +face. In his misery the small, stooped peddler looked still smaller +and more bent. + +Tom soon came along, carrying a lantern and followed by Dave, +the latter yawning every step of the way. + +"Now, which way are we going to look first?" Reade inquired. + +"I've been thinking that over," Dick replied. "It seems to me +that the sanest course will be to start right at the scene of +the robbery. From there we may get a clue that we can follow +somewhere." + +"Yes, that's as good a course as any," nodded Darrin, who had +received some of the particulars of the affair from Reade. + +So the three high school boys started off down the road together, +old Reuben Hinman trudging tirelessly along with them, acting +like a man in a trance. + +At last they came to the old, red wagon. The tethered horse, +disturbed, rose to its feet. + +"Now, the rest of you keep away," requested young Prescott, "until +I've had time to look all around the wagon with the lantern. +I want to see if I can discover any footprints that will help." + +For a considerable radius around the wagon the high school athlete +scanned the ground. He could find no footprints, other than those +of Reuben Hinman, and the fresher ones made by himself. + +"Nothing doing in the footprint line, boys," Dick called at last. +"Now, come along and we'll search the wagon." + +"Let me have the first chance," begged Dave, taking the lantern. + +Reuben Hinman showed where he had slept on the pile of rags, but +this was hardly necessary, the impression made by his slight body +being still visible. + +Dave began to rummage. At last he got down into the body of the +wagon. With the rays of the lantern thus concealed, the other +three stood in darkness. + +"Hooray!" gasped Dave at last. Then rising, leaning over the +side of the wagon, he called: + +"Mr. Hinman, I've found a wallet, with a lot of greenbacks inside. +How much I don't know. Please count it and see if all the money +is there intact." + +With an inarticulate cry the old peddler seized the wallet that +was handed down to him. He shook like a leaf as Tom held the +lantern for him to count the money. Now that the strain was over, +Mr. Hinman's legs became suddenly too weak to support him. He +sank to the ground, Tom squatting close so that the lantern's +rays would fall where they would be most useful. Thus the old +peddler counted his money with trembling fingers. + +"Where did you find the wallet?" young Prescott asked Darrin. + +"Up against the side of the wagon, under a partly tilted, upsidedown +feed-pail," Dave answered. "I can understand why Mr. Hinman didn't +find it. He was too much upset---too nervous, and it certainly +didn't look like a likely place." + +"It must have fallen out of his pocket as he slept," Prescott +guessed correctly. "Did you find any papers down there on the +floor of the wagon?" + +"Yes; some sort of paper stuff," nodded Dave. "I took it for +rubbish." + +"The money is all here!" cried the old peddler, in a frenzy of +joy. "Oh, how can I thank you young men? You don't know what +your blessed help means for me!" + +"Was it all the money you had?" Dick asked feelingly. + +"Yes; all except for few loose dollars that I have in a little +sack in my trousers pocket," replied Mr. Hinman. + +"Then it was all you had in the world, outside of your peddling +stock and your horse and cart?" Prescott continued. + +"All except a little house and barn that I own, and the small +piece of ground they stand on," said the peddler. "If I had not +found my money I would have been obliged to mortgage my little +home to a bank---and then I am afraid I could not have repaid +the bank, and my home would be taken from me." + +"But you would have found the money in the wagon some day soon," +suggested Dick. + +"Perhaps," replied the peddler. "Who knows? Perhaps someone +else would have rummaged the wagon and found it before I did. +Oh! It might have been taken a little while ago, even when I +was toiling down the road, or talking with you boys at your camp!" +he added, with a sudden wave of fright over the thought. + +"One thing is certain, anyhow, Mr. Hinman," Dick concluded. "Someone +may have overheard you talking with us about this money. You +will hardly be safe here. I urge you to come to our camp, and +there spend the night with boys who know how to take care of +themselves, and who can look after you at need. You will not be +attacked in our camp." + +Reuben Hinman eagerly agreeing, Dave harnessed the bony horse +into the wagon. After a while the red wagon rested within the +confines of the camp of Dick & Co. + +In the bright light of the morning, Harry Hazelton was the first +to be astir. He saw Prescott asleep on the floor of the tent, +rolled up in a blanket, while another blanket rested on Dick's +cot, brought back to the tent, as though some stranger had slept +there. + +Outside, attached to the seat of their camp wagon, Hazy found +a note that mystified him a good deal at first. It read: + +_"The sun is now well up. I shall go at once to Hillsboro, and +then my great worry will be over. Boys, you will ever be remembered +in the prayers of R.H."_ + +"Now, that's mighty nice of R.H., whoever he is," smiled Harry +Hazelton, not immediately connecting the initials with the name +of the little, old peddler. + +Nor was it until Prescott and Reade were astir that Harry was +fully enlightened as to the meaning of the words scrawled in pencil +on the sheet of paper. + +"You boys call me Hazy, and I must look and act the part," laughed +Hazelton shamefacedly, "when we can have such an invasion of the +camp, and such an early get-away with a loaded wagon, and all +without my stirring." + +Reuben Hinman was on his way, and, all unknown to himself nearer +the hour when he would meet the high, school boys under vastly +more exciting circumstances. + + + + +CHAPTER VI + +THE NO-BREAKFAST PLAN + + +"Let's get the tent down, fellows," Dick called. "Greg is loading +the bedding on to the wagon now." + +"Haven't, you forgotten something?" Danny Grin asked. + +"What?" challenged Dick smilingly. + +"Well, a little thing like breakfast, for instance?" + +"We don't get that until after we've had our swim," Prescott rejoined +cheerily. + +"I suppose that's all right," observed Tom, his jaw dropping. +"Still, in that case, Mr. Trainer, why didn't you camp nearer +to a stream?" + +"The nearest stream fit for swimming is two miles from here," +Dick replied. "At least, that's what I judge from the map." + +"There's the creek the bull-heads came from," suggested Hazelton +hopefully. "That's close at hand." + +"I know it is," Dick replied, "but I've had a look at it. That +creek is both shallow and muddy. No sort of place for swimming." + +One thing these Gridley High School boys had learned in the football +squad, and that was discipline. So, though there were some gloomy +looks, all remembered that Dick had been chosen trainer during +the hike, and that his word, in training matters, was to be their +law. So the tent came down, in pretty nearly record time, and +was loaded on the wagon. The horse was harnessed, also without +breakfast, and the party started down the road with Harry Hazelton +holding the reins. + +"I hope it's a short two miles," growled Reade to Darrin. + +"Humph! A fine Indian you'd make, Tom!" jibed Dave. "An Indian +is trained in being hungry. It's a part of the work that he has +to undergo before he is allowed to be one of the men of the tribe." + +"That's just the trouble with me," Tom admitted. "I've never +been trained to be an Indian, and I am inclined to think that +it requires training, and a lot of it." + +Outwardly Tom didn't "grump" any, but he made a resolve that, +hereafter, his voice would be strong for halting right on the +bank of a swimming place. + +"Can't we hit up the pace a bit?" asked Tom. + +"Yes," nodded Dick. "All who want to travel fast can hike right +ahead. Just keep on the main road." + +Tom, Greg and Dan immediately forged ahead, taking long, rapid +steps. + +"But don't go in the water until we come up," Dick called after +them. "Remember, the morning is hot, and you'll be too overheated +to go in at once." + +"Eh?" muttered Tom, with a sidelong look at his two fast-time +companions. "Humph!" + +Then they fell back with the wagon again. + +"There doesn't seem to be any way to beat the clock to breakfast," +observed Dan, after he had walked several rods down the road. + +"I've talked with old soldiers," Dick went on, "who have told +me all sorts of tales of war time, about the commissary train +not catching up with the fighting line for four days at a stretch. +Yet here you fellows feel almost ill if you have to put off breakfast +half an hour. What kind of men would you boys make if it came +to the stern part of life?" + +"If going without breakfast is part of the making of a man," said +Danny Grin solemnly, "then I'd rather be a child some more." + +"You always will be a child," Dave observed dryly. "Birthdays +won't make any great difference in your real age, Danny boy." + +"After that kind of a roast," grinned Reade, "I believe I'll take +a reef in a few of the bitter things I was about to say." + +Dick laughed pleasantly. Somehow, with the walk, all soon began +to feel better. That first fainting, yearning desire for food +was beginning to pass. + +"Do you know what the greatest trouble is with the American people?" +asked Dick, after they had covered a mile. + +"I don't," Tom admitted. "Do you, Dick?" + +"I've been forming an idea," Prescott went on. "Our fault, if +I can gather it rightly from what I've been reading, is that we +Americans are inclined to be too babyish." + +"Tell that to the countries we've been at war with in the past," +jeered Tom Reade. + +"Oh, I guess it's a different breed of Americans that we send +to the front in war time," Prescott continued. "But, take you +fellows; some of you have been almost kicking because breakfast +is put off a bit. Most Americans are like that. Yet, it isn't +because we have such healthy stomachs, either, for foreigners +know us as a race of dyspeptics. Take a bit of cold weather in +winter---really cold, biting weather and just notice how Americans +kick and worry about it. Take any time when we have a succession +of rainy days, and notice how Americans growl over the continued +wet. Whatever happens that is in the least disagreeable, see +what a row we Americans raise about it." + +"I imagine it's a nervous vent for the race," advanced Dave Darrin. + +"But why must Americans have a nervous vent?" Dick inquired. +"In other words, what business have we with diseased nerves! +Don't you imagine that all our kicking, many times every day of +our lives, makes the need of nervous vent more and more pronounced?" + +"Oh, I don't know about that," argued Tom. "I hate to hear any +fellow talk disparagingly about his own country or its people. +It doesn't sound just right. In war time, or during any great +national disaster or calamity, the Americans who do things always +seem to rise to the occasion. We're a truly great people, all +right. But I don't make that claim because I consider myself +ever likely to be one of the great ones." + +"Why are we a great people?" pursued Prescott. + +"We are the richest nation in the world," argued Reade. "That +must show that we are people capable of making great successes." + +"Is our greatness due to ourselves, or to the fact that the United +States embraces the greatest natural resources in the world?" +demanded Dick Prescott. + +"It's partly due to the people, and partly due to the resources +of the country," Dave contended. + +Dick kept them arguing. Harry Hazelton, as driver, remained silent, +but the others argued against Dick, trying to overthrow all his +disparaging utterances against the American people. + +Finally Reade grew warm, indeed. + +"Cut it out, Dick---do!" he urged. "This doesn't really sound +like you. I hate to hear a fellow go on running down his own +countrymen. I tell you, it isn't patriotic." + +"But just stop to consider this point," Prescott urged, and started +on a new, cynical line of argument. + +"I still contend that we're the greatest people on earth," Reade +insisted almost angrily. "We ought to be, anyway, for Americans +don't come of any one line of stock. We're descended from +pioneers---the pick and cream of all the peoples of Europe." + +But Dick kept up his line of discussion until they came to the +river for which he had headed them. They followed the winding +stream into the woods where the trees partially hid them from +the observation of passers-by on the road, From this point they +could easily keep a watch on the wagon while in the water. + +"Now, let's sit down and cool off for five minutes," proposed +Dick, as he filled the feed bag for the horse. "After that we'll +be ready for a swim." + +"But, with regard to what you were saying about frayed American +nerves, poor stomachs and all-around babyishness-----" Tom began +all over again. + +"Stop it!" laughed Dick. "We don't need that line of talk any +longer." + +"Then why did you start it?" asked Dave. + +"We've covered the two miles that you all thought such a hardship," +chuckled Prescott. + +"Then you-----" began Reade, opening his eyes wider as a dawning +light came into them. "Come on, Dave! Catch him! The water's +handy!" + +But Dick, with a light laugh, bounded away, shinned up a tree, +and, sitting in a crotch, swung his feet toward the faces of +Tom, Dave and Harry as they tried to get him and drag him down. + +"You've got a strategic position, just now," growled Reade. "But +just you wait until we catch you down on the ground again!" + +"You fellows must feel pretty well sold," Greg taunted them. +"I kept out of the row, for I saw, at the outset, that Dick was +going to start something for the sole purpose of keeping us arguing +until we forgot all about our breakfasts." + +"That's just like Dick Prescott!" uttered Tom ruefully. "We never +get to know him so well that he can't start us all on a new tack +and have more fun with us." + +"Well, you forgot your supposed starvation, didn't you?" chuckled +Dick from his tree. + +Two or three minutes later he swung down from the tree to the +ground, rapidly removing his clothing and donning swimming trunks. +He was not molested; the other five were too busy preparing for +the bath. + +"The water's great to-day!" shouted Dick, rising and "blowing" +after a shallow dive from a tree trunk at the shore. + +In a moment they were all in the water. + +"Come on! Follow your leader!" shouted Tom Reade, striking out +lustily upstream. + +"Come back and give us a handicap!" roared Dave. "How do you +expect us to catch you when you get the lead over us with your +long legs and arms?" + +But Tom dived under water, swimming there. The others followed +suit, each remaining under as long as possible, for, in this "stunt," +there was no way of knowing when the leader came up. Tom remained +under less than fifteen seconds. Then, showing his head, and +with rapid overhand strokes he made for the nearer bank, slipping +ashore and hiding behind some bushes. + +It was Hazy who had to come up first after Tom. + +"Whew! Tom must have met someone he knows on the bottom," called +Harry, as Greg's head rose above the surface. + +Dave came up next, then Dick, and then Dan. + +"Tom ought to be a fish!" uttered Darrin admiringly. "I stayed +under water as long as I could." + +Yet after going a few yards further up stream Dick Prescott turned, +gazing anxiously down stream. + +"Fellows," he suggested, "something must have happened to old Tom." + +"Or else he's playing a joke on us," hinted Danny Grin, suspiciously. + +"It's some joke to remain under water four times as long as the +average swimmer can do it," retorted Prescott. + +"But Tom may not be under water," spoke up Greg. + +"He didn't have time to get anywhere else," Dave declared. + +"It may be a joke, but I don't want to take any chances," Dick +said earnestly. "Let's go down stream. Spread out, and every +now and then bob under and take as near a look at the bottom as +you can." + +"It doesn't look right," Dave admitted as they all started back. + +Several times they went under water, the best swimmers among them +getting close to bottom. So they continued on down the stream +for some distance. + +"Now, all together. Go under water all at the same time," ordered +Dick. + +Below the surface of the river they went. One after another their +heads presently appeared above the surface once more. + +"Have you fellows lost anything?" quizzed Reade, suddenly appearing +on the bank. + +"That's what I call a mean trick on us!" cried Dave, flushing +slightly. + +"You fellows were in for a swim, weren't you?" Reade drawled. +"You have been having it." + +With that he took to the water himself. There was something so +jovial and harmless about Reade that, despite their recent anxiety +concerning him, they made no effort to duck him. + +"The water is fine this morning," called Tom presently, as they +all swam about. + +"Then why didn't you stay in?" demanded Darry rather cuttingly. + +"Say, I'm beginning to feel glad that I waited breakfast for the +swim," Reade announced. + +"Stick to the truth!" mocked Dick. + +"But I really am beginning to feel that a little exercise is the +best course before breakfast," Tom declared. + +"The next thing we hear," scoffed Hazy, "you'll be telling us +that you really don't want any breakfast." + +"I'll tell you fellows what I'll do," Tom called. "I'll agree +to put off eating until noon if you'll all stick to the idea." + +But that suggestion did not prove popular. + +"I mean it," Reade insisted. "I hardly care, now, whether I eat +any breakfast or not." + +"What's that noise below? Come on!" called Prescott, landing +and running along the bank. Tom was close behind him, the others +following. + +In their search for Tom they had gotten farther away from the +wagon than they realized. During their brief absence from the +spot two tramps had come upon the camp wagon and the piles of +discarded clothing. It was plain that the wagon contained all +that was needed for several meals---and the tramps were hungry. + +Yet the only safe way to enjoy that food would be to partake of +it at a safe distance from the rightful owners. + +For that reason, after a few whispered words, the tramps hastily +gathered up all the clothing of the high school swimmers, dumping +it in the wagon. Then they mounted to the seat. + +Just as Dick Prescott and his chums broke from cover they beheld +the tramps in the act of driving from the woods out on the road. + +Once in the road the tramps urged the horse to a gallop. It was +out of the question for the boys, clad as they were in only swimming +trunks to pursue the thieves. + +"I---I---take back all I said about not wanting any breakfast!" +gasped Tom Reade, turning to his dismayed chums. + + + + +CHAPTER VII + +MAKING THE TRAMPS SQUIRM + + +"You come back here!" screamed Danny Grin desperately. + +"Haven't time now," called one of the tramps jeeringly, while +his companion laid the whip over the startled horse. + +With such a start as the tramps had they might be able to drive +a mile ere the running boys could overtake them. + +Besides, both law and custom forbade six boys clad only in bathing +trunks from running along the highway. + +"You'll find the wagon a few miles from here!" jeered the tramp +who held the reins. "We'll leave it when we're through with it. +We-----" + +But further words could not be heard for the wagon had vanished +from view at a turn in the road between the trees. + +"We're in a bad pickle, now!" gasped Tom Reade. + +But Dick, studying the lay of the land with swift glances, saw +just one chance. If the tramps turned the horse in the right +direction on gaining the highway----- + +Dick broke off his thoughts there. + +"Tom, you and Dave pursue a little way and travel like lightning," +ordered young Prescott. "The rest of you pick up stones! Fast! +Come along now." + +On reaching the highway the driver was forced to make a little +turn in order to cross the bridge, in case he decided to travel +in the direction that the boys had been going. So Dick dashed +ahead, hoping to profit by the one chance he saw. + +Just as luck would have it, the tramps turned in the right direction. +The horse, galloping fast under the lash, struck his forefeet +on the bridge. + +Whack! clatter! plug! Four high school boys, all of them baseball +players and proud of their straight throwing, sent a small shower +of rocks whizzing through the air. + +These struck the bridge planks well ahead of the horse. + +"Stop---or the next ones will hit you!" shouted young Prescott. + +Just by way of suggestion he threw one stone that flew by within +a foot of the nearer tramp's head. Holmes duplicated the throw. + +"Stop that!" yelled one of the tramps, but he brought the horse +to a standstill. + +"Don't you throw any more stones!" yelled the tramp, as he saw +the four ball players poised ready for more work in that line. + +"Then hold the horse where he is until we come and take him," +ordered Dick. + +"We won't, and don't you throw any more stones," ordered the tramp. +"Jerry, turn your pistol loose on the young cubs if they throw +another stone. Giddap!" + +"That's a bluff. You haven't any pistol," Dick called to the +tramps coolly. "Just start that horse, and we'll knock both your +heads off with stones. We know how to throw 'em." + +Splash! Greg Holmes had taken to the narrow river. Now he was +striking out lustily for the other side. In case the horse was +started Holmes would be there, with a handful of stones with which +to bombard the fugitives in passing. + +"You fellers quit throwing stones, or you're going to get hurt!" + +But the pause had accomplished the very thing for which Dick had +waited. + +"Throw another stone," repeated the tramp, "and you'll get-----" + +"Oh, tell it to the Senate!" broke in Tom Reade, climbing into +the wagon and seizing the speaker. Dave, who had crept up with +him, had gripped the other tramp by the collar. + +Both tramps were thrown from the seat. Ere they could recover +from their astonishment, Reade and Darrin had leaped down upon +their tormentors. + +"In with them!" ordered Dick. + +Two splashes, occurring almost in the same second, testified to +the tackling skill that Reade and Darrin had acquired on the gridiron. + +Dick and his friends stood by to rescue the tramps, in case either +of them could not swim. + +Both could, however, and struck out for the shore, abusing the +boys roundly as they swam. + +Dave had seized the horse's bridle, and was now turning the animal +about. Tom walked on the other side of the wagon. + +"Look out, Greg!" called Dick suddenly, as the tramps, gaining +the opposite shore, made a sudden rush at Holmes, who stood alone. + +"I can take care of myself!" chuckled Greg gleefully, as dodging +backward, he poised his right hand to throw a stone. "Look out, +friends, unless you want to get hurt!" + +Both tramps halted in a good deal of uncertainty. They wanted +to thrash this high school boy, but they didn't like the risk +of having their heads hurt by flying stones. + +Two splashes on the other side of the river heralded the fact +that Dan and Harry had started to Greg's aid. The instant they +saw this, both men turned away from Greg, making a dash for the +highway. + +Laughing, young Holmes followed them up with all the missiles +he had left. Not one dropped further than three feet from the +flying heels of the fugitives, yet not one struck either of the +tramps or was meant to do so. + +"Come across, you three fellows," laughed young Prescott, when +the enemy had vanished in flight. You've all earned your breakfast +now, and you shall have it." + +"As for me," spoke Tom from the wagon, as he drove into the forest +path, "I'm strong for putting on my clothes before I sit down +to dally with food." + +Reade did not wait until he had driven the wagon where he and +his friends could dress away from the view of people on the road. + +"The cast-iron cheek of those scoundrels!" vented Dave Darrin +indignantly. + +"I rather think we are their debtors," smiled Dick quietly, as +he drew his shirt over his head. + +"You do!" demanded Darry incredulously. + +"Yes; just think of all the zest they've put into our morning, +and they didn't harm us, either." + +"But just think of what it would have been like if we hadn't stopped +'em!" gasped Danny Grin solemnly. "We couldn't have chased 'em. +It wouldn't have been decent for us to go along the road, making +four miles to every five covered by the horse. No, sir! We'd +have had to remain hidden in the forest until we could signal +some farmer to send to our folks for clothes to put on. Wouldn't +it have been great, staying in the woods two or three days, with +nothing to eat, waiting for the proper clothing to enable us to +go out into the world again!" + +"It was a mean trick!" cried Darry hotly; and then he began to +laugh as the ridiculous features of the situation appealed to him. + +"But nothing serious happened," laughed Dick, "so we owe that +pair of tramps for a pleasant touch to the morning's sport." + +"I wonder how many years since either of them has had a bath, +until this morning," grinned Reade, as he began to lace his shoes. + +As Reade was dressed first, Dick called to him: "Take the horse +out of the shafts, Tom, and let him feed in comfort." + +"You may," laughed Reade. "As for me, I've flirted with my breakfast +so long this morning, and have taken so many chances of not having +any, that now I'm going to make sure of that first of all." + +So Dick himself attended to the horse. Dan was already gathering +firewood, which Dave piled into the stove in the wagon. + +Soon water was boiling, coffee was being ground, tins opened, +and a general air of comfort and good fellowship prevailed in +that forest. + +"We'll have to give you the palm for being a good trainer, Dick," +declared Tom, taking a bite out of a sandwich and following it +with a sip of coffee, "but you have one short-coming. You're +no fortune teller. So, as you can't foretell the future, I vote +that, after this, we breakfast in the morning and swim later in +the day. It would affect my heart in time, if we had to battle +every morning for our breakfast in this fashion." + +"I can't get over the impudence of those tramps," muttered Darry, +as he set his coffee cup down. "They couldn't hope to get away +with the horse and wagon and sell them in these days of the rural +telephone. They couldn't use our clothing for themselves. And +yet they stole all we had in order to get hold of our food. At +that, they didn't care what became of us, or how long we had +to travel about in these woods without food or clothing." + +"The tramps must be optimists," laughed Prescott. "Probably they +had an abiding faith that all would turn out well with us, and +so proposed to help themselves to what they needed." + +"I wonder whether they'll fool with our outfit again," pondered +Tom grimly, "if they come across it in our absence." + +"I don't know," said Dick gravely. "As you've already reminded +me, I am no foreteller of the future." + + + + +CHAPTER VIII + +WHEN THE PEDDLER WAS "FRISKED" + + +It was a hot and dusty road that lay before them when they again +took up their march that day. + +Yet Dick Prescott insisted that, despite the late start, they +must count upon covering twenty miles for that second day. + +At night they halted on the edge of woods so far from the nearest +farm house that Prescott did not consider it necessary to hunt +up the owner and ask permission. + +"Now, we'll have to see if we can find water here," Dick proposed. +"Let's scatter, and the fellow who finds drinkable water must +let out a yell to inform the others." + +"I'll save you some trouble," Reade offered. "You fellows needn't +hunt water at all. Give me the buckets and I'll go and get it." + +"Have you been in this part of the country before?" asked Dick. + +"No; and I don't need to have been here before in order to know +that this ground is full of water," replied Reade, who was full +of practical knowledge of that sort. "If I were a civil engineer, +out with a field party, I'd mark this section 'water' on the map. +Look at the ground here under the trees. It's as moist as can +be." + +Tom departed, but barely two minutes had elapsed when he was back +with two pailfuls of water as clear as crystal. + +"It's nearly as cold as ice water," Tom announced. "There's a +bully big spring just a few steps back in the woods." + +"Then I'm going to use some of this to wash up," Darrin declared. +"I'll go with you on the next trip, Tom, and help carry the water." + +"You'd better wait until we get the tent up before we wash," suggested +Prescott. "Then you'll need it more." + +Quick work was made of the encamping. Dan and Greg, from the +wagon, passed down the tent itself, the floor boards and joists, +the cots and bedding and some of the food supplies. + +Then all hands quickly put up the tent. Reade and Hazelton had +the flooring down in a jiffy. Dan and Greg put up the cots, while +Dick and Dave set up the folding camp table and started the fire +in the stove with a bundle of fagots brought in by Hazelton. + +"Now, get busy with the wash-up," Dick called. + +Within thirty minutes after halting, supper was on the table. + +"How far from a swimming place this time?" Tom asked. + +"Three miles, if I've studied the map right," replied Prescott, +taking the road map from his pocket and passing it over. + +"To-morrow," said Dave, "some of us will swim in plain sight of +the outfit all the time." + +"Do you think you can hike three miles and swim before breakfast +in the morning?" asked Dick. + +"The way I feel now," said Tom, pushing his campstool back from +the table, "I shan't need anything to eat to-morrow." + +"You must feel ill, then," declared Danny Grin. + +"No; I feel just filed up enough to last for two or three days," +sighed Reade contentedly. + +Harry and Greg were a bit footsore, but the other boys claimed +to feel all right. + +"Do any of you feel like taking an evening walk?" asked Dick with +a smile. + +"I do," Darrin declared promptly. + +"Not I," replied Tom. "At least not so soon after supper." + +"Shall we try the walk?" Dick asked Darrin. + +"I'm ready," Dave agreed. "Come along, then." Though it was +dark, the two boys decided not to take a lantern with them. + +"We don't need one on a public highway," said Dick as they plunged +off down the dark road. + +"How far shall we go?" Darrin asked. + +"I think two miles away from camp and two miles back, ought to +be far enough," Dick replied. + +"If we feel like going farther, we can tackle it when the time +comes," Darrin answered. "But how shall we judge the distance?" + +"We'll walk briskly for thirty-five to thirty-eight minutes," +Prescott suggested. "Then we'll turn back. While we're out we +may get some idea of whether there's a swimming place nearer than +three miles from camp." + +Neither felt in the least footsore. Indeed, these two hardy high +school boys thoroughly enjoyed their tramp in this cooler part +of the twenty-four hours. + +"I wish we could live outdoors all the time," murmured Darrin, +as he filled his lungs with the fine night air. + +"A lot of folks have felt that way," smiled Dick. "The idea is +all right, too, only the work of the civilized world couldn't +be carried on by a lot of tramps without homes or places of business." + +"I've heard, or read," Darry went on, "that a tramp, after one +season on the road, is rarely ever reclaimed to useful work. +I think I can understand something of the fascination of the life." + +"I can't see any fascination about being a tramp," Prescott replied +judicially. "First of all, he becomes a vagabond, who prefers +idleness to work. Then, too, he becomes dirty, and I can't see +any charm in a life that is divorced from baths. From mere idleness +the tramp soon finds that petty thieving is an easy way to get +along. If I were going to be a thief at all, I'd want to be an +efficient one. No stealing of wash from a clothes-line, or of +pies from a housekeeper's pantry, when there are millions to be +stolen in the business world." + +"Now, you're laughing at me," uttered Dave. + +"No; I'm not." + +"But you wouldn't steal money if you had millions right under +your hand where you could get away with the stuff," protested +Darry. + +"I wouldn't," Dick agreed promptly. "I wouldn't steal anything. +Yet it's no worse, morally, to steal a million dollars from a +great bank than it is to steal a suit of clothes from a house +whose occupants are absent. All theft is theft. There are no +degrees of theft. The small boy who would steal a nickel or a +dime from his mother would steal a million dollars from a stranger +if he had the chance and the nerve to commit the crime. All tramps, +sooner or later, become petty thieves. Thieving goes with the +life of idleness and vagabondage." + +"I don't know about that," argued Dave. "A lot of men become +tramps just through hard luck. I don't believe all of them steal, +even small stuff." + +"I believe they do, if they remain tramps," Dick insisted. "No +man is safe who will deliberately go through life without earning +his way. The man who starts with becoming idle ends with becoming +vicious. This doesn't apply to tramps alone. Any day's newspaper +will furnish you with stories of the vicious doings of the idle +sons of rich men. Unless a man has an object in life, and works +directly toward it all the time, he is in danger." + +"I'd hate to believe that every ragged tramp I meet is a criminal," +Dave muttered. + +"He is, if he remains a tramp long enough," Dick declared with +emphasis. "Take the tramps we met this morning. Look at all +the trouble they were taking to rob us of food for a meal or two." + +"There may have been an element of mischief in what they did," +Dave hinted. "They may have done it just as a lark." + +"They were thieves by instinct," Dick insisted. "They would have +stolen anything that they could get away with safely. Hello! +There's a light over there in the woods." + +"Another camping party?" Dave wondered. + +"Tramps, more likely. Suppose we speak low and advance with caution +until we know where we are and whom we're likely to meet." + +In silence the high school boys drew nearer. The light proved +to come from a campfire that had been lighted some fifty feet +from the road. + +"Yes, you have!" insisted a harsh voice, as the boys drew nearer. +"Don't try to fool with us. Turn over your money, or we'll make +you wish you had!" + +"Why, it's our tramps of this morning," whispered Dave. + +"And look at that wagon---the peddler's!" Dick whispered in answer. + +"Come, now, old man! Turn over your money, unless you want us +to frisk you for it!" continued a voice. + +"There are your honest tramps, Dave," Prescott whispered. + +Then his eyes flashed, for, by the light of the campfire the lads +saw the tramps seize frightened Reuben Hinman on either side and +literally turn him upside down, the old man's head hitting the +ground. + +"Don't make any noise," whispered Prescott, "but we won't stand +for that!" + +"We surely won't!" Darry agreed with emphasis. + +"Come on, now---soft-foot!" + +As the tramps jostled Mr. Hinman, upside down and yelling with +fright, a sack containing the peddler's money rolled from one +of the peddler's trousers pockets. + +"Shake him again! There'll be more than that coming!" jeered +one of the tramps. + +But just then they let go their hold of the old man, for Dick +Prescott and Dave Darrin rushed in out of the darkness, dealing +blows that sent the tramps swiftly to earth. + +Yet the two high school boys were now doomed to pay the penalty +of not having scouted a bit before rushing in. + +For the two tramps were not the only ones of their kind at hand. +Out of the shadows under the surrounding trees came a rush of +feet, accompanied by hoarse yells. + +Then, before they had had time fully to realize just what was +happening, Prescott and Darrin found themselves suddenly in the +midst of the worst fight they had ever seen in their lives. + +"Beat 'em up!" yelled the man whom Dick had knocked down. "I +know these young fellers! They put up a bad time for us this +morning. Beat 'em up and make a good job of it, too." + +There was no use whatever in contending with such odds. Yet Dick +and Dave fought with all their might, only to be borne to the +ground, where they received severe punishment. + + + + +CHAPTER IX + +DICK IMITATES A TAME INDIAN + + +"Hello! hello!" yelled Tom Reade, pacing up and down the road +with his lantern, holding his watch in the other hand. "Oh, Dick! +Dave!" + +But up the road there sounded no answer. Looking utterly worried, +Reade came back into camp. + +"I don't like the looks of this, fellows," he announced. "There's +something wrong. Something has happened to one or both of the +fellows. They left here before eight o'clock, and now it's twenty +minutes of eleven. If everything had been all right, they'd have +been back here by half-past nine o'clock at the latest." + +"Suppose we haul down the tent, pack the outfit and move on down +the road, looking for some trace of them," proposed Greg. + +"No; that would delay the start too much," Tom replied, with a +shake of his head. "Whoever goes out to hunt for Dick and Dave +must move fast and not be tied to a horse and wagon. I'm going, +for one. Who will go with me?" + +"I will," promptly answered Dan, Harry and Greg, all in one breath. + +"We'll have to leave one fellow to watch the camp," Reade answered, +with a shake of his head. "Hazy, I'm afraid the lot will have +to fall to you." + +"I'd rather go with you," Hazelton declared. + +"Of course you would," Tom assented. "But at least one good man +must stay here and look after our outfit. So you stay, Harry, +and Dan and Greg will go with me." + +"Going to take the lantern?" asked Greg, jumping up. + +"Yes," Tom nodded, "but we won't light it unless we need it. +Just for finding our footing at some dark part of the road the +electric flash light will do." + +Full of anxiety the trio set out on their search. + +But in the meantime, what of Dick and Dave? + +Theirs had been a busy evening. After the first rough pummeling, +which left them breathless and sore, the tramp who had directed +the rough work turned to his friends of the road. + +"These young gents have furnished us with some exercise," he grinned +wickedly. "Now, suppose we make 'em supply us with a little amusement?" + +"It's risky, close to the road," returned one of the tramps who +had been back in the shadows. "We don't know when someone will +come along and butt in on our sport." + +"Two of our crowd can go out as scouts," replied the ringleader. + +"They'd better," nodded the adviser, "and even then we'd better +take the cart, the old man and these young gents further back +into the woods." + +Neither Dick nor Dave had said anything so far, for they were +too sore, and too much exhausted. + +At the leader's command two men went down to the road, to watch +in both directions. + +"Give the whistle---you know the one---if anyone comes along that's +likely to spoil the fun," was the ringleader's order. + +Reuben Hinman had been deprived of the last dollar in money that +he had with him. Quaking and subdued, the old man obeyed the +order to mount his cart and drive the rig farther into the woods. + +"Take the young gents along, and see that they behave themselves," +directed the ringleader. + +Dick and Dave did not yet feel in condition to offer any resistance +or defiance. Even with the two "scouts" out on the road there +were still six of the tramps left to take care of them. + +The odds looked too heavy for another fight it when the last one +had been so unsuccessful. + +As Dick and Dave got to their feet and started along, followed +and watched by the tramps, Dick tottered closer to his companion, +managing to whisper: + +"We've got to gain time, Dave. Pretend to be weak---crippled---badly +hurt." + +That was all. Prescott fell away again without his whisper having +been detected by their captors. + +Before quitting the spot near the road the ringleader had scattered +the campfire so effectually that the embers would soon die out. + +A full eighth of a mile back from the road the order was given +to Hinman to rein in his horse. + +"We're far enough from the road, now, so that we ain't likely +to be spotted," said the boss tramp. "Now, let's see what these +young gents can do to amuse us. Maybe they know how to sing and +dance." + +But Dick had sunk wearily to the ground, forcing his breath to +come in rapid gasps. + +"Get up there, younker," ordered the boss tramp. + +"You've hurt me," moaned Dick, speaking the truth, though trying +to convey a stronger impression than the facts would warrant. + +"And we may hurt you more if you don't get cheerful and help make +the evening pass pleasantly," sneered the boss tramp harshly. + +"Wait till I---get so---I can get my breath---easier," begged +Dick pantingly. + +The boss turned to Darrin. + +"Young fellow, wot can you do in the entertaining line?" demanded +the fellow leeringly. + +"Nothing," Dave retorted sulkily. "After you've kicked a fellow +so that he's so sore he can scarcely move, do you expect him to +do a vaudeville turn right away?" + +"Get 'em on their feet," ordered the boss tramp. "We'll show +'em a few things!" + +But Dick protested dolefully, sinking back to the ground as soon +as the tramp who had hold of him showed a little compassion by +letting go of his arm. + +"Give me time, I tell you," Dick insisted in a weak voice. "Don't +try to kill us, on top of such a thrashing as you gave us." + +"Let go of me," urged Darry still speaking sulkily. "If you want +anything better than a sob song you'll have to give me time to +get my breath back." + +As though satisfied that they could get no sport out of the high +school boys for the present, the tramps allowed them to lie on +the ground, breathing fitfully and groaning. + +Dick was watching his chance to get up and bolt, depending upon +his speed as a football player to take him out of this dangerous +company. Darrin was equally watchful---but so were the tramps. +Plainly the latter did not intend to let their prey get away +from them easily. + +As for Reuben Hinman, obeying a command, the peddler had alighted +from his wagon and now sat with his back against a tree. He had +no thought of trying to get away, well knowing that his aged legs +would not carry him far in a dash for freedom. The peddler's +wearied horse stood and dozed between the shafts. + +"It's about time for you younkers to be doing something," urged +the boss tramp, after some minutes had slipped away. + +"If you'll find the strength for me to stand up," urged Dick, +"maybe I can dance, or do something." + +"Did we muss you up as much as that?" demanded the boss tramp. +"It serves you right, then. You shouldn't have meddled in our +pastimes. Maybe it was all right for you fellers to get your +horse and wagon back this morning, but you shouldn't have meddled +to-night." + +"I guess maybe that's right," nodded Darrin sulkily, "but you +went in too strong in getting even. You had no call to cripple +us for life." + +"Oh, I guess it ain't as bad as that," muttered the boss tramp, +though there was uneasiness in his voice. + +So the tramps sat and smoked about a fire that one of their number +had lighted. Another fifteen minutes went by. + +"Come, it's time for you fellers to get busy, and give us +something---songs, dances, comic recitations, or something like that. +That's what we brought you here for," declared the boss, rising and +prodding Darrin with one foot. + +But Dave gave forth no sign. His eyes were half open, yet he +appeared to see nothing. + +"Here, what have you been doing to my friend?" demanded Dick, +crawling as if feebly over to where Darry lay. "Great Scott! +You haven't injured him, have you?" + +Dick acted his part as well as Dave did, but the boss tramp was +not inclined to be nervous. + +"No," he retorted shortly. "We haven't done much to either of +you young fellers not a quarter as much as we're going to do if +you don't both of you quit your nonsense soon. Help 'em up, now." + +Dick allowed himself to be lifted to his feet and supported in +a standing position by one of the most powerful-looking of the +tramps. Darrin, however, continued to act as if he were almost +lifeless. + +"Give him the water cure," ordered the boss tramp, in an undertone +to one of his confederates. + +Going to the peddler's wagon the one so directed took down a pail. +He went off in the darkness, but soon came back with a pail of +water. Slipping up slyly, he dashed the water full in Darry's +face. + +With a gasping cry of rage Dave Darrin started to spring to his +feet. Then, remembering his part, he sank back again to the ground. + +"Raise him," directed the boss tramp. "He'll find his legs and +stand on 'em. We are not going to let this show wait any longer!" + +So Dave was roughly jerked to his feet. He swayed with pretended +dizziness, next tottered to a tree, throwing his arms around it. + +"You start something!" ordered the boss tramp of Prescott. + +Feeling that now the chance might come for both of them to make +a break for liberty, Dick answered, with a sheepish grin: + +"If I can get wind enough I'll see if I can do an Indian war song +and dance." + +"Go ahead with it," ordered the boss. "It sounds good." + +Once, three or four years ago, Dick had heard and seen such a +war song and dance done at an Indian show in the summer time. + +"I'll see if I can remember it," he replied. + +Crooning in guttural tones, he started a swaying motion of his +body. Gradually the unmelodious noise rose in volume. Brandishing +his hands as though they contained weapons, he circled about the +tree, gradually drawing nearer to Darrin. + +"That song is mighty poor stuff," growled one of the tramps. + +"Ready, Dave! Make a swift break for it!" whispered Prescott. + + + + +CHAPTER X + +REUBEN HINMAN PROVES HIS METTLE + + +Uttering a loud whoop, Dick pushed Dave lightly. + +At the same instant both young football players gathered for the +spring, then started to speed away. + +But they had had no chance to be quick enough, for some of the +tramps had moved closer. + +Both fugitives were seized, and now the battle was on again---two +boys against overwhelming odds. + +Right at the outset, however, a new note sounded. + +"Go into it!" roared Tom Reade's voice. "Give 'em an old-fashioned +high school drubbing." + +Three more figures hurled themselves into the fray. And now, +indeed, the battle raged. On the part of the high school boys +there was no longer any thought of retreat, though it was still +a matter of six men against five lads. + +In the excitement of their friends' arrival, Dick and Dave were +able to wrench themselves free. + +Though those on the defense were boys, they were boys of good +size, whose muscles had been hardened by regular training, as +well as by grilling work on the football field. + +Reade, in his first onset, hit one of the tramps such a blow that +the fellow went to earth, where, though conscious, he preferred +to remain for a while. Then it was five against five. But Dan +soon got in a belt-line blow that put another tramp out of the +fight. + +From the road the two scouts ran up. When they saw, however, +how the fight was going, they slunk off. + +It was soon all but over. The boss tramp, however, armed with +a club, crept up behind Prescott, aiming a savage blow at his +head. + +The blow would have landed, but for a new interruption. + +With a cry that was more of a scream of alarm, old Reuben Hinman +threw himself forward into the fray. Both his lean arms were +wrapped around the tramp's legs. + +Down came the tramp, just as Dick wheeled, falling heavily across +Reuben Hinman, knocking the breath from the peddler. + +Tom and Dave seized the boss tramp, as he tried to get up, hurling +him back to the earth and sitting upon him. + +"Let me up! Lemme go!" yelled the tramp. + +"Keep cool," advised Tom. "You're likely to stay with us a while." + +"Don't let him go," cried Prescott. "That wretch has all of Mr. +Hinman's money in his pockets." + +"He'll give it up, then," guessed Reade. + +"Come back here, you men!" roared the boss tramp, finding that +all his fellows had fled. + +"Call 'em all you want," mocked Reade. "They won't come back. +They're too wise for that." + +Dick, having given the order for the holding of the one tramp +who remained, now gave all his attention to Reuben Hinman. + +"The poor old man must be rather badly hurt," Prescott declared. +"I can't get him to talk. Did you fellows bring a lantern with +you?" + +The lantern was lit and brought forward. + +"I don't know what the matter is with him," said Dick at last. +"But that's all the more reason why we must get him where he +can have attention. The village of Dunfield is four miles below +here. We must get him there at once. And we'll march the hobo +there, too, in the hope that the village has a lock-up." + +"It hasn't," snarled the tramp. + +"Oh, we wouldn't take your word on a vital point like that," jeered +Darry. + +"The first thing you'll do will be to give back this poor old +man's money," Dick went on, eyeing the tramp. + +"I haven't got it," came the prompt denial. "I turned it over +to Joe and Bill, and they've got away with it." + +"You're not going to like us a bit, my man," smiled Prescott. +"We are not the kind of fellows to take your word for anything. +We're going to see whether or not you have the money. We're +going through your clothing for it. Poor old Mr. Hinman will +need it for the care that I am afraid he is going to require. +Search the fellow, Tom." + +Greg now aided Dave in holding the vagabond. The tramp made such +a commotion during the search that Dick and Greg added their help +in holding him. + +Out of a trousers' pocket Tom dragged the peddler's money sack. +It was still tied. + +"Let me have it," said Dick, and took it over by the campfire, +where he untied the sack and peered into it. + +"There's a roll of bills and at least ten, dollars in change in +the sack," Dick announced, "so I think that none of the money +has been taken." + +"That's my money you've got," snarled the tramp. + +"Tell that to the Senate!" Tom suggested. + +Greg and Dan now aided Dick in lifting Mr. Hinman to the floor +of his wagon, where they laid him on a pile of rags. Mr. Hinman +was breathing, and his pulse could be distinctly felt. + +"Dave, I guess you and I had better go along with the wagon," +Dick suggested. "Now, see here, Tom, you and the other fellows +go back to camp and act just as if we were all there. Start in +the morning, as usual. You ought to be in Fenton by noon to-morrow. +If Dave and I don't join you before that time, then you'll find +us at Fenton." + +"What are you going to do with the hobo?" Reade wanted to know. + +"Roll him over on his face and tie his hands. Then we'll hitch +him to the back of Mr. Hinman's wagon, and I'll walk with him +and see that he goes along without making trouble, while Dave +drives." + +At this moment Reade alone was occupied in sitting on the captive, +Dave having risen when it was suggested that he go with Dick to +Dunfield. + +"Here---quick!" yelled Reade, as the boss tramp gave a sudden +heave. + +But like a flash the hobo sprang up and darted off through the +darkness. Tom, Dave and Dan started in swift pursuit, but the +tramp soon doubled on his pursuers in the darkness and got away. + +"Let him go," counseled Dick. "We've enough else to occupy our +attention." + +So Greg ran out to pass the word to the pursuers to discontinue +the chase. Tom, when he returned, was very angry. + +"You'd no business to leave the fellow like that, Darry," he growled, +"and I was a big fool not to be better on my guard. That fellow +will make trouble for us yet---see if he doesn't." + +"There was no use in chasing him any further, if he eluded you +in the darkness," Dick remarked. "Dave, you get up on the wagon +beside Mr. Hinman. I'll drive his horse." + +Only as far as the road did Tom Reade, Dan and Greg accompany +them, going ahead with the lantern to show the way. + +"Now, you know the plan, Tom," Dick called quietly. "Fenton---at +noon to-morrow." + +"Good luck to you two!" called Reade. "And keep your eyes open +for trouble." + +"It will be someone else's trouble, if we meet any," laughed Darrin +gayly. + +"I wonder how it was that Tom and the other fellows didn't run +into one of the scouts that the tramps had out," said Dick, after +they had driven a short distance. + +"Tom told me that they did catch a glimpse of a scout prowling +by the road side, so they went around him," Darrin replied. "They +slipped past the fellow without his seeing them." + +As Dick held the reins he also eyed the dark road closely as they +went along. He was not blind to the fact that the tramps might +reassemble and rush the wagon, for these vagabonds would want +both the peddler's money and what they would consider suitable +revenge on the high school boys, for their part in the night's +doings. + +However, the village of Dunfield was reached without further adventure. +Dave woke up the head of a family living in one of the cottages, +and from him learned where to find the local physician. Then +Dick drove to the medical man's house. + +Dr. Haynes came downstairs at the first ring of the door bell, +helping the boys to bring the still unconscious peddler inside. + +There, under a strong light, with the peddler stretched on an +operating table, the physician looked Reuben Hinman over. + +"I can't find evidence of any bones being broken," said the physician. +"It's my opinion that shock and exhaustion have done their work. +Reuben is a very hard-working old man." + +"Then you know him?" Dick asked. + +"Everyone in this part of the country knows Reuben," replied the +doctor. "He's one of our characters." + +"He must have a hard life of it, and make rather a poor living," +Prescott suggested. + +"I guess he would make a good enough living, if-----" began the +physician, then checked himself. + +"Are you going to bring the man to consciousness, doctor?" asked +Dave. + +"Yes; after I get a few things ready. I don't believe we'll have +much trouble with him, though we'll have to get Reuben home and +make him rest for a few days." + +"Where does he live?" Dick inquired. + +"In Fenton. Reuben has a queer little old home of his own there." + +"Has he a wife?" Dick asked. + +"She died fifteen years ago." + +"Are there any children to look after Mr. Hinman?" Darry asked. + +"He has children, but---well, they don't live with him," replied +Dr. Haynes, as though not caring to discuss the subject. + +Then the physician went to work over the peddler, who presently +opened his eyes. + +"Drink some of this," ordered the physician. "Now, you begin +to feel better, don't you, Reuben?" + +"Yes; and I've got to get up right away and see what I can do +about getting back my money," cried the peddler. + +"Don't try to get up just yet," ordered Dr. Haynes. + +"If your money is worrying you, Mr. Hinman, I have it," Dick broke +in, showing the sack. + +A cry of joy escaped the peddler. He sank back, murmuring: + +"You're good boys! I knew you were good boys!" + +"You take the money, Doctor, if you please, and turn it over to +Mr. Hinman when he's able to count it," urged Prescott, handing +the sack to their host. + +"Now, Mr. Hinman will want to sleep a little while, so we'll go +outside and chat, if you've nothing pressing to do," suggested +the physician. + +Dick and Dave thought they might learn more about the odd peddler, +but Reuben Hinman's affairs was one subject that the physician +did not seem inclined to talk about. + +"Now, if you young men want to take Reuben over to Fenton," said +Dr. Haynes, at last, "I'll telephone Dr. Warren from here, and +he'll be expecting you. It'll take you about two hours to get +over to Fenton at the gait that old Reuben's horse travels." + +This time a mattress was placed on top of the pile of rags, and +the peddler was made as comfortable as possible for the trip. + +"Remember, Reuben, you've got to stay in the house and take care +of yourself for three or four days," was Dr. Haynes' parting injunction. + +"I can't spare the time from my business," groaned the old man. + +"You'll have to, this time, Reuben, as the means of being ready +to do more business. So be good about it. You have two fine +lads taking care of you to-night." + +"I know that, Doctor." + +It was five o'clock in the morning when Dick and Dave drove into +the main street of Fenton. Yet they found an automobile in the +road, and Dr. Warren, a very young man, hailed them. + +"Drive right along, boys. I'll show you the way to the house," +called the Fenton physician. + +It was a very small and very plain little house of five rooms +into which Reuben was carried, but it was a very neatly kept little +house. + +Reuben Hinman was put to bed and made as comfortable as possible. + +"Are there any relatives to take care of this man?" Dick asked. + +"There are relatives," replied Dr. Warren, with an odd smile, +"but I guess we won't ask any of them to care for Reuben. There +are a couple of good women among the neighbors, and I'll call +them to come over here soon." + +It was after six in the morning when Dr. Warren left the peddler, +with two motherly looking women to take care of him. + +Dr. Warren, after some conversation with the boys, returned to +his home. + +"As this is where we're going to meet Tom and the other fellows," +said Dick, "I propose that we see if we can find a restaurant +and have something to eat. Then we'll try to hire a couple of +beds and leave a call for noon. I'm both hungry and fagged out." + +They found the restaurant without difficulty, and also succeeded +in hiring two cots in an upstairs room over the restaurant. + +"Reuben Hinman is becoming a good deal of a puzzle to me," murmured +Dave Darrin, as the chums ate their breakfast. + +"He's almost a man of mystery," agreed Dick, "though not quite, +except to us. I imagine that these Fenton people know all about +our peddler friend." + +"Both doctors seemed to know a lot about the old man," remarked +Dave thoughtfully. "Yet it was strange; neither of them would +really tell us anything definite about Mr. Hinman." + +"If doctors told all they know about people." smiled Dick, "I +believe that life would become exciting for a while, but before +long there would be fewer doctors in the world than there are now." + +At just twelve o'clock Dick and Dave were called. They sprang +up, somewhat drowsy, yet on the whole greatly refreshed. After +washing they dressed and went forth in search of their camp outfit +and friends. + + + + +CHAPTER XI + +TOM IDEALIZES WORKING CLOTHES + + +After the reunion at Fenton the high school boys enjoyed many +days of "hiking" and of all-around good times, yet nothing happened +in that interval that requires especial chronicling. + +Nor in that time did Dick & Co. hear any more of Reuben Hinman, +as they were now some distance from Fenton. + +"We'll make Ashbury to-night," Dick announced one morning. "We'll +go about two miles past the town, halt there for two or three +days' rest, and then---back to good old Gridley for ours." + +"Gridley's all right. Fine old town," Tom declared. "But as +for me, I wish we didn't have to go back there for another two +months, instead of feeling that we have to be there in a fortnight +from now." + +"This has been a great hike," Dick agreed, "and a fortnight of +life of a kind that has had nothing but joy in it. Yet we've +the years ahead to think of, haven't we?" + +"What has that got to do with going back to Gridley?" demanded +Danny Grin. + +"Well, what are we going to the high school for?" questioned Dick +Prescott. + +"I'm going because the folks send me," Dan declared. "Can't help +myself." + +"Don't you want to get anywhere in life?" + +"I suppose I do," Dalzell assented half dubiously. + +"Danny boy, I'm ashamed of you," Dick exclaimed, though his eyes +were smiling. "Are you content, Dan, to grow up and use your +fine muscles in performing the duties of a day laborer?" + +"Not exactly," Dan answered. + +"You'd rather be president of a big railroad company?" + +"Yes, if I had to choose between the two jobs." + +"Then perhaps you can get a glimmering of why you're in high school," +Dick went on. "When you compare the railway president and the +laborer, the difference between them lies a good deal in the difference +in their natural abilities. Yet a lot depends, too, upon the +difference in their training. You don't find many college graduates +wielding the pick and shovel for a living, nor many high school +graduates doing so, either. By the way, Dan, what are you going +to do in life?" + +Dalzell shook his head. + +"Then within the next year you had better go after the problem +and make your decision hard and fast. Fasten your gaze on something +in life that you want, and then don't stop traveling until you +get it, and it's all yours! A boy of seventeen, without an idea +of what he intends to do in life has already turned down the lane +that leads to the junk heap. Get out of that road, Danny!" + +"What are you going to do in life yourself?" challenged Danny Grin. + +"I'm going to West Point if there's any possible chance of my +winning the nomination from our home district. There's a vacancy +to be competed for next spring." + +"Some smarter boy may win it away from you," Danny Grin retorted. + +"He'll have to hustle, then," Dick rejoined, his eyes flashing. + +"But suppose you do lose the nomination and can't go to West +Point---what will you do then?" + +"I have plans, in case I can't get to West Point," Prescott answered +quietly. "However, as yet I won't admit the defeat of my West +Point ambition." + +"I'd try for West Point myself, if it weren't for Dick being in +the way," Greg declared. "But I never could get past Dick in +an exam." + +"If you want it, come on and try," begged Dick. "Our Congressman +gives the nomination to the boy in the district who can stand +up best under an exam. Go in and try for it, Greg! Work like +a horse when high school opens. You might get it." + +"And take it away from you?" blurted Holmes. + +"If you can get it from me, you ought to do it, Holmesy. The +best men are needed in every walk of life. I'll promise, in +advance, not to be 'sore' if you can win it away from me." + +"Yes! I'd try all winter," scoffed Greg, "and then in the end +some sad-eyed fellow from a back-country village would bob up +and win it away from us both." + +"Let the sad-eyed fellow have it, if he is the better man," Dick +agreed heartily. "But fear of defeat isn't going to hold me back. +Don't let it stop you, either, Greg!" + +"It's going to be Annapolis for mine---the United States Naval +Academy and a commission in the United States Navy!" Darry declared, +his eyes snapping. + +"I'd rather like that, too," Danny Grin declared. + +"Then go after it," urged Dick Prescott. "Get some real plan +in your mind of what you're going to do in life, and then follow +that plan, night and day, until you either win or drop from exhaustion." + +"Wouldn't I be a funny-looking lamb in a midshipman's uniform?" +queried Dalzell blinking fast. + +"No funnier looking than any of the rest of us," Dick retorted. +"Now, Tom isn't talking much, but we all know what he's going +to do, for he has already been working at it. He has been studying +surveying, for he means to make a great civil engineer of himself +one of these days." + +"And I'm going into the game with him," declared Hazelton. + +"That's because you've always had Tom about to tell you what to +do, and to keep you from butting your head into things in the +dark," jeered Danny Grin. "Hazy, you're going to become an engineer +just because you shiver at the thought of trying to do anything +in life without having old Tommy Long-legs to advise you when +to wash your face or come in out of the rain." + +"Harry is a pretty bright surveyor already," Tom declared. "He +has been keeping mum about it, but Harry can go out into the country +with a transit and run up the field notes for a map about as handily +as the next kid in his teens." + +"I should think you'd like the Army or the Navy, Tom," mused Dalzell +aloud. + +"Nothing doing," Reade retorted. "I want to be one of the big +and active men of the world, who do big things. I want to map +out the wilderness. I want to dam the raging flood and drive +the new railroad across the desert. I want to construct. I want +to work day and night when the big deeds are to be done. That's +why I wouldn't care for the Army or Navy; it's too idle a life." + +"An idle life!" exclaimed Dick and Dave in the same breath. + +"Yes," Tom went on dryly. "Did you ever see an Army or a Navy +officer?" + +"I've seen several of them," Dick replied, "and have talked with +some of them." + +"Same here," added Darrin. + +"Did you see the officers in uniform?" Reade pressed. + +"Yes, of course-----" said Prescott. + +"Their uniforms were nice and neat, weren't they?" Tom asked. + +"Of course," Prescott answered. + +"Then that was because your Army or Navy officers hadn't been +doing any hard work that would ruffle the neatness of their uniforms," +finished Tom triumphantly, "and there you are! I can dress up +on Sundays or holidays, but on the work days, when I'm a civil +engineer, I want to wear clothes that show that I'm not afraid +to tackle the rough and hard things of life." + +"Then you might join Dan in being a day laborer," teased Dick +laughingly. + +"Oh, no! I want to use my brain along with my muscles, and that's +why I'm going to be a civil engineer." + +"Army a Navy officers may have had an easy time of it once," Dave +went on warmly, but times have changed. Our fighting men, to-day, +are obliged to hustle all the time to keep up with the march and +progress of science. I asked an Army officer, once, what he did +in his spare time. He looked at me rather queerly, then replied, +'I sleep.'" + +"He was lazy as well as offensively neat, then," laughed Tom. +"As for me, I enjoy my old clothes, and that is one of the reasons +why I'm having so much fun out of this trip. I don't have to +dress up!" + +"You'd feel first rate if you could be dressed up for a few hours, +go into a hotel dining room, have a good meal and then slip into +a ballroom for a dance," laughed Prescott. + +"Bosh!" flared Tom. "I'm no dandy, and all I want is to be a +man." + +"How do you stand, Harry?" grinned Dave Darrin. "Do you agree +with Tom that dirt is the best stuff with which to decorate one's +clothing?" + +"I never said that," broke in Tom hotly. "I'm as ready for a +bath and clean clothing as any of you. I like to wear old +clothes---not soiled ones!" + +"If anyone happens to overhear us talking," laughed Hazy, "he'll +think that we're all planning to take up prize fighting as our +work in life." + +"I don't like to hear the officers of the Army and Navy scoffed +at as a lot of idling, time-wasting dandies," Darry asserted. + +"And I don't like to be accused of liking dirt on my clothes, +just because I am going to be a civil engineer," Tom explained +in a milder voice. + +An ideal bit of green forest, at the edge of a limpid lake, appealed +to Dick & Co. as the noon stopping place. + +"I've a good mind to fish," remarked Danny Grin. + +"Go ahead, if you want to," Dick assented, "but we've got a lot +of fresh meat that we simply must cook this noon, for it may not +keep until night." + +"It would take you an hour or more, even though the fish bit readily, +to catch enough fish to feed this little multitude," Tom remarked. + +"I don't want to wait that long for my meal to-day." + +"I don't believe I want to wait, either," Dalzell agreed, and +gave up the idea of fishing. + +Luncheon went on in record time that morning. It was not later +than half-past eleven o'clock when they sat down to the meal, +and but a few minutes past noon when the dishes were stacked up, +ready to be washed. + +"Whizz-zz!" whistled Dave, as the sounds made by a swiftly driven +automobile reached their ears. "Someone is hurrying to get his +noon meal. Just hear that old spurt wagon throb!" + +The boys sat some hundred feet in from the highway. The automobile +did not interest them much until----- + +Bang! + +Then the car stopped with a scraping sound. + +"Gracious!" exclaimed Danny Grin, jumping up at the sound of the +explosion. Then he sat down once more, looking sheepish. + +"Give up the Annapolis bee, Danny boy," laughed Tom. "That was +nothing but a tire blowing out. If you got into the Navy, and +a fourteen-inch gun went off when you weren't expecting it, you'd +be half way to the planet Neptune before your comrades could call +you back." + +"How easily we make light of other people's troubles," mused Prescott. + +"What makes you say that?" asked Darrin. + +"Why, for instance, that party down in the road has been stopped +by a blown-out tire. Probably they were in a hurry to get somewhere, +too. Now, they're delayed perhaps a half an hour, but it doesn't +give us a flicker of concern." + +"It interests me, anyway," Reade announced, rising. "Anything +in the mechanical line does. It may even be that the man driving +that car doesn't know just how to put on a new tire. I'm going +to saunter down and see." + +Five members of Dick & Co. didn't take the trouble even to glance +keenly at the halted car. + +Tom took a dozen steps, then suddenly shouted back: + +"Fellows, your indifference will vanish, now. Look who's here!" + + + + +CHAPTER XII + +TROUBLE WITH THE RAH-RAH-RAHS + + +A broad-shouldered man, his back to Dick & Co., was assisting +a middle-aged woman to alight from the car. + +As Tom's voice reached their ears five girls exclaimed in delight, +then began to wave their hands in most friendly fashion. + +Dick & Co. were on the run by this time, for the broad-shouldered +man was Dr. Bentley, the woman Mrs. Bentley, and the five girls +Laura Bentley, Belle Meade, Susie Sharp, Clara Marshall and Anita +Murray. + +"Hm! Young men, I'm beginning to feel annoyed," remarked Dr. +Bentley with pretended severity, though he shook hands pleasantly +enough with the boys. "Whenever Mrs. Bentley and I take some +of Laura's friends for a spin anywhere you appear to have our +route and you bob up on the map." + +"Then we'll withdraw, sir, at once," Dick suggested. + +"No, you won't," retorted the doctor. "Young Reade is engaged, +on the spot, to help me fit on a new tire. Perhaps Hazelton will +help. The rest of you may disappear, and take the ladies with +you, if you will. Yet, really, it looks as though you learn our +route and follow it." + +"That isn't fair, doctor," Dave rejoined. "We're on foot, and +have been away from Gridley for something over a fortnight. It +is you who must have been following us, with that seven-passenger +automobile of yours. And may I remind you, sir, that you wouldn't +have bursted the tire if you hadn't been driving at something +under a hundred and eighty miles an hour in the effort to overtake +us?" + +"I'm beaten", laughed Dr. Bentley. "I take it all back. I agree +that the appearances are all against me. But I didn't know that +you young scions of Gridley were on the road. I was driving fast +in order to bring the ladies to Ashbury in time for luncheon. +And now, they won't get it." + +"Small loss to them, and great gain to us," smiled Dick. "We +have provisions enough in our wagon to offer all the luncheon +that your party can possibly care to eat." + +"No, no! We've encroached upon your hospitality too often in +the past," replied Dr. Bentley, with a shake of his head. "We +won't be delayed long. Just how long, Reade, do you think it +is going to take us to fit on the new tire?" + +"The car ought to be ready to run again in fifteen minutes," Tom +answered truthfully. + +"And we can make Ashbury in another fifteen minutes," Laura's +father continued. "So we won't rob the pantry of Dick & Co. to-day." + +Dick and three of his chums conducted Mrs. Bentley and the five +high school girls in under the trees. Of course the girls wanted +to see the outfit, though it was now packed on the wagon. + +"Are you going far, this trip?" Dick inquired. + +"Ashbury will be the end of our run," Mrs. Bentley answered. + +"And of ours, too," Dick nodded. "We agreed to that this morning." + +"But we are to stay at Ashbury two or three days," Laura added. +"Dad has been making arrangements for us at the hotel there, +and he calls it a fine summer place. We know some people who +are stopping there now, so we are going to have a pleasant little +time of it, I expect. When do you reach Ashbury, Dick?" + +"To-night," Prescott answered. + +"Mother," Laura went on, "aren't you going to invite the boys +to luncheon at the hotel tomorrow?" + +"I shall be delighted to do so, if they will accept," replied +Mrs. Bentley smiling. + +"We'd cause a sensation in the hotel, wouldn't we?" laughed Danny +Grin, looking down ruefully at his dusty "hike clothes." + +"You have other clothing with you, haven't you?" asked Susie Sharp. + +"Nothing better than what we're wearing now," Greg replied. + +"Come, just the same, anyway," urged Mrs. Bentley. "You boys +are on a rough trip, and you're not expected to have large wardrobes +with you. So I shall expect you all at the Ashbury Terraces by +noon to-morrow." + +"And there's to be a dance there to-morrow night," Belle continued, +a trifle mischievously. "Of course, you will come to the dance." + +"Yes---if you invite us!" Dick took up the challenge thus unexpectedly. + +"Then you're surely invited," laughed Susie Sharp. "Aren't they, +Mrs. Bentley?" + +"Yes; if they promise to come," agreed the doctor's wife. "And, +perhaps, they would rather dine than lunch with us, and then they +can attend the dance after dinner." + +"That would be much better, thank you," Dick replied gratefully. + +But the other fellows eyed him askance, in wondering amazement. +What on earth could Dick mean by accepting for himself and chums +a dinner and dance invitation when they had nothing to wear save +their road-worn and travel-stained hiking clothes? + +"Dick is getting careless---making such an engagement for us for +to-morrow evening," Tom confided to Hazelton, when the news was +related to him. + +"Well, you won't need to mind, anyway," laughed Harry gleefully. +"You, of all fellows, can't kick, Tom, after the way you've been +glorifying life in one's working clothes." + +Dr. Bentley was delighted to have such capable young men as Reade +and Hazelton on hand to put on the new tire, for the man of medicine, +though a clever surgeon in some lines, was but little of a machinist. +He worked with finer tools than those that his repair box carried. + +Twenty minutes later the new tire was on and had been pumped up. + +"All ready!" sang out Tom. + +"You might have dallied longer on that job," Dick answered reproachfully. + +"Are you anxious to keep us hungry girls away from our luncheon +that much longer?" cried Susie Sharp. + +"Well, whose fault is it that you are not having your luncheon, +here and now?" smiled Prescott. "You didn't like our cooking, +though." + +"Don't I?" chirped Miss Sharp. "If it weren't for making you +vainer than you are, Dick Prescott, I'd tell you that the trout +luncheon you gave us at the second lake still lingers in our memories." + +Regretfully, the boys escorted the high school girls down to the +road, assisting them and Mrs. Bentley into the car. + +"To-morrow evening, then!" called Mrs. Bentley. "Be at the hotel +by half-past five o'clock, won't you?" + +"Without fail," Dick smiled back, "unless circumstances beyond +our control prevent us." + +Good-byes were eagerly called, Dr. Bentley warmly expressing his +thanks to Reade and Hazelton for their assistance. Then, with +a warning honk, the big car started away. + +Then all hands turned upon Dick. "Prescott, why on earth did +you let us in for a dinner and dance to-morrow night?" quivered +Greg. + +"Look at us---the only outside clothes we have with us!" exploded +Danny Grin. + +"We're frights!" chimed in Dave. + +"We'll disgrace the girls," blurted Tom, "unless in the meantime +we can find some real tramps with whom to trade clothes." + +"We'll feel ashamed enough to drop, when we get among civilized +folks," moaned Harry. + +"This is a fine chance to prove or disprove Tom's theory that +a fellow ought to feel most at home in his old working clothes," +chuckled Dick. + +"Was that why you did it---accepted that dinner and dance invitation?" +gasped Dave. + +"Partly," laughed Prescott. + +"I won't go!" flared Reade, his face showing red under its heavy +coat of tan. + +"Oh, yes, you will," Dick insisted, "or else admit that you perjured +yourself when you idealized your working duds this morning." + +"And are you really going to-morrow night?" Greg insisted. + +"I certainly am," young Prescott affirmed. + +That was too much of a poser for the other members of Dick & Co. +Nothing more was said on the subject, though the five boys did +considerable thinking. + +Toward five o'clock they came in sight of Ashbury. A few minutes +later they had reached a point where the highway turned into one +of the streets of the town. + +Here a uniformed bell-boy from the Ashbury Terraces Hotel approached +them. + +"Is Mr. Prescott in this party?" he inquired. + +"That's my name," Dick answered. + +"Then I am requested by Dr. Bentley to guide you to a camping place +inside the Terraces' grounds," replied the bell-boy. "Dr. Bentley +has arranged it with the manager." + +This was a surprise, indeed, but Dick & Co. followed their guide, +who turned in through a gate at some distance from the handsome +summer hotel. Their guide led them to a grove on a broad terrace, +from which the high school lads had an excellent view of one of +the porches of the hotel. + +"Look at the smartly dressed people over there!" groaned Greg, +as soon as the bell-boy had left them. "Look at those girls, +in their gowns of white lace! Look at the fellows over there, +in flannels and white duck! Look at-----" + +"Shut up!" commanded Tom hoarsely. "Don't rub it in." + +"Dick," suggested Darry, with some bitterness, "we'll feel like +princes in our flannel shirts and khaki leggings, won't we?" + +"I've an idea," offered Danny Grin. "By way of dressing up we +can leave off our khaki leggings and give our trousers an extra +brushing all around. We'll look quite respectable, after all!" + +"Gentlemen," remarked Tom Reade solemnly, "I have the honor to +make a motion to the effect that Messrs. Darrin, Holmes and Dalzell +be appointed a committee of three to take Dick Prescott away and +drown him in the nearest sizable body of water!" + +"Carried!" proclaimed Hazelton. + +Instead, however, all hands fell to work putting up the tent and +preparing for supper. + +"Rah, rah, rah!" rose joyously on the air. Then, out of the woods +behind the camp appeared eight young men in multi-colored raiment. +Gorgeous bands surrounded their straw hats; their blazer coats +resembled so many rainbows. Yet, apart from their coats of many +colors, these young men were smartly dressed, and it was plain +that they carried with them considerable of an estimate of their +own importance. Their average age appeared to be about twenty-one +years. + +"Rah, rah, rah!" rang the chorus again. Then one of the eight, +moving in advance of The others, called back: + +"Fellows, what have we here?" + +"Gipsies!" called another. + +"Plain hoboes!" from a third. + +"It's a gang of juvenile desperadoes escaped from some reformatory," +declared a fourth. + +"Rah, rah, rah!" + +With noisy yells the eight young men descended upon the camp. + +"Don't you think you'd better steer off?" called Dave, putting +himself as much as he could in their way. + +"Why, it talks!" cried one of the rah-rah-rah fellows, in mock +astonishment. + +"Just like a human being!" added a third. + +"Wonder what these animals are doing here?" propounded another. + +So they invaded the camp, poking their heads in at the tent entrance, +examining the wagon with a good deal of curiosity, and poking +into the boxes containing the food that Dick and Greg had just +laid out with a view to starting preparations for supper. + +"Now, gentlemen," called Dick, "if you think your curiosity has +been sufficiently gratified, do you mind clearing out and letting +us alone?" + +A variety of mocking replies greeted that proposition. + +"We don't like to be disagreeable, you understand," Dave hinted, +"but, really, we begin to feel that we have had a great sufficiency +of your company, gentlemen." + +"What are you going to do about it?" demanded one of the eight +intruders rather aggressively. + +Dave Darrin doubled his fists, ready to fight, now, at any further +provocation. Even good-natured Tom looked about for some sort +of club. But Dick answered, coolly: + +"What are we going to do? First of all, we are merely going to +suggest for your consideration the idea that gentlemen don't remain +where they're not wanted." + +"Freshie!" yelled one of the eight contemptuously. + +"Toss him in a blanket," advised another. + +"We don't mind your presence as much as your bad manners," Dick +remarked coldly. "Will you kindly take your leave?" + +"No!" shouted three or four of their tormentors derisively. + +Dave, his fists still clenched, bounded forward. One chap, in +an especially brilliant blazer, reached out to box Darry on the +ear. + +That blow never landed, but the tormentor did---on the earth. + +_"Eight rainbow hoboes, +Looking for life's leaven, +One bumped his eyelash, +And then there were but seven!"_ + +improvised Danny Grin joyously. + +"Clean out this camp!" yelled one of the others. + +"Come on and do it, then!" yelled Tom Reade, losing all patience +at last. + +Dick & Co. suddenly presented a solid fighting rank that had +accomplished great things on the gridiron. In this formation they +advanced toward their tormentors. + +There might have been an ugly clash, but one of the eight shouted: + +"Come on, fellows! Don't tease the babies. They haven't had +their warm milk yet." + +Away darted the rainbow eight, Darrin's victim being on his feet +by this time and foremost in the retreat. + +"Rah, rah, rah!" came back on the air as the high school boys +broke a formation for which they had no further need at present. + +"Those fellows are plainly guests at the hotel, and we're going +to have trouble with them yet," Prescott predicted wisely. + + + + +CHAPTER XIII + +A SNUB AND THE QUICK RETORT + + +At half-past five o'clock the next day, Dick & Co. strolled up +to the porch of the Ashbury Terraces Hotel. + +From one of the parlors a cry of recognition in a girlish voice +floated out. Then appeared the Gridley High School girls, with +Susie Sharp in the lead. + +"I thought you told us you didn't have any other than your hike +clothing with you!" Susie cried accusingly to Tom Reade. + +"We didn't. We told you the truth," Reade rejoined. + +"Then these-----" + +"These new clothes were bought with money from the treasury," +Reade informed her. + +"Does our appearance suit you, ladies?" Greg asked smiling. + +"You look like so many tailor's models," replied Belle Meade, +adding, sweetly: "If that is any praise." + +Certainly Dick & Co., clad in well-fitting white duck suits, presented +a creditable appearance. + +"We've been preparing our friends at the Terraces for a different +looking lot of young men," laughed Susie. "We have told them +that a number of high school boy friends of ours were coming +over to dinner and the hop attired in the same clothes they have +been wearing in camp and on the road. Now we must apologize to +them for presenting fashion plates." + +The explanation, as Dick presently furnished it to Laura Bentley, +was a simple one. Dick had been handling the funds of the six +boys on this expedition, which had held out much longer than any +of his chums had known. At the time of accepting the invitation +young Prescott had felt sure that an Ashbury clothier would be +able to furnish proper clothes for his party, and his guess had +proved a correct one. Moreover, the treasury of Dick & Co. had +been easily able to endure the drain, for these white clothes +had not been costly. + +Mrs. Bentley presently joined the little Gridley group of young +people on the veranda. That good lady noted, with secret pleasure, +the well-groomed appearance of her young guests. + +"Rah, rah, rah!" came boisterously up the veranda, as the camp +visitors of the evening before suddenly appeared. "Rah, rah, +rah!" + +Then, halting in a compact group midway on the veranda, they shouted +in chorus: + +"S-A-U-N-D-E-R-S! Saunders! Saunders! Siss-boom-a-a-ah! Rah, +rah, rah!" + +"College boys!" exclaimed Susie Sharp in an impatient undertone. +"College boys, and the worst of their kind. They're noisy nuisances!" + +"So far as any other guest has been able to discover they haven't +any manners," Belle added. + +Then, espying the girls and their guests the rah-rah-rah boys +came briskly up the veranda. + +"Good evening, Miss Meade!" called one of them, lifting his hat. +"Glorious evening, isn't it? How many dances may I have the +honor of claiming at the hop to-night?" + +Belle Meade blushed slightly and drew back a step, resenting the +young man's familiarity. + +In front of the presumptuous youth stepped Dave Darrin, with eyes +flashing. + +"Kindly keep your distance, young man!" Dave advised, in a tone +of dangerous quiet. + +"Who asked you to speak?" inquired the rah-rah youth mockingly. + +"I am a friend of the young lady, and she finds your presence +an intrusion," replied Darry, controlling himself by a mighty +effort. + +"All guests of the hotel are supposed to be acquainted," urged +the rah-rah youth, reddening a trifle. + +"These young ladies do not wish to recognize you and your friends +as acquaintances," replied Dave. "Kindly efface yourselves!" + +"Don't make your lack of breeding too conspicuous," Dick advised, +in a quiet undertone, to another of the intruders who had pushed +forward to join in the conversation. + +A sudden sense of discomfort seemed to sweep over the eight presuming +young men. They turned and moved away, though muttering among +themselves. + +"That is the kind of young men I thought they were," Laura observed. +"I am glad that you boys sent them off about their own affairs." + +Dr. Bentley joined the young people last of all. + +"I have just returned from a long walk," he explained. "I have +to make the most of these brief summer vacations of mine." + +When dinner was announced, Dr. and Mrs. Bentley and the young +people took seats at a long table reserved for their party. + +It was a pleasant meal in the midst of an animated scene. + +Over at another table the rah-rah boys made a good deal of noise +until the head waiter went to them, uttering a few words in low +tones. After that the rah-rah youngsters quieted down considerably. + +A delightful half-hour stroll on the verandas followed the dinner. +Then, like most of the guests, the Gridley young people drifted +into the hotel ballroom where the musicians were playing a march. + +Dick secured Mrs. Bentley for the first dance, as the doctor preferred +to remain on the veranda. Then, after the first dance, a general +change of partners was made. + +But the Gridley boys were too well bred to claim all the dances +with their girl friends. Laura and her friends had other acquaintances +at the hotel. Dick & Co. stood back to give these other young +men a fair opportunity of securing some dances with the girls. + +It was eleven o'clock when the hop had finished. For a few moments +Dick & Co. chatted with the Gridley High School girls on the porch. +Then they prepared to take their leave. + +"We've had a splendid time, for which we must thank you all," +Dick declared. "We did not look for any such pleasant evening +as this has been when we left home on our hike." + +"We are indebted to you all for the most delightful time of our +lives," Tom stated formally with a very low bow. + +"We couldn't have had a nicer time under any circumstances. Thank +you all," Dave Darrin said, on taking leave. + +The other boys found words in which to fitly express their pleasure +and gratitude. + +Then, as Mrs. Bentley and the girls went in side the hotel, the +Gridley High School boys wheeled to march back to camp. + +"I wonder what the head waiter said to the rah-rah boys?" asked +Reade curiously. + +"I don't know, but I can guess the meaning of what he said," laughed +Darry. "Did you ever see such an ill-bred lot of fellows before!" + +"They're not college boys," Dick declared quietly. "I don't know +where they came from, but certainly none of them have ever been +through as much as a year in any real college." + +"They're about as frisky as some college boys," retorted Danny +Grin. + +"College boys may be full of mischief, at times," Dick returned, +"but at least they know how to behave well when they should do +so. College men never think it funny to be rude with women, for +instance. College men are usually the sons of well-bred parents, +and they also acquire additional finish at college. Moreover, +the English language is one of the subjects taught in colleges. +These cheeky rah-rah boys were very slip-shod in their speech. +I don't know who these fellows are, but they're not real college +men." + +"Say, it must be nice," remarked Hazelton, "to be able to travel +about the country, stopping at such nice hotels. Laura and her +friends manage to have pretty good times." + +"Their families are all better off than ours, in a worldly sense," +Dick replied. "When you stop to think of it, there are far more +girls than boys in our good old high school who come from comfortable +homes. Perhaps two dozen of our high school fellows come from +homes of considerable wealth. The rest of us don't. More than +half of the Gridley High School girls come from families where +servants are kept. I wonder if it is that way, generally, in +the United States?" + +Prescott had unwittingly stumbled upon a fact often noted. The +homes of plain American wage earners send more boys than girls +to high school. The well-to-do families send more of their boys +to private schools, while their girls are more likely to attend +high school. + +However, as the boys neared their camp, all other thoughts were +driven from their minds. + +Tom Reade, who was leading, stopped abruptly, holding up one hand. + +"Now, what do you think of anyone who would do a trick like that?" +he demanded with a sharp in-drawing of his breath. + +"The sneaks!" breathed Darry fiercely. + +"Who could have done it?" gasped Greg. + +For the tent was down---flat. The wagon lay on its side, nor +was the horse anywhere in sight. + +"Did those rascally tramps follow us and watch their chance?" +demanded Dave Darrin hotly. + +"I don't believe the tramps did it," spoke Prescott, in a very +quiet voice, though an angry flush rose to his face. "I believe +that we must look in a different direction for the offenders." + +"The rah-rah hoodlums?" gasped Greg Holmes. + +"Yes," Dick nodded. + + + + +CHAPTER XIV + +DICK & CO. MAKE AN APPLE "PIE" + + +"Then I wish we had 'em here!" sputtered Tom Reade vengefully. +"I could eat two of them at this moment, and without salt!" + +"They need salting badly!" growled Dave Darrin angrily. + +The tent was not only down. Each guy rope had been cut in the +middle, so that the cordage could not be used again. + +"I never saw anything more sneaking!" cried Reade in rage and +disgust. + +"Unless it will be the way that we shall sneak up behind the rah-rah +crowd and square matters!" remarked Darry meaningly. + +"First of all, we must be sure of their guilt," warned Dick. +"It won't do to try to even up a score that's based only on suspicion. +Wait until I get a lantern out of the wreck, and then we'll explore +the ground to see if we can discover any real proof against the +rascals." + +"Let's get into our working clothes first," proposed Reade. "We +might want to wear these white clothes again before we get home." + +So Tom and Dave held up a part of the canvas while Dick slipped +in under the folds of the tent to find the box in which they had +left their hike clothing. + +"The box isn't here," Dick called. "Neither can I see any of +the bedding." + +"Get hold here, fellows, and lift up more of the canvas," Reade +called. + +"There isn't anything in the tent. All the stuff has been cleaned +out." Prescott announced in a voice of disgust. + +"It was the tramps, then," Dave declared. "The rah-rah boys wouldn't +take the risk of stealing anything." + +"Hold on! I've found a lantern," called Prescott. "I'll come +out with that." + +He appeared a moment later, lighting the lantern. + +"Now, let's see what we can find," he urged. Not far away the +high school boys came upon the prints of sharp-toed shoes. + +"The tramps didn't wear shoes that would make these prints," declared +Dick. "Neither do any of our crowd. Fellows, we owe our surprise +to the rah-rah humorists." + +"Then we'll pay 'em back in good measure," cried Darry in exasperation. + +After some searching Dick & Co. came upon their clothes chest, +at a distance of some hundred yards from camp. The chest had +not been rifled, for it was locked and the key rested in Dick's +pocket. + +"Help me with it, Tom, and we'll carry it back," said Prescott +in a low, hard tone. "We need our working clothes at once, for +there is work to be done to-night!" + +The needed change of costume was quickly made. Off came the white +suits, which were carefully folded and put away. Then on went +the khaki and flannel clothing. + +"Dan, you stay with the tent," Dick ordered, with the air of a +general. "Greg, you and Harry make it your main business to see +if you can find the horse. The rest of us will concern ourselves +with finding out whether the rah-rah fellows are still outside +the hotel." + +"Here's the horse---grazing," shouted Greg, two minutes later. + +"Run back, Dave, and pilot Greg and Harry here, after they've +staked the horse down," Prescott suggested. "We don't want to +make too much noise, for our tormentors may yet be about somewhere." + +"Hazy stumbled upon some of the blankets," Greg announced, when +he and Harry joined Dave. "I don't believe any of our stuff has +been carried off, Dick. It has just been scattered." + +"Perhaps we'd better gather in all our camp stuff first, then," +Dick decided. "We can't afford to lose any of our camp outfit." + +Ten or fifteen minutes of searching, with the aid of the lantern, +resulted in recovering all of their scattered possessions, even +to the last of the cots, pillows and blankets. + +"Now, let's make a sweep of the dark parts of the hotel grounds, +and we may happen upon the rah-rahs, still chuckling over the +fun they've had with us." + +But the five boys had not gone far when they were stopped by a +well-dressed young stranger of about twenty. + +"Mr. Prescott?" asked the stranger. + +"Yes," nodded Dick. + +"I am one of the bell-boys at the hotel. When I went off duty +I asked the manager's permission to change my uniform for citizen's +clothing and watch those eight noisy fellows." + +"The college boys?" asked Harry quickly. + +"They're not college boys!" returned the young stranger. "They've +been giving a fake Saunders yell, and that was what made me dislike +them, for I've just finished the sophomore year at Saunders myself. +I'm working at the Terraces as bell-boy to help pay next year's +tuition at Saunders. The manager permitted me to watch those +fellows, but somehow they got away from me. I got track of them +again near to your camp. Just as I came along they were scooting +away, but a glance showed me the mischief they had worked, so +I followed them." + +"Do you know where they are now?" Dick asked eagerly. + +"I know where they were ten minutes ago," replied the bell-boy. + +"Then please take us to them as quickly as you can," begged Darry +vehemently. "I'm fairly aching to pass the time of night with them!" + +"I'll do it," agreed the bell-boy. "Follow me, please." + +"I wonder why they went to all that trouble to be so disagreeable +to us," Prescott muttered, as the little party strode along. + +"You had some dispute with that crowd, on the hotel porch to-night, +didn't you?" asked the bell-boy. + +"Yes; they tried to address some of our girl friends, whom they +didn't know and we objected to their insolence." + +"That was what made the rah-rah boys sore," went on the bell-boy. +"I heard them talking about it before I left them. It seems, +too, that the manager sent the head waiter to stop their nonsense +in the dining room to-night. For some reason these sham college +boys blame you fellows for that humiliation also. So they're +chuckling over what they've done to your outfit to teach you to +mind your own business, as they put it." + +"I hope we catch up with 'em before they get back to the hotel," +uttered Tom fervently. "But warn us, please, whenever we get +so close that they're likely to hear our voices." + +The bell-boy now led them through an orchard. + +"There seem to be a lot of apples on the ground," remarked Prescott, +halting. + +"Green ones---they're no good," replied the bell-boy. + +"Then they are good---just what we want!" ejaculated Prescott. +"Hold on, fellows! Fill your hats with these apples." + +"What are you going to do when you come upon these fellows?" asked +the bell-boy. + +"Scuttle 'em---the way they did our tent!" Tom retorted. + +"I hope you pay them back generously," muttered the bell-boy. +"I've a score to settle with them for trying to blacken good +old Saunders! But see here! Up to date, at least, they're guests +of the hotel, and I'm an employe there. Now, if they get too +much the better of matters in a scrimmage, I'll sail in with you +boys, even though I have to resign my hotel job. But, if I see +that you can handle 'em all right, I shall just stand by without +taking any part in the fight" + +"We understand your position, and appreciate it," Dick replied. +"We thank you, too, but we believe that we can take care of them +all by ourselves. If we can't, then we'll take our drubbing." + +"You boys have done some things in athletics, haven't you?" asked +the bell-boy, noting the way that each of the five present members +of Dick & Co. carried himself. + +"Gridley High School football team last season," Dick replied, +a trace of justifiable pride in his voice. + +"You were?" demanded the bell-boy eagerly. "Then shake! My name +is Gerard. We know a lot about the Gridley High School brand +of football at Saunders." + +Introductions were quickly passed. + +"Now, I'd like to feel that I'm really one of you, and I'll fight +shoulder to shoulder with you!" chuckled Gerard. + +"Please don't try to take a hand in any fight that may occur," +Prescott begged. "If you're working your way through college, +just keep your eye on your job. Don't mix up in any trouble with +the guests." + +"We'll soon be at the spot where I left the bunch," said Gerard, +a few moments later. + +Over a rise of ground the bell-boy led Dick & Co. Then he pointed +to a little grove of chestnut trees. + +"There is the rah-rah crowd," he whispered. "You see, they have +one of your lanterns, and they're lunching on some of your food +supplies that they brought along with them." + +"I wonder what those freshies are saying now," came in a laughing +voice, from the rah-rah group under the chestnut trees. + +"Their potted chicken is all right, anyway," laughed another. +"Cut me off another slice of the bread. Whee! This college +mischief on a dark night gives one an appetite." + +Dick gave whispered instructions to his own forces, then signed +to Gerard, who drew back into the shadow. + +"I'd like to see the fresh kids now," jeered another rah-rah youth. + +"May all your wishes in life be as promptly fulfilled!" muttered +Tom Reade under his breath. + +"We might have had a nice time to-night dancing with the girls +from Gridley if their kid friends hadn't stepped in and spoiled +it all in their juvenile way," grumbled another. + +"We've finished up all the borrowed food," said another. "What +shall we do next?" + +"For 'next,'" roared Dick Prescott, "you fake collegians will +stand up and take your medicine!" + +There was instant consternation in the group under the chestnut +trees. All the rah-rah boys leaped to their feet, but, ere they +could stir, there was a whizzing sound on the air. + +Plunk! Plunk! Ker-plunk! Missiles were flying through the air +and the rah-rahs were stopping a good many of them with their +own persons. + +"Hey! Stop that!" bellowed one of the rah-rahs. "You---wow!" + +For his utterance had been for the moment stopped by a large-sized +green apple that had struck him full in the mouth. + +"Hey! Let up!" + +But nothing could stay the fast and furious volley of green apples +until Dick & Co. had exhausted their ammunition. Most of the +shots found targets, too. + +Once they had had time to recover from their bewilderment the +rah-rahs turned in full, inglorious flight, without attempting +to strike a single blow in their own defense. Who was going to +be fool enough, anyway, to run blindly into a storm of flying +green apples? + +Dick and his chums expended the last of their ammunition while +chasing the rah-rahs. Their missiles gone, the Gridley boys put +on full speed, ran after and overhauled some of their late foes +and drubbed them well. + +But at last, by common consent, Dick & Co. came to a halt. + +"I reckon we paid the score," laughed Prescott. "They ought to +let us alone hereafter." + +"No doubt they will," replied Gerard grimly, coming up with the +Gridley boys. "I haven't a doubt that the manager will order +them to leave the hotel in the morning." + +After extending their heartiest thanks to Gerard, the Gridley +boys returned to their camp. There, from their supplies, they +rigged new guy-ropes and erected their tent. Soon after, all +hands turned in, feeling quite secure against another visitation +that night. + +The manager, at first, the next morning, said nothing whatever +to the rah-rah youths. But, at about ten o'clock a constable +appeared and gathered in all of them on a charge of disturbing +the peace. + +Dick & Co. were not even asked to go the justice's court. The +hotel manager and bell-boy were on hand, but the crest-fallen +lot of rah-rah youths all pleaded guilty. They paid fines of +ten dollars apiece. + +Then, on their return to the hotel, they were informed that their +rooms were wanted at once. + +The manager and Gerard personally escorted the rah-rah boys off +the grounds of the Ashbury Terraces, and they were seen no more +thereabouts. Who they were was not learned, but Gerard's word +was accepted that the rah-rah boys had no connection with Saunders +College. + +Dick & Co. had two more pleasant meetings with their high school +friends before an about-face was made, and the return hike to +Gridley started. + +Their liveliest adventures were yet ahead of them. + + + + +CHAPTER XV + +MAKING PORT IN A STORM + + +"Did you ever see a blacker, more peculiar looking cloud coming +than that one?" demanded Tom Reade, as the high school boys emerged +from the gloom of a long, narrow forest road into comparatively +open country. + +"Is it a coming storm, or an optical delusion?" pondered Dick, +halting and staring hard. + +"It looks like pictures I've seen of water spouts," Greg declared. + +"That's what it is," Dick replied quietly. "Though I've never +seen one before, it's hard to be fooled, for that chap looks just +like his published photographs. And look at that queer, brownish, +half-yellowish sky back of it. It certainly looks forbidding." + +"And we're going to have a stormy afternoon of it!" muttered Dave. + +"The waterspout will go by to the north," Reade conjectured, studying +the oddly-shaped, rapidly moving and twisting blackish cloud, +"but we're going to be right in line with the main storm that +is traveling with it." + +"And we've got to prepare against the weather, too!" Dick cried, +with sudden realization. "Fellows, the storm that is coming down +on us isn't going to be any toy zephyr!" + +After leaving Ashbury the boys had decided to return to Gridley +by a different road. + +"There's the place for us, if we can make it!" cried Dick an instant +later, pointing toward the slope. + +"Dave, whip up the horse. He has to travel fast for his own safety. +Tom and Greg, you get behind and push the wagon up the slope. +We'll all help in turn. But hustle!" + +The crest of the rise of ground being made, the boys found themselves +entering another forest. Dick here found the ground as favorable +to his purpose as he had hoped it would be, for on the further +side the land sloped downward again, and was well-wooded. + +"Drive in there!" called Prescott, pointing, then ran ahead to +find the best spot for pitching the tent. + +"Whoa!" yelled Prescott, when he had reached the spot that he +judged would do best for camp purposes. "Now, Dave, go over to +the other side of the horse! Help me to get him out of the shafts. +The poor animal must be our first consideration, for he can't +help himself. The rest of you unload all the stuff from the wagon +as fast as you can move." + +Slipping the harness from the horse, Dick fastened a halter securely, +then ran the horse down into a little gully where the animal would +be best protected from the force of the wind that would come with +the storm. + +Driving a long iron stake into the ground, Dick tethered the animal +securely. Then he ran back to help his chums. + +"Here's the best site for the tent," Prescott called, snatching +up a stick and marking the site roughly. "Now, hustle! No; don't +use the wooden stakes for the tent ropes. Drive the long iron +stakes, and drive them deep!" + +Then Prescott ran back with oats and corn for the horse, leaving +a generous feed for the animal. + +"You'll need plenty to eat, old fellow, for the storm is going +to be a long and cold one." + +Then Prescott ran back at full speed to his chums who were erecting +the tent. + +First, the four corner stakes were driven, and the guy-ropes made +fast. + +"Greg and Dan can drive all the other pins, if they hustle," Dick +announced. "Tom, you and Dave get the floor planks down, and +rig up the stove---inside the tent." + +"There won't be time to lay the flooring," Reade objected, taking +a hurried squint at the now more threatening sky. + +"There's got to be time to lay the flooring, unless you all want +to sleep in water to-night," Dick insisted. "Harry, just break +your back with the loads of wood that you bring in. I'll fill +all the buckets with water." + +In ten minutes more everything had been carried inside the tent. +Big drops of rain were beginning to patter down. + +"We've everything ready just in time to the minute," Tom Reade +observed with a satisfied chuckle. + +"Not everything quite ready," Prescott retorted. "Tom, if you're +going to grow up to be an engineer there's one thing more you +should see the need of." + +"What?" challenged Reade blankly. + +"Get the pick and shovel! You and I will do it. Let the rest +get in under shelter!" + +Standing in the rain, Tom and Dick hastily dug two ditches at +either end of the tent. These ditches were no creditable engineering +jobs, but they would, at need, carry a good deal of water down +the slope. + +By this time the rain was falling heavily. In the distance heavy +thunder volleyed, and the sky was growing blacker every minute. + +"One more job," called Dick. "Dave and Greg, tumble out with +the shelter flap!" + +This was a great sheet of canvas that had to be fastened in place +over the tent roof, and at a different pitch. + +"We'll be drowned before we get the shelter flap in place," grumbled +Tom. + +"And we might as well be out in the rain, if we don't have it +up," Dick retorted. "Open her up! Now, then---up with it!" + +The shelter flap was placed with difficulty, for now the wind +was driving across the country, blowing everything before it. +The other two boys leaped out to help their chums. The shelter +flap was made secure at last, the ropes being made fast to the +surrounding trees. + +By this time the wind was blowing at the rate of fifty miles an +hour. The sky was nearly as black as on a dark night, while the +rain was coming down "like another Niagara," as Harry Hazelton +put it. + +"We don't care whether we have a dry tent or not, now," laughed +Dan Dalzell, as the six boys made a break for cover. "We're soaking, +anyway, and a little more water won't hurt." + +"I'll get a fire going in the stove," Dick smiled. "Soon after +that we'll be dry enough---if the tent holds." + +The stove was already in place, a sheet-iron pipe running up one +of the tent walls and out through a circular opening in the canvas +of the side wall opposite from the wind. + +While Dick was making the fire, Tom Reade filled, trimmed and +lighted the two lanterns. + +"Listen to the storm!" chuckled Prescott. "But we're comfy and +cheery enough. Now, peel off your outer clothes and spread them +on the campstools to dry by the fire. We'll soon be feeling as +cheery as though we were traveling in a Pullman car." + +Within a short time all six were dry and happy. The lightning +had come closer and closer, until now it flashed directly overhead, +followed by heavy explosions of thunder. + +Not one of the boys could remember a time when it had ever rained +as hard before. It seemed to them as though solid sheets of water +were coming down. Yet the position of the tent, aided by the +ditches, kept their floor dry. Dan, peering out through the canvas +doorway, reported that the ditches were running water at full +capacity. + +"This will all be over in an hour," hazarded Greg. + +"It may, and it may not be," Dick rejoined. "My own guess is +that the storm will last for hours." + +As the howling wind gained in intensity it seemed as though the +tent must be blown to ribbons, but stout canvas will stand +considerable weather strain. + +"If we had driven the wooden pins for the guy-ropes," muttered +Greg, "everyone of them would have been washed loose by this time." + +"They would have been," Dick assented, "and the tent would now +be down upon our heads, a drenched wreck. As it is, I think we +can pull through a night of bad weather." + +In an hour the flashes of lightning had become less frequent. +The wind had abated slightly, but there was no cessation of the +downpour. + +"I pity anyone who has to travel the highway in this storm," muttered +Dave. "This isn't weather for human beings." + +"Yet every bird of the air has to weather it," observed Hazelton. + +"Yes," muttered Tom, "and a good many of the birds of the air +will be killed in this storm, too." + +Night came down early. The wind and rain had sent the temperature +down until it seemed to the high school boys more like an October +night. The warmth and light in the tent were highly gratifying +to all. + +"As long as the tent holds I can't think of a blessed thing we +have to go outside for," sighed Reade contentedly. + +"We don't have to," laughed Dick. "Fellows, we're away off in +the wilderness, but we're as happy as we could be in a palace. +How about supper?" + +That idea was approved instantly. + +"We'll have two suppers to-night," proposed Tom. "That will be +the visible proof and expression of the highest happiness that +can be reached on a night like this." + +Even by ten o'clock that night there was no abatement in the volume +of rain falling. The wind still howled. + +"Are we going to turn in, soon?" inquired Dave. + +"My vote," announced Tom indolently, "is for another supper, and +turn in at perhaps two o'clock in the morning." + +"I second the motion---as far as another supper goes," chimed +in Danny Grin. + +"It wants to be a supper of piping hot stuff, too," declared Greg. +"It's warm here in the tent, but the surrounding world is chill +and drear. Nothing but hot food will serve us." + +Preparations for the meal were quickly under way. + +"I hope everyone within the reach of this storm is as comfortable +as we are," murmured Hazelton. + +"Why, we're so happy, we could entertain company with a relish," +laughed Reade. + +"Say, what was that?" demanded Greg. + +From outside came a faint sound as of someone stealthily groping +about outside in the storm. + +"Bring a lantern, quickly!" called Dick, going toward the tent +door. + +As Greg played the rays of light against the darkness outside, +Dick suddenly sprang forth into the dark. Then he returned, bearing +in his arms the pitiful little figure of old Reuben Hinman, the +peddler. + +"Look at his head!" gasped Reade, in horror, as Prescott entered +with the burden. + +From a gash over the peddler's left temple blood was flowing, +leaving its dark trail over the peddler's light brown coat. + +Dick carried the stricken old man straight to his own cot, laying +him there gently. + +"Who can have done this deed?" gasped Greg, throbbing with sympathy +for the poor old man. + +Outside other approaching steps sounded. Dave and Tom, snatching +up sticks of firewood, sprang forward. + + + + +CHAPTER XVI + +HOME, HOSPITAL AND ALMSHOUSE + + +Greg flashed the lantern on four hulking, bedraggled ragged men. + +"Hello! It's the same kids!" cried a hoarse voice out in the +storm. "They'll be glad to see us." + +"You keep out of here!" ordered Reade, thrusting his stick at +the face of the first tramp---the boss tramp---who tried to enter. + +"No!" countermanded Dick Prescott. "Let even the hoboes come +in. Let anyone come in on a night like this." + +"Now, that's decent of you," admitted the boss tramp, as he sloshed +heavily in, followed by three companions. Two of these tramps +had been with the "boss" on another well remembered occasion. +The third was a stranger to Dick & Co. + +"My, but you've got a real house in here a true port in a storm," +observed the boss tramp, as he halted to stare about him. "Friends, +this is the best thing we've seen today." + +"It is," agreed the other tramps solemnly. + +The glance of the newcomers did not rest upon the face of Reuben +Hinman, for Prescott had gently spread a blanket so that it effectually +concealed the little old peddler. + +"What have you men been doing?" asked Dick, straightening up and +eyeing them coldly, steadily. + +"Drowning in the woods," replied the boss, "for we knew we couldn't +find a house or barn within two miles, and the road is like a +river you need a boat for travel to-night. When the storm came +we men made a brush lean-to and kept as dry as we could under +it. But it got worse and worse. But at last we caught sight +of your light shining through the trees. So we headed for it. +We hoped you'd have a stove with a fire in it, and you have---so +we're all right, and much obliged." + +"Keep back there a bit," ordered Dick, so firmly that the tramps +obeyed. "Dave, help me to lift this cot over within a few feet +of the stove. Be as gentle as you can." + +Four tramps looked on in solemn curiosity as they saw Darrin and +Prescott lift a cot on which lay something completely covered +by a blanket. + +Then Dick turned down the blanket, revealing the bruised, bleeding +head of Reuben Hinman. + +"What do you men know about this?" Prescott demanded, eyeing them +compellingly. + +But the tramps' look was one of such astonished innocence that +Prescott began to wonder whether he had wrongly suspected these +knights of the highway. + +"Why did you do---this?" Prescott sternly insisted. + +"We---we didn't do it!" exclaimed the boss tramp fervently. "We +didn't even know that this old party was anywhere out in the storm. +We-----" + +Moaning, Reuben Hinman stirred slightly then opened his eyes dreamily. + +"Mr. Hinman, can you talk?" asked Dick gently. + +"Ye-es," faintly admitted the peddler. + +"Then how were you hurt, sir?" Dick pressed in the same gentle voice. + +"I---I saw the light. Tried---to drive my horse---in. Wagon +turned over. Fell off---and hurt my head," replied the peddler, +whispering hoarsely. + +"You're fully conscious, Mr. Hinman, and know just what you're +saying?" Dick pressed. + +"Yes, Prescott. I know." + +"Then no one else assaulted you to-night, sir." + +"No---one." + +"I feel like saying 'thank heaven' for that!" exclaimed Dick in +a quiet voice, as he straightened up, his eyes a trifle misty. +"I hate to think that the earth holds men vile enough to strike +down a weak old man like this!" + +"And on such a night," added Tom Reade. + +"Oh, we're pretty bad," said the boss tramp, huskily, "but we +didn't do anything like that." + +"At first," Dick went on, "I thought you hoboes had done the deed. +That was why I asked my friend to let you come in. I wanted +to keep you here until we could find someone who would take care +of you." + +"We didn't do it," replied the boss tramp, "and the old man says +we didn't." + +"No; no man struck me---I fell," chimed in the peddler weakly. + +"We'll help you take care of the old man," offered the boss tramp. + +"If you mean what you say," Prescott proposed, "then take one +of these lanterns and go down by the road to see what you can +find out about Mr. Hinman's horse and wagon. Or did you see them +as you came up?" + +"No, for we came through the woods," replied the boss tramp. +"I'll take the lantern. Come with me, Joe." + +Out into the dark plunged the two tramps, to face the heavily +falling rain. For once, at any rate, they were doing something +useful. + +At a signal from Dick, Greg put some water on the stove to heat. +Prescott found some clean cloth in their wardrobe box and bathed +the wound on Mr. Hinman's temple, then washed his entire face. +The wound proved to be broad, rather than deep, and was such +as might have been caused by falling on sharp pebbles. Then Dick +bound up the wound. + +Next, Dick and Greg undressed Mr. Hinman and rubbed him down, +then rolled him in dry blankets and laid him on another cot not +far from the stove. + +"Come out, you other hoboes," called the boss tramp's voice. +"Come and help us right the peddler's wagon and bring that and +the horse up here." + +The other two tramps went reluctantly out into the storm. + +A bottle full of hot water, wrapped in a towel, was placed at +the peddler's feet. + +In the meantime the tramps got the wagon into a sheltered position, +then staked the horse out close to the place where the Gridley +horse was tethered. This having been accomplished, they came +back to the camp, to find a new aroma on the air. + +"That stuff smells good. What is it?" asked the boss tramp. + +"Ginger tea. We've made some to give to Mr. Hinman." + +"Will you give us some, too?" asked the tramp. "We're all of +us chilled and hoarse." + +"I will," Dick nodded, "if you men will undertake to fill the +buckets before you try to dry yourselves. Otherwise, we shall +run out of water." + +Grunting, the boss tramp and one of his companions listened while +Dick directed them where to find running water. Out again into +the storm they lurched, and soon had all the water buckets filled +and in the tent. + +While the tramps dried their clothing, Prescott kept his word +about making ginger tea. + +"This seems like the best stuff I've had since I was a baby," +remarked the boss tramp, in a somewhat grateful voice. + +"Maybe that's because you've worked for it," suggested Reade thoughtfully. + +"I wonder," grunted the hobo. "I wonder." + +Later on Dick and his chums prepared a supper, of which all partook +except the peddler, who needed sleep and warmth more. + +The tramps slept on the floor, later on. Tom, Dave and Harry +slept on their cots, while the other three high school boys remained +awake. + +Toward two o'clock in the morning Dick found Reuben Hinman's skin +becoming decidedly feverish, and began to administer nitre. + +"I'd mount our horse, and try to ride for a doctor, if I thought +I could get one," murmured Greg. + +"You couldn't get one here to-night," volunteered the boss tramp, +who had awakened and had risen on one elbow. "Neither an automobile +nor a buggy could be driven over this wild road to-night. The +water is three feet deep in spots---worse in some others." + +Though the deluge outside still continued, all would have been +cheery inside had it not been for the alarm Dick & Co. felt over +the increasing fever of the poor old peddler. His breathing +became more and more labored. + +Dave awoke and came over to listen and look on. + +"I'll try to go for a doctor," he whispered. + +"You might even reach one," Dick replied. "I'd be willing to +try myself, but we couldn't get a physician through on a night +like this." + +"At least I'll go down and have a look at the road," muttered +Reade, rising, wrapping himself up as best he could, and taking +a lantern. + +Tom presently returned, looking like a drowned rat. + +"It's no go," he announced gloomily. "The road is a river." + +"Sure it is," muttered the boss tramp, "or---as you lads have been +so decent to me---I'd go myself and try to find a doctor." + + + + +CHAPTER XVII + +TWO KINDS OF HOBO + + +Toward daylight the rain ceased. Dawn came in heavy and misty, +but after an hour the sun shone forth, dispelling the low-lying +clouds. + +Dick was sound asleep at this time, Tom and Harry having relieved +the other watchers. All of the tramps lay stretched on the hard +wooden floor, since none of the high school boys cared to have +one of these fellows lying on his cot even when it was not in +use. + +"Go down and take a look at the road, Hazy," Tom desired, after +the sun had been out for an hour. + +"The water's running out of the road, or drying off, pretty fast" +Hazelton reported on his return. "Still, a doctor would have +a hard job getting over the road as yet." + +"Did you see anyone trying to get over the road with a vehicle?" +Reade inquired. + +"Not a soul or a wheel," Harry answered. "As far as travel goes +the road might as well be a strip of the Sahara Desert." + +Reuben Hinman's breathing was so labored that it disturbed the +watchers a good deal. + +"We're doing all we can for you, and we'll get better care for +you, just as soon as we can," Tom explained, resting a hand on +the fever-flushed face. + +"I know," wheezed the old man painfully. "Good boy!" + +By eight o'clock all hands were astir. + +"Are we going to get any breakfast to-day?" asked the tramp known +as Joe. + +"Yes," nodded Dick, choking back the temptation to say something +caustic. + +By nine o'clock the meal had been eaten. The stove now made the +tent so hot that Mr. Hinman's cot had to be moved to the farther +end and the tent flaps thrown open to admit cooler air. + +Greg had attended to feeding both of the horses, which had gotten +through the dismal night without very much discomfort. + +Now Dick went down to look at the road. + +"I'm going to mount our horse, bareback, and keep straight on +up the road," he announced, coming back. "I will not have to +go very far before I find a physician." + +"No, you're not going, either," broke in the boss tramp. "I am +going." + +"But, see here, I can't very well let a stranger like you go off +with our horse," Dick objected smilingly. + +"You don't have to," retorted the other. "I'll go on foot, and +I'll make the trip as fast as I can, too. But maybe you'd better +give me a note to the doctor. He might not pay much attention +to a sick call from a fellow who looks as tough as I do." + +"If I let you go, can I depend upon you to keep right on going +straight and fast, until you deliver a note to a doctor?" asked +Prescott, eyeing the boss tramp keenly. + +"Yes!" answered the tramp, returning the glance with one so +straightforward that Dick felt he could really trust the man. +"And if the first doctor won't or can't come, I'll keep on going +until I find one who will take the call." + +"Good for you!" cried Tom Reade heartily. "And if it weren't +for fear of startling you, I'd say that the next thing you'll +be doing will be to find and accept a job, and work again like +a useful man!" + +"That would be startling," grinned the fellow, half sullenly. + +Dick wrote the note. Away went his ill-favored looking messenger. +Dick turned to administer more nitre to the peddler. + +"Do you expect to move on at all to-day?" Dave asked of Dick. + +"It wouldn't be really wise, would it?" Dick counter-queried. +"Our tent and shelter flap are pretty wet to take down and fold +away in a wagon. We'd find it wet going, too. Hadn't we better +stay here until to-morrow, and then break camp with our tent properly +dry?" + +All hands voted in favor of remaining---except the hoboes, who +weren't asked. They would remain indefinitely, anyway, if permitted, +and if the food held out. + +But Dick soon set them to work. One was despatched for water, +the other two set to gathering wet firewood and spreading it in +the sun to dry out. Nor did the trio of remaining tramps refuse +to do the work required of them, though they looked reluctant +enough at first. + +Two more hours passed. + +"I'm afraid our friend, Hustling Weary, is having a hard time +to get a doctor who'll come down the road," Dick remarked to Darrin. + +"Oh, the doctor will come, if Weary has found him," Dave replied. +"Doctors always come. They have to, or lose their reputations." + +Half an hour later a business-like honk! was heard. Then, through +the trees Dick & Co. saw an automobile halt down at the side of +the road. A tall, stout man, who looked to be about sixty-five +years old, but who displayed the strength and speed of a young +man, leaped from the car, followed by the tramp messenger. + +"Mr. Prescott?" called the big stranger. + +"Yes, sir," bowed Dick. + +"Dr. Hewitt. Let me see your patient." + +For some minutes the physician bent over the peddler, examining +and questioning the old man, who answered with effort. + +"I must get Hinman to a hospital some miles from here," the physician +explained, aside, to Dick. "The poor old man is going to have +pneumonia, and he'd die without hospital care. Probably he'll +die, anyway. I'll give him a hypodermic injection in the arm, +then wait for him to become quiet. After that we'll move him +to the tonneau of my car and I'll take him to the hospital. I +telephoned Hinman's son, over at Fenton, telling him where his +father and his wagon are. The son ought to come over and take +charge of the outfit." + +It was three quarters of an hour later when Dr. Hewitt examined +his patient, then remarked: + +"He can be moved now, as well as at any time." + +"There's someone coming," announced Reade, as the sound of a horse's +hoofs were heard. Tom went out to look at the new arrival. + +A man of forty, rather flashily dressed, though somewhat mud-spattered, +rode up on a horse that looked much the worse for being abroad +on the bad roads. + +"I understand that Mr. Hinman is here, ill," began the stranger. + +"He is," Tom nodded. "Have you any interest in him?" + +"Mr. Hinman is my father." + +"Come right in," Tom invited, throwing open the flap of the tent. + +"Hold my horse, will you?" + +Something in the younger Hinman's way of making the request caused +Reade's backbone to stiffen. + +"I see that you have a piece of halter rope," Tom replied. "You +may tie your horse to any one of the trees. They don't belong +to me." + +The son frowned, but led his mount to a tree, hitching it there. +Then he turned and entered the tent. + +"How are you, father?" asked the younger Hinman, crossing to the +cot and bending over the old man. + +"Better, already, I think," replied Reuben Hinman feebly. + +"I should hope so," replied Timothy Hinman, looking more than +a trifle annoyed. "You had no business to be out in that storm." + +"I couldn't help-----" began the old man slowly, but Dr. Hewitt +broke in almost fiercely: + +"Your father is in no condition to talk, Mr. Hinman. I telephoned +you so that you might come over and take charge of the horse and +wagon. There is quite a bit of stock on the wagon, too, I believe." + +"My father must have considerable money with him," the young man +hinted. + +"He has some," Dick replied. "I do not know how much." + +"I will take charge of his money for him," offered young Hinman. + +"You will do nothing of the sort," broke in Dr. Hewitt, scowling. +"Hinman, your father will be some time at the hospital, and he +will want to be able to pay his bills there. He will also want +to be able to purchase some comforts for himself while convalescing. +So your father will take his money with him to the hospital." + +"He can turn it over to me, if he has a mind to do so," insisted +the younger man. + +"You get out of here!" ordered the doctor, speaking decisively, +though in a low tone. At the same time he pointed to the doorway +of the tent. Just then the doctor looked as though he might rather +enjoy the opportunity of throwing young Hinman out into the open +air. The peddler's son walked outside of the tent with an air +of offended dignity. + +"Now, will four of you young men take hold of that cot, gently, +and carry it out to my car?" asked Dr. Hewitt. + +Dick, Dave, Tom and Greg served as the litter bearers. Then, +under Dr. Hewitt's instructions, they lifted the old man into +the tonneau of the car as though he had been an infant. The boss +tramp had already taken his place in the tonneau of the machine. +After blankets brought by the physician had been wrapped about +the peddler the tramp contrived to rest the old man against his +own broad shoulder. + +"Good-bye, father," said the younger Hinman, who had looked on +with a frown on his face. "I hope you'll be all right soon." + +Reuben Hinman tried to smile. He also moved as though trying +to stretch out a hand to his son, but the folds of the blankets +prevented. + +Dr. Hewitt went back to the tent to get his medicine case, which +he had intentionally left behind. As he went he signed to Dick +& Co. to accompany him. + +"You young men haven't done anything for the old man for which +I am going to commend you," said the physician bluntly. "You've +simply done what any upright, humane, decent people would have +done for a stricken old man, and you've done it well. But by +contrast you noticed the younger Hinman's conduct. He is not +worried that his father is ill, but hopes that the old man will +soon be back at his work. Of course, he hopes that his father +will be at work, soon; for when the old man stops working the +younger man will very likely have to go to work himself." + +"You don't mean, doctor, that that big, healthy-looking fellow +is supported by his father?" gasped Dick Prescott. + +"That's just what I mean," nodded the man of medicine. + +"Why, I didn't suppose that old Mr. Hinman earned much." + +"In the tin-peddler's business it's nearly all profit except the +wear and tear on horse and wagon," smiled the physician. "One +who isn't fitted for that line of work would starve to death at +it, but Reuben Hinman has always been a shrewd, keen dealer in +his own line of work. Strange as it may seem, Reuben is believed +to make more than three hundred dollars a month. He gives it +all to that son and two daughters. He wanted to bring his children +up to be ladies and gentlemen---and they are! They are all three +of them too shiftless to do any work. They take the old man's +money, but they won't live with him. They are too busy in 'society' +to bother with the old man. On what he is able to turn over to +his children every month they keep a rather pretentious home in +Fenton, though they live a full mile away from their father. They +never go near him, except for more money. If they meet him on +his wagon, or when he is walking in his old clothes, they refuse +to recognize him. Yet, though Reuben Hinman isn't a fool in anything +else, he is very proud of the fact that his son is a 'gentleman,' +and that his daughters are 'ladies.' Now, in a nutshell, you know +the tragedy of the old man's life. Young Tim Hinman would, if +he could, take the old man's money away from him at once and let +him go to the hospital as a charity patient." + +"Humph!" muttered Dick, and then was silent. + +Timothy Hinman, when Dr. Hewitt and the boys stepped outside the +tent, was inspecting the dingy old red wagon with a look of contempt +on his face. + +"What am I going to do with this crazy old rattle-trap?" inquired +young Hinman plaintively. "Would one of you boys accept a dollar +to drive this over to Fenton, and put the horse up in my father's +barn? The trip can be made in two days of good driving." + +Dick Prescott shook his head in order that he might avoid speaking. + +"I came by train, within five miles of here, then hired a horse +and rode over here," the younger Hinman went on. "So I've got +to take the horse back to where I got it, and then return by train. +So I'll pay a dollar and a half to the boy who will drive this +rig back to Fenton." + +This time there was no response to the magnificent offer. + +"See here," muttered young Hinman half savagely, "it's more than +the job is worth, but I'll pay two dollars to have this rig driven +home. Will you take the job?" + +He looked directly at Dick Prescott, who replied bluntly: + +"Thank you; I won't." + +"But what on earth am I going to do with the horse and wagon, +then?" demanded Timothy Hinman, as though he found Prescott's +refusal preposterous. + +"I would suggest," offered Dick coolly, "that you drive your father's +rig home yourself." + +"I drive it?" gasped the son. + +"Certainly." + +"But it's no job for a gentleman!" protested the younger Mr. Hinman, +looking very much aghast. + +"Then I don't know whether or not the owner of these woods would +consent to your leaving your father's property here," replied +Prescott, as he turned on his heel. + +Dr. Hewitt had watched the scene with a good deal of amusement. +Now the physician turned to see whether his patient were as comfortable +as possible. + +"My man," said the doctor, to the boss tramp, "you hold my patient +as comfortably and skillfully as though you had once been a nurse. +Were you ever one?" + +"No, sir," replied the tramp. "It just comes natural." + +"I've been looking for a man to work for me," continued Dr. Hewitt, +regarding the tramp with calculating eyes. "I believe that you've +got in you the making of a real man if you'd only stop being a +tramp. How would you like to try it out?" + +"I dunno," replied the boss tramp, looking a bit staggered. + +"If you go to work for me, I don't want you to take it up as a +casual experiment," went on the man of medicine. "I haven't any +time for experiments. But, if you'll declare positively that +you're going to make a useful man of yourself, and that you'll +live up to what I expect of you, I'll take you on. I won't have +an idler about my place, and I won't tolerate any use of alcohol. +If you shirk or drink---even once out you go. But I'll start +you at ten dollars a month and board, and raise you---if I keep +you---two dollars a month until you're getting thirty dollars +a month and board as a steady thing. Are you man enough to take +me up, and to make it worth my while to take you on?" + +"Yes," replied the boss tramp huskily, after a struggle with himself. + +"All right, then, we'll see how much a man you are. By the way, +what's your name?" + +"Jim Joggers," replied the tramp. + +Dr. Hewitt eyed the fellow keenly for a few seconds, before he +replied, with a slight smile: + +"All right; we'll let it go at Joggers until you've put yourself +far enough forward so that you'll be willing to use your own name." + +Honk! honk! The car was under way. + +When Dick and his three friends turned back to the tent they found +all three of the remaining tramps in there, smoking vile pipes +and playing with a greasy, battered pack of cards. "The weather's +fine again," announced Dick, "and you'll find us the most hospitable +fellows you ever met. My friends, we take pleasure in offering +you the whole outside world in which to play!" + +"Talk United States!" growled one of the tramps, without looking +up from the game. + +"Tom," laughed Prescott, turning to Reade, "strange dialects are +your specialty. Kindly translate, into 'United States,' what +I have just said to these men." + +"I will," agreed Tom. "Attention, hoboes! Look right at me! +That's right. Now---git!" + +"You might let us stay on a bit longer," grumbled one of the tramps. +"We ain't bothering you folks any." + +"Only eating us out of house and home," snapped Dave. + +"And delaying the time when we must wash up the tent after you," +added Danny Grin. + +But the tramps played on, smoked on. + +"Did you fellows ever hear of that famous man, Mr. A. Quick Expediter?" +Tom asked the tramps. + +"No," growled one of them. + +"Expediter was a truly great man," Tom continued. "He had a motto. +It was a short one. One word, and that word was---'git'!" + +"We are famed for our courtesy," remarked Darry. "We'd hate to +lose even a shred of our reputation in that line. But in these +present years of our young lives we are football players by training, +and high school boys merely for pleasure. We know some of the +dandiest tackles you ever saw. Shall we show you a few of them? +If you object to observing our tackles---and sharing in the +effects---then signify your wishes by placing yourselves at a safe +distance from such enthusiastic football wranglers as we are." + +Greg, Danny Grin and Harry were already crouching as though for +a spring. Dave took his place in an imaginary football line-up, +leaning slightly forward. Tom Reade sighed, then advanced to +the line. All were waiting for the battle signal from Dick Prescott. + +By this time the most talkative of the three tramps noted the +signs of a gathering squall. + +"Come on, mates," he urged, with a sulky growl, "let's get out +of here. These young fellows want their place all to themselves. +They're just like all of the capitalistic class that are ruining +the country to-day! Things in this country are coming to a pass +where there's nothing for the fellow who-----" + +"Who won't work hard enough to get the place in the world that +he wants," Tom Reade finished for the tramp, as he ushered the +three of them through the doorway. + + + + +CHAPTER XVIII + +DICK PRESCOTT, KNIGHT ERRANT + + +That day of enforced tie-up was followed by three days of hard +hiking. The Gridley High School boys showed the fine effects +of their two vigorous, strenuous outings. Each had taken on weight +slightly, though there was no superfluous flesh on any of the +six. They were bronzed, comparatively lean-looking, trim and +hard. Their muscles were at the finest degree of excellence. + +"We set out to get ourselves as hard as nails," remarked Dave, +as the boys bathed in a secluded bit of woodland through which +a creek flowed. It was, the morning of their fourth day of renewed +hiking. After the swim and breakfast that was to follow, there +were twenty miles of rural roads to be covered before the evening +camp was pitched. + +"I guess we've won all we set out to get, haven't we?" inquired +Reade, squaring his broad shoulders with an air of pride. "I +feel equal to anything that a fellow of my size and years could +do." + +"I think, without boasting, we may consider ourselves the six +most valuable candidates for Gridley High School football this +year," Prescott declared. "We ought to be the best men for the +team; we've worked hard to get ourselves in the pink of physical +condition." + +"I wouldn't care to be any stronger than I am," laughed Danny +Grin. "If I were any stronger folks would be saying that I ought +to go to work." + +"You will have to go to work within another year," Dick laughed, +"whatever that work may be. But you must work with your brain, +Danny boy, if you're to get any real place in life. Your muscles +are intended only as a sign that your body is going to be equal +to all the demands that your brain may make on that body." + +"If my mental ability were equal to my physical strength I wouldn't +have to work at all," grinned Dalzell. + +Splash! His dive carried him under the surface of the water. +Presently he came up, blowing, then swimming with strong strokes. + +"Danny boy seems to have the same idea so many people have," laughed +Prescott. "They think that a man who does all his real work with +his brain isn't working at all, just because he doesn't get into +a perspiration and wilt his collar." + +Splash! splash! Reade and Darrin were in the water racing upstream. + +"I don't know when I've ever found so much happiness in a summer," +asserted Greg, as he poised himself for a dive into the water. + +"I wonder if Timmy Hinman ever had the nerve to stick to his father's +wagon long enough to get it back to Fenton," said Dave, as he +swam beside Reade. + +"If he ever took that wagon home, I'll wager that he drove the +last few miles late at night, so that his 'society' friends wouldn't +have the shock of seeing him drive the peddling outfit that sustains +him," Reade replied. + +"I'll never forget the younger Hinman's disgusted look when he +tried to drive the outfit from our camp, the other morning, with +his saddle mount tied behind and balking on the halter," grinned +Darry. + +"I wonder why such fellows as Timothy Hinman were ever created," +Tom went on. "Every time I think about the gentlemanly Timmy +I feel as though I wanted to kick something." + +Only the day before, stopping at a postoffice on the route, as +had been arranged with Dr. Hewitt, Dick & Co. had received word +that the peddler was seriously ill with pneumonia, with all the +chances against his recovery. + +"If the peddler should die," suggested Dave soberly, "do you believe +that Timmy Hinman will be able to face the thought of going to +work for a living?" + +"It would be an awful fate," Tom declared grimly. "Timmy might +try to work, but I don't know whether he would be able to live +through the shock and shame of having to earn the money for paying +his own bills in life." + +"There's that irrepressible Dick again!" called Greg five minutes +later. + +"What's he up to now?" asked Tom, from further up the creek. + +"He has had his rub-down, got his clothing on and is now at work +frying bacon and eggs." + +"Then don't disturb him," begged Reade, "or he might fry short +of the quantity of food that is really going to be required." + +Five minutes more, however, saw the last of the boys out of water +and rapidly getting themselves in shape to perform their own required +duties. There could be no idlers in the party when Dick & Co. +were away from home on a hike. + +Yet, once breakfast had been disposed of, and the dishes washed, +there seemed something in the August air that made them all disinclined +to break camp and move on. + +"I wish we could stay here all day, and move on to-morrow," murmured +Hazy, thus voicing the thought of some of the others. + +"And then blame the tramps for loafing!" exclaimed Dick. + +"Do we look as though we had loafed this summer?" challenged Dalzell. + +"No; but one or two of you would have done a good deal of it if +you hadn't been afraid of the contempt of the others," smiled +Prescott. + +"Honestly, now," demanded Hazy, "wouldn't you enjoy just staying +here and lounging today, Dick Prescott?" + +"I would," Dick assented. + +"There, now!" + +"But that isn't what we left home to do, so we won't do it." + +"Eh?" queried Hazy. + +"Attention, Lazybones Squad!" called Prescott, springing up. +"Hazy, harness the horse and hitch him to the wagon. Tom, Dave +and Greg, take down the tent. I'll pack the bedding. Dan, load +the kitchen stuff on the wagon." + +This occupied a few minutes. + +"Now, all hands turn to and load on the floor planks, bedding +and the tent," called Dick. + +This, too, was quickly accomplished, though all six were now perspiring. + +"Greg, I believe it's your turn to drive first to-day," Prescott +announced. "Up with you! Forward---march!" + +Dick led the way out of camp, at a brisk four-mile-an-hour stride. +The long hike was started, at last. After that there was no +grumbling, even during the hourly halt of ten minutes. + +The noon halt found them with eleven and a half miles covered +out of the twenty. Five o'clock brought Dick & Co. to the outskirts +of Fenton, a town of some twenty-five hundred inhabitants. + +"Whoa!" called Tom, reining up half a mile from the town. "There +are woods here, Dick. If we go any closer to Fenton, we'll either +have to keep on traveling to the other side of the town, or ask +the authorities for permission to camp on the common. Don't you +believe we had better stop here?" + +"These are the woods that Dave and I had just picked out," Prescott +replied. "We were going to keep on traveling until we found out +who owns the woods. This isn't quite in the wilderness, Tom, +and we must begin again to seek permission to make our camp from +owners of property." + +"If these are the woods," grunted Tom, "there can be no use in +going farther. You and Dave trot on ahead, and bring us back +word." + +"All right," sang out the young leader, "but don't drive onto +the ground, or unpack, until we are back with word about the owner's +permission." + +Three minutes of walking brought them to a farmhouse that looked +like the abode of prosperous people. + +"Well, what is it?" demanded a stout man, with a good-humored +face, as he stepped out from a barn. + +"We wish to know, sir," Dick explained, "if you can tell us who +owns the woods about a quarter of a mile back, at the right hand +side of the road?" + +"I think I can," nodded the man. "Will you describe the woods +a little more particularly?" + +As Prescott complied the farmer broke in: + +"Those are my woods, all right. What do you want of them?" + +Dick explained the desire of himself and his friends to camp there +for the night. + +"Who are you boys?" asked the farmer, keenly eyeing Dick and Dave. + +"Gridley High School boys, out on a vacation jaunt." + +"You won't do any damage to my woods, will you?" + +"Certainly not, sir," Dick promised. + +"Then go right ahead and pitch your camp, young man. Enjoy +yourselves." + +"We shall have to gather and use quite a bit of firewood, sir," +Prescott continued. + +"Well, there's considerable dead wood lying about there." + +"May we pay you a proper price for the use of the firewood, sir?" +Prescott went on. + +"If you try to," laughed the farmer, "I'll chase you out of the +woods. Make yourselves at home, boys. Have as good a time as +you can." + +"Thank you, sir." + +"And---have you had any fresh milk lately?" + +"Not a lot of it, sir." + +"Would you like some?" + +"Why, if we may pay-----" + +"You may pay me," promptly agreed the farmer, "by bringing the +pail back when you pass this way in the morning." + +With that remark he went into another building, soon coming out +with an eight-quart pail filled with milk. + +"This sort of stuff isn't much good, except when you haven't had +any for a long time," laughed the farmer. "Enjoy yourselves. +Say, you don't play football with the Gridley High School eleven, +do you?" + +"All of us do," Dick admitted. + +"Thought so," chuckled the farmer. "That's why I was interested +in you. I saw the Thanksgiving game at Gridley last year. Great +game nervy lot of boys, with all their sand about them. There +was one fellow in particular, I remember, who broke doctor's orders +and jumped into the game at the last minute. He saved the game +for Gridley, I heard. I'd like to shake hands with him." + +"Then here's your chance, sir," laughed Dave, shoving Dick forward. +"Mr. Dick Prescott, Gridley High School." + +"My name's Dobbins," smiled the farmer, extending his hand. "Glad +to meet you, Prescott. I thought it was you all the time. Mebbe +the young man with you is Darrin." + +"Yes," laughed Dick, and there was more handshaking. + +"I hope I'll see the rest of your friends when you pass in the +morning," said the farmer cordially. + +"Hiram---supper!" called a shrill voice from The doorway. + +"Coming, mother! Boys, it does one good to meet the right sort +of fellows once in a while. Enjoy the woods in your own way, +won't you?" + +"That man is right. As he says, it does one good to meet the +right sort of fellow once in a while---and he's the right sort," +declared Darry fervently, as the chums trudged back to their outfit. + +Camp was pitched, and supper was soon under way. When it was +all over, and everything cleaned up, Dick looked about him at +his friends. + +"I wonder if any of you fellows feel the way I do to-night?" he +asked. "We still have our white clothes, and Fenton is something +of a town. We've been in the woods for so long that I feel just +like dressing up in white and taking a stroll into town." + +Tom, Dan and Dave voted in the affirmative. Greg and Hazy averred +that they had walked enough for one day. So the four boys donned +white, while the other two remained behind in flannel and khaki. + +Dick and the three companions of his stroll when almost in Fenton, +were passing through a street of pretty little cottages when a +tiny figure, clad in white ran out of the darkness, bumping into +Dick's knees. + +"Hello, little one!" cried Prescott, cheerily, picking up a wee +little girl of four and holding her at arm's length. "Hello, +you're crying. What's the matter? Lost mother?" + +"No; lost papa," wailed the little one. + +"Perhaps we can find him for you," offered Tom, readily. + +"Mollie! Mollie, where are you?" came a woman's voice out of +the darkness. + +"Is this your little girl, madam?" called Prescott. "We'll bring +her to you." + +In another moment the woman, young and pretty, also dressed in +white, had reached the child and was holding her by the hand. + +"Oh, you little runaway!" chided Dave, smilingly, as he bent over, +wagging a finger at the child. + +"No; it's papa that runned away," gasped the little one, in a +frightened voice. "He ran away to a saloon." + +"Oh, said Dave, straightening up and feeling embarrassed as he +caught the humiliated look in the young woman's face. + +"Pa---runned away and made mama cry," the little one babbled on, +half sobbing. "I must go after him and bring him home." + +"Be quiet, Mollie," commanded her mother. + +"Papa comes, if he knows you want him," insisted the child. "I +tell him you want him---that you cry because he went to saloon." + +For an instant the mother caught her breath. Then she began to +cry bitterly. Dick and his friends wished themselves almost anywhere +else. + +"It's too bad when the children get old enough to realize it," +said the woman, brokenly. Then, of a sudden, she eyed Dick and +his chums bravely. + +"Boys," she said, "I hope the time will never come when you'll +feel that it's manly to go out with the crowd and spend the evening +in drinking." + +"The way we feel about it now," spoke Dick, sympathetically, "we'd +rather be dead than facing any degradation of the sort." + +They were only boys, and they were strangers to the woman. Moreover, +little Mollie was looking pleadingly towards Dick, as if loath +to let him go. In her misery the young wife poured out her story +to her sympathetic listeners. Her husband had been a fine young +fellow---was still young. His drinking had begun only three months +before. + +"We have our own home, more than half paid for," added the woman, +pointing to a pretty little cottage. "Tom has always been a good +workman, never out of a job. But lately he has been spending +his wages for drink. Last month we didn't make our payment on +the house. Today he got his month's pay, and promised not to +drink any more. He was going to take us into town to-night for +a good time, and we were happy, weren't we, baby? Then two of +his saloon cronies passed the house. Tom went with them, but +said he would come right back for us. He hasn't come yet, and +he won't come now until midnight. The month's pay will be gone, +and that means that the home will be gone, after a little. Boys, +I shall never see you again, and it has seemed a help to me to +talk to you. Remember, don't ever-----" + +"Madam," asked Dick, suddenly, in a husky tone, "do you mind telling +us your husband's name, and the name of the place where he has +gone?" + +"His name is Tom Drake, and he has gone up to Miller's place," +answered Mrs. Drake. "But why do you ask? What-----" + +"Mrs. Drake," Dick continued, earnestly, "we don't want to be +meddlers, and we'll keep out of this, if you request it. But +the child has given me an inspiration that I could help you. +If you authorize me, I'll go to Miller's and see if I can't help +your husband to know that his happiness is right here, not in +a saloon." + +"I---I fear that will be a big undertaking," quivered Mrs. Drake. + +A big undertaking, indeed, it was bound to be! + + + + +CHAPTER XIX + +"I'LL FIGHT HIM FOR THIS MAN!" + + +"It's wonderfully kind of you!" breathed the woman, gratefully. +"But it really won't do any good. When a man has begun to drink +nothing can reclaim him from it. My only hope is to be able to +have a talk with Tom when his money is gone." + +"Of course if you dislike to have us try, Mrs. Drake-----" Dick +began. + +"I don't dislike to have you try!" cried the woman, quickly. +"All I am thinking about is the hopelessness of your undertaking. +You simply can't get Tom out of Miller's to-night until the owner +of that awful place turns him out at closing time. I know! This +has happened before." + +Dick stood in an uncertain attitude, his cap in hand. The appealing +face of the child, looking eagerly up at him, made him wish with +all his heart to try to do a good act here, yet he couldn't think +of going on such an errand without the young wife's permission. + +"Let him go, mama," urged the child. "He'll bring papa back." + +Dick looked questioningly at the woman. + +"All right, then, go," she acquiesced. "Oh, I hope you have good +luck, and that you don't make Tom ugly, either. I'll say, for +him, that he has never been ugly yet." + +"Mrs. Drake, we all four accept your commission---or permission, +whichever it is," replied Dick, bowing. "We'll try to use tact +and judgment, and we'll try to bring Mr. Drake back with us." + +Dick asked a few questions as to where Miller's place might be +found. Then he set off, he and his chums walking abreast. + +"Bring him back!" Mollie said plaintively. "Then mama won't cry, +and I won't, either." + +"I feel like a fool!" muttered Tom Reade, when they were out of +earshot of the waiting mother and child. + +"If you don't like the undertaking, you might keep in the background," +Dick suggested. + +"It's likely I'd back out of anything that's moving, isn't it?" +Reade demanded, offended. "I don't mind any disagreeable business +that we may run into. But I feel like a fool when I think of +the message we'll have to take back to that poor woman and baby." + +"Tom Drake will deliver the message to them," replied Dick, firmly. + +"If he's sober even now," murmured Danny Grin, uneasily. + +"I'm strong for the task!" declared Dave Darrin, with enthusiasm. + +"So would I be," Tom defended himself, "if I thought that even +a night of fighting would result in anything like success. But-----" + +"Better stop right here, then," Prescott, suggested, smiling earnestly. +But neither of Dick's companions stopped. + +They were walking briskly, now. As they had been told, Miller's +was the first place on the right hand side, where the business +street of Fenton began. It had been a tavern in the old days, +and was still a big and roomy structure. + +Yet there was no mistaking the room in which the object of their +quest was to be found. The door of the saloon opened repeatedly +while the boys stood regarding the place. + +Dick stepped over to a man who had just come out. + +"Is Tom Drake in there?" Dick asked. + +"Yes." + +"Is he sober?" Dick pressed. + +"Yes; so far," answered the man. + +"Will you do me a great favor? Just step inside and tell him +that there is a man outside who wants to see him. Just tell him +that, and nothing more." + +"Are you from Drake's wife?" asked the man, looking Dick over +shrewdly. + +"Yes," Dick admitted, candidly. + +"I'll do it," nodded the man. "Drake has been making a fool of +himself. He'll go to pieces and find himself without a job before +the year is out. You wait here. I'll find a way to coax him +out for you." + +Soon the door opened again, and there came out Prescott's messenger +followed by a clean-cut, well-built young man of not more than +twenty-eight years of age. + +"There's the young man who says he wants to see you," the citizen +explained, pointing to Dick. + +Tom Drake walked steadily enough. He certainly was not yet much +under the influence of liquor. + +"You wanted to see me?" he asked, looking somewhat puzzled as +he eyed young Prescott. + +"Yes," Dick admitted. + +"What about?" + +"Will you take a short walk with me," Dick went on, "and I'll +explain my business to you." + +"I don't believe I can take a walk with you," Drake answered. +"I'm with some friends in there." + +He nodded over his shoulder at the door through which he had just +come. + +"But my business is of a great deal of importance," Dick went on. + +"Can't you see me to-morrow?" asked Drake, eager to get back to +his companions. + +"To-morrow will be altogether too late," Dick replied. + +"Then state your business now." + +"I'd much rather explain it you as you walk with me," Prescott +urged, earnestly. + +"Are---are you from the building loan people?" asked Tom Drake, +suddenly. + +"No, I am not from them," Prescott replied, then added, truthfully +enough: "But it's partly about that building loan matter that +I wish to talk with you." + +"Who sent you here?" asked Drake, half-suspiciously. + +"A child," Dick replied. "At least, it was a child's face that +gave me the resolution to come here and have a few words with you." + +"A child?" repeated Drake. "What child?" + +"Yours." + +"A child?" echoed the young man. "Mine? Do you mean Mollie?" + +"Yes," Dick went on, rapidly. "The child wanted to come here +herself to get you, and I came in her stead. It was better that +I should come than that little tot. Don't you think so?" + +"I'm afraid I don't understand you," returned Tom Drake, beginning +to look offended. + +"Mr. Drake, do you know that your wife and child are all dressed +up---in their prettiest white gowns, waiting for you to come +back to bring them into town to-night for the promised treat? +Don't you understand the pain that you're giving them by showing +that you prefer a lot of red-nosed loafers in Miller's to your +own wife and child? The unhappiness that you're causing them +to-night isn't a circumstance to all the misery that you're piling +up for them in the years to come. Switch off! Switch off, while +you're yet man enough to be able to do it! Won't you do it---please? +You must know just how happy that little kid will be when she +sees you come swinging down the street to bring her and her mother +into town. You know how that little tot's eyes will shine. Can't +you hear her saying, `Here's papa! He's come.' Isn't that baby +worth a twenty-mile walk for any man to see when he knows she's +his own kiddie and waiting for him? Come along, now; they're +both waiting for you; they will be the happiest pair you've seen +in a long time." + +"I don't know but I will toddle along home," said Drake, rather +shame-facedly. "I---I didn't realize how time was slipping by. +Yes; I guess I'll go home. Much obliged to you for letting me +know the time." + +But at that moment the door opened, and a voice called out: + +"Drake! Oh, Drake. Come here; we want you." + +"Can't, now," the young man called back. "I'm due at home." + +"Home?" came in two or three jeering voices. + +Then several men came out of the saloon, laughing boisterously. + +"Come back, Drake! We can't let you slip off like that. You're +too good a fellow to play the sneak with us. Come on back!" + +"I---I tell you, I'm due at home," insisted Drake, though he spoke +more weakly. + +"Hey! Here's Drake---says he's going to slip home on us!" called +one of the tormentors. + +More men came out of the place, some of them staggering. With +the new arrivals came one whom Dick and his friends rightly guessed +to be Miller---a thickset man, with swaggering manner, insolent +expression and rough voice. + +"What's this about your going home, Drake?" demanded one of the +new arrivals. + +"I---I really ought to go home," Drake tried to explain. + +"Cut that out," ordered Miller roughly. "You're booked to spend +the evening with us, and the evening has hardly begun." + +"I promised this young fellow I'd go home," said Drake slowly, +"so I guess I will." + +"And what has this young feller got to say or do about it?" demanded +Miller angrily, as He pushed his way to Drake's side, then glared +at Dick Prescott. + +"And what have you got to say about his not going home?" Dick +asked hotly. "Isn't this a free country, where a man may go +home when he chooses?" + +"It's a free country, and a man has a right to spend his evening +in my place when he's invited," Miller asserted roughly. + +"Yes; your invitation will hold until his month's pay is gone +from his pocket," Dick flashed back. "That's all you want. Drake +has sense enough to see that, and he's leaving you." + +"He isn't going home for three hours yet, or anywhere else!" snorted +Miller, whose breath proclaimed the fact that he had been using +some of his own goods. + +Dick laughed contemptuously as he turned to Tom Drake with: + +"You see! That fellow thinks he can give you your orders. That +fellow begins to believe that he owns you already." + +"Who are you calling 'that feller'?" demanded Miller, dropping +a heavy hand on Dick's shoulder. + +"I referred to you," replied Prescott, pushing the man's hand +from his shoulder. + +"If you get too funny with me I'll hit you a crack that will carry +your head off with it!" snarled the saloon keeper. + +"Pshaw!" Prescott answered cuttingly. "You aren't big enough, +or man enough, either!" + +"What's that?" + +Miller aimed a vicious, open-hand blow at young Prescott's face. +It didn't land, but, instead, Dick's right hand went up smack! +against the fellow's cheek. + +"Hang your impudence!" roared Miller, angrily. "I'll pay you +for that! I'll teach you!" + +He made a rush at Dick, but two men who had been attracted by +the commotion jumped in between them. + +"Hold on, Miller!" objected one of these passers-by. "You can't +pummel a boy!" + +"I'll make him howl for hitting me!" roared Miller, doubling his +big, powerful fists. "Get out of my way, or I'll run over you!" + +"Get out of his way, please!" cried Dick suddenly. "Let Miller +at me, if he wants. I'm willing to fight him. I'll fight him +for Tom Drake's right to be a man!" + + + + +CHAPTER XX + +IN THE MILKSOP CLASS? + + +"Good! And I'll hold the stakes!" cried Tom Reade jovially, as +he took light hold of Drake's arm. + +"Let Miller at the boy!" howled one of the bystanders. "He'll +show the boy something. The kid is getting big enough to learn, +and he ought to be taught." + +"I'll fight Miller, if he has the sand!" proclaimed Dick, who +now had his own reasons for wanting to sting the liquor seller +into action. "I'll fight the bully, but not here in a saloon +yard. There is a vacant lot the other side of the fence. We'll +go in there and see how much of a fighter he is." + +More citizens had gathered by this time, and there was every sign +of an intention to stop further trouble. But Dave Darrin sprang +into the crowd, saying, almost in an undertone: + +"The respectable men here don't want to try to stop this affair. +A lot of useful manhood depends upon the issue. Don't worry +about my friend, if he does look rather young. He can take care +of himself, all right, and he is calling for a fight that ought +to be fought. You respectable men in the crowd keep still, and +just come along and see fair play---that's all." + +Dave's earnest eloquence won over many of the men representing +the better element of the crowd. + +"Jove! He's a plucky boy!" cried one man. + +"But Miller will pound him to a pulp!" + +"Come along, everyone, and see whether rum or water is the best +drink for fighting men!" insisted Tom Reade. + +There was a general movement toward the vacant lot. Miller was +muttering angrily, while some of his red-nosed victims were jeering. + +In the field Dick took off his hat and coat, then his tie, and +passed them to Dan Dalzell. + +"Dave," whispered Prescott, "you stand by as my second, but don't +make any too stiff claims of foul. This will have to be rough +work, from the start." + +Miller, already in his shirt sleeves, did not feel that he had +any need of special preparation. Prescott looked altogether too +easy. Not that Miller lacked experience in such matters. In +other years he had been a prize-fighter of minor rank, and had +been considered, in his class, a fairly hard man to beat. + +"Now, stand up, boy," ordered the saloon keeper, advancing. "And +take back the crack you passed to me." + +"Let's have it," taunted Dick, throwing himself on the defensive. + +Miller aimed a vicious blow but did not land. Instead, Prescott +hit him on the short ribs. + +"If you're going to fight, stand up and take your medicine!" roared +Miller, in a rage. + +"Handle your own foot-work to suit yourself!" Dick retorted. +"I'll do the same. But you can't fight, anyway!" + +That taunt threw the liquor seller into a still greater rage. +With a yell he sprang at Prescott. But again Dick failed to +be there. + +The high school boy was not having an easy time, however. Miller's +strength was formidable, and Dick knew that he could not stop +many straight blows from his opponent without disaster. + +Two merely glancing blows scraped the lad, who had landed four +blows on Miller. The big fellow, however, seemed able to endure +a lot of punishment. + +"I didn't come out here to run a race!" Miller insisted, as he +tried hard to corner the boy. + +"Then stand still, and I won't hit you so hard!" mocked Prescott, +as he struck the man again on the short ribs. + +Then, of a sudden, Prescott hit the earth. He had miscalculated, +and Miller's left fist had landed on his nose. + +With a hoarse laugh Miller started to follow up the advantage +with a kick. + +"Here! Come back! None of that!" shouted a citizen, throwing +his arms around Miller's neck. "Let the boy get to his feet. +Fight fair or---we'll lynch you when it's over!" + +But Dick was up, the blood flowing freely from his nose. Yet +he was hardly less cool as Miller was released and the two again +faced each other. + +"Finish him up, Miller, and we'll get back to pleasure!" laughed +one of the drunkards in maudlin glee. + +"The boy has no show. This is an outrage!" protested an indignant +citizen. "It ought to be stopped." + +As the two sparred Dick suddenly saw his chance to get in under +the powerful guard of his antagonist and landed a hard blow on +his solar plexus. + +"Umph!" grunted Miller, as he partly doubled up under the force +of the blow. + +That instant was enough for Prescott to drive in a blow that nearly +closed one of the big fellow's eyes. + +"Stop this fight!" yelled the same citizen. + +"Don't you do it!" warned another. "The boy is taking care of +himself all right. Let him wind the bruiser up." + +Now Miller, smarting and fearing accidental defeat, forgot caution +and tried to rush in for a clinch. But this was the kind of attack +that Prescott was skilled in dodging. + +Dick gave ground before the furious assault, but he did so purposely. +Back he went, step by step. + +"Miller's got him!" cheered the liquor seller's friends. + +At last Dick found what he wanted, the opportunity to drive in +again on the big fellow's wind. Miller gave vent to another grunt, +followed by a howl, as he felt a stinging fist land against his +other eye. + +Now, Dick had his man blinded, ready for the finish. A high school +fist landed on the side of the big fellow's throat, sending him +to his knees. Dick took but half a step backward as he waited +for the big fellow to get to his feet. The instant that Miller +rose Dick darted in, landing his right fist with all his strength +on the tip of the man's chin. + +This time the work was complete. Miller went down. Dick, smiling, +though breathing quickly, stood over his fallen opponent, counting +slowly to ten. + +Then, in a moment, those who had favored the boy's side in the +fight realized just what had happened. + +Loud cheers arose from the crowd. Tom Drake was one of the first +to dart in and seize young Prescott's right hand briefly before +another man wanted to shake it. Dick was fairly made to run a +gauntlet of handshaking. + +Most of Miller's "friends" retreated in sulky bad humor. Three +of the liquor seller's followers, however, picked the big man +up, staggering under his weight, and bore him behind the door +that had closed on more than one man's career. + +"What do you think of that, Mr. Drake?" demanded Tom Reade jubilantly. +"Do you put Dick Prescott in the milk-sop class?" + + + + +CHAPTER XXI + +THE REVENGE TALK AT MILLER'S + + +"Let's get out of this place," whispered Dick in Dave's ear as +Darry helped him to staunch the flow of blood from his nose. + +"There, the bleeding has stopped," muttered Dave. "Now, put on +your coat and button it up. Then the blood stains on your shirt +won't show." + +Tom Drake had very little to say, but he kept close to Prescott. + +"Shall we walk down the road a bit, Mr. Drake?" asked Dick, as +soon as he had his coat on. + +"I'm in a hurry to get home," nodded the young workman. "I shall +know where I belong, after this. No more of Miller's for me! +For that matter," the young man added, with a hearty laugh, "I +don't believe Miller would ever let me in his place again. Of +course, in his own mind, he will blame me for what happened to-night." + +"I hope he didn't get much of your money before it happened," +murmured Prescott, as be and Drake, followed by Dave, Tom and +Dan, got clear of the crowd and down into a quieter part of the +road. + +"He got less than a dollar of my wages," replied Drake. "I'm +sorry he has that much, but he'll never get any more. Say, Prescott, +but you are a fighter! I can imagine how 'sore' Miller will +be, to-morrow, over having been whipped by such a stripling as +you are." + +"I've one great advantage over Miller," Dick rejoined. "I've +never tasted alcohol, and Miller has saturated himself with it +for years." + +"I used to have an idea that liquor was strengthening," murmured +Tom Drake. "I know quite a good many men who take it to keep +up their strength." + +"They're fools, then," Dick retorted tersely. "You could see, +in Miller to-night, what alcohol does toward making one strong. +That man is still powerful, but I'm satisfied that he was once +a great deal stronger. Miller's muscles have grown flabby since +he began to drink. His speed is less than it must have been formerly. +Even his nerve---his grit---has been impaired by the stuff he +has been drinking. Did you notice how early in the fight his +wind left him? The man has very little of his former strength, +and the blame belongs to the liquor he has used." + +"Here's my gate," said Tom Drake, at last, as they halted before +the little cottage. "Come in. I've got to tell my wife about +you. I wonder where my two girls are?" + +Dick and his friends tried to get out of going into the yard, +but their new friend would not have it that way, so silently they +followed Drake up the path. Then, through a front window, Tom +Drake saw his girls. + +His wife sat at a table, her head resting on her arms. On the +floor sat the toddler, Mollie, still in her white dress. She +had two broken dolls, pretending to play with them, but the woebegone +look in her little face showed that her thoughts were elsewhere. + +Tom Drake choked as he looked in at the window. Then, throwing +up his head resolutely, he lifted the latch, entering the room +with firm tread. + +"I'm a bit late, girls, but come on up in the village!" he invited. +"Here, Hattie, you take charge of this little roll," he added, +thrusting his money into his wife's hand. + +Not more than three minutes later the three Drakes issued from +the house, Mollie enjoying a "ride" on her father's shoulder. + +"Why, where are the boys?" he demanded. "I left them here." + +"Gone, like all good angels, when their work is done," smiled +his wife. + +"It's all right, anyway, girls," Tom Drake answered cheerily. +"We're pretty sure to find 'em up in the village, where we're +going." + +In the first place that the Drakes entered they came upon Dick +and his three friends. The Gridley boys, after dodging a crowd +that wanted to lionize young Prescott, had taken refuge, unseen, +in the back of an otherwise deserted ice cream saloon. + +"There they are!" cried Mollie, running the length of the shop, +as fast as her chubby little legs could take her. She ran straight +to Dick who bent over to give her a gentle hug. + +"I don't know what to say to you young men," cried Mrs. Drake, +halting beside the boys, her voice breaking a little, her eyes +moist. + +"Then, if you'll permit me to offer a suggestion," Dick smiled +back, as he rose, "it seems to me that conversation might spoil +several good things. Won't you all sit down and be our guests +in a little ice cream feast that we have started?" + +It was almost an hour before the little party broke up. A few +interested citizens, however, found the hiding place of the Gridley +High School boys and insisted on coming in to shake hands with +the boys. + +"Take your family and slip out through the back door," Dick whispered +to Tom Drake. + +"I don't know that I'll ever see you again," murmured Drake huskily, +"so I want to say-----" + +"Don't say anything," Dick smiled back. "You're all right, from +now on. And we've all learned something to-night. We'll let +it rest there. Good-bye, and the best of good luck for you and +yours." + +So the Drakes escaped from what would have been an embarrassing +scene. Nor were Dick and his friends long in getting away from +the too-enthusiastic citizens. + +"It's late enough for us to go back to camp and turn in, isn't +it?" suggested Tom Reade. + +"I was thinking of that myself," Dick admitted. + +"You must be tired, anyway," Dave hinted. "You whipped Miller +all right, but he was a tiring brute, and I'll wager that you're +both sore and exhausted." + +"I'll plead guilty to a little bit of both," Dick Prescott assented, +laughing at the recollection of Miller at the time when that brute's +second eye was closed. + +Yet it was more than half an hour after their return to camp when +slumber finally began to assert its claim upon the Gridley boys. +For Greg and Harry, as soon as they had heard a few words as +to the evening's adventure, insisted upon hearing all of it before +they would let Dick turn in. + +"I'll bet they're sore in Miller's place tonight," chuckled Greg, +just before be extinguished the second lantern. + +Certainly anger did reign in Miller's place for the rest of that +evening. + +Miller had been brought to consciousness, after considerable effort. +He was even able to be up and about his place, but his swollen +features looked like a caricature of a face. + +"The schoolboy that was able to do that to you, Miller, must have +been eight feet high and as wide as a gate," remarked one of the +red-nosed patrons of the place. + +"Shut up!" was Miller's gracious response. + +There were other drinking places in Fenton, and to these the news of +the big fellow's drubbing quickly spread. + +Indeed, the fight seemed to be the one topic of the talk of Fenton +that evening. + +As it happened, it wasn't very long before word was brought to +Miller that Dick and his friends were camping down on Andy Hartshorn's +place. + +"It's queer that Hartshorn will let such young toughs stop on +his land!" growled Miller. + +"They ought to be chased out of town---that's what!" growled a +patron of the place. + +More of this talk was heard, until finally someone demanded thickly: + +"Well, why can't we chase 'em out of town?" + +At first, the idea met with instant favor among the dozen or more +worthless men gathered in Miller's saloon. The plan grew in favor +until one man, slighter than the rest, observed: + +"Say! Stop and think of one thing. We know what one of the boys +did to Miller, and there are six of those boys down at the camp!" + +That rather cast a damper over the enthusiasm until one blear-eyed +man of fifty observed, knowingly: + +"Well, we don't need to go alone. There are other men in Fenton +who think the way we do. We can go down to the woods in force, +and pretend that what we want to do comes as a rebuke administered +by the citizens of Fenton." + +"Hurrah!" cheered one man who seemed in danger of falling asleep. + +"Miller, let us use your telephone," urged the former speaker. + +"No, you can't," retorted the liquor seller quickly. "It's all +right for you men to do whatever you think is right, but you've +got to remember that I've got to be kept out of whatever happens." + +Well enough did the wretch know that half-hearted opposition from +him would only fan the flame hotter among the men who considered +themselves his friends. + +So the messengers were sent to the other drinking places in town. +Word was passed for a night raid "by representative citizens," +as these topers called themselves. + +Men of the same turn of mind soon came flocking in from other +drinking resorts. + +"Don't talk here about what you're going to do for the good of +the town," Miller ordered. "Remember, I've got to be kept out +of this. My position is a delicate one, you understand." + +Soon after midnight the disreputable army of vengeance seekers +was straggling down the road. Talking had ceased. These drink-driven +wretches were hunting for the camp of Dick & Co. and they were +going to attack it in force. + + + + +CHAPTER XXII + +UNDER THE STING OF THE LASH + + +When the crowd reached the camp of the high school boys all was +silent there. From within the tent came the sounds of the heavy +breathing of the sleepers. + +"Everything is ready, and there isn't even a dog on the place!" +was the exultant word passed back. + +"Bunch up! Get in close and surround the tent," ordered another +voice. "We want some of you men behind the tent, so that none +of the youngsters can slip away from us. Come along, now. Don't +talk! Don't make so much noise. Easy, now!" + +Thus the figures continued to gather, like so many evil spirits +of the night. + +Here and there one of the rabble fell over something in the dark, +or tripped over a root or stone as he moved about among the shadows. + +In the intervals of absolute silence the steady breathing of the +six Gridley High School boys could still be heard, until one man +in the rabble, less sober than the others, fell over a packing-case, +barking his shins and giving vent to a yell of pain. + +"What was that?" asked Greg Holmes, waking and rising on one elbow. + +Outside all was quiet again. + +"Hey, Dave, get up!" Holmes called, shaking the arm of Darry, +who lay asleep on the adjoining cot. "I heard something going +on outside. We'll both get up, light a lantern, and-----" + +"Yes! Get up and come out!" jeered a voice near the tent door. +"Come out and have a look at us. The reputable citizens of Fenton +are to chase you out of town---and we'll do it, after we get through +with teaching you manners!" + +"Fellows! Hustle!" shouted Greg, leaping from his cot. "Get +ready for trouble. All the topers and loafers who ever knew Miller +are outside to avenge the beating that Miller received from Dick!" + +"We'll show you!" came a hoarse yell, and then the foremost ruffians +in the crowd surged in through the tent door. + +But Dave had succeeded in lighting a lantern, and this he took +time to hang from a hook on the nearest pole. + +Five boys clad only in their pajamas faced this angry rabble. +Dan Dalzell slept through the confusion until Reade, in passing +him, hauled him from bed. + +"What are you men doing here?" thundered Reade, striding to the +head of the little group of defenders. + +Dick was now beside him like a flash. + +"You fellows get out of here!" Prescott ordered, his eyes flaming. + +"We'll get out when we get ready!" came the hoarse answer. "Now, +friends, show these young imps-----" + +But that speaker got no further, for a blow from Tom's fist brought +him to the ground. + +All six of Dick & Co. were now on the fistic firing line. + +For a few moments they carried all but consternation to their +opponents. As they were forced back from the doorway, however, +more and more of the mob poured in. + +The very weight of numbers was bound to count against Dick & Co. +who were likely to suffer severely at the hands of the miscreants. + +Just then there came a flash across the canvas of the tent. The +light had been thrown by a swiftly-moving automobile. There was +another automobile directly behind it. Both cars came to a stop +at the roadside, while from them leaped more than a dozen men. + +These men were armed---each with a horsewhip. In an instant the +invaders found them selves assailed from behind. + +Whish! slash! zip! + +In another instant all was uproar. Yells of pain from the mob +rent the air, for these latest arrivals were laying about them +with their horsewhips with an energy worthy of a good cause. + +"Here, you, Andy Hartshorn. Stop that! Don't you hit me! I +know you, and I'll have the law on you!" shrieked one of the +frightened wretches. + +"He who goes to law should have his own hands clean," quoth Farmer +Hartshorn, as he dealt the fellow a stinging blow on the legs. + +Those of the crowd outside the tent fled in every direction, hotly +pursued, and again and again they were stung by the lashes. + +Those of the invaders still in the tent were now in a panic to +get out and away. As they dashed through the doorway they felt +the slashing of horsewhips, while Dick Prescott and his chums +hammered them from the rear. + +In less than thirty seconds the invaders had been cleared away. +They fled in screaming panic, scattering in all directions, some +of them being pursued and lashed for a distance of many rods up +or down the road. + +On all sides the fleeing wretches threatened their persecutors +with the law, but these threats did not stop the punishment. + +"I guess it's all right now, boys!" called Farmer Hartshorn grimly, +as he strode up to the place where Dick & Co. had gathered just +beyond their tent. + +"What was that mob, anyway?" Dick asked. + +"A gang that came after revenge for what you did to Miller to-night," +laughed the farmer. + +"I thought as much," muttered Dick. + +"They've been gathering at Miller's, and other like places, for +a couple of hours," Mr. Hartshorn went on. "But, as is the case +with all such movements, some news of it leaked outside. We got +word a bit late, or we'd have been here before that crowd came +along. When we knew the word was straight some of us telephoned +to others, and our crowd was gotten together, but as it is, we +got here in season. Are any of you boys hurt?" + +"No, sir; not one of us," Dick declared. "But some of us might +have been seriously injured if you gentlemen had been delayed +for another minute." + +"We'll know the rascals to-morrow," spoke up another of the rescuers. +"If they appear on the streets at all they'll be recognized. +We have marked them up pretty well. They've gone off vowing +to have the law on us." + +"All they'll do will be to put arnica on themselves," declared +Mr. Hartshorn. "And they will send friends to the drugstore for +the arnica. They won't take the risk of being recognized on the +streets. They'll be a shame-faced lot in the morning." + +"It was mighty good of you men to come down and help us out," +murmured Dick Prescott gratefully. "We would have had a pretty +tough time if we had been left to ourselves." + +"We'd go further than we've traveled tonight, to help out boys +like you," declared another man present. "Prescott, that was +a fine thing you did to Miller to-night, and Tom Drake will be +grateful as long as he lives." + +"If Drake keeps away from drink in the future," Dick answered, +"he will have reason to congratulate himself." + +"Oh, Drake will keep away from the stuff after this," said one +of the citizens. "Young Drake has a head of his own, and we'll +see that he uses it. We'll keep a friendly eye over him. Don't +worry. Young Tom Drake will never associate with any of Miller's +kind again." + +"Whenever any of you boys want to go to sleep, just say so," urged +Mr. Hartshorn, "and we'll run along." + +"Why, I believe we're a bit waked up, at present," smiled young +Prescott, as he turned to glance at the others in the light thrown +by the automobile lamps. + +"I don't feel as though I needed any more sleep," laughed Tom +Reade. + +"If you boys are thinking of sitting up to watch against another +surprise, don't bother about it," advised Mr. Hartshorn. "You've +seen the very last that you'll see of those rascals. Men of that +sort never have nerve enough to attempt a risky thing twice." + +"I'm going to put some wood in the stove and make coffee," Danny +Grin announced. + +"Can't we offer you a cup of coffee, gentlemen?" proposed Prescott. +"And sandwiches? We have plenty of the fixings for sandwiches." + +The idea prevailed to such an extent that Dalzell put on a kettle +of water to boil, while Tom and Dave began to slice bread and +open tinned meats. + +"I'm going to sit down on the ground and be comfortable," declared +one of the Fentonites, when coffee and food were passed around. + +"Do you know, gentlemen," said Tom Reade, as he munched a sandwich, +"I'm beginning to like Fenton next to our own town of Gridley." + +"Fenton isn't anywhere near as large a place as Gridley," replied +one of the guests. + +"No; but for its size Fenton is a lively place," Reade went on. +"There seems to be something happening here every minute." + +"That is when young fellows like you come along and start the +ball rolling," chuckled Farmer Hartshorn. "There has been more +excitement to-night in Fenton than I can remember during the last +five years. I've seen you play football, Prescott, and you're +a wonder at the game. Yet what you did to-night for young Tom +Drake is a bigger thing than winning a whole string of the greatest +football games of the year." + +"Football is more exciting, though," smiled Dick. + +"Is it?" demanded Mr. Hartshorn. "More exciting than what you've +been through tonight? Then I'll never play football! More excitement +than you've had to-night isn't healthful for any growing young +fellow!" + +For fully an hour these men of Fenton remained at the camp, talking +with their young hosts, and, incidentally, picking up a lot of +information about the sports and pastimes that most interest wide-awake +boys of to-day. + +At last, however, disclaiming the thanks offered by Dick & Co., +the guests went away in the automobiles that had brought them, +while Dick Prescott and his chums prepared to finish out the night's +rest. + + + + +CHAPTER XXIII + +TIMMY, THE GENTLEMAN, AT HOME + + +"Oh, won't life seem stale when we get back into the land of crowded +business streets and schoolhouses?" grumbled Reade, as, perched +on the seat of the camp wagon, he drove out onto the highway the +next morning, followed by the other members of Dick & Co. on foot. + +"No, sir!" Darry retorted. "Life won't seem stale on that account. +Instead, it will be brightened by the pleasant recollection of +this summer's fun, which is now so soon to be ended." + +"You're not going through Fenton, are you, Dick?" asked Greg. + +"I guess we'll have to. We were pretty well cleaned out of some +of our provisions last night. We shall have to replenish our +food supply, and Fenton is the only real town along our route +to-day. The rest are small farming villages." + +"But we'll attract a lot of attention," declared Holmes. + +"You won't," laughed Darry. "You didn't go to town with us last +night, and consequently you're not known there." + +"I'd rather not go through the town myself," Dick explained, "but +it seems to me that as long as we must purchase supplies we ought +to make a stop in the town that's likely to have the best stores." + +Fenton's principal street had rather a sleepy look this hot August +morning. There were but few people abroad as Dick & Co. turned +into the main thoroughfare. + +At Miller's place there was not a sign of life. "I'll wager that +brute is applying raw beef to his eyes this morning," muttered +Tom, somewhat vindictively. + +Prescott's watchful glance soon discovered a provision store that +looked more than usually promising. At a word from him Tom reined +in the horse, while Prescott and Darrin went inside to make purchases. + +When they came out they found Farmer Hartshorn and another man +talking with Tom Reade. + +"You young men of Gridley don't look any the worse, this morning, +for the excitement you had last night," said Mr. Hartshorn, after +a cordial greeting. "Reade tells me that you left the milk-pail +at my house as you came along." + +"Yes, sir," Dick nodded. "And with it, we left our very best +thanks for the fine treat that milk proved to be to us." + +"Prescott, shake hands with Mr. Stark. He's our leading lawyer +in this little place." + +"I've heard a good deal about you this morning," said the lawyer, +as he shook hands. + +Mr. Stark was a tall, thin man, of perhaps forty-five years of +age. Warm as was the day he was attired wholly in black, a bit +rusty, and wore a high silk hat that was beginning to show signs +of age. He belonged to a type of rural lawyer that is now passing. + +"I think we've heard of you, too," smiled Prescott innocently. + +"Have you?" asked the lawyer, looking somewhat astonished. + +"Yes," Dick went on. "I think it must have been your letter that +Mr. Reuben Hinman showed us one day. It was in regard to a bill +he had given you to collect. Mr. Hinman is in the hospital and +must need quite a bit of money just at present so I beg to express +the hope that you have been able to collect the other half of +the debt---the half that belongs to him." + +Lawyer Stark reddened a good deal, despite his sallow skin. + +"Why, what about that other half? What's the story?" questioned +Mr. Hartshorn, his eyes, twinkling as though he scented something +amusing. + +"Oh---er---just a matter of business between a client and myself," +the lawyer explained, in some confusion. + +"And poor old Hinman was the client, eh?" asked the farmer. + +"We don't know very much about the matter," Dave Darrin broke +in, a trifle maliciously, for he fell that it might be a good +thing to show up this lawyer's tricky work. "Mr. Hinman gave +Mr. Stark a bill of twenty dollars to collect, and-----" + +"It was---er---all a matter of business between a client and myself, +and therefore of a confidential nature," Lawyer Stark broke in, +reddening still more. + +But Dave was in no mood, just then, to be headed off so easily, +so he went on: + +"Mr. Hinman showed us the letter, and asked us what we thought +of it, so that rather broke the confidential nature of the matter. +You see," turning to Mr. Hartshorn, "the bill was for twenty +dollars, and it seems that. Mr. Stark was to have half for his +trouble in collecting it. Now the letter that Mr. Hinman showed +us-----" + +"I protest, young man!" exclaimed the lawyer. + +"The letter," Darry went on calmly, "was to the effect that Mr. +Stark had collected his own half of the twenty dollars, and that +the collection of Mr. Hinman's half of the money seemed doubtful." + +"Now, now, Stark!" exclaimed the farmer, looking sharply at the +lawyer. "Surely, that isn't your way of doing business with a +poor and aged client like Hinman!" + +"I have collected the remainder of the bill, and am going to mail +a settlement to Mr. Hinman to-day," muttered the lawyer, trying +to look unconcerned. "All just a matter of routine office business, +Mr. Hartshorn." + +But the lawyer felt wholly uncomfortable. He was thinking, at +that moment, that he would heartily enjoy kicking Darrin if the +latter didn't look so utterly healthy and uncommonly able to take +care of himself. + +"Do I hear you discussing money that is due my father?" inquired +a voice behind them. "If so, my father is very ill, as you doubtless +know, and I would take pleasure in receiving the money on his +behalf." + +Timothy Hinman, looking wholly the man of fashion, made this offer. +He had come up behind the group, and there was a look in his +eyes which seemed to say that the handling of some of the family +money would not be distasteful to him just then. + +"I'll walk along with you to your office, Mr. Stark, and receipt +for the money, if you're headed that way," suggested the younger +Hinman again. + +"Unless you hold a regular power of attorney from your father, +you could hardly give me a valid receipt," replied the lawyer +sourly, as he turned away from Mr. Hartshorn and the boys and +started down the street. + +"Won't my receipt do until my father is up and about once more?" +pressed Timothy Hinman. + +"No, sir; it won't," snapped the lawyer. + +"Have you heard, this morning, how your father is?" Dick inquired. + +"Just heard, at the post-office," Hinman answered. "My father +had a very bad day yesterday. Er---in fact, the chances, I am +sorry to say, appear to be very much against his recovery." + +"He must feel the strain of his father's illness," observed Dave +sarcastically. + +"He does!" retorted Mr. Hartshorn, with emphasis. "If old Reuben +dies young Timothy must go to work for a living. The disgrace +of toil will almost kill him. His two sisters are as bad as he +is. They've never done a stroke of work, either. All three have +lived on the poor old peddler's earnings all their lives, though +not one of the three would be willing to keep the old man's house +for him. There are a lot of sons and daughters like them to-day. +Perhaps there always have been." + +Mr. Hartshorn waited until Dick and Dave had finished with the +purchases and had loaded them on the wagon. + +Then the farmer shook hands with each member of Dick & Co. + +"I'm coming up to Gridley to see the football game this Thanksgiving," +he promised. "I hope I'll see as good a game as I did last year. +Anyway, I'll see the work of a mighty fine lot of young fellows." + +Prescott expressed again the heartiest thanks of himself and friends +for the timely aid given them during the trouble in camp. + +"We've lost so much time this morning that we'll have to hustle +for the rest of the day," Tom called down from the wagon seat, +as he started the horse. + +An hour later they were more than three miles past Fenton. + +"Get out of the way, Tom!" called Dave. "Drive up into someone's +yard like lightning. Here comes a whizz wagon that wants the +whole highway." + +Behind them, its metal trimmings flashing in the sun, and leaving +a trail of dust in its wake, came an automobile traveling at least +sixty miles an hour. + +Yet, fast as the car was going when it passed them, the speed +did not prevent one occupant from recognizing them and calling +out derisively. Then, half a mile ahead, the car stopped, turned, +and came slowly back toward the wondering Gridley boys. + + + + +CHAPTER XXIV + +CONCLUSION + + +Five rather contemptuous pairs of youthful eyes surveyed Dick +& Co. as their outfit plodded on its way. + +"Aren't they a mucker looking outfit?" demanded one voice from +the car. + +Then the automobile shot ahead again. + +"Phin Drayne! Humph!" said Darry rather scornfully. + +Phin Drayne is no stranger to the readers of the "_High School +Boys Series_," who will recall Phin as the "kicker" who, at the +game on the Thanksgiving before, had sulked and refused to go +on the field, hoping to induce the other members of the Gridley +High School gridiron team to coax him to play. Thus Dick, though +suffering at that time from injuries, and forbidden to play, had +been forced out onto the field to help win the great game of the +season. Of course a kicker like Drayne did not like Prescott. +Dick worried but little on that account. + +"There! they are coming back," Greg announced. "They are grinning +at us again." + +"If they keep on grinning," threatened Darry, "we'll sic Danny +Grin onto them. When it comes to grinning our own Danny boy can +grin down anything on earth." + +As if to verify that claim, Dalzell began to grin broadly. Besides +this, he turned his face toward the occupants of the automobile +as it once more passed Dick & Co. + +Just at this point the car slowed down. Phin Drayne looked as +though he were exhibiting his fellow students of Gridley High +School as so many laughable freaks. + +"That's what I call a vacation on the cheap," Drayne remarked +to his friends, in a tone wholly audible to Dick & Co. + +"It is 'on the cheap,'" Dick called out pleasantly. "And yet, +our trip hasn't been such a very cheap one, either, and we've +earned all the money ourselves. I don't suppose, Drayne, you +ever earned as much money in your life." + +"I don't have to," scoffed Phin Drayne. "My father is able to +supply me with whatever money I need." + +"Why!" uttered Dan Dalzell. "Our old Drayne is just another Timmy +Hinman of the regular kind, isn't he?" + +Dan looked so comical when he made this observation that his five +chums burst into a shout of gleeful laughter. + +Phin Drayne didn't relish that very sincere laughter. Though +he didn't understand the allusion, he suspected that he was being +made the butt of a joke by Dick & Co. + +"Drive on, George," he requested his friend at the wheel. "One +hates to be seen in the company of such fellows." + +The car's speed was let out several notches, and shot down the +road ahead of Dick & Co.'s plain little caravan. + +"Now that I think of it," Dick declared, "Phin is just another +edition of Timmy Hinman, isn't he? And so are quite a good many +of the fellows we know. The world must be nearly as full of Timmy +Hinmans as it is of fathers either wealthy or well-to-do. I'd +hate to belong to the Timmy Hinman crowd!" + +"As for me," sighed Tom comically, "I don't see any chance of +my becoming a Timmy until I'm able to do it on money accumulated +for myself." + +As Phin Drayne was still in Gridley High School, and had an overweening +idea of himself as a football player, it is extremely likely that +we shall hear of him again, for which reason, if for no other, +we may as well dismiss him from these present pages. + +A few more days of earnest hiking, followed by restful sleep in +camp at night, brought Dick & Co., one fine afternoon toward the +end of August, in sight of the spires of Gridley. + +"There's the good old town!" called Dick, first to reach the rise +of ground from which the view of Gridley was to be had. + +"Good old town, indeed!" glowed Dave Darrin. + +"Whoop!" shouted Tom Reade irrepressibly. "Whoop! And then---whoop!" + +Dalzell, as he stood still for a few moments, gazing ahead, grinned +broadly. + +"He thinks his native town is a joke!" called Greg Holmes reproachfully. + +"No," replied Dalzell, with a solemn shake of his head. "I am +the joke, and it's on Gridley for being my native town." + +"I'm glad to be back---when I get there," announced Hazy. "I +shall be glad, even if for nothing more than the chance to rest +my feet." + +"Nonsense!" Dick retorted. "You'll be out on Main Street, to-night, +ready to tramp miles and miles, if anything amusing turns up." + +At the first shade by the roadside Dick &. Co. halted for fifteen +minutes to rest. + +"Now, each one of you do a little silent thinking," Prescott urged. + +"Give us the topic, then," proposed Reade. + +"Fellows," Dick went on, mounting a stump and thrusting one hand +inside his flannel shirt, in imitation of the pose of an orator, +"the next year will be an eventful one for all of us. In that +time we shall wind up our courses at the Gridley High School. +From the day that we set forth from Gridley High School we shall +be actively at work creating our careers. We are destined to +become great men, everyone of us!" + +"Tell that to the Senate!" mocked Tom Reade. + +"Well, then," Dick went on, accepting the doubt of their future +greatness, "we shall, at least, if we are worth our salt, become +useful men in the world, and I don't know but that is very close +to being great. For the man who isn't useful in the world has +no excuse for living. Now, in a little more than another hour, +we shall be treading the pavements of good old Gridley. Let us +do it with a sense of triumph." + +"Triumph?" quizzed Tom soberly. "What about?" + +"The sense of triumph," Dick retorted, "will arise from the fact +that this is to be the last and biggest year in which we are to +give ourselves the final preparation for becoming either great +or useful men. I'm not going to say any more on this subject. +Perhaps you fellows think I've been talking nonsense on purpose. +I haven't. Neither have I tried to preach to you, for preaching +is out of my line. But, fellows, I hope you all feel, as solemnly +as I do myself, just what this next year must mean to us in work, +in study---in a word, in achievement. It won't do any of us any +harm, once in a while to feel solemn, for five seconds at a time, +over what we are going to do this year to assure our futures." + +For once Tom Reade didn't have a jest ready. For once Dalzell +forgot to grin. + +The march was taken up again. The next halt was made in Gridley, +thus ending their long training hike, the boys going to their +respective homes. + +"Just give three silent cheers, and we won't startle anyone," +Tom proposed. + +"We went out on the trip to harden ourselves," murmured Dave, +"and I must admit that we have all done it." + +That evening Dick and Harry Hazelton drove the horse and wagon +over to Tottenville, where the camp wagon was returned to its +owner, Mr. Newbegin Titmouse. + +"You young men have worn this wagon quite: a bit," whined Mr. +Titmouse, after he had painstakingly inspected the wagon by the +light of a lantern. + +"I think we've brought it back in fine condition, sir," replied +Dick, and he spoke the truth. "The wagon looks better, Mr. Titmouse, +than you had expected to see it." + +"You owe me about five dollars for extra wear and tear," insisted +the money-loving Mr. Titmouse. + +But he didn't get the money. Again Dick Prescott turned out to +be an excellent business man. Dick was most courteous, but he +refuted all of Mr. Titmouse's claims for extra payment, in the +end even such a money-grubber as Mr. Newbegin Titmouse gave up +the effort to extort more money for the use of his wagon than +was his due. He even used his lantern to light the boys through +the dark side alley to the street where the trolley car ran. + +Two or three times after this Dick and his friends heard from +Tom Drake. That young workman never repeated his earlier error. +In time he paid for his home, then began the saving of money +for other purposes. To-day Drake owns his own machine shop and +is highly prosperous. + +Old Reuben Hinman lingered many days between life and death. +At last he recovered, and in time was discharged from the hospital. + +However, his first attempts to run the peddler's wagon again revealed +the fact that the peddler's days on the road were over. He was +no longer strong enough for the hard outdoor life. + +Timothy Hinman and his sisters came forward when the Overseers +of the Poor began to look into the peddler's affairs. These dutiful +children wanted to be sure to obtain whatever might be their share +of their father's belongings. + +Timothy and his sisters obtained their full shares---nothing. + +The Overseers of the Poor found that they could effect an arrangement +by which the peddler's home, his horse and wagon, stock and good +will could be sold for four thousand dollars. + +This was done. With half the money Reuben Hinman was able to +purchase his way into a home for old men. Here he will be maintained, +without further expense, as long as he lives, and he will live +in a degree of comfort amounting, with this simple-minded ex-peddler, +to positive luxury. + +The other two thousand dollars, at the suggestion of the Overseers +of the Poor, was spent in buying an annuity from a life insurance +company. This annuity provides ample spending money for Reuben +Hinman whenever, in fine weather, he wishes to go forth from the +home and enjoy himself in the world at large. + +Timothy has been forced to go to work as a valet. The daughters +tearfully support themselves as milliners. Reuben Hinman long +ago spent the ten dollars received from Lawyer Stark. + +The tramp who accepted work from Dr. Hewitt made good in every +sense of the word. In fact he did so well that, in time, he took +unto himself a wife and is now the head of a family, which lives +in a little cottage built on Dr. Hewitt's estate. The name of +"Jim Joggers" has given way to the real name of that former knight +of the road. However, as the man is sensitive about his idle +past, we prefer to remember him as "Joggers." + +And now we come to the end of the "_High School Boys Vacation +Series_." + +It is to be hoped that these four little volumes have not dwelt +so much upon fun as to make it appear that pleasure is all there +is in the world that is worth while. + +Dick Prescott and his friends were destined to discover that +all the pleasure in the world that is worth anything at all comes +only as the reward of continuous, hard and useful endeavor. + +The further adventures that befell Dick Prescott and his chums +while they were still Gridley High School boys will be found in +the fourth volume of the "_High School Boys Series_," which is published +under the title, "_The High School Captain of the Team; Or, Dick +& Co. Leading the Athletic Vanguard_." + +In that volume, the last dealing with Dick Prescott's high school +days, the value of sports and the worth of honor and faithful +work will be set forth as strongly as lies within the power of +the narrator of these events. + + + +***END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE HIGH SCHOOL BOYS' TRAINING +HIKE*** + + +******* This file should be named 12731.txt or 12731.zip ******* + + +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: +https://www.gutenberg.org/1/2/7/3/12731 + + + +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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