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+Project Gutenberg's The Young Oarsmen of Lakeview, by Ralph Bonehill
+
+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 Young Oarsmen of Lakeview
+
+Author: Ralph Bonehill
+
+Release Date: August 8, 2008 [EBook #26218]
+
+Language: English
+
+Character set encoding: ASCII
+
+*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE YOUNG OARSMEN OF LAKEVIEW ***
+
+
+
+
+Produced by Roger Frank and the Online Distributed
+Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net
+
+
+
+
+
+[Illustration: THE TAR WAS READY FOR USE.]
+
+-------------------------------------------------------------------------
+
+THE YOUNG OARSMEN OF LAKEVIEW
+
+By
+CAPT. RALPH BONEHILL.
+
+Author of
+"Rival Bicyclists," "Leo, the Circus Boy," Etc.
+
+CHICAGO.
+M. A. DONOHUE & CO.
+407-429 DEARBORN ST.
+
+-------------------------------------------------------------------------
+
+CONTENTS
+
+ CHAPTER                                               PAGE
+      I.  Jerry, Harry, and Blumpo.                       5
+     II.  Mrs. Fleming's Runaway Horse.                  12
+    III.  Jerry's Bravery.                               18
+     IV.  Saving The Sloop.                              24
+      V.  Harry Is Rescued.                              30
+     VI.  The Single Shell Race.                         37
+    VII.  Who Won the Shell Race.                        42
+   VIII.  A Prisoner of the Enemy.                       47
+     IX.  Tar And Feathers.                              54
+      X.  What Towser Did.                               60
+     XI.  Off for Hermit Island.                         66
+    XII.  An Attack in the Dark.                         72
+   XIII.  Jerry's Shot.                                  77
+    XIV.  The Hermit of the Island.                      82
+     XV.  The Hermit's Secret.                           88
+    XVI.  An Exciting Chase.                             93
+   XVII.  Harry's New Yacht.                             98
+  XVIII.  The Robbery of the Rockpoint Hotel.           107
+    XIX.  The Red Valise.                               112
+     XX.  The Mishap to the Yacht.                      117
+    XXI.  Words and Blows.                              124
+   XXII.  Another Boat Race.                            131
+  XXIII.  Jerry Starts on a Journey.                    139
+   XXIV.  The Work of a Real Hero.                      145
+    XXV.  A Fruitless Search.                           152
+   XXVI.  Alexander Slocum is Astonished.               159
+  XXVII.  Jerry's Clever Escape.                        164
+ XXVIII.  Something About a Tramp.                      170
+   XXIX.  Mr. Wakefield Smith Again.                    177
+    XXX.  An Unlooked for Adventure.                    181
+   XXXI.  Nellie Ardell's Troubles.                     186
+  XXXII.  A Crazy Man's Doings.                         192
+ XXXIII.  The Little Nobody.                            199
+  XXXIV.  Alexander Slocum Shows His Hand.              207
+   XXXV.  A Strange Disappearance                       214
+  XXXVI.  Jerry Hears an Astonishing Statement.         221
+ XXXVII.  A Joyous Meeting.                             228
+XXXVIII.  Alexander Slocum is Brought to Book.          236
+  XXXIX.  Harry to the Rescue.                          243
+     XL.  A Struggle in the Dark.                       251
+    XLI.  A Last Race--Good-Bye to the Rival Oarsmen.   261
+
+-------------------------------------------------------------------------
+
+
+
+
+THE YOUNG OARSMEN OF LAKEVIEW.
+
+CHAPTER I.
+
+JERRY, HARRY, AND BLUMPO.
+
+
+"I'll race you."
+
+"Done! Are you ready?"
+
+"I am."
+
+"Then off we go."
+
+Quicker than it can be related, four oars fell into the water and four
+sturdy arms bent to the task of sending two beautiful single-shell craft
+skimming over the smooth surface of the lake.
+
+It was a spirited scene, and attracted not a little attention, for both of
+the contestants were well known.
+
+"Go it, Jerry! You can beat him if you try!"
+
+"Don't let him get ahead, Harry. Keep closer to the shore!"
+
+"How far is the race to be?"
+
+"Up to the big pine tree and back."
+
+"That's a full mile and more. I'll bet on Jerry Upton."
+
+"And I'll bet on Harry Parker. He has more skill than Jerry."
+
+"But Jerry has the muscle."
+
+"There they go, side by side!"
+
+And thus the talking and shouting went on along the lake front. Most of
+the boys present were members of the Lakeview Boat Club, but there were
+others of the town there, too, as enthusiastic as the rest.
+
+It was a clear, warm day in June. The summer holidays at the various
+institutes of learning in the vicinity had just begun, so many of the lads
+had nothing to do but to enjoy themselves.
+
+There were not a few craft out besides the two shells to which we have
+drawn attention. But they drew out of the way to give the racers a free
+field.
+
+On and on went Jerry and Harry until the big pine was reached. Then came
+the turn, and they started on the home stretch side by side, neither one
+foot ahead of the other.
+
+"It's going to be a tie race."
+
+"Pull, Harry! Let yourself out!"
+
+"Show him what you can do, Jerry!"
+
+Encouraged by the shouts of their friends, both boys increase their speed.
+But the increase on both sides was equal, and still the boats kept bow and
+bow as they neared the boathouse.
+
+"It's going to be a tie, sure enough."
+
+"Spurt a bit, Jerry!"
+
+"Go it for all you're worth, Harry!"
+
+Again the two contestants put forth additional muscle, each to out-distant
+his opponent, and again the two row-boats leaped forward, still side by
+side.
+
+As old Jack Broxton, the keeper of the boathouse, said afterward: "It
+would have taken twelve judges, sitting twelve days, to have told which
+had the advantage."
+
+The finishing point was now less than five hundred feet distant, and in a
+few seconds more the race would be over. The crowd began to stop shouting,
+almost breathless with pent-up interest. It was surely the prettiest race
+that had ever been rowed on Otasco Lake.
+
+Splash!
+
+The splash was followed by a splutter, and then a frantic cry for help. A
+portion of the high float in front of the boathouse had unexpectedly given
+way, and a short, stocky, reddish-black youth had gone floundering over
+board.
+
+"Blumpo Brown has gone under."
+
+"It serves him right for standing away out on the edge of the float."
+
+"Help! Help!" cried the youth in the water. "Hold on, Harry! Jerry, don't
+run into me!"
+
+Alarmed by the cries, the two racers turned around, easing up on their
+oars as they did so. A single glance showed them that the unfortunate one
+was directly in their path.
+
+"We must stop!" cried Jerry Upton to his friend.
+
+"All right; call it off," responded Harry Parker. "It was a tie."
+
+As he finished, both shells drew up, one on either side of Blumpo Brown.
+Each of the rowers offered the struggling youth a helping hand.
+
+Blumpo was soon clinging to Jerry's shell. He was dripping from head to
+foot, and not being at all a handsomely-formed or good-looking youth, he
+presented a most comical appearance.
+
+"It's too bad I spoiled the race," mumbled Blumpo. "But that's just
+me--always putting my foot into it."
+
+"I guess you put more than your foot into it this time," was Harry's
+good-natured comment, as he ran close up alongside.
+
+"Where shall I land you, Blumpo?" questioned Jerry Upton.
+
+"Anywhere but near the boathouse," returned Blumpo, with a shiver that was
+not brought on entirely by his involuntary bath. "If you land me there the
+fellows won't give me a chance to get out of sight."
+
+"I'll take you up the lake shore if you wish," said Jerry. "I intended to
+go up anyway in a row-boat."
+
+"All right, Jerry, do that and I'll be much obliged to you," returned
+Blumpo Brown.
+
+"You are going along, aren't you, Harry?" continued Jerry, turning to his
+late rival.
+
+"Yes, I want to stop at Mrs. Fleming's cottage," replied Harry Parker.
+
+In a moment more Harry had turned his shell over to old Jack Broxton and
+had leaped into a row-boat.
+
+"Ain't you fellows going to try it over again?" asked several on the
+shore, anxiously.
+
+"Not now," returned Jerry. Then he went on to Harry, in a lower tone: "I
+didn't expect to make a public exhibition of our little trial at speed,
+did you?"
+
+"No; not at all. It was a tie, and let it remain so."
+
+Jerry soon left his shell; and then four oars soon took the row-boat far
+away from the vicinity of the shore; and while the three boys are on their
+way up the lake, let us learn a little more concerning them, especially as
+they are to form the all-important characters of this tale of midsummer
+adventures.
+
+Jerry Upton was the only son of a well-to-do farmer, whose farm of one
+hundred acres lay just beyond the outskirts of Lakeview, and close to the
+lake shore. Jerry was a scholar at the Lakeview Academy, and did but
+little on the farm, although among the pupils he was often designated as
+Cornfield.
+
+Harry Parker was the oldest boy in the Parker family, which numbered two
+boys and four girls. Harry's father was a shoe manufacturer, whose large
+factory was situated in Lakeview, and at which nearly a fourth of the
+working population of the town found employment.
+
+It had been a singular incident which had brought the two boys together
+and made them firm friends. Both had been out skating on the lake the
+winter before, when Harry had lost his skate and gone down headlong
+directly in the track of a large ice-boat, which was coming on with the
+speed of a breeze that was almost a hurricane.
+
+To the onlookers it seemed certain that Harry must be struck and killed by
+the sharp prow of the somewhat clumsy craft. But in that time of extreme
+peril Jerry had whipped up like a flash on his skates, caught Harry by the
+collar, and literally flung himself and the boy, who was then almost a
+stranger to him, out of harm's way.
+
+This gallant deed of courage had been warmly applauded by those who saw
+it. It also came to Mr. Parker's ears, and from that time on the rich shoe
+manufacturer took an interest in the farmer boy. He persuaded Mr. Upton to
+allow Jerry to attend the academy, and promised that the boy should have a
+good position in the office of the factory, should he wish it, when his
+school days were over.
+
+Harry was already a pupil at the academy, and it was here that the two
+boys became warm friends. It was nothing to Harry that Jerry was a
+farmer's boy and that he was sometimes called Cornfield. He knew and
+appreciated Jerry for his true worth.
+
+And now what of Blumpo Brown, you ask? There is little to tell at this
+point of our story concerning that semi-colored individual. He was alone
+in the world, and had lived in Lakeview some ten years. Previous to that
+time his history was a mystery. Where he had come from no one knew, and if
+the truth was to be made known, no one but Blumpo himself cared. He was a
+very peculiar youth, often given to making the most ridiculous remarks,
+and many persons around Lakeview fancied he had considerable Indian blood
+in him. He lived in half a dozen places, according to the condition of his
+finances, and picked up his precarious existence by working for any one
+who would employ him. He might have had a steady situation more than once,
+but it was not in Blumpo's composition to stick at one thing for any great
+length of time. We will learn much more concerning him as our story
+proceeds.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER II.
+
+MRS. FLEMING'S RUNAWAY HORSE.
+
+
+"Well, now that the midsummer holidays have really commenced, what do you
+intend to do with yourself, Jerry?" asked Harry, as they took it easy for
+a bit after leaving the vicinity of the town.
+
+"I expect I'll have to help on the farm--at least, I think I ought to
+help," was the reply. "You know this is the busy season."
+
+Harry's face fell a little at this reply. Evidently something was on his
+mind, and this answer did not harmonize with it.
+
+"I'll tell you what I would like mighty well," put in Blumpo. "I would
+like to leave town and take to the woods."
+
+"Why, Blumpo, you must have been reading my thoughts!" cried Harry. "I was
+thinking exactly the same thing."
+
+"Take to the woods?" repeated Jerry. "What do you mean? Clear out from
+home entirely?"
+
+"No, no," laughed Harry. "I mean to go off for a while--say, two or three
+weeks or a month. Sail up the lake and camp out, you know." "Oh!" Jerry's
+face took on a pleased look. "I would like that myself, especially if we
+could go fishing and swimming whenever we wanted to."
+
+"I've had it in my mind for several days," Harry continued, slowly. "I was
+going to speak of it yesterday, but I didn't get the chance."
+
+"You mean you want me to go with you?" asked Jerry.
+
+"Yes. Don't you think your folks would let you?"
+
+"They might. Who else would go along, do you think?"
+
+"I haven't thought of any one else. We might ask--" and Harry hesitated in
+thought.
+
+"What's the matter with asking me?" put in Blumpo, with a serenity that
+took away the lack of politeness in his remark. "I'm just as tired of
+Lakeview as anybody."
+
+Harry burst out laughing. The idea of asking Blumpo had never once entered
+his mind.
+
+"It ain't nothing to laugh at," went on Blumpo, half angrily.
+
+"Excuse me, Blumpo," said Harry, stopping short. "I--that is--I wasn't
+thinking of you when I made the remark."
+
+"I'm not rich, nor eddicated, as you call it, and all that, but I can hunt
+and fish, and so on, as good as the next feller, can't I?"
+
+"You certainly can," put in Jerry, who had for a long time had a strange
+liking for the homeless youth.
+
+"And I am as willing as the next one to do my full share of camp
+work--washing dishes and the like," went on Blumpo. "You ain't cut out for
+that," he added, turning to the son of the rich shoe manufacturer.
+
+"Maybe not, but I reckon I can do my full share of work," laughed Harry.
+"I was not brought up with kid gloves on, you know."
+
+"One thing is certain," mused Jerry. "I wouldn't want to leave until I had
+rowed that race with Si Peters from Rockpoint."
+
+The race to which Jerry referred was one to take place on the following
+Saturday. Silas Peters was considered the best single-shell oarsman on the
+lower side of the lake, and he had challenged Jerry as a representative
+from the Lakeview Academy.
+
+"You'll win that race, suah," put in Blumpo. "I'll bet my hat on it."
+
+As Blumpo's hat was of straw and full of holes, this made both Jerry and
+his friend burst into a fit of laughter.
+
+"I don't mean this hat. I mean my Sunday-go-to-meetin' one," said the
+homeless youth, hastily.
+
+"Blumpo, on your honor, did you ever own two hats at once?" asked Harry
+gravely.
+
+"Well, since you buckle me down, no," was the low reply. "What's the use?
+Can't wear but one at a time." "That's as true as you live," returned
+Jerry.
+
+The three boys talked over the subject of an outing for some time. All
+thought it a glorious idea, and Jerry said he would go if he possibly
+could.
+
+All this time Jerry and Harry were rowing up the lake at a moderate rate
+of speed. Jerry loved the water, and spent nearly all of his spare time in
+the vicinity of the lake.
+
+Presently Harry grew tired and Blumpo took his place at the oars.
+
+"Here comes the Cutwater!" cried Harry, a few minutes later.
+
+The Cutwater was a large sloop owned by one of the gentlemen living in
+Lakeview. As she came past, those in the row-boat noticed several young
+ladies on board, who were sailing the boat under directions of a young man
+named Clarence Conant.
+
+Clarence had but little idea how a boat should be managed, and as the
+sloop went by Harry's face grew troubled.
+
+"Jerry, what do you think of that?"
+
+Jerry stopped rowing for a moment to look at the sloop.
+
+"A good lot of sail up, especially if it should blow up stronger," he
+said.
+
+"Just what I think."
+
+"That Clarence Conant don't know nuffin' about sailing," snorted Blumpo
+Brown. "The ladies better beware how they go out with him."
+
+"I agree with you, Blumpo," said Jerry, gravely.
+
+The sloop now disappeared from sight around a turn in the lake at which
+several islands were situated.
+
+A few minutes later the row-boat drew up to a small dock at the end of a
+well-kept garden.
+
+This was Mrs. Fleming's place, where Harry intended to stop on an errand
+for his mother and father.
+
+He sprang on the dock and hurried toward the house, saying he would not be
+gone more than five minutes.
+
+The two boys waited for him to return, and during the interval Jerry
+caught sight of the Cutwater up the lake and watched her progress with
+interest. The wind was getting stronger and the sloop carried more sail
+than was good for her. Soon she again disappeared, and Jerry turned toward
+the house, wondering what kept Harry so long.
+
+"Must have been invited to lunch," was Blumpo's comment. "Pity he didn't
+ask us in, too."
+
+"No, he wouldn't stay and leave us here," replied Jerry, "Most
+likely--hullo!"
+
+Jerry sprang up in the row-boat in amazement. Down the garden path leading
+from the front of the house to the dock came a beautiful black horse on a
+gallop. On the animal's back sat a little girl not more than eight years
+of age. The horse was running away with her, and she was clingling tightly
+to his mane.
+
+"Oh, John, stop him!" she screamed.
+
+"Whoa, Banker, whoa!" shouted a man who came running after the animal.
+
+But the horse, a nervous creature, was frightened over something and would
+not stop.
+
+He clattered on the dock, and the next instant went over into the lake
+with a loud splash, carrying the little girl with him.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER III.
+
+JERRY'S BRAVERY.
+
+
+Blumpo was so scared by the accident that he uttered a short yell.
+
+"Fo' the lan' sake," he moaned, in a shaking voice.
+
+The horse disappeared from sight for a brief space of time and then came
+up and began to churn the water madly in an endeavor to save himself from
+drowning.
+
+The little girl was nowhere to be seen.
+
+"She'll be drowned," thought Jerry, with rising horror.
+
+At that moment a lady rushed from the house, followed by Harry. It was
+Mrs. Fleming.
+
+"My child! my child!" she shrieked. "Save my Cora!"
+
+Jerry waited to hear no more. At that moment the head of the little girl
+appeared directly by the horse's side, and he made a clever dive from the
+row-boat and came up close to the child.
+
+The girl was so bewildered that she simply beat the water in a helpless
+fashion, and this frightened the horse still more. Swimming up behind the
+little one, Jerry caught her under the arms. It was a perilous thing to
+do, for Jerry was in great danger of having his brains dashed out by one
+of the horse's hoofs.
+
+"Good for you, Jerry!" shouted Harry.
+
+"Look out for the hoss!" shouted the man. "He'll kick you if he can!"
+
+As rapidly as he could, Jerry swam out of the mad animal's reach. It was
+difficult with the struggling girl in his arms, but at last he
+accomplished it, and willing hands helped him to the dock.
+
+"My Cora! my Cora! is she dead?" cried Mrs. Fleming.
+
+"No, she is more frightened than hurt," returned Jerry. "Let us take her
+to the house."
+
+But before he could go a step, Mrs. Fleming clasped her girl in her arms
+and led the way.
+
+Anxious to be of assistance, Jerry followed the lady, while Harry, Blumpo,
+and the hired man tried to rescue the horse, who was very valuable despite
+his nervousness.
+
+A noose was made at the end of a rope, and this was thrown over the
+animal's neck. Then the horse got one foot through the noose, and in this
+fashion they towed him to a spot where it was easy for him to wade out
+without assistance.
+
+The hired man was very much put out, for it was his fault that the horse
+had run away. He led the animal around to the barn and gave him a good
+rubbing down.
+
+Harry started for the house and met Jerry coming out.
+
+"How is Cora?"
+
+"She's all right. Come on," and Jerry brushed on toward the row-boat.
+
+"Why, what's your hurry, Jerry?"
+
+The young oarsman blushed.
+
+"Oh, I hate to stand around and receive thanks," he said. "Mrs. Fleming
+wants to make a first-class hero of me and I----"
+
+"And that's just what you are," cried Harry.
+
+"Indeed he is," added Blumpo.
+
+"Nonsense!" Jerry brushed them to one side. "Come on!" and he made a run
+for the row-boat, and the others were compelled to follow.
+
+"But your clothing is all wet," insisted Harry, when they were seated in
+the craft.
+
+"So is Blumpo's," returned Jerry.
+
+"I'se most dry, the sun is that warm," remarked the homeless youth.
+
+"I don't mind the wetting a bit," said Jerry. "Rowing will keep me warm
+and the sun will dry me off quick enough."
+
+"You're a regular water dog, anyway," laughed Harry. He could not help but
+admire Jerry's modesty in running away from Mrs. Fleming as soon as it was
+ascertained that little Cora was all right. On and on up the lake the boys
+went. Inside of half an hour they came to a sheltered nook on one of the
+numerous islands.
+
+"I move we take a swim," said Harry.
+
+"Second de emotion," said Blumpo, and before Jerry could say a word the
+homeless youth was running about as if in the savage wilds.
+
+It did not take Jerry and Harry long to disrobe. The plunge into the water
+was very pleasant, and they remained in bathing until Jerry's clothing,
+spread out on the top of a number of bushes, was thoroughly dry.
+
+In the meanwhile Jerry and Harry raced to another island and back. Jerry
+came out first, with Harry four yards behind.
+
+The swim over, they dressed, and, after picking several handfuls of
+berries, which grew on the island in profusion, they once more embarked in
+the row-boat.
+
+"Time to get back, boys," said Jerry. "I promised to be home before
+dark."
+
+"So did I," said Harry, "and we have several miles to go."
+
+"It don't make no difference to me when I git back," remarked Blumpo,
+dolefully.
+
+"Don't worry, Blumpo. Think of the good time we are going to have when we
+go camping," said Jerry.
+
+"And I must ask father for a regular situation for you when we come back
+from our outing," added Harry.
+
+"Will you?" and the homeless boy's face brightened.
+
+The wind had been increasing steadily, and now it blew so strongly that
+the whitecaps were to be seen in every direction.
+
+"We're going to have no easy time getting back," said Jerry, with an
+anxious look on his manly face. "Maybe we may be caught in a hurricane."
+
+"It's hot enough," returned Harry. "Such oppressive heat generally means
+something."
+
+A mile was covered, and then the wind began to send the flying spray in
+every direction and filled the row-boat's bottom with water.
+
+"Wet again!" laughed Jerry, grimly. "Never mind."
+
+"Blumpo, you had better bail out the boat," said Harry. He was as wet as
+the rest, but did not grumble.
+
+While the homeless youth bailed out the water with a dipper they had
+brought along, Jerry and Harry pulled at the oars with all their remaining
+strength. Another mile was passed. But now it was blowing a regular
+hurricane and no mistake.
+
+"We'll go to the bottom, suah!" groaned Blumpo dismally.
+
+"Not much!" shouted Jerry. "Keep on bailing." "Look! look!" yelled Harry
+at that moment, and pointed over to the centre of the lake.
+
+There, beating up in the teeth of the wind in the most hap-hazard manner,
+was the Cutwater. Evidently Clarence Conant was nearly paralyzed with
+fear, for he had almost lost control of the craft.
+
+"Those ladies on board are worse off than we," went on Harry.
+
+"That's so," replied Jerry.
+
+But the words were hardly out of his mouth when there came an extra puff
+of wind. It sent the Cutwater almost over on her side, and threw a
+monstrous wave into the row-boat.
+
+The smaller craft could not stand the wind and waves, and with a lurch,
+she sank down and went over, dumping all three of the youths into the
+angry lake.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER IV.
+
+SAVING THE SLOOP.
+
+
+It was no pleasant position to be in. The three lads had been cast so
+suddenly into the angry waters that for the moment they could not
+comprehend the situation.
+
+Then Blumpo let out a yell of terror.
+
+"Save me! De boat has gone down!"
+
+He was wrong, however, for a second later the row-boat bobbed up, less
+than four yards off.
+
+"This way!" shouted Harry to his companions, but the wind fairly drowned
+his voice. He swam toward the upturned craft, and Blumpo and Jerry were
+not slow in following it.
+
+Hardly had they reached it when a new peril confronted them. The Cutwater
+was bearing directly down upon them. With every sail set, she was in the
+very act of cutting them to pieces!
+
+"Look! look!" yelled Harry. "We are doomed!"
+
+"My gracious!" moaned Blumpo.
+
+On and on came the sloop, with gigantic bounds over the whitecaps.
+Clarence Conant seemed utterly powerless to stay her course, or steer her
+to the right or left.
+
+The young ladies on board with him huddled in a heap near the tiny cabin,
+their faces white with terror.
+
+It was truly a thrilling moment.
+
+Of the entire crowd Jerry was the only one to keep perfectly cool.
+
+He was astride the row-boat, directly in the centre of the bottom, and it
+seemed as if the prow of the Cutwater must strike him in a second more.
+
+"Every one dive under!" he called out, and went overboard like a flash.
+
+For a wonder Harry and Blumpo promptly followed suit.
+
+Crash!
+
+The row-boat was struck and stove in completely.
+
+The Cutwater was quite a good sized craft, and though the force of the
+collision did not damage her to any extent, it checked her progress
+considerably.
+
+Jerry went down and down. He made a long dive, and when he came up it was
+within a yard of the sloop's rudder.
+
+Before another boy would have had time to think, the boy who so loved the
+water made up his mind what to do. He made a mighty leap and caught hold
+of the rudder end ere the Cutwater could get beyond his reach. It was hard
+work to hang on, as the sloop bobbed up and down with every wave, and the
+rudder, being beyond control, swayed from side to side.
+
+But Jerry was both plucky and full of grit. He clung fast, and, watching
+his chance, climbed up to the stern and leaped on the deck.
+
+A brief glance showed him the cause of the present trouble. Clarence
+Conant was actually too much frightened to lower the sails. He had started
+to act and got a rope twisted, and then, overcome with fear, had allowed
+the matter to go while he clung to the bow in despair.
+
+"You confounded coward!" cried the young oarsman. "You ought to have known
+better than to go out on anything bigger than a duck pond."
+
+He sprang to the halyards, and soon the main-sail came down with a bang.
+The jib followed. There was no time to attend to the sails more than
+this.
+
+Jerry looked around anxiously for Harry and Blumpo, but for a long while
+could see nothing of them.
+
+"Look here," demanded Clarence Conant, recovering his composure, now the
+greatest of the danger was over. "What--ah--do you mean by talking to me
+in this fashion?"
+
+"I mean just what I say," retorted Jerry. "You had no right to take these
+young ladies out and expose them to such peril." "The--ah--hurricane took
+me by surprise," was the dude's lame excuse.
+
+"I am very thankful to you, Jerry Upton," cried Dora Vincent, the oldest
+and prettiest of the girls on board.
+
+"And so am I."
+
+"And I."
+
+"Thank you," replied the boy, blushing. "But now is no time to talk. Which
+of you will take the tiller, if I tell you exactly what to do?"
+
+"I can--ah--take the tiller," interposed Conant, haughtily.
+
+"You won't touch it!" cried the young oarsman, sternly.
+
+"Why, boy, what do you mean? Do you--ah--"
+
+"Sit down! If you dare to stir I'll pitch you overboard!"
+
+Overcome with a new terror, the dude collapsed. He was hatless, the curl
+was out of his mustache and hair, and altogether he looked very much
+"washed out."
+
+He sank down near the bow, and it was well that he did so, for just then
+came an extra heavy blast of the gale.
+
+"Hold hard, every one!" yelled Jerry. "Perhaps you ladies had better go
+into the cabin," he added.
+
+"I am to take the tiller, you know," said Dora Vincent. "Well, then, let
+the others go. We can work along better with a clear deck."
+
+So while Dora went aft, the others crawled into the cabin, or cuddy. Under
+pretense of seeing after their comfort, Conant crawled after them.
+
+"Now I will tell you just how to move the tiller," said Jerry to Dora
+Vincent.
+
+"All right, I am ready," responded the brave girl.
+
+Now that she had Jerry with her, and knowing he was well acquainted with
+boats, she felt that she was safe, no matter how bad the storm might prove
+itself.
+
+After giving the girl some instructions Jerry hoisted the main-sail a few
+feet only. The sloop then swung around and moved in a beating way against
+the storm.
+
+Jerry wished to learn what had become of his companions. He was fearful
+that they had been drowned.
+
+It took quite some time to reach the vicinity where the accident had
+occurred, and even then but little was to be seen through the driving
+rain.
+
+"Hullo, Harry! Blumpo!" he called out.
+
+No answer came back and he repeated the cry a dozen times. Then he fancied
+he heard a response directly ahead. The sloop was moved cautiously in the
+direction, and presently they saw Blumpo clinging to part of the shattered
+row-boat. "Sabe me! sabe me!" yelled the youth. "Don't let me drown,
+Jerry."
+
+"Catch the rope, Blumpo!" cried Jerry in return, and threw forward the end
+of a coil.
+
+Blumpo clutched the rope eagerly, and then it was comparatively easy to
+haul him on board.
+
+"Praise de Lawd!" he muttered fervently as he came on deck. "I t'ought I
+was a goner, suah!"
+
+"Where is Harry?"
+
+"I can't tell you, Jerry."
+
+"You haven't seen him since we jumped from the row-boat?"
+
+"No."
+
+The young oarsman's face grew sober. What if their chum had really gone to
+the bottom of Lake Otasco? It would be awful to tell Harry's parents that
+their son was no more.
+
+"We must find him, dead or alive, Blumpo. Take the tiller from Miss
+Vincent, and we'll cruise around, with our eyes and ears wide open," said
+Jerry, with determination.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER V.
+
+HARRY IS RESCUED.
+
+
+"I can stay on deck, can't I?" asked Dora, as she turned the tiller over
+to the homeless youth.
+
+"If you wish. But be very careful when the sloop swings around," replied
+Jerry. "You did very well," he added.
+
+Dora smiled at this. Then she went forward and settled down, in spite of
+the rain, to help look for Harry Parker, whose folks she knew fairly
+well.
+
+The Cutwater was put on a different track, and they began to move across
+the lake, it being Jerry's idea to cross and recross at a distance of
+every six or seven hundred feet.
+
+Twice did they come close to each shore without seeing anything of Harry.
+
+"Gone down, suah's you're born!" said Blumpo, and the tears started out of
+his big, honest eyes.
+
+"I am afraid so," returned Jerry, "and yet--hark!"
+
+He put up his hand and all were instantly on the alert. The wind had gone
+down somewhat, and from a distance came a low cry. "It's Harry's!" said
+Jerry. "Hullo, Harry!" he yelled, with all the power of his lungs.
+
+He waited, and an answering cry came back from toward the center of the
+lake. It was very weak, showing that Harry was almost exhausted.
+
+The course of the sloop was instantly changed, and they strove to reach
+the spot before the boy should go down.
+
+Jerry was the first to see the form floating about amid the whitecaps.
+
+"Keep up, Harry!" he called encouragingly. "We will soon have you on
+board."
+
+"I can't keep up any longer," gasped his chum. "I am played out." And
+throwing up his arms, Harry disappeared.
+
+Tying the end of a long rope about his waist, Jerry leaped overboard. He
+struck the spot where Harry had gone down and felt in every direction for
+his chum.
+
+His hand touched an arm, and then he held Harry fast and brought him to
+the surface. The poor boy was too weak to make the first movement.
+
+"Haul in on the rope, Blumpo!" called Jerry.
+
+Turning the tiller over to Dora Vincent, the homeless youth did as
+directed.
+
+Jerry, with his burden, was soon brought alongside.
+
+It was no easy matter to hoist Harry on deck in the storm, but at last it
+was accomplished, and Jerry followed his charge.
+
+Harry was unconscious, and he was taken to the cabin, where Dora and the
+other girls did all in their power for him; and then the Cutwater was
+headed for Lakeview, two miles distant.
+
+The hurricane, or whatever it might be called, had by this time spent
+itself. The rain ceased and before the lake town came into view the sun
+shone once more as brightly as ever.
+
+Clarence Conant came on deck looking very much annoyed. He felt that he
+had played the part of a coward, and knew he would have no easy time of it
+to right himself in the eyes of the young ladies.
+
+"The--ah--truth is, I was very sick," he explained to Jerry. "I got
+a--ah--spasm of the--ah--heart."
+
+"Sure it wasn't a spasm in your great toe?" said Jerry, with a grin.
+
+But Clarence never smiled. It would not have been good form, you know.
+
+As soon as the dock was reached, Jerry left Blumpo to tie up and went to
+Harry. He found his chum able to sit up. He was very weak, but that was
+all.
+
+"It was a close call for me, Jerry," said Harry, with a shudder. "I owe
+you my life."
+
+"It was a close call all around," replied our hero. "We can be thankful
+that we are here safe and sound." Harry felt too weak to walk, so a
+carriage was called to take him home. Jerry went with him, while Blumpo
+went over to the grocery store to tell of all that had happened.
+
+Clarence Conant was utterly left. He tried to excuse himself to Dora
+Vincent and the other young ladies, but they would have nothing to do with
+him.
+
+"The next time I go out it will be with somebody who can manage a boat,
+and who is brave enough to do it, even in a storm," said Dora, and walked
+away with her lady friends.
+
+"Beastly bad job, beastly!" muttered Clarence to himself. "And my best
+sailor suit utterly ruined, too! Oh, why did that storm have to come up on
+us?"
+
+But this was not the end of the matter for the dude.
+
+The row-boat that had been smashed was a valuable one belonging to the
+Lakeview Boat Club. They did not care to lose the cost of it, and so
+called on Conant to pay for the same.
+
+At first he refused, but when they threatened arrest he weakened. It took
+nearly three weeks of his salary to square accounts, and then the young
+man was utterly crushed. He never went sailing again.
+
+It did not take Harry long to recover from the effects of his outing on
+the lake. Inside of a week he was as well as ever. Blumpo took good care
+to tell every one of all that had happened, and on every side Jerry was
+praised for his daring work in saving the Cutwater and his chum.
+
+We have spoken of the match to take place between Jerry and Si Peters of
+Rockport. This was postponed for two weeks on Si's account.
+
+Si Peters was a tall overgrown youth of eighteen, and was generally
+considered to be the best oarsman on the lake.
+
+Consequently, when a match was arranged by the clubs to which they
+belonged between the pair it was thought, even by many Lakeview people,
+that Si Peters would win.
+
+Si had one great advantage over Jerry. His father was rich, while Jerry's
+father was poor. Consequently, while Jerry had to help on the farm during
+idle hours Si Peters could go out and practice, and, thus get himself in
+perfect condition.
+
+It was this fact that made Si think he was going to have an easy time
+defeating Jerry.
+
+But, unknown to him, Jerry got more time than he thought. Harry was
+anxious to have his chum win, and spoke to his father about it.
+
+Now, Mr. Parker and Si Peters' father were not on good terms, and the
+former readily agreed to a plan Harry proposed.
+
+"Mr. Upton," he said one evening, when he met Jerry's father down in the
+town, "I would like to hire Jerry to work for me every afternoon for a
+couple of weeks."
+
+"All right, Mr. Parker," said Jerry's father, promptly. "When do you want
+him to come?"
+
+"To-morrow, if he can. I'll pay you five dollars a week."
+
+"Very well. You can pay Jerry."
+
+So it was settled, and every afternoon the young oarsman went over to the
+Parker place, which bordered on the lake.
+
+Here Jerry would practice in secret in a little cove seldom visited by any
+boats.
+
+As the time grew close for the race between Jerry and Si Peters the boat
+clubs began to bet on their favorites.
+
+So sure were the Rockpointers that they would win, that they gave the
+Lakeview people heavy odds.
+
+Together the two clubs put up as a trophy a silver cup, which later on
+would be engraved with the name of the winner.
+
+Of course, Jerry's father soon found out what his son was doing.
+
+But he would not break his bargain with Mr. Parker, and so let Jerry
+practice every afternoon, feeling sure that Jerry would not take the money
+the rich manufacturer had offered.
+
+"You will win," said Harry, confidently. "I shall try my best," returned
+Jerry.
+
+Si Peters and his friends smiled broadly whenever they came over to
+Lakeview.
+
+"Jerry Upton won't be in it after the first quarter," said they.
+
+The race was to be a mile, half a mile each way, the turning point being a
+well-known rocky island scarcely fifty feet in diameter.
+
+Jerry kept at his practice steadily until the great day for the race
+arrived.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER VI.
+
+THE SINGLE SHELL RACE.
+
+
+The race had been spoken of so much that Lakeview presented a holiday
+appearance.
+
+All those who could, crossed over from Rockpoint, and many came from other
+places.
+
+The lake was crowded with craft of all sorts, and even standing room along
+the shore was at a premium.
+
+Even Farmer Upton grew interested.
+
+"You must win that race, son," he said. "Not only for your own sake, but
+for the sake of the whole Lakeview district."
+
+And this made Jerry more determined to win than ever.
+
+The race was not to come off until three o'clock in the afternoon. In the
+meanwhile there were half a dozen other contests, in which, however, the
+masses took but small interest.
+
+While one of these contests was going on, and Jerry was in the dressing
+room of the boathouse putting on his rowing rig, Harry came in excitedly.
+"Jerry, you want to be on your guard," he said in a low tone, so that
+those standing about might not hear.
+
+"On guard? How?"
+
+"Against Si Peters."
+
+"I don't understand."
+
+"From what I have overheard, I imagine there is a plot on foot to make you
+lose the race."
+
+"What sort of a plot?"
+
+"I can't say."
+
+The young oarsman gazed at his chum in perplexity.
+
+"What have you heard? I don't know what to make of this."
+
+"You know Wash Crosby?"
+
+"Yes. He is Si Peters' toady."
+
+"Well, I heard him tell Browling that it was a dead sure thing Si would
+win."
+
+"That might have been mere blowing."
+
+"No. Browling thought so, too, but then Crosby whispered in his ear. At
+once Browling's face took on a look of cunning.
+
+"'Can you do it?' he asked, and Crosby said he could.
+
+"Then Browling said he would put out his money on Si, if he could find
+anyone to bet. You know the whole crowd is rich."
+
+"Yes, and I know another thing!" exclaimed Jerry suddenly. "I fancy I can
+see through their plan." "What?"
+
+"Crosby owns a steam launch, you know."
+
+"I do."
+
+"What is to prevent him from running the launch so that I shall get all
+the swash? It would make me lose a quarter minute or more, and perhaps
+upset me."
+
+"Jiminey crickets! I believe you are right!" whispered Harry.
+
+"Did they mention the steam launch?"
+
+"They did. Browling said he would go and take a look at her."
+
+"Then that is what the plot is, you may be sure of it. You ought to be
+able to stop them, Harry. You are going to be on your uncle's naptha
+launch."
+
+"I will! If they get too close to you I'll boathook them and pull them
+off!" cried Harry.
+
+"Good for you."
+
+"But beware, Jerry, the plot may not be that after all."
+
+"I'll keep my eyes open," replied the young oarsman.
+
+A minute after this Harry went off.
+
+Then Jerry, having donned his rowing outfit, was surrounded by the other
+members of the club. His shell was inspected and found in perfect
+condition. It had been guarded carefully, and now the club members did not
+dare to let their eyes off of it.
+
+"Bring me my blades, please," said Jerry, and they were at once brought
+from the locker.
+
+He began to examine them from end to end. Suddenly he uttered a cry.
+
+"Boys, look here!"
+
+"What's up, Jerry?"
+
+"This one has been strained and cracked. An extra hard pull on it, and it
+would give out."
+
+A murmur arose.
+
+"Who did this?"
+
+"Some enemy wants Jerry to lose, sure!"
+
+How the blade had got into that condition was a mystery.
+
+But now was no time to speculate on the affair. A new set of blades must
+be procured at once.
+
+Luckily there was a pair belonging to a private party to be had. They were
+just the same size and weight.
+
+"I would rather have my own, but I'll make these do, and beat them in
+spite of all," said Jerry.
+
+At a given signal six of the boat club boys marched down the float
+carrying Jerry's shell, which had been polished and oiled until it shone
+like a mirror.
+
+With a faint splash the shell dropped into the water. Then Jerry ran down
+and stepped in. His feet were "locked," and the oars were handed over.
+
+[Illustration: THE SINGLE SHELL RACE.]
+
+"Hurrah for Jerry Upton!"
+
+"He's the boy to win!"
+
+"Hurrah for Si Peters!"
+
+"Jerry won't be in it with Si!"
+
+"He will!"
+
+"Never!"
+
+And so the talking and the shouting ran on.
+
+Meanwhile Si Peters had emerged from the landing at a private boathouse
+some distance up the lake shore.
+
+He received a hearty shout as he moved slowly over to the starting point.
+
+Si Peters won the choice of positions, and, of course, took the inside.
+
+The race should have been a mile straightway, but the original challenge
+which led to the race had been for a half mile going and the same coming.
+
+Soon the two boys were in position.
+
+"Ready?"
+
+There was a dead silence.
+
+Bang!
+
+They were off! Both boys caught the water at the same instant. Each pulled
+a long but quick stroke. Ten yards were covered, and they remained side by
+side.
+
+"Pull, Si!"
+
+"Go it, Jerry!"
+
+Like two clocks, so far as regularity went, the two contestants bent their
+backs and pulled with might and main.
+
+One thing was certain, unless something happened, it would be a close
+race.
+
+But now the Lakeview boys were getting wild.
+
+"See Jerry! He is gaining."
+
+"Jerry is five feet and more in the lead!"
+
+It was true. Slowly but surely our hero was forging ahead. Should he be
+able to keep this up he would cross Si Peters' course at the turning
+point.
+
+But now Wash Crosby showed his hand. Without so much as a toot of the
+whistle, his steam launch kept drawing closer and closer to Jerry's side.
+
+Then it gradually went ahead, until Jerry was caught in the swash of the
+tiny waves it produced.
+
+Under ordinary circumstances these waves would not have been noticed, but
+in a shell, and especially during a race, even such apparent trifles count
+heavily.
+
+"Keep off!" shouted the young oarsman.
+
+"Mind your business!" shouted Wash Crosby in return, but so lowly that no
+one but Jerry could hear him. "This is Si Peters' race!"
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER VII.
+
+WHO WON THE SHELL RACE.
+
+
+Jerry saw at once that he had been right in imagining that this was the
+plot against him. Wash Crosby intended to keep just close enough to cause
+him trouble without actually fouling him.
+
+Already the swash from the steam launch was telling on Jerry's lead. Si
+Peters kept up at his best and soon was once more abreast of our hero.
+
+"Hurrah!" came from the shore.
+
+"Si Peters leads!"
+
+"I said he would win!"
+
+"That steam launch is too close to Jerry Upton."
+
+"Nonsense! Don't croak because you are going to lose the race," shouted
+Browling.
+
+The Lakeview boys began to look glum.
+
+But now something happened that Wash Crosby had not calculated upon.
+
+Straight from across the lake came the naptha launch belonging to Harry
+Parker's uncle. In the bow stood Harry, boathook in hand.
+
+When the launch was within three yards of the Crosby craft she came to a
+halt. Wash Crosby was so interested in watching the race that he did not
+notice what was going on.
+
+Harry threw the boathook and it caught fast in the steam launch's stern.
+Then the naptha launch was moved back, and away she went, carrying the
+steam launch with her.
+
+She could do this because Crosby did not have on a full head of steam.
+
+Astonished at the turn of affairs, Wash Crosby looked around to see what
+was the matter.
+
+"Hi! what are you doing?" he bellowed to Harry.
+
+"Hauling you off," returned Jerry's chum. "I know your plot, Wash Crosby;
+but it is not going to work."
+
+"Let go there!"
+
+"Not much! You'll keep your distance from Jerry Upton's shell."
+
+"I would like to know who made you my master!" stormed Crosby, in a
+perfect rage.
+
+"If you don't come away I'll report you and get the town to lynch you,"
+retorted Harry, valiantly. "Don't you dare to touch that boathook."
+
+However, Wash Crosby did dare. But as long as the line attached was taut
+he could not loosen it. Then he tried new tactics. He put on a full head
+of steam.
+
+It was a tug of war between the steam and the naptha launches, and for the
+moment it was hard to tell which would come off victorious.
+
+But Harry's craft was more powerful than Crosby's, and soon the steam
+launch was carried far away from the racing shells.
+
+Wash Crosby was furious and would have eaten Harry up could he have gotten
+at the lad.
+
+"I'll fix you for this!" he cried and threw a heavy chunk of coal at
+Harry's head, which the boy dodged.
+
+"Don't try that again, Wash Crosby, or I'll retaliate in a way you least
+expect."
+
+"You had no right to haul me off."
+
+"You had no right to interfere with Jerry Upton."
+
+Wash Crosby grumbled but could do nothing. Harry calmly proceeded to hold
+him back until the race was almost over.
+
+In the meanwhile, how was Jerry faring?
+
+With long, quick strokes, he swept on, side by side with Si Peters.
+
+It was going to be a close contest, and the spectators along the lake
+front went wild with enthusiasm.
+
+"Don't let up, Si!"
+
+"Show the Rockpointers what you can do, Jerry!"
+
+"A dollar that Si wins by a length!"
+
+"A dollar that Jerry wins by two lengths!" At last the two reached Rocky
+Island, which formed the turning point.
+
+They were still side by side, but Si had the inner turn all to himself,
+while Jerry had to move about in a much larger area.
+
+This brought Jerry a good length behind Si Peters when the return was
+begun.
+
+Si Peters saw this and grinned to himself.
+
+"You ain't in it a little bit, Jerry Upton!" he called out, but Jerry did
+not reply. He was not foolish enough to waste breath just then in
+talking.
+
+Over the smooth water swept the two long shells, each boy working with
+quick and long strokes.
+
+Now the finishing stake was in view. Si Peters still kept his lead.
+
+"It's Si's race, no doubt of it!"
+
+"Didn't I say Jerry Upton wouldn't be in it?"
+
+"What does Cornfield know about rowing, anyhow?"
+
+But scarcely had the last remark been made when Jerry began to increase
+his stroke.
+
+Slowly but surely his shell began to overlap that of Si Peters. Now he was
+half-way up, now three-quarters, now they were even!
+
+"See him gaining!"
+
+"Look! look! Jerry is ahead!"
+
+"He can't keep that stroke! It's enough to kill him!"
+
+"Can't he? Look, he is actually walking away from Si."
+
+Jerry was now "letting himself out."
+
+Like a flash he swept past Si Peters and reached the finish two and a half
+lengths ahead.
+
+A rousing cheer from the Lakeview boys greeted him, while the Rockpointers
+were as mum as oysters.
+
+Si Peters looked decidedly crestfallen. For several minutes he had nothing
+to say. Then some of his friends whispered into his ear.
+
+"You must do it, Si," said one of the number.
+
+"All right, I will," replied Peters doggedly, and hurried to the judges'
+boat.
+
+"I claim a foul!" he cried out loudly.
+
+Every one was astonished, and none more so than Jerry.
+
+"Where were you fouled?" asked one of the judges.
+
+"Up at the turning point."
+
+"That is a falsehood!" cried Jerry indignantly. "I never came anywhere
+near you."
+
+"I'm telling the truth," said Si Peters. "If he hadn't fouled me I would
+have beaten with ease."
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER VIII.
+
+A PRISONER OF THE ENEMY.
+
+
+At once a loud murmur arose. Some sided with Jerry, while others took Si
+Peters' part.
+
+From hot words the boys of the rival towns almost came to blows.
+
+In the midst of the quarrel a row-boat came down the lake carrying two
+elderly and well-known gentlemen, both residents of Rockpoint. Curious to
+know the cause of the trouble, the gentlemen came up to the judges' craft,
+now moored along shore.
+
+"Peters claims a foul up at the turning point," said some one of the
+gentlemen.
+
+"You mean up at the island?"
+
+"Yes."
+
+"There was no foul there. Was there, Greenley?"
+
+"None at all," replied the second gentleman.
+
+These assertions attracted attention. On inquiry it was learned that the
+two gentlemen had been up at the island fishing. They had watched the race
+in the meanwhile, and they were willing to make affidavit that Jerry had
+not interfered in the slightest degree with Si Peters.
+
+"He took the outside, and he really gave Peters more room than was
+necessary."
+
+The two gentlemen were too well known to be doubted in what they said, and
+at once the judges refused to accept Si Peters' plea.
+
+"The race goes to Jerry Upton, who won it fairly."
+
+Then how Jerry's friends did yell with delight! The lad was pounced upon
+and raised up on his friends' shoulders, and away went the boat club boys
+around the town, Blumpo in advance of them blowing a big fish-horn.
+
+"You is de boy!" said the homeless youth. "You is de best oarsman on de
+lake!"
+
+Harry was in the crowd, and when he told how he had outwitted Wash Crosby
+every one roared.
+
+The race, however, made lots of ill-feeling. The Rockpoint boys could not
+stand defeat, and that evening half a dozen rows started in as many
+different places.
+
+Sticks and stones were freely used, and many boys went home with their
+arms and heads tied up.
+
+Jerry became involved in one of the worst of the fights in rather a
+peculiar manner. He was on his way home rather late, thinking all was over
+and that the Rockpointers had departed, when he heard a hoarse cry for
+help from down a side street.
+
+He recognized the voice as that of Blumpo Brown, and at once hurried to
+the spot, there to find the youth at the mercy of four of the Rockpoint
+boys, including Wash Crosby, Si Peters, and two others named Banner and
+Graves. The quartet had poor Blumpo down on his back and were kicking him
+as hard as they could.
+
+"You cowards!" shouted Jerry as he rushed up, "to kick a fellow when he's
+down!"
+
+"This is none of your affair," shouted Si Peters. "He insulted us, and we
+won't take an insult from anybody, much less an Indian coon."
+
+"Da jess pitched inter me!" howled Blumpo. "Sabe me!"
+
+"Let up, I say!" went on Jerry, and, clutching Si Peters by the shoulder,
+he flung the big Rockpointer flat on his back several feet away. Then
+Jerry pitched into the others of the crowd.
+
+This gave Blumpo a chance to rise. He scrambled up and let out a long and
+loud yell for help. Luckily, some other boys were not far away. They heard
+the cry and arrived on a run.
+
+"We must skip now!" cried Wash Crosby to Si Peters. "We'll have the whole
+town on us in another minute."
+
+"Hang the luck!" howled Peters. "But just wait, Jerry Upton, I'll get
+square with you yet."
+
+He turned away with his friends, and the quartet scooted for the lake,
+with Jerry, Blumpo, and half a dozen others at their heels.
+
+Wash Crosby's launch was tied up at a dock, and into this they tumbled.
+The line was cut, and off they steamed, amid a perfect shower of stones,
+lumps of dirt, old bottles, and anything that came handy to the Lakeview
+boys' reach.
+
+"There, I fancy that's the end of them," said Jerry. "I thought they had
+gone long ago."
+
+"Da laid for me!" groaned Blumpo. "Wish I dun had a hoss pistol, I would
+shoot 'em all full of holes!"
+
+Soon the steam launch faded away in the darkness, and a little later found
+Jerry again on his way home. Of course his folks were proud to think he
+had won the race.
+
+"My boy, Jerry!" was all Mrs. Upton said, but the way she said it meant a
+good deal.
+
+It was a week later that the boat club gave a reception, at which Jerry
+was the lion. He was presented with the silver trophy, and made a neat
+little speech. There were refreshments and music, and altogether the
+affair was the most brilliant Lakeview had seen for some time.
+
+Matters moved along slowly for a week after the racing and the reception
+were over. Jerry worked on the farm, and never was there a more
+industrious youth.
+
+In the meanwhile Harry Parker made several arrangements for the outing up
+the lake, in which Jerry and Blumpo were to accompany him.
+
+One day Mr. Upton received a letter from Rockpoint. It was from a friend,
+and asked if the farmer could send him over at once a load of hay.
+
+"I can't go very well," said Mr. Upton. "Supposing you take it over to Mr.
+Dike, Jerry?"
+
+"I will, sir," replied Jerry, promptly.
+
+The young oarsman had not been over to Rockpoint since the races, but he
+thought he could go over and come back without encountering trouble.
+
+The hay was soon loaded on the rick, and then Jerry started off for the
+other shore. He was compelled to drive nearly to the lower end of the lake
+to cross on the bridge, consequently it was well on toward the middle of
+the afternoon when Rockpoint was reached.
+
+He and Mr. Dike put the load in the barn, and after being paid, and
+partaking of a glass of cold milk and a piece of home-made pie, Jerry, at
+just six o'clock, started on the return.
+
+It had been a gloomy day, and, consequently, it was already growing dark,
+although it was midsummer.
+
+But Jerry knew the way well, so he did not mind the darkness. He let the
+team go their own gait, and took it easy in the rick on a couple of horse
+blankets.
+
+He was in a sort of day dream, when suddenly, his team was stopped by a
+couple of boys, who sprang from behind a clump of trees.
+
+The boys wore masks over their faces, and when they spoke, they did their
+best to disguise their voices.
+
+Jerry sprang up in alarm. At the same time four more boys, also masked,
+surrounded the hay-rick.
+
+"What's the meaning of this?" demanded Jerry. "Let go of those horses."
+
+Instead of replying, the two boys continued to hold the team. The other
+four leaped into the hay-rick and fell on Jerry. Taken so suddenly, he was
+at a disadvantage. Hardly could he make a move before one of the boys
+struck him on the head with a club, dazing him.
+
+Then a rope was brought forth, and Jerry's hands were tied behind him and
+he was thrown on the ground.
+
+The boys sent the team on their way, trusting to luck that the horses
+would find their way home.
+
+"What are you going to do with me?" asked Jerry, when he found himself
+bound and helpless.
+
+"You'll soon see, Jerry Upton," came from the leader, in such a muffled
+voice that our hero tried in vain to recognize the speaker.
+
+"Make him march!" said another.
+
+"All right, march!"
+
+Into the woods the masked gang hurried Jerry. When he attempted to turn
+back, they hit him with their sticks and tripped him up.
+
+Finally, when he would go no further, four of the boys picked him up and
+carried him.
+
+Nearly a quarter of an hour was spent in this manner, and the party
+reached a little clearing. On three sides were tall trees, and on the
+fourth a wall of rocks.
+
+"This is the spot," cried the leader. "Now tie him to a tree and get the
+stuff out of the cave."
+
+At once the young oarsman was bound to a tree on the edge of the
+clearing.
+
+Then two of the boys entered a cave between the rocks.
+
+Soon they came forth with a pot filled with a thick, black liquid and two
+big pillows.
+
+At once Jerry realized what his captors meant to do. They were going to
+tar and feather him!
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER IX.
+
+TAR AND FEATHERS.
+
+
+The prospect was far from pleasant to our hero. In spite of his bravery,
+he shivered as he saw the gang of masked boys start up a fire over which
+to heat the tar.
+
+"So you intend to tar and feather me," he said to the leader.
+
+"You've struck it, Jerry Upton."
+
+"All right, Si Peters, do it, and you shall go to prison, mark my words."
+
+Jerry had only guessed at the identity of the leader, but he had hit upon
+the truth.
+
+"Who told you I was"--began Peters, and broke off short. "You're
+mistaken," he went on in his assumed voice.
+
+"I am not mistaken, Si Peters. I know you, and you had best remember what
+I say."
+
+"Oh, you're too fresh, Upton, and we're going to teach you a lesson," put
+in another of the crowd.
+
+"A good coat of tar and feathers is just what your system needs."
+
+"We'll paint you up so artistically that even your own mother won't know
+you."
+
+"Not if I can help it," muttered Jerry, under his breath.
+
+A great mass of wood had been collected, and this gave a roaring fire and
+also afforded a good light for the workers.
+
+On each side of the fire a notched stick was driven into the ground. A
+third stick was laid across the top, just beyond the flames. From this
+upper stick the pot of tar was suspended by an iron chain.
+
+The heat soon began to tell on the tar. As it softened it could be smelled
+a long distance off.
+
+"How do you like that smell?" asked Peters of Jerry.
+
+"Oh, it's a good enough smell," replied our hero, as coolly as he could.
+
+"Never had a dose of tar before, did you?"
+
+"I haven't had this dose yet."
+
+"That's so, but you soon will have."
+
+"Maybe not."
+
+"Oh, you can't escape us."
+
+"Not much, he can't," put in another, and now Jerry felt sure that the
+speaker was Wash Crosby.
+
+"We'll talk about that later, Crosby."
+
+The masked boy started back and denied his identity. But it was plain to
+see he was much put out.
+
+"I know you, Peters, Crosby, Banner and Graves," went on Jerry. "And I'll
+discover who you other two fellows are before I leave here, too."
+
+"Fiddlesticks!" shouted one of the boys by the fire who was stirring the
+tar.
+
+"Is it getting soft?" asked Crosby.
+
+"Yes."
+
+"Where is the brush?"
+
+"I've got it," spoke up another, and he held up the stump of an old
+whitewash brush.
+
+"That's all right."
+
+At a signal from Peters the crowd of masked boys withdrew to the side of
+the fire.
+
+Here a long talk followed. It was so low that Jerry could not hear a
+word.
+
+Peters was making the crowd solemnly promise that they would not inform
+upon each other, no matter what happened.
+
+"If we stick together, Upton can prove nothing," he said. "He has no
+witnesses."
+
+"Right you are, Si."
+
+"We want to get square, and this is the chance of our lives to do it."
+
+"We can give him the tar and feathers and then leave him tied up in such a
+fashion that he can get free, but not before we have had a chance to make
+good our escape and get home and to bed."
+
+"That's the way to fix it."
+
+"It will teach Lakeporters a good lesson," put in one of the unknowns.
+"My! but ain't I down on every one of 'em."
+
+"And so am I!"
+
+"And I!"
+
+"And I!"
+
+In the meanwhile the young oarsman was trying his best to work himself
+free of his bonds. He felt that unless he escaped he would surely be
+tarred and feathered.
+
+He tugged at the ropes around his body, and after a hard struggle he
+managed to free his left arm.
+
+His right arm followed, although this cost him a bad cut on the wrist,
+from which the blood flowed freely.
+
+But he gave the wound no thought, and in haste began to work at the rope
+at his waist.
+
+Now that was loosened, only the one around his knees remained.
+
+He looked anxiously toward the fire. The masked boys were still in deep
+discussion, and not a single eye was directed toward the prisoner.
+
+Oh, for three minutes more time!
+
+He worked with feverish haste.
+
+And now he was practically free!
+
+Si Peters turned and beheld him as he took a step behind the tree, out of
+the glare of the fire.
+
+"He has got away, fellows!" he shouted. "After him, quick!"
+
+A yell went up, and the crowd rushed forward.
+
+"He mustn't escape us!"
+
+"We worked too hard to capture him!"
+
+"See, he is limping! The rope is still fastened to one of his legs!"
+
+Like a pack of wolves after a rabbit they came after Jerry.
+
+Our hero did his best to outdistance them, and he would have succeeded had
+it not been for the rope around one knee, which caught in a tree root and
+threw him down flat on his face. In another moment the crowd was on top of
+him.
+
+They showed him no mercy. Si Peters was particularly brutal and kicked
+Jerry heavily in the side half a dozen times.
+
+"I'll teach you to crawl away, you sneak!" he cried. "You can't fool us in
+this fashion."
+
+The kicks stunned Jerry and deprived him of his wind. He fought as best he
+could, but he was no match for six strong boys.
+
+Again he was overpowered. Then the gang dragged him to the side of the
+roaring camp fire and threw off their masks.
+
+"Now we'll strip him," said Wash Crosby. "The tar is all ready and so are
+the feathers."
+
+Jerry's struggles availed him nothing. His coat and vest were literally
+ripped from his body, and his shirt followed.
+
+"Give me the brush. I want to give him the first dose," sang out Si
+Peters.
+
+The old whitewash brush was handed to the leader. Si dipped it deeply into
+the pot of hot tar, and approached the young oarsman.
+
+"Now, Jerry Upton, we'll tar and feather you in spite of your threats," he
+said.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER X.
+
+WHAT TOWSER DID.
+
+
+"Well, by creation! what does this mean?"
+
+The speaker was Mr. Upton, Jerry's father. He was gazing at the hay-rick,
+which was coming down the road to the barn at a lively gait.
+
+As the boys who had captured Jerry had thought, the horses had found their
+way home alone.
+
+Anxiously, Mr. Upton looked around for Jerry, and then he stopped the team
+and put them up in the barn.
+
+Running into the house he told his wife of the state of affairs. Instantly
+Mrs. Upton grew alarmed.
+
+"Perhaps they ran away and threw Jerry out!" she cried.
+
+"It ain't likely they could get away with Jerry," replied Mr. Upton. "But
+I allow it is curious."
+
+A half hour went by, and the farmer determined to start on a hunt for his
+son. He went off on horseback, and took with him Towser, the farm dog.
+
+Towser was an old and faithful animal, a prime favorite with Jerry, and he
+trotted along beside the horse as if he knew something was wrong.
+
+"We want to find Jerry, Towser," said Mr. Upton. "Jerry, Towser, Jerry!"
+
+And the dog wagged his tail as if to say that he understood perfectly.
+
+It was now quite dark. The farmer had brought along a lantern, and this he
+lit and swung around first on one side of the road and then on the other.
+As he journeyed along he remembered Jerry's troubles with the Rockpoint
+boys.
+
+"Maybe he has had another fight," he thought. "It was foolish to let him
+go over there."
+
+Inside of an hour the other side of the lake was reached, and they struck
+the lonely road leading into Rockpoint.
+
+As the farmer went on he became more and more sober in mind. He seemed to
+feel in his mind that something was wrong.
+
+Towser let out a mournful howl.
+
+"Jerry, Towser, Jerry!"
+
+Again the dog howled. Then he came to an unexpected halt and although
+Farmer Upton went on, the dog refused to budge.
+
+"What is it, Towser?"
+
+For reply the dog started into the bushes, and this at first made the old
+farmer angry, for he did not understand the dog.
+
+"Come, Towser!" he cried. "We are not after game just now!"
+
+But the dog would not come. He wanted to enter the brush.
+
+At last Mr. Upton went to catch him by the collar, but just as he did so
+the dog gave a short bark and picked up something from among the bushes.
+
+"Hullo!"
+
+No wonder the old farmer was surprised. The article Towser had discovered
+was a sling-shot Jerry often carried with him.
+
+"Must have come in here," mused Farmer Upton.
+
+Then of a sudden he began to examine the ground. It was soft in spots and
+plainly showed the footmarks of Jerry and the Si Peters' crowd.
+
+"He's in trouble!" said the old farmer to himself. "Maybe some tramps have
+carried him off and robbed him."
+
+Urging on the faithful dog, Mr. Upton hurried along the path through the
+woods, leaving the horse tied to a tree.
+
+It was an uneven way, and he stumbled many times. But he did not mind--his
+one thought was to reach his son and find out the boy's condition.
+
+Towser ran ahead, howling dismally at every few yards. But the faithful
+dog did not lose the scent.
+
+Presently, through the bushes, Farmer Upton caught sight of a distant
+campfire.
+
+"Hist!" he called to Towser. "Go slow, now! Down!"
+
+And the dog obeyed and howled no longer.
+
+A hundred yards more were passed, when a loud cry rent the air.
+
+"Help! help!"
+
+It was Jerry's voice. Si Peters was in the act of applying the first
+brushful of tar to his back. Utterly helpless, there was nothing left for
+Jerry to do but to use his lungs.
+
+"Shut up!" cried Si Peters. "Yell again and I'll hit you in the mouth with
+the tar."
+
+"You are an overgrown coward!" retorted Jerry. "Give me a fair show, and
+I'll knock you out in short order."
+
+And again he called for help.
+
+In a rage, Si Peters started to plaster Jerry's mouth with the hot tar.
+But ere the brush could descend, Mr. Upton and Towser burst upon the
+scene.
+
+"Stop, you young scamps!" roared the old farmer. "At 'em, Towser! Chew 'em
+up!"
+
+Startled at the unexpected interruption, the rowdies fell back. Then
+Towser leaped forward and caught Si Peters by his trowsers.
+
+"Save me!" yelled Si, in terror. "The dog is going to chew me up!"
+
+"Good, Towser!" returned Jerry. "Hold him fast!"
+
+And Towser did as bidden.
+
+In the meantime Mr. Upton ran after the boys who had been holding Jerry.
+He caught two of them, and before they knew it, knocked their heads
+together so forcibly that they saw stars.
+
+Jerry, delighted at the unexpected turn of affairs, turned upon Wash
+Crosby. Si Peters had dropped the tar brush, and this Jerry secured.
+
+Bang! whack! Crosby received a blow over the head, and one in the ear,
+which left a big black streak of tar.
+
+"Oh, don't! please don't!" he screamed. "Let up, Jerry! It was only a
+joke! We weren't really going to tar and feather you!"
+
+Then the fellow ran for his very life.
+
+During this time Si Peters was trying his best to get away from Towser,
+who held on with a deathlike grip.
+
+Around and around the campfire the two circled, until Jerry came up.
+
+The youth called off the dog and went at Si in about the same manner as he
+had treated Wash Crosby.
+
+Si wanted to run for it, and in his hurry rushed through the fire,
+knocking over the kettle of tar.
+
+The sticky mess emptied itself over his clothing. Then the young oarsman
+tripped him up, and over he rolled among the loose feathers.
+
+"Now you can see how you like it!" cried Jerry.
+
+And growling and panting for breath, Si Peters ran away after the others.
+
+The Rockpoint rowdies were thoroughly demoralized.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XI.
+
+OFF FOR HERMIT ISLAND.
+
+
+It took Jerry and his father some little time to get back their breath
+sufficiently to leave the woods and make their way to the road.
+
+"You came in the nick of time, father," said the lad. "In another five
+minutes I would have been tarred and feathered."
+
+"Tell me about the whole affair, son," said the old farmer; and Jerry did
+so.
+
+"The good-for-nothing rascals!" cried the old farmer. "If they touch you
+again I'll have 'em all up before the squire."
+
+"That won't help us, father," replied Jerry. "They are rich, you know.
+They would get off somehow."
+
+"Then I'll take it out of their hides."
+
+Mr. Upton told how Towser had led the way into the woods. Jerry had always
+loved the farm dog, but now he thought more of him than ever.
+
+"Good boy," he said. "You shall go with us when we take our outing--that
+is, if father will let you go."
+
+"Yes, Jerry, take him along. He may help you out of some more trouble,"
+replied Mr. Upton.
+
+It was rather late when they arrived home. Mrs. Upton was shocked to learn
+of what had occurred, but glad to learn that Jerry had escaped his
+enemies.
+
+The next day the young oarsman told Harry Parker and the other boys of his
+adventure. Harry was very indignant.
+
+"Those Rockpoint boys ought to be driven out of the state."
+
+"I dun racken I'll carry my hoss pistol after dis," said Blumpo. "Da don't
+cotch dis chile for to tar and feather him!"
+
+A week later Jerry, Harry, and Blumpo started up the lake on a ten days'
+outing.
+
+They were in Harry's largest row-boat, the one that had a sail, and
+carried with them a tent and a good stock of ammunition. Jerry and Harry
+were armed with guns, and Blumpo carried his "hoss pistol" and a rusty
+spear.
+
+They were bound for Hermit Island, a wild but beautiful patch of land
+situated almost at the end of Otasco Lake. The island was so called
+because it was said by some that the place was inhabited by an old hermit
+who lived in a cave and never showed himself to visitors.
+
+Some did not believe this story, for try as hard as they could, they had
+never been able to locate the strange creature, who was said to have a
+white beard to his waist, and white hair equally long.
+
+The day that the trio started away was a fine one, and the boys were in
+excellent spirits.
+
+"I trust we have no more squalls," remarked Harry, as they glided along,
+the sail set and the oars out.
+
+"No storm to-day," returned Jerry. "We are going to have at least three or
+four days of fine weather."
+
+"Say, I wondah if I could shoot a bar wid dis yere gun," put in Blumpo, as
+he held up his pistol.
+
+"You might if you threw the pistol at the bear when you pulled the
+trigger," laughed Jerry. "Sure as you are born, Blumpo, that pistol will
+go to pieces if you try to fire it."
+
+"Den I'll fire it dis way," replied the homeless youth, and swung the
+weapon as if to heave it away.
+
+An hour passed, during which the boys laid their plans for a camp and
+talked over what they would do.
+
+"I hope we have good hunting and fishing," said Jerry.
+
+"So do I," returned Harry. "And I likewise hope we find the hermit, if
+there really is such a creature."
+
+"Maybe he won't want us on his island," put in Blumpo. "He may be an ugly
+feller."
+
+"We'll risk it, Blumpo."
+
+"I ain't in fer stirrin' up no hornets' nest," went on the homeless youth.
+"I jess like ter lay around an' take it easy under de trees--a-listening
+to--"
+
+"'The tumble bugs tumbling around,' as the song says," laughed Jerry.
+"Blumpo, you must get more ambition in you. Come, row up lively. It's a
+good long distance to the island, and we must make it before sundown."
+
+All three braced up, and the big boat went forward at an increased rate of
+speed.
+
+"Hullo!" cried Harry, presently. "Jerry, doesn't that look like Si Peters'
+yacht?"
+
+And Harry pointed over to the west shore of the lake, where a craft had
+just emerged from behind a small headland.
+
+"It is the Peters' yacht, sure enough," replied Jerry, after studying the
+craft.
+
+"If she cums dis way, we'll hab lively times," remarked Blumpo.
+
+"That's true, Blumpo. Come, maybe we can get away from her."
+
+The boys kept steadily on their course, and for a long time those on the
+yacht seemed to pay no attention to them.
+
+But after awhile the big boat put on another tack, and fifteen minutes
+later it was within hailing distance. Then they saw that Si Peters and
+Crosby were in posession. They had with them five other Rockpoint lads,
+including Banner and Graves.
+
+"Hi, you fellows, stop rowing!" yelled Peters at the top of his voice.
+
+"Mind your own business, Si Peters," retorted Harry.
+
+"You won't stop?"
+
+"No. Leave us alone."
+
+"We want you to give up Jerry Upton."
+
+"Give him up?"
+
+"Exactly. Come up alongside and let him jump on board of the yacht."
+
+"That's as cool as a cake of ice!" cried Jerry. "You want everything,
+don't you?"
+
+"We are going to get square with you, Jerry Upton!" put in Wash Crosby.
+
+"Let us pull away as fast as we can," whispered Harry. "Those chaps mean
+trouble."
+
+"Dat's de talk," said Blumpo, who was the worst scared of the three.
+
+They bent to their oars, and soon moved off a hundred feet or more.
+
+Then Si Peters ran out to the jib of the yacht.
+
+"Stop!" he commanded. "Pull another yard and you'll be sorry for it."
+
+"We'll risk it," replied Jerry.
+
+"We'll run you down!"
+
+"You won't dare!" yelled Harry, in alarm.
+
+"Won't we? Just see if we won't!"
+
+At once Si Peters gave some directions to Wash Crosby, who was at the
+wheel. The course of the yacht was slightly changed, and now the craft was
+headed directly for the boat containing our friends.
+
+"Anudder smash-up, shuah as you're born!" groaned Blumpo, and he prepared
+to leap into the lake.
+
+"Stay where you are!" ordered Jerry. "I'll check their little game."
+
+Reaching into a locker, the young oarsman brought out his gun. Leaping on
+one of the seats, he pointed the weapon at Si Peters' head.
+
+"Sheer off!" he cried. "Sheer off, or I'll fire on you!"
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XII.
+
+AN ATTACK IN THE DARK.
+
+
+Si Peters was nearly dumfounded at the unexpected turn affairs had taken.
+The bully at once gave the necessary directions, and the yacht passed to
+windward of the other boat.
+
+"A good idea, Jerry!" exclaimed Harry. "That will make them steer clear of
+us for good, I reckon."
+
+"If they haven't got guns of their own, Harry."
+
+The boys on the yacht were evidently much crestfallen. They had hoped to
+get Jerry in their power, but that plan was defeated. They dropped behind
+several hiding places, and again headed for the big row-boat.
+
+But once more Jerry outwitted them. Calling to Blumpo to steady the
+temporary mast, he climbed to the top, his gun slung over his shoulder.
+
+From this elevated point he was able to sweep the yacht's deck from stem
+to stern.
+
+"Now turn about, or I'll fire on you, as sure as fate!" he ordered.
+
+"You think you are smart, don't you," sneered Wash Crosby.
+
+"I'm too smart for your crowd," retorted Jerry.
+
+"We can fire as well as you," put in Graves.
+
+"If you had a gun, which you haven't," retorted Jerry.
+
+The boys on the yacht growled among themselves, but could do nothing. Wash
+Crosby tried to throw a piece of iron on the row-boat, but it fell short.
+Then Harry retaliated by shooting through the yacht's main-sail.
+
+Seeing the boys on the big row-boat meant business, Si Peters and his
+crowd withdrew from the encounter.
+
+As soon as they were gone, Jerry came down from his perch, and off they
+started once more for the island.
+
+The yacht sailed so far off they thought they were no longer observed.
+
+But in this they were mistaken for Si Peters had a field glass with him.
+
+This glass was now brought into play, and Peters' crowd kept track of
+Jerry and the others until the vicinity of Hermit Island was reached.
+
+"Going to camp there," said Wash Crosby.
+
+"It ought to give us a fine chance to get square," replied Si Peters, and
+the crowd began to plot against our hero and his friends.
+
+But in the meantime the big row-boat disappeared behind the bushes which
+fringed a narrow inlet, and, try their best, those on the yacht could not
+locate it again.
+
+"Never mind, we'll come up some other day," said Si Peters. "It's getting
+too late to do anything now."
+
+And the yacht returned to Rockpoint.
+
+It was Harry who selected a landing place on Hermit's Island. He found a
+smooth, sandy beach, and here the row-boat was drawn up well out of the
+water.
+
+Back of the beach was a little clearing. On one side were tall rocks, and
+on the other the woods.
+
+"As good a place as any to pitch the tent," said Jerry. "Come, Blumpo,
+stir yourself."
+
+The tent was brought out and put up, and a camp fire was lit. While Blumpo
+gathered brush to put into the tent to sleep on, Jerry and Harry tried
+their hands at fishing.
+
+Soon Harry had a bite, and brought in a perch weighing a little over a
+half a pound.
+
+"Good for you, Harry, you take first prize!" cried Jerry.
+
+Hardly had he spoken when he felt a jerk. There was a lively struggle for
+fully a minute, and then Jerry landed his catch--a rock bass, all of a
+pound in weight.
+
+"Second, but best," laughed Harry. "I guess that is all we want for
+to-night."
+
+The pan was over the fire getting hot. Blumpo cleaned the fish and put
+them on. In the meantime, Jerry made a pot of coffee.
+
+Never had a meal tasted better to the boys. They lingered over the scraps
+for a long while, talking over the events of the day. Blumpo also gave
+them a song. It was a happy time.
+
+"Somebody ought to stand guard all night, I suppose," said Jerry, when it
+came time to turn in.
+
+"Oh, nonsense!" cried Harry. "Who is going to hurt us in this out of the
+way spot?"
+
+"We don't know what may be around."
+
+"I'se too tired to watch," put in Blumpo.
+
+"Never knew the time you weren't tired," laughed Jerry. "But let it go, if
+you wish."
+
+Quarter of an hour later all of the boys had turned in. Blumpo picked out
+a corner of the tent nearest the rear. Harry slept in the middle, while
+Jerry took up a place not far from the front flaps.
+
+As it was rather warm, they left one of the flaps open to admit the air.
+Jerry lay in such a position that he could look out on the smoldering
+campfire.
+
+Jerry was as tired as the rest, and it did not take him long to drop off
+into a sound sleep.
+
+How long he slept he did not know. A low noise outside aroused him. He
+opened his eyes with a start, wondering what it was.
+
+Then came another growl or grunt, he could not tell which. He sat up and
+looked outside.
+
+A sight met his gaze that nearly caused his heart to stop beating. The
+camp fire was almost out, but beyond its fitful glare he beheld a pair of
+large eyes bent directly upon the tent opening.
+
+The eyes belonged to some savage beast which was about to attack the
+camp.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XIII.
+
+JERRY'S SHOT.
+
+
+Jerry realized that he and his friends were in great peril. What the
+savage beast outside was he could not tell, but it looked large and
+powerful in the gloom beyond the camp fire.
+
+There was no time to lose if anything was to be done.
+
+Luckily, before lying down, the young oarsman had loaded his gun and hung
+it up on the front pole of the tent, within easy reach.
+
+Sitting up, he now took the weapon and pulled back the trigger.
+
+The click reached the ears of the animal outside, and once again it let
+out that peculiar sound, neither grunt nor growl.
+
+Then Jerry put the gun to his shoulder, and, taking aim at one of the
+shining eyes, fired.
+
+Bang!
+
+The report of the firearm caused Harry and Blumpo to spring up in wild
+alarm.
+
+"What's the matter?"
+
+"Heaben sabe us!" moaned Blumpo.
+
+"A wild animal outside," cried Jerry. "Get your gun, quick!"
+
+Harry leaped for his weapon.
+
+"What is it?"
+
+"I can't make out."
+
+Reloading as rapidly as he could, our hero dashed into the open. A howl of
+pain told he had hit his mark. The beast had turned and was crashing
+through the brush close to the rocks.
+
+"Let us find out what it was!" cried Harry.
+
+"Doan go!" moaned Blumpo. "You will git chewed up!"
+
+And then he dove back into the tent for his "hoss" pistol and his rusty
+spear.
+
+Catching up a blazing brand, Jerry threw it into the brush. By the light
+they saw the creature crouching on a rock.
+
+Bang! bang!
+
+The two guns spoke simultaneously. Harry hit the beast in the shoulder.
+Jerry's shot was more effective for it struck in the neck, and with a
+snarl the creature leaped into the air and fell--dead.
+
+"You've settled him!" cried Harry. "Come on and inspect him."
+
+"Wait and load your gun first," cautioned our hero. "He may have some
+fight in him still."
+
+The weapons were put in order, and then, with firebrands to light the way,
+they moved forward to inspect their victim.
+
+It was a large and heavy boar.
+
+"A wild hog!" shouted Jerry. "My, what a big fellow he is!"
+
+"I thought it was a bear," said Harry. He was somewhat disappointed.
+
+"He was savage enough, at all events," replied Jerry. "These wild hogs put
+up a terrible fight, father says."
+
+"Oh, I know that. Wasn't Dick Harben's uncle killed by one? Well, he's
+dead enough and we have meat to last a month."
+
+"Pretty strong eating," smiled Jerry.
+
+They called Blumpo. The homeless youth was delighted over the dead
+animal.
+
+"'Ham's de best ob meat,'" he sang. "I'll soon fix him up, see if I
+don't."
+
+The boys were glad that it was getting toward morning, for the excitement
+had taken all the sleep out of them. They replenished the fire, and sat
+around waiting for daybreak.
+
+As soon as the sun rose, Blumpo prepared breakfast, while Jerry and Harry
+took a plunge into the lake. It was great sport, and they remained in the
+water until Blumpo called them.
+
+That day the boys tramped nearly two miles around the island. They took
+their guns with them and came back with their game bags full of birds.
+Returning, they were thoroughly tired out, but nevertheless resolved to
+set a watch.
+
+"Four hours each," said Harry, and this was agreed to.
+
+But nothing happened to disturb them, and on the following night the watch
+was abandoned.
+
+The boys put in nearly a week in hunting, fishing, swimming, and lying
+around, and they enjoyed every minute of the time.
+
+Nothing had been seen or heard of the hermit who was supposed to inhabit
+the island, and they began to think that no such person existed.
+
+Neither had they heard anything more of Si Peters and his crowd, and they
+fancied they were safe from molestation.
+
+Sunday passed quietly, and on Monday morning Jerry proposed they take
+along a game bag full of provisions and climb to the top of the rocky hill
+in the centre of the island.
+
+"We must go to the very top before we leave," he said.
+
+The game bag was filled with eatables, and cups, plates, etc., and then
+they tied up the tent flaps and drew the boat still higher up out of the
+water.
+
+The first quarter of a mile of the journey was easy enough, but after that
+they struck the rocks, and climbing became more and more difficult with
+every step.
+
+"Phew! but dis am work!" puffed Blumpo. "Dis boy's most tucked out!"
+
+"We'll take a good long rest at noon, Blumpo," said Harry.
+
+Up and up they went until Jerry, who was in advance, came to a sudden
+halt. A deep split in the rocks barred his further progress.
+
+"Will we have to go back?" asked Harry, anxiously.
+
+"It looks like it."
+
+"Can't we leap over?"
+
+"We might try. I can, if you are willing to follow."
+
+"I kin jump dat easy enough," put in Blumpo.
+
+Jerry stepped back, and running a few feet, made the leap in safety. Harry
+followed, and then both boys waited for Blumpo Brown to join them.
+
+The homeless youth measured the distance with his eye and came on like a
+steam engine.
+
+But just before he reached the edge of the split he slipped and went
+headlong. Unable to stop himself, he crashed down into the opening head
+first.
+
+In going over the rocks he twisted himself partly around.
+
+With one hand he caught hold of a frail bush growing among the rocks.
+
+His left foot caught in a crevice, and there he hung, unable to help
+himself, and with death staring him in the face!
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XIV.
+
+THE HERMIT OF THE ISLAND.
+
+
+"He'll be killed!" yelled Harry.
+
+His face was deadly white.
+
+"Help me!" came faintly from Blumpo.
+
+Before the others could realize it, Jerry had leaped back to the other
+side of the opening. Catching hold of a jutting rock with one hand, he
+grasped Blumpo's wrist with the other.
+
+"Now let go below and I'll haul you up, Blumpo," he said.
+
+The frightened youth did as requested, and slowly but surely Jerry dragged
+him up to a safe spot.
+
+"Good for you, Jerry!" shouted Harry.
+
+"By golly! but dat was a close call!" shuddered the homeless youth.
+
+Then, with tears in his big, honest eyes, he wrung our hero's hand.
+
+"You dun sabed my life, Jerry!" he declared solemnly. "I won't forgit dat,
+neber!"
+
+The nervous boy was averse to attempting a second jump, and so the party
+walked along the opening until a much narrower spot was reached.
+
+Once over, the upward climb was again begun. By noon they reckoned that
+they were within half a mile of the top. But all were exhausted, and glad
+enough to rest and take a bite to eat.
+
+A fine spring was found, and here they washed up and quenched their thirst
+before resuming the journey.
+
+They found a large quantity of huckleberries growing on the hillside, and
+these made very acceptable eating.
+
+"A fellow could put in a month here," remarked Jerry. "But, heigho! the
+vacation will soon be ended, and then for school again."
+
+The rest over, they went up and up again.
+
+"Beat you to the summit!" cried Jerry, and started up the last stretch on
+a rush. Harry followed, and Blumpo was not far behind.
+
+What a splendid panorama was spread before them! They could see clear to
+either end of the lake and off to the hills east and west.
+
+"I see the church steeple!" cried Jerry.
+
+"Look! look!" exclaimed Harry, suddenly.
+
+He pointed down the lake to where a yacht was bowling along before the
+breeze.
+
+"Si Peters' boat!"
+
+"I wonder if Peters knows we are still on the island?" mused Jerry.
+
+"I reckon he does."
+
+"It's a wonder he and his crowd never came up to make more trouble for
+us."
+
+"Perhaps he dun got scared at dis hoss pistol ob mine," put in Blumpo.
+
+To him that "hoss" pistol was a mighty weapon, greatly to be feared.
+
+A little back of the summit of rocks was a grassy plateau, and here the
+boys decided to camp for the night.
+
+"What a beautiful place for a picnic!" said Harry.
+
+"Rather hard to get to, though," returned Jerry. "I wonder if there is a
+spring handy?"
+
+"A spring away up heah!" exclaimed Blumpo. "Yo' expect watah to run up
+hill? Ha, ha!"
+
+"Yes, Blumpo; strange as it may seem, the finest springs are found at the
+very tops of mountains. Come on and look for one."
+
+The homeless youth showed his surprise, but he readily joined in the hunt,
+and so did Harry. There was a patch of brush behind the plateau, and this
+they skirted. Ere long Jerry found a tiny rivulet flowing in a well-worn
+hollow.
+
+"The head of this rill of water will bring us to the spring," he said.
+
+They began to follow the watercourse. It led around half a dozen big
+rocks.
+
+"Halt!"
+
+All three of the boys sprang back in amazement. From whence had that
+unexpected command proceeded?
+
+"Halt, I say!"
+
+They stopped short.
+
+"Who are you?" asked Jerry quickly.
+
+"I am the Lonely Man. Leave me!"
+
+"The Lonely Man," repeated Jerry.
+
+"Yes. Depart, my boys, at once."
+
+"Are you the man they call the hermit of the island?" asked Harry.
+
+"I presume so. Now leave me. I have not spoken to other men for years."
+
+"We would like to get a little water first, if you please," said Jerry.
+"Surely so good an old man as you will not refuse us that."
+
+This way of talking evidently struck the hermit's fancy, for there was a
+rustle of bushes, and the hermit of the island stepped into view.
+
+All of the boys stared at him in blank amazement. He was a reddish-black
+individual, with snow white hair and long flowing beard.
+
+Blumpo grew so frightened that he immediately fell on his knees.
+
+"De voodoo doctor, suah!" he muttered.
+
+Like many other ignorant people, he was very superstitious and believed in
+charms and voodooism.
+
+"We are sorry to have disturbed you in your lonely retreat," began Harry.
+"But we----"
+
+"Say no more, my boy. Get the water you need and depart."
+
+"We will."
+
+Harry and Jerry turned toward the spring and quietly filled up the big tin
+can they had brought along.
+
+The old hermit watched them curiously.
+
+"You look like good boys," he said. "I want to ask a favor of you."
+
+"What?" asked both boys in a breath.
+
+"I wish to end my days here undisturbed. Will you promise not to reveal my
+dwelling place to your friends?"
+
+"I am willing to say nothing," said Jerry, promptly.
+
+"So am I," returned Harry.
+
+The old man looked much relieved.
+
+"And how is it with you?" he went on, turning and walking to where Blumpo
+had his head bent low on the ground.
+
+"Please, sah, don't charm me, sah! don't cast no spell ober me!" howled
+Blumpo. "I ain't dun nuffin' 'deed I ain't. I'se de best boy in Lakeview!
+Ain't I, Harry? Ain't dat de truf, Jerry?"
+
+"I will not harm you, so do not be afraid," said the hermit with a faint
+smile on his reddish-black face.
+
+"I won't tell a t'ing! not a word, sah, hope ter die if I do!" went on
+Blumpo, still keeping his face down.
+
+He was afraid that if he looked at the hermit he would be bewitched.
+
+"Blumpo, get up!" said Harry, sharply. "Don't make a fool of yourself.
+This gentleman is not going to hurt you. Stand up and be a man."
+
+Thus spoken to, the homeless boy arose slowly to his feet. His knees were
+still trembling, and he needed but little incentive to take to his heels.
+
+"I have not seen a colored or an Indian boy in years," went on the old
+hermit. "If you are an honest boy let me take your hand."
+
+He advanced, and with his knees knocking together Blumpo put out his hand
+and looked the old man in the face.
+
+The next instant the hermit gave a leap back in profound astonishment.
+
+"Abraham! As sure as the sun shines! And I thought he was dead!"
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XV.
+
+THE HERMIT'S SECRET.
+
+
+All three of the boys were much mystified by the old hermit's words.
+
+"He must be a little off in his head," thought Harry.
+
+"Who is Abraham?" asked Jerry.
+
+"This is Abraham!" cried the hermit. "Are you not Abraham?" he went on to
+Blumpo.
+
+"I reckon not, sah. I'se jess plain Blumpo Brown."
+
+"Blumpo Brown! Ha! how well I remember that name! You are indeed Abraham,
+and I am your father!"
+
+And the hermit caught Blumpo in his arms. It is needless to say the youth
+was frightened and bewildered.
+
+"Come to my cave and I will tell you all," went on the hermit, and he
+dragged Blumpo along.
+
+Jerry and Harry willingly followed. They found that the old man had quite
+a comfortable place among the rocks. It was elaborately furnished, showing
+that the hermit was well-to-do.
+
+They all took seats on some skins thrown over rude couches. The hermit
+made Blumpo sit close to him.
+
+"My name is Daniel Brown," he began. "And you, Blumpo, are my only son.
+Your full name is Blum-pou-la-hau,--the Indian for
+boy-of-the-laughing-face,--for, you know, you have much Indian blood in
+your veins."
+
+"Dat's what folks said I had," said Blumpo.
+
+"I thought you were dead--that you had been drowned. It was this drove me
+to make a hermit of myself."
+
+Then the old hermit went into many particulars, to which all listened with
+great interest.
+
+Blumpo could scarcely believe his ears. His face began to expand, and a
+smile broke out on it, the like of which had never before been seen. He
+was a homeless waif no longer. He had found a father.
+
+Jerry and Harry talked to the old hermit for an hour and more. They found
+him peculiar in his ideas, but with a warm heart.
+
+Before they retired for the night Daniel Brown came to the conclusion to
+give up his dwelling on the top of the mountain.
+
+He said he would build a cabin down by the lakeside and there he and
+Blumpo could live like ordinary people.
+
+"I have several thousand dollars saved up," he said, "so we will not want
+for anything. I will buy a boat, and Blumpo can make a living by letting
+her out to pleasure parties."
+
+"Dat will suit me exactly," cried Blumpo.
+
+"But you must also go to school in the winter," went on Daniel Brown. "And
+you must drop that dialect, and not say dat for that."
+
+"Golly! but won't I be eddicate!" murmured Blumpo. "Say, Pop maybe I kin
+hab--I mean have--a new suit, eh?"
+
+"Two of them, Abraham," said the hermit; and then all hands laughed.
+
+It was well for the boys that they were housed in the hermit's dwelling,
+for that night a terrible thunder storm came up. The wind howled and
+shrieked around the mountain top, and continued until dawn.
+
+"If we had been on the plateau we would have been blown off into the
+lake," said Harry, at breakfast.
+
+By nine o'clock it cleared off and at twelve the mountain was as dry as
+ever. They packed up, and, accompanied by the hermit, set off, for the old
+camp.
+
+Daniel Brown knew every inch of the mountain and under his guidance they
+reached the bottom much quicker than they would otherwise have done.
+
+As they were trailing through the woods toward the camp, Harry suddenly
+put up his hand.
+
+"Listen! Don't you hear some persons talking?" he asked.
+
+"Where can it be?" asked Jerry.
+
+"Down by the camp," said Blumpo.
+
+"Si Peters' crowd, I'll bet a new hat!" cried Jerry. "Come on, all of
+you!"
+
+The young oarsman broke into a run, and Harry and Blumpo came after, with
+the hermit lagging on behind. A turn in the brush brought them in sight of
+the camp.
+
+There were Si Peters, Wash Crosby, and four others in the act of shoving
+Harry's craft into the water.
+
+"They intended to run off with our boat!" yelled Jerry. "Stop, there, you
+thieves!"
+
+"Stop, or we'll fire on you!" added Harry.
+
+The Peters crowd were surprised and alarmed. They hesitated for a moment.
+
+"Go ahead, don't mind them!" howled Si Peters. "Quick, fellows, shove out
+to the yacht!"
+
+Before Jerry and the others could reach the spot the big row-boat was
+afloat. The Peters' crowd leaped on board and quickly shipped the oars.
+
+"Stop, or we'll fire on you!" sang out Harry again.
+
+"Fire and be blowed!" howled Wash Crosby.
+
+Bang! went Harry's gun, and the shot rattled all around the row-boat.
+
+But now a turn of a headland took the craft out of range.
+
+"Follow me!" said Jerry, as he leaped across the camp to where they could
+again catch sight of the craft.
+
+Over the rock and through the brush they stumbled, a distance of two
+hundred feet. Then the shore of the lake was again reached.
+
+But, alas! before they could do anything the Peters crowd was entirely out
+of range. They saw the big row-boat taken over to where the yacht lay at
+anchor. Harry's craft was tied fast to the stern and the Rockpointers
+clambered aboard their own vessel.
+
+"Good-bye and good luck to you!" cried Si Peters, mockingly. "Hope you
+fellows enjoy playing Robinson Crusoe. We'll come back for you some time
+next year."
+
+And then the yacht sailed away, leaving those on the island to their
+fate.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XVI.
+
+AN EXCITING CHASE.
+
+
+For the moment the boys did not know what to do. Si Peters and his crowd
+had run off with their row-boat, and how to get to the mainland was a
+serious question.
+
+To swim the distance would be a dangerous undertaking, and there was no
+telling how long it would be before another craft should come along to
+take them off.
+
+But the hermit solved the problem.
+
+"If you want to follow those boys you can take my boat," he said.
+
+"Have you a boat?" asked Jerry, quickly.
+
+"Certainly, although I use it but sparingly, and then only at night."
+
+The hermit led the way to the lower end of the island. Here in a
+water-cave rested a long, round-bottomed row boat, containing two pairs of
+oars.
+
+"Just the thing!" cried Jerry. "Come on, Harry!"
+
+He and his chum leaped in. Blumpo looked at his newly found father.
+
+"I will go along if you wish," said the hermit.
+
+In five seconds more all four were in the boat, which was then shoved out
+into the lake.
+
+With Jerry and Harry at the oars, they made good progress in the direction
+of Si Peters' yacht.
+
+All were armed, and Blumpo occupied the time in seeing that every weapon
+was ready for use.
+
+"The wind is dying out," said Harry. "That is in our favor."
+
+"They have not more than half a mile start," rejoined Jerry. "We ought to
+catch up in half an hour."
+
+It was evident that those on the yacht did not anticipate pursuit, for it
+was not until the distance between the two craft had been considerably
+lessened that they showed signs of alarm.
+
+"They see us!" cried Blumpo. "Shall I give 'em a shot?"
+
+"No; wait," replied Jerry.
+
+The wind had now gone down almost entirely, and the yacht's sails were
+flapping idly.
+
+Si Peters and Wash Crosby were evidently alarmed at the turn affairs had
+taken, and they called their chums around them for consultation.
+
+"We can't do anything while the wind is down," said Crosby.
+
+"Let's get out and row," suggested Graves, who was one of the number.
+
+"Can we tow the yacht?"
+
+"We can try."
+
+This was decided on, and all of the crowd leaped into Harry's boat. They
+brought the craft around to the yacht's bow, and then every one took an
+oar.
+
+"See, they are hauling off the yacht!" cried Harry. "They mean to get away
+somehow."
+
+"We'll race them," replied Jerry.
+
+They bent to their oars and made the old hermit's boat fairly fly through
+the water. Slowly they crept nearer and nearer. It was an exciting chase.
+
+"Take my place, Blumpo!" cried Jerry, at last, and the boy willingly
+obeyed.
+
+Jerry leaped into the bow, and taking up his gun pointed it at Si Peters'
+head.
+
+"Si Peters!" he called-out, "do you see this gun? Unless you stop rowing
+I'll fire at you, no matter what the consequences are."
+
+Si Peters turned deadly white, for he was in reality a big coward.
+
+"Do you hear me?" went on Jerry. "One--two--th----"
+
+"Stop! don't shoot!" yelled the Rockpoint bully, and he held up his oar.
+
+"Now, Wash Crosby, you stop rowing, too!" went on Jerry.
+
+"Think you are boss, eh?" sneered Crosby.
+
+"I am. Up with the oar!"
+
+Crosby hesitated, and then his oar went up beside Si's. The others became
+badly frightened and also stopped rowing. In a moment more the hermit's
+craft was beside the big row-boat.
+
+The Rockpointers gazed at the white-haired man in astonishment. They
+wanted to know who he was, but just then had other matters to attend to.
+
+"You think you own the earth when you have a gun!" howled Si Peters to
+Jerry.
+
+"We're on top, that is certain," responded our hero. "Say, Harry,
+supposing we get on the yacht and make them row us back to the island?"
+
+"Not much!" growled Wash Crosby.
+
+"Just the thing!" cried Harry.
+
+Still keeping the Peters' crowd under guard, Jerry and his friends boarded
+the yacht.
+
+Then, much against their will, they made the others turn about and drag
+them back to where they had started from, towing the hermit's craft
+behind.
+
+Peters and Crosby were in a perfect rage, but could do nothing, as Jerry
+pretended to be very savage and itching to shoot them.
+
+The island reached, Jerry made the Peters' crowd beach the boat and clean
+her.
+
+"Now take your yacht and begone!" he commanded, and the crowd hurried off
+in double-quick order. As the yacht drifted away the hermit laughed
+heartily.
+
+"Cleverly done!" he said. "Jerry Upton, you are a smart lad."
+
+The boys spent one more day on the island and then left for home. The
+hermit went along, and created some surprise when he appeared on the
+streets of Lakeview with Blumpo, his son.
+
+All the boys were glad that the homeless youth had found a father, who
+would endeavor to make something out of the good-natured and honest lad.
+
+There was also a surprise for our hero and Harry.
+
+Si Peters and his gang had been arrested for burning down a barn belonging
+to Harry's father.
+
+The Rockpoint lads tried to beg off, but the authorities took the matter
+in hand, and every one of them was sent to the reformatory.
+
+This ended the rivalry for the time being between Lakeview and Rockpoint
+and, as a consequence, the autumn and winter which followed were
+comparatively quiet. But stirring events were on the way, as the chapters
+which follow will testify.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XVII.
+
+HARRY'S NEW YACHT.
+
+
+"Luff up a bit, Harry!"
+
+"All right, Jerry. Do you think we will make that point?"
+
+"If the wind holds out. We are behind the rocks now, and that cuts most of
+the breeze off."
+
+"Blumpo, coil up some of that rope, will you?"
+
+"To be suah," returned the youth addressed.
+
+The scene was the deck of a handsome yacht named the Whistler. She was as
+clean cut as a craft could be, and carried a spread of snowy white sails
+which would have gladdened the heart of any sea-dog to behold.
+
+Three boys and an old man were sailing this craft. The three boys were
+Jerry, Harry and Blumpo. The man was Jack Broxton, the boathouse keeper.
+
+The yacht was a new one, recently purchased by Harry Parker's father for
+the use of his son and Jerry.
+
+"Do you remember what a row we had up around this island last summer with
+Si Peters, Wash Crosby and the rest of the Rockpoint crowd?" mused Jerry,
+as the yacht swung around the north point of Hermit Island, that spot
+where Blumpo had so strangely found his father.
+
+"Don't I, though!" cried Harry. "I wonder if they are out of the
+reformatory yet for setting fire to the barn?"
+
+"I heard da was," put in Blumpo, who now attended school regularly. "Si
+Peters got out las' month, an' Wash Crosby got out six weeks ago."
+
+"Well, I hope they turn out better boys now," said Harry, seriously. "I
+don't see why they want to get into such trouble. A fellow can have lots
+of sport without doing wrong."
+
+"By the way, Harry, the great yacht race comes off in Long Lake in a few
+weeks," said Jerry. "Why can't we take our yacht down through the river
+and be on deck to see it?"
+
+"By golly, dat would be most splendiferous!" yelled Blumpo. "De best t'ing
+I've dun heard of dis Summah!"
+
+"I've thought of it," returned Harry. He turned to the old tar. "Jack,
+could we take the Whistler down through Poplar River to Long Lake?"
+
+"I reckon we could," was the slow answer, as Jack Broxton rolled his quid
+from one cheek to the other. "The water is running putty high now."
+
+"It would be a fine trip in itself," went on Jerry. "I've never sailed
+down the Poplar beyond Carlville."
+
+"Nor I," returned Harry. "But never mind that just now. Here we are at the
+landing."
+
+"An' heah am my father's house," said Blumpo.
+
+The former hermit, now, however, a hermit no longer, came out to greet his
+son. In the meantime all hands lowered sail and tied up.
+
+It was a beautiful day, and the young oarsman and Harry had come over to
+the island to see what they could shoot. They left Jack in charge of the
+yacht and Blumpo with his father, and started off with guns and game bags
+for the interior.
+
+"There can't be much game at this season of the year," said Harry. "But we
+may have a little sport, and tramping in the woods does a fellow lots of
+good."
+
+"Indeed I know that," was the quick response. "Hullo, here's a nasty bit
+of bog to cross."
+
+"We'll go around by yonder big tree."
+
+The two boys went on in a semi-circle. When the big tree mentioned was
+reached Jerry stepped on what he supposed was one of the twisted roots.
+
+A second later he let out a yell which was heard down to the landing.
+
+He sprang back so suddenly that he bumped into Harry, who was close
+behind, and both rolled over in the wet grass.
+
+Ere they could rise they heard an angry hiss, and a snake darted from the
+tree and settled directly upon Jerry's body!
+
+For a moment Jerry was too paralyzed with fear to move or speak. Then as
+he recovered he threw off the snake and rolled away, over Harry and close
+to the boggy spot. Harry also turned away, but came up against a heavy
+mass of brush.
+
+The snake hissed angrily. The pressure of Jerry's foot on its head had
+just been sufficient to arouse its anger. It meant to strike if it could.
+
+"Hit it with your gun!" shouted Harry.
+
+"You hit it!" cried our hero. "Oh!"
+
+The snake was again coming on, its long, green body quivering in the spots
+of sunlight which shot under the trees. There was no doubt but what it
+intended to fight the intruders. More than likely it had a nest of young
+near.
+
+Bang!
+
+The shot was a square one, and when the smoke from the gun cleared away it
+was found that the reptile's head was completely severed from the body,
+which latter continued to twist about until it fell into the water of the
+bog hole. Jerry kicked the head in after it, out of sight.
+
+"Let us get out of here," he said, with a shudder. "Who knows but what we
+have dropped into a regular nest of snakes."
+
+That he was right in his surmise was soon evident, for low hissings could
+be heard on several sides. Without delay they sprang across the bog swamp
+and took to the higher ground, where they could see every foot of the way
+before them.
+
+"I've had snakes enough to last me the rest of the summer," soliloquized
+Jerry. "I hate them worse than anything else in the world. Look!"
+
+He pointed on ahead, to where there was a tree almost loaded with game
+birds. At a sign from Jerry both raised their guns and fired.
+
+There was a flutter and a whirr, and then came a number of shrill cries
+from the birds which were wounded. These the boys at once proceeded to put
+out of their misery.
+
+"Four birds," said Harry, as he counted the lot. "That wasn't bad, eh?"
+
+"You're right, Harry. We won't get another such shot if we tramp all
+day."
+
+"I move we get back to the yacht. We have come a good distance, and it
+will be more than dinner time before we can make it."
+
+"I am with you. We can go out hunting again this afternoon, or try our
+hand at fishing."
+
+With the birds in their bags, Jerry and Harry set out on the return to the
+landing.
+
+On the way they talked over the great yacht races soon to come off, and
+also of the proposed trip through the Poplar River to the large lake
+beyond.
+
+"It will be a dandy trip," said Jerry, and then he added, with much
+spirit: "How I would like to sail on one of the yachts and help win."
+
+"So would I," rejoined Harry. "It would be great sport, not to say
+anything of the honor."
+
+When the chums arrived at the boat-landing they found Blumpo and the
+others waiting for them. A camp fire was burning a short distance away
+from the log house, and over this the birds were done to a turn by the
+youth, while the others prepared some potatoes and coffee brought from the
+yacht.
+
+Blumpo's father considered it a great holiday to have his son with him for
+the time being. He asked Blumpo how he was getting along with his studies,
+and was pleased to learn that the youth was making fairly good progress.
+
+After dinner it was decided to sail around to the lower end of the island
+and try bass fishing, for which the lake was famous.
+
+"And then we'll come back here and stay all night," said Jerry to the old
+man.
+
+The lines were soon cast off and the main-sail and jib set, and as soon as
+they caught the breeze they swung around and down the lake at a speed of
+several knots an hour.
+
+"Somebody else out besides ourselves," observed Jack Broxton, as he
+pointed to half a dozen sail-boats cruising around. "This year everybody
+has the yachting craze."
+
+"It's great sport," returned Harry. "By the way," he went on, pointing to
+a large yacht coming up the lake on a long tack. "What boat is that?"
+
+"She is called the Arrow, I don't know who owns her," was the old
+boatkeeper's reply.
+
+"She is coming over this way. Let us stand out a little and see who is on
+board."
+
+"Just as you say, sir."
+
+"Yes; I'm curious about that yacht, too," put in Jerry.
+
+The course of the Whistler was altered several points, and they left the
+vicinity of the island shore. As they drew closer to the big yacht Jerry
+uttered a cry of astonishment.
+
+"By Jinks! It can't be possible!"
+
+"What's up?" asked Harry, coming to his side.
+
+"There are Si Peters and Wash Crosby on the deck of that yacht. I can see
+them as plain as day."
+
+"Our old enemies!" murmured Harry.
+
+"Da didn't lose no time in gittin' togedder after da got out of de
+'formatory, did da," laughed Blumpo. "Da say de bad ones allers do stick
+like glue."
+
+"Oh, maybe they'll be first-class chaps now," said Jerry, who was willing
+to let the past be forgotten.
+
+"Don't you be too sure on that p'int, lads," put in Jack Broxton. "It's
+mighty hard to make anything out of a bad egg, and Si Peters and Wash
+Crosby are bad eggs if ever there were any."
+
+"Dat's so, fo' suah," murmured Blumpo.
+
+"Well, we won't have any words with them," said Jerry. "We'll let bygones
+be bygones."
+
+"I would like to know where they got that yacht," said Harry. "It can't be
+possible Mr. Peters bought it for Si. When Si went to the reformatory he
+told father he intended to send his son to a military school and cut off
+his allowance."
+
+"Maybe Si has promised to reform. Hullo! they are coming this way!"
+
+Jerry sprang up in alarm, for the big yacht had suddenly veered around
+several points and was now coming head on toward them.
+
+"We'll be run down!" shrieked Blumpo, in terror.
+
+"The young fools!" muttered Jack Broxton. "Don't they know anything about
+steering?"
+
+"The big yacht is evidently one too many for them. See, there is no one
+aboard but Si and Wash. Two hands are not enough for such a craft."
+
+Nearer and nearer the two yachts came to each other.
+
+Jack Broxton did his best to steer clear of the Arrow, but he was at a
+disadvantage. Soon the big yacht took away all the wind of the Whistler
+and she lay helpless.
+
+"Keep off!" yelled Jerry, but the cry was unheeded.
+
+Bang! Crash! The Arrow struck the Whistler on the bow, the long bowsprit
+ripping a hole in the main-sail.
+
+Then came a smashing of woodwork and the Whistler began to sink.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XVIII.
+
+THE ROBBERY OF THE ROCKPOINT HOTEL.
+
+
+"We are lost!"
+
+"Heaben sabe us!"
+
+"Cling fast for your lives!"
+
+A dozen other cries rang out, for the force of the collision was
+terrible.
+
+But all clung fast and no one was thrown into the water, to be struck and
+perhaps instantly killed.
+
+"What do you mean, Si Peters?" yelled Jerry. "You ran into us on
+purpose!"
+
+There was no time to reply nor to say more. After the crash the two yachts
+drifted apart, and with a somewhat damaged bowsprit the Arrow went on her
+way.
+
+As she slid by, Harry caught a glimpse of Wash Crosby holding fast to a
+big red valise, which had come near bounding overboard. He thought no more
+of it at the time, but had good reason to remember it later.
+
+"What shall we do?" asked Jack Broxton.
+
+"We've got a neat little hole in the side."
+
+"Can we beach her on the island?" asked Harry. "I don't want the Whistler
+to go to the bottom of the lake."
+
+"I reckon I can manage it. Just hold that bit of canvas over the hole."
+
+Harry and our hero jumped to do as bidden, while Jack Broxton and Blumpo
+undertook to steer the yacht toward shore. The craft was becoming so
+water-logged that she acted clumsily, and they had their hands full.
+
+"We is gwine down, suah!" groaned Blumpo, but as he spoke the keel grated
+on the sand, and a moment later she swung around hard and fast, and the
+danger of sinking was past.
+
+While Jack and Blumpo lowered the sails, Harry and Jerry carried several
+lines ashore and tied them to the trees in such a fashion that the yacht
+could not pound herself, even if the wind came up.
+
+After the sails were lowered old Jack inspected the damage done.
+
+"I can patch the main-sail in an hour," he said. "But that hole at the bow
+will take three, and I ought to have more tools than I've got aboard."
+
+"Can't we patch things up sufficiently to take her back into Lakeview?"
+asked Harry.
+
+"Maybe we can. But it would be better on account of the wind to steer for
+Rockpoint. She couldn't stand the chop sea on the other course."
+
+"All right; we'll steer for Rockpoint, and take her over to Dan Mason's
+boatyard."
+
+Blumpo ran down the shore of the island to tell his father of what had
+happened. While he was gone the others patched up the break at the bow
+with some thin wood and a square of canvas, tacked on, and gave all a
+coating of pitch.
+
+Half an hour later found the Whistler bound for Rockpoint. They had to
+sail along with great care, for fear of breaking open the patched place.
+Had this occurred they would all have gone to the bottom.
+
+It was growing dusk when the harbor at Rockpoint was reached. At the dock
+they saw that something unusual had happened. A crowd of men were gathered
+about talking earnestly, and pointing up the lake.
+
+"Whoever they were, they took a boat, I'm sure of that," said one man.
+
+"That's so," said another.
+
+"But who were they, and where did they go?" asked a third.
+
+"Ah, that's for the police to find out."
+
+Wondering what was up, Jack Broxton and the three boys brought the
+Whistler around to the boatyard and turned her over to Dan Mason. The old
+fellow, who was a first-class man at repairing boats of all kinds,
+promised to have the craft in good trim by noon of the next day.
+
+"Did you hear the news?" he asked, after their business talk was at an
+end.
+
+"What news?" asked Jerry.
+
+"About the hotel being robbed."
+
+"Robbed!"
+
+"Exactly. A couple of thieves got into the safe and took a box of jewelry
+and four hundred dollars in cash."
+
+"By George! dat am a loss!" ejaculated Blumpo.
+
+"The jewelry is said to be worth nearly one thousand dollars."
+
+"Have they any idea who the thieves were?"
+
+"No, they wore handkerchiefs over their faces, with holes cut in 'em for
+to see. Some thinks as how they got away in one o' the boats lying up
+shore."
+
+"How did they do the job?" questioned Jerry, with much interest.
+
+"I didn't hear any of the particklers, boys."
+
+"Come on up to the hotel and find out," said Harry. "We haven't got to
+hurry home this evening."
+
+Side by side Harry and the young oarsman walked to the Rockpoint Hotel, a
+large place, now filled to overflowing with Summer boarders.
+
+They found every one around the resort talking over the case. Presently
+Harry heard somebody say that the stolen money and box of jewels had been
+placed by the robbers into a large red valise belonging to the proprietor
+of the hotel. At once he called Jerry aside.
+
+"I know who committed this robbery," he said.
+
+"Who?"
+
+"Si Peters and Wash Crosby."
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XIX.
+
+THE RED VALISE.
+
+
+Of course Jerry was astonished at his chum's declaration.
+
+"How do you know this?"
+
+"They had that red valise. I saw it."
+
+"Let us make a few more inquiries before we say anything," replied Jerry,
+slowly. "It's pretty bad to accuse anybody of such a crime as this."
+
+They asked a number of people about the robbery, but could gain no
+information which would directly implicate Si Peters and his crony.
+
+"We had better keep mum for the present, Harry."
+
+"What, and let the robbers escape?"
+
+"Oh, I don't want that to happen."
+
+The two talked it over for awhile, and when they returned home they were
+much troubled. But that night word came from New York City which mystified
+them greatly.
+
+A detective telegraphed he had captured two tramps who confessed to a
+hotel robbery on Lake Otasco.
+
+"That settles it," said Harry. "We were all wrong, and I am glad we said
+nothing."
+
+On the following day they rowed over to Rockpoint for the Whistler. They
+heard no more about the hotel robbery, and the matter almost slipped their
+minds. But they were destined ere long to remember the occurrence full
+well.
+
+Jerry and Harry talked matters over with their parents and made plans to
+sail down the Poplar River to Long Lake, and go to the yacht races at
+once.
+
+Jack Broxton was to accompany them. Unfortunately for Blumpo, his father
+was taken sick and the youth had to remain behind to attend him.
+
+Bright and early the next day the trip was commenced.
+
+It lasted two days and three nights, and then they found themselves out on
+Long Lake, a large and beautiful sheet of water.
+
+Harry and Jerry had studied up all the newspaper reports concerning the
+race between the Defender, a splendid yacht from the Poplar River, and the
+Spray, a craft from up the lake, and they knew exactly where to go in
+order to see the race to the best advantage.
+
+"I know the captain of the Defender well," said Harry. "He and father are
+old friends."
+
+"Maybe he'll let you on his yacht then," said Jerry. "My, but wouldn't
+that be jolly!"
+
+"I won't go without you," said Harry.
+
+"I would like to be on that yacht myself," said old Jack Broxton, as they
+presently came in sight of the Defender, anchored a short distance from
+the starting point of the race.
+
+"We'll run up and I'll hail the captain," said Harry.
+
+This suited everybody, and it was done. The captain of the Defender was on
+deck seeing to it that everything was in order for the race. He greeted
+Harry with a pleasant wave of his hand.
+
+"Can we come on board and take a look around?" asked Harry.
+
+"Yes, but you won't have time to waste," was the captain's reply. "We've
+got to get down to the starting point soon."
+
+The Whistler was run up alongside, and Harry and Jerry leaped on board of
+the Defender. They shook hands with the captain, and also with Frank Lee,
+the captain's nephew, a bright boy of their own age.
+
+They were much interested in the magnificent yacht and all of her
+appointments, and laughed greatly when Frank Lee snatched off their caps
+and placed caps on them with the name of the Defender above the peaks.
+
+"Now you fellows belong to the crew!" cried Frank Lee.
+
+"All right, we'll help you beat the Spray," returned Jerry, quickly.
+
+The captain overheard the remark and turned to Harry:
+
+"Would you really like to remain on board during the race?"
+
+"Indeed we would!" said Harry. "And we'll do duty, too, same as the rest
+of the crew, if you'll only keep us. You know both of us understand all
+about a regular yacht."
+
+"Well, you can stay. I am short one man, and two boys ought to more than
+make up for him."
+
+Perhaps Jerry and Harry were not delighted? They sent word to Jack
+Broxton, and then made themselves familiar with the great yacht, the pride
+of all on board.
+
+Soon it was time to up anchor and make for the starting point. Jerry and
+Harry worked manfully at the ropes, and so did Frank Lee. No one is
+allowed to remain idle on a racing yacht. The least one can do is to rush
+to this side or that and thus make "ballast."
+
+"All ready!" came the word, and the signal was given to start, and the
+Defender and the Spray were off.
+
+Presently Jerry came over to the captain, who was at the wheel.
+
+"Can we pass the Spray?" he asked, anxiously.
+
+"We can try, Upton," was the reply. "Can you take the wheel for a minute.
+I must have a drink of water."
+
+"Aye, aye, sir," said Jerry.
+
+How proudly he took hold of the wheel! He was for the time being in
+absolute command of the Defender.
+
+An extra breeze sprang up. They were sailing almost side by side with the
+Spray. Suddenly the Defender shot ahead. Our hero stuck to the wheel,
+while Harry and Frank Lee did their full share of work with the rest of
+the crew.
+
+The Defender was ahead, but the race was not yet over.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XX.
+
+THE MISHAP TO THE YACHT.
+
+
+The young oarsman was not allowed to remain at the wheel long. Soon the
+captain of the Defender came up again and took charge.
+
+"I see we have passed the Spray," he said. "That's a good one for you,
+Upton. Now we must keep ahead."
+
+After turning the wheel over to the captain, Jerry moved forward to where
+Harry and Frank Lee were standing.
+
+In the meanwhile the gallant yacht was cutting the water like a razor. The
+breeze was stiff, and they were running free before it. Soon the Spray was
+almost out of sight behind them.
+
+"This Defender is a great boat," said Harry.
+
+With the wind on the starboard quarter the Defender and the Spray reached
+along for over a mile at a six knots an hour gait.
+
+Then the wind fell off to almost a calm.
+
+"This is no good," observed Jerry.
+
+"Fortunes of racing," laughed Harry.
+
+"I would like to see another stiff breeze."
+
+"We may catch more than enough before we have finished," put in Frank
+Lee.
+
+The further on the two yachts went the lighter became the wind, and each
+in turn ran into "soft" spots, when balloon top-sails hung up and down
+idly.
+
+But no matter how the wind came the Defender got along, leaving the Spray
+steadily behind.
+
+It was a triangular course, of three miles to each side, and soon the
+first side was sailed.
+
+The yachts wore around the first mark flat, leaving it on the port hand.
+
+Baby jib top-sails had been sent down before the rounding, and spinnaker
+poles were now ready for the balloon sail.
+
+With booms well off to port, the Defender led the way to the second
+stretch.
+
+Sharp work was done in handling the spinnaker, for just one minute after
+rounding this big balloon was set and pulling.
+
+This was clever work, but the Spray sailors did fully as as well, for they
+had their spinnaker on just as fast.
+
+"Great Caesar!" ejaculated our hero, suddenly, "Look!"
+
+Ashore the sky grew black and ominous, foreboding a coming squall.
+
+The weather certainly looked bad, and it turned out worse than it looked.
+
+Instead of wind, rain came on, and soon all on board the yachts were
+soaked.
+
+"What do you think of that, Jerry?" asked Harry.
+
+"We're going to catch it and no mistake," replied the young oarsman.
+
+All hands on board saw the coming squall and looked at the captain for
+orders, but none came.
+
+The yachts, favored by a strengthening breeze, were pushed on to meet that
+which was sure to come, and half-way over on the third stretch it came on
+hard and struck the Defender.
+
+Bang! slash! went the sails and the gallant yacht swept well over on her
+side.
+
+Again all looked to the captain, but he shook his head.
+
+"Reckon he wants to see what she can stand," whispered Jerry.
+
+He was right. The captain, at the wheel, held the yacht up to it, and held
+her true.
+
+On and on they went, the sky growing blacker and blacker as they
+proceeded.
+
+Suddenly Jerry heard a crack like a pistol shot, and looking forward saw
+that the standing part of the bridle to the jib had parted. The seizing
+pulled out and away went the sheets.
+
+The sail snapped and cracked loudly, and in a second more it carried away
+the club on the clew of the jib.
+
+"There she goes!" yelled somebody.
+
+Hardly had he uttered these words when the big sail split in half and hung
+flapping in the wind.
+
+It was now utterly useless to the racing yacht.
+
+A new sail must be set at once, but in that high wind who would bring the
+old sail in?
+
+"I'll volunteer!" cried Jerry, as he sprang forward, and Harry and Frank
+Lee came close on his heels.
+
+The crew hung back for a moment, and in that time Jerry reached the flying
+sail.
+
+He caught one end just as an extra heavy puff of wind came on, and in a
+twinkle he was dragged half overboard.
+
+But now Harry and Frank Lee sprang to the rescue, and then the regular
+crew came forward. All worked like beavers, and soon the torn sail was
+taken off.
+
+Six minutes later a new sail was in place, and on went the gallant
+Defender as speedily as before.
+
+She carried herself well, and nothing was lost in that blow but the jib.
+
+In the meanwhile the Spray could not stand the strain and ran on behind
+with all sails reefed.
+
+"A great yacht," said those on the other boats. And the Defender stock
+went away up.
+
+The captain praised Jerry for the quickness with which he had taken hold
+of the torn sail and steadied it.
+
+"A loose sail on board a racing craft is a dangerous thing," he said, "for
+there is no telling how much damage it will do."
+
+The squall was of short duration, not lasting over seven minutes, if as
+long. It gathered strength as it worked off shore, and some of the
+pleasure boats received the full benefit of it.
+
+As the Defender got within two miles of the finishing line the breeze fell
+off.
+
+Still the gallant craft held her own.
+
+"The finish is in sight!" cried Jerry, presently.
+
+He was right. A mile more and the race would be over.
+
+Those on board of the Spray did their best to haul up to the Defender.
+
+The effort did not avail them, for the Defender gained steadily.
+
+At last the line was crossed.
+
+The Defender had won the race by a lead of over half a mile, and she
+received a rousing reception.
+
+Steam whistles blew their mightiest, flags waved, and the crowd on the
+other boats shouted themselves hoarse.
+
+It was a great day, and one never to be forgotten.
+
+"That settles it," said Harry. "The Defender is the champion yacht of the
+club."
+
+It was not long after this that the Whistler ran up and took Jerry and
+Harry on board. Old Jack Broxton had seen the race and was greatly
+pleased.
+
+The boys resolved to anchor the Whistler off the upper shore of Long Lake
+that night.
+
+"We'll leave Jack in charge and take a trip down to Harmony Beach,"
+suggested Harry.
+
+This suited Jerry, and by half past six the two boys were on board the
+open cars on their way to the great Summer resort. They enjoyed the ride
+very much, especially Jerry who had never been to the beach before. They
+visited the hotels and had supper, and then listened to a band concert.
+
+It was after eleven o'clock before they were ready to return to the
+Whistler.
+
+As they were making their way back to the cars Jerry caught Harry by the
+arm.
+
+"Look! Look!"
+
+Harry looked, and in a crowd of people saw Wash Crosby. Not far away stood
+Si Peters.
+
+Both were swaggering around as if they had plenty of money and wanted
+everybody to know it.
+
+"What shall we do?" asked Harry.
+
+"I hardly know," replied Jerry. "I feel certain in my mind that they
+robbed the Rockpoint Hotel in spite of what the detectives think."
+
+"So do I. But we can't prove it."
+
+The two boys resolved to watch Peters and Crosby and try to overhear any
+private talk they might have.
+
+Peters and Crosby entered a large music hall and sat down at one of the
+tables.
+
+Motioning to Harry, our hero led the way to the side of the building.
+
+A board was off, and by standing near the opening they could hear
+everything Si Peters and Wash Crosby said.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXI.
+
+WORDS AND BLOWS.
+
+
+The very first words spoken by Si Peters confirmed the young oarsman's
+suspicious.
+
+"What did you do with the valise, Wash?" he asked.
+
+"Left it on the yacht at the cove," replied Wash Crosby.
+
+"That's where you made a big mistake."
+
+"How so?" growled the toady.
+
+"They might take it into their heads to search the yacht."
+
+"Oh, I guess not."
+
+"We don't want to run any chances of being found out."
+
+"We're all right; don't worry."
+
+"Perhaps we are and perhaps we are not."
+
+"Oh, keep still, and let us enjoy the music," growled Crosby, for an
+orchestra was now playing.
+
+A waiter came up and Si Peters gave an order. Jerry was quite sure he had
+ordered something stronger than what he was in the habit of drinking at
+home. It was evident that the bully of Rockpoint had turned out even worse
+than before.
+
+"What shall we do?" whispered Harry.
+
+"We ought to inform the police."
+
+"Just my idea of it."
+
+"I don't know if there are any officers around here."
+
+"Oh, there must be."
+
+They looked around, but in the darkness no policeman could be seen.
+
+"You stay here and I'll go hunt up somebody," said Jerry.
+
+Scarcely had he spoken, however, when their attention was attracted to a
+row that was taking place in the concert hall. Two men were fighting, and
+presently a chair flew through the air.
+
+At once those sitting around tried to retire.
+
+Peters and Crosby rushed out in the crowd, and not to lose sight of the
+pair Jerry and Harry went after them.
+
+Fifty feet from the concert hall the four came face to face. Si Peters
+started back, and Wash Crosby wanted to run for it.
+
+"Who--what?" stammered Peters.
+
+"We have caught you," said Jerry, boldly. "You may as well give in."
+
+"What do you mean?"
+
+"We know that that you robbed the Rockpoint Hotel," said Harry.
+
+"It's not so," cried Crosby.
+
+"Shut up!" hissed Si Peters.
+
+Without warning he hit Jerry a sharp blow in the face. Then he rushed at
+Harry and tripped him up.
+
+"Come on!" he yelled to Crosby "We must get away!"
+
+Like a deer he ran off, behind a large roller coaster where all was dark.
+
+Jerry stopped Peters, but only for a moment. Heavy blows were exchanged
+and then Peters followed his chum.
+
+"They are gone, sure enough!" cried Harry, in dismay.
+
+And gone they were, swallowed up in the crowd which surged on all sides of
+them.
+
+Jerry and Harry searched in vain for the two evil-doers and then hunted up
+the police and told their story.
+
+A watch was set, but Si Peters and Wash Crosby managed to escape from the
+beach resort without being detected.
+
+Jerry and Harry returned to Lakeview with the Whistler, and the report
+spread that Si Peters and Wash Crosby had robbed the hotel.
+
+At first Mr. Peters refused to believe it. He came over to Jerry's home,
+and threatened Mr. Upton with a lawsuit.
+
+But the farmer quickly silenced him.
+
+"Don't say a word to me, Mr. Peters," he said. "A boy that will try to tar
+and feather another boy, and then set fire to a barn and burn up cattle,
+isn't none too good to rob a hotel."
+
+"My son is as good as yours!" growled Mr. Peters, and went off in a
+perfect rage. But he bothered the Uptons no more, nor did he go near the
+Parkers.
+
+The lake was searched, and the yacht found up at the cove Si Peters had
+mentioned. On board was found the valise taken from the hotel.
+
+After this detectives were sent out to find the two young rascals. But Si
+Peters and Wash Crosby kept out of sight.
+
+Yet the day of reckoning was not far off, as we shall soon see.
+
+About a week after this Harry invited Jerry to a drive along the west
+shore of Lake Otasco.
+
+As they bowled along they talked over all sorts of matters, and presently
+Harry mentioned Si Peters and Wash Crosby.
+
+"I wonder if they are still hanging around Harmony Beach?" he said.
+
+"Oh, I don't think they would dare," replied Jerry. "They must know by the
+newspapers that the detectives are on their track."
+
+"I wish we could bring them to justice. It would be a feather in our
+cap."
+
+"So it would, Harry. But I would rather have the law do the work. I never
+want to have anymore to do with either of them."
+
+It did not take the two boys long to drive to the lower end of the lake.
+Here the team was put up at a livery stable, and the chums hired bathing
+suits and houses, and spread themselves for a fine dip in the lake.
+
+The water was just right, and they enjoyed every second of the half hour
+they allowed themselves.
+
+It was eight o'clock in the evening before they went to get their team
+again.
+
+The moon was just coming up over the rim of the lake and this promised
+them a splendid drive back to Lakeview.
+
+As Harry and our hero entered the turnout two figures stole up from the
+back of the barn.
+
+The pair were Si Peters and Wash Crosby.
+
+They ran on ahead, and as the boys waited to settle with the livery stable
+keeper they soon disappeared.
+
+Harry drove, and the young oarsman leaned back and took it easy.
+
+A mile was covered, and they were just passing a clump of bushes when
+whizz! a stone came flying into the carriage. It struck Jerry on the arm,
+causing him to cry with pain.
+
+"Who threw that?" he exclaimed.
+
+Whizz! came another stone. It struck Harry in the cheek, drawing blood.
+
+"Whoa!" yelled Jerry, and while the horses were still in motion, he leaped
+to the road.
+
+He had noted the direction from which the missiles came, and bound off,
+but behind the bushes all was dark.
+
+"Look out for yourself!" cried Harry.
+
+He was busy with the horses, who were shying first to one side and then to
+the other.
+
+At first Jerry could see nothing, but soon he discovered two forms in the
+semi-darkness.
+
+He rushed over and found himself face to face with Si Peters and Wash
+Crosby.
+
+"Peters!" he ejaculated.
+
+Scarcely had he spoken when a club was raised. Jerry tried to avoid the
+descending blow, but was only partly successful.
+
+The club landed over his shoulder and neck and he was more than half
+stunned.
+
+"Come!" he heard Peters whisper to Crosby, and then all became a confused
+whirl and he pitched forward in the grass.
+
+The two rascals ran out into the road.
+
+"That for you, Harry Parker!" yelled Si Peters, and struck Harry in the
+knee with the club.
+
+In the meantime Wash Crosby sprang half into the carriage.
+
+He made a grab at Harry's gold watch chain.
+
+The chain broke from the buttonhole and along with it came Harry's
+beautiful timepiece.
+
+"I'll keep this to remember you by!" cried Wash Crosby in derision, and
+away he sped across the highway and down a side road, with Si Peters at
+his heels.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXII.
+
+ANOTHER BOAT RACE.
+
+
+The horses now demanded all of Harry's attention. One of them was bound to
+run away, and the youth had all he could do to hold the animal in check.
+But the lad knew what he was doing and presently held them under complete
+control.
+
+Then our hero staggered out of the bushes with his hand on his neck, where
+a big lump was rising.
+
+"Where are they?"
+
+"Gone! Did they rob you, Jerry?"
+
+"No."
+
+"Then you are in luck."
+
+"What do you mean, Harry?"
+
+"Crosby took my gold watch and chain."
+
+"Never!"
+
+"He did. Jerry, those two chaps have turned nothing but common thieves,"
+went on Harry, bitterly.
+
+"It certainly looks so, Harry. What shall we do now?"
+
+"Jump in and we'll go after them."
+
+Jerry was soon beside Harry, and they turned up the side road taken by the
+fugitives. The moon was out full, making the way as light as day, yet
+nothing was to be seen of the rascally pair.
+
+This was not to be wondered at, for after running along the road but a few
+hundred feet, Si Peters and Wash Crosby had taken to an open field.
+Crossing this, they came out upon a railroad track. A freight train was
+coming along slowly, around the bend of the lake, and they had had small
+trouble in boarding this. Inside of an hour they were many miles away from
+the vicinity.
+
+Jerry and Harry searched for the pair until midnight, and then gave up the
+hunt and returned to Lakeview. Once again the authorities were notified,
+and the detectives started on a fresh hunt for the evil-doers. Yet it was
+destined to be a long time before Si Peters and Wash Crosby were heard of
+again.
+
+About this time the Lakeview boat club was organizing another series of
+rowing races, and both Harry and Jerry were easily persuaded to enter a
+contest, which was to take place between a number of local oarsmen.
+
+A prize of a fine bicycle had been put up, also several other articles of
+more or less value, and Jerry and Harry immediately went into training,
+with a firm determination to win.
+
+There were seven entries, all by young fellows of Jerry's age, and as the
+youth looked at his opponents he felt that the race would be no easy one.
+
+Saturday afternoon, the time appointed for the contest, came, bright and
+clear, and it found the lake front crowded to its utmost capacity. Many
+came over from Rockpoint, but it was noticed that those who had belonged
+to Si Peters' crowd were absent.
+
+The race was to be two miles long, up the lake and back again. The boats
+were all drawn up in a line, and everything was made ready for a start.
+Jerry was at one end of the line, with Harry at the other, and the
+remaining five contestants between them.
+
+Bang! went the gun on the judges' boat, and away shot the seven rowers
+like one man; and the race was begun.
+
+For over half a mile the seven contestants kept almost side by side. Then
+three of them were seen to drop behind.
+
+"Gravling is ahead!"
+
+"Harry Parker is second."
+
+"Phil Raymond is a close third!"
+
+"Jerry Upton is crawling up!"
+
+So the shouting went on, as the four leaders swept past. When the turning
+point was reached, Harry led, Raymond came second, Gravling third, and
+Jerry fourth. The remaining three felt they were out of the race, and
+rowed back to the boathouse.
+
+"Good for you, Harry!"
+
+"What's the matter, Jerry? You're not doing as good as the day you beat Si
+Peters!"
+
+"Hurry up, Gravling!"
+
+"Pull for all you know how, Raymond!"
+
+On and on came the four, their long blades flashing brightly in the
+sunshine. They were making fast time, and, no matter who won, the lake
+record was likely to be broken.
+
+Half way down the homestretch, Harry still led, with Gravling but half a
+length behind him. A length further back came Raymond and Jerry, side by
+side.
+
+But the terrific speed was now beginning to tell upon Raymond, and slowly
+but surely he fell behind, despite the urgings of his friends. Then Jerry
+set to work to overtake Gravling.
+
+"See Jerry Upton crawling up!"
+
+"Oh, but isn't that a beautiful stroke!"
+
+"Gravling can't shake him off!"
+
+"They are a tie!"
+
+The last cry was true. When still a dozen lengths from the finish Jerry
+had overtaken Gravling. But they did not remain tie long. Half a dozen
+strokes and Jerry shot ahead and the bow of his craft overlapped Harry's
+stern. "Jerry Upton is second!"
+
+"He's going to shake up Harry Parker for first place!"
+
+On came the two friends, but now it was noticed that Jerry, although he
+still rowed his best, seemed to be losing his interest in the race.
+
+"It will be no fun to beat Harry," was the thought which ran through his
+head; and then, with a yell from three thousand throats, Harry crossed the
+line a winner, with our hero not quite half a boat length behind.
+
+"Hurrah for Harry Parker!"
+
+"Hurrah for Jerry Upton!"
+
+Cheer after cheer rent the air, and both lads were immediately surrounded
+by their friends. Jerry was one of the first to shake his chum's hand.
+
+"You won it fairly, Harry," he said. "What kind of time did we make?"
+
+He was greatly pleased to learn that the lake record for two miles had
+been lowered by forty-three seconds, and that he had helped lower it by
+forty-two seconds.
+
+That evening the club held a meeting, and Harry was presented with the
+bicycle, something he had been wishing for for some time. Jerry's prize
+was a silver watch and chain.
+
+"This just suits me," he said. "Now, when I'm away from home, I'll be able
+to tell what time it is."
+
+The celebration was at its height, when a message came for Jerry from his
+home, stating that his father had been kicked by one of the horses and was
+badly injured.
+
+This news shocked the youth a good deal, and bidding his friends a hasty
+good-night, the young oarsman set off for the farm on a run.
+
+He found his father lying on a couch in the dining-room. A doctor had just
+arrived, and he was doing all that he could for the sufferer.
+
+"Where did the horse kick him, mother?" he questioned, hurriedly.
+
+"In the side, right under the heart," replied Mrs. Upton. "Oh, I do trust
+it is not serious!"
+
+"So do I. What can I do?"
+
+"I don't know. We must see what the doctor says."
+
+The medical man, after a long examination, declared that several ribs had
+been fractured, and that Mr. Upton was suffering from shock. Some medicine
+was administered, and the patient was carefully carried upstairs and
+placed upon a bed.
+
+No one in the farmhouse slept that night. Mrs. Upton sat by her husband's
+side, and Jerry came and went, ready to do anything that might be asked of
+him.
+
+Two days later the doctor pronounced the wounded man out of danger. But
+his injuries were severe, and it would be a long while before Mr. Upton
+would be able to go around as before.
+
+His enforced idleness made the farmer fret a good deal. It was true that
+the harvest work on the farm was over, but he had wished to do much more.
+
+"And I reckon that trip to New York is now out of the question," Jerry
+heard him say to Mrs. Upton.
+
+"Why, father, were you going to New York?" asked the boy, in much
+curiosity.
+
+"I had an idea that way, son," returned Mr. Upton, slowly. "I was going on
+business," he added, after a pause.
+
+At this Jerry was more curious than ever. New York was over two hundred
+miles from Lakeview, and he had never heard of his parent having business
+in the metropolis.
+
+"You see it's this way, Jerry," said Mr. Upton, noticing his look. "When
+your uncle Charley died he left all his property to me. Some time ago I
+was cleaning out one of his old trunks and I ran across some deeds to
+property in California. From what I can make out the land must be nigh to
+the city of Sacramento."
+
+"And the property belongs to you?" cried Jerry.
+
+"No, I can't say that exactly. As near as I can figure it, your uncle
+Charley owned an interest in it. The property was in the hands of a land
+boomer named Alexander Slocum, and there was a letter in the trunk from
+this Alexander Slocum which was dated from New York. I think this boomer
+holds other papers relating to the land, and I was thinking of making a
+trip to New York and hunting him up, if he is still there."
+
+"Why not let me go to New York in your place," suggested Jerry, quickly.
+It had always been the ambition of his life to pay a visit to the great
+metropolis.
+
+"Well, I was kind of thinking of that, son," returned the sick man,
+slowly. "I'll see about it in a day or two."
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXIII.
+
+JERRY STARTS ON A JOURNEY.
+
+
+Now that the matter had once been talked over, the young oarsman was very
+anxious to know all about the property in California, and his mother
+brought forth the deeds and other papers found in the old trunk.
+
+The boy studied the documents with care. He knew but little of the law,
+yet he felt that if the land mentioned in the papers was valuable his
+father's share, as heir to his uncle, must be considerable.
+
+"I would like to ask Mr. Parker about this," he said to his folks, but Mr.
+Upton shook his head. He was a very retired man and never brought his
+affairs to the ears of any outsider.
+
+"The whole thing might prove worthless," he said, "and then we would be
+laughed at by our neighbors."
+
+"I'd risk it," said Jerry, but his father only shook his head again.
+
+Nevertheless Mr. Upton appeared to be favorably impressed with the idea of
+Jerry's going to New York to hunt up Alexander Slocum.
+
+"It won't do any harm," he said to his wife. "I have money for the fare in
+the house, and it will give Jerry a chance to see a bit of the world."
+
+Mrs. Upton was doubtful, but when Jerry begged to go she finally
+consented. Long talks about the western land and Alexander Slocum
+followed, and the youth prevailed upon his folks to let him take the deeds
+and papers with him, promising that he would take the best of care of
+them.
+
+"And while I'm in New York I'm going to look around for a situation, and
+earn a little money," said Jerry. "Who knows but what I may strike even a
+better opening than that Mr. Parker has promised me at his shoe factory."
+
+"It's not likely a lad off the farm can strike much," smiled his mother,
+yet she was pleased at Jerry's earnestness.
+
+Three days later Jerry was off, valise in hand. He had bid good-bye to
+Harry and Blumpo, telling them he was going to New York on some private
+business for his father. His mother saw him to the train and kissed him
+affectionately.
+
+"Take good care of yourself, Jerry," she said. "And remember, New York is
+an entirely different place from Lakeview or Rockpoint, and you must have
+your eyes and ears open to avoid trouble."
+
+"I'll take care of myself, don't worry mother," and two minutes later the
+train came along and he was off.
+
+Yet it must be confessed that our hero felt just a bit strange as he
+settled back in the cushioned seat, with his valise beside him. He was
+going over two hundred miles from home and among total strangers.
+
+"I suppose it will be different from knocking around Lakeview, Rockpoint
+or even Long Lake," he mused. "I'll have to brace up and watch myself, or
+they'll take me for a regular greeny."
+
+As the train moved on, Jerry revolved the situation in his mind. He knew
+he would arrive in the metropolis late in the afternoon, and determined to
+seek a boarding-house first of all, knowing it would be useless to hunt
+for any trace of Alexander Slocum after office hours.
+
+At last the run through green fields and small towns and cities came to an
+end, and the train ran into the Grand Central Depot at Forty-second
+Street, and Jerry alighted in a crowd and made his way to the street.
+
+"Cab! coupe! This way for the Central Hotel! Evening paper! Sun or
+World!"
+
+A hundred cries seemed to start up all in an instant, making Jerry's ears
+ring. The rattle of the carts and trucks on the pavement was also new, and
+for the moment, the Lakeview boy did not know which way to turn.
+
+"Carry yer baggage?" queried a bare-foot boy, and almost caught his valise
+from his hand. But the young oarsman pulled it back and shook his head,
+and got out of the crowd as quickly as he could, starting eastward for he
+had heard that the cheaper boarding houses lay in that direction.
+
+It was not long before the boy came to several places which displayed the
+sign, Boarding. But the first two were too elegant, and Jerry passed them
+without stopping. Then came a third, and ascending the steps Jerry rang
+the bell.
+
+An elderly lady answered the summons, a sharp-faced woman with powdered
+hair.
+
+"You take boarders here?" queried Jerry.
+
+"We do, young man," she answered, in a voice that made our hero far from
+comfortable.
+
+"I expect to stay in New York a week or two, and I--"
+
+"We don't take transients," she snapped. "Only regular boarders with
+first-class references," and she shut the door in Jerry's face.
+
+He was glad enough to escape to the pavement, feeling satisfied that he
+would not have cared to have boarded there, even had she been willing to
+take him in.
+
+A block further on was another place, a modest brick residence, set back
+behind a small plot of green. Thinking this looked inviting, and not
+reasoning that the spot of green was as valuable as a brown-stone building
+would have been, Jerry entered the garden and made known his wants to the
+servant who was dusting the piazza chairs.
+
+She called the lady of the house, who on hearing what Jerry had to say,
+smiled in a motherly way.
+
+"I hardly think I can take you in, my boy," she said. "Do you know how
+much I charge a week?"
+
+"No, ma'am."
+
+"Twelve to fifteen dollars for a single room and not less than ten
+otherwise."
+
+Jerry almost gasped for breath.
+
+"That is twice what I can afford to pay," he returned. "Gracious! I had no
+idea rates were so high."
+
+"That is not high, here in New York. But perhaps I can direct you to a
+place that will suit. I have a friend three blocks over. Here is her
+card," and she handed it over.
+
+Thanking her, the young oarsman got out without delay. He was glad she had
+directed him, for now he was certain he would at least strike a place that
+would fit his pocket-book.
+
+Jerry went on until he came to an avenue down which the elevated cars were
+running. They were a great novelty and he paused on the corner to watch
+several of the trains rattle along overhead.
+
+As Jerry was about to move on, he heard a wild cry of alarm from the
+second story window of a house opposite. Looking in the direction, he saw
+a girl pointing up the street to where a baby-carriage had rolled from the
+pavement to the gutter, overturning itself and spilling a little child
+into the street.
+
+The youth ran in the direction with the idea of picking the child up. As
+he did this an ice-wagon came along at a furious speed, the driver on the
+seat trying in vain to stop his horse.
+
+The ice-wagon was heading directly for the child and unless something was
+done the little one would be run over and most likely killed. With his
+heart in his throat our hero threw down his valise and leaped to the
+rescue. In another instant the runaway horse was fairly on top of the
+lad.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXIV.
+
+THE WORK OF A REAL HERO.
+
+
+Jerry's heart was in his throat when he sprang to the rescue of the little
+child in the street. He saw that the horse attached to the ice-wagon could
+not be stopped and realized only too well what it meant should he be
+struck down.
+
+Yet the sight of that innocent face nerved him on, and in less time than
+it takes to write it he had the child in his arms. Clinging to the little
+one, he flung himself backward, and like a flash the horse sprang past,
+dragging the ice-wagon so close that the wheels scraped his leg.
+
+A shout went up from the crowd, but Jerry did not hear what was said.
+Staggering up, he ran back to the sidewalk, leaving the baby-carriage a
+wreck behind him.
+
+In another moment the girl who had given the first cry of alarm was at
+Jerry's side.
+
+"Is he hurt? Is little Tommy hurt?" she cried, as she snatched the
+youngster from Jerry's arms.
+
+"Me fell in the dirt," lisped the little one. "Me ain't hurt, but me awful
+dirty."
+
+"Never mind the dirt, dear," cried the girl. "I am thankful you escaped.
+Mary, why didn't you take better care of him?"
+
+The last words were addressed to an Irish girl who had just sauntered up.
+
+"I went to get a hoky-poky at the corner," replied the girl. "I don't care
+to mind yer brother any more anyway," she added, and darted out of sight
+into the crowd.
+
+Seeing the little boy was uninjured, the crowd moved on, and presently the
+young oarsman found himself alone with the girl, who appeared to be
+several years older than himself.
+
+"You are a brave boy," she said, warmly. "I would like to reward you, but
+I am poor."
+
+"I don't want any reward," replied Jerry, stoutly. "It was a close shave,
+though."
+
+"You look like a stranger around here."
+
+"I am--I just arrived in New York and I am looking for a boarding-house.
+Can you tell me where this one is?" and Jerry showed her the card the lady
+had given him.
+
+"Oh, yes; it is one block over to your left--a real nice house, too. May I
+ask your name?"
+
+"Jerry Upton."
+
+"Mine is Nellie Ardell, and this is my brother Tommy. We are alone here."
+
+"Haven't you any folks?"
+
+"No. Mother was with us up to last winter, but she had consumption and
+died."
+
+The tears stood in Nellie Ardell's eyes as she spoke. Jerry saw at once
+that she had had a hard struggle of it.
+
+"What do you do for a living?" he ventured to ask.
+
+"I do sewing and mending for my neighbors--principally mending for the
+girls who work in the stores."
+
+"And can you make much that way?"
+
+"Not a great deal. But I try to make enough to pay the rent and store
+bills. May I ask what you are going to do in New York?"
+
+"I came to find a real estate dealer named Alexander Slocum. I want to see
+him about some property left by my uncle to my father. Have you ever heard
+of him?"
+
+"Heard of him?" she cried in surprise. "He is my landlord."
+
+Jerry was dumfounded by this unexpected bit of information.
+
+"You are certain?"
+
+"Why, of course I am. He was around to see me only day before yesterday
+about the rent. I am a bit behind, and I had to put him off."
+
+"And what kind of a man is he?"
+
+"I think he is very hard-hearted. But then, that may be because I am
+behind in my payment. He threatened to put me out of my rooms if I didn't
+pay when he called again."
+
+"How many rooms have you?"
+
+"Only two, and I pay six dollars a month for them."
+
+"And how far behind are you?"
+
+"I only owe for the month."
+
+"And he won't trust you even that long? He certainly must be mean," Jerry
+rejoined warmly.
+
+"You said something about property belonging to your father," said Nellie
+Ardell. "Has Mr. Slocum an interest in it?"
+
+"He has and he hasn't," the boy replied, and he told his story in a few
+words as they walked along to the entrance of the house in which she
+lived.
+
+"Well, I trust you get your right, Jerry Upton," said the girl. "Come and
+see me some time."
+
+"I will," and after Jerry had procured Alexander Slocum's office address
+from her, the pair separated.
+
+Jerry was very thoughtful as he proceeded on his way. By a turn of fortune
+he had gotten on Slocum's track much quicker than expected. The question
+was, how should he best approach the man?
+
+"I'll settle that after I have procured a boarding place," he thought, and
+hurried to the address given him.
+
+Mrs. Price, the landlady, was a very nice old person. She had a top room
+in the back she said she would let with board, for five dollars a week,
+and Jerry closed with her without delay, paying for one week in advance.
+
+This finished, our hero found he was hungry, and after a washing-up, ate
+supper with a relish. He could not help but notice that the vegetables and
+milk served were not as fresh as those at home, but remembered he was now
+in the city and not on a farm, and did not complain.
+
+Mrs. Price had taken in another new boarder that day, a tall, slim man,
+possibly thirty years of age. He was introduced as Mr. Wakefield Smith,
+and he did all he could to make himself popular. Jerry felt that a good
+bit of his pleasantry was forced, but as there was no use in finding
+fault, he became quite friendly with the man.
+
+"Supposing we take a walk out together this evening?" Wakefield Smith
+suggested. "No doubt you would like to see the sights."
+
+"I'll go out for an hour or so," answered the young oarsman, and they
+started while it was yet light.
+
+Mr. Wakefield Smith knew the metropolis from end to end, and as the pair
+covered block after block, he pointed out various buildings. He smoked
+constantly, and several times invited Jerry to have a cigar, but the youth
+declined.
+
+"Supposing we have a drink, then?" he urged.
+
+Again Jerry declined, which made the man frown. He insisted Jerry should
+at least have some soda water with him, and at last the boy accepted, and
+they entered rather a modest looking drug store on a side street.
+
+"Hullo! what's that crowd on the street?" exclaimed Mr. Wakefield Smith,
+as the glasses were set out, and as Jerry looked out of the doorway he
+fancied the man shoved up close to where his glass was standing and made a
+movement as if to throw something into it.
+
+Jerry saw nothing unusual in the street, and the man's manner made him
+suspicious, so that he hesitated about drinking the soda. He swallowed a
+small portion of it and threw the remainder in a corner.
+
+"What's the matter, don't you like it?" demanded Wakefield Smith, almost
+roughly.
+
+"No, it's bitter."
+
+"Humph!" He growled something under his breath. "I'll not treat you
+again," he went on, as they came out on the street.
+
+What Jerry had taken of the soda had made his head ache, and this caused
+the young oarsman to grow more suspicious than ever. He had read in a
+daily paper about folks being drugged by friendly strangers, and resolved
+to be on guard.
+
+The pair passed on the distance of a block, and then Jerry announced his
+intention of returning home to the boarding-house.
+
+"Oh, don't go yet," urged Mr. Wakefield Smith. "Come on across the way.
+There are some beautiful pictures in an art store window I want to show
+you. One of the pictures is worth ten thousand dollars."
+
+He caught our hero by the arm and hurried him over the way and into the
+crowd. Jerry was jostled to the right and left, and it was fully a minute
+before he squeezed himself out to a clear spot. Then he looked around for
+Mr. Wakefield Smith, but the man was gone.
+
+Like a flash Jerry felt something had gone wrong. He put his hand in his
+pocket. His money was missing!
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXV.
+
+A FRUITLESS SEARCH.
+
+
+"Less than half a day in New York and robbed! Oh, what a greeny I have
+been!"
+
+Thus Jerry groaned to himself as he searched first one pocket and then
+another. It was all to no purpose, the money was gone and he was left
+absolutely penniless.
+
+The young oarsman was certain that Mr. Wakefield Smith had robbed him. He
+had been wary of the man from the start, and now blamed himself greatly
+for having given the rascal the chance to take the pocket-book.
+
+Without loss of time Jerry darted into the crowd again, looking in every
+direction for the thief. He was so eager, he ran plump into an old
+gentleman, knocking his silk hat to the pavement.
+
+"Hi! hi! stop, you young rascal!" puffed the man, as Jerry stooped and
+restored the tile to him. "What do you mean by running into me in this
+fashion?"
+
+"Excuse me, but I have been robbed! I want to catch the thief."
+
+"Robbed?"
+
+"Yes, sir."
+
+The gentleman nervously felt to see if his money and watch were safe.
+Several others heard the words, and they gathered around Jerry.
+
+"Who robbed you?"
+
+"How much did you have?"
+
+"Why didn't you hold the thief?"
+
+Before Jerry could answer any of the questions a policeman came forward
+and touched him on the shoulder.
+
+"Are you the boy said he was robbed?"
+
+"Yes, sir."
+
+"What were you robbed of?"
+
+"A pocket-book containing nearly thirty dollars."
+
+"Did you see the thief?"
+
+"I believe it was a man I was walking with. He called himself Wakefield
+Smith."
+
+The policeman questioned Jerry closely, and then took a good look around
+for the individual. Later on, boy and officer walked to Mrs. Price's
+boarding-house.
+
+Here it was learned that Mr. Wakefield Smith had not paid any board money,
+giving as an excuse that he had nothing less than a one-hundred-dollar
+bill and that he would pay in the morning. It also came to light that he
+had walked out with Mrs. Price's silver-handled umbrella, worth eight
+dollars.
+
+"The villain!" she cried. "I hope the police catch him!"
+
+"You don't wish it more than I do," returned the young oarsman, dolefully.
+"He took my last dollar."
+
+Acting on the policeman's advice, Jerry walked around to the nearest
+precinct station and made a complaint, giving the best description of Mr.
+Wakefield Smith he could.
+
+"We will do our best to capture him," said the captain in charge, and with
+this promise the youth had to be content.
+
+My readers can imagine our hero did not spend a restful night. He lay
+awake for several hours speculating on the turn affairs had taken. His
+board was paid for a week, but that was all. He did not even have money to
+pay car fare back to Lakeview.
+
+"I wonder what mother and father would say if they knew?" he thought. "I
+won't let them know until there's nothing else to do."
+
+Jerry arose early the next day and got breakfast before any of the other
+boarders.
+
+"I must find something to do without delay," he explained to Mrs Price. "A
+fellow without a dollar in his pocket can't afford to remain idle."
+
+"You have a week's board coming to you," she said, with a faint smile.
+
+"Yes, but I haven't even the price of a car fare in my pocket."
+
+"Well, Mr. Upton, I like your looks, and if you'll accept it I'll loan you
+a couple of dollars. I suppose it was partly my fault that Smith robbed
+you. But don't blame me, I've suffered, too."
+
+"I will accept the loan gladly, Mrs. Price. I don't like to go around
+without a cent. I will pay you back as soon as I can."
+
+"I know you will. I may have been deceived in that Smith, but I am certain
+I am not in you," added the landlady.
+
+With the two dollars tucked away in a safe place, Jerry left the house. He
+knew it would be useless to go to Alexander Slocum's office at such an
+early hour, and determined to look around in the hope of striking
+something whereby he might earn at least enough money to last him while
+stopping in New York.
+
+"I won't write home unless I have to," he muttered to himself. "My time is
+my own and I'll make the most of it while I'm here."
+
+Getting one of the dollar bills changed, Jerry bought a morning paper and
+looked over the Help Wanted--Males--column, and noted several addresses.
+
+"I'll try them and lose no time," he thought, and hurried to the nearest
+store where a boy was wanted.
+
+He was surprised to find a dozen applicants ahead of him. Worse than that,
+a boy had already been hired; so all of the others were forced to leave.
+
+Jerry next tried a florist's establishment. But here a boy was wanted who
+understood the city thoroughly, and he was quickly told he would not do.
+
+Jerry walked from one place to another for three hours without success.
+Somewhat disheartened, he strolled into a park close to Broadway and sat
+down.
+
+The situation was certainly a serious one, and the young oarsman was
+decidedly sober in mind as he sat there, staring vacantly at the hurrying
+throng.
+
+"Well, young man, how did you make out last night?"
+
+The question came from a bench just behind Jerry. Looking around, he saw
+sitting there the gentleman he had run into while trying to find Wakefield
+Smith.
+
+"I didn't make out at all, sir."
+
+"Couldn't find him, eh?"
+
+"No, sir."
+
+"Those pickpockets are slick chaps, and no mistake," went on the
+gentleman.
+
+"Did you lose much?"
+
+"All I had--nearly thirty dollars."
+
+"Phew! that is too bad. Well, I wouldn't sit down to mope about it. You
+might as well get to work and earn the amount over again."
+
+"The trouble is, I can't find any work," answered the boy, earnestly. "I
+would work fast enough if I could only find it to do."
+
+"You are out of a situation?"
+
+"Yes, sir."
+
+"Since when?"
+
+"Since I came to New York," answered Jerry.
+
+"You are about as bad off as I was some forty years ago," said the man,
+with a broad smile. "At that time I found myself in this city, with just
+twenty-five cents in my pocket. But I struck employment, and rose from one
+place to another until now I am my own master, with a bookbinding-shop
+where I employ nearly fifty hands."
+
+As he spoke he gazed at Jerry curiously.
+
+"You were going to ask me for a job, weren't you?" he went on, and Jerry
+nodded. "What can you do?"
+
+"I'm not used to any such work, sir. But you'll find me willing and
+strong--and honest. I would like to earn a little before I went back to my
+home."
+
+"Well, those three qualities you mention are sure to win, my boy. Perhaps
+I can find an opening for you. Here comes a friend I have been waiting
+for. I am going out of town with him. Call at my shop to-morrow morning,
+if you don't strike anything in the meantime."
+
+And, handing out his card, Mr. Islen walked rapidly away.
+
+Fifteen minutes later found Jerry on the way to Alexander Slocum's office.
+In an inner pocket he carried the papers his father had unearthed from the
+trunk in the garret at home.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXVI.
+
+ALEXANDER SLOCUM IS ASTONISHED.
+
+
+Jerry felt that his mission to the real estate man was a delicate one.
+What would he have to say when he learned who the youth was and what he
+had come for?
+
+The boy resolved to be on guard. He might be from the country and green,
+but no one should catch him napping, as had Mr. Wakefield Smith.
+
+The distance to the address furnished by Nellie Ardell was nearly a dozen
+blocks, but Jerry was used to walking and made the journey on foot.
+
+The young oarsman found Alexander Slocum's set of offices located on the
+top floor of an old-fashioned four-story office building. There was an
+elevator, however, and this Jerry used and soon found himself in front of
+a ground-glass door, which bore the sign:
+
+                            Alexander Slocum,
+                     Real Estate and Fire Insurance.
+                            Loans Negotiated.
+
+There was a hum of voices from within, but the hum ceased as Jerry
+knocked.
+
+"Come in," was the short invitation, and the boy entered, to find a large
+apartment, comfortably furnished with desks, stuffed chairs and other
+things which went to show that the man he had come to interview was doing
+well.
+
+Near an open window sat two gentlemen dressed in black. One was much older
+than the other, and Jerry rightfully guessed that he was an office
+assistant.
+
+The other man was well preserved, with a waxed mustache and piercing black
+eyes. He held a silk hat in his hand, as if he had been on the point of
+leaving.
+
+"Well, young man, what can I do for you?" questioned the office assistant,
+as he regarded Jerry indifferently.
+
+"I came to see Mr. Alexander Slocum," replied our hero.
+
+"I am Mr. Slocum," put in the other man. "What is it you want?"
+
+"I came to see you on a bit of private business, sir."
+
+"Yes. Well, Mr. Casey here knows all about my affairs; so you need have no
+hesitation in speaking in front of him," laughed the real estate man
+somewhat harshly.
+
+"I am Jerry Upton, and I came from Lakeview. My uncle, Charles Upton, who
+is now dead, was once interested in a colonization land scheme that you
+started."
+
+Jerry watch Mr. Slocum narrowly as he spoke, and saw that the man was
+greatly astonished. He started back, and for an instant the assuring look
+his face wore faded.
+
+"Jerry Upton from Lakeview," he murmured slowly. Then he cleared his
+throat. "I--I did not expect to see you."
+
+"I suppose not, sir."
+
+"What is it you want?"
+
+"I want to find out how matters stand in regard to the land in California.
+My father heard you had gone to Europe."
+
+"I did go to Europe, but not to escape inquiry," added Slocum, hastily.
+"You see, that scheme failed utterly," he went on slowly. "Why, I lost
+nearly every dollar I possessed in it. What your uncle lost was nothing in
+comparison."
+
+"It was to him, Mr. Slocum. To whom does the land belong?"
+
+"Why, it--er--it reverted to its original owners, some mine speculators of
+Denver."
+
+"Where is the land located?"
+
+"Not far from the city of Sacramento."
+
+"Can't you give me the precise location?"
+
+At this Alexander Slocum glared at our hero savagely.
+
+"It would do you no good to spend money on hunting the matter up," he
+answered. "That affair was settled long ago. The money was lost, and that
+is all there is to it."
+
+"Not if I know it, Mr. Slocum. I intend to sift the matter to the bottom.
+I am convinced that all was not carried out as it should have been."
+
+"You appear to be a very foolish boy."
+
+"That may be your opinion, but it won't alter my intention. I have my
+uncle's papers with me, and, unless you will give me some particulars of
+how the scheme fell through, I shall place the matter in the hands of a
+lawyer."
+
+Alexander Slocum winced at this, and Jerry fancied he was hard struck. He
+made a movement as if to clutch the youth by the arm, then drew back.
+
+"You have your uncle's papers?" he asked cautiously.
+
+"Yes. My father is his sole heir."
+
+"I should like to see them. Perhaps I spoke hastily; but really you are
+mistaken in thinking it can be of any use to bring that old deal up again.
+The money was lost, and there is no chance of getting it back again."
+
+"But, either you are responsible for the amount, or else my uncle's
+interest in the land still holds good," said Jerry.
+
+"Let me see the papers."
+
+Mr. Slocum made a movement as if to take them. But Jerry drew back and
+shook his head.
+
+"I prefer not to let them go out of my possession."
+
+"Do you mean to say you won't trust me?"
+
+"You can put it that way, if you wish, Mr. Slocum."
+
+The real estate man bit his lip. Then he made a movement to his assistant,
+who at once slid behind Jerry, towards the door.
+
+"What are you going to do?" the young oarsman asked, in alarm.
+
+Without replying, the assistant locked the door and slipped the key into
+his pocket.
+
+"Don't grow excited," said Alexander Slocum, coldly. "I want to see those
+papers, that's all. Show them to me at once!"
+
+Like a flash Jerry realized he was trapped by the enemy.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXVII.
+
+JERRY'S CLEVER ESCAPE.
+
+
+Jerry saw at once that things were growing warm. From the look on his face
+it was plain to see that Alexander Slocum was in deadly earnest when he
+said he wanted to see those papers.
+
+His manner made our hero feel that the papers would not be safe in his
+hands. If he gave them up he might never see them again, and without the
+documents the claim on the land in California would fall flat.
+
+"Did you hear what I said, Upton? I want you to let me see those papers,"
+Slocum went on, after a second of intense silence.
+
+"What do you mean by locking that door?" Jerry demanded of the elderly
+assistant, without paying any attention to the real estate dealer's
+words.
+
+Casey made no response. Instead, he took his stand by his employer's side,
+as if awaiting further orders.
+
+"You act as if you were afraid of me," sneered Slocum. "I won't hurt
+you."
+
+"You won't--not if I can help it," answered Jerry. "But I want you to
+unlock that door. I am not to be treated as a prisoner."
+
+"I only wanted to secure us against interruption. So many agents come up
+here, and they are a regular nuisance."
+
+Slocum advanced and held out his hand, as if expecting Jerry would drop
+the precious papers into it. Instead, the boy retreated and took up a
+position behind a flat-top desk in the centre of the office.
+
+At this the real estate dealer grew furious behind his well-waxed
+mustache. He had expected to intimidate our hero easily, and now he was
+nonplused.
+
+"Are you going to let me see those papers?" he fumed.
+
+"No; at least not now."
+
+"Why not?"
+
+"I prefer not to answer that question."
+
+"You think you have a case against me--that you can place me in a tight
+hole."
+
+"Well, if all is straight you have nothing to fear."
+
+"Don't preach to me, boy. All is straight. I lost my money as well as the
+others did."
+
+"This doesn't look as if you had lost much," ventured Jerry, as he glanced
+about the elegant apartment.
+
+"Oh, I have made money since, in a lucky real estate deal in Brooklyn. I
+won't keep your papers."
+
+"I want that door unlocked."
+
+Slocum muttered something under his breath, and his face grew suddenly
+red. Like a flash he placed his hands on the flat desk and leaped over
+it.
+
+"I'll bring you to terms, you young country fool!" he cried, and made a
+clutch for Jerry's collar.
+
+Had our hero not turned like a flash he would have had the lad. But Jerry
+was on guard and fled to the office door. Raising his foot he gave the
+barrier a kick that caused it to crack heavily.
+
+"Stop that!"
+
+"I won't. Let me out, or I'll kick the door down."
+
+"Casey, catch the young rascal!" cried Slocum. "I'm going to teach him a
+thing or two."
+
+Anxious to obey the command of the man who held him completely under his
+thumb, Casey ran forward. Seeing him coming, Jerry fled behind a large
+screen. Here rested a heavy cane, and he picked it up and brandished it
+over his head.
+
+"Keep back! Advance at your peril."
+
+"I'm afraid to go near the young fool," said Casey.
+
+"I'll fix him. Stand aside. I never yet saw the boy that could get the
+best of me," muttered Alexander Slocum.
+
+"He may kill you, Mr. Slocum."
+
+"I'll risk it."
+
+Running around the desk, the real estate dealer came for the young
+oarsman. As he approached, the boy pushed the screen against him and he
+went down, with the heavy object on top of him.
+
+"You--you villain!" he spluttered.
+
+To this Jerry made no answer. Taking advantage of the time afforded him,
+he looked around for some means of escaping his enemies. To remain a
+moment longer in the office he felt would be perilous in the extreme.
+
+Near the corner to which Jerry had retreated was an open window. Glancing
+out of it he saw that the roof of the next building was but six or eight
+feet below the window sill.
+
+Without stopping to think twice, our hero leaped out of the window and on
+to the roof below.
+
+"Stop! stop!"
+
+Both Slocum and his assistant called after Jerry, but he paid no
+attention. Leaving the vicinity of the window, he ran along the roof to
+the rear. Here there was an addition to a tin-shop underneath, and he
+dropped down and found himself within twelve feet of a narrow alleyway.
+
+"Are you coming back?" bawled Alexander Slocum; and then, as Jerry let
+himself down over the edge of the roof, he suddenly disappeared from the
+window.
+
+Guessing he was coming down to head him off, the youth lost no time in
+dropping to the ground.
+
+Once down, it was an easy matter to gain the street. As he came out on the
+pavement, Slocum came running up all out of breath.
+
+"You're a fine boy!" he cried. "Come back to the office, and let us talk
+matters over."
+
+"Not to-day," answered Jerry. "I've had enough of a dose for the
+present."
+
+"You are making a mistake."
+
+"I don't intend to put my head into the lion's mouth."
+
+While the two were speaking Casey came up, and, as the two appeared as if
+they wanted to drag Jerry back into the building just left, the youth
+retreated.
+
+Alexander Slocum followed for a block, and then gave up the chase. Seeing
+this, Jerry walked on more leisurely.
+
+Our hero's visit to the real estate dealer had set him to thinking deeply.
+The man's anxiety concerning the papers made the boy feel sure there was
+more at the bottom of the land speculation than either his parents or he
+had suspected.
+
+Perhaps the land was still held by this man and was of great value. If
+this was so how was he to go to work to establish his father's claim?
+
+Pondering over the affair, the young oarsman thought of Mr. Randolph Islen
+and of his kindness. He resolved to tell that gentleman his story and see
+what he would have to say.
+
+This conclusion reached, Jerry felt in his inner pocket to see if the
+precious papers were still safe. To his horror they were gone.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXVIII.
+
+SOMETHING ABOUT A TRAMP.
+
+
+"Gone!"
+
+The cry burst involuntarily from Jerry's lips, and for the moment his
+heart seemed to stop beating. The precious papers were missing.
+
+What had become of them? With great haste he hunted all of his pockets,
+not once but a dozen times. Then he felt in the linings, and in fact in
+all places where the packet might have become concealed.
+
+It was useless; they were gone; that was all there was to it.
+
+Had he dropped them in Slocum's office, or during his hasty flight to the
+alleyway?
+
+Our hero retraced his steps, with eyes bent to the ground, in hopes that
+they would be found lying on the walk. In doing this he ran into half a
+dozen folks, many of whom did not take kindly to the collision.
+
+"Look where you are going, boy."
+
+"Hunting for a pin or gold dollars?"
+
+Jerry paid no attention to the remarks. Reaching the alleyway, he turned
+into it and continued the search, but without success.
+
+"Say, wot yer doin' in here?"
+
+The question was asked by a youth in the tin-shop. He was red-headed and
+had a freckled face, but not an unpleasant one.
+
+"I was looking for something I lost," said the young oarsman. "Have you
+seen anything in here of a flat, white package with a black shoestring
+tied around it?"
+
+"Why, yes, I did," he answered.
+
+"And where is it?"
+
+"A tramp had it. I saw him walk out of der alley wid it not five minutes
+ago."
+
+"A tramp? What kind of a looking man?"
+
+"Tall and thin, with a grizzly beard. Oh, he was a regular bum."
+
+"Where did he go?"
+
+"Up the street, I think. Was the bundle valuable?"
+
+"Indeed it was, to me," replied Jerry, and hurried off.
+
+He could see nothing of any tramp, and, after dodging around among the
+trucks for several minutes, returned to the youth.
+
+"Please describe that tramp to me, will you?" asked Jerry, and the
+tinner's boy did so, as well as he was able.
+
+"I think da call him Crazy Jim," he concluded. "He don't come down here
+very often. He belongs uptown somewhere."
+
+"Well, if you ever see him again, please let me know. My name is Jerry
+Upton, and here is my address," and our hero handed it over.
+
+"All right, I will. My name is Jerry Martin. Wot was in de package?"
+
+"Some papers belonging to my father."
+
+The boy wanted to question Jerry for further particulars, but the young
+oarsman did not care to say too much, and hurried off, to seek the tramp
+again.
+
+That evening found our hero at Mrs. Price's, footsore and downhearted. He
+had seen nothing of Crazy Jim, and it looked as if the precious packet was
+gone for good.
+
+Jerry could not help but wonder what Alexander Slocum's next move would
+be. Would the man endeavor to hunt him out or would he write to his
+father?
+
+The next morning, on his way to Mr. Randolph Islen's place of business,
+Jerry met Nellie Ardell.
+
+"Did you find Mr. Slocum's?" she asked.
+
+"I did; and had a very disagreeable visit," returned our hero.
+
+"I knew you would have," she went on. "I wish he was not my landlord."
+
+Jerry asked her how Tommy was, and then they parted, and five minutes more
+brought our hero to the book-bindery.
+
+Mr. Islen was not yet in, but he soon arrived, and smiled as Jerry
+presented himself.
+
+"On hand, I see, my young friend. Well, how did you make out? Did you
+obtain a position?"
+
+"No, sir."
+
+"It's rather hard. Mr. Grice!" he called out.
+
+The foreman of the book-bindery came in and Jerry was introduced to him.
+Quite a chat followed, at the end of which Jerry was hired to work in the
+stock department at a salary of six dollars a week.
+
+The salary was not large, but it would pay his expenses, and that was all
+he wished for at present.
+
+"I won't have to write home for money," he thought.
+
+Mr. Grice wanted Jerry to come to work immediately, but our hero begged to
+speak to Mr. Islen in private for a moment, and when they were left alone
+told his story from beginning to end.
+
+The rich book-binder listened with interest, and tapped meditatively upon
+his desk when Jerry had finished.
+
+"This is rather a strange story, Upton," he said. "What would you like me
+to do?"
+
+"I would like you to give me some advice, sir. What had I best do?"
+
+"You can do a number of things. What would be the best I cannot say. You
+might hire a lawyer to look into the case, and again you might have this
+Slocum arrested for locking you in the office. The loss of the packet
+complicates matters. Did it have your name on?"
+
+"Yes, sir."
+
+"Then you had better wait, and in the meantime advertise for the packet,
+offering a reward. That tramp may be watching for such an advertisement."
+
+This was sound advice; but Jerry had no money, and said so.
+
+"I will pay for the advertisement and take it out of your pay," said Mr.
+Islen; and the notice was written out without delay and sent off by the
+office boy.
+
+The young oarsman now felt a trifle lighter in heart. He reasoned that the
+packet would be of no value to the tramp and that he would be glad to
+surrender it in hope of a reward. He did not remember at the time that he
+had written Alexander Slocum's name and address on the outside wrapper;
+yet such was a fact.
+
+When Jerry entered the bindery he found several pairs of curious eyes bent
+upon him from boys of about his own age. Without delay Mr. Grice set our
+hero to work.
+
+"What is your name?" asked one of the boys, as soon as he had a chance.
+
+"Jerry Upton. What is yours?"
+
+"Dick Lenning. Say, do you know you have got the job Grice was going to
+give my brother?"
+
+"No, I don't."
+
+"It's so. Jack was coming to work to-morrow. It ain't fair to take the
+bread out of a fellow's mouth like that," growled Dick Lenning.
+
+"I fancy Mr. Islen gave me my position--" Jerry ventured.
+
+"Oh! So it was the boss put you in. Well, it ain't fair anyway. Where do
+you come from--Brooklyn?"
+
+"No, Lakeview."
+
+"Never heard of it. Must be some country village. You look like a
+hayseed."
+
+As Dick Lenning spoke he gazed around to see if Mr. Grice had gone. Then
+he added in a whisper:
+
+"You have to set up the drinks for the crowd before you can work here,
+see?"
+
+"Drinks," repeated our hero.
+
+"Sure; all the new hands do that."
+
+"I--I rather think I won't."
+
+"You are too mean."
+
+"It's not that; I don't drink."
+
+"You are a country jay, and no mistake."
+
+Dick Lenning leaned forward and shoved Jerry with his elbow, at the same
+time putting one foot behind the youth. He wanted to trip our hero up, but
+Jerry was on guard, and, resisting him, the young oarsman caused him to
+slip down against a bench upon which rested a pot of book-binders' glue.
+
+The glue tipped over and part of it went down Lenning's leg, causing him
+to yell like a wild Indian.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXIX.
+
+MR. WAKEFIELD SMITH AGAIN.
+
+
+"I'll hammer you for that!"
+
+"What did he do, Dick?"
+
+"Knocked the glue over me. You country jay, you!" howled Dick Lenning,
+and, leaping up, he bore down on Jerry.
+
+Lenning was a good deal of a bully. He was tall and strong, and evidently
+he thought he could make our hero submit to his will easily.
+
+"Take that!" he fairly hissed, and aimed a blow at Jerry's ear. The youth
+dodged it and caught his arm.
+
+"Hold on!" Jerry ejaculated. "I don't want to fight. You will only make
+trouble."
+
+"Let go!"
+
+"Not until you promise to keep quiet."
+
+"I'll promise nothing," stormed Lenning, and began to struggle more
+excitedly than ever.
+
+But he soon wore himself out, when Jerry got behind him and clasped hands
+over his breast. The bully was about to call on his friends to assist him,
+when a cry went up.
+
+"Cheese it! Grice is coming this way."
+
+As if by magic the boys who had gathered around ran off to their work,
+leaving the bully and Jerry alone. Our hero released his opponent, and,
+turning around, Lenning glared at him vindictively.
+
+"I'll get even with you for this, see if I don't," he muttered in a hoarse
+whisper.
+
+Then he followed his friends; and Mr. Grice came up and took Jerry to
+another part of the shop.
+
+"I have changed my mind about letting you work here," he said. "I want you
+to get used to the place before I put you among those other boys."
+
+Evening found our hero a good deal worn out, not so much by the work as by
+the close confinement of the bindery. How different life in the great
+metropolis was to life in the green fields of the country!
+
+After supper Jerry determined to take a walk uptown, to get the outdoor
+exercise and also in hope of seeing something of the tramp who had taken
+the packet. He knew that looking for the tramp in the metropolis was a
+good deal like looking for a pin in a haystack, but imagined that even
+that pin could be found if one looked long and sharp enough for it.
+
+The young oarsman sauntered forth toward Broadway, and thence past the
+Forty-second Street depot and up to Central Park. It was a long walk, but
+he did not mind it; in fact, it seemed to do him good, for it rested his
+mind.
+
+The window displays interested Jerry not a little, and he took in
+everything that came along. So the time flew quickly, until, coming to a
+jeweler's window, he saw it was after ten o'clock.
+
+"I'll have to be getting back," he said to himself, and was on the point
+of returning when he saw that which surprised him greatly. A cab whirled
+past the corner upon which he was standing, and on the back seat he
+recognized Mr. Wakefield Smith.
+
+The pickpocket was alone, and ere Jerry could stop him the cab rolled down
+the side street out of hearing.
+
+Our hero did not stop long to consider what was best to do, but took to
+his heels and followed the cab as best he could.
+
+The cab gained a distance of nearly two blocks, and Jerry was almost on
+the point of giving up, when it came to a halt in front of what looked
+like a private club-house. Wakefield Smith alighted and paid the cabman,
+who went about his business without delay.
+
+"Stop there!" cried Jerry to the pickpocket, as the man mounted the steps
+of the house. But whether the man heard our hero or not, he paid no
+attention. When Jerry reached the spot he was standing on a low porch.
+
+"Did you hear me?" went on Jerry, and, to prevent Smith from entering the
+place, our hero caught him by the button of his coat.
+
+To Jerry surprise, the rascal offered no resistance. Instead, he came down
+the steps backward, and fell on his back on the sidewalk, his hat rolling
+toward the gutter.
+
+"Shay, waz you do that fer?" he hiccoughed.
+
+Jerry gazed at the pickpocket in wonder. Then the truth flashed over our
+hero. The man who had robbed him was beastly intoxicated.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXX.
+
+AN UNLOOKED FOR ADVENTURE.
+
+
+It would be hard to express Jerry's feelings when he found Mr. Wakefield
+Smith was suffering heavily from intoxication. For the moment he could do
+nothing but stare at the man as he lay helpless on the pavement.
+
+"Waz you mean, boy?" went on Smith, and he tried in vain to get up. "Waz
+you knock me down for, I demand to know?"
+
+"Do you recognize me?" said our hero sharply, as he looked the pickpocket
+squarely in the face.
+
+"No--don't know you from Adam, 'pon my word."
+
+"I am Jerry Upton, the boy you robbed the other night."
+
+At the words Smith straightened up for a moment and a look of alarm
+crossed his face.
+
+"Jerry Upton," he repeated, slowly.
+
+"Yes. What have you done with my money?"
+
+"Ain't got a dollar of your money."
+
+"If you haven't, you've drank it up," Jerry ejaculated. "You ought to be
+ashamed of yourself."
+
+"Zat's all right, m'boy, all right, I assure you. Come on and have a good
+time with me."
+
+With great difficulty Wakefield Smith arose to his feet and staggered
+towards the house he had been on the point of entering. Jerry pulled him
+back and held him. As our hero did this he saw Smith drop a ten-dollar
+bill. Jerry picked it up.
+
+"You are not going in there--you are going with me."
+
+"Where to?"
+
+"To the nearest station house."
+
+The pickpocket gave a hiccough and a cry of alarm that was very much like
+a whine.
+
+"To the station house?"
+
+"Yes; come on."
+
+"Never."
+
+Smith struggled feebly to get away, but the boy held him with ease.
+Overcome, the man finally sat down on the curbstone and refused to budge.
+
+"Shay, let us compromise," he mumbled. "It was all a mistake."
+
+"It was no mistake."
+
+"If I give you ten dollars, will you call it off?"
+
+"No."
+
+"Then you don't git a cent, see?"
+
+And with great deliberation the pickpocket closed one bleared eye and
+glared at Jerry.
+
+"We'll see about that later," cried our hero, hotly, and catching the
+rascal by the collar the youth yanked him to a standing position. "Now
+come on, and no nonsense."
+
+Seeing that the youth was not to be fooled with, Wakefield Smith tried to
+dicker again, getting himself badly twisted in his plea that he would make
+everything all right. Jerry would not trust him and forced him to walk
+along until the nearest corner was reached. Here he suddenly made a clutch
+at an electric-light pole and held fast.
+
+"Help! help! help!" he cried out at the top of his lungs. "Police!"
+
+The young oarsman did not know what to make of this appeal for assistance,
+for it seemed to him that the authorities were the very people Mr.
+Wakefield Smith wished to avoid. He was destined, however to soon learn a
+trick that was brand new to him.
+
+The pickpocket had hardly uttered his cry when a bluecoat put into
+appearance and came running to the spot.
+
+"What's the trouble here?" he demanded.
+
+"Shay, officer, make that young fellow go away," hiccoughed Mr. Wakefield
+Smith.
+
+"What is he up to?"
+
+"Trying to rob me, officer; reg'lar slick Aleck."
+
+At this cool assertion Jerry was dumbfounded.
+
+"So you're trying to rob this gent, eh?" said the bluecoat, turning to our
+hero and catching his arm. "I reckon I came just in time."
+
+"It's a falsehood; he is the pickpocket," rejoined Jerry as soon as he
+could speak.
+
+"He looks like it," said the officer, sarcastically.
+
+"He didn't rob me now, he robbed several nights ago. I just ran across
+him."
+
+"He's a slick Aleck," went on Mr. Wakefield Smith. "Don't let him take my
+watch, officer!"
+
+"No fear of that. Come along with me, young man."
+
+"If I have to go I want him to go, too."
+
+At these words Mr. Wakefield Smith's face changed color.
+
+"I can't go, officer; have an important engagement at the--er--club."
+
+"He is a pickpocket and I'll prove it at the station house," said Jerry,
+warningly. "It is your duty to make him go along. I'll help you carry him
+if it's necessary."
+
+"And you'll skip out, too, if you get the chance," remarked the policeman,
+grimly.
+
+"If you think that, handcuff me to this fellow."
+
+"Do you mean that?"
+
+"I do, sir."
+
+"Hang me if I don't think you are honest, after all."
+
+"He's a big thief!" bawled Mr. Wakefield Smith.
+
+"Keep quiet and come along. They can straighten matters out at the
+precinct."
+
+The officer took Mr. Wakefield Smith by the arm and started to walk the
+prisoner away. With a dexterous twist the intoxicated man cleared himself
+and plunged down the street.
+
+The bluecoat and Jerry made after him as quickly as they could, but a
+drawing school in the neighborhood had just let out, and they were
+detained by the crowd. Mr. Wakefield Smith stumbled across the street and
+down a side thoroughfare that was very dark. The officer and our hero went
+after him, but at the end of the second block he was no longer to be
+seen.
+
+"Now you've let him escape," said Jerry to the policeman. "I have a good
+mind to report you."
+
+"Go on with you!" howled the officer in return. "I reckon it was a put up
+job all around. Clear about your business or I'll run you in for
+disorderly conduct!"
+
+And he made such a savage dash at the young oarsman with his long club
+that our hero was glad to retreat.
+
+He continued the hunt for the pickpocket alone, but without avail, and,
+much disheartened, finally returned to his boarding-house. He was afraid
+he had seen the last of Mr. Wakefield Smith, and was glad he had gotten at
+least ten dollars from the pickpocket.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXXI.
+
+NELLIE ARDELL'S TROUBLES.
+
+
+On the following morning Jerry went to work at the bindery as if nothing
+had happened. When he went in, Dick Lanning glared at our hero and stopped
+as if to speak, but changed his mind and walked off without saying a
+word.
+
+During the day the young oarsman became much better acquainted with his
+work and began to like it.
+
+That night, on leaving the bindery by the side entrance, which opened on a
+narrow lane, our hero saw Dick Lanning and several of his friends waiting
+for him.
+
+He attempted to pass but Lenning put out his foot, and had Jerry not
+stopped he would have been tripped up.
+
+"Let me pass," said he, sharply, but instead of complying, Lenning took a
+stand in front of him and hit the youth on the shoulder.
+
+"I said I'd git square," he hissed, savagely. "If yer ain't afraid, stand
+up and fight."
+
+"I'm not afraid," replied Jerry, and pushed him up against the wall.
+
+Without delay a rough-and-tumble fight ensued.
+
+"Give it to him, Dick!"
+
+"Do the hayseed up!"
+
+"Knock him into the middle of next week!"
+
+These and a dozen other cries arose on the air, and the crowd kept
+increasing until fully a hundred spectators surrounded the pair.
+
+Dick Lanning had caught Jerry unfairly, but the youth soon managed to
+shake him off, and, hauling back, gave him a clean blow on the end of his
+unusually long nose, which caused the blood to spurt from that organ in a
+stream.
+
+"He's tapped Dick's nose!"
+
+"My! wasn't that a blow, though!"
+
+"The country lad is game!"
+
+Wild with rage, Dick Lanning endeavored to close in again. Jerry stopped
+the movement this time by a blow on the chest which sent him staggering
+back several feet into the crowd.
+
+"What's the matter, Dick?"
+
+"Don't let him use you like that."
+
+"I'll fix him!" howled the bully, and rushed at our hero a third time.
+
+Again he hit Jerry, this time in the chin. But our hero's blood was now
+up, and, calculating well, he struck a square blow in the left eye that
+knocked the bully flat.
+
+"Dick is knocked out!"
+
+"That country jay is a corker!"
+
+"Git up, Dick. Yer eye is turnin' all black!"
+
+"Better let him go, he's too much for you!"
+
+Dick Lanning was slow in coming to the front. The eye was not only black,
+but it was closing rapidly.
+
+"He's got a stone in his fist--he don't fight fair," he growled to his
+friends.
+
+"I have nothing in my fist," retorted Jerry. "If he wants anymore, I fancy
+I can accommodate him, although I don't care to fight."
+
+Dick Lanning was uneasy. He glanced toward his friends and passed a signal
+to one of his cronies.
+
+"Police! skip!" cried the crony. "Come on, Dick, you don't want to git
+caught!"
+
+And he dragged Dick Lanning away, while the crowd scattered like magic. No
+policeman was in sight, nor did any appear. It was only a ruse to retire
+without acknowledging defeat.
+
+But that fight taught Dick Lanning a severe lesson. He still remained down
+upon the young oarsman, but in the future he fought shy of our hero,
+knowing that Jerry would not stand his bullying manner.
+
+On Saturday the shop closed down early, and, having nothing else to do,
+Jerry walked down to the newspaper office in hope of receiving some answer
+to the advertisement for the missing papers.
+
+But no answer was forthcoming and, disappointed, he retraced his steps and
+sauntered in the direction in which Nellie Ardell and her little brother
+Tommy lived.
+
+"I'll call on them and see how she made out about her rent," he said to
+himself, and mounted the stairs to her apartment.
+
+There was a murmur of voices in the kitchen. The door was partly open and
+Jerry saw the girl and her little brother standing there, confronted by a
+burly man.
+
+"That rent has got to be paid, that's all there is to it," the man was
+saying.
+
+"I cannot pay to-day," replied Nellie Ardell. "I will try to pay Monday."
+
+"It won't do. I've given you notice, and if you can't pay, you have got to
+leave."
+
+At this the girl burst into tears.
+
+"Would you put me on the street?" she wailed.
+
+"I'll have to--it's orders," replied the burly man doggedly.
+
+"Whose order?"
+
+"Mr. Slocum."
+
+"Mr. Slocum is a very hard-hearted man," cried the girl, indignantly.
+
+"That's so," Jerry put in as he entered.
+
+"Oh, Jerry Upton!" Nellie Ardell cried, when she saw our hero. "This man
+wants to put me out of my rooms."
+
+"It's a shame."
+
+"Who are you?" demanded the burly man. "Do you live here?"
+
+"No. I am this young lady's friend, however. Did Mr. Slocum say to put her
+out?"
+
+"Yes."
+
+"What shall I do if they put me on the street?" wailed Nellie Ardell.
+
+"I'm sure I don't know. But Slocum sha'n't put you on the street if I can
+help it," went on Jerry, suddenly.
+
+"What will you do?"
+
+"How much do you owe him?"
+
+"Twelve dollars. I have four, but he won't take it. He wants the entire
+amount."
+
+"I will let you have ten dollars," said our hero, and brought out the bill
+Wakefield Smith had dropped.
+
+"Oh, won't that be robbing you?" cried Nellie Ardell, but her eyes
+glistened with pleasure.
+
+"Never mind; take it and pay this man off."
+
+Nellie Ardell accepted the amount without further words.
+
+"Now," she said, as she paid the man, "I am going to move."
+
+"Move! What for?"
+
+"I can get better rooms for less money just across the way."
+
+The burly man's face fell. He was Alexander Slocum's agent, and he knew
+that to get tenants for the rooms Nellie Ardell occupied would be
+difficult.
+
+"It ain't right to move now--in the middle of the summer."
+
+"You intended to put me out--if I couldn't pay the rent."
+
+"That is different."
+
+"I have paid up promptly for many months. Mr. Slocum could have been a bit
+easier for once."
+
+"He is more than mean," put in Jerry. "I would advise you to move by all
+means."
+
+"You seem to know a great deal about him," sneered the agent.
+
+"I do--and I'll know more some day."
+
+The agent began to growl, but, seeing he could do nothing, he went off to
+inform Alexander Slocum that Nellie Ardell intended to move.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXXII.
+
+A CRAZY MAN'S DOINGS.
+
+
+"You are more than kind to me, Jerry Upton," exclaimed Nellie Ardell, when
+they and her little brother were left alone.
+
+"I didn't want to see you thrown out of your home," said Jerry, soberly.
+
+"I shall pay you back that money as soon as I possibly can," she went on.
+"I expect to get about twenty dollars for sewing next week. One of the
+ladies I work for is out of town, but is coming back on Wednesday."
+
+"All right--take your time. When will you move? Maybe I can help carry
+some things for you."
+
+"I've a good mind to move this afternoon. Those other rooms are all
+ready."
+
+"Then do it, and I'll pitch right in," and in fun the young oarsman picked
+up several chairs.
+
+"I will. Will you be kind enough to stay with Tommy a few minutes?"
+
+"Certainly."
+
+Nellie Ardell went off at once, and was back in ten minutes. When she
+returned she had rented three small rooms for less money than she now
+paid.
+
+She had not many articles of furniture and it did not seem the least bit
+like working to our hero to assist her in transferring them across the
+way. The two worked together, and as they labored they talked, Jerry
+telling her a good deal about his mission to New York and the girl
+relating her own experiences in keeping the wolf from the door.
+
+"We were not always poor," said Nellie Ardell. "When father was alive we
+lived in our own home in Brooklyn. But he grew interested in a Western
+land scheme and it took all of his money."
+
+"That was our trouble. I came to New York to see what I could do toward
+making Alexander Slocum give an accounting of the money he put in a
+California land scheme for my uncle."
+
+"Why, my father was in Slocum's land scheme!" she ejaculated.
+
+"Perhaps it was the same. This land scheme I speak of was called the Judge
+Martin--why, I don't know."
+
+"It is the same. It was so called because the land once belonged to a
+Judge Martin of Colorado."
+
+Of course, Jerry was deeply interested, and, the moving finished, he and
+she sat down to talk the matter over.
+
+From what our hero learned of Nellie Ardell he came to the conclusion that
+Alexander Slocum was every inch the villain he had taken him to be.
+
+The real estate dealer had hoodwinked the girl completely, and she had
+surrendered to him all the documents her parent had left behind at the
+time of his death.
+
+"It's too bad," said Jerry. "We must work together against him. But
+nothing can be done until my missing papers are recovered."
+
+Before he left, another matter was discussed and settled. In her new
+quarters Nellie Ardell had a small room she did not really need, and she
+offered to board Jerry at three dollars and a half a week. As this would
+be an acceptable saving just at present, our hero accepted the offer and
+agreed to make the change on the following Monday.
+
+Sunday passed quietly. Jerry spent part of the day in writing a long
+letter home, telling the folks just how matters stood and urging them not
+to worry, as he felt certain all would come out right in the end, and that
+he was quite content to remain in New York and support himself until he
+had settled matters with Alexander Slocum. The letter was finished late in
+the afternoon, and after taking supper he went out to post it.
+
+The novelty of life in the city had not yet passed, and, the letter put
+into a corner box, the young oarsman sauntered on and on, taking in the
+many strange sights.
+
+He had gone a distance of half a dozen blocks when he came to a church.
+The doors were wide open, and as the congregation were singing, he stopped
+to listen to the music.
+
+When the music stopped, our hero passed on down the street, which seemed
+to grow poorer as he advanced. The new houses gave place to those that
+were very old, and on all sides Jerry could see the effects of grinding
+poverty.
+
+"It's a great city," he thought. "And it is true that one half doesn't
+know how the other half lives."
+
+"Please, mister, will you give me five cents?"
+
+Jerry stopped in his walk and looked down to see who had addressed him. It
+was a little girl, and she was crying bitterly.
+
+"Five cents?" he repeated.
+
+"Yes, mister; please don't say no. I've asked so many for the money
+already and they won't give me a cent."
+
+"What are you going to do with five cents?"
+
+"I've got to bring it home to daddy."
+
+"To daddy--you mean your father?"
+
+"He's a sort of a father, but he's not my real papa," sobbed the little
+girl. "He took me when papa died."
+
+"What does your--your daddy want with the five cents?"
+
+At this question the little girl's face flushed.
+
+"I--I daren't tell you--daddy would whip me," she whimpered.
+
+"Does he drink?"
+
+"I daren't tell you."
+
+"Does he send you out very often to beg?"
+
+"He sends me out when he's--when he's--but I daren't tell you. He would
+whip me most to death."
+
+"Where do you live?"
+
+"Over there."
+
+And the little girl pointed to a long row of rear tenements, the very
+worst-looking in the neighborhood.
+
+"And what is daddy's name?"
+
+"His real name is James MacHenry, but the folks around here all call him
+Crazy Jim," she answered.
+
+Jerry started back in surprise. Crazy Jim was the tramp who had been seen
+walking off with his packet of documents!
+
+"So you live with Crazy Jim?" said our hero, to the little girl, slowly.
+
+"Yes, sir."
+
+"How long have you lived with him?"
+
+"Oh, a long while, sir."
+
+"Take me to him."
+
+At this request she drew back in horror.
+
+"Oh, I can't do that, indeed I can't," she faltered.
+
+"Why not?"
+
+"I took a man to him once--a charity officer--and daddy--whip--whipped me
+for it."
+
+"Then show me where he lives," went on Jerry after a pause. "You needn't
+let him see you. I must have a talk with him. Perhaps I'll give him some
+money."
+
+The little girl still hesitated, but finally led the way up the street
+into a horrible-looking alley and pointed to a dingy tenement-house.
+
+"Daddy is up there on the top floor in the back."
+
+"And is that where you live?" asked Jerry, with a shudder he could not
+repress.
+
+"Yes, of course."
+
+"It's not a nice place."
+
+"Oh, no," and something like a tear glistened in the girl's eye.
+
+"Here is ten cents for you," added Jerry. "You had better keep it for
+yourself. Are you hungry?"
+
+"A little. I only had some bread to-day for dinner and supper."
+
+"Then go down to the restaurant on the corner and get something to eat for
+the money. You need it."
+
+The little girl ran off to do as bidden, and our hero entered the
+dilapidated tenement. Four dirty men and women sat on the stoop smoking
+and drinking from a tin pail.
+
+"Who are ye lookin' fer?" asked one of the men, roughly.
+
+"Crazy Jim," answered Jerry, briefly, and brushed past him.
+
+The hallway was dark, and it was with difficulty that the young oarsman
+found the rickety stairs, every step of which creaked as he trod upon it.
+
+Arriving at the top floor, the youth noticed a shaft of light streaming
+from beneath a door in the rear. He knocked loudly.
+
+There was a movement within, the door was flung back, and Jerry found
+himself confronted by a tall, round-shouldered individual, with long,
+unkempt hair and a wild look in his small black eyes.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXXIII.
+
+THE LITTLE NOBODY.
+
+
+"Well!" demanded the man laconically.
+
+"Is this James MacHenry?"
+
+"That's me, boy."
+
+"I would like to see you on business," Jerry went on, as he brushed past
+and entered one of the barest living apartments he had ever seen.
+
+"On business?"
+
+"Yes, a few days ago you picked up a packet downtown belonging to me--a
+packet containing some documents and letters."
+
+"Who said they belonged to you?"
+
+"I say so. My name is Jerry Upton, and I dropped the packet in the
+alleyway where you found it."
+
+The man stared at our hero.
+
+"Say, is this a game?" he demanded, harshly.
+
+"What do you mean?"
+
+"Are you trying to get me into trouble?"
+
+"No, I am trying to keep you out of trouble," replied the young oarsman,
+warmly.
+
+"You say that packet belonged to you?"
+
+"Yes."
+
+"It didn't have your name on it."
+
+"No, it--" Our hero stopped short. "It had Alexander Slocum's name on it!"
+he burst out.
+
+"Exactly."
+
+"You don't mean to say you delivered that packet to him?" gasped the
+youth.
+
+"I did--not an hour ago."
+
+Jerry fell back into a chair and breathed heavily. The packet was
+gone--into the hands of the enemy!
+
+"The man said it was his package," said Crazy Jim. "He gave me a reward of
+five dollars for returning it to him."
+
+"It was mine. He wanted to steal it--and now he's done it," cried Jerry.
+"You let him have it but an hour ago?"
+
+"Yes."
+
+"Where did he go?"
+
+"I don't know."
+
+"Did you open the packet?"
+
+"Yes, but I couldn't make nothing out of it--'cos I ain't eddicated. I
+read his name on it and got another fellow to write a postal card
+yesterday afternoon. He came here, examined the papers, and seemed much
+pleased."
+
+"No doubt he was pleased," groaned the young oarsman.
+
+"Was the thing worth much?"
+
+"It was worth a good deal. I would have given five dollars to get it
+back."
+
+"What does he want with it?"
+
+"Wants to do my father out of some property," answered our hero. "By the
+way, who is that little girl who lives with you?"
+
+At this question Crazy Jim's face darkened.
+
+"That ain't none of your business," he growled.
+
+"You shouldn't send her out on the street to beg."
+
+"Wot! has she been blabbin' again? I'll break every bone in her body!" and
+off the man started out of the room and down the narrow stairs.
+
+Jerry had noticed that his breath smelt strongly of liquor. He was not
+only a drinking man, but also one who was not quite right in his head.
+
+"Don't hurt her, you brute!" called out the boy, and followed him out of
+the alleyway into the street. At the nearest corner stood the little girl,
+and Crazy Jim rushed up to her fiercely.
+
+"You good-fer-nothin'!" he bawled. "I'll teach ye a lesson! Didn't I tell
+ye ter keep yer clapper still about me? Take that! and that!"
+
+He raised his heavy hand and struck her a cruel blow on the side of the
+head. She staggered back, and he was about to repeat his unjust action,
+when Jerry thought it about time to interfere. Catching him by the arm,
+our hero hurled him backward with such force that he fell flat in the
+gutter.
+
+At once a shout went up from those who saw Jerry's action.
+
+"What are yer doin'?"
+
+"Who is that boy?"
+
+With a fearful exclamation, Crazy Jim arose to his feet.
+
+"I'll fix ye fer that!" he hissed, and sprang forward. "You ain't got no
+right ter interfere between me an' the gal."
+
+"You are a brute!" burst out our hero. "This little girl has done nothing
+to deserve such punishment."
+
+"Who set you over me?" howled the infuriated man. "I'll fix ye!"
+
+He tried his best to hit Jerry with his fist, but the young oarsman dodged
+him and took a stand in front of the little girl.
+
+"You had better run away," Jerry whispered to her. "He is in a terrible
+mood just now."
+
+"Where shall I go?" whimpered the girl.
+
+"Anywhere. Up two blocks. I will join you soon."
+
+Without delay the little girl ran off. Crazy Jim tried to follow her, but
+Jerry headed him off.
+
+Seeing he could do nothing with his hands, the savage man looked around
+for some weapon. A heavy stone was lying handy, and he picked it up. The
+next moment it was launched at our hero's head.
+
+Luckily, Jerry was quick at dodging, or he might have been seriously
+wounded. The missile went sailing over the lad's head and flew with a
+crash through the front window of a neighboring store.
+
+The smashing of the pane of glass was followed by a shout of alarm from
+the storekeeper, who sat in a chair on the pavement.
+
+"Here, vot's dot?" he yelled. "Vot you means py preaking mine vinder, hey,
+you Crazy Gim? I vos got you locked up. Ain't it? Bolice! bolice!"
+
+The German storekeeper continued to yell so loudly that it was not long
+before an officer appeared. Seeing this, Jerry backed out of the crowd and
+hurried off. He saw the policeman catch Crazy Jim by the arm, and a wordy
+war followed. A minute later the fellow was being marched off to the
+station-house. No doubt the policeman would have liked it had he found
+Jerry, but our hero kept at a safe distance.
+
+It was now quite dark, and it was with some difficulty that Jerry again
+found the little girl. She stood by a hitching post, sobbing bitterly.
+
+"Where is he?" she asked, choking back her sobs.
+
+"The policeman took him off. Don't cry any more," Jerry added,
+soothingly.
+
+"But where shall I go?" she asked. "I can't go back."
+
+"Have you no friends?"
+
+"No. Crazy Jim and I came to New York alone when papa died."
+
+"Where did you come from?"
+
+The little girl shook her head at this. She had been too young to
+remember.
+
+"What is your name?"
+
+"Dottie."
+
+"Dottie what?"
+
+"Nothing, only Dottie."
+
+Jerry was in a quandary. To a certain degree he felt responsible for her
+present forlorn condition. Suddenly an idea struck him.
+
+"If you will come with me, I'll see to it that you have a good bed
+to-night, and breakfast in the morning," he said. "And after that I'll see
+what I can do for you, Dottie."
+
+"Who are you?"
+
+"My name is Jerry Upton."
+
+"You look like a nice boy and I'll go with you," and she placed her hand
+confidently in that of the young oarsman.
+
+Jerry took the little one to Nellie Ardell's apartments. Of course she was
+much surprised, and, sitting down, our hero had to explain everything as
+far as he was able. Nellie Ardell agreed instantly to take the little girl
+in.
+
+"You can stay here until we can do something for you," she said. "I know
+how it would feel to have little Tommy on the streets homeless."
+
+And soon after that Dottie was put to bed, very well content. Her hard
+life with Crazy Jim had made her used to ups and downs that no ordinary
+little girl could have endured.
+
+The reader can well imagine that Jerry did not sleep much that night. He
+could not forget that Alexander Slocum had the precious packet of papers.
+Bitterly he regretted not having taken better care of the documents.
+
+"I will call on Slocum, and come to some sort of an understanding," Jerry
+said to himself. "Perhaps when I tell him that both Nellie Ardell and
+myself are ready to proceed against him he will be willing to come to
+terms."
+
+The next day was a busy one at the book-bindery, and our hero got no
+chance to call on Slocum. During that time he learned that Crazy Jim had
+been locked up for resisting the officer and had been sentenced to thirty
+days on Blackwell's Island.
+
+The young oarsman did not know what to do about little Dottie, but Nellie
+Ardell solved this question.
+
+"I have received a whole lot of new work," she said. "So for the present
+we can keep her to mind Tommy while I am dressmaking."
+
+So the little girl stayed on. Jerry never dreamed of how much she had to
+do with his future life.
+
+On Thursday Mr. Islin's brother died and the bindery was closed for
+several days. Jerry took the opportunity to walk down to Alexander
+Slocum's offices.
+
+The real estate man was alone, and greeted our hero with a sinister
+smile.
+
+"So you have seen fit to call again, young man," were his first words.
+
+"Mr. Slocum, let us come to business," Jerry replied firmly. "What are you
+going to do about my father's claim?"
+
+Alexander Slocum laughed harshly.
+
+"Your father's claim?" he repeated. "I don't recognize the fact that your
+father has any claim against me."
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXXIV.
+
+ALEXANDER SLOCUM SHOWS HIS HAND.
+
+
+Alexander Slocum's statement was no more than Jerry had expected, so he
+was not taken back by the words. He looked the man steadily in the eyes.
+
+"So that is the position you are going to take now--since you received my
+packet from James MacHenry," said Jerry, deliberately.
+
+Slocum started and winced, and the young oarsman saw that Crazy Jim had
+spoken the truth.
+
+"I haven't anything belonging to you, Upton."
+
+"It is useless for you to deny it, Mr. Slocum. He found the packet and
+delivered it to you for a reward of five dollars."
+
+"The packet he delivered to me was my own. It contained some legal
+documents belonging to this office."
+
+"You may make others believe that, Mr. Slocum, but--"
+
+"But what, boy? Remember, I want none of your insolence here. I will
+listen to you, but you mustn't grow impertinent."
+
+"I'm only speaking the truth. You virtually robbed me, just as you robbed
+my father and Mr. Bryant Ardell."
+
+"Ha!" Slocum leaped to his feet. "Who--where did you hear of Bryant
+Ardell?" he asked, excitedly.
+
+"I have met Nellie Ardell several times--in fact, I am boarding with
+her."
+
+"Did she set you to hounding me?"
+
+"No; we met by accident after I had come to New York almost on purpose to
+see you."
+
+"She is an impudent young woman."
+
+"She told me that you had her land papers, just as you now have mine."
+
+"It's a falsehood!"
+
+"If both of us go to court with our story, we may prove that it is not a
+falsehood."
+
+"Ha! are you going to combine to ruin my reputation?" cried the real
+estate dealer, growing pale.
+
+"We are going to try to obtain our rights."
+
+"You'll gain nothing. I'll--I'll have you locked up on a charge of
+black-mail!" Alexander Slocum began to pace his office nervously. "See
+here, Upton how much do you want to go off and leave me alone?" he
+questioned, suddenly.
+
+"I want what is due my father."
+
+"You'll not get it!" he whispered, hoarsely, throwing his mask aside. "Do
+you think I have plotted and worked all these years for nothing? Not much!
+All that property is mine, do you hear? Nobody else shall ever own a foot
+of it. Now, I'll tell you what I am willing to do. I'll give you a hundred
+dollars in cash and we'll call it square. Mind you, I don't admit your
+claim. I only want to avoid trouble."
+
+Jerry looked at the man and drew a long breath. He could see through
+Slocum's words as clearly as he could see through the window. His father's
+claim was worth a fortune!
+
+"Come, what do you say?" demanded Slocum as Jerry did not answer him.
+
+"I say this, Mr. Slocum," rejoined our hero. "I won't accept your
+proposition, and before I am done with you I'll have our rights and you'll
+be in state's prison."
+
+With a snarl very much like that made by a fretful tiger, the man leaped
+toward the boy as if to grab him by the throat.
+
+"You fool! I'll make you come to terms!"
+
+His hand touched Jerry's collar, but the young oarsman evaded him and
+placed the flat-top desk between them. When the man ran around the desk,
+Jerry picked up a heavy brass-bound ruler.
+
+"Stop, or I'll crack you with this!" cried our hero, and, seeing the
+weapon, Slocum halted.
+
+"Don't be a fool, boy!"
+
+"I don't intend to be."
+
+"You can do nothing against me."
+
+"That remains to be seen."
+
+"Who will take your word against mine? Nobody. You are a mere country lad,
+while I am a well-known New York citizen."
+
+"Mr. Ardell was also well known in his day."
+
+Again Alexander Slocum's face grew pale.
+
+"Nellie Ardell has no doubt urged you to attack me," he growled. "I must
+see her. Why didn't she come with you?"
+
+"She is busy."
+
+"I will explain matters to her in detail. Really, the claim is not worth
+anything, but I wish to avoid trouble, and--"
+
+"You might as well stop, Mr. Slocum, for it's too late to say that now. I
+am positive our claims are of great value. Since you won't do the right
+thing, I shall advise my father to bring action in court to compel you to
+come to terms."
+
+While speaking, Jerry had walked to the door, and now placed his hand on
+the knob.
+
+"Stop! stop!"
+
+"No, I have had enough for the present."
+
+"You villain!"
+
+Slocum ran toward Jerry, who opened the door to step out, but found the
+way blockaded by Casey, his book-keeper.
+
+"Here, what's up?" cried the man, in wonder.
+
+"Don't let him get away, Casey!" cried Alexander Slocum. "He is going to
+make trouble, sure!"
+
+"Let me go!" burst out our hero as the book-keeper caught hold of him.
+"Let go, or I'll----"
+
+Jerry never finished that sentence. Alexander Slocum had picked up the
+ruler the youth had dropped, and leaped to the front. Down came the weapon
+on the young oarsman's head; he felt a sharp stinging pain--and then he
+knew no more.
+
+When Jerry came to his senses all was dark around him. He was lying on a
+damp, cement floor, evidently that of a cellar.
+
+His head ached greatly, and for several minutes he could not remember what
+had happened.
+
+Then came back that scene in Slocum's office. He staggered to his feet.
+
+Where was he and how long had he been there?
+
+The first question was readily answered. Stepping forward, Jerry stumbled
+over some loose coal. He was in a coal-cellar. Around and above were brick
+walls. The door was of sheet-iron, and it was tightly closed and barred.
+How had he come to that place? Probably his enemies had carried him
+hither, although how they could do it without being seen was a question.
+
+As soon as our hero felt strong enough he looked about for some means of
+escaping from his prison. With great care he examined the walls and tried
+the door.
+
+Finding no outlet on any side, he turned his attention to the pavements
+above. From one spot there came a faint glimmer of light, in a circle, and
+he rightfully guessed that the coal-hole was located there.
+
+How to reach the hole was a problem. It was several feet above our hero's
+head, and there was nothing in the coal-vault to stand upon.
+
+Jerry considered the situation for a minute, and then, standing directly
+under the cover of the hole, leaped upward, sending his hand over his head
+as he did so.
+
+The cover was loose, and the force of the blow caused it to fly upward.
+Another blow and it fell away entirely, and in a second more the young
+oarsman was clambering out of the opening.
+
+It was drawing towards evening, and the street was full of people, some of
+which eyed the boy curiously. Restoring the cover to its place, he left
+the spot.
+
+The question now was, should he return to Slocum's office or seek outside
+assistance? He decided upon the latter course. To attempt to bring the
+rascally real estate agent to terms alone would be foolhardy.
+
+Jerry's head ached so much he could think only with difficulty, and he
+decided to return to Nellie Ardell's apartments. It was a hard walk, and
+he was glad when the place was reached and he could sit down.
+
+"What's the matter--are you hurt?" cried the young woman.
+
+"I was knocked out," replied the youth, with a sorry little laugh. "I've
+got a pretty big lump on the top of my head."
+
+Sitting down, he told his story, to which Nellie Ardell listened with
+breathless attention.
+
+"The wicked man! He should be locked up!" she burst out, when Jerry had
+finished. "It's a wonder he didn't kill you."
+
+"That's true. As it was, the blow was awfully hard."
+
+"What will you do now?"
+
+"I really don't know."
+
+"Won't that Mr. Islen whom you work for, help you?"
+
+"Perhaps he will," returned the youth, struck with the idea. "The trouble
+is his brother is dead, and that has upset him."
+
+"One thing is certain, Jerry, the property is valuable."
+
+"Yes, and another thing is certain," added our hero. "We want our shares
+of it."
+
+"It would be a great help to me to get some money out of it," said Nellie
+Ardell, with a sigh. "This sewing constantly day in and day out is wearing
+on me."
+
+The two talked for over an hour, and then Jerry felt compelled to lie
+down. It was nearly morning before his head stopped aching and he got some
+rest.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXXV.
+
+A STRANGE DISAPPEARANCE
+
+
+On the next day the bindery was opened as usual, but Mr. Islen did not
+appear, having gone to Philadelphia. Jerry worked throughout the day,
+wondering what Alexander Slocum had thought and done after he had
+discovered the escape. Little did the young oarsman dream of what the real
+estate dealer was then doing.
+
+Our hero was proving himself to be skillful at the work assigned to him
+and the foreman often praised him.
+
+"You'll be worth a raise in wages," he said. "I never saw a boy take hold
+as you do."
+
+Jerry never delayed after the day's work was over. He washed up, put on
+his coat, and hurried forth to his boarding place.
+
+When Jerry reached the house he found little Dottie on the stoop, with
+Tommy in her arms. Tommy was crying for something to eat, and the little
+girl was having her hands full with him.
+
+"Where is Miss Nellie?" asked our hero in surprise.
+
+"I don't know," returned the girl. "She sent me out with Tommy after
+dinner, and when I tried to get in after a while the door was locked and
+she was gone."
+
+"And you have been sitting here ever since?"
+
+"Yes."
+
+"Come up. I'll open the door."
+
+Jerry led the way, and with a night key opened the door to the kitchen.
+
+A cry of surprise burst from his lips. Everywhere were the signs of a
+desperate struggle. Two of the chairs were overturned, the table-cloth
+hung half off the table, and Nellie Ardell's sewing was strewn in all
+directions.
+
+"This is Slocum's work!"
+
+Those were the words which arose to the youth's lips as he surveyed the
+situation in the kitchen.
+
+Alexander Slocum had tried to get him out of the way, and now he had tried
+the same plan upon Nellie Ardell.
+
+There had been a fierce struggle, of that there was not the slightest
+doubt.
+
+But the girl had been overpowered in the end and taken off.
+
+To where?
+
+That was the all important question.
+
+While our hero was gazing around the room, little Tommy was crying at the
+top of his lungs.
+
+To quiet him, Jerry gave him his bowl of bread and milk, and also gave
+Dottie her supper.
+
+Then Jerry began a minute examination of the rooms.
+
+There was mud on the oil-cloth--the tracks of four boots.
+
+"Slocum and Casey, his book-keeper," he said to himself.
+
+Going below he interviewed Mrs. Flannigan, a good-natured Irish woman who
+lived on the nest floor.
+
+"Did you see Miss Ardell this afternoon?"
+
+"Sure, an' Oi did not Oi was out," she replied.
+
+He next tried the janitress, who lived in the basement. She was a peppery
+old woman who seldom had a pleasant word for anybody.
+
+"Did I see her? Yes, she went out with two men about two hours ago," she
+said.
+
+"What sort of looking men?"
+
+"I can't say--I'm not taking notice of everybody who comes and goes."
+
+"But this is important, Mrs. Foley. I am afraid something has happened to
+Miss Ardell."
+
+"They were tall men, and I guess both had big black mustaches and
+beards."
+
+"Where did she go with them?"
+
+"Into a carriage. All of 'em seemed to be in a big hurry."
+
+"Which way did the carriage go?"
+
+"Down towards the Brooklyn ferry."
+
+In a thoughtful mood, the young oarsman walked back upstairs. He met Mrs.
+Flannigan outside of the door.
+
+"What's wrong, Mr. Upton?"
+
+"That is what I am trying to find out. Miss Ardell is missing. If I go
+out, will you look after the children?"
+
+"Sure, Oi will, bless the dears," she said. Her heart was as large as her
+ruddy, full-blown face.
+
+Without waiting longer, Jerry ran down into the street and endeavored to
+trace the carriage down to the ferry. In this he was successful, and
+learned that the turnout containing two men and a young lady, who appeared
+to be ill, had crossed to Brooklyn.
+
+By this time night had set in, and all efforts to follow the carriage
+proved unsuccessful. Yet unwilling to give up, Jerry spent over two hours
+in Brooklyn, hunting in every direction for a clew.
+
+Our hero had never been across the East River before, and in hunting
+around it was but natural that he should get lost. At the end of the
+search he found himself a good distance from the river, in a neighborhood
+that looked anything but respectable.
+
+"It's time I got back," thought the youth, and started to make inquiries.
+
+"You're a dozen blocks out of your way," said a man. "Go down that way
+three blocks, and turn to your left."
+
+As Jerry walked along a somewhat gloomy street, he noticed three men
+walking ahead of him. One was a tall, finely built man, wearing a large
+round hat, of the western type.
+
+The other men were short fellows, each with a red mustache. They carried
+heavy canes and walked on either side of the tall individual.
+
+"Aren't we almost there?" Jerry heard the tall man ask, as he drew closer
+to the trio.
+
+"Yes, it ain't but a step further," was the reply from one of the short
+men.
+
+"You are certain this Crazy Jim is the man I am after?"
+
+"Oh, yes."
+
+The mentioning of Crazy Jim's name interested Jerry. Crazy Jim was still
+up on Blackwell's Island. It was possible, however, that they referred to
+some other individual.
+
+To hear what further they might have to say the young oarsman kept close
+to the party.
+
+"It's been a long hunt for me, gentlemen," said the tall man, and by his
+speech Jerry felt sure he was a westerner. "But if I am on the right
+trail, things will soon come out right."
+
+"What do you want to find Crazy Jim for?" asked one of the short men.
+
+"I'm not saying any thing about that just now," was the cool response.
+
+"Oh, excuse me, of course not." The short fellow looked around, but failed
+to catch sight of our hero. "Jack, how about a smoke?" he said to the
+other short fellow.
+
+"Strike a light," was the answer.
+
+The words were evidently a secret signal, for hardly were they spoken when
+one of the short men caught the westerner from behind and held his arms.
+
+"Here, what's the meaning of this?" cried the man, in alarm.
+
+"Keep still, old man, and we won't hurt you. Raise a row and you'll get
+knocked out. Quick, Pete, with his diamond pin and that roll of bills in
+his left pocket!"
+
+At this command the man in front rushed in and caught hold of the man's
+pin. Out it came in his hand, a beautiful affair, worth at least a hundred
+dollars.
+
+"Stop! stop!" yelled the westerner. "Police! police!"
+
+"Shut up!" hissed the man who held him. "Pete, crack him over the head. We
+can't afford to take any chances here."
+
+Thus ordered, the man who held the diamond pin slipped it into his pocket.
+Then he raised his heavy cane and started to do as bidden when Jerry
+rushed at him.
+
+"Stop! Don't hit that man!"
+
+The rascal was surprised.
+
+"Who are you? Oh, it's only a boy. Clear out of here!"
+
+"I won't! You let that man alone."
+
+"Don't leave me," pleaded the victim. "They want to rob me. He has my
+diamond pin!"
+
+"Shut up!" howled the man in the rear. "Crack him, Pete, and crack the
+boy, too."
+
+Once more the heavy cane was raised. Our hero caught it in the center, and
+by a dexterous twist wrenched it from the rascal's hand.
+
+With a howl of baffled rage the rascal turned and caught Jerry by the
+throat.
+
+"Give me that stick, boy, or I'll choke the life out of you!" he hissed
+into the youth's ear.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXXVI.
+
+JERRY HEARS AN ASTONISHING STATEMENT.
+
+
+When the footpad, for the fellow was nothing less, attacked Jerry, our
+hero felt that he had a tough struggle before him.
+
+The rascal's grasp on the young oarsman's throat was light, however, and
+Jerry quickly shook it off.
+
+In the meantime the westerner began to struggle and shout at the top of
+his voice:
+
+"Help! Police! police!"
+
+In vain the fellow who held him tried to stop his cries. They grew louder,
+and soon footsteps were heard approaching.
+
+Jerry received a savage blow on the chest and struck out in return,
+hitting the footpad in the chin. Then the two clinched, and both rolled to
+the pavement.
+
+Jerry's assailant was a strong man and he was slowly but surely getting
+the best of the youth when three men put in an appearance. They were
+heavy-set individuals and were followed by a policeman.
+
+"What's up here?"
+
+"Don't kill that boy!"
+
+"He is a thief!" cried Jerry. "He has that man's diamond pin."
+
+"That's right," put in the westerner, who had managed to turn and catch
+hold of his assailant. "This fellow is his mate. They just tackled me when
+the boy came to my help."
+
+"It is a falsehood," roared the footpad who had attacked our hero.
+
+Saying this, he arose and tried to sneak away. But Jerry tripped him up,
+sending him headlong, and before he could rise the policeman had him
+handcuffed.
+
+While this was going on the westerner and two of the new arrivals managed
+to make a prisoner of the other footpad. He used some terrible language,
+but this did not avail him.
+
+"I know them," said the policeman, after the capture was effected. "They
+are Hungry Pete and Jack the Slick. They are wanted for a burglary at
+Sheepshead Bay. How did you happen to fall in with them?"
+
+"I met them up at Rumford's Hotel. They said they knew a man I was looking
+for."
+
+"Will you come along and make a charge against them?"
+
+"Certainly. He has my diamond pin."
+
+The pin was brought to light and handed over to its owner, and then our
+hero was asked to go along.
+
+Anxious to know what the westerner might want of Crazy Jim, Jerry agreed,
+and a minute later found the whole crowd bound for the nearest
+station-house.
+
+Here the westerner gave his name as Colonel Albert Dartwell. He said he
+was from Denver and had come east on private business.
+
+"I have been sick for two months," he said. "I am still weak. That is the
+reason I did not put up a better fight when those two men tackled me."
+
+Jerry told his story, and the upshot of the matter was that the two
+footpads were held for another hearing before the judge in the morning.
+
+"My boy, I owe you something for your services to me," said the westerner,
+as he and our hero came out on the street. "You did well for a boy."
+
+"I did the best I could," replied the young oarsman "But I want to ask you
+a question. I heard you mention Crazy Jim. What do you want to see him
+for?"
+
+A look of pain crossed Colonel Dartwell's face at my words.
+
+"It's a long story, Upton. I am from the West and came many miles to see
+him. Do you know the man?"
+
+"I know one fellow called Crazy Jim, sir."
+
+"His right name is James MacHenry."
+
+"That's the man."
+
+"Ah! And where can he be found?"
+
+"Most likely on Blackwell's Island."
+
+"He is in prison?"
+
+"Yes."
+
+"What for?"
+
+"For breaking the glass in a store window and creating a row."
+
+Colonel Dartwell drew a long breath.
+
+"Those footpads told me he was in a hotel in the neighborhood. You are
+sure you are right?"
+
+"Yes, sir. To be truthful, I was mixed up in the scrape that took Crazy
+Jim to prison."
+
+"Indeed. Would you mind telling me about it? You don't look like a boy
+that would do wrong."
+
+"It wasn't my fault. Crazy Jim had a packet belonging to me--a packet
+containing some valuable documents. I called for them and found he had
+given them up to an enemy of mine."
+
+"And that led to the row."
+
+"Not exactly. He is a bad man, and there was a little girl living with
+him, and he--"
+
+As Jerry spoke Colonel Dartwell grasped him by the arm.
+
+"Stop! What did you say about a little girl?" he demanded, eagerly.
+
+"I said there was a little girl living with him. He used to send her out
+to beg. He got it into his head that she had set me against him, and he
+started to beat her. I told her to run away, and then he attacked me and
+got arrested."
+
+"And what became of the little girl? Tell me, quickly!" And Colonel
+Dartwell's voice was husky as he spoke.
+
+"I met her afterward and took her to where I was boarding, and she is
+still stopping there."
+
+"Describe her to me."
+
+Seeing there was something behind the inquiry, Jerry gave him the best
+description he could. The colonel listened with fixed attention.
+
+"It must be her!" he murmured. "My poor, lost Dottie."
+
+"Dottie! That's her name!" cried our hero. "And she is--"
+
+"She is my daughter," was his answer.
+
+"Your daughter!" ejaculated Jerry, in amazement.
+
+"Yes, my daughter. Take me to her at once."
+
+"I will, sir; but this is the strangest thing I ever heard."
+
+"I have no doubt of it."
+
+"Was she stolen from you?"
+
+"Yes. It's a long story. I will tell it to you while we are on the way.
+She is well?"
+
+"Yes, sir. But she has been misused, so you mustn't expect to see her
+looking real good. She is very thin."
+
+"I have not seen her for four years, not since she was a mite of a
+toddler."
+
+The pair started for the ferry without delay, and as they proceeded, the
+colonel related his story.
+
+He was a mine-owner and had lived in the West for fifteen years. His wife
+had died when Dottie was born, and the child had been turned over to the
+care of a colored nurse.
+
+At that time James MacHenry had been a prospector in the region and he had
+opened a mine close to that located by the colonel.
+
+All went well until the MacHenry mine petered out as it is called, and
+then the man's mind became deranged. He accused the colonel of having
+cheated him out of a slice of the richest land and a bitter quarrel
+resulted.
+
+Two weeks later MacHenry disappeared, and shortly after that baby Dottie
+was missing. A long search was made for the child, but without avail.
+
+Curiously enough, the colonel did not connect the disappearance of his
+child with that of Crazy Jim. He started to hunt for the little one among
+the Indians and the outlaws in the mountains.
+
+Two years passed, and then one night a good-for-nothing miner named Duffy
+was shot in a quarrel over a game of cards. On his dying bed Duffy
+confessed that he had once been intimate with Crazy Jim and that the
+latter had acknowledged stealing Dottie.
+
+A hunt was at once made for the abductor. It was said he had gone to San
+Francisco, and later on he was traced to Chicago, but there the trail was
+lost until long after, when a tramp turned up who spoke of having seen
+Crazy Jim around New York.
+
+Without delay Colonel Dartwell had come East and scoured the metropolis.
+While here he had fallen in with footpads who had sought to rob him.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXXVII.
+
+A JOYOUS MEETING.
+
+
+By the time Colonel Dartwell's story was told he and Jerry had landed in
+the metropolis, and a hurried walk of a few minutes brought them to Nellie
+Ardell's apartment. Mrs. Flannigan was waiting for our hero, having put
+both of the children to bed.
+
+"An' did ye find Miss Ardell?" she asked, quickly.
+
+"No, Mrs. Flannigan. But I have found somebody else--the father of little
+Dottie."
+
+"Indade, now! An' ain't that noice'" she exclaimed, glancing at Colonel
+Dartwell's well-dressed figure. "Well, the poor dear needs somebody, not
+but what she got good care here," she added, hastily.
+
+Tears stood in the colonel's eyes as he stepped up beside the bed upon
+which Dottie lay. He took the white-robed figure up in his arms and kissed
+her face.
+
+"It is she," he said, in a choking voice. "The living picture of her dead
+mother!"
+
+Dottie awoke with a start and was inclined to cry out. But Jerry and the
+colonel quickly soothed her.
+
+"I am your papa, Dottie; don't you remember papa and big Ruth that used to
+be with you?"
+
+The little girl looked puzzled. Then she gave a cry.
+
+"Papa! papa! I know you! I knew you would come to me! Oh, papa, don't go
+away again! Crazy Jim said you were dead! Oh, papa!"
+
+And she clung to him convulsively. It was such an affecting scene Jerry
+had to turn away, while Mrs. Flannigan, standing in the partly open
+doorway, shed copious tears.
+
+An hour later the children had again retired, and the colonel and the
+young oarsman sat in the little kitchen talking.
+
+"And you say you think Miss Ardell was abducted?" he said.
+
+"I felt sure of it, sir. This Alexander Slocum wants to get her out of the
+way on account of some property he is holding back from her. I am
+interested in the same property."
+
+And Jerry told him the particulars of affairs so far as they concerned
+Slocum.
+
+"If the land in question is near Sacramento it ought to be of great
+value," said the colonel. "Property in that section is booming."
+
+"I want to find Nellie Ardell, sir. I am afraid he will do her bodily
+harm. He might even kill her to get her out of the way."
+
+"I will help you all I can, Upton. You have done me a great service, and I
+certainly owe the young lady much for taking my child in and caring for
+her."
+
+Our hero and the colonel went over the matter carefully for fully an hour
+and decided to start on a hunt as soon as it grew light. The colonel
+offered to employ a detective and this offer Jerry readily accepted.
+
+Jerry passed several hours trying to sleep, and at the first sign of dawn
+was up and dressed. The colonel had rested in an arm-chair, not caring to
+separate himself from his child by going to a hotel.
+
+Mrs. Flannigan was again called upon and readily agreed to take charge of
+Tommy and Dottie once more. She took them to her own rooms and was
+cautioned about letting strangers in.
+
+"Don't fear, they'll not take 'em from me," she said, and in such a
+determined way that Jerry was compelled to laugh.
+
+The call at a detective's office was soon over, and it was not as
+satisfactory as our hero had anticipated.
+
+"You mustn't expect too much," laughed the colonel. "In spite of the
+thrilling detective stories published, detectives are only ordinary men,
+and cannot do the impossible. Mr. Gray will no doubt go to work in his own
+way and do the best he can."
+
+Their next movement was to cross to Brooklyn. Here the pair started on the
+hunt for the carriage that had carried Nellie Ardell off.
+
+An hour was spent in a fruitless search. They were about to give it up,
+when they saw a carriage coming down to the ferry that was covered with
+dust and mud.
+
+"That looks as if it had been out in the country a good distance,"
+observed Colonel Dartwell. "I'll stop the driver and see what he has to
+say. It can do no harm."
+
+Walking up in front of the team he motioned for the driver to halt.
+
+"Want a carriage, boss?"
+
+"No, I want to know where you have been?" demanded the westerner.
+
+At this question the driver seemed plainly disconcerted. He looked around,
+and, seeing a clear space to his left, whipped up his animals and sped
+off.
+
+"He's our man!" cried the colonel. "Come on, he must not escape us!"
+
+He set off with all speed and Jerry followed. The driver drove as far as
+the first corner and then had to halt because of a blockade in the
+street.
+
+"Come down here!" commanded Colonel Dartwell.
+
+"I ain't done nothin'," growled the fellow. "You let me alone."
+
+"I asked you where you had been."
+
+"Up to the park."
+
+"Who did you have for a fare?"
+
+"An old man."
+
+"That's not true--you had two men and a girl."
+
+The carriage driver muttered something under his breath.
+
+"I--I--who said I had the men and a girl?" he asked, surlily.
+
+"I say so. Where did you take the young lady?"
+
+At first the driver beat about the bush. But the colonel threatened him
+with arrest, and this brought him around.
+
+"Don't arrest me, boss. I wasn't in the game. The men hired me to take 'em
+out--that was all. They said the girl was light-headed and the place was a
+private asylum."
+
+"Probably," rejoined Colonel Dartwell, sarcastically. "Take us to that
+place without delay. But stop--drive to police headquarters first."
+
+Very unwillingly the fellow complied. At the headquarters help was
+procured in the shape of two ward detectives. All four of the party
+entered the carriage and were driven off to effect Nellie Ardell's
+rescue.
+
+It was with deep interest that Jerry accompanied Colonel Dartwell and the
+officers of the law in the search for the missing young lady.
+
+On through the crowded streets of Brooklyn drove the carriage, the driver
+now apparently as willing to help the law as he had before wished to evade
+it.
+
+The carriage was turning into one of the fine thoroughfares when Jerry
+caught sight of a figure which instantly arrested his attention. The
+figure was that of Mr. Wakefield Smith.
+
+"Stop!" cried the young oarsman to the driver of the carriage.
+
+"What's up?" demanded the colonel.
+
+"Do you see that man over there by the paper stand?"
+
+"Yes."
+
+"That is Wakefield Smith, the pickpocket."
+
+"Indeed! He ought to be arrested."
+
+"You know him to be a pickpocket?" questioned one of the detectives.
+
+"I do. He robbed me of over twenty dollars. I got back ten dollars. He's a
+very smooth and slick worker."
+
+"I think I know that chap," returned the detective. "Don't he look like
+Charley the Dude?" he asked of his companion.
+
+"By Jove! that's our man!" ejaculated the second detective. "I would know
+him anywhere by that peculiar walk. He has grown a heavy mustache since I
+saw him last."
+
+"Will you stop and arrest him?" asked Jerry. "He ought to be locked up."
+"We can get the policeman on the beat to attend to him. There is an
+officer on the next corner. Just call him, Harrity."
+
+The carriage was brought up to the curb and our hero and the officers
+alighted, the Colonel remaining behind to keep an eye on the driver.
+
+Mr. Wakefield Smith was strolling down the street in a lordly way when
+Jerry tapped him on the shoulder.
+
+"So I've met you again," he said.
+
+The pickpocket turned and his face fell. But only for a moment; then he
+gazed at the youth brazenly.
+
+"I don't know you, me boy," he drawled in an assumed voice.
+
+"But I know you, Mr. Smith," rejoined Jerry. "I want the balance of my
+money. I got ten dollars the night you were intoxicated, but that is not
+enough."
+
+"Boy, you are talking riddles. I never saw you before."
+
+"I can easily prove it, I fancy."
+
+"It's no use, Charley," broke in the detective, who had followed me. "We
+know you well enough."
+
+"And who are you?" asked the pickpocket, much disconcerted.
+
+"I am a detective. You are the rogue known as Charley the Dude. You may
+consider yourself under arrest."
+
+"This is an outrage!"
+
+"Hardly."
+
+By this time the second detective had arrived with a policeman. At sight
+of the bluecoat the pickpocket became nervous. Turning, he suddenly
+started to run.
+
+But the others ran for him, and soon he was handcuffed. Explanations to
+the policeman followed, and the officer took him off, and Jerry and the
+detectives continued on their way.
+
+It may be well to state here that the pickpocket, whose real name was
+Charles Heulig, was later on convicted of several crimes and sent to state
+prison for a term of years. Jerry never received a cent of the balance of
+the money due, but other events that followed made this loss seem a
+trivial one.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXXVIII.
+
+ALEXANDER SLOCUM IS BROUGHT TO BOOK.
+
+
+In half an hour after the arrest of the pickpocket the young oarsman and
+his companions found themselves on the outskirts of Brooklyn and bowling
+along a smooth country road which the detectives said they knew well.
+
+On and on they went, until Colonel Dartwell asked the driver how much
+further they had to go.
+
+"About half a mile, sir," was the answer.
+
+His words proved correct. Turning into a side road, the carriage came to
+the entrance to a large grounds, surrounded by a high board fence.
+
+Over the gateway was the sign:
+
+                    DR. HALCONE'S PRIVATE SANITARIUM.
+
+"A private lunatic asylum," murmured Colonel Dartwell.
+
+"Yes, sir," said the driver. "You know I told you they said the young lady
+was a bit off."
+
+"What shall we do?" was the question put by the westerner to the
+detectives. "Shall we go in boldly and order them to produce the girl?"
+
+"Will they do it?" asked Jerry. "They may be in Slocum's pay, and hide her
+away."
+
+"The young man is right," said one of the detectives. "We'll drive on a
+way and then sneak back and size the place up."
+
+This was done, and five minutes later found the colonel and our hero
+walking along a hedge which separated the grounds on one side from a
+woods.
+
+"Look there!" Jerry cried suddenly, and pointed to an upper window of the
+brick building beyond.
+
+He had seen Nellie Ardell's face as the young lady walked about the
+apartment. As the others gazed upward Alexander Slocum appeared. He held a
+sheet of paper and a pen in his hands.
+
+"He wants her to sign something," cried our hero in a low voice. "See!
+see! he is going to force her."
+
+"Leave me be, Mr. Slocum," those below heard Nellie Ardell exclaim. "I
+will not sign off my interest in that property. Leave me be! Oh, that
+somebody was at hand to help me!"
+
+"Come on--there is no time to waste!" cried Colonel Dartwell, and pushed
+through the hedge.
+
+Jerry followed, and both ran for a side door of the building, which stood
+open.
+
+Here they found themselves confronted by a burly man of advanced age,
+evidently the proprietor of the sanitarium.
+
+"Here, what do you want here?" he demanded, roughly.
+
+"We want that young lady upstairs!" cried Jerry.
+
+"You can't have her."
+
+"We'll see about that," put in Colonel Dartwell. "You have no authority to
+detain her here."
+
+"She is insane, and----"
+
+"Help! help!" came from upstairs, and rushing past the burly doctor, Jerry
+skipped up the stairs, three steps at a time.
+
+The colonel came behind. The doctor was about to remonstrate when he found
+himself confronted by the two detectives.
+
+Our hero and the colonel soon found the proper door. It was locked, but
+putting his shoulder to it the young oarsman soon burst it open.
+
+Alexander Slocum stood at the table in the center of the room. He had
+Nellie Ardell by the wrist, and was endeavoring to force her to sign the
+paper before them.
+
+"Leave her alone, you villain!" cried Jerry, and dragged him backward.
+
+"Jerry Upton!" exclaimed the young woman, and her tone was full of joy.
+"Oh, how thankful I am that you have come!"
+
+"What--what is the meaning of this?" asked Slocum, turning deadly pale.
+
+"It means that you have been found out, Alexander Slocum," replied our
+hero. "We have learned--"
+
+"Darnley the boomer!" burst out Colonel Dartwell at this point. "So this
+is where you drifted to after the swindle at Silver Run."
+
+"Do you know him?" queried Jerry.
+
+"Only too well. He was in Colorado for several years under the name of
+Chester Darnley. He is a boomer and all-around swindler."
+
+"It's a--a falsehood," burst from Alexander Slocum's lips, but his voice
+trembled as he spoke.
+
+"I can prove all I say," said the colonel. "There are witnesses enough
+against you at Silver Run."
+
+Slocum was all but overcome. He sank in a chair, and a moment later one of
+the detectives came up and slipped a pair of handcuffs on his wrists.
+
+The proprietor of the so-called sanitarium was also arrested, and both
+prisoners were driven down to the Brooklyn police station. A hearing was
+had, and the prisoners were held for trial.
+
+From Brooklyn the colonel, Nellie, and Jerry returned to New York. Nellie
+left the party to go home, and Jerry and the colonel continued on to
+Slocum's office with an officer.
+
+The book-keeper, Casey, was found and arrested, and the office was placed
+in care of the authorities. The next day Jerry recovered his father's
+papers and also those belonging to Nellie Ardell.
+
+The young oarsman lost no time in sending word home how matters had
+turned, stating that the claim was probably worth a good deal of money. He
+added that if his father was not well enough to come to the metropolis,
+Colonel Dartwell stood ready to take entire charge of the case and see
+that they got their rights.
+
+An answer soon came back, written by Mrs. Upton. Mr. Upton was well enough
+to sit up, but that was all, and he would be glad enough to do as his son
+had suggested. So the necessary papers were made out, and a suit
+instituted against Alexander Slocum.
+
+In the meantime, Mr. Islen sold out his bindery, and by this turn of
+affairs our hero found himself out of employment. But he had had enough of
+the great metropolis for the present, and was glad enough to go back to
+Lakeview while awaiting the time when Slocum should be brought to trial.
+
+The news of what he had accomplished had leaked out, and when he arrived
+he found Harry and Blumpo awaiting him at the depot.
+
+"You're a clever one, Jerry!" cried Harry, shaking his hand warmly. "To
+run off on the quiet and come back with a fortune for your family."
+
+"We haven't got the fortune yet," laughed the young oarsman. "But we hope
+to have it before long."
+
+"I always said Jerry was de greatest boy dat eber was born," ejaculated
+Blumpo, with his face on a broad grin.
+
+"How is your father? Blumpo," asked Jerry, to change the subject.
+
+"He's very well again."
+
+"You must tell us your whole story," went on Harry. "I am dying to hear
+it."
+
+"I will--but I must get home first," answered the young oarsman.
+
+He was soon on his way to the farm, where his parents received him with
+open arms. A splendid dinner was awaiting him--such a repast as he had not
+had since leaving--but none of the food was touched until his tale was
+told from end to end, with all of its details as they have been presented
+to my readers.
+
+"You did well, son," was Mr. Upton's comment. "I don't believe anybody
+could have done better."
+
+Mrs. Upton smiled fondly and put her arms about the boy.
+
+"He's our Jerry, father," was all she said, but the simple words meant a
+good deal.
+
+His own story told, and the dinner finished, Jerry wanted to know the news
+around Lakeview, but his parents had little to tell.
+
+"I have not been out since your father was taken down," said Mrs. Upton.
+"You'll have to asked Harry Parker and your other friends."
+
+"Have Si Peters and Wash Crosby been caught yet?"
+
+"No, and I doubt if they ever do catch them," responded Mrs. Upton.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXXIX.
+
+HARRY TO THE RESCUE.
+
+
+Early on the following morning Harry came over to take Jerry for a sail on
+the lake in the Whistler.
+
+"We can sail and talk at the same time," he explained. "I know you must be
+longing for a whiff of the water."
+
+"You are right there, Harry," returned the young oarsman, "Lake Otasco is
+better than the hot pavements of New York City a hundred times over."
+
+The two boys soon set off. Harry had expected Blumpo to accompany them,
+but that youth was out in his own boat with a party that had hired the
+craft for several days.
+
+"Blumpo is making money," said Harry, "and I am glad of it."
+
+"So am I," replied our hero. "He is an odd sort of chap, but his heart is
+of gold."
+
+The Whistler was soon on her way up the lake with old Jack Broxton at the
+tiller, and as the breeze was steady the boys had little to do but talk.
+Once again our hero related his story, and Harry proved a most attentive
+listener.
+
+"That Alexander Slocum ought to go to prison for life," he said, at the
+conclusion. "The idea of daring to make out that Nellie Ardell was
+insane."
+
+"It was a bold scheme, Harry."
+
+"It seems to me the world is full of bad people, Jerry. Look at such men
+as that Slocum and his tools, and then at such boys as Si Peters and Wash
+Crosby."
+
+"Where do you suppose Crosby and Peters are?"
+
+"The authorities don't know. But Blumpo told me a few days ago he was
+almost certain he had seen them on the north shore of the lake. He said
+they took to their heels in the bushes just about the time he spotted
+them."
+
+"They are bound to be brought to justice sooner or later."
+
+"I don't know. But I do know one thing; I would like to get back my gold
+watch."
+
+Thus the talk ran on, until Hermit Island was reached. Here they run in
+for a few minutes, to pass a word with Blumpo's father, who greeted them
+cordially. After this, they continued up along the south side of the
+lake.
+
+As they skirted the beautiful shore they gradually crept up to a large
+excursion boat. "Hullo, what's that boat doing here?" cried Jerry.
+
+"It's a Sunday-school excursion from Cedar Falls," replied his chum.
+
+The steamboat was not a large one and she seemed to have more than her
+regular allowance of passengers aboard. Every deck was full of grown folks
+and children, dressed in their best.
+
+A band was playing a merry air, and some of the children were singing.
+
+"Let's give them a cheer," suggested the young oarsman, as they drew
+closer.
+
+"All right," replied Harry, pulling out his handkerchief. "One, two,
+three. Hurrah! hur----"
+
+Harry stopped short, as a cry of horror arose on board of the excursion
+boat.
+
+A young girl had been standing close to the rail on a camp stool at the
+bow of the boat.
+
+As the steamboat swung around the girl lost her balance.
+
+She tried to save herself, and, failing, pitched headlong into the water.
+
+Harry saw her go under the greenish waves.
+
+"She'll be struck by the paddle wheel," he yelled, and then, splash! he
+was overboard himself.
+
+Bravely he struck out to save the maiden.
+
+The order was given to back the steamboat.
+
+The wheels churned up the water into a white foam, but still the momentum
+carried the large craft on. In the meantime Harry came up and struck out
+valiantly for the girl, who was now going down for a second time.
+
+"Save her! Save her!" shrieked the mother of the girl, in an agony of
+fear.
+
+Half a dozen life preservers were thrown overboard, but none came to where
+the girl could reach them.
+
+The mother of the girl wanted to join her daughter in the water but strong
+hands held her back.
+
+"The young fellow will save her, madam!"
+
+"He's a true hero!"
+
+Life lines were thrown over, but even these did no good.
+
+The steamboat swung around, but the run of the water washed the girl
+closer and closer to the paddle wheel.
+
+She now came up a second time. Should she sink again all would be over.
+
+Harry was swimming with all the strength and skill at his command.
+
+At last he was within a yard of the struggling girl.
+
+The maiden threw up her hands and went under.
+
+As quick as a flash Harry dove down.
+
+A second passed. Then up came the youth with the girl clinging to his
+shoulder.
+
+But now the current was apparently too strong for both of them.
+
+They were hurled up against the paddle wheel of the steamboat, and then
+disappeared entirely from view.
+
+Jack Broxton gave a groan.
+
+"Harry is lost!"
+
+Jerry shuddered.
+
+"It looks like it," he replied.
+
+The captain of the steamboat did not dare to move his craft for fear he
+would do more harm than good.
+
+The mother of the girl continued to struggle to free herself.
+
+But now a cry was heard. It came from the stern of the steamboat.
+
+"There they are!"
+
+"The girl is safe and so is that brave young man."
+
+Jerry and Jack Broxton heard the cry, and immediately put about in their
+yacht.
+
+Harry was swimming along on his side. The girl was too weak to support
+herself, and he was holding her up well out of the water.
+
+It took the Whistler but a moment to run up alongside of the pair. Jerry
+reached over and caught hold of the girl and placed her on deck.
+
+In the meantime Harry secured a rope thrown by Jack Broxton and pulled
+himself up.
+
+A cheer arose from those on the excursion boat.
+
+"She is safe now, sure!"
+
+The girl was too exhausted to move, and both boys rubbed her hands and did
+what they could for her.
+
+Jack Broxton ran up alongside of the steamboat and a little later the girl
+was placed on board.
+
+The mother clasped her child to her breast.
+
+"Go ahead, Jack," said Harry in a low voice. "I don't want the crowd to
+stare at me."
+
+"But the mother wants to thank you," began Jerry.
+
+But Harry would not listen. He was too modest, and made Jack Broxton
+actually run away from the excursion boat.
+
+But five hundred people cheered Harry and waved their handkerchiefs.
+
+"How did you escape the steamboat?" asked Jerry, when the excitement was
+over.
+
+"We went under part of her," was the reply. "I swam for all I knew how,
+but it was a close call."
+
+After this Harry retired to the cabin and changed his clothing. He drank
+several cups of hot coffee, and half an hour later declared that he felt
+as well as ever.
+
+The remainder of the run down the lake was uneventful. They dropped anchor
+near the mouth of the Poplar River and started in to fish.
+
+They had all the necessary tackle on board, and procured bait at a
+boathouse near by.
+
+The yacht was anchored at a well-known spot, and then the sport began.
+
+"I've a bite!" cried Harry
+
+And sure enough he had something. He began to reel in with great
+rapidity.
+
+"First fish," said Jerry.
+
+Scarcely had Harry landed his haul than click, click, click went Jerry's
+reel. The line went off like a flash.
+
+Jerry began to reel in. That something big was on his hook was certain.
+
+The fish darted in every direction and Jerry had his hands full playing
+him.
+
+"You'll lose him!" cried Harry, excitedly.
+
+"I'll do my best with him," responded Jerry, quietly.
+
+After playing the fish for nearly five minutes he reeled him in rapidly.
+
+"Get the landing net, Jack," he said, and the old tar stood ready the
+moment the fish came into view.
+
+"A bass! A three-pounder!" cried Harry. "By jinks! but that's a haul worth
+making!"
+
+It was indeed a beautiful catch, and Jerry was justly proud of it.
+
+After this nothing was caught for twenty minutes. Then Harry landed a fine
+fat perch weighing a pound. Jack was not fishing, but smoked and looked on
+contentedly.
+
+Evening found them with a fine mess of bass and perch.
+
+"Not a bad haul," said Jerry, as he surveyed the lot.
+
+"I reckon it's about time to be gitting back," observed Jack Broxton. "We
+want ter make Lakeview afore dark."
+
+So the anchor was hoisted and away they went before a nine-knot breeze.
+
+The return was made along the north shore. Here there were numerous little
+islands, separated from the mainland by a series of channels, some shallow
+and others deep enough to admit of the passage of a good-sized yacht.
+
+The Whistler was just passing one of these channels, and Jerry and Harry
+were at the side, cleaning their fish, when suddenly old Jack Broxton
+uttered a cry.
+
+"What is it, Jack?" asked the young oarsman, quickly, while Harry also
+raised up.
+
+"There's a boat over yonder, back of that island, and I'm certain I saw Si
+Peters and Wash Crosby on board," was the old boatman's interesting
+answer.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XL.
+
+A STRUGGLE IN THE DARK.
+
+
+"You are sure?" demanded Jerry and Harry, in a breath.
+
+"Yes. The boat had the name Redeye painted on the stern. If I remember
+rightly, she belongs to a tough crowd of fishermen from Long Lake."
+
+"Where is she now?" demanded Harry.
+
+"Back there, somewhere."
+
+"We must follow that boat; eh, Jerry?"
+
+"I am willing," replied the young oarsman.
+
+"You may have lively times with that crowd," put in Jack Broxton with a
+grave shake of his head.
+
+"We'll risk it," answered Harry. He was thinking of his missing gold
+watch.
+
+The course of the Whistler was changed, and soon they rounded the shore of
+the island Jack Broxton had pointed out.
+
+Sure enough, there was the Redeye, with all sails set, making up the
+lake.
+
+Near the stern stood Si Peters, Wash Crosby and several rascally looking
+men.
+
+"They have discovered that we are after them," cried Jerry, a few minutes
+later. "See, they are crowding on all sail!"
+
+The young oarsman was right. Leaving the vicinity of the islands, the
+other craft stood out boldly into the lake, and cut the water like a
+knife.
+
+"She's a good one," observed Jack Broxton.
+
+The Whistler already had all sails out; and thus the craft went on,
+neither gaining nor losing for half an hour.
+
+Then darkness settled over the lake, and the wind fell flat.
+
+"We've lost them now," said Harry, dismally.
+
+"It's a good thing the wind has fallen," replied Jerry.
+
+"How so?"
+
+"As soon as it is dark enough we can take the row-boat and follow in
+that."
+
+"That's an idea."
+
+Soon night had settled over Lake Otasco. Then our hero and Harry lost no
+time in entering the tender of the Whistler.
+
+"Make as little noise as possible," cautioned Jerry.
+
+He was in the bow peering ahead, while Harry was at the oars.
+
+So they went on a distance of a quarter of a mile.
+
+"See anything?" whispered Harry.
+
+"Not yet. Pull in a little closer to shore. I have an idea Peters and
+Crosby may land somewhere around here."
+
+"Like as not that is their game."
+
+On they went, the darkness growing more intense as they proceeded. There
+was no moon, and the stars shone but faintly in the blue vault overhead.
+
+Suddenly Jerry held up his hand as a sign to Harry to stop rowing.
+Instantly his chum raised the oars.
+
+"What do you see?" he whispered.
+
+"Something ahead--I can't make out just what yet."
+
+Several minutes of breathless silence followed. Then Jerry bent back.
+
+"The Redeye is just ahead, but I believe Si Peters and Wash Crosby have
+already left her."
+
+A second later a low but clear cry rang out:
+
+"You left that bundle behind, Crosby!"
+
+"Never mind, I don't want the old suit," was the reply, coming from some
+distance in toward shore.
+
+"That settles it," whispered Jerry. "Crosby and Peters are in a row-boat
+pulling for shore, beyond a doubt."
+
+"That's all right," replied Harry. "I would rather tackle them than all
+those on the Redeye."
+
+"So would I."
+
+The row-boat was headed for the west.
+
+How far off the shore was they did not know.
+
+They had located the voice of Crosby and now steered in the direction.
+
+Jerry at the bow continued to keep his ears on the alert.
+
+"A little to the right, now," he said. "That's it. If you don't make too
+much noise we'll surprise them completely."
+
+"I think the best thing we can do is to follow them after they land, until
+they reach some place where we can have them locked up, Jerry."
+
+"That is certainly a good plan. It will save us the trouble of dragging
+them off to jail, if we are fortunate enough to capture them."
+
+Harry's plan was accepted, and on they went.
+
+"Look!" cried Jerry, presently, and pointed down the shore.
+
+"I don't see anything, Jerry."
+
+"Don't you see the lights coming toward us?"
+
+Harry strained his eyes.
+
+"I see them now."
+
+"It's a steamer coming this way."
+
+"My gracious, we'll have to get out of the way or we'll be run down!"
+
+"She is close in shore," went on Jerry. "I believe she'll pass between the
+other row-boat and ours."
+
+"Let us hold up a minute and see what she intends to do," said Harry.
+
+He rested on his oars. Soon the craft came closer. It was the excursion
+boat on her return.
+
+"She is not coming near us," said Jerry. "Pull on."
+
+Harry had just taken to the oars again, when a wild cry rang out. It came
+from the row-boat which held Peters and Crosby.
+
+"Stop! Don't run us down!"
+
+"The steamboat is onto them!" ejaculated Jerry.
+
+Scarcely had he spoken when there came another cry, followed by a crash.
+
+"They've been struck!" yelled Harry.
+
+"Pull ahead!" cried Jerry. "Like as not they have either been killed or
+are drowning!"
+
+He sprang to Harry's side, and with an oar each they sped on to the
+assistance of the unfortunate ones.
+
+In the meanwhile the steamboat stopped.
+
+"What's the trouble?" called a voice.
+
+No answer was vouchsafed, and a moment later the steamboat went on.
+
+"Like as not, Si Peters and Wash Crosby are dead," observed Harry, as he
+bent to his oar.
+
+"We'll soon know the truth," replied the young oarsman.
+
+Both boys pulled a swift stroke, and were soon on the spot where the
+catastrophe had occurred.
+
+In the meanwhile the steamboat was fast disappearing in the distance. Soon
+the last light faded from sight.
+
+In the darkness of the night Jerry and Harry could see but little.
+
+"There is an oar," cried Harry, pointing it out.
+
+"And there is part of the row-boat's bottom," said Jerry. "It looks as if
+the row-boat was actually ground to pieces."
+
+"Then it isn't likely that Si Peters and Wash Crosby escaped."
+
+"Well, we'll take a good look around."
+
+The two continued to row about, but for a long while saw nothing but bits
+of wreckage.
+
+Then our hero beheld a form floating just to their right.
+
+"Take both oars, Harry," he said, "and be careful, for that is Wash
+Crosby's body."
+
+Harry took the oars and began to row slowly.
+
+As he moved on, Jerry stood in the bow.
+
+At that instant a strange thing happened. Si Peters came up under the
+boat, giving it such a shove that Jerry was hurled overboard.
+
+Then, with a swiftness that was really surprising, Si Peters clambered
+into the row-boat.
+
+In his hand he held part of a broken oar.
+
+"Jump out after Jerry Upton!" he growled as he advanced upon Harry.
+
+Without replying, Harry leaped up to defend himself. As he did this he saw
+that Jerry and Wash Crosby were fighting in the water.
+
+Neither Crosby nor Peters had been hurt by the collision, both having left
+their craft before the steamboat struck it.
+
+Their one thought now was to get the good row-boat away from our two
+heroes.
+
+Jerry, thinking Wash Crosby seriously hurt, was taken completely by
+surprise.
+
+Crosby caught him by the shoulder and forced him far under the water, and
+then did his best to hold him there.
+
+Crosby was a powerful fellow, and he well understood what defeat and
+capture meant--a term in prison.
+
+But, as we know, Jerry's muscles were like iron, and his first surprise
+over, he went for Crosby tooth and nail.
+
+With a powerful twist he freed himself from the rascal's grasp and swam
+some distance away.
+
+Then coming up behind Crosby, the young oarsman let out with his right
+fist.
+
+The blow took the Rockpoint bully behind the ear, and Crosby let out a
+wild yell of pain, broken by a gasp for air, as he went under the bosom of
+the ocean.
+
+As he went down, our hero gave him an extra shove and then swam with all
+speed for the row-boat, which had drifted several yards away.
+
+He saw Harry and Si Peters standing up in the boat. Peters had just struck
+at his chum, and Harry had partly dodged the vicious blow.
+
+But the broken oar landed on Harry's arm, causing him to cry out from
+pain.
+
+"Drop that, Si Peters."
+
+The command, coming so unexpectedly, startled Peters. He turned, to find
+Jerry at the gunwale directly behind him.
+
+"Oh, Jerry, help!" cried Harry.
+
+Si Peters gave a low yell of rage.
+
+Again Harry sprang away, and now armed himself with an oar.
+
+"You can't frighten me, you fool!" shouted Peters. "Don't you dare to put
+your hand on the boat!"
+
+And as Jerry grasped the gunwale, Peters raised his heavy foot as if to
+crush our hero's fingers.
+
+But Jerry was too quick for him.
+
+He dropped off. Then whizz! something dark flew through the air.
+
+It was part of the broken oar, thrown by Jerry, and it took Si Peters in
+the neck.
+
+"Whack him one, Harry, while you have the chance!"
+
+Harry needed no advice on the subject. He sprang in, and a second later a
+resounding crack laid Si Peters flat on his back.
+
+"That was a good one," cried Jerry, as he clambered over the side. "Now
+bind him before he comes to."
+
+"Haven't a blessed thing," replied Harry.
+
+"Here is some cord. Tie his hands together."
+
+While Harry was doing this, Jerry began to look around for Wash Crosby.
+
+"This way! We are in trouble!" yelled Crosby.
+
+"Pshaw!" exclaimed Jerry. "He'll have that yacht down on us in another
+minute."
+
+But for once the young oarsman was mistaken. The men on the Redeye had no
+desire, after befriending Si Peters and Wash Crosby, to fall into the
+hands of the law, and instead of coming up they allowed their craft to
+float off in an opposite direction.
+
+"There is Crosby!" shouted Jerry, a moment later, as he beheld the youth
+floundering around in the water. "And look, here comes the Whistler."
+
+He was right. A slight breeze had sprung up and Jack Broxton had nursed
+the yacht along with all of the skill at his command.
+
+The coming of the old sailor ended the battle, so far as the bad boys from
+Rockpoint were concerned. Both Si Peters and Wash Crosby were hauled on
+board, and here they were tightly bound, to prevent their making further
+trouble.
+
+It was after midnight when Lakeview was reached and the prisoners were
+handed over to the local police. Then Harry and Jerry separated, to go
+home and tell of their fresh adventures.
+
+The following morning Si Peters and Wash Crosby were taken to Rockpoint
+and an examination was held. The bad boys confessed robbing the hotel and
+the larger part of the money taken was recovered, as was also Harry's gold
+watch, which Si Peters had been bold enough to wear. Some time later the
+evil-doers were tried and sent to jail, and that was the last our heroes
+heard of them.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XLI.
+
+A LAST RACE--GOOD-BYE TO THE RIVAL OARSMEN.
+
+
+"Hurrah, here they come!"
+
+"It's going to be a dandy race, Harry."
+
+"Indeed it is, Dick."
+
+"There comes Hosmer!"
+
+"Here comes Pinkney!"
+
+"What's the matter with Villelet?"
+
+"He's all right!"
+
+The conversation took place on the bank of the Hudson River, not far from
+Poughkeepsie.
+
+It was the day of the great intercollegiate boat races.
+
+The single-shell race had just been ordered.
+
+Among the number to compete in this race was Jerry Upton.
+
+Our hero was rich now--that is, his folks were, which amounted to the same
+thing.
+
+On trial it had been proven what a villain Alexander Slocum was. All of
+his masquerading in the west under the name of Darnley was exposed, as
+well as his fraudulent land schemes in the east. The real-estate
+manipulator was sent to prison for a term of years, and the property in
+California was divided up between Jerry's father, Nellie Ardell and
+several others who held an interest in it.
+
+The land was found to be within the city limits of Sacramento, and the
+Upton share was computed to be worth forty-five thousand dollars.
+
+Mr. Upton was offered forty thousand dollars for it, but by the advice of
+Colonel Dartwell, who became his intimate friend, he concluded to keep
+it.
+
+"The investment is bringing in good interest," he said, "and as it was
+Jerry who did the work in getting it, the lad shall have it just as it
+stands when I and my wife die."
+
+Immediately after these matters were settled up, Jerry began to study for
+college, and Harry did also, and both made the entrance examination with
+ease.
+
+Jerry was a fine scholar and he was also one of the best oarsmen in his
+class. Harry likewise rowed a good deal, although not near as much as
+formerly.
+
+It was a perfect day and the river was filled with pleasure boats, loaded
+down to the rails with sightseers. The banks of the stream were likewise
+lined with the crowds which had poured in to see the various college
+oarsmen compete for the supremacy in aquatic sports.
+
+In the crowd on short was our old friend Blumpo Brown. Blumpo was now in
+business at Lakeview, letting out pleasure boats, of which he owned
+several, and he was unusually prosperous. Just at present he was wearing
+the colors of Jerry's college and "whooping her up" for our hero whenever
+the chance presented itself.
+
+At the given signal the single shells took their places at the starting
+point.
+
+The participants were the pick of the single-shell men, and Jerry realized
+that he would have a struggle to win.
+
+A puff of smoke, the report of a gun, and they were off!
+
+"A fine start!"
+
+"Hosmer leads!"
+
+"He will lead to the finish!"
+
+"Pinkney is a close second!"
+
+"Jerry Upton is third!"
+
+"My! but they are cutting the water!"
+
+"Two to one that Hosmer wins!"
+
+"Three to one that the record is broken!"
+
+"Foah to one dat Jerry Upton wins dis race!" cried Blumpo Brown, waving a
+big college flag over his head. "Dat boy don't know what it is to lose!"
+
+"Hear that chap talk!"
+
+"Pitch him overboard to cool him off!"
+
+"Dat's all right, it's Jerry Upton's muscle dat's talkin', not me!"
+growled Blumpo.
+
+Down the straight course came the single-shell oarsmen, each back bending
+to a long and powerful stroke.
+
+The quarter stretch was past with Hosmer still in the lead.
+
+Behind him came Pinkney and Jerry, side by side.
+
+Then came the half stretch. The leaders still held the same positions.
+
+"Told you Hosmer would win!"
+
+"Jerry Upton is falling behind!"
+
+It was true. Pinkney had increased his stroke and was crawling up slowly
+but surely to the leader.
+
+"Pull, Jerry, pull," yelled Harry.
+
+"You dun got to win dat race, suah!" screamed Blumpo.
+
+Jerry heard them, but paid no heed. He was rowing the race of the
+year--the race that would make his college chums shout with joy or look
+glum for the balance of the season.
+
+And now the three-quarter mark was past. A quarter of a mile more and the
+race would be over.
+
+"See! Pinkney is drawing up to Hosmer!"
+
+"Pinkney leads! Hosmer has dropped away behind!"
+
+"Pinkney first and Jerry Upton second!"
+
+"Villelet is crawling up!"
+
+"He has passed Pinkney!"
+
+And so the shouting went on. The end of the course was in sight. How the
+oarsmen were pulling! But now look at Jerry.
+
+How like a flash his back bends! How powerful is that broad stroke! How
+quick his recovery!
+
+In vain Pinkney tried to hold his lead. Jerry means to win and nothing can
+hold him back.
+
+He fairly flies past Pinkney and comes in a winner by a length and a half.
+His friends go wild.
+
+"Hurrah for Jerry Upton!" shouts Harry.
+
+And the cheers echo and re-echo along the water and back to the distant
+hills.
+
+Blumpo dances a breakdown for joy.
+
+"I told you he could do it," he cries. "Da can't beat our Jerry nohow!"
+
+"That's right, they can't!" adds Harry. "Hurrah! hurrah! hurrah!"
+
+Jerry leaves his shell, and is hoisted up upon the shoulders of his
+friends and marched around the town.
+
+That night he is given a big reception by his fellow students. It is the
+happiest moment of his life.
+
+And here we will leave him and Harry and Blumpo, and all of the rest,
+shouting as do our hero's many friends:
+
+"Hurrah for the Young Oarsman of Lakeview!"
+
+THE END
+
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