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Winfield +</TITLE> + +<STYLE TYPE="text/css"> +BODY { color: Black; + background: White; + margin-right: 10%; + margin-left: 10%; + font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; + text-align: justify } + +P {text-indent: 4% } + +P.noindent {text-indent: 0% } + +P.poem {text-indent: 0%; + margin-left: 10%; + font-size: small } + +P.letter {font-size: small ; + margin-left: 10% ; + margin-right: 10% } + +P.salutation {font-size: small ; + text-indent: 0%; + margin-left: 10% ; + margin-right: 10% } + +P.closing {font-size: small ; + text-indent: 0%; + margin-left: 10% ; + margin-right: 10% } + +P.footnote {font-size: smaller ; + text-indent: 0% ; + margin-left: 10% ; + margin-right: 10% } + +P.transnote {font-size: small ; + text-indent: 0% ; + margin-left: 0% ; + margin-right: 0% } + +P.index {font-size: small ; + text-indent: -5% ; + margin-left: 5% ; + margin-top: 0% ; + margin-bottom: 0% ; + margin-right: 0% } + +P.intro {font-size: medium ; + text-indent: -5% ; + margin-left: 5% ; + margin-right: 0% } + +P.dedication {text-indent: 0%; + margin-left: 15%; + text-align: justify } + +P.published {font-size: small ; + text-indent: 0% ; + margin-left: 15% } + +P.quote {font-size: small ; + text-indent: 4% ; + margin-left: 0% ; + margin-right: 0% } + +P.report {font-size: small ; + text-indent: 4% ; + margin-left: 0% ; + margin-right: 0% } + +P.report2 {font-size: small ; + text-indent: 4% ; + margin-left: 10% ; + margin-right: 10% } + +P.finis { text-align: center ; + font-size: larger; + text-indent: 0% ; + margin-left: 0% ; + margin-right: 0% } + +H3.h3left { margin-left: 0%; + margin-right: 1%; + margin-bottom: .5% ; + margin-top: 0; + float: left ; + clear: left ; + text-align: center } + +H3.h3right { margin-left: 1%; + margin-right: 0 ; + margin-bottom: .5% ; + margin-top: 0; + float: right ; + clear: right ; + text-align: center } + +H3.h3center { margin-left: 0; + margin-right: 0 ; + margin-bottom: .5% ; + margin-top: 0; + float: none ; + clear: both ; + text-align: center } + +H4.h4left { margin-left: 0%; + margin-right: 1%; + margin-bottom: .5% ; + margin-top: 0; + float: left ; + clear: left ; + text-align: center } + +H4.h4right { margin-left: 1%; + margin-right: 0 ; + margin-bottom: .5% ; + margin-top: 0; + float: right ; + clear: right ; + text-align: center } + +H4.h4center { margin-left: 0; + margin-right: 0 ; + margin-bottom: .5% ; + margin-top: 0; + float: none ; + clear: both ; + text-align: center } + +H5.h5left { margin-left: 0%; + margin-right: 1%; + margin-bottom: .5% ; + margin-top: 0; + float: left ; + clear: left ; + text-align: center } + +H5.h5right { margin-left: 1%; + margin-right: 0 ; + margin-bottom: .5% ; + margin-top: 0; + float: right ; + clear: right ; + text-align: center } + +H5.h5center { margin-left: 0; + margin-right: 0 ; + margin-bottom: .5% ; + margin-top: 0; + float: none ; + clear: both ; + text-align: center } + +IMG.imgleft { float: left; + clear: left; + margin-left: 0; + margin-bottom: 0; + margin-top: 1%; + margin-right: 1%; + padding: 0; + text-align: center } + +IMG.imgright {float: right; + clear: right; + margin-left: 1%; + margin-bottom: 0; + margin-top: 1%; + margin-right: 0; + padding: 0; + text-align: center } + +IMG.imgcenter { margin-left: auto; + margin-bottom: 0; + margin-top: 1%; + margin-right: auto; } + +.pagenum { position: absolute; + left: 1%; + font-size: 95%; + text-align: left; + text-indent: 0; + font-style: normal; + font-weight: normal; + font-variant: normal; } + +.sidenote { left: 0%; + font-size: 65%; + text-align: left; + text-indent: 0%; + width: 17%; + float: left; + clear: left; + padding-left: 0%; + padding-right: 2%; + padding-top: 2%; + padding-bottom: 2%; + font-style: normal; + font-weight: normal; + font-variant: normal; } + + + +</STYLE> + +</HEAD> + +<BODY> + + +<pre> + +Project Gutenberg's The Rover Boys in Alaska, by Arthur M. Winfield + +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 Rover Boys in Alaska + or Lost in the Fields of Ice + +Author: Arthur M. Winfield + +Illustrator: Dick Richards + +Release Date: October 12, 2008 [EBook #26902] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1 + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE ROVER BOYS IN ALASKA *** + + + + +Produced by Al Haines + + + + + +</pre> + + +<BR><BR> + +<A NAME="img-cover"></A> +<CENTER> +<IMG CLASS="imgcenter" SRC="images/img-cover.jpg" ALT="Cover art" BORDER="2" WIDTH="400" HEIGHT="640"> +</CENTER> + +<BR><BR> + +<A NAME="img-front"></A> +<CENTER> +<IMG CLASS="imgcenter" SRC="images/img-front.jpg" ALT=""TOM! TOM! STOP!" SCREAMED DICK AND SAM IN UNISON. _The Rover Boys in Alaska._" BORDER="2" WIDTH="400" HEIGHT="640"> +<H4 CLASS="h4center" STYLE="width: 400px"> +"TOM! TOM! STOP!" SCREAMED DICK AND SAM IN UNISON. <I>The Rover Boys in Alaska.</I> +</H4> +</CENTER> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<H1 ALIGN="center"> +THE ROVER BOYS IN ALASKA +</H1> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +OR +</H3> + +<H2 ALIGN="center"> +<I>LOST IN THE FIELDS OF ICE</I> +</H2> + +<BR> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +BY +</H3> + +<H2 ALIGN="center"> +ARTHUR M. WINFIELD +</H2> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +(Edward Stratemeyer) +</H3> + +<BR><BR> + +<H4 ALIGN="center"> +AUTHOR OF THE ROVER BOYS AT SCHOOL, THE<BR> +ROVER BOYS ON THE OCEAN, THE PUTNAM<BR> +HALL SERIES, ETC.<BR> +</H4> + +<BR><BR> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +<I>ILLUSTRATED</I> +</H3> + +<BR><BR> + +<H4 ALIGN="center"> +NEW YORK +<BR> +GROSSET & DUNLAP +<BR> +PUBLISHERS +</H4> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<H3> +BOOKS BY ARTHUR M. WINFIELD<BR>(Edward Stratemeyer) +</H3> + +<H3> +THE FIRST ROVER BOYS SERIES +</H3> + +<P CLASS="noindent"> +THE ROVER BOYS AT SCHOOL<BR> +THE ROVER BOYS ON THE OCEAN<BR> +THE ROVER BOYS IN THE JUNGLE<BR> +THE ROVER BOYS OUT WEST<BR> +THE ROVER BOYS ON THE GREAT LAKES<BR> +THE ROVER BOYS IN THE MOUNTAINS<BR> +THE ROVER BOYS IN CAMP<BR> +THE ROVER BOYS ON LAND AND SEA<BR> +THE ROVER BOYS ON THE RIVER<BR> +THE ROVER BOYS ON THE PLAINS<BR> +THE ROVER BOYS IN SOUTHERN WATERS<BR> +THE ROVER BOYS ON THE FARM<BR> +THE ROVER BOYS ON TREASURE ISLE<BR> +THE ROVER BOYS AT COLLEGE<BR> +THE ROVER BOYS DOWN EAST<BR> +THE ROVER BOYS IN THE AIR<BR> +THE ROVER BOYS IN NEW YORK<BR> +THE ROVER BOYS IN ALASKA<BR> +THE ROVER BOYS IN BUSINESS<BR> +THE ROVER BOYS ON A TOUR<BR> +</P> + +<BR> + +<H3> +THE SECOND ROVER BOYS SERIES +</H3> + +<P CLASS="noindent"> +THE ROVER BOYS AT COLBY HALL<BR> +</P> + +<BR> + +<H3> +THE PUTNAM HALL SERIES +</H3> + +<P CLASS="noindent"> +THE PUTNAM HALL CADETS<BR> +THE PUTNAM HALL RIVALS<BR> +THE PUTNAM HALL CHAMPIONS<BR> +THE PUTNAM HALL REBELLION<BR> +THE PUTNAM HALL ENCAMPMENT<BR> +THE PUTNAM HALL MYSTERY<BR> +</P> + +<P CLASS="noindent"> +12mo. Cloth. Illustrated. +<BR> +GROSSET & DUNLAP, Publishers, New York +</P> + +<BR><BR> + +<H5 ALIGN="center"> +COPYRIGHT, 1914, BY +<BR> +EDWARD STRATEMEYER +<BR> +<I>The Rover Boys in Alaska</I> +</H5> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +INTRODUCTION +</H3> + +<P> +MY DEAR BOYS: This book is a complete story in itself, but forms the +eighteenth volume in a line issued under the general title of "The +Rover Boys Series for Young Americans." +</P> + +<P> +As I have mentioned in some of the other volumes, this line was started +with the publication of "The Rover Boys at School," "On the Ocean," and +"In the Jungle." The books were so well received that they were +followed, year after year, by the publication of "The Rover Boys Out +West," "On the Great Lakes," "In Camp," "On Land and Sea," "On the +River," "On the Plains," "In Southern Waters," "On the Farm," "On +Treasure Isle," "At College," "Down East," "In the Air," and then "In +New York," where we last met the lads. +</P> + +<P> +The boys are growing older—as all boys do—and Dick is married, and +helping his father in business. In the present story Sam and Tom +return to college, until something quite out of the ordinary occurs and +the fun-loving Tom disappears most mysteriously. Sam and Dick go in +search of their brother, and the trail leads them to far-away Alaska, +where they encounter many perils in the fields of ice and snow. +</P> + +<P> +The publishers assure me that by the end of the present year the total +of sales on this series of books will have reached <I>one million and a +half copies</I>! This is, to me, truly amazing, and I cannot help but +feel profoundly grateful to all the boys and girls, and their parents, +who have taken such an interest in my stories. I trust with all my +heart that the reading of the books will do the young folks good. +</P> + +<P> +Affectionately and sincerely yours, +</P> + +<P> + EDWARD STRATEMEYER +</P> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +CONTENTS +</H3> + +<TABLE ALIGN="center" WIDTH="80%"> + +<TR> +<TD ALIGN="right" VALIGN="top">CHAPTER</TD> +<TD ALIGN="left" VALIGN="top"> </TD> +</TR> + +<TR> +<TD ALIGN="right" VALIGN="top">I. </TD> +<TD ALIGN="left" VALIGN="top"> +<A HREF="#chap01">TOM AND SAM</A></TD> +</TR> + +<TR> +<TD ALIGN="right" VALIGN="top">II. </TD> +<TD ALIGN="left" VALIGN="top"> +<A HREF="#chap02">SOMETHING ABOUT THE PAST</A></TD> +</TR> + +<TR> +<TD ALIGN="right" VALIGN="top">III. </TD> +<TD ALIGN="left" VALIGN="top"> +<A HREF="#chap03">TOM'S JOKE</A></TD> +</TR> + +<TR> +<TD ALIGN="right" VALIGN="top">IV. </TD> +<TD ALIGN="left" VALIGN="top"> +<A HREF="#chap04">THE OLD WELL HOLE</A></TD> +</TR> + +<TR> +<TD ALIGN="right" VALIGN="top">V. </TD> +<TD ALIGN="left" VALIGN="top"> +<A HREF="#chap05">TOM'S QUEER ACTIONS</A></TD> +</TR> + +<TR> +<TD ALIGN="right" VALIGN="top">VI. </TD> +<TD ALIGN="left" VALIGN="top"> +<A HREF="#chap06">BOYS AND GIRLS</A></TD> +</TR> + +<TR> +<TD ALIGN="right" VALIGN="top">VII. </TD> +<TD ALIGN="left" VALIGN="top"> +<A HREF="#chap07">COLLEGE DAYS</A></TD> +</TR> + +<TR> +<TD ALIGN="right" VALIGN="top">VIII. </TD> +<TD ALIGN="left" VALIGN="top"> +<A HREF="#chap08">THE JOKE ON WILLIAM PHILANDER</A></TD> +</TR> + +<TR> +<TD ALIGN="right" VALIGN="top">IX. </TD> +<TD ALIGN="left" VALIGN="top"> +<A HREF="#chap09">WILLIAM PHILANDER TURNS THE TABLES</A></TD> +</TR> + +<TR> +<TD ALIGN="right" VALIGN="top">X. </TD> +<TD ALIGN="left" VALIGN="top"> +<A HREF="#chap10">IN WHICH TOM DISAPPEARS</A></TD> +</TR> + +<TR> +<TD ALIGN="right" VALIGN="top">XI. </TD> +<TD ALIGN="left" VALIGN="top"> +<A HREF="#chap11">WHAT THE GIRLS KNEW</A></TD> +</TR> + +<TR> +<TD ALIGN="right" VALIGN="top">XII. </TD> +<TD ALIGN="left" VALIGN="top"> +<A HREF="#chap12">AT HIRAM DUFF'S COTTAGE</A></TD> +</TR> + +<TR> +<TD ALIGN="right" VALIGN="top">XIII. </TD> +<TD ALIGN="left" VALIGN="top"> +<A HREF="#chap13">THE WESTERN EXPRESS</A></TD> +</TR> + +<TR> +<TD ALIGN="right" VALIGN="top">XIV. </TD> +<TD ALIGN="left" VALIGN="top"> +<A HREF="#chap14">DICK AND SAM IN CHICAGO</A></TD> +</TR> + +<TR> +<TD ALIGN="right" VALIGN="top">XV. </TD> +<TD ALIGN="left" VALIGN="top"> +<A HREF="#chap15">BOUND WEST</A></TD> +</TR> + +<TR> +<TD ALIGN="right" VALIGN="top">XVI. </TD> +<TD ALIGN="left" VALIGN="top"> +<A HREF="#chap16">THE ROVER BOYS IN SEATTLE</A></TD> +</TR> + +<TR> +<TD ALIGN="right" VALIGN="top">XVII. </TD> +<TD ALIGN="left" VALIGN="top"> +<A HREF="#chap17">OFF FOR ALASKA</A></TD> +</TR> + +<TR> +<TD ALIGN="right" VALIGN="top">XVIII. </TD> +<TD ALIGN="left" VALIGN="top"> +<A HREF="#chap18">AT JUNEAU AND SKAGWAY</A></TD> +</TR> + +<TR> +<TD ALIGN="right" VALIGN="top">XIX. </TD> +<TD ALIGN="left" VALIGN="top"> +<A HREF="#chap19">FROM ONE CLUE TO ANOTHER</A></TD> +</TR> + +<TR> +<TD ALIGN="right" VALIGN="top">XX. </TD> +<TD ALIGN="left" VALIGN="top"> +<A HREF="#chap20">IN THE MOUNTAINS OF ALASKA</A></TD> +</TR> + +<TR> +<TD ALIGN="right" VALIGN="top">XXI. </TD> +<TD ALIGN="left" VALIGN="top"> +<A HREF="#chap21">AT THE FOOT OF THE CLIFF</A></TD> +</TR> + +<TR> +<TD ALIGN="right" VALIGN="top">XXII. </TD> +<TD ALIGN="left" VALIGN="top"> +<A HREF="#chap22">IKE FURNER'S CAMP</A></TD> +</TR> + +<TR> +<TD ALIGN="right" VALIGN="top">XXIII. </TD> +<TD ALIGN="left" VALIGN="top"> +<A HREF="#chap23">A SLIDE DOWN THE MOUNTAIN SIDE</A></TD> +</TR> + +<TR> +<TD ALIGN="right" VALIGN="top">XXIV. </TD> +<TD ALIGN="left" VALIGN="top"> +<A HREF="#chap24">IN WHICH TOM IS FOUND</A></TD> +</TR> + +<TR> +<TD ALIGN="right" VALIGN="top">XXV. </TD> +<TD ALIGN="left" VALIGN="top"> +<A HREF="#chap25">THE SHELTER UNDER THE CLIFF</A></TD> +</TR> + +<TR> +<TD ALIGN="right" VALIGN="top">XXVI. </TD> +<TD ALIGN="left" VALIGN="top"> +<A HREF="#chap26">IN THE GRIP OF THE TORNADO</A></TD> +</TR> + +<TR> +<TD ALIGN="right" VALIGN="top">XXVII. </TD> +<TD ALIGN="left" VALIGN="top"> +<A HREF="#chap27">LOST IN THE FIELDS OF ICE</A></TD> +</TR> + +<TR> +<TD ALIGN="right" VALIGN="top">XXVIII. </TD> +<TD ALIGN="left" VALIGN="top"> +<A HREF="#chap28">AT TONY BINGS'S CABIN</A></TD> +</TR> + +<TR> +<TD ALIGN="right" VALIGN="top">XXIX. </TD> +<TD ALIGN="left" VALIGN="top"> +<A HREF="#chap29">TOM'S WILD RIDE</A></TD> +</TR> + +<TR> +<TD ALIGN="right" VALIGN="top">XXX. </TD> +<TD ALIGN="left" VALIGN="top"> +<A HREF="#chap30">GOOD-BYE TO ALASKA—CONCLUSION</A></TD> +</TR> + +</TABLE> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +ILLUSTRATIONS +</H3> + +<H4> +<A HREF="#img-front"> +"TOM! TOM! STOP!" SCREAMED DICK AND SAM IN UNISON. . . . <I>Frontispiece</I> +</A> +</H4> + +<H4> +<A HREF="#img-090"> +"THAT MUST SURELY HAVE BEEN TAKEN IN ALASKA," SAID SAM. +</A> +</H4> + +<H4> +<A HREF="#img-226"> +"HERE, HOLD MY TORCH," SAID DICK. +</A> +</H4> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<A NAME="chap01"></A> + +<H1 ALIGN="center"> +THE ROVER BOYS IN ALASKA +</H1> + +<BR> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +CHAPTER I +</H3> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +TOM AND SAM +</H3> + +<P> +"Well, here we are again, Tom, down to the grind of college life." +</P> + +<P> +"That's right, Sam. Not so much fun as attending a wedding, is it?" +And Tom Rover grinned broadly at his brother. +</P> + +<P> +"We can't expect to go to weddings all the time," returned Sam Rover, a +grin showing on his own face. "Wonder how Dick and Dora are making +out," he mused. +</P> + +<P> +"Oh, fine, you can be sure of that. Dora is just the girl for Dick." +</P> + +<P> +"How do you like being back here, Tom?" and the youngest Rover looked +anxiously at his brother. +</P> + +<P> +Tom heaved a deep sigh before replying. +</P> + +<P> +"To tell the truth, Sam, I wish I had stayed home a bit longer," he +said slowly. "My head isn't just as clear as it might be. That whack +Pelter gave me with that footstool was an awful one." +</P> + +<P> +"It certainly was, and it's a wonder it didn't split your skull open. +Maybe you'd better go back home for a rest." +</P> + +<P> +"Oh, no, it isn't as bad as that. Sometimes I feel a bit dizzy, that's +all. But I guess that will wear away, sooner or later. You see, I've +been studying hard the last three days, trying to make up for lost +time, and that is what's done it. I think I'll take it a bit easier +after this, until I feel more like myself." +</P> + +<P> +"Don't you think you had better see a doctor?" +</P> + +<P> +"No, I've had the doctor fussing over me until I am tired of it. What +I need is some fun, Sam. Can't you think of something? Whenever I try +to concoct some sort of a joke it makes my head ache," and poor Tom, +who loved to play pranks as much as ever, heaved another sigh. +</P> + +<P> +"Let us take a long walk this afternoon, Tom. Maybe that will do your +head some good. We can take Songbird and some of the others along." +</P> + +<P> +"All right; anything to get out of the greasy grind of studying. My! +don't I wish I was in Dick's place and didn't have to go to college any +more!" +</P> + +<P> +"Well, Dick's got his hands full with Dad's business. Those brokers +left things in a perfect mess." +</P> + +<P> +"I know it. But Dick will straighten things out—he's got a head for +just that sort of thing." Tom took up a text book, glanced at it for a +moment, and then threw it on the table. "No use, I can't study any +more to-day. I'm going out on the campus. You come as soon as you are +done and we'll take that walk." +</P> + +<P> +"All right. Will you tell Songbird and whoever else you want to go +along?" +</P> + +<P> +"Yes," answered Tom, and without further words he took up his cap, +heaved another deep sigh, and left the room. Sam watched his brother +pass down the corridor of the college building and noted that he placed +his hand to the back of his head and kept it there for some time. +</P> + +<P> +"Poor Tom!" murmured the youngest Rover, as he turned again to the +lesson he had been studying. "He tries to keep up a brave front, but +that crack he got on the head some weeks ago was a worse one than most +folks imagine. I'm thinking he ought to be home and under the doctor's +care instead of trying to rack his brains making up lessons he missed +while we were away." +</P> + +<P> +Tom passed along the corridor until he had turned a corner and was out +of sight of me room he and Sam occupied. Then he looked around to make +certain that nobody was observing him. Both of his hands went up to +the back of his head and he clenched his teeth hard. +</P> + +<P> +"What is the matter with this old head of mine!" he murmured. +"Sometimes I feel as if I had a regular windmill inside of it. And +when I try to study it gets to be a regular blank. Something is wrong, +that's certain. What is it?" +</P> + +<P> +He stood in the corner of the corridor for several minutes, trying to +pull himself together, mentally and physically. His face was still +somewhat pale, from the suffering he had undergone, since the time a +wooden footstool hurled by an enemy had hit him and knocked him +unconscious. +</P> + +<P> +"Rats! this won't do!" he finally exclaimed, and shaking himself, he +hurried out of the building and on to the broad, velvety college campus. +</P> + +<P> +Students were walking in various directions, going to, or coming from, +classes and lectures. Many hailed him and he called out in return, or +waved his hand. The Rover boys had a host of friends at Brill. +</P> + +<P> +Presently Tom saw a tall, slim young man coming up, dressed in a light, +checked suit, and wearing pointed patent-leather ties and a +rose-colored cap. In the buttonhole of the student was a large +carnation. Under his arm the approaching one carried half a dozen text +books. +</P> + +<P> +The face of the fun-loving Rover lighted up and for the time being the +pain in his head was forgotten. His hand went down in a pocket, to +feel for something, and then came forth again. Then he stepped forward +and crooked out his elbow. +</P> + +<P> +The other student was looking to one side as he came forward and he did +not notice the elbow in his way. The elbow caught him in the ribs, +causing him to give a grunt, and the armful of books were scattered on +the walk. +</P> + +<P> +"My gracious me!" gasped the stylishly-dressed youth. "What did you do +that for, Tom Rover?" +</P> + +<P> +"Sorry, Tubblets," answered Tom, making as sober a face as possible. +"I didn't know you wanted the whole walk." +</P> + +<P> +"You did that on purpose, Tom Rover, you know you did!" +</P> + +<P> +"Did what on purpose, Tubby?" +</P> + +<P> +"How many times must I tell you that my name is not Tubby or Tubblets. +It is William Philander Tubbs, and I want you to call me by my right +name after this." +</P> + +<P> +"Very well, Mr. W. P. Washbasin—I mean Tubbs. I'll not forget again," +and Tom made a low bow. +</P> + +<P> +"And I don't want you to knock my books out of my arm again," went on +William Philander, drawing himself up disdainfully. +</P> + +<P> +"Your books, Willie?" +</P> + +<P> +"Yes, my books," came wrathfully from the dudish student "And don't you +dare to call me Willie. My name is——" +</P> + +<P> +"Oh, yes, I remember now, Philugger." +</P> + +<P> +"It's not Philugger, either. It is Wil——" +</P> + +<P> +"Sure, I know, Philliam Tubbander Williams. Sorry I forgot before." +And Tom looked truly sorrowful. +</P> + +<P> +"Oh, you are simply horrid, that's what you are!" declared the +stylishly-dressed student, in despair. "And my books are all covered +with dirt!" +</P> + +<P> +"I beg a million pardons," cried Tom, and started to pick the books up, +one after another. As he did this one hand went again into that pocket +before mentioned and, on the sly, he inserted a printed sheet of paper +into each book. "Now you are all fixed, Tubbly," he added. "And you +can run along to school like a nice little boy. But wait a moment till +I fix your collar," he went on, as he turned the other youth around. +</P> + +<P> +"What's the matter with my collar?" demanded the dudish student, +suspiciously. +</P> + +<P> +"Talcum powder, I guess. You mustn't use so much after this." And Tom +commenced to brush the collar vigorously. +</P> + +<P> +"I—er—I didn't use much—just a little for my nose, don't you know," +answered William Philander Tubbs, who made much of his personal +appearance. +</P> + +<P> +Tom continued to brush the coat collar off with one hand, while +unfolding a printed bill with the other. An advertising wagon had gone +past the college grounds the day before, and from a fellow distributing +handbills Tom had gotten a sheet telling of the merits of "Gumley's Red +Pills for Red-Blooded People," and also some small bills relating to +the same wonderful cure for many ills. The small sheets were in the +books; the large sheet he now proceeded to place on William Philander's +back, fastening it under the turned-down coat collar. There were a few +specks of talcum powder on the coat collar, but not enough to have +attracted any attention. +</P> + +<P> +"Now you are all right, Tubbsky," said the fun-loving Rover. "My, but +you certainly do know how to dress!" he added, in affected admiration. +</P> + +<P> +"Ah, really?" lisped the dude "Thanks. But please don't knock my +books down again," he added, and then proceeded on his way to one of +the classrooms. +</P> + +<P> +"Well, that makes me feel a little better," murmured Tom, and then he +followed slowly, to watch the fun. He saw a number of students gather +and all commenced to snicker at Tubbs, who, totally unconscious of what +was taking place, marched on, holding his head erect. +</P> + +<P> +"Wish it was my class, I'd like to see it out," mused Tom. "But never +mind, I guess I'll hear about it later," and he turned back to the +campus, to wait for Sam. As he did this, a queer pain shot through his +head and he murmured a suppressed groan. +</P> + +<P> +"If that keeps on I'll have to do as Sam says, go and see a doctor," he +told himself. "Gosh, how queer I feel! Just as if I was getting +batty!" +</P> + +<P> +"Hullo, Tom!" came the salute from nearby, and looking in that +direction the fun-loving youth saw another student coming up rapidly. +"Sam just told me you were going to take a walk and asked me to go +along." +</P> + +<P> +"Yes, Songbird, we'll start as soon as Sam gets through with the lesson +he's studying. How's the muse these days?" +</P> + +<P> +"Oh, I'm not writing much poetry now," answered John Powell, otherwise +known as Songbird, because of his efforts at composing verses. "I've +got too much to do studying." +</P> + +<P> +"Why don't you write a poem to the professors? Maybe they'd excuse you +from recitations for it," and Tom smiled broadly. +</P> + +<P> +"I—er—I did write one little poem about the lessons," answered the +would-be poet. "It went like this: +</P> + +<P CLASS="poem"> +"The student sat in his room in a chair<BR> +With a look on his face of keen despair;<BR> +Outside his chums were playing ball<BR> +And oft to him they sent a call.<BR> +He wanted to play with all his heart,<BR> +But from his books he could not part."<BR> +</P> + +<BR> + +<P> +"Grand! Immense! You've struck the clothespin on the head the first +clip!" cried Tom. "Any more of the same brand?" +</P> + +<P> +"Well—er—I started the second verse, but I didn't get it finished. +It went like this: +</P> + +<P CLASS="poem"> +"He had a lesson hard to learn,<BR> +It made his heart with anguish burn;<BR> +He wanted to throw those books away<BR> +And rush outside and run and play<BR> +And so—and so—and so———"<BR> +</P> + +<P CLASS="poem"> +And so he kept on grinding there,<BR> +Gnashing his teeth and pulling his hair,"<BR> +</P> + +<P CLASS="noindent"> +finished Tom. "I know, for I've been there. Really, Songbird, that's +a dandy poem. You ought to have it framed and hung up in the gym." +</P> + +<P> +"Do you really think so?" and the would-be poet looked pleased. +</P> + +<P> +"I do. It would hit every fellow in Brill. And I think—What can that +fellow want?" added Tom suddenly, as a messenger boy from the town came +running up to him. +</P> + +<P> +"Guess he's got a message for you," returned Songbird. +</P> + +<P> +"For me? I trust it's no bad news," said Tom. +</P> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<A NAME="chap02"></A> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +CHAPTER II +</H3> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +SOMETHING ABOUT THE PAST +</H3> + +<P> +"Is this Mr. Thomas Rover?" asked the messenger boy, as he came to a +halt. +</P> + +<P> +"Yes, that's my handle," answered Tom. "What have you got for me, a +check for a thousand dollars or a bill?" +</P> + +<P> +"Telegram," was the laconic answer, and the lad held it out. "Sign +here," he added, bringing his receipt book into evidence. "It's paid +fer." +</P> + +<P> +"All right, son." Tom signed the book, fished up a dime from his +pocket and handed it to the lad, who took it with a broad grin. +</P> + +<P> +"T'anks, mister. Any answer?" +</P> + +<P> +"I'll see," said Tom, and tore open the envelope of the telegram. He +perused the yellow sheet inside with interest. +</P> + +<P> +"It's from Dick!" he cried, to Songbird. "He's got to come to Casford +on business and he says he will make the trip in the auto and bring +Dora along. They'll be here to-morrow or the day after, and they'll +stop at Hope Seminary too. Say, this is great! I must tell Sam!" went +on Tom, his face brightening. "You can go," he told the messenger boy. +</P> + +<P> +"Here comes Sam now," announced Songbird. "He's got Stanley and Spud +with him." And he pointed to one of the doors of the college building. +</P> + +<P> +To my old readers the Rover boys will need no introduction. For the +benefit of others, allow me to state that the youths were three in +number, Dick being the oldest, fun-loving Tom coming next, and sturdy +little Sam being the youngest. When at "the old homestead," as they +called it, they lived with their father, Anderson Rover, and their +Uncle Randolph and Aunt Martha on a farm called Valley Brook, in New +York State. +</P> + +<P> +As related in the first volume of this series, entitled, "The Rover +Boys at School," the three lads had been sent to Putnam Hall Military +Academy, a well-known institution of learning presided over by Captain +Victor Putnam. There they had made many friends and also a few +enemies.* +</P> + +<P> +The first term at school was followed by a trip on the ocean, and then +another trip into the jungles of Africa. Then came a journey to the +West, and jolly times on the Great Lakes and in the mountains. Next +the boys returned to the Hall, to go in camp with their fellow cadets. +After that they took a long journey over land and sea, being cast away +on a lonely island of the Pacific. +</P> + +<P> +"Now I've had enough adventures to last a lifetime," said Dick, on +returning home. But strenuous happenings to him and his brothers were +not yet over. On a houseboat the Rover boys sailed down the Ohio and +the Mississippi rivers, having many adventures by the way, and then +found themselves on the Plains, where they solved the mystery of Red +Rock ranch. Then they reached Southern Waters, and in the Gulf of +Mexico discovered a deserted steam yacht, which they eventually turned +over to its anxious owner. +</P> + +<P> +"Now for a good rest," said Sam, and the three lads returned to the +home farm, where more adventures befell them. Next they returned to +Putnam Hall, where all graduated with considerable honor. +</P> + +<P> +"College next," said Tom, and he made a wry face, for studying was not +particularly in his line, although he could knuckle down as hard as +anyone when it was necessary. But before they went to college the lads +and their father, accompanied by some others, went off on a treasure +hunt, locating what was known as the Stanhope fortune. +</P> + +<P> +Brill College was a fine institution of learning, located in the middle +west, not far from the town of Ashton. With the Rovers went their +old-time school chum, Songbird Powell, already introduced. At the same +time William Philander Tubbs came there from Putnam Hall. He was a +dudish fellow who thought more of his dress and his personal appearance +than anything else, and was often made the butt of some practical joke. +</P> + +<P> +At Brill the Rovers soon made other friends, including Stanley Browne, +a tall, gentlemanly youth, and Will Jackson, generally called Spud, +because of his unusual fondness for potatoes. Spud was a great story +teller and some of his yarns were certainly "the limit," to use Sam's +way of expressing it. +</P> + +<P> +While at Putnam Hall the Rover boys had made the acquaintance of Dora +Stanhope, who lived nearby with her widowed mother, and also Nellie and +Grace Laning, Dora's two cousins. It was not long before Dick and Dora +showed a great liking for each other, and at same time Tom commenced to +"pair off" with Nellie and Sam was often seen in the company of Grace. +Then came the time when the Rovers did a great service for Mrs. +Stanhope, saving her from the rascality of Josiah Crabtree, a teacher +at Putnam Hall who was trying to get possession of the money Mrs. +Stanhope held in trust for Dora. Crabtree was exposed and then he lost +no time in disappearing. +</P> + +<P> +Not far from Brill College was located another institution of learning, +Hope Seminary, for girls. When the Rovers went to Brill, Dora and her +two cousins went to Hope, so the young folks met as often as before. +</P> + +<P> +A short term at Brill was followed by an unexpected trip down East, +where the lads again fell in with the rascally Crabtree. Then the +youths returned home for a brief vacation and while there became the +owners of a biplane and took several thrilling trips through the air, +and, later on, by means of the same aircraft, managed to save Dora and +Nellie from some rascals who had abducted them. +</P> + +<P> +About this time, Mr. Anderson Rover, who was not well, was having much +trouble with some brokers, who were trying to do him out of much +valuable property. He went to New York and disappeared, and the sons +immediately went in search of him, as related in the volume before +this, entitled "The Rover Boys in New York." +</P> + +<P> +The brokers were Pelter, Japson & Company, and it was not long before +Dick and his brothers discovered that they were in league with Josiah +Crabtree. The plotters were holding Mr. Rover a prisoner, in the hope +that he would sign away certain rights to them. The boys traced the +crowd to a lonely farmhouse, and it was during the happenings which +followed that poor Tom was struck on the head by a wooden footstool, +thrown by Pelter, and knocked unconscious. Josiah Crabtree tried to +escape from a garret window by means of a rope made of a blanket and +this broke and he fell, breaking a leg in two places. He was taken to +a hospital and the doctors there said he would be a cripple for life. +</P> + +<P> +All of the Rovers were much concerned over Tom, and for some time it +looked as if the youth might be seriously injured. But the boy had +grit and pulled himself together, and presently announced himself as +well as ever. But he often got that sharp pain through the head, and +there were times when, for an instant, his mind became a blank. +</P> + +<P> +While Dick was at college he had become formally engaged to Dora, and +now it was decided that, as Mr. Rover was in no physical condition to +look after his various financial affairs, and as Dick seemed to take +more to business than to studying, he should leave college and take the +reins out of his parent's hands. Then he pleaded with Dora that they +get married and she consented, only stipulating that they must both +look after her mother. Then followed the grandest wedding that quiet +Cedarville had ever known, and Dick and Dora went off on a short but +exceedingly happy honeymoon trip. +</P> + +<P> +"And now it is back to the college grind for us," Sam had said to Tom. +</P> + +<P> +"Right you are," was the reply. "And we'll have to work pretty hard to +catch up with our classes." +</P> + +<P> +"But your head, Tom——" +</P> + +<P> +"Oh, that has got to take care of itself," had been Tom's reply; and +there the matter had dropped for the time being. But often Sam would +watch his brother closely, for he knew that poor Tom had been seriously +hurt and was by no means entirely over it. +</P> + +<P> +When the two brothers had returned to Brill they had had to tell their +chums of all their doings in and near New York. Songbird had smiled +grimly on hearing of the fate of Josiah Crabtree. +</P> + +<P> +"Well, he deserved it," the would-be poet had said. "He was a snake in +the grass from the start." +</P> + +<P> +"I hope he doesn't cross our path again," Sam had replied. "I never +want to see him, again." +</P> + +<P> +"Nor do I," had come from Tom. "If he's a cripple I reckon he'll keep +out of our sight." +</P> + +<P> +It was hard work, after all the excitement of their doings in New York, +and the added excitement of the wedding, for Sam and Tom to settle down +to the hum-drum routine of life at college, but the lads did their +best. Nellie Laning and her sister Grace came back to Hope Seminary +and the young folks managed to see each other at least once a week. +Nellie was very solicitous about Tom, and when he admitted to her that +his head still hurt at times she wanted to know why he didn't return to +the farm for a long rest. +</P> + +<P> +"Oh, I don't want to drop behind in my studies, Nellie," had been his +answer. "I want to get through, and go into business, like Dick has +done," and he gazed at her in a manner that caused her to blush deeply. +</P> + +<P> +"Yes, I know. But, Tom dear, supposing your head——" She did not +know how to go on. +</P> + +<P> +"Oh, my head will be all right, Nellie, so don't you fret. Why, I +wouldn't have you fret for the world!" And Tom had caught both her +hands tightly within his own. They understood each other perfectly. +</P> + +<P> +"But you know what the doctor said—that you must be very careful for a +long, long time." She had not added that one of the specialists had +remarked that victims of such injuries sometimes went out of their +minds. +</P> + +<P> +"Oh, I'll be all right I tell you, Nellie," he had answered. "I'll go +through Brill with a rush, see if I don't. And then we'll get +married——" +</P> + +<P> +"Oh, Tom!" +</P> + +<P> +"Surest thing you know," he had added, and then, as they chanced to be +alone, he had caught her in his arms and given her a quick little hug +and a kiss that meant a great deal. To Tom, the whole world did not +hold such another girl like Nellie. And to Nellie—well, there was Tom +and that was all. +</P> + +<P> +"Well, you take good care of yourself," she had said on parting, and he +had told her again not to worry. +</P> + +<P> +"What's the news?" asked Sam, as he came up to his brother and saw the +telegram in Tom's hand. +</P> + +<P> +"Read it for yourself," was the answer and the younger Rover did so. +</P> + +<P> +"So Dick is coming to Casford; eh?" mused Sam. "I suppose it's some +more of Dad's business. Well, I'll be glad to see him and see Dora, +too. We can all go up to Hope together." +</P> + +<P> +"Go to Hope to see the teachers, I suppose," said Stanley Browne, +closing one eye suggestively. "Fine fun that, seeing the teachers," +and then Sam made a playful pass at him with his fist. +</P> + +<P> +"Sam said we were to take a walk," put in Spud. "Where are we going?" +</P> + +<P> +"We might go out towards the Sanderson farm," suggested Songbird. +</P> + +<P> +"So you can call on Minnie," cried Tom, for he knew of Songbird's deep +regard for the farmer's daughter. "All right, that suits me." +</P> + +<P> +"Let us go through Lanker's woods and by the old mill," suggested Sam. +"That's a fine walk, Tom, and almost as short as the regular road." +</P> + +<P> +"Just as short," put in Songbird. "I've walked it several times and I +know." And then he bit his lip as several of the others commenced to +laugh. "I don't care—I've got a right to visit the Sandersons if I +want to." +</P> + +<P> +"Sure you have," answered Sam. "And Minnie—Great Scott! What's the +row now? Here comes Tubbs on the run and shaking his fist at us!" +</P> + +<P> +"I guess I am in for it," returned Tom. "I fancy Tubblets wants to see +me." +</P> + +<BR> + +<P CLASS="footnote"> +* For particulars regarding how Putnam Hall Military Academy was +organized, and what fine times the cadets there enjoyed even before the +Rovers appeared on the scene, read "The Putnam Hall Series," six +volumes, starting with "The Putnam Hall Cadets."—PUBLISHERS. +</P> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<A NAME="chap03"></A> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +CHAPTER III +</H3> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +TOM'S JOKE +</H3> + +<P> +"What did you do to him?" asked Sam, quickly. +</P> + +<P> +"Put an advertisement of pills on his back and some other ads. in his +text books," answered Tom. "Say, he looks some mad; doesn't he?" +</P> + +<P> +"I should say yes," came from Stanley. +</P> + +<P> +William Philander was approaching with long strides. In one hand he +held the poster Tom had fastened on his back, and he was shaking his +other fist wrathfully. +</P> + +<P> +"Tom Rover, you've—er—insulted me!" he gasped as he came up. "You've +humiliated me before the whole class! I'll—I'll——" The dudish +student was so full of wrath he could not speak. +</P> + +<P> +"Take a cough drop and clear your throat Billy," suggested Tom, coolly. +"Don't get so excited, you might drop dead from heart disease." +</P> + +<P> +"How dare you put that—er—that advertisement of Gumley's Red Pills on +my back?" stormed the stylishly-dressed one. +</P> + +<P> +"'Gumley's Red Pills for Red-Blooded People,'" quoted Spud, from the +poster. "Say, they are fine, Willie. Didn't you ever take 'em?" +</P> + +<P> +"No, and I don't want to. I want Tom Ro——" +</P> + +<P> +"Say, if you haven't taken any of Gumley's pills you don't know what +you've missed," went on Spud, with a wink at the others. "Why, there +was a man over in Rottenberg who was flat on his back with half a dozen +fatal diseases. The doctors gave him just three days to live,—three +days, think of it! His wife nearly cried her eyes out. Then along +came this Gumley man with a trunk full of his Red Pills for Red-Blooded +People. He didn't exactly know if the dying man was red-blooded or +not, but he took a chance and gave the fellow sixteen pills, four after +breakfast, four after dinner, four after supper and four on retiring, +and the next day, what do you think happened? That man got up and went +to work, and he's been at his Job ever since." +</P> + +<P> +"Yes, and not only that," added Tom, earnestly. "That man organized a +tug-of-war team,—the plumbers against the Local Conclave of the R. W. +Q. Society,—and they've had three tug-of-war matches, and he has +pulled the R. W. Q. Society over the line every time. Talk about pills +that are worth their weight in gold! Why, Gumley's Red Pills for +Red-Blooded People are worth their weight in diamonds, and you ought to +get down on your bended knees and thank somebody for having been given +the opportunity to advertise them." +</P> + +<P> +"Oh, you make me—er—tired, don't you know," gasped William Philander. +"It was a—er—a horrid trick. All the class were laughing at me. And +when I opened my Greek book, out fell one of those horrid bills! And +then I dropped another bill on the platform, and—oh, it was awful! +I'll never forgive you, Tom Rover, never!" And William Philander +stalked away, still clutching the poster in his hand. +</P> + +<P> +"Poor William Philander!" murmured Sam. "It was rather a rough joke, +Tom." +</P> + +<P> +"Oh, it will do him good," was the answer. "He's too uppish to live." +</P> + +<P> +"Yes, he wants some of the conceit knocked out of him," added Stanley. +"But come on, if we are going for a walk, let us get started." +</P> + +<P> +"Wish I had been in the classroom to see the fun," mused Tom, his +old-time grin overspreading his face. No matter how old Tom got he'd +never give up his boyish pranks. +</P> + +<P> +The crowd of students were soon on the way in the direction of the +Sanderson farm. But at the first turn in the road they left that +highway, and following a path across a pasture lot, plunged into the +depths of what was known as Lanker's woods. Through the woods ran a +fair-sized stream of water, and at one spot there was an old dam and +the remains of a saw mill, now going to decay. +</P> + +<P> +"Sam, don't you wish you had the old <I>Dartaway</I> back," remarked +Stanley, presently. "You used to cover this part of the country pretty +well with that flying machine?" +</P> + +<P> +"I've never wanted it back since it got smashed up on the railroad +track," was the answer. "Flying was good enough, but I don't think I +was cut out for a birdman." +</P> + +<P> +"I'd like to go up again some day," put in Tom. "But not regularly. +I'd rather travel in an auto, or behind a fast horse." +</P> + +<P> +"Give me a horse every time," said Songbird. And then he warbled +softly: +</P> + +<P CLASS="poem"> +"To rush along at railroad speed,<BR> +<SPAN STYLE="margin-left: 1em">In auto, or on wings of air,</SPAN><BR> +Is well enough for some, I think,<BR> +<SPAN STYLE="margin-left: 1em">To make you jump and make you stare.</SPAN><BR> +But when I journey roundabout,<BR> +<SPAN STYLE="margin-left: 1em">I'll take a horse, or maybe two,</SPAN><BR> +And then I'll—I'll——"<BR> +</P> + +<P CLASS="poem"> +"And then I won't bust any tires<BR> +<SPAN STYLE="margin-left: 1em">And walk home feeling pretty blue!"</SPAN><BR> +</P> + +<P CLASS="noindent"> +added Tom. "Say, that's right, Songbird, although you can't burst +tires on a flying machine," he added. +</P> + +<P> +"That isn't just the way I was going to finish the verse," said the +would-be poet. "But it will do." +</P> + +<P> +On went the boys, deeper and deeper into the woods, chatting gaily and +occasionally singing snatches of college songs. Sam kept close to his +brother and he was glad to note that Tom was acting quite like his old +self. +</P> + +<P> +"What he needs is plenty of fresh air and rest from studying," thought +the younger Rover. "Hang it all, it was a mistake for Tom to get down +to the grind so soon. He ought to have taken a trip out West, or to +Europe, or somewhere." +</P> + +<P> +Presently the students came out on the bank of the stream and there, in +the sunshine, they rested on a fallen tree and some rocks. It was +pleasant to watch the swiftly-rushing water, as it tumbled over the +stones. +</P> + +<P> +"The brook is pretty strong on account of those rains we had," remarked +Sam. +</P> + +<P> +"Yes, I never saw it so swift," answered Stanley. +</P> + +<P> +"Humph! this is nothing," announced Spud. "I saw it once when it ran +so swiftly that the water couldn't make the turn at the bend below here +and ran right up the hill and over on Shelby's barn, drowning sixteen +cows! And some of the water hit the barn roof and bounced off into the +chimney of Shelby's cottage and put out the fire, and——" +</P> + +<P> +"Wow, Spud! put on the soft pedal!" interrupted Sam. +</P> + +<P> +"Oh, it's absolutely true. Some day I'll show you the tombstone they +erected over the sixteen cows. It's of granite and a hundred and ten +feet high." +</P> + +<P> +"Never mind the tombstone," interrupted Tom. "What I want to see is +the match box Shelby stored that water in after it hit the barn." And +at this sally a general laugh went up. +</P> + +<P> +On the boys went again, and half an hour later reached the abandoned +saw mill. All that was left was the dam with the broken wheel and one +end of what had once been a long, low, one-storied building. +</P> + +<P> +"Let's have a look inside," suggested Stanley, and led the way, and the +others followed. Sam was the last to enter, coming directly behind his +brother and he saw Tom suddenly put his hand to the back of his head +and stop. +</P> + +<P> +"Does it hurt again, Tom?" he whispered, kindly. +</P> + +<P> +"Just a—a—spasm!" gasped poor Tom, and then he drew a long breath. +"There, it's gone now," he added, and walked on. Sam sighed and shook +his head. What was this queer condition of Tom going to lead to? It +made him shiver to think of it. +</P> + +<P> +There was but little to see in the old mill. It was a damp, +unwholesome place, and the boys soon came out again. Not far away was +a well hole, rather deep and partly filled with water. +</P> + +<P> +Tom was the first to notice this hole, which was partly covered with +rotted boards. Of a sudden he commenced to grin, as if he scented a +huge joke. He ran up and rearranged the rotted boards, so they +completely covered the hole. Then in the center he placed the +bright-colored cap he had been wearing, and hurried along, to the path +leading beside the dam. +</P> + +<P> +"Hi, Stanley!" he called out, as the others came from the mill. "Get +my cap, will you? The wind blew it off. It's back there somewhere." +</P> + +<P> +"I see it!" shouted Stanley. +</P> + +<P> +"I see it, too," came from Spud, who was close by. "I'll race you for +it, Stan." +</P> + +<P> +"Done!" was the reply, and side by side the two collegians raced for +the cap. +</P> + +<P> +"An apple for the fellow who wins!" shouted Sam, who saw nothing wrong +in what was going on. +</P> + +<P> +"Leg it, both of you!" added Songbird. +</P> + +<P> +Side by side Stanley and Spud sped over the uneven ground in the +direction of the cap. Then both made a plunge forward in true football +style. In a heap they landed on the rotted boards, each catching hold +of the coveted headwear. Then came an ominous crash, and both boys +disappeared headlong into the well hole! +</P> + +<P> +"Look! Look what has happened!" shrieked Sam, in dismay. +</P> + +<P> +"They are in the old well!" gasped Songbird. +</P> + +<P> +"Ha! ha! ha! Ho! ho!" came from Tom, and he shook with laughter. +"Isn't that the dandy joke? I thought Stanley would go in, but I +didn't expect to catch the pair of 'em." +</P> + +<P> +"Tom!" cried Sam, in new horror. "You didn't really mean——" +</P> + +<P> +"Sure I did. I put my cap there on purpose. Say, they had some +tumble, didn't they?" And Tom commenced to laugh again—a strange +laugh that didn't sound like him at all. +</P> + +<P> +"They'll be drowned—we must save them!" exclaimed Sam, hoarsely. +"Songbird, what can we do?" he added, turning to his chum. +</P> + +<P> +"I don't know—maybe we can throw 'em a rope—if there is one around." +</P> + +<P> +"Let 'em crawl out—it's easy enough," came from Tom. "Don't you spoil +the joke." And he commenced to laugh again. +</P> + +<P> +"Tom, don't act as if you were crazy!" said Sam, catching him by the +arm and shaking him. "Those fellows can't get out without help—it's +too deep! And the sides may cave in on top of them! And there is +water down there, too! We must help them, and at once." +</P> + +<P> +Tom stared at his brother in bewilderment. Then of a sudden the look +of fun died out of his face and was succeeded by a look of horror and +terror combined. +</P> + +<P> +"Did I do that, Sam? Oh, what a foolish thing to do! Yes, we must +help them! What shall I do? I'll jump down after them if you say so!" +And Tom started forward. +</P> + +<P> +"No, don't do that!" Sam held him back. "We'll get a rope, or a long +pole. Don't go too close or you may cave the top of the well in on +'em." +</P> + +<P> +"Yes, we must get a rope, or a pole," gasped poor Tom and ran off on a +search. "And I thought I was having a good joke! Oh, I certainly must +be going crazy!" he muttered. +</P> + +<P> +In the meantime Songbird had thrown himself on his hands and knees and +crawled to the edge of the old well hole. He called out several times, +but got no reply. He heard a great floundering and splashing. +</P> + +<P> +"Hi, you!" he continued. "Are you alive?" +</P> + +<P> +"Sa—save us!" came the spluttered-out words, from Spud. "Sa—save us!" +</P> + +<P> +"Are you both alive?" continued Songbird, anxiously. +</P> + +<P> +"Yes," answered Stanley. "But we need help, for the water is over our +heads. Get a rope, or something, and be quick about it!" +</P> + +<P> +"Hang on the best you can and we'll help you," was the answer. +</P> + +<P> +"Well, don't be too long about it, or we'll be drowned!" came in a +shivering tone from Spud. +</P> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<A NAME="chap04"></A> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +CHAPTER IV +</H3> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +THE OLD WELL HOLE +</H3> + +<P> +The three youths at the top of the old well hole gazed around +anxiously. All were looking for a rope, but no such article presented +itself to their view. There was a bit of iron chain lying in the dead +leaves nearby, but it was too short to be of service. +</P> + +<P> +"I don't see anything to use," remarked Songbird, wildly. "Oh, Sam, +this is awful!" +</P> + +<P> +"Come on, I think I see something," answered the younger Rover. "Tom, +you can help bring it over." +</P> + +<P> +He took his half-dazed brother by the arm, more to keep him from +approaching too close to the well than for any other reason, and the +three boys raced to where a number of saplings were growing. Sam had +noted that one of the saplings had been bent over by the wind and was +partly uprooted. +</P> + +<P> +"Maybe we can get it up—we've got to do it!" he cried. "Come, catch +hold and pull for all you are worth!" +</P> + +<P> +The others understood and laid hold of the young tree, which was all of +fifteen feet high and several inches in diameter. It had but few +branches, which was an advantage. They bent it down and pulled with a +will, and out of the ground it came, so suddenly that the boys fell +flat on their backs. +</P> + +<P> +"Wait, I'll break off some of the branches!" cried Sam. "Tom, +Songbird, try to break off that twisted root. There, that will do. +Now, if we can get it down the well they ought to be able to climb up +on it." +</P> + +<P> +It was but the work of a few seconds to drag the sapling to the hole. +Then it was lifted upright, so that the end might not dig into the +sides of the well and cause a cave-in. +</P> + +<P> +"Look out below there!" shouted Sam. +</P> + +<P> +"Don't knock any stones on us!" came back from Stanley. He and Spud +had braced themselves on the sides of the old well, with the water up +to their waists. +</P> + +<P> +"We'll be as careful as we can," answered Songbird. +</P> + +<P> +"Look out for dirt in your eyes," added Tom. All the fun had died out +of him and his face was full of concern. +</P> + +<P> +Slowly and cautiously the three boys lowered the sapling into the old +well hole. In doing this they had to stand close to the edge, and once +they sent down a shower of loose dirt that caused a wild cry of alarm +from below. +</P> + +<P> +"Go slow!" cried Spud, presently. "I've got it," he added, a second +later. "Let her come," and then the sapling was lowered until the +roots rested on the bottom of the hole. The top was now several feet +below the top of the old well. +</P> + +<P> +"The old chain—just the thing!" cried Sam, and took it up. +</P> + +<P> +"You had better come up close together," suggested Songbird, peering +down at those below. "Then, if the well caves in, you'll be up that +far anyway." +</P> + +<P> +This was thought good advice and Stanley and Spud determined to act on +it. Stanley came first with Spud at his heels. The many small +branches of the sapling afforded good holds, and as each of the youths +was something of an athlete, both of them came up with comparative ease. +</P> + +<P> +"Can't get any higher," remarked Stanley, when within two feet of the +top of the sapling. "It's almost ready to break now." +</P> + +<P> +"Catch hold of the chain!" cried Sam. "I'll hold it. Tom and +Songbird, you hold me, so I don't fall in." +</P> + +<P> +Sam had the chain twisted around his right hand and he leaned far over +into the well hole, his brother and Songbird holding him by his free +arm. The loose end of the chain dangled close to Stanley and he +grasped hold. Then came a short, hard pull, and Stanley came sprawling +out on the grass. Then Spud crawled up a little higher and he was +hauled out the same way. +</P> + +<P> +Both boys were wet to the skin and covered with mud, presenting +anything but an enviable appearance. For several seconds they sat on +the grass, panting for breath. +</P> + +<P> +"Phew! that was a close shave!" gasped Spud, presently. "I'm mightily +glad the old well didn't cave in on us!" +</P> + +<P> +"We went down head first," came from Stanley. "If it hadn't been for +the water we would have smashed our skulls!" +</P> + +<P> +"And the water came close to drowning us," added Spud; "And say, it was +some cold, believe me," and he shivered. +</P> + +<P> +"You'd better race around in the sun a bit, or you'll take cold," said +Sam. +</P> + +<P> +"Take off your coat, Spud, and put on mine," said Songbird, as he +commenced to divest himself of his garment. +</P> + +<P> +"Yes, and Stanley can have my coat," came from Tom. He now looked +relieved, but his eyes had a strange light in them. +</P> + +<P> +"It's queer how your old cap landed right on the top of the well," +remarked Spud. "Why didn't the wind carry it to some safer place?" +</P> + +<P> +At this remark Tom's face grew suddenly red. He tried to speak and +gave a gulp. +</P> + +<P> +"There isn't much wind now," added Stanley. "How was it, Tom?" +</P> + +<P> +"I—er—I—the wind didn't blow the cap," was the lame answer. Just +then Tom wished he was a thousand miles away. He could not look his +chums in the face. +</P> + +<P> +"It didn't blow the cap?" demanded Spud. "What do you mean?" +</P> + +<P> +To this Tom did not answer. Sam wanted to speak, but did not know what +to say. Songbird looked curiously at Tom. +</P> + +<P> +"Say, look here!" burst out Stanley, striding forward. "Do you mean to +say, Tom Rover, that you put that cap on the old well on purpose?" +</P> + +<P> +"I—I—did," answered Tom feebly. "I—er—I thought it was a—a joke." +</P> + +<P> +"A joke?" cried Spud, sarcastically. +</P> + +<P> +"A joke, to put us in peril of drowning, or smothering to death!" +roared Stanley. "If you call that a joke I don't, and I want you to +know it!" And in a sudden passion he doubled up his fists and sprang +towards Tom. +</P> + +<P> +But Sam rushed between the pair. +</P> + +<P> +"Stanley, don't, please don't!" he cried. "Tom made a mistake,—he +knows it now." +</P> + +<P> +"He'll know it after I am done with him!" cried the other, hotly. +"He's not going to play a joke on me that puts me in danger of my life! +I'll take it out of his hide!" And he tried to get past the younger +Rover. +</P> + +<P> +But still Sam held him back. +</P> + +<P> +"Stanley, don't touch him. You know how sick he's been. He isn't +himself. Let it pass. He's as sorry as any of us that it happened; +aren't you, Tom?" +</P> + +<P> +"Sure I am," answered Tom, readily; but his tone of voice was that of +one who didn't care much, one way or the other. Tom was not himself, +that was certain. +</P> + +<P> +"Humph, maybe he's sorry and maybe he isn't," muttered Stanley. "I +guess he ought to have a thrashing. Anyway, I am done with him," and +he flung back the coat Tom had offered him. +</P> + +<P> +All in the crowd looked at Tom, expecting him to say something more. +But Tom shut his mouth tightly and walked away, up the river path. He +was without his coat. Sam picked up the garment and made after his +brother. +</P> + +<P> +"Tom, come back here!" +</P> + +<P> +"I won't, Sam. You can stay with them if you want to. I'll take a +walk alone," was the moody answer, and Tom walked faster than ever. +</P> + +<P> +"Of all the mean things to do!" murmured Spud, shaking his head slowly. +"I would never have thought it of Tom Rover, never!" +</P> + +<P> +"Tom hasn't acted just right since he came back to Brill," said +Songbird, in a low tone, "You know he got an awful crack on the head, +and, somehow, he's been different ever since. I wouldn't lay it up +against him, if I were you fellows." +</P> + +<P> +"Huh! I guess you'd lay it up against him if you had been soused down +into that old well hole and were all wet and covered with mud!" growled +Stanley. "Fun is fun, but that was no joke, I can tell you that! He +deserves a good thrashing." +</P> + +<P> +"If he isn't right in his head they ought to put him under the doctor's +care, or in a sanitarium," remarked Spud. "Why, if he isn't right in +his mind there is no telling what he'll do next! He might take it into +his head to murder some of us!" +</P> + +<P> +"Oh, I don't think it's as bad as that," answered Songbird, hastily. +"I think in a short while he'll be just as he used to be. But the +excitement of that capture of those brokers and old Crabtree, and the +fight, and then Dick's wedding, were too much for him. What he needs, +I think, is a good, long rest." +</P> + +<P> +"Well, he can keep away from me after this," grumbled Stanley, as he +looked at his wet and bedrabbled clothes. "Nice sight we'll present +going back to the college!" +</P> + +<P> +"I'll tell you what I'll do," suggested Songbird. "I'll go ahead, to +the gym., and get you some changes and you can put them on in Dobb's +barn. Then nobody will know about it." +</P> + +<P> +"All right," said Stanley, his face brightening a trifle. +</P> + +<P> +"What of Sam and Tom?" asked Spud, who was not as angry as his +companion in misfortune. +</P> + +<P> +"I'll tell them we are going back," answered Songbird, and ran after +the Rovers. +</P> + +<P> +In the meantime Sam and Tom had kept on walking—or rather Tom had +hurried on and his brother had kept up with him, trying to make him +turn back. But to all of Sam's entreaties Tom turned a deaf ear. +</P> + +<P> +"I came out for a walk and I'm going to walk," he said, stubbornly. +"If they want to go back they can do it—and you and Songbird can go +with 'em." +</P> + +<P> +"But, Tom, that isn't fair," insisted Sam. "They are all wet, and——" +</P> + +<P> +"Humph! a little water won't hurt 'em. I've been soaked myself more +than once. If they can't take a joke let 'em go," and Tom continued to +stalk on until he came to a flat rock, when he suddenly sat down to +rest, at the same time putting both hands to his head. +</P> + +<P> +It was here that Songbird found them and informed them of what the +others and himself proposed to do. +</P> + +<P> +"All right, Songbird; I guess that is best," said Sam, softly. "Tom +doesn't feel just right and he'll rest here awhile." +</P> + +<P> +"Oh, I'm not sick!" cried Tom. "I'm sorry I played the trick, but I +don't see any reason for Stanley and Spud to cut up about it." And +then he got up as suddenly as he had sat down and stalked on once more. +</P> + +<P> +"Do your best to fix it up, Songbird," pleaded Sam, in a low tone. +"You can see Tom isn't himself. Try to explain to those fellows." +</P> + +<P> +"I will. I think Tom ought to have a doctor," was the low reply; and +then Songbird rejoined Stanley and Spud and the three started back to +Brill. +</P> + +<P> +Tom stalked on for fully half a mile without speaking and Sam came +behind him. The younger Rover was busy thinking and did not say a +word. Presently the pair reached the end of the river path and came to +a bridge and the highway. On the bridge Tom sat down again. +</P> + +<P> +"Want to go any further, Tom?" asked Sam, as pleasantly as he could. +</P> + +<P> +"I don't care where I go!" burst out the other. "I'm sick of it all! +Sick of the college, sick of studying, sick of those fellows, sick of +everything and everybody! I wish I could go to Africa, or the North +Pole, or somewhere else, where I wouldn't see or hear of 'em again!" +</P> + +<P> +"Tom!" +</P> + +<P> +"I mean it. What's the use of keeping in the grind day after day, like +a horse on a tread mill? What does a fellow get out of it? Nothing +but hard work and a pain in the head! Some times my head hurts to beat +the band! I can't stand it, and I won't! They are all against me, +every one of 'em!" And Tom commenced to wring his hands, while two +tears stood in his eyes and rolled down his cheeks. +</P> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<A NAME="chap05"></A> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +CHAPTER V +</H3> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +TOM'S QUEER ACTIONS +</H3> + +<P> +Sam did not know what to say or what to do. He realized more fully +than ever that his brother was not himself. He was growing wilder and +more irrational every moment. +</P> + +<P> +"Tom," he asked suddenly, "have you got those pills with you that the +doctor gave you to take?" +</P> + +<P> +"Sure," was the ready answer. +</P> + +<P> +"Have you taken any lately?" +</P> + +<P> +"No. What's the use? They don't seem to help me." +</P> + +<P> +"Let me see them, please." +</P> + +<P> +"There they are." Tom brought the box from his pocket. "They might as +well be bread pills, or Gumley's red ones," and he grinned for a moment +at the recollection of the trick played on William Philander Tubbs. +</P> + +<P> +Sam took the box and looked at the directions carefully. "It says to +take one three times a day when needed," he said. "You had better take +one now, Tom. Come on." +</P> + +<P> +"It won't do any good, Sam." +</P> + +<P> +"Well, take one for me, that's a good fellow. Wait, I've got my pocket +cup and I'll get some water." And he did so. +</P> + +<P> +"Oh, dear, you're bound to feed me pills," sighed Tom, and made a wry +face as he swallowed the one Sam handed him. Sam kept the box, making +up his mind that he would play nurse after this. +</P> + +<P> +"I guess we had better walk some more," said Tom, suddenly. "I hate +sitting still. If we had the old <I>Dartaway</I> I'd take a sail from here +to San Francisco, or some other far-off place." +</P> + +<P> +"Wait a little, I'm tired," answered Sam, soothingly. "Just see those +little fishes!" he said, pointing to the water under the bridge. +</P> + +<P> +He made Tom get down and watch the fishes and bathed his brother's +forehead. At first Tom was rather restless, but soon the pill seemed +to take effect and he grew quiet. +</P> + +<P> +"I'm getting awfully tired," he announced, presently. "I guess we had +better be getting back, Sam." +</P> + +<P> +"Just as you say, Tom," was the quiet reply. +</P> + +<P> +It was growing dark when they reached the college grounds and most of +the students had gone in to supper. Tom said he did not feel much like +eating, but his brother told him he had better have a little food, and +they went in together. They saw Songbird and the others at another +table. The would-be poet and Spud nodded to them, but Stanley paid no +attention. +</P> + +<P> +Sam and Tom still occupied their old room, Number 25, while Songbird +was still in Number 26. Since Dick was not to return to Brill his +place in the latter room had been taken by Max Spangler, a jolly fellow +of German-American parentage. +</P> + +<P> +"Vot is der madder mit Dom Rofer?" asked Max of the would-be poet, as +both came up to the room after supper. +</P> + +<P> +"Oh, he isn't feeling very well, Max," was the reply. "What makes you +ask?" +</P> + +<P> +"Oh, I see him put his hands by his head on so many dimes," said Max. +"He got knocked owit, didn't he?" +</P> + +<P> +"Yes, a rascal hit him over the head with a wooden footstool and nearly +cracked his skull." +</P> + +<P> +"Den he should be py der hospital, yah, instead of py college," said +the German-American student. +</P> + +<P> +"Well, maybe they'll have to take him to the hospital, or somewhere," +returned Songbird, thoughtfully. "Hang it all, with Dick gone and Tom +acting as he does, times are not half as jolly as they used to be!" +</P> + +<P> +In the next room Sam sat down to study. Tom had wanted to study, too, +but his brother had persuaded him to lie down and rest, and now he was +asleep and breathing heavily. Sam tiptoed his way across the room to +gaze at him. +</P> + +<P> +"Poor, poor Tom!" he murmured softly. "He'll have to take it easy. If +he tries to keep up here it may kill him, or——" Sam did not finish. +It was a terrorizing thought to imagine that Tom might go out of his +mind. "He's got to have a doctor—some specialist. I'm glad Dick is +coming, so we can talk it over. But it's too bad to burden Dick with +this—and Dora, too—when they aren't over their honeymoon yet. Oh, +dear, it's too bad Pelter threw that footstool at Tom!" +</P> + +<P> +Tom continued to sleep and Sam tried his best to study. But it was +hard work and the youngest Rover made slow progress. An hour passed +and then there came a soft tap on the door. Songbird was there. +</P> + +<P> +"I thought I'd ask how he was," he whispered, nodding towards Tom. +</P> + +<P> +"Sound asleep, Songbird." Sam paused for a moment. "Come in," and his +chum did so, and Sam closed the door again. "I wanted to ask you about +Stanley and Spud." +</P> + +<P> +"I—I tried to explain to them, without going into it too deeply," said +Songbird. "I think Spud understands. But Stanley—well, he's pretty +well riled yet. But I guess he'll get over it." +</P> + +<P> +"You can tell 'em that Tom would never play such a trick if he +was—well just right here," and Sam touched his forehead. "It's an +awful state of affairs, Songbird! I hardly know what to do." +</P> + +<P> +"Why not send Tom home for a rest?" +</P> + +<P> +"How can I if he won't go?" +</P> + +<P> +"Get the doctor to order it." +</P> + +<P> +"That's an idea. I'll talk it over with Dick when he comes. But I +wish you could fix it up with Stanley." +</P> + +<P> +"I'll do my best," answered Songbird, and then, as Tom moved +restlessly, he hastily left the room as quietly as he had entered it. +</P> + +<P> +Before Sam went to bed Tom roused up and wanted a drink of water. His +brother made him take another of the pills and then both retired. For +a long time Sam could not sleep, but at last he fell into a profound +slumber. +</P> + +<P> +When Sam awoke it was with a start, for the sun was shining brightly +and he feared he had overslept himself. He glanced to where Tom had +been resting and uttered an exclamation. +</P> + +<P> +"Gone! I wonder where he went to?" +</P> + +<P> +He glanced at the chair on which Tom had placed his clothes and saw +that it was empty. The door to the corridor was ajar. +</P> + +<P> +"Can he have been walking in his sleep, or did he wander away out of +his mind?" was the agonizing thought that rushed through Sam's, mind. +In a jiffy he was out of bed and had begun to dress. He did not spend +longer than was necessary on his toilet. Then he hurried out of the +room and gazed about him. An assistant janitor was nearby, running a +vacuum cleaner over the floor. +</P> + +<P> +"Gilson, you know my brother Tom," he said. "Have you seen him?" +</P> + +<P> +"Saw him outside quite a while ago," was the reply. +</P> + +<P> +"Where did he go?" +</P> + +<P> +"I don't know. He was near the gym." +</P> + +<P> +"Thanks." +</P> + +<P> +It did not take Sam long to reach the campus. Fully a score of Brill +students were in evidence, but a quick glance showed that Tom was not +among them. +</P> + +<P> +"Hello, Sam!" came from Bob Grimes, one of the crowd. "How goes it +this morning?" +</P> + +<P> +"Fine, Bob. Have you seen Tom?" +</P> + +<P> +"Yes, he took a walk down the road." +</P> + +<P> +"Which way?" +</P> + +<P> +"Towards town." +</P> + +<P> +"Long ago?" +</P> + +<P> +"Best part of half an hour, I guess." +</P> + +<P> +Sam said no more but hurried across the broad campus and on to the +highway leading to Ashton. The big bell in the tower was sending out +its last call for breakfast. Sam put down the road on a run, all sorts +of thoughts wandering through his brain. What if Tom was clean out of +his mind and had wandered off? +</P> + +<P> +"Whoop! Sam! Where bound in such a hurry, child?" came the unexpected +call from a nearby field, and Tom vaulted the rail fence lightly. +"Taking the morning air, like myself?" +</P> + +<P> +"Tom!" gasped the younger brother, coming to a halt. He ran up closer +and gave the other a quick look. Tom's eyes were as bright as they had +ever been. "Are you feeling all right this morning?" he faltered. +</P> + +<P> +"Best I've felt in a long time, Sam. Say, were you coming after me?" +demanded Tom, quickly. +</P> + +<P> +"Yes, if you want to know." +</P> + +<P> +"Thought I was going to run away, eh? Well, you're mistaken, Sammy, my +son. I'm not going to do anything of the sort. You know how bad I +felt yesterday." +</P> + +<P> +"You certainly were bad yesterday. But come on, it's time for +breakfast." +</P> + +<P> +"All right, Sam," and the two walked to the college side by side. +"Say, I did some queer things yesterday, didn't I?" went on the +fun-loving Rover, anxiously. +</P> + +<P> +"You certainly did, Tom." +</P> + +<P> +"Got Spud and Stanley in a regular mess." +</P> + +<P> +"Worse than that. They were in danger of their lives." +</P> + +<P> +"I was a fool, Sam, a regular, downright fool, and I'll tell 'em so +when I get a chance. But it was my head,—it wasn't just right." +</P> + +<P> +"You must take another pill, Tom. Here it is, take it as soon as you +can get some water." +</P> + +<P> +"All right, Sam, you're the doctor and what you say goes. I certainly +don't want to act like I did yesterday again," and poor Tom looked +greatly worried. +</P> + +<P> +"It's that crack you got on the head, Tom. You want to go slow with +studying and with all excitement. Maybe you had better go back home +and take it easy." +</P> + +<P> +"Well, I will if I don't feel stronger in a week or two," was the slow +and thoughtful answer. And then Tom put his hand to the back of his +head, as he had done so many times lately. +</P> + +<P> +It was not until the noon hour that the fun-loving Rover had a chance +to talk to Spud and Stanley. He went up to both of his chums frankly +and told them what he had told Sam. +</P> + +<P> +"Oh, it's all right," said Spud, quickly. "I knew you weren't +yourself, Tom. Don't say anything more about it." +</P> + +<P> +With Stanley, however, it was different. He had spoiled a good suit of +clothing and scratched his chin and hands. Sam had told him to send +the suit to the cleaner's at the Rovers' expense, but even this had not +altogether satisfied the big student. +</P> + +<P> +"It was a mean joke, and I don't like it," said Stanley. "It was no +sort of thing to do at all, Tom Rover. If you are going to act like +that in the future I don't want anything to do with you," and he left +Tom standing helplessly where the two had met. Then Tom rejoined Sam, +feeling as uncomfortable as ever. +</P> + +<P> +"I suppose it is all right, Tom," said his younger brother. +</P> + +<P> +"It's all right as far as Spud is concerned," was the moody reply. +</P> + +<P> +"What about Stanley, didn't you speak to him?" +</P> + +<P> +"I did, but he is as mad as hops. He said if I was going to play that +kind of jokes he didn't want anything to do with me," and Tom sank in +an easy chair in the room. "Sam, I guess I put my foot in it that +time. Stanley is a fine fellow and if he talks like that he's got a +reason for it." +</P> + +<P> +"He doesn't understand the situation, Tom. I'll speak to him as soon +as I get a chance." +</P> + +<P> +"No, don't do it. I told him how it was, but he won't believe it. And +why should he? I'm all right, am I not? I'm not crazy, or anything +like that, am I?" and Tom looked at his brother pleadingly. "I ought +to know what I am doing." +</P> + +<P> +"Of course you are not crazy, Tom. Nobody said you were. That crack +on the head put you—well, a little out of sorts, that's all." +</P> + +<P> +"If I thought I was going crazy, I'd—I'd—well I guess I'd jump +overboard," said Tom, and he heaved a deep sigh. Then he very abruptly +turned to the table, got out one of his text books, and commenced to +study. +</P> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<A NAME="chap06"></A> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +CHAPTER VI +</H3> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +BOYS AND GIRLS +</H3> + +<P> +"Hurrah, Tom! Here's good news!" +</P> + +<P> +"From Dick and Dora?" +</P> + +<P> +"Yes. They will be here at half-past two. Dick stopped to transact +that business first, so he and Dora can spend the rest of the time with +us and with the girls at Hope. Isn't that just fine?" And Sam's face +showed his pleasure. +</P> + +<P> +"All to the merry," was Tom's comment. "Say, I guess we can all go +over to Hope together, can't we?" he asked anxiously. +</P> + +<P> +"We'll make a try for it anyway," returned his brother. +</P> + +<P> +It was the day after the events recorded in the last chapter, and Tom +had declared in the morning that he felt better than ever. He had even +gone out on the campus to joke with Songbird and William Philander +Tubbs, and speak a few words with Spud. Stanley had seen him and kept +out of his way, and that was the only cloud on the horizon. +</P> + +<P> +"I've got nothing on to-day after two o'clock," went on Tom, with a +grin. "How about you?" +</P> + +<P> +"I've got a physics lecture, but I guess I can cut it," answered Sam. +"I'll get Spud to tell me all about it afterwards. I wouldn't miss the +chance to go to Hope for anything." +</P> + +<P> +They had heard from Dick early in the morning by telegram, and now had +come in a message over the long-distance telephone. The oldest Rover +brother and his bride were making the tour in the Rover family car, +doing this for the express purpose of giving the others a ride when +they stopped at Brill and Hope. Dick of course wanted to see all the +boys at the college and Dora was equally anxious to visit with the +girls at the seminary. +</P> + +<P> +Promptly on time the shrill tone of an auto horn was heard, and Tom and +Sam ran across the campus to greet the new arrivals. Dick was at the +wheel and Dora sat beside him, smiling and blushing prettily. In the +tonneau of the big car rested several bags and wraps. +</P> + +<P> +"Welcome to our city!" sang out Tom gaily. "And how is Mrs. Rover this +afternoon?" and he made a profound bow and swept the ground with his +cap. +</P> + +<P> +"The same old Tom, I see!" cried Dora gaily. "Are you feeling all +right?" she asked, quickly. +</P> + +<P> +"Sure," was the answer. Tom was the last one to put on a doleful face +in front of a lady. +</P> + +<P> +"Talk about style," came from Sam, merrily. "Nothing like keeping the +Rover name up!" And he leaped on the running board and shook hands. +"Did you have a good trip?" +</P> + +<P> +"Fine. Not a puncture," answered Dick. +</P> + +<P> +"Oh, it was just too lovely for anything!" cried Dora. "If Dick had +the time I'd like to go on a tour for a month!" +</P> + +<P> +"I thought maybe you fellows would like to get in and run over to +Hope," went on Dick, with a smile. +</P> + +<P> +"You couldn't keep us out," answered Tom, promptly. +</P> + +<P> +"We telephoned for them to be ready for us," said Dora. "But you will +have to take our baggage out, to make room." +</P> + +<P> +"Here comes Songbird, he'll look after that, I know he will," said Sam. +</P> + +<P> +The would-be poet came up all smiles and shook hands. He said he would +do anything they wished and at once took charge of the things. Several +others came up, including Spud and Stanley, and there was a general +handshaking and a rapid-fire of conversation. Then Sam and Tom got in +the automobile and away went the car in the direction of Hope Seminary. +</P> + +<P> +"Want me to drive?" asked Tom. +</P> + +<P> +"Tom, you'd better sit in the back with me," put in Sam, quickly. +"This is Dick's outing, let him run the car." He was afraid that if +Tom got his hands on the wheel he might do something to put the crowd +in danger. +</P> + +<P> +"All right, I'm satisfied," was the ready answer and Tom sank back on +the cushions. +</P> + +<P> +The touring car was a powerful one and Dick knew how to handle it to +perfection. Along the smooth road they rolled swiftly, only slowing +down at the turns and where the highway was not in a good state of +repair. Dora turned around to talk to the others, asking about the +college, and then spoke about those left at Cedarville and at Valley +Brook. +</P> + +<P> +"Mamma is real well again," she said. "Better, in fact, than she has +been in a long while. I know she feels relieved to think that Dick can +now take charge of all of her affairs, and of my affairs, too." +</P> + +<P> +"Dick is getting to be a business man fast," remarked Sam. "With your +affairs and Dad's affairs he must be having his hands full." +</P> + +<P> +"Oh, the more the merrier," answered the oldest brother. "I like it +better than going to college." But as he spoke his face became very +thoughtful. Clearly Dick had something on his mind. He was not nearly +as talkative as usual, Sam soon noticed that and so did Tom. +</P> + +<P> +Presently the touring car came in sight of Hope Seminary, nestling in a +pretty grove of trees. Two girls were down by the stone gateway, and +both waved their hands. +</P> + +<P> +"Grace and Nellie!" +</P> + +<P> +"Here they come!" +</P> + +<P> +"I told you they'd bring Sam and Tom." +</P> + +<P> +"Doesn't Dora look sweet in that brown suit!" +</P> + +<P> +"And how handsome Dick is getting!" +</P> + +<P> +"Say, Tom looks awfully pale." These words came from Nellie, and as +she spoke she turned a bit pale herself. +</P> + +<P> +"To be sure—he's been real sick," answered Grace. "But he'll soon get +over it, don't worry," she added, trying to comfort her sister. +</P> + +<P> +By this time the touring car had come to a halt, and Dora and Dick and +the two college boys were getting out. Then followed more handshaking +and not a few kisses. Dora hugged her cousins and was hugged in +return. All felt very happy and their faces showed it. +</P> + +<P> +Of course Dick and Dora had to tell all about the trip, how they had +gotten on the wrong road, and how a drove of cows had once blocked +their way, and how they had stopped at one hotel where they had heard a +concert given for charity. +</P> + +<P> +"And the weather has been almost ideal," said Dick. "Only one little +shower that was just enough to lay the dust on the roads that weren't +oiled." +</P> + +<P> +To give Tom and Sam a chance to "visit" with Nellie and Grace, Dick +continued to run the car, with Dora at his side, and all of the others +in the back. With Nellie near him, Tom seemed to brighten up +considerably and told a number of jokes that made everybody laugh. But +with it all, he was by no means as lively as was natural with him. +</P> + +<P> +"I've got it all arranged to go to Spotswood," said Dick. "I +telephoned to the big hotel there to have a table ready for us. And +we'll come back in the moonlight." +</P> + +<P> +"Oh glorious moonlight!" returned Sam, and gave Grace a look that +caused her to blush deeply. +</P> + +<P> +"Say, let us sing one of the old time songs!" cried Tom, and started +one that had been their favorite ever since going to Putnam Hall +Military Academy. +</P> + +<P> +"That's like old times!" exclaimed Dick. "But please don't sing so +loud or you may scare the car," and this sally caused a general laugh. +</P> + +<P> +"Don't you miss the seminary, Dora?" asked Nellie. +</P> + +<P> +"Of course I do, but—but——" +</P> + +<P> +"She'd rather be with Dick," finished Sam, with a wink. +</P> + +<P> +"To be sure I would, Mr. Smarty," came promptly from the bride. +</P> + +<P> +"Wish I could leave college, as Dick did," put in Tom, with a glance at +Nellie. "I hate books anyway." +</P> + +<P> +"Oh, that's because you are not strong yet, Tom," said Dora, +sympathetically. +</P> + +<P> +"I've told him he ought to take more of a rest," said Sam. +</P> + +<P> +"Oh, let's talk about something else," cried Tom. "I'm tired of being +held up as an object of sympathy. Look at the little calf!" he +continued, pointing to a field beside the roadway. "A fellow could +pick it up in his arms. Say, wouldn't it be great to introduce that +calf in Professor Blackie's bedroom some night." +</P> + +<P> +"No more such tricks, Tom!" answered Dick, almost sternly. "You've got +to settle down." +</P> + +<P> +"Oh, must I, Papa?" returned Tom, in a trembling childish treble. +"Yes, Papa, I'll be your own little good boy." And then another +general laugh went up. +</P> + +<P> +"We hardly have any fun any more at Hope," said Nellie. "It's just +lessons and lectures from morning to night, and the instructors are +that sharp! Yesterday I missed a question in ancient history and I was +nearly scared to death." +</P> + +<P> +"Humph! ancient history is enough to scare anybody to death. What's +the use of studying ancient history when there is so much history still +to come of which we know absolutely nothing?" and Tom looked around +with the air of a profound professor. +</P> + +<P> +"Here is where we once came over in the <I>Dartaway</I>," said Dick, a +little later. "I guess you'll remember that ride," he added, to his +bride. +</P> + +<P> +"Shall I ever forget it!" murmured Dora. "Oh, how glad I was to get +away from that horrid Josiah Crabtree and those Sobbers!" went on the +girl, with a shudder. She referred to a happening which has been +related in detail in "The Rover Boys in the Air." +</P> + +<P> +"Well, the Sobbers are going to get what is coming to them," put in Tom. +</P> + +<P> +"And old Crabtree, too," said Dick. "They told me up at the hospital +that the double break in his leg will make him more or less of a +cripple for life." +</P> + +<P> +"Well, if ever a man deserved to be punished it was Josiah Crabtree," +said Sam. "He was a bad egg from the first time we met him at Putnam +Hall. But I say, let us forget all that unpleasant past and enjoy +ourselves," and he started up another song, and the others joined in. +</P> + +<P> +By six o'clock they reached Spotswood and Dick ran the touring car +around to the big hotel located there. Then they went inside and +washed up a little. In the dining room a special table had been set +for them in an alcove. There was a big bouquet in the center and a +small bouquet at each plate. +</P> + +<P> +"Say, Dick, this is immense!" said Sam, admiringly. +</P> + +<P> +"Just too lovely for anything!" burst out the Laning girls +simultaneously. +</P> + +<P> +"How did you come to think of the flowers?" asked Tom, putting his +bouquet in his buttonhole and letting Nellie pin it fast. +</P> + +<P> +"That was Dora's idea," answered the big brother. +</P> + +<P> +"I thought it would brighten things up," said Dora. "It's our first +dinner together since—since—you know," and she blushed prettily. +</P> + +<P> +"Since the wedding feast," said Sam. "Well, it's just A, Number One! +Couldn't be better!" +</P> + +<P> +"That's what!" cried Tom. +</P> + +<P> +Dick and Dora had ordered the dinner with care, so there was a +well-selected course, starting with tomato bisque soup and ending with +ice-cream and crackers, cheese and coffee. They had some dainty fish +and an extra tenderloin steak, and it is perhaps needless to state that +the boys did full justice to all that was set before them, and the +girls also ate heartily, for all were still in their growing years. +Tom created some fun by sticking some stalks of celery in the big +center bouquet on the sly and then asking Dora what sort of flowers she +had ordered mixed in. And Nellie told Dick he ought to make a speech +and he said he'd leave that to Tom, whereupon the irrepressible Tom +said he would deliver a lecture on 'How to Cook for Two Alone' if Dick +and Dora wanted to listen. Then the fun became general and lasted long +after the meal was over. +</P> + +<P> +It was moonlight outside and presently all went to the broad veranda of +the hotel. Tom naturally paired off with Nellie and Sam with Grace, +and Dick and Dora wisely kept out of the way. +</P> + +<P> +"We had our day, now let them have theirs," said Dick, to his bride. +</P> + +<P> +"By all means, Dick," returned Dora, with a smile that made him pinch +her arm. "But listen, dear," she added, in a whisper. "Did you—did +you notice Tom?" +</P> + +<P> +"Yes." +</P> + +<P> +"He tries to keep up, but he isn't himself at all." +</P> + +<P> +"I know it, and so does Sam, and, I might as well admit it, Dora, both +of us are a good deal worried," replied the young husband, gravely. +</P> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<A NAME="chap07"></A> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +CHAPTER VII +</H3> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +COLLEGE DAYS +</H3> + +<P> +Sam and Grace sat in a corner of the piazza for the best part of half +an hour, and during that time the girl told of her various doings at +Hope and about the news from home, and Sam related what had occurred at +Brill, omitting, however, to tell how Tom had sent Spud and Stanley +into the old well hole. There was a good deal of nonsense added to the +conversation, and it must be admitted that Sam held Grace's hand as +much as she would permit. They also spoke about the wedding of Dick +and Dora, and of the good times they had enjoyed on that occasion. +</P> + +<P> +Tom and Nellie took a stroll through a little park opposite the hotel. +What they talked about none of the others knew at the time, but Nellie +came back looking very sober and thoughtful, so that her sister +wondered if Tom had really and truly proposed to her. Tom was +whistling softly to himself, as if to keep up his courage. +</P> + +<P> +"Well, I guess it is time to start on the return, if you young ladies +have got to be in by ten," said Dick, at last. "Even as it is I +haven't allowed any time for punctures or breakdowns." +</P> + +<P> +"Perish the thoughts of such happenings!" cried Grace. +</P> + +<P> +"We've had our blow-out where I like it best—at the hotel," added Sam, +and this joke caused a smile. +</P> + +<P> +As before, Dick drove the car, with Dora beside him, and the others in +the tonneau. He had all his lights lit, making the roadway almost as +bright as day. Once out of town, the oldest Rover put on speed until +they were flying along grandly. +</P> + +<P> +"Oh, Dick, be careful!" pleaded Dora. "You might hit something in the +dark." +</P> + +<P> +"Not much to hit on this road," he answered. "But I'll look out, don't +fear." +</P> + +<P> +"Oh, let her go!" shouted Tom, recklessly. "Why, you can get ten miles +more of speed, Dick, if you try. Let her out for all you are worth!" +</P> + +<P> +"Oh, Tom!" pleaded Nellie, and as he arose and waved his hand she +pulled him down on the seat. "If you don't look out you'll fall out." +</P> + +<P> +"'Look out, fall out!'" repeated Tom. "A good joke! Ha! ha! Let her +out, Dick!" And he tried to stand up again. "Want me to help?" And +he leaned over his brother's shoulder and took hold of the steering +wheel. +</P> + +<P> +"Drop it, Tom!" exclaimed Dick, warningly. "Do you want to steer us +into a ditch? Drop it, I say!" And he pushed Tom with his elbow. +</P> + +<P> +"Sit down, Tom," called Sam, and caught hold of his brother. "Don't +monkey like that in the dark,—it's dangerous." +</P> + +<P> +"Oh, I was only fooling," returned the fun-loving one. "Can't you +stand for a little sport?" and then he sank in a corner and had nothing +more to say for some time. Nellie heaved a deep sigh and for a moment +buried her face in her hands. +</P> + +<P> +All too soon Hope Seminary was reached and Sam and Tom escorted the +Laning girls to the doorway of that institution. There was a fond good +night, cut somewhat short on Nellie's part, and then the Rover boys +returned to the touring car. +</P> + +<P> +"What a grand time," murmured Grace, as she and her sister went +upstairs to the room they occupied. +</P> + +<P> +"Was it?" asked Nellie, absently. "I am glad you enjoyed it." +</P> + +<P> +"Why, Nellie, didn't you?" +</P> + +<P> +"No." +</P> + +<P> +"Oh!" And Grace clutched her sister by the arm. "What do you mean?" +</P> + +<P> +"I—I can't tell you!" burst out the other, and then she fairly ran for +their room, and, once inside, threw herself on her bed and burst into +tears. Grace came after her, locked the door, and sat down and held +her hand. She thought she understood and determined to ask no more +questions. +</P> + +<P> +"You are going to stay in Ashton over night, are you not?" questioned +Sam, of his brother, as the auto neared Brill. +</P> + +<P> +"Yes." +</P> + +<P> +"I want to see you—to talk about Dad's affairs,—and about Tom," went +on the youngest Rover, in a whisper. +</P> + +<P> +"All right, Sam. I'll get up early and run over here before breakfast. +I'll be at the gate at seven o'clock—if it is clear. I'll see you +first and then talk to Tom;" and so it was arranged. +</P> + +<P> +"Here, what's the secret?" demanded Tom, abruptly. +</P> + +<P> +"Nothing much," answered Sam. "Dick will be over to see us in the +morning, before he and Dora go back." +</P> + +<P> +"Oh, all right." Tom gave a sudden chuckle. "Wish I had brought that +calf along. I could have a barrel of fun with him to-night!" +</P> + +<P> +"You're going right to bed, and so am I," answered Sam. "We've had fun +enough for the present." And then he and his brother said good-bye to +Dora, for they did not expect to see her again for some time to come. +</P> + +<P> +Sam was afraid that Tom might not want to go to bed so soon, but his +fears were groundless. Tom undressed at once and inside of five +minutes was in profound slumber. He occasionally moved uneasily in his +sleep and sighed heavily, but that was all. +</P> + +<P> +"Maybe he ought to have a doctor, but what a doctor can do for him I +don't know," thought Sam, and retired himself, sighing deeply. With +Tom not himself the whole world seemed wrong. +</P> + +<P> +Dick was on hand at the appointed time and Sam was glad to get up to +meet him and know that Tom was still sleeping. +</P> + +<P> +"Well, first of all, I'll have to tell you about Dad," said Dick, as he +ran the auto up the road a bit, out of sight of Brill. "He is not +nearly as well as I would like to see and the doctor says he must not +dream of doing a stroke of work. So that leaves all that New York +business, and that Western business, in my hands." +</P> + +<P> +"Can you manage it, Dick?" +</P> + +<P> +"I've got to manage it, Sam. And in the meantime I've got Mrs. +Stanhope's affairs to look after, and also Dora's money matters. It is +keeping me hustling, I can tell you. I never dreamed I would become +such an out-and-out business fellow." +</P> + +<P> +"It's fine of you to be able to do it, Dick. I am only sorry I can't +help you. But some day Tom and I will finish up here and then we'll +take hold." +</P> + +<P> +"Sure, I know that. But now let us drop business. Tell me all about +Tom. Just how has he been acting? I know you didn't want to let out +in front of the girls." +</P> + +<P> +"Well, Tom is a problem, Dick. Sometimes he acts as bright as ever and +then he seems to be clean off." And then, in as few words as possible, +Sam related the particulars of his brother's doings since he had +returned to Brill. As he proceeded Dick's face grew very thoughtful. +</P> + +<P> +"I don't like this at all," he said flatly. "Maybe after all it would +be much better to send Tom home and place him under the care of a +specialist. If he remains here there is no telling what he will do +next. Supposing Spud or Stanley had been drowned in that well hole?" +and Dick gave a shiver. +</P> + +<P> +"Yes, but how are you going to get him home if he won't go?" +</P> + +<P> +"Do you think he'll object?" +</P> + +<P> +"Yes, Dick. But you can try him, if you wish," concluded Sam. And +then the pair returned to the college grounds. +</P> + +<P> +By this time Tom had come below and was looking for them. +</P> + +<P> +"If you were going to take a ride why didn't you let me know?" he +grumbled. "I'd like to run that car a bit before Dick goes back." +</P> + +<P> +"Say, Tom, why not return to Cedarville with me and Dora?" asked Dick, +kindly. "I am sure the trip would do you good, and when you got there +you could take a good, long rest." +</P> + +<P> +"Humph! all at me to rest, eh? Well, I'm not going to rest; I'm going +to study and get through here just as soon as possible." Tom +straightened up. "Now, don't you two think I can't do it, for I can. +I feel stronger every day. That crack I got on the head was a fierce +one, I admit, but it isn't going to knock me out, not by a long shot! +In a few weeks I'll be as strong as ever." +</P> + +<P> +Dick and Sam looked at each other in dismay. Clearly it was out of the +question to try to argue with Tom, who had always been more or less +headstrong. +</P> + +<P> +"All right then, stay," said Dick. "But take it easy, Tom, and do what +Sam tells you to." A little later Dick drew Sam to one side and asked +him to keep a close watch on his brother. +</P> + +<P> +"I'll do my best." +</P> + +<P> +"And notify me at once if anything goes wrong," added Dick. Then he +took the next quarter of an hour to visit with Songbird and some of his +other old chums. Spud hailed him with delight and even Stanley smiled +warmly as he shook hands. +</P> + +<P> +"Stanley, I want to ask you to bear with poor Tom," said Dick, as he +continued to hold the other's hand. "He isn't himself at all, and you +ought to be able to see it. Sam and I want him to go home and consult +a specialist, but he won't do it. I don't know what to make of him. +What he did was terrible, and I am sure he wouldn't have done it if he +was in his right mind." +</P> + +<P> +"Maybe," returned Stanley, hesitatingly. "I've been talking it over +with Spud and maybe I was a little harsh. But to be tumbled in that +well hole, in the mud and water, made me mad clean through." +</P> + +<P> +"It would make anybody mad, and I wouldn't stand for it either, if Tom +was in his right mind. But you can see how it is. Sam and I feel +terrible over it. I want you to forgive him, and I want you and Spud +and Songbird to help Sam watch him." +</P> + +<P> +"Why, do you think he'll do something desperate?" asked Stanley, +curiously. +</P> + +<P> +"I don't know what to think. If a fellow is out of his head he is +liable to do almost anything. I want him watched, and what is more, +I'd like you fellows to keep this to yourselves. I don't want the +whole college to know it." +</P> + +<P> +"You can trust me to keep mum," said Spud, promptly. +</P> + +<P> +"I shan't say a word," added Songbird. "I think too much of Tom. Why, +he is one of the finest fellows in the world when he is all right!" +</P> + +<P> +"All right, I'll keep quiet too," said Stanley. "And I won't hold +anything against him. But you had better watch him pretty closely," +was the warning. +</P> + +<P> +Of course Tom wanted to know all about his father's business and Dick +told him as much as he thought was necessary. He did not want to worry +his sick brother and so kept back a good deal of what he had related to +Sam. +</P> + +<P> +"Don't you worry about me, Dick!" cried Tom, on parting. "I'll be all +right!" And he waved his hand gaily, and so did Sam, as the big +touring car moved away in the direction of Ashton. +</P> + +<P> +Fortunately for the boys, the lessons that day were not hard and Tom +and Sam came through without missing. Then followed a settling down to +the work of the term; and thus a week slipped by. +</P> + +<P> +Day by day Sam watched Tom closely. He made his brother take his pills +regularly and also made him take outdoor exercise, and aided him as +much as possible in his studies and with his themes. All the others +were very friendly, and even Stanley came up and told Tom that he was +sorry he had been so harsh. +</P> + +<P> +"Well, I don't blame you, Stanley," said Tom, frankly. "It was a +mighty poor joke. I don't see how I did it." And there the matter was +dropped. +</P> + +<P> +It was ideal weather for outdoor sports and sometimes the lads would go +out for a game of baseball, or football, just as the whim seized them. +Of course the college had its regular teams on the diamond and the +gridiron, but the Rovers did not care enough for the sport to try for +these, even though they had made creditable records at Putnam Hall. +</P> + +<P> +"Great news!" cried Tom, coming into the gymnasium one afternoon, after +playing with some of the students on the campus. +</P> + +<P> +"What's that?" asked several, curiously. +</P> + +<P> +"A couple of moving picture men from Chicago have leased Cameron's Hall +in Ashton and they are going to open a moving picture theater next +week. Won't that be fine? I love the movies, and now we'll be able to +go there whenever we want to." +</P> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<A NAME="chap08"></A> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +CHAPTER VIII +</H3> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +THE JOKE ON WILLIAM PHILANDER +</H3> + +<P> +The news Tom had brought created much interest in Brill. In the past +anything in the shape of public amusement for the students had been +scarce. Once in a while a cheap theatrical company would stop at +Ashton and give a performance, but usually it was of such a poor order +that if the boys went they would poke fun at it. +</P> + +<P> +"How do you know it will be any good, Tom?" asked Songbird. +</P> + +<P> +"Oh, I'm not sure that it will be. But the druggist told me that the +men were well-known in the movies and had some first-class show-houses +elsewhere, so I'm hoping it will be all right." +</P> + +<P> +"Is it going to be a five or ten-cent house?" asked another. +</P> + +<P> +"Five in the afternoon and ten at night." +</P> + +<P> +"Then I'm going to begin to save my pennies," announced Spud, +seriously. "I've got two saved already and if I am careful for the +next month or two I'll have enough to buy a ticket." +</P> + +<P> +"That is, provided I'll lend you one cent," added Tom, and this caused +a general grin. He looked around and saw William Philander +approaching. "Hi, Tubblets!" he called out. "Here's a job for you." +And he waved his hand quickly for the dudish student to approach. +</P> + +<P> +"Now, no more jokes, Tom Rover," was the warning of the +stylishly-dressed one. "No more jokes." +</P> + +<P> +"Jokes?" repeated Tom. "This is a job—a splendid situation—open to +just such a handsome, well-proportioned young gentleman like yourself." +</P> + +<P> +"What—ah—do you want?" asked William Philander, curiously. +</P> + +<P> +"Wouldn't you like to assist during the evening at a new entertainment +at Ashton? A couple of gentlemen are getting up an entertainment for +the benefit of the ladies and gentlemen and they wish the aid of a real +nice young man, to show the folks to their seats and make them +comfortable, and all that. And maybe they'll want you to sing—just to +help things along, you know." +</P> + +<P> +"Oh, is that it?" and the dudish student's face brightened. On several +occasions he had assisted at charity bazaars and the like, and had been +in his element among the well-dressed girls and their mothers. +</P> + +<P> +"I think you would just fill the bill, Willie," went on Tom. "You are +the best looking fellow here, and of course we know nobody dresses +quite as well as you do." +</P> + +<P> +"Oh, yes, of course—it's very kind to mention that, Tom," and William +Philander commenced to swell up with pride. "Yes, I do try to keep up +with the fashions. But about this entertainment. Who is getting it up +and what benefit is it for?" +</P> + +<P> +"Two gentlemen named Carr and Beckwith are getting it up. I don't know +about the benefit. You can find out about that from them. But it's a +splendid chance to show what you can do. You know all about showing +folks to seats, and all that, don't you?" +</P> + +<P> +"Why, yes, of course." +</P> + +<P> +"And you could sing, eh?" +</P> + +<P> +"Well,—ah—I might render that spring song—'Come Where the Flowers +are Blooming, Dearest Mary.'" +</P> + +<P> +"Just the cheese—I mean it would be fine, Tubby. They'd all go wild +about that song. It's the same one you sang for the Prince of Moneco, +isn't it?—or was it the Duke of Twisters?" +</P> + +<P> +"I—er—I never sang for those folks, Tom—I sang it at the Ladies Aid +of the Golden Hope Society, and at the Quarterly Gathering of the +Poladic Society." +</P> + +<P> +"Yes, yes, I remember now. Well, you are just the one to fill the +bill, Bill, yes, you are." +</P> + +<P> +"Please don't call me Bill, it's horrid. But where shall I find out +about this—er—entertainment?" +</P> + +<P> +"At Carter's new drug-store. The gentlemen are to be there Saturday +afternoon, to make all arrangements. You go by all means—I know they +will be delighted to have your assistance." +</P> + +<P> +"This isn't a—er—a joke, Tom?" asked William Philander, suspiciously. +</P> + +<P> +"They want somebody, I tell you, honest. Don't they, Jepson?" went on +Tom, turning to a lad who had been to Ashton with him. +</P> + +<P> +"They sure do," answered Jepson, and then turned away to hide the broad +grin on his face. +</P> + +<P> +"How long is the entertainment to last?" +</P> + +<P> +"You will have to get all the information from the gentlemen," answered +Tom, calmly. "Just go down to the drug store and ask for Mr. Carr and +Mr. Beckwith, and they'll tell you all about it. It's a fine chance +for you, Tubby," concluded Tom, and then walked away, followed by his +chums. +</P> + +<P> +"Tom, what is the game?" demanded Sam, when they were out of hearing. +</P> + +<P> +"We'll go down to the drug store Saturday afternoon and see," was the +reply. +</P> + +<P> +"Are Carr and Beckwith the moving picture men?" +</P> + +<P> +"Yes, and they want a young man to play usher, and do a lot of other +things—one who can sing preferred," and the fun-loving Tom grinned +broadly. +</P> + +<P> +"Oh, Tom, and you would send William Philander there!" cried Songbird. +"Such a dude as he is! He'll never forgive you!" +</P> + +<P> +"There is seven dollars a week in it to start," answered the fun-loving +Rover calmly, and this made all in the crowd roar, for they knew how +rich Tubbs was and how working for seven dollars a week would appeal to +him. +</P> + +<P> +This conversation occurred on Thursday and the crowd of boys waited +impatiently for Saturday to come. Sam was glad to notice that Tom +seemed to improve daily and was acting very much like his old self. +</P> + +<P> +On Saturday, directly after lunch, Sam and Tom saw William Philander +start off for Ashton. He was stylishly dressed as usual and carried a +gold-headed cane, and in his buttonhole was a large carnation. +</P> + +<P> +"Now for the fun!" cried Tom, and he and Sam quickly gathered their +chums together and all went after the dude, but kept out of his sight. +</P> + +<P> +The drug store that William Philander was bound for was located on a +corner, with doors opening on both streets. On the side street there +was also an ordinary window, and both doors and window were wide open. +</P> + +<P> +"We'll go around to the side and watch him," suggested Tom, and this +was done. +</P> + +<P> +Sprucing up, so as to look his very best, William Philander strode into +the drug store. As it chanced, several young ladies of the town were +having soda at the fountain, and as he had once met one of them, he +made a most profound bow, lifting his hat as he did so. Then he +approached the proprietor of the shop, who was putting up a +prescription at the rear counter, close to the open window. +</P> + +<P> +"Mr. Carter I believe?" he lisped. +</P> + +<P> +"Yes, sir. What can I do for you?" +</P> + +<P> +"I am Mr. William Philander Tubbs, from Brill College," was the lofty +answer. "Perhaps you have heard of me. I came in to meet two +gentlemen, Mr. Carr and Mr. Beckwith. Are they here?" +</P> + +<P> +"Not yet, Mr—er—Mr. Phillips?" +</P> + +<P> +"No, no, Mr. William Philander Tubbs. When will they be here, may I +ask?" +</P> + +<P> +"I expect 'em any moment, Mr—er—Mr. Tubbs." +</P> + +<P> +"Then I'll wait for them," answered the dude, and sank down in a chair. +</P> + +<P> +"Have you got an interest in that show?" asked the druggist, as he +continued to compound the prescription. +</P> + +<P> +"Not yet, but I may have," answered William Philander, calmly. "It +will be quite a grand affair, I presume." +</P> + +<P> +"They say it will be the best Ashton ever had." +</P> + +<P> +"Is that so! Then I am very glad I came to take part," went on William +Philander, warming up. "I am sure I can be of great service to Messrs. +Carr and Beckwith. I have had a great deal of experience, you know." +</P> + +<P> +"Thought you said you were from Brill?" +</P> + +<P> +"Oh, yes, but, don't you know, I have assisted at many entertainments," +gushed William Philander. "Why, some entertainments would have been +absolute failures if I had not taken part." +</P> + +<P> +"Hum, is that so!" returned the druggist. Tubbs' dudish ways did not +strike him very favorably. "Well, here is Mr. Beckwith now, you can +tell him about it," he added. +</P> + +<P> +A burly, red-faced man, with a heavy moustache, had entered. He was +evidently in a hurry and full of business. +</P> + +<P> +"Anybody call about that job, Mr. Carter?" he asked, abruptly. +</P> + +<P> +"This young man wants to see you," answered the druggist, and indicated +William Philander. +</P> + +<P> +"You are Mr. Beckwith?" +</P> + +<P> +"Yes." +</P> + +<P> +"Permit me," and the stylish-dressed student presented his card. "I +was told you were getting up an entertainment and needed some +assistance," continued William Philander. "Now I have had a great deal +of experience in that line, and the ladies always seem to be glad to +see me. I can aid in getting up the proper programme, and all that, +you know. I was on the committee of the Charity Bazaar, and the +Plainvine Dog Show, and the Ladies' Aid of the Golden Hope Society, and +the Blue Banner Social, and——" +</P> + +<P> +"Say, what are you pouring into me?" gasped Mr. Beckwith, in +astonishment. "Do you think I am running a pink tea, or a ladies' +sewing circle? I don't need anybody to help me to get up a programme; +my partner, Mr. Carr, attends to that end of it. What I need is a +strong, willing fellow to take tickets and usher folks to seats, and +keep the floor free of rubbish, and all that." +</P> + +<P> +"W-h-a-t!" shrieked William Philander. "You—you—what sort of an +entertainment are you going to give?" he faltered. +</P> + +<P> +"Why, didn't you know? We are going to open the Eclipse Moving Picture +Theater, in Cameron's Hall, over yonder. We advertised for a young +man, to take tickets, usher, and make himself generally useful. We'll +have a little vaudeville with the photo plays, and if the young fellow +can sing, or dance, we'll give him a chance at it." +</P> + +<P> +"Oh, dear me! Did you ever!" gasped poor William Philander. And then, +as he saw that the girls at the soda fountain had heard all that was +going on, he turned red. +</P> + +<P> +"I hardly think you will do for the job," went on the moving picture +man. "You don't look—er—well, strong enough." +</P> + +<P> +"Job," wailed William Philander. "I—er—I don't want any job! Oh, +this is dreadful, horrible! It's one of Tom Rover's jokes! I might +have known it. Sent me all the way to Ashton to try to get a position +in a horrid moving picture show! Oh, this is the worst ever!" And +looking the picture of despair, poor Tubbs rushed from the drug store, +with the laughter of the proprietor, the show man, and the girls +ringing in his ears. +</P> + +<P> +From the window and the side door Tom, Sam, and the others had seen and +heard all that took place. They had all they could do to suppress +their mirth, and when Tubbs came storming out of the drug store they +lost no time in disappearing out of sight behind the building. They +watched the stylishly-dressed student prance down the street, +brandishing his cane viciously in the air. +</P> + +<P> +"Just wait till he catches you, Tom," remarked Spud. +</P> + +<P> +"He'll about half kill you," added Stanley. +</P> + +<P> +"Oh, I guess I can stand it," answered the fun-loving Rover, calmly. +</P> + +<P> +"It was rather a rough joke," was Sam's comment. +</P> + +<P> +"Oh, he needs something like that, to take the awful conceit out of +him," came from Songbird. "Why, he is getting worse and worse every +day. Half the students are down on him. This may do him good." +</P> + +<P> +"I doubt if you can make William Philander improve," was Stanley's +comment. "The only thing that will do it is to send him off to sea, or +on a ranch, and make him rough it for a while." +</P> + +<P> +Tom expected to see Tubbs that evening, but the dudish student kept out +of sight. He did not show himself until Sunday afternoon, and then he +had but little to say. But he eyed Tom in a manner that was new to +William Philander. +</P> + +<P> +"He is going to get back at you, Tom," said Sam. "Better keep your +eyes open." +</P> + +<P> +On Monday afternoon Tom and Sam went down to the water for a short row. +They came back just before supper and rushed up to their room to fix up +a bit. +</P> + +<P> +"Hello, the door is locked!" cried Tom, trying it. +</P> + +<P> +"And the keyhole is plugged," added Sam, taking a look. +</P> + +<P> +Then the brothers looked at each other. +</P> + +<P> +"I guess William Philander Tubbs did it," said Tom. +</P> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<A NAME="chap09"></A> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +CHAPTER IX +</H3> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +WILLIAM PHILANDER TURNS THE TABLES +</H3> + +<P> +It was useless to try to open the door. The lock was filled up with a +wad of paper that refused to budge. +</P> + +<P> +"If it's only paper we can burn it out," suggested Sam. "But it may +scorch the door." +</P> + +<P> +"We'll go through by the way of Songbird's room," said Tom. +</P> + +<P> +There was a door connecting the two rooms. It was not supposed to be +used, for one of the beds was against it. But the bed was rolled to +one side by Tom. Songbird and his roommate had already gone below. +</P> + +<P> +"Here's the key," said Sam, bringing it from a nearby nail. "It's a +wonder William Philander didn't plug this keyhole, too." +</P> + +<P> +"Maybe he didn't have time," answered Tom. "Always supposing it really +was Tubbs." +</P> + +<P> +"That's so—iy may have been somebody else." +</P> + +<P> +The connecting door was unlocked and Tom and Sam walked into their own +apartment. Both gave a cry of astonishment. +</P> + +<P> +And not without reason. The room had been "stacked," and every boy who +has ever attended boarding school or college knows what that means. In +the center of the room lay the parts of the two beds in a heap and on +top of those parts were piled a miscellaneous collection of books, +chairs, clothing, the table and bureau, looking glass, an empty water +pitcher, football, baseball bats, shoes, bed clothing, rugs, papers, +pens, pencils, soap, caps, a steamer trunk from the closet, several +framed photographs, some college banners, and a score of other +articles. On the very top of the heap was a fancy sofa pillow Nellie +had given to Tom and to this was pinned a card, on which was written, +in a disguised scrawl: +</P> + +<P> +<I>Hoping you will enjoy your job!</I><BR> +</P> + +<BR> + +<P> +"It was William Philander all right enough,", murmured Sam, as he and +his brother inspected the card. "You sent him to one job, and he is +sending us to another," and he heaved a deep sigh. +</P> + +<P> +"Some work, Sammy," returned Tom. "Well, we can't go at it now—it +will take us two hours to straighten things up. We'll do it after +supper." +</P> + +<P> +"Going after Tubbs for this?" +</P> + +<P> +"What's the use? I don't blame him for getting back at us. I guess, +after all, that joke I played on him was rather rough," replied Tom. +</P> + +<P> +It took the best part of three hours to put the room back into shape. +Some ink had been spilled on one of the mattresses, and the glass over +one of the photographs had been broken, but that was all the real +damage that had been done, and it looked to be accidental. The wad of +paper in the keyhole was picked out piece-meal by means of a big +fishhook. The key was in the heap on the floor, having been flung +through the open transom after the door was locked and plugged. +</P> + +<P> +"Well, he got back at you right enough," said Songbird, while the room +was being re-arranged. +</P> + +<P> +"Dot's chust vot he did, py golly!" came from Max Spangler. +</P> + +<P> +After this incident the boys settled down to their studies for the best +part of a week. Tom was now doing very well, although he still +complained of his head. +</P> + +<P> +"I've got an idea," said Sam, one afternoon, after the Eclipse photo +playhouse in Ashton had been opened. "Why can't we make up a party +some afternoon or evening and take the girls to the show?" +</P> + +<P> +"I thought of that," answered Tom. "But don't you think it would be +best for us to go alone first and see what sort of a place it is? Some +of these country show places have pretty rough audiences." +</P> + +<P> +"Oh, Ashton isn't such a common town as that, Tom. But maybe it would +be better to size it up first. What do you say if we go down next +Wednesday evening? We might make up a little party, with Songbird and +the others." +</P> + +<P> +"That suits me." +</P> + +<P> +The matter was talked over with the others, and it was speedily +arranged that nine of the students should go, including Sam, Tom, +Songbird, and Spud. Stanley could not get away, and Max had some +lessons he wanted to make up. +</P> + +<P> +"I hope they have some thrilling films," said Tom, when the time came +to leave for Ashton. "I hate these wishy-washy love stories and +would-be funny scenes. I once saw a shipwreck that was fine, and a +slide down a mountainside that couldn't be beaten." +</P> + +<P> +"Well, we'll have to take what comes," said Sam. "I understand they +change the pictures twice a week." +</P> + +<P> +When the students arrived at the playhouse in Ashton an agreeable +surprise awaited them. Instead of the dingy hall they had expected to +see, they saw that the place had been completely transformed. There +was a large electric sign over the door, and several big billboards +announced the various attractions. A crowd was purchasing tickets at +the booth in front, and already the showhouse was half filled for the +first performance of the evening. +</P> + +<P> +"'Her First Love,'" read Tom, from a billboard. "That sounds a little +mushy. 'Broncho Bill's Reward,'" he went on. "That might be +interesting. 'Lost in the Ice Fields of Alaska, in Two Parts.' Say, +that sounds as if it might be something worth while," he added, +brightening up. +</P> + +<P> +"Yes, I'd like to see some pictures of Alaska," returned Songbird. +</P> + +<P> +"Provided they weren't taken in Hoboken, or somewhere like that," +answered Sam. "Some of these moving pictures are great fakes. They +take real scenes in China right in New York City, and show you the +bottom of the sea, taken on the sixth floor of an office building in +Chicago!" +</P> + +<P> +"Never mind, I guess we'll get our money's worth," said another of the +students, and then the crowd passed inside, each youth buying his own +ticket, as was the usual custom. +</P> + +<P> +They managed to get seats almost in the center of the hall, which was +long and narrow, just the shape for such an exhibition. They noticed +that a tall, lanky town boy was usher, and Tom nudged Sam in the ribs. +</P> + +<P> +"Just think, William Philander might have had that job!" he chuckled. +</P> + +<P> +"Well, you did the best you could for him," answered Sam, dryly. +</P> + +<P> +The end of a funny reel was being shown and the audience was laughing +heartily. Then came an illustrated song, sung by a young woman with a +fairly good voice, and after that "Broncho Bill's Reward," a short +drama of the plains, with cowboys and cattle thieves, and a sheriff, +who aided Broncho Bill to get back his employer's cattle and win the +hand of the girl he loved. +</P> + +<P> +"Maybe you could write some verses about that girl," suggested Sam to +Songbird, in a whisper. "You could call it 'The Cowboy's Sweetheart,' +or something like that." +</P> + +<P> +"So I could," murmured the would-be poet, and immediately commenced to +make up rhymes, which he scribbled on some paper in the dark. +</P> + +<P> +At last came the well-advertised drama, "Lost in the Ice Fields of +Alaska." It was a well put together play, the opening scene taking +place in a shipping office in Seattle. Next came the departure of the +steamer for the North. There were several views on shipboard, and +quite a complicated plot, the villain of the play trying to get the +best of a young gold hunter and his partner. A girl appeared, and she +exposed the villain, and the latter stalked around and vowed vengeance +on both the girl and the young gold hunter. +</P> + +<P> +The second part of the play took place in Alaska, and there was shown a +typical mining town and then the mountains. It was mid-winter and the +mountains were covered with snow. The young gold hunter and his +partner had discovered several nuggets of good size, enough to make +them rich, and were bound back to the mining camp when the villain and +his cronies appeared and robbed them. Then came a fierce snowstorm and +a blizzard, and the young gold hunter and his partner were lost on the +fields of ice. This was tremendously realistic, and the audience held +its breath in suspense, wondering what would happen next. +</P> + +<P> +"Isn't it great!" murmured Tom, his eyes fairly glued to the screen +before him. "I never saw anything so real!" +</P> + +<P> +"That must surely have been taken in Alaska," answered Sam. +</P> + +<A NAME="img-090"></A> +<CENTER> +<IMG CLASS="imgcenter" SRC="images/img-090.jpg" ALT=""THAT MUST SURELY HAVE BEEN TAKEN IN ALASKA," SAID SAM. _The Rover Boys in Alaska._" BORDER="2" WIDTH="403" HEIGHT="651"> +<H4 CLASS="h4center" STYLE="width: 403px"> +"THAT MUST SURELY HAVE BEEN TAKEN IN ALASKA," SAID SAM. <I>The Rover Boys in Alaska.</I> +</H4> +</CENTER> + +<P> +"Lost in the ice fields!" went on Tom. "How terrible!" +</P> + +<P> +The play went on. The young gold hunter and his partner were almost +frozen to death, when the scene shifted to the mining camp. Word of +the robbery was brought in by an Indian, and the father of the girl +organized a rescuing party, taking his daughter and half a dozen men +with him. On the way they ran across the villain and his cronies, +frozen stiff in the ice and snow and with the stolen nuggets in their +possession. Then the rescuing party went on, until they reached the +young gold hunter and his partner just in time to save them from death. +The young man was given his nuggets, and he asked for the hand of the +girl who had aided in the search; and all ended happily. +</P> + +<P> +"Well, that was certainly a great play!" was Spud's comment, as the +students left the photo playhouse. "Wow! it made me fairly shiver to +look at that snow and those fields of ice!" +</P> + +<P> +"It was just as if a fellow was there," said Sam. +</P> + +<P> +"Think of the work of taking those films!" said Bob Grimes. "I'll +wager the photographer had pretty cold fingers!" +</P> + +<P> +Thus the talk ran on, all of the students being enthusiastic over the +production. The only one who was rather quiet was Tom, and soon Sam +noticed this. +</P> + +<P> +"What's the matter, Tom; don't you feel well?" he asked, anxiously. +</P> + +<P> +"Nothing extra," was the answer, and Tom put his hands to his eyes. "I +guess that moving picture strained my head too much. But it was +great—best picture I ever saw! Say, I'd like to go to Alaska once, +wouldn't you, Sam?" +</P> + +<P> +"Yes, but not to be caught in the ice and snow like that," returned the +younger Rover boy. "Say, it's a good show for the girls, all right," +he went on. +</P> + +<P> +"Fine. We'll take 'em as soon as we can arrange it." +</P> + +<P> +All the way back to Brill the students talked about the wonderful +Alaskan film, which had really been taken on the spot and had cost a +good deal of money. Evidently in opening the new photo playhouse +Messrs. Carr and Beckwith had resolved to give the audiences their +money's worth. +</P> + +<P> +It was a good advertisement, too, for not only did the town people +flock to the place, but the college students told their friends, and +the next evening a score or more of the boys attended the performance. +The dimes flowed in steadily, much to the delight of the owners of the +project. +</P> + +<P> +That evening Sam noticed that Tom was quite feverish and he advised his +brother to take an extra pill, to quiet him. +</P> + +<P> +"Oh, all I need is sleep," said Tom. "That picture hurt my eyes a +little. After they are rested I'll be all right." And then he +undressed and retired. +</P> + +<P> +Sam had been asleep about two hours when he awoke with a start. He sat +up, and in the dim light of the room saw his brother thrashing wildly +in the bed. +</P> + +<P> +"Give me the nuggets!" murmured poor Tom, in a nightmare. "I must have +the money! Ha, the biggest nugget in Alaska!" He clutched at the +pillow. "Out of my way, I say! It is mine! Look, it is snowing! +Where is the trail? We are lost! See the ice and snow! Lost! lost! +lost!" And Tom floundered around more wildly than ever. +</P> + +<P> +Sam leaped out of bed, and, catching his brother by the arm, shook him +vigorously. +</P> + +<P> +"Tom! Tom! wake up!" he cried. "You're asleep! Wake up! You are not +in Alaska! Wake up!" +</P> + +<P> +"Oh, the ice and snow! And the trail is lost! We shall die! Can +nothing save—— Er—er—eh? What's the—the matter?" stammered Tom, +and suddenly opened his eyes. "What are you shaking me for, Sam?" he +demanded. +</P> + +<P> +"You've got a nightmare, Tom, and you were shouting to beat the band!" +</P> + +<P> +"Was I? Say, I—I thought I was in Alaska, right in that field of snow +and ice. And I was lost! Gosh! what a scare I had!" And poor Tom +fairly trembled. +</P> + +<P> +"Well, go to sleep and try to forget it," said Sam, and Tom laid down +again, and soon dropped off. Sam also retired once more, but he was +much troubled. +</P> + +<P> +"I guess it didn't do Tom any good to go to that show," he reasoned. +</P> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<A NAME="chap10"></A> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +CHAPTER X +</H3> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +IN WHICH TOM DISAPPEARS +</H3> + +<P> +Sam was the first one up in the morning. He found Tom thrashing around +in his bed. He had an uncertain look in his eyes and was feverish. +</P> + +<P> +"How do you feel, Tom?" he asked, sitting down and taking his brother's +hand. +</P> + +<P> +"Not as good as usual," was the reply. Tom put his hand to his head, +as of old. "I've got a fierce pain here," he added. +</P> + +<P> +"Shall I send for a doctor?" +</P> + +<P> +"No, I'll keep quiet and maybe it will go over, Sam." +</P> + +<P> +"All right, I'll have you excused from lessons." +</P> + +<P> +Sam dressed and went below, and after breakfast came up again. He +found Tom sound asleep. +</P> + +<P> +"I guess sleep will do him as much good as anything," he told himself, +and went out again, closing the door softly. +</P> + +<P> +Sam had two classes to attend before dinner, so it was not until +quarter to twelve that he had a chance to run up to the room again. To +his surprise Tom was gone. +</P> + +<P> +"Songbird, did you see Tom?" he called to his chum, who was in the next +room. +</P> + +<P> +"No." +</P> + +<P> +"He's gone, and I left him sound asleep when I went to lessons." +</P> + +<P> +"Oh, he must be somewhere around," suggested the would-be poet of the +college. "Maybe he's taking a bath." +</P> + +<P> +"I'll find out," said Sam. +</P> + +<P> +On the way to the bathroom he met Spud and asked about Tom. +</P> + +<P> +"Why, I saw Tom about eleven o'clock," said Spud. "He told me he was +going to town to see a doctor." +</P> + +<P> +"Doctor Havens?" +</P> + +<P> +"Yes." +</P> + +<P> +"Oh, all right," and Sam felt much relieved. He went to dinner with +the others and then waited for Tom's return. A full hour went by and +still Tom did not show himself, and then Sam sought out Spud once more. +</P> + +<P> +"How did Tom act when he went away, Spud?" +</P> + +<P> +"Act? What do you mean?" +</P> + +<P> +"Was he all right?" +</P> + +<P> +"Well, to tell the truth, Sam, I think he looked a bit strange in his +eyes. But I guess he was all right. I'd not worry too much if I was +you. He'll be back before long. Maybe Doctor Havens was out and he +had to wait." +</P> + +<P> +"That's so." +</P> + +<P> +Presently Sam had a lecture to attend and went off to it. At half-past +three he was free once more and hurried again to his room. Tom was +still absent, and nobody seemed to know anything about him. +</P> + +<P> +"I guess I had better go to town and see where he is," thought Sam, and +he asked Songbird if he wanted to go along. +</P> + +<P> +"Yes, I'll go, Sam. But don't worry so much—I'm certain Tom is O.K." +</P> + +<P> +"Maybe, Songbird. But you know how queer he acted. He didn't seem to +be able to get over that crack in his head." +</P> + +<P> +"Well, it was an awful blow, Sam. It would have killed some people." +</P> + +<P> +Before long the pair were on their way to Ashton. About half way to +the town they met two students who had been away from Brill for several +days. +</P> + +<P> +"Did you come from Ashton, Cabot?" asked Sam, of one of the boys. +</P> + +<P> +"We did." +</P> + +<P> +"See anything of my brother Tom?" +</P> + +<P> +"No." +</P> + +<P> +"I think I saw him," said the other student, a fellow named Lambert. +</P> + +<P> +"Where?" +</P> + +<P> +"Down at the depot. I was looking for my baggage. I think I saw him +near the freight house." +</P> + +<P> +"Was he alone?" +</P> + +<P> +"Yes, so far as I know. Why, what's wrong, Rover?" +</P> + +<P> +"Oh, nothing, only I want to find him," said Sam, and to avoid further +questioning, he hurried on, pulling Songbird with him. +</P> + +<P> +"If Tom was at the freight house he must have been taking a walk," +suggested Songbird. +</P> + +<P> +"Perhaps; but I am awfully worried about this." +</P> + +<P> +It did not take the two students long to reach Ashton, and Sam went +directly to the home of Doctor Havens, located in a grove of trees on a +side street. A man was washing down the front piazza with a pail of +water. +</P> + +<P> +"Is the doctor in?" asked Sam. +</P> + +<P> +"No, sir, he won't he in until about six o'clock," said the man. +</P> + +<P> +"How long has he been gone, may I ask?" +</P> + +<P> +"He went to the city directly after breakfast this morning, for a +consultation with some other doctors." +</P> + +<P> +"He hasn't any assistant?" +</P> + +<P> +"No, sir, but he said if anybody needed a doctor in a hurry to call old +Doctor Slate." +</P> + +<P> +"Where does he live?" +</P> + +<P> +"In the big white house on the hill, opposite the depot." +</P> + +<P> +"I know the place," put in Songbird. +</P> + +<P> +"We'll go there," said Sam. "Much obliged," he added, to the man. +</P> + +<P> +"Maybe Tom went there and that is how Lambert came to see him near the +freight house," suggested Songbird. +</P> + +<P> +"We'll soon know," returned the youngest Rover. +</P> + +<P> +It did not take the students long to cross the railroad tracks and +reach Doctor Slate's residence. They found the old doctor out in his +garden, tying up some bushes. He was a white-haired gentleman and had +given up his regular practice some years before. +</P> + +<P> +"No, there has been no young man to see me," he said, in answer to +Sam's question. "Old Mrs. Powers was in, and Pop Slocum, the negro, +and that's all." +</P> + +<P> +"In that case, Tom must be hanging around town, waiting for Doctor +Havens to return," said Songbird. +</P> + +<P> +"It's a puzzle to me," said Sam, with a deep sigh, and he and his chum +walked slowly away. +</P> + +<P> +"I wouldn't worry so much, Sam," said Songbird, sympathetically. "I am +sure it will be all right." +</P> + +<P> +"It would be if Tom was all right in his head, Songbird. But you know +how he acted that day Stanley and Spud went into the old well hole, +and——" +</P> + +<P> +"Well, what could happen to him in Ashton, such a sleepy country town +as this is? Oh, he's around somewhere and will soon turn up, take my +word for it." +</P> + +<P> +They found the depot deserted, for it was a time of day when there were +no trains. Then they walked up the main street, past the stores and +the Eclipse photo playhouse. The afternoon performance was just over +at the show place and a crowd of about a hundred, mostly women and +children, was pouring forth. In the crowd were a burly, jolly looking +farmer and a pretty girl, his daughter. +</P> + +<P> +"Why, Mr. Sanderson!" cried Songbird, his face lighting up. "And you, +Minnie! This is a surprise!" and he shook hands. +</P> + +<P> +"Oh!" cried the girl, and smiled sweetly. "I didn't expect to see you +here." +</P> + +<P> +"We were doing some tradin' in town and thought we'd run in and see the +movin' picters," said Mr. Sanderson, who knew the boys well. "They +sure are great." +</P> + +<P> +"We came in to find Tom," said Sam, as he, too, shook hands. He and +his brothers had once done Minnie Sanderson a great service, the +particulars of which I have related in "The Rover Boys at College." +Since that time Songbird had frequently visited the Sanderson +homestead, to call on Minnie, whom he regarded as the nicest young lady +of his acquaintance. +</P> + +<P> +"To find Tom?" repeated Minnie. +</P> + +<P> +"Yes. Have you seen him?" +</P> + +<P> +"I saw him about noon time," said Mr. Sanderson. +</P> + +<P> +"Where?" +</P> + +<P> +"Why, he was walking along the road to Hope Seminary." +</P> + +<P> +"The road to Hope?" cried Sam. "Are you sure?" +</P> + +<P> +"Tolerably sure, Sam. I was drivin' rather fast an' didn't take much +of a look. But I reckon it was Tom." +</P> + +<P> +"Maybe he went there to call on Nellie," suggested Songbird. +</P> + +<P> +"This mixes me up," murmured Sam. "I don't know what to think." +</P> + +<P> +"I trust there is nothing wrong, Sam," said Minnie, sweetly. She +counted the Rovers among her warmest friends. +</P> + +<P> +"I—I hope not, and yet I am very much worried. You see, Tom hasn't +been just himself ever since he got that blow on the head. He came to +Ashton to see a doctor, but the doctor was away on business. Now I +can't find him anywhere." +</P> + +<P> +"If you want to go to Hope I'll drive you there," said Mr. Sanderson. +"I've got to go there anyway—to see about some potatoes they wanted. +Minnie said she would stay in town and do some more shopping, until I +got back. But I've only got a buggy big enough for two," added the +farmer. +</P> + +<P> +"I could stay in town with Minnie until you got back," said Songbird, +eagerly, to Sam. "I could keep my eyes open for Tom." +</P> + +<P> +"We could both look for him," added the girl. It pleased her to think +she might have the would-be poet's company. +</P> + +<P> +The matter was talked over for several minutes and then it was agreed +that Sam should ride over to the seminary with the farmer. +</P> + +<P> +"You won't have to hurry back," said Songbird, on parting. "If it gets +too late Minnie and I can go over to the hotel for supper," and he +smiled at the girl, who blushed and smiled in return. +</P> + +<P> +Mr. Sanderson had always owned some excellent horses and the mare +attached to his buggy was a swift animal. He and Sam got into the +turnout, and away they went with a whirl, soon leaving Ashton behind. +</P> + +<P> +"This year the seminary is going to buy all its potatoes from me," +explained the farmer. "And they get their cabbages, and carrots and +turnips from me, too, and a good many of their eggs and chickens. They +are quite a customer, and I want to do my best to please 'em." +</P> + +<P> +"It's a fine place," returned Sam. "Just as good as Brill." +</P> + +<P> +"So it is, Sam. By the way, how is Dick makin' out? I understand he +was lookin' after your father's business." +</P> + +<P> +"He is, and he is getting along very well. Of course, our lawyer is +helping him, for some matters are in an awful tangle." +</P> + +<P> +"That feller who hit Tom over the head ought to have been put in jail." +</P> + +<P> +"Well, he is going to lose most of his property—or at least, he had to +give up what belonged to Dad. The lawyer thinks that will be +punishment enough. We thought of prosecuting the bunch, but Dad is in +such bad health he didn't want to bother. Besides, one of the crowd, +Josiah Crabtree, broke his leg in two places and he will be a cripple +for life." +</P> + +<P> +"Serves the rascal right! He had no business to interfere with you, +and with that Mrs. Stanhope an' her daughter. I ain't got no sympathy +to waste on sech cattle," snorted the straight-minded farmer. +</P> + +<P> +Presently they came in sight of Hope Seminary and Mr. Sanderson drove +around to a side door, to interview the housekeeper. Sam walked around +to the front, and rang the doorbell, and a maid answered his summons. +</P> + +<P> +"I would like to see Miss Grace Laning," he said. "Or, if she isn't +in, her sister, Miss Nellie." +</P> + +<P> +"Yes, sir," and the girl ushered the young collegian into the reception +room. +</P> + +<P> +A few minutes later Grace appeared. She looked at Sam in surprise. +</P> + +<P> +"Why, I thought you wrote you'd come next Tuesday," she cried. +</P> + +<P> +"So I did, Grace. But this time I've come about Tom. Have you seen +him?" +</P> + +<P> +"Tom? No. Did he come here?" +</P> + +<P> +"I thought he might have come. Mr. Sanderson saw him on the road, +headed in this direction." +</P> + +<P> +"Oh, Sam, you look so—so alarmed! What is it? What do you think has +happened?" +</P> + +<P> +"I don't know what has happened, Grace. But something is wrong, I feel +sure of it," answered Sam, with conviction. "Tom is missing, and I +can't imagine what has become of him." +</P> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<A NAME="chap11"></A> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +CHAPTER XI +</H3> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +WHAT THE GIRLS KNEW +</H3> + +<P> +After that, Sam related the particulars of what had occurred, to which +Grace listened closely. As she did this, tears streamed down the +cheeks of the girl. +</P> + +<P> +"This will break Nellie's heart—if it isn't broken already," she +faltered. "You know I wrote that I had something to tell you, Sam. It +was about Nellie. But I can't tell you here—let us take a walk." +</P> + +<P> +"All right. But I can't stay long—I must go back with Mr. Sanderson +and continue this hunt for Tom." +</P> + +<P> +"To be sure—I won't keep you but a few minutes." Grace led the way +outside and down one of the campus walks. "You remember that time we +came back from the auto ride?" she said. +</P> + +<P> +"Of course." +</P> + +<P> +"Well, when Nellie and I got to our room she threw herself on the bed +and cried as if her heart was breaking. I couldn't do anything with +her. I wanted to find out what it was all about, but at first she +wouldn't tell me a word. Then she said it was Tom—that he had acted +so queerly when they took a walk in the park he had scared her." +</P> + +<P> +"What did he do?" +</P> + +<P> +"Oh, he talked so queer! He told Nellie tie wished he had the +<I>Dartaway</I> back, so that they could go on a honeymoon trip to the moon. +And then he laughed and asked her if she would go on a camelback ride +with him through the Sahara desert. And then he said he didn't want to +get married until he could lay a big nugget of gold at her feet—and a +lot of nonsense like that. She was awfully scared at first, but after +a while he got more rational and then she felt a little better. But +she couldn't get it off her mind, and it made her feel dreadful! And +then, the other day, Tom sent her the queerest letter, full of all +sorts of the wildest kind of nonsense—about going to the North Pole +and bringing the pole back with him, and about sending her a pair of +slippers, to wear in place of gloves, and asking her to send him a red +and blue handkerchief, to keep his head from aching. And he wrote that +he didn't think he was cut out for college, that he would rather shovel +nuggets in a gold mine—that is just what he wrote—'shovel nuggets in +a gold mine!' Oh, such a mixed-up letter you never read! And it made +Nellie cry again. Oh, Sam, what does it mean?" +</P> + +<P> +He shook his head and gave a deep sigh. +</P> + +<P> +"I don't know, Grace. It scares me almost as much as it has Nellie. +Maybe Tom ought to be put in a sanitarium." +</P> + +<P> +"Oh, do you think he is really out of his mind?" +</P> + +<P> +"It almost looks that way. Poor Tom! and he was always so bright and +full of fun!" +</P> + +<P> +"But what can—Oh, Sam, here is Nellie now!" cried Grace, as her sister +appeared and ran towards them. +</P> + +<P> +"Oh, Sam, I just met Mr. Sanderson and he said you were looking for +Tom!" cried Nellie, as she came closer. +</P> + +<P> +"That's true, Nellie." +</P> + +<P> +"He hasn't been here—at least I haven't seen him." +</P> + +<P> +"So Grace just told me," Sam tried to look at the girl in front of him, +but had to turn his gaze away. He knew only too well how much Nellie +thought of his brother. +</P> + +<P> +"Did he—he run away?" burst out Nellie. +</P> + +<P> +"I don't know about that, Nellie," said Sam, and told his story over +again, just as he had related it to her sister. +</P> + +<P> +Nellie burst into tears, and Sam and Grace did their best to comfort +her. Grace's own eyes were moist, and Sam had all he could do to keep +from breaking down likewise. +</P> + +<P> +"Oh, he is gone, I am sure of it!" cried Nellie. "He is not himself at +all! For all we know he may have thrown himself into the river! Oh, +what shall we do? What can we do?" and she wrung her hands. +</P> + +<P> +"Don't take it so hard, Nellie, it may not be so bad after all," said +her sister, soothingly. "Tom may be back to Brill by this time." +</P> + +<P> +For several minutes the matter was talked over. Then Mr. Sanderson +appeared, ready to return to Ashton for his daughter. +</P> + +<P> +"I'll help you hunt for Tom," said the bluff farmer. "I know he must +be somewhere around. Don't you worry so," for he could see that Nellie +had been crying. +</P> + +<P> +"Send word at once, when you do find him," begged Nellie, as the buggy +drove away, and Sam promised. +</P> + +<P> +On the way back to town but little was said. Near Brill they met quite +a few students and the youngest Rover asked them if they had seen his +brother. All replied in the negative. +</P> + +<P> +When Ashton was reached it was dark, and they drove around to the +hotel. Songbird and Minnie had been dining, and the student asked Mr. +Sanderson and Sam to have something. +</P> + +<P> +"No, I don't care to eat just now," said Sam. "I'll take another look +around," and he left the Sandersons and Songbird together. +</P> + +<P> +But Sam's walk around the town was productive of no results. He called +again on the two doctors, only to be told that Tom had not shown +himself at either place. At the depot nobody seemed to remember seeing +him. The youth visited several stores where Tom was known, but none of +the clerks had seen the missing one. +</P> + +<P> +"I suppose all I can do is to return to Brill and wait," said Sam, on +rejoining those at the hotel. "I might send out a general alarm, but +I'd hate to do that and then have Tom walk in as if nothing unusual had +happened." +</P> + +<P> +"And it would be just like him to do it," returned Songbird. +</P> + +<P> +It was nearly ten o'clock when Sam and his chum returned to the +college. Tom had not yet shown himself, nor had he sent in any word. +His books and his clothing were exactly as he had left them. +</P> + +<P> +"Well, he didn't take anything with him," was Sam's comment, as several +of his chums came in to sympathize with him. "That looks as if he +hadn't meant to go far." +</P> + +<P> +"Oh, he'll be back, don't worry," said Spud, optimistically. +</P> + +<P> +All did their best to cheer poor Sam up, but this did little good. Sam +was much worried and his face showed it. +</P> + +<P> +"I don't know what to do," he said. "I certainly don't feel like going +to bed." +</P> + +<P> +One of the proctors had heard that Tom was missing and came to the room +to see about it. Sam told him all he knew and the proctor said he +would immediately report the case to Doctor Wallington. +</P> + +<P> +"You know he can't stay out as late as this without permission," +observed the proctor. +</P> + +<P> +"Permission or no permission I wish he was here," answered Sam. "He is +sick and I am very much worried about him." And then the proctor left. +</P> + +<P> +An hour dragged by and the other students went to bed. Sam sat up in +an easy chair, trying to doze, but starting up at every sound. He +tried to figure out what would be best for him to do, but could reach +no satisfactory conclusion. He looked out of the window. The moon was +setting and soon all became dark. A wagon rattled by on the roadway +beyond the campus, and the clock in the college tower tolled out the +hour of midnight. +</P> + +<P> +"This is simply awful!" murmured Sam, as he walked back to the easy +chair and dropped down. "I wonder if I hadn't better send a message to +Dick? But I can't do it until seven o'clock—the telegraph office is +closed." +</P> + +<P> +At last Sam became so worn out that he could keep his eyes open no +longer. He flung himself on his bed, dressed as he was, and fell into +a fitful doze. And thus the hours went by until the sun shone over the +hills in the East. +</P> + +<P> +"Did he come in?" It was a question put by Songbird, as he came to the +door. +</P> + +<P> +"No." +</P> + +<P> +"Say, Sam, this is strange. What are you going to do?" +</P> + +<P> +"I don't know—telegraph to Dick and send out a general alarm, I guess." +</P> + +<P> +"You don't think he simply ran away, do you?" +</P> + +<P> +"What, without telling me? You know better than that, Songbird." +</P> + +<P> +"Then he must have wandered off while he was out of his mind. Maybe +he's somewhere in the woods around here." +</P> + +<P> +"Maybe. I only hope he isn't hurt." +</P> + +<P> +"Well, if I can do anything, let me know," answered Songbird, and +stepped back into his room to dress. +</P> + +<P> +As soon as possible Sam went to Doctor Wallington and talked the matter +over with the head of Brill. The worthy doctor knew about the case +already and was all sympathy. +</P> + +<P> +"We had better send out a general alarm," he said. "And you can notify +your folks. It was a mistake to let your brother come back here so +soon after being hurt. You can take one of the carriages and drive +down to Ashton at once, if you wish, and also drive around to some of +the other places in this vicinity. Somebody must have seen your +brother after he left here, or after Mr. Sanderson saw him." +</P> + +<P> +"Would you mind if I take John Powell with me?" asked Sam. "I may need +somebody to help me." +</P> + +<P> +"Very well, Rover, he can go if he wishes." +</P> + +<P> +"To be sure I'll go," said Songbird, when told of this. "And we'll +find Tom, see if we don't," he added, by way of cheering Sam. +</P> + +<P> +Sam waited until nine o'clock to see if Tom would show himself and then +he and Songbird drove over the Ashton. A search lasting the best part +of an hour followed, but nothing new was learned. Then, rather +reluctantly—for he knew that Dick was having trouble enough attending +to their father's affairs—he sent a telegram to his big brother, +telling of Tom's disappearance, and adding that he would telegraph +again, if anything new turned up. +</P> + +<P> +In driving over to Hope Seminary Mr. Sanderson had pointed out to Sam +the spot where he had seen—or thought he had seen—Tom. Sam now +determined to visit that spot and see if from that point he could not +get on the trail of his brother. +</P> + +<P> +The place was near a turn of the road and just beyond was another road. +At the forks stood an old stone house, wherein lived an old basketmaker +named Rater. The girls of Hope often bought baskets from the man just +to help him along. +</P> + +<P> +Sam and Songbird found Rater sitting on a side porch of his home, with +his basket-making materials scattered around him. He was a tall, thin +man, somewhat deaf, but with a pair of sharp eyes. +</P> + +<P> +"Come to buy a basket?" he asked, briskly. +</P> + +<P> +"No, I came for a little information, if you can give it, Mr. Rater," +replied Sam. +</P> + +<P> +"What do you want to know?" +</P> + +<P> +"Were you here yesterday?" +</P> + +<P> +"I sure was—all day long." +</P> + +<P> +"Did you see anything of my brother?" went on Sam. "He is a little +larger than I am, and here is his picture," and the youngest Rover +produced a photograph he had brought along. +</P> + +<P> +The old basketmaker looked at the photograph carefully. +</P> + +<P> +"Why, yes, I see that feller," he said slowly. "He stopped at my gate +fer a minute or two. He acted sort o' strange." +</P> + +<P> +"In what way?" +</P> + +<P> +"He didn't speak to me, he spoke to hisself. Said something about a +basketful o' nuggets. I asked him if he wanted to buy a basket, but he +only shook his head an' said somethin' about wantin' to git the nuggets +o' gold first. Then, all of a sudden like, he ran away." +</P> + +<P> +"And which way did he go?" asked Sam, with interest. +</P> + +<P> +"Up the Hoopville road," and the old basketmaker pointed to the side +road which ran past his home. +</P> + +<P> +"Did he have any baggage with him?" questioned Songbird. +</P> + +<P> +"Nary a thing." +</P> + +<P> +"Thank you for the information," said Sam, and passed over a quarter, +which Rater pocketed with a broad smile. Ready money was scarce with +him. +</P> + +<P> +"We'll drive to Hoopville," said Sam, a minute later, as he and +Songbird got in the buggy. "And we'll ask about Tom on the way." +</P> + +<P> +A quarter of a mile was passed and they came to a lonely spot on the +highway. Here, the only building in sight was a half tumbled down +cottage belonging to a man named Hiram Duff. Duff pretended to be +poor, but common report had it that he was a miser and fairly well to +do. +</P> + +<P> +"Going to stop here?" questioned Songbird, as they drove near. +</P> + +<P> +"We might as well," returned Sam. "Old Duff is a tough customer, but +in this case——" +</P> + +<P> +He did not finish for at that instant a muffled cry came from the old +cottage, startling both boys. +</P> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<A NAME="chap12"></A> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +CHAPTER XII +</H3> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +AT HIRAM DUFF'S COTTAGE +</H3> + +<P> +"What can that be?" +</P> + +<P> +"Must be somebody in trouble!" +</P> + +<P> +"Maybe it is old Duff!" +</P> + +<P> +"Let us go and see!" +</P> + +<P> +With these hasty exclamations both boys leaped from the carriage they +occupied and ran towards the delapidated cottage. The cries continued, +coming from somewhere in the interior. +</P> + +<P> +"Wait—we'll look in the window first," suggested Sam. "Maybe old Duff +is having a quarrel with one of his neighbors, and if so it might not +be wise to interfere." +</P> + +<P> +There was a window with small panes of glass close at hand, and going +to this the two youths peered into the cottage. To their surprise they +could see nobody. Both lower rooms of the old building seemed to be +unoccupied. +</P> + +<P> +"Let's go around to the rear. Maybe the sounds come from there," +suggested Songbird. +</P> + +<P> +There was a path full of weeds leading to a rear porch that was almost +ready to fall down. The back door stood partly open. Nobody was in +sight. +</P> + +<P> +"The call comes from somewhere inside," said Sam. "Come on in. But be +on your guard, Songbird. We don't want to get into trouble." +</P> + +<P> +Both lads crossed the rickety porch and entered what was the kitchen of +the cottage. A musty odor pervaded the building, for old Duff usually +kept everything tightly closed. +</P> + +<P> +The place was in disorder, a chair being overturned and several cooking +utensils littering the floor. On the stove, which was cold, lay a big +carving knife. +</P> + +<P> +"What do you want? Where are you?" called out Sam. +</P> + +<P> +"Oh, help me! Get me out of here!" came the somewhat faint reply. "I +am in the cellar!" +</P> + +<P> +"In the cellar!" repeated Songbird. "Are you Mr. Duff?" +</P> + +<P> +"Yes. Help me out, please." +</P> + +<P> +Both boys looked around for a stairs, but there was none. Then, to one +side of the kitchen floor, they saw a trap door. It was shut down and +bolted by means of a plug stuck through two staples. +</P> + +<P> +It was an easy matter to kick the plug away and raise the trap door. +The boys peered down into the opening below and saw Hiram Duff sitting +on the lower step of the stairs. He looked hollow-eyed and almost +exhausted. +</P> + +<P> +"What's the matter, Mr. Duff? How did you get shut up this way?" asked +Sam, kindly. +</P> + +<P> +"Oh, my! Oh, my!" sighed the old miser. "Ca—can't you help me up the +stairs? I am so—so weak I can't hardly walk. Where is the rascal who +shut me up this way? I'll have the police on him!" +</P> + +<P> +"Did somebody shut you up In this cellar?" asked Sam, as he and +Songbird crawled below to give the old man assistance. They saw that +the cellar was merely a big hole in the ground and the stairs were very +steep and not particularly safe. +</P> + +<P> +"Yes, somebody got me to come down here and then locked that trap door +on me," grumbled the miser. He got up with difficulty and crawled +slowly to the kitchen, the boys coming after him to see that he did not +fall back. "Oh, dear, what a time I have had of it!" he whined. +</P> + +<P> +"When was this?" asked Songbird. +</P> + +<P> +"I don't know—that is, I can't tell how long it was until I know what +time it is now." +</P> + +<P> +"It is half-past ten," answered Sam, consulting his watch. +</P> + +<P> +"What! Do you mean half-past ten in the morning?" burst out Hiram +Duff. "If that's true then I've been down cellar all night—ever since +yesterday afternoon! No wonder I was hungry and thirsty. I've got to +have something to eat and drink soon, or I'll starve to death!" And he +walked to the kitchen cupboard and got out some bread and meat. There +was water in a pail on the bench and he took a long drink of this. +</P> + +<P> +"Who was it locked you in the cellar?" asked Sam. +</P> + +<P> +"Who be you boys?" asked the miser in return. +</P> + +<P> +"We belong to Brill College. We were driving past and we heard you +yell," answered Songbird. +</P> + +<P> +"Yes, I thought I heard a carriage on the road, so I called as loud as +I could. I did that ever since that fellow went away, but I guess +nobody heard me—leastwise, they didn't pay no attention." +</P> + +<P> +"Will you tell us how it all happened?" asked Sam, and then he added +aside to Songbird. "Don't say anything about Tom." And the would-be +poet of Brill nodded to show he understood. +</P> + +<P> +"It was this way," answered Hiram Duff, dropping down on the chair Sam +fixed for him. "I was sitting on the back porch mending my coat when +all of a sudden a fellow came around the corner of the house. He was a +strange looking young fellow and he wore a funny looking cap pulled +away down over his eyes. He asked me if I wasn't Hackler. I said I +wasn't, that my name was Hiram Duff. Then he says, 'I knew it, I knew +it! At last!' and sits down on the porch. I says, 'At last, what?' +and he says something about a nugget of gold. He acted awful +mysterious like, and finally he asks me if I'd like to own half of a +big nugget of gold. I told him I certainly would." +</P> + +<P> +"And then?" asked Sam, as the old miser paused to take a bite of bread +and meat. +</P> + +<P> +"Then he told a queer story about a nugget of gold brought down to this +place from Alaska. He was very mysterious, and at last he said the +nugget was right down in my cellar, and if I'd dig it up fer him he'd +give me half. At first I thought he was fooling, or wasn't just right +in his mind, but a nugget of gold—even a little one—isn't to be +sneezed at, and it wouldn't cost me nuthing to go down cellar and look. +So I starts to go down the stairs when he says to be careful, that he +would look around, to make sure nobuddy was a-spying on him. He said +the nugget was in the northwest corner. I went down and the next thing +I knew I heard a strange cry upstairs. 'You shan't rob me! The nugget +is mine!' yells that fellow and bang! goes that trap door, and then he +up and bolts it fast, so I couldn't open it. I calls to let me out, +and he calls back for me to keep quiet until he got some friends, so I +couldn't rob him of that nugget. Then he slammed around upstairs here +something awful. At last he went away; and that's the last I seen or +heard of him." +</P> + +<P> +"What did you do? Didn't you try to get out?" questioned Songbird. +</P> + +<P> +"For a long time I waited, thinking he would come back. And as he +seemed so sure about the nugget I took the lantern and looked for it. +But there wasn't no signs of any gold. Then the lantern got dry and +went out, leaving me in the dark. I didn't know what to make of it. I +went up the stairs and tried to open the door, but I couldn't budge it. +Then I tried to dig my way out of the hole, but the old shovel I had +broke and there I was. I'm an old man and pretty full of rheumatism, +and staying down cellar all night has most finished me," concluded +Hiram Duff, with a groan. +</P> + +<P> +"Did the fellow say where he was going?" asked Sam, after a pause. +</P> + +<P> +"Said he was going to get help, that's all, so I couldn't rob him of +that nugget. I don't know what to make of it. Might be he was a +lunatic, eh?" went on the old miser, suddenly. "Maybe he run away from +some asylum." +</P> + +<P> +"Possibly," answered Sam, shortly. "Did he take anything, do you +suppose?" he went on. +</P> + +<P> +"Take anything? You mean steal anything?" cried Hiram Duff, and +started back. The sandwich he had made for himself dropped from his +hand. "I—I wonder if he did take anything," he muttered, and his eyes +roved towards the other room of the cottage. +</P> + +<P> +"Better take a look around, if you had anything of value," said Sam, +and gave Songbird a meaning look. +</P> + +<P> +With feeble steps the old miser walked out of the kitchen into what had +been the sitting room of the cottage. As he was too feeble to sleep +upstairs, Hiram Duff now used the apartment for a bedroom as well. He +closed the door between the two rooms and the boys heard him rummaging +around among his possessions. Then came a wild cry. +</P> + +<P> +"It's gone! It's gone! My tin box is gone!" +</P> + +<P> +"Your tin box?" repeated Songbird, as the old man threw open the door. +</P> + +<P> +"Yes! yes! The fellow has robbed me! Oh, this is dreadful! What +shall I do? I am a poor man! Oh, I'll have to go to the poorhouse!" +And the miser commenced to wring his hands. +</P> + +<P> +"What did you have in the box?" questioned Sam. +</P> + +<P> +"I had—some—er—some money, and some—er—jewelry," faltered Hiram +Duff. He was a very secretive man naturally and it galled him to make +the admission. +</P> + +<P> +"How much money, Mr. Duff?" +</P> + +<P> +"Oh, a—er—quite some. Oh, this is too bad! What shall I do? This +will ruin me! Oh, where is that rascal? How can I catch him?" and the +old man ran around the kitchen, staring at one thing and another, and +at the boys. +</P> + +<P> +"This must be Tom's work," whispered Sam to Songbird. "I wonder what I +had best do about it?" +</P> + +<P> +"Wait until you are sure it was Tom," advised the would-be poet. +</P> + +<P> +Sam commenced to question the old miser regarding the looks of the +fellow who had visited him. He soon became convinced that it must have +been Tom. Clearly his brother must now be completely out of his mind. +</P> + +<P> +"Poor, poor Tom," he sighed. "If he is going to act this way, what +will he do next? I wish I could find him, and that Dick was here to +help me to take care of him and clear up this mess." +</P> + +<P> +"I don't know what I'm a-going to do," whined Hiram Duff. "I gotter +find that box." +</P> + +<P> +"How big a box was it?" questioned Sam. +</P> + +<P> +"'Twasn't so very big—a fellow could put it in his pocket. But it had +gold—I mean money—in it, and my dead wife's jewelry." +</P> + +<P> +"How much money, Mr. Duff?" +</P> + +<P> +"What business is that of yours?" demanded the miser, suspiciously. +</P> + +<P> +"Why, I think—maybe I can help you get it back," stammered Sam. He +grew red in the face. "To tell the plain truth, I think I know who +that fellow was." +</P> + +<P> +"Who?" +</P> + +<P> +"Tell me what you lost first." +</P> + +<P> +"Well, if you must know, that box had three hundred dollars in gold in +it, besides the jewelry. That my wife got from her folks when they +died, and they said it was wuth over a hundred dollars." +</P> + +<P> +"Is that all?" +</P> + +<P> +"Ain't that enough? Land sakes! I ain't no millionaire! That gold +was a-going to keep me from the poorhouse." And Hiram Duff shook his +head dolefully. He did not tell the young collegiates that he had an +even ten thousand dollars in the banks. He had saved money all his +life, denying himself and his wife almost the necessities of life. +</P> + +<P> +"Do you suppose anybody else could have come in and taken the box?" +said Songbird. +</P> + +<P> +"What do you mean?" +</P> + +<P> +"I mean, did anybody come in after that fellow left?" +</P> + +<P> +"How should I know?—I was down cellar." +</P> + +<P> +"Did you hear anybody?" +</P> + +<P> +"I heard something. Maybe it was somebody, or maybe it was my sheep. +They come up to the house sometimes." +</P> + +<P> +"I see." +</P> + +<P> +"But what do you know about this?" demanded Hiram Duff, turning to Sam. +"You said you might help me to git the money back." +</P> + +<P> +"I'll tell you," said Sam, and related how his brother had disappeared +and how the blow on the head seemed to have affected him. +</P> + +<P> +"That's it! That's him! That's the man!" cried the old miser. "He +did it! You catch him and git my money back!" he went on, excitedly. +</P> + +<P> +"I'll certainly do my best to find him, Mr. Duff," answered Sam. "And +if he really took your box you shall have what you lost back." +</P> + +<P> +"Is he crazy, do you think?" +</P> + +<P> +"He wouldn't do such a thing if he was in his right mind." +</P> + +<P> +"Tom Rover is as honest as the day is long," declared Songbird. "If he +really took your box he didn't know what he was doing." +</P> + +<P> +"Well, he certainly did act queer," agreed Hiram Duff. "But that ain't +here nor there. I want my box back, with all that's in it, and I'm +going to have it. I guess I had better go to town and tell the police +about this." +</P> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<A NAME="chap13"></A> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +CHAPTER XIII +</H3> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +THE WESTERN EXPRESS +</H3> + +<P> +The old miser was very much excited and began to pace the floor of his +cottage. +</P> + +<P> +"Yes, I better tell the police, that's what I better do," he muttered. +</P> + +<P> +"There won't be any necessity to tell the police—if it was really my +brother who did it," said Sam. +</P> + +<P> +"Why not, I'd like to know?" challenged Hiram Duff. "He ain't no +better'n other folks." +</P> + +<P> +"If he took the box, I and my family will see to it that you are repaid +for your loss, Mr. Duff," answered the youngest Rover. +</P> + +<P> +"Humph! Do you guarantee that?" demanded the old miser, suspiciously. +</P> + +<P> +"Yes." +</P> + +<P> +"And you can take his word for it, sir," added Songbird. "The Rovers +are well-known and wealthy, and they will do exactly as they promise. +</P> + +<P> +"I've heard that name before. Didn't you have some trouble with the +railroad company?" asked Hiram Duff. "About a busted-up flying +machine?" +</P> + +<P> +"Yes," replied Sam. +</P> + +<P> +"And got the best of that skinflint lawyer, Belright Fogg?" +</P> + +<P> +"We made Mr. Fogg pay for the biplane, yes." +</P> + +<P> +"I know all about it," chuckled Hiram Duff. "Served Fogg right. And +he lost his job with the railroad company, too." The old man pursed up +his lips. "Well, if you'll give me your word that you will settle with +me I won't go to the police. But I want every cent that is coming to +me, understand that." +</P> + +<P> +"You'll get it—if my brother took the box," answered Sam. "But listen +to me. First of all I want to find my brother. I think he ought to be +under a doctor's care." +</P> + +<P> +"He ought to be in an asylum," responded Hiram Duff, bluntly. "It's +dangerous to allow sech a feller at large." +</P> + +<P> +"Maybe. We are going on a hunt for him right now," answered Sam. +"I'll come back here, or you can come to see me at Brill. And don't +worry, Mr. Duff,—you'll not lose a cent," added the youth, earnestly. +</P> + +<P> +Luckily Hiram Duff had heard all about the trouble the Rovers had had +with the railroad lawyer, and had at the time also heard that Sam's +family were wealthy and of high standing. This being so, he took +matters far more calmly than would otherwise have been the case. But +he wanted something in writing and Sam quickly wrote out a statement +and signed it. +</P> + +<P> +"Now we must get after my brother," said the youth. "Although you say +you have no idea where he went?" +</P> + +<P> +"No, I ain't got the least idee." +</P> + +<P> +"Let us drive on towards Hoopville," suggested Songbird. "We can make +inquiries along the way." +</P> + +<P> +In a few minutes more the pair were on the way, Hiram Duff gazing after +them anxiously. +</P> + +<P> +"Don't forget to let me hear from you!" he called out. +</P> + +<P> +"Songbird, this is terrible!" murmured Sam, as they drove on. "I wish +Dick was here to advise me." +</P> + +<P> +"He'll come as quickly as he can, don't worry about that, Sam. I only +hope we catch Tom before he gets too far away." +</P> + +<P> +About a mile was covered along the road leading to Hoopville, a small +village, the single industry of which was the making of barrel hoops. +Then they came to another farmhouse, where they saw a boy of fifteen +sitting on a horse-block, whittling a stick. +</P> + +<P> +"Hello, there!" called out Sam. "Say, I'm looking for a young fellow +that passed here yesterday. Did you see anything of him? Here is his +picture." +</P> + +<P> +"Sure I saw him," answered the boy, after a glance at the photograph. +"I drove him over to Morton's Junction." +</P> + +<P> +"Drove him over to Morton's Junction?" repeated Sam. "When?" +</P> + +<P> +"Yesterday afternoon. But we didn't git to the Junction till seven +o'clock." +</P> + +<P> +"Where did you go to?" +</P> + +<P> +"What do you want to know for?" asked the boy, curiously. +</P> + +<P> +"He is my brother and I want to find him, just as quickly as I can." +</P> + +<P> +"Oh! Well, he wanted to catch a train. He just got it, too." +</P> + +<P> +"What train?" +</P> + +<P> +"The Western Express. He wouldn't have got it only it was about ten +minutes late. He got aboard just as she started out from the depot." +</P> + +<P> +Sam's heart sank at this news. Tom on the Western Express! For what +place had he been bound? +</P> + +<P> +"Did he say where he was going?" put in Songbird. +</P> + +<P> +"To Chicago, I think. He talked to himself a good deal. Said +something about Chicago and St. Paul and Seattle. I asked him if he +was on business and he said he was going to pick up nuggets of gold. I +guess he was poking fun at me," went on the boy, sheepishly. "But he +paid me two dollars for driving him over," he added, with satisfaction. +</P> + +<P> +"Did he have much money?" asked Sam. "Tell me all you know. I might +as well tell tell you, that was my brother, and he is sick in his head, +so that he doesn't know just what he is doing." +</P> + +<P> +"Say, I thought he was queer—he had such a look out of his eyes, and +talked so much to himself. He only had about ten dollars in bills. +But he said he had some gold in his pocket, in a box. He didn't show +it, though. He said he was on Bill Stiger's trail." +</P> + +<P> +"Bill Stiger's trail," murmured Sam, and his mind went back to the +night Tom had gone to see the moving picture drama entitled "Lost in +the Ice Fields of Alaska." Bill Stiger had been the name of the +villain in the play—the rascal who had robbed the hero of his golden +nuggets. +</P> + +<P> +"He didn't have no ticket," went on the boy. "So he could get off the +train anywhere." +</P> + +<P> +"We must hurry to Morton's Junction and see if we can find out anything +more," said Sam to his college chum. His face showed plainly how +greatly he was worried. +</P> + +<P> +The boy told them how to go and they made the best time possible, +arriving at the Junction some time after noon. They found the depot +master on the platform. +</P> + +<P> +"I remember the fellow you mean," he said. "He got on the last car. +Dunkirt, the conductor, helped him up. But I don't know where he went +to. Maybe Dunkirt could tell you, when he gets back here." +</P> + +<P> +"When will he be back?" +</P> + +<P> +"He's off to-day and he'll be here on the one-thirty train. You can +talk to him when he comes in, if you want to." +</P> + +<P> +"I'll do it," answered Sam. +</P> + +<P> +He and Songbird had an even hour to wait, and the latter suggested that +they go to the Junction Hotel for dinner. +</P> + +<P> +"Might as well eat, Sam," he said, kindly "It won't help matters any to +go hungry." +</P> + +<P> +"I don't care much about eating, Songbird," was the answer. "But I'll +go along and take a bite. I wish I knew just where Tom had gone. I +might telegraph ahead for him." +</P> + +<P> +"Well, let us hope that conductor can tell you something." +</P> + +<P> +With nothing to do but to wait, the boys took their time over the +midday meal, and while doing this they had the team fed. Then they +sauntered down to the depot to await the arrival of the man they wanted +to interview. Presently the train came in and the depot master pointed +out the conductor. +</P> + +<P> +"Excuse me, but are you Mr. Dunkirt?" asked Sam. +</P> + +<P> +"That's my handle," was the prompt reply. +</P> + +<P> +"I am looking for the young man who jumped on your train just as it was +leaving here yesterday." +</P> + +<P> +"Ha! I thought somebody might be after that fellow!" exclaimed the +conductor, quickly. +</P> + +<P> +In a few words Sam explained as much of the situation as seemed +necessary, the conductor listening with interest. He nodded his head +several times. +</P> + +<P> +"I thought he was a little bit off in his upper story," he said. "He +talked rather wildly of going far away to get gold nuggets. He paid +his fare to Chicago and that's as far as I carried him." +</P> + +<P> +"What did he pay with?" asked Sam. +</P> + +<P> +"He gave me a ten-dollar gold piece. He had quite a lot of gold with +him." +</P> + +<P> +"Did he say where he was going from Chicago?" +</P> + +<P> +"Oh, yes, he had it all mapped out. He was going to St. Paul first and +then straight west to Seattle. From there he was going to Alaska." +</P> + +<P> +"Alaska!" cried Sam and Songbird, in a breath. +</P> + +<P> +"That is what he said." +</P> + +<P> +"What part of Alaska?" asked Sam, faintly. +</P> + +<P> +"He didn't tell me and I didn't ask him. I rather thought he was +kidding me, he acted so queer-like when he talked." +</P> + +<P> +After this the conductor told all he could remember about Tom. He said +that the youth had left the train at Chicago in a large crowd and that +was the last he had seen of the youth. +</P> + +<P> +"I'll send another telegram to Dick," said Sam to his chum. +</P> + +<P> +"Why not telephone to Ashton first?" suggested the other. "There may +be a telegram for you there." +</P> + +<P> +"I'll do it," said Sam, and got the station master at Ashton on the +wire as soon as possible. +</P> + +<P> +"Yes, a telegram came in for you an hour ago," was the answer, over the +telephone wire. "I sent it up to Brill." +</P> + +<P> +"Will you have the operator read it to me?" asked the youth. +</P> + +<P> +"Sure. Hold the wire a minute." +</P> + +<P> +Another connection was apparently made and Sam heard a different voice. +</P> + +<P> +"Is this Samuel Rover?" +</P> + +<P> +"Yes." +</P> + +<P> +"Want that message from Richard Rover?" +</P> + +<P> +"If you please." +</P> + +<P> +"He says he is coming up to Ashton on the train that gets here at +eleven-fifteen tonight." +</P> + +<P> +"Is that all?" +</P> + +<P> +"Yes." +</P> + +<P> +"Very well. Thank you," and Sam hung up the receiver. +</P> + +<P> +"What's the news, Sam?" questioned Songbird, and when told he looked +relieved. "Dick will know what to do." +</P> + +<P> +"I know what I am going to do, Songbird. I am going right back to +Brill and get ready to follow Tom." +</P> + +<P> +"I supposed you'd do that. I'd like to go with you." +</P> + +<P> +"I know it. But that won't be necessary—if Dick goes with me." Sam +drew a deep breath. "I—I guess I'd better stop at Hope on the way +back and let the girls know how matters stand," he added, soberly. +</P> + +<P> +"I can go up to-morrow and tell them, Sam." +</P> + +<P> +"No. I'd rather tell them myself," answered the youngest Rover. He +knew exactly how Nellie and Grace would feel when he broke the news to +them. +</P> + +<P> +It was a very sober and thoughtful pair of boys that got in the +carriage and started back to Brill by the way of Hope Seminary. Sam +was laying his plans how to follow Tom in his wild trip West and +Songbird was wondering how he could be of assistance to the Rovers. +Several times the would-be poet started to quote some original verse, +but each time cut himself short. +</P> + +<P> +Presently they came in sight of Hope, just as the girls were coming +from their afternoon classes. They espied Nellie and Grace, and +beckoned to them. Both came forward on a run. +</P> + +<P> +"What is the news, Sam?" asked Nellie, quickly. +</P> + +<P> +"It's not very good, Nellie," he said, kindly. "Tom has run away." +</P> + +<P> +"Run away!" gasped the girl, and turned pale. "Oh, you don't mean it!" +</P> + +<P> +"Where did he go to?" questioned Grace. +</P> + +<P> +"To Chicago." +</P> + +<P> +"And from there, so he told a train conductor, he was going to Seattle +and then to Alaska," said Songbird. "Sam and Dick are going after him, +just as soon as they can." +</P> + +<P> +"To Alaska! Tom has gone to Alaska!" murmured Nellie, and then she +turned and swayed, and the next moment fainted in Sam's arms. +</P> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<A NAME="chap14"></A> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +CHAPTER XIV +</H3> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +DICK AND SAM IN CHICAGO +</H3> + +<P> +"Get some water, Songbird, quick!" +</P> + +<P> +"Oh, Sam, shall I get some smelling salts!" cried Grace. +</P> + +<P> +"I guess the water will do, Grace. Here, stand on this side, so those +other girls can't see Nellie," went on the boy. "No use of letting +them know everything." +</P> + +<P> +Grace understood and she and Sam shielded Nellie and carried her to a +campus bench. Then Songbird arrived with a cup of water from a well. +Just as he handed it over, Nellie opened her eyes. +</P> + +<P> +"Oh! I—I—what happened?" she murmured. "Oh, I remember now!" And a +look of pain crossed her face. +</P> + +<P> +"Take a drink of water, dear," said her sister, and held the cup. +Nellie took a sip and then Grace bathed her forehead with some water +poured on a handkerchief that Sam passed over. Soon the girl sat up +straight. +</P> + +<P> +"I—I'm all right now," she faltered. "It—it was such a—a shock. +Oh, Sam, do you really think Tom is bound for Alaska?" +</P> + +<P> +"It looks like it, Nellie," he answered. "I'll tell you all about it, +if you'll walk down the road, away from those other students." And +then, as they walked away slowly, Sam and Songbird told their story, +the two girls hanging on their every word. +</P> + +<P> +"It's awful, terrible!" murmured Grace. "Poor Tom, he must be clear +out of his mind!" +</P> + +<P> +"That's the only explanation," answered Sam. "He'd never do such a +thing if he was in his right senses." +</P> + +<P> +"Oh, but he may lose his mind entirely," gasped Nellie. "I've read of +such cases in the newspapers. A person wanders off and forgets who he +is, or where he came from, and all that! Supposing Tom went to Alaska +and that happened to him! Why, we might never be able to find him!" +And the tears began to course down Nellie's cheeks. +</P> + +<P> +"We'll find him," answered Sam, sturdily. "Why, we've got to do it!" +</P> + +<P> +"But Alaska is so big, Sam! And think of going out to those mining +camps, and out in that snow and ice! Oh, I can't stand it!" And +Nellie's tears started afresh. +</P> + +<P> +"We'll have to catch him before he has a chance to leave St. Paul or +Seattle," returned the youth. +</P> + +<P> +"I think they had better telegraph ahead and set somebody on the +watch," said Songbird. "It will cost money to send a description of +Tom, but it may pay to do it." +</P> + +<P> +"Yes, yes! Do that, Sam! Anything to find Tom!" pleaded Nellie. +</P> + +<P> +"We'll do what we can, Nellie, you can be sure of that," was the reply. +</P> + +<P> +The boys remained with the girls a short time longer and then took +their departure. +</P> + +<P> +"Take care of yourself, Sam," said Grace, on parting. "If you go West +don't get into any trouble." +</P> + +<P> +"I won't get into any more trouble than I can help," he replied. "But +we are bound to find Tom and bring him back." +</P> + +<P> +It was dark when the boys got back to Brill, and while Songbird +prepared to go to supper, Sam hurried to the office of the head of the +institution. He found Doctor Wallington pouring over some teacher's +reports. He listened with a troubled face to what Sam had to tell and +shook his head slowly. +</P> + +<P> +"Too bad, Rover, and I sympathize with you and your family from the +bottom of my heart. Clearly that blow on the head has put your brother +completely out of his mind. I am glad that Richard is coming to Ashton +to aid you. What you had better do next is a problem." +</P> + +<P> +"I think we'll send word West about Tom and then try to follow him," +answered Sam. "That is why I came here—to notify you that I'd have to +leave." +</P> + +<P> +"I shall be sorry to lose you, Samuel. Let us hope that you'll be able +to come back in a few days—and that Thomas's case will not prove as +bad as we think. I agree that it is best for you to move at once, for +there is no telling what your missing brother may do. Can I aid in any +way?" +</P> + +<P> +"You may cash a check for me—I may need some ready money,—if Dick +doesn't happen to have enough with him." +</P> + +<P> +"I'll do that with pleasure. Anything else?" +</P> + +<P> +"I want to go to Ashton late this evening, to meet Dick. I'll take a +suitcase with me." +</P> + +<P> +"One of the men can drive you down. Will your brother come here?" +</P> + +<P> +"Possibly. But both of us may stay in Ashton, to take the one o'clock +train for Chicago. It stops on signal, you know." +</P> + +<P> +"Yes. Very well. Anything else?" +</P> + +<P> +"No, sir," answered Sam, and then he wrote out the check and got his +money. A little later, after a hasty supper, he started to pack his +suitcase with such things as he thought he might need for the trip to +Chicago. +</P> + +<P> +He was in the midst of his labors when Songbird came in, followed by +Spud, Stanley, Max and several others. All wanted to assist him, yet +they could do little. Each was deeply sympathetic. +</P> + +<P> +"It's too bad, Sam," said Spud. "I hope you catch Tom before he has a +chance to leave Chicago. Why when a chap gets out of his mind there is +no telling what he'll do, or where he'll go." +</P> + +<P> +"Oxactly so," came from Max. "I knowed a man vonce dot goes his mind +owid. He took an axe, and—veil neffer mind, Dom ton't do nuddings +like dot anyvay," added the German-American student hastily, after a +warning look from Songbird. +</P> + +<P> +"I think that moving picture must have hit Tom hard," said Stanley. +"It was so lifelike. He talked about it a great deal." +</P> + +<P> +"Yes, he couldn't forget it. He even talked about it in his sleep," +returned Sam. "He wanted to go out and get those nuggets of gold." +</P> + +<P> +"Well, I'd like some nuggets myself," cried Spud. "But I am not going +to the ice fields of Alaska for 'em," he added, grimly, and this caused +a faint smile to spread on some of the boys' faces. +</P> + +<P> +Songbird had received permission to accompany Sam to Ashton, and at +nine o'clock the youths were on the way, in a carriage driven by one of +the college drivers. They went directly to the depot, there to await +the arrival of the train that was to bring Dick. +</P> + +<P> +It was a cold, disagreeable evening, with a promise of rain in the air. +The boys were glad enough to go into the station, which was kept open +for the coming of the late train. +</P> + +<P> +"Can a fellow get on that one o'clock Chicago train from here?" asked +Sam, of the ticket man. +</P> + +<P> +"Yes, if he's got a ticket," was the reply. "I'll have to signal it to +stop though." +</P> + +<P> +"Well, I'll let you know about it as soon as I see my brother. He is +coming in on the eleven-thirty." +</P> + +<P> +It had begun to rain by the time the last-named train rolled in. Only +three passengers got off, but one of them was Dick. He had a suitcase +with him, and he fairly ran to meet Sam and Songbird. +</P> + +<P> +"Any more news?" he demanded. +</P> + +<P> +Sam related the particulars of what had occurred. In the meantime the +train had gone on and the station was deserted by all but the ticket +man. +</P> + +<P> +"Going to lock up now," he said to the boys, who had gathered in the +station, out of the rain. +</P> + +<P> +"Wait just one minute please," pleaded Sam. +</P> + +<P> +"Here, go out and get some cigars for yourself," added Dick, and passed +over a quarter. +</P> + +<P> +"Thanks, I will," returned the ticket man, and walked off to an +all-night resort not far from the station. +</P> + +<P> +"I don't see anything to do but to follow Tom to Chicago," said Dick. +"We might send a telegram to the authorities, but I can't see how it +would do any good. They don't know him, and in a big city like that it +is hard enough to find a fellow when he is well-known. If we take that +one o'clock train we'll be in Chicago by morning, and I'd rather look +around myself than trust the police to do it." +</P> + +<P> +"All right, I came prepared for the trip," answered Sam, and pointed to +his suitcase. +</P> + +<P> +When the station man came back they purchased two tickets for Chicago +and the man set out his lantern to signal the express. Then Songbird +said good-bye, wishing them all kinds of good luck, and rode back to +Brill. +</P> + +<P> +"Sam, this is simply terrible," observed the big brother, as he paced +the depot platform, the station master having gone away. "I never +thought such a thing as this would come to Tom." +</P> + +<P> +"Neither did I, Dick. Nellie is all broke up over it, too." +</P> + +<P> +"Naturally." +</P> + +<P> +"Did you send word home? I didn't." +</P> + +<P> +"No, I didn't want to worry the folks until the last minute. But Dora +knows, and so does Mrs. Stanhope." +</P> + +<P> +"What about Dad's business, Dick? Can you get away from it?" +</P> + +<P> +"I can't get away any too easily, Sam. Things are in a fearful snarl. +But I telephoned to Mr. Powell, the lawyer, to look after matters +during my absence. I think we've got those brokers under our thumb—at +least I hope so. But if we haven't, we stand to lose a bunch of money." +</P> + +<P> +"How much?" +</P> + +<P> +"Twenty or thirty thousand dollars." +</P> + +<P> +"That's too bad. If you think you ought to go back, I might look for +Tom alone." +</P> + +<P> +"Don't you dare to mention such a thing, Sam. I think more of Tom than +I do of twice that amount of money—and so do you and the rest of the +family. Our whole duty is to find Tom, and do it, too, before he gets +into more mischief, or gets hurt," concluded the oldest Rover. +</P> + +<P> +Promptly on time the night express bound west came along. It seldom +stopped at Brill and the conductor gazed curiously at the two youths as +they got aboard. Then the lantern was extinguished and set aside, and +the heavy train rolled on. +</P> + +<P> +Fortunately travel was light that night, so the lads had no trouble in +getting a section of a sleeper from the Pullman porter. They had only +the lower berth made up, and on that laid down, to talk matters over +and get some sleep. +</P> + +<P> +"Yes, it must have been that moving picture that set Tom off," said +Dick, during the course of the conversation. "And that gives us +something like a clue to work on. The main scenes took place in +Alaska, and he may be just topsy-turvy enough in his mind to want to +find those places. Talking about golden nuggets, and about being on +the trail of Bill Stiger, looks like it, anyway." +</P> + +<P> +"I think so myself, Dick. But his mind may change and he may go to +Mexico, or Europe," and Sam sighed deeply. +</P> + +<P> +Neither of the boys slept much and both were up almost as early as +anybody on the train. More to pass the time than because they felt +hungry, they went into the dining car for breakfast. +</P> + +<P> +At last the train rolled into the suburbs of the great city of the +lakes and finally came to a stop at the big depot. The youths took up +their suitcases and filed out with the other passengers. +</P> + +<P> +"Have you any idea where we ought to look first?" asked Sam. +</P> + +<P> +"I think we may as well leave our bags on check at this depot and look +around here," was the answer. "Tom started from here and maybe we'll +be lucky enough to meet somebody who saw and remembered him." +</P> + +<P> +Having checked the suitcases, the Rovers started in earnest, asking the +men at the news stand and in the smoking room and at the lunch counter +and restaurant. Then they questioned the taxicab drivers, and even +some of the newsboys and bootblacks. +</P> + +<P> +"It looks almost hopeless," said Sam, at last. +</P> + +<P> +"Not yet," returned Dick. "We haven't struck the most important people +yet. Funny we didn't think of them first." +</P> + +<P> +"Whom do you mean?" +</P> + +<P> +"The ticket sellers. Let me have that photo of Tom and we'll see if +any of them remember him." +</P> + +<P> +From one ticket window they went to another, until they reached an +elderly man, who gazed at the photograph with interest. +</P> + +<P> +"Yes, I remember that young man," he said, slowly. "He was here +yesterday afternoon." +</P> + +<P> +"Did he buy a railroad ticket?" +</P> + +<P> +"He did." +</P> + +<P> +"Where to?" +</P> + +<P> +"Seattle." +</P> + +<P> +"Can you remember on what train?" asked Sam. +</P> + +<P> +"Sure. I had to hurry for him, for he took the four-ten train, by way +of St. Paul," was the reply. +</P> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<A NAME="chap15"></A> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +CHAPTER XV +</H3> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +BOUND WEST +</H3> + +<P> +"Well, Sam we have done all we can do for the present." +</P> + +<P> +"That's right, Dick." +</P> + +<P> +"Whether it will do any good or not remains to be seen," and Dick gave +a long-drawn sigh and leaned back in the sleeping car seat he occupied. +</P> + +<P> +It was about three hours later and in that time the Rover boys had been +very busy. +</P> + +<P> +Following the announcement of the ticket seller that Tom had taken a +train for Seattle by way of St. Paul, the Rovers had sent a telegram to +the conductor of the train, asking him to look out for Tom and have him +detained. They had procured accommodations on the train they were now +on, and had so notified the railroad official, so he would know where +to address them, provided the missing one was found. They had also +sent a telegram to the folks at home and another to the girls at Hope. +</P> + +<P> +"Perhaps we'll get word when we reach St. Paul," said Sam. "For all we +know Tom may be there, awaiting our arrival." +</P> + +<P> +"I sincerely hope so, Sam. I'm sure I don't want to go away out to the +Pacific coast for him." +</P> + +<P> +"It's too bad Tom didn't buy one of those railroad tickets that a +fellow has to sign," observed Sam. "If he had done that, it would be +easy to find him." +</P> + +<P> +"That's true." +</P> + +<P> +The train they were on was an express, making but few stops and would +reach St. Paul late in the evening. It was only about three-quarters +filled, so the Rovers had had no difficulty in getting a section of a +sleeper. Whether they would go further than St. Paul was, however, as +yet a problem. +</P> + +<P> +"Next stop Milwaukee!" was the cry, and soon the train rolled into that +city. Anxiously the two brothers looked out and saw one of the +trainmen take several telegrams from a man on the platform. After the +train had started again the trainman came through the train. +</P> + +<P> +"Telegrams for Miss Baker, Mr. Josephs and Mr. Rover!" he called out. +</P> + +<P> +"Here you are!" cried Sam, eagerly. "Rover." And the telegram was +passed over. Hastily the envelope was torn open and the contents +scanned. The boys looked at each other blankly. The telegram read as +follows: +</P> + +<BR> + +<P> +"No young man answering to name Tom Rover on this train. Will watch +passengers closely as instructed. +<BR><BR> +"FOLSOM, <I>Conductor</I>." +</P> + +<BR> + +<P> +"What do you make of this, Dick. Maybe Tom didn't use that ticket +after he bought it," gasped Sam. +</P> + +<P> +"But that ticket seller saw him rush for the gate. He must have gone +on the train, Sam. He probably didn't answer to his name because if he +is out of his mind he has forgotten what his real name is. And so long +as he keeps quiet the trainmen won't suspect anything wrong with him." +</P> + +<P> +"Perhaps we'll get another telegram at St. Paul." +</P> + +<P> +"I hope so." +</P> + +<P> +On and on rolled the train through the afternoon, coming presently to +the shore of the upper Mississippi, with its wide stretches of +marshland and its dead trees. It was not an inviting scene, and the +two Rovers were glad enough, when the time came, to turn from it and go +to the diner for dinner. +</P> + +<P> +There was to be a stop of ten minutes at St. Paul and in that time the +boys must make up their minds whether they were going to continue on +that train or not. If they laid over, several more hours of precious +time would be lost. +</P> + +<P> +It was well towards midnight when the train reached St. Paul and a +number of sleepy passengers got off and others got on. Dick and Sam +waited impatiently for a messenger to appear. The telegram was there, +sure enough, and this time it carried more interesting information. +</P> + +<BR> + +<P> +"Queer-acting young man found, but says his name is Paul Haverlock. +Says he is bound for Alaska. Wire positive instructions, as I can take +no risks. +<BR><BR> +"FOLSOM, <I>Conductor</I>." +</P> + +<BR> + +<P> +"It must be Tom!" cried Sam. +</P> + +<P> +"But that name, Paul Haverlock," mused Dick. "Where did he get that?" +</P> + +<P> +"Why, I remember, Dick! In that moving picture the hero was called +Paul Haverlock. His name was on the letters they showed on the screen. +Tom must have remembered it, just as he remembered the name of the +villain, Bill Stiger!" +</P> + +<P> +"I see. Then this Paul Haverlock must really be Tom," returned Dick. +"Now to have him stopped. I wonder where that other train is now?" +</P> + +<P> +They found out that the other train was then in the vicinity of +Livingston, the junction point for Yellowstone Park. From there it was +bound for Helena, Spokane, and then to Seattle direct. +</P> + +<P> +"We'll telegraph again, and keep right on this train," said Dick, and +this was done. +</P> + +<P> +If the two youths had slept but little the night before, they were even +more restless this night. And yet they realized that Folsom, the +conductor of the other train, would not be likely to arouse Tom if he +had gone to bed. +</P> + +<P> +"He won't take the chance," said Dick. "Remember, he isn't sure of +what he is doing, and all railroad men like to keep out of trouble. If +he made a mistake, the passenger might sue the railroad company for big +damages, and get them." +</P> + +<P> +"If only we could catch up to Tom!" sighed Sam. +</P> + +<P> +"That is impossible, Sam, because he is on an express, just as we are. +As it is, he'll gain on us when he gets to Spokane, for he will go +through without waiting, while we'll either have to lay over or go by +some other route that is much longer." +</P> + +<P> +As there seemed nothing more to do just then they at last went to +sleep, and did not rouse up again until it was broad daylight. +</P> + +<P> +They immediately asked for further news, but were informed that none +had come in. Nor did any word come in all that forenoon. +</P> + +<P> +"This suspense is fierce," was Dick's remark, at last. "That conductor +is either asleep or has given up the search. I wish I knew of some +first-class detective on the other end of the line who could take up +the case for us." +</P> + +<P> +"We'd know somebody if Tom was bound for San Francisco," returned his +brother. "But I don't know a soul in Seattle—oh, yes, I do!" he +suddenly shouted. +</P> + +<P> +"Who, Sam?" +</P> + +<P> +"A fellow named Jim Hendricks. He is a cousin of Stanley Browne, and +also a cousin to Larry Colby, who went to Putnam Hall with us. He was +at Brill once, for a week, and I got pretty well acquainted with him." +</P> + +<P> +"Why, yes, I remember him. He and I used to talk about what Larry and +I did at Putnam Hall. But is he in Seattle now, and have you his +address?" +</P> + +<P> +"I think I have his address. Wait, I'll look," end Sam pulled a little +notebook out of his pocket. "He asked me to write to him some time, +but I never did more than mail him a postal. Yes, here is the address." +</P> + +<P> +"Do you think he would help us, if he was home?" +</P> + +<P> +"Sure I do. He got acquainted with Tom, and he knew what chums Tom and +Larry were at the Hall." +</P> + +<P> +"Then we might telegraph him. It won't do any harm anyway." +</P> + +<P> +A rather long telegram was prepared and sent from the next station at +which the train stopped. There the youths hoped for another message +from Folsom the conductor, but none came. +</P> + +<P> +Slowly the hours dragged by, the express thundering along in the +meanwhile on its journey westward. They stopped at Livingston, and +there many passengers got off, bound for a trip through that great +natural wonderland, Yellowstone Park. At Helena they heard from Folsom +again. This time the message was one full of mystery. +</P> + +<BR> + +<P> +"Cannot find Paul Haverlock anywhere. So far as known, he did not +leave train at any station. We are very much crowded, account special +excursion, and break down of Number 126. Attached two extra cars. He +may be hiding among new passengers. I can do no more." +</P> + +<BR> + +<P> +"I think I can explain this," said the conductor of the train, when +Dick showed him the telegram. "Number 126, the train just ahead of +Number 182, the one your brother is on, broke down. Now, the second +train is carrying two cars of the other train, and most likely all of +the other train's passengers. So Folsom is having his hands full with +his extra duties. In the meantime your brother has disappeared, +probably in the crowd of extra passengers." +</P> + +<P> +"If he didn't jump off the train," sighed Sam. +</P> + +<P> +"Would he do that?" asked the railroad man, +</P> + +<P> +"I don't know. A fellow who is out of his mind is liable to do +anything." +</P> + +<P> +"That is true." +</P> + +<P> +The train was now in the midst of the Rocky Mountains, but the Rovers +had no heart to look at the scenery. +</P> + +<P> +"Oh, if only we get some sort of encouraging word at Spokane!" sighed +Sam. +</P> + +<P> +"We ought to hear from Jim Hendricks," answered Dick. "That is, if he +is home and got our message." They knew that the Hendricks family were +rich and that Jim had a great deal of time to himself. +</P> + +<P> +At Spokane they left the train, for they did not want to go down to +Portland, whither it was bound. They asked at the telegraph office for +a message and one was handed over to them. +</P> + +<P> +"This is something like it!" cried Dick, as he read it aloud. It ran +as follows: +</P> + +<BR> + +<P> +"My sincere sympathy. I remember Tom well and will be on the watch for +him. Will meet you on your arrival. +<BR><BR> +"JAMES V. HENDRICKS." +</P> + +<BR> + +<P> +"Well, that's one word of encouragement," said Sam. "Good for Jim! I +thought he'd help us." +</P> + +<P> +"If he only got the message in time to catch Tom," returned his +brother. "We were rather late in getting it to him, remember." +</P> + +<P> +"We'll have to hope for the best." +</P> + +<P> +While the boys were waiting around Spokane, for the train to take them +to Seattle, they fell in with a commercial drummer who said he was +waiting for a companion with some sample cases. He was a +kindly-looking man and during the course of his conversation let slip +the news that he had been on the train Tom had taken. +</P> + +<P> +"Perhaps you can give us some information," cried Dick. "We are trying +to catch a young man who was on that train," and he gave a few of the +particulars. +</P> + +<P> +"Well! well!" cried the commercial drummer. "To be sure I met that +fellow. The way I noticed him was because he acted so queer. He +didn't want to sit still, but kept walking up and down the aisle and +from one car to another. I saw the conductor talk to him once or +twice, too." +</P> + +<P> +"Where did he go?" questioned Sam. +</P> + +<P> +"Well, you know the train ahead of ours broke down and we hooked fast +to some of the cars. When this was done a lot of new passengers got in +our cars, and there was something of a mix-up. I saw the fellow go +into one of the cars from the other train, and that's the last I did +see of him." +</P> + +<P> +"And that train went right through to Seattle?" asked Dick. +</P> + +<P> +"Yes. That is, unless they had more trouble on the line. And by the +way, did you hear of what happened on the trip from St. Paul? A lady +lost her handbag containing jewelry to the value of ten thousand +dollars." +</P> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<A NAME="chap16"></A> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +CHAPTER XVI +</H3> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +THE ROVER BOYS IN SEATTLE +</H3> + +<P> +Sam and Dick looked at each other in new alarm. They remembered only +too well what had occurred at Hiram Duff's cottage. Was it possible +that Tom had seen the lady's jewels and taken them? In his unbalanced +state of mind he was liable to do anything. +</P> + +<P> +"She had the jewels in her handbag?" questioned Dick. +</P> + +<P> +"Yes, a little black affair—so she told the conductor. When she +discovered that it was gone she was almost crazy. She said some of the +jewelry belonged to her mother, who was with her." +</P> + +<P> +"Was this in your car?" +</P> + +<P> +"Yes, up at the other end from where I sat, though." And the +commercial drummer grinned. "Oh, I had nothing to do with it," he +added, lightly. +</P> + +<P> +"I didn't suppose you had," returned Dick. "But where was this other +fellow—the one I think was my brother—at this time?" +</P> + +<P> +"Why, he sat up near the other end, too—about two seats from the lady. +He said, the same as did everybody on the car, that he hadn't seen the +bag or the jewels. The conductor and the porter made a long search, +but nothing came of it. The lady was wild, and said she would get her +husband to sue the company for her loss. She had the conductor +worried, I can tell you." +</P> + +<P> +"And that's why he lost interest in helping us," murmured Dick. "He +certainly had his hands full, with that train breakdown and the missing +jewels, and looking for Tom." +</P> + +<P> +"Who sat next to the lady?" asked Sam. +</P> + +<P> +"Her mother, a very old woman." +</P> + +<P> +"And was that young man we mentioned next?" +</P> + +<P> +"Yes." +</P> + +<P> +"Couldn't they find any trace of the bag at all?" +</P> + +<P> +"Not a thing. It was mighty queer, and the woman made it worse by +being so excited. She could hardly tell when she had seen the bag +last, or where. First she said she had had it in her lap and then she +said she guessed she had put it on a hook with her coat." +</P> + +<P> +"What did they do about it?" +</P> + +<P> +"I don't know, for I got off here, while the lady and her mother went +through to Seattle," answered the drummer. +</P> + +<P> +The commercial man could tell but little more of importance to the +Rovers, and presently, when his companion came with the sample cases, +he went away. +</P> + +<P> +"Dick, do you think Tom took that lady's handbag with the jewels?" +asked Sam, when the two were by themselves. +</P> + +<P> +"Sam, I don't know what to think," was the discouraging reply. "I only +know one thing—the quicker we locate Tom and put him in some safe +place, the better." +</P> + +<P> +"Do you—you think his mind is affected for good—I mean for always?" +</P> + +<P> +"Let us hope not. Why, it would be terrible to have to keep him in an +asylum for the rest of his life! It would just about kill father. And +think of Nellie." +</P> + +<P> +"It certainly is the worst thing that ever happened!" muttered Sam. +"It's worse than our trouble with Dan Baxter, Lew Flapp, or with Sobber +and those brokers, and old Crabtree." +</P> + +<P> +"So it is." +</P> + +<P> +When the train for Seattle finally came in they got abroad. It was so +crowded that they had to take seats in a day coach. But this they did +not mind. They would have ridden on a freight train, could they have +gotten to Seattle faster thereby. +</P> + +<P> +Hour after hour passed slowly. The boys could not settle down to read, +and they had little appetite for their meals. They caught a little +sleep in their seats, and were ready to leave the train the moment the +conductor called out that they were approaching Seattle. +</P> + +<P> +"I see Jim Hendricks!" cried Sam, as he looked out of a window. +</P> + +<P> +"Is Tom with him?" queried his brother. +</P> + +<P> +"No, he is alone." +</P> + +<P> +In a minute more they were out of the train, suitcases in hand, and +shaking hands with the cousin of Stanley and Larry. Jim Hendricks' +usually jolly face showed his deep concern. +</P> + +<P> +"I've got bad news for you," he said. "That train Tom was on got here +before I did, and so I didn't have a chance to stop him. I've been +making some inquiries though, and I am pretty certain he reached this +place. One man who was on the train told me he had met a young fellow +who said he was bound for Alaska to find some nuggets of gold. He +wanted to know about the ships that sailed for Sitka and Juneau, and +the man told him what he knew. He said the young fellow went off in +the direction of the shipping offices." +</P> + +<P> +"Oh, Dick! we must get after him at once!" cried Sam. +</P> + +<P> +"That's it, Sam." Dick turned to Jim Hendricks. "Will you show us +where they are? We can go in a taxicab." +</P> + +<P> +"I've got our auto outside—we can go in that, and you may as well +bring your baggage along," continued the Seattle young man. "If you +have to remain in town, I want you to stay at our house." +</P> + +<P> +"Thanks, that's kind of you," answered Dick. +</P> + +<P> +Jim led the way outside, to where stood a handsome six-cylinder touring +car. "I don't know when the steamers sail, but we can soon find out," +he said, and directed the chauffeur where to go. +</P> + +<P> +They were soon passing through the streets of Seattle, a well-built up +city where much business is done. As many of my young readers must +know, Seattle is located on Puget Sound, one of the great natural +gateways to the Pacific Ocean. Just south of it is Tacoma, also a city +of importance. +</P> + +<P> +The ride to the first of the shipping offices did not take long, and +going inside Dick made some inquiries of the clerk at the desk. +</P> + +<P> +"Don't remember any such man," said the clerk. +</P> + +<P> +"When is your next sailing?" +</P> + +<P> +"Day after to-morrow. Want to book for the passage?" +</P> + +<P> +"Perhaps. I don't know yet." +</P> + +<P> +"Better make up your mind pretty quick. We have only a few berths +left," went on the clerk. +</P> + +<P> +"We are looking for a certain young man who was bound for Alaska," went +on Dick, producing Tom's photograph. "Have you seen anything of him?" +</P> + +<P> +The clerk gave a glance at the photograph and started. +</P> + +<P> +"Well, that's strange!" tie cried. +</P> + +<P> +"You saw him?" put in Sam, eagerly. +</P> + +<P> +"I sure did. Did you want to meet him?" +</P> + +<P> +"Very much." +</P> + +<P> +"Well, I'm sorry, but I don't see how you are going to do it. His name +was, let me see—Haverlock, I believe." +</P> + +<P> +"That's the name he was traveling under," answered Dick, giving his +brother a nudge in the ribs. +</P> + +<P> +"Wasn't his own then?" and the clerk became interested. +</P> + +<P> +"No, it's an assumed name. I might as well tell you, the young man +isn't all here," and Dick touched his forehead. +</P> + +<P> +"I thought that might be it—he acted so queerly. But he got his +ticket for the other boat. You see it was this way: He came in here +just as I was talking to a man who had purchased a ticket for the other +boat and wanted to stay in Seattle another week. The man wanted me to +exchange the ticket or give him his money back. While we were +discussing the matter, this Haverlock, or whatever his name is, came +in. He listened for a minute and then said he'd take the ticket and +glad of the chance, for he said he was in a mighty hurry to get some +nuggets of gold. So the man transferred the ticket to him, and that +was the last I saw of the young fellow." +</P> + +<P> +"When did that other boat sail?" asked Sam. +</P> + +<P> +"Last night, at nine o'clock." +</P> + +<P> +"Last night!" cried Dick. "Then he certainly must have rushed +matters!" He looked at Jim Hendricks. "What can we do next, do you +suppose?" +</P> + +<P> +"You might send a wireless to the steamship," was the suggestion. "If +he's under the name of Haverlock they ought to be able to hold him. +Where did the steamer sail for?" Jim went on, to the clerk. +</P> + +<P> +"For Ketchikan, Juneau, Skagway, and all the regular ports." +</P> + +<P> +"She carries a wireless?" asked Sam. +</P> + +<P> +"Certainly. You can send a message from here if you wish. We can +telephone it over to the wireless station." +</P> + +<P> +"Let's do it!" burst out Sam. "The quicker somebody takes charge of +poor Tom the better!" +</P> + +<P> +"You're right," answered Dick. He wiped his forehead with his +handkerchief. "What a pity we didn't get here sooner, or that Tom +wasn't delayed!" +</P> + +<P> +Then he and Sam got a blank and started to write out the wireless +message that might put those on board the steamer on the track of Tom. +</P> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<A NAME="chap17"></A> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +CHAPTER XVII +</H3> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +OFF FOR ALASKA +</H3> + +<P> +"What steamer was that?" questioned Dick and the clerk told him. +</P> + +<P> +"I suppose we had better address the captain," said Sam. "Now, the +question is, What shall we say?" +</P> + +<P> +"We'll give Tom's assumed name and a short description of him, and ask +that he be held for us at one of the ports," said Dick. "I don't know +what else to do." +</P> + +<P> +"I don't think the captain will hold the young man on your say-so," +said the clerk, on being questioned. "He would be afraid of getting +into trouble with the authorities. You had better get the police to +make the request." +</P> + +<P> +"The trouble is, we don't want to make this too public," explained +Dick. "We'd rather keep it quiet. I'll risk the personal message to +the captain." +</P> + +<P> +"I'll sign the message with you," said Jim Hendricks. "Maybe the +captain will know our family, at least by reputation." +</P> + +<P> +"Who are you, if I may ask?" came from the clerk, curiously. +</P> + +<P> +"I am James Hendricks, and my father is Colonel Wilby Hendricks." +</P> + +<P> +"Oh, yes, I guess Captain Dwight knows of your father. Your name will +carry weight with him," added the clerk, for he knew that the colonel +was well-known and was rich. +</P> + +<P> +After considerable trouble the message was made out and telephoned at +once to the wireless station. This accomplished, there was nothing to +do but to wait for an answer. +</P> + +<P> +"When is the next sailing for Alaskan ports?" asked Dick. +</P> + +<P> +"Our sailing, as I told you before, is day after to-morrow. But one of +the other lines has a sailing to-morrow, at nine P. M." +</P> + +<P> +"They all seem to sail at nine o'clock at night," mused Sam. +</P> + +<P> +"Yes, that is the usual hour," answered the clerk. +</P> + +<P> +"Well, if we have to, we can take that boat at nine o'clock to-morrow +night," remarked Dick. +</P> + +<P> +"Provided you can get accommodations," said the clerk. +</P> + +<P> +"Oh, we'll get aboard somehow—if we really have to go." +</P> + +<P> +Jim Hendricks insisted that the Rovers ride up to his house with him, +and away sped the touring car for the most fashionable quarter of +Seattle. Here the Hendricks had a beautiful mansion, and here the +newcomers were cordially greeted by Mrs. Hendricks, the colonel being +out of the city on business. +</P> + +<P> +"You've just got to make yourselves at home," said Jim. "It won't do a +bit of good to fret so much. You are bound to get hold of poor Tom +sooner or later, and I can't see that this trip to Alaska is going to +hurt him any. It may do him good." +</P> + +<P> +"But he may wander away and we may lose all track of him," answered +Sam. "I've heard of persons disappearing like that." +</P> + +<P> +The Hendricks did all in their power to make the Rovers feel at home. +Sam and Dick were utterly worn out and took a brief rest. After that +came an elaborate meal, served in the Hendricks' spacious dining room. +</P> + +<P> +The telephone rang several times, but they were only local messages, of +no importance to the Rover boys. But then came another message that +filled them with interest, being from the wireless office. +</P> + +<P> +"It's from Captain Dwight," explained Jim, who took the message down. +"Too bad," he murmured. +</P> + +<P> +"What does he say?" demanded Sam and Dick, in a breath. +</P> + +<P> +"He can't find anybody by the name of Paul Haverlock, nor can he find +any passenger answering to the description you gave him of Tom. He +says, 'Too many answering your general description,' which means that +he can't pick Tom out, even if he is on board." +</P> + +<P> +"Tom must have changed his name again," said Sam. "Most likely he +gives any name that happens to come into his head." +</P> + +<P> +"But he ought to be on the steamer's list of passengers." +</P> + +<P> +"That's true. I can't understand it." +</P> + +<P> +For a long time the Rover boys talked the matter over. Had Tom really +gone to Alaska? +</P> + +<P> +"We had better make some inquiries at the dock from which that steamer +sailed," said Dick. "Maybe we'll meet somebody who will remember Tom." +</P> + +<P> +The next morning found them at the dock, Jim going with them. All +sorts of men and boys were interviewed, and at last they met a taxicab +driver who had carried Tom from the railroad station. He recognized +the photograph at once. +</P> + +<P> +"Yes, I took him from the depot to the shipping office, and then +carried his handbag to the steamer," said the taxicab driver. "He was +a fine young man," he added. +</P> + +<P> +"Maybe he tipped you pretty good," ventured Dick, with a faint smile. +</P> + +<P> +"He sure did;—gave me fare and a dollar over." +</P> + +<P> +"And you are dead sure he got on the steamer?" insisted Sam. +</P> + +<P> +"I am. He was almost the last passenger on board and I am sure he +didn't come ashore again." +</P> + +<P> +"Then he must have gone to Alaska," said Dick. +</P> + +<P> +The youths had already learned that the ticket Tom had purchased had +been for Skagway. At that point, so the agent had told them, a +connection could be made for the White Pass and Yukon Route. +</P> + +<P> +"That's the way Tom would go—if he wanted to get up to where that +moving picture was taken," said Dick. "That's the land of gold—and +also ice and snow." +</P> + +<P> +"I guess the best thing we can do, Dick, is to get to Juneau and +Skagway as soon as we can." +</P> + +<P> +"It would seem so, Sam. It's a pretty long journey." +</P> + +<P> +"So it is, but what else is there to do? We don't want poor Tom to +become hopelessly lost, and in such a far-away country as that." +</P> + +<P> +"If the travel wasn't so awfully heavy we'd have a better chance to +locate Tom," went on Dick. "But with the steamers so loaded it is +pretty hard to find anybody just by a description." +</P> + +<P> +As the boys had both left Ashton in a hurry they had but few things +with them. In the Hendricks car they traveled around Seattle, +purchasing such things as they needed. +</P> + +<P> +"I don't suppose Tom has much clothing," said Sam. "Poor fellow, I do +hope he doesn't go away up North where it is so cold!" +</P> + +<P> +"I've got to send some word home and to New York," said Dick, after the +shopping was over. +</P> + +<P> +"Dick, can you really spare the time to go to Alaska?" questioned his +brother. "If you can't, I could go alone." +</P> + +<P> +"I think it is best for us to go together, Sam. I imagine we are going +to have our hands full, too. As for Dad's business, it will have to +wait, that's all. I think I can trust Mr. Powell to do the right +thing. The worst of the whole business is, this is going to worry Dad +and Aunt Martha and Uncle Randolph a great deal. But that can't be +helped." +</P> + +<P> +At last came the time for the steamer to leave. The brothers had been +fortunate in getting a stateroom together. It was not a very desirable +room, but it was much better than nothing. And they would have gone, +"if they had to sleep on the anchor," as Sam expressed it. +</P> + +<P> +Jim Hendricks came down to see them off. He shook hands cordially on +parting. +</P> + +<P> +"I'm sure I wish you the best of luck," he said. "And I'll write to +your chums at Brill, telling them of what is taking place." +</P> + +<P> +Slowly the big steamer left the harbor and turned her bow towards the +North. It was dark, so but little outside of the twinkling lights of +the city could be seen. Yet the Rovers remained on deck for over an +hour, for neither felt like turning in. +</P> + +<P> +They noticed that the passengers were quite a mixed set. Many were +mere tourists, taking a round trip to Alaska for sight seeing. Others +were Alaskan merchants and traders, who had been "down to the States" +on business. Mixed in with the crowd were many men, young and +middle-aged, bound for the North to try their luck in the gold fields. +The great rush to the Klondyke was a thing of the past, but new gold +fields were being opened continually. +</P> + +<P> +The boys were on their way to their stateroom when they came suddenly +face to face with a burly man who wore a heavy beard and mustache. The +man was about to pass them when he suddenly stopped short, stared at +Dick and then at Sam, and caught each by the arm. +</P> + +<P> +"Say, am I dreamin', or is this the Rovers!" he gasped. +</P> + +<P> +"We are the Rovers, yes," answered Dick, and he gave the burly man a +closer look. "And this is Jack Wumble, I believe," he added. +</P> + +<P> +"Jack Wumble!" cried Sam. "Really!" +</P> + +<P> +"Put her thar! Put her thar!" cried the man, and took hold of the hand +of each at once. "Ain't this great! Whar ye bound now anyhow? Goin' +to locate another mine—like thet one we found out in Colorady?" +</P> + +<P> +"No, we are not looking for a mine this trip," answered Dick. "We are +on the trail of something far more important." +</P> + +<P> +"More important than a gold mine?" demanded Jack Wumble, his eyes +opening widely. +</P> + +<P> +"Yes. We are on the trail of my brother Tom, who is out of his mind +and has wandered away." +</P> + +<P> +"Hoss pistols an' rattlesnakes! Ye don't tell me! Well, if Tom is +missin' count me in on the hunt fer him," was the quick and earnest +response. +</P> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<A NAME="chap18"></A> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +CHAPTER XVIII +</H3> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +AT JUNEAU AND SKAGWAY +</H3> + +<P> +Jack Wumble was an old miner and prospector, a man the boys had met +years before in Colorado, when they went to that section of our country +to locate a mine belonging to their father. As related in detail in +"The Rover Boys Out West," Wumble had been of great assistance to them +and he knew them all well. He had, after numerous stirring adventures, +located a claim for himself, which, at the time, paid very well. +Lately, however, the Rovers had not heard from him, and they had often +wondered what had become of the man. +</P> + +<P> +"You're a sight fer sore eyes, so ye are!" cried Jack Wumble, slapping +each on the shoulder. "I never dreamed o' seein' ye in this out o' the +way corner o' the country." +</P> + +<P> +"We didn't expect to come here either, up to a few days ago," answered +Sam. +</P> + +<P> +"Maybe ye better tell me the story," suggested the old miner. "If I +kin help ye I will." +</P> + +<P> +"Come on to the cabin," suggested Dick, and led the way. They sat down +on a corner seat, and there the Rovers told their story, withholding +nothing, for they knew they could trust Jack Wumble in every particular. +</P> + +<P> +"Gosh all hemlock! Sounds like one of them theatre plays I see in +'Frisco," was the old miner's comment. "To think Tom would wander away +in thet fashion! 'Tain't no wonder ye are scart to deth! I'd be scart +myself, thinkin' he might jump overboard, or sumthin' like thet. He +ought to be put in an asylum." +</P> + +<P> +After that Jack Wumble told his own story. He said his claim in +Colorado had gradually petered out, and then he had tried his fortunes +in various other places, gradually winding up in the Klondyke. There +he had struck what he hoped would prove a bonanza. +</P> + +<P> +"I've been down to the States buying some machinery an' some supplies," +he added. "They are coming up on a freight boat next week. I find I +can do better to go to the States fer things than to buy in Alaska." +</P> + +<P> +"Have you taken any gold out of your claim yet?" questioned Sam, with +interest. +</P> + +<P> +Jack Wumble looked around, to make certain that nobody was listening +but the Rovers. +</P> + +<P> +"Don't ye tell nobody," he whispered. "I took out about two thousand +dollars, in nuggets an' dust, in less'n ten days!" +</P> + +<P> +"Fine!" returned Dick, and Sam nodded. "I hope you keep it up." +</P> + +<P> +"It's the machinery is goin' to tell the tale," returned Jack Wumble. +"I can't do much more by hand." +</P> + +<P> +"Are you working the mine alone?" asked Sam. +</P> + +<P> +"Fer the present. When I came away I left the claim in charge o' a +miner named Allison—Tim Allison. But I told him not to do any +diggin'—just keep his eyes on things. When there is any diggin' to be +done I want to be on hand." +</P> + +<P> +Wumble was bound for Skagway, where he said his machinery and supplies +would be sent. He knew that section of Alaska thoroughly, and said he +would show the lads where to go and what to do. +</P> + +<P> +"Things is changin' mightily up there every day," he remarked. "They +are dredgin' channels an' buildin' railroads, and making all kinds o' +roads. Go there one year an' the next ye won't 'most know the place, +it will look so different." +</P> + +<P> +"Well, they are developing all parts of the country," answered Dick. +</P> + +<P> +"Maybe; but nuthin' to wot they're doin' in Alaska," answered the old +miner. +</P> + +<P> +The three sat up for half an hour longer, talking matters over. Of +course Jack Wumble wanted to know about Mr. Rover, and was sorry to +learn that the boys' father was not well. He could hardly believe that +Dick was married. +</P> + +<P> +"Why, it don't seem like no time since you an' your brothers came out +to Colorady to locate thet mine," he remarked. +</P> + +<P> +There was a little wind, but otherwise the night was calm. Now that +they could do no more for the present, the Rovers realized how tired +they were, and once in their berths both went sound asleep. Nor did +they rouse up until well into the morning. The sleep did them a world +of good, and when they dressed and went to breakfast they felt quite +like themselves once more. +</P> + +<P> +"If we didn't have to worry about Tom, I could enjoy this trip +immensely," remarked Sam. +</P> + +<P> +Jack Wumble had already satisfied his hunger, for he was an early +riser. After breakfast all sat on the deck, and the old miner related +some of his experiences while prospecting in various localities, and +the boys told how they had finished up at Putnam Hall and gone to Brill. +</P> + +<P> +"I can't hardly believe thet Dan Baxter has reformed," said Wumble, +shaking his head slowly. "I allers put him an' his father down fer bad +eggs." +</P> + +<P> +"Well, they were pretty bad at one time," answered Dick. "But Dan +found out that it didn't pay to be bad. And his father is old and, I +guess, well satisfied to behave himself and take it easy." +</P> + +<P> +"Mr. Baxter might have been a wealthy man if he had done things on the +level," returned the old miner. +</P> + +<P> +The journey up the coast of Canada to the lower point of Alaska was +full of interest to the boys. In due course of time, the bow of the +steamer was turned into Chatham Strait, and soon they were running past +Admiralty Island. +</P> + +<P> +Both Sam and Dick had expected to see quite a city at Juneau, and they +were disappointed when they beheld only a scattered town, lying on a +strip of land, bound on one side by what is called the Lynn Canal and +on the other by the mouth of the Taku River. In the distance were some +high mountains, which the boys looked at with interest. +</P> + +<P> +Fortunately the steamer was to remain at Juneau for two hours, and in +that time the Rovers hoped to make certain whether or not Tom had +landed there. They lost no time in getting ashore, and Jack Wumble +went with them. +</P> + +<P> +At first there was so much confusion at the dock that the youths could +learn little or nothing. But as the crowd cleared away they were +enabled to make some inquiries of officials and others. But nobody had +seen Tom, or knew anything about him. +</P> + +<P> +"I think he must have remained on the steamer," said Sam. "If he was +after those nuggets he'd want to get right up into the land of gold." +</P> + +<P> +"Thet's the way I reason it out," put in Jack Wumble. "Better stick to +the trip, lads. I think ye'll be able to learn somethin' in Skagway." +</P> + +<P> +So when the steamer left the dock they were on board. +</P> + +<P> +The trip to Skagway was a decidedly interesting one, and the youths +listened closely to all the old miner had to tell them about the +country and its inhabitants. +</P> + +<P> +"It's changin' amazingly fast," said Jack Wumble. "They are clearin' +out ship channels an' buildin' railroads, and towns spring up like +magic. Now whar I'm located—a place called Black Run—thar wasn't a +house thar three years ago. Now we got a store an' a dozen shacks, an' +more buildin' every day! I tell you, I think Alaska is one o' the +greatest countries in the world!" +</P> + +<P> +There was a greater bustle and confusion than ever when the steamer +tied up at Skagway. Here a connection can be made with the White Pass +and Yukon route, and other routes. About ten miles away, up the Lynn +Canal, was Dyea, also a town of importance. +</P> + +<P> +The boys followed Jack Wumble ashore and waited until some of the +bustle and confusion was over, and then commenced a systematic hunt for +Tom. +</P> + +<P> +The hunt lasted until nearly midnight, and then, utterly worn out, the +Rovers and the old miner had to give it up. They had met just one man +who remembered having seen a person who looked like Tom on the steamer, +and who said the fellow had landed at Skagway. But where the unknown +had gone the man could not say. +</P> + +<P> +"Yes, that's the fellow," said the man, when shown Tom's photograph. +"But he didn't look quite as nice as that. He looked—well, wild like." +</P> + +<P> +"He is wild," answered Dick. "That is why we want to find him." +</P> + +<P> +Jack Wumble knew of a fairly good hotel, and the three put up there for +the night. The boys were so tired they slept "like logs," as Dick said +afterwards. But they were up bright and early, along with the old +miner, and directly after breakfast set out on another search for Tom. +</P> + +<P> +"I hate to waste your time, Jack," said Dick to Wumble. "So if you +want to go ahead——" +</P> + +<P> +"Stop right thar, Dick!" cried the old miner. "I ain't in sech an +all-fired hurry I can't try to do ye a good turn. I like Tom, an' I'm +going to stay with ye fer a few days an' see if we can't locate him." +And thus the matter was settled. +</P> + +<P> +Two days were spent in Skagway and Dyea hunting for the missing one. +Late in the afternoon of the second day the boys and the old miner +separated, to make inquiries in different places. +</P> + +<P> +Sam and Dick came back to the hotel at supper time much discouraged, +having heard nothing to their advantage. Half an hour later Jack +Wumble came in, his face showing his excitement. +</P> + +<P> +"I've got on the trail!" he cried. "Come on, we're goin' to git after +Tom right away!" +</P> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<A NAME="chap19"></A> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +CHAPTER XIX +</H3> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +FROM ONE CLUE TO ANOTHER +</H3> + +<P> +"What have you learned, Jack?" +</P> + +<P> +"When did he leave here?" +</P> + +<P> +"Is he all right?" +</P> + +<P> +"I'm ready to go after him right now." +</P> + +<P> +Such were the words that came from the Rover boys after Jack Wumble had +announced that he had located their missing brother. +</P> + +<P> +"We ain't got no time to spare," cried the old miner. "Let us pay our +bill here an' git out, an' I'll tell ye all I know while we are on the +way." +</P> + +<P> +The lads lost no time in packing up as directed, and Dick settled at +the hotel desk. Jack Wumble led the way down to the docks and ordered +them into a small river boat. +</P> + +<P> +"This here ain't no regular boat," he explained. "But I've hired +passage on her, so it's all right. We'll save fourteen hours by not +waitin' fer the regular boat." +</P> + +<P> +"But where are we going, Jack?" questioned Dick. +</P> + +<P> +"To a jumpin'-off place called Lindy Falls. That is whar the party Tom +was with was goin' to start from." +</P> + +<P> +Soon the boat, a large craft of its kind, was on the way up the river. +As they sped along, the boys and the old miner drew into a corner of +the cabin and Jack Wumble told his story. +</P> + +<P> +"By the merest accident I fell in with a man named Rabig I used to know +in 'Frisco," said the old miner. "He's interested in the Golden Sunset +mine an' the Beggar's Chance. Well, I told Rabig about you an' Tom an' +he got interested an' asked me how Tom looked an' I told him. Then he +told about how he fell in with Tom on board thet steamer an' how Tom +had told him he was bound fer the Lion Head gold fields. He had it in +his head, so Rabig said, that he could pick up nuggets at the Lion +Head." +</P> + +<P> +"The Lion Head?" repeated Dick. "Where is that?" +</P> + +<P> +"It's a good distance from here, Dick, I can tell ye that. It's to the +northwest o' the Klondyke. A wild place. It's called the Lion Head +acause thar's a mountain thar thet looks like a lion's head. I was +thar onct, prospectin' around. But I didn't find any gold thar. But +some have found gold," added the old miner. +</P> + +<P> +"How will Tom get there?" questioned Sam. +</P> + +<P> +"Thet's the strangest part o' it," resumed Jack Wumble. "It appears as +how he fell in with a miner named Furner—Ike Furner. Rabig says +Furner is a bit touched here." Wumble tapped his forehead. "Well, the +two made up their minds to go to Lion Head. Furner told Tom he was +sure they could pick up nuggets, if only they could hit the right spot. +Furner had some kind o' an outfit an' he got Tom to buy some more +things, and away they started. Rabig thought they was both crazy." +</P> + +<P> +"And so they must be!" murmured Dick. "Poor Tom! I hope we catch him +before he gets too far into the mountains." +</P> + +<P> +"Did this man Rabig say what name Tom was traveling under?" asked Sam. +</P> + +<P> +"Yes. A mighty queer name, too. Brill Thomas. How do ye account fer +that?" +</P> + +<P> +"Brill Thomas!" repeated Dick. "Oh, that's easy. Brill is the name of +the college he attends and Thomas is his first name in full. He is out +of his mind, but he still retains snatches of names and things, I +suppose, and that's how he hit on Brill Thomas for a name." +</P> + +<P> +"He told Rabig he was from the land of Hope—the Valley Brook of Hope," +went on Jack Wumble. "Rabig never heard tell o' the location." +</P> + +<P> +"Valley Brook is the farm we live on, and Hope is a school near Brill," +said Sam. "Poor, poor Tom! Who would have imagined such a thing as +this could happen to him!" +</P> + +<P> +"How far is Lion Head from here?" asked Dick. +</P> + +<P> +"As the crow flies, about five hundred miles." +</P> + +<P> +"Five hundred miles!" exclaimed Sam. +</P> + +<P> +"Yes, an' it's nearly six hundred by the way they'll have to travel," +went on Jack Wumble. +</P> + +<P> +This news almost stunned the Rover boys. Was it possible that Tom was +undertaking a trip of six hundred miles into the little-known portion +of Alaska? +</P> + +<P> +"He'd never do such a thing if he was in his right mind," said Dick. +"We must catch him just as soon as we can!" +</P> + +<P> +"That is why I hired passage on this boat," said the old miner. "I'm +calkerlatin' we can head him off. Thet is, if the weather stays good." +</P> + +<P> +"It looks like rain and is getting colder." +</P> + +<P> +"Right ye are, Dick. An' when it gits cold up here, it gits cold, I +kin tell ye thet. Last winter I 'most froze to death up in my shack," +added Jack Wumble. +</P> + +<P> +The trip on the boat to Lindy Falls was without special incident. +There were about a dozen passengers, all miners and prospectors, who +did not care to wait for any of the regular boats. They were a rather +good-natured set, and whiled away the time by swapping stories and +arguing about the best way to locate paying claims and getting out the +gold. +</P> + +<P> +Lindy Falls was reached one afternoon about two o'clock. It was little +more than a boat and trading station and here the Rover boys got their +first sight of Alaskan Indians, members of the Chilkoot tribe. +</P> + +<P> +Immediately on landing they made inquiries concerning Tom and the miner +named Ike Furner. They soon learned that Furner was a well-known +character, and from a trader heard that this man and his young +companion had set off but a few hours before. +</P> + +<P> +"I think they went to Dawson City," said a man standing nearby. +"Anyway, Furner told me he was goin' there first, an' then up to Lion +Head." +</P> + +<P> +This put a new view on the matter, and the boys and Jack Wumble +questioned the stranger. The upshot was that they decided to go +directly to Dawson, that mecca of all gold hunters in Alaska. +</P> + +<P> +"Now, the thing of it is, How can we get to Dawson from here?" said Sam. +</P> + +<P> +"That's easy," replied Jack Wumble. "Just leave it to me." +</P> + +<P> +Inside of an hour their arrangements were made and they were off. +Previous to going they made more inquiries concerning Tom and his +strange companion, and reached the conclusion that the pair had really +headed for Dawson. +</P> + +<P> +"But there is no telling how soon they will change their minds and go +somewhere else," said Dick, with a sigh. +</P> + +<P> +It is not my purpose to tell the particulars of the tedious journey to +Dawson City, about three hundred and fifty miles north of Skagway. At +that time all of the improvements that now exist had not been made and +the crowd suffered from many inconveniences. +</P> + +<P> +But the boys were surprised when they reached Dawson to find it so "up +to date," as Sam expressed it. They had expected to see a rough mining +town—and that is what Dawson was but a handful of years ago. Instead, +they saw a built-up city, with many stores and not a few hotels. +</P> + +<P> +"Goin' to be a reg'lar 'Frisco some day," said Jack Wumble. "Beats all +how the towns grow up here!" +</P> + +<P> +The party had arrived in Dawson late at night and put up at the best +hotel to be found. Immediately after breakfast the search for Tom was +renewed. +</P> + +<P> +It had rained the day before and now it was blustery and cold, with a +suggestion of snow in the air. The boys were glad enough to don their +sweaters under their coats. +</P> + +<P> +"Ye'll have to git some heavy clothin' if ye go North," said the old +miner. +</P> + +<P> +"I hope Tom is dressed warm enough," said Sam. "It would be too bad if +he took sick, along with his other troubles." +</P> + +<P> +For two days the boys and the old miner hunted around Dawson for some +trace of the missing one. They visited all sorts of places, but all to +no purpose. During that time the weather grew suddenly colder and on +the second night came a light fall of snow. +</P> + +<P> +"Won't be long now before winter will be on us," announced Jack Wumble. +"And winter up here is somethin' wuth rememberin', believe me!" +</P> + +<P> +The next morning found Dick at a large trading store, where many miners +and prospectors purchased their supplies. Here he asked all newcomers +if they had seen or heard of Tom or Ike Furner. +</P> + +<P> +"Sure, I see Furner!" cried one old prospector. "See him yesterday +afternoon." +</P> + +<P> +"Where?" demanded Dick, eagerly. +</P> + +<P> +"Over on the Lion Head trail." +</P> + +<P> +"Alone?" +</P> + +<P> +"No, he had a young feller with him." +</P> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<A NAME="chap20"></A> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +CHAPTER XX +</H3> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +IN THE MOUNTAINS OF ALASKA +</H3> + +<P> +"Sam, I think we are in for a heavy snow to-day." +</P> + +<P> +"I think so myself, Dick. How much further do we go?" +</P> + +<P> +"About two miles," came from Jack Wumble. "I reckon I got a bit off +the trail yesterday, but I know I am right now, boys." +</P> + +<P> +"But where is Tom?" came from Sam. +</P> + +<P> +"He must be right ahead of us—if what we have been told is true," +answered his brother. +</P> + +<P> +The conversation recorded above took place just ten days after Dick and +Sam arrived in Dawson City. During that time the Rover boys and Jack +Wumble had spent two days in buying the necessary outfit, to follow Tom +and his strange companion to the wild region in Alaska known as Lion +Head. The start had been made, and now the three found themselves on a +narrow mountain trail in a country that looked to be utterly +uninhabited. +</P> + +<P> +For three days they had been close behind Tom and Ike Furner, this +being proven by the remains of campfires and other indications. Once +they had met some prospectors returning to the Klondyke and these men +had told of passing the pair ahead, and that Furner had said they were +bound for a spot not many miles from Lion Head called Twin Rocks. +</P> + +<P> +"I never heard o' Twin Rocks before," said Jack Wumble. "But if it is +nigh Lion Head we ought to be able to locate it." +</P> + +<P> +"Provided we don't get snowed in before we reach it," returned Sam. +</P> + +<P> +On and on trudged the three. They had left the last supply depot +behind. They had passed only a handful of white folks and a band of +five Indians. +</P> + +<P> +"Do you know, I didn't like the looks of those Indians we passed +yesterday," remarked Dick, as they went forward over the rough, upward +trail. +</P> + +<P> +"They looked pretty sharply at our outfits," said Sam. "I guess +they'll like to own them," he added. +</P> + +<P> +"We have got to keep our eyes open," said Jack Wumble. "Them Injuns +ain't above stealin' if they git a chanct." +</P> + +<P> +"In such an out-of-the-way place as this, we can't afford to lose our +things," asserted Dick. +</P> + +<P> +"Maybe we had better set a guard, at night," suggested his brother. +</P> + +<P> +"Oh, we don't want to lose any sleep, if we don't have to." +</P> + +<P> +It had grown colder and colder, and now the wind swept around them in +anything but a pleasant fashion. About noon came a flurry of snow. +</P> + +<P> +"I don't like that," said Dick, shaking his head and looking up at the +darkening sky. +</P> + +<P> +"Oh, let's hope it won't amount to much, Dick," replied Sam. +</P> + +<P> +The traveling was steadily upward, for they had to pass over a high +hill to get into the valley leading to Lion Head. There was something +of a trail, made by wild animals originally and now used by +prospectors. This wound in and out among the rock and bushes. The +footing was uncertain, and more than once one or another would go down +in a hole. +</P> + +<P> +"Talk about walking!" gasped Sam, after pulling himself out of a hole +well concealed by bushes. "I'm thankful I didn't break a leg that +time." +</P> + +<P> +"An' ye can be thankful ye didn't stir up no snakes," came from Jack +Wumble. +</P> + +<P> +"Are there snakes up here, Jack?" +</P> + +<P> +"So they say—although I never see none." +</P> + +<P> +"It's pretty cold for snakes," remarked Dick. "They only come out in +the summer time." +</P> + +<P> +"I wish we were on horseback," said Sam, with a sigh. +</P> + +<P> +"Hosses would be fine, if we could feed 'em," answered Jack Wumble. +"But ye can't do thet when the ground is covered with snow." +</P> + +<P> +"The outfits are so heavy, Jack." +</P> + +<P> +"True, my boy, but thet can't be helped. We'll be lucky if our grub +holds out." +</P> + +<P> +It was after four o'clock when they reached the top of the hill. Had +it been clear they might have seen for many miles around them, but now +the dullness in the sky hid what was in the distance from view. +</P> + +<P> +"Lion Head is over thar," said Jack Wumble, pointing with his hand. +"An' Twin Rocks can't be far off." +</P> + +<P> +"And how far is Lion Head from here?" questioned Sam. +</P> + +<P> +"Betwixt twenty an' thirty miles, Sam." +</P> + +<P> +"Then maybe we'll reach there by to-morrow night." +</P> + +<P> +"Let us hope so, lad. O' course you must remember we've got the wust +part o' this journey to go." +</P> + +<P> +"Perhaps we'll catch Tom before we get to Lion Head," suggested Dick. +</P> + +<P> +"Not by the way he has been traveling," answered his brother. "It does +beat the nation how he and that Furner have been able to get over the +ground." +</P> + +<P> +On the top of the hill the wind was blowing a regular gale and the boys +and the old miner were glad enough to go down on the other side, where +they would be somewhat sheltered. But even below it was cold, and the +air seemed to strike to their very backbones. +</P> + +<P> +"Winter is comin' all right enough," announced Jack Wumble. "We'll be +lucky if we git out o' here afore it catches us." +</P> + +<P> +They trudged along until all were too weary to walk another step. They +were keeping their eyes open for a spot where they might camp for the +night, when Dick uttered a cry. +</P> + +<P> +"Look! They must have remained here last night!" +</P> + +<P> +The others gazed to where he pointed and saw, in a shelter of the +rocks, the remains of a campfire. Beside the ashes lay a part of a +broken strap and also some fine shavings from a stick. +</P> + +<P> +"Ike Furner's mark," remarked Wumble, pointing to the shavings. They +had been told by several men that one of Furner's habits was to whittle +a stick. He never rested and talked but what he got out his jackknife +and started to cut on a bit of wood. At another campfire, two days +back, they had come across a heap of just such whittlings. +</P> + +<P> +"How new is that campfire?" asked Dick, of the old miner. +</P> + +<P> +Jack Wumble examined the heap of dead ashes with care. +</P> + +<P> +"I should say not more'n a day—maybe not thet," he answered. "Boys, I +reckon we're close on 'em." +</P> + +<P> +"Oh, if only it wasn't so dark and we weren't so tired!" murmured Sam. +</P> + +<P> +"We can't do much in the darkness, and with a storm coming on," +returned Dick. "We'll have to wait until morning. But we had better +start out directly it is daylight." +</P> + +<P> +While the others were preparing supper, Dick commenced to arrange the +shelter for the night. While he was doing this he noticed something +white fluttering on the ground in the wind. He picked it up. It was a +sheet of paper, evidently a page torn from a notebook. +</P> + +<P> +"Look what I found," he said, coming close to the light of the +campfire. He gazed at the sheet with deep interest. "Well, I never! +Sam, look at this!" he cried. +</P> + +<P> +"What is it, Dick?" +</P> + +<P> +"I think Tom wrote this. Poor fellow! Isn't it too bad!" +</P> + +<P> +The sheet of paper had been scribbled on with a lead pencil. The +writing was in all sorts of curves, and was largely as follows: +</P> + +<PRE> + <I>To To To To Ro Ro Ro To + Ro To Bri To Ro Bri + Nel Nel Nel Di S S + To Ro To Ro Tover Tomer + Nel Nel Nel Nel Neltom</I> +</PRE> + +<BR> + +<P> +"Oh, Dick, what do you make of this?" +</P> + +<P> +"What do I make of it? Can't you see, Sam? Tom was trying to think. +He wanted to get something that was hidden away in his memory—his own +name, and mine and yours, and Nellie's, and the name of Brill. Maybe a +flash of his real self came back to him." +</P> + +<P> +"Oh, if it only would, Dick! Yes, you must be right. First he tried +his best to write Tom Rover, but all he got was To Ro, and then he went +to Bri for Brill and Nel for Nellie, and Di and S for Dick and Sam. +It's as plain as day. It's just like a little child trying to write." +</P> + +<P> +"And it's enough to make a fellow cry," was the sober response. +</P> + +<P> +The two boys studied the paper for a long time and let Jack Wumble look +at it. Then, somewhat silently, all sat down to supper. Their hard +walk had made them hungry and they ate every scrap of what had been +prepared. +</P> + +<P> +By the time they were ready to turn in, it had begun to snow. The had +found a shelter under a cliff of rocks, with some brushwood to keep off +the most of the wind. They rolled themselves in their blankets and +soon all were in the land of dreams. +</P> + +<P> +Dick had slumbered the best part of several hours, when he suddenly +awoke with a start. Some furry body had swept across his face. He sat +up in bewilderment and looked around the camp, lit up only by the +flickering rays of the dying fire. Then he gave a gasp. From beyond +the dying fire two savage eyes were gazing at him intently. Without +hesitation he reached down under his blanket, brought out the pistol he +carried, and fired. +</P> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<A NAME="chap21"></A> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +CHAPTER XXI +</H3> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +AT THE FOOT OF THE CLIFF +</H3> + +<P> +Crack! +</P> + +<P> +The report of the pistol in that confined space sounded loud and clear, +and brought Sam and Jack Wumble to their feet with a bound. +</P> + +<P> +"What's the matter, Dick?" +</P> + +<P> +"What ye firing at?" +</P> + +<P> +"Some wild animal. It just leaped over me!" cried the one who had used +the firearm. Dick was now on his feet, too, and all stepped away from +the shelter of the cliff. +</P> + +<P> +Following the discharge of the weapon had come a short sharp bark or +yelp, showing that the animal had been hit. Now followed more barks +and yelps from a distance. +</P> + +<P> +"A fox—an Alaskan fox, thet's wot it was," said Jack Wumble. "An' I +reckon as how ye hit him, Dick." +</P> + +<P> +"I'm sure I did, for I aimed right at him, and he wasn't over twenty +feet away," was the reply. "Wonder if he'll come back?" +</P> + +<P> +"I don't think so—not if he's hurted," returned the old miner. "He +must have been putty hungry to come so clost. Must have smelt our +grub." +</P> + +<P> +"Maybe he wasn't alone," suggested Sam. "I'd hate to have a pack of +foxes come down on me." +</P> + +<P> +"I don't think you'll find any pack around here," answered Jack Wumble. +"They ain't so plentiful. But I'll tell ye what we might run across, +an Alaskan moose—an' they ain't no nice beast to meet at close +quarters." +</P> + +<P> +Some extra brushwood had been gathered before retiring and now a +portion of it was heaped on the fire, so that they might have more +light. The barking and yelping had died away in the distance, and all +around the camp it was as silent as a tomb. +</P> + +<P> +"It's snowing yet," remarked Sam, as he went out to look at the sky. +"But it doesn't seem to be very heavy." +</P> + +<P> +"If only we're not snowed in until after we find Tom!" murmured his +brother. +</P> + +<P> +Gradually the excitement died away and then they laid down to rest once +more. But Dick was nervous and only got into a doze, and he was glad +when morning came. +</P> + +<P> +The sky was now dull and heavy, "jest filled with snow," as Jack Wumble +expressed it. The soft flakes were still coming down, but no thicker +than they had fallen during the night. The ground was covered with +white to a depth of two inches. There was a gentle wind from the +northwest. +</P> + +<P> +"Let us not lose any more time than we can help," said Sam. "In such +weather as this, every minute may count." +</P> + +<P> +"Right ye are," responded the old miner. "We'll have breakfast quick +as we kin an' be off." +</P> + +<P> +Traveling that morning was comparatively easy and they covered quite a +number of miles. But then they commenced to climb the mountain leading +to Lion Head and Twin Rocks and progress became more difficult. +</P> + +<P> +"Some work, eh, Sam?" remarked Dick, after they had helped each other +over some slippery rocks on the trail. +</P> + +<P> +"Do you think Tom and his companion got over these, Dick?" +</P> + +<P> +"I suppose they did. It's the only thing that looks like a trail +around here. If they didn't stick to this they'd soon become lost. +And being lost on a mountain isn't very nice—you know that." +</P> + +<P> +The snow was still coming down, and to the boys it seemed heavier than +before. Jack Wumble looked at the sky many times and shook his head +slowly. +</P> + +<P> +"We'll be in fer it by to-morrow," he said. "An' then nobuddy can tell +how long it will keep up. Winter is comin' sure!" +</P> + +<P> +"Then the sooner we find Tom and get back to Dawson with him the +better." +</P> + +<P> +It was about five o'clock in the afternoon when they reached a spot +where the trail ran along the bottom of a tall cliff. Far below them +was the valley they had crossed in the morning, now all but shut out +from their view by the falling snow. +</P> + +<P> +"Don't either of ye slip here," cautioned Jack Wumble. "Because, if ye +do, thar ain't no tellin' whar ye'll fetch up." +</P> + +<P> +"I'll be as careful as possible," answered Dick. +</P> + +<P> +"And so will I," added Sam. +</P> + +<P> +The old miner was in the lead, with Sam coming next, and Dick bringing +up the rear. Thus nearly half a mile more was slowly covered. +</P> + +<P> +"We ought to be drawing close to Tom now," said Dick. +</P> + +<P> +"I've got an idea!" cried his brother. "Why didn't we think of it +before? Let us call to him, and fire one of the pistols." +</P> + +<P> +"All right," said the old miner. "'Twon't do no harm." +</P> + +<P> +All three raised their voices in a lusty shout, and Dick fired a shot +into the air. Then they listened intently. There was no answer of any +kind. +</P> + +<P> +"Let us try it again," suggested Sam. "Now then, all together!" +</P> + +<P> +This time their yell was thrice repeated, and Dick fired two shots. +They waited several seconds for an answer. +</P> + +<P> +"Listen!" exclaimed Dick. "I hear something!" +</P> + +<P> +All strained their ears, and from a great distance made out an +answering cry. It appeared to come from somewhere above them. +</P> + +<P> +"I believe Tom and that man with him are on the trail above the cliff!" +cried Dick. +</P> + +<P> +"Just what I think," answered his brother. "Oh, if only we could climb +right up there, instead of going away around!" +</P> + +<P> +"Ain't no way as I can see to do it," said Jack Wumble, looking at the +bare wall of rocks. "We'll have ter go on till we reach some sort o' a +break." +</P> + +<P> +Once again they cried out and again came the answering call. But those +above them were so far away that it was impossible to make out what was +said. +</P> + +<P> +"I've got it!" cried Dick. "If that is Tom I'll give him a call he'll +know." +</P> + +<P> +"The old Putnam Hall locomotive whistle?" queried Sam. +</P> + +<P> +"Yes. Now then, both together, Sam, and as loud and distinct as +possible." +</P> + +<P> +Both youths took a deep breath, and then out on the snowy air rang a +sharp, shrill whistle, once, twice, three times, rising and falling in +a fashion known only to the cadets of the military school. +</P> + +<P> +"By gosh, thet's some whistle!" remarked Jack Wumble, in admiration. +</P> + +<P> +Again all three listened intently. There was a long spell of silence, +and then from a distance came an answering whistle, that sounded like +an echo of their own. +</P> + +<P> +"It's Tom!" screamed Sam and clapped his hands. +</P> + +<P> +"Yes, it must be. Nobody else could imitate that whistle so +perfectly," returned his brother. +</P> + +<P> +"Oh, let us go on! We must get to him," went on Sam, impatiently. +"Maybe that whistle will bring him to his right senses, Dick!" +</P> + +<P> +"I'm afraid that is too much to expect, Sam. But I am glad he +remembered the whistle, anyway. It shows that he hasn't forgotten +everything." +</P> + +<P> +"Let us yell that we are coming, and for them to wait," suggested the +old miner. +</P> + +<P> +"That's it," answered Dick. "Now then, I'll lead off." +</P> + +<P> +And loud and clear rang the cry: +</P> + +<P> +"<I>We are coming! We are coming! Wait for us! Wait! Wait!</I>" +</P> + +<P> +To this some answer came back, but what it was they could not make out. +Then, in the silence that followed, they picked up their traps once +more and went forward on the wearisome trail. +</P> + +<P> +With each yard of advance the walking became more difficult. In some +spots the rocks were covered with snow and they had to proceed with +caution, for fear of a nasty tumble. They were climbing upward +steadily and they noted with satisfaction that the cliffs seemed to +become correspondingly lower. +</P> + +<P> +"We'll be up there in quarter of an hour more," said Jack Wumble. "But +don't ye try to go too fast. This trail is gittin' wuss an' wuss." +</P> + +<P> +At last they came to some rocks where further progress seemed +impossible. There had been something of a landslide, and big rocks +covered the footpath for a distance of a hundred feet or more. +</P> + +<P> +They gazed around the spot in perplexity. +</P> + +<P> +"Well, one thing is certain," said Sam. "Tom and that man must have +come this way, If they could get over these rocks we ought to be able +to do the same thing." +</P> + +<P> +"I think I see a way," said Dick. "Yes, here are some footprints in +the snow and on this fallen tree. They climbed up by holding on to +those branches. We can do the same thing." +</P> + +<P> +"Don't ye try it!" yelled Jack Wumble. "Thet tree is loose! It might +carry ye to the bottom of the mountain!" +</P> + +<P> +"Hark!" called out Sam. "I hear something! What is that?" +</P> + +<P> +All listened. From a distance came a curious swishing and cracking +sound, followed by a wild sort of yell. Then came a crash—and +then—utter silence. +</P> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<A NAME="chap22"></A> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +CHAPTER XXII +</H3> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +IKE FURNER'S CAMP +</H3> + +<P> +"Dick, what was that?" +</P> + +<P> +"I'm sure I don't know, Sam. Sounded like something falling." +</P> + +<P> +"It was a tree sliding down the mountain," put in Jack Wumble. "A tree +jest like the one you was goin' to take hold on." +</P> + +<P> +"And somebody on it!" gasped Sam. "Oh, do you suppose it was Tom?" +</P> + +<P> +At this question the old miner shrugged his shoulders. +</P> + +<P> +"Ain't no tellin', Sam. Let us hope not, fer if he went down the +mountain side——" +</P> + +<P> +"He'd be killed!" finished Dick, and shuddered. +</P> + +<P> +They listened and called out. But no answer came back, and they heard +nothing more but the humming of the wind through the trees, for it had +begun to blow stronger than before. +</P> + +<P> +"Let's go a little further than this trail," suggested Jack Wumble. +"It looks to be better walking yonder." +</P> + +<P> +"But we don't want to lose our way," returned Sam, rather impatiently. +The strange happenings of the day were getting on his nerves. +</P> + +<P> +"We can come back here, if we need to," was the old miner's reply. +</P> + +<P> +The Rovers followed him through some brushwood and then up a rough +incline. Here the bushes growing between the rocks aided them, +although they had to put on gloves, to keep from getting their hands +badly scratched, for some of the growth was thorny. +</P> + +<P> +"Well, here we are at last!" cried Sam, when the upper level of the +trail was gained. He was almost out of breath, for the climb had been +a long and hard one. +</P> + +<P> +They were now in the midst of a field, with the snow coming down +thickly all around them. Wumble led the way, looking for the spot +above the fallen tree. To one side was the mountain top, to the other +the valley, but all cut off from their view by the falling flakes of +snow. It was so dark that they could scarcely distinguish the trail, +even though Wumble was sure they were on it. +</P> + +<P> +"Why not light a torch?" suggested Dick. +</P> + +<P> +"That will help us, and may make the others see us—if they are near +by." +</P> + +<P> +This was considered a good suggestion, and the old miner picked out an +extra dry bush that was long and slender. The top ignited readily, and +he quickly swung it into a blaze. Then they went on once more, holding +the torch at arm's length. +</P> + +<P> +It was well that the light had been made, as they speedily found out. +Scarcely had they gone a hundred yards further when they reached a +split in the mountain side. +</P> + +<P> +"Stop!" yelled the old miner, and came to a halt at the very brink of a +crevice ten or twelve feet wide and of unknown depth. +</P> + +<P> +"There's a tree bridge!" said Dick, as the torch was swung around to +light up the vicinity. +</P> + +<P> +He pointed to where a slender tree had been cut down and allowed to +fall across the chasm. It made a fairly good bridge, although they had +to cross with care and only one at a time. Their traps they threw over +the opening. +</P> + +<P> +With the snow now blowing directly in their faces, they marched forward +once more, Wumble throwing the light as far ahead as possible. Soon +they reached another climb, up a series of rocks that looked almost +like a pair of stairs. +</P> + +<P> +"Look!" cried the old miner, a few minutes later, and he stopped to +pick something up out of the snow. It was a wooden pipe. +</P> + +<P> +"It must be that Ike Furner's," said Dick. "Tom doesn't smoke." +</P> + +<P> +"Why, look, the pipe has tobacco in it, and it's still lit!" exclaimed +Sam. "It couldn't have been dropped very long ago!" +</P> + +<P> +"And that proves that the owner must be close by!" put in his brother. +"Let's call!" And he set up a ringing shout, in which Sam and Jack +Wumble joined. +</P> + +<P> +For fully a minute no answer came back. Then, from some height above +them, issued an answering cry. +</P> + +<P> +"Wave the torch, Jack!" exclaimed Dick, and the old miner did as +requested. +</P> + +<P> +All strained their eyes. +</P> + +<P> +"I see a light!" exclaimed Sam. "See, over yonder!" +</P> + +<P> +"I see it," came from the others. +</P> + +<P> +Forward they went, in the direction of the light, which flickered +uncertainly through the falling snow. They had to climb around many +rocks and bushes, and occasionally they lost sight of the beacon ahead. +But at last, mounting another rise, they came in full view of a +campfire, located at the entrance to a cave-like opening in the side of +the mountain. +</P> + +<P> +A man was standing close to the campfire, a tall, thin individual, with +a shock of hair and a heavy beard. He was dressed in a typical miner's +costume and in his hands was a pistol. +</P> + +<P> +"Who goes there?" he cried, in a high-pitched, nervous voice. "Don't +come any closer until I know who you are," and he raised his pistol and +pointed it at those who approached. +</P> + +<P> +"Don't shoot, stranger," called out Jack Wumble, as he and the Rovers +came to a halt. "Are you Ike Furner?" he went on. +</P> + +<P> +"I am. Who are you?" +</P> + +<P> +"I'm a miner from Black Run. My handle is Jack Wumble. These are two +friends o' mine, Dick an' Sam Rover. We ain't goin' to harm you. We +are lookin' fer a young feller thet's lost, that's all." +</P> + +<P> +"We are looking for my brother," added Dick. "His name is Tom Rover. +I think he was traveling with you." They had now come close enough to +see that Ike Furner was alone. +</P> + +<P> +"Don't know no Tom Rover," was the slow response. "There's a young +feller with me, but his name is Brill Thomas." +</P> + +<P> +"And where is he now?" asked Sam, impatiently. +</P> + +<P> +"Was you below here a while ago, shoutin'?" asked Ike Furner, without +answering the last question. +</P> + +<P> +"Yes." +</P> + +<P> +"Well, he went off to meet you." +</P> + +<P> +"To meet us!" exclaimed Dick. "Which way did he go?" +</P> + +<P> +"Same way you came." +</P> + +<P> +"But we didn't meet him," cried Sam and Dick, in a breath. +</P> + +<P> +"I dunno nuthin' about that, stranger. When my partner heard you +a-callin' an' heard that queer whistle you gave he got all excited, an' +said he must see who it was. I told him he'd better wait till you came +along, but he wouldn't do it—said he couldn't—that he had remembered +somethin' an' he was afraid he was goin' to forgit it ag'in." +</P> + +<P> +"Poor Tom! That whistle must have made him remember who he was!" said +Sam. He turned to his brother. "Where can he be now? Oh, Dick, do +you remember that strange noise——" +</P> + +<P> +"Yes! yes! If he had a tumble——" Dick could not finish. +</P> + +<P> +"We'd better search into this," came promptly from Jack Wumble. He +held out the pipe he had picked up. "Is this yours?" he asked, of the +other man. +</P> + +<P> +"It sure is!" cried Ike Furner, his eyes lighting up with pleasure. "I +thought sure she was gone fer good. I suppose ye found her on the +trail." +</P> + +<P> +"I did." +</P> + +<P> +"Thanks," and the other miner put the precious pipe in his pocket. +Then he gazed curiously at the crowd before him. "I don't understand +this nohow," he muttered. "That feller who was with me was all right +till you called an' whistled, then he acted plumb locoed." +</P> + +<P> +"He is our brother," explained Dick, "and he is a bit out of his mind. +But we can't waste time explaining just now. We must hunt him up +before this storm gets any worse." +</P> + +<P> +"That's the talk," said Sam. +</P> + +<P> +"I don't see why he didn't meet you." +</P> + +<P> +"We are afraid he had a tumble," answered Dick, and told about the +strange swishing and crashing they had heard. +</P> + +<P> +"By gum! Maybe he went down into thet split in the rocks!" cried Ike +Furner. "I yelled to him to be careful o' thet openin'. But he was in +sech a hurry——" The miner did not finish. +</P> + +<P> +"I'll get a fresh torch and we'll go back," said Jack Wumble. His face +wore a sober look. "A tumble down thet openin' would be putty bad," he +added. +</P> + +<P> +"Want me to go along?" asked Ike Furner. +</P> + +<P> +"You can go if you want to," answered Dick. "But fix your traps so +that no wild animals can get at the food." +</P> + +<P> +"Oh, the grub is safe enough. I'll keep a good fire burnin'," answered +the prospector. They could readily see that he was a peculiar man, but +with a kindly heart. Family troubles had caused him to try his +fortunes in this out of the way portion of the globe. +</P> + +<P> +It did not take long for them to build up the campfire and get an extra +torch. This done, all set off in the direction of the split in the +rocks, Jack Wumble leading the way and the others coming in a bunch +behind him. +</P> + +<P> +The Rover boys knew not what to say or what to think. Had Tom tumbled +into that awful opening, and if so, was he alive or dead? +</P> + +<P> +"If he went down there I don't see how he could escape," whispered Sam +to his brother. "Why, when I crossed on that tree I couldn't see the +bottom!" +</P> + +<P> +"Let us hope he didn't take that tumble," was the low reply. +</P> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<A NAME="chap23"></A> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +CHAPTER XXIII +</H3> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +A SLIDE DOWN THE MOUNTAIN SIDE +</H3> + +<P> +"My gracious, Dick! It sure is snowing some now!" +</P> + +<P> +"Yes, and it is getting colder every minute." +</P> + +<P> +"If we don't get out of the mountains putty quick we'll be snowed in," +came from Jack Wumble. +</P> + +<P> +"Did you calkerlate to git back to Dawson afore winter sot in?" +inquired Ike Furner, curiously. +</P> + +<P> +"Why of course!" cried Sam. +</P> + +<P> +"I don't see how you are goin' to make it." +</P> + +<P> +"Oh, we must get back," said Dick. "If only we could find Tom," he +added, with a sigh. +</P> + +<P> +It was fully an hour after they had left the campfire at the entrance +to the cave of the mountain. They had walked to the chasm where they +thought Tom might have had a tumble and crossed and recrossed it +several times. But they had found no traces of the missing Rover boy. +</P> + +<P> +"If only we knew whether he went down in that opening!" said Sam, for +at least the tenth time. "Dick, do you suppose we can climb down into +it?" +</P> + +<P> +"Not without a rope, Sam. The sides are too steep and slippery." +</P> + +<P> +Time and again they called down. But no answer came back. If Tom was +down there he was either unconscious or dead. +</P> + +<P> +And now it had begun to snow harder than ever. The air was so full of +the white flakes that they could not see ten feet in any direction. It +was a typical Alaskan snowstorm. There was a sweep to the wind that +found the very marrow of their bones. +</P> + +<P> +What to do next the Rovers did not know, nor could the two miners +suggest anything. Finally, however, Ike Furner mentioned something +that set the youths to thinking. +</P> + +<P> +"See here!" he cried. "The old tree is gone!" +</P> + +<P> +"What tree?" asked all three of the others. +</P> + +<P> +"Why, the big hemlock as was hangin' over the cliff. She was a +whopper, I kin tell you—biggest tree in these parts." +</P> + +<P> +"Where was that tree?" asked Dick. +</P> + +<P> +"Right here, whar you see the holes. The snow has covered the spot +putty well, but I know the tree was here when we come up." +</P> + +<P> +"It must have been that tree we heard sliding down the mountain side," +exclaimed Dick. "Maybe Tom didn't go down into the chasm at all, but +slid down the mountain on the tree!" +</P> + +<P> +"That's so!" put in Sam, eagerly. "And he may not be hurt!" +</P> + +<P> +"Well, a slide like thet wouldn't be anything to sneeze at," remarked +Jack Wumble. "Especially if the tree took to rollin' over an' over!" +</P> + +<P> +"I'm goin' to investigate," said Dick, and commenced to crawl out on +the edge of the cliff. +</P> + +<P> +"You be careful!" roared Wumble. "It's slippery an' dangerous out +there!" +</P> + +<P> +"Let us join hands," suggested Sam, and this was done, all forming a +chain, to keep Dick from going over the edge of the cliff. He took the +torch in one hand, that he might light the way in the darkness and the +flying snow. +</P> + +<P> +At last Dick found himself on the very edge of the cliff at the point +where the giant tree had stood. To his surprise the cliff was not +perpendicular there, but formed a slope leading to another ridge some +fifty feet below. What was beneath this was hidden from view by the +falling snow. +</P> + +<P> +"I think I can crawl down there," he said to the others. "Anyway, I am +going to try it." +</P> + +<P> +"Wait! I've got a lariat in my pack," said Ike Furner. "I'll git +that. It will be better'n nuthin'." And off he sped for the article +mentioned. +</P> + +<P> +When he came back Dick tied one end of the lariat around his waist, and +while the others held fast he crawled down the slope. He had to keep +on his hands and knees, and once he slipped a distance of several +yards, the others stopping him with a jerk. +</P> + +<P> +"Be careful—the lariat might snap!" sang out Sam. +</P> + +<P> +"It's better walking down here," answered Dick. "I think——" +</P> + +<P> +He did not finish, for just then his body swung down into a hollow, +filled with snow and with some dripping water that had commenced to +freeze. There was a snap, and the end of the lariat came back in the +faces of those above. +</P> + +<P> +"There he goes!" yelled Jack Wumble, and pointed down to where the +torch could be seen whirling around and around. Soon it was hidden +from view by the snow. +</P> + +<P> +"Dick! Dick!" yelled Sam. "Are you safe?" +</P> + +<P> +A yell came back, but what was said those above could not make out. +Sam's face went white, and he looked inquiringly at Jack Wumble. +</P> + +<P> +"Where do you suppose he went to?" asked Ike Furner. +</P> + +<P> +Wumble shook his head. +</P> + +<P> +"Don't know, unless he slid clar down to the valley," he returned. +"This is certainly the wust yet." +</P> + +<P> +"I'm going down after him," said Sam, bravely. +</P> + +<P> +"Be careful, lad, it may cost ye your life." +</P> + +<P> +"I don't care—I'm going to find Dick—and Tom, too." +</P> + +<P> +The youngest Rover was just worked up enough to be reckless. And when +Sam got that way nothing could hold him back. +</P> + +<P> +"I'm going back, to get something to eat for all hands—in case we need +it," he said. "Then I'll crawl down somehow and learn the truth. If +Tom and Dick are all right, I'll fire one shot from my pistol. Then +you'll know we are coming up as soon as possible. If I fire two shots +you'll know we are all right, but we can't come up right away. If I +fire three shots you'll know I need help. In that case come down, +packs and all, and we'll find some kind of a camping spot below." +</P> + +<P> +So it was settled, and having gone back to where the traps had been +left, the youngest Rover made up a small bundle for himself, and also +procured another torch. The others accompanied him to where Dick had +disappeared. +</P> + +<P> +"I hate to see ye leavin' me," said Jack Wumble, with feeling. "Maybe +it would be better to wait till mornin', when it was lighter." +</P> + +<P> +"No, Jack, I can't wait—and have Dick down there, and Tom, too. For +all we know, both of them may be dying!" +</P> + +<P> +That was all Sam said, and to this the old miner could not reply. Ike +Furner looked on, but did not open his mouth. He was waiting to hear +the full particulars concerning the young man he had known as Brill +Thomas. +</P> + +<P> +Down and down went Sam, the snow soon hiding the two miners from his +view. He had to proceed with care, fearing a tumble such as his big +brother had taken. Where there was water, ice was forming on the +rocks, making the descent more dangerous than ever. +</P> + +<P> +"I don't know how a fellow is to get back that way," he said to +himself. "Guess we'll have to walk around by the trail." +</P> + +<P> +It was now intensely cold and the wind was blowing almost a gale. He +was glad when he reached something of a hollow, where he could crouch +down and regain his breath. +</P> + +<P> +"Dick! Dick!" he cried, many times, but no answer came back. Either +his brother was too far away to hear him or was too badly hurt to make +reply. +</P> + +<P> +Down and down climbed Sam until he felt he must be approaching the foot +of the mountain. He had his torch still in hand, having often carried +it in his teeth while holding fast. In some spots the snow was now +over a foot deep, and his footing was, consequently, more uncertain +than ever. +</P> + +<P> +Suddenly he found himself on the edge of a small cliff, the last on the +mountain side. Without knowing it, he had crossed the trail leading +upward three times. He stepped on some ice on the rocks, and the next +instant was launched into space. +</P> + +<P> +Sam had no time to get scared. Forth into the descending snow he was +tossed, and down he went, to land first in a tree and then in some +thick bushes growing close by. The wind was knocked completely out of +him, and for the moment he could not move. +</P> + +<P> +"Phew! that was a tumble!" he murmured, as he tried to sit up. He was +wedged so tightly in the bushes that he could scarcely move. It was +far from a pleasant situation, yet he realized that coming down first +on the tree and then in the bushes had saved him from broken bones if +not from death. He was considerably scratched up, but just then paid +no attention to the hurts. +</P> + +<P> +At last he managed to crawl out on the ground, or rather the snow, +which was deeper in the valley than it had been up on the mountain. +His torch had been extinguished, so all was dark around him. +</P> + +<P> +"Dick!" he called, as loudly as he could. "Dick, are you anywhere +around?" +</P> + +<P> +"Sam!" came the faint reply. "Is that you? Yes, I am over here. Help +me. I am wedged in between the trees and can't move!" +</P> + +<P> +"Is Tom down here too?" +</P> + +<P> +"I don't know." +</P> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<A NAME="chap24"></A> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +CHAPTER XXIV +</H3> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +IN WHICH TOM IS FOUND +</H3> + +<P> +Guided by his brother's voice Sam at last found Dick. As the latter +had said, he was wedged between two tall trees and in anything but a +comfortable position. And how to release him was a problem. +</P> + +<P> +"I guess I had better climb up and bend one of the trees over by my +weight," suggested Sam. "I don't see any other way." +</P> + +<P> +"All right, Sam. Only be careful and don't fall and let the tree snap +back on me," answered Dick, weakly. In his cramped position he could +scarcely breathe. +</P> + +<P> +With great care Sam ascended the slimmest of the two trees, pushing it +as far away from the other as possible. As he went up his weight told, +and presently the tree commenced to bend down, away from the other. +</P> + +<P> +"That's better—now I can move a little," cried Dick. "Go on! There, +that's enough. All right, Sam, you can come down." And then Dick +scrambled out in the snow and his brother joined him. +</P> + +<P> +"Did you see anything at all of Tom?" asked the youngest Rover, as soon +as both could get their breath. +</P> + +<P> +"Not a thing, Sam. But I saw the tree that fell—it's caught on the +cliff above here." +</P> + +<P> +"Yes, I saw that—just before I took a tumble." +</P> + +<P> +"Then you fell too?" +</P> + +<P> +"Only from the last cliff. I landed in a tree and then some bushes, +and got pretty well scratched. But come on, if you're able, and we'll +look for Tom." +</P> + +<P> +"What's that bundle you have strapped to your back?" +</P> + +<P> +"I brought a little food along, in case we had to stay down here until +to-morrow." +</P> + +<P> +"I see. Wait, we'll light a torch first—we can't do much in the dark." +</P> + +<P> +Dry brushwood was to be had in plenty, and the boys not only lit +torches, but also made a fire, to light up the scene all around them +Then they set off on their hunt, going up and down the base of the +cliff for several hundred feet. It was now snowing so furiously that +progress was difficult. +</P> + +<P> +"We'll be snowed in, that's certain," remarked Sam, as they moved +about, swinging their torches to the right and left. +</P> + +<P> +"I don't care—if only we find Tom, and he isn't seriously hurt," +returned his brother. +</P> + +<P> +"But it's no fool of a thing, to be snow-bound in Alaska, Dick! I've +heard of miners being starved to death—not being able to get anywhere +for food!" +</P> + +<P> +"Yes, I've heard of that, too. But do you want to give up this hunt +for Tom?" +</P> + +<P> +"Indeed not! I'll stick it out no matter what comes!" answered Sam, +quickly. +</P> + +<P> +As they moved along Dick presently saw what he thought was a rock or +mound of dirt in front of him, covered with snow. He was about to step +over it, when something prompted him to scrape at the object with his +foot. The next instant he let out a cry. +</P> + +<P> +"It's Tom!" +</P> + +<P> +"Are you sure?" gasped Sam, who was a few yards away. +</P> + +<P> +"Yes! yes! Here, hold my torch," went on Dick, and as Sam took the +light, Dick knelt in the snow and raised up the inanimate form. It was +Tom, true enough, with an ugly cut on his forehead, from which the +blood had been flowing. +</P> + +<A NAME="img-226"></A> +<CENTER> +<IMG CLASS="imgcenter" SRC="images/img-226.jpg" ALT=""HERE, HOLD MY TORCH," SAID DICK. _The Rover Boys in Alaska._" BORDER="2" WIDTH="406" HEIGHT="647"> +<H4 CLASS="h4center" STYLE="width: 406px"> +"HERE, HOLD MY TORCH," SAID DICK. <I>The Rover Boys in Alaska.</I> +</H4> +</CENTER> + +<P> +"Is—is he de—dead?" asked Sam, hoarsely. +</P> + +<P> +"I—I don't know, Sam," was the slow answer. "You lead the way and +I'll carry him back to where we built that fire." +</P> + +<P> +"Oh, Dick, can't you tell if he is breathing?" +</P> + +<P> +Dick put his ear to Tom's breast and for a moment there was a painful +silence. +</P> + +<P> +"I think he is breathing, Sam, but I am not quite sure. We'll get to +the fire, and give him something hot to drink." +</P> + +<P> +Sam led the way through the snow, carrying both torches, and Dick came +after him, with the inanimate form of poor Tom over his shoulder. In a +few minutes they reached the fire they had made, and Sam piled on some +additional brushwood. Sam had rolled the food and other things he had +brought along in a blanket, and this covering was now placed on the +snow and Tom was laid on it, partly under the shelter of some bushes. +</P> + +<P> +The two brothers got down and worked over the unconscious one for over +a quarter of an hour. They had a bottle of a stimulent the doctor had +given them for Tom, and now they forced a dose of this down the lad's +throat. Then they rubbed his hands and wrists. Gradually they saw a +change in Tom. He began to breath a little deeper and muttered +something in an undertone. +</P> + +<P> +"Tom! Tom!" cried Dick. "Don't you know me? Tom! It's Dick and Sam! +Wake up, old man, that's a good fellow!" +</P> + +<P> +"Oh, my head! Oh, my head!" came, with a groan, and the sufferer +slowly stretched himself. Then he put one hand up to his forehead. +"Oh, dear, what a crack I got!" +</P> + +<P> +"Never mind, Tom, you'll soon be yourself," cried Sam, a big relief +showing itself in his voice. Tom wasn't dead, perhaps after all he +wasn't seriously hurt. +</P> + +<P> +"Oh, my head!" was all the answer Tom made just then. He opened his +eyes for an instant and then closed them again. +</P> + +<P> +"Wonder if he will know us?" whispered Sam to Dick. +</P> + +<P> +"I hope so," was the answer. "But come, we must do all we can for him. +I don't think we can move him very far. But we'd be better off if we +were in the shelter of that cliff." +</P> + +<P> +"Wait, I'll hunt up a spot, Dick. But hadn't I better fire a shot +first?" And Sam told of the signals that had been arranged. +</P> + +<P> +"Yes, give 'em two shots," said the big brother. "If we want help +later we can fire some more." And the shots were discharged without +further delay. +</P> + +<P> +This done, a shelter close to the cliff was selected. Here they cut +down some brushwood with a hatchet Sam had brought along, and formed a +barrier to keep out the wind and snow. Then another campfire was built +and Tom was brought over and placed on the blanket, in a warm and cozy +corner. +</P> + +<P> +"Oh, my head!" he muttered, over and over again. Of a sudden he sat up +as if in bewilderment. "Where am I?" he cried. "Is it time to get up? +Say, Sam, I wonder if I've got time to write that theme I didn't do +last night. Songbird said he would give me a few pointers, but I +reckon he forgot all about it. Say, what makes it so cold in this +room? It's time old Muggs turned on the steam heat." +</P> + +<P> +"Tom! Tom!" said Sam. "Do you know me? Don't you know where you are?" +</P> + +<P> +"Don't I know you? What are you talking about, Sam. Of course I know +you. And Dick! Say, how did you get back to college, Dick? And why +in thunder——? Well, I declare!" Tom sat up and stared at the +campfire and the snow. "How in the name of Washington's sword did I +get here?" he gasped. +</P> + +<P> +"Never mind that now, Tom," answered Dick, taking him by the hand. +"How do you feel? You had a bad tumble, if you'll remember." +</P> + +<P> +"Tumble? Where did I tumble from? Oh I remember—that moving picture +show! Say, that Alaskan scene was great, wasn't it? I thought I'd +like to go to Alaska after some of those nuggets. Funny, wasn't it?" +And poor Tom grinned broadly. "But how did I get here, in the snow and +cold. Say, have I been sick again, Dick?" And now the sufferer looked +sharply at his brothers. +</P> + +<P> +"Yes, Tom, you've been—very sick," answered Dick, slowly. "How do you +feel now? You had a bad tumble, and we were afraid you had been +killed." +</P> + +<P> +"Where did I tumble from, the roof of the dormitory?" +</P> + +<P> +"No, you fell down the mountain side." +</P> + +<P> +"Eh? What mountain side?" +</P> + +<P> +"The one right back of you. But don't bother about that now. Just +take it easy and rest yourself," went on Dick, soothingly. +</P> + +<P> +"Are you sure no bones are broken?" asked Sam, anxiously. +</P> + +<P> +"I don't remember anything about a tumble," said Tom, slowly. +"I—I—thought I was in our room at Brill, old number twenty-five. And +it wasn't winter either. Say, I can't understand all this. Are we out +in the woods back of Brill? Hadn't we better get back? See how it's +snowing." +</P> + +<P> +"We won't go back to-night, Tom," answered Dick. "You just take my +advice and lie down and keep quiet. If you are hungry you can have +something to eat." +</P> + +<P> +"I don't want anything to eat—I had a bang-up supper, the last I can +remember. But I seem to be in a fog. I don't remember anything about +how I got here. And my head hurts to beat the band! Feels as if a lot +of boiler makers were working inside of it!" Tom put his hand up as of +old. "I guess I'll—I'll have to—to leave it all to you!" he went on +faintly, and then fell back on the blanket, completely exhausted. +</P> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<A NAME="chap25"></A> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +CHAPTER XXV +</H3> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +THE SHELTER UNDER THE CLIFF +</H3> + +<P> +Despite the fact that they were caught in a furious snowstorm, and that +there was no telling how long the downfall would last, Sam and Dick +felt very happy as they crouched by the campfire in the shelter of the +cliff. They had found their brother, and he did not seem to be +seriously hurt by the long tumble he had taken. +</P> + +<P> +"I guess we had better let him rest quietly, Sam," whispered Dick, as +both bent over the sufferer. "It will probably do him more good than +anything." +</P> + +<P> +"Just what I think, Dick. But tell me, do you think he is in his right +mind now?" +</P> + +<P> +"I can't tell, exactly. One thing is sure, he doesn't seem to remember +anything of his trip to this out-of-the-way spot." +</P> + +<P> +"Isn't it queer! I never thought a fellow's mind could play him such +tricks!" +</P> + +<P> +"Oh, men have been known to wander away and then come to themselves and +not remember a thing about how it happened. Maybe that tumble did him +good." +</P> + +<P> +The two boys stirred around the shelter, fixing the fire and making the +barrier of brushwood more secure. Tom continued to rest, occasionally +muttering to himself. +</P> + +<P> +"We might as well have something to eat, since you brought something +along," remarked Dick, presently. "And then we'll have to turn in. We +can take turns at sleeping and at watching Tom." +</P> + +<P> +"Do you think we'll be completely snowed in by morning?" +</P> + +<P> +"Let us hope not." +</P> + +<P> +An hour later Sam was sleeping, while Dick sat on some brushwood, +tending the fire and keeping an eye on Tom. It was very quiet, and the +snow was coming down as thickly as ever. Dick had much to occupy his +mind—the perils of the present situation, his father's business +affairs, and Dora. +</P> + +<P> +"Poor Dora!" he murmured. "She'll be much worried until she hears from +me again. Well, I won't mind all this, if only Tom comes out of it in +his right mind." It made Dick sick from head to foot to think that +fun-loving Tom might have to go to an asylum. Such a happening would +wreck the happiness of every member of the family, and wreck dear +Nellie's happiness, too. +</P> + +<P> +Dick remained on watch for three hours and then roused Sam and turned +in himself. So the long night passed, Tom continuing to sleep, and +only rousing up once and demanding a drink. And he went on sleeping +when Dick and Sam arose to get breakfast and form their plans for the +day. +</P> + +<P> +It had stopped snowing, but the sky was still overcast. It was colder +than before—a drop in the thermometer which meant but one thing—that +the long Alaskan winter had arrived. For months to come everything +would be frozen up as hard as a rock. +</P> + +<P> +"I'd give a good deal to be back in Dawson," remarked Dick, while +munching a scant breakfast. He and Sam had decided to make the food on +hand last as long as possible. +</P> + +<P> +"So would I. But I don't see ourselves getting there in this fall of +snow—and with more snow in the air." +</P> + +<P> +"I don't see what we're going to do with Tom, if he can't walk. We +can't carry him." +</P> + +<P> +"We can make a drag—a sort of sled, Sam—and haul him on that." +</P> + +<P> +"So we can! How queer I didn't think of it! Why, it will be just the +thing!" And the face of the youngest Rover brightened up considerably. +</P> + +<P> +Just what move to make next would depend in a great measure on how Tom +felt when he roused up. His brothers watched him anxiously, but made +no move to wake him. +</P> + +<P> +It was about ten o'clock in the forenoon when a shout was heard, and, +looking through the bushes, the boys beheld Jack Wumble and Ike Furner. +Each had a pack on his back. +</P> + +<P> +"Hello!" cried Dick, and ran out to meet them. +</P> + +<P> +"Oh, so there ye are!" exclaimed Jack Wumble. "Thought ye must be +somewhere around here. How are ye, all right?" he went on, anxiously. +</P> + +<P> +"Yes. A little scratched up, that's all." +</P> + +<P> +"An' Sam, an' Tom?" +</P> + +<P> +"Sam is a bit scratched up, too. We found Tom and he doesn't seem to +have any bones broken. But he is very weak, and we are letting him +sleep," and Dick gave some particulars. +</P> + +<P> +"We had some job getting off the mountain," said the old miner, and +then he added, in a somewhat lower tone. "I've told Furner all about +Tom and it's all right." +</P> + +<P> +"I reckoned as how he wasn't just O.K.," said Ike Furner. "But then +some folks say I ain't jest all right, when I know I am," and he tossed +back his head. He was by no means crazy, only peculiar and headstrong. +</P> + +<P> +"Do you think we can get back to Dawson?" asked Sam, who had come +forward after Dick. +</P> + +<P> +"Maybe, lad; but it will be a tough journey in this snow," answered +Wumble. +</P> + +<P> +"I'm going to stay here an' look fer gold!" cried Ike Furner, +stubbornly. "I've got your brother's part of our outfit here." He +passed it over. "There's Lion Head, and over yonder is the Split +Rocks. I think I'm about due to find a fortune," and he drew himself +up to his full height. +</P> + +<P> +"Well, we are not going to stop you," answered Dick. "All we came +after was our brother. But it's a pity to leave you here all alone." +</P> + +<P> +"Oh, I won't mind that. I've often been alone in the mountains. Fact +is, I rather like it. When a feller is alone he can do just as he +pleases." +</P> + +<P> +"That is true," answered Dick, with a faint smile. +</P> + +<P> +"I know some other miners up here," went on Ike Furner. "I'm going to +hit for their camp an' stay there till Spring. How is the brother +makin' it?" +</P> + +<P> +"He's sleeping now. I think he will be all right. He doesn't remember +anything about his trip up here." +</P> + +<P> +An hour went by and Tom roused up. He looked blankly at Jack Wumble +and Ike Furner. +</P> + +<P> +"Don't you know me, Tom?" asked the former. "We had some great times +out West, years ago." +</P> + +<P> +"Sure I know you," and the sufferer grinned feebly. "You're Jack +Wumble, aren't you?" +</P> + +<P> +"That's me. Put her thar, Tom!" And the old miner took Tom's hand and +held it tightly. "Glory to heaven! This is like a touch o' old times, +this is!" +</P> + +<P> +Then Ike Furner approached, looking at Tom closely. But the youth did +not seem to recognize him. +</P> + +<P> +"Know me, too, don't you?" asked the old prospector. +</P> + +<P> +"I—I can't say that I do," was the slow answer, and Tom appeared much +perplexed. "Seems to me I've seen you somewhere, but I can't just +place you." +</P> + +<P> +"Well, I'll be switched!" muttered Ike Furner. "Thet's the strangest +thing I ever hear tell on." He pulled on his rough beard. "Don't +remember me a' tall?" +</P> + +<P> +"No. Who are you?" +</P> + +<P> +"Ike Furner, the man you came to Alaska with." +</P> + +<P> +"Alaska! I never went to Alaska!" cried Tom. He commenced to grow +excited. "Dick! Sam! What does this mean?" He tried to struggle to +his feet, but found himself too weak to do so. +</P> + +<P> +"Keep quiet, Tom," ordered his elder brother. "It's all right. You've +been very sick, that's all, and—well, a bit out of your mind. You'll +be all right after a while." +</P> + +<P> +"But that man said I went to Alaska." +</P> + +<P> +"So you did. But it's all right, so just take it easy." +</P> + +<P> +"Alaska! Great hambones! Am I in Alaska now?" +</P> + +<P> +"Yes, if you must know. But do be quiet and rest yourself," went on +Dick, soothingly. +</P> + +<P> +"What did I do, run away?" +</P> + +<P> +"We'll talk about it later, Tom. You must rest now," and Dick made the +sufferer lie down as before. Then he motioned for Ike Furner to come +away. +</P> + +<P> +"It's all right, I'll git out—I wouldn't stay fer a farm!" muttered +the old gold hunter. "Your brother is as crazy as they make 'em. I'm +glad to get shut o' him. Didn't remember me! I can't believe it!" +And a little later he bid the crowd farewell and took his departure, to +hunt up the other old prospectors he had mentioned. It may be said +here that that was the last the Rovers saw or heard of him for a long +time to come. +</P> + +<P> +The day passed slowly, the others doing all they could for poor Tom. +The sufferer roused up several times and took what nourishment was +given to him. His head had been bound up, so that the cut on his +forehead did not show. Evidently he was suffering from exposure and +the loss of blood. +</P> + +<P> +"We must get him to Dawson somehow," said Dick. "I guess we had better +start to-morrow morning early." +</P> + +<P> +"Just what I think," replied Sam. +</P> + +<P> +"Suits me," responded Jack Wumble. "But it ain't going to be no easy +job makin' it, boys," he added, seriously. +</P> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<A NAME="chap26"></A> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +CHAPTER XXVI +</H3> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +IN THE GRIP OF THE TORNADO +</H3> + +<P> +In the morning all thoughts of moving had to be abandoned. It was +snowing furiously and the wind was sweeping around them in a perfect +gale. +</P> + +<P> +"We're snowbound," said Jack Wumble, after a look around. "Winter this +year has come on putty quick." +</P> + +<P> +It was a dismaying state of affairs and Sam and Dick looked at each +other questioningly. What was to be done? +</P> + +<P> +Tom was no better nor was he worse. He lay where they had placed him, +close to the fire, and took such nourishment as was given to him. At +times he appeared quite rational, but once in a while he asked some +question that showed he was not altogether in his right mind. +</P> + +<P> +"We could stay here for some time if it wasn't for one thing," remarked +Dick. "We have got to have food." +</P> + +<P> +"Just what I was thinking," returned Sam. "As it is, we haven't enough +to last us for more than a week at the most." +</P> + +<P> +"If there was a river anywhere near I'd try my hand at fishin'," said +the old miner. "Ye kin get plenty o' fish in Alaska, even if ye have +to fish through a hole in the ice fer 'em." +</P> + +<P> +The cold was so intense that the boys were glad enough to stir around +in the snow and wind to keep warm. They cut a big pile of firewood and +piled the brushwood thickly around the shelter, taking care, however, +to keep it from the campfire. +</P> + +<P> +The day went slowly by. At nightfall the snow stopped coming down, but +the wind blew as before and if anything it was colder. +</P> + +<P> +"Nothing but ice from now on," announced Jack Wumble, and he was right, +by morning everything was frozen up, "as stiff as a stake," as Sam +expressed it. The day before they had caught some water dripping from +the rocks, for drinking purposes, now they had to melt the ice over the +fire to get the liquid. +</P> + +<P> +But the sun was shining brightly and that raised their spirits. +</P> + +<P> +"Don't you suppose, if we made a drag for Tom, that we could get back +to Dawson somehow?" questioned Sam, after all had been outside to look +at the sky. +</P> + +<P> +"Well, we kin try it, if ye say so," answered Jack Wumble. "It sure +ain't no fun stayin' here, with no more grub showin' itself. If I +could only shoot a wildcat fer the meat I'd feel better." +</P> + +<P> +With so much brushwood at hand it was an easy matter to construct a +rude sled-like drag for poor Tom. To make it more comfortable they +heaped on it some tundra moss which they found growing on one of the +wind-swept stretches nearby. +</P> + +<P> +"Where are you going to take me?" demanded the sufferer, when told that +they were going to leave the place. +</P> + +<P> +"We are going to take you to a safe shelter, Tom, and then home," +answered Dick. +</P> + +<P> +"Home! That sounds good!" murmured Tom. "I'll be glad to get there +and rest!" and he gave a long-drawn sigh. +</P> + +<P> +The start was made by ten o'clock, Tom being warmly wrapped in +blankets, and all the traps being piled on the drag in front and behind +him. A rope had been tied fast in front and on this Wumble and Dick +pulled, while Sam had hold of the drag itself, to pull and to steer. +</P> + +<P> +It was still bitter cold and many times on the way those hauling the +drag stopped, to make sure that Tom was comfortable and in no danger of +getting his nose or his ears frostbitten. Fortunately the route was +largely down hill, so pulling the long drag was not such a hardship as +it otherwise might have been. +</P> + +<P> +At noon they stopped in a small hollow, sheltered from the wind, and +made themselves a hot pot of coffee, and ate a frugal lunch. Tom sat +up for a few minutes and the others were glad to see that the journey +had done him no harm, either physically or mentally. +</P> + +<P> +By the middle of the afternoon it was snowing again and they had all +they could do to keep to the trail. The old miner shook his head +dubiously. +</P> + +<P> +"Reckon as how we're up against it," was his comment. "If it gits much +wuss we'll have to look fer another shelter, boys." +</P> + +<P> +The wind had let up during the middle of the day, but now it commenced +to blow with a suddenness that was alarming. It sent the whirling snow +into their faces with pitiless fury and almost blinded them, while they +breathed with difficulty. +</P> + +<P> +"Got to git out o' this, an' mighty quick too!" gasped Jack Wumble. +</P> + +<P> +"Which way shall we turn, Jack?" questioned Dick. "I can't see at all." +</P> + +<P> +"I think thar's a woods below—let's strike fer that, lad. It will +mean shelter an' firewood, at least." +</P> + +<P> +They hurried on, pulling the long drag after them. They were in a +valley and suddenly they came to a broad patch of ice and Sam went +sprawling on his back. His brother helped him to arise, and onward +they went once more, but with added caution. +</P> + +<P> +"This must be a lake," said Dick, as, after traveling for some time, +they found the ice still under their feet. "Or else a river." +</P> + +<P> +"Can it be safe?" asked Sam. "Why, it wasn't frozen over four days +ago!" +</P> + +<P> +"We'll be careful," cried Wumble. "Even if it is hard enough, there +may be airholes around." +</P> + +<P> +The situation seemed to grow steadily worse. The wind blew so hard +that at times they were fairly carried along by it. The snow cut off +the view from all sides, so they could not determine in what direction +they were traveling. +</P> + +<P> +"Here's something ahead!" cried Wumble presently. "A hut—a miner's +hut!" +</P> + +<P> +"Let's get inside, just as quickly as we can," returned Sam, his teeth +chattering. "I'm mo—most frozen stiff!" +</P> + +<P> +The hut was on a small bank, evidently on the shore of the lake, or +river, on which they had been traveling. It was closed up tightly, and +a pounding on the door brought no response. +</P> + +<P> +"Nobuddy home, I reckon," said Jack Wumble. "Well, here goes to git +in," and he pushed on the door. +</P> + +<P> +It was not locked and swung inward, revealing a single room, about +twelve feet square and lit up by one small window. Opposite the door +was a fireplace, partly filled with cold ashes. On a shelf and on a +rude table rested some cooking utensils, and to one side of the hut was +a bunk containing some pine tree boughs and several old blankets. +</P> + +<P> +"Hello!" cried Dick. "Anybody in here?" +</P> + +<P> +There was no answer, and a quick look around convinced them that nobody +had been in the place for several days if not weeks. Yet on a shelf in +a rude locker were a number of stores—beans, coffee, a side of bacon, +and several other things. +</P> + +<P> +"Let us start a fire, first thing, and get thawed out," suggested Sam, +and this was done, the boys finding plenty of wood piled up behind the +hut. They had already brought Tom in from the drag and placed him in +the bunk, and now they closed the door. +</P> + +<P> +"In this awful blow, we'll have to watch that fire carefully," warned +Wumble. "Ef we don't, we may burn down the shebang over our heads." +</P> + +<P> +The blaze soon warmed them all up and even Tom said he felt better. +The boys looked over the stores in the cabin with interest. +</P> + +<P> +"What about touching these?" said Dick to the old miner. "Have we any +right to do it? Of course we'd pay for the things." +</P> + +<P> +"We won't touch 'em unless we have to, Dick. It ain't a question o' +pay in sech a spot as this. The owner may be comin' back 'and +dependin' on 'em. A man as wants grub won't part with it fer no amount +o' gold. Why, I've seen the time, in camp in winter, when a feller +wouldn't sell a quart o' plain beans fer a hundred dollars o' dust!" +</P> + +<P> +"Yes, I know that. All right, we'll leave the things alone." And Dick +sighed. How good an old fashion home dinner would have tasted to all +of them just then! +</P> + +<P> +The wind continued to howl, occasionally rocking the hut in a fashion +that alarmed them. Sam asked the old miner if there was any danger of +it being tipped over. +</P> + +<P> +"There is allers danger when the wind gits too high," was the reply. +</P> + +<P> +Presently the sparks commenced to blow out into the room and the wind +outside grew wilder and wilder. They stamped out the fire and sat +huddled together in the darkness, Tom with the rest, for he was now a +little stronger and did not want to remain alone. +</P> + +<P> +And then came a shock as paralyzing as it was appalling. The hut +seemed to be lifted into the air and whirled around. Then came a +crash, and the structure fell over on the ice and snow of the river, or +lake, below. The boys tumbled in a heap, with Jack Wumble on top of +them. Before they could get up, all felt themselves moving swiftly +along in a wind that was blowing little short of a tornado. All was +pitch black around them and to get up, or to do anything, was totally +out of the question. Sam started to ask Dick a question, when +something hit him on the head, and he fell back unconscious. +</P> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<A NAME="chap27"></A> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +CHAPTER XXVII +</H3> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +LOST IN THE FIELDS OF ICE +</H3> + +<P> +"Where in the world are we, Jack?" +</P> + +<P> +"Don't ask me, Dick! I reckon the wind must 'a' swept us up to the +North Pole!" +</P> + +<P> +"Tom, are you all right?" +</P> + +<P> +"Well, I'm here," came back faintly from the suffering one. "What did +we do, sail through the air?" +</P> + +<P> +"We sailed through something, Tom—and I guess we went about a mile a +minute, too. Where is Sam?" +</P> + +<P> +"I don't know," answered the old miner. "It's so snowy I can't see a +thing." +</P> + +<P> +"Sam! Sam!" yelled Dick, with as much force as he could command. +</P> + +<P> +There was no reply. If the youngest Rover was nearby he was in no +condition to answer the call. +</P> + +<P> +A full hour had elapsed since that terrific gust of wind had tumbled +the hut down on the river, for such the sheet of water proved to be. +Then had followed a tornado, or hurricane, or cyclone, the boys and the +old miner could not tell which. Hut and occupants had been carried +along the stream on the ice with the velocity of an express train. +From the river they had been swept out over a lake, and finally had +landed in a big bank of snow with a crash that had shattered the hut +into fragments. +</P> + +<P> +All had been so shaken up that for some minutes nobody could speak. +The old miner was the first to recover and he had stumbled around until +he found Dick, who was holding poor Tom in his arms. Both of the +brothers had been pretty well pounded, but were otherwise uninjured by +their thrilling experience. +</P> + +<P> +It was snowing again, the snow now coming down in regular "chunks" as +Dick said. The wind had gone down a little, but was still blowing +fiercely. All was dark around the remains of the hut. +</P> + +<P> +"Sam! Sam!" yelled Dick, again and again, and staggered around in the +snow, searching for the missing one. Then he landed on the ice of the +lake and went flat on his back, and Jack Wumble came after him. As +they picked themselves up they heard a faint cry and caught sight of +Sam, lying but a few yards away. +</P> + +<P> +"Are ye hurted any, lad?" asked Wumble, who was first at the youngest +Rover's side. +</P> + +<P> +"I—I don't know," gasped Sam. "Some—something struck me on th—the +head." +</P> + +<P> +With the assistance of the old miner and Dick he arose to his feet, and +all three staggered back to where Tom had been left. The ruins of the +hut rested against a snowbank, and, to get out of the wind, they +crawled between the logs and the snow. +</P> + +<P> +"This is the worst yet," was Dick's comment. "How are we ever to find +our way back to Dawson from here?" +</P> + +<P> +Nobody could answer that question. Just now they had all they could do +to keep warm. +</P> + +<P> +"You stay here while I take a little look around," said Jack Wumble, +presently. "I may learn somethin' wuth knowin'." +</P> + +<P> +"But don't get lost, Jack," cautioned Dick. +</P> + +<P> +"I'll be careful," was the answer. +</P> + +<P> +The old miner was gone less than ten minutes when he set up a shout. +</P> + +<P> +"What have you found?" asked Dick, quickly. +</P> + +<P> +"Here's a signboard," was the reply. "I reckon as how there's a trail +here. It says somethin', but I can't make it out." +</P> + +<P> +"Let's light a torch," suggested Sam, and this was done. They brushed +the snow from the signboard and read the following, printed in crude +letters: +</P> + +<H4 ALIGN="center"> +10 mILes to Sublers sTORes +</H4> + +<BR> + +<P> +Below this lettering was a crude drawing of a hand pointing up the lake. +</P> + +<P> +"Subler's Stores!" cried the old miner. "I've heard o' that place. +It's quite a depot for supplies. If we could only git thar we'd be all +right." +</P> + +<P> +"Let's try it," suggested Dick. "The wind is right down the lake, so +it will make traveling that much easier." +</P> + +<P> +They labored hard, in the darkness and wind, to construct a drag out of +the ruins of the hut. On this they placed Tom and also such of their +scanty traps and provisions as still remained to them. +</P> + +<P> +But once out on the lake, they realized that the task before them was +no easy one. Here the wind blew with terrific force, sending them +further and further away from the shore which they wanted to skirt. It +had stopped snowing and seemed to be growing colder. +</P> + +<P> +"I—I ca—can't stand this!" gasped Sam, after a while. "I'm +fr—freezing!" +</P> + +<P> +"So—so am I," answered Dick. "Tom, are you all right?" +</P> + +<P> +"I'm pretty co—cold," was the chattered-out reply. +</P> + +<P> +"We can't make it, I reckon," said the old miner, who was as chilled as +any of them. "We'll have to go ashore an' git out of the wind an' +build a fire to thaw out by." +</P> + +<P> +But getting ashore was out of the question. When they tried to turn +around the fierce wind fairly took their breath away. So they +continued to advance, the wind at times carrying them almost off their +feet. +</P> + +<P> +"We are on the ice and no mistake!" cried Dick, after a while. "See, +the wind has blown the snow completely away." +</P> + +<P> +He was right. All around them was the ice, dark and exceedingly +slippery. They seemed to be in the midst of a great field of it. +</P> + +<P> +"I don't know where I am now," said Jack Wumble. "We are lost." +</P> + +<P> +"Lost!" echoed Sam. +</P> + +<P> +"That's the truth of it, Sam," replied Dick. "We are lost right out +here on this ice." +</P> + +<P> +"But Subler's Stores?" +</P> + +<P> +"I haven't the least idea in what direction they are." +</P> + +<P> +"But if we follow the wind——?" +</P> + +<P> +"The wind seems to be changing. Just watch it." +</P> + +<P> +Dick was right, the wind was shifting, first in one direction, then in +another. +</P> + +<P> +"If we stay out here, we'll be frozen stiff," said Tom. As he could +not move around he felt the cold more than did the others. +</P> + +<P> +"Let us follow the wind—it is bound to bring us somewhere, and that is +better than staying here," said Dick, finally. +</P> + +<P> +For the want of something better to suggest, the others agreed, and on +they went once more, dragging Tom and their few traps and stores behind +them. +</P> + +<P> +Thus another hour passed. By this time they were so exhausted they +could scarcely stand. They staggered onward until Sam fell. He was so +weak the others had to assist him to arise. +</P> + +<P> +"I'm all in!" gasped the youngest Rover. "You go on and save +yourselves." +</P> + +<P> +"And leave you?" cried Dick. "Never! Sam, you know me better than +that," he added, reproachfully. +</P> + +<P> +"But, Dick, I—I can't walk another step!" +</P> + +<P> +"Then sit on the drag with Tom." +</P> + +<P> +"But you and Wumble——" +</P> + +<P> +"We'll pull ye somehow," said the old miner, grimly. "We ought to be +gittin' somewhar soon." +</P> + +<P> +It was now dark once more and snowing again. The wind had gone down a +trifle, but it still carried them forward, first in one direction and +then another. +</P> + +<P> +Presently the drag hit a series of rocks, covered with ice and snow. +Over it went, sending Tom and Sam sprawling. Dick and Wumble also +fell, for the way had suddenly grown uneven. +</P> + +<P> +"I think we are near the shore now," said Wumble. "Them rocks wouldn't +be likely to be out in the middle o' the lake." +</P> + +<P> +"I think I see something!" cried Dick. "Over yonder." +</P> + +<P> +With caution they advanced, and at last made out a small building, +located between a number of large rocks. All around the building was +snow and ice. +</P> + +<P> +"A light!" cried Jack Wumble. "Somebody is thar! This is the best +news yet." +</P> + +<P> +He stumbled through the snow and over the ice and rocks until he +reached the door of the cabin. He pounded loudly on the portal. +</P> + +<P> +"Who is there?" demanded a rough voice from within. +</P> + +<P> +"Friends," answered the old miner. "Let us in—we are 'most frozen to +death." +</P> + +<P> +"Who are you?" went on the voice from inside the cabin. "Be careful +now, I am armed." +</P> + +<P> +Cautiously the door to the cabin was opened and a very old man +appeared. He was armed with a shotgun, which he pointed at those +outside. +</P> + +<P> +"I can't see ye," he said, slowly. "Come a bit closer, but not too +clost, until I make sure who ye are." +</P> + +<P> +"Why, it's Tony Bings!" fairly shouted Jack Wumble. "How are ye, Tony? +Don't ye know me?" +</P> + +<P> +"Jack Wumble!" cried the old man. "How in the name o' fate did you git +here?" And he lowered his gun and opened wide the door of the cabin +for the old miner to enter. +</P> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<A NAME="chap28"></A> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +CHAPTER XXVIII +</H3> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +AT TONY BINGS'S CABIN +</H3> + +<P> +Tony Bings was an old miner who had spent several years in Colorado, +working close to Jack Wumble. The two knew each other well, and were +warm friends. +</P> + +<P> +"Come right in," said Tony Bings, when matters had been explained to +him. "It's a wonder ye ain't friz stiff, in sech a wind! It's been +a-blowin' great guns. Once or twice I thought the cabin was goin' +over." +</P> + +<P> +Tom was brought in and Sam followed, and both were placed near the +sheet iron stove of which Tony Bings's cabin boasted. Then the old +miner bustled about to get the whole party something to eat and to +drink. +</P> + +<P> +"I've got slathers o' stores," he told Jack Wumble, in answer to a +question on that point. "Got a good supply in durin' the summer. I +was out here last winter an' come near starvin' to de'th, an' I made up +my mind it shouldn't happen ag'in. So eat yer fill an' welcome." +</P> + +<P> +"We'll pay for all we use, Tony," answered Wumble. "These chaps with +me are rich," he added, in a whisper. +</P> + +<P> +"At first I thought it might be some good-fer nuthin' fellers from up +the mountains," went on Tony Bings. "Once in a while they come here +and git things an' don't pay for 'em. If they come ag'in, I'll shoot +'em," he went on, with determination. +</P> + +<P> +He listened with interest to the story the others had to relate, and +was not surprised when he learned how the old hut had been tossed over +by the tornado and carried along on the ice. He said his own shelter +was protected by the rocks around it and also by the heavy stones which +he had placed on the roof. +</P> + +<P> +All of the newcomers were so exhausted that after eating their fill +they were glad enough to lie down and rest. Tony Bings told them not +to worry—that he would stay awake, to tend the fire and watch out +generally. +</P> + +<P> +"You ain't nowhere near Subler's Stores," he told Dick. "You got off +the track entirely. Instead of going towards Dawson you've been goin' +away from it." +</P> + +<P> +All of the boys and Jack Wumble slept soundly that night. Tony Bings +did not arouse them and consequently it was long past daylight when +they opened their eyes. +</P> + +<P> +When Dick came to the window of the cabin to look out he uttered a cry +of surprise. The sun was shining and all around could be seen immense +stretches of ice and snow. It looked as if they were in the midst of +desolation. +</P> + +<P> +"What a change from a week ago!" he said to Sam. +</P> + +<P> +"A fellow could hardly believe it, Dick," was the reply. +</P> + +<P> +"How do you feel?" went on the big brother. +</P> + +<P> +"All right, only somewhat stiff." +</P> + +<P> +Tom was still asleep. When he awoke the brothers were worried to see +that he did not seem to be as clear in his mind as he had been the day +before. +</P> + +<P> +"Where is Ike Furner?" he asked, suddenly. "Say, I've got to be on my +way, if I am going to get those nuggets of gold." +</P> + +<P> +"Tom, take it easy," begged Dick. "Don't you remember me?" And he +looked his brother full in the eyes. +</P> + +<P> +"Sure I know you, Dick," was the wondering answer. "Why do you ask me +such a question? Let me see, what was I saying?" Tom put his hand to +his forehead. "Hang it all, it's slipped my mind entirely," he groaned. +</P> + +<P> +"Never mind, Tom, let it go. You just think of Sam and me, and the +folks at home. And don't forget Nellie," Dick added, in a whisper. +</P> + +<P> +"Nellie!" gasped the sufferer. "Oh, yes, Nellie! As if I could ever +forget her! Say, Dick, how soon will I see her, do you suppose?" +</P> + +<P> +"I'll send for her as soon as we get home, Tom." +</P> + +<P> +"And when will that be?" +</P> + +<P> +"Oh, not so very long. Now do keep quiet. And don't think of anything +but just home and Nellie," he added, pleadingly. +</P> + +<P> +"All right, I'll do just as you want me to," returned Tom, and then +laid back and was silent. +</P> + +<P> +Sam had listened to what was going on and now he and Dick walked to the +far end of the cabin, to talk in whispers. +</P> + +<P> +"He isn't over it yet, Sam. And it almost looks as if he never would +get over it, that is, altogether." Dick's face showed his deep concern. +</P> + +<P> +"Oh, Dick, don't say that! He's got to get over it! Oh, if only we +could get some first class doctor to do something!" +</P> + +<P> +"Well, we've got to get to some city first—Dawson or some other place." +</P> + +<P> +"Here is news!" cried Jack Wumble, coming forward at that instant. +"Tony tells me that there will be a party going through to Dawson +inside of a week or ten days. He advises that we wait till they go and +go with 'em." +</P> + +<P> +"It will be much safer," said Tony Bings "It's a fearful journey +alone—in sech weather." +</P> + +<P> +"Who are those folks who are going?" asked Dick. +</P> + +<P> +"One of the men who run the Yukon Supply Depot at Crovet, twenty-four +miles from here. He will come along with four or five of his helpers, +and most likely a dog train, and he always stops here." +</P> + +<P> +"That will be all right—but a week or ten days—that's a long time to +wait," and Dick sighed. +</P> + +<P> +After that Tony Bings told his story, how he had come to that +neighborhood and "struck it rich," as he confided to Jack Wumble. He +was very enthusiastic about the diggings back of his cabin, and in the +end got Wumble to promise to join him in his hunt for gold in the +Spring. +</P> + +<P> +"I've heard o' sech cases," he told the boys, after learning about +Tom's trouble. "It's too bad! I sure do hope your brother will git +over it. It ain't nice to have a crazy pusson in the family." +</P> + +<P> +After that several days went by slowly. At times Tom seemed to improve +and then he would sink back, sometimes becoming quite wild, so the +others had to watch him closely. But he grew stronger physically, +which was something to be thankful for. +</P> + +<P> +On the third day it started to snow again, and this kept up for +twenty-four hours. It was as cold as ever, and the sheet iron stove +was kept almost red hot, so that the party, and especially Tom, might +not take cold. +</P> + +<P> +On the next morning, much to the surprise of everybody, Tom got up and +insisted on walking around the cabin. +</P> + +<P> +"I feel almost well," he told his brothers. "But I'd give a good deal +to be home." +</P> + +<P> +That afternoon came a great shouting, and the cracking of whips outside +the cabin. At once Tony Bings's face lit up. +</P> + +<P> +"It's the men from the Supply Depot!" he cried. "I reckon it's +Schmidt." +</P> + +<P> +"Hello, in dare!" was the cry. "Vos you alife alretty, Tony? Vy can't +you oben der door und let a feller in, ain't it?" +</P> + +<P> +"Hello, Gus!" answered the owner of the cabin, and threw open the door, +and in bustled a big, fat German, heavily clad, and wearing thick +gloves and ear-warmers. The newcomer stared in astonishment at the +Rovers and Jack Wumble. +</P> + +<P> +"Sure und I tidn't know you vos have combany, Tony," said Gus Schmidt. +</P> + +<P> +"My friends," said the old miner, and introduced them. "Tell yer men +to come in, and welcome," he went on, and Schmidt went to the door, and +called to three men who were with him. They drove up with several dog +teams, which they were taking to Dawson for supplies that had come up +to that city by way of the Yukon River. +</P> + +<P> +Gus Schmidt, despite his rather uncouth manner, was a whole-souled man, +and Dick and the others took to him at once. He listened gravely to +the story they had to tell, and readily agreed to take the Rovers and +Jack Wumble with him. Wumble was invited by Tony Bings to remain at +the cabin for the winter, but said he would first see the Rovers as far +as Dawson, and visit his own claim, and then would return with +Schmidt's party. +</P> + +<P> +Of the newcomers one was a German like Schmidt and the other two were +Canadians. The latter knew all about the dogs and dog sleds, managing +the rather savage animals with scarcely an effort. The dogs had +originally belonged to some Alaskan Indians and had cost the owners of +the Supply Depot considerable money. +</P> + +<P> +The start for Dawson, so many miles away, was made on the following +morning. The boys and Jack Wumble shook hands with Tony Bings, who +refused point blank to accept any money for what he had done for them. +Tom was placed on one of the best of the big sleds and made as +comfortable as circumstances permitted. +</P> + +<P> +"All apoardt!" cried Gus Schmidt, gaily, and cracked the long whip he +carried. The Canadians understood and cracked their own whips, and +away went the whole party, over the fields of ice and snow, in the +direction of Dawson. +</P> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<A NAME="chap29"></A> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +CHAPTER XXIX +</H3> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +TOM'S WILD RIDE +</H3> + +<P> +"Talk about fields of ice, Dick! Just look around us!" +</P> + +<P> +It was Sam who spoke. The party had come to a halt for the midday +meal. They had stopped in the shelter of some big rocks, now thickly +covered with snow and ice. +</P> + +<P> +Snow and ice were on all sides—the latter glistening brightly in the +sunshine. It was a wonderful transformation from the green and brown +that had decked the landscape before winter had set in so suddenly. +</P> + +<P> +"I'd hate to be out in this alone," remarked the big brother. "A +fellow could get lost without half trying." +</P> + +<P> +"Dick, what do you think of Tom?" went on Sam, in a lower tone. +</P> + +<P> +"He's in a bad way again, Sam," was the reply. "Poor fellow! If only +we had him where we could place him under the care of some good doctor, +some specialist. That is what he needs." +</P> + +<P> +Tom was indeed in a bad way. All morning he had talked in a rambling +fashion, to himself and to the others around him. The Canadians were +getting afraid of him and the Germans shrugged their shoulders. +</P> + +<P> +"I dink he besser peen in an asylum, ain't it," said Gus Schmidt. "A +feller can't vos dell vot such a feller vos going to do next alretty!" +</P> + +<P> +"We'll have to watch him," had been Dick's answer. +</P> + +<P> +One of the Canadians was preparing dinner, aided by one of the Germans. +To show that they did not wish to shirk any camp duties, Sam and Dick +did what they could to assist. The dogs and the sleds were off to one +side. Tom sat on one sled, wrapped in heavy blankets, for it was still +very cold. +</P> + +<P> +Suddenly there came a wild shout from the Canadian who was doing the +cooking. With a saucepan he pointed to the dogs and sleds. All of the +others gazed in that direction and Sam and Dick set up a cry of alarm. +</P> + +<P> +And well they might, for the sight that met their eyes filled them with +fear. In some way Tom had gotten one of the sleds with its dogs away +from the others and jumped aboard. With a crack of a whip he was off, +standing on the sled and yelling like a demon. +</P> + +<P> +"Tom! Tom! Stop!" screamed Dick and Sam in unison. "Come back here!" +</P> + +<P> +"I'm off for gold! Nuggets of gold!" yelled the one who was not right +in his mind. "Don't you dare to follow me! Off for gold! Gold! +Gold!" And then the sled with its rider passed out of hearing, the +dogs doing their best, urged on by the continued cracking of the long +whip. +</P> + +<P> +"We must catch him!" said Dick. "Quick! before he gets out of sight +over some hill, or around some rocks!" +</P> + +<P> +"He has der pest sled und der pest dogs!" groaned Gus Schmidt. "I said +ve must keep an eye on him, yah! Of he busts dot sled somepody got to +pay for him!" +</P> + +<P> +"We'll pay, never fear," answered Sam. "But we must catch him! We +don't want him to get hurt." +</P> + +<P> +"You come mit me," said the leader of the outfit, motioning to Dick. +"It ain't no use for all of us to go after him. De udders da stay +right here. Ludvig, you hear?" +</P> + +<P> +"Yah," came from the other German, and he nodded his head. +</P> + +<P> +In a few minutes Gus Schmidt had one of the other dog teams ready for +use. He was about to jump on the sled when he paused. +</P> + +<P> +"Besser ve took somedings along," he suggested. "Somedings to eat und +to trink, hey? Und some plankets, yah?" and he commenced to haul over +the packs. +</P> + +<P> +"Why, do you think the chase will be a long one?" asked Dick, anxiously. +</P> + +<P> +"I can't vos tell dot. Mebbe him peen long. Dem vos schmart togs, I +tole you dot." +</P> + +<P> +A pack containing food and blankets was hastily thrown together and +strapped to the sled. Then Dick was assigned a place and Gus Schmidt +hopped aboard. +</P> + +<P> +"Of ve ton't got back tonight go on to Riss Rifer," he directed the +others. +</P> + +<P> +"Good-by, Dick, and good luck!" called out Sam, and Jack Wumble waved +his hand. +</P> + +<P> +"You take care of yourself, Sam," was the brother's parting caution. +</P> + +<P> +The dog sleds had done some fairly fast traveling before, but the rate +of speed now set by Gus Schmidt almost took away Dick's breath. On and +on bounded the sled, the dogs yelping wildly at first, but then +settling down to a steady pace. Up one hill awl down another they +dashed, sending the loose snow flying in all directions. Soon the camp +was left out of sight, even the smoke gradually disappearing from view. +</P> + +<P> +Tom and his outfit were nowhere to be seen, having long since passed +over a hill to the northward. Gus Schmidt had, however, noted the +direction with care. He had noted, too, that the runaway had taken a +somewhat curved course, and now he attempted to catch him by taking a +straight route for the same point. +</P> + +<P> +For over an hour the chase kept up, and then, reaching the top of a +long hill, they saw, far to the northward, a dog sled moving to the +eastward. +</P> + +<P> +"I dink I got him now!" cried Gus Schmidt, and once more he cracked his +long whip and again his team bounded forward. Quarter of an hour +passed and they drew closer to the other team, and then both the German +and Dick set up a cry of dismay. +</P> + +<P> +It was not the sled on which Tom had run away. The dogs were different +and on the sled sat two men, strangers. +</P> + +<P> +"Yes, we saw the sled you are after," said one of the men, when the +others had come up and put a question to him and his companion. "It +passed us, going like the wind and the driver yelling like a madman." +</P> + +<P> +"And how was it headed?" +</P> + +<P> +"About due North," answered the other man on the sled. And then he and +his companion moved forward again. +</P> + +<P> +"I dink ve haf to go pack und look for der tracks," said Gus Schmidt. +"Too pad, dot vosn't our sled, ain't it?" +</P> + +<P> +The team was turned back, and for the best part of half an hour they +looked for the missing trail. At last it was discovered, and once more +they moved rapidly forward, this time due North. +</P> + +<P> +Fortunately there was little wind, otherwise Dick could not have stood +that long and wild ride. As it was, he felt chilled to the bone, and +his feet were like two lumps of ice. Gus Schmidt must have surmised +this, for presently he stopped the sled and motioned to the youth. +</P> + +<P> +"Ve git off und rundt a leetle. It vos do us goot," he remarked, and +swung himself down on the icy snow. Dick followed, so stiff at first +that he could scarcely put one foot before the other. They set off on +a walk, the dogs pulling them, and gradually increased their speed to a +run. +</P> + +<P> +Then Dick felt better. +</P> + +<P> +All through the afternoon the chase kept up. They saw nothing of Tom. +But the track he had left was a plain one and to that they stuck +closely. +</P> + +<P> +At last it grew so dark that they could see the track but indistinctly. +They had to reduce their speed to a walk for fear of turning off. +</P> + +<P> +"He ought to be stopping for the night," said Dick. +</P> + +<P> +"Such a feller might not sthop at all," answered the German. "He might +go on und on bis der togs trop dead, yah!" +</P> + +<P> +Finally Gus Schmidt came to a halt and announced that they must go into +camp for the night. The dogs needed the rest. They could continue the +chase at the first sign of dawn. +</P> + +<P> +"Do you know where we are?" asked Dick. +</P> + +<P> +"Out in der ice und snow, dot ist all I know," said the German. "I +nefer vos here pefore." +</P> + +<P> +"If we are not lost we are next door to it," murmured Dick. +</P> + +<P> +They had brought along a little tent and sleeping bags, and after +supper made themselves as comfortable as possible. The dogs had been +fed and they snapped and snarled over the bones thrown to them. +</P> + +<P> +Only once during the night were Dick and his companion disturbed. From +a distance came a yelping which the dogs at once answered. +</P> + +<P> +"What is that?" asked the youth, sitting up. "Not the dogs of the +other sled?" +</P> + +<P> +"Nein, dot vos foxes," answered Gus Schmidt. "Ton't podder mit dem. +Da ton't come here—da vos afraid of ter dogs." And he turned over to +go to sleep again. +</P> + +<P> +Dick could not sleep with any kind of comfort. He was utterly +exhausted, yet his mind was continually on Tom. What was his poor +brother doing, all by himself, amid that desolation of ice and snow? +</P> + +<P> +At daybreak they were on the way again. The sun had come up, but soon +it was hidden by a heavy bank of clouds, and then the snowflakes +commenced to fall. +</P> + +<P> +"Dot ist pad," said Gus Schmidt, shaking his head. +</P> + +<P> +"You mean, it will wipe out the trail?" said Dick. +</P> + +<P> +"Yah—der drail to find your prudder und der drail for us to git pack +py. Maype ve besser go pack now." +</P> + +<P> +"No! no! don't turn back! Please don't go back!" pleaded Dick. "He +can't be so very far ahead of us. We are sure to catch up to him in a +very short while now. If we——" +</P> + +<P> +Dick did not finish, for a strange sight ahead caught his eye. Coming +towards them was a dog team on a gallop. Behind the team was an +overturned sled, empty. +</P> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<A NAME="chap30"></A> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +CHAPTER XXX +</H3> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +GOOD-BYE TO ALASKA—CONCLUSION +</H3> + +<P> +"Is that your sled?" +</P> + +<P> +"Yah. Vait, I vos sthop dem!" yelled Gus Schmidt, and with a dexterity +that was really marvelous he turned his own team about and in a few +seconds was traveling after the runaways. +</P> + +<P> +"Wait! I'm going to get off! To look for my brother!" cried Dick, and +as the German slackened his speed for a few seconds, the oldest Rover +boy sprang out in the snow. He went sprawling, but was not injured. +Almost before he knew it, the two sleds had disappeared and he was left +alone. +</P> + +<P> +All around him were the vast and mysterious fields of ice and snow. +Far off he could hear the barking of the dogs, but this soon died out, +and then came utter silence—a silence that seemed to fairly weigh him +down. And now the snow started to come down harder than ever. +</P> + +<P> +Had Dick Rover been less stout-hearted than he was he would have then +and there given up the hunt for his brother. But Dick had the stuff of +a real hero in him, and he went forward through the snow, bending low +to escape the wind and to keep his eyes on that slowly disappearing +trail. +</P> + +<P> +Thus half an hour went by, and by that time, weighed down as he was by +his heavy clothing and heavy footwear, Dick was well-nigh exhausted. +He stopped to rest and to get his breath, and then, struck with a +sudden idea, let out that old familiar locomotive whistle of Putnam +Hall fame. +</P> + +<P> +He waited for a few seconds and then whistled once more. Was he +mistaken, or did an answering whistle sound out? He could not tell. +He set his face grimly and trudged on. +</P> + +<P> +At last he could see the trail no longer and then he realized the truth +of the terrible situation. +</P> + +<P> +He was lost on this vast field of ice and snow! +</P> + +<P> +And Tom, somewhere ahead, must be lost, too! +</P> + +<P> +It was a thought to make the stoutest heart quake. But Dick did not +think of himself. He was thinking only of his brother. How could he +locate Tom and save him from the cold and from starvation? +</P> + +<P> +"I've got to do it!" he told himself, over and over again. "I've got +to do it! I must! I must!" +</P> + +<P> +On and on he plunged, and suddenly went sprawling over some object half +hidden in the falling snow. He felt around, and realized that he had +come upon the two packs that had been on the sled Tom had taken. +</P> + +<P> +"If they fell off here maybe Tom fell off, too!" he told himself. And +then he commenced to search the vicinity carefully. +</P> + +<P> +It was well that he did this, otherwise he might have missed poor Tom, +who lay in a slight hollow, partly covered with snow. The sled had hit +a rock and the poor youth had been flung out with great force, landing +on one shoulder and on his head. +</P> + +<P> +"Tom! Tom! Are you alive? Answer me!" cried Dick, as he raised his +brother in his arms. But no reply came from Tom's lips. He was +unconscious. +</P> + +<P> +With all the strength that remained to him, Dick carried his brother to +the spot where he had found the traps. Then he quickly undid the +bundles, to see if there was anything there he might use. He found a +tiny oil stove, filled with oil, and lit it, and then rolled Tom in two +blankets, and gave him something hot to drink. Then he found a stick +of wood, soaked it well in oil, and set it up in the ice as a torch. +</P> + +<P> +All this while Tom lay like a log. He was breathing heavily, but he +did not open his eyes or speak. Evidently the shock had been a heavy +one. Dick did not know but what some of his brother's bones might be +broken. +</P> + +<P> +An anxious hour went by, and in that time Dick did all he could for +Tom, who still laid in a stupor. Then came a shout, and Gus Schmidt +appeared, driving his dog team and with the runaway team also in +harness. Behind the first sled was the second—the one Tom had taken. +</P> + +<P> +"So you got your brudder, hey?" said the German. "How vos he?" +</P> + +<P> +"In bad shape, I'm afraid," answered Dick, soberly. "I guess the dogs +ran away and pitched him overboard." +</P> + +<P> +"I dink you vos right, und da drow dem dings oferpoard, doo," and +Schmidt, pointed to the traps. "Veil, it's goot ve got der draps und +er sled pack." +</P> + +<P> +"Can we get back to the others tonight?" +</P> + +<P> +"Nein, it was too dark und cold. Ve go in der morning, to Riss Rifer. +Maybe dare you got a doctor, yah." +</P> + +<P> +So it was settled, and the German proceeded to make himself and the +others as comfortable as possible. He prepared something to eat, and +suggested that Tom be given a little broth, made out of some dried +meat. This was done, and presently the sufferer opened his eyes and +tried to sit up. +</P> + +<P> +"Whe—where in th—the world am I?" he asked, in a faint voice. +</P> + +<P> +"Tom, you're all right," answered his brother, soothingly. "Do you +know me?" +</P> + +<P> +"Why, of course I know you," came the wondering answer. "What happened +to me, Dick?" +</P> + +<P> +"You ran off with a dog sled and got a nasty tumble." +</P> + +<P> +"A dog sled? Dick, you are stringing me? Who's got a dog sled around +Brill?" +</P> + +<P> +"Never mind, Tom, just keep quiet. You're very sick. Just rest +yourself." +</P> + +<P> +"All right." Tom heaved a deep sigh. "Gosh! I do feel pretty bad!" +he added. He had tried to sit up, but now fell back exhausted. +</P> + +<P> +It was a night never to be forgotten. The German snored peacefully, +but Dick did not close his eyes. He watched Tom closely, to do all he +could for his brother and make certain that the sufferer should not get +away again. +</P> + +<P> +During the night it stopped snowing and in the morning the sun came out +as brightly as ever. Dick was astir early, and was gratified to see +that Tom was sleeping peacefully. They did not awaken the sufferer +until Gus Schmidt announced himself ready to move on. +</P> + +<P> +Tom was still very weak, but Dick was gratified to see that he appeared +to be in his right mind, and his eyes were brighter than they had been +in many a day. +</P> + +<P> +"I can't understand this," he said, when he was bundled up and placed +on one of the sleds. "I feel as if I had had some awful dream." +</P> + +<P> +"So you have had, Tom," was Dick's reply. "And I want you to be +careful, so that that awful dream doesn't come back." +</P> + +<P> +"But where are we, Dick?" +</P> + +<P> +"In Alaska, Tom. Now do keep quiet, please." +</P> + +<P> +"Alaska! Well, I never!" murmured the sufferer. "And I thought we +were near Brill, or the farm!" +</P> + +<P> +The two boys occupied the rear sled with one of the bundles, while Gus +Schmidt did the driving from the other sled and carried the rest of the +traps. On and on they went, mile after mile, the German driving the +dogs with great skill. They passed over hill after hill, and over vast +expanses of ice and snow. At noon they rested half an hour for lunch. +Tom tried to stand up, but was too weak. +</P> + +<P> +"It's no use, Dick," he said. "I'm about as strong as a bowl of mush! +I guess I need about a month's rest." +</P> + +<P> +"And you are going to get it, Tom, as soon as we can get home," replied +his brother. +</P> + +<P> +"But I don't understand how I got here," went on the sufferer, in +perplexity. +</P> + +<P> +"I'll tell you all about it some day, Tom. But now you must keep +quiet. Won't you, just to please me?" +</P> + +<P> +"Sure—anything you say, Dick. I know something is wrong somewhere. +But I'll leave it all to you." +</P> + +<P> +Late that evening they reached the Riss River, a small stream flowing +into the mighty Yukon. They passed along the river bank until they +reached a settlement known as Boyer's. Here they found Sam and the +others of the expedition. +</P> + +<P> +"So yer got Tom!" cried Jack Wumble. "Good enough!" +</P> + +<P> +"And how is he?'" questioned Sam, anxiously. +</P> + +<P> +"He's been hurt, Sam. But I think he is brighter in his mind than +ever," answered Dick. +</P> + +<P> +The Rovers found a great bustle and confusion going on at Boyer's +depot, due to the fact that a steamer coming down the river from Dawson +was due the next morning. It was to be the last vessel to pass that +way until Spring. +</P> + +<P> +"Where is that steamer bound for?" asked Dick, of the man who had +charge of the depot. +</P> + +<P> +"San Francisco." +</P> + +<P> +"Can we secure passage on her, do you think?" +</P> + +<P> +"I reckon so. Travel is light this time of year. That boat is going +to have some trouble getting through the ice, though." +</P> + +<P> +"We'll risk that—if only they will take us on board." +</P> + +<P> +The party was made as comfortable as possible at Boyer's, sharing +various bunks in a cabin that chanced to be deserted. Dick settled up +with Gus Schmidt, stating he would not go on to Dawson if he could +secure passage on the steamer. +</P> + +<P> +At last the vessel came in, and after the general hubub was over Dick +inquired about accommodations. +</P> + +<P> +"Pretty full, but I think we can stow you away somewhere," said the +purser. +</P> + +<P> +"I don't care what sort of accommodations we have, so long as my +brother gets a stateroom," went on Dick. "He isn't very well." +</P> + +<P> +"Bring your baggage aboard, and I'll fix you up somehow, later on." +</P> + +<P> +The boys went aboard the steamer and there bid farewell to Jack Wumble. +They had left some things at Dawson, and these they turned over, on a +written order, to the old miner, telling him to do as he pleased with +them. +</P> + +<P> +"Good-bye to ye!" cried Wumble, on parting. "An' good luck," he added, +and shook hands all around. +</P> + +<P> +After the rough experiences in the wilds of Alaska, the boys felt quite +at home on the big steamer. The purser managed to find a large +stateroom for them, containing three berths. And, what was even +better, he introduced Dick and Sam to a doctor who chanced to be on +board. The physician was a man of experience, who lived in San +Francisco, and he readily agreed to take Tom under his care and do all +he could for the sufferer. +</P> + +<P> +"I think all he needs is rest—absolute rest," said the doctor, after +an examination. "He ought not to go to college again—at least, not +for a year or two." +</P> + +<P> +"It's hard to keep him quiet, Doctor—he has always been such a lively +fellow—the liveliest boy in our family," said Dick. +</P> + +<P> +"Well, then, let him travel. Anything to keep his mind from his books +and from himself." +</P> + +<P> +The voyage down the mighty Yukon to Bering Sea and the Pacific Ocean +was a long and tedious one to Dick and Sam. For several days the +steamer had a hard time of it, crushing her way through the ice, which +was rapidly forming. In a few days more navigation would be completely +closed, so far as that portion of our globe was concerned. +</P> + +<P> +"We got out just in time," said Dick to Sam, when the Yukon was at last +left behind and they saw ahead of them the blue waters of Bering Sea. +</P> + +<P> +The trip on the ocean seemed to do Tom a world of good. Daily he grew +stronger, until he could walk on deck. The doctor attended him from +time to time, but gave the sufferer little medicine. +</P> + +<P> +As soon as it was possible to do so, Dick sent a wireless message +ashore, to be relayed to the farm, telling the folks that Tom was safe +and that all hands would soon be back at Valley Brook. This message +was also sent, by way of the farm, to Mrs. Stanhope and Dora, and to +the girls at Hope. +</P> + +<P> +"My gracious, what adventures we have had on this trip!" remarked Sam +to Dick, as the steamer was headed for the Golden Gate, the entrance to +San Francisco harbor. +</P> + +<P> +"Right you are, Sam," was the reply. "I don't think we'll have any +more so strenuous." But Dick was mistaken. More adventures were still +in store for the Rovers, and what some of them were will be related in +the next volume of this series, to be entitled "The Rover Boys in +Business; Or, The Search for the Missing Bonds." +</P> + +<P> +On the arrival at San Francisco it was deemed advisable by the doctor +that Tom rest for a few days at a hotel before starting on the trip for +home. Tom's mind now seemed to be as clear as ever and all his +weakness was physical. +</P> + +<P> +One day, when Dick was reading a local newspaper, he chanced on a +paragraph that instantly arrested his attention. He read it carefully +and then sought out Sam. +</P> + +<P> +"Look here," he cried. "Here is news about that lady on the train who +lost her handbag with jewelry in it worth ten thousand dollars." +</P> + +<P> +"What about it?" asked Sam, with interest. +</P> + +<P> +"She didn't lose it at all, it seems. Her mother, who was with her, +took it and absent-mindedly hid it in their berth. There a porter +found it and turned it over to the railroad company." +</P> + +<P> +"Well, that clears Tom of that," said Sam, with a sigh of relief. "But +what of Hiram Duff's money and jewelry?" +</P> + +<P> +"That still remains to be found out, Sam. I guess Tom took it—but of +course he didn't know what he was doing. You can't count such a thing +a crime when a fellow is out of his mind." In the end, it may be as +well to state here, this mystery was never fully explained. But the +Rover family paid the old miser for his loss, and for what he had +suffered in being locked down in his cellar; and there the matter was +dropped. +</P> + +<P> +Tom stood the journey to Valley Brook better than expected. At the Oak +Run railroad station the family touring car was drawn up, with Jack +Ness, the hired man, in charge. The boys' father was there to greet +them. +</P> + +<P> +"My boys! My boys!" he said, and the tears stood in his eyes. Then he +folded poor Tom in his arms and led him to the touring car. And there +a surprise awaited the sufferer. Nellie was there, having arrived the +day before from Hope. +</P> + +<P> +"I just had to come," she said, and then she caught Tom and held him +tightly. The tears were streaming down her cheeks, and the others had +to turn away. "Oh, Tom! Tom!" she murmured, over and over again. +</P> + +<P> +"Oh, Nellie, don't make such a fuss! I'm not worth it!" murmured Tom, +but, nevertheless, he looked greatly pleased. "I've had a—an +awful—dream," he went on, slowly. "But I'm—well, I'm not going to +dream that way again—not if I can help it!" And he gave her a look +that thrilled her through and through. +</P> + +<P> +There was another warm welcome when the touring car reached the farm. +Uncle Randolph and Aunt Martha were on the piazza to meet the boys. +Aunt Martha shed tears over Tom, just as Nellie had done, but they were +tears of joy and nobody minded them. Uncle Randolph shook hands, and +told them all to come in out of the cold, and rubbed his own hands +together in great satisfaction. +</P> + +<P> +"Home again!" murmured Tom, when he stood in the great hallway. He +gave a deep sniff. "And a good dinner! Aunt Martha, you know how to +make us feel comfortable, don't you?" He gave her one of his old-time +hugs. His eyes were as clear as they had ever been. Evidently he was +fast becoming the Tom of old. His running away from Brill, and his +trip to Alaska, were but a horrible, uncertain nightmare to him. He +did not want to remember those days, and they were best forgotten. +</P> + +<P> +"And how do you feel, Dad?" asked Dick, as soon as he could get the +chance. +</P> + +<P> +"Better than in many a day," returned Anderson Rover. +</P> + +<P> +"And what is the news from New York?" +</P> + +<P> +"Everything is going along well. We have those brokers just where we +want them." +</P> + +<P> +"Good! That is what I like to hear," and Dick's face showed his +satisfaction. +</P> + +<P> +"I've got more news, Dick, that you will like to hear," said his +father, with a faint smile. +</P> + +<P> +"What is that?" +</P> + +<P> +"Dora telegraphed that she would be here tonight." +</P> + +<P> +"Fine!" +</P> + +<P> +"Well, we certainly had a great trip," said Sam, when the whole family +and Nellie were gathered around the dining table. "But I don't know as +I want to take it over again." +</P> + +<P> +"Hardly," returned his big brother. +</P> + +<P CLASS="finis"> +THE END +</P> + +<BR><BR> + +<HR> + +<BR><BR> + +<A NAME="chap31"></A> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +FAMOUS ROVER BOYS SERIES +</H3> + +<H4 ALIGN="center"> +BY ARTHUR M. WINFIELD +<BR> +(Edward Stratemeyer) +</H4> + +<H4 ALIGN="center"> +OVER THREE MILLION COPIES SOLD OF THIS SERIES. +</H4> + +<P CLASS="noindent"> +Uniform Style of Binding. Colored Wrappers. Every Volume Complete in +Itself. +</P> + +<P CLASS="noindent"> +THE ROVER BOYS AT SCHOOL<BR> +THE ROVER BOYS ON THE OCEAN<BR> +THE ROVER BOYS IN THE JUNGLE<BR> +THE ROVER BOYS OUT WEST<BR> +THE ROVER BOYS ON THE GREAT LAKES<BR> +THE ROVER BOYS IN THE MOUNTAINS<BR> +THE ROVER BOYS ON LAND AND SEA<BR> +THE ROVER BOYS IN CAMP<BR> +THE ROVER BOYS ON THE RIVER<BR> +THE ROVER BOYS ON THE PLAINS<BR> +THE ROVER BOYS IN SOUTHERN WATERS<BR> +THE ROVER BOYS ON THE FARM<BR> +THE ROVER BOYS ON TREASURE ISLE<BR> +THE ROVER BOYS AT COLLEGE<BR> +THE ROVER BOYS DOWN EAST<BR> +THE ROVER BOYS IN THE AIR<BR> +THE ROVER BOYS IN NEW YORK<BR> +THE ROVER BOYS IN ALASKA<BR> +THE ROVER BOYS IN BUSINESS<BR> +THE ROVER BOYS ON A TOUR<BR> +THE ROVER BOYS AT COLBY HALL<BR> +THE ROVER BOYS ON SNOWSHOE ISLAND<BR> +THE ROVER BOYS UNDER CANVAS<BR> +THE ROVER BOYS ON A HUNT<BR> +THE ROVER BOYS IN THE LAND OF LUCK<BR> +THE ROVER BOYS AT BIG HORN RANCH<BR> +THE ROVER BOYS AT BIG BEAR LAKE<BR> +THE ROVER BOYS SHIPWRECKED<BR> +THE ROVER BOYS ON SUNSET TRAIL<BR> +THE ROVER BOYS WINNING A FORTUNE<BR> +</P> + +<P CLASS="noindent"> +GROSSET & DUNLAP, PUBLISHERS, NEW YORK +</P> + +<BR><BR> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +THE PUTNAM HALL STORIES +</H3> + +<H4 ALIGN="center"> +Companion Stories to the Famous Rover Boys Series +</H4> + +<H4 ALIGN="center"> +By ARTHUR M. WINFIELD +<BR> +(Edward Stratemeyer) +</H4> + +<P CLASS="noindent"> +Uniform Style of Binding. Individual Colored Wrappers. +</P> + +<BR> + +<P> +Being the adventures of lively young fellows at a Military Academy. +Open air sports have always been popular with boys and these stories +that mingle adventure with fact will appeal to every manly boy. +</P> + +<P CLASS="noindent"> +THE MYSTERY OF PUTNAM HALL;<BR>Or, The School Chums' Strange Discovery. +</P> + +<P> +The particulars of the mystery and the solution of it are very +interesting. +</P> + +<P CLASS="noindent"> +CAMPING OUT DAYS AT PUTNAM HALL;<BR>Or, The Secret of the Old Mill. +</P> + +<P> +A story full of fun and vigor, telling what the cadets did during the +summer encampment, including a visit to the mysterious old mill, said +to be haunted. The book has a wealth of fun in it. +</P> + +<P CLASS="noindent"> +THE REBELLION AT PUTNAM HALL;<BR>Or, The Rival Runaways. +</P> + +<P> +The boys had good reasons for running away during Captain Putnam's +absence. They had plenty of fun and several queer adventures. +</P> + +<P CLASS="noindent"> +THE CHAMPIONS OF PUTNAM HALL;<BR>Or, Bound to Win Out. +</P> + +<P> +In this volume the Cadets of Putnam Hall show what they can do in +various keen rivalries on the athletic field and elsewhere. There is +one victory which leads to a most unlooked-for discovery. +</P> + +<P CLASS="noindent"> +THE CADETS OF PUTNAM HALL;<BR>Or, Good Times in School and Out. +</P> + +<P> +The cadets are lively, flesh-and-blood fellows, bound to make friends +from the start. There are some keen rivalries, in school and out, and +something is told of a remarkable midnight feast and a hazing with an +unexpected ending. +</P> + +<P CLASS="noindent"> +THE RIVALS OF PUTNAM HALL;<BR>Or, Fun and Sport Afloat and Ashore. +</P> + +<P> +It is a lively, rattling, breezy story of school life in this country, +written by one who knows all about its pleasures and its perplexities, +its glorious excitements, and its chilling disappointments. +</P> + +<P CLASS="noindent"> +GROSSET & DUNLAP, PUBLISHERS, NEW YORK +</P> + +<BR><BR> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +THE TOM SWIFT SERIES +</H3> + +<H4 ALIGN="center"> +By VICTOR APPLETON +</H4> + +<P CLASS="noindent"> +Uniform Style of Binding. Individual Colored Wrappers. Every Volume +Complete in Itself. +</P> + +<P> +Every boy possesses some form of inventive genius. Tom Swift is a +bright, ingenious boy and his inventions and adventures make the most +interesting kind of reading. +</P> + +<P CLASS="noindent"> +TOM SWIFT AND HIS MOTOR CYCLE<BR> +TOM SWIFT AND HIS MOTOR BOAT<BR> +TOM SWIFT AND HIS AIRSHIP<BR> +TOM SWIFT AND HIS SUBMARINE BOAT<BR> +TOM SWIFT AND HIS ELECTRIC RUNABOUT<BR> +TOM SWIFT AND HIS WIRELESS MESSAGE<BR> +TOM SWIFT AMONG THE DIAMOND MAKERS<BR> +TOM SWIFT IN THE CAVES OF ICE<BR> +TOM SWIFT AND HIS SKY RACER<BR> +TOM SWIFT AND HIS ELECTRIC RIFLE<BR> +TOM SWIFT IN THE CITY OF GOLD<BR> +TOM SWIFT AND HIS AIR GLIDER<BR> +TOM SWIFT IN CAPTIVITY<BR> +TOM SWIFT AND HIS WIZARD CAMERA<BR> +TOM SWIFT AND HIS GREAT SEARCHLIGHT<BR> +TOM SWIFT AND HIS GIANT CANNON<BR> +TOM SWIFT AND HIS PHOTO TELEPHONE<BR> +TOM SWIFT AND HIS AERIAL WARSHIP<BR> +TOM SWIFT AND HIS BIG TUNNEL<BR> +TOM SWIFT IN THE LAND OF WONDERS<BR> +TOM SWIFT AND HIS WAR TANK<BR> +TOM SWIFT AND HIS AIR SCOUT<BR> +TOM SWIFT AND HIS UNDERSEA SEARCH<BR> +TOM SWIFT AMONG THE FIRE FIGHTERS<BR> +TOM SWIFT AND HIS ELECTRIC LOCOMOTIVE<BR> +TOM SWIFT AND HIS FLYING BOAT<BR> +TOM SWIFT AND HIS GREAT OIL GUSHER<BR> +TOM SWIFT AND HIS CHEST OF SECRETS<BR> +TOM SWIFT AND HIS AIRLINE EXPRESS<BR> +</P> + +<P CLASS="noindent"> +GROSSET & DUNLAP, PUBLISHERS, NEW YORK +</P> + +<BR><BR> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +THE DON STURDY SERIES +</H3> + +<H4 ALIGN="center"> +By VICTOR APPLETON +</H4> + +<P CLASS="noindent"> +Individual Colored Wrappers and Text Illustrations by WALTER S. ROGERS +</P> + +<P CLASS="noindent"> +Every Volume Complete in Itself. +</P> + +<P> +In company with his uncles, one a mighty hunter and the other a noted +scientist, Don Sturdy travels far and wide, gaining much useful +knowledge and meeting many thrilling adventures. +</P> + +<P CLASS="noindent"> +DON STURDY ON THE DESERT OF MYSTERY; +</P> + +<P> +An engrossing tale of the Sahara Desert, of encounters with wild +animals and crafty Arabs. +</P> + +<P CLASS="noindent"> +DON STURDY WITH THE BIG SNAKE HUNTERS; +</P> + +<P> +Don's uncle, the hunter, took an order for some of the biggest snakes +to be found in South America—to be delivered alive! +</P> + +<P CLASS="noindent"> +DON STURDY IN THE TOMBS OF GOLD; +</P> + +<P> +A fascinating tale of exploration and adventure in the Valley of Kings +in Egypt. +</P> + +<P CLASS="noindent"> +DON STURDY ACROSS THE NORTH POLE; +</P> + +<P> +A great polar blizzard nearly wrecks the airship of the explorers. +</P> + +<P CLASS="noindent"> +DON STURDY IN THE LAND OF VOLCANOES; +</P> + +<P> +An absorbing tale of adventures among the volcanoes of Alaska. +</P> + +<P CLASS="noindent"> +DON STURDY IN THE PORT OF LOST SHIPS; +</P> + +<P> +This story is just full of exciting and fearful experiences on the sea. +</P> + +<P CLASS="noindent"> +DON STURDY AMONG THE GORILLAS; +</P> + +<P> +A thrilling story of adventure in darkest Africa. Don is carried over +a mighty waterfall into the heart of gorilla land. +</P> + +<P CLASS="noindent"> +GROSSET & DUNLAP, Publishers, NEW YORK +</P> + +<BR><BR> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +THE RADIO BOYS SERIES +</H3> + +<H5 ALIGN="center"> +(Trademark Registered) +</H5> + +<H4 ALIGN="center"> +By ALLEN CHAPMAN +<BR> +Author of the "Railroad Series," Etc. +</H4> + +<P CLASS="noindent"> +Individual Colored Wrappers. Illustrated. Every Volume Complete in +Itself. +</P> + +<P> +A new series for boys giving full details of radio work, both in +sending and receiving—telling how small and large amateur sets can be +made and operated, and how some boys got a lot of fun and adventure out +of what they did. Each volume from first to last is so thoroughly +fascinating, so strictly up-to-date and accurate, we feel sure all lads +will peruse them with great delight. +</P> + +<P> +Each volume has a Foreword by Jack Binns, the well-known radio expert. +</P> + +<P CLASS="noindent"> +THE RADIO BOYS' FIRST WIRELESS<BR> +THE RADIO BOYS AT OCEAN POINT<BR> +THE RADIO BOYS AT THE SENDING STATION<BR> +THE RADIO BOYS AT MOUNTAIN PASS<BR> +THE RADIO BOYS TRAILING A VOICE<BR> +THE RADIO BOYS WITH THE FOREST RANGERS<BR> +THE RADIO BOYS WITH THE ICEBERG PATROL<BR> +THE RADIO BOYS WITH THE FLOOD FIGHTERS<BR> +THE RADIO BOYS ON SIGNAL ISLAND<BR> +THE RADIO BOYS IN GOLD VALLEY<BR> +</P> + +<P CLASS="noindent"> +GROSSET & DUNLAP, Publishers, NEW YORK +</P> + +<BR><BR> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +THE RAILROAD SERIES +</H3> + +<H4 ALIGN="center"> +By ALLEN CHAPMAN +<BR> +Author of the "Radio Boys," Etc. +</H4> + +<P CLASS="noindent"> +Uniform Style of Binding. Illustrated. Every Volume Complete in +Itself. +</P> + +<P> +In this line of books there is revealed the whole workings of a great +American railroad system. There are adventures in abundance—railroad +wrecks, dashes through forest fires, the pursuit of a "wildcat" +locomotive, the disappearance of a pay car with a large sum of money on +board—but there is much more than this—the intense rivalry among +railroads and railroad men, the working out of running schedules, the +getting through "on time" in spite of all obstacles, and the +manipulation of railroad securities by evil men who wish to rule or +ruin. +</P> + +<P CLASS="noindent"> +RALPH OF THE ROUND HOUSE;<BR>Or, Bound to Become a Railroad Man. +</P> + +<P CLASS="noindent"> +RALPH IN THE SWITCH TOWER;<BR> Or, Clearing the Track. +</P> + +<P CLASS="noindent"> +RALPH ON THE ENGINE;<BR> Or, The Young Fireman of the Limited Mail. +</P> + +<P CLASS="noindent"> +RALPH ON THE OVERLAND EXPRESS;<BR> Or, The Trials and Triumphs of a Young +Engineer. +</P> + +<P CLASS="noindent"> +RALPH, THE TRAIN DISPATCHER;<BR> Or, the Mystery of the Pay Car. +</P> + +<P CLASS="noindent"> +RALPH ON THE ARMY TRAIN;<BR> Or, The Young Railroader's Most Daring Exploit. +</P> + +<P CLASS="noindent"> +RALPH ON THE MIDNIGHT FLYER;<BR> Or, The Wreck at Shadow Valley. +</P> + +<P CLASS="noindent"> +RALPH AND THE MISSING MAIL POUCH;<BR> Or, The Stolen Government Bonds. +</P> + +<P CLASS="noindent"> +GROSSET & DUNLAP, PUBLISHERS, NEW YORK +</P> + +<BR><BR> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +THE RIDDLE CLUB BOOKS +</H3> + +<H4 ALIGN="center"> +By ALICE DALE HARDY +</H4> + +<P CLASS="noindent"> +Individual Colored Wrappers, Attractively Illustrated. Every Volume +Complete in Itself. +</P> + +<P> +Here is as ingenious a series of books for little folks as has ever +appeared since "Alice in Wonderland." The idea of the Riddle books is +a little group of children—three girls and three boys decide to form a +riddle club. Each book is full of the adventures and doings of these +six youngsters, but as an added attraction each book is filled with a +lot of the best riddles you ever heard. +</P> + +<P CLASS="noindent"> +THE RIDDLE CLUB AT HOME +</P> + +<P> +An absorbing tale that all boys and girls will enjoy reading. How the +members of the club fixed up a clubroom in the Larue barn, and how +they, later on, helped solve a most mysterious happening, and how one +of the members won a valuable prize, is told in a manner to please +every young reader. +</P> + +<P CLASS="noindent"> +THE RIDDLE CLUB IN CAMP +</P> + +<P> +The club members went into camp on the edge of a beautiful lake. Here +they had rousing good times swimming, boating and around the campfire. +They fell in with a mysterious old man known as The Hermit of Triangle +Island. Nobody knew his real name or where he came from until the +propounding of a riddle solved these perplexing questions. +</P> + +<P CLASS="noindent"> +THE RIDDLE CLUB THROUGH THE HOLIDAYS +</P> + +<P> +This volume takes in a great number of winter sports, including skating +and sledding and the building of a huge snowman. It also gives the +particulars of how the club treasurer lost the dues entrusted to his +care and what the melting of the great snowman revealed. +</P> + +<P CLASS="noindent"> +THE RIDDLE CLUB AT SUNRISE BEACH +</P> + +<P> +This volume tells how the club journeyed to the seashore and how they +not only kept up their riddles but likewise had good times on the sand +and on the water. Once they got lost in a fog and are marooned on an +island. Here they made a discovery that greatly pleased the folks at +home. +</P> + +<P CLASS="noindent"> +GROSSET & DUNLAP, PUBLISHERS, NEW YORK +</P> + +<BR><BR> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +Football and Baseball Stories +</H3> + +<P CLASS="noindent"> +Durably Bound. Illustrated. Colored Wrappers. Every Volume Complete +in itself. +</P> + +<P CLASS="noindent"> +The Ralph Henry Barbour Books for Boys +</P> + +<P> +In these up-to-the-minute, spirited genuine stories of boy life there +is something which will appeal to every boy with the love of manliness, +cleanness and sportsmanship in his heart. +</P> + +<P CLASS="noindent"> +LEFT END EDWARDS<BR> +LEFT TACKLE THAYER<BR> +LEFT GUARD GILBERT<BR> +CENTER RUSH ROWLAND<BR> +FULLBACK FOSTER<BR> +LEFT HALF HARMON<BR> +RIGHT END EMERSON<BR> +RIGHT GUARD GRANT<BR> +QUARTERBACK BATES<BR> +RIGHT TACKLE TODD<BR> +RIGHT HALF HOLLINS<BR> +</P> + +<BR> + +<P CLASS="noindent"> +The Christy Mathewson Books for Boys +</P> + +<P> +Every boy wants to know how to play ball in the fairest and squarest +way. These books about boys and baseball are full of wholesome and +manly interest and information. +</P> + +<P CLASS="noindent"> +PITCHER POLLOCK<BR> +CATCHER CRAIG<BR> +FIRST BASE FAULKNER<BR> +SECOND BASE SLOAN<BR> +PITCHING IN A PINCH<BR> +</P> + +<P CLASS="noindent"> +THIRD BASE THATCHER, By Everett Scott<BR> +</P> + +<P CLASS="noindent"> +GROSSET & DUNLAP, Publishers, NEW YORK +</P> + +<BR><BR> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +Jerry Todd and Poppy Ott Series +</H3> + +<H4 ALIGN="center"> +BY LEO EDWARDS +</H4> + +<P CLASS="noindent"> +Durably Bound. Illustrated. Individual Colored Wrappers. Every +Volume Complete in Itself. +</P> + +<P> +Hundreds of thousands of boys who laughed until their sides ached over +the weird and wonderful adventures of Jerry Todd and his gang demanded +that Leo Edwards, the author, give them more books like the Jerry Todd +stories with their belt-bursting laughs and creepy shivers. So he took +Poppy Ott, Jerry Todd's bosom chum and created the Poppy Ott Series, +and if such a thing could be possible—they are even more full of fun +and excitement than the Jerry Todds. +</P> + +<P CLASS="noindent"> +THE POPPY OTT SERIES +</P> + +<P CLASS="noindent"> +POPPY OTT AND THE STUTTERING PARROT<BR> +POPPY OTT AND THE SEVEN LEAGUE STILTS<BR> +POPPY OTT AND THE GALLOPING SNAIL<BR> +POPPY OTT'S PEDIGREED PICKLES<BR> +</P> + +<P CLASS="noindent"> +THE JERRY TODD BOOKS +</P> + +<P CLASS="noindent"> +JERRY TODD AND THE WHISPERING MUMMY<BR> +JERRY TODD AND THE ROSE-COLORED CAT<BR> +JERRY TODD AND THE OAK ISLAND TREASURE<BR> +JERRY TODD AND THE WALTZING HEN<BR> +JERRY TODD AND THE TALKING FROG<BR> +JERRY TODD AND THE PURRING EGG<BR> +JERRY TODD IN THE WHISPERING CAVE<BR> +</P> + +<P CLASS="noindent"> +GROSSET & DUNLAP, Publishers, NEW YORK +</P> + +<BR><BR> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +THE TOM SLADE BOOKS +</H3> + +<H4 ALIGN="center"> +By PERCY KEESE FITZHUGH +</H4> + +<P CLASS="noindent"> +Author of "Roy Blakeley," "Pee-wee Harris," "Westy Martin," Etc. +</P> + +<P CLASS="noindent"> +Illustrated. Individual Picture Wrappers in Colors. Every Volume +Complete in Itself. +</P> + +<P CLASS="noindent"> +"Let your boy grow up with Tom Slade," is a suggestion which thousands +of parents have followed during the past, with the result that the TOM +SLADE BOOKS are the most popular boys' books published today. They +take Tom Slade through a series of typical boy adventures through his +tenderfoot days as a scout, through his gallant days as an American +doughboy in France, back to his old patrol and the old camp ground at +Black Lake, and so on. +</P> + +<P CLASS="noindent"> +TOM SLADE, BOY SCOUT<BR> +TOM SLADE AT TEMPLE CAMP<BR> +TOM SLADE ON THE RIVER<BR> +TOM SLADE WITH THE COLORS<BR> +TOM SLADE ON A TRANSPORT<BR> +TOM SLADE WITH THE BOYS OVER THERE<BR> +TOM SLADE, MOTORCYCLE DISPATCH BEARER<BR> +TOM SLADE WITH THE FLYING CORPS<BR> +TOM SLADE AT BLACK LAKE<BR> +TOM SLADE ON MYSTERY TRAIL<BR> +TOM SLADE'S DOUBLE DARE<BR> +TOM SLADE ON OVERLOOK MOUNTAIN<BR> +TOM SLADE PICKS A WINNER<BR> +TOM SLADE AT BEAR MOUNTAIN<BR> +TOM SLADE: FOREST RANGER<BR> +TOM SLADE IN THE NORTH WOODS<BR> +</P> + +<P CLASS="noindent"> +GROSSET & DUNLAP, Publishers, NEW YORK +</P> + +<BR><BR> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +THE ROY BLAKELEY BOOKS +</H3> + +<H4 ALIGN="center"> +By PERCY KEESE FITZHUGH +</H4> + +<P CLASS="noindent"> +Author of "Tom Slade," "Pee-wee Harris," "Westy Martin," Etc. +</P> + +<P CLASS="noindent"> +Illustrated. Picture Wrappers in Color. Every Volume Complete in +Itself. +</P> + +<P> +In the character and adventures of Roy Blakeley are typified the very +essence of Boy life. He is a real boy, as real as Huck Finn and Tom +Sawyer. He is the moving spirit of the troop of Scouts of which he is +a member, and the average boy has to go only a little way in the first +book before Roy is the best friend he ever had, and he is willing to +part with his best treasure to get the next book in the series. +</P> + +<P CLASS="noindent"> +ROY BLAKELEY<BR> +ROY BLAKELEY'S ADVENTURES IN CAMP<BR> +ROY BLAKELEY, PATHFINDER<BR> +ROY BLAKELEY'S CAMP ON WHEELS<BR> +ROY BLAKELEY'S SILVER FOX PATROL<BR> +ROY BLAKELEY'S MOTOR CARAVAN<BR> +ROY BLAKELEY, LOST, STRAYED OR STOLEN<BR> +ROY BLAKELEY'S BEE-LINE HIKE<BR> +ROY BLAKELEY AT THE HAUNTED CAMP<BR> +ROY BLAKELEY'S FUNNY BONE HIKE<BR> +ROY BLAKELEY'S TANGLED TRAIL<BR> +ROY BLAKELEY ON THE MOHAWK TRAIL<BR> +ROY BLAKELEY'S ELASTIC HIKE<BR> +ROY BLAKELEY'S ROUNDABOUT HIKE<BR> +</P> + +<P CLASS="noindent"> +GROSSET & DUNLAP, Publishers, NEW YORK +</P> + +<BR><BR> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +THE PEE-WEE HARRIS BOOKS +</H3> + +<H4 ALIGN="center"> +By PERCY KEESE FITZHUGH +</H4> + +<P CLASS="noindent"> +Author of "Tom Slade," "Roy Blakeley," "Westy Martin," Etc. +</P> + +<P CLASS="noindent"> +Illustrated. Individual Picture Wrappers in Color. Every Volume +Complete in Itself. +</P> + +<P> +All readers of the Tom Slade and the Roy Blakeley books are acquainted +with Pee-wee Harris. These stories record the true facts concerning +his size (what there is of it) and his heroism (such as it is), his +voice, his clothes, his appetite, his friends, his enemies, his +victims. Together with the thrilling narrative of how he foiled, +baffled, circumvented and triumphed over everything and everybody +(except where he failed) and how even when he failed he succeeded. The +whole recorded in a series of screams and told with neither muffler nor +cut-out. +</P> + +<P CLASS="noindent"> +PEE-WEE HARRIS<BR> +PEE-WEE HARRIS ON THE TRAIL<BR> +PEE-WEE HARRIS IN CAMP<BR> +PEE-WEE HARRIS IN LUCK<BR> +PEE-WEE HARRIS ADRIFT<BR> +PEE-WEE HARRIS F. O. B. BRIDGEBORO<BR> +PEE-WEE HARRIS FIXER<BR> +PEE-WEE HARRIS: AS GOOD AS HIS WORD<BR> +PEE-WEE HARRIS: MAYOR FOR A DAY<BR> +PEE-WEE HARRIS AND THE SUNKEN TREASURE<BR> +</P> + +<P CLASS="noindent"> +GROSSET & DUNLAP, Publishers, NEW YORK +</P> + +<BR><BR><BR><BR> + + + + + + + + +<pre> + + + + + +End of Project Gutenberg's The Rover Boys in Alaska, by Arthur M. Winfield + +*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE ROVER BOYS IN ALASKA *** + +***** This file should be named 26902-h.htm or 26902-h.zip ***** +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: + https://www.gutenberg.org/2/6/9/0/26902/ + +Produced by Al Haines + +Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions +will be renamed. + +Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no +one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation +(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without +permission and without paying copyright royalties. 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